Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-06-09
SOUTHWESTERN PRESBYTERIAN
UNIVERSITY.
The Commencement Sermon.


HEB. XII. II. For We know how that after
ward, when he would have inherited the
blessings he was rejected-for he found no
place of repentance, though he sought II
carefully with tears.
This was the text from which the
Rev. DIR. Girardeau preached the
customary sermon on The occasion
of comforting diplomas on the grad
uating class of this institution.
He opened his subject by stating
the universal recognition through
out the Scriptures of the connection
between sin and suffering. To de-
mOnstrate this he referred to the
DispensatiOn of Innocence and the
covenant at the fall to the NOachic,
Abrahamic, Mosaic and prophetic
dispensatiOns, and above all that
dispensation of grace in which
they all eliminate, which was
manifested in tie person of Jesus
Christ. Throughout this history
of Divine intervention in mans
destinies he called special attention
to the fact that the cOnneXion be-
tween sin and suffering was recOg-
nized as two fold, as punitive or re-
tributive on the one hand and RENE
dial or disciplinary on the other.
He represented it as the tendency
of modern thought contemplate the
latter or remedial purpose of suffer-
ing 10 JIIU O-NDI,s5iOII or the lued OF
retribution; this tendency he spoke
of as withdrawing mems minds in
Il ruinOus degree from the contem-
plation and recognition of the pres
ent life as the subject of moral gov
eminent, and he very ably combated
the principle, introduced by Paley
into theology and by Jeremy Ben
than into moral and political phil
Osphy known as the "greatest happi-
ness principle" HeshOwed that the
view which recognized God as be-
ing whose one only attribute was
mere benevOlence, and his scheme
of prOvidential government as con-
templating nothing but the extern
sion of as much happiness as posi-
bic to all, and limited to the pro-
ductiOn of well being in this life, as
being derOgatOry to the divine ma
ture and irTecOncilable tOthe plain
est facts in revelation and the OBJ
served course of nature-and he
touched the critical point of this
error when he said that it consisted
in the nOn-recognitiOn of moral evil
rs a factin the world, and its eXtirpa-
ton and the moral and spiritual ele-
walton of the race as more truly the
great purpose of Gods government
than anything which can be ade-
quately described as the principle of
the maximum of happiness. But he
rose to the sublimest point of Chris
tian teaching when he recognized
the atoning sacriie of the cross as
the fultilment of retributive justice,
and at the same time the great rem
edial agency for the cure of moral
evil.
We cannot follow him here, still
less when he proceeded with his
eloquent application of the subject
by touchingly eXhorting his hearers
to secure an interest in this sacrifice
which has drawn on one the bolts of
retributive justice bywhich all must
otherwise have persisted. We will
only say that we were reminded of
the pulpit efforts of the great di-
vines of the seventeenth century,
such as Hall and Taylor, South and
Baxter. These men, when they
preached, first laid down some pro-
found moral and spiritual principle
which they established by an argu-
ment constructed with materials
which only profound learning and
various experience could supply,
and then, this foundation laid, COM
mended the subject to the conscien-
ces and emotional nature of their
hearers with an eloquence which
only burning zeal and melting love
could sustain. Such was the preach
ing of the 18th century and we glad
IN welcome in DIR. Girardeau's ser
mon a return to that exalted stand
ard. May we hear many mOresuch.
rxERCIsES OF THE LITERARY So
CIETIES.
The youthful orators of the Wash
;noton Irving and Stewart Societies
had their innings ON Tuesday even
ino we are uttering no routine
compliment, when we say that the
rhetorical efforts Of the speakers
we're very far above the ordinary
average. pou q w
80 L. the first on the stage was
DV M w. M. Cox, The title OF ms !,
n, ,,,as q Nan an end INTO himself"
- first we feared that the speaker
Lido. =. lr.1 q defend the now nearly
nrnIoded doctrine of Paley lna %
o.d,.oIitv is nothing buta reiiheu al"