The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-10-03
President Halbcrt,s Baccalaureates.


We have received two sermons preach.
ed by President Hubert at Middlebury
College to the students, before the grad
uating of the classes of 1877 and 1878,
which have Just been printed. They
have relation indicated by their titles
Christ, the Harmony of the Doctrines,
and The Unity of the Race. They are
ingenius and able, and must have COM
manded the close attention of the young
men to whom they were addressed par
ticularly. The pith of the first is the
averment that Z" let any man accept the
Gospel of Jesus Christ for what it is
worth to o.him-and that means at Gods
valuation of it-and he can find no pos
sible occasion to fear those doctrines of
the Evangelical system which are com
monty so repulsive to the natural heart.
The otlense of the cross is an oflense
taken at those doctrines that render it
needful. Let these doctrines be re-
ccived without oilcnse, and the oflense
of the cross ceases" The second brings
out the centrality of Christ, and of the
Christian scheme, in human thought
and affection, fact that never can be
superseded in future race progress.
Our glance over these thoughtful and
fervently Christian pages has awakened
anew q thought often entertained before,
of the advantage of college in which
such discourses are the natural utter
ance of its presiding officer to its young
graduates Christian college. And
this is not in that vague and all chari-
table sense in which everything is called
Christian which has its bottom on the
soil of a Christian land, and whose top
has neither mosque or pagoda in sight
of it; but Christian i'll that warmer,
clearer, truer, more effective sense,
which means not only that the teachers
themselves are Christian gentlemen,
but that they intend to teach all human
knowledge as being related to Christ
and His cross, and, even more than that,
that they intend to use every reasonable
personal effort to allure their pupils
toward genuine, manly, personal
Christian experience, while they them
selves lead the way.
| We are growing to feel that this is q
matter, in these days of sore tcmpta.
tions to tho young, of an importance
too often overlooked. Too many Chris
tian parents seem to have The vague i'm
preston that the influences of college
life, so far rs they are evil, are like the
measles and kindred diseases which a
lad must take with the risks, and prob
ably will survive. 1t is so at some col
leges, no doubt. But there is no reason
in the nature of the case why college
should not be saturated so thoroughly
with moral and Christian influences,
that instead of corrupting its young
men, il almost surely shall be the up
lifting, the saving and the making of
them-giving them as much, at least, of
the wisdom of this world as they will
be likely to get elsewhere; while, at
the same time, leading them toward
some better country, that is all heavenly.
AS to this, a small college may have
some advantages over a large one, and
these sermons, with what we know OF
the spirit and methods of their gifted
author, inspire us with the conviction
that Middlebury College has claims upon
the love and support of the Christian
scholars not only of Vermont, but OF
New England, whose response shall
bear fruit in whatever material aid il
may need TO assure its pcrmanence and
its best available power and use.
Quite in line with these thoughts we
may refer also to DIR. Posts address al
Middlebury College at the last com
: mencement, OH the especial Advan
T tages of the Smaller Country Colleges,
in which, with his own peculiar origi
nality aud power, he treats an interest
ing and important subject COngregd
HOndiia.