Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-05-14

unt1l j CLOCK.
YOUNG THEoLoG1ANs.
Theses Read at the Seminary Commence
mont Last Evening.
Last evening a large audience was pres
ent in st. Stephens chapel, college campus,
the occasion of the closing exercises of the
Reformed theological seminary, and the
reading of the theses of the graduates
The floral decoration Of the pulpit was un-
usually attractive and elaborate. On the
wall of the recess was the inscription, ''All
Thy Works Praise Thee" in letters of
green and gold. A splendid cross COM
posed of choice flowers stood upon the
altar, and the pulpit and reading desks
were prOfusely ornamented with cut
flowers and green's. The effect of the dec
Grafton was enhanced by the lighted can
dies that burned Oh the pulpit desk, and
which afforded light necessary for the
graduates to read their papers.
The ritual of the church was conducted
by Rev. E. V. Gerllart, d. d., president
of the seminary, after which the male
quartet of voices belonging to the choir of
St. Stephens sang beautiful anthem
The first orator was MI. Alfred F. Dreis-
bach, Of Easton, the subject Of whose
paper was "Man in the Light of the
Eighth Psalm" Man is endowed with
attributes that put him far beyond all else
in creation, and in the 9th Psalm is de-
scribed the ideal man of the Old Testament
economy. The psalmist did not in
that ecstatic utterance intend TO compare
him with the physical universe. He
knew that in his mere physical ma
ture man is mere atom of creation. Had
he been regarding the physical attributes
only, he might we'll have exclaimed,
"What is man that thou art mindful of
him, and the son of man, that thou visitest
him?" In his spiritual nature, however,
of which the psalmist shows his clear con-
ception, there can he no comparison be-
tween man and the lower orders of crea-
ton. But little lower than the angels, he
is almost Divine he is the more immediate
work Of infinite power than all the rest of
creation combined. In him the natural
and spiritual meet, mortality struggles,
immortality triumphs. The true dignity
of man is nowhere more clearly defined
than in the 8th Psalm, where he is shown
to be an abiding memorial of Gods grand
est work, monument of infinite power,
''in action how like an angel, in apprehen-
sion how like God"
Mr.. Chas. F. Sontag read a paper on
"True Manhood" which was devoted to
an exposition of the varied attributes that
find their elimination in man rs the su-
preme work Of creative power. Manhood
is the golden chain that links the natural
with spiritual upon it is set the stamp of
heaven. While the human body, face and
feature rethe highest development of the
visible order of creation, the mind moves
in a higher plane of ideas and abstract phe-
In the sphere of religion mans
true end and destiny is. revealed.
He is essentially religious. To be a
true man, therefore, he must, first of all,
be religious. The heart is the centre of
his being. If it beat in unison with the
Of Divine love the life will un-
fold in the beauty Of true manhood. With
out the graces of Christianity man sinks
below the brute creation; he becomes a
caricature of himself his life is IN absurd
ity, melancholy failure. The grand
principle of truth must animate his soul.
Being true to God, it must follow as tho
night the day that his manhood is of the
true quality. The spiritual nature of man
must have fixed posture with relation to
the good. A Christian home has more to
do with the formation Of good character
than all the knowledge and experience
gained in after years. It is the founda-
tion, firm and sure, upon which rests the
grand moral superstructure. The best
ideal Of true manhood is comprised in the
life of the incarnate Lord of the universe.
Jesus, as possessing the attributessof hu-
manity, was the model man, the pattern
for all mankind to seek to conform to. His
mission was to vindicate the truth, and men,
to gain the glory that endureth, must be
true to God, true to self, true to the
world.
Miss Alice Troyer sang Hear us, o
a beautiful composition, in ad
mirable style.
The subject Of Mr.. William J. kersch-
ner's paper was Professionalism and Free
DOM" The innate desire 20 throw off the
chains of slavery has existed in mans be-
ing through all the ages of the worlds
history. He has sought to free himself
from thraldom and repression, and reaches
out after the true, the beautiful and the
good. The manifestation of this spirit be-
fore the era of the Reformation had it's out
ward expression in the Crusades, which,
they failed in their purpose, had
the effect of stirring the fountains of soci-
,ty which burst forth soon after in a flood
;ide, striving to sweep away the corrup-
ion whose existence in the church began
% make itself apparent to the conception of
men who had its interests nearest at heart,
Luther and Erasmus and Calvin and
m in ov1i oo,,rbf <o owoLo mon <oo l-,or,I