Morning journal and courier., 1886-06-28

there or is there not 8 kingdom of God slow
 ly but surely lifting itself up in the sight of
 the nations, or is it kingdom of science,
 kingdom of fate and force that has no prom
 ise for the poor, no comfort for the sorrow
 ing, and no justice for the wronged, 10 de-
 hverance for the oppressed, or at the utmost
 nothing more than a blind tendency of pro
 gress toward the brilliant mirage that eter-
 nally fees before the disappointed visitor.
 Sooner or later political science will dis
 cover, if it is not beginning to be aware, that
 it can never solve it's problems correctly, nor
 solve them satisfactorily, without recognlz-
 ing man as moral and spiritual being and
 mans relations to God and duty and faith.
 But while the defenders of Christian veri- ty should be aggressive and earnest, they aI- so need to learn how to be patient and toler- ant and catholic. They best know the diff culties of faith, for many of those have trod- den the long and devious ways in which 1 many thinking men most often prosecute their search after God. They can best ap- preciate the misgivings of science, the ques- tionings of history, the suggestions of criti- cism, the rebellions of the imagination and exalt scientific theories into theological | creeds and quick to exercise the largest char ity for the men whose theories they reject. They regard freedom of thought as the con dition of scientific progress and of religious honesty, and sometimes wait long for the convictions which they hope for, but for | which they never cease to hope.
 | But college life is not discipline for the | intellect only. It is also eminently social
 and personal. It tests religious professions l with unsparing scrutiny. It sees through hy- | pocrisy, it detects cant, it is repelled by | over-much righteousness, but 1t honors | earnest and consistent faith whenever it
 is sweet and reasonable and manly. There
 is no place where a genuine Christian | life tells for so much as in community like this, for there is no place where wholesome l impressions of character are so vivid and so permanent. That is a short sighted view ot l Christian influences in college which limits l them to the four years of thu college resi- | dence, when it so often happens that they are fresh and vivid after forty years are gone, | and when we hear of so many of our grad | uates who come into a settled Christian l faith after they leave their college home, and | in so many cases as the result of influences 1 and impressions received within these walls. 1 That Christian excellence is honored here, l where it inspires genuine human excellence | and is worthily represented in 8 noble and
 earnest manhood, you will all bear witness I as to-day you think so tenderly of the class l mate whom you buried last Christmas, but whom you will never forget to honor and | mourn. Let his faith be yours, let his l purposes be yours, let his expectations foI l usefulness and honor be yours. Let the l beauty of his life be constant a gument fo1 the truth and the power of Christian faith | and perpetual inspiration to 0 fruitful | Christian life. So shall your college life be | a preparation and an anticipation for the life l which is immortal.
 l With these wishes and prayers bid you 1