Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-06-30
COLBY UNIVERSITY
Commencement Opened With
The Baccalaureate Sermon.
Sarroy Escape From l Terrible Aeei-
dent At North Jay.
More People Bitten by Dogs At Brurs
wick-Eserybcdy ALARMED.
Especial to the Kennebec Journal.


the BaccaiAnrea,e sermon to the members
Of the graduating class at the Baptist
church to-day. His text was Matthew 8 >
30 But seek ye frat the kingdom Of
God and his righteousness; and all these
things shaIi be added unto you"
Presiden, Small said By the Kingdom
Of Cod understand that condition of hu-
man society in which the principles of
divine righteous provide and control social
or economic activity, just a. physical and
chemical AID physiological laws prevail in
the mineral and vegetable and animal king
doms.
By the "Ali these things Of the text
understand food and drick and clothing as
typical Of all the materia. good things which
the resources Of nature afford. BY the
prediction that these shall be the gain of
righteousness understand the Master to
teach that these material resources will be
available in maximum abundance only
when human society is 80 converted that in
I. righteousness has these rights. Here,
then, Ia one of those co.mic principles of
the Gospel which the possibilities Of indi-
yl5ual piety can no more exhaust than
siug!e atom Of matter caa exhibit all that is
|
Of force. or than small phenomena can
display all the consequences Of the eqGiva-
len,s of physical forces.
The statement of the text is not at pres
cot precise As law Of individual life for
Just as mortuary statistics prove that, on
the average. regard for hygienic law pays
| in the prolonga.ion of life, yet no single
individual can be assured thereby that bis
| 70 utt ~ ont ta
nv xt hour; so. while rig steousuess and ma
.erial prosperity are, as rule, approx
mately coipcident, it is insufersble cant or
pitable ignorance to assert that the state
ment Of the text can at present be applied
with precision and certainty. to individual
| cases. Go through the streets of any city
or through the country districts of any
State, and you will find men whose indus
| lrial condition is such that the righteous
ness of prophet, apostle and martyr com
bincd would not bring to them "all these
things" which the Master promised. This
mars farm is mortgagsd for nearly its
market ysne taxes eat up all bu, a pit
| tance Of what is left after interest is paid
the soil is running out, and the farmer can
not get together money enough to supply
the waste by artificial means, or to repien-
| ish the stock that has been sacrificed in
the attempt to live from hand to mouth.
| Sickness has invaded the household and
| impoverished ten-fold faster than healthy
| hunger could. What sort of righteousness
and how much Of it will reverse the law of
economic gravitation and arrest that mans
industrial FAM
| Another has been con lcmned from child
hood to work in the mill Time and strength
and incliuations have been lacking for edu
cation of hand to skilled labor. and of mind
to knowledge above the immediate needs of
| the trade. The man has given hostages to
| fortune by founding a family. In fatal
moment, he pledges his next weeks wages
| to pay for this weeks food. Al the same
| time he discovers that in his particular in
dus,ry the law Of suppl; and demand in the
labor market is steadily diminishing his
chances in competition not only far higher
| pay but for work at any price. | do not
say that even IN these cases there would be
an economic advantage in kind of right
eousness which might be enjeinsd, but in
thousands of such cases the kind of right
eeusness which wonld send toward fulfill |
ment of the Master promise has long since
| become rs much an immoral and physical
| impossibilitv as the material gain itself.
The kind and degree OF righteousness pos
! compli.h the result contemplated in the
text. To offer in this case the consolation
of this promise. therefore. would simply
be pious invasion. Human beings in snch
situation are in a swirl that personal right
eousne.s cannot buffet; and it is dishonest
not to admit it.
While Jesus showed the way of personal
salvation, his larger mission was to intro
| a. han bp yip IT,
eousness in individuals is abortive if asso-
ciated with unrighteousness in society. II
Jesus m. ant wha, men have strained t.
force int, his words. his own career is
demonstration sufficient that he wa, pro-
foundly mistaken. Jesus gave MS life
without reserve to the establishment of the
kingdom of God and the introduction and
| triumph of righteousness. II that Is the
condition of having 'sll these things al |
| ded," +" he should have passed the evening
of life amid all the ply ,ical comforts that
can make man contented and happy. |
think men have missed one of the most
sign dcsnt truths about the actual sequel. |
| Righteousness in the case of Jesus, instes
| of making its way to the control of mate
| rial advantage, proved to be out of place. |
People would not tolerate it, Instead of
| giving Jesus a share in this worlds goods
at last, men beprudGed him even the
breathing of its air and the sight of its sun
apd they murd, red him. The issue could
| not be more clearly met. The crucitxion
procsims the fact that until the world
changes, personal righteousness superior
| to prevailing standards has poor chance.
| II declares that this is the DEVILS world un
| I'll Righteousness has so obtained the upper
hard that a person like Jesus can live in i.
ard draw an equitable share of its rcve
| nues-
A world full of Christians would not
necessarily he Christian world; world
| full of saints mi ght not he Gods kingdom
come II all the children in family
loved their father heartily. but we're so
p-edjuiiced and impractical that each in 4
different way prevented the accomplish
| ment of the fathers best wishes for all. II
would be most p.tlsble family in spite of
the saving el ment of h,ial love. But a
| world full of such men and women as are
in it nov. only changed into Christians,
would be jus, such a family. The king
dom Of God conte plates the instructed
and adjusted cooperation Of developed
| GOdlikeness in the use Of spiritual aad ma
terial energy Its condition is that all of
| Godh ,cl vouchssfed to mon shall here eI
| bibt its Creators ma jssty in concerted
work for vindica,on of the Creators plan
The first trait of the condition which is
to secure all these things" is that the
world shall be q society in which 'sil these
things" instead of being the be-sH and
end all, are hsld As of secondary impoT-
tsnce. ss inci!en:s, means 10 ends. useful
but rot soaght ss the ultimate good. The
te It, then, contains liryer conception or
the scope of Godiness than Christians Of
our tine are accustomed to consider.
silar self 10 hope that our ss'iay of
Soc ology has prepared yru for spscisi sp-
precis,i n of this Thought We have DIS
covered thSt society is not an Accisent,
men essential ass Jcis.iop, but that society Is
the necessary medium of individual COM
ple,enes. What the heart would ee with
out the lungs. what III, eye would be with.
out the brain. that the Individual would be
without the social organism.
Through this fact nee more of the wls-
dou, of God in His purpose TO comprehend
the worlds inhabitants into God-hke
society. A bad world is no place for the
ma axiuaum de eyelo2mea; Of good meu. In
bad world no one may know whether many
an act or policy of goodness will result in
heluins or harminz. In bad world moral
forces work ut cross-I,urposes as Gestruc-
lively ~ the sea, the ship and the moofed
gua in Victor Hugo's description. Our
tex. illustrates the advantage of systems-
tized Righteousness, br declaring It's eco
nomic results.
! Men are beginning TO see that Jesus vas,
after sIi. the profouniiest economist He
had no faith in machinery without motors.
fe~ people are getting ready to accep:
lis remedy for economic ills. He sas