The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-27
HOW TO SEEK THE TRUTH,
Parting Advice Given the
Graduates by the Berkeley
Educator.
PIONEERS ATTEND IN A BODY.
The Class Trio Precedes the Dis
course With a Programme OF
Vocal Music.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CAL, May
26.-The baccalaureate exercises filled the
chapel this morning to its utmost capac-
ity. The decorations and music accorded
with the occasion, and the entire service,
in dignity and loveliness, was fitting
conclusion to that phase of college
life which centers around every college
chapel. The Pioneer class attended in a
body, marching into the building in
double column, under the leadership of
President Langford.
The service opened with vocal trio,
Memory" by Henry Leslie, sung by
M. III. Kennedy, Shirley Baker and G. D.
Stratton, all of the Pioneer class Presi-
dent Jordan read from the eighth chapter
of Job; prayer followed by DR.. Thoburn,
in which an earnest plea was made for the
welfare OF the young men and women
about to leave the instructors who had
carefully directed their training through
four precious, happy years. M. II. Ken
nedy sang Stephen Adams "Holy City"
The baccalaureate sermon followed by
Professor T. R. Bacon of the University
of California. The text was from John,
xxi :22-"What is that to thee?' The
theme followed the idea of truth-what is
it and how shall we seek it? The large
audience listened to the scholarly dis
course with the closest attention from be-
ginning to end. The closing words, the
direct address to the graduates, standing
in a body 100 strong, were profoundly
impressive.
The words of the text were addressed by
Christ to his disciple, Peter, whom Pro-
fessor Bacon characterized as humble
seeker after truth. Said the speaker:
He wrought truth everywhere. This is like
wise characteristic of our modern age. We
throw the searchlight of truth everywhere.
We seek it not for an Interior end, but for Its
own sake. Our mission is sacred. We win
listen to no criticism, no tradition, no institu-
ton, however sanctifed; no belief, however
grounded in human love and endeavor, can
stay us in our search. If some fragment of
truth is behind it we destroy it in search
ing therefor. We grasp truth from the
moonshine and from the mud In the gutter.
We persevere, and will not list to those who
say "What is that to thee?"
Let US question for moment. Can there be
any truth that is of no concern to US? Is there
any place where there is no truth? Do we ever
reach absolute truth, or is all our labor and
search simply an intellectual gymnastics? Is
this lifelong effort worth the while? These
questions concern life.
A certain school of literature has lately as
sumed a wide field of prominence in the eyes
of the reading public-a school which deals
with the baser phases of life. Do we object to
it? Then say it is truth and we must see it.
What is it to us?
If we see picture of two drunken brutes
manning one another because they have
nothing else to do-if this is truth then let US
seek falsehood. Such scenes cannot be drawn
for an ulterior end; the end of this literature
is in itself. 1t is called truth for truths sake
art for arts sake; it is called naturalism and
| realism. I feel like saying, in the words of
Madame Roland: o, truth, what crimes are
committed in thy name"
This truth is not truth or naturalism. He who
recognizes as truth all the badness which he
can find by careful search he does not SO much
as understand what he is looking tor.
Do we find truth? Canst thou by searching
find out the truth? If we find even fragment
our search is repaid. But the truth of one age
is not the truth for another. The scientific
generalizations of one age give way to those of
the next.
But things are not always what they seem.
We come to the world with FIVE senses. The
man who has but four senses will see things
altogether differently. For instance the blind
man-to him the universe is one thing; to US it
is another. Carry the point further. Suppose
we had sixth sense. Material things would
seem different from what they do now. Hence
we do not know things as they are, we know
them only in relation to ourselves.
Take yet another illustration, one which lies
at the very basis of Spencer's philosophy. A
ship is anchored at the equator with its stem
toward the west Suppose the captain walk
from stem to stern at the same rate at which
the ship sails westward, which direction is the
captain travelling? To things around him he
D,,k e. 1NO
moves on its axis at certain rate which
makes the captain move eastward 1000 miles
per minute. But this conclusion is not final,
for it is subject to TIE motion of the earth in
Its orbit. 81 900 rifles per hour toward the
west. But even this is not final; we must con-
slider the motion of the solar system, and
after that still another force-the universe is
in motion, and this in conjunction with other
universes. The whole business is in motion !;
but whittier tending no mind of man can con.
lecture.
So our so-called knowledge is purely relative.
Even such little thing as motion is so COM
plicated that when we go hither or thither, we
do not know absolutely whittier we are going.
The speaker considered several schools
of philosophy and their various theories to
further illustrate the point that knowledge
is relative not absolute, and that even
IudtucllldtlCO dlC ouOJOOU W ShouSSs pilASC
the twelfth proposition of Euclid, after
twenty centuries, is called into question.
Who will say that future generations may
not point out discrepancies in our mathemat-
ics For my part cling to the orthodox view
that two and two make four, but don't want
to appear bigoted about it.
There is much nonsense in the search for
truth. Often there is no truth in places where
we search for it. Our knowledge of the uni
verse is inadequate. We only know enough to
realize how little we do know. Where is truth?
The dead saith "It is not with me-" God knows
where wisdom is God saith at is in me-"
To depart from evil is wisdom. There is
truth in man character. We recognize it
when we see it. Virtue is truth. We know it is
immortal in men. He who is honest, gentle
and aspiring is the embodiment OF an eternal
unchanging truth. Such truth as this is all
that makes life worth living.
The Intellectual lite is worth living, because
It helps Us to build up our own and theWorlIa