The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-06-10
At TRINITY COLLEGE
An Eloquent Baccalaureate Ser
mon by DR.. Smith.
PROPHETS OLD AND NEW
Formation and Attainment OF
National Character.
TRUE PlerY AND INTELLIGENCE

To-Day is Commencement Day and
Twenty Young Men and Four
Young Ladies VIII Receive
Their Diplomas
/ Trinity College, n. c., June 9.-(Spe-
. aD-To-morrow is commencement
day.
F.! This morning the chapel was filled
! TO hear the baccalaureate sermon of
! Rev. DR.. A. Coke Smith, of Lynchburg,
Va.
DR.. Smith took his text from the
33rd chapter of Isaiah 9th verse:
! THE wisdom and knowledge shall
/: be the stability of thy times, and
! strength of salvation: the fear of the
/ Lord is his treasure"
! His leading motive" was the plea
of the prophet Isaiah that between the
! clash of the Egyptians and Assyrians
: there might be rather national charac-
. ter.
| Over the gateway into the spacious
: college grounds on the arch is the
legend: "Religio-Eruditio."
| These words seemed TO have been the
warp and wool of the discourse. For
national character as conceived by the
speaker was to be wrought out first
through piety which was in Hebrew
SYNONYMOUS with wisdom: second
through intelligence.
Thus piety and intelligence were the
true grand subdivisions of the main
proposition.
The speaker had that fuency which
comes from heart acquaintance IN
contradistinction to head acquaintance
with ones subject. He spoke for two
hours, and was strong with the elo-
uuence of truth.
(. Under the first division he referred
to the clash of parties and the unrest
of the time. and brought in the RENE
DIV of Isaiah like the Sound of bell
buoy in the storm.
: To attain national character, ideals
must be taken from the Bible rather
than from the mart.
There should be piety in our public
men.
There should be the preservation of
the home-life.
There should be the keeping holy
of the Sabbath.
But in addition to religion there
must be intelligence. And here he
defined intelligence by an illustration
of headlight of an engine which
cleared the way ahead so that the
power of the engine might be rightly
controlled The light was not the
power. Nor was intelligence piety.
Pietv was the real steam-power by
which nation should be propelled for
ward.
There should be greater school-facil-
tiles in order to spread this lntelll-
gence.
The Doctor spoke entirely without
notes. and much of the address was
necessarily extemporaneous from the
nature of the language. But 1T was
all the more effective on this account
He then appealed to the graduating
class. showing them that in politics
there never was time that called for
truer prophets in politics. 80, also,
in matters of church there are the
same doubts, divisions and criticisms,
and the same great opportunities for
the true prophet that can see the true
vision from the true source.
There is a distinct national char
acter. Nations have a character as
truly as individuals, and nations must
seek the true source OF their character
lust as individuals
He graphically outlined the parts
played by the true prophets IN the MS
tory of the nations, especially our own
history. He said that our government
was Gods last experiment with the
nations for the evangilization of the
world. This country has Gods special
favor on earth; but we are in danger
of losing our special national DIS
tinctiye characteristics. One is the
inflow of foreign elements from other
countries. We must stand at Castle
Garden with the gospel in hand ana
make the foreigner an Isrealite or bid
him depart.
Some of the remedies for these evils
were strongly discussed. The first was
that we must draw our ideals from
the Bible. Our ideas are too low. They
are the low, ignorant, vicious, money
ed men, whose only god is their
money. We have often enough been
told that money is not the chiefest
rood. But what we need most is men
| and women that will live it instead OF
| saying it.
| The next great need or remedy is
| faithful men in high places in office.
| eve, the people, are TO blame. When
| the men of our choice deceive us, and
we find them devoid of character, and
re-elect them, and they deceive us
again. we are to blame. We can find
| the ideal great men of Greece and
| Rome and Great Britain. But where
| are ours? Whatever may be the
remedy in detail | come not to say, but
do say that whatever may be or not
be. | know that it is never right to dc
wrong. We must hold our leaders IL
| politics to 4 true standard of mora
and religious character. The great
strongholds of our Anglo-Saxon civil
zation, the homes of our land, are
threatened by the driving and push
ling money-getting. Here is the great
| opportunity for the outgoing gradu
ate of to-day, to resuscitate the homes
of this country.
| again, we need to make more con
| slant use of our means of public wor
ship. The Sabbath needs to be restor
ed; and it must be restored by the
Il TOO n hmm