Birmingham state herald., 1897-06-15
GREENSBORO.
Commencement Sermon of the Southern University Preached by pr. I. s. Hop- kins, of Atlanta, Ex-President of
 the University-It was Able
 1F and Masterly Effort 4 < 4A

Greensboro, June 13.-(Speeial Core
 spondence. .)-The Methodist church was
 crowded on Sabbath morning to> its ut
 most capacity by an intelligent audience
 to listen to the commencement sermon
 of the Southern university, which was
 delixered by Dr. I. S. Hopkins, of Allan a
 His text was from I. Corinthians, xvi,
 9th sGerse, and in these words: For a
 greaE door and effectual is. opened unto
 me and there are many adVerSarles.
 These words were uttered by Paul at
 time when he was contemplating a ylsft
 to Corinth, but which was given oWt on
 account of the fact that at Ephesus "a
 great and effectual door had beTnsopened
 to him. Tha, is, an opportunEy or ac-
 complishirg some good work, in which
 many adveIsaries would be met.
 "Paul's open door" said the speaker lis a fine phrase for opportunity. His
 many adversaries mean every forff5 ot
 difficulty and obstacles which his trained
 and careful mind could foresee." The
 speaker dwelt some time upon the fact ithat in rhe life of every human being
 opportunities had been presented CT ac-
 complishing some good. and .great work,
 which, neglected, Eever returned, and
 there was hardly man who had gained
 prominence in business or professional
 life but could trace his success to some
 happy circumstance which offered the
 n2eQ6Q OpDOr. uftlIy I 0NISS nENtI nap
 pen buat once in this world, ",;is 8 saying
 which has been promulgated by the fancy of the poet and the wisdom of The phj-
 losophers. The Bible teaches the value
 ard importance of opportunity. work
 while it isscallsd today. for the night com eth when no man can work. s,s.s,.He.t,y :.
 The speaker quoted many, passages
 from Scripture including the same idea.
 I'm the Epistle from which the text is
 taken Paul was writing to the church at Corirth from Ephesus. This fact gave the speaker an opportunity of describing
 Ephesus and Corirth. emporiums both, of the ancient world, ''Ephesus being to Asia what Corinth was to Greece, fa- nous alike for every establishment of art and luxury. and equally conspicuous
 for all that could contribute to the great ness, and we may say the shame Of a rich and populous city" His description of these ancient sciies was probably the most interesting portions of his sermon, and was listened to with rapt attention by his audience. --- -o : 2 Another idea growing out of his text he impressed upon his hearers. Tt was that ''open doors and adverSaries. oppor- tunities and hindrances go hand in ha nd, are found together 'Tn the realm of matter. as in the realm of spirit, this truth meets us everywherA. The soa ring eagle does not sustain his victorious flight because his body is lighter than the air he cleaves Despite the gravstation which draws him continuously downward nay, by that very gravi,ation he sweeps on- ward on his tireless wing and bids de- fiance Ito the storm which hurries him away"
 Dn the limited space at my command I cannot follow stshe speaker in the various propositions laid down by him and en- forced by proper illus ustrarions. His ser mon was replete with sound doctrine and reasoning and delivered In an impressive manner, which kept the attention of his audience from beginning to close His closing remarks to the graduates of the Sourhern university w5re particularly ap- proRrfafe and the application of fine words of the text to their present condi- tion in life was very happy and well timad. N
 Dr. I. s. Hopkins is Georgian by birth and a graduate te of Emory collage. He was a professor in the Southern univer- | sity for three years. a professor in En- | ory college for four years, and president | of the Polytechnic collage of the state of | Geergia5 for several years. He is prom | inent1y spoken of as minister to Greece a nd stands a fair chance to get that posi-. tiOn.