Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-05-30
THE VALLEY CITY.
Mary baldwin Seminary Commence
ment-Nr. Guthric's Sermon.

STAUNTON. VA, May 29.-tSpecial)-
Those who heard yesterday the bacca-
laureate sermon preached In the First
Presbyterian church to the young ladies
OF the Mary Baldwin Seminary, by the
Rev. Donald Guthrie, of Richmond. re-
gard the young preacher as a worthy
successor of the eminent Dr.. Moses Hoge.
Before Mr.. Guthrie were seated the 40
schoolgirls, looking like animate human
lied lilies. robed as they were in garb OF
white. After the singing of Kipling's Re
ceSSional," arranged by Reginald de Ko-
ven, which was rendered by the choir or
seventeen seminary girls. under the d.
rection of Miss f.. Louise Hopkins, Mr..
Guthrie announced as his text the six
teenth Psalm, second verse: II have said
unto the Lord, / have no good beyond
Thee. which the preacher described as
being uttered by David In sort OF
"reverie."
Prefacing his sermon with expressions
OF his pleasure as being permitted to fill
the pulpit on this occasion, Mr.. Guthrie
plunged in and al once sought the centre
of his subject. All history. said he, taught
that mankind and womanklnd were striv-
ing for something above-seeking, search
ing-rather than struggling. Some men
sought wisdom; Solomon the wise man,
had found wisdom an unsatisfying ashen
apple, and exclaims, "All is vanity"
Again, others had coveted and sought
power-the Roman conception-to bend
and mould the destiny OF men and mu-
nicipalities-the wreck OF empires proved
the inefficacy of human power that
holds not Thee in awe
Vast wealth, too, has been the unsatis-
fxrfn I'M nj QnI fAf
school of philosophers-the Epicureans-
sought. without finding it, happiness, in
the pleasures OF the merely physical
senses. But the consensus of all these
schools OF hunters of happiness was that
"all is vanity"
Reaching from earth to Heaven like q
great ladder with four rungs were the
four great kingdoms-frst dead, lifeless
matter, out of which worlds were formed,
and the lowest form of matter-proto-
plasm. Second, higher order Of matter
plant matter-possessing certain limited
vital force; plants seek or avoid the sun
and rain, and grow. Third, animal life,
still higher endowed with a degree of will
power, and perception, circumscribed, and
last OF all man, the highest of Gods
creatures. with the power Of determining
duty, invested with moral responsibility,
knowing right from wrong, and crowned
with the privilege Of communion with
God.
Dir. Guthrie elaborated the idea that in
an ascending Scale each of these king
doms fed on and appropriated all the
kingdoms below It.
Plant life assimilated and appropri-
ated, protoplasmic. inanimate material
matter. In turn the partially endowed
animal kingdom fed on, and required for
it's existence, the two lower kingdoms,
and man, the last in the earthly link. de-
manded for his development the three
lower kingdoms. 1t was a striking thing,
said the preacher, that God permitted
man TO Stay all other animals for his use:
but there was an express divine injunc-
ton against Staying his brother.
MIR. Guthrie pressed home the point that
science had for its province the search
of an ELUSIVE. remorseless loveless"
power that moves the great "world ma
chine an unreasonable force. Science
says you will find 1t not satisfying.
Mankind alone was made by distinct,
instant act OF God, as when Eve was
made for Adams helpmeet."
Mr.. Guthrie closed his sermon to the
young ladies with an earnest exhortation
that IL they would have a happiness time
and eternity enduring they must have
their souls say in the language OF the
text: II have said unto the Lord, / have
no good beyond Thee"