The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-21
WARNS YOUNG MEN ABOUT IMPERIALISM Father Tobin Speaks to Class
 at St. Bernard GREAT lNROADS ARE MADE A Horde of Intellectual Barbarans Is Bursting In Upon the Empire of Thought With Disas-
 trous Results.

Cnllman. June 9.-(speclal. 1.-The four teenth annual. commencement of St. Ser nard college took place yesterday and to- day in,the St. Bernard Dramatic hall and was attended by large number of visi- tors from almost every part of the state. The exercises began last night at s:3O with -tiie prcducton by | east of characters composed entirely of members of the Dramatic club, of Kotzebue's s tragedy, "Pizarro,' adapted from the German by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. An unusually high-class programme of music, which was the main feature of the entertain ment, was furnished by the college or chestra between the acts under the lead ership of the Rev. P. Charles, o. s. B., and each piece won prolonged applause.
 The exercises today opened with solemn high mass, coram episcopo, in the college chapel by the Very Rev Director, assist ed by the Rev. F. Joseph, O. s. B., as deacon, and the Rev. Aemiliam, 0. $. B., as sub-deacon. At g o'clock the com mencement proper began with the sau- tatory address by Patrick l.. Duffy, fol- lONGu DN lHt oA 'iNeNA' e-''' diplomas. Albert A. Rheinschmidt deliv- cred the valedctory shortly after the dis tribution of premiums. Both the saluta- tory and valedictory were generally re- garded as of rare literary beauty. The Very Rev. Thomas V. Tobin, dean ol Eastern Tennessee. addressed the gradu- ates and students, saying in part:
 Dean Tobin Addresses Students.
 An education to be worthy of the name must take in the whole man; his soul and his intellect, his spiritual as well as temporal destiny; and as we believe that Christ came to establish a religion and a morality-the one flowing out of the other-we must also believe that q sys- tenn of education (no matter how thor ough it otherwise may bey not based on religion will destroy what it was intended to save. It is gratifying to know that we Catholics are no longer alone in our de- fense of the necessityrsof a religious edu' cation Every system of seducation, says Gladstone. which places religion. in the background is pernicious. That grand old man--so cultured himself, knew that a nation without knowledge is either a silent sepulchre where all hopes are purled or a raging sea. where all hopes are wreck ed; but he also knew that mere knowi- edge were intellectual culture will never save a nation from becoming slave to it's passions for if Christianity be the way to eternal life all men are bound to stand up for Christian education, without which a Christian people can never be propagated: and the men who are today filling the position which Gladstone so long adorned. are at this moment putting up a splendid fight for Christian educa- ton.
 ..,rhe church is vitally interested in this question whenever it is agitated, for with the experience of ages behind her, she knows the meaning of the words suffer. the little ones to come to me and, IT she can help it she will never allow them to pass under the influence of a teacher who says in effect, if not in words, No! they shall not come to thee In thy pres ence, God for fear of giving offense will banish Thy name from my lips. will teach them well, but not of Thee. She realizes moreover, that morality rob bed of the sanctions of religon-God, eternity, everlasting punishment-is very apt to sit lightly on people.
 Not So Far Fetched.
 'The plot of well known work of fiction which turns on a discovery cal culated to discredit Christianity is not as far-fetched as some of the reviewers would have it; for the chaos and dis order in the intellectual and moral world caused by the disclosures are perfect representation of what would happen when Christianity is rooted out of the human heart; and the recent disclosures in the commercial world furnish new proofs of what we may expect from system of education. from which all re- lgious and moral training is eliminated; and which permitted a distinguished pol itician to say in Congress that The Ten Commandments have no place in poll ties This is in brief the spirit which animates the church. At great sacrifices she erects schools in which the claims of religion in behalf of God and the soul are not forgotten This is the spirit