The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-04
SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
 COMMENCEMENT IS ON

man of the Executive Committee. MT. Hurt prefaced his discourse by saying that it had been matter of great perplexity with him as to how he might be able to meet the expecta- tions of those who had honored him with the invitation to preach the &c., mi Centennial Sermon, and at the same time be true to the purpose of wor- ship which should characterize all our gatherings on the Lords Day. It would be a pleasant task to speak to the educational impulse among the Methodists of Alabama. which prior to the civil war led to the founding of three superior male colleges of which the Southern University Is the only one that has been saved to the church---how its ample endorsement was swept away, and the heroic efforts that have been and are still being made adequately to endow and equip the institution--to trace Its history in the light of which. that she has lived at all Is one of those problems. which can be solved only by reference to the will of heaven and the self-de- niai of those men who in the days of darkness and trial, generously and magnanimously bore its burdens-to point out the glorious work which con- sidering the adverse conditions Is with out a parcllel--to refer to the more l than four hundred alumni, more than one-fourth of whom have gone Into | the Christian ministry. together with | as many more of her students who | for various reasons were not able to 1 complete their course of study and of | the thousands of others who have gone | forth to achieve distinction in the va
 rious walks of life. But to do this
 | would be to invade the territory as-
 signed to others for this semi-centen-
 nial celebration.
 | On the first page of every catalogue | issued from the Southern University may be seen the words of Tillotson: | Tt requires great wisdom and indus i try to advance a considerable estate, much art and contrivance and pains to raise a great and regular building; but | the greatest and noblest work in the world, and an effort of the greatest prudence and care, Is to rear and build up a man and to form and fashion him l to piety and junlce and temperance and all kinds of honest and worthy &C., | tion.
 ..This," the speaker said. "fitly ex- presses the high ideal which the insti- | tuition has fostered from the beginning. | and if any one thing above all others cen be said of her. 1t Is that she has been true to that ideal. There have ever been In this institution influences and agencies that have called out and developed all that was noblest and | best in the young men who nave sought instruction In her classic halls. | So I have thought that I could mo- where find in the Word of God more appropriate text for the semi-centen-
 ial sermon. than the words of St. Paul recorded in Philippians iv 8-9:
 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things
 are true. whatsoever things are hon. | est, whatsoever things are just, what soever things are pure, whatsoever l things are lovely, whatsoever things
 are of good report; If there be any vir-
 1 tue. and If there be any praise, think on these things"
 The great organizing thought to | which these remarkable words con-
 duct us is: High Ideals, Their Place
 and Value in the Development of Char 1 acter." The Apostle specifies six mo- | lives which all who aim at exalted
 character ought to keep constantly be- | fore the mind and six clements which
 must be realized and illustrated in the | life before one can be said to have made much headway toward 1t.
 Il. "whatsoever things are true" He
 starts where all men must start-with l truth-or else be false to the core Nothing ever stood or ever will stand
 ! securely that does not rest on the bed I rock of truth. homes, customs. philo- phies, religions, institutions; empires | topple into ruin if they have not truth at the heart of them. It Is not any l form of technical truth merely which Paul would have men think about. and incarnate In their lives. Not merely truth in speech, business transactions, conduct of political affairs, but inte- rior radical moral truth-truth as an achievement of the mind and as rule of conduct covering all possible | relations in WhihH stand.
 2. whatsoever things are honest" honorable, dignified. reputable, held In | high esteem by all who appreciate | high standards, and are wont to con- | form their lives to an exalted rectitude.
 | It is not enough to be prudent and circumspect and to hesitate in the presence of temptation to be mean and unworthy lest standing may be lost | in the estimation of the community.
 but whatsoever things are honorable" when brought up against the plumb | line which God let's down from the | skies.
 l 3. "Whatsover things are just" This
 means not seeming justice, not current | justice merely but real justice. When | a man accepts and follows justice, be- cause 1t Is justice, he will have as much use for his arithmetic in estimating what belongs to others as in what be-
 longs to himself. and he will be as
 careful in according as in exacting dues.
 f. "Whatsover things are pure"
 That means more Inan chastity. tenn perance, clean hands, speech free from 1 all coarseness while thoughtly motives | that have nothing sinister about them. | life of abstinence from all indul- gences that befoul and spread con- tagion.
 5. "Whatsover things are lovely" What things are lovely! Those which emanate in the spirit of love--like Gods gift to His Son to the world those which move in a method of love- ] like faith when it works by love; those which have for their object the express sion of love, like all unselfish efforts put forth to help and bless and save lost men. What higher or better quail ity to cultivate than love! Now abid- eth faith, hope and love, but the great est of these Is love" Strength Is good but love lends a grace to strength and makes it beautiful as we'll as useful It is our misfortune and our sin that we do not love more. pr. Bacon in his old age uNed to say if he could live his life ovN agSAl he would strive to put more love into it.
 G. "Whatsover things are of good report." This means more than per sonal popularity or a favorable repu- tation. It is an easy thing to speak and act in such a way as to meet the acceptance of men, and yet utterly fail to fill the conditions of good re-
 mort" as the Apostle used the expres- sion.