The sun., 1909-06-28
HADLEY on "F.AITH IN MAN."
Conndence In Those About Us Necessary
to Ultimate Success.


New HAVEN. June 27.-President Had
ley Of Yale to-day preached tn" bacca-
laureate sermon to the graduating class,
taking Faith in Man rs his theme, His
text was
Lord. who shall abide in Thy taber-
nacle? who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly. and worketh
Righteousness. and speaketh the truth
in his heart. He that backbiteth not
with his tongue. nor doeth evil to his
neighbor. not taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor. Psalms xv Is.
President Hadlcy said in part:
man must have two sides TO his goodness.
a personal side and social side. lie must
be upright himself and he must believe in
the good intentions and possibilities Of
others about him.
We recognize the FIRST OF these things
We know that the leader must have prin-
ciples Of his own. that he must stand for
something definite which he is prepared to
maintain through evil report and good
report. We do not, I think. recognize the
second OF these things to an equal degree.
We do not appreciate how necessary 1t Is
for man 10 believe in those about him Just
Just as fully as he can. Yet this also is
condition OF leadership.
No matter how high the ideals for which
We stand, We cannot expect others TO follow
us unless We have confidence in them. We
c:nnot expect devotion II we return it with
distrust We cannot expect cooperation
unless we are prepared to give freely OF
ollr confidence. The man who lacks faith
In other men loses his best chances 10 work
and gradually undermines his own power
and his own character.
The man who has this faith in other men
gets his work done and impresses his own
personality and ideals upon his age and
his nation. II was this faith in men which
made David. with all his faults, a worthy
forerunner OF Jesus Christ. II was this
faith in men which distinguished Isaiah
from jeremiah or Ezekiel and raised him
out OF the ranks OF the other prophets as
dist inctively the herald OF the Christian
plan OF saliva alton. II was this faith In men
which marked every stage OF the work OF
Jesus Christ himself.
II IL not hard TO see this when we study
the history OF rei gion. II Is hard to realize
It's decisive Importance In the incidents OF
our daily life Yet it is Just as essential
to-day as il ever was
We have our life work before us-a vast
working In cooperation with Others and
also In competition with them. The COM
petitive system Is a good one-an essentially
Christian one. The paraoia or the ten talents
lays down the theory OF competition as
fundamental part OF the Christian doctrine.
Now We as ambitious men are not only
ready but anxious to go into honorable
competition. We believe that we can do
some ething for the world and we are ready
TO stand by the results to make what we do
the test for leadership. But while we are
engaged in this work there comes tempter
who says: You are making a mistake TO
put your attention solely upon your work.
You are intent upon doing what is o be done.
This would be all right II all others were
doing the same thing. But they are not.
They are bending their energies toward
getting credit for what Ii being done.
The only way to stop this evil is 70 resist
it at [ he very outset. We must avoid the
habit OF listening to such suggestions. II
man who calls himself a friend makes
them he Is no friend. II man singled out
some one occurrence OF my life. came TO
me with a distorted account OF it and then
said thar it was typical OF my whole career
and conduct ! ahould order him to leave the
house. and 80 would you under similar cir
cumstances. II we were equally ready 10
do the same thing in behalf OF our friends
when charges or insinuations are made
behind their backs modern society would
be healthier and more efficient than II is at
present.
Gentlemen Of the graduating class. the
scholars and scientific men Of the country
have sometimes been reproached with a.
certain indiff erence TO the feelings and senti-
ments OF their fellow men. 1t has been said
that their critical faculty is developed more
strongly than their constructive instinct:
that their brain has been nourished at the
expense Of their heart; that what they have
gained in breadth Of vision hss been out
weig he'd by loss Of human sympathy.
IL is for you to prove the falseness OF this
charge, II is for you to show by your life
and your utterances that you believe in the
men who are working with you and about
you. There will probably be times when
this is q hard task. We already know that
q man learns to love God by loving his fel-
low men. Equally true We shall find IL
that man learns to believe in God BY be-