The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-09-15
THE PULPIT.
IN ELOQUENT BACeAlAUREATE
SERMON BY PRESIDENT
HADLEY, OF YALE.
Theme: Faith in Man.

LIE UdCCdld IA CoIS y A4o sN~
faculty and students in the chapel in
New Haven. His subject was Faith
In Man" He took his text from
Psalms 1918: Lord, who shal!
abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall
dwell in Thy holy hill? He that
walketh uprightly, and worketh
righteousness, and speaketh the truth
in his heart. He that backbieth not
with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his
neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbour" In the course
Of his sermon President Hadley said:
In order to accomplish anything
great; a man must have two sides to
his goodness: a personal side and a
social side. He must be upright him
self 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 principles 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 ap-
preciate how necessary it Is for a
man to believe in those about him
Just as far as he can and cooperate
with them just as fully as he can.
Yet this also is a condition Of leader
ship. No matter how high the ideals
for which we stand, we cannot expect
others to follow US unless we have
confidence in them. We cannot ex-
pect devotion If we return it with
distrust. We cannot expect cooper
alton unless we are prepared to give
freely of our confidence. The man
who lacks faith in other men loses
his best chances to work, and gradu-
ally undermines his W power n
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. It was this faith in
men which made David, with all his
faults, a worthy %forerunner Of Jesus
Christ. It was this faith in men
which marked every stage of the
work of Jesus Christ Himself.
It is not hard to see this when we
study the history of religion. 1t Is
had to realize its decisive Importance
in the incidents of our daily life.
Yet it is just as essential to-day as 1t
ever was.
Now we, as ambitious men, are not
only ready, but anxious, to go into
honorable competition. We believe
that we can do something 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-whether
it be in law or In business, in poll
tics or in scientific discoVery-there
comes a tempter who says: You are
making a mistake to put your atten-
ton solely upon your work. You
will never get on in this way. You
are intent upon doing what is to be
done. This would be all right if all
others were doing the same thing.
But they are not. They are bending
their energies toward getting credit
for what Is being done-not only the
credit that belongs to them, but the
credit that belongs to you. Insens1-
bly,, we begin to believe these intima-
tons; insensihly we pay a little less
attention to- our work and a little
more to keeping ahead Of our fell
lows. Suspicion takes the place Of
cooperation We enter into a con-
test with those who ought to be our
friends. Sometimes we win the con-
test, sometimes we lose 1t. Whether
we win or lose, the work itself Is
sacrificed. We remain at best leaders
of a cause where there Is nothing
worth leading.
The mar who is cynical, whether
about women, or business, or poll
tics, Is assumed-and in nineteen
cases out of twenty, with full justice
to be immoral in his relations to
women or business or politics. The
man who has faith in the integrity
Of others in the face of irresponsible
accusations is assumed-and in nine
teen cases out of twenty justly as
sumed-to have the confidence in
others goodness because he Is a good
mar himself. This is why people will
follow the optimist even though he is
sometimes wrong, and shun the pes
simist ever though he is sometimes
right.
It does not make much difference
what IS the law or what is the creed
of the church, in comparison with
the question what's the habitual at
titude of men toward their neigh
bors. Not only the man who origin
ates ISLANDERS, but the man who idly
repeats them, or even lends ready
credence to them, is poisoning the
sources Of public opinion. One of the
1.rst things that Is prohibited in war
fare as soon as nations begin to be-
come civilized is the poisoning OF
wells. Yet we too often allow in
lines of peace the poisoning OF the
:, ellis of public opinion by tie light
repetition of unfounded reproact
against ones neightor.
The prophets who preceded Jesus
criticised the evils of their time just
as unsparingly as did Jesus Himself,
and at far greater length. The thing
tr1t He had and that they had not
was the belief in the essential good
ness of humanity, which would re-
srond positively to the gospel Of self
sacrifice. He that would follow in
the footsteps Of the Master must be
prepared, not simply to stand upright
himself, but to have faith that others
will stand by him.
Gentlemen of the graduating class:
The scholars and scientific men Of
the country have sometimes been re-
preached with a certain Indifference
to the feelings and sentiments 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 o. their
hnnrt. TINT mnat they have, gained In