rtttton 
 
 AjJeess -to tlie StuJen-ts 
 
 LI146I6 
 .P32 
 
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rcvtton 
 
 Addiress to He StiiJents 
 
 LD46I6 
 .P32 
 


 w«^ 
 
 "dec 291925 Warfielcl Li^»^^ 
 
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 [An Address to the Students of Princeton 
 University, in Marquand Chapel, Sunday 
 ; afternoon, January 30, 1898. By President 
 : Patton.] , 
 
 At their meeting in October the attention 
 of our Trustees was turned to the recent 
 agitation which has so seriously involved 
 the good name of Princeton University. A 
 committee, of which I was chairman, was 
 appointed to consider the whole subject and 
 , repoit at a subsequent meeting of the Trus- 
 tees. That report was presented and adopt- 
 ed at the meeting held on the 23d of 
 December. It was resolved that a strict 
 literal and impartial enforcement of the ex- 
 isting laws respecting intoxicating drinks 
 be enjoined upon the Faculty ; and that 
 the President of the University be asked to 
 ■ make a statement to the students upon the 
 whole question at such time as may suit his 
 convenience. 
 
 I come before you this afternoon for the 
 : purpose of carrying out the wishes of the 
 Trustees in respect to the second point in 
 i the report just referred to. As we have 
 ;just observed the day of prayer for colleges, 
 j I do not know that a more fitting time 
 I could be chosen for the purpose of bringing 
 • this important subject to your notice. 
 
 I bear grateful testimony to the high 
 ; moral toneof the students of this University. 
 '■ I know that they have been misrepresented 
 ; and misunderstood. Their hilarity, their 
 boisterous outbursts of exuberance, their 
 . song-singing which often has a more i3ac- 
 ■' ehannlian sound than I could wish, and in 
 
 some instances their inexcusable acts of 
 wrong-doing have produced impressions 
 which the facts will not justify; and they 
 have on many occasions been charged with 
 drunkenness for no other reason than that 
 under the influence of the gregarious in- 
 stinct which sometimes assumes an almost 
 irrational mode of expression, animal spirits 
 have been allowed too much freedom, and 
 speech and action have not been kept within 
 those metes and bounds which mature men 
 in the busy walks of life are apt to associate 
 with sobriety. I am sure that so far as 
 good behaviour is concerned the undergrad- 
 uate of Princeton is not behind the under- 
 graduate body of any university in the 
 land ; and I am proud to say, on what I 
 feel is good authority, that the Princeton 
 undergraduate of to-day does not suffer by 
 comparison with the Princeton under- 
 graduate of bygone days. There never 
 was less reason for adverse criticism of 
 Princeton than during the period in which 
 it has been so unsparingly bestowed upon 
 us. I have taken pains to find out the truth, 
 and I am still unshaken in my conviction 
 that the tendency in Princeton is steadily in 
 the direction of a diminished use of alcoholic 
 drini<s. Still, I must not be blind to facts ; 
 and after making all allowance for wilful mis- 
 representation or mistake I am constrained 
 to believe that there is far more of what is 
 called moderate drinking among us than the 
 wisest and best friends of Princeton could 
 wish ; and that there are those among you 
 who are putting tlieir future in peril by 
 the excessive use of stimulants. Instan- 
 
ces of intoxication are comparatively rare, 
 but they nccur nevertheless, and there is a 
 tendency I find, even among some of those 
 who cannot be charged with it themselves, 
 to think too lightl}- of the sin of drunken- 
 ness. I shall not discuss the general ques- 
 tion of intemperance, nor consider the rela- 
 tive degrees of wisdom that characterize 
 the different modes of dealing with it. On 
 the latter question good men, actuated by 
 the purest motives, differ widely, and we as 
 Christian men are bound to respect their con- 
 scientious judgments. Some think that the 
 matter should be dealt with by legislation, 
 either by absolute Prohibition or by the 
 restricted sale of intoxicating drinks. Some, 
 with conscientious regard to individual 
 liberty, are opposed to what are known as 
 sumptuary laws. Wh^n we admit that the 
 sale of a commodity should be restricted 
 we so far forth concede the principle of 
 State control. The question after that is 
 one of degree, and the answer to it is to be 
 found in considerations of expediency and 
 by inquiring which method best serves the 
 end in view. The Prohibitionist must not 
 be scorned as the invader of liberty ; and 
 the advi cate of high license must not be de- 
 nied his right to be regarded as working in 
 the iniert-sis of Temperance. I am not 
 here concerned with the general question 
 as to what is wise legislative policy. 
 It is with the ethical side of Tem- 
 perance and not its political side that I 
 am dealing. It is not of Temperance in 
 general, but of Temperance in Princeton 
 University, that I wish to speak. And 
 
 speaking under even these limitations it is 
 not with the disciplinary side of the ques- 
 tion that I wish to deal in what I say this 
 afternoon'. There is nothing unnatural in 
 the desire of the Trustees for a vigilant en- 
 forcement of what has for many j'ears been 
 the law of the University in regard t<) 
 alcoholic liquors. That law is wise and 
 wholesome; and while I am in full sym- 
 pathy with your feeling that the University 
 man is not to be treated as though he were 
 in a preparatory school, I am ready to take 
 my full share of responsibility for the report 
 which, as Chairman of the Committee deal- 
 ing with the question, I made to the Board 
 of Trustees. I am in full sympathy with 
 the action of the Trustees with regard to 
 the enforcement of the existing law, and I 
 feel that the administration of that law can 
 bo wisely left to the good sense and Christ- 
 ian judgmentof the Dean of this University. 
 In what I say this afternoon I wish 
 to bring the moral influence of this pulpit 
 to bear upon the grave question with which 
 we have to deal. I am sure that 
 the good sense of the better part of 
 the University will be in sympathy with 
 the maintenance of a high disciplinary 
 standard. I am confident that in the long 
 run our course will commend itself to the 
 calm and balanced judgment of the 'Chris- 
 tian public. I believe that we shall find it 
 possible to have such a wise execution of 
 this law as will accomplish the ends which 
 we wish to realize without fostering hypoc- 
 risy or developing the vieu <'f >eerit drinking. 
 But we shall have need of great wisdom, and 
 
I think I may fairly ask all who have the in- 
 terests of Princeton at heart to trust the men 
 who are called to the responsible position of 
 guiding her aftairs. 
 
 There are two classes of men whom I 
 have particularly in mind : those who have 
 already fallen into intemperate habits and 
 those who are in danger of forming those 
 habits. I know that there are some who do 
 not make much of the distinction between 
 these two classes, and who therefore, as they 
 happen to be habitually lenient or severe in 
 their judgments, are apt to waste too much 
 pity on the man who is guilty of habitual in- 
 toxication or else to treat the moderate drink- 
 er as a drunkard. But the distinction is a 
 valid one, and simple justice requires us to 
 make it. Now, I wish to say that drunk- 
 enness is practically an unpardonable sin in 
 our academic life. I do not forget the duty 
 I owe men to counsel, to warn them, and to 
 labour for their improvement. There have 
 been men in all these years of my adminis- 
 tration who know how faithfully they have 
 been dealt with in regard to this sin which 
 ruins both body and soul. But with the 
 utmost desire to reclaim the erring, and 
 making every allowance for the mistakes of 
 youth, it must be understood that a man 
 cannot be guilty of repeated acts of intoxi- 
 cation and continue in this University if 
 his offence is known to the authorities. 
 
 I wish more particularly, however, to say 
 a kindly word to those who are understood to 
 be moderate drinkers. I shall take the liberty 
 of giving them some advice; and thebasis for 
 that advice I must find of course in the New 
 
 Testament 1 do not believe that the mor- 
 alisation of societj' has reached the point of 
 superseding the Bible. I cannot accept 
 any conclusions of the so-called Christian 
 consciousness that would contradict or tran- 
 scend the ethics of Jesus and St. Paul. 
 
 There is, let me say, no great diflBculty 
 in morals where we recognize our duty as 
 defined by objective law. The difl[iculty 
 emerges when the conscience must first issue 
 the command which she has to obey ; for in 
 this case there is required not only the will to 
 do what is seen to be duty, but the clearness 
 of vision necessary to the forming of a con- 
 scientious judgment. I can only hope for 
 my advice that it may help you to form a 
 conscientious judgment. Some of you 
 will remember what Kant said in regard to 
 the autonomy of the will, and how he in- 
 sisted that the law to be moral must be self- 
 legislated. Of course Kant carried this 
 idea too far; but there is nevertheless a 
 sphere of conduct in which the conscience 
 must be autonomous. It is precisely in 
 respect to this very matter of the autonomy 
 of the individual conscience that St. Paul, 
 writing under the influence of Inspiration, 
 makes his conspicuous contribution to 
 Christian Ethics in his great utterance, " If 
 meat make my brother to offend I will eat 
 no meat while the world stands." This is 
 the language in which Paul enunciates his 
 conscientious purpose in respect to a con- 
 crete matter in the light of the principle of 
 Christian expediency. This passage, taken 
 in connection with others of a similar import, 
 may be regarded as giving us the Pauline 
 
doctrine respecting the autonomy of the indi- 
 vidual conscience. According to this doc- 
 trine then there are certain things concerning 
 which there is nn objective law ; and tnere- 
 fore since there is no objective law defin- 
 ing conduct, I am absolutely free in refer- 
 ence to them. Were there any law in regard 
 to these things I should not only be bound 
 by it, but I should be open to the criticism 
 of my fellow-men if I disobeyed it. For bind- 
 ing me and my fellow-men alike it would be 
 the rule of each for himself and the canon by 
 which every man might fairly judge his 
 neighbor. Now in regard to these matters 
 about which there is no objective law, I must 
 occupy the double position of first enunci- 
 ating and then obeying the command that 
 is to rule my will. The consequence of 
 this position is very obvious. If an at- 
 tempt is made to impose an external law 
 upon my conscience which I know is not 
 binding, 1 resent it and assert my liberty ; 
 and I do well in so doing. It is just 
 because so many do not recognize this 
 sphere of the autonomy of the conscience 
 that they undertake to make what they feel 
 is law for them the law for other people 
 also, and so become censorious; and criticise 
 and blame where they have no right to 
 criticise and blame. On the other hand, 
 while I may very properly assert my liberty 
 if it is assailed, I may also conscientiously 
 conclude that it is my duty to forego the 
 exercise of my liberty. In doing this I 
 issue a command, and am as much bound 
 by this subjectively-enunciated command 
 as though it were a binding objective law. 
 
 I do not hold then that the doctrine of 
 Christian expediency resolves itself into 
 prudence. A conscientious judgment of 
 duty is duty, even though it be dictated 
 by a benevolent regard for others 
 or a prudent regard for one's own interest. 
 The voluntary' abstention from the doing of » 
 that which — so far as any objective law is ^ 
 
 concerned — I am at full liberty to do, may r, 
 
 appear to me to be a duty and in so far as r 
 
 it seems to be a duty it is a deliverance of 
 conscience and binding upon me in the 
 sight of God. But it must be understood 
 that while being felf-enunciated I am bound 
 to obey the command, I would if it were 
 not self-enunciated, resent any attempt to 
 impose it upon me from without, seeing that 
 there is no extf^rnal law to serve as a com- 
 mon measure between minds in regard to 
 the matter with which it is concerned. It 
 is easy from this to see the double and what at 
 first appears to be the inconsistent attitude of 
 St. Paul where on the one hand he sharply 
 rebukes the man who presumes to dictate to 
 his neighbour, saying, " Who art thou that 
 judgest another man's servant, to his own ^ 
 
 master he standeth or falleth," and on the f 
 
 other hand exhorts men to use their liberty \ 
 
 under the restraints of the law of Christian y 
 
 charity and for the sake of others refrain 
 from the doing of what in itself considered 
 they are at perfect liberty to do. Of course 
 I am saying nothing new in this account 
 I am giving of the Pauline doctrine of 
 Christian expediency. It is only what the 
 Alexanders and the Hodges and all the great 
 lights of Princeton divinity have said all 
 
along. But I am afraid that in contem- 
 porary discussions of the temperance ques- 
 tion, this principle which it seems to me is 
 vital to the whole controversy is very com- 
 monly Idst sight of or altogether misunder- 
 stood. 
 
 Paul enunciates the duty of having a 
 benevolent regard for the conscience of the 
 weak brother in connection with a discus- 
 sion regarding the practice of eating meats 
 offered to iduls. The apostle would do noth- 
 ing that would weaken the moral purpose 
 or shake the moral integrity of his neigh- 
 bour even though the thing he refrained 
 from doing was perfectly innocent in itself 
 To eat meat offered to idols was not in- 
 trinsically wrong : but in the judgment of 
 some this might seem like a concession to 
 idolatry : and under these circumstances 
 the apostle would refrain from the exercise 
 of his liberty. In other words, says Paul, 
 we are to consider not only what our own 
 conscience has to say, but how our act may 
 affect the consciences of others. I must not 
 do what my conscience allows if in doing 
 so I tempt my neighbour to do what his 
 conscience condemns, since for him to act 
 in violation of his conscience would be for 
 him to sin. " Conscience I say then not 
 thine own but of the other." Now I ven- 
 ture to say that we all recognize this great 
 altruistic principle. For all to whom the 
 New Testament is authoritative, the prin- 
 ciple is an objective law. The carrying out 
 of that law must, in the nature of the case, 
 be largely left to the individual conscience. 
 Men apply this principle in different ways 
 
 in regard to the use of wine. Some consci- 
 entiously abstain at all times; some as 
 conscientiously are governed in their ab- 
 stinence by considerations of time, place and 
 circumstances. We must not charge men 
 with hypocrisy or intemperance or fanatic- 
 ism because they do not agree with us in 
 the application of a principle which we all 
 alike recognize as obligatory. But you 
 and I should ask ourselves the question, 
 How can I best carry out this great prin- 
 ciple? Speaking, then, to you to-day I 
 could wish that there might grow up in 
 your hearts the feeling that you ought not 
 to do any thing that will endanger the 
 Christian manhood of one of your friends 
 or classmates. Let us begin to put this 
 Pauline principle in practice in the spheres 
 where our influence is most palpable. The 
 way to feel the power of the principle is to 
 apply it in concrete cases. The weak 
 brother who so easily loses his self- 
 control, who is so easily overcome by 
 temptation, is constantly giving you the 
 opp )rtunity to put in practice the Pauline 
 doctrine. I venture to say that most of 
 you have a weak brother among your ac- 
 quaintances. He is your room-mate or a 
 member of your club, or he belongs to the 
 same athletic organization, or he goes with 
 you on the trip of the Glee Club. He is 
 apt to be what is known as a nice fellow, 
 generous, warm-hearted, buoyant, full 
 of good impulses ; and you love him. 
 Here is a chance for you to act on Paul's 
 principle. I am sure that you and I have 
 acted on this principle a great many times. 
 
Let us continue to act on it, and we shall 
 find that the area of altruistic abstention 
 from what is allowable is constantly widen- 
 ing. We shall find ourselves saying: "All 
 things are lawful for me but all things are 
 not expedient." And if in due time this 
 principle should take the form of a univer- 
 sal proposition, so far as the use of alcoholic 
 liquors is concerned, you will have the 
 satisfaction of feeling that the law in this 
 universal form is not one which has been 
 forced upon you from without, but one that 
 has emanated from your own conscience, 
 that it is binding upon you because self- 
 legislated ; and that it leaves you free from 
 any tendency to a censorious judgment of 
 your neighbor, whose application of the 
 Pauline principle of benevolent regard for 
 others is confined to concrete instances and 
 is conditioned by time, place and circum- 
 stances. 
 
 But besides your benevolent regard for 
 your neighbor I think I may wisely ask 
 you to have a prudent regard for your 
 own best interests. If any duty is intu- 
 itively given us in consciousness it is 
 Temperance, I mean the duty of self-con- 
 trol. Let me caution you, then, against 
 habits which put this self-control in peril. 
 In doing this I feel sure that I can count 
 on the moral support of a great many who 
 themselves hold no extreme positions. There 
 are a great many men in mature life who 
 have no conscientious scruples againt tak 
 ing an occasional glass of wine, who, never- 
 theless, feel that it is not a good thing fur 
 young men in college to contract the habit 
 
 of drinking even in the most moderate way. 
 I confess that my conscience is in accord 
 with this feeling. You are young, you are 
 in health, you suffer from no depression of 
 spirits, you enjoy life in abundance ; there 
 is no reason why you should seek to have it 
 more abundantly in the temporary exhilara- 
 tion thatcomes from alcohol in either its dif- 
 fused or concentrated fonu. I feel sure that the 
 good sense of temperate people everywhere 
 will approve of our law respecting intoxi- 
 cating drinks whatever may be their individ- 
 ual opinion respecting the political doctrine 
 of prohibition or the moral doctrine of total 
 abstinence. And so I come to you this after- 
 noon and ask for your co-operation with us 
 in promoting Temperance in Princeton 
 University by giving this law your consci- 
 entious support. I confess that I have on 
 more than one occasion been gratified and 
 strengthened by the example of men who 
 have no conscientious scruples against the 
 moderate use of wine, who have used it and 
 would use it again if they desired to, but 
 who have, if I may say so, outgrown the 
 use of it and have ceased to care for it. I am 
 not indifferent to the excesses I sometimes see; 
 but I hope I am correct in supposing — this 
 at least is my observation, and this is what I 
 am told by men who are far better able to 
 judge than I am — that there is a tendency 
 in social life if not to a diminished use of 
 wine at least to the use of it in diminished 
 quantity. The man of the world's social 
 philosophy, unless I greatly err, is looking 
 in the direction of moderation. Let us carry 
 this social philosophy a little further. Let 
 
us lift up a high standard in respect to the 
 great duty of self-control. Let us dis- 
 countenance convivial drinking. Lot us 
 avoid the habitual use of stimulants in any 
 form. I know I am safe in giving you this 
 advice. 1 know that if you will act upon 
 J. it it will be to your advantage. It will at 
 least eliminate one of the contingencies 
 from the problem of your success in life. I 
 
 should be sorrv if the professional career of 
 ft " • 
 
 any one of you were blighted by habits of 
 
 conviviality contracted here. I should be 
 sorry to see you start in the great race of life 
 under the terrible handicap of ill repute. 
 
 My brother, I envy you your place in 
 this world. You are in the morning of 
 life. You are on the threshold of your 
 manhood. You have a future. Your 
 prospects ^re bright. But a great struggle 
 is befure you. You need the unhampered 
 use of all your powers : good health, an 
 unclouded mind, trained intellect, good 
 manners, strict integrity, high moral pur- 
 pose, indomitable energ}'. You have great 
 advantage in education. But you will 
 meet your match in the keen competition 
 of business and professional life. You will 
 from the very outset of yo\u career be en- 
 gaged in a great fight with circumstances. 
 Success will mean that you have the 
 power in no small degree of influentially 
 affecting the lives of other men, of inspiring 
 their confidence, controlling their judgment, 
 shaping their conduct. But you must first 
 learn the lesson of self-control ; you must 
 rule your own spirit if you are to be master- 
 ful among men. You must fight out to 
 
 the finish the great battle of duty against 
 inclination, of reason against appetite, of 
 conscience against lust, of the spirit against 
 the flesh. I do not feel much confidence 
 in the world's panaceas. They work too 
 much on the outside. Your life is the pro- 
 duct of inner principle and external environ- 
 ment. The world's schemes of reformation 
 make too much of circumstances and too 
 little of character. I would lessen temptation 
 were it in my power ; but I would also have 
 )ou know that the great moral victories 
 are gained in the face of temptations and by 
 giving them battle. I would do all that 
 can be done to make your environment 
 here favorable to moral life. Let legisla- 
 tion put what restrictions on evil it wisely 
 can. Let academic law find strict enforce- 
 ment. Let public sentiment exert deterrent 
 influence. Let there be such a spirit of 
 high-toned behaviour among our students 
 that men will fear the penalty of social dis- 
 approval. Let the influence of religion, the 
 sweet memories of home, and the prayers 
 and counsels, the hopes and ambitions of 
 fathers and mothers whose yearning hearts 
 in these their declining years are turning in 
 strong, tender, unselfish, anxious affection 
 toward you, invite you to live the manly, up- 
 right. Christian life. But when all is done 
 we shall find that it is in the very centre of 
 your being that the work of reformation 
 must begin. It is here that the profound 
 philosophy of Christianity reveals itself. 
 For it and it alone can subdue the will, 
 can sanctify the affections, can change the 
 heart, can regenerate the character. And 
 
 \/ 
 
it is in the hope that you will know the 
 power of the gospel that I summon you to 
 take up arms at once against the fleshly lusts 
 that war against the soul. Fight appetite. 
 Learn lessons from your training for other 
 contests. Keep your body under. Don't 
 break y< ur moral training. You may win 
 another and a brighter garland for the 
 brow of your alma mater. You may add 
 another star to the crown of her rejoicing. 
 For your own sake, and fur her sake, and 
 for the world's sake, and for the sake of 
 Him who came to seek and to save you, 
 determine now to win the great battle of your 
 life which shall make you master of yourself. 
 I do not think that this battle against 
 appetite will be so easily won by some of you. 
 I do not think that any of us is so safe that he 
 can aiford to boast. '• Let him that thiiikcth 
 he standeth take heed lest he fall." It is 
 a constant battle with temptation in some 
 form or other that we have to fight. And 
 notwithstanding holy influence without and 
 high principle within ; in s-pite of public 
 sentiment, and righteous law, and warn- 
 ing conscience, and religious faith, and 
 hallowed memories, and hopes and fears, 
 and the softening touch of grief, and 
 the calm of quiet Sabbath days, a man may 
 yet in some unguarded moment be the victim 
 of his besetting sin. Do you not remember 
 what George Herbert says : — 
 Lord, with what care hast Thou begirt us 
 
 round ! 
 Parents first season us; then school-masters 
 Deliver us to laws ; they send us, bound 
 To rules of reason, holy messengers, 
 
 Pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin. 
 Afllictions sorted, anguish of all sizes, 
 Fine nets and stratagems to catch us in, 
 Bibles laid open, millions of surprises ; 
 
 Blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness, 
 The sound of glory ringing in our ears. 
 Without our shame ; within, our cm 
 
 sciences ; 
 Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears, j 
 
 Yet all these fences, and their whole array 
 One cunning bosom sin blows quite away. 
 
 I have been speaking with especial refer- j 
 ence to one form of temptation. But youj 
 know that the Bible doctrine of temperance! 
 eyKpcLTeia does not have any exclusive refer- 
 ence to matters of meat and drink. Therel 
 are other temptations besides those thatS 
 have been specially referred to. You need! 
 to learn this duty of self-control with refer- 
 ence to your whole moral life. And the! 
 best aid to your moral life is religious faith. 
 It is when you feel your weakness that you 
 are really strong. It is when most con- 
 scious of insufficiency that 3'ou will feelj 
 that your sufficiency is of God Learn to 
 distrust yourself and lean on Christ. Lay 
 aside every weight and the sin that doth I 
 so easily beset you and run with patience 
 the race that is set before you, looking untoj 
 Jesus. 
 
 " Now unto Him that is able to keep you 
 from falling and to preserve you faultless 
 before the presence of His glory with ex- 
 ceeding joy, to the dnly wise God our 
 Saviour, be glory, and majesty, dominion] 
 and power, both now and forever. Amen. 
 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
 Slocltton, Calif. 
 
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LD4616.P32 
 
 An address to the students of Princeton 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00077 1735