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 BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED ON THE 
 
 SABBATH BEFORE COMMENCEMENT, 
 
 SEPTEMBER 15, 18 50 
 
 SENIOR CLASS OF PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE, 
 
 BY REV. C. P. KRAUTH, D. D. 
 
 President of Pennsylvania College. 
 
 » — ~-^^,<v^©^-@#*/ 
 
 GETTYSBURG: 
 
 PRINTED BY H. C. NEINSTEDT. 
 
 1850. 
 
In Exchange 
 
 Peabody Inst, of Balto* 
 
 June 14 1927 
 
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 4oVl 
 1?50 
 
 Pennsylvania College, September 16th, 1850. 
 To Rev. C. P. Krauth, D. D. 
 
 It is our agreeable duty, in behalf of the Senior Class, to solicit for 
 publication a copy of the very interesting and instructive Baccalaureate Ad- 
 dress, delivered before them yesterday morning. 
 
 Most respectfully, Yours, &c. 
 
 M. VALENTINE, 
 DANIEL GARVER, 
 SAMUEL YINGLING, 
 WM. J. CARROLL, 
 C. J. EHREHART. 
 
 Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Sept. 17th, ]S50. 
 
 To the Committee of the 
 
 Senior Class of Pennsylvania College : — 
 
 I have but one objection to complying with the request contained in 
 your polite note of yesterday, and that is, that I do not consider the dis- 
 course deserving of publication. I cannot, however, obtain my own consent 
 to decline the request of a class to which I feel so much attached, and will 
 accordingly put the manuscript into the hands of your Committee at an early 
 period. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 C. P. KRAUTH. 
 Messrs. Valentine, Garver, Ying- 
 ling, Carroll & Ehrehart. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Ephes. 6: 11. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be 
 able to stand against the iviles of the Devil. 
 
 Young Gentlemen op the Senior Class : 
 
 You have passed through the period of preparation for 
 professional study, or efficient action in the world, an import- 
 ant stadium of your earthly existence. Thus far all has been 
 well, creditable to you, and will be properly remunerated at a 
 period near at hand. You will be crowned with the academic 
 wreath, and be the observed of the observers. From this time, 
 disengaging yourselves from the trammels of College life and 
 its cloistered retirement, you will advance to a broader theatre, 
 and commence to play a part of more significance and power. 
 In a higher degree than heretofore, you will be your own mas- 
 ters, the shapers of your own destiny. Your task is increased, 
 your responsibility enlarged, and the necessity is produced of 
 a multiplication of your efforts. Now you are on the line, 
 which passed, places you in a new region, and it is natural 
 for you to look around to inspect it, and to see what it offers 
 to you. Some of your fellow men have so long occupied 
 this territory, and have made themselves so well acquainted 
 with it, that you may gladly avail yourselves of the in forma- 
 tion they can give you and profit by their experience. I pro- 
 pose on the present occasion, being your Senior, to act in this 
 capacity, and hope that you will attend to and heed the last 
 instruction which you will receive from me in the relation still 
 existing between us. 
 
 It is human life, in its distinctive features and its duties, to 
 which your attention is invited. First, What is it ? and sec- 
 ond, How is it to be encountered — arc the topics. 
 
First, What is it? In describing it, and the mode by which 
 it is to be encountered, I shall be guided by the passage se- 
 lected as a text, and consider it as the march of a soldier with 
 the accoutrements which are subservient to his purposes. It 
 is not, I remark, a pleasant march over fertile territories, pre- 
 senting every thing that we desire. It is not our design to in- 
 dulge in a querulous strain, and to find fault with the great 
 Creator. Far be such impiety from us! The world in which 
 we live, though marred by the fall, and shorn of much of its 
 pristine loveliness, and not to be described as an Eden and re- 
 presented as presenting the spectacle of the wolf dwelling with 
 the lamb, and the leopard lying down with the kid and the 
 calf, and the young lion and the fading together, and a little 
 child leading them, and the cow and the bear feeding and 
 their young ones lying down together, the lion eating straw 
 like an ox ; the suckling child playing on the hole of the asp, 
 and the weaned child putting his hand on the cockatrice's den ; 
 no hurting or destroying in all God's holy mountain — and 
 though properly described as groaning and travailing in pain 
 altogether until now; made subject to vanity, not willingly, 
 but by reason of him who hath subjected the same — still it is 
 a beautiful world, it has numerous objects to delight the eye 
 and regale the senses, innumerable aptitudes to operate pleas- 
 antly and beneficially upon man. It speaks loudly of the 
 goodness of its former, and proclaims unceasingly the benefi- 
 cence of its preserver, praises ever the love from whence it 
 originated. It must be admitted that provision has been made, 
 ample provision, by the munificence of God, for the happiness 
 of man, and to deny that man has many and great enjoyments 
 in life, is either to impugn the bounty of God, or to overrate 
 the evils of man's apostacy. We have no sympathy with 
 those croakers, who, commencing with the denial that earth 
 is a paradise, conclude with characterizing it as a pandemo- 
 nium. Human life, then, if the most be made of it, may be 
 eminently happy. Many of its miseries are of our own crea- 
 tion, and though it is true that the race is not always to the 
 swift or the battle to the strong, this I conceive is the excep- 
 
tion and the contrary is the rule. The description, however, 
 to be rendered just, must be accompanied with some abate- 
 ment. If entering upon life we expect to march through it 
 without witnessing any thing disagreeable, and encountering 
 no trial ; if, in other words, we expect that ail will be smooth 
 and equable, and no calamity come across our way, we are 
 destined to be disappointed, and to find that afflictions, various 
 in kind and differing in intensity, are allotted man. Such has 
 been the experience of men in all ages and all circumstances 
 — from the renowned sufferer of Idumea down to the last re- 
 corded experience of human life ; it is of few days and full of 
 trouble ; oft a dreary waste and here and there an oasis to re- 
 fresh and strengthen us. Such is not human existence as it 
 appears to the young, perhaps to you, my young friends, fancy, 
 hope, delusive hope paint it in different colors; you see be- 
 fore you a fairy scene, all the objects are delightful, they smile, 
 they beckon you to come — but as the wise man more than in- 
 timates, when he teaches us to remember our Creator in the 
 days of our youth, the evil days will come and those in 
 which we shall say we have no pleasure in them. 
 
 If, then, you are not to indulge in morose, morbid feelings, 
 and to expect nothing but calamity and woe, do not, on the 
 other hand, think that pleasure and joy will attend your every 
 step, and that your progress to eternity will be attended with 
 unalloyed gratifications. 
 
 Human life is not an unopposed progress towards its great 
 end. What is the great end of life? The attainment of a meet- 
 ness for a blissful immortality. In other words, it is holiness, 
 conformity to the law of God, assimilation to the moral per- 
 fections of God, imitating the virtues which adorned the life 
 of the Son of God. It is the duty of every man, under the 
 tuition of Jesus, to become prepared for eternal glory. Sup- 
 pose such is our conviction — suppose we have entered upon 
 the career, believers in Christ, and we must believe or we will 
 perish — for he that believeth not shall be damned, nevertheless 
 it will be necessary for us to move forward in the discipline of 
 goodness, until, having undergone a sufficient probation and 
 
8 
 
 brought to maturity our character, we are qualified for a higher 
 sphere ; until that time, it is to be remembered that our life 
 will encounter opposition, the opposition of intelligence and 
 great power, directed by wily agents, unwearied in their efforts 
 to defeat our purposes. It is called, in the passage at the 
 head of our remarks, the wiles of the Devil, and in the same 
 connection we are informed, that we wrestle not, or carry 
 on a contest with flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, 
 the rulerr of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wicked- 
 ness in high places. 
 
 Opposition, then, will be made : 1st, by human agency — 
 flesh and blood, our own and that of others. In life, man 
 finds a foe in his own corrupt heart, and no less in the beings 
 of the same nature with whom he is surrounded. He encoun- 
 ters a world hostile to godliness and meets foes from the spirit 
 world highly intellectual, of great attainments, of skillful 
 strategy, of indomitable perseverance and marked prowess. 
 Singular as the constitution may appear to us, it is neverthe- 
 less real, that in the universe of God there are degraded be- 
 ings, whose element is mischief — the foes of God, the foes of 
 man, who looking with envy on man's happiness, and deter- 
 mined to defeat him in the pursuit of it, conspiring to ruin him 
 and exerting great might to effect it, hover around and about 
 to molest and to annoy, and availing themselves of every mo- 
 ment of security, watching every season of inaction, use it for 
 the accomplishment of their bad ends. Such does the Bible 
 teach us is man's condition, and there is much in human ex- 
 perience to sustain its declarations. This is the expectation 
 that you are to form. Sometimes your enemy may stand in 
 front of you, and challenge you to combat. He may display 
 his horrid front and bid you defiance. He may summon all 
 his terrors to throw a panic into your spirit, and send forth his 
 lion roar that every fibre in you may quiver. At another time, 
 his attack may be more insidious, in the flank, or in the rear, but 
 none the less deadly. He may appear with a flag of truce, that 
 he may take you by surprise, and effect an advantage over you. 
 But by whatever means he aims to bring about his purpose and 
 
 ! 
 
9 
 
 effect your ruin, he cannot be concealed. His wiles are too 
 well known to admit of much doubt. Carelessness alone can 
 give him any vantage ground. He may seek to seduce you 
 to the false, lure you to compromit the truth, but the father of 
 lies stands revealed in your sight. He may seek to induce 
 you to act unjustly and to trample on righteousness in your 
 dealings with men, but the enemy of righteousness will not 
 be hid. He may try to lull you into inactivity and paralyze 
 your energies; but by unmistakable evidence you will dis- 
 cover the perverter of God's laws. He may attempt to throw 
 doubt over the evidences of your faith, but the sophist and 
 the perverter will not be concealed. He may aim to destroy 
 your hope, and to infuse despair, but his misrepresentations 
 will be glaring in the light of divine truth. He may revile 
 the throne of God, as emanating no mercy, but your cherished 
 experience will detect and expose the shallow artifice and its 
 propagator. Expect, then, on the right and the left, from 
 within and without, to experience influences subtile yet power- 
 ful, repressing your onward progress, your upward tendencies, 
 the high, noble aspirations of your renovated nature, aiming to 
 blight your highest, your most cherished hopes. 
 
 How few of us start in life with any such views; how few 
 think that the foe, like a staunch murderer, steady to his pur- 
 pose, will pursue us through every lane of life; will hang on 
 and hurl his fiery darts — darts poisoned with a deadly venom, 
 the inflamed wounds of which create great anguish and de- 
 mand for their cure a most painful surgery. Remember then 
 that if you are in the territories of the great King, those territo- 
 ries are in revolt, and though you may be loyal subjects and 
 have no sympathy with rebellion, yet you live in the midst of 
 it, and will feel its influence from day to day. For if you be 
 good men and true, and you had better not be at all than to be 
 any thing else— for it was said of one who occupied that position, 
 that it would be well for him if he never had been born, and 
 when he died a violent death that he went to his own place, 
 you will be identified with God in the great contest he is car- 
 rying on with the enemies of light ; his friends will be your 
 2 
 
10 
 
 friends, his foes will be your foes, his victories will be yours, 
 and in his glories you will share. 
 
 Strongly should the mind be impressed with the serious- 
 ness, the solemnity of life. It is not a frolic ; it is not sport ; 
 it is not repose ; it is not, as we have laid down in the point 
 we are treating, an unopposed progress. If it is not an unim- 
 portant position to be either constantly in sight of a powerful 
 enemy, ready at every moment for battle, withholding his 
 hands merely because you are on the alert, or to know that he 
 is in ambush, in vast force, waiting till he can obtain a favor- 
 able opportunity to crush you ; so is it not, to be, as we are, 
 marching under the Captain of salvation to another country, 
 in the face of a foe of practiced skill, a tried warrior, a veteran 
 Captain with well disciplined troops, who, though often de- 
 feated, has been flushed with victory in many an encounter. 
 
 The fact and the magnitude of this opposition the Bible 
 sets before us and very amply, indeed, in the passages imme- 
 diately connected with the text. It is true, and this is our 
 great consolation, that mighty foe is doomed — he has been 
 subdued in the great contest in which he engaged with the 
 Son of God, his final overthrow is certain ; but yet he has 
 strength for a little while, and during his day, he may and 
 he will be the author of many sorrows. 
 
 I remark in regard to human life that it is not a sinecure. 
 This would follow, as a matter of course, from what has been 
 said. Deep solicitude, as to its result, and active efforts, are 
 certainly appropriate. Levity is not suitable to beings who 
 have such an existence as we have. Propeily weighed, hu- 
 man life will appear to us an immense trust, and cannot but 
 strike us as demanding serious enquiry how it may be made 
 to fulfill its end. With deep solicitude that it may not be a 
 curse, but a blessing to us — that it may conduce to human 
 weal and to no man's sorrow — that God's glory may be pro- 
 moted by it and all human beings pronounce it praise-worthy, 
 should we turn to and salute it — address to it our energies and 
 consecrate to it our talents, our attainments, whatever we have 
 of physical power or moral force. 
 
11 
 
 Before we pass to our second head, we recapitulate and say, 
 Human life is a mixed scene, a cup in which, with a pleasant 
 draught, there is bitterness intermingled ; beset with difficul- 
 ties and exposed to hostile incursions of wily foes, of deadly 
 hate, a continual warfare, a never-decided contest; whilst it is 
 prolonged, full of solemn, trying scenes, awaking thought, and 
 stirring emotion powerfully within, summoning to action — the 
 signal for the onset often falling on our ears. Such is life, not 
 as painted in novels, not as pictured in the unsanctifled muse, 
 but as portrayed by the pencil of inspiration — as sketched in 
 the word of God, as experienced by holy men whose memoirs 
 are contained in our sacred books, and as realized by all wher- 
 ever born, wherever living, in whatever condition either of ele- 
 vation or depression. 
 
 Hoid is life to be encountered? With an intelligent view 
 of its nature and our capacity, it cannot but appear to us 
 formidable, and we ought anxiously to enquire whether, in 
 our own unaided strength, it must be met. The answer is 
 not difficult. Life will be a failure, or in other words, it will 
 not be successful; our enemies will triumph and we be dis- 
 comfited, unless aid be afforded us superior to our own. — 
 Strength we need, but that strength must be infused into us 
 by supernatural power. We must be strong in the Lord and 
 in the power of his might. We must feel our own insuffi- 
 ciency and regard our sufficiency as of God, and turning to 
 him, rely upon his power to uphold us. It is the greatest 
 of errors and fatal to all our interests to presume on our own 
 might; "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he 
 fall." Many have fallen because they placed undue reliance 
 on themselves. Many will fall because turning away from 
 God, they will be without strength in the time of trial. In 
 our text, the experienced veteran in the Redeemer's service, 
 exhorts us, in view of the powerful adversaries arrayed against 
 us, to put on the whole armor of God. The panoply we 
 need is furnished by God ; and it has efficiency the greatest; 
 it is divinely efficacious. Not carnal but mighty are the wea- 
 pons which we should wield. But what aie they — what is 
 
12 
 
 this panoply? There are various pieces all important, each 
 performing a distinct service, the whole constituting an entire 
 defence, and affording the means of aggressive agency of the 
 most effective stamp. Examining each, we find first presented 
 to us truth, the girdle of truth. This is to brace us up, and 
 preserve our powers in due tone ; to give them vigor, and en- 
 able them to act energetically. Truth, whether considered as 
 knowledge residing in the understanding, whether pertaining 
 to this or a future world, is essential to man in the execution 
 of the task assigned him. 
 
 The love of truth, in its highest forms, is characteristic of 
 a regenerated nature. Revealed truth should be sought by us 
 as hid treasure, and should be garnered up in our hearts. It 
 is our light in the path of life, our guide in our journey, our 
 map in the enemies' territory, our directory in our spiritual 
 campaign. Truth in our intercourse with men, the opposite 
 of falsehood and insincerity — the communication of what we 
 design and the performance of what we promise, can never be 
 lost sight of without serious detriment to our moral good. It 
 is the true man, the man who hales lying, falsehood, decep- 
 tion, who sweareth to his hurt and changeth not, that is strong 
 and contending with the enemy, he confendeth with advan- 
 tage. Righteousness is another part of this armor. It is the 
 breastlate which we should wear. What is it? The love 
 of justice, equity, reciprocity, veneration for the maxim : "as 
 ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them." 
 It gives to every man his due. It withholds no just claim, it 
 refuses the payment of no just debt. It exacts no unrewarded 
 services. It claims no more than it allows. A righteous man 
 walks by the law of his God, and makes that law the rule of 
 his life, and in doing so, he feels that he has moral power, he 
 is not weakened by the loss of confidence in his fellow-men, 
 he is not debilitated by the reproaches of his own heart. An 
 unrighteous man is weak; his breast is exposed, the enemy 
 attacking him obtains an easy victory, but honest in his pur- 
 poses, honest in his acts, devouring no widows' houses and 
 taking no bread from the orphan, no man's oppressor, but 
 
13 
 
 rather submitting to wrong that he may not do injury to others, 
 he is powerfully defended against every hostile attack, and no 
 weapon formed against him can prosper. He has a breast- 
 plate wherewith he can quench all the fiery darts of the 
 wicked one. 
 
 Another part of this armor is alacrity, readiness, quickness 
 in action, the opposite of indolence, of delay, of procrastina- 
 tion, styled in the language of Paul : being shod or sandalled 
 with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. It is certainly 
 the design of our Maker that we should not pass our life in 
 inactivity, or repose. Our own interests, the proper culti- 
 vation of our minds and hearts, the interests of others variously 
 related to us, call upon us to have our powers stretched to the 
 highest tension, and to exert ourselves in every prescribed di- 
 rection with untiring zeal. Our motto should be, "always 
 ready" ; our feet should be prepared to move swiftly in the 
 way of duty. Happiness in the future will much depend on 
 the full use of all your privileges, on the proper application of 
 all your resources, on the cultivation of habits of industry 
 and prompt action. If the flesh rebel and ask for rest, the 
 flesh must be and it can be conquered, and when once you 
 have learned, and you have already made, I trust, respectable 
 progress in this direction, you will find it easy, and the task 
 will become a pleasure, and by a wonderful metamorphosis, 
 the indolent body will become the impulsive agent in the ef- 
 forts of life. I can safely recommend this as a powerful in- 
 strument in your onward progress; as a tried weapon against 
 your sworn foe. An inactive army, an indolent soldier, and 
 in the time of war — these are utterly inadmissible. Nothing 
 but disaster and destruction await those who occupy the seat 
 of war, and thus demean themselves. 
 
 So has it been, in many sad instances, with young men of 
 fine talents and extensive attainments, of much promise, and 
 whose brilliant opening career has attracted many hearts, and 
 enlisted the sympathy of generous natures; they have, having 
 run well for a season, permitted their energies to flag, have sat 
 down exhausted before their work was fairly begun ; they 
 
14 
 
 have yielded to temptation, easily operative in the unemployed 
 spirit, have given themselves to vice and dashed all the high 
 hopes formed concerning them, and in a miserable and dis- 
 graced existence, or a premature grave, the drunkard's or the 
 felon's, have become monuments to a cotemporary generation 
 of the incalculable evils of unapplied energies. Consider 
 time as a talent, a precious talent, rapidly passing from your 
 grasp, a talent dealt out in no profuse quantity, sufficient for 
 its purposes but nothing more. Consider life as hastening to 
 its close, and your sun as destined speedily to go down, and 
 thus, looking at the magnitude of the interests confided to 
 you and the amplitude of your work, receive the conviction 
 that you cannot loiter, you cannot step aside to gather flowers, 
 you cannot lie down by the stream and in dreamy musings 
 pass your hours; that you must not give to conviviality and 
 gay associates your precious moments, and not neglect, by 
 seeking to live in an ideal world, the duties which you owe to 
 a real. The peace-bringing Gospel of Jesus teaches us thus 
 to live, — teaches us thus to bring up our forces — teaches us 
 thus to run the race set before us. Thus acted he who never 
 became weary in well doing ; who worked the works of him 
 who sent him whilst it was day; thus acted He the Author of 
 the book from which we have taken our text. He inculcates 
 this; he calls upon us to be shod ; he pressed forward in this 
 spirit, till his martyred death transferred him to an eternal 
 crown. 
 
 Next comes faith ; and this is another important part of our 
 armor. We may live without faith, that is, without belief in 
 God ; we may give ourselves up to that mental condition 
 which the Psalmist represents in the language : "The fool 
 hath said in his heart there is no God." We may theorize 
 ourselves into the belief that there is no personal divinity, and 
 in the spirit of Spinoza or Hegel, et id omiie genus, consider 
 the universe as God and ourselves a part of the Godhead. — • 
 W r e may maintain that man needs no revelation beyond the 
 light of nature, and needing none he can claim no more, or 
 that even if his wants render desirable some interposition of 
 
id 
 
 God of a supernatural character, he has never condescended 
 to afford it. We may persuade ourselves that with an intel- 
 lect superior to that which has bowed in reverence before the 
 Cross of Christ, we have ascertained that the religion of Jesus 
 is a cunningly devised fable. These are positions that we 
 may occupy, but if we do, we ought to count well the cost ; 
 we ought to be entirely satisfied that we are not playing into 
 the enemies' hand ; that we are not making most dangerous 
 mistakes, and that we will not bitterly deplore our folly when 
 it will be too late. Should the supposition be indulged that 
 we advert to these tilings because we apprehend tendencies in 
 this direction in your minds, we are able to correct the mistake. 
 We entertain no fear of this nature. We believe you to be 
 too well acquainted with the foundations of religion, natural 
 and revealed — too well acquainted with the evidences of the 
 divine existence and the truth of Christianity, to anticipate 
 that you will be found any where in the life before you but on 
 the side of God and his Christ, with unshaken confidence in 
 God, with humble trust in Jesus. Faith is described by the 
 author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, as the substance of 
 things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It is 
 not only represented in the Scriptures as of indispensable ne- 
 cessity, as is evident if we admit the relations there presented 
 to us to be real, but of mighty power in forcing up the soul to 
 a proper culmination, in resisting the agencies employed 
 against our happiness, in advancing us in our march to the 
 celestial paradise. It brings the might of the upper world into 
 our spirits; it clothes us with divine power; it enlists in our 
 interests the highest and holiest agencies in the universe. It 
 forms not only a defence, but an offensive instrument of po- 
 tent efficacy. He who lives under the influence of faith in 
 the Son of God, and the unseen realities of the eternal world 
 as revealed in the Bible, may be said to have a charmed life. 
 He is safe. Dangers may fly thick around. Enemies may 
 beset his path on one side and another; fiery darts may be 
 projected, but all will be fruitless. Secure in his defence he 
 may pass through the waters, and they shall not overflow him, 
 
16 
 
 through the fires and he shall not be burnt. Seeing him that 
 is invisible, he can endure. He carries with him a principle 
 which has wrought many wonders; it has subdued kingdoms, 
 it has wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the 
 mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the 
 edge of the sword, out of weakness was made strong, waxed 
 valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. By 
 it women received their dead raised to life again, and others 
 were tortured not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain 
 a better resurrection. Nothing has accomplished so much and 
 so illustriously as this. No glory transcends or equals theirs 
 who are chronicled in the pages of faith's history. No wor- 
 thies can the world show like those heroes, w ? ho, with a strong 
 trust in God, went forth to battle against the ills of life and to 
 lay hold on eternity. The world was not worthy of such men. 
 They have purchased for themselves a good degree ; they in- 
 scribed their names in the book of life, and all generations 
 will call them blessed. 
 
 Much might be said of the utility of this principle, of the 
 altered aspect it gives to every thing about us and all our rela- 
 tions; of the revolution it effects within us; of the elevation 
 and dignity it gives to our sentiments; of the emotions, pure 
 and benevolent which it cherishes in the soul; of the power 
 it displays in the afflictions of life, and the moral energy which 
 accompanies it in every case. And what shall I say more? 
 for the time would fail me to tell of the beauty and power of 
 faith and to trace it in its walk of light and love and purity. 
 I remit you to its records in the Scriptures. I remit you to 
 the eulogium contained in the Pauline epistle to the Hebrews, 
 merely adding, that by it the Elders obtained a good report ; 
 without it, it is impossible to please God ; and that if we would 
 come to God, we must believe that he is and that he is the 
 rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 
 
 Another piece of this armor is the helmet of salvation. 
 Something to guard the very seat of vitality. It might be 
 called the hope of future salvation ; a powerful principle in 
 animating conflict. How paralyzing fear, how inspiring hope I 
 
17 
 
 The army that contends with depressed spirits is almost de- 
 feated by its own emotions ; but hope of success, swelling into 
 assurance of victory, quickens into activity every power and 
 excites an enthusiasm which will hardly admit of defeat. — 
 Most true is this, when fired with hope we contend with those 
 who are disheartened by apprehension. Thus do we contend. 
 Our enemies have small assurance compared with ours. They 
 may succeed, but it can only be because we are indisposed to 
 triumph. But this helmet of salvation — this safeguard of the 
 seat of life, may be a strong persuasion, based on the promises 
 of God properly appropriated, that we are his adopted sons 
 and heirs of his kingdom. You go forth, then, endorsed by 
 God in your heart of hearts, with his powerful witness in your 
 souls, his spirit testifying with yours that you are his ; it re 
 quires no great power of deduction to determine that we are 
 well armed, that, with such a weapon, we can push on our 
 way, and nought can hinder, we can overcome enemies and 
 none can stand before us, triumph over devils, unallured by 
 their wiles. What more powerful than this? What more de- 
 sirable ? With it our courage will never falter ; our arm will 
 ever be strong enough to enable us to wield that other instru 
 ment prepared for us by God — the sword of the Spirit, which 
 is the word of God. This constitutes our war cry, the paean 
 that we sing when we rush to the battle — it strikes terror into 
 the foe. He cannot stand before it. Well versed in the word 
 of God, prepared by the light of heaven to expose the dark- 
 ness of hell, by the truth of God, the lies of the Devil ; with 
 promises and threatenings all powerful, we need but that 
 grace, which is given in answer to prayer, to go forth invul- 
 nerable to certain and joyful victory. 
 
 This, then, is the panoply which God has provided for us. 
 This are we to use. With this are we to withstand in the evil 
 day — to be firm — to meet the onset and to push on ; with this, 
 having used it well, will we be able to stand — covered with 
 glory, crowned with victory. Put on this armor, wear it well 
 and use it truly, and then will you have encountered life, like 
 men, and having encountered it thut', you will have your 
 
18 
 
 reward ; it will be given you in part in this world, but in 
 an incomparably higher degree in another, after you have 
 fought the good fight, finished your course and kept the 
 faith ; and that reward will be a crown — a crown of glory, un- 
 fading, eternal. 
 
 Young Gentlemen : 
 
 Your life and duty are before you. Entering the ranks, 
 you understand what is expected of you by your leader. You 
 know what powerful considerations urge you to fidelity. Your 
 labor will not be in vain, if properly directed. The prize is a 
 great one, and success is certain, if you desire it and submit to 
 the guidance of God. I may say, you enter upon your work 
 under most favorable auspices. You have enjoyed great ad- 
 vantages. I will say more — you have not enjoyed them in 
 vain. Favored of your Maker, favored by Providence, nur- 
 tured in the bosom of literature and religion, you appear ex- 
 citing high hopes and prepared for an elevated destiny. 
 
 I hope that no one of you will be a deserter ; that you will 
 never leave the banner of religion and science under which 
 you have enlisted. I trust that your post will always find you 
 at it, ready to attack or repel ; in the thickest of the fight you 
 will be there, and when the spoil is divided, yours will be an 
 honorable share. 
 
 I feel assured that your position will not be characterized 
 by the epithet laggard, that you will be industrious and per- 
 severing, that you will give all diligence to accomplish the 
 great ends of life, and above every thing else to make your 
 calling and election sure. You will feel that you have here 
 no abiding city, and act as pilgrims and strangers on the earth- 
 Sympathizing with human wretchedness, whether physical or 
 mental, we expect you to be ready to succor and industrious 
 in the relief of human woe. 
 
 Be it then, young gentlemen, your ambition to fight the 
 good fight, to lay hold on eternal life, and wherever you may 
 be and whithersoever you may go, be assured that you carry 
 
 
19 
 
 along with you the affection and interest of your teachers, 
 and that none will be more ready, not your most cherished 
 friends, than they, to rejoice when you rejoice, and to weep 
 when you weep. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS f 
 
 029 892 260 5 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 029 892 260 5