THE

LAFAYETTE MONTHLY.

Editors for July-P. C. EVANS, S R. WARRENDER, E. I. DAVIES.

VOL. IV.

JULY, 1874.

NUMBER II.

LAFAYETTE COMMENCEMENT.

We devote the last number of the MONTHLY, under the editorial supervision of the Class of '74, to a carefully prepared report of the This we have made as comproceedings of Commencement week. plete as possible, making free use of the admirable reports that appeared in our own papers, the Free Press, the Express, and the Morning Dispatch, as well as of those in the New York and Philadelphia dailies. We have supplied some omissions and have corrected a few errors, making up a continuous account that will be of interest to all our readers, and which will be the more valuable to the alumni and friends of the College as being in a convenient form for permanent preservation.

Changes and improvements are so rapidly taking place here, that it is always with exclamations of surprise that the alumni revisit the scenes of their former studies. Each year is marked by some advance. The progress made since last Commencement is certainly notable enough to demand especial mention. Last September, the students were surprised, on 1eturning at the opening of the term, to observe the transformation that had been effected in the appearance of what was formerly known as old West College.

The building by no means added to the general attractiveness of the college grounds as seen in its prominent position to the right of the main building. Its antiquated structure and dilapidated condi tion bore evidence of its early construction, while an experience with

the intricacies of its interior arrangements did but little toward impressing upon the chance visitor an enhanced notion of its architectural superiority. At the opening of the college year, however, the structure had been metamorphosed into a handsome edifice, the upper part of which is devoted to the Department of Philology under Professor March, and the lower floor to the treasurer's offices. Both floors have been neatly fitted up. Philological Hall is the name by which the building is now known.

The last year will also long be memorable in the history of the college, for the completion and dedication of Pardee Hall for the use of the Scientific Department. Extended descriptions of it have already been widely published, and it is only necessary to say that it is one of the most complete buildings of the kind, and has called forth the warmest admiration from thosǝ best acquainted with the facilities at different colleges for the pursuit of the studies for which it is designed. The day of dedication in October last was one of the most remarkable in the history of Easton. The throng of distinguished visitors from abroad, the large representations from the Synods of Philadelphia and New Jersey, 'the singular unanimity with which our citizens joined in the celebration of the day, and the enthusiasm universally prevalent, marked it as something prominent in the annals of both town and college. Its effect on the prosperity of the latter cannot help but be gratifying. The institution was brought prominently into notice, and the importance of the occasion was everywhere recognized.

The means for imparting the chemical instruction are not surpassed anywhere, and like facilities are found in every department having a bearing on technical studies. The cabinets have been filled with rich and varied collections. The Mineralogical Cabinet, among other things comprises the best selections from the cabinet of Rev. Dr. Beadle, of Philadelphia, for thirty years an enthusiastic and ardent student in this department. This is the gift of the Hon. W. H. Kemble, of Philadelphia, who has also presented a fine collection of northern antiquities, a large collection of corals containing many unique specimens, a large collection of marine, fresh water and land shells, and a very fine collection of fossils from the Silurian, Lias, and other formations, containing a fine series of ammonotes and some remarkable trilobites and crinoids.

The foundations are now being laid for a new Dormitory, the accommodations of the present ones having been found entirely inade

quate for the largely increased number of students, many having been compelled to procure rooms outside the college buildings at considerable inconveniences. It will contain rooms for about forty students. It is designed only temporarily to supply this need, and at no distant day it is hoped that a more pretentious edifice will grace some portion of the campus. The new structure will be subsequently used as a college boarding-house, on a plan somewhat similar to the manner in which such establishments are conducted at Yale and other Eastern colleges.

The literary societies are in their usual flourishing condition, and during the year large accessions in membership have been made. Under their care, with a conjunction cf the faculty, a Junior Orator Prize Contest has been instituted, and the first exhibition was given at the close of the second term in March last, before a large and cultured audience. Four speakers were chosen by each society from its members belonging to the Junior Class, and these competed for prizes in oratory offered by the faculty. The societies have also held their usual anniversaies, the Washington Society theirs in February, and the Franklin in May' both occasions having been marked by the usual meritorious productions.

The Brainerd Evangelical Society has been active in its labors, and much good has been accomplished.

Some changes have been made in the course of instruction, and the standard, particularly in the technical studies, has been considerably advanced. The requirements for examination have been made stricter, and this, with the thoroughness of study demanded during the course, cannot but produce some degree of accurate scholarship on the part of the students of Lafayette. The Patristic course in Latin and Greek has been more firmly established, and a large number of the students have elected it in preference to the usual classical course, similar to that in the cirriculum of other leading colleges. In it the works of Christian authors in the classic languages are only read, and it is believed that the same scholarship may be gained and the same discipline acquired, while the evil influences of the sentiments of heathen writers are effectually guarded against. Lafayette has accomplished an important reform in this direction that bids fair to effect a revolution in modern processes of classical education.

SUNDAY-BACCALAUREATE DAY.

Sunday morning dawned beautiful and bright, and at the usual hour

for the commencement of the morning services, the college chapel was crowded with an audience gathered to hear the Baccalaureate sermon of the President. A number of visitors from town were present, and occupied seats in the gallery and among the students below. The graduating class assembled in the old library room, and after the under classes and visitors were seated in the chapel, they formed a procession, and walked to the place appointed for the exercises, where they occupied the seats in front After the opening invocation by President Cattell, the hymn "Rock of Ages" was sung, and the Rev. Dr. Coleman read a passage of scripture and lead in prayer. Another hymn followed, and then Rev. Dr. Cattell, in his official robes as President of the College, preached the Baccalaureate Sermon.

The text was Jeremiah, third chapter, fourth verse: "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, my Father, Thou art the guide of my youth."

At the conclusion of the discourse the members of the graduating class rose, and remained standing while the President addressed them as follows:

Young Gentlemen of the Graduating Class :-I need scarcely say that in the remarks I have made this morning, I have had you chiefly in my view. It is the last time I shall address you, as students of the college, from this sacred desk, and if the words I have so unworthily spoken shall lead you to choose Jehovah for your guide, I shall give to you the parting hand with no painful anxiety as to your future. You may indeed meet with many trials and sorrows, but what can harm you if you be followers of that which is good? My last message, therefore, in the name of the Master is His own entreaty that you will cry unto Him" from this time," before you go out into the temptations and trials of life," My father, Thou art the guide of my youth!"

Many a Sabbath during your college course, it has been my privilege and my duty to stand before you as an ambassador for Christ. I wish I could say, with the holy boldness of the Apostle, "I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God." May the great Judge forgive any defects in my ministry among you! But one thing I can say, the salvation of your souls has been the one object before all others that I have desired, and for which I have labored and prayed. I have indeed wished that you should become scholars; that you should secure in your college course the learning and the culture that would make you eminent and snccessful in the life before you, but I have been far more anxious that you should secure that

wisdom the beginning of which is the fear of the Lord, and that nurture which the grace of Christ alone can give.

The four years you have spent in this college have been eventful in its history. You have seen inaugurated and brought to completion nearly all of those great movements which have placed Lafayette among the foremost Colleges of the land, and you have joined with me in many a devout thankgiving to God who has put it into the hearts of His servants to do such great things for Alma Mater. But even greater than these have been the things wrought by the Spirit of God in your midst during these years, and which have seemed so manifest a token of the Divine favor; like the fire from Heaven that descended upon the ancient altars in token of God's acceptance of the sacrifice that was laid thereon. The blessed and hallowed scenes of the past year are still fresh in our memories, and the great cloud of witnesses for Christ were called out from among the young men gathered in these halls of learning, we may humbly and gratefully regard as a sign from God that he has accepted these costly offerings which have been made for his cause. And shall you ever forget the year you entered college when the Spirit of the Lord descended and seemed to fill all the place? I doubt whether in the history of American colleges there has been a more powerful work of grace. My friend and brother who, in response to our call for help, came and preached to us, night after night, the blessed Word, has often declared that, of the many and powerful revivals he had witnessed, this seemed to him most like that upon the day of Pentecost, as described by the sacred writer. The class that was graduated that year was almost complete in Christ; numbering forty, all but two had given their hearts to the Saviour. I rejoice that some of you heard and obeyed the call to His service, and that, during the years that have followed, you have adorned the doctrine you professed. I know that some regard such reasons of quickened religious feeling with distrust, and I dare not deny that in these revivals there were those who mistook mere transient emotions for settled convictions, but no man can ever persuade me that God was not present with us then in the glorious majesty and power of His Holy Spirit, and I am sure that many who had already professed His name learned more of His love and grace and were lifted into a higher level in their walk with God, and while many others who had long withstood His spirit yielded to the call. With inexpressible joy I record the fact that so large a proportion of yonr class are Christians. Oh, would that you were all Christians!

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