THE BACCALACUREATE SERMON.

Dr. Henry Van Dyke, D.D., of Princeton, preached the baccalaureate sermon to the Senior class in Appleton Chapel yesterday afternoon.

The Seniors, forming in column in front of Holworthy, marched to the Chapel at 4 o'clock and took the seats reserved on the floor. The gallery had for some time been crowded, and after the entrance of the Seniors, the remaining seats on the floor were quickly filled.

The services opened with an anthem, then followed a prayer by Dr. Van Dyke, a responsive reading, a second anthem, and the reading of the scripture lesson from the third chapter of Proverbs. Again the choir sang an anthem, and after the singing of Hymn 210, Dr. Van dyke delivered the sermon.

His text was the sixteenth verse of the sixth chapter of Jeremiah: "Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your should." These words were spoken in a time when the kingdom of Judah, threatened with invasion from Babylon, was torn within itself by adverse theories, by doubt, by hesitation, by the impulse at one moment to follow any leader and at the next the cynical distrust of all. then the prophet came to the nation, halting as it were at crossroad, with his counsel to deliberate among the old ways and choose the one experience had pointed out as best.

All life, the speaker said, is cut across by certain paths. From generation to generation, men follow somewhat in the same ways as the men before them. There is the way of sensuality, wherein follow men of many kinds of physical lust and hunger, but all alike in that their goal is the satisfaction of physical pleasure, men who--"eat, drink, and these are bitter and proud,--and they who have failed, and these are bitter and harsh. There are the ways of social ambition, of hypocrisy, of indecision. And, finally, there is the way of faith and of duty, the goal of which is harmony with the eternal things, and in which men, though they stumble often and sometimes fall, are gong forward--to something better than themselves.

Heredity furnishes a man with his equipment; environment, with his company; but the man himself has choice, and can use his equipment as he will and leave his company if he desires. At the times of choice he needs what Jeremiah urged on Judah--deliberation. Not every way of life that is suggested to men is true; not every way that is novel and interesting is safe to follow. Originality is not a mark of truth, but rather indeed are those ways of conduct most likely to be true which are not devised ready made by the brain of one man or one generation, but have very long been followed by humanity and have grown with the growing experience of men. The test of truth is in its work ing; the character of the different nations and different times with their different ideals teach us the relative worth of the different lines of thought and conduct.

The choice of the way in which he is to walk is what brings rest to a man, for rest is not inaction, but it is harmony and the lack of strife. And in our rushing modern times, with its distraction and unquiet, men can do no better than to turn back to the old way and the old words; "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.