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/ <f( >^ y yfi i rC -^^ / 'E>W\>‘ <4 ipiß. M l tt?8 ar ( L * -h m w _S VOLUME NI/faE NUMBER SEVENTEEN Alumni Address at Recent Mercer University Commencement, Macon, Ga,, Delivered by Dr. A. J. Moncrief, Who as a Student in ’9B, Won the State Oratorical Championship For Mercer at “The Grand”, in Atlanta. R. President: If the exigencies of this occasion require that the speaker shall deliver a literary critique, I shall fail to meet them. I come to the duty of the hour with more of the passion of the prophet than of the ambition of the critic. My sole desire at this time is to deliver to the young. men of this 1 7- institution a message which shall magnify the ideals embodied in the theory of Christian edu cation, and to intensify in them the desire to illustrate these ideals in the spheres of service which are awaiting their occupancy when they shall go out from these dedicated halls. And what auspices could be more inspiring for such a message? Could one but bring him self into harmony with the divine forces that have wrought in the life of this institution from its incipiency—feel the inspiration that gave it birth in the great soul of Jesse Mercer; real ize the faith that has borne it through the years of struggle and achievement, and know' the high hopes that throb in the hearts of the trus tees today, as they look out upon the future with dreams of a “Greater Mercer” —he must feel that here is an expression of the thought of God for a higher type of manhood. Under these splendid auspices I would speak to you today on the theme: A Man And His Task. And, first I would congratulate you, young gentlemen, upon the great good fortune that has cast your lot in the lap of this twentieth century. Youth in every age has been poten tial, but to be young in the morning of this century is surpassing good. Each of the cen turies has had its own elements of but “Time’s noblest offspring is the last.” Carlyle said: “The centuries are lineal chil dren of one another,” so the present century is the heir of all the glory of the past. The ac cumulated wisdom and power of all the ages is the heritage of today. Since the dark ages we have had centuries of exploration, discov ery, conquest, revolution and invention, and perhaps this will be designated as the century of centralization. It is yet young, but thus far it is characterized by a world-spirit. The ambition of the rulers of every nation is to be world-powers; the captains of industry are no longer content with continental dominion; the heads of the great commercial institutions are not satisfied with less than a world wide patron age ; educational leaders are making efforts to standardize and unify the educational forces of the world, and the militant Church is planning to preach the Gospel to the whole world in this generation. The word “universal” has become a by-word in every mouth. Even the common “A MAN AND HIS TASK” ATLANTA. GA.. JUNE people are speaking the language of the great Hugo, who said: “I am a citizen of the world, humanity is my country.” Modern means of transportation and communication have brought the whole world into a small compass, and the peoples of all the nations are mingling in the common currents of life that ebb and flow around the world Manifestly, we have entered upon a new era of thought and achieve ment. What the century shall bring forth e’er its course is run is a matter of no iittle wonder, wgßii DR. A. J. MONCRIEF. for an empire is throbbing in every brain, and the very atmosphere that envelopes the earth seems all aquiver with expectancy But if the heritage of this young century is rich, its spirit daring and its prospect glorious, its perils are more numerous and its problems more complex than the race has yet had to deal with. So, upon this generation are imposed re sponsibilities quite commensurate with its op portunities To guide the race through these perils, and solve these problems to the consum mation of the ideals of Christian civilization is— I. The Task for the Man. In the performance of this task each of the Christian nations has its distinctive mission to the whole, as well as its peculiar problems. Jo siah Strong, writing of “The Anglo-Saxon and the World Future,” says that every race that has left its impress upon the world has stood for some distinctive idea, and that the Anglo- Saxon is the representative of the ideas of civil liberty and spiritual religion. Emerson said in substance that America owed her independ ence, not to the prowess of American arms, but to the triumphant march of an idea. It was this Anglo-Saxon idea of the kingship and high priesthood of the individual soul. The ferment of this idea gave rise to the century of revolu tion, out of which came the new order of de mocracy. Finding fearless expression in such men as Luther, Cromwell, William of Orange and others, this idea transformed the civiliza tion of the Old World. The despotic powers that partitioned the continent of Europe among them, exercising absolute authority over their subjects, in the boast of “the divine right of kings,” could not stand before the Anglo- Saxon’s passion for liberty and equality. 1. Statecraft: — But it was on this side the great deeps that divide the hemispheres that there was to arise a new civilization, whose founders, impelled by devotion to these ideas, were to build a na tion whose government and institutions should embody and illustrate these democratic prin ciples. And this nation has entered upon this century a world-power. Scarcely more than one century and the third part of another have passed since the Stars and Stripes were flung forth to the winds as the symbol of a free na tion, yet within that time the domain of that flag has spread from shore to shore, and the breezes that sweep the furthermost seas kiss its flauting folds. And the glorious destiny of America is to give liberty to the oppressed, and teach the nations the benefits of free govern ment and spiritual worship. Yet, it must not be thought that the ideal of free government is fully realized and that all the problems involving the principles of liber ty and equality have I pen solved. Such is far from the facts. One has only to follow the political discussions of today to discover how far apart the great political parties, and even the factions within the parties, are on the very theory of democracy. It was my privilege recently to hear two po litical discussions on succeeding days. The first was by Leslie M. Shaw, an able representa tive of the conservative wing of the Republican party; the other by Woodrow Wilson, an equal continued on Page 6.) ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS A YEAR :: FIVE CENTS A COPY