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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Address to the First Graduating Class of
+Rutgers Female College, by Henry M. Pierce
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Address to the First Graduating Class of Rutgers Female College
+
+Author: Henry M. Pierce
+
+Release Date: December 30, 2010 [EBook #34793]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADDRESS TO RUTGERS FEMALE COLLEGE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Meredith Bach, Stephanie McKee and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
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+
+
+  ADDRESS
+  TO THE
+  FIRST GRADUATING CLASS
+  OF
+  Rutgers Female College;
+
+  DELIVERED IN
+
+  THE FOURTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
+  (REV. DR. CROSBY'S),
+
+  ON
+
+  SABBATH EVENING, JUNE 2D, 1867.
+
+  BY
+  HENRY M. PIERCE, LL.D.,
+  PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE.
+
+  PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE TRUSTEES.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  New York:
+  AGATHYNIAN PRESS.
+  1867
+
+
+
+
+PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
+
+
+In the year 1839, with great labor, care, expense, and after long
+consultation, was the Rutgers Female Institute founded. It grew out of
+an increasing sense of the importance of the duties of women, and of the
+need that her work should be well done. Hence the establishment of the
+school, with its course of studies, its libraries, its apparatus, its
+teachers. A quarter of a century has witnessed a great change in the
+education of woman; and the position of Rutgers Institute to-day, as a
+College, marks the character and degree of that change.
+
+It has been my custom, to make a personal address to the members of each
+graduating class, as they have gone forth from the quiet of the school
+to the busy walks of life. My heart now impels me to follow this usage,
+but the change that has taken place in this institution, during the
+past year, seems to make appropriate to the present occasion, a few
+preliminary statements of my views as to what is the true position of
+woman, and what should be her education.
+
+These are questions that deeply agitate the public mind. They are, in
+fact, the leading questions of the day; but in regard to them, I shall
+not shrink from the utterance of my opinions. Underlying the question of
+the education of woman, is the question of her equality with man; for if
+woman be inferior to man, so should be her education.
+
+Some might be disposed to reverse this proposition, and to say that
+just in proportion to her inferiority, should her training be more
+careful and complete. There might seem to be some truth in this idea;
+but a little deeper thinking will convince us that to try to make
+up in this way for her supposed deficiency, would be to attempt an
+impossibility. The end could not be reached; the bounds that nature
+had appointed could not be passed.
+
+It is also clear that if woman be the equal of man, she should receive
+as good an education as man, a proposition too plain for argument.
+So is also our third proposition--which exhausts this branch of the
+subject--that if woman be superior to man, she should receive a better
+education than man: for it is a first principle in morals, that every
+power which God gave, He meant should be unfolded to its fullest extent.
+
+I am fully persuaded that the time is not far distant, when it will be
+thought almost incredible that the question of the inferiority of woman
+should ever have been seriously debated. For it is not without higher
+warrant than that of human reason, that I would claim for woman an equal
+place by the side of man. When in the beginning God created the heavens,
+the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, even as He then made laws
+for the stars and the seas, so did He then fix and determine forever the
+sphere and the destiny of man and of woman. Driven out of Paradise into
+the world on account of sin, neither man nor woman took their place at
+once; and in the nature of the case, woman's sphere was the last of the
+two to be understood.
+
+The Old Testament contains the germs of the great truths of all time;
+but over four thousand years were needed to prepare the human mind for
+the coming of Christ; and it was reserved for Christ fully to declare
+what place the Creator had designed for woman. I am fully persuaded
+that upon all great questions touching humanity, the human mind will at
+length accept the teachings of Christ as final; and the question whether
+or not woman is the equal of man, I conceive to be authoritatively
+settled by Him, when he pronounces marriage such a union as excludes the
+idea that there can be essential inferiority in one of the parties. His
+ideal of marriage, unknown alike to the classical nations and to the
+Hebrews, is incompatible with the inequality of the sexes. Nor do we
+find a trace in His life or teachings, or in those of His Apostles,
+which tends in the least to countenance such an idea. The few apparent
+exceptions to this statement grow out of Oriental usage, or are
+explained by the truth that subordination is consistent with equality.
+Not even superficial reasoners should have been misled by these
+exceptions, when, generally speaking, there is no distinction in the
+moral duties enjoined on each, none in the warnings and promises
+addressed to each, none at the cross, none in the day of judgment.
+
+Equality, though it excludes the idea of inferiority, is consistent with
+diversity. There is a difference between the sexes, that at once raises
+the question whether there should not be a difference in their
+education.
+
+After the most careful thought that I could give to the subject, I
+am of the opinion that it should be the same to a much greater extent
+than most persons are willing to concede. Up to a certain point, the
+education of men is much the same: beyond that point comes in a special
+training. Thus, on leaving college, the young man who is to pursue law,
+receives a legal training. But the great fact here to be noticed is,
+that up to a certain point, all liberally educated men are trained much
+in the same manner. For a long time, a liberal education seems to take
+no note of the specific ends, which finally it may be desirable to aim
+at. It contents itself with enlarging and strengthening the mental
+powers. It unrolls before the young man the ample page of knowledge,
+confident that this is the best preparation for any path that he may
+finally choose.
+
+If, then, it is best for the young man that by a liberal education, his
+memory should be strengthened, his reasoning powers disciplined, his
+judgment matured, his mind enlarged--why is it not best for the young
+woman also? This is a question for those who differ with us to answer.
+It is a question that none would seriously ask, were it not that the
+minds of many are unconsciously swayed by a belief in the essential
+inferiority of woman. It can only arise from this pernicious error, or
+from some doubt as to the real advantage of a liberal education;--an
+error and a doubt, both of which should be remanded to the Dark Ages.
+
+Generally, then, we would say, that there is no reason why woman should
+be debarred from any part of the studies common to all liberally
+educated men.
+
+I say, common to all liberally educated men. I do not wish you to
+infer that I consider the course of instruction in our colleges for
+young men in every particular the wisest and the best. On the contrary,
+early in my college life I thought, and the years of maturer life have
+strengthened the idea, that in the curriculum of colleges, too little
+importance attaches to the science of nature, and to the study of the
+human soul,--not the study of the abstract metaphysics which the
+schoolmen bequeathed to us, but of man as he is,--and too little
+importance attaches to the study of the Hebrew and the Christian
+Scriptures,--the fountain whence the ever-enlarging river of our
+civilization flows. Neither did I then think, nor do I now think,
+that a familiarity with the classics alone, is either a sufficient, or
+altogether the best, preparation for life in our own day--for a life in
+which shall pulsate all the great emotions of our time,--for a life in
+complete sympathy with nature, with man, and with God.
+
+In the United States, the college course for young men was modeled after
+that of the European Universities, which were founded when the Greek and
+the Latin were the only fully developed tongues; when the languages of
+modern Europe were in a formative process; when works on science,
+philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence, and theology, and all legal
+documents, state papers, and treaties, were done in Latin; when all
+discussions and correspondence were carried on in Latin; and when modern
+science yet waited for the thoughts of Bacon, the intuitions of Kepler,
+and the discoveries of Galileo.
+
+Now, on the other hand, the Italian, French, German, and other
+languages, have been brought to a high state of perfection, and almost
+every work on art, science, literature, or philosophy, is composed in
+the author's vernacular. Yet our colleges, with unfortunate fidelity,
+have hitherto adhered much too closely to the course of study marked out
+by their ancient models.
+
+But nothing should gratify the friends of education more than the
+changes that are now beginning to take place, not only in our own
+institutions of learning, but even in the English Universities of Oxford
+and Cambridge. The Novum Organum of Bacon has triumphed, and is leading
+us from the study of a dead Past to the study of living and eternal
+truth. The establishment of scientific departments and schools of
+mines, in connection with some of our noble and time-honored colleges
+and universities, is a virtual acknowledgment that not the ancient
+classics, but the modern classics, should rank first in the studies of
+youth; not the classics of the Greeks and Romans, but the classics of
+Nature.
+
+I would not be misunderstood in this matter. The grand classics are
+grand indeed! Greece and Rome were grand; but their grandeur grew out of
+high aspirations, tending to a grand life. They turned neither to the
+right nor to the left, they looked not backward, they went right
+straight on, and thus became truly great.
+
+We, too, have a greatness, as a nation, to attain: and we must attain
+it, if at all, in the same way. We need not fear that the truth
+developed by different nations, will or can be lost. Truth once known
+can never be hidden. The results of each generation and century, pass on
+into the future, and are interwoven into the woof of our ever-growing
+civilization.
+
+The Greek and Roman energy, thought, and character, permeate the life
+and soul of modern Europe. The arts, the sciences, the literature, the
+civilization, of Greece and Rome we have to-day. They are out on the
+air; they are incorporated in our social and intellectual life; they
+are not afar off, they are here to-night--here in our streets, here in
+our homes and in our hearts. They are living, and speak with living
+tongues:--that part of them found in books alone may truly be called
+"dead."
+
+In our opinion, a college founded to-day, should conform its curriculum
+to the growth of the world, in letters, and thought, and science, and
+civilization, and Christianity;--while the Greek and Latin languages
+should be studied only for specific ends.
+
+If we had the years required for a thorough study of the classics,
+and an equal time to give to the natural sciences, then both might
+be pursued to advantage. But as we have not time to pursue to any
+considerable extent more than one of these departments, I would give a
+rudimentary training in the classics, and devote the best energies of
+the young to those studies which have for their objects, life and its
+pursuits, man and his destiny, God and His works.
+
+The sphere of woman differs widely from that of man; but this is neither
+the time nor the place to unfold our views upon the question in what
+way, and to what extent, this fact should modify the course of study in
+a college for women; a question which all must recognize as one of great
+practical difficulty, as well as of great practical importance. The
+conclusions at which we have arrived on these subjects--the results in
+part of experience, and in part of the cordial aid of a large number of
+distinguished educators--will soon be laid before the public in the
+curriculum of the college.
+
+We therefore here content ourselves with repeating, that generally the
+studies pursued by women should be those that are pursued by men; and
+that they should be pursued much to the same extent. Surely, there is
+nothing which the under-graduate learns in his college course, which he
+should not be glad that his wife should know as well as himself. Surely
+a liberal education has miserably failed of its aim, when a man desires
+in a wife, not an equal, but a toy or a slave.
+
+The idea of woman as a slave is a barbarian idea. The savage has it to
+perfection, and because he has it he is a savage. The savage makes woman
+do the work of a beast of burden; the half-civilized Chinese puts on her
+all the drudgery of hard work;--"the wife drags the plough, the husband
+sows the grain."
+
+To the savage, woman is a slave. The half-civilized man combines with
+this the idea of woman as a toy. This is an unchristian idea; unhappily
+it is too common even with us; yet, with some other degrading ideas, it
+is a relic of heathenism. The whole difference between civilized Europe,
+half-civilized Asia, and savage Africa, can be accurately measured by
+the idea of woman; the best test of civilization, in either a nation or
+an individual.
+
+The question, then, whether our civilization is to advance or to
+retrograde--stand still it cannot--depends on the place hereafter to be
+given to woman. As to this question, the present seems to be a sort of
+crisis. The signs point both ways; on the whole, the prospect is hopeful
+and cheering: but we must either go back or go on; we must become either
+more Asiatic or more Christian.
+
+The hopeful indications are general in their character, and embrace all
+that is cheering in the signs of the times. Those that forebode evil are
+more specific in their relations to women; and, though differing among
+themselves, they all point to one common end, viz., the destruction of
+the family.
+
+The Church, the State, and the Family, are alike ordained of God. The
+ordering of the Family pertains to woman; of the State, to man; of the
+Church, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Each of these organizations exists by
+divine right, and therefore, within its own sphere, is sovereign.
+Yet the preservation and perfection of all, depend on that of each.
+In the words of a distinguished Greek scholar: "Each inculcating the
+same lesson, although with sanctions continually ascending; each
+successively, in the order of its rank, supplying the defects of the
+lower; yet each to be regarded as divinely appointed by the same eternal
+Source of all law and rightful authority, in heaven and earth."
+
+The family is destroyed when its unity is destroyed. Of various causes
+tending to this result, we shall speak only of two particulars in our
+legislation. According to the law of Christ, the husband and wife are
+one person: to this fact, the old common law in a good degree conformed;
+but the tendency of recent statutes is to do away with this idea, by
+making the property of the wife distinct from that of the husband, and
+giving to her separately its management;--thus at once creating a
+diversity of interests.
+
+We recognize the necessity, in certain cases, of such a distinction in
+the control of property: but we deplore this necessity, we are fearful
+as to its tendency, and we hope that the practice may never extend
+beyond rare and exceptional cases.
+
+If each of the contracting parties, as they might properly be called,
+have large possessions, so that the disposal of property does not often
+arise, the evil is less. But with the great majority of families that
+compose the body-politic, the spending of a little of their very little
+money is a question of moment, that comes up from day to day, and almost
+from hour to hour: and if a garment cannot be bought, or a meal
+provided, without raising the question of separate pecuniary interests
+between the heads of the family, and that too in the presence of the
+children, the unity of the home, its sacred peace, and its hallowed
+lessons, are at an end; and it may be that the strong passions so
+constantly appealed to, will rend the family asunder. We have heard of
+a legacy of seven hundred dollars to a wife, that led to a divorce.
+
+In accordance with the effect of such legislation, made to cover
+exceptional cases, but which is ominous of general corruption, are those
+laws of divorce which, in several of our States, practically tend to
+make marriage a contract dissoluble at the will of the parties; thus
+encouraging persons foolishly to rush into it, and madly to break from
+it. It is said that in one New England State, one marriage in ten is
+thus dissolved! The State thus presumes, for causes that the Church does
+not hold to be sufficient, to put asunder those whom God hath joined
+together.
+
+Our object is by no means to discuss these subjects, but merely to
+glance at them as illustrations of a strong tendency to innovate without
+due regard to the sacred oneness of the family. Even education is an
+evil, so far as it may tend to infringe upon this unity; and it is of
+the highest value, only as it may tend to secure it. This is the true
+ground of the principle which we before laid down, and which we would
+extend to every grade of society, from the highest to the lowest, viz.,
+that the wife should have as good an education as the husband; and, what
+is of equal importance, the mother should have as good an education as
+the children.
+
+Whatever breaks in upon the oneness of the family, brings with it evil
+for which it cannot furnish any sufficient compensation, either to woman
+or to man. The destruction of the family is the destruction of woman: it
+is that of man also.
+
+The destruction of the family is likewise the destruction of the State.
+The family is the foundation stone on which the higher edifice rests;
+and if this stone be removed out of its place, or ground to powder, the
+more imposing fabric of government falls to ruin. The no-family and
+no-government fallacies are the same in principle; and they complete
+themselves when they add, no Church, and no God.
+
+The profligacy of our cities, like the poison of the cholera, infecting
+the whole of the country; the frenzy of fashion, bewildering the minds
+of women; the lust of gold, gnawing at the hearts of men; these things
+of themselves might lead us to fear that the family and the home might
+become things of the past; and if so, our civilization would vanish,
+"like the baseless fabric of a vision." But we look for better things:
+Christ, the Word of God, "by whom and for whom are all things," laid the
+foundations of the family so deep, that they cannot be removed. We may
+disregard them, to our destruction, as did Babylon and Rome of old, but
+whatsoever He hath decreed, He will finally bring it to pass.
+
+That ideal of woman which we would fain behold realized, is His ideal.
+He ordained that the place of woman should be by the side of man, as his
+equal; and this ideal, which He foreshadowed in the Scriptures from the
+beginning, He will accomplish. His religion is a religion of
+far-continuing purposes; it is one religion, from the first promise that
+the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, to the end of
+the world.
+
+It may be an appropriate close to these somewhat discursive, yet
+related, remarks, to show that the idea of woman in the old Hebrew
+Scripture, was the germ that Christianity is ripening to the flower.
+
+One book of the Scripture seems to have been written to place a Hebrew
+youth in full possession of all the wisdom of age. It states that its
+design is "to give to the young knowledge and discretion." I speak, of
+course, of the book of Proverbs. This is an extended series of practical
+precepts; of precepts everywhere marked by that religious sentiment
+which ever gives to practical truth its highest value; of precepts
+embracing the whole life of man; of precepts so profound and exhaustive,
+that the wisdom and the experience of all subsequent ages and nations
+have added to them but little.
+
+From the difficulty of rendering axioms and pithy sayings into another
+language, our translation of this book is somewhat defective. It often
+misses the point of the saying which it aims to reproduce. But there can
+be no mistake as to the leading ideas in the description before us. The
+place that it holds in the book of all human wisdom, is good evidence
+that a high place was meant to be given to woman in the Hebrew
+Scripture; its opening and its closing words, moreover, strengthen
+this impression. The value of a perfect woman "is far above rubies."
+"The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her; he shall have no
+need of spoil." Precious gems--the favorite form of wealth among the
+Orientals--are thus disparaged in comparison with her; and he that hath
+a true woman, needs no other riches.
+
+In the very spirit of the first divine word as to woman--"It is not good
+for man to be alone"--it is here written; "She shall do him good and not
+evil all the days of her life."
+
+Again, at the close of the description, it is written, "Give her of the
+fruit of her hands"--that is, deal justly with her--yield not to the
+mean spirit, that thinks that whatever is conceded to woman, is so much
+taken from the birthright of man. The writer goes beyond the proverb of
+the French: "A good wife is half the battle;" and, though the husband is
+"known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land," his
+prosperity seems wholly attributed to her. Indeed, he is reduced to such
+insignificance, that all he can do is to stand still and praise her.
+This he does with hearty good will; saying, as good husbands always say
+to good wives--common excellence in woman always affecting a man with
+uncommon surprise--"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou
+excellest them all."
+
+Young Ladies of the First Graduating Class of Rutgers Female College.
+
+In this portraiture of a woman of another country and of a distant age,
+to which, for various reasons I have called the attention of the general
+audience, there are inwrought characteristics, the excellence of which I
+would, in this hour of parting, hold up to you for imitation.
+
+"She worketh willingly:"--"in her tongue is the law of kindness:"--in
+her heart is the fear of the Lord.
+
+Of the many things that I would gladly impress on your hearts, as I
+address you, as my pupils, for the last time, I can select but few, and
+perhaps none more appropriate than the virtues and excellencies which
+this portrait suggests.
+
+One characteristic of this woman is energy: "She riseth while it is yet
+night":--"She eateth not the bread of idleness." She exemplifies the
+spirit of the truly Scriptural precept: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth
+to do, do it with thy might." Her example, then, is one of habitual
+industry, a habit which has much more to do with a truly virtuous life
+than is generally supposed. Labor strengthens all the virtues; idleness
+weakens them all:--idleness is the fruitful source of vice.
+
+In every sphere in which you may be placed, there will be work to be
+done;--to be done religiously--that is, faithfully as unto God;--to be
+accepted by you as His manifest will, and to be done willingly as unto
+Him.
+
+One of the chief ends of your education has been, to give you the
+trained intellect, that you may quickly and correctly discern, in each
+relation and circumstance of life--from day to day, and from hour to
+hour--what is the work that you are called upon to do. Another chief
+aim has been to give you that disciplined self-command that will enable
+you--not lazily putting it off till a more convenient season--to do it
+at once, and to do it thoroughly and well.
+
+If you have here gained or strengthened the habit of industry, preserve
+it to the end. Without labor, there is no excellence and no happiness.
+It is the most vulgar of all vulgar errors, that a lady is a person who
+does nothing. Such a person would be good for nothing, and miserable
+indeed. Work, however, is of many kinds; work of the brain, and work of
+the heart, as well as work of the hands; and the humblest kind is not
+the hardest.
+
+It is another vulgar error, that work is degrading. Labor was imposed
+on our fallen race, because it was fallen; but the decree went forth
+more in pity than in anger. Work was not imposed upon the angels, for
+they needed no such compulsion. Angelic natures work willingly and
+cheerfully; and how is the idea that to do nothing is a desirable thing,
+reconciled with the sublime words, "My Father worketh hitherto and I
+work."
+
+In the description of the woman of old, it is said: "In her tongue, is
+the law of kindness;" and this I would most earnestly entreat you to
+emulate, believing that few things would conduce more to your usefulness
+and happiness. Saint James tells us that "if any man seemeth to be
+religious, and bridleth not his tongue, this man's religion is vain."
+Elsewhere in his Epistle, you may learn how difficult a thing he
+conceives this to be. It requires a perfect control of one's self, and
+a large charity. Of the former, we hope that you have gained something
+here; the other, you can gain somewhat from experience, but in
+perfection only from the grace of God.
+
+I would have your conversation governed by the charity of which the
+Apostle Paul saith, that it "suffereth long and is kind; envieth not;
+vaunteth not itself; is not easily provoked; thinketh no evil." This
+kindness of spirit, this charity, is a high Christian grace; but it
+might almost be taught by experience, seeing how little we really know
+the motives that sway the human soul, and how often the severe judgments
+which we pronounce on our fellow-mortals, have to be reconsidered with
+much pain and self humiliation, when perhaps it is forever too late to
+right the wrong, and to recompense the suffering that we have
+occasioned.
+
+Friendships broken, causeless enmities, opportunities for doing good and
+getting good thrown away, too often teach us--too late to prevent, to
+ourselves and to others, much lasting injury--the value of the law of
+kindness as the law of our words. Especially is this law of kindness
+needed in the speech of woman, whose hasty, thoughtless words can
+influence to fury the pride and wrath of man, and set on fire his
+heart with the fires of hell. Dissensions in families, hatred between
+neighbors, enmity between states and nations, follow when woman's tongue
+embitters man's jealousy and passion.
+
+If the sphere of woman is hereafter to be enlarged, we all should more
+earnestly hope, and more fervently pray, that she may everywhere carry
+with her "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight
+of God of great price."
+
+What is the characteristic in woman that should most fasten the
+affections, and secure the esteem, of man? Is it the varying charm of
+manner, or beauty of person? The Scripture before us, answers these
+questions in a few decisive words: "Favor is deceitful,"--that is, an
+unsatisfying thing--"and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the
+Lord, she shall be praised."
+
+I know few things, even in the Scripture, so thoroughly justified by
+observation, and at the same time so little known and regarded, as this.
+In the Hebrew Scriptures, the fear of God answers to the love of God in
+the Christian Scriptures, and so may be taken as equivalent to true
+piety: and true piety in woman is that alone which really can draw from
+out the heart of man, the sentiment of lasting veneration.
+
+I cannot urge this as a motive for cultivating the spirit of piety; but
+I surely should not conceal from you what this Scripture so clearly
+reveals, in this: "Godliness hath the promise of the life that now is,
+as well as of that which is to come." But I would here enforce upon you
+the duty of piety, from other considerations. Piety is not only the
+highest of duties, but the greatest of privileges.
+
+Young Ladies, life is so limited, our responsibilities are so great,
+the consequences of pursuing a wrong course are so terrible and
+destructive,--even so far as this life goes,--that you cannot afford to
+make a mistake at the outset. Experience is not always a sure guide--it
+cannot teach all the important truths that concern this life; nor can
+you trust implicitly to the wisdom of either parent or teacher, nor
+commit yourselves to the guidance of passion, or to the customs and
+opinions of the world. To what, then, should you go, to-night,
+to-morrow, and every day of your lives, for safe guidance--for true
+wisdom? Need I say, to the Bible alone?--to the Bible as opened to your
+minds, and brought home to your hearts, by the Holy Spirit granted to
+you in answer to prayer. By thus listening to its voice, you listen to
+the voice of God; by taking hold on its truths, you take hold upon
+eternity. You are thus lifted above yourselves;--above your passions,
+your littleness, your ambition;--above the world. You are thus brought
+into communion with the Father of your spirits;--with God, who alone is
+sufficient to fill all the aspirations of the soul. He alone is wise
+enough to be your sufficient counsellor;--He alone is strong enough to
+give mortals strength.
+
+Of His glory and His beauty, all the glory and the beauty of the things
+that He has made, are but faint emblems and reflected lights. He alone
+is worthy to be loved "with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and
+strength."
+
+"Remember," then, "your Creator in the days of your youth." "The fashion
+of this world passeth away:"--"lay up for yourselves treasures in
+heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt." "Set your affections
+on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God": "and
+the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole
+spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our
+Lord Jesus Christ."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Address to the First Graduating Class
+of Rutgers Female College, by Henry M. Pierce
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADDRESS TO RUTGERS FEMALE COLLEGE ***
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