active interest in this institution's equipment when, twentysix years ago, he was appointed the chairman of the committee of the Potomac Synod to raise an endowment fund of $35,000 for a Potomac Synod professorship. At that time he was the pastor of Emanuel Reformed Church, Hanover, Pa. One fourth of the $35,000 fund was the gift of his own congregation.

A while later, Dr. Bowman with Dr. Cyrus J. Musser and Dr. J. H. Pannebecker and others succeeded in raising sufficient money throughout the Church to purchase these grounds and erect the beautiful Seminary building which has graced this spot for about twenty-five years. It was at that time that the Potomac Synod called Dr. Bowman to the chair of New Testament Theology. In recent years he was elected to the chair of Practical Theology by the Pittsburgh Synod.

Since his identification with this institution as a professor, through his leadership and enthusiasm, the endowment fund has been increased three-fold. These buildings, old and new, with their equipment, are the fruit of those gifts of the Church which his genial leadership inspired. I am happy to testify to-day, after about six months of service to this Seminary, under his personal direction, in soliciting money with which to build this dormitory plant, that Dr. Bowman had been in previous financial campaigns in nearly every community where I labored; I found multitudes of members of our Church who had given money to the Seminary through his solicitations; and I did not find one man who ever regretted a gift made to the Seminary, and in all cases the highest words of praise were spoken in his behalf. It seemed indeed that wherever he secured the greatest amount of money and where he solicited money most frequently, he was most highly regarded.

It has not been without reason, therefore, that Mr. Williamson, representing this city, resolved to express its appreciation of this institution through the gift of this portrait of Dr. Bowman.

In such a gift as this it could not have been otherwise than that we should have selected one of the foremost portrait artists of the state, Helen Miller Wellens, who is displaying marked talent and perpetuating, in a significant way, the artistic service of her noted ancestor, Jacob Eicholtz, our celebrated portrait painter; and her own father, Wm. H. Miller, who has the distinction of having painted the remarkable portrait of the late William U. Hensel. We regard this product of her brush as a happy and adequate portrayal of the man we delight to honor on this occasion.

The portrait mantel was conceived by H. C. Mercer and designed for this particular use. He was happy in the choice of the Biblical symbolism of the oil as the decoration of the mantel. The pouring of oil out of the rock of flint is a figure of abundance. Dr. Bowman was abundant in his life. service to this great cause. This symbolism also represents our own feelings to-day, as suggested in that beautiful passage in the Psalms which speaks of the "Oil of gladness," and Isaiah who speaks of the "Oil of joy."

We indeed are all happy to participate in this particular feature of the Dormitory dedication, because our sentiments are in complete accord with those that are represented. LANCASTER, PA.

VII.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE PORTRAIT.

JOHN W. APPEL.

It is with great pleasure, personally and officially, that I accept this beautiful portrait of the President of the Seminary on behalf of the Board of Trustees. It is worthy of the place assigned to it, both from the standpoint of artistic merit and the person selected for this honor.

Mrs. Kieffer, wife of Professor John B. Kieffer, once, upon meeting a man whom she knew as a boy, said: "I am glad your boyhood features have not changed; they have only matured." That is how I feel in regard to the portrait. The artist has caught the ideal of the man and I see in it the same bright eyes and clear-cut features of John Bowman, the school boy of Mercersburg, the minister of the Gospel, and the young professor, entering upon his work in the Seminary. The features have not changed, they have only matured. The exquisite color, the contrast of light and shade and the harmony and symmetry of design, make the portrait a notable one and reflect great credit upon the talented artist, Mrs. Wellens, the daughter of a distinguished portrait painter, and granddaughter of the great Eicholtz.

Somehow or other, the name of Dr. Bowman is associated with all the buildings on these grounds. It was his initiative that secured the grounds, that started the erection of the main building, Santee Hall, the Library, and now this Dormitory and Refectory. When we came to break ground for the Dormitory, we felt as though we were guilty of false pretense, and we remarked to Dr. Bowman that it did not seem right to commence this operation without any money in sight. "Oh!" he said, "we must go ahead, it will not cost anything to break

the ground, and if the Church does not respond we will let the matter lie until it does." It was his optimism that assured the erection of these buildings.

But there is another greater reason why this portrait of Dr. Bowman is appropriate in this place, namely, because of his fidelity and loyalty to the Church. From the time he pledged himself to the Church at Mercersburg, he has never faltered in his loyalty to it. No desire of money or fame could ever tempt him into other fields; and he has always been found at his post here; and the best that was in him he always gave to the Church. Knowing this, the generations of boys to come, who will meet in this room, will receive inspiration from that portrait.

I desire to congratulate Dr. Bowman upon this honor. It is an honor. And I also wish to express heartfelt thanks for, and appreciation of, the gift. The donor has passed to the great beyond. We miss his presence here to-day. His name will always be linked with that of Dr. Bowman through this portrait. He was not a member of our Church; but there was never a breach in the line anywhere in any of our educational institutions here in Lancaster that he did not fill in if he knew of it. The Church will long remember his generous benefactions to our various institutions. I accept the gift in the name of the Board of Trustees with a grateful heart. LANCASTER, PA.

VIII.

"THE COMPLETION OF HUMAN LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST."1

Col. 2:10.

THOS. H. LEINBACH.

The greatest fact in the history of the world is the fact of the human life of Jesus Christ. And the greatest force in the human life of the world is the religion which He founded. Upon the basis of this fact, and through the exercise of this force, life's highest ends may be reached and life's greatest possibilities realized.

St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians assures them that in Christ and His religion is the fullness of the power required to bring about their being to its full and perfect completion. That life's completion is found and must be sought for in no other than in Him who is Life's Author and Exemplar.

The immediate purpose of Paul in addressing the Colossian Christians is to refute certain errors that prevailed among them. False teachers were inducing them to live after the traditions of men rather than after the Gospel of Christ, to live according to the rudiments of the world and not according to Jesus. The perils of ritualism, spiritualism and asceticism were destroying their simple faith and trust in Christ.

Many among them believed they were filled full of God when they observed with regularity and ceremonial exactness their feast days and fast days and the Jewish rites.

Others believed that the universe was full of good and evil spirits, the former to help them, the latter to harm and punish

1 A sermon preached at the opening of the annual Spiritual Conference in Lancaster, Pa., July 23, 1917, by the Rev. Thomas H. Leinbach, of Reading, Pa.