At the close of the year Tom passed out of the preparatory department and was admitted into the classical course, and Edward McLaren entered upon his senior year. Edward was likewise recommended as a licentiate for the ministry. But the committee ordered that before this should be fully granted the old custom should be observed and he should preach a "trial sermon," and the date was set for that occasion. If possible, this occasion was of more importance to Tom than to Edward. He was continually referring to it and hoping that it might be a great success. The committee had appointed Sunday afternoon as the time, and the service was announced throughout a wide territory. The day for the sermon was clear and beautiful. The bishop and faculty were surprised at the amount of interest shown. Many persons remained after the morning service, having brought their luncheons with them, and, as the appointed hour, three o'clock, approached, it was seen that the college chapel would not contain the great crowd, and it was concluded that the service must be held in the auditorium of the church. The large audience room was filled to its utmost capacity. It was truly an ordeal for the young man to pass through. Tom was the most nervous person in the twelve hundred present. "Will my Carl stand the test?" asked Tom of himself. But of course he would. Two young clergymen had charge of the opening exercises. Alice presided at the organ, and a full choir rendered the music, doing justice to the hour and the service. The young preacher was pale and somewhat nervous when he arose to announce his text. At first he could scarce be heard ten yards away; but he quickly corrected the fault and went on with fuller confidence and courage. He spoke from Psalm 119. 59: "I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies." "Thinking is royal," he said. "Thought is king. Everything of beauty or usefulness is the child of thought. Here is the distinction between man and the brute. Here is the cause of difference between the savant and the savage. And here is the difference between men. Some think; others do not. And what fields for thought are spread out before the human mind! For instance, nations and cities once great and influential are now blotted out. Babylon, Rome, Palmyra, Jerusalem. What destroyed them? They refused to acknowledge God, and he left them to perish. Ah! They forsook God and he left them. "Again. Notice the nations that have come up out of barbaric obscurity to become the world power today--England, Germany, the United States. What has thus lifted them to their peerless position? They acknowledge God to be their God and King of all kings and all nations. Surely, then, this is a nation's palladium, just as it is the individual standard of character. Emmanuel--God with us.