The first vesper service of the new year was held in Appleton chapel yesterday afternoon. Rev. F. G. Peabody led in the devotional part of the services after which the choir sang Tours's anthem, "In Thee O Lord" Rev. Phillips Brooks then spoke, taking for his text the words from Matthew, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy strength and with all thy soul." The speaker said it was impossible to command ourselves to love God unless we feel the fundamental intrinsic relationship between God and man. To love a being truly, we must stand before it and feel the magic of its presence. We can stand in the presence of God by "standing in the way of his commandments." Dr. Brooks spoke of the habit of making good resolves at this season of the year. Let all things be done in the love of God instead of love of self. Let us make our resolutions to enter upon a new life of religion and of love rather than merely to break off some habit or fault. The choir sang, "Doth not Wisdom Cry," by Haking, and "Our Soul in God with Patience Wait," by Garret.