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February Id, l?13j TBI P
Presbyterianism and
RKV. R. E. I
(Continued froi
THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC.
.Let us now turn to tlie American republic and
inquire who were those who laid the foundation
of the nation. In the Soutn-Atlantic States there
settled the French Huguenots, who had on"t; talked
of setting up a republic in France with Roche
lie as capital, but had dually been forced to llee
by the tyranny of Louis XJV. Here also came
the sturdy Scotch-Irish, who are reputed never
to have produced a Tory. In the Mayflower came
the Pilgrim Fathers. Now in those pioneer days
these Presbyterian people would clear a settlement,
build a church and beside it a schoolhouse.
Their ministers were educated in the old country,
especially in the case of those from Scotland;
and often the minister was the teacher as well
as preacher and pastor. Presently the famous
"Log College" was founded, about which Whitefield
remarked: "Our TTlinistprB nrp rrlnrimia
6?""*"
out. From this despised place, seven or eight
worthy ministers of Jesus have lately been sent
foith." Later came Princeton College, among
whose presidents we find the name of J no. Witherspoon,
whose name also appears among the signers
of the Declaration of Independence. In 1812
the Princeton Theological Seminary was organized,
the oldest Presbyterian Seminary in the
United States. This has become famous through
the work of the Alexanders and Uodges. Of Dr.
Archibald Alexander I have heard it remarked
that perhaps no other has ever exerted such an
influence on American Prcsbyterianism as he. We
mention incidentally that the Universities of Harvard
and Yale were founded by Calvinists, a fact
not generally known. And what can we say in
our limited time of the pioneers in the South and
Southwest. Of old Hampden Sidney in Va., Center
College in Ky., and Davidson in North Carolina.
Of the famous Waddell family. Of the
Willington Academy in Abbeville county, S. C.,
opened by Dr. Moses Waddell, a graduate of
Hampden Sidney College. Of his presidency of
thn TTnivfpaifv flf noAriria in -i*1
? ?? - . v w. WA. UVVI^IU ^ ill CUUliCW 11UU U 1 III
which his associate*in tlie Faculty, Dr. Church,
says, "To the wisdom and prudence and reputation
of that good man is Georgia very largely indebted
for the respectability and usefulness of her
State College." Of Dr. David Caldwell, mentioned
in, "The South in The Building of the Nation,"
as the "most famous name in the early educational
annals of North Carolina." The 6on of
a Scotch-Irish farmer, graduate of (Princeton.
"His log cabin served N. C. as an academy, a
college and a Theological seminary." "As s teacher,
was probably more useful to the church than
any one man in the United States." Of the Bing
ham Academy founded by Itev. William Bingham.
Of Oglethorpe in Ga. Passing over much that
might be interesting we come to speak of the advent
of Presbyterianism into the Mississippi Valley.
Tennessee Presbyterians have, of course,
heard of Samuel Doak. In the query column of
the Nashville Banner recently there appeared the
following question. Who was Tennessee's first
school tcaclicr, and which was the first school
erected in Tennessee and where? This answer
was given: "The first school teacher in Tennessee
was Samuel Doak, who opened his school house
at Old Salem, ten miles southwest of the town of
Joucsboro, in 1780. This school ultimately became
Washington College. When Samuel Donk
onened his whnnl. Tonnnoawi nf <?>"""> ?
J ~ ' 7 ?- V www IIU0| U1 VUUJ CVij O J /CI I t
of N. C." It might have been added that Doak
was a Presbyterian preacher who came from Hanover
Presbytery, that region where Gov. Berkeley
had thanked God that there were no free
schools nor printing presses and hoped that there
&E8BTTIE1AS OF THE 80
Christian Education
'Ut.TON.
ii last issue.)
ritinuld nitt he fnr h hnnrlrefl voura Thnu tVio Hif.
ference between prelatic Va. and Presbyterian Va.
Doak came and started his log college. In .Nashville,
Cumberland College, now the University of
Nashville, was founded as a Presbyterian institution.
In Mississippi we find Oakland College. The
memory of two of its promoters is perpetuated in
Chamberlain-Hunt Academy. Lest you grow
weary of further enumeration, let this suffice.
T11E SOUTHERN CliURCII.
in the year 18(31 another branch of the Tresbyterian
body was organized, thus making another of
the eighty odd I'res'jyterian churches in the world.
In the minutes of the lirst Assembly we find the
following: "liesolved, 1. That this General Assembly
solemnly reaffirms the deliverances made
in its former connection concerning the responsibility
that rests on the church to secure and maintain
for itself a pious, gifted, and learned ministiy."
This Assembly then proceeded to appoint
an Executive Committee on the subject, and the
Southern i'resbyierian church has no cause to
blush for what she has done for Christie a educa
tiou iu the half century of her history. She has
contributed largely to the religious press; her pulpit
has furnished some noble men. She was a
pioneer in turning to the benighted Africau at her
doOr; by Sunday Schools and preaching by white
ministers, but especially through Stillinan Institute
which has trained men for other denominations
as well as for the Presbyterian. In the mountains
of Kentucky and the Carolinas, among the
Indians in the West, schools have been established.
To the foreign field she sent trained men and women,
who in turn trained native workers- fnunHerl
schools for boys and girls and seminaries for training
native ministers.
Thus far we have indicated what Christian education
means; what Presbyterianism has done for
it; and that such is the natural result of the Presbyterian
system. Now it is pertinent to ask what
is our church doing today, und what is there for
her to do yet? In reply we say that the present
situation calls for redoubled enerirv nra
OJ - v- x
certain things which have arisen in the complex
life of our present day which constitute a new
challenge to the church. In the first place we
speak of the tendency toward secularization. The
tremendous influx of immigrants, representing
oriental paganism, or medieval Romanism, or Russian
Nihilism. The prevalence of lawlessness
through the country is another challenge to the
church. The Presbyterian church has fought out
the battle for the separation of church and state;
yet, though she must still stand guard on that
point, she must save the day for conservatism.
There is danger now of swinging to the other ex- *
treme and of separating religion and the state.
We must again preach the first nine verses of the
thirteenth chapter of Romans. We must teach
anew the doctrine that the state is a moral being,
and as such responsible to God. That, though
civil government in its framework is the ordinance
of God; and that, therefore, only God-fearing
men should be exalted to office. The un
paralleled endowment of n?n-sectarinn institutions
of learning and the odious discrimination
against church institutions, is a hold challenge.
Why such discrimination? If the church originated
the system of Christian education, wherein
has she apostatized? Is it not really a challenge
to Christian education? Still another challenge
to the church ia fh<* or\ii>;r uw?i:? -- ?1 **
? vi uuciuiisiu in puipit,
press, and college. The theology of R. J. Campbell,
the maudlin stuff of Pastor Russell, the freelove
gush, and such propaganda ad nauseam. In
this connection also we refer to the strong ha
UTB ' (147) 8
manitariau tide which has act in. Sermons are degenerating
into lectures on Sociology; the church
is in danger of lapsing into a humane society. We
are toiu tnat, "these tilings ye ought to have done",
but some of us remember that "the other ye ought
not to have left undone."
Now what is our church doing to meet this?
In the first place we observe that some of our institutions
are struggling for existence. They suffer
from lack of funds, but especially from the
fact that they do not have the opportunity to
train the young men and younz women, beeaune
many of them go to secular institutions, lu addition
to this we find a suicidal policy of competition
among our owi. schools, and the lack of unity
within the bounds of Synods. As a consequence
some institutions are in danger of dicing of "dry
rot," as 1 heard a prominent business man, and
a Methodist, recently express it. In this matter
the Synod of Texas sets the church a splendid example.
Ill Vinwr nf ?11 ll?!o " ? *?-- *
m .. .. wk ?* ??im ;i9itv ill ItltJ WOl*CAS
oi oue quoted iu tiie last minutes oi tnis ^Columbia)
i'resbytery, "lias not the time coiue for an
earnest, organized, comprehensive, continued euiupaigu
of informutiou, solicitation, and suppoit?"
Tlie Scylla and (Jharybdis tiirougli which the
cliuieh must steer her course are, on the one hand
the policy of impoverishment unto death and
theieby taking away the opportunity for Christian
education; and on the other hand, such phenomenal
prosperity as brings about the nride that
gocth before a fail, and makes the child forget
its curly obligations and go after other gods. Our
Assembly is now establishing college pulpits at
state institutions, which centers the Unitarian and
liomish bodies are assiduously cultivating. That
will do much toward saving the day for Christian
education, but it can never take the place of the
Christian class-room, of the institution in which
the Bible is a text book and where prayer is
wont to be made.
in drawing to the close of this address we may
surely be pardoned for becoming personal and referring
to an institution which has been a land
mark in the .valley of the M i?siaair?r>; rvm o??
ri"- urn OICWart
College, operated under the Synod of Nashville,
iu lS7f.? became the Southwestern Prcabytel'ian
University. The idea of a University for the
large southwest territory was conceived by llev.
J. A. Lyon, D. D., and others. A plan of union
provided for joint control by the six Synods of
Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas
and Teuucssee. Lev. M. 13. Pahucr, D. D., was
elected Chancellor, and considering the position
of such importance as affording a wide lioM
labor and usefulness, lie resigucd his pastorate in
New Orleans to accept the Chancellorship; and
though he was prevented from doing so by the
action of his l'rcsbytery, lie continued throughout
the remainder of his life a true friend to the institution.
The Hoard of Directors found n wise
and successful executive iu Rev. J. N. Wnddell,
D. D., to whose distinguished family reference has
already been made. During the inrinultcncy of
Dr. Wnddell, in 1885 the School of Divinity was
organized. Dr. Joseph R. Wilson, father of the
present nominee of tlio
_ V,,.luviauv p?rcy lor
president, became the first professor of Systematic
Theology. Thus for many years the Southwestern
was the foster mother of this vast southwest
territory until the froutier synods could develop
their own institutions. The policy of the University
at Chirksville has always been conservative.
She was among the first, if not the leader,
in the 'matter of ?i.? * ?
VIIV eiuiljr CM I lie Itlble a
part of the curriculum. Itev. J. B. Shearer, 1). L).,
the first professor of the English Bible in the
University, was a pioneer in this field. In this
connection it might be of interest to quote the testimony
of a student last year. The class was
asked for their estimate of the importance of Bible
study. This student wrote on his paper the
(Continued on page 11.)