AN ADDRESS
PREPARED BY
REV. JOSEPH I. FOOT, D. D.,
FOR
HIS INAUGURATION
AS
PRESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE,
EAST TENNESSEE.
KNOXVILLE:
J AS. C. MOSES AND COMPANY.
1840.
In the death of the Rev. J. I. Foot, the cause of education and
truth has lost a warm and zealous advocate. He had recently
been elected to the Presidency of Washington College, E. Tennessee,
and was on his way to that Institution, when the fatal event occurred,
that terminated his earthly existence. On Monday evening, April
20th, 1840, he was thrown from his horse, near Leesburg,
Washington county, Tennessee, by which he received a wound
that caused his death in twenty-two hours.
This Address, now presented to the public, was prepared by
Dr. Foot for his inauguration, which was to have taken place the
Wednesday following. It is worthy of preservation. The facts
and sentiments which it contains, are richly worth a careful
perusal, and will no doubt be deeply interesting to the friends of
science and literature.
ADDRESS.
In laying anew the foundations of this Institution, it is reasonable
to review the scenes of past generations, and to anticipate those
which are yet future. In one of the graves beneath these oaks,
repose the ashes of the venerable man, who in the maturity of his
strength, came hither to inculcate the principles of Christianity.
He had left the house of his fathers, and the fascinations of mature
society, for the purpose of conveying the knowledge of Christ
and his salvation to the pioneers of this infant colony. Tradition
relates that while going on this heavenly enterprise, he came near
the grove where these edifices rise—that here several of the early
inhabitants were toiling to subdue the forest and provide for the
sustenance of their families, and when they saw the man of God,
their eyes brightened—they suspended the labors of the day—they
desired to hear one more sermon in this world. The good man
stopped. The scattered population hastened to the place. The
shades of a broad oak was their temple, and the horse of the
minister his pulpit. So interesting to his heart was this reception,
that he lingered amongst them. He taught them on the sabbath.
Like the venerable tenant of the log College in Neshamony, he
instructed their children during the week. Instead of conforming
to the standard of taste and literature in the desert, he undertook
to cause the wilderness itself to bud and blossom like the rose.
Bringing with him the scholarship and accomplishments of the
College of New Jersey in the days of her Witherspoon, he diffused
them all around him. His school, at its commencement, attracted
the attention of distinguished men throughout these regions, and
their sons were sent hither for instruction,' The Legislature of
North Carolina incorporated it, and gave it the name of Martin
Academy. This was the first incorporated institution in the whole
region west of the Alleghanies. At the first meeting of the
Territorial Legislature of Tennessee, Martin Academy was
incorporated as a College, and in honor of the commander of the
American army, which acquired our independence, and of the
illustrious statesman who first presided over these United States,
it was commanded to bear his name.
4
From this time, the College during many years was prosperous.
In the year 1794, the usual degrees were conferred on its Alumni.
It was not to be supposed that in the infancy of the Territory of
Tennessee, and amongst the thinly scattered population of^ the
wilderness, an institution could rise into being with all the stateliness
of Union College in New York, which was incorporated about the
same time. That splendid institution arose in the midst of an
abundant and sound currency, of a dense population, and at a
distance from the incursions of savages. This had its origin in a
region where the skin of the Raccoon had long been almost the
only money—where the people were few in the land, and strangers
in it—and where the mighty Cherokees were waiting an opportunity
to devour them. With these adverse circumstances, the College
in its early days, was compelled to struggle. Nor was this all.
Upon the recognition of Tennessee as one of the States of the
Union, Congress graciously granted to her an extensive tract of
land, to be appropriated to two Colleges. The portion designed
for East Tennessee was given by the Legislature to the College in
Knoxville, Nor would this have been regretted, had not an indiscreet
attempt been made to interpret these acts as a decision of Congress
that two Colleges are sufficient for Tennessee. That two were
sufficient for the population at the period of her admission into the
confederacy, no one will dispute. But from the fact that two
were sufficient for a few thousand inhabitants, occupying only
limited portions of her territory, it does not follow that they are
now sufficient for nearly one million of dwellers on the hills and
the plains and by the water courses of the whole State, whose
length is six hundred miles, and whose breadth is one hundred
miles. Nor ought it to be forgotten that adjacent to us,
large sections of the other States are destitute of Colleges.—
There is no sound reason for the existence of jealousy between
the Colleges of this extended region. The distance from this
to the Nashville University, and to Jackson College, is nearly
three hundred miles; to the University at Knoxville, about one
hundred miles; and to the Holston College, about seventy miles.
No one of them is sufficiently near to accommodate the students
of this region. They have not been accustomed to leave their
own institutions for those in other parts of the State, nor is there
any reason to suppose that they will ever be inclined to leave
them. Under the extended advantages recently conferred on their
own institution, by a generous community, it is believed that
their affections will linger yet many generations around these
groves where their fathers were trained to virtue and to science.
It is believed that in comparison with Washington College, no
other institution in these regions has educated more men who have
been eminent in their respective professions. In this State, as
well as in both the Carolinas, and in the other Southern and
Western States, they hold the first rank in professional life, and
yet the College itself, which has conferred these favors on th®>
5
community, stands a poor neglected orphan. No portion of the
public wealth has been conferred on her. In this respect, she
suffers in common with several of her sister institutions. What a
noble institution might Greenville have become, had she received
a share of the public funds ? What would Jackson College have
been if a portion of the public patronage had been granted to her ?
And where would the virtue, and patriotism, and godliness of
Washington College have placed her this day, if she had been
moderately patronized by the State ? And yet she has received
no pecuniary aid from the Commonwealth. But a generous public
seeing her affliction, are hastening to her relief. They have decreed
that an institution, founded in patriotism and prayer, coeval with
the very existence of their Republic, and of distinguished service
in preparing their sons for the pulpit, the bar, the judiciary, and
the halls of legislation, shall not languish. No other test of their
interest in her prosperity, can be more sure, than that of a generous
contribution to her funds. This College is the College of the
people ; around her their affections are entwined; for her
prosperity they make the most generous sacrifices; by her care
they desire their sons to be nurtured; with her honors they wish
them to go forth to the study of the various professions, and from
the success of their predecessors, they justly infer that their course
will be equally brilliant.
It has been repeatedly charged, that our object in reviving this
College, and extending its operations, is the establishment of a
Theological Department. Now it is unquestionable that no other
portion of the United States, more imperatively needs well
educated ministers than Tennessee. Amongst those connected
with our own denomination, there is a famine of the word. On
every side, men are perishing for want of an educated ministry,
and their cry goes upwards, and is echoed back from the whole
vault of Heaven. So imperious is the demand, that in former years
many ran before they were sent, and these errors and distractions
were widely diffused in the church. Notwithstandingthisurgency,
it ought not to be concluded that Colleges are designed chiefly to
prepare the youth to study the various professions, and that none
of the Universities in this country have been successful in
qualifying theological students for the pulpit. I speak not now of the
merely nominal Universities with which the United States abound,
and which are in no respect equal to the best American Colleges,
I speak of institutions which are truly named Universities;
in which a College of the arts and sciences, a College of medicine,
a College of law, and a College of theology actually exist. All
these are found in Yale College, though it aspires not to call itself
a University; and yet how limited is the number of its theological
students, and how feeble its reputation, in comparison with the
Theological Seminary at Princeton, which has no connection with
the College of New Jersey. These four faculties exist in Harvard
University, and yet how small is the number of their Theological
(>
students, and how unsavory is their influence in comparison with
those of Andover, and its immediate vicinity. The Universities
of England are established on the principle of a union of the church
and the State. Hence they are designed only for the sons of the
established church. None but Episcopalians, are suffered to enjoy
their privileges. In the American meaning of the term, they are
exclusively sectarian. And particularly so are all those Colleges
or Universities in which Theology is laught under a secular
corporation. Thus the Theological faculty in Harvard University is
Congregational and Unitarian. In Yale College it is Congregational
and "Taylorite." And if any one of the Universities in name
shall become Universities in reality, then to avoid perpetual
contention, the chairs of Theology must be filled by professors of
a single sect, and the institution itself the property of all, will thus
be used merely as an engine to demolish every other denomination.
Except by uniting in effect the State to some single denomination,
thus giving to it alone the influence of the Legislature, and the
common property of all, it is plain that a Theological Department
cannot be established in any of the institutions which are sustained
by the public funds. Although in Colleges founded by private
liberality, no such objections can be urged against a Theological
Department, yet it must not be forgotten, that under the control of
a merely secular corporation, it would be altogether insecure.—f
Theological schools belong solely to the church, and therefore
ought to be subject only to ecclesiastical supervision.
It is a fact that in the scriptures God has revealed what men
ought to believe, and what duty He requires of them; nor can it
be maintained that they have a right to believe, to inculcate or to
do any thing at variance with His word. The opinion that they
are at liberty toTT^Cany of-the things which He has enjoined, is
unfounded and dangerous. Now whilst American legislation has
Seen fit to enforce the rules of morality, it gives no precepts
concerning religious opinions or practice. Hence our citizens
are not responsible to the State for their faith, or for their modes
of worship. Independently, then, of the State, but not of the
Almighty, men are suffered in religion to walk in their own ways,
just so far as their conduct does not conflict with the laws of the
land—they have not merely a claim to toleration, but a eight to
all the forms of law which are necessary to aid them in holding
or teaching their doctrines. The civil right to establish their
Theological schools, and to teach any doctrine or precept, not
contrary to the peace of the State, can not be properly denied by
Legislatures, nor the necessary acts of incorporation justly withheld.
No disabilities can be inflicted on them, nor any privilege withheld
from them, which is granted to others. In providing for the
support and perpetuity of religion, American citizens have an
equality of civil rights. Each branch of the christian church is at
liberty to establish such Theological schools as are requisite to
its prosperity j and these should be carefully furnished with legal
T
facilities for holding and investing the property necessary td
sustain them] and hence there is no need of identifying them
with Colleges of the arts and sciences.
This College will maintain the same generous principles with
which it began. It was founded by Presbyterians. The faculty
has always been of this denomination. We profess to be members
of the same church individually, according to its original faith and
order. Nor is it impossible that a fair proportion of those who
come hither for instruction, will be of the same denomination. And
while we distinctly set forth this declaration, we unequivocally say,
that students of all christian denominations, without discrimination,
shall be admitted to the College, and shall be alike sharers in its
privileges and its honors. No spirit is more base than that which
can exclude, or even degrade, on account of a religious profession,
those who, with a commendable zeal, are seeking for knowledge.
Gross immoralities are the only justifiable grounds for refusing to
receive those who are intellectually qualified for admission.—
While it will be expected of us to teach the principles of morality
and piety, and while it will be the duty of every student to learn
them, it will not be demanded that those of other denominations
shall learn them of us on the Sabbath. We insist, however, that
every student shall be a hearer of the word—that he may select
what church he will attend, and that he shall regularly worship in
the church of his choice. If he chooses the Presbyterian, thither
he must go. If he chooses the New School Presbyterian, thither
he shall go. If he chooses the Baptist, or the Methodist, there
he shall worship. Whilst the most generous liberality is used in
granting this choice, the utmost vigilance will be employed in
causing their choice to be carried into effect. The experience of
all ages has shown that knowledge without moral and religious
principles, is dangerous both to its possessor and to the community.
Satan himself is an illustrious specimen of knowledge without
principle; and like unto him, it is the tendency of all education to
make those who reject moral and religious culture. " The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding
have all they that keep his commandments." To withhold religious
instruction, is flagrant injustice to the students themselves, and a
fearful injury to the community in which they are destined to
dwell. Young men should be educated in all the truths which
God has revealed. They should be taught to practice all the duties
which he requires. Thus, through the operations of divine grace,
they will be the joy of their parents, the delight of their friends,
the ornaments of their country, and the heirs of peace.
An important object to be effected by extending the operations
of the College, is the elevation of Common Schools and Academies.
It is found to be true that when Colleges rise, Academies and
primary schools rise with them. In well organized communities,
there is a regular gradation in these institutions. These primary
schools prepare children for Academies—Academies prepare youth
8
for Colleges. Now if the terms of admission into the Freshman
elass. in College be very limited, the course of study in Academies
will be correspondently limited, and there will be no sufficient
inducement for respectable scholars to embark as teachers in them.
If Academies descend and occupy the place of Common Schools,
the latter will nearly cease to exist. In no other way can Common
Schools be useful, except by the aid of Academies, whose object
is to prepare teachers for them, and also to instruct youth in those
rudiments of the learned languages, which are preliminary to an
admission into Colleges. These, in their turn, qualify young men
to be successful teachers in Academies, and thus to prepare
instructors for the primary schools. Every well conducted College
is not merely an ornament, but a blessingto the adjacent community.
Academies and primary schools feel its influence and thrive. On
every side a thirst for knowledge is diffused; the whole community
is elevated. Thus, every where around the ancient Colleges of
the North, an unusual degree of intelligence exists. If, in some
States, where these institutions are numerous, the improvement *bf
the population, is scarcely discernible, it is owing chiefly to the •
infancy of their Colleges. With their advancement to maturity,
society around them will correspondently advance, till it shall
arrive at a high degree of cultivation. Whoever, therefore, desires
to see Common Schools and Academies receive an impulse, which
shall cause the streams of intelligence to flow around every
habitation, will devoutly desire the prosperity of Colleges and toil
for their elevation.
Another object to be accomplished, is the preparation ©f young
men for the study of the learned professions. It is indeed true,
that individuals have risen to distinction in each of these professions,
who have never had an opportunity to go through the regular
course of study in College. Of these it is impossible to speak
without veneration. The names of the Rev. Samuel Davies,
President of the College of New Jersey, of the Hon. Roger Sherman,
of the Hon. Patrick Henry, and of several other Americans, will
stand forth in all succeeding generations, as mementos of the
power of genius, combined with perseverance, to overcome early
obstacles, to supply early deficiencies, and thus to render themselves
eminently useful. But who now doubts, that a collegiate
training would have made them still more useful and brilliant?
Notwithstanding these exceptions, it should be remembered that
the student who in his early days neglects to complete the regular
course within the halls of College, and among the inspiring
influences of his companions in study, incurs disadvantages, over
which, in coming days, he will constantly mourn. Nor ought it
to be overlooked, that this region of country is rapidly advancing
to maturity; although in the early settlement thereof, it might not
presage professional ruin, to rush without a collegiate education
into the ranks of public life; yet this will soon be an almost
invincible indication of partial or complete failure. As the country
9
advances in age, the causes in civil courts advance from litigation
respecting timbers and boundaries and blows, to minute discussions
concerning the constitution, the statutes, and the common law.—
Already the "healing art, instead of confiding in the uneducated
sons and daughters of iEsculapius, demands chiefly those who
have completed the course and received the blessings of medical
Colleges. And the pulpit, after having tried long and unsuccessfully
to reconcile congregations to partially educated ministers, has
begun to promulgate the doctrine that (here and there an honorable
exception,), none shall be introduced to her assemblies, who have
neglected either the Collegiate or the theological course, through
which the sons of the church in the old States are required to pass.
The day is near when to have neglected the Collegiate course, will
be a serious obstacle to a successful entrance on the practice of law,
or to a settlement in a respectable congregation. In the senior
States this obstacle has long been severely felt by all who haver
been unwilling to spend in Colleges the time, or to endure the
labor requisite to an honorable graduation. .
Nor is this- all; we are not of the number of those who believe
that in this " day of light" it is allowable to disregard the course
of our ancestors. We do not believe that the interests of education
are promoted by expunging the Greek testament from the list of
preparatory studies. It is retained in the most distinguished of
the American Colleges. Here also it formed a part of the course
of Balch and of Coffin, as well as of Carrick and of Doak.—
Fanaticism, in one section of the country, has expelled the classics
of Greece and Rome from the list of Collegiate authors, and from
the preparatory course in another the writings of the Apostles
themselves are excluded. This-is an improvement over which
Christianity weeps, and infidelity triumphs. In the course of
preparatory study, we shall lead our students over the fields through
which our fathers taught us to go. Virgil, the orations of Cicero,
Grecae Minorca, and the Greek Testament, with such other studies
as the laws may from time to time prescribe, will be required for'
admission. From this period, the student should advance not
through the broken fragments of numerous authors thrown together,
in Grecae Majora with alLthe confusion of an earthquake, and as
poorly calculated to produce a relish for classical learning as the
perusal only of the Spelling book and English Reader is to give a
knowledge of history or a taste for poetry. He should advance
through Xenophon, Homer, Longinus, Demosthenes, and such
other Greek authors as there is time to study with accuracy. And
with these he should intermingle daily the reading of Horace,
Cicero De Oratore, Tacitus, and other Latin authors of similar
reputation. He should be led through an ample course of
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and Natural
History; nor should he omit a careful and practical study of
Rhetoric, Logic, Intellectual Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, the
2
10
Elements of Criticism, and the Evidences of Christianity. While
employed in these researches, and in daily reciting the things
which he has learned, he ought not, in the hours of his retirement,
to forget the Being whose word is a lamp unto his feet and a light
unto his path, but to cherish an affectionate reverence of the
Almighty, to rely on His care, and to call upon His name. And
when he has thoroughly completed the course prescribed in the
laws, he should be dismissed with the honors of College, and a
practical conviction that he has only been learning to read, and
that his future life is to be employed in reading to learn. No
other impression is so fatal to advancement in knowledge, as the
belief that the whole field of literature and science has been
explored in College.
A prominent motive in extending the operations of the College,
is the education of the poor. I use not this term in reproach.—
Who, almost in the whole circle of distinguished "schools, has not
been indigent ? If from the lists of those who havebeendistinguished
as officers in Colleges, or pre-eminent in the profession of Law*,
Medicine, or Divinity, or celebrated for their attainments in science
—if from these lists we were to strike out the names of those who
were originally indigent, how small then would be the remainder ?
Nor is this scarcely less true of the many who have risen to the
principal places of honor in the several States, and even in the
nation itself.
There is a disposition in the community to compound indigence
with ignominy, and to treat the poor as if they were criminal; no
other tendency is so injurious to the general elevation of society
or to our Republican institutions. It is, indeed, an affecting fact,
that scarcely a son of the indolent, the worthless and the immoral,
has ever risen to eminence in our country. The habitations of
vileness engrave their own character so legibly on their children,
that it is rarely, or never, obliterated. But by far the greater
portion of those, who in our country have been denominated poor,
are entirely competent to sustain their families at home. They
are honest. Their morals are without a stain. They are beloved
by all their neighbors. Their children are trained in every virtue.
They are the joy of their parents, and the delight of their wealthy
neighbors. If instead of undertaking to procure an education in
the liberal arts and sciences, they were to apply themselves to
agriculture, to merchandise, or to any ordinary employment, it is
unquestionable, that competence and perhaps wealth would soon
smile around them. But if instead of limiting their circle ofusefulness
by these boundaries, their minds contemplate a wide range of
operation; if instead of growing up with the rapidity of the poplar,
they endeavor to acquire the solidity and the expansion of the
oak; if their hearts are fixed on being widely and permanently
useful to the human race, such aspirations in their youthful bosoms,
ought to be hailed by the community. Facilities ought to be
provided for the developement of such desires and such faculties,
11
With steady and persevering industry, these minds will soon shine
with a lustre equal to that of the prince in his court, or the sons of
the rich in their palaces.
They will, indeed, outshine all those whose industry is not of
the most stern and enduring kind. Time would fail me to recount
by name the distinguished men who, from an honorable poverty in
childhood, have risen by persevering industry and economy to
the very summit of literary and professional excellence. Excluded
from participating in the commercial affairs of the country, the
commodities of the agriculturist, cannot be made to yield him those
pecuniary returns which reward the husbandman of other regions.
Hence, many whose home is blessed with abundance, can procure
but limited means to sustain themselves or their children abroad.
For such individuals, this institution has always been an asylum;
and while she has educated her full share of the rich and the
honorable, she has always been the patron of the honest and the
obscure. In this she will persevere. It is undeniable, that greater
facilities than any now enjoyed in these regions for acquiring an
education, can here be offered at a comparatively small expense.
The doors will always be opened for the admission of the moral,
industrious and persevering sons of the community to enter.—
Equally with the heirs of the opulent, will it be our delight to train
those who cannot otherwise be prepared for extensive usefulness.
In this country, neither honor nor office is hereditary. Every
boy is born a candidate for the Presidency of the United States.
Thus the sons of the rich and the poor are equally permitted to
run. " But one receiveth the prizethe son of an obscure
minister of the gospel, or of a laborer in bricks and mortar, or of
a lonely widow, is as likely as any other one to sit in Washington's
seat and administer the Government of his country.
Called to the responsible business of presiding over this
institution, and expected to elevate it from the decline into which
it had unhappily fallen, I enter on the work which Providence has
required me to undertake. It is with extreme diffidence, that I
approach it. Nothing short of your unanimous call, sustained by
so generous a subscription to the funds of the College, urged by
the brethren of my own profession, and advised by gentlemen of
distinguished wisdom and learning abroad—nothing but this
concurrence could have overcome my reluctance to assume the
duties of the office. I shall need your indulgence—I shall expect
your cordial support; without this it will be impossible to elevate
this institution to the rank which it ought to hold, or to train your
sons to intelligence and virtue.
But if there be one thing, which above all others it becomes us
to seek, it is the guidance of our Father in Heaven. If He smile,
we live. If He give us wisdom, the affairs of the College will
thrive. Young men will here be trained in the grace of God, in
the love of their country, and in all the refinements of learning.
They will go forth to expound the laws, to teach the arts of healing,
12
or to preach the gospel of Christ; atid when our heads, now
growing hoary • with age, shall sleep with our fathers, they shall
occupy our places. They shall sustain the institutions for Which
we labor, and from them a loud and deep current of blessings shall
flow forth unto all generations. This divine superintendence, we
this day solemnly implore. May it attend us in all our acts of
deliberation, instruction and government. This supervision we
shall constantly need. u Except the Lord build the house, they
labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the
watchmen waketh in vain."
ERRATA.
On the 6th page, 20th line from the bottom, for " right," read
reject.
On the 10th page, 16th line from the top, for " schools " read
scholars.