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 SCHOOLS OF THE PEOPHETS. 
 
 A LECTURE, 
 
 BY 
 
 PROF. H. A. THOMPSON, 
 
 OF WESTFIELD COLLEGE, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 THE I'NITID BRETHREN BOARD OP EDUCATION, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 First United Brethren Church, Bayton, 0., 
 
 AUGUST 2, 1871. 
 
 DAYTON, OHIO: 
 
 United I5retlirei^ Publisliiiig TToitse, 
 
 1872. 
 
A. LECTURE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 "If the desire to become a priest excite 
 you," said St. Jerome to a monk, " learn that 
 you may be able to teach ; pretend not to be a 
 soldier without having been a militiaman and 
 a master before having been a disciple." A 
 greater than Jerome, when He had finished 
 his work on earth, had risen from the dead, 
 and was on the eve of his departure to share 
 again that honor with his Father which He 
 had for a time put aside; when He was consti- 
 tuting his church and delivering to them their 
 charter for all time to come, said to his follow- 
 ers : "Go ye therefore, and make disciples 
 of all nations, baptizing them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all 
 things whatsoever I have commanded you : 
 
THE SCHOOLS 
 
 and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
 the end of the world." The Great Apostle to 
 the gentiles, having received both his knowl- 
 edge of the gospel and his commission to pro- 
 claim it from the great Head of the church, 
 directed Timothy, and through him the church 
 of all coming time, as to the manner of sup- 
 plying the church with competent teachers. 
 " The things which thou hast heard of me 
 among many witnesses, the same commit thou 
 to faithful men, who shall be alls to teaoh 
 others also." Under the Mosaic dispensation 
 the law and the ceremonies growing out of its 
 observance formed the principal agency in 
 public instruction. In Old Testament history, 
 therefore, the priests were chiefly occupied 
 with sacrificial and ritual ceremonies, with 
 only occasional occupation as religious teach- 
 ers. Under the present dispensation the sac- 
 rificial law has been abrogated, and the priest 
 of the present must be the teacher of the peo- 
 ple. Man a fallen being, ignorant and de- 
 praved, without a knowledge of himself, the 
 character of God and of the relation he sus- 
 tains to him; knowing not how he can be 
 saved, his nature purified or his sins pardoned, 
 needs to be taught. For this purpose God 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 5 
 
 himself instituted the " ministry of reconciUa- 
 tion ;" commissioned not angels, but sent man 
 to his fellow-man, that he might persuade him 
 to "flee the wrath to come;" that he might 
 teach him what he did not know, and yet 
 needed to know. If, then, his chief business 
 be to teach, as the apostle instructed Timothy, 
 he should be apt to teach; if apt to teach, he 
 must be capable of teaching. If the priest's 
 lips are to keep knowledge, then he rau^t pos- 
 sess knowledge. Timothy, as well as all oth- 
 ers who came after him, was to give attention 
 to reading as well as to exhortation; to meditate 
 upon these things ; to give himself wholly to 
 them, "that his profiting might appear unto 
 all." 
 
 The great work of the church, therefore, 
 the great business of the gospel minister, is 
 io teach. What shall he teach? Whatever 
 God has revealed for the good of fallen man. 
 In what manner and where shall he find the 
 revelation God has made of himself? He is 
 taught to search the Scriptures, that is, exam^ 
 ine, investigate, and find out their contents. 
 At the very beginning of this search we find 
 ourselves confronted with the fact that one 
 of these volumes is written in the Hebrew 
 
6 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 and the other in the Greek language. A por- 
 tion of the former was given to the Jews 
 before the captivity, and is therefore pure 
 Hebrew. A few books written after that are 
 a mixture of Chaldee and Hebrew. The New 
 Testament was given, in the time of Christ, 
 to the Jews of Palestine, who bad learned 
 the Greek language, hence it was written in 
 mixed Greek. True, these volumes have both 
 been translated into English for the benefit of 
 the masses, but this translation is not inspired. 
 It is sufiiciently correct for ordinary use, but 
 those who are teachers must know something 
 more. They are to meet and contend with | 
 men who will not receive this translation as 
 authoritative. Often the meaning of a pas- 
 sage hinges upon the original meaning of a 
 jingle word, and they must be able to go back 
 and trace its history. A living writer has 
 said : "The man who goes forth to proclaim 
 the gospel should be able to read it at least in 
 the language in which it was originally form- 
 ed. Why should a man go forth to expound 
 a message to others which he can neither read 
 nor understand as it came from the hand of 
 Him who commissions him ? Can there be a 
 more evident unfitness in regard to qualifica- 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 7 
 
 tion for a work, than to be ignorant the of 
 very document which it is the main business 
 of his life to present to others ? It is almost 
 too absurd for grave remark to speak of an 
 embassador who can not, except by an inter- 
 preter, read his credentials ; of a lawyer who 
 can not read even the laws which he ex- 
 pounds;' of a teacher who can not read even 
 the books which he professes to teach; and 
 yet the melancholy fact has existed in this 
 land, and still exists, that to multitudes of 
 those who are public teachers the original 
 languages of the Scriptures are unapproached 
 treasures, and that the confidence with which 
 they speak is that of men who depend on the 
 testimony of others for a knowledge of that 
 which it is their appointed business to know." 
 This is strong language ; but is it too strong 
 when we take into account the heresies, 
 schisms, and false doctrines that have rent the 
 church, not to say destroyed many souls, and 
 which, in most cases, are the result of igno- 
 rance ? 
 
 When the learner has mastered these lan- 
 guages, then he is prepared to properly begin 
 searching the Scriptures. Are these books the 
 Scriptures f Does this Hebrew volume contain 
 
8 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 all it contained in the time of our Savior? 
 Has nothing been added and nothing lost? 
 Does this Greek volume contain the books and 
 only those which were received as inspired in 
 the apostolic age? He ought to know this; 
 and there are means, if he will use them, 
 whereby these questions may be answered. 
 When he has the proper books he must ask 
 himself whether the text is whole. Possibly it 
 has been changed, either by the carelessness of 
 transcribers or by designing men who had a 
 purpose to accomplish ; words may have been 
 omitted or inserted and the meaning altered. 
 Some maintain that the text is correct, others 
 that it has been greatly mutilated. Scholars 
 have honestly and faithfully examined this 
 question, and are prepared to answer it. This 
 question will meet the teacher of the inspired 
 word, and, if true to his calling, he must be 
 able to give an intelligent answer. Are these 
 books genuine ? Have they been written by 
 the persons whose names they bear ? Have 
 they not been palmed off upon a credulous 
 church by wicked and designing men ? When 
 and where were they written? Are they in- 
 spired? How inspired; as to words or ideas? 
 Each separate book was probably written for a 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 particular purpose ; what was that purpose? 
 How will a knowledge of it affect our under- 
 standing of the book ? Do we need anything but 
 the Scriptures? Are these a sufficient rule of 
 faith and practice ? Having ascertained that we 
 have the genuine books, how shall arrive at 
 their true naeaning? Are we simply to attend 
 to the grammatical and literal meaning of the 
 words, and to the idioms of the languages in 
 which they are written ? Is this literal mean- 
 ing always the correct, the ultimate sense ; or is 
 there a spiritual meaning contained underneath? 
 Many of the early fathers taught a double sense 
 of scripture, one literal, the other allegorical. 
 The followers of Swedenborg even go farther 
 and claim three senses, the celestial, spiritual, 
 and natural, which are connected by corre- 
 spondences. In the Old Testament it is certain 
 that many of the persons, occurrences, and 
 ceremonies were typical. What are these, and 
 how interpreted ? 
 
 To settle all these questions, — for they must 
 be settled before a man can with any degree of 
 honesty attempt to teach them to others, — he 
 must consult every possible source of informa- 
 tion. He must know something of ancient his- 
 ory to be able to understand the frequent ref- 
 
10 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 erences to surrounding nations. He must 
 examine the prophecies, and if fulfilled be able 
 to tell when and where. He must be conversant 
 with the manners and customs of ancient 
 nations, and of those at present occupying 
 Bible lands. The facts of chronology and 
 explorations of geography must be sought for 
 to throw light upon vexed questions in the 
 Scripture records. His business is to explain 
 the Scriptures. " Every man who stands before 
 others to preach the gospel, stands there pro- 
 fessing his ability to explain, define, and illus- 
 trate the book of God ; to meet the cavils of 
 its enemies, and to press its great truths on 
 the hearts and consciences of men. His very 
 profession implies that he not merely believes, 
 but is ahle to show to thinking men that 
 this is a revelation from God." Whatever, 
 therefore, will help him to a correct knowledge 
 of the contents of the Bible, and aid him in 
 presenting that truth to unconverted men, 
 must be known. His work is not a mere 
 statement of the elementary principles of the 
 gospel, but when needed he must explain the 
 various parts, whether doctrinal, historical, 
 typical, prophetic, or practical. If the trans- 
 lation be erroneous he must rectify, must rec- 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 11 
 
 oncile apparent contradictions and clear up 
 things that are obscure. He is set for the de- 
 fense of the gospel, so he must fortify himself 
 with arguments that he may be able to meet 
 the objections of infidels and put to silence 
 their cavils. If the attack should come from 
 the exhumed records of history, he must repel 
 it. If the army gathers on the field of natural 
 science, he must make himself master of the 
 knowledge necessary to meet and dislodge the 
 enemy. He must solve the doubts and sus- 
 tain the consciences of believers; must give 
 instruction to all classes; must "reprove, re- 
 buke, and exhort with all long- suffering and 
 doctrine." 
 
 Our Presbyterian friends planned wisely 
 when they laid the foundations of their theo- 
 logical school. Their idea, in that day, of a 
 well-prepared minister was, that "he must be 
 skilled in the original languages of the Holy 
 Scriptures; he must be versed in Jewish and 
 Christian antiquities; he must have a com- 
 petent acquaintance with ancient geography 
 and oriental customs; he must have read and 
 digested the principal arguments and writings 
 relative to what has been called the deistical 
 controversy; he must have studied carefully 
 
12 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 and correctly natural theology, together with 
 didactic, polemic, and casuistic divinity, and 
 be able to support the doctrines of the gospel 
 by a ready, pertinent, and abundant quotation 
 of scripture texts for that purpose; he must 
 have a considerable acquaintance with general 
 history and chronology, and a particular ac- 
 quaintance with the history of the Christian 
 church ; he must have studied attentively the 
 duties of the pastoral office, the form of 
 church government authorized by the Script- 
 ures, and the administration of it as practiced 
 in Protestant churches."^ This is the minimum 
 of qualifications; other branches equally im- 
 portant ought to be and now are required. 
 
 The connection between all parts of knowl- 
 edge is so intimate, and its bearing upon the 
 pastoral office so important, that it is difficult 
 to draw the dividing line, and say what is 
 necessary and what not. Some kinds of 
 knowledge are more necessary than others. 
 Indeed there are some branches, without a 
 knowledge of which no man should be allowed 
 to take upon himself the obligations of a 
 gospel minister. There is not a single depart- 
 ment in the whole field of science but will af- 
 
 *Constitution of the Tlieological Seminary of the rresbyteriau Church. 
 
OF THE PUOPITETS. ' 13 
 
 lord treasures that at some period in bis career 
 will be of great value to him. A profound 
 biblical scholar, himself a teacher of theology, 
 once deliberately said, " There is scarcely any 
 science or branch of knowledge which may 
 not be made subservient to theology. ISTatural 
 history, chemistry, and geology have sometimes 
 been of important service in assisting the bib- 
 lical student to solve difficulties contained in 
 the Scriptures, or in enabling him to repel the 
 assaults of adversaries which were made under 
 cover of these sciences. A general acquaint- 
 ance with the whole circle of science is of 
 more consequence to the theologian than at 
 first sight appears. 'Not to mention the inti- 
 mate connection which subsists between all the 
 parts of truth, in consequence of which im- 
 portant light may often be collected from the 
 remotest quarters, it may be observed that 
 the state of learning in the world requires the 
 advocate of the Bible to attend to many things 
 which may not in themselves be absolutely 
 necessary. He must maintain his standing as 
 a man of learning with other literary men; 
 otherwise due respect will not be paid to him, 
 and his sacred office may suffer contempt in 
 consequence of his appearing to be ignorant of 
 
14 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 what it is expected all learned men should be 
 acquainted with." 
 
 Let us consider the persons to whom this 
 gospel is to be preached. Men who have re- 
 belled against God ; whose natures are sinful ; 
 whose hearts are hard. This word comes to 
 them to reprove them for their sins and to in- 
 duce them to forsake them. There is nothing 
 in the human heart to make such a message 
 an acceptable one. Everything sets itself 
 against it. Excuses are sought for in order to 
 evade its teaching. Hence the greater task 
 presented to the minister. He must ply his 
 hearers with well-founded arguments, aided 
 by all the facts of history, of observation, and 
 those gathered from his own mental structure, 
 that will help him to subdue this evil heart of 
 unbelief. 
 
 If there be any one thing for which this age 
 is especially distinguished it is for the general 
 distribution of knowledge. In olden times 
 the few thought and led the many; now all 
 think. Books are found on the tables of the 
 lowliest. Science and literature have opened 
 wide their gates to all. Our free common- 
 scliool system has put the means of acquiring 
 a liberal culture in the hands of everv one. 
 
OF THE PEUPriETS. 15 
 
 Books, papers, magazines, are as thick as 
 "Vallambrosa's leaves." We all read, and, as 
 a necessary consequence, we all think more or 
 less. In political campaigns the most illiterate 
 are brought face to face with fine thinkers and 
 great thoughts, and, willingly or unwillingly, 
 the great deep of their minds is more or less 
 broken up. Almost every mechanic takes, 
 reads, digests, and talks about the contents of 
 his daily paper. Questions that puzzled the 
 brains of philosophers in former times are 
 now easily and satisfactorily settled around the 
 anvil of the blacksmith. The competitions of 
 trade, the contact of mind with mind when 
 fellow-laborers meet in societies or conventions 
 for mutual improvement, all have a quicken- 
 ing power. Formerly men wrote for a' class; 
 now that class is the great masses. Reaching 
 the leaders will not reach the people; they are 
 becoming more and more their own leaders ; 
 not willing to follow the ipse dixit of any man, 
 unless it be fortified by a good reason for his 
 faith. 
 
 This age has made great advancement in 
 natural science, and people are having great 
 faith in scientific methods. The method 
 of science is inductive: it is tlie method of 
 
iQ THE SCHOOLS 
 
 caution — the skeptical method. The inductive 
 reasons from individual facts to general prin- 
 ciples; the deductive, which has long pre- 
 vailed in theology, from general principles to 
 particulars. The scientific or inductive meth- 
 od is very rigorous, but in science has pro- 
 duced great results. Its tendency is to a 
 skeptical turn of mind, but it bears fruit and 
 people believe in it. That which gives us 
 Atlantic cables. Pacific railways, and such im- 
 provements, can not be useless. Men are be- 
 ginning to clamor for the scientific method in 
 everything. The spirit which they have 
 learned in natural science they will carry with 
 them into their business, especially into their 
 theology. Scientists are discerning the signs of 
 the times, and are making their appeals not to 
 savans of learning, but to the reading masses. 
 Huxley and Darwin, and Youmans and Tyn- 
 dal, are put up in form for general distribu- 
 tion, and the great multitude read, think, and 
 form opinions concerning their teachings. As 
 far as their ability will permit, they are rigor- ^ 
 ous in this examination. There is nothing 
 very alarming in this state of things, unless 
 we refuse to see it and to use it. Men want 
 clear ideas; they want to sec the truth. They 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 17 
 
 want a reason for their faith. This same clear^ 
 ness of seeing and teaching must be carried 
 into our theological creeds. Men no longer 
 shut their eyes and gulp down without an 
 effort whatever is presented to them. They 
 believe because reason and faith coincide, and 
 not because reason utterly condemns, 
 
 '■Doubts to the world's child-heart unknown 
 Question us now from star and stone; 
 The power is lost to self-deceive 
 With hollow forms of make-believe,'' 
 
 '^The London Spectator^ a year or two 
 ago, predicted that the close of this century 
 would be a period of the blackest unbelief ever 
 known to European history."* Whether this 
 prophecy is likely to be fulfilled w^e are unable to 
 say; but it is evident that the various forms of 
 practical unbelief are increasing to an alarming 
 extent. The people are in greater danger than 
 ever. Increased endowments always bring a 
 more weighty responsibility. In former times 
 we sought power over the scholars, now we 
 want power with the people. If the pulpit 
 does not keep pace, yea, keep in advance of the 
 growth of the people, then they will turn else- 
 where and seek other teachers. Has it kept 
 
 *.M. r. Q. Review. 
 9 
 
Ig THE SCHOOLS 
 
 pace with this advancement? When those 
 questionings of our inner nature, fraught with 
 deep and startling significance, arise and clam- 
 or for solution, have we a clergy who can meet 
 and grapple with them? If the preacher 
 skips these difficulties, or carelesssly brushes 
 them aside, as it is said many commentators 
 do, then men lose faith in his ability to be a 
 spiritual guide. Among educated and unedu- 
 cated there are already misgivings as to the 
 growth of the pulpit. Allow that some of these 
 thinsfs are said and believed from a desire to be- 
 lieve them ; yet there is enough of truth in them 
 to awaken our most serious apprehension. 
 Says the North American Review, ''It is no long- 
 er sarcasm to use the phrase ^pulpit argument' 
 for 'weak reasoning,' and 'pulpit rhetoric' for 
 a feeble and stilted style." The same authority 
 says, "A church is a simple assemblage of per- 
 sons, gathered to go through with certain formal 
 ceremonies, the chief of which consists in listen- 
 ing to a man who is seldom competent to teach." 
 The most scholarly of the Boston papers. The 
 Nation^ is pleased, and says there is nothing 
 new in the assertion, for our most thoughful 
 people everywhere believe it, but the Bcview 
 has had the courage to say it. The means you 
 
OF THE PilOiniETS. I'j 
 
 are at present employing for the establishing 
 of a seminary, where your clergy may receive 
 a more generous culture, is evidence of the 
 fact that you believe there is much truth in 
 the complaint. The fact that all our oldest 
 seminaries are demanding that another year of 
 study be added to the three already provided 
 for, and that arrangements be made for a num- 
 ber of lectureships, all look in the same direc- 
 tion. The same ferment is going on in En- 
 gland and on the continent; and the subject of 
 theological education is attracting much atten- 
 tion. 
 
 The preaching of the past will not answer 
 the demands of the present. You and I have 
 sat and listened to what was supposed, in its 
 day, to be wonderful preaching. Although 
 heard years ago the preacher stands before 
 our memories with the vividness of to-day. 
 The subject and occasion, if we should judge 
 from his manner, seemed an important one. 
 It required but little time for him to become 
 interested, then anxious. Soon his whole na- 
 ture seemed to be aroused to its utmost tension. 
 His intense feelings, his ardent emotions were 
 almost uncontrollable. At times and by turns 
 his arms would fly out from his body, with as 
 
20 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 much regularity and power as the governor of 
 a steam-engine ; at times he would saw the 
 air with terrible fury. "When his convictions 
 seemed the strongest, he would leap from side 
 to side, would stamp the floor until you trem- 
 bled for the foundations beneath; the leaves of 
 the blessed book he almost ground under his 
 poundings. "When tearing a passion to tatters 
 there was every indication that his vocal chords 
 would soon be in the same condition. He 
 either thought his hearers were deaf or that 
 they were located at a great distance; for 
 the melody of his tone was like the richness 
 and sweetness of a locomotive. The most 
 tender and touching passages were given in 
 thunder tones, to produce a more signal efiect 
 Passages that in sense demanded earnest, sol- 
 emn, severe expression were rendered with 
 tears. His face at times seemed a live coal of 
 fire. Forced tears would chase each other 
 down his cheek, although there was nothing 
 very affecting in the sentiment. If the sermon 
 was written, of which it gave no evidence, 
 like that of the English minister, you would 
 find every few lines the large capitals W. H., 
 which, being interpreted, means "weep here." 
 At last, overcome with his efforts, almost ex- 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 21 
 
 hausted, he sits down with the full belief that 
 he done a great work. The people are not 
 much interested; when he wept no others 
 wept. Many were nodding, and had it not 
 been for the unusual noise would have been 
 asleep. Ko faces that seem to be alive with 
 expression or aglow with interest ; no hearts 
 that seem broken up by his tender appeals. 
 He is not troubled about these things. He 
 has done his duty, has made a great effort, 
 and he now submissively leaves the result 
 to God. If there is no great good done, nor 
 any indications of good, he is not respon- 
 sible. 
 
 Why were there no indications of good? 
 Simply because the whole thing was a decep- 
 tion, and not even complete at that. It was 
 an acted farce that all could read. Intense 
 feelings are not made to order. Eeligious 
 earnestness is the result of deep convictions, and 
 there were no convictions here. The hearers 
 went away, at least the unconverted part did, 
 with the word hombast on their thoughts, if they 
 did not utter it with their lips. This man did not 
 consider, that is, sit down with his subject and 
 turn it over in his mind, and look at it from 
 every side, until it began to ferment and pro- 
 
22 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 duce intense conviction. He did not calmly 
 arrange his plan for his audience, nor take in- 
 to account their habits of thought and life and 
 what would reach them. He did not, as was 
 said of Eufus Choate by his associates, " always 
 go in for the verdict." The listeners saw that 
 what he said was officially said, and not be- 
 cause his whale nature was alive to its im- 
 portance. John Knox never preached such 
 sermons, and no man should. When he 
 went into the pulpit from his study and his 
 knees, people listened and trembled. When 
 Martin Luther with a well-filled mind, with 
 intense convictions and reasons for those con- 
 victions, and with a warm, earnest zeal, as a 
 result of such convictions, addressed his fel- 
 low-men, his vrords were half battles. They 
 came with power and broke in pieces hard 
 hearts. 
 ' It is no small thing to preach successfully; 
 and those who think otherwise have no true 
 conception of the work. It is no by-play, no 
 i;nere pastime. It requires the best talents 
 united with the best culture. God means by 
 the 'foolishness of preaching" to save the 
 world, but not by such foolish preaching as 
 just described; and yet there are not a few 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 23 
 
 who have just such a conception of this great 
 work. 
 
 I have seen men who certainl}'- sat for a por- 
 trait of themselves when Prof. Hopkins, of 
 Yale College, penned these words : " Although 
 it may be an ungracious thing to say it, there 
 are ministers who are not and do not seek to 
 be inspired. They will not labor to preach 
 well; they will not even learn the outward 
 collateral means and accomplishments of their 
 profession ; they will not learn how to write ; 
 they will not trouble themselves about the 
 simplest rhetorical culture; they will not mend 
 awkward habits of delivery; they will not 
 correct a false tone or harsh pronunciation ; 
 they will not take pains to acquire the art of 
 public speaking, so that they can address an 
 assembly upon any subject with effect ; but 
 above all they will not grapple with the real 
 difficulties of the setting forth of divine truth 
 in preaching, which requires thought, clear ar- 
 rangement of ideas, spiritual meditation, and 
 earnest prayer. They are doing all other 
 things except giving their undivided energies 
 to preaching. They say there is no need to 
 take so much trouble about these things, for 
 they will be helped at the time of preaching. 
 
24 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 But those wLq say that are those who above 
 all others need this thorough training; for in 
 God's work, as well as in man's, those who do 
 not work are not helped." 
 
 In addition to this general culture, that I 
 have spoken of and which the majority should 
 have, we want the opportunity given for a 
 richer, more finished, and more accurate schol- 
 arship. The American divine is far behind 
 the German in this respect, because the Ger- 
 man course of instruction is far more thorough. 
 It is plain to all that our most finished bib- 
 lical scholars are Germans, and that our most 
 critical theological writings are the products 
 of German minds. Discussions are going on 
 about us designed to remove the very founda- 
 tions of theism. Some of the best scientific 
 minds of the age are at work investigating 
 questions which if settled as they desire to 
 have them settled will strike a severe blow 
 against the superstructure of our faith. We 
 must meet all these by a competent, thorough, 
 accurate scholarship, which will thoroughly 
 explain the Scriptures and subjects connected 
 therewith. I can not do justice to this subject 
 better^han by quoting a lengthy though very 
 expressive paragraph from Professor Bartlett, 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. JO 
 
 found in the March number of the Congrega- 
 tional Review: 
 
 " What is the trouble with the youn^ Chris- 
 tian students of this country, that they do not 
 comprehend the situation and the opportuni- 
 ty ? that they can ^discern the face of the sky' 
 or the crust of the earth but not the signs of 
 the times? What region is now so full of 
 activity and possibility? What so loudly calls 
 for explorers? Even didactic theology is 
 forced out of its ancient metaphysical methods 
 to fall back more and more on questions of 
 critical readings and sound interpretations. 
 The old Moabite stone admonishes us how 
 biblical knowledge has been lying on the 
 very surface of the earth and waiting 2100 
 years for some one to pick it up. There is 
 probably more of the same or of other kinds 
 of iiiscovery to be made in the same region. 
 The Palestine Exploration Society will not 
 have exhausted all Palestine and the surround- 
 ing regions. Rich harvests will remain to be 
 reaped. Some carefal scholar still is wanted 
 to thoroughly compare, from personal observa- 
 tion, all the supposed routes of Israel to Sinai 
 and the land beyond, and to judge between 
 them. The cuneiform inscriptions of Baby- 
 
26 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 Ionia and the hieroglyphic records of Egypt are 
 not exhausted. The 'Egyptologists' need look- 
 ing after, to say nothing of Chinese records. 
 The region of Caucasus and of Armenia offer 
 points of inquiry that Colonel Chesney did 
 not touch. We want a carefully collated and 
 corrected Septuagint, and an investigation, if 
 possible, of the differences between it and the 
 Hebrew and Samaritan. We want a fuller in- 
 quiry into the Samaritan MSS. at Xablous, and 
 their claim to antiquity. What Hebrew Tisch- 
 endorf will ascertain what is possible to be done 
 for the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, and 
 begin the work. The table of nations in the 
 tenth chapter of Genesis will bear further in- 
 quiry. The history and composition of several 
 of the books of the Bible are under contro- 
 versy. Seeming discrepancies are still to be 
 reconciled, difficulties solved and wrong inter- 
 pretations to be rectified throughout the Bible. 
 Whole books of scripture wait for an expos- 
 itor, writing wisely with the present materials. 
 iS'o field of inquiry, indeed, is so busy, so invit- 
 ing, so fruitful, and so hopeful as that of bib- 
 lical hlcrature. .".I^one so urgent in its call for 
 laborers; and yet, in this country, where are 
 they ? How many men in this country were 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 'Z i 
 
 able to reply to even such a man as Colenso ? 
 How many can intelligently defend the author- 
 ship of the Pentateuch, of the latter part of 
 Isaiah, of Zechariah, and the antiquity of 
 Daniel ? Or, to be very practical, how many 
 of the young ministers are approaching the 
 position of Dr. Payson in his prime, when he 
 was said to have a settled opinion concerning 
 every passage in the Bible? and that, too, when 
 keen skepticism may crop out in any congre- 
 gation in the land, no matter how remote." 
 What an accusation against the Christian 
 scholars of the age, and yet how true! Let 
 those who hear me answer for themselves the 
 question, What has this church done, and what 
 contributions is it now making to the biblical 
 literature of the day? 
 
 I can but hint at another important fact, 
 and that is that ministers of the gospel have 
 controlled, and likely will control, the so-called 
 secular education of the people. The Nation 
 Sometime since asserted that ministers are un- 
 fit to be educators. It is true, nevertheless, 
 that they have been in times past, and it must 
 be confessed that they have succeeded much 
 better than their infidel neighbors. They have 
 given the chief stamp to learning and general 
 
28 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 intelligence as well as the morals and religion 
 of every age. Secular learning must ever be 
 under obligations to Christianity for what it has 
 done for it. Wherever these ministers go 
 they carry with them that spirit which estab- 
 lishes schools and provokes inquiry. Almost 
 all the colleges of this land that have attained 
 any notoriety have been founded, of&cered, and 
 taught almost exclusively by clergymen; and 
 to-day these ministers are the presidents and 
 professors in our colleges; members of boards 
 of trustees and education ; in short, control to a 
 great extent the educational interests of the 
 nation. John Calvin was not only a founder 
 of a "school of the prophets, and friend of edu- 
 cation," but, according to Bancroft, the "in- 
 ventor of free schools." The schools of New 
 England owe their existence and prosperity to 
 the Pilgrim Fathers, and their descendants. 
 To write the history of schools and of learning 
 would be to write the history of the church. 
 In the dark ages, which have been well named, 
 there were no schools, and no learning save 
 that in the hands of the clergy. "iN'ot only 
 does not irreligion build colleges, but, in all 
 ages, such has been the affinity of mental de- 
 velopment with religion, that piety has been 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 29 
 
 the founder aad the priest has been the edu- 
 cator. The cause lies in the fact that true in- 
 tellectual culture and religion are alike an 
 aspiration and ascent of man's higher faculites 
 toward the Divine."* We want a well-quali- 
 fied and intelligent ministry therefore, because 
 the educational interests not only of the 
 church but of the nation are in their hands. 
 
 Likewise in the field of general literature we 
 need such men. The press has become one of 
 the most important powers in the land. Daily 
 its thousands of sheets are sent forth to the 
 multitude who, with open hands, are ready to 
 receive them. We need men of clear vision, 
 well-balanced judgment, unlimited acquisitions 
 of knowledge, and ready with the pen, to 
 manage the religious literature of the church. 
 Tracts, earnest, pointed, and pithy, are to be 
 prepared for the masses. Sabbath-school 
 books of an improved quality are needed for 
 the children. Sermons on special occasions 
 should be printed and distributed broadcast. 
 Contributions to the secular press from the 
 pen of the minister would be of great value. 
 He should not only be a fair speaker, but be 
 ready with the pen, so as to put his best 
 
 '-M. r:. Quartorly, 1-7", p, HI. * 
 
30 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 thoughts on paper, iu good, chaste language, 
 and thus send them forth to cultivate the 
 minds, purify the tastes, and promote the mor- 
 al good of his readers. Many of the best 
 ministers of the land are leaving their pulpits, 
 and in the editor's chair are helping to mold 
 the minds of the nation. Others preach to 
 their own people on Sabbath, and before the 
 beginning of another week their thoughts have 
 been heralded all over the continent, and have 
 left their impress, for weal or woe, on the 
 minds of thousands. What a power, then, 
 the efficient minister can w^ield with his pen 
 in addition to his weekly ministrations to his 
 own people. 
 
 Have not the hastily written thoughts to 
 which you have just listened, strengthened 
 you in the belief that fearful responsibilities 
 rest upon the man who to-daj^ goes forth to 
 preach the gospel ; that a thoughtful, earnest, 
 pious, intelligent ministry is an absolute want 
 of the times, and that without it the work of 
 the church will be greatly crippled ; that if 
 we longer put off making an eftbrt to provide 
 such a ministry for the masses of perishing 
 sinners, then will we be derelict in the per- 
 formance of duty, and call down upon our- 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 31 
 
 selves the deserved indiofiiation of thinkino: 
 men and the disapprobation of our heavenly 
 Father? 
 
 How, then, can we best secure such a Tiiinistryf 
 I do not wish to be understood as saying that 
 we should in no case license men to preach 
 the gospel unless they are persons of such dis- 
 tinguished scholarship. Few if any of the 
 apostles had such general ability and culture 
 as Paul. The best interests of this church 
 and of Christendom m^iy require us to use 
 men of ordinary talents and not too varied in- 
 formation. I do say, however, that if there 
 be any reason for the existence of this church 
 at all; if there be any need of a well-taught 
 ministry; then w^e must afford facilities for 
 the best culture the nation aifords. If God 
 needs this particular church, then it is under 
 as much obligation as any other worker in the 
 vineyard to send forth men who can cope with 
 the giants of infidelity; who can meet the 
 learned teachers of heathenism and conquer 
 them on their own ground. We must help 
 prepare men to know science as well as reve- 
 lation ; who shall be able to unfold God's 
 plans as revealed in nature, as well as in his 
 written word; who shall write the books of 
 
32 'l^HE SCHOOLS 
 
 the nation, and help give the masses a religious 
 literature; who by dint of faithful study shall 
 help to thow light upon the obscure places of 
 Scripture, unravel its mysteries, and by all 
 means in their power bring shame and con- 
 fusion upon their adversaries. I repeat again, 
 w^e are under obligations to afibrd facilities for 
 this highest culture to all who may have taste 
 and talents thus to distinguish themselves, 
 and in this way help to give the church a 
 class of biblical scholars who shall bring great 
 honor to the cause of the Master. 
 
 How can all this be accomplished ? Three 
 methods suggest themselves. One is, to leave 
 candidates wholly to their own efforts, to make 
 what preparation their time and tastes will 
 permit. We have certainly tried this method 
 long enough to desire a better way. Another 
 is, to have the applicant under the instruction 
 of some other person whom he may select, and 
 allow him to enjoy the benefit of his example, 
 experience, and teaching. This is better than 
 the former, but very objectionable. The third 
 and best of all is, to collect these young men 
 into one body, in the form of a school, and 
 o-ive them instruction in this collective form, 
 as is done with our students in college. The 
 
OP THE PROPHETS. M 
 
 latter method is more judicious and more com- 
 mendable every way. 
 
 In a seminary thus organized the pupils 
 have the benefit of good teachers, which can 
 not so well be secured in any other way. 
 When the church organizes such an institu* 
 tion, then she should select the most com- 
 petent men in her limits to instruct her pupils— 
 men of piety, of learning, of good character, 
 and apt to teach. Churches usually are not 
 overburdened with such characters, hence if 
 each candidate seek his own teacher many of 
 them, as a necessary consequence, must have 
 very ordinary instruction; and many of them 
 will receive the very kind of tuition they 
 ought not to have. The church selects these 
 men for their learning and other qualifications, 
 and requires them to give their whole time to 
 the instruction and welfare of their pupils, 
 To make the instruction more complete, and if 
 possible more thorough, instead of teaching 
 everything as a single instructor must do, 
 these men are put in charge of separate de- 
 partments of instruction and have opportu- 
 nity to make themselves proficient in their de- 
 partments and of very great advantage to their 
 pupils. 
 
34 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 In addition to this a library can be formed, 
 to which all can have access; and this is no 
 slight consideration. In this age of learning, 
 when so much of the knowledge of the past 
 and present is treasured up in books, pupils 
 should become familiar with sources of in- 
 formation which no individual minister can 
 afford to possess, much less a minister of this 
 church. Led and guided by men who have 
 made books the study of a life-time, they can 
 "give attention to reading," and thus by a 
 generous, liberal culture be fitted for their 
 work. 
 
 One of the greatest advantages of a seminary 
 is the fact that the church can thus control 
 the teaching; can see that it be sound and 
 thorough; can direct and control instructors; 
 can at all times make such changes and im- 
 provements as the counsels of the whole 
 body may devise. If left to individual enter- 
 prise the teaching may be defective, ill- 
 judged, unsound indeed, and the church not 
 be able to interpose or correct. When the 
 church provides and controls the means, 
 then and then only can she secure uniform in- 
 struction; and thus she will receive in return a 
 body of ministers who have enjoyed the same 
 
OF THE PKOVllETS. :^5 
 
 uniform course of education. Men who have 
 learned from the same teachers, who have re- 
 cited in the same classes, wall be almost certain 
 to agree in the main principles of gospel truth. 
 The unity, peace, and prosperity of the church 
 are thus secured. If every man is instructed by 
 a different teacher, each one of wdiom will have 
 his peculiar veiws of truth, — and these peculiar 
 views, by the w^ay, are those we are prone to 
 insist upon most earnestly, — his own peculiar- 
 ities of expression, his owm opinion, especially 
 on minor points of doctrine and discipline, how 
 long will the church be likely to teach sound 
 doctrine? In no better way perhaps could 
 error creep into the church, the harmony and 
 peace of our ecclesiastical bodies be injured, 
 and disaffection, and eventually schism, arise. 
 It is important to add that when the church 
 in^his way provides for the instruction of her 
 candidates for the ministry, they may be of 
 great service to each other. Only in this way 
 can they develop that class spirit wdiich every 
 teacher finds to be of great value in advancing 
 his pupils. As iron sharpeneth iron, so the 
 contact of mind with mind. This generous 
 rivalry and daily intercourse of pious young 
 men tittins^ themselves for the same great w^ork, 
 
THE SCHOOL; 
 
 can Jiot fail to lead to more faithful applica- 
 tion, more patient study, more diligent re- 
 search, to richer acquirements and to a more 
 indelible impression upon their minds of that 
 which is learned, than could possibly be se- 
 cured by persons of such age in solitary study. 
 
 Among other advantages it may not be 
 amiss to mention those early friendships 
 which are here formed, and which only end 
 with life; exerting a good mutual influence, 
 producing confidence and assistance in the 
 trials and labors incident to a ministers life, 
 and strengthening official comfort and use- 
 fulness. These friendships would tend to 
 bring ministers together more frequently in 
 church assemblies, and would facilitate and 
 promote those consultations concerning plans 
 of research, new and interesting publications, 
 methods of church work and church progress, 
 which could not fail to be of very great profit 
 to all concerned. 
 
 These are some of the considerations which 
 should lead every thoughtful mind to the con- 
 clusion that if the church desires to increase 
 the number of her ministers ; if she wishes to 
 give them the best preparation in her power, 
 at the least expense of money and men; if 
 
OP THE PROPHETS. 3^^ 
 
 she wishes to present tiieni as one body, united 
 together in the same great view of doctrine and 
 discipline, and adhering with uniformity to the 
 doctrines of the church; if she wishes to pre- 
 vent error and schism from creeping into her 
 body and destroying her usefuhiess ; if she 
 wishes her ministers to be educated under 
 such circumstances as shall best fit them to act 
 together in all great plans for the advance- 
 ment of the Master's cause, then let her edu- 
 cate them under her own eye and control, 
 under the same teachers, reciting in the same 
 classes, in the same course of study, and under 
 those circumstances of early friendship and 
 generous competiton which attend a public 
 seminary managed and controlled by the 
 church. 
 
 In favor of this plan the best experience and 
 the practice of the church in all ages may be 
 confidently urged. As all scripture is given 
 for our instruction, let us go back and search 
 the records of Old Testament history. 
 
 Christ was prophesied of as the One who 
 should come, the great teacher wdio should 
 teach mankind truths they had never heard nor 
 known. Before he should come the people 
 had to be taught — to be lifted np so they 
 
38 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 could understand and put themselves in accord 
 with such truth. An ignorant, illiterate peo- 
 ple could not have done this. How could He 
 have founded a church, where found disciples, 
 or who would have recorded his wonderful 
 lessons? That people could not have been in 
 a low state of mental culture whose fishermen 
 and tax-gatherers could understand and record 
 our Lord's teachings. The Jews were a well- 
 taught peopl;^, and their teachers had laid the 
 foundations upon which our Lord when he 
 came began to build. This is implied in many 
 of our Savior's questions : " Have ye not read 
 in the Scriptures?" "Have ye not read what 
 Moses saith ?" So also at the crucifixion, 
 '*This title then read many of the Jews." 
 Such training was solemnly enjoined in their 
 law. " The words which I command thee this 
 day shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach 
 them diligently to thy children, and thou shalt 
 write them upon tlie posts of thine house, and 
 on thy gates." The priests, Levites, and 
 prophets did this work; and a great work it 
 was. ])r. Lightfoot, in speaking of the man- 
 gier in wliich a portion of this work was done, 
 tells us, ''It has l)ecn the way of God to in- 
 struct his pe(>[)le In' a studious and learned 
 
or THE VROPHETS. 39 
 
 ministry ever siuce he gave a written v^ord to 
 instruct them in. Who were the standi n 2: 
 ministry of Israel in all the time from the giv- 
 ing of the law till the captivity in Babylon ? 
 Not prophets or inspired men^ for they were 
 but occasional teachers, but the priests and 
 Levites, who became learned in the law by 
 study; and for this purpose they were dis- 
 tributed into forty-eight cities as so many 
 universities, where they studied the law to- 
 gether, and from thence were sent out into 
 the several synagogues to teach the people. 
 Contributions were made for the support of 
 these students while they studied in the uni- 
 versities, as well as afterwards when they 
 preached in the synagogues.^'-^ 
 
 The authority appointed by Moses to teach 
 the people were the priests and Levites. A 
 great part of their work was ritual service, 
 and after the death of Moses, without the 
 strong hand, vigorous will, and enlightened 
 judgment of that man of God, the nation 
 seems to have gone backward in moral prac- 
 tice. Under the rule of the judges we find 
 an unsettled government, with a people whose 
 power to discern spiritual trutli was limited, 
 
 *LiFhtrooi^'s vvorkf vol, ]. p. 257. 
 
40 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 Those who ought to have taught the people 
 seem to have neglected their work. "After 
 the days of Eleazer and Phineas, neither 
 priests nor Levites seem to have devoted 
 themselves to the teaching of the people." 
 A glimpse of their character may be seen in 
 the infamous conduct of the sons of Eli. 
 
 God did not mean to forsake his people 
 nor make void his promise to Abraham, 
 "While priest and Levite were thus neglect- 
 ing their duty he was preparing for them 
 another teacher, who was to restore prophecy 
 and lay deep and strong the foundations of 
 religious truth that was in coming years to 
 more thoroughly permeate and strengthen 
 the nation. In the house of Eli there was 
 a young man who from his earliest youth 
 had been consecrated to the Lord. He had 
 the counsel of Eli while he waited upon the 
 service of the tabernacle. Better than all, 
 he had access to the writings stored there. 
 Doubtless much of his time was given to 
 these sacred records, and from them he 
 learned the great truths which afterwards 
 seemed to influence his whole life. After 
 the battle of Ebenezer, and the discomfiture 
 of the Israelites, the saddened people came 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 41 
 
 to him as their only liuman help. He urged 
 them to throw away their idols. He roade 
 provision for the administration of justice to 
 the people. In the next place Samuel de- 
 termined to raise the nation to a higher in- 
 tellectual standard, and for this purpose he 
 gathered about him at Kaioth, that is, the 
 meadow at Ramah, where he had his resi- 
 dence, a number of young men whom he 
 trained in reading, writing, and music. These 
 were not inspired men, but persons of earnest 
 rehgious life, who would be of great help to 
 him in teaching the people. Anxious that 
 such pious, earnest teachers should be scattered 
 throughout the land, no doubt in his judicial 
 visits to Mizpeh, Bethel, Gilgal, and elsewhere, 
 he would seek out such men, whether among 
 priests, Levites, or wherever he could find 
 them, and, if young and in need of friendly 
 instruction, take them to his own house and 
 teach them. As their numbers increased and 
 bis labors multiplied, he would select other 
 teachers to aid him in his arduous work; and 
 thus were laid deep and strong the foundations 
 of the " theological seminaries," or as they 
 were then called, '^ schools of the prophetSy' 
 and of wliose historv we afterwards read so 
 
42 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 much, especially in the kingdom of Israel. 
 This was the beginning of a course of in- 
 struction which was destined to do much for 
 the nation ; indeed, it was the beginning of a 
 new life. That they did a glorious work in 
 developing and lifting up the nation in a 
 short period of time, is readily seen if we con- 
 trast the roughness and anarchy and crime of 
 the times of the judges with the learning, order, 
 and piety of David's reign. 
 
 It will be interesting to examine further 
 into this new feature of the national economy. 
 This first school was organized at Ramah^ 
 where Samuel lived, and where his father had 
 dwelt before him. Samuel desired to give the 
 Jewish nation a permanent existence and 
 superiority, and to do this he felt it necessary 
 to raise them to such a pitch of moral, intel- 
 lectual, and religious excellence as they had 
 never before reached. By his own unaided 
 effort he could do but little. He therefore 
 gathered around him religious men; he deep- 
 ened their convictions, enlarged their knowl- 
 edge, kindled their zeal, filled them with his 
 own earnestness, and then sent them forth 
 to awaken the nation to a more vigorous life. 
 From this small beginning grew up the ^r^^ 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 43 
 
 Ileljreio university. From it sprang wonderful 
 results. David was an educated man and 
 gathered around him men of similar acquire- 
 ments. His son was the wonder of the age 
 for literary skill. David must have learned 
 reading, writing, and possibly music, in Sam- 
 uel's school. From this time forth, until the 
 land and the people were wasted by foreign 
 invasions, the Isrealites were a highly educated 
 and intelligent people. 
 
 Like the rest of the people, these young 
 men at first dwelt in tents. As their numbers 
 increased they w^ould soon have a more settled 
 discipline and perhaps more permanent dwell- 
 ings. Their training was chiefly in reading 
 and writing, the foundation of all intellectual 
 culture. It also consisted of music, which 
 afterwards formed a prominent part of the 
 temple service established by David, Nathan, 
 and Gad, who probably had been trained by 
 Samuel himself. This, -at first sight, may 
 seem not a very important branch of service, 
 and yet a little reflection will show us how 
 important a part it played in Samuel's plan. 
 It was a step towards a more intellectual and 
 spiritual worship. Dy means of psalms and 
 hymns ;nul si^iritual songs their hearts more 
 
44 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 readily rose to communion witii God. After 
 the captivity this psalm service, with additions 
 of prayer and reading the Scriptures, constit- 
 uted the service in the synagogue throughout 
 the land, and we, to-day, read the same 
 prophets they read and sing the same psalms 
 they sung. 
 
 Farther along in the sacred record we read 
 of similar schools at Bethel, Jericho, and Gil- 
 gal, most of them places connected with 
 Samuel's history. It is probable that after 
 the anointing of Saul as king, when some- 
 what relieved from the cares of government, 
 Samuel gave himself more fully to the establish- 
 ing of these schools and the instruction of the 
 pupils; at least some one did, because in a few 
 years they became a numerous class. After 
 Jezebel's cruel persecution Ahab was able to 
 collect in one town, where there was no school, 
 four hundred of these men. 
 
 The general government of these schools 
 would likely rest in the hands of the prophet 
 inspired at that time. God himself chose 
 their president. When the students at Jericho 
 saw that Elijah's spirit rested upon Elisha 
 they recognized him as their head. As their 
 head, he leads a bus}^ life. "\7e find him at 
 
OF TUK PROPHETS. 45 
 
 Uotljau, at Siiniaria, on Mount Carniel, at 
 Shunem, at Damascus. He enables the widow 
 of one of these prophets to pay her debts. 
 At Gilgal he makes the poisoned pottage 
 wholesome, and increases the offering of the 
 man of Baal-Shalisha, that there may be an 
 abundance of food for his one hundred students. 
 This grey-haired president goes out with them 
 to cut timber for a new building, and restores 
 to one of them the ax lost in the Jordan. 
 
 Most of the references to the "schools of 
 the prophets" connect them with the northern 
 kingdom. God, out of the kindness of his 
 heart, seems to have granted his people this 
 compensation in lieu of the loss of the temple 
 service, and on account of the absence of the 
 priests and Levites. Because little is said of 
 them we can not infer there were none in 
 Judea. Wot so many w^ere needed, for here 
 were the priests and Levites belonging to 
 both kingdoms, but there are incidental cir- 
 cumstances that go to show^ that these schools 
 w^ere somewhat numerous in the southern 
 kingdom. The prophets quote in such a way 
 from each other as to show they quote from 
 written books; more than this, they seem 
 often to use the same metaphors, the same 
 
46 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 phrases, certain expressions, with the same 
 meaning, showing evidently there was some 
 center where they congregated, where the 
 young were educated, and where the inspired 
 writings were studied. There is a great prob- 
 ability of the existence of such a college at 
 Jerusalem, with Isaiah at its head; if so, then 
 Jeremiah was here, for he was very intimate 
 with Isaiah's prophecies. Obadiah also had 
 knowledge of Jeremiah's teachings, and in 
 many cases uses them freely. Many prophets 
 are mentioned in this locality, — not always per- 
 sons whose mfiral influence was good, but per- 
 sons of high culture. Instead of opposing the 
 incoming tide of wickedness and idolatry, they 
 went with the multitude to do evil. Amos 
 was called from his garden to the prophetic 
 office, yet in his writings are traces of a well- 
 taught and well-informed man. Learning to 
 read and w^rite were attainments not so easy in 
 that day as since the invention of printing and 
 the multiplication of books. This man is one 
 proof of that high pitch of intellectual culture 
 to which the nation had attained before the 
 land 'was invaded and the people carried into 
 captivity. 
 
 These *'sons of the prophets" were married 
 
(*F TBE PROPHETS. 47 
 
 xnen — whether before or after graduation 
 we are not toUl ; but we are told of "a certain 
 woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets." 
 The husband of this one incurred debts. Hence 
 his maintenance was not entirely, if at all, 
 secured by contributions from boards of edu- 
 cation, but from his own personal labors. The 
 creditor comes to attach the children as secu- 
 rities. The woman in her trouble goes to 
 Elisha. She tells him she has but a pot of 
 oil in the house with which to pay this debt. 
 The prophets, therefore, had separate houses 
 and their own furniture, possibly had their 
 own gardens, cared for their own olive-trees, 
 and produced their own oil. 
 
 It is highly probable that Manasseh in his 
 wicked reign broke down these ^'schools of 
 the prophets ;'' and, though possibly restored 
 after the exile, they never attained the strength 
 and permanence they previously had, especial- 
 ly as the .prophets themselves, influenced by 
 the prevalence of wickedness about them, par- 
 took of the general corruption, in a little 
 time the downfall of the nation was accom- 
 plished. The better portion were carried 
 captive, and the remainder, except those that 
 fled to Egypt, perished. We And little trace 
 
48 'I'HE SCHOOIS 
 
 of these '' scliools " about this time, but there 
 evidently was considerable study of written 
 prophecy. Ezekiel discoursed with the peo- 
 ple and elders of Israel as they were gathered 
 on the banks of the canal near Babylon. He 
 encouraged them to follow God, and promised 
 them deliverance. Daniel instructed his peo- 
 ple by precept and example, prevented idola- 
 trous practices, and encouraged piety. They 
 faithfully studied the prophecies of Isaiah, 
 Jeremiah, and others they carried w^ith them, 
 and learned when the time for restoration had 
 arrived. Permission is granted and a portion 
 return to Jerusalem. Others remain in the 
 land of their birth, and from this time com- 
 menced the growth of a series of Jewish 
 schools in Babylon, which in their day were 
 very famous — the universities of Sura, Pum- 
 hedliha^ Nehardia, and others. Between the 
 third and fourth centuries these celebrated 
 schools were destroyed, but their teachings 
 were chiefly preserved in the '^Gemaras" 
 and " Talmuds." A century or two after, they 
 were re-organized and flourished, producing 
 some eminent poets, theologians, and linguists. 
 When Ezra and Xehemiah came back to re- 
 build the temple, they brought priests and 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 49 
 
 Levites with them. They had kept up among 
 themselves at least a considerable knowledge 
 of the Mosaic law. The Jews who returned 
 had most of them been born in Babylon, 
 hence their language was a mixture of the 
 Chaldaic. When Ezra read the law the peo- 
 ple could not understand the pure Hebrew of 
 Moses, so the priests interpreted. " So they 
 read in the book in the law of God distinctly, 
 and o:ave the sense and caused them to un- 
 derstand the reading." At this time also 
 lived Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. This 
 was a period of considerable intellectual activ- 
 ity. Their stay in captivity had purified their 
 morals and awakened their intellectual ener- 
 gies. Ezra with the persons above named, 
 and others, ^'the men of the great assembly," 
 w^ere the chief teachers of the day. Quite a 
 number of books were written and collected, 
 such as " Chronicles," " Wars," and others ; 
 but most valuable of all, the Scriptures were 
 collected, authenticated, and arranged in can- 
 on. The Pentateuch was read and taught in 
 the schools and translated into the Chaldean 
 language. Farther on traditions, explanatory 
 or complementary to the law of Moses, were 
 traced back through prophets and elders to 
 4 
 
50 THE 8GH00L8 
 
 that lawgiver, and were systematically estab- 
 lished as the oral law. We fiud celebrated 
 schools for instruction in the law up to the 
 coming of the Messiah. Two of these in their 
 day attained great prominence — the rival 
 schools of Hillel and Shammai. "Palestine 
 continued to be a national center through ita 
 schools of religious science, which, after the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, flourished at Jamnia, 
 Lydda, Usha, Sephoris, Tiberias, and other 
 places, under the lead of the presidents of the 
 Sanhedrim of the house of Hillel." Of this 
 house, and possibly at the head of one of these 
 schools was the famous Gamaliel, the teacher 
 oi the Apostle Paul. The results of Hillel's 
 teachings were collected by his successor and 
 preserved in the "Mishna." 
 
 When Christ came he found the nation far 
 above the average in intellectual ability. The 
 Greek language had made its way into the 
 land. The Greek translation of the Script- 
 ures was read in the synagogues. Schools of 
 philosophy existed, controlled by skillful teach- 
 ers. With such a foundation upon which to 
 build, when all this previous and designed 
 preparation had l)een made, when the sacred 
 books had been examined and read and com- 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 51 
 
 mented upon by the teachers of the day, he 
 came to build his own glorious superstructure 
 of truth, in which teacher and scholar were 
 hereafter to find that which should feed the 
 weakest nature as well as the strongest powers. 
 
 At the advent of the Messiah the first thing 
 done was to organize the " college of the 
 apostles" — i\\Q first theological seminary oi the 
 new dispensation. Here, with the best of 
 teachers, the twelve learned lessons of wisdom 
 and instruction. Many of these were very 
 ordinary pupils. Their minds slowly compre- 
 hended the great work of the Master. After 
 listening to his instructions for, to them, three 
 short years; having journeyed with him on his 
 missions of mercy to needy humanity; having 
 had these truths, this teaching, and these ex- 
 planations blessed to their awakening, a new 
 life .was kindled within them, and they went 
 forth to teach and to suffer for the Master's 
 work. 
 
 Thus in laying the foundations of the 
 Christian church upon the substratum of 
 Jewish thought, Christ gave it a distinctively 
 educational character. The church a teacher 
 was the prominent idea. He appointed men 
 to teach; he made the office permanent; he 
 
52 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 promised to be with them, and aid them by 
 his Spirit. When his apostles were sent forth 
 they were to "teach all nations." They estab- 
 lished churches and put over them teachers. 
 One of the first qualifications of an elder was, 
 "apt to teach." Ministers were to give atten- 
 tion to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, 
 that their profiting might appear to all. 
 
 The Jews who had fled to Alexandria when 
 Jerusalem was sacked, increased rapidly by 
 the addition of other fugitives. About 300 
 B. C. they were so numerous that a transla- 
 tion of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, 
 termed ih^Septuagint, was made for their espe- 
 cial benefit. This was the occasion of the trans- 
 planting of Hebrew literature into Alexandria. 
 Here it came in contact with the renowned 
 schools of Grecian philosophy, and the contest 
 between Christianity and rationalistic philos- 
 ophy commenced. The founding of the cel- 
 ebrated Alexandrian library furnished the 
 instruments for the prosecution of this work. 
 The struggle required able scholars, and this 
 gave rise to some of the finest schools and 
 the best cultivated men that age produced. 
 Among these defenders of the Christian re- 
 ligion the names of Origen, Pant?enus, Atha- 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 53 
 
 nasius, Gregory of Nazianzen, aud Cyril, with 
 others, stand out very prominent. 
 
 Mosheim, speaking of this early period of 
 the church and of the schools for the instruc- 
 tion of the young, says : " From these schools 
 for children we must distinguish those semi- 
 naries of the early Christians, erected extensively 
 in the larger cities, at which adults, and espe- 
 cially such as aspired to be public teachers, were 
 instructed and educated in all the branches of 
 learning, both human and divine. St. John 
 erected a school of this kind at Ephesus, and 
 one of the same nature was founded by Poly- 
 carp, at Smyrna; but none of them were in 
 greater repute than that which was establish- 
 ed at Alexandria, which was commonly called 
 a catechetical school." 
 
 INeander, speaking of this same center of 
 learning, tells us how these theological pupils 
 were at times employed. " We find original- 
 ly at Alexandria only one person appointed 
 as catechist by the bishop, whose business it 
 was to communicate religious instruction to 
 the heathen as well as to instruct the children 
 of the place in their religion. Origen was 
 was the first who, as catechist, divided with 
 another person the duties of this calling, 
 
54 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 which had become too much for him while he 
 was prosecuting, at the same time, his learn- 
 ed labors in theology, and on that account he 
 formed his catechumens into two classes. But 
 although in some other places the catechist 
 might not need to possess very high spiritual 
 qualities and peculiar knowledge, the case was 
 different at Alexandria, where they often had 
 to instruct men of a literary and philosophical 
 turn of mind, who had already investigated a 
 variety of subjects in order to find a system of 
 religious truth adapted to their wants, and 
 where they were often obliged to converse 
 with such men on religious subjects and phil- 
 osophical matters which are connected with 
 them." 
 
 At this period in the church's history we 
 find schools established and in good condition 
 at Edessa, Nisebis, Seleucia, Ephesus, Smyrna, 
 Eome, Csesarea, Antioch, Alexandria, and 
 other places of notoriety in that day — places 
 where candidates for the ministry were prop- 
 erly fitted for their work, and teachers were 
 prepared who should go out and give instruc- 
 tion in sacred things. As a result of this grew 
 up the day schools of that period, which serv- 
 ed to counteract the teaching of paganism. 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 55 
 
 ^^All this was required to the accomplish- 
 ment of their oliject of gradually abolishing 
 pagan idolatry ; for the old religion of the 
 pagans derived its chief support from the 
 learning of its advocates ; and, moreover, if 
 the Christian youth could find no instructors 
 of their own religion, there was danger of 
 their applying to the pagan teachers of phi- 
 losophy and rhetoric, to the injury of true re- 
 ligion."* 
 
 When church and state became united under 
 Constantine, schools and learning, as well as 
 Christianity, began to decline. These schools, 
 at times aided and at other periods trammeled 
 by the government, sunk into slothfulness, 
 and their growth was paralyzed. In conse- 
 quence of this there must have been a total 
 loss of letters, had it not been that some 
 knowledge was necessary in conducting wor- 
 ship, and hence the clergy were compelled to 
 know something. " This state of general ig- 
 norance," says Hallam, '' lasted, with no very 
 sensible difference, on a superficial view", for 
 about five centuries, during which every sort 
 of knowledge was almost wholly confined to 
 the ecclesiastical order. But among them, 
 
 •Moshoim. vol. 1, p. 230. 
 
56 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 althongli instances of gross ignorance were 
 exceedingly frequent, the necessity of preserv- 
 ing the Latin language in which the Script- 
 ures, the canons, and other authorities of the 
 church and the regular liturgies were written, 
 and in which alone the correspondence of their 
 well- organized hierarchy could be conducted, 
 kept flowing, in the worst season, a slender but 
 living stream." While the clergy of that 
 day do not come up to our idea of wiiat they 
 should be; while they were indeed very igno- 
 rant, we must not forget that but for these 
 the records of philological literature would 
 have perished; all grammatical learning would 
 have been laid aside. Even Hume admits 
 that the church was the great depository of 
 learning in the days of Alfred. '' The mon- 
 asteries were destroyed by the ravages of the 
 Danes, the monks butchered or dispersed, 
 their libraries burnt; and thus the c>7iZ^ seats of 
 erudition in those ages were totally subverted." 
 We have other and better traces left us, 
 showing the influence of religion upon educa- 
 tion. When the dark pall of ignorance set- 
 tled down upon the continent, whither fled 
 religion and her schools ? Did true religion 
 yield to the general gloom that took possession 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 57 
 
 of the minds of men? It did not. We have 
 clear evidence of the location of gospel in- 
 stitutions in Scotland and Ireland near the 
 beginning of the third century. "The Scotg 
 were taught Christianity by the disciples of 
 the Apostle John, and many churches of the 
 Britons, fearing the cruelty of Domitian, took 
 their journey into Scotland." "In the year 
 A. D. 563 the celebrated abbey, or rather 
 theological college, was founded in Scotland by 
 Columba, at loiia, which continued to flourish 
 for many ages as the light of the western 
 world, and to supply with ministers of the 
 gospel both Scotland and England." From 
 this source went forth those influences, and 
 indeed the men who lent their aid toward re- 
 viving learning in the empire of Charlemagne. 
 Wrought upon by these Christian seminaries, 
 and by the influence of men who had received 
 their training here, the historian tells us that 
 "in the year 787 Charlemagne addressed an 
 injunction to the bishops and abbots requir- 
 ing them to set up schools, which were not 
 for children, but for monks, who were to be 
 taught the interpretation of the Scriptures and 
 the learning requisite for that purpose."* From 
 
 ♦Mosheim, toI. 2, p. 15. 
 
58 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 the same source (lona) the rays diverged which 
 penetrated the valley of the Rhine, and mis- 
 sionaries from the Scotch, English, and Irish 
 schools kindled up the lights of religion, of 
 literature, and of science amid the forests of 
 Germany. Here, above all places, was true 
 religion found, and here a genuine missionary 
 spirit was created. This little island, until the 
 close of the eighth century, was the only light 
 of the western world. Here were elders or- 
 dained who carried the gospel throughout all 
 Britain. Burning with true religious zeal, 
 they hastened forth to teach their brethren 
 the doctrines which they had learned. This 
 free church of Scotland did more for the con- 
 version of central Europe than any other 
 power. They sowed the seeds which, in the 
 days of Huss and Jerome, brought forth 
 abundant and glorious fruit. This theological 
 school manfully opposed the innovations of 
 the Catholic power, and was the last in 
 Scotland, w^iich itself was the b'st of the 
 British isles, to succumb to the pope of 
 Rome. 
 
 At an early day in the history of the Chris- 
 tian church, there were persons living who 
 thought they could be more devoted Christians 
 
OP THE PROPHETS. 59 
 
 it* they lived apart from the multitude and 
 sousrht the seclusion of the forest. After a 
 time they built their huts near each other, and 
 thus formed a kind of community. Finally 
 they built one dwelling and all lived in that. 
 At first, certain rules agreed upon by them- 
 selves governed their lives. These persons 
 were looked upon with a great deal of awe 
 and respect by their friends and the world at 
 large. They grew rapidly. They spent, at 
 first, a portion of the time in agricultural pur- 
 suits, the remainder in teaching and being 
 taught. They sought each other's religious edi- 
 fication. At first they were not of the clergy, but 
 their reputation for sanctity spread very rapid- 
 ly, and in that dark age their piety was of 
 course wonderfully magnified. As they multi- 
 plied, their demands were more frequent, and 
 more valuable concessions were made, until, in 
 response to their own wishes, they were ad- 
 mitted to the ranks of the clergy. " The rev- 
 olution for which they had labored from the 
 end of the fourth century was consummated 
 about the end of the sixth and beginning of 
 the seventh century."* 
 
 The purpose for which I refer to these mou- 
 
 *Guizot, vol. 2, p. S09. 
 
60 THE SCBIOOLS 
 
 asteries is to show that, from the time of their 
 origin or near that, until their destruction, or 
 until the founding of the universities of Eu-- 
 rope, these were the theological schools of the 
 church ; yea, more than this, they were the 
 preservers of literature during that night of 
 darkness that rested like a pall upon all Eu- 
 rope. Their teaching often was very poor; 
 their teachers were as poor as their teaching. 
 One shudders as he reads in authentic history 
 of the gross ignorance of the clergy during 
 the dark ages, and yet is cheered to find even 
 this glimmering ray amid the dense darkness 
 that existed. 
 
 "Toward the end of the sixth century there 
 are no longer any civil schools ; ecclesiastical 
 schools alone exist. These were schools in the 
 monasteries. The exercises were of two kinds. 
 Some of the most distinguished monks gave di- 
 rect instruction to the members of the congre- 
 gation and to the young people who were being 
 brought up at the monastery ; it was, more- 
 over, the custom in a large number of the 
 monasteries that after the lectures, at which 
 the monks were bound to attend, they should 
 have conferences among themselves upon 
 whatever had been made the subject of the 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 61 
 
 lecture; and these conferences became a power- 
 ful means of intellectual instruction and de-" 
 velopment."* Of the western schools the 
 same historian has said : *'The monasteries of 
 Lerins, St. Victor, and many others, were 
 especially great schools of theology, the focuses 
 of intellectual movement. It w^as by no means 
 with solitude or mortification, but with discus- 
 sion and activity that they then concerned 
 themselves" (p. 214). ''The monasteries of the 
 south of Greece were philosophical schools of 
 Christianity. It was there that intellectual 
 men meditated, discussed, taught. It was 
 from them that new ideas and daring thoughts 
 were sent forth." Mosheim tells us (vol. 2, 
 p. 15) that in the eighth century "the more 
 discerning abbots or rulers of the monasteries 
 opened schools in wdiich some of the fraternity 
 taught the Latin language, and other things 
 deemed necessary for a monk or a preacher J^ 
 In another place the same writer remarks : 
 ''Until the commencement of this century 
 (eleventh) the only schools were those attached 
 to the monasteries and the cathedral churches, 
 and the only teachers of secular as well as 
 sacred learning were the Benedictine monks" 
 
 *GuJzot, vol. 2, p. 31S. 
 
62 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 (p. 150). Ih speaking of the attentioo given 
 bj the church to this matter before the twelfth 
 century, the historian of European civilization 
 tells us, "For the development of the clergy, 
 for the instruction of the priesthood, the 
 church was anxiously alive. To promote 
 this she had her schools, her colleges, and all 
 other institutions whicli the deplorable state 
 of society would permit. These schools and 
 colleges were all theological, and destined for 
 the education of the clergy aloneJ^'^ 
 
 These schools declined during the twelfth 
 century. A new day seemed to be breaking 
 upon the intellectual horizon. There began 
 to grow up in the minds of many a desire to 
 for a purer theology — a system divested of the 
 traditions and scholastic technicalities which 
 had clung to the past. About this time a copy 
 of the Pandects was found and presented to the 
 city of Pisa. In a little time there was manifest- 
 ed an eagerness to understand it. Hence asso- 
 ciations of men were formed in many places 
 for teaching this and other branches. Youths, 
 eager for instruction, resorted to them. In 
 these gatherings we have the foundation of 
 the universities of the next century, some of 
 
 *Guizot,Tol. 1, p. 132. 
 
OB^ THE PROPHETS. 63- 
 
 which remain until the present. The major- 
 ity flocked to these new seats of learning. In 
 these schools arrangements were made for fac- 
 ulties of philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, 
 and medicine. From this period we date the 
 beginning of theological schools in connec- 
 tion with universities. Wherever these high- 
 schools were established there was found a 
 theological school, with pupils and a doctor 
 of theology. Among those most famous were 
 the universi-ies of Bologna, the Sorbonne of 
 Paris, Padua, Modena, ;N"aples, Capua, Tou- 
 louse, Salamanca, Lyons, and Cologne. In 
 some of these schools, as at Paris, there were 
 several theological professors. These, with 
 similar schools elsewhere, afforded the culture 
 received by the clergy until the time of Lu- 
 ther. Indeed, in the teaching of these same 
 schools were sown the seeds of the Reforma- 
 tion. ** At the Reformation universities were 
 used in all countries for the training of an 
 able ministry.'"^ Those who think that the 
 reformation of the " sixteenth century was 
 brought about by ignorant men, or that God 
 used untrained, illiterate, and incompetent 
 men for such a work, make a great mistake. 
 
 •Guizot, p. 131. 
 
64 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 Those who, humanly speaking, fought the 
 great fight against popery, were men of the 
 finest culture and most extensive acquire- 
 ments." Says Prof. Tyler, and very truthful- 
 ly, too : " The reformers — those before the 
 E-eformation as well as the reformers usually 
 so called — Wickliife and IIuss and Reuchlin 
 and Erasmus, Luther and Melancthon and 
 Bucer and Calvin and Tindale and Bilney 
 and Latimer and Knox, were men train- 
 ed in the universities, and thus prepared by 
 the. providence as well as the grace of God for 
 the work which they were destined to accom- 
 plish. It was while they were students in the 
 university that new light dawned upon their 
 eouls ; and the Greek Testament^ accompanied 
 in several instances by the Latin translation of 
 Erasmus was to most of them the source 
 from w^hence the new light shone. The larger 
 part of them w^ere afterwards professors in 
 the universities, and from these fortresses of 
 learning and influence they hurled their mis- 
 siles at the corruptions of the papal church; 
 from these centers of illumination they scat- 
 tered light over the dark waters. The uni- 
 versities of Prague and Wittenberg, of Basle 
 and Lausanne, of Oxford and Cambridge, of 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. (35 
 
 Strasburg and St. Andrews, were the birth-, 
 place of the Reformation." 
 
 Who in the fourteenth century aroused all 
 England with his manly eloquence, and vindi- 
 cated Scripture in tones heard all over Europe? 
 None other than Wickliffe, a professor of theol- 
 ogy in the University of Oxford. Who were the 
 witnesses for Christ in the next century, before 
 whom pontifi* and emperor trembled, and 
 whom the Council of Constance condemned 
 to the flames ? You stand by the fires built for 
 them in the meadow by the river side, and as 
 you look upon these men, who are this day 
 lighting a fire that shall never go out, you 
 look upon John Huss and his companion, 
 Jerome, both graduates of the university of 
 Prague; the former, at the time of his death, 
 a theological professor in the same university, 
 and the latter, if not himself a teacher, the 
 founder of a university in which theology was 
 taught. And who are Luther and Melancthon 
 but theological professors in the university of 
 Wittenberg, unexcelled in their day and gen- 
 eration, whose history and that of their schoo][ 
 shall go down to all coming time? Who are 
 Calvin and Beza but theological students at 
 Geneva, who have left an influence upon their 
 6 
 
66 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 town, indeed upon all Europe, felt to this day? 
 The first was the founder of the public schools 
 of Europe, and indeed of our own country. 
 Such reputation did he have as a theological 
 teacher that students eagerly repaired to him 
 from Scotland, France, Italy, and Germany. 
 In short, blot out the theological schools of 
 Basil, Halle, Leyden, Utrecht, Geneva, Witten- 
 berg, Cambridge, Oxford, and all others that 
 existed in their day; lose sight of all the pupils 
 who gathered to receive and did receive in- 
 struction at the hands of such teachers as 
 Oecolampadius, Lampe, Spanheim, Witsius, 
 Calvin, Beza, Luther, Melancthon, Bucer, 
 Wickliffe, John Huss, and others of like 
 ability; foi'get the inspiration and earnestness 
 infused into those who went forth from these 
 centers of light to carry the truths there learned 
 to others ; if by a single stroke of the pen you 
 could blot out all these facts from church 
 history what would be left of the glorious 
 reformation of the sixteenth century? Theo- 
 logical schools an innovation ! Read carefully 
 the history of the church during the century 
 just named and measure if you can their 
 immense power in setting in motion and 
 controlling the influences that molded the 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 67 
 
 continent and gave ns the Europe of to- 
 day. 
 
 Since that day theological schools, both upon 
 the continent of Europe and in this land, have 
 molded the churches and controlled the desti- 
 nies of the people. They are to-day the great 
 strongholds of the church against rationalism 
 and the baser forms of infidelity. 'No church 
 can live and perform well her part in bringing 
 the world in subjection to its divine Ruler 
 without them. What would the church of 
 this land be to-day without her one hundred 
 and twenty-five theological seminaries and the 
 five hundred able, faithful instructors who day 
 after day are laying in the minds of those who 
 congregate there, deep and strong the founda- 
 tions of her faith. What would the Baptist 
 Church of this land have been without Shurt- 
 liff' College with its one thousand eight hun- 
 dred graduates, and Hamilton Theological 
 Seminary with her one thousand ? What has 
 Andover, with her three thousand graduates, 
 done to give the Congregational Church a 
 record for learning and piety unsurpassed by 
 any other. Take away Western Theological 
 Seminary, of Alleghany, with her thousand 
 graduates, Union Seminary, of New Y'ork, 
 
68 THE SCHOOLS 
 
 with her one thousand five hundred, Auburn 
 Theological Seminary with her one thousand 
 two hundred, Princeton Theological Seminary 
 with her three thousand, and the score of lesser 
 institutions which have contributed to make 
 her what she is, and you take away the very 
 life-blood of the Presbyterian Church. With- 
 out these she would not to-day occupy her pres- 
 ent lofty position of usefulness, commanding the 
 respect and admiration of all her sister churches. 
 With such a body of well-trained and able 
 scholars she meets and vanquishes the enemies 
 of the cross, whether on the platform or with 
 the press, whether in the fields of theology or 
 in the walks of literature and science. Thus 
 equipped she has stood like a mighty bulwark 
 against the so-called oppositions of science 
 and learned skepticism of the age. May she 
 long live to pour into these well-tried institu- 
 tions her men and her means, and thus raise up 
 a vast army of well-trained veterans who shall 
 do battle valiantly for the Master's cause, in 
 whatever capacity they may be called to act. 
 
 Do you need any further encouragement in 
 your work? Do not reason, revelation, and 
 experience bid you go forward and lay deep 
 and broad and strong the foundations of this 
 
OF THE PROPHETS. 69 
 
 newly-planued institution? May it be the 
 Andover, the Princeton of this church. May 
 your sons flock to it from the utternaost parts 
 of this Zion, and may they here receive that 
 culture of heart, that development of mind, 
 that attainment of power which shall make 
 them burning and shining lights in the church. 
 May its managers be men of piety, of wisdom, 
 and of sound mind. May its teachers be men 
 called and fitted of God for their great work. 
 May the people support it with their treasure 
 and their prayers. May its interests have a 
 lodgment in all their hearts. Above all, may 
 God record his name in it and smile upon it, 
 and may unborn generations yet arise and call 
 its founders blessed. 
 
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