Origin of the Theological Seminary

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PEOJECTED — ELECTION OF PEOFESSOE — REMOVAL TO PEINOETON — STUDIES AND ATTAINMENTS — INATTGUKATION.

IT cannot now be ascertained by whom the scheme of a Theological Seminary for the Presbyterian Church was first suggested. In the measures which resulted in such an institution, many minds co-operated. Among these we may safely say none were more prominent than Doctors Green, Miller and Alexander. The increasing fields open for Gospel labour, caused not a few among our ministers to be devising methods for supplying the destitutions. It was also generally believed that the method of pursuing studies in preparation for the ministry, under the guidance of individual pastors, however valuable as a measure of necessity, could not be relied on, as the means of furnishing adequate training for the work of so great a country. In regard to the education of candidates in general, Dr. Green, as early as 1805, sent into the General Assembly an overture, addressed to the Committee of Overtures, which was received with so much favour as to be published in the printed minutes of the year with his name, and which originated a system of measures which occupied this judicatory for several years. This admirable paper, however, did not contain any proposal of a theological institution. Of this particular method of raising up a suitable ministry, the earliest mention which we have been able to discover is in a discourse preached by Dr. Alexander in 1808, before the General Assembly, of which he had been Moderator the year before. The passage is as follows:

“I will now make a few remarks on the subject of purity, as it respects the discipline of the church. The first thing here which deserves our attention, is the introduction of suitable men into the ministry. If you would have a well-disciplined army, you must begin by appointing good officers. There is no subject which more deserves the attention of our church when met in General Assembly than this. The deficiency of preachers is great. Our vacancies are numerous, and often continue for years unsupplied, by which means they are broken up or destroyed. Our seminaries of learning, although increasing in literature and numbers, furnish us with few preachers. This state of affairs calls loudly for your attention. Some measures have already been adopted by the recommendation of the General Assembly to remedy this evil; but although they promise considerable success, they are inadequate to the object. In my opinion, we shall not have a regular and sufficient supply of well-qualified ministers of the Gospel, until every Presbytery, or at least every Synod, shall have under its direction a seminary established for the single purpose of educating youth for the ministry, in which the course of education from its commencement shall be directed to this object; for it is much to be doubted whether the system of education pursued in our colleges and universities is the best adapted to prepare a young man for the work of the ministry. The great extension of the physical sciences, and the taste and fashion of the age, have given such a shape and direction to the academical course, that I confess, it appears to me to be little adapted to introduce a youth to the study of the sacred Scriptures.”

In reference to these remarks, Dr. Green says in his Autobiography:” Encouraged by this, I used all my influence in favour of the measure; and in 1809, the Presbytery of Philadelphia, to which I belonged, sent into the General Assembly of that year an overture distinctly proposing the establishment of a theological school. The committee to which the overture was referred, reported to the Assembly three plans, namely: 1. c One great school, in some convenient place near the centre of the bounds of our church. 2. To establish two such schools in such places as may best accommodate the northern and southern divisions of the Church. 3. To establish such a school within the bounds of each of the Synods. After stating the advantages and disadvantages of each of these modes, the committee recommended and the Assembly resolved, that the above plans be submitted to all the Presbyteries within the bounds of the General Assembly, for their consideration, and that they be careful to send up to the next Assembly at their sessions in May, 1810, their opinions on the subject, When the votes of the Presbyteries came to be examined by a commit-

316 dr. green’s plan.

tee appointed for the purpose in 1810, it appeared that a majority of the Presbyteries under the care of the Assembly had expressed a decided opinion in favour of the establishment of a theological school; and that although there was an equal number of Presbyteries in favour of the first and third plans above mentioned, yet there were those who had voted in favour of the third plan, who had done so from an entire misconception of the nature and intention of the first, which would be completely obviated when the details of that plan should be made known. The conclusion therefore was c that there was a greater amount of presbyterial suffrage in favour of a single school than of any other plan, Several resolutions were passed by the General Assembly (which I shall not transcribe) for the immediate establishment of the contemplated institution; and a committee was appointed, of which I was the chairman, to draught a plan, as the constitution of a theological seminary. The draughting of a plan fell of course upon me, as the chairman of the committee. In hope of getting aid from my fellow members, I requested the committee to meet in New- York, at the house of Dr. Miller. The committee consisted of seven members, and if I remember right, but four of them met. We however spent the afternoon in talking about the plan of the contemplated seminary. But when I sat seriously down to make a draught of the plan, I found that there was but one idea suggested by my brethren, that I could introduce into it. Nor had I any other guide than the nature of the subject; and if I ever taxed my faculties to their best effort, it was on this occasion. Two of the articles of the plan, when it dr. green’s plan. 317

was reported to the Assembly, were laid over to be considered in the following year, and to this day they have not been taken up — these articles related to the library and a theological academy.

“When I had completed a draught of the plan for the construction of the Seminary, I summoned the committee to meet at Princeton, on the day of Commencement, 1810. There was a general, but not a full attendance at that time; and I shall never forget with what diffidence I submitted my draught to my brethren, not only being willing, but wishing that they would suggest alterations and improvements, and I was surprised when they suggested none of any importance. We knew that it was cum periculo that our plan should be published before it was reported to the Assembly. But we determined to do it, and to have copies enough printed to lay one on the table of every member of the Assembly of the following year, 1811. We were not blamed for this act by any one; on the contrary, the members of the Assembly appeared to be gratified when they found that each was served with a copy. This plan has received a considerable number of modifications by the General Assemblies which have convened during the three and thirty years which have elapsed since its first adoption; and yet no important feature of the plan has been changed, and more than three fourths of the language remains as it was in the orignal composition.”

On a subject so important in itself, and so closely related to our chief subject, we may be allowed to go into some particulars, by inserting the brief history of the project, prepared, as we believe, by the Kev. Dr. Miller.

318 de. miller’s narrative.

“The importance of the union of piety and learning in the holy ministry, is one of those radical principles of ecclesiastical wisdom, which the experience of ages has served more and more to confirm. If the priest? 8 lips were of old to keep knowledge; if the ministers of the Gospel are bound to feed the people with knowledge and icith understanding; then nothing can be plainer than that ignorance, or small and indigested knowledge is, next to the want of piety, one of the most serious defects in a candidate for the sacred office. It is equally plain, that if this great concern be properly directed, especially if it be directed with order and uniformity, it must be attended to by the Church herself. That which is left to individual enterprise and caprice, may sometimes be well managed, but will seldom be managed in any two cases alike. Besides, unless the Church take this matter into her own hands, she cannot inspect and control the education which her candidates for the holy ministry receive. Her most precious fountains may be poisoned without her being able to apply an effectual remedy. No church, therefore, which neglects the proper education of her ministers, can be considered as faithful, either to her own most vital interests, or to the honour of her divine Head and Lord.

“Impressed with these solemn convictions, a number of the ministers and other members of the Presbyterian Church, long before the establishment of their Seminary, deeply lamented the want of such an institution, and saw with much pain the extreme disadvantages under which their candidates for the ministry laboured, in pursuing their theological studies. They saw young men, with very small previous acquirements in literature and science, after devoting only twelve or eighteen months, and in some instances niuch less, to the study of theology, and even for that short time, almost wholly without suitable helps, taking on themselves the most weighty and responsible of all offices.

“They saw, at the same time, the c Keformed Dutch Church, the 6 Associate Keformed Church, and the descendants of the venerable Puritans in New England, all going before them in an honourable and successful career of exertion, to remove these disadvantages, and to establish seminaries for the instruction of their candidates for the ministry; and they perceived, that, unless the Presbyterian Church should imitate their example, while other denominations rose and flourished, and became the means of extensive blessings to their country, she must inevitably decline, and fall into a state of discouraging weakness, inferiority, and comparative uselessness.

“Accordingly, after long waiting, and after much counsel and prayer, the proposal to establish a theological seminary for the Presbyterian Church, was first introduced into the General Assembly, during the sessions of that body in May, a. d. 1809. It was introduced in the form of an overture or proposal from the Presbytery of Philadelphia. This overture was so far countenanced by the Assembly as to be referred to a select committee, who, after due deliberation on the subject, brought in the following report, which, being read, was adopted, and became the act of the Assembly, in the following words, viz.

“‘The committee appointed on the subject of a theological school, overtured from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, report,

“c That three modes of compassing this important object have presented themselves to their consideration.

“c The first is, to establish one great school, in some convenient place near the centre of the bounds of our Church.

“( The second is, to establish two such schools, in such places as may best accommodate the northern and southern divisions of the Church.

“c The third is, to establish such a school within the bounds of each of the Synods. In this case, your committee suggest the propriety of leaving it to each Synod to direct the mode of forming the school, and the place where it shall be established.

“‘The advantages attending the first of the proposed modes, are, that it would be furnished with larger funds, and therefore with a more extensive library and a greater number of professors. The system of education pursued in it would therefore be more extensive, and more perfect; the youth educated in it would also become more united in the same views, and contract an early and lasting friendship for each other; circumstances which would not fail of promoting harmony and prosperity in the Church. The disadvantages attending this mode would be, principally, those derived from the distance of its position from the extremities of the Presbyterian bounds.

“‘The advantages attending the second of the proposed modes and the disadvantages, will readily suggest themselves, from a comparison of this with the other two.

“‘The advantages which would attend the third, to wit, the establishment of theological schools by the respective Synods, would be the following. The local situation of the respective schools would be peculiarly convenient for the several parts of a country so extensive, as that for the benefit of which they were designed. The inhabitants having the seminaries brought near to them, would feel a peculiar interest in their prosperity, and may be rationally expected to contribute much more liberally than to any single school, or even to two. The Synods, also, having the immediate care of them, and directing, either in person or by delegation, all their concerns, would feel a similar interest, and would probably be better pleased with a system formed by themselves, and therefore peculiarly suited to the wishes and interests of the several parts of the Church immediately under their direction. Greater efforts, therefore, may be expected from ministers and people, to promote the prosperity of these schools, than of any other. The disadvantages of this mode would be, the inferiority of the funds; a smaller number of professors; a smaller library, and a more limited system of education in each. The students, also, as now, would be strangers to each other.

“c Should the last of these modes be adopted, your committee are of the opinion, that every thing pertaining to the erection and conduct of each school, should be left to the direction of the respective Synods. If either of the first, the whole should be subject to the control of the General Assembly.

“: Your committee also suggest, that, in the former of

21 these cases, the funds for each school should be raised within the bounds of the Synod within which it was stationed. In the latter, they should be collected from the whole body of the Church.

“c Your committee, therefore, submit the following resolution, to wit:

“- Resolved, That the above plans be submitted to all the Presbyteries within the bounds of the General Assembly, for their consideration; and that they be careful to send up to the next Assembly, at their sessions in May, 1810, their opinions on the subject/

“Agreeably to this resolution, the three alternate plans which it contemplates, were sent down to all the Presbyteries, to be considered and decided upon by them.

“At the meeting of the next General Assembly, in May, 1810, the Presbyteries were called upon to state what they had respectively done with respect to the recommendation of the last Assembly, relative to the establishment of a theological school. The reports from the several Presbyteries on this subject, having been read, were referred to a select committee to consider and report on the same. This committee made a report, which, being read and amended, was adopted, as follows, viz.:

“c The committee, after maturely deliberating on the subject committed to them, submit to the Assembly the following results.

eeiI. It is evident, that not only a majority of the Presbyteries which have reported on this subject, but also a majority of all the Presbyteries under the care of this Assem-REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 323

bly, have expressed a decided opinion in favour of the establishment of a theological school or schools in our Church.

“l II. It appears to the committee, that although according to the statement already reported to the Assembly, there is an equal number of Presbyteries in favour of the first plan, which contemplates a single school for the whole Church; and in favour of the third plan, which contemplates the erection of a school in each Synod; yet, as several of the objections made to the first plan, are founded entirely on misconception,’1’ and will be completely obviated by developing the details of that plan; it seems fairly to follow that there is a greater amount of Presbyterial suffrage in favour of a single school, than of any other plan.

“i III. Under these circumstances, the committee are of opinion, that, as much light has been obtained from the reports of Presbyteries on this subject, as would be likely to result from a renewal of the reference: that no advantage will probably arise from further delay in this important concern; but, on the contrary, much serious inconvenience and

* “Some of the Presbyteries objected to a single theological seminary, for the whole Church, because they apprehended that, if this plan were adopted, every Presbytery would become thereby bound to send all their candidates to study in it, however inconvenient or expensive it might be. Others were fearful, that the Professors, in such a seminary, if they were not formally empowered to license candidates to preach the Gospel, might be clothed with powers out of which such an abuse would naturally grow, thereby endangering both the purity and peace of the Church, and giving to a few men very dangerous influence. It was for the purpose of obviating these, and other objections to a single seminary, that the sixth, seventh and eighth resolutions, in a subsequent page, were adopted by the General Assembly.”

evil; that the present General Assembly is bound to attempt to carry into execution some one of the plans proposed; and that the first -plan appearing to have, on the whole, the greatest share of public sentiment in its favour, ought of course to be adopted.

“‘IV. Your committee, therefore, recommend that the present General Assembly declare its approbation and adoption of this plan, and immediately commence a course of measures for carrying it into execution, as promptly and extensively as possible; and for this purpose they recommend to the Assembly the adoption of the following resolutions, viz.: —

“‘Besolved, 1. That the state of our churches, the loud and affecting call of destitute frontier settlements, and the laudable exertions of various Christian denominations around us, all demand that the collected wisdom, piety, and zeal of the Presbyterian Church be, without delay, called into action for furnishing the Church with a larger supply of able and faithful ministers.

“’ 2. That the General Assembly will, in the name of the Great Head of the Church, immediately attempt to establish a seminary for securing to candidates for the ministry a more extensive and efficient theological instruction than they have heretofore enjoyed. The local situation of this seminary is hereafter to be determined.

“’ 3. That in this seminary, when completely organized, there shall be at least three professors, who shall be elected by and hold their office during the pleasure of the General Assembly, and who shall give a regular course of instruction in divinity, in oriental and biblical literature, and in ecclesiastical history and church government, and on such other subjects as may be deemed necessary. It being, however, understood, that until sufficient funds can be obtained for the complete organization and support of the proposed seminary, a smaller number of professors than three may be appointed to commence the business of instruction.

“c 4. That exertions be made to provide such an amount of funds for this seminary as will enable its conductors to afford gratuitous instruction, and where it is necessary, gratuitous support to all such students as may not themselves possess adequate pecuniary means.

“’ 5. That the Kev. Doctors Green, Woodhull, Romeyn, and Miller, the Rev. Messrs. Archibald Alexander, James Richards, and Amzi Armstrong, be a committee to digest and prepare a plan of a theological seminary, embracing in detail the fundamental principles of the institution, together with regulations for guiding the conduct of the instructors and the students, and prescribing the best mode of visiting, controlling, and supporting the whole system. This plan to be reported to the next General Assembly.

“’ 6. That, as filling the Church with a learned and able ministry without a corresponding portion of real piety, would be a curse to the world and an offence to God and his people, so the General Assembly think it their duty to state, that in establishing a seminary for training up ministers, it is their earnest desire to guard as far as possible against so great an evil. And they do hereby solemnly pledge themselves to the churches under their care, that in forming and carrying into execution the plan of the proposed seminary, it will be their endeavour to make it, under the blessing of God, a nursery of vital piety as well as of sound theological learning, and to train up persons for the ministry who shall be lovers as well as defenders of the truth as it is in Jesus, friends of revivals of religion, and a blessing to the Church of God.

“’ 7. That as the Constitution of our Church guarantees to every Presbytery the right of judging of its own candidates for licensure and ordination, so the Assembly think it proper to state most explicitly, that every Presbytery and Synod will of course be at liberty to countenance the proposed plan or not, at pleasure; and to send their students to the projected seminary, or keep them, as heretofore, within their own bounds, as they may think most conducive to the prosperity of the Church.

“c 8. That the Professors in the seminary shall not, in any case, be considered as having a right to license candidates to preach the Gospel; but that all such candidates shall be remitted to their respective Presbyteries to be licensed, as heretofore/

“The committee appointed to prepare a constitution in detail for the contemplated seminary, made report to the General Assembly which convened in 1811.” *

The first meeting of the Directors was held June 30, 1812, and was opened with a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Green, who was immediately elected President of the Board, an office which he held as long as he lived. When, three years

* Brief History of the Theologioal Seminary. Princeton, 1838.

later, the beginnings of an edifice were made, the corner-stone was laid by the same venerable man. “I consider,” said he,” the agency I have had in providing ministers of the Gospel for the Church, and in securing the means for their adequate instruction, and for an attention to their personal piety, as the most important service that I have ever rendered to the Church of Christ.5’’

Few things which we have to relate could be more interesting, if it were possible to recover it, than an account of the state of mind with which Dr. Alexander regarded the universal disposition of the Church to make him its first theological professor. But not a letter, not a memorandum, not a line remains to tell the story. His characteristic modesty must have made this a severe trial. In his best days, and after his longest experience and completest successes, he was accustomed to bow very low under a sense of his own insufficiency. But then, with powers all untried, to be called from his retirement to assume the teacher’s office, was an event as embarrassing as it was unexpected. From the analogy of his whole life and feelings, we are persuaded that his final consent to undertake the task was produced by high religious feelings, and a profound recognition of his responsibility to the Head of the Church.

From a source unknown to us, we insert an affecting account, from one who was present at the election.

“In the year 1811, the General Assembly, then in session in the city of Philadelphia, resolved to go into the election of Professor. The Kev. Mr. Flinn, of Charleston, South Carolina, was Moderator. It was unanimously resolved to spend some time in prayer previously to the election, and that not a single remark should be made by any member with reference to any candidate, before or after the balloting. Silently and prayerfully these guardians of the Church began to prepare their votes. They felt the solemnity of the occasion, the importance of their trust. Not a word was spoken, not a whisper heard, as the teller passed around to collect the result. The votes were counted, the result declared, and the Rev. Dr. Alexander was pronounced elected. A venerable elder of the church in Philadelphia, of which Dr. Alexander was pastor, arose to speak. But his feelings choked utterance. How could he part with his beloved pastor? His tears flowed until he sat down in silence. The Rev. Dr. Miller arose and said that he hoped the brother elected would not decline, however reluctant he might feel to accept; that if he had been selected by the voice of the Church, however great the sacrifice, he would not dare refuse. Little did he dream that on the following year he should be called by the same voice to give up the attractions of the city, to devote his life to the labours of an instructor. The Rev. Mr. Flinn called on the Rev. Dr. Woodhull, of Monmouth, to follow in prayer. He declined. Two others were called on, and they declined, remarking that it was the Moderator’s duty. He then addressed the throne of grace in such a manner, with such a strain of elevated devotion, that the members of the Assembly all remarked that he seemed almost inspired; weeping and sobbing were heard throughout the house.

“Amid the tears and prayers of the Church, Dr. Alexander was elected to the office. Amid the prayers and tears of the Church, he was laid in the tomb. But three of the members of that Assembly, it is believed, are now living. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children.”*

When it became necessary to announce his determination to the people of his charge, it was in the following terms.

“As it is known to this congregation that I have been appointed by the General Assembly to be a Professor in the Theological School which they are about to establish at Princeton, New Jersey, and as the time draws near when it will be expected that I should declare my mind in relation to this appointment, I have judged it proper and expedient, in the first place, to make a communication to you, the dear people of my charge.

“After viewing this important subject in every light in which I could place it, and after having earnestly sought the direction of Heaven, it does appear to me to be the call of Providence, which I cannot and ought not to resist.

“This resolution has not been formed under the influence of any dissatisfaction with my present condition, nor from any want of affection to this people; for since I have been your pastor, no event has occurred to disturb that peace and harmony which should ever exist between minister and people; and I have had no reason to doubt the sincerity and cordiality of the attachment of this congregation to me from the first day I came amongst them until this time. For all their respect and attention, and especially for that readiness with which they have received the word at my mouth, I

* The Presbyterian.

give thanks to God.’ I moreover wish to say, that I do not know a single congregation within the bounds of our Church, of which I would choose to be pastor in preference to this. No invitation, therefore, from any other would ever have separated us.

“I did expect to live and die with you, unless ill health (with which I have been threatened of late) should have made a removal expedient. But we know nothing of the designs of Providence with regard to us. God’s dispensations are unsearchable. In the whole of this business, thus far, I have been entirely passive. I never expected or sought this appointment. When it was mentioned to me by some members of the Assembly, the day it took place, my answer was, that I sincerely wished they would think of some other person; that it was an office which I did not covet, and for which I felt myself altogether unqualified. But when asked whether I would give the subject a serious and deliberate consideration if I should be appointed, I answered that this I durst not oppose.

“Since the appointment has been made, I have thought much, but said little. I have seriously and deliberately considered the subject. I never viewed any decision to be made by me in so important a light. I think I have desired to do the will of God, and have, as earnestly as I could, asked his counsel and guidance, and the result is, that I am convinced that I ought not refuse such a call.

“To train up young men for the ministry, has always been considered of higher importance to the Church of Christ than to preach the Gospel to a particular flock already gathered into the fold; and it has always been considered as a sufficient reason for dissolving the pastoral relation between minister and people, that he was wanted for this employment; and sister churches, which do not allow of removals from our pastoral charge [?] do nevertheless admit this to be a sufficient reason for the translation of a minister.

“In addition to this, it ought to be considered that this call comes to me in a very peculiar way. It is not the call of a College, or University, or any such institution, but it is the call of the whole Church by their representatives. And I confess that it has weighed much with my mind, that this appointment was made by the General Assembly in circumstances of peculiar seriousness and solemnity, and after special prayer for Divine direction and superintendence, and by an almost unanimous vote. Perhaps it would be difficult to find a disinterested person who would not say, under such circumstances, ‘It is your duty to go — it appears to be the call of God; ’ and I do believe that the majority of this congregation are convinced in their judgment, whatever their feelings may dictate, that I should be out of my duty to refuse. Indeed, I cannot but admire the deportment of the people in relation to this matter. Although tenderly affected, and many of you grieved at heart, you have not ventured to say ( stay, You saw that there was something remarkable in the dispensation, and you knew not but that the finger of God was in the affair, and therefore, with a submissive spirit, you were disposed to say, ‘The will of the Lord be done/

“It does appear hard, indeed, that this bereavement should fall upon you who have already been bereaved so often; but consider that He who causeth the wound, hath power to heal it, and can turn this event to your greater advantage; and I entertain a confident persuasion, that if you willingly make this sacrifice for the good of the Church, the great Head of the Church will furnish you with a pastor after his own heart, who will feed you with knowledge. Commit your case to him with fervent prayer and humble confidence, and he will not forget nor forsake you.

“My dear brethren, as we have lived in peace and love, I hope that we shall part in the same spirit. I hope that we shall remember one another unceasingly at the throne of grace. Let us recollect the times and seasons when we have taken sweet converse together in this house, and other places where prayer is wont to be made. If any shall choose to be displeased, and follow me with hard speeches instead of prayers, I shall not return unto them as they measure unto me. I will not resent their conduct. I desire ever to be disposed to bear you as a people on my heart with tender love; and now to His grace and kind protection do I commit you. Farewell!”

The inauguration, which we anticipate for the sake of connection, took place on the twelfth day of August, 1812. It was an occasion of great solemnity and feeling. The older ministers, especially those to whom the direction was entrusted, looked with parental yearnings on the infant seminary, and none were more ready to hail with thankfulness and hope the approach of new means for training the ministry, than those excellent men who lamented the scantiness of their own early opportunities. But to none did the service of the day bring greater solicitude than to him who was about to put on armour for which he unaffectedly felt too weak. The first discourse was a sermon by Dr. Miller, of New-York, on the Duty of the Church to take measures for providing an Able and Faithful Ministry; from the words, “And the things which thou hast heard of me, among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also:” 2 Timothy, ii. 2. It was an able investigation of the question, what is to be understood by an able and faithful ministry, which was made to include piety, talents, learning and diligence; and of the means which the Church is bound to employ for providing such a ministry. As many years have elapsed since this venerable man uttered his weighty judgment, as the topics are still of great moment, and as the discussion evinces the views of those who began the work of theological seminaries, we shall indulge ourselves by inserting an extract of some length.

“1. The Church is bound, with a vigilant eye, to search for, and carefully to select, from among the young men within her bosom, those who are endoioed with piety and talents, whenever she can find these qualifications united. Piety is humble and retiring; and talents, especially of the kind best adapted to the great work of the ministry, are modest and unobtrusive. They require, at least in many instances, to be sought out, encouraged, and brought forward. And how, and by whom, is this to be done? The’ children of the Church are, if I may so express it, the Church’s property. She has a right to the services of the best of them.

And as it is the part, both of wisdom and affection, in parents according to the flesh, to attend with vigilance to the different capacities and acquirements of their children, and to select for them, as far as possible, corresponding employments; so it is obviously incumbent on the Church, the moral parent of all the youth within her jurisdiction, to direct especial attention to such of them as may be fitted to serve her in the holy ministry. And it may be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that whenever young men are found, who unite fervent piety, with talents adapted to the office, it is the duty of such to seek the Gospel ministry; and it is the duty of the Church to single them out, to bring them forward, and to endeavour to give them all that preparation, which depends on human means, for the service of the sanctuary.

u 2. The Church is bound to provide funds for the partial or entire support of those who need this hind of aid, while they are preparing for the work of the ministry. Some of the most promising candidates for this holy work have not the means of supporting themselves, while they withdraw from the world, and give up its emoluments, for the purpose of becoming qualified to serve God in the Gospel of his Son. These persons must either abandon their sacred enterprise altogether, or receive, from some other source, adequate aid. And from what source can they so properly receive it, as from their moral parent, the Church? Nature, reason, equity, parental affection, — all conspire in pointing to this parent, as the most suitable provider. The aid which flows only from the hand of individual and occasional bounty,

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may be withdrawn, or grudgingly continued; but the Church can never be weary, as long as ability is given her, of providing for her beloved children. The aid which individuals, as such, furnish, may excite in delicate minds, a painful sense of dependence; but children ought to feel, can feel, no pain in receiving from the hand of parental affection.

“Nor is it any valid objection to the furnishing of this aid, that the objects of it may not always be found, when their character shall be completely developed, either ornaments to the Church, or worthy of so much exertion and expenditure. As well might parents according to the flesh decline to provide for the support and education of their children, in early life, lest peradventure they might afterwards prove neither a comfort nor an honour to them. In this respect, every faithful parent considers himself as bound, in duty and affection, to take all possible pains for promoting the welfare of his offspring, and having done so, to leave the event with God.

“Neither ought the Church to consider this provision as a burden, or imagine that, in making it, she confers a favour. It is as clearly her duty — a duty which she as really owes both to her Master and herself, as the ordinary provision which she makes for the support of the word and ordinances. Or rather, it is to be lamented that she has not been accustomed always to consider it as an essential part of her ordinary provision for the maintenance of the means of grace.

“3. A further mean which the Church is bound to employ for providing an able and faithful ministry, is, furnishing a Seminary in which the candidates for this office may receive the most appropriate and complete instruction, which she has it in her power to give. In vain are young men of fervent piety, and the best talents, sought after and discovered; and in vain are funds provided for their support, while preparing for the ministry, unless pure and ample fountains of knowledge are opened to them, and unless competent guides are assigned, to direct them in drinking at those fountains. This, however, is so plain, so self-evident, that I need not enlarge upon its proof.

“But perhaps it may be supposed by some, that there is no good reason why these means of education should be provided by the Church, as such. It may be imagined, that they will be as likely to be provided, and as well provided, by private instructors, as -by public seminaries. But all reason, and all experience, pronounce a different judgment, and assign, as the ground of their decision, such considerations as these.

“First: When the Church herself provides a seminary for the instruction of her own candidates for the ministry, she can at all times inspect and regulate the course of their education; can see that it be sound, thorough, and faithful; can direct and control the instructors; can correct such errors, and make such improvements in her plans of instruction, as the counsels of the whole body may discover. Whereas, if all be left to individual discretion, the preparation for the service of the Church may be in the highest degree defective, or ill-judged, not to say unsound, without the Church being able effectually to interpose her correcting hand.

“Again: When the Church herself takes the instruction of her candidates into her own hands, she can furnish a more extensive, accurate, and complete course of instruction than can be supposed to be, ordinarily, within the reach of detached individuals. In erecting and endowing a seminary, she can select the best instructors out of her whole body. She can give her pupils the benefit of the whole time, and the undivided exertions, of these instructors. Instead of having all the branches of knowledge, to which the theological student applies himself, taught by a single master, she can divide the task of instruction, among several competent teachers, in such a manner as to admit of each doing full justice both to his pupils and himself. She can form one ample Library, by which a given number of students may be much better accommodated, when collected together, and having access to it in common, than if the same amount of books were divided into a corresponding number of smaller libraries. And she can digest, and gradually improve, a system of instruction, which shall be the result of combined wisdom, learning, and experience. Whereas those candidates for the sacred office, who commit themselves to the care of individual ministers, selected according to the convenience or the caprice of each pupil, must, in many cases, at least, be under the guidance of instructors who have neither the talents, the learning, nor the leisure to do them justice; and who have not even a tolerable collection of books, to supply the lack of their own furniture as teachers.

“Further: When the Church herself provides the means of instruction for her own ministry, at a public seminary, she will, of course, be furnished with ministers who have enjoyed,

22 in some measure, a uniform course of education; who have derived their knowledge from the same masters, and the same approved fountains, and who may, therefore, be expected to agree in their views of evangelical truth and order. There will thus be the most effectual provision made, speaking after the manner of men, for promoting the unity and peace of the Church. Whereas, if every candidate for the holy ministry be instructed by a different master, each of whom may be supposed to have his peculiarities of expression and opinion, especially about minor points of doctrine and discipline, the harmony of our ecclesiastical judicatories will gradually be impaired; and strife, and perhaps eventually, schism, may be expected to arise in our growing and happy Church.” It is important to add, that when the Church provides for educating a number of candidates for the ministry at the same seminary, these candidates themselves may be expected to be of essential service to each other. Numbers being engaged together in the same studies, will naturally excite the principle of emulation. As iron skarpenetli iron, so the amicable competition, and daily intercourse of pious students, can scarcely fail of leading to closer and more persevering application; to deeper research; to richer acquirements; and to a more indelible impression of that which is learned, upon their minds, than can be expected to take place in solitary study.

“Nor is it by any means unworthy of notice, that, when the ministers of a church are generally trained up at the same seminary, they are naturally led to form early friendly which bind them together to the end of life, and which are productive of that mutual confidence and assistaDce, which can scarcely fail of shedding a benign influence on their personal enjoyment, and their official comfort and usefulness. These early friendships may also be expected to add another impulse to a sense of duty, in annually drawing ministers from a distance to meet each other in the higher judicatories of the Church; and, which is scarcely less important, to facilitate and promote that mutual consultation, respecting plans of research, and new and interesting publications, which is, at once, among the safeguards, as well as pleasures of theological authorship.

“These, brethren, are some of the considerations which call upon every church to erect, and to support with vigour and efficiency, a Theological Seminary for the training of her ministry. If she desires to augment the number of her ministers; if she wishes their preparation for the sacred office to be the best in her power to give, and at the least possible expense; if she desires that they may be a holy phalanx, united in the same great views of doctrine and discipline, and adhering with uniformity and with cordial affection to her public standards; if she deprecates the melancholy spectacle of a heterogeneous, divided, and distracted ministry: and finally, if she wishes her ministers to be educated under circumstances most favourable to their acting in after life as a band of brethren, united in friendship as well as in sentiment; then let her take measures for training them up under her own eye and control; under the same teachers; in the same course of study; and under all those advantages of early intercourse and affectionate competition, which attend a public seminary.

“In favour of all this reasoning, the best experience, and the general practice of the Church in different ages, may be confidently urged. c It has been the way of G-od,’ says the pious and learned Dr. Lightfoot, ’ to instruct his people by a studious and learned ministry, ever since he gave a written word to instruct them in.’ ‘Who, he asks, ‘were the standing ministry of Israel, all the time from the giving of the law till the captivity in Babylon I Not prophets, or inspired men; for they were but occasional teachers; but the Priests and Levites, who became learned in the law by study. Deuteronomy xxxiii. 10; Hosea iv. 6; Malachi ii. 7. And for this end, they were disposed into forty-eight cities, as so many universities, where they studied the law together; and from thence were sent out into the several synagogues to teach the people.’ They had also, the same writer informs us, e contributions made for the support of these students, while they studied in the universities, as well as aftenoards when they preached in the synagogues’ He tells us further, in another place, ’ that there were among the Jews, authorized individual teachers, of great eminence, who had their Midrashot, or Divinity Schools, in which they expounded the law to their scholars or disciples, i Of these Divinity Schools,’ he adds, ( there is very frequent mention made among the Jewish writers, more especially of the schools of HUM and Shammai. Such a Divinity Professor was Gamaliel, at whose feet the great Apostle of the Gentiles received his education, *

* Lightfoot’s Works, voL i. 357, 574.

“Under the Christian dispensation, the same system, in substance, was adopted and continued. At a very early period, there was a seminary of high reputation established in the city of Alexandria, in which candidates for the holy ministry were trained up together, and under the ablest instructors, both in divine and human learning; a seminary in which Pantainus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, and others, taught with high reputation. Eusebius and Jerome both declare, that this seminary had existed, as a nursery of the church, and had enjoyed a succession of able teachers, from the time of Mark the Evangelist.* Writers on Christian antiquities also assure us that there were seminaries of a similar kind very early established at Borne, Caisarea, Antioeh, and other places; f and that they were considered as essential to the honour and prosperity of the church.

“At the period of the Reformation, religion and learning revived together. The Reformers were not less eminent for their erudition, than for their piety and zeal. They contended earnestly for an enlightened, as well as a faithful ministry; and, accordingly, almost all the protestant churches, when they found themselves in a situation to admit of the exertion, founded Theological Seminaries, as nurseries for their ministry. This was the case in Geneva, in Scotland, in Holland, in Germany, and, with very little exception, throughout reformed Christendom. And the history of those seminaries, while it certainly demonstrates

Lib. v. c. 10. Hieron. Oper. i. 105. f See Bingham’s Origines Ecclesiastical, Book iii. Chap. 10.

that such establishments are capable of being perverted; demonstrates, with equal evidence, that they have been made, and might always, with the divine blessing on a faithful administration, be rendered extensively useful.

“And what have the most eminently pious and learned ministers that ever adorned the American church thought on this subject? Let yonder venerable walls tell! Yes, brethren, it was because Tennent, and Dickinson, and Burr, and Edwards, and Davies, and Finley, and Blair, and other champions of the cross, were deeply impressed with the truth, that learning and talents, united with piety, are of the highest importance to the Christian ministry, that they laboured and prayed so much for the establishment and support of Nassau-Hall. May their spirit and their opinions revive; and more and more pervade our church, until the dawning of the Millennial Sabbath!

“In establishments of this kind, in more recent times, oui congregational brethren, in New England, and our brethren of the Dutch and Associate Reformed churches,* have gone before us, and set us noble examples. We have, at length, awoke from our sleep; and with tardy, but, as we hope, with firm, with well-advised, and with heaven-directed steps, have begun to follow them. In the name of Jehovah Jesus, the King of Zion, we lift up our banner! May his blessing descend, and rest upon the transaction of this day, as a pledge that he is about to visit our church in his abundant mercy!

“4. The last means of providing an able and faithful ministry, on which I shall insist, is fidelity on the part of the Judicatories of the church in guarding the entrance into the sacred office. It is our happiness, that, according to the truly apostolic and primitive constitution of our church, the power of licensing candidates, and of setting apart to the work of the holy ministry, is not given to any individual, by whatever name he may be called. Nay, while the church provides a seminary for the instruction of her candidates for the sacred office, she does not give even to the conductors of that seminary, however pious, learned, or venerable, the right ultimately to judge of the qualifications of those candidates, and to admit or reject them at their pleasure. This is the prerogative of her appropriate judicatories; and the manner in which it is exercised, is all-important. However vigilantly and perseveringly other means for attaining the object proposed may be employed, if there be a failure here, the most calamitous consequences may be expected. If presbyteries be superficial in their examinations of candidates; if they be too ready to lay hands on the weak, the ignorant, the erroneous, or those of doubtful piety; or if, for the sake of attaining an occasional purpose, or meeting a temporary difficulty, they at any time suffer the barriers which have been erected for excluding the incompetent or the unworthy, to be removed or trampled down, they are taking the direct course to bring the ministry and religion into contempt.

“I know that, on this subject, pleas are often urged which it is extremely difficult to resist. Some good qualities in the candidates; private friendships; an unwillingness to give pain; the scarcity of ministers; and the necessities of the Church, are all alternately employed as arguments for the admission of unsuitable characters into the ministry. But it is a most important part of fidelity in the work of the Lord, to oppose and reject every plea of this kind. Private friendships ought not to interfere with a supreme regard to the Redeemer’s kingdom. It is better, much better, to inflict pain for a time, on an individual, than to wound the Church of Christ. And by introducing into the ministry those who are neither faithful, nor able to teach, judicatories are so far from supplying the wants of the Church, that they rather add to her difficulties, and call her to struggle with new evils. To be in haste to multiply and send out unqualified labourers, is to take the most direct method to send a destructive blast on the garden of God, instead of gathering a rich and smiling harvest.

“On the other hand, when judicatories, with enlightened vigilance, and fidelity, guard the entrance into the sacred office; when they exert the authority committed to them, to keep out of the ministry, incompetence, heresy, levity, and worldly mindedness; they obey a divine precept; they support the real honour of the Gospel ministry; they constrain those who are looking toward that blessed work, to take a higher aim, and to seek for higher attainments; they give the Churches bread instead of a stone, and fish instead of a serpent; and though they may appear, to those who make haste, to be tardy in supplying the public demand for ministers, they are taking one of the most effectual methods, under God, for raising up a numerous, as well as an able and faithful ministry.

“Let us now turn our attention to some practical inferences from the foregoing discussion. And.

“1. If the representation which has been given be just, then our Church has been, for a long time, almost entirely, and very criminally, negligent of a great and important duty. While she has directed much laudable attention to other objects, she has, in a great measure, suffered the most promising means of providing an able and faithful ministry, to take care of themselves. Other Churches, have also been guilty, in a considerable degree, of similar negligence: a negligence for which, alas! our country mourns; and would mourn much more, if the importance of the subject were understood and appreciated as it ought to be; but our

CHURCH HAS BEEN PRE-EMINENTLY GUILTY! Though among

the largest Christian denominations in the United States; though possessing, in its individual members, perhaps more wealth than any other; though favoured, in many respects with ample means for every kind of generous ecclesiastical enterprise; and though often and solemnly warned on the subject; she has yet been among the very last of all the evangelical denominations among us, to commence a course of efficient exertion for raising up a qualified ministry. We have slumbered, and slumbered, until the scarcity of labourers in our harvest, has become truly alarming! God grant that we may testify by our future conduct, that we remember, with unfeigned humiliation, our former negligence; and that we are resolved, as his grace shall enable us, to make amends for it, by redoubled zeal and diligence in time to come!” 2. From what has been said, it appears, that the solem~ nity to attend on which we are this day assembled, is a matter of cordial and animating congratulation to each other, and to the Church of Christ in the United States. We are convened, under the authority of the General Assembly of our Church, to organize a theological seminary, and to inaugurate the first professor in that seminary. Though later, much later, in commencing this establishment than we ought to have been; we trust it is about to commence under the smiles of the great Head of the Church; and that we may confidently regard it as a token for good to the Kedeemer’s kingdom. Yes, brethren, we have more reason to rejoice, and to felicitate one another, on the establishment of this seminary, than on the achievement of a great national victory, or on making a splendid addition to our national territory. It is the beginning, as we trust, of an extensive and permanent system, from which blessings may flow to millions while we are sleeping in the dust. Let us, then, rejoice and be exceeding glad; and in the midst of our joy, let us look up to the Source of blessing, who can cause the walls of our Zion to rise even in troublous times* While we congratulate each other, let our petitions ascend, with our praises, to the throne of grace, that the seminary this day established, and, as we verily believe, founded in faith and prayer, may be a fountain, the streams of which shall make glad the city of our God; flowing in every direction, and abundantly watering the abodes of Zion’s king, until all flesh shall taste his love, and see his glory!

* War had been declared, by the United States, against Great Britain, a few weeks before this discourse was delivered.

“3. If what has been said be correct, then those who are more immediately charged with conducting this seminary, luhether as Directors or Professors, ought to consider themselves as honoured with a very solemn and weighty trust. The design of the supreme Judicatory of our church, in founding this seminary, is nothing less than to train up an able and faithful ministry a ministry on whose piety, talents, and learning, the temporal and eternal welfare of thousands, now living, may, speaking after the manner of men, depend; a ministry, whose character may have a commanding influence, in forming the character of others, and they again of those who may successively fill the same office, until the end of time! The design is interesting beyond expression; and the task of those who are appointed to carry it into execution, is serious and important to a degree which mortals cannot estimate. When I cast an eye down the ages of eternity, and think how important is the salvation of a single soul; when I recollect how important, of course, the office of a minister of the Gospel, who may be the happy instrument of saving many hundreds or thousands of souls; and when I remember how many and how momentous are the relations, which a Seminary intended solely for training up ministers, bears to all the interests of men, in the life that now is, and especially in that which is to come; I feel as if the task of conducting such a Seminary, had an awfulness of responsibility connected with it, which is enough to make us tremble! 0 my fathers and brethren! let it never be said of us, on whom this task has fallen, that we take more pains to make polite scholars, eloquent orators, or men of mere learning, than to form able and faithful ministers of the New Testament. Let it never be said, that we are more anxious to maintain the literary and scientific honours of the ministry, than we are to promote that honour which consists in being full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and the instruments of adding much people to the Lord. The eyes of the church are upon us. The eyes of angels, and, above all, the eyes of the King of Zion, are upon us. May we have grace given us to be faithful!

“This subject suggests matter for very serious reflection to the Youth, who are about to enter as students in this seminary, with a view to the Gospel ministry. Behold, my young friends, the high character at which you are called to aim! You have come hither, not that you may prepare to shine; not that you may prepare to amuse men by philosophic discussion, or to astonish them by flights of artificial eloquence; but that, by the blessing of God, upon the use of means, you may become faithful men, who shall be able to teach other’s also; that you may become wise in winning souls to Christ; that you may prepare to go forth, defending and proclaiming the messages of grace to guilty men, and persuading them to be reconciled to God. Seek to excel. It is noble to excel. But let it be always for the edifying of the church. This, my young friends, this is the object which is recommended to your sacred emulation. We charge you, in the presence of God, to let all your studies and aims be directed to this grand object. Seek, with humble, persevering, prayerful diligence, to be such ministers as you have heard described; and you will neither disappoint yourselves, nor the Church of Christ. Seek to be any thing else, and you will be a grief and a curse to both. May God the Saviour bless you, and prepare you to be workmen that need not be ashamed!

u 5. From this subject we may derive powerful excitements to young men of piety and talents, to come forward and devote themselves to the Gospel Ministry. We trust no young man will ever think of that holy vocation, until he has first given himself up a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ. We would not, for any consideration, be accessory to the sin of alluring into the sacred office, those who know nothing of the power of godliness, and who, on the most favourable supposition, can be nothing better than miserable retailers of cold and unproductive speculations. But while we say this, and repeat it, with all the emphasis of which we are capable, we assert, with equal confidence, on the other hand, that wherever fervent piety appears, in any young man, united with those talents which are adapted to the office of an ambassador of Christ, it is incumbent on their possessor, without delay, to devote himself to the work of the ministry. There are only two questions which need be asked concerning any youth on this subject. e Has he a heart for the work? And has he those native faculties, which are susceptible of the requisite cultivation? ‘If these questions can be answered in the affirmative, I hesitate not to say, that in the present state of the church, it is his duty to seek the ministry. Young men of this College! have none of you any desire to serve your fellow-men, and to serve Christ, in this exalted office? You have but one short life to live in this world; and you must, in a very little time, decide how you will spend that life. c We confidently pronounce, that it can be spent in no manner so desirable, so noble, so godlike, as in the Gospel ministry. If, then, you love the Lord Jesus Christ, come — we affectionately invite you to come, and take part with us in the ministry of the grace of Grod. The example of Christ invites you to come; the tears of bereaved churches, who can find none to break unto them the bread of life, entreat you to come; the miseries of wandering souls, who find none to lead them to heaven, plead with you to come. Come, then, and take part with us in the labours and rewards of the ministry of reconciliation! ’ *

“6. Finally, if the representation which has been given be correct, then the Church at large ought to consider it as equally their privilege and their duty to support this Seminary. If one may judge by the language and the conduct of the generality of our church-members, they seem to consider all regard to institutions of this kind, as the province of ministers only. They readily grant, that ministers ought to be prompt and willing, to give their time, their labours, and where they have any, their substance, for this end; but for themselves, they pray to be excused. They either contribute nothing toward the object, or contribute in the most reluctant and sparing manner, as if they were bestowing a favour, which they have a perfect right to withhold. My dear brethren, it is difficult to express in adequate terms

* “See Address of the Presbytery of New York, on educating poor and pious youth for the Gospel ministry.” p. 14.

either the sin or the folly of such conduct. Seminaries of this kind are to be founded and supported by the church, as such. It is the church that is bound to take order on the subject. It is the church that is responsible for their establishment and maintenance. And if any of her members, or adherents, when called upon, will not contribute their just portion of aid for this purpose, the Head of the Church will require it at their hands. Professing Christians! look upon the alarming necessities of the Church; upon destitute frontier settlements; upon several hundred vacant congregations, earnestly desiring spiritual teachers, but unable to obtain them. Look upon the growing difficulty, with which the most eligible and attractive situations in the Church are supplied; and then say whether those who still remain idle can be innocent? Innocent! Their guilt will be greater and more dreadful than can be described. Come, then, brethren, humbled by the past, and animated by the future, rouse from your lethargy, and begin to act in earnest! Your Master requires it of you! The aspect of the times requires it of you! The cries of the neglected and the perishing require it of you! Your own privileges and blessings require it of you! Yes, ye who call yourselves Christians! If you love the Church to which you profess to belong; if you possess a single spark of the spirit of allegiance to her Divine Head and Lord; nay, if you desire not a famine of the word of life; if you desire not the heaviest spiritual judgments to rest upon you, then come forward, and act, as well as speak, like friends of the Kedeemer’s kingdom. Come forward, and give your influence, your substance, and your

352 professor’s discourse.

prayers, for the help of the Lord against the mighty” * Amen.

The Inaugural Discourse of the Professor was founded on the words, “Search the Scriptures,” John v. 39; and was a learned argument in behalf of biblical study. In one respect the whole performance was true to the habit and character of the speaker; for it did not contain, from beginning to end, the faintest allusion to his own personality. All deprecation of censure, and all promise of fidelity, were equally absent. It was followed by a charge to the Professor and Students of Divinity, by the Rev. Philip Milledoler, D. D. All concerned have since gone to their reward; and of the Directors, before whom these addresses were delivered, the only survivors are the Kev. President Nott, the Kev. William Neill, D. D., the Kev. John McDowell, D. D., and the Rev. Francis Herron, D. D. It is for the public to determine how far the work in which these good men then engaged, with such earnestness and many prayers, has conduced to the progress of religion and learning in the United States.

It was with an unfeigned reluctance that Dr. Alexander accepted the appointment. No man could entertain a higher estimate of the functions which awaited him; no man of eminence could think more humbly of himself. All his life long he was free to acknowledge, that his training, however laborious, had lacked much of the rigour and method of the schools; and while he had pursued knowledge with enthusiasm, and in many fields, he knew that it had

“* Judges v. 23.”

been with the neglect of certain forms which are supposed to give fitness for the academical chair. Theology had indeed been the study of his life. Its difficult questions had been the constant occupation of his profoundest meditations; and he had during his residence in Philadelphia gathered about him the great masters of Latin theology, whose works appeared in Holland, Switzerland, Germany, and France, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A rare occasion for adding to his stock of Dutch theology was afforded by the sale of a library belonging to a learned minister from Holland, the Kev. Mr. Van Harlingen, of Somerset. In relation to this, his friend, Mr. Rice, thus wrote: “I could not help exclaiming, when I heard of the fine library you have purchased, ( 0 fortunati! ’ but I could hardly add, c Haud equidem invideo! ‘But why should I repine? I have more books than I can read.”* These Reformed divines he regarded as having pushed theological investigation to its greatest length, and compacted its conclusions into the most symmetrical method. He was accustomed to say that in his judgment Reformed theology reached its culminating point about the epoch of the Synod of Dordrecht. To these great authors he turned with unabated zest during the whole of a long and studious life. He once said to the writer, that on a perplexed subject he preferred Latin to English reading; not only because of the complete and ingenious nomenclature which had grown up in the dialectic schools of the church, but because the little effort required for getting the sense kept his attention concentrated. It was

* Mr. Rice to Dr. Alexander, November 4, 1813.

indeed almost amusing to observe how he would hang over the massive quarto or folio, with all the awakened interest of a novel-reader. In consequence of the fiery controversy which characterized those times, and the scholastic acumen and philosophic adventure and logical exactness which belonged to the age, he considered these scholars as having anticipated most of the minor questions which have vexed the church in later times. His penchant for metaphysical investigation urged him, from an early date, to make himself acquainted with the philosophies of the periods, from which each system took its tincture, and without which it is impossible to survey the several schemes from a just point of view. Thus he perused, and generally in their sources, not only the peripatetic and scholastic writers, but the treatises of Des Cartes, Leibnitz, Wolff, and Voetius. And there was no subject on which he discoursed with more pleasure or success than on the exposition and comparison of these ingenious though now exploded systems. He made himself familiar with the Christian Fathers, both Greek and Latin, and perused them at intervals during forty years; some of his very last labours having been in this field. At a certain period he examined all that they had written on the Divinity of our Lord; and this formed a subject of lively intercourse between him and Dr. Miller. It is particularly remembered with what surprise and admiration he spoke of the felicitous subtilty of Cyril. It was his delight to seek out the portions of truth in the books of ancient authors. Nor did he confine himself to writers on one side. Through long years he was wont to seek with patience the best works in defence of popery; the argumentative dissertations of the extreme Lutherans and Dutch Kemonstrants, as well as the Fratres Poloni and other champions of Socinianism. It need scarcely be added that he was familiar with English theology, as treated both by authors of the Established Church, and by the great Nonconformist divines. His recent travels in New England, and the prevailing excitement caused by the speculations of Hopkins and Emmons, served to keep him observant in regard to the phases of opinion in the American churches. As it respects his own conclusions, he has left on record the statement, that on his return from New England, and during his residence in Philadelphia, his views, which had been somewhat modified by eastern suggestions, began to fix themselves more definitely in the direction of the common Westminster theology. In many respects, therefore, he was well fitted for the difficult post to which the Church was summoning him.

But there were other branches of learning, tributary to the teacher’s place, which had occupied his attention. His extraordinary tenacity of memory, which seemed never to let go a fact entrusted to it, gave him both taste and facility for historical study; and we have never met with any one who was more at home in all the annals of ecclesiastical record. For reasons already indicated the events were made to revolve in his mind around the momentous points of theological determination; so that the history of doctrine, including the rise and progress of errors, the decisions of councils, controversial authorship and the establishment of symbols and of sects, became favourite objects of inquiry. On these

subjects he amassed an extraordinary amount of original manuscript, and from these sources he was accustomed to enliven and diversify his dogmatical instructions.

In the classical languages he was well read, though without scrupulous care for those niceties of metre and accent, in which English scholars take a pride. The Greek of the JSTew Testament was familiar to him from incessant perusal. No day passed without deliberate study of this sacred original. And in his later years a beautiful Glasgow edition of Griesbach was commonly in his hands during all the private hours of the Lord’s day. Indeed, he frequently complained that this practice had, to a certain extent, unfitted him for textual citation of the English version in extemporaneous discourse. He accustomed his children to read the Greek Testament, long before they arrived at it as a school-study; and this exercise, between morning prayers and breakfast, was kept up for some years. We have already recorded his first acquaintance with the Hebrew Bible. From that hour he never relaxed in his efforts to master the venerable language. His first successful attempts were made in Philadelphia, where he was stimulated by the example and the counsels of Dr, Wilson, and aided by the lessons of Hurwitz, a learned Jew. The splendid large paper, Michaelis edition of Halle, which he acquired about this time, now lies before us. It was one of his peculiarities that he treated books with a religious tenderness, never making in any one of them so much as a marginal note. This volume was in his hands for nearly half a century, and to the last of his reading he perused at least one chapter of Hebrew every day.

In natural connection with this was the study of Criticism and Hermeneutics. Although in regard to the latter he was indebted chiefly to the older school, his curiosity was wakeful and his knowledge extensive. The history of great manuscripts, versions and editions was deeply fixed in his mind, and he always spoke of them with the familiarity which the mineralogist has with the specimens of his cabinet. The qualifications on which we have slightly touched were the more important, as the new professor was expected to begin his labours with an attempt in every department of theological study.

In the month of July, 1812, Dr. Alexander arrived in Princeton, with his wife then in the bloom and freshness of a health which endured to old age, and with four children, of whom the oldest was not nine years old. The change to a green and airy village, from a heated and populous city, was exceedingly grateful to one who had been reared in the mountains, and to whom the restrictions and conventionalities of civic life were always a penance. Disposed at all times to give frank and prompt expression to what rose within him, he felt the stricture of a great town and its ways, and often longed for the shade and scope of the country. It was perhaps this which led him to regard his sojourn in Philadelphia as the least agreeable portion of his life. But now he was to resume what might be called a country life, and we remember the almost boyish glee with which he saluted and indicated to his children the salient points of rural prospects. He came with his own horses, and for some years was accustomed with his family to spend much time in easy drives among the pleasing scenes of that delightful neighbourhood, and to places where his appointments lay. In early life he was a bold and dexterous horseman. He came to be the tiller of a garden, in which art, however, he did not lay out special endeavours. The dwelling to which he came was small and inconvenient, in the least inviting part of the borough; later years afforded him a much more suitable abode.

On arriving at so important a point in our simple and uneventful history, and at the place from which it is no more to remove, we may be allowed to pause a little over the locality. Princeton is a village which holds out attractions from its high site and its historical associations. At that time it stood upon the county line between Middlesex and Somerset, and just where the hilly or upland country begins to subside into the tamer slopes which extend towards the ocean, but which swell eastward into a graceful line of blue Monmouth hills. The village was for many years little else than a gathering of houses around the College, which had been here for half a century. It had been further signalized by the battle of Princeton, and by the temporary presence of the old Congress. Every thing, however, had reference to the great and venerable literary institution, whose officers were the most prominent persons in the place. The ancient edifice, the ample lawns, and spreading trees, made its grounds, then as now, the principal charm of the village. Its cemetery contained the ashes of Burr, Davies, Edwards and Witherspoon; and in the neighbourhood, as you rise towards a hard rocky ridge, was the farm of the last named, which he had called Tusculum.

At this time Princeton was not without many persons of note, some of whom may be mentioned as more or less connected with the subject of this memoir. Doctor Samuel Stanhope Smith was living, and was approaching the term of his presidentship; and he was beyond question the person to whom most eyes were directed with favour and admiration. He is distinctly remembered by us, as he then appeared, in a beautiful old age surpassing any that we have known. He was tall, slender and feeble, but erect. The clear soft skin, and delicate complexion, and mild blue eye, were remarkably exempt from the traces of age. Many a pupil will recall his stately venerable form, as he walked with velvet cap and academic gown, in those processions which took place at least every Sunday, from Nassau-Hall to the church. The days of Dr. Smith’s activity were nearly ended, and he soon afterwards resigned. He was celebrated for his acquaintance with elegant letters, for the eloquence of his pulpit discourses, and for the matchless courtliness of his manners. He had formed himself upon the best masters of the French school; in which endeavour his most celebrated pupil was the Rev. Dr. Henry Kollock, one of the most ornate yet vehement orators whom our country has produced; and who had until recently been the pastor of the village church.

Dr. John Maclean, a native of Scotland, father of President Maclean, was at this time vice-president of the College, and was eminent as a mathematician and a chemist. The Stockton family, always among the most prominent of the place, was represented by Richard Stockton of Morven, the second of the name, well remembered as one of the most able

members of the New Jersey bar, and aiso as a Senator of the United States. Samuel Bayard, a descendant of the Huguenot refugees, a ruling elder in the church, an author of several works, and a man of mild and affectionate piety, was a friend, who, as long as he lived, was cherished by Dr. Alexander with true regard. To whom may be added, Dr. John Vancleve, Colonel Beafcty, and others, long since departed, equally respected, but whose names would scarcely interest the general reader. But time has wrought sad changes. Of some of the families here mentioned not a vestige remains: and the writer feels the flight of years, when he observes that only one house in the long and thickly peopled principal street of Princeton is occupied by the same family as in 1812

Thus at the age of forty years Dr. Alexander was girding on the harness of his most important exertion; at a stage when, if ever, the human powers are in fulness of vigour, and, as the event proved, at the precise middle point of his life. His health, though never robust, was not threatened by any serious indications, and had not yet succumbed to inordinate study. In Philadelphia he had suffered from short but violent attacks of rheumatism, and he was beginning by slow degrees to recognise a train of nervous symptoms, from which he afterwards endured great discomfort. His habits were settled, and his mental and moral character had taken their leading configuration.

Pausing for a moment to recall the picture as then presented, we do not find many striking hues to be added to those already given. In person he was thin, but his countenance was full of life, his complexion was clear, his teeth as yet spared, his locks, though slightly silvered, unusually full, and his eye mobile and piercing to an extraordinary degree, as none can forget who ever saw him. As compared with his later self, we should say that he was characterized by the great spring and vivacity of his manner and discourse; more disposed to converse, bold and ready in argument, sometimes keen in answer or reproof, always open to the point of what was gay or humorous, free with his children and their comrades, enthusiastic in his love of scenery and of music, with a frankness and naturalness in the expression of opinions and sentiments, which was the more delightful the more it receded from the canons of artificial society. His opinions were formed, his lines of study marked out, and in regard to his manner in preaching the Gospel, he was unquestionably at a point beyond which he never rose.