From His Election as Professor, 1822, to His Departure for Europe, 1826
The Board of Directors, at their meeting, held in Philadelphia, May 17, 1822, reported to the General Assembly as follows: “The Board with pleasure inform the Assembly that the First and Third (senior and junior) classes now in the Seminary, have each resolved to aid in founding a Professorship of Oriental and Biblical Literature. To effect this object, the students of the First class have bound themselves to raise and pay, if practicable, in five years, the sums which they have respectively subscribed, amounting in the whole to And the students of the Third class have on similar conditions individually bound themselves in sums amounting collectively to about
May 21 st, “Resolved, That it be recommended to the General Assembly, that they elect a Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature in the Theological Seminary, with a salary of 1,000 per annum, provided that for three years the present funds of the Assembly be responsible for not more than the sum now given to the assistant teacher of the Original Languages of Scripture, and that the residue be procured by subscription.”
On the same day the General Assembly resolved,” That,
>ET. 22.] IN A UG URA TIOiV AS PR OFESSOR. 93
agreeably to the above recommendation, a Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature be elected, and that the election be the order of the day for Friday next, at twelve o’clock.”
Friday noon, May 24th, 1822. “It being the order of the day for twelve o’clock, an election was held for a Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature. The ballots being taken were committed to Messrs. John F. Clark, Cox and Gilbert to count the vote and report the result to the Assembly.”
“The committee to which the votes for a Professor had been committed, reported, and the Rev. Charles Hodge was declared duly elected Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature.”
At the meeting of the Board in Princeton, September 23d, 1822, “The Board were officially informed, by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, that that body had elected the Rev. Charles Hodge Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature in this Seminary; and the Board being also informed that Mr. Hodge has accepted the appointment, resolved that Dr. Blatchford, Dr. McAuley, and Mr. Lewis be a committee to direct the order of exercises at the inauguration which is to take place to-morrow at 1 1 o’clock, A. M.”
Soon afterwards” The committee appointed to make arrangements for the inauguration of the Professor made the following report, which was adopted:
“1st. Procession to be formed at 1 1 o’clock, a. m., at the Seminary in the following order: (i) Students of the Seminary. (2) Such clergy as may be present. (3) The Professors. (4) The Directors. The procession to enter the Church in the reverse order, to be conducted under the direction of a committee of one from each class of the students, consisting of Messrs. Breckinridge, Stanford and Myers.”
“2d. Hymn and introductory prayer, by the President.
94 HIS MARRIAGE. [1822.
3d. Formula to be read and subscribed, by the Professor.
4th. Induction to the chair, by the President.
5th. Inaugural address, by the Professor.
6th. Charge, by Dr. McAuley.
7th. Concluding prayer, by Dr. Blatchford.
8th. Concluding hymn and benediction, by the first Vice-President.”
Tuesday, Septeinber 2/f.th, 1822. “The Board attended to the inauguration of the Rev. Charles Hodge as Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature. The exercises were conducted agreeably to the plan reported yesterday by the committee of arrangements.”
The original time-stained copy of this inaugural address the compiler of this biography has now in his hands. The first sentences reveal the thought and animus of the entire discourse, and constitute a divinely significant omen for the professional life now opening.
“The moral qualifications of an Interpreter of Scripture may all be included in Piety; which embraces humility, candor, and those views and feelings which can only result from the inward operation of the Holy Spirit.”
“It is the object of this discourse to ilhistrate the importance of Piety in the Interpretation of Scripture T
HIS MARRIAGE.
In the meantime, on the 17th of June, he was married to Miss Sarah Bache, who has already been introduced to the reader in the second chapter, at Cheltenham, a country seat near Philadelphia, belonging to a mutual friend. Judge M. McKane, Mrs. Bache having deceased in 1820. The ceremony was performed by the Right Rev. Bishop William White, the first American Protestant Bishop. Dr. White had been the pastor of the bride’s family for several generations, and had married her father, William Bache, to Catherine Wistar, in 1797.
Uniform tradition represents Charles Hodge and Sarah
JET. 24.] J/IS MARRIAGE. gc
Bache as being at that time an uncommonly handsome couple. He was slender, of average height, very youthful-looking, with light brown hair, curling over a finely formed head, a light complexion and rosy cheeks, illumed by the light of blue eyes, and of a mouth in which benevolence and firmness, intelligence and humor were so subtly mingled as to elude the efforts of the best painters to represent it. She was of the full standard height for women, of symmetrical form, dark auburn hair, large bluegrey eyes, of that rare complexion in which the tender pink penetrates the delicate white, as in the interior enameling of tropical sea shells. She was endowed with the gifts, and characterized with the temperament of a musician and an artist, full of imagination and enthusiasm, intensely affectionate and self-sacrificing within the circle of kindred, and at the same time thrilled by the widest and most delicate sympathies with all varieties of character and experience. These natural qualities had already been consecrated by religion, and through all her life they became more and more spiritualized and sanctified.
They came almost immediately to Princeton, and took boarding in the family of Colonel Erkuries Bcatty, the father of their life-long friend, Rev. Charles Beatty, D. D., LL. D., of Steubenville, Ohio. Here they received great kindness, and remained until the spring of 1823, when they went to house-keeping in the house occupying the eastern corner of Witherspoon and Main Streets, immediately opposite the centre of Nassau Hall, Here they remained eighteen months, until, on January ist, 1825, they took possession of their permanent home, built by them on the Seminary ground — the square brick house at the west end of the main Seminary building. In this house Mr. Hodge lived all his remaining life, here all his children, except the eldest, were born, and here he did his life-work and died. All the beautiful trees which adorn the grounds around -this house he planted with his own hands.
gS BJilNGS HIS WIFE TO PRINCETON. [1822.
MR. HODGE TO HIS MOTHER.
Princeton, June 24, 1822.
My Dear Mother: — We have been received with every possible kind attention by every body in Princeton, and it has given me the greatest satisfaction to witness the evident cordiaHty Sarah has been met with by all her old friends. Our circumstances at Mr. Beatty’s are very comfortable, and every thing promises well.
We go to Dr. Alexander’s to-day and to Dr. Miller’s to-morrow.
It is well we came here a week before the session commences, for it
will not be possible to get ready for study for some time. My room
is yet in confusion, having no book-case and no table. In a short
time, however, I expect to settle down to all the sober duties of my
office and relations. Our Brother, the Doctor, was all-important to
us. He performed his part so well on the day on which Sarah saw
her friends, that I was completely relieved. It makes me happy to
see Sarah cheerful and contented. She is now singing in my ears, so
that I scarcely know what I am writing. I begin to fear that many
of the fond schemes I had formed will never come to much. As to
studying where Sarah is, it will be out of the question, unless there
be some way of charming her tongue to rest which I have not as
yet discovered.
Your son, C. H.
But things soon permanently adjusted themselves. The wife became occupied with household and family cares, and the husband, of all industrious students, became remarkable for his tolerance of interruption. His study was the home of his wife, and the gathering place of the entire family, and the highway of the children between the outside world and the other apartments of the house. While some of his children remained too small to unfasten the latch themselves, he had left it unfastened, so that even the least of us might come and go as we pleased.
During the first four years of his married life, the period covered by this chapter, two children, a boy and a girl, were born to him. His constant letters to his mother and brother, and other intimate friends, were filled with notices of these children, and with the evidences of his absorbing, as well as tender, interest in them. This characteristic of his correspondence is far more than ordinary in its degree,
^T. 28.] BAPTISM OF DAUGHTER. 07
and his consciousness of that fact becomes evident. To his brother he writes: —
“People say I am a little foolish, and I think it quite likely. But I have a good excuse. With every desire that you may be as foolish, as happy, and a thousand times better than your brother,
I am yours, C. H.”
The whole family correspondence of this period is suffused by the glow of his rich and full happiness, having their springs in his religion, his family, and his beloved work.
DR. HODGE TO HIS MOTHER.
Princeton, Dec. 25, 1825. My Dear Mother: — Your dear little Mary Elizabeth was baptized this afternoon in the Oratory by Dr. Alexander. Notwithstanding the rain, the place of service was so near we found it easy to take our dear little treasure out to be consecrated to God in this delightful ordinance. I never appreciated so highly before the privilege of thus giving to God what is dearest to us on earth. We feel now as though she were not our own, but something lent to be cultivated and prepared through our agency for heaven. To be instrumental in thus training up one of the children of the Lord to be presented before Him without spot or blemish, is so delightful and honorable a task, that we cannot help hoping that He who has made the prospect of the duty so pleasant, will aid us in its performance. There is, too, so much ground to hope that our efforts will not be in vain that we can address ourselves to the duty with all possible cheerfulness. The application of the pure element of water is not only designed to represent the purifying influence of the Spirit upon the heart, but it seems to be the appointed pledge on the part of God, that if we sincerely devote our children to Him, and faithfully endeavor to bring them up for Him, He will bestow upon them the blessings signified by the ordinance, and contained in that gracious covenant to which it is attached. Hence the ordinance is represented as so important in the Scriptures. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. It certainly never was designed to be an empty form. And as it imposes the most solemn obligations, so it contains abundant encouragement to fulfil them. Our dear little children we have promised to educate for heaven, and as God shall enable us, we mean to perform our vows. To this every thing must be made secondary. To
98 ffIS STUDIES. [1825.
gain this world is not what we have promised to aim at. It must therefore never be the direct and primary object of pursuit. I have lately, in reading Bonaparte’s Russian Campaign, and the Life of Sheridan, been very much struck with the truth of the remark how little they really enjoy the world to whom the world is every thing. Bonaparte says the happiest part of his life was when he was a poor lieutenant. And Sheridan said the happiest part of his life was the short time he spent in a cottage. There is nothing lost, therefore, even as regards the present world, by seeking firsi the kingdom of God; that is, by making it the primary object of pursuit, seeing that godliness has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. We feel, therefore, determined, if God shall render us faithful to our purposes, to bring up your dear little grandchildren, as we are sure you would have us do, with the one object supremely in view of fitting them for heaven. I have great confidence in the effect of religious truth upon the infant mind. Children are so susceptible, their associations are so strong and lasting, that it does not seem strange that the effect of early education should so frequently be felt through life. And if we add to this God’s peculiar promises to those who endeavor to bring up a child in the way in which he should go, we shall see that there is abundant reason to hope that exertions properly directed will be crowned with success.
Your affectionate son, C. H.
STUDIES AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE “BIBLICAL
REPERTORY.”
During these years the weakness and pain of his right hmb occasioned a good deal of inconvenience and apprehension, and at times he submitted to painful remedial applications. Nevertheless these were years of intense study. There remain in manuscript traces of elaborate discipline in Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic, and exegetical lectures on Romans and Corinthians, and dissertations on the origin of language, the general principles of Hermeneutics, &c. He preached before the Seminary every third Sabbath, and very frequently in the neighboring churches. Writing to his brother, November, 1822, he says: “I am incessantly busy, having six recitations a week, and a lecture to write besides.” December, 1822, he writes: “I am studying
>ET.28.] FOUNDS THE ‘’BIBLICAL REPERTORY German again: having a teacher in the house I hope to make more progress than I did before. We find Mr. Jadovvnisky a pleasant and intelhgent young man.” In November, 1823, he writes: “We have an unusually large accession to our numbers, and have commenced business under very promising circumstances. I have more writing to do than I should, and really believe that I shall find it essential to carry on the study of six languages this winter. I look forward to a pretty severe term, for I must keep before my students or they will find it out.”
In the beginning of 1825, he founded the Biblical Repertory, with which he was connected as real editor, with the exception of the period of his absence in Europe, for forty-three years. This Quarterly appeared at first under the title, “Biblical Repertory, a Collection of Tracts in Biblical Literature, Epzuvdzs. zd:; joaifd::,” consisting of reprints and translations, and making no pretensions to originality. The translations were furnished principally by the editor, and by Rev. Robert Patton, then Professor of Greek in the College of New Jersey, and by James W. and Joseph Addison Alexander. It continued in this form for four years, until after Mr. Hodge’s return from Europe, when the new series began with January, 1829, under the title “Biblical Repertory, a Journal of Biblical Literature and Theological Science,” to be conducted by an “association of gentlemen,” of which, however, Professor Hodge was always the working and directing member, in every sense the actual editor. In 1830 the title became “Biblical Repertory and Theological Review,” and finally, in 1837, “Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review.” Among the contents of the first four volumes the only translations which I can certainly identify as the work of Dr. Hodge are “History of Theology in the Eighteenth Century,” by Dr. Augustus Tholuck; and the “Life of Kant,” by Prof Stapfer, of Paris. These are both contained in the volume for 1828, During his absence in Europe, from November 1826, to lOO RESOLVES TO GO TO EUROPE. [1826.
November, 1828, Prof. Robert Patton took charge of the Repertory in place of the editor.
RESOLUTION TO GO TO EUROPE.
During the year 1,826, as his knowledge increased, his standard of the attainments necessary for a professor in his department was elevated in a more rapid ratio, and proportionably the sense of his own deficiencies became more intense. He felt the need at the same time of uninterrupted leisure for carrying on private study, and of access to the most learned and able teachers of Biblical Science that were to be found.
MR. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER.
Princeton, August 29, 1826. My Dear Brother: — You will perhaps think me beside myself before you are done reading this letter, but I am about to speak the words of soberness and truth. I want to leave you all for two years! wife and children, mother and brother. I have long felt the very serious disadvantage under which I labor in filling a most conspicuous and important station to which I feel incompetent. My education, for which I owe my mother innumerable thanks, has been, notwithstanding her disinterested and strenuous efforts, by the force of circumstances, very defective. You remember I never opened a Greek Grammar until I came to Princeton in the spring of 1812. In the fall of that year I entered College, joining a class in which all its members had been studying the language from one to two years. The Sophomore year we studied Greek several times a week. During the Junior and Senior years, only once a fortnight. The year subsequent to my leaving College I did nothing at it. During my three years in the Seminary, my time was occupied with other concerns. This has been my Greek course. What a preparation for a Professor! Since I returned to the Seminary I have had continually so many recitations that almost my whole attention has been confined to the single point of preparing and hearing them. Little opportunity has been afforded for the prosecution of the important branches connected with my department. I feel constantly the most painful sense of unfitness for my work, and the conviction that with nothing more than fragments of time at command, I can make little progress. My plan, therefore, is to apply to the Board of Directors for permission to spend two years
JET. 28.] RESOLVES TO GO TO EUROPE. lq
in Europe. If they will permit my salary to go on, it is all I can ask. I can rent my house for a sum sufficient to employ an assistant to take my place in the Seminary. All the Seminary will lose is the difference between my instructions and those of my substitute, which will be little indeed; and it will, on the other hand, gain all that will accrue from my having so much time for improvement, and from the increase of reputation, which is something where people are influenced by externals. By spending half my time at Gottingen and half at Paris, I shall be able to get possession of both the German and French, which will be an incidental advantage of no inconsiderable value. You may suppose I do not think of this course lightly. I feel the sacrifice I make, or rather should make, if this plan should be executed. But with me my improvement should be paramount to all other conditions, and I hope I should be found equal to the exile. Mr. Patton has been to Europe and taken much the same course, and has given me very definite information as to the expense, and I think I can accomplish my wishes without sinking money or running into debt.
This is all, however, betzvecn ourselves, and it depends upon a great many circumstances I cannot foresee, and which with every thing else I cheerfully leave to the directions of Providence. Sarah, of course, wishes very much {should I go) to accompany me, and Mr. Patton tells me we could live cheaper there than we can do here — that a thousand at Gottingen would support us comfortably. But then it would take five hundred to go, and as much to return. Sarah would be without friends and without society. We could not afford to travel, and I should feel so much encumbered and so anxious in case of sickness, that I cannot help thinking the balance preponderates on the side of her remaining at home. Dr. Alexander, who approves heartily of the plan as far as the Seminary is concerned, thinks that I should take my family; and then when he contemplates the difficulties attending such a course, he questions the prudence of the scheme. He thinks I could not command myself to remain six months without my family. Perhaps not.
Your affectionate brother, C. H.
At the meeting of the Board of Directors in Princeton, September 25, 1826, the following communication was received from the two senior professors of the Seminary:
“The undersigned beg leave to lay before the Board of Directors the following representation. Their junior colleague, the Rev. Mr.
I02 RESOLVES TO GO TO EUROPE. [1826.
Hodge, although he has, ever since his appointment to the office of Professor, discharged its duties in a manner which reflects equal honor on his attainments, his capacity, his diligence and his fidelity, has been for a considerable time past under a deep impression that he needed further advantages of leisurely study, particularly in some of the higher departments of Biblical criticism, and the auxiliary branches of knowledge. These advantages he is persuaded he can never hope fully to enjoy, unless he shall be enabled to retire for a time from the discharge of his duties in the Seminary, and to obtain access to those richly furnished libraries and those eminently skilled and profound masters of Oriental Literature of whose assistance he cannot avail himself in his present situation.
“For the attainment of these advantages it is his earnest desire that he may be permitted to suspend the discharge of his official duties in the Seminary for eighteen months or two years for the purpose of visiting Europe and pursuing certain select branches of study, with the peculiar aids which the best institutions in that quarter of the globe can alone furnish. He has no doubt that the benefits likely to accrue from such a step would be of great importance to himself, and would add in no small degree to his capacity for serving the interests of the Institution under the care of your venerable Board.
“The undersigned would respectfully state that after bestowing on this plan the most serious and mature consideration in their power, they certainly concur in these views of their colleague, and would unite, as far as would be proper, the expression of their wishes with his, that it may be carried into effect.
“In contemplating this subject they cannot overlook the fact that several of the most enlightened and important institutions of our country have adopted a measure of this kind, and in some instances entirely at their own expense; nor can it be doubted that an impression of the utility and importance of making this provision for the improvement of public instruction is daily becoming more deep and extensive.
“The undersigned would also take the liberty of suggesting, in case the Directors should think proper to accede to the wishes of Mr. Hodge, whether he might not unite with a short residence in Europe, for his own improvement, an agency to solicit monies and books for the use of the Seminary. They cannot, indeed, indulge very large expectations of the probable avails of such an agency, yet they entertain no doubt that quite enough would result from it to reward and justify the effort.
“They have only to add that Mr. Hodge, in case the Board should be pleased to think favorably of his plan, does not expect them to in-
T. 2S.] LEA VES HOME. 1 03
cur any additional expense whatever in giving their consent to the proposed enterprise. All that he asks is that his salary may be continued during his absence. He is ready and willing to provide at his own expense a reputable substitute to carry on his department of instruction in the Seminary, and one whose services he has no doubt
will prove entirely acceptjible.”
“A. Alexander.
Samuel Miller.”
“Prmceton, Sept. 2^, 1826”
The Board gave their consent to the plan on the conditions above offered. Mr. John W. Nevin, a member of the class just graduating, was appointed the substitute for Mr. Hodge during his absence, and he fulfilled the office for the following two years with eminent ability. He has been since known over both continents as the founder of the Mercersburg school of Theology.
Mr. Hodge placed his family in the care of his mother and brother, in Philadelphia, and sailed from New York for Havre, October, 1826.