, 1881-05-22

The reason assigned by your reverend nods
for your action Iii requesting my resignaatlon aas
financial distress on the part oi tay e,;coritv
in assigning that reason., But along win @ eae
| public announcement of the action Of your rev
91et'I gent was as made % do not know-another an
nu,i1acemcnt was .1nade, that the SEMINARY ~
pccted large increase to is funds, nno ti.a ~
such announcements was, of course, that .no
expected increase of funds and the reorgnflza-
on OF the SEMINARY wgre 2'e',,n IA tnu IN
yollr ,,ctiou und en- the election Of other men.
| The reason might still be called ftnnncsni Que:
and the action not Of your ere , pat
' But it was VI whispered arouud-I hare been told
| TINT it was openly uvowed BY sDme members ol
t your reverend body, for which you, OF course.
! ire not responsible rs Il budy-that there were
reasons for your action lying back OF tue nnat.
cia! one. and that these REASONS we're proualolt
| tne potent ones with your reverend oouy. ~ ~.
| these reasons, al pertaining 10 my coileakues'
DO not know ana nawS y u1 ns 1gd ther
cate iii pattcr which they have not conmnnt n
Gated 10 dug. speak only for myseif, Yss & %h9se Csc
jurcd by tho public circulation OF such rcMsohs os
us have just mentioned. They convey to tne
public mind that i'll the estimation OF yourTe
ercrd body, l am not qualified for my position;
| and, so far us your ucdon Is concerned, staliu
| stipsnatized before the Church and the con-
| munity.
| The ucuon of your reverend body hns also Gre
| :ltcl the impression thnt. in your dclaoes'lte
| Judgment, tho welfare OF the Seminary requlIeu
| the SUMMARY tneasurc-unprccetientca IN Tue
| history. oi thoolugcul eminnrles-which you
| adopted lust year Mt the close OF tno SUMMARY
-rcr1n. ,+.,so,4s ,,r
been declinlns during sone wears past IL ns
| now reached III its downward tendency twen1y-
! one iii th. seminary classes. This dimhuCon III
numbers requires some explnnatio1i.'
| Allow me 10 call rho attention of your rev.
| ercnl body to some facts. -, 49,. .,,,
| Rev. Drs. Halsey, Blackburn, and mysc!1, nnout @
| ten years ago, c:,rrlcd on the Seminary a!une
during those TWO years was, II remember @ cor cor,
| rcety, thirty-el;:ht each ycar. since that tlne
! tho number, with tho exception OF TWO or1nree
Nn,. IN this Is not whit we would naturally cx-
pect, for the following rcasons-yiz: So.
iu} The increase Of our Church in the North
tb, The high attain1nents and rare ability OF
/ the retiring Professor Of Theology.
| But the result would not have been otherwlse
had the Apostle Paul occupied Il char IN the
What, 1hen are tho causes of tlccliue?:
! In my opinion they IRE various. =,
i /. This Seminary cannot compete with wealth.
| Ier seninurics. 1t hAs no money-or at least
very iittle-to induce students TO come to II.
| Princeton hns almost rs many scholtrshins 'lS
| students. Other sem!unrics are well slpplea
with them; and students will 70 where they Gun
receive the most 1oneS Ihs Is yefY now
| only $lu0 year to theological students. rho
| scholarships of this Summary are few In num-
Der; and, few us they are, your reverend oouy
| we're obliged 70 alienate some OF them tempo~
| ruriiy for the payment Of taxes ...--....
| =. The Seminary does not enjoy tho sy5npntny
of the churches, from which 1t must draw It's
| For the luck of this sympathy on tho part Of
the churches may be, IN some measure, per-
| sorally to blame: u1Id uE willing to bear my
% jut y perhaps M neither the members of tho
! Faculty, nor tho members OF your reverend
| htu]t Irf4 f,arSnHfix blltnr. AiutF tHlt1ES
| have cousplrcl to ALLEVIATE the minds OF the
| members OF our churches from tho senlinnry
| Faculty could control. i ought, pcrhaps, TO cN-
cept from this statement the alleged tAct, II It
be tac1, that the churches r. re Sorthwest F vest
| trs'l OF the Semtuary. This Is Il widespread
opinion, for the trntisu OF which tio not voucls.
The lacK of sympathy on the part OF the
! following Erounds-riz-:
The hit,sr party feensIash ereets e,e s;oo ot
| lishuent Of the Seminary, In Chttago. This
| party feeling is understood to have Ecca both
lbl YuuN., men of our Church stud5f23 for tho
ministry have mssgncH, have bee" losd, us Il
re,,sen for their eho,,sing the Congregational
,tectcd % wlth b. tie control Of ibis Seminary.
| Nnw, can positively affirm that ever stnce l
| hccatAc CONNECTED with thc Seminary the Fac
,i:y hnse in all tueir official relations been en-
tirely harmonious Allow Ele to ask, with nil
respect and Kindness: Has like harmony ex-
iSfE in tho i3UAfu D1fGCEDTSf II Is NE!t
that worthy and ittiucntiul members OF your
| reverend butly huve either rcsisncd or re-
fused to attend tho meetings Of your body
| On the ground OF what they called bitter party
| feeling and dsscnsionz. merely tncutiou the
fnct: do not know with whom the blame lies.
{c} t.uud complaints have been made very
| broadly about the agents employed ny your
| reverend bndy. | Intend no personality Ill tafs
s,ntcmcnt: merely mention the tact.
furcl m G. FEW have s sii ,has s aey WV Would Contribute
iiberaliy 10 the Seminary y tue & p"es Of ia i'
Directors were caalEes1. what TINT means do
| nrE profess 10 know, for do. not understand
very clearly what the policy of your reverend
body is Some think that it hns political bins,
and others that it is to propagate particular
i wish It to Dc distinctly understood that do
| not charge your reverend btNiy, or any Of your
agents. With these THINKS. They exist US tacts,
them merely III Impressions, or mental fncts.
They may l,o very unreasonable and ground-
less but rhcy have contributes! to the alienation
/ or many il,itlds from the Seminary.
4 will nuw sI,ruk OF things Tint are more per-
| soual to myself:
i before yui1r reverend body requested my rcsig-
lintion tn resign my chair ut mo- distant future,
for the following reasnns-ytz.:
fill embracing, il docs, what in other ScfninA-
res constitutes lsyo Chairs, and In Princeton Two
| chairs and IL tutorship.
prejudices asainst the Hebrew portion OF my
department. They have tnld NE that their pas-
sitViSEs1 L[GQ& Id HC5IGCk llcUFEH< AuGl
had themselves forgotten ull thAt they hud
/ leur1lel Of it. s. ..
tc) Tile most or our young men come to our
Seminary with very little linguistic training: and
during tic time ullutted to Hebrew, III Il SEMI
nary course. make very little progress
These remarks apply chiefly to tho Hebrew
| purtiOn OF my department.
III Ten Years At,J your reverend body passed
| the fooWtn. resolution which has never been
carried into effect may SHY safely that 10 ut
| tempt his t.cen made to carry 1t out.
RESOLUTION OF TIL: HOARD OF D1REcroRs.
I .'lt is respectfully suggested that us soon us
| practicable the duties OF tho PrOfeSSUrship ut
ibcai Literature he Divided, SO rs to provide
for 1, separate chair for instruction IN the lftera
1urc ut the Obi Testament. 1t is hoped tllut
l liberal friends OF the Institution may De found
To cnt1ow such II chair Mt li$tAnr day.
Minutes Of the General Assembly, ISL. p. G:11.
RESOLUTION OF. TIE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
! in REPLY TO Till: RESOLUTION OF TIE
.:I0.AI.D OF DIRECTORS. ~'
| 1.-The Committee call attention to the sugges-
riou ct the Board Of Directors that, rs soon as
practicable, tho duties 0t tho Pr0fessorshiI, of
Hiblicul Literature be divided. us nrr,lnEc
ture of the Old Testament; and they express
tie hupc fant liberal friends Of tho institution
may t,c found to eHdOw such 4 chair ut no dis
t.nt Gty. We see. however. III Necessity for tul-
nciintc action u, this nArter. tn,slnuch us tia
chair is iilLed lly accomplished aud competent
:ln instructor. tMinutcs of tho General tAsseih-