Omaha daily bee., 1896-08-24

is not with barbarianS and saNageS, bu
with the millions who have been trained
and made acute systems OF morality ant
| philosophy; that have stood for millenni
on the banks Of Inc Nile. God has beef
asking that the sons and daughters of Hi
Kingdom, in college hall and at the hearth
work.
Here want to emphasize the truth tha
the education for which God calls Is
broad and liberal education one tina
touches the whole man and awakcns the
whole being. There is in the educationa
world today a tendency toward what
might call intellectual Capitalization. The
attainments of science and the investiga
tions of learning have become so unpar
alleled, far-reaChing and intricate. that II
does not lie within the possibilities of one
little human life to compass with accuracy
mind within the limits of time can do but
little more than attain profound knowl
neld of higher education now we feel as
Addison Alexander expressed 1t when he on.
tered the a,i,I, Munich library 1T. is an insult
The necessary consequence is that uni
versities are planted with ,numberlcss
professorships scholarships for almost
every line of thought, 1t requires a fair
education today intelligently TO enumerato
ana sdS dSsisnats i,a them might note one
brief life 10 the deciphering of one ancient
manuscript. In some of our universities we
have professorship of bugs. Not of all
kinds of bugs either, for here is an educator
who Is giving his life as a professor to
lnt study OF ants. some oil me profound
est scholars in Grecian literature are now
waging sharp battle, and into it they are
Drngqg their most recent 9rrch"eoogi'GmI
whether the Athenians were in possession
of cats.
All this is we'll without question all this
is ncedful in the interests of exact learn
ing and higher scholarship. All this has n
place in the progress of the kingdom. There
made, there is not a fact which learning
has discovered, there Is not research into
and in some way become a stepping stone
kingdom.
But for the special and the direct work
of Christ God asks of you and me some
thing, that Is broader. more, rounded and
an education that is more liberal II calls
for q training that will at least touch and
awaken the God-given affections and en-
than this will never make answer to the
demands of His kingdom nor fulfill the
me Illustrate my meaning. What does God
ask for?
A TRAINED BRAIN
God asks for trained brain, because
is the soul? We cannot see it, we cannot
detect it with the microscope, but we, can
know it We know that it is something
put within us by the hand OF God, bearing
not the image of the brightest seraph be,
Himself Something that in an instant can
wing its flight for thousand miles and
across the decades, and at this moment can
hold before us the picture of childhood's
home. father, mother. who have long since
passed to the farther shore. You can see
grounds What is 1t? Something that can
take it's staff and walk among the stars.
What is it? Something that along the path
ward; something that can think the
thoughts of God after Him; something that
ever. Lo all this the BRAIN that fine mech
anism, the brain, Is the key. 1t unlocks
the precious m treasure Of the soul It is the
the instrument to unfold its unsuspected
powers.
I do not take time to speak of the ways
by which to develop the brain. This is the
one unchanSinS task of the educational
world. How to train the brain is a ques
tion in which all humanity should be in
terested. America has made her answer
to this question. Part of that answer is
her Vassars and her Welesleys. Part OF
that answer is literature so full and free
that 1t were sin for man to pass his
The United Presbyterian church has made
her answer. That answer in part at least
is heard in Cooper, with her brilliant out.
progress; in Monmouth with forty years
of magnificent, work behind her; in Knox
the darkness of the south; in substantial,
faithful Muskingnm, amid the rugged hills
Of Ohio and in 5oo Westmin,ster enshrined in
here a prophecy that before many years
have passed this collegiate federation will
have its patient, thorough work culminate
in the crowning discipline of a United Pres
byterian university.
one of the most encouraging and per-
nanent responses that could be made %
this convention would be the nocking of
the young people of our church in greater
numbers to these Institutions Under the
touch of these days we have spent to-
gether, many a heart is asking, what Lord,
should be the first step in my consecrated
comes enter college, If but for a little while
and have the brain put IN good running
order for the work to which God calls you
| would press this matter very especially
because from neglect of the brain life often
woman will meet problems which can be
truly solved only by the discernment of
Baker washington has been telling
story this summer which describes my
point He was illustrating how impossible
1t is for the unsklled labor of the black of
the south to compete in the market of our
country with the intelligent, trained farmer
Of the west. :, An overseer in giving his
his field and to impress him with the duty
Of drawing his burrows straight, told him,
on he 6SSr P% sde Of the The
black man did it. But when that landlord
returned and found his man still patiently |
one tuft of grass to another, the appear
lnce of the field may be imagined.
The a% sSfr as WH he o %h his Is po
nan who plows with his unframed brain to- |
lay will not compete long in the intel |
ectual market of our country. Worse |
han this, the work of his life will prob |
ably look in the end like the plowing of |
the colored man. 1t will be here and there, |
rom this to that, desultory and unsatis- |
not deep enough, not persistent |
enough not concentrated enough, to bring |
'orth the fruit in its season.
Another inspiration for intellectual cul- |
ure is that man with "A trained brain sell |
he end. Plato at 81 was improving his |
style of Greek composition. Gladstone at !
z is writing upon profounder themes than |
English craftsmanship ever presented |
Bancroft at 80 wrote history with the ar |
lor of youth and with the accuracy of |
Theodore Cuyler writes often Of |
hat dreaded reality, the ministerial dead |
inc, but at 70 his own Voluminous writings |
lave in them the peculiar charm and fresh |
ness of youth, Prof. Green in Princeton, |
With his fftieth anniversary of seminary |
oil behind him, and standing today in the |
orefront of orthodox thought. Is helpful |
Example to our theological professors, while |
Richards Storrs, with his fftieth anniver-
ary before him this fail, and at 75 polished |
still like n diamond, Is n great comfort to
rs ministers. Charles Hodge at so seemed |
o US who sat at his feet like one who shone
n the beauty and power of Pentecost.
)ne of the clearest and most impressive |
which ever heard listened TO
OF his own people, was
Preached by the aged Andrew Bonar when
lie was within few steps of the eternal
world.
These men were young men in old age
mainly because In youth they had set the |