Rock Island Argus., 1901-10-17

when l say tba' in the great sister
hood OF American colleges and uni
Versities Augustana ever wishes to
preserve it's ind .vid uality, it's his
cory and its tradition intact, wishes
To stand forth as one which not only
.ces ths work n hundred other insLi-
cuti0ns DO equally well but as cHe
with a sPeci,l WORK ami a special
c4lliug which none other Can do
equally we'll.
Special Benefit to Swedish Americans.
The history of this institution
sp .ci-l benefit to the Swedish A.aeri
can people who now constitute no
sIn II contingent Of this great Ameri-
can c0mmDn eaith la no better
manner could they have eXhI biled
their love of learning aud of ideal
pursuits than they have done in
founding aud supporting an in nstitu-
ton of such large prop 1rtions as our
Augustana is now a su ming. Hither
they have seut their children, not onlv
% acquire toe ordinary elements of
an Amsric N education. but also TO
study the language and literature of
the north. Some have m -gined that
the carrying on of tn Sc unjects side
by side involves clash between the
two languages, English aud Swed SD.
But nothing can be farlhsr from the
truth. This question was solved sew
eral student generations ago Since
that time all the subjects Throughout
the in -tlsutiOn have been taught bg
means o the Elg iso exp when
hA
ing modern languages. including
Swedish. rois arrangement i the
same that we find a. other American
colleges. In establishing and entow-
ing a chair of Swedish. we are but
folio sing the example OF the greet
American universities. WhIie we all
speak the language of the land AMI
appreciate its p tramoun' Importance.
it is also true that for an Indetermin
able time to come swedish will be
spoken in many homes and used in
public worship in maIy churches
And it is in the spirit of a genuine
and liberal Americanism that 1 say,
may the day be far distant when the
use of the language IF our forefathers,
the knowledge of its literature and
the echo of the beautiful songs of the
norCh shall die away among u.
Furthermore, our institution has
from the first been affiliated with the
Evangelical Lutheran church the
largest Protestant denomination 10
'he world. From the days of the
reformation the Evangelical church
has ever been friend aud guardian
of higher educ4tIon. for which th,-
~
many aud Scandinavia ear ample
testimony Wnen the children of the
evangelical countries began to flock
to the uninhabited parts of the lew
world, they carried with them the
best part of their inheritance
Through their industry the desert be-
gau to blossom a the lose and il
their settlements schools and chu rcne7
were earlv estab ished During the
18th century the p'Ogres, of the
Lutheran church in America WAS re
marks bie Week ard unknown a.
fir-t. it's mem bars labored, prayed
aud sc4tterei the seeds of God's king
dom. and were blessed with such sig
nal success thai at the end of the
century the Evangelical church
ranked as the third in size of the
great Protestant denominations of
Amer;ca.
Forming of synod.
Early did the work of the Evangel-
lean church begin among the children
CT the north iD this country, the first
church being founded in Andover, ILL.,,
in 1850 Ten years later there
we're laborers enough on the field to
organize the Augustana -ynod, whose
irst act was to orgauIzs aud form |
his institution, where men could be |
for their work as ministers
If the gospel AS the church has |
grown the instit ltion has grown, and |
,ther institutions in different parts Of
he country mark the progress of the
work. The synod and its conferences
lave now three institutions with
complete college courses. all of which
lave graduates of Augustana at their
lead Besides. a mum Der of prepara.
ory schools have sprung up as auxil-
ary in, titutions.
Hitherto the synod, large as it Is,
las been filled with a spirit of unity,
S is shown by the fact that it has and
Intends to have but one theological
eminary, and that one here on the
'anks of the Mississippi. We can
therefore, we'll appreciate the great
Importance we attach to our theolog-
cal seminary, not only as being. in
act. our sole university department,
ut also on account of the grand
influence it exerts by fur
fishing a common center for the af-
ection, the interest and the self-sac-
ifi sing devotion of tens of thousands
I pc pie in all parts of this fair
and.
while Augustana College and
theological seminary thus is asso-
lated with one of the great denomina-
ions, it offers in it's various depart
lents general education to every
ody without any reference whatever
0 denominstionalo or restricting lines.
his combination of church connec-
ion aud sectarian instruction is the
ule rather than the exception in this