Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1909-06-10

learned how to make It and then sought
another god. Men looked up at the
stars, saw their wonderful movements and
thought they had to do with human veal
or woe. They worshipped them, they
watched them, and the science of astrono-
my was born. From convictions that
members OF clan were descendants OF a
deity, men saw fit to draw up rules for
conduct which should please the deity,
and the first laws were formed.
There is no real good in studying
things as things. We must get at the vi
tai or personal message of every science,
or we do not get out of it what we need.
Any education OF value to us must have a
personal message and we should say in
our wrestie with a book, l will not let
thee go until thou grant unto me the
message OF which / stand in need.
Education is the outgrowth Of the spir-
it. There is q religious message in every
branch OF study in the higher institu-
tons of learning; the best they have to
give is a message to the soullA No COM
munity can be lifted higher than its
churches, and no state can be lifted high
er than its colleges.
DR.. CHALMERS ADDRESS.
'sThe Threatened Place of the Christian
Minister in Education" was the theme Of
Rev. Thomas Chalmers, D. D., OF Man
chester, N. H., whose able defence of the
displaced clergy follows.
The Christian minister has had an hon
orable place in the affairs of human civil
ization for sixty generations. As max
er OF history, the clergyman has been sec
ond only to the warrior. Beside the
name OF Constantine stands the name of
Athanasius. Beside the name OF Godfrey
stands that OF Peter the Hermit. Beside
that OF Frederick Barbarossa stands that
of Hildebrand. Luther faces Charles the
Fifth, John Knox faces Mary Stuart.
For Henry Plantagenet there is Thomas
Beckett; for Mary Tudor, a Thomas
Cranmer. The influence OF the minister
OF religion in the early days OF this eoun-
/ try far surpassed that of the military ex-
pert as a maker of history. The Rev.
: Thomas Hooker was more nearly the
father OF American democracy than
1 Thomas jefferson. 1t was he who, in re-
/ ply to Gov. Winthrop's letter defending
the restriction of the right to vote, laid
down this democratic principle hundred
and fifty years before jefferson appeared
on the scene in the same contest Gin
matters which concern the common good,
a general council, chosen by all, to tran
sact businesses " hich concern all, / con-
ceive most suitable to rule and most safe
for relief of the whole" The minister's
I infiusnce on politics and his activity in
affairs of government was a mighty factor
in the days of Chrysostom, Ambrose,
Savonarola, Huss, Calvin and ZwingIe.
His ideals were clear cut, his courage I'M
shakable and his spirit aggressive for
the improvement of the social order. He
Interpreted his mission by the light of
the careers OF Elijah, Isaiah, John the
Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. He felt
himself to be in the word as a warrior of
the Lord to undo the designs of the evil
one and to make Righteousness and peace
to cover the earth as the waters cover the
sea. The peace he held in mind was the
peace be considered worth fighting for.
But the minister has been driven, in the
main, from the field of politics. 1t no
longer is considered his legitimate do
main. A remnant fingers in the English
constitution in the membership OF the
bishops in the House Of Lords. Bot for
q hundred years and more the minister
has been told to confine his career to. the
quieter pursuits of education, philsnthro-
py and the pulpit. The lawyer and the
journalist have taken his place in politics.
MINISTER'S ARE INACTIVE.
The minister has obeyed the command
of the hour with good grace. Except in
rare crises when a voice OF warning needed
to be lifted or thrill Of inspiration was
needed in the direction Of some great re-
form, the minister has left politics and
the administration of government to the
lawyer, the merchant, the physician, the
farmer and the artisan, and has devoted
his energies to the promotion OF educa-
ton and philanthropy with a success that
astounds the world. What the minister
did for education in the old world is
known to every reader of history. The
fathers of the early church were the
founders of the first colleges. The
Greeks had teachers Socrates, Plato.
Aristotle, Zeno-but they had no colleges
in the modern sense. Net till the time
OF Origen of Alexandria did an eduea-
tional institution, as we conceive of a col
lege, come into robust existence. The
great universities Of Germany are chiefly
the fruits of theological reformation
The universities Of Geneva and Lausanne
are the children Of Calvinism, while tbs
oldest and greatest colleges and universe
ties in our own land were founded anC
nourished under the Christian minister.
Inc puDllc SCHOOL system IN RHleEACd bc
gan when Massachusetts colony made
provision for instruction in the cate
chism. The great educational system Of
the old Northwest territory, comprising
, such rich states as Ohio, Indiana, Michi
gan, Illinois and Wisconsin, was created
by the famous ordinance OF 1887. BY tbs
provisions OF that ordinance, section six
teen Of every township was set aside as 1
perpetual endowment for a public school
system under the preamble:- =" Religion
J morality and knowledge being essentia
| to good government, schools and tbs
: means of their maintenance shall be for
! ever encouraged" The influence of reli
gion is clearly manifest in that ordin
ance. The school system OF that regior
/ has long since shelved the first two speci
} fications in that noble series and has cen
: tered its energies ON the third. Knowl
: edge, and largely secular knowledge a.
t that, has swallowed up that rich endow
ment. Religion has long since beer
driven from any conscious place in thu
school room; and morality as a subject o.
! education is scarcely a definite concern
ELIMINATING THE CLERGYMAN