BIBLIOTHECA SACRA AND THEOLOGICAL REVIEW. NO. XXIX. JANUARY, 1851. ARTICLE I. COLLEGIATE EDUCATION-MATHEMATICAL AND CLASSICAL STUDY. By B. B. Edwards, Professor at Andover. THE subject of collegiate education in the United States is intimately related to the prosperity of Theological Seminaries and to the usefulness of the Christian Ministry. Hence we have opened our pages, not unfrequently, to classical criticism, and to topics of a more general nature, bearing on the studies, libraries, revenues, etc. of the colleges of our country. The seminaries are fed from the colleges. If the latter are flourishing, the former will not be likely to languish. If pursuits of a commercial, mechanical or business character, present irresistible attractions to the select youth of our land, then not only will the college hall be vacant, but the churches will mourn, and heathen lands continue to sit in darkness, because none will come to them with the messages of truth. The basis of theological training, in all the departments, is an adequate knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. A system of divinity has value just in proportion as it is founded on the grammatical interpretation of biblical texts. Beautiful dogmatic systems have often been formed by the adoption of the current explanations of the proof passages, without subjecting them to a sifting examination, by detaching a verse from its context, by building on mere verbal resemblances, or by framing the materials independently of biblical truth, recourse being had to the written revelation in order to save appearances, or as a kind of buttress to the walls. A thorough, life-long, VOL. VIII. No. 29. 1 grammatical study of the original scriptures, pursued in the Seminary, is essential for all who would be able theologians, or who would magnify their office as expounders of Divine truth. But this study will not be prosecuted with energy unless a foundation is laid in the college. It is the accurate classical scholar who will become the able biblical interpreter. He only who is grounded in Demosthenes and Tacitus, will be likely to relish the words of Paul and Isaiah, as they are found in their original source. There is an universal grammar. The principles of all languages are to a great extent alike. He, who has mastered any single language, has the best preparation to commence any other. He, who has come to the classic page in college as a task, who does not find a kind of going out of the heart to those old masters of thought and speech, will be likely to sell his Hebrew Lexicon at the earliest opportunity, and content himself with king James's version. Hence, the systematic, patient genial study of Latin and Greek in the colleges, is of unspeakable value in its bearings on theological study, and on the success of the Christian ministry. Hence the reason why so many clergymen fail to become skilful interpreters of Divine truth. Their preparation in Greek and Latin was superficial. Again, the successful study of systematic theology requires a disciplined mind, the power of tracing effects to a cause, of making nice discriminations, of concentrating attention upon a single object, of combining truth into a system, of marking the relations of a vast system of truth, of detecting the most latent and specious sophisms. No one can make rapid or satisfactory progress in the studies of natural and revealed theology without a disciplined understanding. Truth is one and simple, but it is capable of logical analysis, of a development strictly scientific, and of an orderly and beautiful arrangement. But this stern discipline is ordinarily acquired in college. It is the fruit, in a great degree, of severe mathematical study. The pursuit of mathematics and of the related branches of natural philosophy fit the mind for patient attention, for severe and continuous thought, and give it that sharpness and delicacy of edge, which, in unison with the culture acquired by other studies, are an excellent preparation for the pursuits of theology. Hence it is of preeminent importance that the abstract and exact sciences should occupy a prominent place in the college course. Any diminution of interest in this class of studies will operate with prejudicial effect on the whole professional life, and on the entire course of the Christian ministry. Loose and vagrant habits, an inability to concentrate all the powers of the mind, the want 1851.] The College and the Theological Seminary. 3 of clear statement and accurate analysis in sermons, are a legitimate effect of a superficial mathematical training. The same remarks are applicable to taste, and to skill in written compositions. The ability to hold the pen of a ready writer is not acquired in a day. Habits of accurate composition are the slow growth of time. The power of wisely selecting a topic, of protracted meditation upon it, of a logical arrangement of its parts, of calling up from a well stored mind apposite illustrations, and of a tasteful and impressive exhibition of it in language, is rather an acquisition than a gift. It is the product of long months of hardy discipline. It is the result of many a painful process. Though a secure and a precious possession, it is hard-earned. The foundations of a correct taste and of a practised style are commonly laid in college. The theological student carries forward and perfects the discipline. The seed is sown in the early collegiate training which bears its precious fruits in the pulpit and the lecture-room. The elements of good writing, and sometimes its most beautiful and finished forms, are obvious in the commencement exercises of the graduate. In such cases, we may confidently predict a successful professional career. Equally close and important are the moral relations of the college and the seminary. If the standard of moral excellence in the former be high, a healthful influence will pervade the latter. If the college course is marked by ennobling aims, by a lofty morality, by a sincere piety, then the professional school will be elevated into a serener atmosphere, the ethics which are there taught will find a more welcome home, the Christianity which is professed and preached within its walls, will shine out with more of its native splendor, and the churches in distant years will rejoice in the benigner influences. Thus in an important sense the theological course will be extended, not over three years merely, but over a decennium. While the student is acquiring the general principles of science, he is studying them with a truly theological spirit. The college becomes the nursery of an elevated morality, of a holy living, and of all generous aims, eminently qualifying for studies which are exclusively sacred. Such being the intimate, reciprocal relationships of the college and the theological institution, we may well consider often, and at length, the condition and the wants of the colleges. It is well worth our while to watch closely their development, and the changes which are proposed in their organization and in their course of studies. We rejoice in their prosperity, as we do in that of the churches or of the country. The destiny of all is bound up together. Peculiar weight is added to these considerations from the fact of the rapid, and not unfrequently injudicious, multiplication of these institutions. Our widening country is dotted with them. Their existence dates with that of each State, almost with that of the territorial government. Hence the subject is one of paramount importance, and its discussion in our pages needs no apology. We propose to consider briefly in the following paper the nature of our collegiate system, what should be its aims, and how its highest efficiency may be secured. If we shall deal somewhat in the language of censure, or dwell somewhat on the deficiencies of the present system, it will not be in an unkindly spirit, or with any want of appreciation of the signal benefits which the collegiate institutions have conferred on the country for more than two hundred years. What then is needed to secure the highest usefulness of our colleges? I. Every reasonable effort should be put forth to improve and perfect the academies and preparatory schools. Too much pains can hardly be expended in sustaining and protecting their growth. They lie at the foundation of our entire system of higher education. A defect here extends through all the following stages. Bad or good habits are here formed and strengthened. A direction is generally given which determines the destiny forever. Every considerate friend of collegiate and professional education can hardly fail to put forth a helping hand in sustaining and encouraging these schools. There are indeed several academies and classical schools, scattered throughout New England, that are making laudable efforts to elevate the standard of preparatory discipline, and that send forth students excellently fitted for the higher institution. But they are few and far between. The majority of our college students are not trained within their walls. In one respect the effect of our present arrangements is injurious. Those members of a college class who have been well trained at the academy are brought into contact with twenty, or thirty or forty, as the case may be, of those who have had no adequate preparation. The consequence is that the general standard of acquisition is depressed. The well-trained minority must conform to the average scholarship. Without any powerful stimulus for further effort, they may come to rely on their previous acquisitions, and the youth of high promise sinks into a respectable mediocrity. We have in our eye a number of instances of this unhappy retrogradation. A three years' course of study in the preparatory school ought to be insisted on in all ordinary cases. Every moment of this period may be filled up to the best advantage. The parent or guardian, who 1851.] Importance of Classical Schools. 5 abridges it, in order to save expense, or because his son or ward is somewhat advanced in life, may commit an irreparable injury. Imperfect preparation for college often operates as a serious discouragement throughout the course, and occasions embarrassment and mortification in all subsequent life. The number of studies which are required for admission to college cannot be well mastered in less than three years. The principles and details of the two classical languages are to be fixed in the memory for life. The thorough study of the elements of these languages is necessarily a slow process. Repetition is the only road to success. Frequent and searching reviews are indispensable. Many points in topography and geography are to be ascertained. Maps and drawings are to be freely canvassed, and all the appliances of modern classical erudition are to be brought into requisition. The details of prosody and versification must now be investigated. In short, the forms, the syntactical laws, the outward history and the inward structure of these noble languages are to become familiar to the ingenuous youth as household words, so that when he enters upon his college course, he may enjoy the beauty of the landscape. The drudgery of the ascent should be ended. He should now be ready to take in the wide horizon, and grasp those forms of everlasting beauty which shine around him. In other words, he may now enjoy Tacitus and Demosthenes. He can feel something of the strengthening influence which comes from their immortal pages. He pierces beneath the forms to the principles. Through the language he imbibes the spirit. His mind enlarges; the chains of ignorance fall from around him; gradually he attains to a comprehensive knowledge of the great themes which he studies. He learns accurately to estimate the merits and defects of the systems of government, law, and polity with which his mind is conversant. All the while, his eye is trained to appreciate the graceful forms of Plato, and his ear to drink in the subtler melody which comes from the pages of that "old man eloquent." His taste is quickened and purified, till he attains the highest style of the scholar, a susceptibility for all truth and beauty, a power of kindly appreciation for all science and literature. But it is sad to think how rarely this picture is realized in college! How slow and toilsome the professed scholar's steps! How seldom does he attain the high privileges of his birthright! He has never mastered the elements of the grammar. The analysis of the verb may be an impossible task. He reverts to the classical page only at the call of duty, or the dictate of authority. His preparatory training was desultory and interrupted. He reaps through all his subsequent |