EDUCATIONAL AIDS.
The Universalists, like some others of the Christian sects in America,
were at first destitute of the educational forces which have so
signally aided and strengthened the more popular churches of the land.
They had no colleges, no academies, or theological schools at their
command. Although some of their ministers were very respectable
scholars, giving good evidence of their literary attainments in their
pulpit instructions, and now and then an uncommon genius would appear,
making his talents specially available as a writer or preacher, the
larger number were more notable mainly for their plain good sense,
their reasoning powers, their very intimate acquaintance with the
Scriptures, and their aptness in the use of them in the defence and
advocacy of their faith. These last named qualifications gave the
Universalist minister a vantage-ground in the elucidation of his
faith, which often rendered it impossible for a theological opponent,
however well trained as a scholar, to sustain himself in an attempted
vindication of his opinions. If, therefore, Christian truth could be
thus clearly and impressively set forth by those of but limited
educational resources, how much more effective might it prove if
thoroughly prepared and armed with a ripe and ready scholarship? This
consideration, as was to have been expected, in due time moved some of
the wisest and best friends of the Universalist Church to take steps
towards the accomplishment of this object.
And not for the ministry only was this advantage sought. Those who
were needed to sustain the ministry were equally involved in the
attainment of it. Every Christian sect has been elevated and sustained
in a great measure by giving its support to educational
institutions,--the college, the divinity school, the academy. If an
educated ministry is one of the great aids in sustaining Christian
truth and the Christian Church, so is an educated laity. Both would
have their religion represented and upheld by the highest educational
supports and influences of modern civilization.
Besides, Christian Universalism is a child of the light. It is "not of
the night nor of darkness." It would send out its inquiries everywhere
into the universe in its readiness to "prove all things and hold fast
that which is good." It would stand face to face with all the
questionings that come up in science, history, philosophy, fully
persuaded that all these, truthfully consulted, will more and more
confirm its great doctrines of God, the divine law and its operations,
the divine purposes and their fulfilment, the reign of righteousness
and its final triumph over all evil, as made known through Christ, the
Head, Guide, and Emancipator of Man. Hence it could not be otherwise
than that the enlightened Universalist should be the earnest advocate
and friend of educational institutions.
A notable evidence of this interest was seen in the instituting of
Tufts College in Medford, Mass. It was a timely generosity that gave
it being on that pleasant hill which "the centuries had piled and
planted to be the candlestick on which Charles Tufts should set the
light of this institution."[56] It was incorporated in 1852, and
opened for students in 1855. Its prosperity has been of steady growth,
its funds have multiplied and its endowments increased; the last
report of the President (E. H. Capen, D. D.) showing it to be "no
longer an experiment, but a power." The aggregate assets of the
college at the present time, including the buildings and one hundred
and twenty acres of land, are not less than $1,000,000. With a Faculty
of great practical efficiency, and with the close personal intercourse
of teachers and pupils, no institution of the kind in America affords
better facilities for a thorough education. In connection with the
college is the Divinity School, with its able and devoted instructors.
A professorship in the school was endowed by Charles Packard, Esq., of
Boston. An elegant chapel near the main college building is soon to be
ready for use, at a cost of $25,000, the gift of Mrs. Mary T. Goddard,
of Newton, Mass.
Lombard University, at Galesburg, Ill., is another institution,
founded by Benjamin Lombard, of Galesburg. The university building is
of brick, three stories high, with spacious rooms. It has libraries of
about 5,000 volumes; an extensive mineralogical cabinet, including a
rare collection of shells; a valuable philosophical and chemical
apparatus, and a permanent fund of about $100,000. Young men and women
are admitted alike to all classes and all courses of study. Rev. N.
White, Ph. D., is President, as also of the Theological Department in
connection with the university. All departments of the university are
open to the students of theology without charge.
St. Lawrence University is at Canton, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. It has
two fully organized departments. 1. The collegiate, comprising the
usual four years' classical course, and a four years' scientific
course. Rev. A. G. Gaines is president and Craig Professor of
Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. Young men and women are admitted to
the institution on the same conditions. 2. The theological, of which
Rev. I. M. Atwood, D. D. (the successor of the late Dr. Fisher) is
president. Competent and faithful teachers are in both schools. The
location and surroundings of the school are favorable to uninterrupted
study. A good number of well-educated and useful ministers have gone
out from Canton.
Another college worthy of special attention is Buchtel, Akron, Summit
Co., Ohio. It was founded by the Universalist State Convention of
Ohio, and was named in honor of Hon. John R. Buchtel, its most
generous and devoted benefactor, and was opened to students of both
sexes, Sept. 11, 1872. The curriculum of study embraces: 1. A complete
classical course of four years; 2. A thorough philosophical course of
four years; 3. A full scientific course of four years. There is also a
preparatory course of three years for each of the above courses. Rev.
O. Cone is president of Buchtel, who has a company of able teachers
with him. There are thirty-two perpetual scholarships of $1,000 each;
and four professorship endowments (two for women), two of $25,000, and
two of $20,000 each. The outlook from the institution was never more
promising than at present, and its friends were never more devoted to
its interests. Its generous founder has lived to see this child of his
many anxieties and strong affection one of the great joys of his
lifetime; and he richly deserves it. The college was lately freed from
debt. Its total capital is $290,000.
Clinton Liberal Institute has been of good service. It was founded in
Clinton, N. Y., in 1831, and removed to Fort Plain, N. Y., in 1879,
and came into possession of the buildings and grounds formerly known
as the Fort Plain Seminary and Collegiate Institute. It was the first
academic institution set up by Universalists, and has had a steady
success from the beginning. Charles V. Parcell, A. M., is president,
and has with him a full corps of competent teachers. The amount of its
property is $100,000.
One of the most convenient and beautiful educational buildings in New
England is Dean Academy, at Franklin, Mass. It was incorporated in
1865, and derives its name from the late Dr. Oliver Dean of Franklin.
The edifice with the outbuildings is valued at $200,000, is lighted
with gas and heated by steam, and has every modern improvement and
convenience for the comfort of the pupils. Its principal is Lester L.
Burrington, A. M., Chase Professor of Latin and Greek. The institution
is well endowed and is increasing in prosperity. It is an honor to the
Universalist denomination as well as to its venerable founder, and
deserves to be widely patronized and vigorously sustained. The edifice
stands upon land once owned by the distinguished Orthodox divine, Dr.
Nathaniel Emmons, formerly the minister of the town.
Goddard Seminary is situated in the beautiful village of Barre, Vt.,
six miles from Montpelier. The school is for both sexes, and offers
three complete courses of study, viz. the college preparatory, of
three years; the ladies' collegiate, of four years; the English
course, of four years. The seminary is well supplied with anatomical
models, skeletons, charts, globes, stereopticon, table and gas
microscope, and apparatus for the illustration of physiology,
astronomy, philosophy, and chemistry. The cabinet contains an
excellent collection of minerals, fossils, and natural history
specimens, and superior facilities are offered for the study of
natural science.
[Illustration: Thos. A. Goddard.
H. W. Smith.]
This institution bears the name of one whose generous encouragement
was given it in the beginning,--Mr. Thomas A. Goddard. He was a member
of the Second Universalist Church in Boston, and during the long
pastorate of Rev. Hosea Ballou was the faithful superintendent of its
Sunday-school. Prosperous in business, he was always liberal in his
contributions to the church and its charities, which in a large city
were ever making appeals to him. From the time of the first movements
for the founding of Tufts College, he was among its most interested
and generous helpers, and was one of the first treasurers of the
institution. When, a few years since, the infant seminary at Barre
became embarrassed, a devoted friend, acting as its agent, determined
to make a vigorous effort in its behalf. He came to Massachusetts, and
calling on Mrs. Goddard, whose husband had aided the school in the
beginning, the result was Goddard Seminary.
Westbrook Seminary and Female College is a boarding-school for young
men and women, near Portland, in Deering (post-office Stevens Plains),
Me. The institution began to be talked of as early as 1830. A generous
citizen of Westbrook, Mr. Zechariah Stevens, had resolved to donate
land ample enough for the school buildings and the needed adornment
around them. How his gift has been improved, the present attractive
appearance of the seminary declares. The institution was chartered in
1831, and opened in 1834. It has had friendly aids from time to time,
one of them being Hersey Hall, the gift of Gen. S. F. Hersey of
Bangor. Common and higher English courses, a college preparatory, and
two collegiate courses for ladies are provided. The school-building
contains the chapel, recitation-rooms, library, laboratory, and
cabinet of minerals. Rev. J. P. Weston, D. D., is president of the
institution.
Green Mountain Perkins Institute is situated in the village of South
Woodstock, Vt. It was incorporated in 1848, and has since been in
successful operation. The school is for both sexes, and offers three
complete courses of study. The classical, of three years, includes
Greek and Latin sufficient to prepare students for admission to any
New England college. The ladies' collegiate for four years is offered
to those wishing to take an extended course in Latin, French, and
German, and higher English. The school has gained a good reputation.
In this presentation of the principal educational institutions founded
and sustained mainly by the Universalist public, it is seen what
influences may go out from them to the honor of the Universalist
Church, the promotion, of literary culture, scientific enlightenment,
and Christian civilization.
It may be well here, as we speak of educational aids, to recognize the
instrumentality of the Sunday-school, which has found such a good
degree of encouragement from the friends of Christian Universalism. It
has been an outgrowth of the increased conviction among them of the
duty of instructing the rising generation in the truth and life of the
Gospel. From the beginning of the present century in America this work
has been recognized, the Universalists in Philadelphia and Boston
manifesting their special interest in it.[57] Growth in this work has
been gradual but encouraging, and the Sunday-school is now one of the
cherished institutions of the Universalist Church. Its interests are
widely and earnestly discussed, and the means for its advancement
through the children's paper and teachers' "Helper" promise good
results, if wisely utilized in the future. Although still needing
improvement, the Sunday-school may be regarded with this church, as
with others bearing the Christian name, as an indispensable aid in the
moral advancement and religious culture of the children and youth on
whom will rest the responsibilities of the church in the years to
come. The Sunday-school cause was never more generally and unitedly
encouraged by Universalists than at the present time.
Another educational aid worthy of note is that to be found in the
circulation of the literature of the church; its periodicals, books,
pamphlets, and tracts. These have thus far done excellent work in
reaching and awaking interest in religious truth where the living
preacher has not gone. A hundred-fold more can this be done by a just
appreciation of this great instrumentality,--the Press. It is always a
power in the advocacy of any cause; it will be in its tendency to
deepen and strengthen the loyalty of Universalists to the church they
represent. An active and clear-sighted agent of one of our Western
colleges just now writes:--
"In my work for the college, the closest readers of our church
papers are the ones who have responded most readily to the call for
help. Loyalty to our church among them is the rule, while among
those who do not take a paper, he is the exception, only, who
responds to the call. Nothing else can be so powerful an ally of the
preacher in keeping the people informed of our schools and colleges
and all other interests; and that Universalist family which refuse
to take a church paper for the pittance which our Western organ
costs,--_four cents a week_,--not only lose much of interest
and enjoyment, but thereby advertise their own indifference to the
best interests of the church.
"Strenuous efforts should, for these reasons, be put forth by the
ministry and other agencies to place a church paper in every
Universalist home throughout the land."[58]
The appeal here made will apply to any locality. And more than this.
These readers of the church publications are themselves to seek a
larger distribution of this means of Divine enlightenment to others.
Ignorance of Christian truth at home and abroad,--in our own land and
in lands less blessed with heavenly knowledge,--is constantly calling
for this educational work on the part of those who are permitted to
live in the light and cherish the hopes of the Gospel of God's
impartial and efficient grace.
[56] Wilmot L. Warren, Esq.; Address before Alumni, June 20, 1882.
[57] See an article in the Universalist Quarterly for October, 1882,
entitled "The Universalist Origin of American Sunday-schools," by Rev.
Richard Eddy.
[58] Read at the Ohio Convention, by W. F. Crispin, Financial Agent
for Buchtel College.