ADDRESSES 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 INAUGURATION OF THE FACULTY 
 
 AND 
 
 AYING OF THE 
 
 CoRNERjjSTONE 
 
 JIT *1 AL EJYTO ll/VV, 
 
 SEPTEMBER 3d AND 4th, 1867. 
 
 -A.XiIjElTTO'W r 3Sr, : 
 
 E. D. LEISENRING & CO., BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 
 
 1808 . 
 
I 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 . 1 i l : ’ • * i ' . i ! • .' i • / . 
 
 https://archive.org/details/addressesdeliverOOmuhl 
 
37 ?- 74 % 
 
 Muhlenberg College, as its Corner-Stone sets forth, was 
 founded in 1848 and re-constituted in 1867. The desire to 
 establish in the city (then borough) of Allentown, an insti¬ 
 tution of learning, primarily as a teachers' seminary but 
 also as a classical school, in which not only science and 
 literature should have their place but also where positive 
 religious instruction take important ground, in which not 
 only the dead languages, nor yet the English only, but also 
 the German should be prominent, prompted the establish¬ 
 ment of the Allentown Seminary, which was formally opened 
 on the first of May 1848. The object of the institution is 
 clearly stated in a letter from its first principal,*) dated 
 Philadelphia, March 1848. 
 
 “ This Institution is especially designed for those who 
 desire to prepare themselves for the sphere of the teacher. 
 It is however easily seen, that those also can attend the In¬ 
 stitution with advantage, who propose studying either 
 "Pheology, Jurisprudence or Medicine and wish to prepare 
 themselves for one of the higher classes of College, and also 
 those who are seeking important acquisitions in knowledge 
 and a higher culture. This institution will oder especial 
 advantages to those who desire a thorough and practical 
 knowledge of the German language.” “The moral culture 
 of the pupils will receive special attention.” Bible History, 
 
 *) Rev. C. R. Kessler to the “ Jugend-Freund published by Rev. S. K. 
 Brobst, the originator of the enterprise. 
 
4 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 Biblical Antiquities, and Christian Morals were enumerated 
 among the regular studies. Such were essentially the funda¬ 
 mental principles of the institution, and its founder developed 
 their practicability. The school from a very small begin¬ 
 ning—five pupils—grew so rapidly, that within five years, 
 the front tier of buildings, consisting of central building and 
 two wings, were necessary to its accommodation. In the 
 heighth of its prosperity its founder was summoned from 
 this life, and the Institution passed into other hands. 
 
 Its existence continued under the name of Allentown 
 Seminary, until 1864, when it was regularly chartered by 
 the Legislature of Pennsylvania under “the name, style 
 and title of Allentown Collegiate Institute and Military 
 Academy.” Under this charter it made its first advances 
 towards a college grade. The several subordinate depart¬ 
 ments as at present existing were constituted, and also a 
 limited collegiate course, but remained more theoretical 
 than practical. Though nominally under the control of a 
 corporate body, the Institute was really a private school. 
 About this time, because of overtures made, the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania of the Evangelical Lutheran Church directed 
 its attention to the securing of such an influence in the 
 school, as would justify it in making it its officially recognized 
 institution of learning. The result was, the formation of a 
 joint stock company for the purchase of the property, and 
 management of the school by a Board of Trustees, two- 
 thirds elected by the stockholders and one third by the said 
 Synod. The charter was amended to suit the new aspect of 
 things, and in February of 1867 the new board was elected, 
 and on April 4th of the same year, took charge of the In¬ 
 stitution. 
 
 On May 7th it was Resolved—“that the Academic 
 course cover a period of three years ,” and that the College 
 course cover a period of four years, embracing the 
 usual college classes—Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and 
 Senior. On Mav *21st it was Resolved—“that the name of 
 
MUHLENBERG COLLEGE. 
 
 5 
 
 the institution be “ Muhlenberg College,” with a clear, 
 full and prominent announcement of the lower depart¬ 
 ments. This brings the brief historical resume , to the re¬ 
 constitution of the school. During all its existence, not¬ 
 withstanding the alterations to which it was subject, there 
 was a praiseworthy fidelity to the original object of the 
 school. It has been the means of intellectual and spiritual 
 development and culture to many. The branches of learning 
 originally made part of the course of study, have always re¬ 
 ceived attention, and what was especially promised—facili¬ 
 ties for the study of the German has been faithfully kept. 
 
 The intention of the present corporation in this respect is 
 presented in a Circular published at an early stage of the 
 movement, and recorded as it is in the Stock subscription 
 book, may justly be looked upon as the fundamental policy 
 of the corporation. It will at once be seen that the deter¬ 
 mination is still to recognize the old land-marks, and train 
 not only the mind, but also the heart; to train not only for 
 earth, but also for heaven. The character of the school is 
 set forth in the Circular in the following language:— 
 
 Its Literary Features.— It shall remain as it now is, a 
 school for literary culture, and shall furnish the highest fa- 
 cilities for preparation for either of the learned professions 
 for the vocation of teaching, or for business, as it may please 
 those seeking the advantages of the institution. 
 
 Its Departments.— These are to remain graded as at 
 present, and carried to the highest degree of efficiency pos¬ 
 sible. They are a Primary, Preparatory , Academic , and Col¬ 
 legiate Department. 
 
 An Eclectic Course.— As pupils often have special ends 
 in view in attending an institution of learning, and there¬ 
 fore desire to select such studies as will further those ends, 
 the most ample facilities possible in this respect will be pro¬ 
 vided. 
 
 A Peculiar Feature.— It is proposed to furnish such 
 means for a knowledge of the German, as will make it 
 
6 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF 
 
 equally advantageous to both English and German pupils 
 to attend the institution, giving to the English pupil every 
 facility for German, and to the German every facility for 
 acquiring a knowledge of the English language. 
 
 Its Religious Aspects. —The institution will not be a 
 theological one, but under God it shall always have a health¬ 
 ful and positive religious influence and instruction based 
 upon Evangelical Protestantism. 
 
 The Board of Trustees, elected under the amended Char¬ 
 ter, took charge of the institution, as above stated on the 
 4th of April 1867. Addressing themselves assiduously, to 
 the duties of their position, the Board soon perceived the 
 necessity of additional buildings if the expectations of the 
 community, and friends in general of the college, were to 
 be realized. In reliance upon God, they resolved to build, 
 and September 3rd and 4tli, 1867, were appointed for the 
 ceremonies of inaugurating the faculty and laying the Cor¬ 
 ner-Stone of the new building. 
 
 On the evening of September 3rd (Tuesday), the Board 
 of Trustees, the Faculty elect, the Clergy, the Mayor and 
 Councils of the city, Students, invited guests and citizens, 
 formed in procession at “ St. John’s Lutheran Church,” 
 headed by the Allentown Cornet Band, and proceeded 
 to the Court-House, where the following exercises took 
 place: 
 
 Music during the evening by the Band, performing 
 by special arrangement Old Hundred and “Ein’ Feste 
 Burg.’’ Opening prayer by Rev. Wood of the Presbyte¬ 
 rian Church. The first address, Charge to the Faculty, was 
 delivered by the Hon. R. E. Wright, President of the Board. 
 The second address by the Rev. F. A. Muhlenberg, D. D., 
 President of the College. The third address was delivered 
 by the Rev. G. F. Krotel, D. D., President of the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania. The exercises were closed with the Bene¬ 
 diction. 
 
MUIILENBERG GOLLEGE. 
 
 i 
 
 On the morning of the 4th, the procession again formed 
 at the same place, and proceeded to St. Paul’s Lutheran 
 Church, where music was discoursed by the band and the 
 choir of the church, prayer offered by Prof. Wilkin of Penn¬ 
 sylvania College, Gettysburg, and Addresses delivered by 
 Rev. D. Gans, D. D., of the Reformed Church of Norris¬ 
 town, and Rev. J. Vogelbach, of St. James Lutheran 
 Church, Philadelphia. The exercises in the Church being- 
 ended, the procession re-formed and proceeded to the Col¬ 
 lege grounds, where the Corner-Stone was laid by the Presi¬ 
 dent in the name of the Triune God, prayer offered by the 
 Rev. E. A. Bauer, one of the Secretaries of the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania, and the Benediction pronounced by the Rev. 
 J. Yeager. 
 
 The following Addresses constitute the entire series of 
 those delivered on the occasion of the Inauguration of the 
 Professors, and the laving of the Corner-Stone of Mühlen- 
 berg College, with the exception of that of the Rev. I)r. 
 Krotel, which should have immediately followed the Inau- 
 gural of the President. 
 
 The Board of Trustees used their utmost efforts to per¬ 
 suade the respected President of the Synod of Pennsylvania, 
 to furnish a copy of his Address for publication, so that a 
 complete list might be procured for the future, but without 
 success. The Doctor did not deliver a written Address, 
 and he urged, in reply to the solicitations of the Board, the 
 impossibility of reproducing it, under the accumulated 
 labors of his different official positions. The Board regret 
 this, for the Address of the Doctor gave great satisfaction 
 to the large and attentive audience, gathered together on the 
 occasion, and its publication would have increased greatly 
 the value of the present pamphlet. They had thought of 
 giving at least an analysis of its contents, but on reflection 
 they feel, as the Doctor has declined to furnish the Address 
 himself, it would neither be courteous nor just, and they 
 satisfy themselves with the statement, that the Doctor as¬ 
 serted in public, that he was present on the occasion, for the 
 
8 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 purpose of aiding the enterprise, as the representative of the 
 Synod of Pennsylvania, who felt interested in the movement 
 and would use all its efforts to give the College the means 
 of establishing itself upon an enduring basis. We have no 
 doubt the reader will share with us in the regret we feel 
 that the Doctor was not able to comply with the wishes of 
 the Board of Trustees of the College. 
 
Address of Robert E. Wright, Esq. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 When one of England's most accomplished architects (an 
 hundred years or more ago) had gone to his eternal home 
 closing in honored peacefulness a long, laborious and useful 
 life, the friends who survived him, proud of the fame he 
 had acquired, and anxious to hand it down to after years, 
 in all its greatness, reared, it is said, over his last resting 
 place, a simple marble tablet, on which for answer, to any 
 who might thereafter seek for his monument, or ask what 
 he had done on earth, was carved this Latin word: 
 
 “ CIRCUMSPICE ” 
 
 No labored fulsome epitaph was written, no long eulo- 
 gium was needed ; for all around, throughout the length 
 and breadth of that renowned and proud old city, the lofty 
 spires, and massive walls of many a noble temple which his 
 intellect had planned, and his unequalled skill completed, 
 towered towards the heavens; close around the sacred 
 place in which his body rested, rose stately pillar, arch, 
 and architrave of his creation, and high above it, in all the 
 beautiful and gorgeous grandeur which made it then and 
 ever since, a wonder of the world, hung the stupendous 
 dome which he had poised in air, the proudest monument 
 that most unbounded reverence could hope to rear, or 
 wildest love of earthly fame aspire to. 
 
 With feelings somewhat akin to those which inspired 
 the simple but expressive words, in which this great man’s 
 fame is now recorded can we, who are familiar with the 
 early history of the Institution, whose true commencement 
 we announce to-night, for answer to any who may ask what 
 have its earty friends accomplished, reply: 
 
 “LOOK AROUND YOU.” 
 
10 
 
 ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 This crowded hall—this lar^e assemblage of the wealth 
 
 O O 
 
 and intellect and beauty of our city; and the cause which has 
 brought us here, is a full and faithful answer to this ques¬ 
 tion. 
 
 We have met to-night, to place the cap-stone upon an 
 enterprise which has been, for mail} 7 years, the darling ob¬ 
 ject, in the life of more than one good man in this commu¬ 
 nity. 
 
 Few in number, but firm of purpose, with minds bent 
 on the ultimate accomplishment of that which under God 
 has this day been accomplished, they knew but little rest 
 or respite from their labors; and from the hour (some 
 twenty years ago) in which a little band of students, three 
 in number, gathered around the chair of its first preceptor, 
 until the present, in which we are pressed for room to re¬ 
 ceive all who crowd around its portals, they paused not, 
 nor faltered in their work. Amid the opposition of open 
 foes, and the faint disheartening praise of prudent friends 
 pressed back, by the action of those who are prone to shrink 
 from the exercise of the efforts which victory everywhere 
 demands; they still moved onward, in the cause on which 
 their hearts were set, silently, many times sadly, but ever 
 earnestly, sustained by an unfaltering faith in their ultimate 
 success, until at length their object was attained, and for the 
 result of this persistent faithful labor: 
 
 “ C1RCÜMSPICE.” 
 
 Would they were all with us here to-night! Some of 
 them are here, but the mossy marble of the cemetery rests 
 upon the crumbling dust of more than one of those warm 
 and early friends of this Institution. 
 
 “ We name them softly as the household names of those whom 
 God has taken” 
 
 They rest from their labors here, they have gone to their 
 reward in heaven, and their proudest monument, is the 
 triumphal arch which mentally we rear to-night in honor 
 of the survivors. 
 
ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 11 
 
 To them, living and dead, the hearty thanks of this com¬ 
 munity are due. But for them and their unflagging zeal 
 and enterprise, we should not he here to-night, engaged in 
 the work for which we have assembled. 
 
 As President of the Board of Trustees, it has been made 
 mv duty, to inaugurate this new Institution of learning; to 
 set m motion (so to speak) the mechanism, which the wis¬ 
 dom and the wealth, of its founders, have created ; to in¬ 
 duct into office those in whose hands its destinies have 
 been placed, and introduce them to the community whose 
 patronage and influence must sustain it. 
 
 I shall most probably fail to reach the proper point in the 
 performance of this most important and unusual duty and 
 trust therefore that your well known kindness will moderate 
 the merited severity of your criticism. 
 
 t/ 
 
 That this is a most important epoch in the history of our 
 College none will deny. 
 
 If cause and effect- are always nearly allied to each other, 
 —if result is ever akin to effort,—if men must reap as they 
 have sown, and gather up in harvest time, the sheaves of 
 wheat, or tares, which they have planted, then do we stand 
 to-night in the most critical period of our institutional exis¬ 
 tence. 
 
 The comparatively unimportant duties of the Board of 
 Trustees, are well nigh ended. From their hands the man¬ 
 agement of this institution will this night pass into those 
 of the faculty, under whose care it will become a blessing or 
 
 a curse to this community. 
 
 * 
 
 Neutral it can never be. Act it must and will, on many 
 minds, which will in time re-act upon the world of mind 
 around them, and thus for good or evil, will it influence all 
 who come within its sphere. 
 
 Impressed with the responsibility which rested on them, 
 the Board of Trustees gave to this subject their most 
 earnest thought, and are glad to be able to announce that 
 they have been entirely successful. 
 
12 
 
 ADDRESS OE R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 The chairs of this institution are occupied by gentlemen 
 who will fill them—professors who will practice that which 
 they profess, and who, finding their duty a delight, will de¬ 
 light in doing; it. 
 
 O Cj 
 
 To them the destinies of this college are now to be en¬ 
 trusted, and if learning and industry, and sterling integrity, 
 deserve success, these gentlemen are entitled to command 
 
 it. 
 
 Under their care, sustained by the kindly feelings of its 
 patrons, and the warm wishes and powerful influence of 
 “ The German Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsyl¬ 
 vania and adjacent States ,” whose favored protege it has now 
 become we may strike from its vocabulary all such words 
 as fail or falter. 
 
 Here for many years to come, crowds of enthusiastic 
 eager youths will gather, to prepare themselves for that 
 fierce encounter with the mighty worlds of mind and mat¬ 
 ter, with which it is man's fate to battle while on earth, and 
 from these halls hundreds will go forth, imbued with thoughts 
 and endowed with powers that will be felt far and wide 
 through all the land, and mark their characters and seal 
 their fate throughout the countless ages of eternity. 
 
 O ye in whose hands the future of this College has been 
 placed—see to it, that the hopes of its friends are not de¬ 
 stroyed, that the wishes of its foes, are disappointed. See 
 to it, that in fitting men for the manifold duties of this 
 world it shall serve also as a seminary for the University on 
 High. 
 
 Prof. Seip: The care and management of the primary 
 and academic departments of the College have been as¬ 
 signed to you. 
 
 In subordination to the President of the Faculty, you are 
 invested with its sole control. To meet our pupils at its por¬ 
 tals—to set their untrained feet in the proper path, and guide 
 their feeble wandering footsteps up to the base ofthat bright 
 Mount “ Whence Science shines afar,” is your important 
 arduous duty. If sir, the “ souls that rise on earth have else- 
 
13 
 
 ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 where had their setting” ; if “trailing clouds of glory still, 
 they come from God,” be it your glorious mission to keep 
 the little band entrusted to your care ever in the light and 
 atmosphere of their celestial home. 
 
 And as the shadows of earth’s prison hours begin to close, 
 (as close they will) around the growing boy, see that they leave 
 no*stain upon the heart. See that their feet are placed upon 
 a rock, from which they can look calmly on, till all those 
 shadows vanish and every cloud that dims their path, tinged 
 by the pure bright light of Heaven shall float on calm and 
 radiant in the clear blue sky above them. 
 
 Prof. Yeager: To you the chairs of Chemistry and Bo¬ 
 tany have been assigned—the duty of developing for your 
 class the inner constitution and subtler forces of the mate¬ 
 rial world, and the nature and uses of the grand and beau¬ 
 tiful creations, which spring in such profusion from its bo¬ 
 som. 
 
 Of the practical value of these studies, and their tendency 
 to improve the intellect and heart of man, it were a waste 
 of time to speak. 
 
 While to the untrained mind this earth is simply a vast, 
 unorganized mass of matter, and the countless plants and 
 trees which adorn its surface, valuable only, in so far as 
 they are useful for the hearth or workshop, to the man 
 of science, they are all living, organized things recipients of, 
 and animated by that life, which holds the universe together; 
 the minutest particle containing all the elements of the mass 
 from which it is taken, as surely as a drop of spray from 
 the advancing wave, resembles the mighty sea behind it, as 
 indestructable in the atom as in the mass, but ever chang¬ 
 ing and ever presenting new combinations and new practi¬ 
 cal results. 
 
 To the study and acquisition of the laws by which this 
 life is transmitted and received, and these combinations 
 and results produced, your position in this Institution calls 
 you. 
 
14 
 
 ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 Knowing, as yon do, that men are wise on themes like 
 th ese, only so far as they know these laws, and useful only, 
 as they learn to apply them ; we do not doubt that you will 
 give to these branches of learning the whole energy of your 
 fresh and active life, and that, while von lead your stu- 
 dents on into the various arcana of this portion of physical 
 knowledge, you will not neglect the higher lessons of wis- 
 dom which they are adapted to teach, and that unless, as 
 they move along, in the pleasant paths in which it is 
 your mission now to lead them, they learn to see “books in 
 brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every thing,” your 
 highest duty will not have been performed. 
 
 Let them not rest in the common thought, that chem¬ 
 istry is a mere knowledge, however profound, of salts and 
 acids, and botany, an acquaintance with the names and uses 
 of plants; but teach them that philosophy, here as every¬ 
 where, is valuable only, in so far as it impresses the mind with 
 new thoughts in virtue of its analogies with the higher forms 
 of truths that are around us, and that the highest use of all 
 such learning is to raise the heart of man from “ nature’s 
 works to nature's God." 
 
 Prof. Fahs: T1 le field of history is yours, and through 
 its various and exciting scenes, it will be your duty for a 
 time, to lead the students of this College. 
 
 From the fortunes (good or bad) of its countless blood¬ 
 stained battle fields,—from the consequences which have 
 followed the wise statesmanship or the crooked policy of 
 its cabinets, let them learn the great but much neglected 
 truth, that nations like men have characters to form and 
 reputations to acquire and loose, sins to repent of and 
 avoid, and goodness to aim at and attain. 
 
 Teach them, that it is not what a nation seems to be, but 
 what it really is ; not so much its written form, as its mode 
 of government, which marks its true position in the eyes of 
 the moral Governor of the universe. 
 
 Teach them, that national sins are sure to be followed by 
 national sorrow and that as by sin death came into the 
 
ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 15 
 
 world for man, so too by sin will every nation fall. That, 
 no government can be pure, that is controlled by selfish, im¬ 
 pure men, and that the holiest aim may become a bli ght.in 
 curse bv reason of the means which are used to attain it. 
 
 That as nations, great and prosperous as ours, have fallen, 
 ours too may fall, and will fall, if we follow in their footsteps ; 
 and that to become regardless of the natural, social, religious 
 or political rights of the humblest citizen,to destroy, assail 
 or in any way impair them, save in accordance with well 
 established, rightoua laws, is the first step, in the dark and 
 downward path which leads to national destruction. 
 
 Teach them that Government was made for man, not 
 man for government, and that the best and mightiest govern¬ 
 ments on earth are those, in which the rights of man and 
 not the rights of the government are the primary object of 
 legislation; so that when they go forth from these halls, to 
 mingle with the world of politics and statesmanship, which 
 occupy so much of every freeman’s life, they may enroll 
 themselves in the ranks of those, whose faith and works ac¬ 
 cord with the faith and works of the men, who laid the foun¬ 
 dations of our American system, so broad and deep, that 
 neither the long and quiet Sabbath of unthreatened peace, nor 
 the wild, mad, carnival of unbounded wealth and national 
 prosperity, nor the brief, tierce, desolating and demoralizing 
 era of a hell born bloody, civil war, with its attendant 
 triumphs and defeats, have moved them from their place. 
 
 Prof. Phillips: The chairs of Rhetoric, Logic, English 
 literature and Political economy have been assigned to you, 
 and let me add most worthily assigned. 
 
 Your duties, though lying chiefiy in the present, embrace 
 the rich, exhaustless stores of wisdom which have been 
 garnered up from the earliest times. 
 
 To think clearly is given to but few—to reason with pre¬ 
 cision is as high an accomplishment, but to transmit our 
 thoughts in words that are fitly spoken is beyond a doubt, 
 the crowning gift and glory of our race. Before these gifts 
 
16 
 
 ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 of God, earth’s most imperial despot must bow down; 
 without these, all his wealth and might are powerless; with 
 these, the humblest serf is mighter than his master, for they 
 are power and force which all the embattled host of des¬ 
 potism can never win. 
 
 Send from your classes, Rev. Sir, to fill the pulpit, the bar 
 and halls of legislation, men well trained in these great gifts. 
 
 If false and feeble logic, or glittering, unsubstantial 
 rhetoric, or narrow minded statesmanship, shall mar the 
 after life of any of your class; see that it be done in most de¬ 
 termined opposition to your teachings. 
 
 From the rich fields of English literature, from the works 
 of those early masters of the art of speech, whose mighty 
 thoughts come down to us to-day, ringing with the deep 
 toned music an of age whose impress On the literature of the 
 world, will never be erased; you, sir, will not fail to draw 
 that inspiration, which will enlarge the minds and purify the 
 hearts of those entrusted to your care; so that from these 
 stores of wisdom, and even from the follies of the past, may 
 come to them the knowledge which will make them bril¬ 
 liant in thought, strong in logic and clear in speech, wise in 
 the knowledge of the social, literary and political world and 
 wise also unto salvation. 
 
 Prof. Hofford : The voice of the Board of Trustees has 
 called you to that chair in this Institution, devoted to the 
 critical study of a language, which is the basis of so many 
 modern tongues, and by which so much of the wisdom of 
 the brightest era of the ancient world has been preserved 
 for us and for future ages. I need hardly say how much the 
 best friends of this institution are rejoiced, in your ready 
 response to this call. Once the chief preceptor of the insti¬ 
 tution, out of which this has grown, connected as you were 
 with its early struggles, much of its present condition is due 
 to you, and on you much of its future prosperity will depend. 
 
 No one, who knew this institution in its earlier days, will 
 ever forget the good which came from your connection with 
 
ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGIIT, ESQ. 
 
 17 
 
 it, nor will any, who tasted the fruit of knowledge under 
 you, hesitate to return to the bounteous feast that is now 
 prepared for them. 
 
 Your teaching will lead your students back to the golden 
 age, when Virgil’s martial or bucolic strains, and Cicero’s 
 thunders in the Senate, gave force and beauty to a language, 
 without a critical knowledge of which, men of modern days 
 must grope their dim and misty way to a knowledge of their 
 mother tongues. 
 
 And if the poetry and eloquence which then entranced 
 the world, shall he found deficient in the higher elements, 
 which dignify and adorn that of the present day, let your 
 disciples learn from this, the true glory of the age in which 
 it is their privilege to live, an age, the literature of which, 
 draws its highest inspiration from a source, purer than that 
 which swayed the Latin world, and which leans with clear, 
 unclouded faith, upon the bosom of a Father who was then 
 to all the world an “ unknown God.” 
 
 Prof. Koons : A wider, grander field is yours. Far, far 
 above the puny works of man will be the scene of your 
 labors in this institution. Away in the boundless universe 
 of God—“high amid stellar worlds—aloft on lunar moun¬ 
 tains,” it will be your delightful task to lead your students: 
 guiding them through pathless labyrinths on high—explor¬ 
 ing vast “mammoth caves of beauty,” brighter than those 
 of earth, hung round with starry stalactites—gathering and 
 bouqueting for them the golden flowers that cluster in un¬ 
 dying beauty along the galaxies of heaven—spelling out for 
 them the mystic characters which are cut in glittering lines 
 upon “ the sapphire bible of the skies” ; and listening with 
 them for the sweet, unwritten, silent music, of the spheres 
 that has been toning on, inaudible to our gross sense, ever 
 since the morning stars first sang together to greet the ad¬ 
 vent of our little planet among the older, brighter host of 
 heaven around it. 
 
 Or else, with humbler flight, down on the earth we live on, 
 
18 
 
 ADDRESS OF K. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 prying into its hidden secrets,—ascertaining the laws im¬ 
 pressed on matter at creation, and which govern and con¬ 
 trol its forces, so that knowing them, your students may be 
 wise, and using them, he useful in their day and generation. 
 
 Thus led on in wisdom’s path, guided by the unerring rules 
 of that exacter science, committed to your care, will they 
 he prepared for every state of life on earth, and acquire a 
 taste that may follow them to a higher sphere, where with 
 Copernicus and Newton and Keppler they may discuss and 
 comprehend, the now unfinished problems of the universe, 
 or learn from the lips of Archimedes and Euclid, the una¬ 
 dulterated calculations of truth. 
 
 Prof. Riis : To you the chair of the German language 
 and literature has been assigned, and here, where that lan¬ 
 guage is known and loved as our mother tongue, it will be 
 your pleasing duty to explore its depths and impress its 
 beauties on your class. Of the value of their study we 
 need not speak, for in the catalougue of known tongues 
 there are none above it. 
 
 Springing from the ancient Indo-European dialects, the 
 product of a gifted race, who lived in an area most favora¬ 
 ble for human life and action, remarkable even in its ruder 
 
 state for the ease with which it forms its many deriva- 
 
 %/ 
 
 fives from well known simple roots—for its adaptability to 
 logical and grammatical construction, and its power of 
 accommodating itself to the nicest shades of meaning, it 
 has grown with the growth of civilization, ever by its side, 
 the first to appear in that wonderful art of printing by which 
 all the arts and learning of the world were promulgated and 
 preserved. 
 
 Under your care, sir, they will learn to love the language 
 in which the Word of God first reached the common mind 
 in Europe and in which so much of the wisdom of the world 
 is contained to-day—the language in which Luther shook 
 the Vatican from turret to foundation stone, and hurled 
 from its lofty seat the bigotry and sin which for centuries 
 
ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 19 
 
 had made the Christian faith a withering poisonous Upas, 
 rather a tree of life, and in which was penned the ‘ form of 
 concord ’ then and ever since the far famed, much loved 
 charter of the Church. 
 
 For you, learned, reverend and honored Sir, who by the 
 unanimous voice of all connected with this Institution, have 
 been called to preside over it—worthy inheritor of a name, 
 which is connected with the brightest history of the Am er i- 
 can Church, and the purest era of the American republic, 
 and with which we have dignified our enterprise; for you, 
 sir, we have no word of caution, counsel or advice. 
 
 We do not counsel the sun to shine upon the earth, that 
 it may warm it into life or brighten it into beauty, nor do 
 we ask the clouds to water it with their cool refreshing 
 showers. 
 
 For this they were created, and when they cease from 
 this, they will cease to exist. 
 
 Without caution, counsel or advice from any one, but 
 from an innate sense of right, you sir, will shine and 
 shower your best and brightest gifts upon this institution. 
 From the vast store-house of your past experience, your 
 mental powers brightened by use, and guided by a heart that 
 has beat so long for others’ good, will furnish that on which 
 the growing minds and souls committed to your care should 
 feed. 
 
 We know there are thorns in your way, we know there 
 are lions in your path, but the power that has hitherto swept 
 them aside, will stand by you now in this the crowning 
 effort of your useful life. 
 
 And now by virtue of the authority vested in me, I hereby 
 declare Muhlenberg College formally inaugurated, and 
 opened for the reception of students, and its faculty duly 
 inducted into office to be regarded and respected accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 And may He whose Almighty power controls and pre¬ 
 serves the countless systems of suns and worlds which burn 
 
20 
 
 ADDRESS OF R. E. WRIGHT, ESQ. 
 
 and flash with inextinguishable tire as they sweep along in 
 their endless orbits, and whose protecting love covers the 
 feeblest insect that sings away its lone ephemeral life on the 
 smallest leaflet of the tiniest plant that grows upon the hum¬ 
 blest Planet in the Universe, look down with favor on this 
 work of ours and take it into His Holy keeping. 
 
Inaugural Address 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, D.D. 
 
 DELIVERED AT ALLENTOWN, PA., SEPTEMBER 3, 1807. 
 
 Mr. President , Respected, Auditory , Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 We thank you for your presence on this interesting* 
 occasion, and the confidence reposed in us in elevating us 
 to the positions we are to occupy, respectively, in this new 
 College in Allentown. We thank you for the words of 
 counsel addressed to us, so appropriate and well chosen. 
 We accept with a sense of our weakness, in humble 
 reliance on God, the positions the Board of Trustees has 
 assigned us, and present, in reply to you, the following 
 remarks, expressive of the principles and feelings by which 
 we intend to be governed in the discharge of our duties. 
 
 What! Another College! Another College in a neigh¬ 
 borhood where there are two already, scarcely a stone’s 
 throw removed from each other ? Are not many of these 
 languishing for want of adequate patronage and endow¬ 
 ment? These and similar questions, my Christian friends, 
 are addressed to us, upon the eve of our new enterprise ; 
 and a prudent regard for the opinion of our fellow men calls 
 upon us to give a reply to them. 
 
 We may reply to these and similar questions, that none 
 of those already in existence, either in our neighborhood, 
 or in our State, are adapted to meet the peculiar wants of 
 the population and church to which we belong. Some of 
 them are designed for other communions, and their theo¬ 
 logical and literary stand-point is not such as to commend 
 them to the patronage of our church. We are of German 
 ancestry, and Lutherans in our belief and practice, and 
 neither of those in our neighborhood is calculated to train 
 
22 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 our children in the faith of our fore-fathers. And with 
 respect to Pennsylvania College, we have, for the space of 
 seventeen }'ears, been endeavoring to cultivate the most, 
 friendly feeling for the brethren by whom it has been 
 managed ; we have either, directly or indirectly, contributed 
 upwards of forty thousand dollars to its support; have been 
 sending our representatives and students there, and have 
 made use ot everv effort to unite our entire church in Penn- 
 sylvania in its support; but we are compelled, more in sor¬ 
 row than in aimer, to lament that all our efforts to concili¬ 
 
 ate, consolidate, and assimilate, have most signally failed, 
 and that we have met with bitter disappointment. The 
 very means made use of by us to bring brethren of the same 
 faith together, have been productive of greater alienation 
 of feeling, and conflict in practice, and after a series of un¬ 
 friendly acts on their part, which it is needless here to 
 detail, for the church is acquainted with them, we have been 
 brought to entertain the conviction that they do not desire 
 to co-operate with us in the cause of education, but prefer 
 to labor alone. Under such circumstances, following the 
 guidance of Providence, we cannot but feel that the time 
 has come when the peace of the church, and the interests of 
 both parties, will be best promoted by laboring alone; a 
 course, indeed, which our own self-respect, without other 
 considerations, would prompt us to pursue. We are there¬ 
 fore compelled to organize a College for ourselves, to make 
 proper provision for the education of our children, and to 
 furnish a sufficient number of students for our Theological 
 Seminary in Philadelphia, and adequate to the growing 
 
 demands of our church in Pennsvlvania and elsewhere. 
 
 •/ 
 
 Whilst we thus feel that we are driven to this course by our 
 church difficulties, we are also disposed to think that, apart 
 from these considerations, there is a loud call for action 
 in this direction by the very circumstances of our position. 
 Our population is large, and rapidly becoming Anglicized, 
 and the distance of Gettysburg, the seat of Pennsylvania 
 College, from the centre of our population, as well as its 
 
BY REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, D. 1>. 
 
 28 
 
 difficulty of access, have been felt by many of us to be serious 
 objections to it as a place of education for our students. We 
 had doubts of its appropriateness from the very beginning-, 
 but our very necessities urged us to assent to the arrange¬ 
 ment, with the hope of its ultimate removal. That these 
 considerations had much to sustain them, we can readily 
 believe, from the present condition of things in Pennsylva¬ 
 nia College. Though the Institution had a larger number 
 
 o o o 
 
 on its catalogue this rear then it ever had, there are but 
 twenty-five students receiving instruction there from our 
 territory; and during the previous stages of its history the 
 number has been still less. It is scarcely necessary for me 
 to remind you how inadequate a representation this is for 
 our great Synod of fifty thousand communicants. It allows 
 us but one college student for every two thousand com¬ 
 municants. Such a small attendance of our young men 
 will never develop our church in Eastern Pennsylvania, as 
 the necessities of the case require. This state of things, as 
 well as the ecclesiastical relations of our Synod, imperatively 
 calls upon us, therefore, to go forward with our enterprise 
 with the greatest energy and zeal, for a reunion with the 
 other division of our church is simply an impossibility, as 
 the Synod of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with other 
 Synods, has already laid the foundation for the formation 
 of a General Council , which will necessarily make, for an 
 indefinite period of time, the interests and sphere of labor 
 of the two parties in our church, entirely distinct and 
 separate. 
 
 But other objections must be met. Pennsylvania has 
 already too many colleges. The effect of increasing their 
 number will be to diminish their quality. This objection 
 loses its force if, as has already been suggested, those in 
 existence fail to develop the resources of the part of the 
 State, and the church to which we belong. The circum- 
 stances of our people are also entirely different now from 
 what they were even a few years ago. Institutions of a 
 lower grade have been greatly multiplied, the public schools 
 
24 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 are increasing in efficiency, and the desire for education has 
 been awakened to a much larger extent than was formerly 
 the case; so that it is not just to base an argument for the 
 present or the future upon the state of things in the past. 
 Besides, it is not always the so-called great colleges, and 
 great universities which bring out the talent and resources 
 of the people. Whilst we too are, in general, no advocates, 
 for the undue increase of colleges and higher seminaries of 
 learning, we feel satisfied that the location of good, though 
 less imposing colleges, in populous neighborhoods, will 
 have a very favorable influence in securing, both for the 
 Church and the State, talents which otherwise would be 
 lost. The majority of parents are not in a condition to send 
 their children abroad to secure an education, and hence, if 
 facilities for this purpose are afforded them in their own 
 immediate neighborhood, many a young man of the most 
 brilliant talents is thus induced to avail himself of the op¬ 
 portunities afforded, and many a parent in the humbler 
 walks of life enabled to give his children an education, 
 which will be more valuable to them than gold, and fit them 
 to stand unabashed in the presence of kings. We now have 
 in our mind, out of the list of useful men whom Pennsylvania 
 College has given to the nation and the church, (and she 
 has not given a few,) the cases of three young men who were 
 graduated there in the infancy of her existence, who prob¬ 
 ably would never have received a collegiate education had 
 not the Institution been planted in their native place. One 
 of these is now occupying, with distinguished success, one 
 of the most prominent positions in the Halls of Congress; 
 a second has already been promoted to a bishopric in the 
 Episcopal Church, and a third is preaching the gospel, with 
 great acceptance, in one of the most influential and venera¬ 
 ble Presbyterian congregations in the city of Yew-York. 
 Xor are these the only cases of the kind, nor are they limited 
 to this one collegiate institution. An examination of the 
 catalogues of other colleges would disclose this truth with 
 still greater force. We doubt not that thus hundreds and 
 
BY REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, D. D. 
 
 25 
 
 thousands are aiding in the improvements of Society as 
 clergymen, teachers, lawyers, and physicians, who other¬ 
 wise would have passed their lives in the most profound 
 obscurity. 
 
 But our friends and our enemies ring in our ears the 
 remark,—large towns and cities are not appropriate 
 places for the education of the young. This objection is 
 more plausible than true. We cheerfully admit that the 
 temptations to indolence and dissipation of mind are not so 
 many, nor so strong, in a small place as in a large one; yet 
 too much weight is attached to this fact; for if the tempta¬ 
 tions are greater, the incentives and motives to exertion are 
 also greater. The power of good, as well as of evil examples, 
 is very great in our larger towns ; and we have yet to learn 
 that smaller places, or even the country, is exempt from 
 them. Satan is present in the country, as well as the city, 
 and it is surely no heresy that Christ is also there with his 
 power, his word, and his Spirit, to overcome him. His 
 grace will be sufficient for any one, young or old, in any 
 lawful situation, and, though we are of German descent, we 
 do not, with our fore-fathers, believe it to be either impolitic 
 or criminal to dwell in towns and cities, but eminently useful 
 and wise to place there all such institutions as will tend to 
 correct what is bad, and aid in fostering evervthiim that is 
 good. Experience teaches us that we find in our cities and 
 our larger towns the highest culture, polish and intelligence; 
 and alas! how often does she point to the country and the 
 village as the abodes of misery, ignorance, and degradation. 
 The very presence of a number of persons, in a civilized and 
 organized society, is conducive to the highest culture. 
 And it is for this very reason that the preference is given to 
 a public, over a private education, that the individual may be 
 more highly improved by coming into contact and friendly 
 collision with others. The very words civility, polish, 
 urbane, polite, as well as their opposites—rustic, boor, 
 pagan, incivility, suggest to us a world of thought upon this 
 question. 
 
26 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 Indeed, the great prominence given to students in a small 
 place, very frequently exposes them to peculiar temptations, 
 from which they would wholly escape when lost sight of in 
 the great throng of larger towns and cities. Even supposing 
 the temptations to be as great as the imagination, excited 
 by morbid fears, may make them, is it not wise in the edu¬ 
 cator to prepare the young, by suitable training, to meet 
 and overcome, rather than to strive to avoid them, when he 
 is aware that he must expect to encounter them at some 
 period of his career? Too much restraint, and too much 
 seclusion often defeats its own aim, and is in conflict with 
 the precepts of the Savior, as well as his example. The 
 gospel was preached in all the principal cities of the world, 
 beginning at Jerusalem; and the uniform practice of the 
 apostles, in their missionary labors, was to assail the enemy 
 in the very heart of his dominions ; and in their very first 
 attempts to introduce the gospel, they began with the capi¬ 
 tal of the land. We surely cannot err, therefore, if, in 
 accordance with their example, we introduce everywhere, 
 with the bane, also the antidote. The experience of all ages 
 tells us of the safety and propriety of having educational 
 institutions in cities, as well as in the country. The best 
 seminaries of learning were found, in ancient times, at 
 Athens, Tarsus, Alexandria and Antioch; and the colleges 
 and universities of Leipsic, Vienna, Goettingen, Edinburg, 
 Dublin, Boston, Yew York, arid in multitudes of other cities 
 and large towns, furnish us with a sufficiency of examples to 
 defend ourselves in the course of conduct we are pursuing; 
 and we feel confident that the young man who has been 
 trained in such a place, and has successfully resisted all the 
 evil influences to which he has been subjected, will be the 
 best man for the times in which he lives. 
 
 Whilst the questions already answered are of grave im¬ 
 portance, and could not be overlooked on an occasion like 
 the present, the principles, educational and religious, upon 
 which the institution is to be conducted, are of still greater 
 magnitude. The course of studies is the first in order. A 
 
BY REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, I). D. 
 
 27 
 
 general reply can be given, in a few words. It is our inten¬ 
 tion to follow in the beaten track, which the wisdom of ages 
 and the experience of the most accomplished educators in 
 every stage of human society and progress, and under every 
 form of religious organization, has found the best to bring 
 out the powers of the human mind. An inspired writer 
 has declared that “ in a multitude of counsellors is wisdom,” 
 and on this question there is a unanimity of all the wisest 
 and the best. It is an easy matter to set up our individual 
 judgment against the settled and sober conclusion of ages, 
 but all the probabilities will be in favor of its being an airy 
 phantasm, some ‘‘baseless fabric of a vision,” which a 
 breath could make and a breath destrov. A self-confident 
 and daring adventurer mav like Phaethon of old, snatch the 
 reins out of the hands of the aged and experienced guide of 
 the chariot of the sun, but desolation would soon mark his 
 pathway. We hold, with the eminent men who have pre¬ 
 ceded us, and in harmony with the views and practices of 
 the foremost educators of our davs, that there are no studies 
 so well fitted to be the basis of a proper culture as the 
 ancient languagesand mathematics, not in equal proportion 
 but with a large preponderance of attention to the former; 
 and to these there may, and ought to be superadded, to give 
 a proper finish to the whole, modern languages, natural 
 and physical science, history, and polite literature. The 
 ancient classics and mathematics constitute the grand staple 
 in all the curricula of studies in the Institutions of the Old 
 and new World—in Oxford and Cambridge, in Berlin and 
 Goettingen, in Athens and Edinburg, in Harvard and Yale. 
 There is nothing calculated to supply their place. One of 
 the most conclusive series of facts bearing upon this subject 
 is found in Hr. Bache’s Report on Education in Europe. 
 This distinguished individual, who recently died, whilst 
 discharging the duties of Superintendent of the Coast Sur¬ 
 vey, after his election to the Presidency of Girard College, 
 spent several years in Europe, for the purpose of making 
 himself acquainted with the best schools, and the best sys- 
 
28 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 terns of education; and he made an extensive tour, under 
 circumstances most favorable for obtaining accurate infor- 
 mation; and he has embodied the result of his researches 
 in the valuable volume which we have just now mentioned. 
 The best schools and higher seminaries of learning, general 
 and special, were everywhere visited by him, and he was 
 most pleased with those of Prussia, Holland, Scotland, and 
 France. In all the higher seminaries of learning of any 
 pretension, intended for general culture, he found that, in¬ 
 variably, from one-half to one-third of the time was devoted 
 to the study of the ancient classics, from one-sixth to one- 
 fourth to mathematics, whilst the rest of the time was 
 divided between modern languages, history, geography, 
 physics, and polite literature. In the famous Rugby school; 
 u the studies are divided into the departments of classical 
 literature, arithmetic, and French, the classical department 
 being the one upon which the strength of the school is 
 exerted.” In the Edinburg Academy or High School, one- 
 half of the time is given to the classics, one-sixth to mathe¬ 
 matics, one-tenth to English studies; other studies fill up 
 the time. 
 
 A very useful summary or schedule of studies in three of 
 the Prussian Gymnasia is given in this volume ; and what 
 makes the comparison still more valuable is the fact, that 
 one of them was organized, to some extent, on an eclectic 
 basis; yet in each of these the classical languages of antiquity 
 receive about one-half or one-third of the time, mathematics 
 about one-fourth or one-sixth, and the remaining hours are 
 devoted to modern languages, physics, geography, history 
 (general and natural,) ornamental branches, etc. In two 
 rival institutes, the relative importance of these two funda¬ 
 mental branches of study is so well settled as an axiom 
 that, whilst the one does not exclude mathematics, nor the 
 other classics, a comparison of the courses discloses no es¬ 
 sential difference. Such arguments from experience we 
 regard as unanswerable. 
 
 Besides the general argument upon this subject already 
 
BY REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, D. D. 
 
 29 
 
 presented, it may be safely asserted that the study of the 
 classical languages of antiquity (for the modern languages 
 are regarded by the most judges inferior to the ancient, for 
 the purposes of intellectual culture,) is well adapted to the 
 capacity of the young, and that ready memory for words 
 which the Creator, for wise- reasons, has given them. It 
 would be idle to give them such abstract studies, for which 
 they are not fitted; the labor would be lost and the pupil 
 disgusted. The powers of the mind must be prepared, by 
 the lighter and more attractive studies, for the severer, and 
 such must be selected which will awaken their interest, by 
 giving them, also, something to stimulate thought. The 
 higher powers of mind in the individual are just as gradual 
 in their development as in the case of nations. The ages of 
 perception, memory, imagination, therefore of poetry and 
 history, have always preceded those of reason, criticism, and 
 philosophy; and thus the particular and the general features 
 of the subject illuminate and confirm each other. Homer 
 preceded Plato in the order of time, as Chaucer and Spencer 
 did Newton; and so in the individual, we ought to begin 
 with the department of language, and by its constant use 
 prepare the way for those “ severer studies” of the mathe¬ 
 matical and more abstract courses, which Hr. Way land has 
 justly pronounced “ better for proper culture than general 
 reading.” 
 
 If we examine the human mind, we will find that the 
 course above commended to our attention by experience 
 and the peculiar capacity of the young, will also be the one 
 to develop, harmoniously, all its powers. It is exactly here 
 that the eclectic and utilitarian schemes of education fail. 
 They, select one, or at most two special branches of a simi¬ 
 lar kind, and thus cultivate undulv one or a few of the 
 powers of the mind, arid necessarily do violence to the in¬ 
 dividual, by allowing many of his faculties to lie altogether 
 neglected. A general culture must always have the prece¬ 
 dence over a special one, for it takes a comprehensive view 
 of all the faculties of the mind and the powers of the soul, 
 
30 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 and endeavors to bring them all out by a suitable develop¬ 
 ment. 
 
 • 
 
 It is quite beyond the reach of our powers to know in ad¬ 
 vance, what will be the future occupation of the individual 
 we are educating, and hence we may do him great in¬ 
 justice by withholding from him the very class of studies 
 for which he will have the greatest need. Even if we had a 
 prophet to tell us the future employment of every individual, 
 we are disposed to assert that we would be more likely to 
 hit the mark by giving a general culture to all, than a special 
 education to each. There are powers which every man pos¬ 
 sesses, which ought to be cultivated, without any special 
 regard to his future avocation of life. Each man has his 
 perceptive, his reflective, his aesthetic faculties and powers ; 
 and these should all be educated. The studv ofthe ancient 
 
 t/ 
 
 languages, in conjunction with the modern, in a suitable 
 proportion, is well adapted to strengthen the memory, to 
 cultivate the imagination, to improve the taste; and the 
 study of mathematics in connection with them gives strength 
 to the reason and stability to the intellectual character. 
 These two classes of studies, when properly attended to, in 
 conjunction, are eminently adapted to cultivate the power 
 of acquisition and thought, and what is also of equal 
 importance, the power of expression. Even for practical 
 purposes, such a general culture is superior to a special one. 
 A man is thus better qualified to shine, or be useful in any 
 pursuit. The most eminent philologists have told us that 
 the best method of obtaining an accurate and speedy know¬ 
 ledge of the modern languages of Europe is to lay a broad 
 and deep foundation in Greek and Latin. Sir William 
 Hamilton, one of the most profound scholars of mental 
 science of the age, was noted for his extensive acquirements 
 in the department of Greek literature; and what a practical 
 man the amiable and gifted missionary, Henry Martyn was 
 is patent before the world, and he passed through the Uni¬ 
 versity of Cambridge with the highest honors, almost equally 
 renowned for his mathematical and linguistic acquirements. 
 
BY REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, D. I). 
 
 31 
 
 Our own Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon were 
 eminently practical and useful, and they were both passionate 
 admirers and successful cultivators of the noble languages 
 of antiquity. We add, as a close to this part of our subject, 
 the following brief tribute from the late Dr. Felton, Presi¬ 
 dent of Plarvard University, to the value of the study of 
 ancient Greek; and the same may be said, almost in an 
 equal degree, of the Latin : “ The orations, philosophical 
 dialogues, tragedies, comedies, lyrics, and epics of the 
 Greeks, like their statues and temples, surpass as works of 
 art, the best productions of modern times, and must forever 
 serve, in any enlightened system of education, as models of 
 taste and the foremost aids in literary culture.’“ 
 
 Enough has been said to justify the Trusteesand Faculty 
 of this college in laying down such a course of studies as 
 has been presented in their annual catalogue, making those 
 languagesand authors the basis, which have fed the streams 
 of the purest and highest literary culture, and have been 
 the instructors of mankind for nearly three thousand years, 
 and could not be banished from our schools without lasting 
 injury to society. 
 
 It will be the earnest effort of those engaged in giving 
 instruction to secure the soundest scholarship, by devoting 
 the time of the students in the proportion of their relative 
 value, to those branches laid down in our Register,—aiming, 
 also, to give special and increasing attention to English 
 literature and the German language, for the acquisition of 
 which, in this place, with its preaching in that language, and 
 its well conducted German papers, there will be peculiar 
 advantages,—which form the curriculum of study in the best 
 colleges of modern times; the number of hours to be de¬ 
 voted to each being left for subsequent determination, by 
 those to whom this belongs. 
 
 But we do not regard this as the highest object for which 
 the college has been organized. While the intellectual 
 training of an individual is of great importance, it is not 
 equal in magnitude to the religious education. We do not 
 
32 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 regard an education as complete that aims only at improv¬ 
 ing the intellect. Our holy religion teaches us a different 
 lesson. It teaches us that no education is complete unless 
 it prepares a man to discharge all his duties properly in this 
 world, and qualifies him for the rewards and employments 
 of eternity. This kind of education contemplates the edu¬ 
 cation of his conscience and the cultivation of his heart. 
 The only proper education, and the one which it will be our 
 aim to secure, the only one which we value, is a Christian 
 education. We desire our students to be as eminent for 
 Christian attainments as for their sound scholarship. This 
 was the design of the Colleges which were planted on our 
 shores by that noble band of men who fled from religious 
 persecution in the old world to secure the freedom to wor¬ 
 ship God in the new. Their motto was, “ Christo et ec- 
 clesire,”—for Christ and his church. At an earlier period 
 than this, in our Fatherland, the great and good men who 
 were raised up by God to carry forward the blessed Reforma¬ 
 tion—the elector of Saxony, Luther, and Melanchthon, es¬ 
 tablished the University of Wittenberg, and multitudes of 
 young men flocked to this Institution, from all the countries 
 of Europe, and, instructed in classical learning, and the prin¬ 
 ciples of our holy religion, subsequently went forth and 
 spread, with amazing rapidity, the truth through the coun¬ 
 tries of their birth. This same Institution, then very un¬ 
 pretending in character was more and more frequented, 
 improved continually in reputation and influence; and eter¬ 
 nity alone will disclose the good it has already done, through 
 the three and a half centuries of its first existence, and what 
 it will do in future among the nations of the earth. In the 
 same spirit do we found our young Institution, that it may 
 <ro forward in the same career of usefulness and fame. We 
 desire, most earnestly, so to instruct the students who shall 
 enter these walls, consecrated to the Muses, both by precept 
 and example, in the principles of the religion of Christ, that 
 they may adorn by their piety the cause of their Lord and 
 Master, secure for themselves the blessings of multitudes 
 vet unborn, and the eternal rewards of Heaven. 
 
BY REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, D. D. 33 
 
 But, as the tendency of colleges is now to be denomina¬ 
 tional in their character, we are also obliged, in self-defence, 
 as well as from a conviction of the propriety of the course, 
 in the general, and to foster a genuine and proper church 
 love, as well as to keep our youth within our own pale, to 
 give prominence in our religious instruction to the match¬ 
 less Confessions of our Church, explanatory of the great 
 truths of Christianity, prepared by the noble confessors 
 during that remarkable period which has been appropri¬ 
 ately called by eminent authority—“ The theological cen¬ 
 turies.” God poured out upon his servants a large share of 
 his Spirit; and the constant study of the Scriptures in the 
 original languages in which they were written, under his 
 guidance, gave birth to such religious documents, which 
 have commanded the approbation of the best judges, for the 
 profound acquaintance of the authors of them with the 
 Word of God, and the clear elucidation of the cardinal prin¬ 
 ciples of our holy religion, especially the essential doctrine 
 of justification by faith. We do not intend to place these 
 venerable writings above the Scriptures, yet we are not 
 ashamed to acknowledge our attachment to them, and can¬ 
 not avoid smiling at the presumption of those who think 
 themselves competent to improve them. We rejoice that 
 in this glorious part of our native State, under the auspices 
 of our Synod and the Board of Trustees of this College, we 
 will be permitted without let or hinderance, to make our 
 students acquainted with the faith and practices of our fore¬ 
 fathers, and thus aid in the diffusion of that pure gospel 
 truth which the German Reformers exhumed from the 
 “ rubbish of ages.” The study of these writings’ in their 
 appropriate place, we are satisfied, will aid in the religious 
 and intellectual development of both instructor and student, 
 and doubtless both will rejoice, that they are permitted to 
 live in a locality where it is not an odious thing to a be 
 
 good and consistent Lutheran. 
 
 u | 
 
 Nor will these remarks be mistaken by those who hear 
 me. We are not afraid of losing the good will or co-opera-j 
 
34 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 tion of our German Reformed and Presbyterian brethren, 
 for we know they would never prove recreant to the Hei¬ 
 delberg Catechism or the Confession of Faith; we know 
 that the}^ will honor us just in proportion to the sincere at¬ 
 tachment they bear to their own Creeds; and we dare say 
 that they would look with displeasure upon any individual 
 or body of men who would bring into disrepute those time- 
 honored writings, endeared to them by unnumbered 
 triumphs and the holiest associations. We do not blame 
 them for the love they have for their church and their con¬ 
 fessions, and feel sure they will not find fault with us.— 
 Though we differ in some things, we will differ in these 
 things in love, whilst we agree in all the great essentials of 
 faith and practice. It will ever be our endeavor to observe 
 the proper mean between bigoted attachment to party, and 
 sacred love for the truth. We will be glad to have their as¬ 
 sistance, and hope to merit their regard. Our banners, 
 though presenting different colors to the breeze, are yet in¬ 
 scribed with the same significant emblem, in ages gone pre¬ 
 sented to the glowing fancy of a Christian emperor; and 
 we are marching in the same great army, under the same 
 glorious Leader, to the same heavenly home. 
 
 But shall we succeed ? It is true, success in the ordinary 
 meaning of that term, is no proof of the excellence of a 
 cause; yet the prospect of it cheers the despondent, and 
 animates all to the patient endurance of the hardships of the 
 conflict. Difficulties we will have, we know it, for we have 
 not rushed into the enterprise, without having counted the 
 cost. It is not an ordinary work we have in hand, it is one 
 which will need continuous and united effort to bring it to 
 a satisfactory completion ; yet the view of the difficulties 
 and labor does not deter us. We have motives to impel, 
 arguments to strengthen, and friends upon whom we can 
 confidently rely. We do not begin in our own name. We 
 begin now, as the beloved and well-disciplined Christian 
 founder of this school began, in the name of Him, to whom 
 ^11 things are subject, and in whose hands are the resources 
 
BY REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, D. D. 
 
 35 
 
 of the universe. The work has been undertaken on both 
 occasions, in faith and prayer, and many earnest supplica¬ 
 tions in behalf of this Institution have been recorded in 
 heaven, which have already blessed it in the past, and which 
 will continue to bless it in the future. 
 
 The Christian does not reason as the man of the world. 
 The latter begins with human resources, the former begins 
 with God; the one builds upon sight, the other upon faith. 
 Thus the good King Hezekiah acted in ancient times. The 
 city of Jerusalem was encompassed by a countless and ar¬ 
 rogant host of Assyrian warriors. The heathen leader sent a 
 defiant letter to the trembling king of God’s chosen people. 
 Hezekiah laid the letter before the Lord. His petition 
 was scarcely ended, when a favorable response was sent by 
 the prophet Isaiah, to his confiding servant, in these words, 
 against the Assyrian monarch: The virgin daughter of Je¬ 
 rusalem has despised thee ! And on the succeeding night, 
 the destroying angel had stretched in death upon the plain, 
 
 almost two hundred thousand of these exultant foes. Thus 
 
 » 
 
 too, have we commenced this enterprise, and we expect to 
 succeed in our humble efforts by reposing on that same Al¬ 
 mighty arm of old. We cheer our desponding hearts with 
 the words of the sweet singer of Israel: 44 Some trust in 
 chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the 
 name of the Lord our God.” 
 
 But besides this, we are engaged in a noble cause; it is 
 not one originating in any selfish or wordly interest, but 
 one most closely connected with the temporal, intellectual, 
 moral and eternal interests of our fellow-men. If 44 he is 
 doubly armed who has his quarrel just,” why should not 
 we triumph over all our enemies, and rejoice in victory.— 
 Great ideas make great men. Thus the greatness and ex¬ 
 cellence of our cause will enkindle all our ardor, cheer us 
 when despondent, support us under difficulties, and make 
 even the severest labor sweet. 
 
 What an area likewise for our efforts ! What a splendid 
 field for a college to occupy, to improve, to elevate! Here 
 
36 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 east of the Susquehanna alone, is a region, ample and 
 wealthy enough to furnish all the money to endow, and 
 populous enough to fill the Institution with students to 
 overflowing. We stand in the very centre of our power in 
 Pennsylvania, as Lutherans. In connection with the Synod 
 of Pennsylvania alone, are found about fifty thousand com¬ 
 municants, as before stated, and along with them, hundreds 
 of laborious and influential pastors, and an intelligent Lu¬ 
 theran population. In this immediate neighborhood, we 
 have an active Board of Trustees, with energy acquired by 
 previous success, in other enterprises in which they have 
 been engaged, and we may confidently reckon on a consider¬ 
 able local patronage from the German Reformed and others, 
 who are interested with ourselves in the education of the 
 German and other people, resident in this part of our highly 
 favored State. The Synod of Pennsylvania, as a body, has 
 promised us its hearty co-operation, and has made arrange¬ 
 ments to raise a fund of money, during this Jubilee year, to 
 place this college, which is of such vital importance to itself, 
 upon a permanent basis. The success attendant thus far 
 upon our united efforts, beyond our first expectations, as 
 well as the necessity for exertion, are all bright harbingers of 
 success. If Pennsylvania College, at first, so far removed 
 from the heart of the Lutheran population, and in the midst 
 of a Presbyterian community, under very unfavorable cir¬ 
 cumstances, was able to overcome all obstacles, and to give 
 up to this time four hundred educated men to our country , 
 and upwards of two hundred ministers to the. church , why 
 should not we, when we have so much more to encourage, 
 and less to oppose. 
 
 But the glorious history of our church, during the past 
 three centuries and a half, both in the Fatherland, and our 
 own country, illumines our pathway, and spurs us onto the 
 necessary exertion and the consequent success. We are 
 heirs of the hallowed associations and memories of both 
 lands. Our forefathers have left a record in each land, of 
 which we need not be ashamed, and which we should blush 
 
BY REV. F. A. MUHLENBERG, ]>. 1>. 
 
 87 
 
 to disgrace. The pathway of history has been made bright, 
 by the glorious deeds of our ancestors in Germany, and the 
 whole world has been filled with the fame of these brave 
 generals, wise and Christian statesmen, able rulers, learned 
 philosophers and theologians, who gave a pure Christianity 
 and regenerated schools again to mankind ; and Germany 
 and America have given to the world Christians, patriots, 
 philanthropists, who will bear favorable comparison with 
 any of the distinguished worthies of ancient and modern 
 times. Such a simple allusion is all the present occasion 
 will allow, facts without number could be added to confirm 
 the general assertion. 
 
 Such a work have we, my Christian friends of all classes, 
 and such inducements to urge us forward, and to insure suc¬ 
 cess. The Germans and their descendants in this land have 
 not received the honor they deserved, nor exerted the in¬ 
 fluence due to their character and numbers. They were 
 among the earliest settlers of this great state, they aided in 
 its legislation, their blood enriched its soil, and their pub¬ 
 lic and private virtues have been frequently recognized by 
 our Governors and Legislatures; yet their power for 
 good has not been felt, as it should have been, mainly, we 
 think, because they did not educate their children here, as 
 their fore-fathers did, in the land of their birth. This part 
 of Pennsylvania, in its splendid agricultural cultivation, 
 speaks loudly in behalf of German industry and German 
 thrift; but to secure the influence and respect we deserve 
 from others, this material culture and wealth is not enough. 
 We must cultivate the minds and hearts of our children with 
 the same zeal and perseverance with which we have im¬ 
 proved our farms, and then we will secure for them, and 
 ourselves, higher fame, larger influence, and greater happi¬ 
 ness. We have this day made a renewed beginning in this 
 great work; let not the sneers of those opposed to us, chill 
 the warmth of our feeling; let us under the influence of the 
 truths we have been considering, with united hearts and 
 hands, give ourselves, our money as it may be necessary, 
 
88 
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 our children, our labors, our prayers, to the noble cause of 
 religion and education, until this part of our state, in this 
 higher culture , shall be as attractive to the eye of the beholder, 
 as its rich and fertile valleys, and as enduring as the ever¬ 
 lasting hills, by which we are now surrounded. 
 
A College Corner-Stone. 
 
 We are here at the laying of a College Corner Stone. 
 The idea is sufficiently specific to prevent any wandering 
 tendency which might arise in our minds. Nevertheless 
 we must be allowed to say, in these opening words, that we 
 bear with us two warm congratulations. 
 
 First, we congratulate the city and community in the 
 bosom of which this new College has now fairly taken its 
 position. You have sought and won—and we doubt not 
 by fair and honorable means—a great blessing. Beyond the 
 value of your imbedded ore, is a vigorous, first-class, high- 
 toned literary institution. More fertilizing than the abun¬ 
 dant streams of the celebrated Lehigh, are the quickening 
 currents of thought which go forth from such a fountain. 
 In the intellectual, moral and spiritual benefits, which you 
 have a right to anticipate, and which in due time you cer¬ 
 tainly will realize from this institution, you stand before us 
 to-day as fully deserving of the warmest congratulation. 
 Your literary appreciation is not a fact which has been but 
 recently discovered. The ground on which we stand has 
 for many years been vigilantly guarded by you, and held 
 sacred to the cause of learning. The High School, which 
 now merges into a full-grown College, leaves behind a long 
 history, full of honor. It has wrought well in its day, and 
 has accomplished, for both sexes, a good work. The images 
 of two highly gifted men, father and son, now sainted, still 
 linger with it; nor will these images, connected with all their 
 sacred memories, still fresh in warm living hearts, fail to 
 incorporate themselves with the power of a perpetual bene¬ 
 diction with the higher organization in which the lower 
 now becomes glorified. We heartily congratulate the 
 
40 
 
 A COLLEGE CORNER-STONE 
 
 citizens of this entire community in view of the successful 
 establishment in their midst of a College of high order, 
 which will stand not only as a distinguished honor, but as a 
 source of rich blessing also through many generations to 
 
 O O «/ o 
 
 come. 
 
 But no less deserving of a similar congratulation is the 
 new College itself. To the Board of Trustees, aud the 
 friends of the College generally, we may truly say, you have 
 come into a good heritage. You are central in a central 
 region of physical wealth and beauty. Nowhere has Nature 
 been more lavish with her blessings. Mind, too, the best 
 and highest natural gift of God to man, is here compara¬ 
 tively in its virgin and most vigorous condition. Besides, 
 as already intimated, you are in the living bosom of a health¬ 
 ful educational tradition, whose every impulse is towards 
 high mental and moral culture. With a beginning such as 
 this we may not at this point attempt to anticipate your 
 history. Muhlenberg College, headed by a Muhlenberg, 
 who in his literary attainments, no less honors his paternity 
 than his paternity honors him, with a Faculty youthful in 
 vigor, ripe in scholarship and already rich in experience, 
 opens amid prospects the most cheering for the future. 
 
 Congratulations, however, deserved and pleasant as these 
 may be, form not the proper work of the present occasion. 
 We are here to actually lav the Corner-Stone ot a new Col- 
 
 4 . 
 
 lege, and in this act announce in suitable terms a new centre 
 of liberal education. 
 
 Among the most ancient and at the same time significant 
 forms of symbolism stands the Corner-Stone. Firmly fixed 
 upon the solid earth, it becomes the basis of two converging 
 walls, and thus the foundation of the entire building. As 
 related to the Christian Church, no symbol is more pro¬ 
 found—none richer as to contents, nor more impressive as 
 to form. “Behold,“ says the prince of prophets, “I lay, 
 in Zion, for a foundation, a stone—a precious Corner- 
 Stone.” Giving a true application to this grand prophetic 
 annunciation, we hear the gifted Paul exclaiming: “ Other 
 
BY REV. D. GANS, D. I). 
 
 41 
 
 foundation can no man lav than that which is laid, which is 
 Jesus Christ.” Strictly the Corner-Stone is not the build¬ 
 ing, but the basis on which the building rests ; and yet the 
 significance and supporting power of it are mysteriously 
 present in every part of the edifice. Thus Christ is not 
 only the basis of the church, but its life as well—not oulv 
 its solid, immovable foundation, against which the powers 
 of darkness rage in vain, but also its essential, permeating 
 spirit, its proper mystical self, u His Body, the fulness of 
 Him that filleth all in all.” 
 
 By a College Corner-Stone we are led it is true, to a 
 lower plane of thought, but thought no less symbolically 
 distinct and impressive on this account. It gives us the 
 idea, not of education under its generalized character, which 
 finds its congenial home more naturally in the vague region 
 of abstractions than among the living men and in actual 
 human society. Nor does it lead us to the plural term (‘du¬ 
 rations, which probably embodies in a more real form the 
 conception of human improvement in this educational view. 
 Vast indeed is the field which this aspect of the case opens 
 to the mind ; for educations are as numerous and diversified 
 as are the leading principles which underlie them. To separ¬ 
 ate the intellectual from the moral faculties, and both from the 
 physical nature of man, gives already the bases of three char¬ 
 acteristic types of Education. Each characteristic will be 
 strongly marked in proportion as either principle prevails 
 to the neglect of the others. Thus you will have mainly an 
 intellectual education, or a moral education, or a physical 
 education. Each of these divisions may be subdivided into 
 as many others, whilst either of these may, in turn be made 
 the basis and determining principle of a new educational 
 type, as clearly marked and strongly defined as any of the 
 preceding. Besides this, the various objects of knowledge 
 standing out of and beyond man, each in its turn may be 
 seized upon and made the governing principle. Thus we 
 may come to have a scientific education, a philosophical 
 education, an historical education, &c. These, likewise, 
 
42 
 
 A COLLEGE CORNER-STONE 
 
 may he subdivided almost ad infinitum , and each division 
 made to he a controlling educational principle. Thus we 
 have an education in Chemistry prevailing, or in Mental 
 Philosophy, as distinguished from Moral and Natural phil¬ 
 osophies, or in Profane as different from Sacred history, &c. 
 
 But infinite as these diversified types of education are, or 
 may become, we fail to find in any of them the Corner-Stone 
 principle. Man is neither spirit, soul nor body separately 
 taken, hut all these in one. So the objects of knowledge 
 with which man in his mysterious constitution is related, lie 
 not simply in one department, such as we have specified, 
 hut in all. Each man is a cosmopolitan by his very nature, 
 and can only truly develop his being, in the active bosom 
 of educational forces equally broad and comprehensive. 
 
 Nor do we find this Corner-Stone principle of education, 
 either in the totality of man under his mere natural 
 form, or in the collected sum of objects to be known, which 
 fall within the largest circle of mere human vision. Man, 
 in the true original elements of liis being, is more than all 
 this. He is greater than the universe, and by his own in¬ 
 stinctive nature he transcends it, following being, no less an 
 object of knowledge, but which stretches immeasureably 
 beyond the boldest flights of the grandest natural genius. 
 The true Corner-Stone principle of Education lies not in 
 what man naturallv is, hut in what he may become—not in 
 nature, but in grace—not in any or all of his faculties 
 and functions combined derived bv birth, but in his Faith , 
 which is the gift of God. Here in this lower depth, in this 
 diviner, broader and more solid earth, is laid the true Cor¬ 
 ner-Stone on which alone rests that strand educational struc- 
 ture in which man may evolve and expand harmoniously all 
 his powers, and come to know finally even as also he is 
 known. 
 
 All true education involves as its deepest ground—the 
 Christian faith. On this it rests and by this it is pervaded 
 at every point. Man’s centre, as the consciousness of each 
 will declare, is not in himself, but in Christ, who is the cen- 
 
BY REV. D. GANS, 1). D. 
 
 43 
 
 tre of the world under all its forms. No lower or less con¬ 
 tracted thought can fairly meet and interpret the stupen¬ 
 dous fact of the incarnation, God manifest in the flesh.— 
 Being vital and vitally conditioning for the whole world, 
 physical, moral and intellectual, the incarnation becomes at 
 once, and by necessity, the deepest basis ot all science. 
 Constituting itself, as it does, the central, invisible, 
 moulding type of the world’s life, where else shall we 
 search for the principle that may be adequate to sound 
 its depths, to scale its heights, and to solve its mysteries? 
 Here alone man comes to his true position, and realizes the 
 power to penetrate and understand being in its own order 
 and relations. Man is but half himself, acting simply in the 
 bosom of the cold understanding. What is reason without 
 the will? and yet will is not reason. No less defective are 
 both without faith, which is neither. Reason is never rea¬ 
 son in its true Godlike nature, separated from faith. These 
 were one at the beginning, and must be one again, before 
 man can even approximate the high end of his being. 
 Genius, even of the highest order, must continue to floun¬ 
 der, in its purely isolated character, amid the grand won¬ 
 ders of Creation and Providence. Faith only is its true in¬ 
 spiration and competent guide. Man needs intellectually a 
 proper relation to the grand system of being—a central 
 standpoint of observation and reflection. This can be found 
 only in Christ as the archetypal, normative order of the 
 physical, moral and intellectual world. Not only, therefore, 
 is Christian Education necessary in reference to those things 
 which are spiritual in their nature, or for man as he is re¬ 
 lated to the future world, but for man as such, and for the 
 present order of being, in the bosom of which he lives. 
 
 Illustrations of this truth, which carry with them the ele¬ 
 ments of proof at the same time, may be found in every 
 leading department of human investigation. Without the 
 light of this Corner-Stone principle, how intense the dark¬ 
 ness, for instance, that is found to brood over the region 
 of the Natural Sciences! What are those invisible, 
 
44 
 
 A COLLEGE CORNER-STONE 
 
 intangible, everywhere-present and mysterious laws of 
 Nature, separated from a personal God? Who are those 
 that have delved the deepest in the fields of Geology, that 
 have soared the highest in the sphere of Astronomy, that 
 have comprehended most broadly the wonders of Natural 
 History, and that have wrought generally with the greatest 
 success in the vast kingdom of Nature? Have they not 
 been those who have caught their inspiration at the Chris¬ 
 tian Altar—who have traced in all these departments the 
 footprints of the great Creator? Was it not the principle 
 which discovered the Deity behind the circle and the trian¬ 
 gle that has formed such men as Pascal, Leibnitz, Descartes, 
 and Newton, at the repetition of whose names the world 
 will never weary ? 
 
 No mind, guided simply by the spirit of mere rationalis¬ 
 tic science, and limited by its narrow boundaries, can pro¬ 
 perly appreciate the great moral forces, with their corres¬ 
 ponding effects, first that of sin, and secondly that involving 
 its remedy in the incarnate person of Christ, which have 
 entered and spread through the whole material Creation ; 
 and not appreciating these vast conditioning forces, how is it 
 possible to understand science in its true nature ? Mani¬ 
 festly a faculty is here required deeper than any which is 
 found in the mere logical understanding. Ignoring the 
 principle of faith in its connection with the logical mind, 
 we are not to be surprised that Geology has become so ex¬ 
 tensively confounded in its attempts to read the letterings 
 of the rocks, and has so often reached conclusions contra¬ 
 dictory in themselves and subversive of all fundamental 
 truth. No less has Astronomy, moving on the same low 
 plane, failed in acquiring its highest character and accom¬ 
 plishing its grandest work. They lack in genial spirit. The 
 power of moral vision, opening them to the moral forces 
 which condition and govern the physical, is wanting. Mate¬ 
 rial Nature, as a grand and single organism, completing itself 
 in man, as man completes himself in the God-man, is found, 
 in the way of fact, to be and to contain more than has en- 
 
BY REV. D. GANS, D. D, 
 
 4 ") 
 
 tered into their dream, or than they find it possible to com- 
 [)ress within their narrow limits. The theory is too circum¬ 
 scribed for the facts ; and must necessarily be so, as long as 
 it is dependent wholly upon the mere logical understanding. 
 God is in Nature; and no Science that does not bow to and 
 accept this fact as its Corner-Stone principle—as its essen¬ 
 tial conditioning and intoning life, in connection with all 
 the profound mysteries which it involves in the bosom of 
 Nature, can hope, in any degree or form commensurate with 
 the demand arising from the case itself, either clearly to 
 perceive or fairly to represent its wonders. Even Plato re¬ 
 presented material things as the shadows of the thoughts of 
 God. “ When Newton and Bossuets repectfully uncovered 
 their august heads while pronouncing the name of God, they 
 were perhaps,” says Chateaubriand, “ more worthy of admi¬ 
 ration at that moment than when the former weighed those 
 worlds, the dust of which the other taught mankind to de¬ 
 spise.” “The whole Creation, “says the inspired Record, 
 groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now;” and in 
 the recreating power which entered at the point of time here 
 indicated, a process was evidently started on an ascendiug 
 scale, which must finally issue in a “ new heaven and a new 
 earth.” No materialistic dissecting-knife process of inves¬ 
 tigation can ever discover and understand this deep spiritual 
 soul of Nature, and exhibit it in its own living, charming- 
 features. The genius of religion can alone open her grand 
 temple doors and unfold the divine mysteries which it com¬ 
 prehends, each connecting organically with the other, and 
 the last always centering in God Himself, to whom, the mind 
 that has traced these mysteries most profoundly bows in the 
 spirit of the deepest adoration. 
 
 E’ass we now to the department of History, we shall no 
 less clearly discover depths which the mere scientific mind 
 can never sound, mysteries which it can never penetrate, 
 forces even the presence of which it can not admit, much 
 less trace in their majestic movements through the ages. 
 The leading factor in history is the spiritual, the divine. 
 
46 
 
 A COLLEGE CORNER-STONE 
 
 Without this, history is emphatically a temple without its 
 divinity, a sun without its light or heat, a body without its 
 living, intelligent soul. To look upon the mighty past 
 without the eye of faith to discover beyond its external 
 phenominal confusion, a central divine power, organizing 
 its forces and guiding them steadily in the accomplishment 
 of the ultimate result, is at once to rob it of all significance 
 and interest. It is the merest play-ground of reckless powers, 
 a chaos of confused, ungoverned forces, involving no lessons 
 for the intelligent soul, and leaving in its blind movement, no 
 permanent result as a guide for the future. It is a dark 
 void in human existence—a mere tidal play of dashing cur¬ 
 rents, the last extending not beyond the first, involving no 
 advance or improvement in the general life of the world. 
 
 The light of Christianity has revealed a different state of 
 facts. It has shown a power behind the throne. Deeper 
 than the designs of kings, are the designs of Providence. 
 The intrigues of Courts and Cabinets are but the conditions 
 of the development of these designs and of their real pro¬ 
 clamation to the world. It has discovered that each action, 
 great or insignificant, involves its own result, not recklessly, 
 but through the governance of invisible laws, as real as those 
 that regulate the planets, and as uniform in their course. 
 Revolutions, however produced, and however grand in their 
 sweep, are never blind as to their nature nor wholly wilful 
 or arbitrary as to their results. Virtue and vice, in their 
 tragic conflict upon the broader historical stages which are 
 here and there erected along the corridors of time, may in¬ 
 deed, in view of human ambitions which occupy the fore¬ 
 ground, not at first stand forth plainly in their own proper 
 nature and relative strength as related respectively to God 
 and Satan ; but as the scene advances, and more especially as 
 it culminates in the last decisive act, they may be seen in their 
 own distinctive colors, and the former is always found to be 
 stronger than the latter. God has so combined the physical 
 and moral order of the world, that the subversion of the lat¬ 
 ter necessarily induces a change in the former, bringing on 
 
BY REV. D. GANS, D. D. 
 
 47 
 
 great revolutions; which, fixing their crimson badges of 
 execration upon those who have led the way in criminality, 
 disengage the truth and plant it anew in richer soil and un¬ 
 der milder skies. Through wreck and ruin progress mounts 
 upon a higher plane, and gathering fresh vigor from the 
 death of old institutions, like the vital germ of the seed from 
 its decaying shell in the earth, it moves forward with ac¬ 
 celerated velocity towards its high ultimate goal. Through 
 death comes life—from the tomb break the glories of the 
 resurrection. Here again, it is manifest, that if the mind is 
 to apprehend truth in its own legitimate form—to harmonize 
 the apparently confused forces active in history, and to see 
 that the ultimate, if not the immediate, results of all the 
 grand historic conflicts which occur at different ages, are on 
 the side of right against wrong, freedom against oppression, 
 all tending to the highest interests of the race in the end, it 
 must plant itself absolutely upon the Corner-Stone princi¬ 
 ple of Faith in God as He reigns in the affairs of men and 
 among the nations. He that sees not the Cross in History 
 can never understand the mystery by which the world is 
 carried forward from age to age, and by which truth and 
 righteousness shall be made to stand forth at last amid the 
 glory of an absolute victory. 
 
 A more attractive illustration of the same fact is found in 
 the department of the Fine Arts. What is the Beautiful 
 but the representation of the pure, the spiritual, the infinite ? 
 and whence arises this conception, in its true and noblest 
 form, but from the Religion of Him who is the fairest among 
 ten thousand and the one altogether lovelv? From the 
 origin of the Christian Religion to the present, have the Fine 
 Arts followed in her wake, owning her as their mother. 
 Lending her their terrestrial Charms, she in turn has con¬ 
 ferred upon them her celestial divinity. 
 
 The fountain of true poetry is deeper than the mere logi¬ 
 cal reason, and the fields which it traverses and beautifies 
 extend beyond the keenest natural vision. The rapture 
 that inspired Pindar in the groves of Olympia, no less than 
 
48 
 
 A COLLEGE CORNER-STONE 
 
 the fire that kindled the genius of David on the banks of 
 the Kedron, moves above the analysis of mere mind. Mil- 
 ton, also, and Dante show the presence of a faculty capable 
 of transcending all logical limits, up and down, and yet re¬ 
 maining strictly logical. The ideal world belongs to man 
 as legitimately as the actual; nor can his moral nature be 
 properly developed except as it is thus seized, penetrated 
 and drawn upwards. The images of the infinite lodged 
 thus by the true poet in the soul through the senses, beget 
 aspirations after the Beautiful and Pure which have dis¬ 
 closed the noblest powers of man. 
 
 Painting and sculpture, equally with poetry and music, 
 
 transcend the boundaries of mere rational reflection. Thev 
 
 • 
 
 show both by their origin and nature that they live in the 
 spiritual and infinite. To the beautiful ideal belongs the 
 mystic , as breath belongs to a living being; and in the hu¬ 
 man countenance, formed by religion, you have the ideal 
 actualized as the highest model both for the sculptor and 
 painter. From Greece we have the pleasant tradition that 
 a young female, perceiving the shadow of her lover upon a 
 wall, chalked the outlines of the figure, and thus by a tran¬ 
 sient passion produced the art of the most perfect illusions. 
 
 “Another master,” says an expressive French writer, 
 “has been found by the Christian school. It has discovered 
 him in that Great Artist who, moulding a morsel of earth 
 in his'mighty hand, pronounced those words, “ Let us make 
 man in our own image.” The first stroke of design existed 
 therefore for us in the eternal mind, and the first statue 
 which the world ever beheld was the noble figure of clay 
 animated by the breath of God.” 
 
 All the great master pieces, both in painting and sculp¬ 
 ture, which have sprung from the human mind, indicate no 
 less really, howevermuch lower the plane which forms their 
 base, the creational , the infinite form. The grandest of 
 these actualized conceptions on the canvas are religious, 
 showing that Christianity, leading man beyond the limits of 
 the mere sensuous world, supplies not only the grand con- 
 
BY REV. D. (JANS, D. D. 
 
 49 
 
 ceptions themselves, but the noble enthusiasm also, the true 
 genius, by which the infinite idea is fixed to the finite form 
 and made to speak in this character to the soul through the 
 senses. The last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Descent from 
 the Cross, the Resurrection, the last Judgment, all show a 
 divinity, a creational power, a sublimity of* conception and 
 a grandeur of execution which place them altogether beyond 
 even the appreciation of the mind resting only in the bo¬ 
 som of its own weakness. 
 
 Architecture carries in it the same testimony, and time 
 would fail in exhausting the vein of illustrative thought in 
 relation to this subject. Mature is more than matter—man 
 is more than mind ; the spiritual, the infinite is everywhere 
 and in everything, forming the real nerve of being. Limited 
 only to so much of being, in any of its forms, as mere 
 rational reflection or scientific analysis may be able to 
 penetrate, understand, and in this way embrace, to what 
 an infinitesimal speck would man’s existence be bound. 
 Mystery belongs to being, just as being is the object of 
 scientific investigation. Every department of thought shows 
 the necessity of a broader and deeper principle. No form 
 of Education that does not involve the faith as well as the 
 understanding of man, can be commensurate with the 
 requirements of the case itself, much less lead the soul to the 
 true end of its own being. Mind in its own nature without 
 the spiritual sense which originally was essential to it, and 
 central in it, is helplessly in the bosom of rationalistic infi¬ 
 delity, in which it can neither properly understand itself, the 
 world, nor God, whose presence it everywhere enshrines. 
 Our plea is for Christian education, as alone competent to 
 meet the demand of the mind, as alone able to comprehend 
 the world, as alone qualified, in the way of real principle, 
 to link our present being intelligently to that which shall 
 be in a higher world. Let the College Corner-Stone, there¬ 
 fore, which we lay this day, definitely represent this deeper 
 and broader basis of education; let it testify that this foun¬ 
 dation principle will be made equally to permeate all parts 
 
50 
 
 A COLLEGE CORNER-STONE 
 
 of the educational structure, the Mathematics as well as the 
 Moral Philosophy, the Natural Sciences as well as the Aes¬ 
 thetics. Then shall the youthful mind, passing annually 
 from this centre into the several professions of life, prop¬ 
 erly know itself, and be able equitably to balance itself 
 amid the skeptical pressures of the age. 
 
 We cannot conceal from our minds the fact, that the edu¬ 
 cational idea, wakeful and energetic as it is in many direc¬ 
 tions, is neither as high nor as rich and full, in the present, as 
 it has been in the past. The defect lies not in the number 
 of studies, nor in their classification, but in the ground on 
 which they rest and the moral tone that pervades them. 
 Metaphysical analysis, in seeking rational precision, has to 
 too great an extent expelled from the scheme of educa¬ 
 tion its warm, glowing life, and reduced it to a mere 
 summary of dead abstract formulas, which are as unnatu¬ 
 ral to the reason as they are repulsive to the intuitional 
 nature of man. It lacks in the mystic genius of Chris¬ 
 tianity. In becoming too rigidly scientific, it has become 
 too unbelieving. Faith enters not, in a sufficiently cen¬ 
 tral and earnest way, into its essence. It is wanting in 
 depth, comprehensiveness, glow, charm. The effect has 
 been to weaken the nerve of modern Literature, to dry up 
 to a great extent the true fountain of inspiration, to limit 
 the vast domain of living thought, and greatly to mate¬ 
 rialize and to this extent degrade all the leading depart¬ 
 ments of intellectual energy. The blight, beginning with 
 science and philosophy, has passed to poetry and romance. 
 Like wilted flowers, they hang upon their slender vine. 
 Music, also has declined in richness and melody of tone. 
 Painting lacks back-ground and expression. Architecture 
 is tame and for the most part uninspiring and unmeaning. 
 Philosophy has lost its ancient enthusiasm and loiters lazily 
 in its great work; and even around Theology, the sublimest 
 and divinest of all studies, has been gathering a withering 
 rationalistic spirit which, in many directions, threatens its 
 very life. 
 
BY REV. D. GANS, D. D. 
 
 51 
 
 A reformation is needed in the scheme of education. The 
 great principle of Christian faith, which is to it what the 
 sun is to the physical world, must enter it to a much greater 
 extent. The great departments of knowledge must be set 
 free from the narrow bands of rationalism and infidelity. 
 The soul of the youth must be taught to break through the 
 murkiness of unbelief, on the principle of a deeper, broader 
 and more genial science. Mature and Art, History and 
 Philosophy must be allowed to speak their own mystic 
 words and impress the divinity which they enshrine. In a 
 word the Corner-Stone principle of true Christian education, 
 qualifying man to meet God in all the avenues of thought, 
 and to glorify Him in all the forms of active life, must be 
 re-laid. 
 
 In the spirit of this higher Philosophy, and upon this 
 deeper and more solid ground, we now proceed to lay the 
 Corner-Stone of Muhlenberg College, and announce the 
 opening of a new centre of liberal, Christian education, 
 which deeply penetrating Nature, will steadily point to 
 Nature’s God. 
 
din Sort fur grimWidje Sdjultnlimng. 
 
 Seutfrfje Webe, flefjatten bei ber (Fifftciutcßuiiß eitteö neuen ©cbäubeg beg 9Jlü^fenberg=(fol= 
 tegiumb in Mllentotam, <Ha., am 4ten September 1867, 
 
 son ccm 
 
 @brn>. 3. SÖogelbacb, 
 
 $aftor ber lutberifcpen 8t. 3acobuS=©emetnbe in $t)itabety&ia. 
 
 Verehrte 3 u ^' rer '—D*r 3*®*^ ber gütigen ißerfammlung ift ein 
 hoher unb erfreulicher; es foü ein (Scfftein gelegt werben $u einem weü 
 teren ©ebäube, welches $ur (Erziehung, $ur wiffenfdjaftlichen ^eranbil* 
 bung ber 3ugenb beftimmt unb benüfct werben foil. 8chon feit mehreren 
 3a|ren hcitte bie 8tabt Mentown unb Umgegenb bas ©lücf, eine wiffen* 
 fchaftliche (Erjiehungs^nftalt in ihrer 9Jiitte $u haben, aus welker 3ög = 
 ltnge t)eroorgingen, bie je^t in ihren verfchiebenen 33erufSfreifen als 
 brauchbare unb nützliche Männer bafiehen unb bie ben ©runb ihrer fpä* 
 tern 93rauchbarfeit in bem früheren fogenannten Mentorcn ®eminar, 
 gegrünbet son bem talentvollen, leiber gtt früh bahingefchiebenen Pfarrer 
 .ftefjler, gelegt hatten. 
 
 £>ie intelligenten Bürger ber 8tabt unb 9tachbarfchaft erfannten ben 
 beilfamen (Einfluß einer folgen v 2lnftalt febr wohl, unb ruhten unb rafte- 
 ten nicht, bis fte biefelbe jii einem folgen Stange erhoben hatten, um fte 
 ebenbürtig an bie 8eite ähnlicher gelehrten 3nftitute beS SanbeS (teile,!! 
 $u fönnen. 9ftit einer 5lngal)l tüchtiger ^rofejforen, bie befeelt ftnb mit 
 bem Verlangen, il)r mannigfaltiges 2öijfen treu ju verwerten, bie 3ög* 
 linge an ber £anb $u nehmen, fte einjuführen in bie unerfchöpflichen 
 8chachten ber Jöiffenfchaften,—an ihrer ®ptfce ber erprobte unb gelehrte 
 'Päbagog Dr. 9J?ühlenberg,—geleitet von einem energifchen unb inteüi* 
 genten £)ireftorium,—tritt nun bie erneuerte 2lnftalt unter bem ehren* 
 werthen tarnen „fühlenberg Kollegium" bas erjte 8emefttr ber neuen 
 £ehrwirffamfeit an. 
 
 Allentown unb Umgegenb ift ein herrlicher ©arten ©ottes ju nennen, 
 ber ßultunuftanb wirb von feiner ©egenb ^ennfplvanienS übertroffen, 
 bie ^Bewohner ftnb ftttliche unb biebere 9ftenfchen, ©ott hat bas Füllhorn 
 feiner ©üte reichlich über 8tabt unb l*anb auSgegoffen, B^i§ unb 2lr* 
 beit mit 8einem 8egen gefront; überall wo wir htnblicfen, treten uns 
 bie ®puren beS 2Bohlftanbes unb beS ^ortfehritts wohlthuenb über* 
 
Son Rafter 3. Sogelbacp, in $t)tlabelpt)ta. 
 
 58 
 
 rafdjenb entgegen, —unb barum ift eß rec^t unb billig unb bem naturge* 
 maßen Entwidlungßgange entfpred)enb, baß aud) ^ier unter einer folgen 
 mit irbifcben Gütern reichltd) gefegneten Beoölferung, eine 2 lnftalt für 
 ©eißeßbilbung beftehe, blühe unb geheime. Denn waß hilft ber Beßtg 
 itbifd)er unb oergänglidjer ©üter, wenn baß Ebelfte im 9 ftenfd)en, fein 
 ©etß, uncultioirt bleibt. 3 rbifd)e @d)ä(3e finb allerlei S 33 ed)felfäUen 
 unterworfen, man fann ße oerlteren, aber bte Sd)äfce beß ©eißeß, erwor* 
 ben burd) eine gute Eqiehung, bte bleiben. 
 
 3u allen 3 e itcn, bei allen Sulturoölfern haben eble üWenfcben bal)in 
 ;u ftreben gefucht, Eqiehung unb ©eißeßbilbung $u förbertt. Selbft bie 
 ebeln unter ben Reiben oor Shrifti 3«i^« erfannten unb fpradjen eß auß, 
 baß baß s 3flenfd)enleben nur bann einen 2öertl) l>abe, wenn eß burd) ©ei* 
 ßeebtlbung geabelt werbe. Daher blühten fd)on bamalß in Egppten, 
 ©ried)enlanb, unb in 9 tom ^Pflanjftätten ber 2 öiffenfd)aften, afabemifche 
 Schulen unb bie Sulfur ber fünfte. 3 a felbft bei ben Uroölfern ber 
 grauen Soweit befunbete ßd) bas liegen unb Drängen beb menfd)lid)en 
 ©eifteß nad) SBiffen unb Erfennen nnb baß einmal Erfannte fort^ubaueu, 
 mit3utbeilen, um eß 31t einem nützlichen ©emeingut 2111er 3U machen. 
 Bliden wir 3 23 . l)in auf bte alten SBeifen beß Drientß, wie ße ftül for* 
 fd)enb ben geftirnten Fimmel betrauten, ber ßd) lid)tfunfelnb über ihren 
 Jpäupten wölbt; jebe neue Erfdjeinung, jebe Beränberung baran, gibt 
 ihnen neuen (Stoff 3um Denfen unb gorfcben, ße fammeln U)re Beo* 
 bad)tungen, feilen ße 2lnbern mit unb fo burd) 3al)rhunberte hinburd) 
 wirb bie Zumute ber 2Bat)rnel)mungen größer,—ber ©runb gur aftrono* 
 ntifd)en 2 öiffenfd)aft ift gelegt unb wirb fpäter oon Beißern nad) Spftemen 
 georbnet unb gelehrt. So oerhält eß ßd) mit ben Uranfängen aller 2 Ötf* 
 fenfd)aften. s Jftenfd)en fammelten U)re Beobachtungen unb Erfahrungen, 
 anbere oermet)rten ße burd) neue gorfd)ungen unb Entbedungen, wieber 
 21nbere famen unb oerbefferten unb fcbieben baß SÖahre 00m galfchen. 
 Unb fo arbeitet ber s 3 }ienfd)engeift außgerüftet mit immer neuen Jpilfßmit^ 
 teln raftloß fort auf bcm unenblid)en ©ebiete beß SBiffenß, beß Erfor* 
 fd)enß unb Ertennenß. Jpier fann eß feinen Stillftanb geben, bie $ 3 if* 
 fenfd)aft brid)t ftd) immer neue Bahnen, entbedt immer neue gelber, bie 
 3ur X^ätigfeit einlaben, alle Stänbe werben oon ihrem gortfcbrttte be* 
 rührt, Sheologen, 3»riften, s 3ftebt3iner, 2lrtißen, Siteraten unb gachmän* 
 ner jeber 2 lrt werben oon ihr immer wieber 3U neuen Stubien angeregt; 
 ber gabrtfant, ber ©efd)äftßmann, ber ©ewerbtreibenbe föniten ße nicht 
 entbehren, ße flopft felbft an bie befd)eibene Sßohnung beß einfachen 
 Sanbmanneß. 2öer nicht auf fie achten ober ihrem gorfchritte wiber* 
 ftehcn will, wirb erß burd) eigenen «Schaben flug. 
 
54 
 
 (Sin SBort fur grünblicbe Scpulbilbung. 
 
 SMe viele Sortheilc geniegt nicht ter migenfchaftlich ©ebilbete vor 
 tern, ber in ©eigeobefchränftheit ohne (Erziehung b^angetna^fen ift. 
 3ür Siele unter ihnen hut nur bag Materielle einen S3erth, biefeg nur 
 ig bag ih re $ täglichen (Strebend unb im Sefi£ beffelben glauben fie 
 bag mähre ©lücf bes Sebeng gefunben zu hu&eu; an rohen thierifchen 
 ^reuben ftnben fte allein einen vorübergehenben ©enug, mo hingegen 
 ber jünger ber ffiiffenfcbaft, groggezogen unb genährt an ben Prüften 
 ber Weisheit, £>öhereg unb (Eblereg fennt, bag eine nie vergegente 
 Quelle ber $reube unb beg ©lücfeg für ihn mirb. SÖenn ber (Sine in 
 ber SÖeltgefchicbte eine unentzifferbare ^ieroglpphenfchrift erblicft, liegt 
 ber anber tie £anbjüge beg oberften SBeltregenten barinnen, ber ben 
 Golfern ihre Sahnen bezeichnet, ge erhebt unb jerfchmeigt, unb ge bient 
 ihm alg metfe Sehrmeigertn für bie ©egenmart unb Brunft. Sinb für 
 ben (Einen bie SBerfe ber Schöpfung, bie Statur mit ihren (Erlernungen 
 ein verfiegelteg Such, fo bringt ber Slnbere mit ben £ülfgmitteln ber 
 SÖijfenfchaft burch bie verflogene Pforte, erforfcht ihre ©eheimnige, be= 
 laufest bag ftiüe SMrfen ihrer fchaffenben $ung, förbert ihre verborgnen 
 Schäle an’g Sicht zum Segen ber SSelt unb erfchaut unb bemunbert bie 
 ©röge, Allmacht unb Feigheit beg grogen Söerfmeifterg. 
 
 X)aher ermeeft, läutert unb leitet bag £)enfvermögen beg 3ünglingg, 
 lehrt ihn richtig benfen unb fchUegen, lagt ihn trinfen aug bem Sorn ber 
 Feigheit, beg Sichteg unb ber SÖahrheit, pflanzt in ihn Sinn unb ©e= 
 fühl für bag ©ute, Söahre unb Schöne unb er wirb, menn er bie Sehren 
 in fein S3efen unb Seben aufnimmt, ein nüfclicheg ©lieb ber menfchlichen 
 ©efetlfchaft, ein brauchbarer Sürger beg Staateg merben» 
 
 Unter einer grünblichen Schulbilbung vergehen mir aber nicht eine 
 blog magenhafte Anhäufung von ©egengänben, melche ber Schüler burch 
 mechanifcheg Memoriren in fein ©ebächtnig aufnimmt unb bie bort alg 
 tobter Suchgabe niebergelegt mirb. Wein, biefer tobte Suchftabe mug 
 burch erflärenben Unterricht, burch analptife Sehanblung zu ©eig unb 
 Seben entflammen unb ermeefenb unb zünbenb auf bie gacultäten beg 
 ©eifteg einmirfen unb zum erfagten unb nufringenben Sergänbnig 
 merben. Seger meniger SMffen unb bag recht vergehen, mag man weig, 
 alg vieleg fBijfen ohne flareg Sergänbnig* Wur burch eine vergänbige 
 unb gefehlte Anleitung zum Selbgbenfen unb zur Searbeitung beg 
 Sehrgogeg burch Selbggubium unter einer meifen Digciplin beg ©eigeg, 
 mirb ber Schüler am gchergen unb fchnellgen geh eine mahre unb ge* 
 biegene Schulbilbung aneignen unb ben S<ha£ feiner Äenntnige be* 
 reihern. Wur bag, mag unferm ©eige zum Selbgbemugtfein mirb,tann 
 er in feiner neugefdjagenen correcten Segrigg* unb gormbilbung fein 
 eigen nennen» 
 
$on $afior 3. Ißogelbacp, in Wlatelvfyta. 
 
 55 
 
 ‘Der Menfcf) allein, mit Vernunft unb ißerftanb begabt, mit feinem un* 
 fterblichen ©eifte ift erziehungs* unt) bilbungsfäl)tg, bas Ihier fann höch ; 
 ftenö eine Dreffur erhalten. s 2lber nicht MeS, mas man als Gilbung zu 
 bezeichnen beliebt, ift rechte SMlbung, oft ift fte nur (Sinbilbung ober eine 
 Dreffur ohne Erziehung. Man fann einen Scfjafc oon ©iffenfehaften 
 beftjzen, eine $ertigfett haben, feine ©ebanfen in fchöner 9lebe auszu* 
 brüefen, nach ben Regeln ber Jpöflichfeit mit 2Inftanb in ber ©efellfchaft 
 ftch bemegen unb babei bod) ein höchft oerbitbeter unb oerfommener Menfch 
 fein* 3ur mähren Menfchenbilbung unb (Erziehung gehört noch etmas 
 höheres, unb biefes ftnben mir nur in ber Religion (Ehrtftt. Seitbem 
 bie Sonne ber ©eiftermelt, (EhtiftuS, erfchienen, muß auch bie ©iffen* 
 fchaft burch ihre licht* unb lebenbringenben Strahlen burchleucbtet, ge* 
 heiligt unb perflärt merben. Unb nur burch ^as 3n = ftch=5lufnehmen 
 bes ©eiftes Deffen, ber ftd) felbft nennt bas ^id)t ber ©eit, ben ©eg, 
 bie ©ahrhett unb bas geben, mirb ber Schüler mahthaft zum ebeln Men* 
 fchen gebilbet, fein ©eift bie rechte Dichtung erhalten unb feine (Erziehung 
 mit Segen gefrönt merben. (Eine Schule, melcher biefer ©eift biefes 
 gid)t, biefes i'eben mangelt, fann mol)l bie intellectueüen Kräfte bes $er* 
 fjanbes meefen, aber nie bas £erz ermärmen unb oerebeln. 
 
 3n biefer s 2lnftalt, bem Muhlenberg Collegium, feilen Knaben unb 
 jünglinge ihre 2$orbilbung in Sprachen unb ©iffenfehaften erhalten, 
 für ihren fünftigen gebensberuf, bem fte ftch fpäter zumenben mollen. 
 künftige ©eiehrte, Merzte, 3uriften, Diener bes Staates unb ber Kirche 
 unb inhere merben einftenS mit Danfbarfeit auf fte als ihre Alma Mater 
 Zurücfbltcfen, bie fchönften (Erinnerungen ihres Gebens merben ftch an fte 
 anfnüpfen. ö mie ermuthigenb unb lohnenb muß es für folche fein, 
 benen bie michtige unb hohe Aufgabe gemorben ift, als Lehrer unb Leiter 
 einem folgen 3nftitute oorzuftehen, bas fo nu0 unb fegenbringenb für 
 bie Mit* unb Wachmelt zu merben oerfpricht, unb fo großen (Einfluß in 
 ber menfehlichen ©efellfchaft ausübt, mie aufmunternb für bie greunbe 
 unb s Beförberer ber (Erziehung, biefem guten ©erfe ihre £ülfe unb Mit* 
 mirfung angebeihen zu laffen. Unb unter biefen ^reunben zählen mir 
 mit ^reuben bie ©lieber ber lutfjerifchen Kirche, umfomel)r, ba bas luthe* 
 rifefje Minifterium oon ^ennfploanten in einer gemiffeu s 23erbinbung mit 
 bem Mühlenberg Collegium fteht unb in feinem "BermaltungSrathe per* 
 treten ift. ©ir ermarten unb hoffen mit 3 u Perficht, baß manche 3ög* 
 linge biefer 2lnftalt fpäter ftch bem Stubium ber Xheologie zumenben unb 
 in ben Dienft ber Kirche etntreten merben. 
 
 3um Schluffe noch eine 33emerfung. ©ir haben mit großer 23efrte* 
 bigung pernommen, baß auch bie beutfehe Sprache in ben Stubienplan 
 
56 
 
 Sin 2Bort für gründliche Schulbildung, 
 
 aufgenommen ift unb ihr tie oerbiente Anerfennung oerfchafft merben 
 foil. 3« ber Sprache eineb Solfeb fpiegeln ftch alle beffen Sigenthüm* 
 Uchfeiten, gute unb fchlechte, mteber, f?e ift aub bem innerften ©efen bef= 
 felben heroorgegangen, ein $robuft beb ©eifteb unb ©emütheb. 3n ber 
 beutfchen Sprache namentlich liegen bie Schäle unb ebeln (Sigenfchaften 
 beb beutfchen ©eifteb unb ©emütheb verborgen: ©erabheit, Derbheit, 
 $raft, ^utraulichfeit, p^iIofop^ifd)er unb ©emüthbreichtbum. iSBie ber 
 mächtige ©eift Alleb mit gleichem (Srfolge umfaßt, fo lä§t ftch auch in ber 
 beutfchen Sprache Alleb unb 3ebeb aubbrücfen, mag eb tem ©ebiete ber 
 fünfte ober ben eraften 2Biffenfchaften angehören, ober irgenb einen 
 Seelenjuftanb, son ber tiefften unb erhabenften iftuhe bib $ur größten 
 Seibenfchaftlichfeit, bezeichnen. An Oteichthum ber ABorte unb ©ebanfen 
 unb ber Satjbilbung fommt feine Sprache ber ABelt ber beutfchen gleich. 
 Sie tft ber Schlüffel zum rechten Serftänbnijz ber ^robufte unb Schäle 
 beb beutfchen ©eifteb, bie (Jingangbpforte in bie gelber ber ABiffenfchaften, 
 bie ber beutfche ©eift bebaut unb gepflegt hat. £)arum, iJftühlenberg 
 Kollegium, halte fie hoch in (Ehren unb pflege fte moöl! 
 
 Söohlan, benn, fo lege man ben ©runbftein $um neuen ©ebäube; mir 
 rufen ben Arbeitern zu: ©ut Jpeil unb ©lücf gum Sau! < £0^öge ber 
 Segen beb Allmächtigen, ber ba ijt ein Sater ber Sichter unb »on bem 
 alle guten unb ooUfommenen ©aben herfommen, auf ber Anftalt, ihren 
 Sehrern unb Schülern unb ihrem Sermaltungbrathe ruhen für unb für!