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'HISTORY

LANE THEOLOGICAL SEMINAIRY.

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FOUNDAT,ION AND EiNDOWMENT

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~ISTORY

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FOUNDATION AND ENDOWMENT

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LANE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY,

CINCINNATI:

1848.

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HISTOR Y.

It is presumed (0 be vcry generally known that suits at law haverecently been prosecuted against the Trustees find the Faculty of thi$Instilution, for the purpos.. of removing its present officers lllld substitut.ing in their plnce. members of the other branch of the PresbyteriantJhureh.

The very existence of these suits, tins awakened doubta in tho mindsof some of the f~iends of lho Institution, who have not been familiarwith ils History, ns to the qucslion, who are the rightful proprietors ofLane Seminary.

It is believed, 1l1so,lhat most of those who have sympathised wilh theprosecutor, and desired the success of these suits, hnve done so inignorance of the facts of Ihe cnae.

It is, therefore, confidently expoeted, that a candid petusul of the fol·lowing brief sketch of its curly history, compiled from doeumenlll Oil

Ihe files of Ihe Seminary, willl;lltisfy all who are intereated in lhe.mat­{p_r, that Lane Seminary is in the hands of those to whom it does ofright belong.

It is now published, that all who are interested may have before tllemthe evidence that tIl'=: funds wilh which the InslilUtion hll9 been endowed,have not boon perverted frOIll tho direction, and management, and uses,intended by the donors.

On this subjecl, the Trustees llnd the Faculty are ready to abide tb<ijudgment of an imp:mial public. ,

Lane Seminary derives its name from Mr. Ebenel;Cr Lane, a native ofMaine, now' a residcllt of Oxford, in this State, in whose benevolence,under God, it had its origin. At the time of making the donation whiehtJriginated the Institution, he was enguged in successful mercantile busi·ness with his brother, William A. Lane, in New Orlesns.. under lhename of E. Lane & Co.

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Al that time, the plan of oonnecting MllIIual Labor with study, was­beginning 10 be popular, and in one or two ins1ances, had been adoptedwith imagined success.

In one of his visil~ to the North, iIIr. Lane became acquainted withthis plan, and al the same lime, with the destitution of lLll educated min­istry in the West, as described by one who had recently traveled exten­sively through it.

In curly life, he had desired all educatioll, but bad not the means ofobtaining it, and the Manual Labor plull s!rlll.:k him favorably, as likelyto furnish to the indigem facilities for obtaining an educntion, the wantof which, in his youth, he 110 much lamented.

He immediately resolved to do what he cOllld 10 establish aueh aninstitution in the We~l, his adopted home, \0 aid in supplying the valleywith an educated mini~try.

On his relUrll to New Orlcun~l he consulted his partner, and theyngreed to appropriute to such an object, one thou~and dollan per annumfor four years, and one-fourth part of their annual income thereafter,the senior pllJ"tner being rc~ponsible, to pay the wbole, in the evenl ofany failure of success in Ibeir presenl business.

.Mr. Lane and hill brother then visited Cincinnali for tbe purpose ofdelermining upon a location, und ~13rtitlg the enterprise. Being II veryliberal member of the &Iltist denomination, it was his wish that theBapti~ts nnd Presbyterinus should unite ill establishing the Institution j

hut on being advised Ihat it would bc more likely 10 succeed in Ihohand~ of one dunominalion, he abandoned that idea j and having lelll'ned,in consultation with a lernling member of the Baptist denomination, thatthey were neither able no.r willing to undertake the work, he offered hisdonation to the Presbyterians.

Some of the more prominent members of Ihe Preabylerian Church,had previously been inquiring respueling the expediency of attemptingto eS1l.tblish a Theological Seminary in this vicinity, and this seemed 10them a call of Providence to go forward. They resolved to accept Iheproposal of tho Mess~. Lane, and proceed wilh the enterprise.

A Board of Trustees, Iwenty-threc in number, was selecled and or­ganized on the 271h of October, 1828, under Ihe slyle and title of theOhio Boord of Education.

The Mcssl'S. Lane Ihen entered inlo a legal obligation 10 pay 10 thoBoard four Ihotlsand dollarll-within lour yeur<i-and one-founh of thoir

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nett annual income thereafter, to be appropriated 8.5 should best promotethe interests of the contemplated Instilmion.

The condition of the obligUlion was, thai tho Boald should becomeincorporated and e~tllbli8h an Institution, a fundamental principlo ofwhich should be, thai the students should be re<juirod to labor in agricul.lund or mechanical cmploymenUl, not le.'l$ than three hours, nor morethan four hours each day.

'fhe original plan comemplatQd n Theological SeminlU"y with aLiterary department, and for several years, this plan WIlS carried out.

A Circular was immedialely issued, signed by tho law Dr. 'Vilson, asPresident of tho Board of Trllsteca, the object of which was "to makeknown to the friends of Zion, Ih:1.t incipient measures had been takenfor the establishmem of a Literary and Theolog,cal Scminary upon anew plall, and 10 enlist their efforts in its bcho.lf."

The ConstitUlion adopted by tho Board, provided that a majority ofthe members of the Board, nnd of the Exeeutive Committee, and all thoTheological Faculty, should be members of Ihe Presbyterian Church,WIder the care of tho General AlI8cmbly of that Church, in the UnitedStates of America, and this provision, with respecl 10 the Exeellli"eCommittee and the Faculty, was also introduced into thc Charter.

The names of the original members of Ihe Board, are found in !hePreamble of the Constitulion, whieh is as follows:

"Tho follpwing persons, viz.: J03hun L. Wilson, David Root, JamesChallen, William Schillinger, Robert Boal, jr., JaboT. C. Tunis, John 1".Keys, Isaac G. Burnct, Ephraim Robins, James Warren, John H.Groesbeck, Robert Wallace, William W. Greene, John Thompson,Benjamin Graves, Ludwell G. Gaines, Jacob Lindley, Caleb Kemper,James Thompson, Daniel Hayden, Daniel Wurtz, Samuel January, andAbraham A. Halaey, in consequenco of II proposition mnde to them byMessrs. E. Lane &. Co., merchnnlS of New Orlcans, have associated asTrustee, for the purpose of establi,hing a Seminary of learning, theprimary objeet of which shall be to educate pious young men for thegO'Spcl minil:!lry."

Soon after the organization of the Board, a Comminee was appoinu'lIl,of which the ReT, Dr. \Vilson WlIS ChaiTllllln, to confer with the Synod ofOhio, and to endeavor to offect a union between Ihe proposed Seminaryand a Theological School theu rccell1ly established under tho caro of ilieSynod. This effort proved unsuccessful. Application WWI made to the

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Legislnture of Ohio, at ilS ne:n session, for a ChaTler, which Wl\lI ob­tained on the 11th of February, 1829.

II is due 10 the ]\fessl"$. Lane 10 slate thai the name was fixed uponwilhaUl consultation with them, and that when they were made ac­quainted whh it, they ennlcstly requested that it might be changed.

For the purpose of presellling, al ono view, the agency of the MCIlBnI,Lene in founding the Insti1urion, we pass, for the present, 10 the 18th ofNovember,1829. AI this dale, the Boord addressed a leiter 10 theminforming them thai the ChaTler hnd been obtained, and the Seminarythat day opened for the reception of students, and requesting them thento l;lxccute to the Trustees a bond for the payment of the amount theyhad propOlled 10 give, according to their obligation previously given.

The CharIer contained the provision respecting manual labor, requiredb)' the Messrs. LaM as the condition of their donation, but the Boardfelt the difficulty of this rel:!triction upon their discretion, and, in IhoJetter above referred to, endeavored 10 obtain a change of this provision.This portion of the lellcr is worlhy of notice. It is as follows:

"Thc first point wo wish to suggest, relatos to tho WTll)unt of labor to

be reqUired of the Students. The instrument specifics, • not less thanthree, nor more than four hours each day, in agricu\tural or mechanicalpursuits.' This may be found to be the best proportion, but the instru­ment docs nOI rescrve to us the priVilege of learning wisdom from ex­pcnence, and modifying our system according 10 the results of actualexperiment. The plan of combining productive labor with smdy, is ilOthere, Hor has It IIT,y where been long enough ill operntioll 10 justify usill fomling any unalterable rules respecting its details. 'Ve shall insistUll the union of labor with study, und would simply request that we mayl>e left at libeny to adopt thnt phm of uniting Ihem, which may, on trial,00 found most expeJient ami Ilerhup!! indispensable to its complete suc­':css. \\'e propose, therefore, that thM part of the instrument should beso ahered a.~ to read: 'Every Student, &e., 10 spend so much time eachday in agricultural or mechanical labor, as the Board of Trustees maydirect." The llOnd was e.xClCUled, howcvcr, upon the original conditions.The leuer cnc100ing it, also containeJ a stutement respecting a change inthe firm,ond the eJooiog lip of their busill€lll;; ill New Orleans,-nnd 1\

rcquest that the Board would consent to cancel the bond, on the Jlny-ment of 84,000. ,_

To this the Board agreed, and renewed their SllggestiO~ respecting the

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change in the requisition of ffilllluallabor. The 154,000 were thereuponpaid in equal parts, by Mr. Ebenezer Lane llnd another brother, ]\[1'.

Andrew Lo.ne, and they then signified, in writing, their consent 10 achange of the Chart6r, so as to leave the amount of labor each day, tobe detennined by thll Trustees.

The deed of the land, acquired at about the same lime, contained tile

provision respecting manual labor in the words of the Ins! propositioll ofthe Board 10 the Messrs. Lane. As then the founders had oousented tothe change of langua.ge, find the deed of the land embl'll.ced ii, no illeffeets were anticipated from telling that matter rest.

In the letter acknowledging the receipt of the bond, the CorrespondingSecretary remarks: "The Board direct me to say thai they duly appre­ciate the kind and benevolent feelings you manifest in the prosperityof the Institution which, under Providence, originated with you, andwhich hIlS shared so largely in your munificence."

Mr. Lane, then, may be considered the founder of the Institution, andhis wishes, as expressed in his deposition, given in the suits, thaiIhe pl"CJl>ent instructors should \.Ie continued in office, and his opinionthat their removal would prove injurions to the Institulion, are de­serving of consideration.

THE KEMPER DONATION.

After the organization of the Board, the next impol,allt mea·~ure, was Ihe fixing upon the location of tho Seminal')'. For thispurpose, eXtensive inquiri6S were made in the vicinity of Cincin­nati, and several favorable offers of land were receivoo. Amongth6SC, WIIS that of Mr. Elnathan Kemper, of Walnut Hills. Hisfirst offer was to sell olle hundred acres of land, at $75 peracre,-next, to sell at S50 per acre.

On the lst of January, 1829, Mr. Kemper mel with the Boardand made the following proposition in writing, viz.; that he would/,,";ve them mIg acrC$ from the nonh end of his farm, 011 theeast side of the l\folllgomery Road, and sell tllem fony acres nextsouth of the sixty, for $4,000, payable one-founh In two years,and the remainder in equal ponions, in ono, twO, and three yearsthereafter. 'rhis proposition WIlS accepted.

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Mr. Kemper, in acknowledging the receipt of the resolutions ncceptingiJis prop<lsal, under dale of Jan. 14t}t, 1829, says: "\Vhen you obw.inyour Chuner, you can get the land surveyed, and I will execute thedeeds for the Board. Suffer me 10 assure you that Ihis donation, (whichhas cost me, if lIot 'a grrol tum,' much labor and \Oil,) shall ever beaccompanied with my sincere llild humble prayer that it may be im·prol·ed by the Ohio Board of Educ(uion. for the advancemem of theKingdom of OUf blessed Lord and Savior on earth, lind the ameliorationof tho condition of my lost and ruined fellow-sinners, and to Ihis endmay you be preserved from all selji8hne8s, passion or prejudice, but at

111\ times. and in aU circumstances, be under the influence of His Spiril,who seeth not ll.S mall, but who lookedl on the hean, fino at the motJveof each nction."

Here the mailer rested till noor the close of t},e year. The contractwas considered made, though the deeds were not executed. In the fol.lowing April, the Trustees rented the farm to Afr. Kemper for one year,al $150. On the 17th of November following, with consent of Mr.Kemper, Ihey relinquished the forty acres which they had previouslyagreed to purchase. On the 23d of NO\'emher, Mr. Kemper drew up adeed for the shty acres donated, in whicb he and bis wife appear lIS theonly gntlltOl'll, which Ilrovides, (IS one condition of the Jonation," that ifthe said Lane Seminary shall, nt any time hereafter, cease to be undertbe superintendence and government of the General Assembly of thePresbyterian Chureh of the United Slates, or Si»IW other ecde:riastUafbody, possessing similar powers, and adopting the same general re1igioU8JoctTilles, then this conveyance to be \'oid."

This deed was copied and prepared for signature, Rnd the originaland the copy are on file.

This deed was never executed; but the deed of the 9th of Decemberfollowing, in which the other Messrs. Komper, viz: James, the father,Peler H. and Dll.\'id R., the brotnel1i of Elnathan, unite with him inconveying the land, was substituted for it.

For what TCasollS the other members of the family, whose llame.~ arelIuliched to the deed, united with Elnllthan in Ihe donation, we have 110men.ns of uscenaining. It is known, only, that they gave to ElnalhaLlnoout twenty.four ncres or land, of about the same value per acrc asthe tmet douated, in considemtlon of putting their names to the deed to4he Truslees.

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From these facts, it is manifest that the entire donation" origina­led with Elnathan, and was actually made by him, and thai thoughthe names of his father and twO brothers are attaChed to the deed.more tbaD halr the land was in fact bUi donation.

The deed provides that, in cue the Seminuy should fail, or be­r.ome e:.:tinct., tho land shall be equally divided between the AmericanBible Society, the American TnlCI: Society, the American ColoniUltionSociety, and the American Education Sot:iety. For UJis provision,lhe Seminaty and lbc Church are indebled :1.'-0 10 E1nathan Kemper.It was 001 acceded to by the rel!'1 of the f(lffilly, till II. few daysbefore the deed Willi made 001, rne original undel15tanding being, Illl!in such an event, the land ihould revert 10 me donol'S.

Elnathan Kemper's sympathies were decidedly with the NewSchool portion of Ihe Church. So loon as the Lane SeminaryChurch was formed, lie left the r.lmreh with which his hrothen wereconnected, nnd of which his falher was pastor, and connected him·self with the Seminary Church. He was l100n after elecled l\ rulingeldor in thai church, and held Ihat office till hls death, in 1834.

He was a tnember of the General All6cmbly of 1834, and hi~

name 15 found on the minutes of thaI body, 011 all the importantquesl\ons in controversy between the two ponions of the church, reocorded with the New School members.

In April, 1832, afier all Old School men had withdnlwn theirsupport from the Seminary, u they had been advilled 10 do, Mr.Elnathan Kemper and his wife leued \0 the TruSlees fifty acres ofland adjoining the donntion 00 fhe South, on a permanent lease of8500 per annum. This land DoW forms an important part of the proper·ly of the Institution. In May, 1833, be subscribed three hundred dolllU'Son a lIjMlCial lub&criptiOIi. And before his decease, gave the Semi.Il8ry an rtcre of land foc a Cemetery. No more proof lhat he \\"UII New School man, will probably be asked for.

EARLY EI''FORTS TO PROCURE nJNDS.

As SOOIl as the Charter was obtained, two ngenb were appointedto collect funds~ne in tbe South, and one In New England. Butneither accomplished any thing, and the ngtnt in New England ad.vised the Board to abandon efforls to obtain funds Ibere, till, by iUl,

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friends in the West, tho InstilUtion had boon established and opened.Meanwhile, a subscription of nbout 85,000 W(\S obtained in Cin­cinnati and vicinity, abom half of which was availablo for the pur­pose of building, in tho yecar 1830. This subsCription was obtainedindiscriminately from all dasses of the citizens who wcre interestedin having a Literary InstilUtion cstablished in the neighborhood. Oftbis subscription, about $4,500 were paid,-members of tho OldSchool churches, paying less than half of il.

Rcv. George C. Be<::kwith, of Lowen, Mass., was appointed Ihefirst Professor, in April, 18~9, and in thc November fo!1owing, ar­rivod in Cincinnati to elllor upon his duties. Three or four studentswere on tho ground, but thoro were 110 cOllveniellCOS for their accom­modation_ Mr. Beckwith Spelll the wimer in tcaching, and early inthe follOWing spring, was sellt EM\ 10 <'olleet funds. He labol'tJd inthat service through thc summer, bm without the least success, andin September, 1830, resigned his office and abandoncd the emerprise.

On the receipt of this intelligence, a special meeting of theBoard was called to oonsider what must be done. That was "solemn and a memorable meeting. The Institution existed onlyin name,-wilhout Professors, wilhout Sllldents,_without funds 01"bUildings, and their efforts to obtaio fnnds haVing proved a failure,the prospect WIIS dark enough 10 st:lg.,"C1" the strongest faith. Thefoundations of one building were laid, but the mClll1s of completingit, were llOt at command, alld iI seemed very doubtful whethcr thedonation of land nlust not be given up, and the whole enterprisebe abandoned.

The record of that mectillg, held Sept. 20th, 1830, is bricf:­"Much doubt rested on the minds of some," says the Secretary;"the meeting was solcmll, and, lifter much deliberation and con·sultation, it was resolved thai one more cffon be made to raisefunds at the East."

From a full repon of the financial operations of the Seminary,made some six ycars after, we are permitted 10 obtain a fulleracquaintance with that interesting meeting:

"The Presidcnl of the Boord (Dr. Wilson) said, 'I never hadgroot confidence in oblaining aid ffom Eastern men, and Easternfunds. We have made tlte experiment, and we ha,·e seen theresult. \Ve must now look to the We:;t for Professors and funds,

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and if we (llllnOt make II greal instilution, as 1'.'0 hopod, lYe mustmllke a smllll one.' As little confidence, however, wns felt by thememlJ.ero, genernlly, in obmining nid from the \Vest, as the Chair­man had e,'(proSlled in roilltion to the EMt. A member of theBoard said, '111m an Eastern man; I know lhe heans of EasternChristillnS; 1 know they will give us money, if we mnke a specialappeal to tbem. We must have Dr. Beecher or Dr. McAuley, orsome other prominent man. and the means fill" his support willnot be wanting. Tho c.ommillee said, 'if the brother who has somuch confidcncc in the East, will go, we will send him, lindmake one more elfurt.' Dr. Wilson said, 'Amen.'''

Thus, at Ihis crilical oxtremity of affairs, a gracious Providence,j interposed, and the appointment of Rev. F. Y. Vail, as the Agem

of Ihe SclOinllfY, WM secured. 'What were the results of thatapf>Oin\lnel\l, will llppear in lhe OO<jlJel.

Al'roINTMENT OF DR. BEECHJ.:R.

lIh. Vail hastenCfl to the East, and conferred with prominentmen il\ Philadelphia, New York lIlId Boston, in respect to the mnnto fill the office of Professor of 'rheology, in the Seminary.With one voice, liley directed him to Dr. Lyman Beecher, ofBoston. If he conld be induced to go, public oonfidel1co wouldbe at Ollce secured, and funds and students would immediatelybegin to now into the Institution.

The snbject was next laid before Dr. Beecher, in eonnectienwith some of his host advisers in BOSton, and the result was II.

strong eonVi(:lion in his mind, lhat dUly to Christ called him tothe 'Vest., Antl tltat his people would cheerfully consent to hil'l!clI,ving Ihem for a work of such vast importance.

Anhur Tappan, Esq., immediately bccll,me responsible for theSIllnry of Dr. Beecher, by subscribing $20,000, lO be paid at hisdecease, and the interesl selni-annunlly, Oll condition that Dr.Reechor should receive lind accept the appointment of Presidentand Theological Professor, and also, thai twO other Professorshipsb6 secured at the East, and from $10,000 to $20,000 at the West,for bUildings. The Board were immediately informed of these

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facts, and on the receipt of the grateful imelligence, assembled forthe spednl purpose, on the 1!2nd of October, 1830, and unani­mously elected Dr. Boocher President and Professor of Theology.The following estr<tct, front the leum of the Corresponding 8ecrlJ­lary, Dr. James ·Wa(ron, in which he communicated 10 Mr. Vail,the action of the Board, will show the wile of feeling at thattime: "Your success was entirely unexpected, and it gave a thrill tothe soul of overy member of the Board, lUId others whom I havesoon, nrc rejoicing wllh tears in their eyes. Is il possible, say they,Ihnt this Westcw \Vorld is to be blessed with the presence of Dr.Beecber~ And we give thanks 10 the Lord tbat he has made you thehonored instmment of conferring so great a ble!i5ing upon us. Ther8Solmion was passed with reverential silence, nOI a word was spokenbut 'Aye.'''

Meanwhile, Mr. Vail was progressing rapidly in raising the otherProfessoflihips; so mnch so, lhal, on the lllh oCNovembcr, he wrotethat he considered one in effect secured; and un incumbem for the officehad already been tlamad by the donors, ((ltd about half of the other badbeen subscribed, but al this Stage of Ihe matter, Mr. Vnil's health gaveway, and he was obliged to roNrn to Ihe West, and his pll1.Ce was sup­plied soon after by Rev. O. Eastman. Early in the year 1831, 1>oliei·tude began to be felt ICllt Dr. Beecher might not oblain the consent ofhis people to his leaving them, and Dr. Wilson, Rev. MCSSl·S. Vall ilndGallagher were appointed n Committee to correspond with them on thesubject.

The following extract from the leller of this committee, will showhow the very existence of the Institution was regarded as being identi­fied with Dr. Beecher's ncceptance.

After speaking of Dr. Beacher's qualifications for the work to whichhe was invited, and the influence upon the cause of Christ, Enst andWest, of his accepting, the Committee go 00 to say: "The last reasonwe shall mention for Dr. Beecher's connection with our Institution, is,Ihat Ihe s~uring of funds pledged 00 this coodition, and the consequemezistence nnd prosperity of the Instiultion, depend upon it. Three Pro­fessorships, amounting in 0.11 to $50,000, are nearly secured, on condi.tion Ihat Dr. Beecher becomes our ProfCSllor, and thai we, at lhe 'Vest,raise from $10,000 w $20,000 more for buildings. These funds, thusliberally offered to us, arc 10 be given on account of the special confi.·

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dence that the donors pLace in Dr. B. to preside over and give characterand success to our Seminary. Shall il be then the painful calamity ofthe 'West, and of the Church generally, that some 560,000 or $70,000,which would place our Institution on a high and permanem basis,:lod bless our iocreasiug aod perishing millions, must be loot, and ournow brightening prospects be blastcd for want of the man with whomthe friends of Zion and of the West, have identified their benefactions 1Should we fail of securing Dr. Beecher and the funds connected withhim, 'ICe lee fIOt how aur lnstitutian can be sustained, as extensive fundsare indispensable, and cannm possibly be obwned here among our inflt()\churches."

In March followillg, Dr. Beecher wrOte 10 the Board a full SlO.lemellt ofthe Cllse, from which it appeared tOOt ncw and unexpected difficulties to

his leaving Boston had arisen, and it seemed almost certain that he musldoeline the appointment. In thi, emergency, a s?ecial Agent was semto Boston 10 lay the case anew before him and his !JeOple, and 10 secure,if pOSllible, his final aCCeptance. The result of this Agency was such asto induce the Board 10 resl, in the confidence that, within a year or twO,his services could be secured, and the funds subscribed, on the conditionof his acceptance, be made safc. On the 23rd of Jannary, 1832, hisnppointmem was renewed. In April hc visited Cincinnati to make a per­sonal examination of Ihe condition and prospccts of the Seminary; andill July following, baving previously renewed his connection wilh thePresbyterian Church, signified his acceptance of the appointment. InNovember he moved to Cincinnati, and on the 26th of December, 1832,was inducted inlo his office, and entered upon its duties.

FURTHER EFFORTS '1'0 RAISE FUNDS.

The ne"t important movement, was to raise the funds itl the West onwhich the Eastern fuuds had been conditionally promised. This wasregarded as Ihe moat difficult part of the work. It was undertaken inthe beginning of the year 1832, tit the same time wilh the re-appoimmemof Dr. Beecher. It should here be noted that, near Ihe close oflhe pre­vious year, Dr. Wilson had resigned his place as President, and as amember of the Board of Trustees; and had published his reasons, andwarned the churches against giving to the support of Lane Seminary.The reasons were, in brief, lhat he had become satisfied that it was the

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intention of Ihe majority, "to render the lustitutiou 6ubllervielll to theNew School Theology;" and that the appoill\mem of Dr. Beecher wouldforfeit Ihe Chatter, because be was not a Presbyterian, and could" notbecome so without a great change in his 'rheological opinions."

Of course, this publictllion would CUI off Ihe benefactions of the OldSchool portion of the Churdl, if any had before been disposed 10 aid iniu endowment.

The pl'Qllpecl WD.ll gloomy, but the exigency was a pressing one, andthe Board met it nobly. Abom 1$8,000 wero subscribed by members ofthe Board j (Iud in a few weeks the nmoullI was raised to over 816,000;thus securing tho ERSlern pledges, and futnislting oectlSion for joy to thefriends of the Institution.

In tho spring of 1833, ahom $12,000 wero obtained at the East by Mr.Vail, for the general pm·poses of the Institution, and 10 fill the Professor­ships already commenced.

In thc three years following, Mr. Vail, aided by Dr. Beecher, raised,at the EaSt, subscription'S to tho amOUlll of aboll! 840,000, for a founhProfessorship, lLIld for the erection of a Chapel and Professor's house.

One half of this fourth Professorship, $7,500, was subscribed by Mr.John Tappan, of Boslon, the principal to be paid within one year afterhis decease, and the imerest in quarterly payments of $112'50, lIS theyshould become due. This he has paid, in all amounting to $5,200. Inhis deposition, Mr. TapplLll says he was induced to endow Ihis Professor­ship whoJly in consequence of the solicil.ll.lions of Dr. Beecher, and in thefull belief that tho Seminary would be under his charge during his nal·lIml life; and thai he should not have done it hud it been in other hands;and that Dr. Beecher's removal from office would, in his opinion and inthe opinion orlhose learned in the law, entirely absolve him from pay­ing either illlerest or principal; thai he gave his bond for the paymentof Ihe subscription with Ihe view of aiding the Seminnry, in cOllnectionwith Dr. Beecher, and through bolh, Ihe cause of pure religion in theWest. He funher sUItes that, by 11is thus aiding it, he has reason tobelieve his relations, the HOll. Daniel Waldo and sisters, were itlducedto contribute four Ihousand dollars or more to the sume Professorship,which he is confident they would nOI llave done, hud not Dr. Beecherbeen connected with the Seminary.

No general efforts have since been made for raising funds. The Sem­inary WtlS considered endowed j and if all the funds thai had been sub·

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scribed had been paid, it would have been. The embarrassments of1837-40, deprived many orthe friends oftbe Seminary, of the abilily topay theil' snbecriptiona. They foil wilh special severity uPQu Mr. Tap­pan, and lhe consequence WWI, that the whole professorship subscribedby him, after he had paid the interell1 six yOIml, was IOS110 the Scm.

iuary.In reviewing now the whole process of endowing the InstilUlioll, il

will be seen 1hnt the (un,dB of Lune Scminnry have been given, almostexclusively by New School meo.

ial. The original founders, though Baptists, were IlIOn, and still are,with the New School in their sympathies.

tnd. Mr. Elnathlm Kemper. a New School nllUl, was Iho moving spiritin making the donation of sixty acres of land on which the SeminaryStllnds-ncluaJly giving il himself at first and finally sharing with Olhermembers of the family, more than half of it-and after all Old Schoolmen had withdrawn their suppOrt, lensing on very favorable tenns animportant tmct of land, and continuing to afford sympathy and ~ullinry

aid to the time of his decease.3rd. Thc 85,000 raised first in Cincinnati, was obtained from all

tho citizens, indiscriminately; and less than hnlf was paid by Old Schoolmen.

4th. The Tappan Profcssorship lUld the Philadelphia and New·YorkProfcssorships were obtained in view of the fuct that Dr. Beecher was tobe the Theologicn1 Professor, and for the most part pledged on that con­dition.

5th. The second subeCripriOD of $16,000, in Cincinnati and vicinity,WM obtained immediately after the leading Old School man in the West,had wnmed the churches not to sustain the Seminary.

6th. And finally, the remaining funds were obtained by .Mr. Vail amIDr. J30eeher, at the Enst, after the alienation between Old School andNow School men had become notorious.

All this, which appears on the records of the Seminary, is confirmedby the testimony of Mr. Vail, taken in the suits, who was the agent ofthe Seminary, in obtaining n.11 its funds. Mr. Vllil Slates that the ffilUlDerin which he collected the funds gnve him the opportunity of knowing theviews of nearly all the donors; and that not less than nine-untJt$ of thewhole amount, was given by New School Presbyteriaus, and those whosesympathiea were with the New School portion of tho PresbyterianChurch.

( 16 1The whole amount of fWlds collected for the institution, estimating

the Kemper donation at $6,000, the price pUt upon the land at the timethe donation was made, is about $102,000. Nearly $40,000 more weresubscribed but lIot paid.

Of the amount paid, it is believed 10 be perfccdy safe to say, thaI,including the proportion of the land given by the father nnd brothers ofElnllihan Kemper, not more than $6,000 hnve been given by mellwhose symplllhies are with the Old School branch of the Church.

The names of the donors, lind the sums given by each, nre on record,Ilud 1l1llrge porlion of diem are persons whose relations and sympathiesIlrc well known.

APPOINTMENT OF OTHER OFFICERS.

The Literary Deparlffiellt of dIe IJ\lilitllliol:l was discontinued in theyear 1835, and the several appointments 10 offices in lhat depal1mCnl,nrc here ommilfed. They were filled at different periods by Rev. L. D.Howcll, Re\·. N. S. FulsOlll, ReI'. John Morgan, Dr. Thomas D.Mitchell.

Rev. 1'. 1. Biggs, Pastor of the Prcsbyted311 Church of Frankford,Pennsylvania, was appoilllcd Professor of &c1csiastical History andChurch Polity, in January, 1831, and was inducted inlO lhe officeDec. 26th, 1832. He continued to discharge the dillies of lhe office lillOet. 18th, 1839, when he resigned.

Rev. Clllvin E. Stowe, Professor of Languuges in Dal'lmouth College,was appointed Professor of Biblical Literature, Aug. 9th, 1832, andentered upon the dlllies ofilis office in July, t833.

Rev. Baxter Dickinson, Pastor of the Presbyr.crian Church, in New­ark, N. J., WIIS appointcd to the Professon;hip of Sacred Rhetoric andPastoral Theology, in Ocl., 1836, and resigned in Sepl., 1839.

ReI'. D. Ii. Allen, Professor of Rhetoric in ]\[ariclla College, WIIS' ~

appointed his successor ill October, 1840, and immediately entered uponthe duties of the office.

Of lhe present Trustees, a majority had been appointed prcviously to1833, llnd only four ncw memben; hllVe been appointed since the divi­~ion of Ihe Geneml Assembly. 1'lle Faculty, with one exception, IIrC

the originR1 incumbel\ls of lhe offices they llOld.

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A suit at lnw WlUl instituted in the Supreme Court of Ohio, against theFacuhy, on the relation of David R. Kemper, in the form technicallydenominated" quo warranto," in which it is claimed by the relator, thatthey are not members of the Prellbyterian Church, under the care of theGeneral Assembly, as required by tbe Charler. This suit, after variousdelays, has just now been decided by the Court in Bank, in favor of theFacuhy, on the ground that the llCuon is bnlTed by the statute whichprovides thai such action must be commenced within three years of thealleged forfeiture of office.

About the same time, a suit in Chancery was commenced by David R.Kemper, in the Superior Courl of Cincinnati, against the Trustees, beingin the form of a petition of the plaintiff, that the Coun would require theTrustees to conform to Iheir charter, which he claims they have violatedill twO respects: 1st, in neglectillg to require manual labor of the stu­dents; and 2d, in pUlling men into the offices of instruction, who are nOImembers of the Prellbyterian Church in Ihe United States.

On this suit, the defendants demurred to the right of the plaintiff toinstitute the suit, and Ihe Coun sustained the demurrer.

From this decision, the plaintiff has appealed to the Supreme Court.Should the decision of the lower Coun be reversed, the whole case willcome before the Court, and the equity, as well as the law of the case, bedecided.

Neither the Tl-ustooa nor the Faculty have any dellire to encroachupon the rights of their brethren of the other branch of the PresbyterianChurch; though they conscientiously believe, that if either body shouldbe regarded as the only true General Assembly of the PresbyterianChurch, it is that which was constilUted 11.1 the time of the division, inexaci accordance with the Constitution, and is known as Ihe Constitu­tional General Assembly. But while the Princeton, the Prince Edward,nnd the South Carolina Seminaries, have each a much larger proportionof New School funds, under the care of the Old School AlI.'Jembly,andthat, withoUI complaint, they can but regard themselvell as beyond therench of rensonable censure, in the management and USe of the funds ofthis Seminary, so small a fraction of which were contributed by OldSchool men.

Nay, they believe that they are bound, by solemn obligation, to thedonors who have endowed the Inslitution, and to the Church of God, tocontinue to manage and use these funds as they have hitherto done.

S

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In CQnclusion, they would express their gratitude to God for his bless­ing upon the Institution in all its struggles, and upon those who havehere been educated for the ministry.

More than three hundred studems have enjoyed, for a longer or shorterperiod, tho lldvamages which the Seminary affords, most of whom haveemered the ministry. Tbeyaro found in the Old School and the NewSchool Presbyterian, tho Bajltist, the Mothodist, the EpisCQpal and theLutheran denominations.

Their fields of labor a~e in twenty different States of the Union-inIndia, China, Palostine, Africa, and the ·West Indies, and among theAbo~igjllcs in the Wost,-nnd in all these fields, thoy have been ownedby the groat Head of the Church, and made successful in thoir labors.

3- 10839

"~RPER STORAtl<",'."