thousand years. He seems to be at a loss, however, to dispose of the Jews, whose return to Palestine is to occur after the saints are caught up into the air; and he is doubtful whether they will be converted to Christianity before or after their return; finally, he seems to be of opinion that a first-fruits of the nation will be converted before. There is, one pleasing trait in the character of these prophetic men; they generally appear to be truly orthodox and evangelical in their views of Christian doctrine.

The reflexions which have occurred to our minds respecting these various hypotheses, is, that it would be wiser to give less indulgence to an exuberant imagination-to leave secret things to God, not to be wise above what is written, and to acquiesce with submission, in the declaration of the risen Saviour. "IT IS

NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW THE TIMES AND THE SEASONS WHICH THE

FATHER HATH PUT IN HIS OWN POWER."

ART. II.-Discourses and Addresses at the Ordination of the Rev. Theodore Dwight Woolsey, LL. D., to the ministry of the Gospel, and his inauguration as President of Yale College, October 21, 1846. Published by order of the corporation.

THIS is a beautifully printed pamphlet, of exactly one hundred pages. The occasion of the various discourses it contains, as well as their general nature and respective authors, will appear in the following extracts from the preface, which, after stating that President Day resigned his office, August 18, 1846, proceeds thus:

"On the following day, the Fellows made choice of Theodore D. Woolsey, LL.D., Professor of the Greek Language and Litera-. ture, to be the President, and requested him, in the event of his acceptance of the office, to unite with the Prudential committee in making the necessary arrangements for his ordination to the Christian ministry, and for his inauguration to the Presidency of the College.

"The views of the President elect were entirely coincident with those of the Corporation as to the religious and ecclesiastical nature of the office to which he was elected. Accordingly he regarded his election as a call to ministering in the word of

God; and when after due deliberation, he had accepted the call, he united with the Prudential committee in requesting the ministers of the gospel in the Board of Fellows, to act as a council of ministers for his ordination.

"The corporation having been convened on the 20th of October, this arrangement was reported by the Committee and accepted; and the ordaining council was constituted accordingly. Dr. Woolsey was then presented to the council as a candidate for the ministry of the gospel; and having been examined by thein, .. he was unanimously approved.

"On the following day, at ten o'clock, A. M. the public solemnities of the ordination were performed.

.

The sermon 'The

was preached by the Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D. charge was given by the Rev. Noah Porter, D.D., and the right hand of fellowship by the Rev. Theophilus Smith."

In the afternoon, "the ceremony of induction was performed by the Rev. Jeremiah Day, LL.D., D.D., late President, acting as senior Fellow, in behalf of the corporation; and the inaugurating address to the President was followed with a discourse to the audience. A congratulatory address in Latin was delivered by James L. Kingsley, LL. D., Professor of the Latin Language and Literature, after which the President pronounced

his inaugural discourse."

We find all the above mentioned performances in the pamphlet before us, except the Latin address by Dr. Kingsley. We regret that he has not seen fit to publish what seems to us as essential to a complete portraiture of the proceedings, as it was to the academic dignity, of the occasion. In the present state of classical attainment, a Latin address is far more likely to be appreciated and enjoyed, in the reading than the delivery; and the multitude not only of graduates who have been favored with his instructions, but of other educated men to whom he is honorably known, would have been glad to see another memento of this veteran scholar, qui nihil tetigit quod non ornavit.

We have taken the more copious extracts from this introductory narrative, because we wish to bring distinctly before our readers, one prominent and distinctive feature in this inauguration of a President over the largest, and with a single exception, oldest College in our country. We refer to his ordination to the ministry of the gospel, which appears to have been deemed and

1

made an indispensable preliminary to his induction to the Presidency. The candidate whom the corporation judged in all other respects most fit, being destitute of this qualification, was elected on the condition that he acquire it preparatory to his inauguration. Of course, such a body of men would not invite any one to go through the mere form of ordination to the sacred office, who was void of the essential gifts and acquisitions, which are requisite to the due discharge of it, and without which such a ceremony would be no better than a solemn farce. Dr. Woolsey in early life chose the ministry as his profession, and richly furnished himself therefor by laborious and various study; and although these aims were mysteriously frustrated, yet, when in haturer years, God gave him a more distinct and emphatic call to the work, that call found him furnished with the amplest theological erudition, and with a piety at once chastened and confirmed by severe and protracted trial.

But notwithstanding these high qualifications, that self-distrust which in his opening manhood, led him to shrink from the vast responsibilities of the sacred office to which he had aspired, rendered him, if possible still more unwilling to assume it, when having already spent a large portion of the prime of his life in another vocation, there was added the aversion to great and unlooked for changes in our habits and pursuits, which grows with years. Owing to his scruples on this point, he was disposed to decline-and despite the most importunate entreaties, did for some time anxiously delay accepting-the office to which he was elected, inasmuch as he agreed with the corporation, "as to its religious and ecclesiastical nature." At length, being persuaded that duty required him, to accept what he calls "this undesired office," he became no less satisfied that his own personal scruples and preferences in regard to entering upon the work of the ministry were thereby overruled; that he, who would properly fulfil the duties pertaining to the presidency of suck an institution of learning, must also have the relations and sympathies, the privileges and responsibilities of a Christian minister.

All this shows-and for this reason we thus dwelt upon it— how cardinal and indispensable it was deemed by all the parties concerned, that the President of the college should also be a

* Inaugural Address, p. 100.

minister of the gospel. But it has been contended by many, that to insist on such a prerequisite to office in an educational institution, savours of needless stiffness and gratuitous bigotry. Accordingly the ground taken and adhered to, in this instance, has been the subject of extensive criticism and censure. The question then arises, and it is one of no secondary moment; were the Trustees right in this case, in acting upon the opinion, that no one, whatever may be his other endowments, who is not a Christian minister, is qualified for the full and adequate discharge of the duties of the Presidency of the college. Ought this qualification, ordinarily, to be sought and insisted on in those who are called to preside over those institutions, to which our young men resort for a liberal education?

To these questions we do not hesitate to respond affirmatively. With regard to almost all our colleges, a single consideration is conclusive on this subject. They were founded, and the funds for their endowment were originally and sacredly bestowed, for the purpose of providing for the church a supply of educated and orthodox ministers. This was the great motive that led to the establishment of nearly, if not quite, all of our more ancient and prosperous colleges. This prompted by far the larger portion of the donations and sacrifices by which they were founded and built up. In a note by Dr. Bacon, (p. 35,) it is stated that the petition to the legislature for the charter of Yale College, set forth, "that from a sincere regard to, and zeal for, upholding the Protestant religion, by a succession of learned and orthodox men, they had proposed that a collegiate school should be erected in this colony, wherein youth should be instructed in all parts of learning, to qualify them for public employments in church or civil state; and that they had nominated ten ministers to be trustees, partners, or undertakers for the founding, endowing, and ordering the said school." The preamble to the charter, rehearses this representation and makes it the basis on which it rests. Similar was the origin of nearly all those great institutions planted by the wisdom and self-denying piety of our forefathers. Not only so, but the history of their subsequent growth and accumulation of funds, will show that they have drawn their main support from the benefactions of the pious, who cherished them chiefly in view of their being nurseries of young ministers. Substantially the same is true of the great mass of colleges of a

more recent origin. The grand motive which originated and has sustained them, in many cases at incredible sacrifices, was a desire to maintain and propagate the Christian religion, by rearing up an able ministry. Their benefactors, patrons, trustees, and instructors, have been for the most part Christian men. In almost all instances they are cherished and controlled by some single denomination of Christians; in some cases they owe their paternity and support to local ecclesiastical bodies. Leaving out of view that magnificent abortion of infidelity, which has sealed its own doom, by its suicidal exclusion of all Christian teachers, it may be safely said, that all the colleges in the country, would quickly expire, or preserve but a languid and sickly existence, if they were bereft of that support which they receive from the church in one form and another, on account of their agency in producing a supply of competent ministers, and otherwise promoting the cause of pure religion.

This being so, it is a plain breach of trust, a foul perversion and prostitution of the most sacred charities, if these colleges are not so administered and regulated, as to make Christianity the paramount and supreme interest, to which all their instruction and discipline are tributary. But the character of an institution is of course strongly represented by its presiding officer. If it be a primary object of it to advance the Christian religion, by imbuing the students with its doctrines and spirit, and through them, the world, over which they are destined, whatever profession they may select, to exercise a commanding influence, then he who presides over it as universal head and regulator, should be a minister of that religion. If it be a primary object for which its funds were bestowed, to train young men for the ministry, then surely he who has the universal supervision and lead of its operations, should himself exercise that ministry. Good faith with the pious founders and benefactors of these institutions forbids that they be so far secularized, that the Presidency or the ascendency in their management, be in the hands of any others than accredited ministers aud friends of the gospel.

But aside from any such special obligation, viewing the question as open, and to be decided on its intrinsic merits, we reach the same conclusion. The interests of these colleges, the great ends for which they exist, their government and discipline, the cause of sound learning and education, the highest good of the