Notes on Current Events [pp. 723-728]

NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS.
How painful the idea that the past poverty of America has
entailed on almost sixty thousand of her educated sons,
intellectual inferiority to what they might have been. Once
settled in life, the ordinary student cannot buy for himself
a great library, nor in nine cases out of ten will he be located
near one. Hlis college is the calmc mater, from whose breast,
while he remains in her arms, he has a right to ask the supply
of his intellectual thirst. Her heart may well break if she sees
her children famish lthrough her poverty. We live in a time when
millions are freely given to foster the interests of learning in
our land. Let us not lavish them all in buildings. Europe spends
her wealth in libraries, museums, and galleries. Foreign universities are not conspicuous for their edifices, but for their vast
collections of books. What a sinking of heart does a librarian
feel on comparing their stores to ours! Or even in exploring
many a city book-store! Books are the life-blood of a literary
institution. They may be of more value than all the rest,.
They speak to successive generations while time endures. He
who founds a library lays the surest claimis to the gratitude of
millions. -ippy the mrnillionatiro who shall endow ten college
libraries with a hiundred thousand dollars each. Literatur3 shall
remember himn and perpetuate his,name. When some greater
Dante shall mark out the circles of the sky for the. benefactors
of mnankind, he will marshal such men to their place, in the
same qcjuarter, but in far higher station, than those who erected
fountains in fainting cities, or excavated reservoirs in torrid
provinces of the East.
ART. X.-NOTES ON CURRENT EVENTS.
CO0IPPARATIVE REQLUIRE3IENTS FOR EFFECTIVE PREACHIING IN THE HOME
AND FOREIGN FIELDS.
We have before called the attention of our readers to the ildiani Evangehli a/Zviw, the first number of which appeared in July, I873. The first
article in it is by the Rev. Theodore Wynkoop, who left a flourishing
pastorate, and much else that lends a charme to life, to become a missionary in India. It is on "The Training of Native Preachers." The substance of this article was once in our hands, and we intended to publish
it, but in some unaccountable way the manuscript was mislaid, and has
not been found. After showing the absolute necessity of raising up native
preachers to secure and carry on the work begun by missionaries from
abroad, he lans down some principles in regard to tihe training and culture they need, w'hich are quite worthy to be signalized: first, because
they are equally-, if possible, more applicable to t:.-ining, for the pulpit
here; and nex, because they show the supl)erlative folly of sending- men
to evangelize thte heathen, who are destitute of tihe gifts and training
requisite!br success at home. He says
I. "It should be based upon the study of the Vernacular languages.
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