Church Economics [pp. 325-338]

THE PRINCE TON RE VI~ W.
give it free of cost and a good subscription to boot. It is
chosen; hua fve years have not passed untll'its out-o[-the-way
situation makes the building of another a necessity. A little
money was saved in the first instance; but it was "penny-wise,
pound-foolish" economy in the end. So it may well enough be
in colleges and even seminaries. We have lived through the
Log-cabin college era. We have reached the stage when organization, contemplating the permanent needs of a great whole, is
required. That an excellent man gives his house and time for
a college, and asks for the public support, is not by itself any
adequate reason for giving it. The inadequacy, uncertainty of
the issue, infelicity of place, and inevitable personal elements
introduced by the history, may be a positive discouragement to
subsequent and wise effort. A great element in the apparatus
of a great Christian body should not be dependent on the fortuitous tact, ability, or perseverance of a college agent. It should
have the intelligent sanction of a competent and trusted board,
representing and considering the whole, and so be able to rely
on the practical co-operation of the whole. No well-governed
kingdom is defended by fortresses put up at the public cost
where a farmer happens to offer ground, or a builder finds time
and stone on his hand. A competent authority determines
strategic points. The children of light ought to be as wise in
their administration as the children of this world.
We ought to adds that with the foresight which, in many
things, has marked New England, a "college society" on the
the lines indicated has long been in existence within its territories. Whether it has realized all the advantages which its
founders contemplated, we are not able to say; but of the capabilities of such an agency there can be no reasonable doubt.
The Protestant churches, notwithstanding all the one-sided reflections upon them as if in an obstinate conflict with science,
are, and have been, the best, wisest, and most self-denying
friends of high education. There is not the least reason to apprehend their abandonment of this field of labor for human
good; and it is of the utmost moment that their gifts,'sympathies, and efforts should be not only inspired by the loftiest aims,
but that they should be directed and utilized by the best practical wisdom.
336
,f