History of Andover theological seminary, 1933 , Part 17

Author: Rowe, Henry K; Henry Kalloch, 1869-1941
Publication date: 1933
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 236


USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > History of Andover theological seminary, 1933 > Part 17


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Meantime the conference committee reported its findings regarding the sentiments and opinions of the Andover Alumni. It was clear that there was a general agreement that some- thing should be done about the Seminary. The decline in


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attendance had been continuous since the Spanish-American War. There was now about an equal number of professors and students. Loyal as the alumni were and grateful for what the school had done for them, they felt that something was wrong, and they expressed it in various vigorous phrases. But they did not want the Seminary to die, and they were fertile in suggestions.


The general sentiment was against removal. Nearly half of the three hundred and fifty or more who had voted their preference believed it best that the Seminary should remain on Andover Hill. They felt that old associations and the traditions of a hundred years were too precious to be sacri- ficed. They believed that the institution was obliged to con- sider the wishes of the Congregational churches, and that the funds ought not to be used in a way that would be contrary to the wishes of the founders. About one-third of the alumni favored the removal to Cambridge, but the majority while recognizing the catholic spirit in which the affairs of the University were administered and the gains to both Andover and the Harvard Divinity School by a union of forces, felt that it would be a mistake. It seemed doubtful if the critical, philosophical spirit would contribute to the making of pastors and missionaries, yet that had been the ruling purpose of the Seminary. They feared the possibility of litigation over the re- moval. They felt that the small number of students at the Harvard Divinity School over a period of twenty-five years did not give much encouragement for an increase in attend- ance near the University. The decline of interest of students in the colleges regarding the ministry as a profession was by no means limited to the Andover constituency. One man said: "An empty seminary is as well off at Andover as at Cambridge." There were not a few who remembered that until about 1880 the old suspicion of Harvard was so strong that few Congregational students for the ministry were enrolled there. After the Advanced Class was abolished at Andover in 1894 it seemed more likely that the opportunities for ad- vanced study at Harvard would make their appeal, but even then the response was small. Andover alumni doubted, there-


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fore, whether any particular advantage would come from the Harvard connection.


Minority proposals favored removal to Boston, where the school might become a training center for ministers to the foreign population ; to Worcester, Springfield, or Northfield, in Massachusetts; to a union with Amherst or Williams or Boston University, or with Hartford or Chicago Seminaries. Some thought it would be best if the Seminary would devote its attention to training missionaries for foreign service. Altogether there was a striking lack of unity. The "confer- ence committee" itself divided three to two, the majority favoring the Andover location, the minority sympathetic with the Harvard affiliation. All agreed that the school must broaden its ministry, and if possible do more for the training of leaders for New Americans; the plan for removal sug- gested such work for the city of Cambridge.


It was thought that the adverse report of the body of the alumni might check the proceedings of the Trustees, but they saw advantages in the plan which offset the objections that were made. It was expected that the Seminary would have increased facilities, that the Faculty would be given equal standing with the Faculty of the Harvard Divinity School, and that Andover would retain its full independence. It would be possible to have a plant that would house the library adequately and that would be modern in every way. Most important of all was the opportunity to acquaint the students with the values in psychology, sociology, and ethics, and other sciences of recent development, which could not be provided at Andover with the limited resources of the Seminary. The social passion, which had been felt at Andover and had led to the foundation of Andover House as a social settlement in Boston, could be fostered and guided in the new environment. The Trustees recognized in Cambridge the historic shrine of education in America. The University enjoyed freedom of thought and discussion. It could furnish the highest type of intellectual culture along with the theological discipline. And that was a Congregational tradition.


There were of course difficulties to be surmounted. It would


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cost more to buy land near the University and to construct such a building as would house all the equipment of the Seminary. The sale of the old buildings at Andover to the Academy would not pay the expense. The salaries of pro- fessors must be raised to the minimum paid to Harvard professors, if their standing were not to suffer. Harvard students paid tuition and Andover students must be adjusted to that situation without transgressing the injunction against the charging of tuition laid upon the Trustees by some of the donors. Finally there was the question arising from the provision in the Constitution of Phillips Academy to the effect that the Academy-and so the Seminary as originally a department of the Academy-should never be removed from the South Parish in the Town of Andover "unless the good of mankind shall manifestly require it." It was a de- batable question whether the good of mankind required an affiliation with the divinity school of a University which had alienated the Congregationalists of Massachusetts a hundred years before. It was a delicate situation.


Before the hundredth anniversary arrived in 1908 the Trustees adopted definitely the act of affiliation. The Presi- dent and Fellows of Harvard officially approved and the Overseers ratified the action. The Trustees of Andover then voted finally for the removal on the twelfth of March, 1908. The reasons which they gave for their action were the falling off in attendance, amounting to practical desertion, the con- sequent unproductive use of the funds, the narrow field of use- fulness offered to the professors, the rural location at a time when students needed city connections, and the lack of re- sources for the expansion of the curriculum. Under the Act of Incorporation the Trustees had no power to remove the Seminary to a place outside of Massachusetts, so that various proposals for removal to places in other states were imprac- ticable. Cambridge had the advantage of being near Boston and the center of Congregationalism, and it was in the same geographical area as Andover. The affiliation with Harvard would not require change in charter, constitution, or organiza- tion of the Seminary. More courses of study would be avail-


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able. Andover courses were to be accepted for Harvard degrees, so that the Seminary would have equal standing. It was believed that the presence of Andover Seminary would be of religious benefit to Harvard, and that the relation with Harvard would dignify the calling of the ministry in the eyes of educated young men. The Harvard arrangement could be terminated within two years if desired.


Andover people, as was natural, deeply regretted the deci- sion. The secular press was generally favorable, but certain of the religious papers condemned it as a betrayal of the ancient trust to make an alliance with the University. The Toledo Blade in announcing the affiliation said: "Andover will be- come 'afflicted' with the Harvard Divinity School."


The Centennial anniversary was saddened by the threat- ened change. On Sunday morning the Seminary Church observed its last communion service in connection with the regular forenoon worship. At four o'clock in the afternoon the baccalaureate sermon was preached to the senior class. Monday evening brought the ninety-seventh anniversary of the Society of Inquiry, the only one of the old student organ- izations that remained. Mr. Edward C. Carter, Y. M. C. A. secretary from India, spoke to the assembled company on the work of the Association in the Far East. The alumni as- sembled for class reunions at noon, conscious that this was the last time that they would return to Andover Hill to walk again the old paths and exchange memories of Seminary experiences. At three o'clock Centennial addresses were given in honor of the alumni of the hundred years. Dr. Franklin Carter, formerly president of Williams College, recounted Andover's service to education. Reverend George H. Gutter- son called to mind Andover's contributions to home missions in America, and Dr. DeWitt S. Clark summarized the mem- orable work of Andover's sons in the foreign mission field. The alumni and friends enjoyed a reception and supper in Bartlet Chapel, and in the evening Professor Platner gave the Southworth lecture on the "History of Andover Semi- nary, a Centennial Retrospect." If the Seminary had closed its doors at the end of its centenary, its future would stand


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secure in the achievements of a century. For a hundred years the Trustees had guided the fortunes of the school according to the best wisdom that they possessed. The Faculty had in- terpreted religious truth, as they had vowed to do, according to the best light that God should give. Class after class of students had come to drink of the living water of the Gospel, and had gone out to carry that Gospel to thirsty souls in all parts of the world. Andover's influence as a religious force would not cease as long as Christianity survived. But the Seminary was neither dead nor dying.


President Day presided at the Wednesday celebration of the whole Seminary. The principal address of the week was the oration by President George Harris of Amherst. He recalled the salient features in the history of the Seminary during the century, spoke appreciatively of the men who had given the wealth of their learning and Christian sympathy from the chairs of instruction, and interpreted the changing thought of changing times. Greetings were brought with congratulations from representatives of many educational institutions. Particularly appropriate was it that Professor Benjamin W. Bacon should speak for Yale, for his grand- father had made the historical address fifty years before, and that Professor William Adams Brown should represent Union Seminary, because three generations of his ancestors had studied at Andover. Professor Merriam of Hartford de- clared : "Old Andover challenges New Andover to loftiest achievement if it would match the past." The venerable Dr. Alexander Mackenzie commended the ancient institution to God in prayer. Music was provided by a chorus composed of Seminary, Phillips Academy, and Abbot Academy students. It seemed as if the thoughts and interests of the Congre- gationalists of New England converged on this mother of seminaries.


Good cheer came with the dinner in the Borden Gymnasium, to which ladies were invited for the first time in the history of the school. Andover alumni could not get together in the Centennial year without making the occasion one of good cheer. "If there is a profession given to extreme sociability


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in its interviews it is the ministry," wrote Sarah Stuart Robbins. "After the saying of grace, always solemn with the sudden hush of voices and the cessation of the click of china, a more hearty and cordial abandon could not be found any- where among any class of people than used for an hour to fill the various rooms." Dr. Harris, presiding at the Centen- nial dinner, spoke in humorous vein, saying: "I hope there will be a chapter written on the one hundred dinners which have been enjoyed at the anniversaries of the Seminary."


With Thursday came the exercises of the graduating class in the Seminary Chapel with an address by Professor Arnold and the conferring of degrees. Once more a class went forth to minister by the highways and the byways, perhaps to add to the honor list of twenty-three college presidents, thirty college professors, and eighteen seminary professors, who had graduated since the Semi-centennial. The Centennial Class-that would be its distinction. Would there be a bi- centennial to celebrate a hundred years hence ?


Andover Seminary opened its second century at Cambridge in the autumn of 1908. The Faculty was short-handed because President Day had retired after futile efforts to stem the decline of the school. One or two of the Faculty had moved from Andover, but others continued to reside there and com- mute. Professor Platner acted temporarily as chairman of the Faculty with the title of "dean." Lecturers were ap- pointed for the year until new professors should be elected. Temporarily the students shared the lecture rooms and dor- mitories of the Harvard Divinity School. The Harvard wel- come was cordial, and the affiliation was marked appropri- ately by public recognition. Not as strangers or even as guests were they treated, but as one body working together for a single end. Andover professors were given the freedom of the University, and at the opening service of the Divinity year an Andover professor was invited to make the address. Andover reciprocated the Harvard courtesies. In the Andover catalogue Harvard courses were listed as well as those of the Andover Faculty. The two schools together had only twenty- four students. Andover was making the new start with two


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graduate students, one middler, one junior, and one special, but she was planning in hope of better days.


In the course of the year the vacancies in the Faculty were filled. Reverend Albert Parker Fitch, the pastor of the Mount Vernon Congregational Church in Boston, was chosen as Bartlet Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and President of the Faculty. Reverend Daniel Evans, who was pastor at North Cambridge, was elected Abbot Professor of Christian The- ology, to succeed Professor Hincks, who had filled that posi- tion as well as the chair of biblical theology since the resig- nation of Professor Harris. Professor Fitch had graduated with high honors from Harvard and Union Theological Seminary ; he was full of energy as well as ability ; and he tried hard to strengthen the Seminary. He believed that there was a great opportunity to build up in Cambridge a school which should serve the cause of spiritual freedom and the development of the free churches. He declared that his pri- mary interest was that the students should become deeply religious men. Professor Evans in his inaugural referred to a new idealism in the field of science and believed that the currents of thought, converging on Cambridge, promised a new day for religion. In commenting on the appointments the Boston Transcript remarked that the new professors were "not broken down old men in search of a comfortable haven where they can beach their dismantled ministerial crafts and rest in peace for the remainder of their days." Both were men of high standing in their profession and well-known in Greater Boston. President Fitch was sent to Geneva to represent the Seminary at the observance of the four hundredth anni- versary of Calvin's birth. A general catalogue containing complete alumni records for the century was published, edited by Reverend C. C. Carpenter.


The eight years of President Fitch's administration were marked by a growth in student attendance and by plans of expansion. The Seminary entered upon its second year in Cambridge with twelve students; in two years the number doubled, and the next year thirty-four were enrolled. There was a considerable sprinkling of men from the Near and the


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Far East. The seminaries were considering the question of making Hebrew an elective study and the Andover Faculty discussed it, finally reaching the conclusion that the newer tendency was inevitable with the enlarged scope of the theo- logical curriculum. It was ruled that to qualify for graduation a student must have studied the History of Israel, Introduc- tion to the Old and New Testaments, the Theology of the New Testament, Outlines of Church History, Systematic Theology, the Office of the Ministry, and the Art of Preaching.


The completion of Andover Hall and its dedication in 191I provided the physical equipment needed for the school. Archi- tecturally beautiful and dignified in appearance, with ample quarters for the joint Andover Harvard library, and with commodious classrooms, chapel, and dormitory accommoda- tions, the building seemed well worth the $300,000 that it cost. It was hoped that funds might be secured to endow two new chairs of instruction, one in the history of religion and missions, the other in practical theology, including religious education. Affiliation was established with the Episcopal Theological School of Cambridge, which added the facilities of that school by a reciprocal arrange- ment similar to that with Harvard. As a gesture of good will this was matched by a telegram of congratulations to the new Andover from a group of thirty alumni meeting with the National Council in Kansas City.


The Society of Inquiry reached its one hundredth anniver- sary, maintaining its organization in the new environment. John R. Mott was Hyde lecturer, speaking on "Forces To Be Used in the World's Evangelization." Professor Platner was commissioned to visit the mission stations on a projected vacation tour, carrying the greetings of the Seminary. The Society of Inquiry, realizing that missionary effort in all parts of the world was one enterprise, interested itself in the home missionary problem of New England, and in connection with a meeting of the Easter Theological School sent out a com- munication to all its former members calling to prayer for the mission to immigrants in the cities and for the humble rural parishes of the hill country.


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President Fitch resigned his position in 1917. His coming had infused new life into the school, had attracted students, and through his college preaching had enlarged the scope of Andover's influence. As a Harvard alumnus he was interested in the affiliation of the two schools. But the future of theo- logical education at Cambridge was problematical. The World War was a disturbing element, and applications from new students diminished. With all the advantages of the new building, ample library facilities, and the prestige of Harvard, Andover did not seem to move forward as had been antici- pated. Only one student graduated in 1918, and the total enrollment was reduced to thirteen. The decade since the Centennial had left the number of students at about the same point as before. Financial stringency was a further handicap.


Professor Platner became acting president, and Dr. Raymond Calkins of Cambridge was appointed in Fitch's place as lecturer on preaching for the year. In 1919 Professor Platner was elected the permanent head of the Faculty, being given at his request the title of "dean" rather than that of "president." Professor Hincks completed thirty-four years on the Faculty, and retired from active service, and Professor Ryder died suddenly, so that again the number of the Faculty was depleted seriously. The Faculty discussed the possibility of a combination of theological schools of Greater Boston during the next year for the sake of economy and on account of the general depletion of numbers, and they gave general approval to such a plan, recommending it to the Trustees.


The retirement of Professor Hincks and the death of Pro- fessor Ryder added to the difficulties of the Seminary. Hincks was the link with the old order of things at Andover. He had been through the controversy over the New Theology, had taken part in the publication of the Andover Review, and had been on trial for his opinions. Through thirty-four years of service he had helped to carry the administrative burdens as well as his share of the teaching. His colleagues esteemed him as "exhibiting in happy combination the free spirit of the scholar and humanist, and the unobtrusive religious devotion of the Christian minister." He did not lament the removal


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to Cambridge, though his affection for the old was strong, and he retained his Andover residence for some time.


Professor Ryder died at Andover after a brief illness in the seventy-sixth year of his age. Not so conspicuous because he came to Andover too late to be involved in the conflict of ideas of the period of greatest disturbance and because of his native modesty, he enjoyed the confidence of his colleagues and the affection of the students for almost thirty years. As a teacher of the New Testament he had to face the problems of biblical criticism, and he did it frankly and fearlessly, but with such deep religious appreciation of Scripture and with such ample scholarship that he was freed from the charge of heresy which for a time had rested upon him.


To fill the vacancies that had come Reverend Willard L. Sperry, minister of the Central Congregational Church, Boston, was invited to become Bartlet Professor of Sacred Rhetoric, and Professor Henry J. Cadbury of Haverford College, a graduate of Andover in 1909, was secured as lec- turer on the New Testament. Since Dr. Sperry retained his parish duties in Boston for a time, he could give only a limited amount of service to Andover, but his association with the school was an element of strength from the beginning. In the fall of 1920 sixteen students were in attendance. Letters were received from Australia, asking that arrangements might be made for granting Andover degrees to students from that part of the world, an evidence that the fame of Andover was wide and lasting. The question of admitting women to study in the school was a subject of discussion, but no action followed.


Death again took its toll of the Faculty in 1921. After pro- longed ill health Professor Platner passed to his reward. He was still on the sunny side of sixty, but as Brown professor of ecclesiastical history, and later as dean, he had rendered worthy service to the Seminary. Trained thoroughly at home and abroad, he was equipped in scholarship; he was a preacher much sought by the churches, and more than once was invited to assume the pastorate of a church. The Faculty testified of him that he was as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land during twenty years of vicissitudes. "The service of his life


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was greater than his teaching or administration; his daily contact with his students and his colleagues revealed the fine qualities of his character. He was gentle in his manner, un- selfish in his relation to others, sympathetic with them in their difficulties, interested in their pursuits, and always at their service. He lived amongst us as a scholar, a gentleman, and a Christian."


It was then that Dr. Sperry was brought into full relation with the educational work in Cambridge. He was made presi- dent of the Faculty of Andover Theological Seminary, and the Harvard Corporation announced his election as "Professor of Homiletics and Dean of the Theological School in Harvard University." The affiliation between the two institutions had worked sufficiently well to justify a closer relationship. The demands of the Government for the use of Divinity Hall dur- ing the World War had hastened this development. Under a "Plan of Closer Affiliation" adopted by the Trustees and by the President and Fellows of Harvard College respectively, in May, 1922, it was provided that the two corporations should join to form a non-denominational theological school with single faculty, roll of students, administration and catalogue, the name of the school to be "The Theological School in Har- vard University." Degrees were to be conferred by Harvard upon students of the school on recommendation of the Faculty, but the Trustees reserved the right in their discretion to grant Andover degrees to Andover students, this term including the holders of Andover scholarships and fellowships and any other persons qualified and desiring to be such. The Andover professors-Evans, Arnold, and Cadbury-were adopted by the University. But scarcely had the arrangement been made before it was disrupted by legal proceedings.


The removal to Cambridge had not escaped legal compli- cations in 1908. Certain alumni unfriendly to the change preferred objections before the Visitors, but the Visitors de- clined to hold that the removal was contrary to the intention of the Founders. Immediately after the Plan of Closer Affilia- tion was adopted, however, the Visitors, whose personnel had meanwhile changed, passed a resolution declaring the


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plan void. This action raised many legal questions which were the subject of protracted proceedings in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Hearings were held be- fore Fred T. Field, Esquire, (now a Justice of that Court) as master. His report was to the effect that in view of the limited income and other circumstances it was imprac- ticable for Andover to be maintained as an unaffiliated insti- tution. He further found that for many years prior to the be- ginning of the proceedings the Visitors, in passing upon the suitability of men elected by the Trustees to professorships, had treated the various creedal requirements as satisfied if the professor-elect was found to stand with respect to his doctrinal views in the historical succession of New England Trinitarian Congregationalism and had deemed immaterial an inability to accept particular propositions in the Creed or in the Cate- chism. With respect to the Plan of Closer Affiliation the master's finding was as follows :




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