LD 3612. 7 L64H16 HALSEY MEMOIR OF PHILIP LINDSLEY a '•'•-■.•■lULilli''. II ■ <^ o CO fin Q o fcC Q a o 2 _9 o" o ^ O . go o a.2 fciO o o O X /ce :<1 tf W rj CO «3 e ;^ g^ g 2 « 1 2^ o ™ s ^5 0.2 o s ••:3 a m a o O CO >. CO cu a 00 a> ci yA != - O c« o o Ph' « l-H CO O ■*^ <^ '^ s to r- « c a O > •^^ ^ ,A O 3 O ^^^ " ^ ^ I h> % S a H O oa eS g ^ 2 . ?> :«c is C a> S ^ 3 — 5J d a on M S C 5 o — m as St- ''•' ^ p-i '1 <^ a »^ ci 3 fc. /c3 ^^ ? o "3 03 a c3
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Tt,
Cl-
A SKETCH
OF THE
LIFE AND EDUCATIONAL LABORS
OF
PHILIP LINDSLEY, D.l).,
LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UKI ERSITY OF NASHVILLE.
BY LEROY J. HALSEY, D. D.,
FKOFESSOE IX THEOLOGICAL SEMIXAKY OF THE KORTH-TVEST, AUTHOH OF LITERARY
ATTEACTIOXS OF THE BIBLE, ETC.
REPUBLISHED
FROM BxiRNAJRD'S AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION
FOR SEPTEMBER,
18 5 9.
PKE86 OF WILLIAMS. -WILEY & TLRSEK. 152 ASYLIM-ST.. IIARTFOBD. rONX.
Luu. »uv of Nashville in 1836, ana <^evoted hiu.-
self to the study of languages. »-^;^.^' "»f 'V - iv- ■
Encvclo-Lexicon ot the >^nS i-li xV"\l .f, 'e^unbei-
1859 he received the degree ot LL. \\- "'^^;;! V,j,
land university.-Another bon, J ol u «U»i^ ;
physician ^^^^^^^ F i:£'lh^(^\S,
Sfh; m^It S;e m^i^ia^^partmentof the Uni-
vSsity of pSinsvlvarua. He was appmntcd pro- LL Y .
lessor of chemist T in the University ot Nashvil e
KlSTO and held that chair until 1878 meanwhile
-^uS- the medical departments of that univer- 1^^,^ ^ ^-^ ^ ^^^^ president of
fSr^i^'^'^^?^^^^^^ ^"^^^ i^^ ^^"^'' '^^-^ ^""^ ^''^ ■
unarmed during the ciiiTvvar ; and also was pro- Lpreciated at ench of those
^SofdiemMrymth. medical depax^me^^ of God, he
he providence of God, he
is this true of Nashville,
may be said to have been
re, for a quarter of a cen-
m the cause of education,
lie South West. Whether
e began his labors in Ten-
rare qualifications for the
Inch a man, in such a cause,
UrTver itfof Tennessee in 1880-2 He was a rn^^
ber of the Nashville board of edpition m -TH5
-'60 held the otHce of ^^^^^^^^f^^
V. 1, i,i iviHf! nnd was secretary oi tne suul
f ^°'i^ f bTlJ.tum in IST.V'ST. "He was health
S;;S!rfih^Ss^sr:hS?»?i;s
been^Ltivey connected with other scientific so-
beeii dCLivc ^y received the degree of D. D.
?rorPrinceton He Ss contributefl articles on
Pnmberland Presbyterian history to the " l^uartei- g^j^^ ^ j^jg generation.
"'JXr nf Sv "£"• The s«or,d ami „„,,(;„„, „e eve- looted
if " f Sthe' '|£5i^:'" "'* - 1 -»^'-' - -'"■ ""^^•'
Sd of Health" (TB5DTWei^a-ired by him, also L^.j^j^h crowned his efforts,
?The Military Annals of Tennessee, Confederate |^^,,,^^^^,.^ ^, ^,^„ ^,^^ ^^^,
^first series, Nashville, 1886). icns-
TINFN .Tames, poet, b. in Scotland m 1808,
d in New York Sty, 20 Nov., 1873. He emigrated
tVthe United States, and for many years earned
on a llr^^rbookindiW establishment inNe^^^^^^^^
^ftv Uater he spent some years m California, wheie
heU ^n active^member of the Scottish l-^v^l^nt
societies. His last years were passed m ^^ J^^^
Sv He contributed poems, mostly m thf^cotch
Sect, to the " Knickerbocker Magazine and^^^^^
" Scottish American Journal and otnei nt||
p^^ers and published - ^^^^^f XrToems'' (S w
of " Songs ot the Seasons and other Poe'ns ( ^ ew
York 1852) A large collection ot his _/oeiicai
S^^S^ritings^SanFrancisco^l86o was Al-
lowed by a smaller one (New '^'^,%^^^^)'
published also "The Golden Gate (lb6. )
LINGAN, James Maecubin, soldiei b. m
Mai'w about 1752 ; d. i" ^..-re gd^;^^^
.July, 1812. He was employed in a stoie in Gem e
town, U.C, when at the begmmng of th^ Rc^olu
tion he obtained a commission m the a m>. ue
fought at Long Island, York 1^1'}"^' i^^^^ ^
Wasiiington. where he was take^i P"«o^^«,^Xpame
fined in a prison-ship. After the war 1 c beca^nt
cUector of the port of Georgetown and, as lejs
given the title of "general" P™\"1 J^ "«tamea
this rank in the militia. He was l^i^v the mob
more iail, where he had taken refuge, bv tjie mob
that destroyed the office of ^^ ^f^'^r':^^^^];^
in- been one of those who rallied to the suppoit ot
the editor. (See Hanson. A t,^,x * ndkr C.)
educators of our age and
rive some account of him
ibor — to tell of his plans,
1 educator of youth. In
of his character, both as
what we have to say of
iphical sketch, which we
American PulpitP
1786, near Morristown,
ctraction ; the Lindsleys
of Morristown, and in-
youth was spent in his
n his thirteenth year he
ley, of that place, with
entered the junior class
302, and was graduated
PRE86 OK WII.I.I
LINDSEY, Wii; : I -e county,
Va 4 Sept l^oJ. He received an education in
tlH«"sclio<)ls'"of his nutive place, and in 1854 re-
moved to Jlickman county, Ky., where he taught,
studied hiw. and \vas admitted to practice in 18o».
Vt tlie openiuir of the civil war he entered the
(•onfoderate annv as lieutenant, and was soon
made captain in 'tlie 2:2d Tennessee infantry. He
served as stalf-olTieer with Gen. Buford and Gen.
Lvon, and remained with the 2d Kentucky brigade
until paroled as a prisoner of war early in 1865, at
Columbus, Miss. At the close of hostilities he re;
turned to Clinton, Ky., resumed the practice of his
profession, and was elected to the state senate in
18()7. In 1870 he was chosen to the highest judi-
cial bench in the state, and in September, 1876, he
became chief justice of Kentucky, leaving the
bench two years afterward with a high reputation.
He declined a renomination, and has since followed
the profession of law at Frankfort.
LiNDSLEY, PliiUp, educator, b. in Morristown,
N. J., 21 Dec, 1786 ; d. in Nashville, Tenn., 25 May,
1855.' He was graduated at Princeton in 1804,
and after teaching he was appointed in 1807 tutor
in Latin and Greek at Princeton. Meanwhile he
studied theology,
and was licensed
to preach in April,
1810. In 1812
he returned to
Princeton, after
preaching in va-
rious places, as
senior tutor. He
was made profes-
sor of languages
in 181;^, ami at
the same time be-
came secretary of
the board of trus-
tees. In 1817
he was elected
vice-president of
Princeton, and,
after the resigna-
tion of Ashbel
(irreen in 1822, he
was for one year
acting president, but in the succeeding year was
chosen president of Cumberland college (now Uni-
versity of Nashville), and also of Princeton, both of
which he decrfned ; but later he was again offered
the presidency of Cumberland. He was finally in-
duced to visit Nashville, and the result of his trip
was his acceptance of the office in 1824. He con-
tinued his relations with that college until 1850,
when he accepted the professorship of archseology
and church polity in the Presbyterian theological
seminary in New Albany, Ind., which he held until
185:5. Meanwhile he declined the presidency of
numerous colleges. He was chosen moderator in
1834 of the genei-al assembly of the Presbyterian
church, held in Philadelphia, and in 1855 commis-
sioner of the presbytery to the general assembly in
Nashville. In 1825 he received the degree of D. I),
from Dickinson college. His publications, consist-
ing chiefly of l)accalaureate addresses and occasion-
al sermons, were collected by Leroy J. Halsey, and
published as " Dr. Lindsley's Complete Works and
a Biography" (3 vols., Philadelphia, 1868). See
also " A Sketch of the Life and Educational La-
bors of Philip Lindslev," by Leroy J. Halsey (Hart-"
ford, 1859). — His son, Nathaniel Lawrence, edu-
cator, b. in Princeton, N. J., 11 Sept., 1816; d. near
Lebanon, Tenn.. 10 Oct., 1868, was graduated at the
PHILIP LINDSLEY.
The eminent services of Philip Lindsle}-, D, D., late president of
the University of Nashville, as an educator of youth, have been widely
known in our countiy, and most highly appreciated at each of those
points or- centers of influence where, in the providence of God, he
was successively called to labor. Especially is this true of Nashville,
and the surrounding region, in whicli lie may be said to have been
the pioneer of classical learning, and where, for a quarter of a cen-
tury, he exerted a controlling influence upon the cause of education,
not only in Tennessee, but through the whole South West. Whether
we consider the auspicious time at which he began his labors in Ten-
nessee, their long continuance, or his own rare qualifications for the
work, it could not be otherwise than that such a man, in such a cause,
should make a deep and permanent impression upon his generation.
lie seems from an early period to have regarded himself as set apart
to the cause of the higher or more liberal education. He ever looked
upon it as the great work of his life. The steadfast zeal with which
he pursued it, and the distinguished success which crowned his eftorts,
entitle him to a place among the foremost educators of our age and
country. And it is our present purpose to give some account of him
and his work in this his chosen field of labor — to tell of his plans,
purposes, opinions, trialsj and triumphs, as an educator of youth. In
order, however, to form some just conception of his character, both as
a man and a minister, we .shall first preface what we have to say of
him as an educator with the following biographical sketch, which we
abridge from Dr. Sprague's " Annah of (he American Pidpit.'^
I. OUTLINE OF HIS LIFE.
Philip Lindsley was born December 21st, 1786, near Morristown,
N.J. His parents were both of English extraction; the Lindsleys
and Condicts being among the earliest settlers of Morristown, and in-
fluential Whigs of the Revolution. His early youth was spent in his
father's family, at Basking Ridge, N. J., and in his thirteenth year he
entered the academy of the Rev. Robert Finley, of that place, with
whom he continued nearly three years. He entered the junior class
of the College of New Jersey in November, 1802, and was graduated
550538
8 PHILIP LINDSLEY.
in September, 1804. After graduating he became an assistant
teacher, first in Mr, Stevenson's school at Morristown, and then in Mr.
Finley's at Basking Ridge. He resigned his phxce with the latter in
1807, and about the same time became a member of Mr. Finley's
church, and a candidate for the ministry, under the care of presby-
tery. He was then for two years Latin and Greek tutor in the col-
lege at Princeton, where he devoted himself to the study of theology,
chiefly under the direction of its president. Dr. Samuel Stanhope
Smith. On the 24th of April, 1810, he was licensed to preach the
gospel by the presbytery of New Brunswick.
Continuing his theological studies during the next two years, and
also preaching a while at Newtown, L. I., where he declined overtures
for a settlement, he made an excursion into Virginia, and afterward
to New England, and in November, 1812, returned to Princeton, in
the capacity of senior tutor in the college. In 1813 he was trans-
ferred from the tutorship to the professorship of languages, and at
the same time was chosen secretary of the board of trustees. He
also held the offices of librarian and inspector of the college during
his connection with the institution. In October of this year he was
married to Margaret Elizabeth, daughter of the Hon. Nathaniel Law-
rence, attorney-general of the State of New York.
In 1817 he was twice chosen president of Transylvania University,
Kentucky, but in both instances declined. In the same year he was
ordained, sine titulo, by the presbytery of New Brunswick, and was
also elected vice-president of the College of New Jersey. In 1822,
after Dr. Green's resignation, he was for one year its acting president.
The next year he was chosen president of Cumberland College, Ten-
nessee, and also of the College of New Jersey, but he declined both
appointments. The same year, the degree of Doctor of Divinity
was conferred upon him, by Dickinson College, then under the presi-
dency of Dr. J. M. Mason.
After refusing to consider overtures concerning the Dresidency of
Ohio University, at Athens, he was again offered the presidency of
Cumberland College, and finally induced to visit Nashville ; the result
of which was that he at last signified his acceptance of the office in
1824. During his absence, the board of trustees of Dickinson Col-
lege had sent a deputy to Princeton, to induce him to consent to be^
come president of that institution. On the 24th of December he ar-
rived in Nashville with his family — the college having then been in
operation a few weeks, with about thirty students. He was inaugu-
rated with much pomp and ceremony, on the 12tli of January, 1825.
His address, delivered on the occasion, was published and very widely
circulated. It was a noble effort, and was regarded as auspicious of
Pini.IP LINDSLEY.
an eminently useful and brilliant career. The corporate name of tlu-
college was changed the next year to "The University of Nashville."
In May, 1834, Dr. Linilsley was unanimously elected moderator
of the general assembly of the I'resbyterian church of the United
States, then holding its sessions at Philadelphia, He was elected a
member of the " Royal Society of Northern Antiquarians," at Copen-
hagen, in 1837.
In 1845, Mrs. Lindsley was taken from him by death, after a most
hapi>y union of about thirty-two years. In 1849 lie was married to
Mrs. Mary Ann Avers, the widow of a kinsman — Elias Ayers, the
founder of the New Albany Theological Seminary — a daughter of the
late Major William Silliman, of Fairfield, Conn., and a niece of the
venerable Professor Silliman of Yale College. In May, 1850, he was
elected professor of ecclesiastical polity and biblical arcluuology in the
New Albany Theological Seminary ; and, having resigned the presi
dency of the University of Nashville in October following, he re-
moved to New Albany in December, and entered on the duties of the
professorship at the beginning of the next year. Here he continued
usefully and acceptably employed until April, 1853, when he resigned
the office, contrary to the unanimous wish of the board.
The remaining two years of his life were spent chiefly in study, de-
votion, and intercourse with his friends. A few weeks before the
meeting of the general assembly in 1855, he was asked if he would
consent to serve the presbytery, as a commissioner to the assembly,
and his reply was, " I have never sought any appointment, and when
God has placed upon me a duty, I endeavor to discharge it." lie
was accordingly ajjpointed ; but he seemed afterward to doubt
whether it was liis duty to attempt to fulfill the appointment ; and
he remarked, the morning that he left home, as if from a premonition
of what was before liim, "I think it probable I shall never return — I
may die before I reach Nashville." lie, however, did reach Nashville,
though he reached it only to die.
On Wednesday morning, the 23d of May, while he was sitting at
the breakfast-table, surrounded by his children, the conversation
turned upon the danger of aged men traveling from home; and Dr.
Lindsley expressed the opinion that it was unwise, and tliat they
thereby often put their lives in jeopardy. A guest at the table
pleasantly inquired, "Is not your advice inconsistent with your own
lonely journey to this place ? " " No." he replied, " no ; I am liere
also at home — as well die here as any where." And in a few min-
utes he was struck with apoplexy, and passed instantly into a state
of unconsciousness, in which he remained till his death, which oc-
curred at one o'clock the next Friday morning.
I
10 nil MP J.INDSLEY.
Wlien tlio tidings of liis alarming illness were communicated to tlie
general assembly, special prayers were immediately offered in liis be-
half, and a committee appointed to visit him, and express the sympa-
thy of the assembly with his afflicted faniily. Wlien liis departure
was announced, the most tender and respectful notice was taken of it,
and tlic funeral solemnities, which took place on the succeeding Mon-
day, and were conducted by distinguished members of the assembly,
bore witness to the gratitude and veneration with which his character
and services were regarded. His remains were deposited by the side
of his first wife and his youngest son.
Dr. Lindsley left five cliildren — three sons and two daughters. All
his sons were graduated at tlie University of Nashville. One of them,
Adrian Van Sinderen, is a lawyer; another, Natlianiel Lawrence, was
formerly professor of languages in Cumberland University, Tenn., and
more recently engaged in literary pursuits at Cambridge, Mass, ; and
the third, John Berrien, is an ordained minister of tlie Presbyterian
Church, chancellor of the University of Nashville, and professor of
chemistry in the medical department of the same institution.
II. ins CHIEF WORK AT NASHVILLE.
It will thus be seen that there were three principal fields of labor
on which Dr. Lindsley, at different periods of life, made his influence
felt as an educator: the first in his native state, and within the walls
of his own Abna Mater, where he devoted fifteen years of his early
prime, with unsurpassed energy and ardor, to the work of classical
instruction, gradually but easily winning his way up, from a tutorship if
to the presidency of the college ; the second at the capital of the then ^1
young and rising state of Tennessee, where, for twenty-six years, he
gave the whole force of his intellect and character to the furtherance
of all popular and liberal education ; and the third at New Albany,
where, for a few years, he imparted to candidates for the gospel min-
istry the well-matured results of his experience and scholarship. Of
this last field we shall not now speak. His period of labor there was
too short, and the circumstances of the institution too much embar-
rassed, to admit of much development. Nor need we dwell long on
the first field, in New Jersey. Brilliant as had been his successes there,
both as a scholar and a teacher, there can be no rpiestion that the
great work of liis life, both as it regards its intrinsic labor and its
lasting usefulness, was performed in Tennessee.
Of this first period, however, we may give, in passing, the testi-
mony of an eye-witness. Dr. Maclean, the present (1859) president
of the college at Princeton. " l^r. Lindsley,'' says he, " was one of
the best teachers of whom T have any knowledge. He had, in a
high degree, tlie hap|»v f'afiiltv of impnrting to his pupils some of his
PH11.1P LINDSLEV. j j
uwii ardor lor tlic stmliL's of lii.s dejiartiiuMit. Tlivy were taught to
give close attention to graiumatical nicctieioneer, missionary,
atid champion of collegiate or university education at the South West.
Having thus selected his ground, and driven down his stakes, at a
point which was then the extreme south-western outpost of educa-
tional institutions, he determined once for all not to abandon it.
Nothing is more striking in all his history, and indicative of that firm-
J 2 I'llil.lP LINUSLKV.
ness ot" j)urpose wliicli constituted so iini)Oitaiit an element in bis
character, than tlie fixed and persistent determination which kept him
from ever leaving Nasluille till his work was done. No inducement
from abroad, and no amount of difficulty at borne, could ever wean
him from this his first love of western life. There was scarcely a year
of the twenty-six when he might not have gone to other posts of
usefulness and honor. Oft'ers came to him unsolicited, from the East,
the North, the South. To those who understood the discouragements
which he had to encounter at Nashville, and the repeated liberal in-
ducements held out to him from other quarters, there was a touch of
the heroic and sublime in that steady, unalterable resolve which kept
him at his chosen post so long, and from first to last so confident of
success.
Says Dr. Sprague, " Though Dr. Lindsley never, directly or indi-
rectly, sought an appointment from any literary institution, such was
bis reputation that he was solicited to the presidency of such institu-
tions more frequently perhaps than any other man who has ever lived
in this country. In addition to the cases already mentioned (in New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio,) he was chosen to the presidency of
Washington College, Lexington, Va., and of Dickinson College, Car-
lisle, in 1829; was chosen twice to the presidency of the University
of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, in 1830; was chosen provost of the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and president of the College
of Louisiana, at Jackson, in 1834 ; president of Soutli Alabama Col-
lege, at Marion, in 1837; and president of Transylvania University,
in 1839 : all which appointments be promptly declined, though he
was greatly ui-ged to accept them."
Now the ex])lanation of all this is, that lie saw from the first, with
the clear intuition of his strong, practical mind, that there was a great
work to do in Tennessee — one not to be finished in a day or a year,
but demanding the labor of a life-time; and accordingly, instead of
frittering away his energies on half a dozen different schemes and
points of influence, be determined to make the most of life by devot-
ing it all to that one work, and never to leave it, until those who
should come after him might be able, upon the foundation which he
bad laid, to rear a noble and lasting structure.
III. IIIB PLANS AND rURPOSES AS TO A UNIVERSITY.
Coming to Nashville in the full vigor of his well-matured faculties,
at a time when there was scarcely any thing worthy of the name
of college in all the South West, it was natural that Dr. Lindsley
should at once form the design of establishing an institution on a
broad and permanent bas's, fully equal, if not superior, to any thing
PHILIP LINDSLEY. 13
of the kind in our country, lie was too well versed in all the essen-
tial elements that constitute the life of a college, ever to suppose that
this could be done imniediatelv. But we tiiid the inagMiticent con-
ception taking [lossossioii of his mind from the very begiiuiing — of
building u]) an institution of the first order, not only for 'J\MiiK'.-s(.'f,
but the wlnjje South West. Accordingly, in his first public address
at Nashville, in 182.5, on his inauguration as president — which was
throughout a nK)st masterly plea tor "Co/Ay /«/e A'(/«curove the morals and manners, discipline the
14
I'lIlI.U' LINDSJLEY.
iiiUlli-cl, .umI tu ruiiiis-li it with f(>|>i<>iis stores ol' usdiil, (.liiiiciitaiy kiiowlfdgt —
obtain tluir npiiropriatc plaoo and rank, and ncc-ivt- niiritcd attention, in our
seminary ; so tliat paniits may, witli conlidnu-e, commit their sons to our oare,
;ussured that tliey will ho in safe ami skilit'uliiands — under a government eijuitable,
paternal, mild, firm, viijilant, and faitiiful — where their every interest will be con-
sultid, their every laculty bo duly cultivated, and where every eflorl will be made
to render them intellii,'eiit, virtuous, accomplished citizens.
Ill liis ^^ Baccalaureate^^ of 1829, he jJeads still more urgently the
cause of a great university, including all the dejjailments of law,
medicine, divinity, science, literature, and the arts, and remarks: —
" Scarcely any portion of the civilized Christian world is so poorly \tro-
vided with the moans of a liberal education as are the five millions
of Americans within the great valley of the Mississippi. In casting
my eye over the map of Tennessee, it struck me from the first that
this was precisely the place destined by Providence for a great iini
versity, if ever such an institution were to exist in the state. And
in this opinion I am fully confirmed by several years' observation and
experience. I am entirely satisfied that it is physically impossible to
maintain a inuocrsitij (I am not now speaking of an ordinary college,)
in any other town in the state. And for this single good reason, were
there no other, namely, a medical school, which may be regarded as
an essential and as the most important part of a real university, can
never be sustained except in a lai'ge town or city, and the larger the
l)etter. Nashville is tlie only place where a medical school would even
be thought of; and physicians know full well that sucli is the fact.
If Tennessee tlien is to have such a school, it must be established in
Nashville."
The cit>j of Memphis was not tlieii in existence, and it is remark-
able how well the present flourishing medical school at Nashville,
with its four lumdred students, its able faculty, its spacious and well-
arranged laboratories, museum, library, and general apparatus, hardly
inferior to any in the Union, vindicates the sagacity of this early
opinion and prediction.
In his commencement speech of 1837, which was one of the
longest and ablest of all liis educational discourses, after giving an
uutline of the various systems of collegiate and university education
ill England, Scotland, Continental Europe, and our own country, lie
proceeds to present a sketch or summary of the scheme which he
wisfied to carry out at Nashville. After expressing the opinion that,
for the 2^ur2)ose of educating hoijs, generally between the ages of fifteen
and twenty -one, our isolated American colleges are, as a system, to be
preferred either to the English or German universities, provided they
be made in fact what they are in name, he says : —
But I would not stop hero. While I would duly encourage and improve tlio
ommon college, as we should the common school, there ought to be in every
PHILIP I.INDSLEY. 15
state, at least ia each of Ihc larger states, one institution of the highest onlor ami
most comprehensive and commanding character. If wc can not achieve this
object in five or twenty years, it may be done perhaps in fifty or five hundred.
If we can not hope in our day to rival Berlin, Munich, Ciiittingen, Leipzig,
Copeidiagen, Vienna, ilalle, Lcyden, Paris, Moscow, or even St. Petersburg, we
may commence the enterprise, and leave posterity to carry it onward toward
completion. For complete, in the nature of things, it never can be. It must \u-
growing, advancing, enlarging, aceuiimlating, till the end of time. No university
in Europe is complete — not even in any one department.
Having described the neces.sary collections and fixtures, ho then
goes on to say : —
Our university must have the requisite teaching force also. Professors of
every language, dead and living — of every science, in all its branches and sid)di-
visions, in all its bearings and applications. To bo more jjarticular, there should
h.> |)rofessors or teachers
Of ancient classical languages and literature ;
Of oriental languages and literature ;
Of modern European languages and literature ;
Of mathematics, natural philosophy, astronomy ;
Of chemistry, geology, mineralogy, comparative anatomy ;
Of archaeology — in reference to ancient nations, governments, jurispru-
dence, geography, mythology, arts, sciences, and still-existing monu-
ments ;
Of philology, eloquence, poetry, history ;
Of physiology — vegetable, animal, and comparative ;
Of ethics, polities, logic, metaphysics ;
Of constitutional and international law ;
Of political economy and national statistics ;
Of architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing, engraving, music ;
Of engineering — civil, military, and naval ;
Of mechanics — principles and practice ;
Of agriculture, commerce, manufactures ;
Of fencing, riding, swimming, and other manly and healthful gymnastics ;
Of natural history in every department ;
Of all the liberal professions ;
Of biblical literature ;
And of religion, in sueli forms and modes as may be .satisfactory to the
judicious and reflecting portion of the conmiunity.
There should be schools, in short, for all the sciences, arts, languages, and pro-
fessions. So that no youth need ever cross the ocean, to study and learn what
ought to be much more safely and advantiigeously taught at home. Tiie above is
not given either as a complete enumeration or proper grouping of the subji-ets
for professorships, but rather as a brief sunnnary or outline of the more obvious
and important.
Further on, he remarks — after reducing his scale for Nashville ti)
what might at all events emulate the universities of Geneva, of New
York, or Virginia — "Our first efl'ort here in Nashville should donld-
loss be to elevate the only department which we have hithorlo at-
tempted to establish ; that is, the college for undergraduates, or the
faculty of arts, sciences, and literature. It is desirable to have profes-
sors of German, French, Italian, Spanish — perhaps of some other
modern languages ; though a knowledge of none of them has been
made indispensable to graduation in any college."
In a word, his plan was to build up an institution, where boys
might be trained, under skillful teachers, in all science and literature,
before graduating; and where, after graduation, they might still pur-
IQ PHILIP LINDSLEY.
sue their studies, to any extent, and in every thing that man needs to
know; to combine for the pujtil all tlie advantages of the Enghsh
and American college, and for the scliohir all the aids of the Ger-
man university.
Of his undertaking he speaks as follows : — " Now the University of
Nashville, compared with my own beau ideal of such an estahlish-
ment, is but an element — a mere atom — a foundation — a nucleus — a
corner-stone — a first essay toward the gloiious consummation and
perfection of my own cherished hopes and anticipations. And I
could say little more of any other university in our country. I re-
gard them all as being still in their infancy, or at most in their early
youth ; and that their ri(/ht to the title of university is yet to be
proved and confirmed by their future growth to vigorous manliood
and generous maturity."
But that he would succeed ultimately in accomplishing his plan,
in despite of all obstacles, he seemed never to have a doubt. We
remember well his look of sublimity and his tone of determination,
when in 1834, in one of his most eloquent moods, he gave utterance
to these strong, triumphant words: — "We count not on the state's
treasury, nor upon legislative indemnification. We rely not upon
ecclesiastical patronage, or sectarian zeal, or individual munificence ;
nor, indeed, upon any of the usual sources of pecujiiary revenue which
have reared and sustained so many flourishing institutions in other
sections of our happy republic. We belong to no sect or party in
church or state. We open our poi'tals wide, and proffer our instruc-
tions freely to enterprising, moral youth of every political and religious
creed in the land. Literature and science, language and philosophy,
morals and virtue, unalloyed and unclouded by the dogmas of any
sect or school, we inculcate and exemplify as best we can. And we
ap|>eal to the common sense and equity of mankind for the wisdom
of our system and the honesty of our proceedings. We are the
staunch, uncompromising advocate of genuine religion — of pure, un-
adulterated Christianity — but, in all matters which distinguish one
class or sect or church from another, we leave our pupils to parental
guidance and discretion ; and to the ministerial cares of the clergy
in our city to whom they severally yield a voluntary preference.
" Where then is the ground of our hope and of our encouragement ?
It is in the growing strength and moral influence of our own enlightened,
loyal, and patriotic sons, who issue, year after year, from our classic
halls, imbued with the chivalrous spirit and republican virtue of the
brightest age of Greek and Roman glory — and animated by the celes- .
tial principles of Christian magnanimity and benevolence — and whose
voice shall yet be heard by a generous and honest, though hitherto
PHILIP LINDSLEY. | 7
much abused and misguided people. It is in these, under the pro-
pitious smiles and overruling providence of the Most High, that we
place our con6dence, and garner up our soul's fondest aspirations.
They will never prove recreant or traitorous. The claims of Alma
Mater upon their affections, their zeal, their labors, their influence,
their talents, and their wealth, will ever be acknowledged as of para-
mount and everlasting obligation.
"We say — or rather let the university proudly say — there are our
sons. We send them forth into the world. And by the world's
spontaneous verdict upon their training and their bearing will we
abide. We calmly and confidently await the world's decision ; and
we feel assured of no mortifying disappointment. Our faith is strong,
unwavering, invincible. And our purpose to persevere in the good
work, which has thus f;ir been signally prospered in the midst of every
species of hinderance and discouragement, can not be shaken. The
tongue which now speaks our high resolve, and bids defiance to scru-
tiny, to prejudice, to jealousy, to cowardice, to calumny, to malevo-
lence, may be silent in the tomb long ere the glorious victory shall
be achieved. But WE, the UNIVERSITY, live forever ! And gen-
erations yet unborn shall rejoice in our triumphs, and pronounce the
eulogium which our labors will have nobly won."
Nothing could exceed the zeal and ardor with which, on all
private and all public occasions, Doctor Lindsley was found battling
against popular prejudices, and defending the great enterprise to which
he had consecrated his life. The college — the higher learning —
university education became his abiding theme, on which he was ever
ready to pour out the full treasures of bis classical and accomplished
mind. Probably some of the finest and most triumphant vindications
of learning that ever fell from the lips of man were made by him
during this period. We subjoin a few specimens: —
Ignorance never dul any good, and never will or can do any good. Ignorant
men are good for nothing, except so far as they are governed and directed by
intelligent superiors. Hence it is the order of Providence, that in every well-reg-
ulated community children and all grossly ignorant persons are held in subjection
to age and wisdom and experience. No species or portion, even of the humblest
manual or mechanical labor, can be performed until the party be taught how to
do it.
If it be said that the Deity has no need of human learning to propagate his
religion, it may be replied that neither lias he any need of human ignorance.
lie could, if he chose, dispense with human agency altogetlier. But we have
yet to learn that Infinite Wisdom lias ever selected an insufficient and inadequate
asency for any purpose wliatever. In the days of prophecy and miracle, from
Moses to Paul, htj never employed human ignorance in the work of instruction.
If they were not all educated in the universities of Egypt, as was Moses, or of
Judea, as was Isaiah, or of Babylon, as was Daniel, or at the feet of Gamaliel,
as was Paul, they were well-trained somewhere, and by competent masters, as
were the fishermen of Galilee by Christ himself, besides being endowed with the
gift of tongues, and extraordinary communications for every emerofcncy.
18
PIIIMP LINDSLRV.
I use the term university as equivalent to the host possible system of educa-
tion, and in reference to the highest order and degree of intellectual and moral
cultivation. Wherever, and by whatever process, the human mind is most effectual
ly imbued and enriched with the purest treasures of science and knowledge, and
where the whole man is duly trained and qualified for the greatest usefulness, there
is »ny university.
I affirm then that the university, as just explained, ever has been, is now, and
i'ver will be, the grand conservative principle of civilization, of truth, virtue,
learning, liberty, religion, and good government among mankind. To the wni-
versity are we indebted for all the useful arts, laws, morals, enjoyments, comforts,
conveniences, and blessings of civilized society. There has never been a nation
or community, higlily enlightened and civilized, where the university did not dis-
pense its kindly influences, or where it did not occupy a commanding position.
The nations of antiquity degenerated, or sunk into barbarism, just as the univers-
ity, or higher learning, was neglected or became extinct among them. It has
never been found among savages or barbai-ians ; and all the nations and tribes
upon our globe arc barbarians or savages at this day where the university is not,
or where its cheering and illuminating beams have not penetrated.
If to this broad statement it be objected, that science, literature, and refinement
abound in regions wliere no university has been established ; I answer, that the
beneficial effects of the university are oftentimes experienced at great distances
from its actual location. The universities of Egypt extended their salutary and
redeeming spirit even to barbarous Greece. Those of Europe are felt in Amer-
ica. And those of Massachusetts and Virginia may operate in Tennessee and
Texas. In the present condition of the commercial and missionar}^ world, the
influence of the university is visible in almost every quarter — in New Holland
and the South Sea Islands — on the banks of the Ganges and the Congo and the
Amazon — and wherever European and American civilization has acquired even a
partial or temporary resting-place.
If again we be directed to self-taught and self-made men as a triumphant neg-
ative to our whole theory ; I tell you, that self-taught men (as they are styled,)
such as Franklin, Ferguson, Shakspeare, Watt, Arkwright, Henry, Fulton,
Davy, are, or were, just as much indebted to the university as were Bacon, Sel-
den, Newton, Burke, Jefierson, Jay, Madison, or Whitney. The latter drank
at the fountain, the former at the streams which issue from it. Had Franklin
oeen born and bred among savages, he might have become the first among the
prophets and chiefs of his tribe ; but he would not have been enrolled among the
greatest philosophers and statesmen of the civilized world. Washington too might
have been the Tecumseh or Black Hawk of the wilderness, but not the saviour,
the founder, the father of a mighty republic of enlightened and happy freemen.
He had studied in the school of Locke and Rlilton, of Sidney and Hampden, of
Tell and Phocion ; and like them was liberally educated. He was not a scholar
in the strict, technical meaning of the term, though his scholarship was respect-
able and far superior to that of many a college graduate.
In the eloquent appeals which he was constantly making in behalf
of this grand enterprise, Dr. Lindsley was sometimes deemed a vis-
ionary and enthusiast by the short-sighted politicians of his day.
But there was nothing visionary about him. Never was any man
blest with a more practical mind, or a larger stock of good English
common sense. He knew precisely what he was abotit from the be-
ginning. He knew that the way to build up a great institution at
Nashville was to secure first a yood and broad foundation in the
soil. And in that he was not mistaken. There is no manner of
doubt that he could have accomiilished, and would have accomplished,
in his own life-time— nay, at an early period of his career— all that
he had projected, if he had only succeeded in bringing the legisla-
ture or tlie people of Tennessee to his own views. He told them
PHILIP LINDSLEY. jq
from tlie beginning tliat a " university would be an expensive con-
cern ; " but he demonstrated that it was a concern which would
paij — both intellectually and morally. ITe demonstrated that it would
bring benefits both to the rich and the poor, to the citizens of Nasli-
ville and the people of Tennessee, to themselves and their children,
in all time to come. The visionaries were those who thought it
would not jxi)/, and that it was foolish to spend a few hundred thou-
sand dollars, to build up a Cambridge or an Oxford, a Harvard or
Yale, in the Far West.
In carrying forward so great a work, he had expected at one time
io secure both the public aid of the state and the private co-opera-
tion and munificence of the citizens of Nashville. The result proved
that he had to rely solely on the latter. In the address of 1832,
after again unfolding his scheme of a university, he says : " This would
be a species of internal improvement worthy of the republic, and
which would elevate Tennessee to a rank never yet attained by any
people. And the legislature, which shall boldly lay the corner-stone
of such a magnificent temple of popular instruction, will deserve and
w'ill gain a glorious immortality, whatever may be the verdict of their
constituents or of their cotemporarios. Their magnanimous and en-
lightened patriotism will be celebrated a thousand lustrums after the
petty interests and conflicts of this selfish generation shall be for-
gotten."
But finding, after a few }'ears' tiial, that he could neither depend
on state aid nor secure from individual munificence such an endow-
ment as his scheme demanded, he then set to work manfully to make
of his university as good an institution as the limited means at his
disposal and the steadfast co-operation of his coadjutors at Nashville
would admit. In this spirit, ever ready to Jiiodify his views to exist-
ing circumstances, and never for a moment despairing of ultimate
success, we find him giving utterance to the following words : — "In in-
augurating the establishment of a university at Nashville, the honest
purpose was fondly cherished from the beginning to render it in fact
all that the name imports. Its friends desired to lay its foundations
deep and broad. They felt that they were going to build for poster-
ity as well as for the living. That kind of ephemeral popularity
which is so cheaply purchased, au.d which is never worth the
cheapest purchase, they neither sought nor coveted. They did not
expect to see the gilded domes and lofty turrets of their university
suddenly rising in splendor, and dazzling the eye of every beholder.
They knew that they could, at best, achieve little more than the com-
mencement of a work, which must be fostered, and enlarged, and
matured, in the progress perhaps of ages to come."
These quiet words indicated the right spirit — the spirit of a truo
20 PHILIP LINDSLEY.
and faithful worker, who had learned how " to labor and to wait " —
a spirit which every man must have who would succeed in instructing
the young, or building up a literary institution. And although, for
want of funds, Dr. Lindsley did not accomplish in his own life-time
the precise thing which he first piojocted at Nashville, yet he did
succeed, in despite of manifold drawbacks and discouragements, in
building up an institution which, as it regards the standard of schol-
arship in its professors and the attainments and subsequent usefulness of
its alumni, stood, as long as he was at the head of it, second to none in
the Mississippi valley. Nor did lie leave it until he felt that he could
safely intrust it into the hands of one who, though young to receive
such a father's mantle, was fully competent, both by education and
endowment, to enter into all his plans and carry forward all his work.
Qui facit 2>ci' alios facit per se is as true of a good work as of the re-
verse. An educator's work is never fully done, nor can his influence
be fully measured, short of what his pupils and his children shall do.
And hence there is no improbability that Dr. Lindsley may yet, by
his perpetuated influence and laboi', accomplish the realization of that
splendid beau ideal of a great university which rose up before his
imagination as he first surveyed the beautiful city of rocks and cedars
on the banks of the Cumberland.
But be this as it may, there can be no question that his earnest
and persevering eftbrts to found a great university at Nashville did
in a manner train the public mind in Tennessee to large and liberal
views of education. By aiming at great things he inspired the lead-
ing minds around him with somewhat of his own enthusiastic admi-
ration for the higher learning; and these imparted his views to others.
By keeping the subject of collegiate education prominently before
the public for a quarter of a century, and availing himself of every
opportunity to magnify its importance, he gave a noble impulse to
the whole work of education in every department of it — an impulse
which was soon felt over the whole region around him, and is still
working mightily. It is a striking illustration of his power and
success as a teacher, that he never failed to leaven his pupils with his
own doctrines on all educational subjects — at least those of them
who were with hini any length of time, and were cajjable of under-
standing and appreciating his opinions. He was sure to inspire them
with elevated and liberal sentiments on the whole subject of learning ;
and his own example taught them to expect great things and to
attempt great things. He was peculiarly fortunate too in the circum-
st-ance that all his sons, graduating at the university, under his own
immediate instructions, partook of his spirit, and stood ready to adopt
and carry forward all his long cherished plans of education. The
I'lllJ.ll' M.NDSLIJY.
21
eldest, graduating with high distiiictiuii in a class remarkable for
talents, and settling at Nashville in the profession of the law, became
one of the most active and inHiiential of all her alumni in sustaining
the honor of Alma Mater, and thus fui'thering the great work to
which tlic father's life had been consecrated. The two vounger,
entering the profession of their choice, that of the educator, in com-
parative youth, have ever since devoted themselves to its high and
arduous responsibilities, and have already, on different tields, won a
distinguished reputation as practical instructors. For while one, as
before indicated, remains at Nashville, the chancellor of its university,
carrying forwai'd with signal success the great work marked out by
the father ; the other,* after teaching several years in one of the chairs
of the university, and after it had become manifest that the good
people of Tennessee demanded not one or two only but many colleges,
was called to bear a laborious and impoitant part in building up the
Cumberland University, at Lebanon, in the same state. In full
accordance with his father's counsel in the matter, he accepted the
professorship of ancient languages and literature in that young
and rising institution, and for several years contributed his whole
talents and influence to give it that character which it has attained
amongst the foremost institutions of the West; holding now by its
law department the same commanding position among the schools of
our country which the university at Nashville holds by its medical
department. But, resigning this important post, he has since founded
the Greenwood Seminary, tor young ladies, near Lebanon, over which
he now presides with eminent ability, gracefully commingling a
genial care of the young with an enthusiastic devotion to literary
pursuits. And thus, while the great and gifted author of all these
large and liberal schemes of culture for the youth of Tennessee has
himself passed from the field of his labors, it is gratifying to know
that his work still goes on, in the hands of his pupils and his children.
So true is it, that the good men do, when it is well done, lives after
them.
No State west of the mountains is better supplied with colleges
than Tennessee, especially all that part wliich has had a more imme-
diate connection with Nashville. To show the contrast between the
present facilities for collegiate and even professional education and
those which existed in the same region thirty-five years ago, when
E>r. Lindsley went to Nashville, it will be sufficient to glance at the
latest catalogues of the more prominent institutions in Middle and
East Tennessee.!
*Prof. N. Lawrence Lindsley.
tOn his resignation, the University of Nashville was suspended a few years, in order to erect
new buildings. It was reorganized and opened again in 1853. In the mean time, the medical de-
22
PHILIP LINDSLEY.
IV. HIS SPOKEN AND PUBLISHED ADDHESSES.
The published writings of Dr. Lindsley consist chiefly of his
baccalaureate addresses and occasional sermons. His great theme,
even in his sermons, was education and its kindred topics. In one of
his ablest published discourses, delivered at the installation of Dr. Edgar,
in Nashville, in 1833, he speaks of his preaching in the following
terms, indicating a far humbler estimate of it, in his own mind, than
the public were accustomed to take : — " My own particular sphere of
ministerial duty has ever been extremely humble and limited, as it
regards age and numbers, thougli not unimportant in reference to the
ultimate welfare of the church and the public. My province too has
always demanded a different kind and form of preaching from that
which obtains in a popular assembly. A word in season — a
little liere and a Ittle there — and something every day to one or a
dozen, as occasion offered or suggested — without touching on points
of theological or ecclesiastical controrer-sy, and without the formal
method of regular sermonizing — has been the fashion of my own very
imperfect essays in the good work of the gospel ministry." And
hence it was that, always regarding himself as an educator of the
voung, he was often, even in his public discourses on the Sabbath,
found pleading the cause of education.
Dr. Sprague gives the following list of his publications: — "^4 Plea for
imrtmeiit had been founded in 1850. The number of students matriculated in this department, for
the first three years, was as follows: — First session, 121; second, 152; third, 220. There has
been a steady increase to the present time, when it has risen to .above 400. The graduates already
ruind)er (iCS). The number of law students we are not able to give. Cumberland University, at
Lebanon, hus a law department, under the instruction of Judges Nathan Green and Abram Caru-
ihers. The whole number of students, including law and other departments, is about 500. We
have not the means of giving a full and exact statement ; but, from such data as are at hand, «e
condense the following tabular summary, which can not be far from the truth, and will be sufficient
to give an idea of the more prominent Tennessee colleges, and of the progress of learning in that»
whole region, net to mention those of the adjoining states, nor the numerous seminaries for young
ladies, which have every where kept pace with the colleges. Many of the latter have in a great
measure been modeled after the old Female Academy, at Nashville, which, dating back almost to
ilie origin of the University, and having an average attendance of three or four hundred, has no
dunbt educated more young ladies than any institution in the West.
University of Nashville, Rev. J. B. Lindsley, JVLJ)., chancellor: Classical students, 104; Medi-
cal, 4:J6. Total, 540. Volumes in library, 9,066.
Cumberland University, Kev. T. C. Anderson, D. D., president: Classical students, 171 ; Law,
IH8; Theology, 3; Science, 6; Preparatory, 94. Total, 462. Volumes, 4,000.
U'nion College, at Murfreesboro', J. H. Eaton, LL. D., president: Students, 160. Volumes,
4,500.
.lacksou College, at Columbia, B. F. Mitchell, president : Students, 84. Volumes, 4,400.
Franklin College, near Nashville, T. Fanning, president: Students, 106. Volumes, 3,500.
East Tennessee College, at Knoxville, Rev. W. D. Carnes, president: Alumni, 169. Volumes,
8,000.
Besides these, the lingraiige College, at Lagrange, only about two years old, had on its first cata
logue 113 students, under the presidency of Rev. John H. Gray, D. D., assisted by four able protess-
ors : and, still more recently, the Stewart College, at Charksville, with a completed endowment of
$100,000, has gone into operation, under the presidency of Rev. R. B. McMullen, D. D., assisted by
tour professors.
PHILIP LINDSLEY.
23
the Theological Seminary at Princeton, (several editions,) 1821;"
'■'■Early Piety Recommended in a sermon delivered in the college chapel,
Princeton, 1821 ;" '■'■The Duty of Observing the Sabbath explained and
enforced in a sermon addressed more particular!}' to the young, 1821 ;
^^Improvement of Time — two discourses delivered in the chapel of ''
College of New Jersey, 1822;" " yl Fareivell Sermon, delivered in
the chapel of the College of New Jersey', 1824 ; " "J/i Address at his
Inauguration as president of Cumberland College, 1825;" "The
Cause of Education in Tennessee ; " " A Baccalaureate Address,
1826;" "A Baccalaureate Address, 1827;" "A Baccalaureate
Address, 1829;" "■ A Bacculaiireate Address, 1831 ;" '' A Baccalau-
reate Address, 1832 ;" " An Address on the Centennial Birthday of
George Washington, 1832;" "A Discourse at the Installation of
the Rev. John T. Edgar, Nashville, 1833 ;" "-A Baccalaureate, en-
titled ' Speech in behalf of the University of Nashville,' 1837 ;" ''A
Lecture an Popular Education, 1837 ;" "A Baccalaureate Address,
entitled ' Speech about Colleges,' 1848."*
Besides these he wrote various articles on education fur the public
prints, and contrilnited two learned and able papers to the "Americati
Biblical Repository,''' on the Primitive State of Mankind, which
excited much attention at the time both in this country and in Europe.
Indeed he was one of the first, if not the very first, scholar of our times to
take the ground, which has since become so common, and has recent-
ly been so ably argued in Kitto's '■'•Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature,^'
viz., that man's primeval condition was not that of a savage, but a
civilized being. Says Dr. Kitto, (Art. Antediluvians^ " That a de-
gree of cultivation was the primitive condition of man, from which
savageism in particular quarters was a degeneracy, and that he has
not, as too generally has been supposed, worked himself up from an
original savage state to his present position, has been powerfully ar-
gued by Dr. Lindsley, and is strongly corroborated by the conclusions
of modern ethnographical research." Indeed we find Dr. Lindslev
"powerfully" defending this view, (for it was a fevorite theme with
him, which he held with all the tenacity of a discoverer,) not only in
\\\Q '■'■ Biblical Repository,"' hwt as far back as 1825, in his inaugural
address, in which he shows that the old infidel idea of a man's being
■ These educational discourses, together with that of 1850 on the " Life and Character of
Ur. Gerard Troost," his last baccalaureate, have just been issued, in elegant style, from the
press of J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, forming an octavo of 588 pages. It is the first