University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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No sketch of President Northrop's eloquence would be co1n- plete without reference to those which may be called religious utterances. His deep abiding faith, tinged with no aseeticism, marred by no bigotry, makes him always a welcome occupant of the pulpit of any denomination. His religious feeling, strong and deep, which he expressed in prayer at chapel exercises, or in addresses before religious gather- Thc Church which Prcsiflcnt Northrop attcmlv.-:I when :1 boy, ings in connection with the University, not only 'forms a bond which endears him to the hearts of the students,but is one ofthe strongest influences eounteraeting the spirit of doubt and skepti- cism so often prevailing in institutions of learning. We quote from an address, A Silent Revolution, .rgad before the Minne- sota Congregational Club: We have plainly reached a point where Sinai tails to terrily. We have not yet reached a point where Gethsemane and Calvary lail to move the hearts of men whenever they are presented by those who show in their spirit and their life that they are the true followers of jesus Christ. lf, therefore, the church shall show the spirit of love. ofbenevoIence,ofunseliishness, ofinterest in the welfare ofothcrs that 31' Ezbyrapbzbai.

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yglbyrapkzbai. on Perhaps one of the best exhibitions of this power was his address at the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the University of Michigan in June, 1887, at which time he completely won the hearts of our neighbors of' the Peninsular State. The speech cannot be separated from the attendant circumstances, and it is impossible to represent it by quotation, but from the opening, in which he responded to President Angell's fiatterin g introduction, in the words: H I am merely a man, made a little lower than the The tree at the extreme Icft is ll nmplc tree plnntcal by President Northrop when a boy. Angells, to the rare blending of humor and pathos in the clos- ing words: I congratulate all friends on the prosperity of the University, and, as we shall tbllow in the dim distance behind you, without any soreness of heart because you arc in advance of us, we shall hope before the day closes and night shuts in, to get so near to you that you. can hear our voice bidding you God-speed as you go forward, and we can hear your voice bidding us God-speed as we come on. It was the complete expression of that genial spirit which those who know him know so well. 30

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.7?1byrap!z12'aZ. jesus displayed, it will be sure to advance in a triumphant course, tor it will present in its own life and work the very best exempliiication of the loveliness of character produced by faith injesus Christ. But if it shall stop short of this, and be satisfied with something as unlike this as the Pharasaic mora!ity of the jews was unlike the all-embrac- ing love of-Iesus, it will fail utterly in its work. If we are to depend lor the future of thc church upon the love of jesus as a power to move men, unaided by the terrors of the law, we must show what that love ofjesus is, what it can make men do, what it does make us do, what it makes the whole church do, and thus prove to everyone outside of the church that the best thing in the world is the lovc of God in Jesus Christ, and the noblest products of that are Christian men and women so filled with the spirit of Christ as to be ready to do tbr their fellow- creatures--not what they can with low discomfort-but like Christ, who pleased not himself, do for them all that is in theirpower,whether with discomlbrt or not. The central power in the religious thought ol the agetodayis the life ol'Christ-and in the great conflict in the world, and especially in this country, between belief and unbelief, the central power wielded by the church must be the life of Christ, lived over again by the church in the same constant course of blessing to man- kind. The church must not be a mutual admiration society-nor a eoterie of ' I am holler than thou' respectable believers. It must bear on itself the image ofChrist, and must work as Christ worked,so that whereyer it goes with its ministry of love and its proclamations ot grace, the most unbelieviug shall feel and shall say that Christ has come. And so, whether given in words of wisdom and inspiration when the heart is strong for life's duties, or in tenderest utter ances of sympathy when sorrow and bereavement rend the heart strings, the gift of speech of our beloved president is the expres sion of the throbbing heart ofa great, good man. fffwlt rl-raise, ., , We wafers: felt llrsswrm l nf 5 ,. fit. 'f55EEE5EiE53 ' We -. A . 1 -.a:g::::::a:::-. v- i ' ses afr efei , ,LA ' vip, he M k9,,,-1. ll ' V1 82