Wabash College - Wabash Yearbook (Crawfordsville, IN)

Page 15 text:

Himself a young 111811, and, both by natural endowment and thorough training, eminently fitted for the duties of his double office, we have not been surprised to hear, from time to time, of his sing-ular success, both as teacher and preacher, among the students whom he taught and guided. His preaching is what all preaching should be, evangelic and evangel- istic, sound in its doctrinal basis, and apostolic in its spirit a11d effect. The degrees of Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Divinity, conferred upon him by his alma mater, honored her and him alike, and happily indicated tl1e fact that his philosophy was biblical, and his theology philosophic. His active membership in societies founded in the interests of biblical study, and his various publications in the line of linguistic criticism, and practical suggestion as to tl1e English bible, confirm this combination of the divinities and humanities, as they also evince his right to speak with au- thority on those critical questions at present so prominent. In their choice of President Burroughs, the Trustees of tl1e College deserve high praise as having had an eye to the fitness of the man for the place, and the place for the man, thus assuring the future prosperity of tl1e institution whose interests they are guarding. President Burroughs comes to his new and most important oftice with large acquisitions at command, with a keen fllld thorough scholarship, with wide experience in the church and college, and with a personal and Christian enthusiasm full of vitalizing influence, and full of promise for the cause of liberal learni11g in the West. Princeton sends her son to Wabash as she did to Amherst, while Princea ton and Amherst join in cordial congratulations to the institution that they have thus so richly endowed, and also join with special fervor in the prayer that, from the very outset, the administration of President Burroughs may be in favor with God and man. THEODORE W. HUN'1', P1-1. D., Professor of English, Plzilologgv and Disrourse in the College of New jersey.

Page 14 text:

I well remember the day, in September, 1870, when President Burroughs, then a timid and trembling boy of fifteen years of age, entered the Sophomore Class at Princeton, and I remember, equally well, how youthful shyness and inexperience gradually gave way to a positive and strongly developed character. It was then and there that those deep and broad foundations of mind and personality were laid, on the basis of which there has been reared so goodly a structure. Dr. Burroughs' college course, from first to last, was successful and satisfactory, a steadily progressive career in all that constitutes the life and work of an undergraduate student. Diligent in the improvement of every academic privilege, and conscien- tiously careful as to his personal Christian influence, he was a pronounced example to his fellow students of what a college man should be, in securing what Milton terms a complete and generous education. Especially able along classical and literary lines, and thus early de- veloping that taste and talent in biblical study which has ever characterized his subsequent life, he graduated with the 'second honor of his class, and entered thus, with more than usual promise, on his professional work. Entering the Seminary, at Princeton, in 1874, his theological course was equally creditable, while the special success that he achieved in the sphere of Oriental languages, opened the way for that scholarly work that he has done in later years in that department. Of President Burroughs' pulpit and pastoral work at Slatington, Pa., Fairfield, Con11., a11d New Britain, Conn., it is needless to speak, further than to say that he brought to it the wide and rich results of all his pre- paratory study, and proved him to be a good minister of Jesus Christ, rightly divining the word of truth, and blessed of God in all his personal labors among the people. His call to Amherst College, in 1886, as Professor of Biblical History and Interpretation, and as Pastor of the College Church, marked a new era in his life, and, in its combination of the educational and ministerial, afforded rare opportunities of usefulness and ever-widening influence.

Page 16 text:

reaidenl' Burroughs od' CGXNQBQAF1. NNW 7 ,T WAS an important day in the history of Wabash College when new Dr. George S. Burroughs accepted the presidency of it. No 2 ,NX 4 ji!! . - . ff. one could have been present on the occasion of his arrival if and doubted its felt importance. The College and its friends had been many weeks in happy expectation. When the hour fl A came Trustees, Faculty, students and citizens were ready W with their warmest welcome. The whole body of the students meet him at the depot, cheered him loudly, and unhitching the horses, a select number of them hitched themselves to his carriage and, accompanied by the rest i11 procession, proceeded to his hotel. His reception was more than a display of characteristic Western enthusiasm. It was a splendid ex- pression of welcome, expectation and confidence. And there was intelligent ground for it. Although coming a stranger, he was not unknown to us. His election was the Trustees' most deliberate choice. Careful investigation of his career had been made, and the cordial endorsement of ex-President Seelye, President Harper and others, had already established him in the confidence of the authorities. All of us were pre- pared to believe that he was the right man, and that under his leadership the college would enter upon a new era of prosperity and progress. Dr. Burroughs' generous appreciation of cordiality and confidence, his easy ad- dress and eager social interest, at once strengthened this impression. His first contact with the young men demonstrated his ability to enter into their lives and grasp their affections. His quick perceptions and power of self- adjustment to new relations created, immediately, still stronger assurance. His regard for the work and achievement of his predecessor and co- laborers, established him in their esteem. The manner in which he probed every feature of the college organiza- tion and its resources showed his talent for organizing, and his business in- sight, to be extraordinary. His first appearance before the Board, having