History and nature are the spheres in
which God exercises his perfections, through which
they are manifested to us. All human knowledge
should be comprehended in the one system of which
Christ is the center, and illuminated with the
light of revelation.

Dr. Arthur Gilman:

Your fears of "superficiality" do not trouble me.
For your course will probably aim rather to direct
the mind toward the way in which you wish it to
develop, than store it with the details of
knowledge. You wish to awaken, rather than
cultivate.

Dr. Howard Crosby, of New York:

Your scheme to induce business men and others to
pursue useful courses of reading in science and
history is worthy of all commendation. While we
cannot expect to make such persons scientists or
scholars, we may expect them to become
appreciative of things scientific or scholarly,
and to be able to discriminate between the false
and the true.

He added some valuable suggestions regarding the kind of books that
should be chosen; and the hope that the course, instead of becoming a
substitute for the college, might lead to the college.

Dr. Charles F. Deems, of New York, gave his heartiest approval of the
plan, and stated that he was holding in his own church classes in all
the departments named, and would enroll them under the Chautauqua
system, with examinations and the diploma at the completion of the
course.

Dr. William F. Warren, President of Boston University, wrote a letter in
which he said:

You are aiming to secure that without which every
system of education is weak, and with which any is
strong; namely, interested personal home work the
year round. And you seem to carry these home
students to the point where they can go alone, if
they cannot have the help of the schools.

One of these letters must be given in full, notwithstanding its length.
Dr. Vincent introduced it with an account of his interview with its
author, the venerable William Cullen Bryant, the oldest of his
group--the American poets of the mid-century.

I wrote him afterward a long letter [said Dr.
Vincent], defining the scheme more fully. While in
London a few weeks ago I received from him the
followi