ADDRESS OF JOSEPH F. TUTTLE, D.D.
PRESIDENT CHAPIN represents Wisconsin and the Con-
gregational Church. He brings a
commission from Gover-
nor Rusk. I don't know whom I represent.
One of the chief elements of success in
Manasseh Cut-
ler as a negotiator was not mentioned
yesterday in the very
beautiful and exhaustive discussion
which was given by
the gentleman who made the address. He
was spoken of as a
brave man, as a man of learning, a man
of courtesy; but
I think that one great element was his
power of administering
very elegant and sweet taffy to the
people of that day, and
I rather think I can augur great success
for my youthful
brother, General Eaton, from his
prominence and great
excellence in the same department.1
I have listened to what has been
presented here, with
great interest. I have heard that there
is, or was, or is to
come, an Ordinance of 1787. I have
heard, also, that there
is a place called Massachusetts; that
seems to be a pretty
well fixed fact. And Colonel Tucker,
yesterday, made it
clear that there is also a place called
Virginia. I was
delighted with this fresh
information. But really, my
friends, when you come to think of it,
this Ordinance of
1787-practically carried into operation
in 1788, and about
which our friends, the descendants of
Dr. Manasseh Cutler,
make so much, and the descendants of
General Rufus Put-
nam make so much, about which indeed all
the descend-
ants of these great men come here and
make so much-and
none too much-when you come to think of
it, I repeat,
how youthful you are in comparison with
Indiana; and
1General Eaton, the presiding officer of
the evening, had introduced
Dr. Tuttle in the following words:
"Many of you have been greeting
during these meetings an old friend,
formerly a student and instructor
here, long prominent as the very able,
successful and scholarly Presi-
dent of Wabash College. I have the
pleasure of introducing to you Dr.
Tuttle, of Wabash College."
132
Address of Dr. Joseph F. Tuttle. 133
still more so in comparison with the
great State which lies
right west of it!
Why, when the Ordinance of 1787 was
passed, there had
been a settlement in Illinois-a
Christian people of Christian
lands and with Christian
institutions-about a hundred years,
founded in 1682. There was also a still
larger planting of
Christian institutions and civil laws in
the State of Indiana in
1702. Why, that is venerable!
That is something of age!
But 1787 and 1788-what are they?
But really there is a difference when
you come to think
of these Christian settlements which
they made in Illinois
and in Indiana, the one in 1682
and the other in 1702.
There didn't seem to come out anything
for some reason
or other; that is the matter, as Mr.
Cutler once said
with regard to Kentucky; that is the
matter; something
didn't seem to come of it. But when the
forty-eight men
stepped off of the Mayflower, here at
the Point, and Mr.
Jarvis Cutler cut down the first twig,
or first branch, or
first tree, or whatever it was, and they
had established
their tents to go to work, it seemed as
though a power
had reached here-a power that was bent
upon doing
something. They began immediately to survey, to put up
their tents, to build their cabins, to
get their institutions
at work. They came here to do something,
and they did
it. That is the difference between the
French civilization
which reached Indiana and Illinois and
the civilization
which reached Marietta, Ohio. The whole
difference was
that there was an idea, a great idea in
the one case,
and in the other there seemed to be no
very great
idea.
Now I wish to speak for a few moments
with regard to
one feature, which I think has not been
made as promi-
nent as it deserves. When I look at the
history of the great
emigration which took place from England
and Holland
and Plymouth to Massachusetts and New
England, I find
it was not money that was at the bottom
of it; it was
not political power that seemed to be at
the bottom of it.
134 Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
The moving power was religion; the
moving force was
piety, reverence towards God, and the
determination to
find somewhere in the world a place
where they might
worship God according to the dictates of
their consciences.
It is religion that has done this work;
it was in the
name of the God of Israel that this
emigration took place.
It came to Plymouth; it went from New
England to New
Jersey; it came from New England to
Pennsylvania; it came
from the north of Ireland to
Pennsylvania and to North
Carolina. It came as a great religious
idea. It was a great
power, because it was a power which had
God in it;
they were seeking a place in which they
might worship
God.
And so, when I look at these scenes
which have been
portrayed here before us with such great
faithfulness, as
connected with the 7th of April, 1788, I
am moved with this
fact, that the controlling power there
was religion; it was
piety-that kind of piety which led them
when they organized
their Government in proper form and
opened their courts-led
them to observe the forms of religion,
and to have their work,
as it were, baptized in that power and
under those in-
fluences. It was religion that did this; and so when
you look at the work which was begun in
the same way
at Cincinnati, at the mouth of the
Miami, you will find
that Judge Symmes was a religious man;
it was a power
which was upon him too, and was with all
the men that
settled further up towards Dayton, and
the men who went
to Granville, and the men who spread
over the Western
Reserve. They were religious men; they
were the men that
pioneered this country, and when we look
at it in this light, it
seems to me we need to bring into
prominent notice a power
of which I will speak presently.
We are college men; this gentleman
[indicating Presi-
dent Eaton] is my foster-father; he is
at the head of
Marietta College; I am one of its sons.
Will you allow
me to say, my friends, that I am proud
of this parentage?
I would rather be a son of that
institution that lies so
Address of Dr. Joseph F. Tuttle. 135
sweetly up there on the hill than of
Yale or Harvard or
Princeton. In the words of Mr. Webster-pardon those
who are smaller for saying them -we love
it. If you wish
that institution to grow in the
confidence of the people as
well as in endowments, it must be in the
filial affection of
its sons, and-presently I hope--in that
of its daughters
also.
The question as to this education, I
asked myself as I was
looking at the public schools here-these
public schools,
how finely they look. Those public
schools in Cincinnati!
Those public schools in Cleveland! Those
millions of
children, for aught I know-they told
large stories about
them yesterday, here, but not too
large-not more than
they deserve. I asked myself--how did these public
schools, these libraries get here? Where did they come
from? Does the Legislature give them?
Do not forget it my friends. Let history
have its proper
respect; give it due regard; it was
because Manasseh Cut-
ler put into the fundamental ordinance
about which we
have heard so much, the elements, the
seed corn which
brought this glorious grain, this
wonderful harvest of pub-
lic schools.
Who was Manasseh Cutler? A man that
feared God, a
just man, a religious man. The very development of this
great system of education is the
development of the piety
of the pioneers. There were no colleges here in 1788.
Was there a college west of the
Alleghanies? Was there
one north of the Ohio? Could you find
one from Pitts-
burg to where San Francisco now stands?
You might
have gone from New Orleans up to the
Lakes and searched
carefully, and you could not find a
college or an academy.
But now, when you come to Ohio, you may
find an
institution at Athens, and, in fact, all
over this State you
may find them, founded by these men.
They were relig-
ious men; they founded these
institutions. You will find
them everywhere. They come from the very
heart of
this movement-from the heart of the
pioneers. The
136
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
college has been the institution of
religion, as well as of edu-
cation, in this great and goodly
heritage.
Sometimes I look at this thing with a
degree of respect
and delight which I cannot express, when
I come to trace
the history of these enterprises, these
institutions for learn-
ing, and these for the unfortunate.
Somehow, when you
go to trace them back, you will bring
them back to the
heart and mind that loves God, to this
great and wonder-
ful development of the higher education
in this country,
as the child of the Church; it is the
child of piety. I
have great joy in feeling that there is,
underlying this
wonderful movement, a great power, which
is the power
of Godliness, power of religion, love to
God, and love to
man.
But when we come to look at what has
been accom-
plished in a hundred years in other
respects-in the way
of manufactories-in developing the
soil-in one word,
in the development of the entire country
in such gigantic
proportions as we have in the six States
covered by the
great ordinance, we see the same
change-the same re-
sults, which are perfectly
stupendous--wonderful in their
extent.
I have asked myself what is the cause of
this stupend-
ous development. How did it come to
pass? Where is
the great underlying cause which has
produced it? Was
it the Ordinance of 1787? Did it
grow out of the gener-
osity of Connecticut in relinquishing
her almost fabulous
title to lands in Ohio? Did it grow out
of that stupendous
claim which Virginia made, which seemed
to cover about
all the territory west of her? It was
generous, magnan-
imous of Virginia to yield that claim. I
will say nothing
to her discredit. She has done great
things in the past,
and I hope she will do great things in
the future. But
was that the cause--was that the cause
that led to these
stupendous results? My friends, I will
give you the cause
as I believe it to be. I think the true
explanation of this
whole business is found in the
explanation which the
Address of Dr. Joseph F. Tuttle. 137
Queen of England gave the Shah of
Persia. He asked
her how England became so great, and she
laid her queenly
right hand on an open English Bible-King
James version
- not the revised edition - the King
James' version so
wonderfully praised by men, and which
runs its roots into
hearts of men of every age, and
especially in this country.
She laid her hand on that Bible and
said: "Here is the
explanation of England's greatness."
And, my friends, I, too, will lay my
hand upon the Eng-
lish Bible, and looking at the
stupendous developments
--the results which we have in the
Northwest-in the
great country which is covered by the
Ordinance of 1787,
and I will say, and you will not
contradict me, that the
underlying power of the public
school--the underlying
power of the college-the underlying
power which armed
so many hundreds of thousands of brave
men to defend
their flag, to vindicate the country-the
underlying power
which has made these States what they
are-is the English
Bible.
And I hope that when the great monument
is raised
here which shall perpetuate that which
was begun in 1787,
you will not forget this great thing,
and will somehow
symbolize this great fact, that the
underlying power which
has produced all this is the English
Bible. And may God
bless it and bless you also.