The following indicates the difficulty of having success in the Western Baptist Theological Institute, Covington, KY, as there were such strong sectional sentiments between the North and the South at that time.
Covington Institution
From The Tennessee Baptist Newspaper, 1847We regret to learn that the President and all the Professors of this Theological School, by joining the Missionary Union, at Cincinnati, have fully given their adhesion to the North. We regret it, because the Covington School is in the South; looked mainly to the South; proposed to educate Southern young men; and has received the support and countenance of the South. We do not question the right of the Faculty to adhere North; and since such was their desire, we are glad that they did so. They no longer occupy, as heretofore, a questionable positon. We all know now who and what they are. The inquiry is thus forced upon us, What will the Southwest do? We cannot support the Covington School, with its present Faculty, another hour. Neither truth, policy, nor self-respect, will allow it. We, however, must have a Theological School. Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, form the territory for the proposed Institution. It is surely large enough, and needy enough, and rich enough, in both men and money. These States ought to consult together - to have, if possible, a meeting, upon this subject, and to determine, as soon as may be, what is to be done, and how, and when it is to be done. Brethren, both ministers and laymen, let us hear from you. What say the Banner and Pioneer, the Mississippi Baptist and the Southwestern Baptist Chronicle?
H. [From The Tennessee Baptist, Nashville, June 26, 1847, 2. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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