WILLIAM RAINEY HARPER. 217 



to make his students believe what he believed, but he taught 

 them to think for themselves and reach rational conclusions. 

 He brought them a feast of knowledge which they were to 

 make their own by assimilation. He was both exacting and 

 sympathetic with his students but he had no place for the man 

 who would not make honest endeavor. 



As a lecturer he won a brilliant place. Under his inspiring 

 and enlightening treatment the plainest themes became alive 

 with interest to almost any audience. As editor of the journals 

 which he founded there was one purpose running through all 

 of his work, and that was to popularize bible study and make 

 higher education attractive. He wrote extensively for these 

 journals during his life at Yale and Chicago. The list of books 

 which he published upon his chosen and allied subjects and the 

 important articles which he published in magazines are far too 

 numerous to enumerate here. All this was done while he was 

 planning for and bearing the heavy administrative duties of the 

 great university. To those who knew him intimately he will 

 always be remembered as the scholar and teacher, while to the 

 world at large his creative genius in the establishment of the 

 university will be his immortality. 



The attractiveness and power of sincerity were well illustrated 

 in his life. Although he did not possess the arts of oratory or 

 brilliancy of style, thousands listened to him with intense interest 

 and followed his leadership with enthusiasm. 



Dr. Harper was a man of great faith. He believed in things 

 not seen. He accepted faith as the evidence of things hoped 

 for, and without doubting laid his plans and worked with tre- 

 mendous energy to realize his hopes and justify his faith. He 

 did not believe that anything worth having came by chance. 

 He trained his mind, disciplined his will and believed in miracles 

 wrought by human patience and toil. Only those who knew 

 him intimately had any conception of his power of^ continuous 

 application, of his endurance, and of the great multiplicity of 

 labors which he performed. As a student and author he did 

 a full man's part and his life would have been successful if he 

 had done nothing more. As a teacher he bore his daily part 

 and, judged by years of service and the quality of his work, he 



