Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1822-03-26

uuceo into any oil the records or statutes
OF that establishment Merton and Uni
versity Colleges, in Oxford; Peter
House COLLEGE. and Clare Hill in Game
bridge; and perhaps we may aur5 r,.u-
University of Paris, first confirmed to Eu-
rope an idea Of the utility Of colesial in
stitutions, OF which she has since so ahun-
dainty availed herself. For the encour-
agement of learning, what are called de-
grees were devised. BACHELOR, at the
time 10 which we refer, was title Of
honor given to a young cavilier ON his
receiving the military girdle. The trans
fer was easy and acceptable from the oc-
cupation ofthc warrior to the science of
the schools. In the thirteenth century this
degree was first introduced by pope Gre
cory *. The degree of MASTER and
DocroR succeeded. Trivial as such
honors may seem, the idea of obtaining
them operates as an incentive to indus
try. Inspiring the dread of dishonor they
arouse from slumber the indolent and
neglectful, while persevering merit, as
sured of the classic laurel, exerts itself
with vigor and success. OF the excite
hlSut idSOt VI plOHuSCu
| when colleges began to be erected, some
idea may be formed from the fact, that in
the year 1862, the University of Bologna
alone contained ten thousand students.
AS early as 1910, twenty thousand were
in the diversity at Oxford. Inthe same
century, on question agitated in the
University of Paris, ten thousand eradu-
oses gave in their suffrage. The advan-
tages these institutions presented to the
juvenile inquirer, it is admitted, ere
more specious than solid; for, in the age
we are describing, the grand summaries
of modern science were below the hori-
zon.
IfEurope deserved thetribute Of praise
for having disseminated literary esta.
blshments over all her nations, need
not less conspicuous is due to the venera-
bic iorefathers by whom our country was
colonized. The winds and pillows that
pressed them to the shores Of the Atlan-
tic, transported the purcst morals, the
most rational and enlightened ideas OF de-
votIon, and the steadiest habits of indus
furious life. Scarcely had they begun to
till the earth for their subsistence, before,
their views were directed to the culture
OF the mind. The trees of the forest fur.
nishcd their academic groves, where
their youth were educated in whatever
could contribute 10 use, and ornament,
4..d liberty, and honor and virtues
| Nlghout entering ioip the history OF the
! earlier schools, every loveisot leerning
in the United States must recolleci, wilh
grateful pleasure, that the morning sun
shed its rays Gu Harvard Collcscin Mas
sachusetts nearly two hundred years ago.
The talents and excr'ions of missiona.
nv from England, the Rev. James Blair,
obtained a charter for the College of
William and Mary, in Virginia, in the
year 1898. More r;an an hundred and
twenty years have elapsed since the col.
lege was founded in Connecticut, whose
name has eEbalned the memory CT go
werner Yale. Nassau Hall, in New
Jersey, from which have come forth SO
large a number of physicians, advocates,
and divines, was thrown open about the
year 1888; and the institution which has
grown into the University of Pcnnsyl-
vania," was originated in 1850. The
University OF Rnode-Island, deriving its
present name from the munificence of
Nicholas Brown, Esq appears to have
been perfected in the Philadelphia AS
sociation, in the year 1862. Nurtnred
by the pious care Of the Rev. DR.. Man
ning, supported in good degree, in its
youth, by HE collections of the Rev.
Morgan Edwards and the Rev. DR.. He
zc.iah Smith, and encouraged by " the
adventurous and resolute Browns" it
has attained to a well-nervcd maturity,
and is stretching forth the curtains Of its
habitation."
The swell of tile elevates every
thing subject 10 its influence. Proportion
ate TO the progression Of population; to
the spread Of commerce over The ocean
to the advancement Of home manufac-
tures; 10 the improvement and extension
OK agriculture, has been the diffusion of
| learning. Recumbept no longer, she
rises--the stability, the glory ofthe Re-
public. In the eas,e.n W rid, villages
and towns arc rarely increasing. Tho
gazetteer of one generation scarcely re-
quires new edition for the succeeding.
On the contrary, in these United States,
new hamlets and cities are reflected from
thousand streams, and new edihces as
Icending Tor the resort of the Muses..
From thirty to forty colleges are already
flourishing among US, under the direction
Of men whose qualifications possess the
esteem, and veneration Of discerning
community. Schools are multiplying