, 1865-02-19
~'1he 1r1bunc on tho s,uerfcan COL
lego Coarse.',

fund for an Agricultural and Mechanical
College" III this State, you characterize the
course OF study" In existing colleges as
Tie antlquated and a:,solctc studies which
mako up the burden OF tho ordinary college
course I" With very much more of like import
ano cncet. And you asratgu somcwhat bit
tcily as "scctarans" those of ua WIN haye
supposed We "cre practicinE q wise and use-
these institutions.
. Now had no wish to cont,oycrt the posi-.
lion OF thc TRIBUNE on the question Of d d.
.!son " OF Inc satd fund, and therefore allowed
as The TRIBUNE Is too funk aud fearless to
acgY hearing to those whom, It assails, l beg
10 be heard, though at some trprth. chaps
IN behalf of'Thc American College CouFse.''
cal the course american" bccuusc 1t IL
American. At the time Of. tho breaking out
VI !ne present war. there were two hundred
ana twenty-five Chartered colleges in this
county, whose four yours .sconrsc " is IN
american Idea, cut down nearly one -halflrom
lhat OF thc English Universities, which we're
III souao tcspccts thoir types. In the clear
ana accurate statt ment Of Albert Barnes,
"lhey ave all Ithe protestant colleges at
hridge," and are substantially lie same In
st1tution reproduced. There arc tue same
ions classes, tho same four years Of study, the
same methods of instruction md alministra-
ton. Take vi, an annual catalogue Of col
!ege, no matter where it is or now few stu
dents there are, OF how empty Is the Trcasu-
~, you will Ind thu same list OF studies aud
the same kind OF discipline. What ia studied
ut Cambridge or Yale is studied ut Sfarietta.
at Jacksonville and Galesbufg. True the
college has been modified By progress In the
ri nrts ard sciences, bur still it Ii seveJwhcre
the dcselorcment Of Tile same original germ"
Now grant that, the eollege being Ameri-
eau does not prove 1t wise or right, but one
would think Its early origin and growth, CO.
INCIDENT with nn we arc fighting for
all OAR free principles and Tree 1nstitu-
tionsTorght5 s, At least to Challenge re-
College charters was never more rife than
down to the time our war began, whatever
lhc motive; whether land speculation, town
lois, or belief In their yalue, which has pro-
duecd TIC continual desire Tor colleges they
IND ihei1 "conrse or study" tor the course
is ,d 11e asle Gyiege are anything but a"tqaatsa
The first American college wns chartered
on!y sixteen years after The Pilgrims landed
at Plymouth tn poverty, sickness und Deco1n-
ber snow and the system has stood just Us
!ops ~. as our KspublIs bus and has gown as
Eleven ycars after Cambridge was chartered
y vas ordered by the General Court Of
Massachusetts,, that
When any town shall increase to the
number Of one hundred families, they shall
set up . Grammar School, the master thereof
@ Geng M nbie e., TO instruct youth so far as they be
Thus III less than thirty years from the
erection Of their fiEst cabin, the first settlers
Of this country had laid the foundation Of the
threc orders of schools, viz Common school.
the Academy and the College, which have
CONTINUED ever since.
Nrr fu{ N l
the Pnritans. On the contrary its growth
Las ionoWed md kept pace With the growth
OF the country. From lG5G to 176t, almost
one hundred and fifty years, there were ten
colleges founded but never more than one
college, in any one year. From 1881 to 1900,
wsse slSteen.olleSses founded. hut ncyer more
than three in one single year, which happen
td nut IN one instance. There were thre.
JIars IN which tTo colleges werc founded
nll the next up TO 1SD0 wclc founded Mt the
ra1e Of one ycar! Thus The growth Of the
sssa1em ~ nas b.. n as steady as that Of the oak
ana as strong. And the system unlike The
Pupal system aud other exotics have, has
netn ein'ncntly popular. South and North,
TIC colleges have almost cmptlcd themselves
into this war; showing that, III this country,
the college reflects the masses, while III Enr.
aptly. compared TO "hulks sunk in
TIC stream oi public opinion to show how (ast
the Gu, rent llowa by thcrn.'' We see In Cob
dvn's late speech TO his constituents tlut thc
University theme Is ut one por and Exrtrr
uall u Mt The othes and b. pleasantly r1dIculed
Inc learned gentlemen who new ali about the
ancient river lllissus, but could not even
Euess the location il they ever heard even Of
tle city OF Chfcagoi -
And II Tho "Cullegc COURSE" has hn,d IT'S
own amid the revolution of parties, sects
@ eons,,tutiSnal changes, and notifications Of
Sreeas s.a % and oi manners, Il Is not because it
has snrunk from the various tests Books
haEe been written. aga}nst 1t. Thomas s,
6riuake, Besiah Green, and other classical anI
powerful minds have spoken and published
against 1t. Colleges have been starte,i in on.
position to it, and, ut least In some instances.
t,o nontIes N Ia have beca made Of the ancient elias.
elGs q the name Of reform while tie es-
!! tablshed colleges have freely Instituted
/" shorter COURSES" "modcrn courses, "mil.
nary eoui scs," nnd every other steourse''
which thci1 masters, the people," have seen
NJ 10 order. And, If what l. called the
ciaesscal course" hecause 1t contains some
Lain and Greek, as the TRIBUNE AYERS. not
only holds its own against, but beats ali these
rlsal "coulscs," there surely must be some
wonderful elements OF strength In 1t to mas
Ter the popular mind which the others do not
poe.tEs.
I know TINT It Is said-thc Tn1nuSE has
said it-tlat the +" College course" fits men 10
fulfill the functions Of pedagogucs+ whlle
lawyers and logieiaus fill our senates aud
control our Legislatures" There was M
Illinois psdagoguc, Stephen a. Douglas, who
sa ss1,t ftoneth,pE IN his way toward ~fn1tng
mnch II harm Il kno"ledgc Of the Greek New
Testament would have done the country
through lin do moi know.
But The statement Of Daniel Webster of
This question. whe,hcr the "Co'lcse conrse''
belittles, antiquates and uaryows the mind,
arrays seemed to me to pu. it beyond the
necessity Of argument. Speaking Of the !" Col
ieGc course" nud to This very point, Webster
Gays:
.|conccding that it has sometimes but made
orlg'naI !eeb'eness Of intellect and natcrAl blunt
the question after oil. II It he aaestto Is VIC.
ther literature, ancient as well rs modern, does
eos Ss pessa s%oa ns" 1sa
and render its rcsscssor not cnly more capable Of
deriving private happincs. from contenp1a,ion
tton in lie airs Of lie, and especially Tor public m
aciten."
Ihe InlEvSE says ''onr classical scholars
tuliiii the fllnt lions Of pelagogues, while law
yers fill our senates," etc. Edmund
burke, on the contrary, 4 classic, or
1athsr ths classic statesman, has a,gued With
great force and beauty that 1av practice un-
Its man for Craftsmanship. Would not the
TRIBUNE bc nearer the truth to say, not that
The college makes petiagogacs, but that those
who addict themselves tn teaching naturally
50 through college, Hamilton, Madison and
Jay were Alumni Ut Columbia College Web
stcr Of Dartmouth, and Samuel Adams of Har-
ward. jefferson was II mrnlber Of Handen'
s:dney. urd the founder of Virginia. and
snrely these men were something more than
pe1ngs gues!
Rnt, says the ohjector, "let us hare self.
made men, fewer Chalbands and more Ben
iamfu Franklins."
Now it happens tl.at eelfmade men when
thcT are made, advocate classical cduca-
su1cst Of all methods, the want OF it. Wash
fngion WIS selfmade man, and he endowed
a a-colle.e. What do We want OF Franklins
unless it be the benettt of their opinions
which the force Of their understandings cnti-
ties to cseascs Now It is we'll know that
and that he adyoca,ed Latin ard Greek Ge.
cause, in his own words, "they are two Of The
best languages that ever we're, the most ex-
pressfye, copiohs and beautiful, tic rrcat
mcn whose lives and actions we read u Iisto.
r. spoke those two languages; they have
endured for ages and will endure while there
are men, Such arc the words Of BENJAMIN
F1ahklsn concerning Latin and Greek. II we
bad more FrnnAl,ns, ~ nc should hare more
srch opinions.
l am not decsying the modern tongues
Which are rooted In these ancient ones, Most
colleges alieady teach thcu. Practice alone
can make them spoken. The Latin scholar has
9if.nd5 more than half mastered thu French.
am not dispaTnging chemistry and the arts,
The post OF .ural science is alrcady made
By popular sentiment the pct professorshlp Of
the - college course," and naullitndes read
much moro In the rocks than God has ever
Written there. am not blinking or denying
that evils cling TO the college as 10 nil hunan
1,hsngs. "a bribery, for instance, dogs
4Hat3StNttrFNt .hrn