The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-07-13
EDUCATION.
The origin, History, and Character OF
Our Collegiate System.
our LEADING INSTITUTIONS OF
LEARNING.
sketches Of Harvard University, the
college of william and Mary,
and Yale College.

oornmenoement season, IL will not be inappro-
nriate or uninteresting TO review the origin of
onr collegiate system and the history of our
heading institutions of leai ming. To do this
properly requires the preliminary collection OF
a large number of documents, in which we
have been engaged for several months past, and
o,,on now we are compelled to omit some facts
,vbioh might be OF interest to the public, on
acoount of the difficulty attending such a task
We are enabled, however, to present our readers
nth a sketch OF the history and present condi-
Aion of all the more important colleges and uni
yersities in the United States, arranged in the
order Of their establishment AS an introduc-
ftion to these we will first glance at
Rhe Origin and Character of Oar Collie
giate system.
That education is more generally dlTused
among the people of the United States than
among those of any other country Is q fact
which cannot be disputed, and in this fact is
found one of the most powerful elements of
the success of our republican institutions. But
while we have succeeded SO remarkably in
pOpularizing knowledge, we have thus lar failed
In rendering 1t thorough and special, in COM
- Leo, win the edncationel svstems Of many
Of the nations of the Old World. The causes of
this failure are manifest The United
still presented to the sober and industrious
people of the whole world for settlement, and
until the entire extent of our territory, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf
of Mexico 10 the Great Lakes, is brought within
the male OF civilization. our 0rSb thoughts and
our most strenuous exertions VIII be deyoted
TO the expansion of our population. While
general and popular education is possible OF
achievement in such acOmmuntty, the brilliant
and thorough attainments for which the savans
of Paris and Berlin are so justly celebrated are
quite impossible, except in rare and peculiar
Instances. The populations OF France and Ger
many have almost reached their maximum,
and the surplus energy of their leading minds
IS therefore devoted TO the opening up of new
felds of knowledge, and the more thorough
exploration OF those already familiar to the
world at large.
But there mas been no lukewarmness in the
cause OF education in this country, From the
time of the earliest settlements It'll the pre-
ut,.there has ever been manifested an earnest
and inquirng spirit in the search after know
ledge-more especially that department of
knowledge which i'm parts to the everyday tolls
of lite their true and inherent dignity, and ena-
bles men and women the better to cope with
the difhculties which are encountered In the
colonization and settlement OF q new country
The "Ptgrim Fathers exemplified this spirit
in q marked and characteristic degree. Twice
had they become wanderers on the face OF the
earth, in consequnce of their independence of
thought and action; but before they were COM
home in the wilderness, they set themselves
about the establishment OF an Institution Of
earning, the avowed OBJECT of which was the
fostering OF that spirit which had led them TO
God aud advancement of the Christian faith"
The institution then established, and which
has been developed into the great Harvard
University OF the present day, served as
model for all succeeding institutions of q SINH
two of her Presidents, and many Of her profes-
sOrs and Instructors, were educated either at
Oxford or Cambridge, 1t was but natural that
they should, as far as was practicable, introduce
into the new seat of learning the curriculum
then in favor in the English Universities. 10
this circumstance we are indebted for the
cessive snare of time and attention which has
been devoted to the languages and literature
OF ancient Greece and Rome, the gradual sup
planting of which by study of the modern
tongues, the higher branches of the mathema-
tics, and the more abstruse departments of
&c nf hnn SiC
of the times.
But these founders of our first University,
who were gifted with a true appreciation OF the
wants of the new country and It's people, saw
from the beginning that many OF the tradi-
tional customs of their Glnl9 nldtres were
entirely unsuited to the requirements of a new
condition OF society TO THIS 1act without
tionaI Institutions Of the great system OF college
commons and private tutors-a system encum
perea WIN d1nsG many S ieaeuaes lures wnlcn are nov %
which, nevertheless, have about them such ar
air and odor Of antiquity that it is impossible
10 do away with them where they have pre-
vailed, without interruption or modification
FOR centuries. The hostility of the Harvard
authorities to anything savoring of commons
is shown by an amusing order of the corpora
ton, issued in 1893, which prohibited tn
students from partaking of "plum-cake" II
their rooms There was probably no especia
objection to be raised against a moderate SUI
ply of this palatable mixture of fruit and tioul
but we can easily imagine that such stern oil
Puritans as Increase Mather, at that tim
President, would look with great disfavor upo
deemed appropriate for washing down tn
our Collegiate system is now in a transitio
state, and is gradually being brought into hal
mony with the wants of the country. Many
the most useless features which IL lnnerlte
from the English Universities after which
was modelled have already been discarded, an
other and still more radical changes are still l
progress or under consideration. The tendenC
TO reform our entire system of higher educatlo
As thus commented upon by the Regents OF IL
University OF the State of New York" in a r
cant reDOrt 10 the Legiglature:-
''The scope and requirementso OF education al
RAPIDLY changing In this State and in the cOul
try. There is plainly increasing interest
Ihe pursuit of purely scientific studies, and
the REQUIREMENT OF modern languages, and
growing disposition TO distrust the present ad
1uacy OF the ancient and traditional course
college study This ieellng springs natural
mineral resources of the country, and the desi
10 develop them with the utmost rapidity al
economy; from our vast territorial extent, al
the corresponding public works necessary
Ovarcome its disadvantages and utilize
wisely and from the general necessities OF
new continent, which must be seItied ana su
dued for a rapidly growing populatlon.
Yet while there appears TO be disposition
fhe mart of the authorities of the dinerentl lns
buttons to devote less time than formerly 10 u
Study of the classics, they are by no mea
willing to discard them alt0geGnet OF ,n even ot.
nlace them on a mere equality with tne oLh
branches in the regular four years course %
nv way of compensation, the most nourlsht
Institutions In the country have, WlJnln q IL
years past, estaollshe1 i., Par1isna ianored4 and
their place the time of the student uSVoteu
the modern languages, the higher mathenau
and the natural sciences =. - ,,fy.ro
The donation by Congress 10 Tue uinSrS
stafes of large tracts of the public lands, :
nroceeds OF the sale OF which are 10 20 1s HStO.
u the establishment Of AgrlcuituEal s Ooiises
is another and suDstantI suDadI ntiat o,Ufede a.