Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-06-05
r.iE,sSSI vEEsiry 81 sasHslL1,E
Ltscems fron report of be Commit
&c ia r.Is.s aee AZ NE Isniva,.eit,yS ~

NashFlile, or part Vi thdt 1ohlihlttee, |
tbat they decline adopting the proposition
of GeaS smith IAnd jJohnspns 70 take
cha,gs Of the undergraduate Department
af- tie zUaiEeFsity. Of NashFiile.salWe.
would infer that the report has
not as 20 received The sanction Of
the entire board, We feel some
degree of confidence that 70 some ar
lrangementowiH be made by'which the |
services of these two eminent educators
viii be secured to the University. The |
Chancellor of the University regards it., as
it-now stands, as in PROSTATE condition.
ghelpless and without the means to pay
Professors in an undergraduate depart
ment, If this be correct, a portion Of
the lliFouth btof Nashville may
be placed izia 10 the preparatory
department 9'or "a grammar school |
sustained by the donation of the. late
Montgomery Bel. But nothing more cap
be done by the Trustees at iprcsentP and
that our young men having passed the /
preparatory course here, may in due time
resort to Harvard, and Yale, and the. Vii 4
ginia Colleges for the purpose of obtain
ing complete education. We believe
that the Chancellor has characterized cor 1
recty in his report the empty handed con
dition of the Trustees. We do not believe
that the people of the city Of Nash
vile, or. of Tennessee, or the
trustees of the University of Nashville
will be satisfied with the establishment Of
preparatory school alone as the beat
that can be done on the foundation Of
this University. Doubtless this prepala-
tory or grammar school, consisting Of
one hundred, or at most, of one hundred
and fifty boys, mostly small, and collected
mainly from the vicinity of the
college and the city, viii be conducted
altogether as well as the free schools Of
the city, which excite the admiration of
our people. But it is at last mere
preparatory school, and does not at all
respond to the wants of the 10000,
$4,000, or 10000 Inhabitants assembled
within the limits of this growing city.
| Much less is it commensurate with the
necessities OF demands of the metropolis
of State. This preparatory school is
not contemplate by any means, but all
well informed men desire that the exten-
sive and beautiful grounds occupied by
the magnificent buildings, shall uphold
an undergraduate department equal to
any in the United States. The value of
| the foundation on which the University
of Nashville rests, has been vsriously
estimated. A public functionary rep
resents that it is equivalent in value TO
| $3.50, 600; it has been estimated by
newspaper correspondent at $500, coo,
and we have heard it stated it was worth
at least prospectiYely $500, 900. We
suppose the latter valuation of the grounds,
buildings and funds to be exaggerated, but
at the lowest of the above est
mates, the education of only 150
boys, in preparatory school for North
ern colleges, on such foundation, is a
stupondous failure. No well informed
man can regard it otherwise. The report
of the committee furnishes us no estimates,
no data by which we can hope for any
thing more, at any definite time, than
a preparatory school. We Hait arc
told that college is a growth, and that
it requires time to develop college. No
calculations are given by which the public
can ascertain how long it will take this
grammar school of the first class to ma
ture into a college. The University of
Nashville has had a half century to grow,
and in that time it has grown into first
class grammar school, equal perhaps to
any preparatory school in the city of
Nashville or elsewhere. This if has been
enabled to accomplish, with the assistance
of perhaps property, real and per
sonal, amounting to $3.50, 900, includ-
ing the Montgomery Bell donation.
1t seems passing strange that the
metropolis of a State containing more
than million of inhabitants, surround
ed by a country unsurpassed in general
resources, fntersected in every direction
by fine macadamized roads, and sustained
by railroads running in every direction,
can do nothing better than establish
on such a foundation a preparatory
school of $50 scholars, possibly
to be ripened by time into college
We admire thc patience of Job, but think
that virtue may be carried to extremes
The people will not be contented with this
| programme. Nor do We believe the
Trustees of the University will be
satisfied with it. The people of
the State of Tennessee wish to have in
operation at Nashville an undergraduate
department, which will educate in the
higher branches Of human knowledge
from one to two hundred Sons OF the citi-
zens of the State at home, who would
otherwise 60 to colleges in other States
| They believe that with the resources of
the University of Nashville in the hands
Of cnterprising and accomplished teach
ers, from two to three hundred young men
can be drawn to this University from
other States. With all the advantages as
a literary center, there would seem to be
no reason TO doubt, that with proper en-
ergy and private enterprise, a great Uni
versity, in all its departments, Law,
Medicines, and Science, could be sue
cessfully put in operation.
Shall we be content with preparatory
school, waiting until it shall grow into
a college2 L is acknowledged on all
hands that the trustees have no funds now
on hand adequate to put in operation 4
| complete college course of instruction,