The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1873-10-17
Munl6cent Educational Bequests.

the higher institutions of learning. and
voluntarily taxed itself 10 The mount of
nearly seventy millions more for common
schools. When the great lire of Boston
consumed some Of The buildings belonging
TO Harvard, that %city-that had just lost
omuch-coutributed elghty-iiye thousand
dollars In a single week toward SUPPLYING
the loss. On the principle that ito him
that hath shall more be given" 2.703.-
1915 OF this ten millions-more than a
quarter of the whole sum-was given TO
the educational institutions OF Massachu-
sets. New \ Ork comes next with over
two million two hundred thousand dol
lars 80 hat these two States. already so
thickly sprinkled with colleges, absorbii 70
out of the ten millions contributed by the
whole country. IL i sad Ia notice that so
little of this ed~ucationalfund has been given
TO thepoorer Western and Southern States;
the great bulk of II was contributed by
communities where a good common
school and academical system feeds the
colleges with students, and where such in
stitutions prove their right TO be- by the
number and quality of their graduates.
And il Is not unintcresting to observe hat
more than fOur-fifths Of these sums were
donations. not requests. They were not
the contributions of those who merely in
Dictated the direction in which this money
should flow, when they could no longer
control il. but were the living gifts OF
men and women who took this amount
from their pockets, and thus dcspoiled
themselves as well as their heirs. They
desired TO see the result Of these benefac-
tons in their own lifetime. and To avoid
these sad q%uarrels that too often defeat the
benevolent intentions of the testator.
The largest amount from a single source
Is the bequest of the late Isaac Rich. Of
Boston. of a million and a half of dollars
20 found Boston University. Dr. james
Rush leaves "A million dollars for a library
i'm Philadelphia Syracuse University gets
six hundred and fifty thousand; Prince
ton. four hundred and seventy thous-
and Cornell, three hundred and twelve
thousand; Columbia, two hundred
and fifty thousand and Harvard,
two hundred and thirty-one thousand.
There were in that year thirty-seven gifts.
of which the lowest was fifty thousand
dollars. the largest a million and a half,
while the amounts ranging from ten 10
fifty thousand dollars were so many that
We cannot enumcrate them. But they all
unite TO prove how freely and how gene
rously the wealth Of the country j. poured
out for these educational institutions. Our
latest visitor. Professor Tyndall. who left
thirteen thousand dollars as the avails of
his lectures. TO found scholarships for stu
dents devoting themselves TO original IT.
search. says Il have seen i'm America a
willingness on the part Of individuals To
devote their fortunes. in the matter of edu-
cation. to the service of the commonwealth.
for which | annot find a parallel else
where"
Let il not be supposed that 1872 was an
exceptional year for educational gifts. In
the present year Cornelius Vanderbilt has
given half i million dollars TO establish
the University of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South. and another half million
for a young ladies' seminary at New Dorp.
on Staten Island; Henry r. Durant. of
Boston. j. erecting az his country-seat. at
Wellesley. a female college. modelled after
Mount IIOlyokc. that will cost from half a
million to a million; Johns Hopkins. Of
Baltimore. has founded an institution for
the education of o u hundred colored or
phans; Mr.. John Anderson. of New York.
has added fifty thousand dollars 10 his gift
eff Penikese Island; and Mrs. Quincy
Shaw. of Boston. has given one hundred
thousand 10 the institution at Cambridge
over which her father. Professor Agassiz,
presides.
And while the wealth of the country is
thus being freely given to these centers of
learning. the culture. the thing Taught and
Wv iAF'ft VI ~ III
uplifted year by year. II takes one years
more study 10 enter a leading Eastern col
lege to-day than it did twenty years ago.;
and the tendency Is steadily toward higher
qualifications for admission. In 1910
freshmen were admitted of the are of
twelve and thirteen; in 1910 they averaged
sixteen to-day that average is over
eighteen. And the quality of what is
taught is equally improved. The princi-
pie of the selection of studies and their
adaptation to the future ours Of the stu
dent is rapidly winning its way ut our
leading universities. DE Tocqucyillc.
who 80 thoroughly Investigated our
institutions a generation g o looked
sadly upon the practical nature of
our studies. at must be confessed he
says. ..that among the civilized people Of
ouragc there are few in which the highest
sciences have made SO little progress as in
the United States. The future
viii prove whether the passion for pro-
found knowledge, 80 rare and fruitful, can
be born and developed so readily in demo-
cratic societies as in ari~tocracies." But
Tyndall. who studied the scientific tenden-
cieS of the nation but yesterday, was ola
more hopeful opinion. He was .'unable
TO see anything in the constitution Of So
cicty to prevent any student. with the root
of the matter in him, from bestowing the
most stcadfast devotion on pure science.
If great scientific results are not achieved
in America. il is not to the small agitations
of society that | should be disposed TO as
the defect. but TO the fact that the
men among you who possess the genius
for scientific inquiry are laden with duties
of administration or tuition SO heavy as TO
be utterly Incompatible with the continu-
ous and tranquil meditation which origi-
ta ..utt.rt.- 1.Ia .as tIs.l-
this state of things likely To last The
present tendency of the higher branches
OF education j. undoubtedly toward a love
of classical knowlcdge for is " snke: a