The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-03-11
THE CHARLESTON COLLEGE.
4 SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY, CONDI-
TION And PROSPECTS.

Its Advantages for the Education o
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES In th'
College Buildings.
The College of Charleston is now about tc
close its winter term, the commencement ex
ercises being expected to take place OF
Tuesday, the 25lh instant. brief recess vii
then be taken, and the exercises OF the Col
lege will be resumed on Tuesday, the 9th o
April. Candidates for admission to the Col
lege will be examined on Monday, the 24tf
instant, and also on the first day of the new
term, the 9th proxlmo. It is expected lha
the commencement exercises will take place
as usual at the Academy of Music, but the de-
tails of the exhibition have not yet been de-
termlned upon.
THE HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE.
This venerable institution was first organ
lied In 17S5. A number OF legacies had al
that time been left by certain public spirited
citizens to be devoted to 'the first college In
South Carolina" and an application was made
to the General Assembly OF that year for
charter for the College OF Charleston. 1t hap.
/ VI.
had been set on foot for the establishment ol
| certain other educational institutions In the
| upper part of the State, and the same act OF
the General Assembly, approved March ls,
1885, which incorporated the College ol
Charleston, also contained charters for co..
lege at the Village of Winnsboro, and another In
the vicinity of Nnety.Six. The institution at
WInnsboro' was soon after established, and,
we believe, Is still in existence, but
1t has never conferred degrees nor ex.
ercised any OF the distinctive functions q
college, and the one at Ninety-Six was
never begun. The legaciea, however, were
distributed equally among the three institu-
tions, and the one which 10 now the College
of Charleston was soon alter opened by Blsh-
op Smith, who was iis first principal. The
property then comprised the same ground
that is now held by the College, being the
square bounded by George, Green, st. Philip
and College streets; and the school, for 1t was
at frst no more than grammar school, was
held In long building running from George
to Green streets, which had been occupied
during the Revolutionary war as bsrraok for
the British troops. The second principal OF
the school was DR.. Buist, father OF the Hon.
George Buist, the present probate judge OF
Chsrleston County, and It's fret graduate was
the Right Rev. Nathaniel Bowen, the third
Episcopal bishop of the diocese of South Car
oliua. In 1924 the institution was
ORGANISED AS COLLEGE
by the union of three OF the principal gram
mar schools in the city, then kept respective
IL by Mr.. John Dixon, Mr.. VIM. Bailey and
Mr.. Gilbert. The most advanced pupils OF all
these schools formed the first freshman class
OF the new college, and large grammar
school was organized 10 connection with the
college, and received the other boys from the
three schools. A year or two after this foun-
dalton of the college the present extensive
building, which fronts on Green street, and
extends from College to st. Philip street, was
erected, and the Rev. Jasper Adams was
elected president of the college. This con-
linued until 1885, when the exercises of the
college were interrupted until 1888. In that
year the property of the college was trans.
ferred to the city, and the city undertook the
support of the Institution. The college was
reopened In 1888 With DR.. VIM. ]. BraDtley as
PRECEDENT, and it has been In successful opera
tion ever since, with the exception OF the year
1885, when the distracted condition of the City
caused temporary suspension OF the exer-
cises. DR.. Brantlpy was succeeded in the
office of president by Professor Wm. Perropeau
Finley, now OF Aiken, who retired in 1858,
when DR.. N. Russell Middleton, the present
president of the college, was elected.
TIE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE
Is now composed of the following gentlemen !:
N. Russell Middleton, LII D., President and
Professor OF the Evidences Of Christianity,
and Horny Professor of Moral, Intellectual
and Political Philosophy; Lewis R. Gibbes, N.
D., Professor of Astronomy, Physics and
Chemistry; Frederick A. Porcher. A. n, Pro-
fessor of History and Bellies Lettre8, Instruct.
or In French; Francis ". Capers, A. NJ, Pro.
fsssor of Mathematics; Henry N. Bruins, LII
D., Professor OF the Latin and Greek Lam
gusges and Literature, and Instructor In Ger
man; L. A. Frampton, A. NJ, Librarian; John
McCrady, A. NJ, Curator of the Museum.
The course of studies pursued In the college
Ia similar to that of the best institutions of the
kind In other sections of the country, and 1t is
claimed that lie mathematical course, In par
tIcular, ls more complete and thorough than
that of any other college In the United States.
The number of students 10 attendance during
the past year was thirty-four, and II this ap-
pears small It must be borne In mind that Its
pupils have been drawn entirely from the City
of Charleston, and comparison with other
colleges which depend for their students upon
the population OF the respective cities In
which they are located shows very favorably
for the College of Charleston. The Columbia
College, for Instance, In the City of New York,
had. last year one hundred and twenty stu
dents, drawn from white population OF
over nine hundred thousand, while the College
of Charleston, with white population Of
less than twenty-three thousand, had thirty
four students. In other words, the pet lnsti-
tuition of the City of New York had! about one
student for every seven thousand Inhabitants,
while the College OF Charleston had about one
student for every seven hundred.
ITS ADVANTAGES.
There is no reason, however, why tie pres
opt Dpp, har nf oiy6apto tby, ovo.,llant in