New-York tribune., 1876-12-02

lar way of giving Yale has felt this very seriously
and her WOOlsey fund for general purposes
was special effort TO make the popular.
| ity of her retiring President provide for
the ordinary needs of the college. Princeton has
ore "Ed ProfessOrship" which cOnceas under
Scriptural title the name Of the modest founder;
but such mOdesty is not too frequent, and even old
professorshps that bear the name of their founders
arc almost never sufficiently endowed to pay berex
penses. Princeton has built magni6cently, simply
because she had to. The money was given for this
purpose and no other. The trustees would say they
had no choice. The buildings they are glad to get
| of course but each building entails now cxpensc
and drains still more the already scanty general
fund If the college docs not purchase the services
of the best men in the country, it is because it ia
absolutely unable to do more than to support very
stinelly the few that it already has.
There is truth i'm this. but it is not all the truth.
Benevolent men give where they are most urged to
give If they are beset to give TO fund which will
nav teachers they will listen TO the appeal though
! perhaps, it will require some Importantly on
the part of the trustees or the President What
college authorities feel that they most want they are
likely somehow to get if they try. And the man, if
it is man that they want, will be the best invest
| menS they can make. AgaSsiz cost Harvard College
only few thousand dollars year. but he brought
to the college thousands of students, million or
two of money the reputation which has made 1t the
center of biological research in the country, and the
influence which has developed the whole promising
school of American scientists. Agassiz has paid.
And every college finds that its able men, its recog
nized scholars, are its most productive wealth.
Princeton needs them, and the President and the
trustees we are glad to see, begin TO understand It,
The Green estate has lately yielded 100000 to
Princeton College, and it is on the strength OF this
that two new professors have just been appointed
and two more are promised. 1t is very SUSPICIOUS,
at first sight that the first professor to be appointed
should be to chair of architecture-a department OF
instruction that to be unnecessary as almost
any other that could be suggested, and quite 100
much in the line of the already dspropoIhonate eX-
penditures. But we are informed that this is not
full professorship and that the very competent gen
tlenan. professional architect. who now occupies
it, viii have the charge of the buildings and grounds
college like Princeton has every year to pay some
little money for the services of architect and land
scape gardener and the Professor Of Architecture
will be intrusted with these duties az
well as with what little instruction may
be necessary in the scientific department. The
second professor just appointed has also to do with
the scientific department, IN which he Will teach ap-
piled mathematics. The two Others proposed
will hold assistant prOfcssorshps In Greek and
Latin IN the ACADEMIC utpdItn'h, "hOiO 'hOJ II"
very much needed In the selection of these men
the EXTREMIST care should be taken that they shall
not only be GOOD Helenists and Latinsts, but that
they should understand in what line philology IL
now making its advances, and that they should
have some ambition to help therein. We have pro-
fessors in plenty who think they are doing great
things in publishing new edition OF some common
much-edited classic but who have no idea what the
spade is doing for ancient history and art or what
vet remains to be done in the literature and compar-
atiye linguistics of less familiar languages. We
presume that these assistant professors Will take the
place of tutors, otherwise il will be impossible to
provide for their support from the income OF this
single 100000
Had we the ear of the officers Of Princeton Col
lege we would thank them for this new departure,
and fell them that they cannot travel too far along
that road They must get first Of all good men as
professors, who will attract and keep students. A
board of trustees is fortunate that has IN ITS number
two men that competent TO tell scholar when
they see him. Not half our college presidents are
competent to recognize scholar. The blindness
with which college boards go about the business OF
finding one is often as amusing and amazing as II Is
pitable-pitiabe because profeasorship is a
life office and passable professor Is not easily
turned out Especially when college gets the mis-
erable notion that it must confne its appointments
for then the college that has happened to fall behind
is kept behind If it hath not, that which it hath
is tax en- from it, Harvard the very center of bellies
lettres has not had graduate in the chair Of bellies
lettres for forty years Such limitation and especi
ally in science, any limitation which requires cer-
tain narrow religious faith of its professors, IS
almost certain ruin. That is not the way TO get
men, In science Princeton most needs to strengthen
her teaching force. Prof Alexander Is old, Prof.
GuvOt is feeble and the burden Of these depart
ments is put on two three men in the scientific
department whose work ought to be Immediately
divided. Perhaps the money has not yet been Sc
cured to support them, but If so it must be secured
or Princeton will continue very far in the rear IN
the intercollegiate race 1t is unfortunate that OF
the first four professors to be appointed not one has
been for the Sciences while it is in these studies,
tine most important and fruitful and which are
molding the culture and affecting the religion even
of the day. that Princeton is by far the weakest. IL
has fine scientific building. 1t needs men. Think
of Yale filling its cabinets with fossils from New
Jersey of the greatest interest, while Princeton has
scarcely one in her scanty cabinets, and not pro-
fessor who could give them their names.
We have no words but those of praise for the
energy of President McCOsh. He pushes things.
To be sure, the chief gifts which have lately to
the college are not through his instrumentality,
but he has done great deal for which he deserves
large credit Though he was foreigner, and one
who came with the notion that America had great
deal 70 learn from Belfast, and though consider
able touch of that arrogance which strong men
often exhibit has prevented him from being IA
vorite with our scholars and made him even less q
fayorite with those brought into intimate associa-
tion with him as teachers pupils, he has by his
scholarly industry set them all an example which