Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-07-19
The Advantages Of Small Colleges.
An Address Delivered at the Com
megceme!it Or franklin College, New
A,hens, O., June "a, 1888, by Rev.
B. NJ Kerr, 0f DOyles0Wn, D.

Il W
A,hens. o. June 20, 1888, by Rev.
B. u. Kerr, 0f D0yies0Wn, D.
1t is the glory of man that the Creator
has made him susceptible of improve
ment u know led e,virtue and happiness.
And it is the high privilege of those who
dwell in this favored land to enjoy, in
rich abundance, if they will, the means
of such Improvement. Among these
means colleges of d limited eapacity-so
far as their accommodation Of students
is concerned-hold a prominent place.
And because Of their "proyerbially large
number" more especially in our own
Commonwealth, ihey-in addition to. our
Union SchoolS-dIe the principal in
struct0rs of our youth, and, together, do
more, perhaps, i'll the formation of the
intellectual AID moral habits Of our chill
dTan than all other means combined.
The General Assembly OF ;he Prpsbyte
rian Church has taken advanced steps
on this very subject. More than year
ago committee made report o the
Assembly which embodied some liuDCr-
tant suggestions. We quote one OF its
statements: The Common School sys-
TEN, which obtains in nearly all of our
States, is, in many of them, so develop
ed as to include not only the elementa
ry school but also the high school and
the university. Whereas, the college
includes the high school, and, at the
same time, fOTcstdllS the evil of God
less university. A peculiar nature, char
acteT and position attach to colleges.
Their exercises are, in the aggregate, d
system Of molding forces. giving shape
and consistency 10 the whole character
of our youth" Hence, the college course
of study is 1.-The proper antecedent to
professional study" Colleges are the
normal feeders" of our theological sem
inaries, our law schools and medical in
stiju,iOns. Thus, complete system of
edaeat ti0n is offered to the people" which
is comparatively inexpensive to the
community where located, and is spe-
ci y commended to the acceptance of
tuat community as promoting national
unity, social equality and intelligent Cit
iZ,msnip."
The great objection" says an ex-
president of one OF our colleges, ITO
small colleges is an assumption that
they give an Inferior education. This
,. .oceedS on the idea that the measure of
81 Ic3t!qu is The amount of knowledge
possessed by The faculty; whereas, the
Urae me.sure of the education is the Ca
pac! oil the student. We can fill tin
cup as full in the Platte River as we
can in the Atlantic Ocean. 1t depends
on the boy more than on the college.
The record Of the great colleges when
they were small Was quite as good as it
has been since they became larger. The
present wolk of the small college is as
good rs that OF these great colleges was
in their earlier days. These great schools
never have sent into the ministry, Ell -
tkar in numbers or talents, mel in pro-
portion TO their catalogues" Hence it
is. after careful examination of the
ca -&logue Of graduates from the institu-
ton of learning i'll whose interests we
are convened to-day, and comparing it
with the catalogues of other and larger
colleges hence it is, say, that the
claim of Franklin College is well found
ed, namely: "ThOToughness of scholar
ship. and that at the least possible eX-
pense." Let us look at this claim, espe
cially the first part-"tAoroughneSS of
scholarship which is meant that
the instruction guaranteed TO the stu
dent ought to be, must be, and is-sO far
as this institution is cOncerned-emi-
rnntlv practical Let US not here be
misunderstood. We have no sympathy
with that groveling spirit which raises
the lip OF contempt against everything
in science and literature not obviously
and immediately subsGTvlent to worldly
gain, nor with that short sighted sell
lishness which would discourage the
pursuit of truth in any department of
knowledge because the use OF what is
discovered nay not at once be discsrned.
Neither can we regard with complacen-
CIV that knavish or stupid empiriciSm
which stumbles on in darkness rather
than look upward to the light of princi
ules, These we consider irreconciable
foes to u sound education, and therefore
we would not afford them the slightest
cuuntenance.
IL may, then. be thought premature to
discuss sHch subject while so many
parts of it are still in dispute. while so
many improvements are daily being
made, and while SO much that is valua-
bic is vet to be brought to light. The
outlines of noble landscape may be
clearly d;scerned a1l its grand features
correctly dchpr3,rt a nile many things
in it, both useful tud ornamental. are
still hidden from the eye When. then,
we say that education in this country