The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1889-07-04
TRINITY AND DAVIDSON.
PrOf. Henry T.. Shepherd, LII. d.,
PRESIDENT of Charleston Col
Iege Thinks They Ought to
Moved.

H'iii anu Ca. A.JCuA cilCy Ol IDcdI1ng
our colleges and universities in
centres Of wealth and popula-
tion. The day of rustic colleges
has perhaps forever gone by
and i'll the light of coteniporary
experience we stand aghast at
the unwisdOm Of Our ancestors
who strove assiduOusly to bury
their seats of learning in the
depths of primeval forests.
Nearly all the moulding educa-
tiOnal forces of modern and au-
cient eras, have had their origin
and inspiration i'll cities. The
germs of all literary and asthet-
ic culture were developed in
Athens-transmitted through
Rome, Paris aud London-all
great concentrations of material,
as well as intellectual power.
The irresistible tendency of or
ganized science and litci ature
has always been in the direction
of towns and cities 1t is i'll
them that the "enthusilsm of
humanity" has had its freest
exercise, and that the achieve
ments which have made our
complex civilization possible
have been performed TO de.
scend to more familiar exam
pies drawn from our own expe-
rience. The special charm of
Harvard is its proximity to Bos-
ton with the rich facilities for
every form OF mental cultiva-
tion that it furnishes. The
Johns Hopkins University owes
its almost phenOminal success,
i'll a great measure, to it's situa-
ton in the principal city in the
South and its convenient access
to Washington, now becoming
the scientific centre Of our cOun-
try. The fortune of Randolph
Macon College has been made
by transplanting it from q will
derness to q point in the vicin;-
ty of Richmond. Some Of our
most deserving collegiate insti-
tutiOnS i'll North Carolina, il
seems to me, are rendered inca
pable of extension or wide de-
velopment on account of the
unfortunate character of Their
situation. | may venture tC
speak with some freedom OF
Davidson, as it is under the con
troll of my own church.
No one can doubt that the
academic standard at Davidson
is high, that the teaching is
thorough and excellent and that
many of its graduates have
earned honorable Iecognitien il
special lines Of study pursued
i'll some of our most renowned
universities. Yet the gloomy
and fOrbidding surroundings o1
Davidson have deferred many
promising student from enter
ing it's halls. The same criti
cism possibly applies to Trini
: ty with equal force, though
am not able to speak from per
sonal knowledge Or persona
observation. In the selection
of Collegiate sites our forefath
ers appear to have ignored th'
, social nature Of young men ant
to have forgotten that the train
ing and culture Of that natur,
is one of the essential phases o
: rational education.
When wa'remember the com
plete isolation of students in
country college from the liber
alizing and expanding influence
} of town and city life the onl.
marvel is that they do uot re
lapse into partial savagery. L
= some instances they are almos
absolutely cut off from soaia
refinement by the isolated ma
, ture of their situation. Chape
Hill is, so far as | am aware
; much more fortunate than all
!, other institution in the State i
this regard, and has alway
been the centre OF a culture
and charming society. If m
: recollection Of Davidson Co
} legJ is trustworthy in consiste
| of the collegiate buildings,
|, grocery store and the postoffict
planted in the heart of fores
at least twenty miles remove
e from any considerable town G
e city. Upon general principal
$ and in the light of educationf
I history, l am inclined hearth
= to concur in the proposition
remove Davidson College t
}. Charlotte and Trinity to Ra
T eigh. ] am not familiar wit
e the peculiar local dificultie
Y that may exist, but the propo'
: ed removal considered from tn
standpoint of eXperience-pa:
o and present-would, 1 thinl
It tend essentially to enlarge the
: usefulness, and to LIBERAL2
! them in the best and truest sens
of tie word.-H. E. Shepher
in State Chronicle.
f A little boy of four was sleel
+ ing with his brother, when b.