Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-02
A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY.
The Project OF Establishing q Great
E Protestant Institution Here.
From the Philadelphia Press Today.

From the Philadelphia Press Today.
Senator Edmunds is Of opinion that the
quadro-centennial Of the discovery of America
cannot be better celebrated than by the estab-
lishment Of national university in Washington
city. The suggestion is a familiar one, 1t was
favorte of President Washington, and was
successfully recommended by Jefferson. Madi-
son, Monroe and John Quincy Adams Various
schemes and plans have been proposed, prob
ably the latest being that of Rev. George d.
Boardman, DID,, of this city, for the establish
ment Of IAN American Christian university"
at the national capital
The peculiar advantages of Washington as
the seat of great university are manifold 1t
Is, except in the summer vacation months, one
OF the pleasantest places of residence on the
continent There the national life is conferred
more than anywhere else. Already it is the
scientific capital of the nation, while its educa-
tional appliances, available for the stu
dents OF the university, are more than EQUIV
aient TO the endowments and accumulated
equipment OF our oldest and wealthiest colleges
Nearly all the leading scientific bodies of the
country hold their annual meetings in WASH
lngton. There is the Smithsonian institution,
the national museum, the geological survey,
the bureau of ethnoiogy, the patent Office, the
army medical museum, the naval museum of
hygiene, the weather bureau, the coast survey
the bureau of photography, the national OBJ
servatory, the Agricultural department. the
botanical garden, the geological garden, the
department. of education, the Corcoran gallery
OF art, the Anthropological society, the Biologi-
cal society, the Botanical society. the Chemical
society, the Geographical society, the Histori-
cal association, the Mathematical society. the
philosophical society, etc., bringing together a
national body of some 600 eminent experts.
There also is the Congressional and other libra
rles, containing more than million of volumes
tn wv
student.
DIR. Boardman recites these facts in a little
pamphlet advocating his national Christian
university. He is of opinion that the Column
plan university already established in Wash
ington should be taken as a basis on which to
build up great non-sectarian Christian uni
versity worthy of the nation and of its name.
A university, in DR.. Boardman's conception of
the term, comprises, or ought to comprise,
an assemblage of colleges; for example, col
lege OF literature college of science, a college
OF medicine, college of law, a college of the
ology, college of arts college of philosophy,
DC. Whether it should include an under
graduate college is still a matter of debate
In all events, a university is an institution
where everything that is proper for youth to
learn may be taught
There should be no difficulty, DR.. Boardman
thinks, In the Protestant sects working together
IN harmony in the matter of education. He
says:
see no reason In the nature OF things why
In an institution that has the right to the ex-
allied name of university the Methodists may
not have their own theological department. the
Congregationalists theirs, the Episcopalians
theirs, the Presbyterians theirs, the Baptists
theirs, and so on. If any one wishes specific
training i'll this or that branch of the Christian
church, let him go to the proposed university
for 1t, just as he would go to 1t for training in
Sanscrit or in biology. But whatever the
specific study, let the university as a whole be
distinctly and avowedy conducted in harmony
with the precepts and character of Jesus
Christ
The scheme is feasible and reasonable The
government has appropriated between fifteen
and twenty million of dollars for scientific and
educational purposes, and the university estab-
hshed near to this gets the full benefit of that
endowment. Already Catholic university is
in contemplation. There is no insuperable dif-
fculty in the way of the establishment in the
same advantageous field of Protestant univer-
sity of universal learning, such as DIR. Board
man outlines