New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-06-17
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
y TYPICAL AMERICAN.

Florence Kcndrlck Cooper. y no, PIP ~. mn
adeph!a: American Baptist Publication SoHe'y'
Whatever may have been the shortcomings OF
the small American colleges as compared with
older and more famous institutions. they s'and
In unchallengcd greatness for the men they have
made and the men who have made them FROM
New-England shipyards and Western farm
houses In the early part Of this century came
Toys who had read their Caesar In the inter-
walls OF Wage-earning work, and had something
of religious enthusiasm for learning when
Il required self-denlal to obtain. They went TO
little colleges which were almost grotesque for
narrowness Of curriculum and lack Of endow-
ment but in each one Of them were TWO or
three men with something OF prophetic power
who inspired them with high Ideals OF manhood
and nerved them to achievement, even II they
did give them rather inadequate instruction IN
Greek roots. These colleges sent out men want
ing no doubt. in erudition but men who to
remarkable degree efficient in the work
of their country and their time. Such band OF
scholars was possible In no other country They
were the product OF a democracy which levelled
up. not down.
1t was such training as this that Dr. Ander-
son received. and II was such training ohiy
modified and broadened by the spirit OF later
time. that he impaired. lie did not look with
though full Of sympathy for the struggling lie
had little patience with the intellectual weak
ling. The prohtless requirement Of knowledge
merely for its own sake was as little to his taste
as the collection OF Postage stamps Learning
was with him something intensely practical. not
in any narrow unitarian sense. but as an IN
strument poten. for the moral uplifting or men,
a talent to be unselnshly employed not garnered
for personal enjoyment. The early training OF MS
own rugged character throws all necessary hsht
on his methods college president ana MS
undertaking devotion to hard duties at the sacr-
fec of his ease his scholarly tastes and his 1T
erary ambition.
DR. Andcrson's father was a farmer ship
carpenter and a school-teacher a devotedly re-
ligtous man Of the Baptist denomination. IN which
tho son became so eminent. His mother was a
woman in advance Of her time, an advocate OF
Temperance In community where. as a matter OF
course LIQUOR flowed freely, whether at the dedca-
ton OF a church or the harvesting or nay Inc
son never remembered 10 have received kiss
from her: but she was kind. she trained him well
and he reverenced her Hardly any other notes
are needed for the perfect picture of this Maine
household Of 1916 Most of Anderson's boyhood
was spent working in a shipyard and IN gaming
such education as 4 narrow and provincial
though by no means unthinking community could
offer He was an aggressive boy. n prominent
figure in village debates. one impatient or re-
straint and of strong will. which deep reii-
gious conviction directed without destroying. De-
termined to be clergyman. he prepared Tor col
lege slowly as opportunity allowed anu ehleieu
Waterve College. now Colby University IN 1880.
Watervle was poor and so were most or us stu
dents. EXPENSES ranged from 81 TO SIS per term,
and included tuition room rent and sundry small
er items such use of textbooks. incidental re-
pairs and the like. Table board IN the village
could be had for 81 so or 81 70 PEE week In the COL
lege commons 1t was often consiieTaoly less
But a few by stress Of poverty. felt Obliged 10
board themselves in their rooms, IN whicn event
the cost was from forty-six TO about seventy
five cents weekly" At time 1t was viz
tuallv decided to close the college doors Tor
want of money. and the students began 10
seek other seats Of learning. Anderson prepared
"a 90 AWAY but no sooner was IT resolved 10
keep the college going little longer II possible
than he determined to remain, and. even as
student do all he could for the struggling insutu-
ton that had tried to educate him II was the
same spirit that kept him true 10 Rochester IN us
dark days When In 1867 he was called from
there to the presidency of Brown University, the
highest honor possible TO teacher in his denomi-
nation he said: Go? No, am going 70 stand
by Rochester. Rochester invested In me when
was unknown and without value; II the invest
ment has not proved failure. Rochester deserves
the profits"
On his graduation from Waterve young An
derson went to Newton Theological Institution
and remained there one year. In the autumn OF
1S41 he went back to his alma mater as tutor
In Latin, Greek and mathematics. A year or two
later he became professor Of rhetoric at the col
.f-.< .iCrtf0
tonic OF study delivered courses of lectures on
historical method at a time when such SUBJECTS
had small place in college course and he was
considered a somewhat dangerous innOYator.
Dr. Anderson came to New-York about lHS
as the editor and part proprietor of The New
York Recorder" Baptist weekly, the prede-
cessor of the present EXAMINER and the lead
ing organ OF the denomination While thus occu-
pied he became a vigorous champion OF the
movement which resulted in the founding OF the
University Of Rochester an 1880; and three years
later was unanimously chosen first president or
the institution in the building up of which all
the strength of his mature life was expended AT
Rochester he found an institution housed in an
old hotel, and sometimes only less poor than
his own Waterville, but with faculty which
included some eminent men.
Dr. Anderson was thrty-cight years old when
he went to Rochester. After thirty-nve years Of
labor, interrupted only by a few physical break
downs he resigned in 1888. but continued to do
his work for part Of the next year and In the
absence Of his successor presided at the com
mencement OF 1889 He died on February rs. 1890.
in the seventy-sixth year Of his age and four
days after the death of his wife. He was one
OF the great college presidents and might be
classed with Hopkins. Wayland and Porter.
II he had had the faculty 20 make use Of men
as able as himself. Other presidents have left
q more widespread reputation because their OPP
portunities were larger and because they gath
cred about them stronger co-workers He had
70 build an institution largely from resources
furnished by himself. AS he expressed Il to an
old nunu about u undertake a similar work: