The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-05-30
UNIvERSALISTS AND EDUCATION.
THE classified tables of the universi.

States show very clearly that the leading
sects of our country have taken an
active part in the establishment and
growth of institutions Of learning. AS
early as 1886 the religious people of Mas
sachusetts founded Harvard College.
That was 260 years ago. Sixty-four
years later Q700) Yale College was es-
tablished. And during the long inter-
vening period till now, sect after sect, as
we'll as State after State, have built and
endowed their great universities and COL
leges. We have now four hundred and
seventy-six Of these powerful and benef-
cent institutions. They employ 10.897
professors and instructors, and are oc-
cupied by great army Of 143 .632 young
people as students in the highest grades
of knowledge known to mankind.
AS to the secular or religious charac-
ter of these 476 institutions-a trife
more then one quarter of them are
classed as non- -sectarian. Seven Chris
tian sects are represented as follows:
The Methodists (all divlsions) have &C colleges
or universities.
The Presbyterians (all divisions) have forty COL
leges or universities.
The Baptists have thirty four colleges or uni
versities.
The Roman Catholics twenty-one colleges or
univer, stiles.
The Congregatonalsts seventeen colleges or
universities.
The Protestant Ep.scopalians six colleges or
universities.
The Universalists four colleges or universities.
on-sectarian one hundred and twenty-nlne
colleges or universities.
Other denominations make up the bal
ance of 476. These figures are gathered
by actual count from the tables on pages
271-275. World Almanac. There is, how
ever, a great discrepancy between this
list and the one on page 268. same au-
thority.)
The Universalist showing above ap-
pears quite insignifcant-only four in
stitutions. But figures are great or
small by comparisons. We deserve the
benefit of the comparison in the ages Of
different denominations. From fifty to
nearly a hundred and fifty years the
START in planting the institutions of de-
nomination is a weighty advantage over
the youngest of all the above sects, viz.
the Universalist. But, waving this
consideration, let us reduce the above
tables to the ratio of numbers. First by
organizations. Accepting DR.. Carroll's
religious statistics as the basis of calcu-
lation, we have as follows:
Universallst College to every 2S9 Churches.
Congregationalst College to every 2S6
chui ches:
Presbyterian College to every 1856 churches
Roman Catholic College to every 4s9 churches
Methodist college to every $50 churches.
Protestant Episcopal College to every $40
churches
baptist College to every 1,265 churches.
According to this table the Universe.
list denomination has more colleges in
proportion to their number of churches
than any ofthe above six leading denom-
nations.
Let us now construct second table
on the basis of actual membership. The
ratio will still be in our favor, and as fol-
lows:
Universalists, have one college to every 1928
members.
CongregatIonalists have one college to every
3O,l63 members.
Presbyterians have one college to every 81, 1908
members.
Methodists have one college to every SO, ,5s4
members.
Episcopalians have one college to every 9O,Os4
members.
Baptists have one college to every 1Os,s52
members.
Roman Catholics have one college to every
297 1898 members
Hence. according to both of these
tables,we are largely in advance of these
denominations in proportion to our
numbers. In proportion to our men,
bership we have more than double the
number of colleges of either the Con.
gregationalists or Presbyterians. In pro-
portion to our membership, we have
more than five times the number of the
Methodists, more than seven times the
number of the Episcopalians, nine times
more than the Baptists. and twenty-four
times more than the Roman Catholics.
And these ratios hold good notwith-
standing our extreme youth compared
to the age of the others. Neither will
these ratios be weakened by comparing
the strength and efficiency of our insti-
tutions with the others. Nearly all of
our really great universities, of two
thousand students and more, are classed
as non-sectarian. Columbia College,
Harvard University (once Unitarian),
the Northwestern University. the Uni
versity of California, the Michigan Uni
versity. the University of Pennsylvania,
and several others nearly as large are ex-
amples. Yale University with her 2,400
students is an exception. being Congre-
gational. She has right to be great,
for she is 196 years old. Hence we say.
with this exception, our institutions
stand on an average with the sectarian
institutions of the land-both our acad-
emies and colleges.
But we have something more to say
for our good cheer. Without abating
anything for our great disparity Of ages