The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-05-22

shall at Lancaster, Pa; 1889. st. Johns
college, Annapolis, Md. and George
town university at Washington; 1871,
the University OF Vermont at Burling-
ton, VT; 1898. Williams college. Will
Jamestown, Mass; 1894. the University
of Tennessee at Knoxville, Tenn; the
Greenville and Tusculum college at the
latter place, and Bowdoin college.
Brunswick. Me; 1875, the Washington
college, Washington. Tenn; Union col
lege, Schenectady. N. Y, and the Uni
versity Of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, ~. c.
| These two dozen colleges OF the sew
enteenth and eighteenth centuries were
the nuclei around which has grown up
the collegiate system of the United
Sta ties and which now includes $50 uni
lNersitiss and colleges OF the liberal arts.
With an annual attendance OF more
than 10000 male and female students.
The few thousand dollars with which
! the earlier colleges started has swelled
TO productive funds OF sl4s,000 600. with
incomes of s2l. 100000. Millions have
been forthcoming i'm benefactions dur
ing the few years past-s11, 900, 900, 1899
1900. The value of buildings and
grounds approximates sl36,000,000, the
value OF apparatus $4,000. 900 and the
books in college and university libraries
number more than 5000. 900. The num-
ber OF institutions is too great 10 be
enumerated, but the accompanying list
OF colleges and universities with an
average attendance OF 1000 or more
each will convey All approximate idea
OF the immense strides the United
States has made in the higher educa-
ton, mainly in the nineteenth century.
IL cannot be said, however. that the
value of an institution may be accu-
rately gagged by its size. for IL is a
notable fact that some OF the strug-
Cling hill and prairie colleges have
more strongly impressed the national
life of our country than the metropoli-
tan and larger ones. No matter how
amply endowed or fully equipped a coll
lege may be, IL cannot succeed IL the
personal equation be eliminated. II
is the incentive, the example OF the
teacher. that counts for most i'm the
college course. Equipment and luxu-
rious accessories are not solely helps I'm
a collegiate career.
IL cannot be denied that the educa-
tional standard has steadily advanced
through the century past. Broader
ideas prevail now than formerly, and
ideals makes for greater competition as
we'll as greater incentive to effort.
About the middle of the last century
IL was discovered that the interest in
college education was actually on the
wane, and the teachers strenuously ad-
vocated giving less prominence TO the
so called classical studies and even,
II found advantageous. subordinating
them to science and modern languages
in the college curriculum. These saga
cious men noted the trend toward a
more practical" education. Culture
for cultures sake IL, of course the
higher ideal, but unfortunately not all
can pursue IL, as did the ancient
Greeks Indeed, IL Greek traditions are
true. such culture heroes as Socrates.
for example paid too little attention to
the practical side of life. However,
about fifty years ago most of the cur
riculums were expanded 10 take I'm SUBJ
sidiary studies. until some OF our large
colleges became in a certain sense uni
versities. IL can hardly be said now,
as was stated twenty years ago by
high authority. that I'm the United
States there Is no university or uni
versity instruction according to the
European classification, for not less
than "A score OF institutions might be
named that may well be dignifed by
the name of universities. No student in
search of the broadest education need
go abroad for that purpose, for nearly
every state i'm the Union has its univer-
sity and during the past nifty years or
so there have been established scien-
tifc, professional and technical col