Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-06-16
The frst year of the institu-


ton there were sixteen students. |
Now there are 900 There are thirty |
five acres of ground in the campus |
and and twelve buildings. as fine as
you will see at the average American
institution and of similar architec-
ture. The faculty numbers thirty
five professors and instructors, of
whom seventeen are Americans. The
growth of the institution has been
gradual and permanent, the best of
testimony to its usefulness In 1870
1876. lO6: in 1880. 1852; in 1886, ITO;
in 1890. 200; in 1895. 297; in 1900.
435; in 1901. 544; in 1902. 600. More
room on the campus and more build
ings for the accommodation Of the
students are greatly needed. and II
any gentleman in the United States
has few thousand dollars he would
like to invest in a noble and useful
enterprise that will pay him bigger
dividents than the Standard Oil COM
pany he may apply to the president
of the board of trustees Morris K
Jesup of New York. for a block of
stock In the Syrian Prostestant col
lege Its coat-of-arms is a venerable
cedar of Lebanon and its motto Is
The righteous shall flourish like
palm tree: he shall grow like cedar
in Lebanon"
The students come from Egypt.
Greece. Turkey in Europe. Asia Minor,
Persia. Syria and the Sudan, besides
Germans. Frenchmen Englishmen,
Italians and Americans from the for
eign colony in Syria. Tuition is $25
year including board $125 year
Just enough to give a value to the in
struction and not too much to shut
out young men who are in earnest for
learning.
The college is undenominational and
the instruction is entirly nonsectarian.
Although it was founded by the Pres
byterians. members of several other
denominations are found in faculty.
Religious exercises, however, are COM
pulsory. Students are required to
attend chapel daily. public worship
and Sunday school on the Sabbath,
and. the study of the Bible is a regu-
| ldT part vi lIt botNti ai
hours week are devoted to the study
of ethics-everyday morals. including
the duty of man to his fellow men,
truth honesty, candor, justice-for
the purpose of quickening the moral
sense of the students and to train
them thoroughly in the ethical princi-
pies that are the foundation of Chris
| tian society. But no evangelical
work is attempted. The idea is to
educate and not to convert; to pre-
J pare the minds and leave the rest to
Providence. President Bliss says:
'Tt is possible for a pagan to enter
our college. and he may go out pag
an. but it will not be possible for hin
to remain long in ignorance OF the la"
of God in the physical, mental ant
moral world"
The students represent all of the
many races and religions in Syria
Some object at first to religious in
struction and to being required to at
ltend Christian worship. but no excep
tions are made. and ultimately they
accept the situation gracefully. ant
often show deep interest in subject:
to which they were originally averse
In the chapel Sunday morning Is tt
be found a congregation of 600 fine
looking young men-Jews, Greeks
Mohammedans, Maronites. Druses
Armenians. Roman Catholics and be
glievers in all the many creeds tina
lprevail in Palestine. They sins
Christian hymns to the accompani
ment of fine organ. join in the re
sponsive readings OF the Holy Scrip
lures. and hear sermon that doe
not refer to doctrinal controversies
but treats Of the evidences Of Chris
'ianity and the moral law. Each Sun
day afternoon for an hour the sam'
students-.Jews Gentiles and Moslem
meet for Bible study. Controver
sial points are avoided. Old Testa
ment history and the teachings o
Jesus are made prominent, and fre
quently the greatest interest is shown
by the Mohammedan and the Jewisl
students.
No criticism is passed upon othe
religions any more than upon othe
nations Politics and theology ar
both barred. 1t is not intended t.
derationalize the young men or t.
draw them away from their families
The purpose is to prepare them TO
the duties and the labors of life Th'
country wants teachers, lawyers, edi
tors. judges, engineers. physicians
pharmacists, clerks and interpreters
and the college is called upon to sup
ply all OF these needs
As French is the common Ian
, guage in official and commercial cir
cles in Syria. much time is devoted t,
its study, but all instruction is givel
in English, and everything about tn,
institution is distinctly American
American methods. American furni
ture. American athletics and Ameri
can literature In the erection of tn
new building all the materials wer
imported from the United States. tn
machinery and apparatus. the instru
ments and appliances in the laborator
les. but in the observatory. in the hos
pital and even in the kitchen, ar al
American. and one great idea of tn
faculty is to impress upon the younl
men the superiority of American inst
tutions and American products. an,