Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-06-20
COLLEGE
new D.
Continued from Page ~


land, the land of education and civil
liberty, and her sturdy character
needs no further sponsor. She wit
messed the wal for independence and
suffered because of her loyalty and
patriotism. Two of her tdtors were
colonies in the Continental army, and
one member of the class of 1875, a
private, saw the surrender of Bur
goyne and later that of CORVALLIS.
The first president of the institution,
Jacob H~ardenberg, sat with Freling-
huysen and Witherspoon in the COZ
vention in which New Jersey rati-
fed the constitution of the United
States. One of your sons, the pri-
vate in the Revolution, suggested to
Jefferson the present land system of
the United States, under which home
stead claims have been taken up and
a narrow seaboard line along the At
lantic has grown step by step into a
continents expanse, forming popu-
lous cities and mighty states. So
Rutgers is distinctively an American
institution by deed and by history
and has a right to fly the American
flag with all its stars.
1.-THE first president of this college
defined education as the Improvement
of the human mind for the proper
discharge Of our duties toward God,
ourselves and our neighbors. From
its earliest inception, therefore, the
spirit of this institution has been the
spirit of service-of good to others,
of benefit to the public veal. 1t was
born of a desire to prepare young
men for the ministry. In this coun-
try education and religion grew up
side by side and the two most promi-
nent features of the civilization OF
our forefathers were the church and
the school house. Rutgers-at that
time Queens college-began its ca
reer as a theological seminary with
the object of providing an able n
well qualified ministry for the Re-
formed faith. For practically a CEN
fury the theological spirit was pre-
dominant. In 1854 the connection
between the seminary and the college
was severed, but the separation was
administrative rather than actual,
and Rutgers College never lost the
missionary spirit of its origin.
institutions retain characteristics
as well as individuals and Rutgers
ever evinced a liberal disposition and
endeavored to widen its sphere of
usefulness and to open its doors to
every possible seeker after know
ledge, whether he be the classical
student, the mechanic, the farmer,
or the artisan. | think | eXalt rath-
er than depreciate the high standard
of this institution when | character
ize it as a part of the public school
system. of our state, inspiring the
students of our free schools to the
pursuit of higher education. Every
boy in the public schools of New Jer-
sey feels that the doors of Rutgers
stand open for his entrance and whe-
Their or not he avails himself of the
privilege, the possibility of a better
and more advanced education stimu-
lates his ambition and raises his
/, ideals and aims. Like the church
that goes out among the lowly, this
institution through the scholarships
it offers to every section of our state,
instills in the heart of every citizen
a vital interest in the public school
life of New Jersey. The old Roman
emperor said: Home sum-, humani
nihil a me alienum puto, ~ am
a man and deem nothing that con
Germs man foreign to my feelings"
This institution says: Il am aiding
the cause of education and nothing
that promotes that aim do | deem IN
! worthy of attention. / have a scien-
tifc department where | train the
Z Young men for electrical or mechani-
cal or mining or civil engineering. !
look out over the state, and | see In
dustries employing hundreds OF
workmen competing with like indus
tries in other countries and depend
ing for success upon the develop
ment of the artistic sense, and a
: knowledge of our mineral resources
and their uses. So / have establish
3 ed a course in ceramics where the
4 manufacture of china and porcelain
r and ornamental pottery, the mechan-
1 ical and chemical properties of oui
/, clays and silicates may be studied
! to encourage the development of in
. dustries that enter into many of the
necessities of life. I had already fur
t nished the pioneer who revealed the
riches that nature had stored for this
purpose. I gave DR.. Cook to this
state. He taught us how to draw
fresh and pure water from the arit
; sands along our sea coast. He point
!. ed out and brought to light the shape.
: less hidden clay that under the teach
ings of ceramics puts on forms o
beauty and usefulness. He drew the
maps that are unequalled by am
maps of any other state in the unioI
. and that tell not alone the story o.
our geological struggles, but of the
mineral wealth that our citizens car
draw on at Measure. I have thus