Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-21
SCOTCH UNIVERSITIES
Where a Student May Be Edu-
Gated in Many, Many Ways.
TRIVIAL SCOTCH COLLEGES
One of Them Founded by the Great
Ephinstone.
CRIMES AND THINGS UNSINFUL
Aberdeen's Great Institutions of
Learning-Their Advantages
and Their Social Side.
RIVAL SCOTCH COLLEGES
CRIMES AND THINGS UNsINFUL
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
| Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald
| ABERDEEN, September 1o.-lf you
| should ask the first person you meet upon
| the street in the city of Aberdeen he Will
| tell you that the new university building
| is the finest granite structure ever erected
by human hands, and the largest in the
world except the Escorial of Philip III in
the mountains north of Madrid. 1t was
completed two years ago. after being sew
eral years under construction. and was
dedicated in the summer of 1906 in the
presence of his majesty the king. 1t is
an imposing structure of pointed Gothic
with a wilderness of windows, pinnacles
and minarettes, and a stately tower that
rises from the rear of the quadrangle.
| the gift of DR.. Mitchell, an alumnus con-
nected with the firm of Armstrong & Co.,
| battleship builders and founders of great
guns.
seen it might produce a greater impress
sion. but it is closely surrounded by old
| fashioned shops and residences, with only
a narrow street on either side, so narrow
| that there is no point from which a pho
| tographic camera can cover the facade.
| 1t Is of the same school Of architecture as
| the parliament house at London. but ii
| does not seem so large and it certainly
is not SO beautiful. The great Victoria
clock tower in London is much superior
to that Of the University of Aberdeen.
| Nevertheless 1t is glorious building
| and the interior arrangements. are as
| admirable the exterior design. Each
depa law civil engineer
| ing. electricity. geology. anatomy. agri-
culture. astronomy. architecture and the
other sciences-too numerous to mention
Has GIT Different Courses.
| A recent writer says that it is possible
for student at Aberdeen to graduate ir
Gil different courses, each "self-con-
tanned" and in a separate and compact
section of the building. The professo.
and his assistants have study each, con-
nected with a reference library, a mu.
scum. series of laboratories. a lecture
| room and other accommodations. all ar
| ranged in the most convenient manner
| and separated from every other part OF
the institution. A student Of botany. for
example, has everything he needs within
ing to the general library. or any other
part of the building, and a student of
theology has the same advantages.
The walls are thick. the ceilings are
high. the corridors wide and airy. and
| every other requirement, sanitary as well
! as intellectual, is satisfied. The library
| is splendid hall with grained oak CELL
| ing. The hall where degrees are conferred
| and dances are given by the students Is
| an artistic conception carried out in per-
| feet style.
There Are Five Schools.
There are five schools under the univer-
| sity-arts. medicine. law, divinity and
| science-the latter department being sub
| divided into several important branches,
| such as agriculture natural sciences, en-
gineering, etc. so that a student at Aber-
deem may find instruction in any line of
| learning he may aspire to. The curricula
| in the annual calendar-which costs 81
| and So at the book store-coVerS seventy
eight pages. and Prof Bullock says a
| student might graduate in half A million
| different ways if he could take advantage
| of all the combina tons involved in these
| courses.
The school of arts is at Kings College
1 in old A Aberdeen, about mile and half
| away. which necessitates explanation.
| New Aberdeen dates back about ten CEN
| turtles. Old Aberdeen was founded in pre-
| historic times and still retains an air of
antiquity which the modern part of the
| town has been deprived of by the enter
| prisng citizens. who have filled its streets
with splendid buildings of granite.
Founded by Lord Elphinstone.
The center of old Aberdeen is King s
College, founded in 1895 by Bishop Ell
phinstone. lord chancellor of Scotland in
the reign of James III. lord privy seal in
the reign of James " and famous as the
first great scholar ever produced in Scot
| land He was remarkable for his learn
ing and ability in several directions-a
| diplomatist of the highest rank. lawyer
| unsurpa ssed by his contemporaries. leg
| icIa TOR aybn Clf a leader
parliament for thirty years an ecclesiast c
| who ruled over the church with consum-
| mate success. a man of broad and thor
ough learning, orator of wonderful
power, and in other respects the greatest
| intellect of his generation.
| He was born in Glasgow in 1883, the
son of the rector of st. Michaers Church;
! gradual ted with the first class from Glas-
! cow University. and studied theology 10
| become his fathers curate. He undoubt-
| edly would have succeeded to the paternal
! pulpit and led the quiet life of country
| parson had not an admirins uncle given
| him money to take vacation trip ABROAD
| He did not return for many years and
| in the meantime had taken degrees at
the University of Orleans and the Uni
| yersitv Of Paris. He served as professor
of law at the former institution and at
tanned such fame for legal learning that
he was frequently consulted by the
| French government. In 1874 he was
called home to become rector of Glasgow
| University and was Immediately elected
| to the Scottish parliament His public
career extended through the reiSns of
the first five Jameses His field of in
fuence included five countries. He wrote
| the first church service book and the
| first history of the Scottish saints. He
was the earliest historian of his church,
| presided over three great universities and
! founded one of them. He died at Dun
| feminine October p. 1914. seventy-three
years old. and his imposing tomb may be
seen in the exquisite little chapel of
Kings College.
Marischal College and It's Founder.
| Marischal College was founded in Aber-
deem in 1913. just ninety-eight years later
than Kings College. by George Keith,
earl marischal of Scotland, whose la
comic reply to the admonitions of the
| Scottish parliament on a certain occa-
sion is carved over the entrance to the
new buildings:
| Thay half said:
| Quhat thay say;
| Lat thame say.
This is quite ambiguous to uniformed
readers, and 1t would be necessary to re-
cite long chapter in history to make it