INAUGURAL ADDRESS
DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OP THE
UNIVERSITY OF KITTANKING,
On Monday Evening, 21st November, 1858;
BY
JOHN B. FINLAY, PH. D. LL. D.
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY.
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES*
PRINTED BY J. T. SHRYOCK, PUBLISHER, FIFTH STREET, PITTSBURGH!
1859.
fUlje of tfj«
GEN, ROBERT ORR, President,
ALEXANDER REYNOLDS, Esq. Treasurer.
ROBERT W. SMITH, Esq. Secretary.
A. COLWELL, ESQ.
P. MECHLING, ESQ.
J. E. BROWN, ESQ.
HON. THOMAS WHITE,
HON. JOSEPH BUFFINGTON,
HON, T. J. COFFEY,
HON. D. PHELPS,
JOHN B. FINLAY, LL. D.
THOMAS M'CONNELL, ESQ.
H. N. LEE, ESQ.
E. S. GOLDEN, ESQ.
JAMES DOUGLAS, ESQ.
H. CAMPBELL, ESQ.
JOHN K. CALHOtlN, ESQ.
JOHN T. CRAWFORD, ESQ.
JAMES MOSGROYE, ESQ.,
R. E. BROWN, ESQ
ROBERT MTNTOSH, ESQ.
J. BRATTAN PARKS. ESQ.
PATRICK KERR, ESQ.
E. BUFFINGTON, ESQ.
J. ALEXANDER FULTON, ESQ.
fUjfc iHmttto ■
JOHN B. FINLAY, Ph. D. LL. D. Chancellor.
J. ALEXANDER FULTON, Esq. Registrar.
HON. JOSEPH BUFFINGTON,
HON. DARWIN PHELPS,
EDWARD S. GOLDEN, Esq.
JOHN T, CRAWFORD, Esq, M. D.
ROBERT B. PATTERSON, A. B
* ______
*
*
* To be appointed.
&{« liiiliirsifif a! iHtetimg.
The Inauguration Exercises were conducted in the First Presbyterian Church, in
the Borough of Kittanning, on Monday Evening, the 21st of November, A. D. 1858-
At the hour appointed, Gen. Robert Orr, President of the Corporation, on taking
the chair, called upon Hon. Darwin Phelps to state the object of the meeting—
whereupon, in a few appropriate remarks, Mr. Phelps gave an interesting outline
of the organization of the University, and concluded by introducing John B. Fin"
lay, LL. D., who delivered the following address, which was unanimously order¬
ed by the Board to be published.
ADDRESS.
Mr. President,
Members of the Board of Trustees,
and Fellow Citizens:
After Pythagoras, the Samian, had maintained an ingenious conver¬
sation with Leon—Prince of the Philiasians—the Prince, surprised at
the variety of his knowledge, and the sagacity of his views, asked him
what Art he chiefly practiced; the sage replied that he practiced no
Art, hut was a lover of wisdom. Marvelling at the novelty of the
term, Leon inquired his meaning; whereupon the Samian answered
that he thought the life of man might be compared to the public mart,
which was associated with the fairest and most sacred festivals of
Greece. For, as at Olympia, some aspired to fame and distinction by
bodily strength—others toiled for gain in the occupations of business,
while others finally—and those the best of all, regardless of admiration
and profit, only observed and weighed attentively the conduct, char¬
acter, and manner of the rest;—just so, in the great mart of life, some
strive for fame, others for wealth; but apart from these, there still exist
a small number of persons, who, caring little for other objects, have
turned their thoughts to the nature of things, and their essential char¬
acter alone; and that these are they whom he denominates lovers of
wisdom—philosophers. And as there it was the most liberal and ex¬
alted part to be a looker on, without regard to personal gain; so, too, in
life, the contemplation of things and the understanding of them should
be placed above all other human endeavors.
Such was the decision of one of the wisest men of antiquity upon
the order of precedence among the labors of man—a decision which
has been recognized by the most civilized and polished of nations in a
later age—a decision which strikingly discovers the difference between
Grecian thought and Barbarian customs—a decision which declares
that the only difference between one man and another is the endow¬
ments of his mind.
6
By society polished, refined, erudite, and cultivated, this decision ii,
accepted;—while by a rude, unlettered, and uncultivated people, tht,
order is reversed. By the latter are only admitted, as worthy of theii (
consideration, the claims of gainful occupation—which has its gaze
fixed on earth, and makes use of earthly materials, for earthly ends.
They will barely endure the free play of the powers which aims at
nothing but to satisfy itself; they enjoy it if it fills the time agreeably,
but never hold it in high regard; the leisurely spectator, however, who
only observes what is going forward, and how things come to pass, theyj
are hardly willing to tolerate, regarding him as a parasitic member of
the community.
But as intelligence increases and the public mind becomes moulded
by a higher toned intellectual spirit, the mental rises over the animal
propensities of our nature. Indeed, so closely allied are we with the
spiritual and the animal world, that we form, as it were, a connecting
link in the mysterious chain of union. To rise above the latter, and J
become assimilated more and more to the former, is the grand work of
mental culture. Now, by education, man is enabled to form just con¬
ceptions of himself, of the world, and of the moral Governor of the
Universe. It was this which distinguished Greece from the adjoining
nations. It is this which distinguishes the man of letters from the
ignorant rustic. Whatever elevates an individual above his fellows,
would equally exalt the true glory of a nation.
Reflect upon the condition of modern nations, and inquire what has
made such difference among them! Compare Italy with Germany,
Spain with England, and Mexico with the United States! In Italy
there is classic reminiscence—the land of Virgil the poet, and Cicero
the orator—the cradle of laws and of empire for the world. But why
have her poets ceased to sing—her statesmen to be eloquent—her lit¬
erature to be diffused, and her Cassars to rule? On the other hand,
look at Germany, emerging as it were but yesterday from obscurity!
Go into her schools, her academies, her universities;—listen to her
bards, converse with her philosophers, open her ponderous works on
literature, science, and art—and will you not at a glance see the cause
of her superiority stamped on every pillar of those proud temples of mind.
Again, look at Spain; once so famous for her gold and silver, her Al-
hambric palaces, her science and literature, and her high destiny in
the field of commercial discovery—now fallen from that high national
position; her people poor, degraded, and unlettered! Turn to Britain!
Behold her commerce, her agriculture, her schools, her colleges, her
ancient universities, her scholars, her poets, her statesmen, her men of
science—all manifesting the majesty of mind, the nobleness of thought
and the transcendent superiority she enjoys over her Spanish cotem-
7
is
!>orary. Need we direct your thoughts to Mexico? What is there to
jttract attention? Where are her historians, her men of science and
fitters, her schools? Surrounded by the relics of ancient civilization,
he has made little advancement, Advantageously situated for mara-
.ime commerce, by nature she has not improved her condition! But
a hold relief, what do we find throughout these United States? Let
^ ur common schools and academies answer. Let our colleges and wni-
ersities answer! Let our cities and villages answer! Let our steam¬
boats and rail roads answer! Let our historians and orators answer!
jet our commerce at home and abroad answer! It is just because
Germany and England, and our own happy Republic value freedom
"f thought, education and enterprise, that they so far rise in the
jcale of exaltation over the down-trodden states of Italy, Spain and
Mexico!
ler We plead for an education, extensive and liberal—an education
'Adapted to the growing age in which we live—an education which will
rt';rapple with all difficulties, solve all intricacies, enlarge the under¬
standing, develop the mind, moralize the feelings, and lead the Crea¬
ture instinctively from Nature's works, with all their loveliness, sub¬
limity and glory, to admire more than all their Great First Cause.
1 It is for inculcating such a principle, this University was founded.
'And in order that the successive steps of intellectual development may
>e depicted more clearly, we shall consider the subject in a two-fold
'-iew;—As it respects scholastic education in other ages; and as it re¬
gards the object and aim of this Institution,
k
3 I. Education is no new theme. It has engaged the attention of
^ages, of poets, of scholars, and of statesmen for more than four thou¬
sand years. And though it has been before the public mind so long,
'^ind achieved such glorious triumphs, it has, nevertheless, numberless
"difficulties to remove before its mission shall be accomplished. It has
]fi;o dispel mental darkness, to usher in the noonday splender of intel¬
lectual glory; to break the shackles of ignorance; to make men free in
■'the noblest sense of human wisdom; to assimilate their minds to the
inature of Him to whom they owe their existence. For who is a free¬
man unless he whom the truth makes free! Aiid what is truth but
icertain knowledge respecting God—His works, and His government,
and the best practical mode of conforming our lives, our conduct, and
our conversation unto those laws apparent in the world .without us, as
well as in the world within us—in matter as in mind.
For instructing their youth in morals and physics, some of the an¬
cient nations made wise provision in their jurisprudence. The most
ancient government was PatTi(iTch(il-~~a name indicating the kind of
8
government existing in a family, where the youthful members wei
carefully trained for sustaining the great social relation of children tl
their common parent. Such a training would necessarily include i
course of mental and moral discipline. And when the patriarcha
merged into monarchical authority, the guardianship of the young wai
also transferred. And hence wherever a code of national laws existed
provision was at the same time made for the education of the young
This was apparent, from the fragments which have survived the courst
of time, in the legislation of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians-
in the laws of the Medes and Persians—in the Vedas and Shasters of thi
Hindoos, and in the philosophy of the Chinese. True, the ancient;
had not the same idea of educational establishments which are nmi
entertained. These have arisen, as the result of experience. "W<
cannot afford either time or space to examine the rise and progress o
such institutions in all the prominent nations of antiquity; a few wil
be selected as specimens of the general law of mental operation ii
every societ}r, where a sufficient degree of stability has been given by
the enactment of certain general principles for the mutual welfare of
its members. With this view we call your attention to the institutions
of learning among the Egyptians, the Hebrews, the Greeks, the Ro,
mans, and the nations of Christendom.
1. And with regard to the first, we may state that at an early period
letters and science were highly cultivated in Egypt. The origin of
Alphabetical characters is not easily known. It has been claimed by
almost every nation. The Chinese and Hindoos contend with the
Phoenicians and Egyptians for the honor of its invention. Now on i
subject of this kind, testimony is indispensable; conjecture is entirely
out of the question. But whence this testimony? We reply from thi
Pentateuch of Moses—the most ancient record extant. There may
have been others older, but they have not survived the ruins of time
and the supposition that they do exist, is of very little weight in th<
absence of absolute certainty. From the writings of Moses it appears
after the Deluge, the whole human family was sojourning in the plain*
of Shinar, in Tvlesopotamia. Shortly afterwards an event transpired
which dispersed them abroad. ^ The Shemitic family occupying thei
central and eastern portions of Asia—the Japhetians, the northern pari
of Asia and eastern and southern parts of Europe—while the Hamite^j
divided into numerous families, occupied the courses of the Euphrates,
southward, and the maratime coasts of the Mediterranean, westward.
And herC it may be remarked, the Hamites were the pioneers of mar^
atime commerce. Following the course of the Euphrates towards its
confluence with the Persian Gulf, the Cushite descendents of Ham
first settled in Hindostan, where they gave vent to their genius in reli-
o
gion, letters and laws. A portion of them taking a Avestward course
across the southern shores of Arabia, laid the foundations of several
independent commercial cities. Crossing the straits of Babel Mandel,
colonies of them arrived in Africa, and founded the kingdoms of Ethi¬
opia and Meroe, on the head waters of the Nile. Still propelled by
their propensity for following the course of rivers, or the shores of the
ocean, the Ethiopians pushed their way westward and southward along
the African coast, while the people of Meroe pursued their course of
colonization along the banks of the Nile, until Egypt, once an exten¬
sive morass, became peopled by an industrious commercial nation.
Now Moses informs us that the whole human family before their dis¬
persion had only one language—that that language was confounded—
that each tribe began to speak a language peculiar to itself. He says
nothing of the use of characters to represent ideas. But it is more than
probable that the use of characters to represent and communicate ideas
was coeval with speech itself. That the antediluvians were acquainted
with such characters cannot be justly denied. Whatever those char¬
acters were it is presumable the family of Noah understood. Now in
sifch a vocal cataclasm as they experienced at the tower of Babel, it
would be perfectly natural for each tribe now speaking a distinct lan¬
guage from its mother tongue, to use to a very considerable extent the
former characters with whose use it was acquainted, to represent its
ideas in its new form of speech—and hence, although the forms of
speech should vary, the representative characters might, without much
perceptible change of form, also continue to be used, until modified, al¬
tered or moulded according as the genius and taste of each nation ren¬
dered desirable. Thus might the sameness of the ancient Chaldean,
Arabic, Ethiopic, Phoenician and Celtic characters be accounted for—-
not even omitting the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians—which were the
sacred letters of the priests for the purpose of concealing their communi¬
cations from the vulgar throng. And thus alphabetical characters would
naturally accompany the early colonists from the plains of Mesopota¬
mia throughout all their journeyings and settlements, until they were
introduced into Egypt.
Moses wrote the Hebrew Laws about 1491 years before the Christian
Era. He was then eighty years of age. It appears he was educated
in the school of the Pharaohs, and instructed in the literature, arts, sci¬
ences and laws of Egypt.
At that time Egypt had attained the zenith of imperial magnificence..
Situated advantageously for maritime and overland commerce, she had
been enriched by the wealth of the renowned Meroe On the south, th
o-old and pearls and gems of India on the south east, the spices of Ara¬
bia Felix on the east, the traffic of Tyre and the Mediterranean on the
10
north, and the products of Africa from the west, until from a small col¬
ony she arose to all the pomp and splendor and magnificence of a lux¬
urious kingdom, vieing with the world for political supremacy.
Before the age of Moses, tradition informs us that the warrior train
of Sesostris had laid Hindostan at the feet of their leader. Returning
home, that illustrious monarch carried with him the wisest and most
learned of the Hindoos, to instruct his Egyptian subjects in Indian
learning, Indian science, Indian arts and Indian laws. And thus was
laid the foundation of that Egyptian knowledge so famous in the days
of the Hebrew Law-giver. To the priests of Egypt were entrusted
the education of the youth. Their schools were held at the gates of
the sacred temples, in order that the blessings of the gods might the
more easily be invoked to advance their mental culture. In these
schools instructions were given on astronomy, astrology, geometry»
medicine and laws.
Now as Moses was educated in the knowledge of the Egyptians,
and as he afterwards wrote the Hebrew laws for the use of the people,
it is fair to conclude that the knowledge of alphabetical writing was also
taught him in Egypt, as the earliest portion of his life was spent there,
and as no such supposable opportunity was offered for acquiring'such
knowledge in the wilderness of Midiah.
The most ancient writers of song and history are Homer and Hesiod,
who flourished about 900 years before our era. But Moses, the Law¬
giver, and the Egyptian Sages, and the Hindoo Vedas flourished up¬
wards of 1500 years before that illustrious event, leaving a balance of
600 years of antiquity in favor of Moses as a writer over the Grecian
muses, t All antiquity concurs in granting to Egypt the palm of giving
language, religion, laws, morals and architecture to Athens, the pride
of Greece; while she trained Moses to play a new part in the theatre
of letters and legislation, and hand them down to us. And though Lu-
cean, the Poet, says:—
Phcenices prima, fama si creditor, ansi
Maiisuram rudibns, vocem signare fignris,
we are to receive his testimony with considerable license, while remem¬
bering that Cadmus, the Phoenician, was instrumental in introducing
the original 16 letters of the Greek alphabet, with his colony, to Thebes,
about the year B. C. 1493, just sixty-three years after the Egyptian
Cecrops had founded Athens; and besides, as the same manners, cus¬
toms, laws, religious rites, language, commerce and architecture, were
peculiar to Phoenicia as to Egypt, it still remains a problem unsolved,
which was the parent nation—Egypt or Phoenicia—as the Phoenicians
are said to have been a colony from the Persian Gulf and the shores of
the Erythrian Sea. The more probable opinion is that they were orig-
11
inally a colony of Meroeans—on account of their commercial proclivi¬
ties—and as such would bear a near affinity to the Egyptians; and
retaining the original alphabetical characters of their parent family,
could thus easily disseminate them over Europe, through their numer¬
ous colonies of adventurers. * Bejthis a^t may, Egypt has been the
nursery of the sciences, the arts, of early civilization, of literature, of
medicine and of laws. Here were the schools of the Ptolemies. Here
was the abode of Euclid, the mathematician. Here was the celebrated
Alexandrian Library. And here, too, flourished the medical and philr
osophical schools of the Pagans, the theological schools of the Chris¬
tians, ajjd the law school of the Cresars, r_.
2. But with regard to the second development of educational estab¬
lishments, let me direct your attention to the Hebrews. Here, too, we
stand on the pedestal of legal authority. The Hebrew Jurist enjoins
on the people of Israel to educate their children. "These words," say*
he, "which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou
shall teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou liest down, and when thou
xisest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and
they shall be frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them
,on the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates."
Notwithstanding these injunctions, education was sadly neglected by
the Jews until their captivity. In several places they had "Schools oj
the Prophets" established—not "Theological Seminaries," but institu¬
tions where lectures were delivered on morals, physics, and the Laws
of Moses, Of the moral philosophy inculcated in these Schools, we
have a fair outline in the Proverbs of Solomon, who, though a prince,
and busy with the cares of State, was nevertheless not ashamed to as¬
sume among the "Assemblies of the Learned" the office of teacher.
During the captivity, the most learned men associated together to in¬
struct their captive brethren in the spirit of their laws. After their
restoration "Assemblies of the Learned" were more numerously insti¬
tuted. In these schools the whole circle of liberal studies then known
was in the presence of their students discussed orally. Such semina¬
ries existed at Lydda, Pekun, Jahneh, Benebarak, Rome, Sikni, Zip-
porim, Cfesaxea, Bethshan, Acco, Alexandria and Jerusalem. Each of
jthese schools had generally four Professors or Doctors of Law.' At the
College of Jamnia, over which the celebrated Gamaliel presided, up¬
wards of 380 students were in attendance. Such was the school from
tvhich the Great Apostle of the Gentiles graduated in the days of his
Phariseeism—full of zeal for his faith, a young man of letters, of versa¬
tile acquirements, on the fair way to distinction among his countrymen,
ambitious of honor, and worthy as a Roman citizen to fill the highest
12
office of the State. He forsook all these honors. And yet his name
and fame are dearer and far fairer to-day than those of the Ctesars, and
when Rome's imperial grandeur will he forgotten, the name of Paul
will be held in connection with his great legal instructor, in everlasting
remembrance, as examples of moral rectitude.
3. We shall in the next place direct your attention to the mental de¬
velopment of ancient Greece. The whole course of study pursued by
a Grecian youth was divided into four parts—grammar, music, gym¬
nastics, and the art of drawing and painting. Grammar was the art of
speaking and writing correctly. Music included vocal and instrumen¬
tal music, technically so called, as well as the reading, study, and com¬
position of poetry. Gymnastics were so highly esteemed that far more
time was consumed in such exercises than was occupied with the other
three departments. But the activity of the Grecian mind was not long
confined to those four studies—a fifth, that of Philosophy, was added.
These were added the science of Numbers and Laws. Philosophy and
Law seem to have been inseparable originally, as Plato not only ap¬
pears as a philosopher, but also as a jurist.
In the fifth century before our era, a wealthy Athenian, named Ci-
mon, donated an enclosed and ornamented garden called Academus, to
the citizens, as a public pleasure ground. Here Plato possessed a
small patrimonial garden, where he opened a school. Young men
flocked to his lectures. His school was called " The Academy " on ac¬
count of its location, to which honorable origin our modern academies
owe their name. Cicero invariably confines the word Academia to
designate the Platonic Philosophy. Several sects of this celebrated
school arose, of which the two principal were called The Old and The
New Academy. This was the prototype of our modern academic lec¬
tures on mental science, logic and Belles Lettres. Plato, in his Phil-
sebus, mentions the method of teaching letters—in his Cratylus discusses
whether the signification of words was natural to them, or arbitrary
and founded solely on the will of mankind.
Aristotle, in his 20th chapter of Poetics, gives us a list of the parts of
speech then used. His words are: "The poetical style of elocution
contains these eight parts—the element, the syllable, the conjunction,
the noun, the verb, the article, the case, the inflexion. To this enu¬
meration the Stoics added the preposition, the pronoun, the participle,
the adverb and the interjection.
To the above sciences, the Greeks added that of medicine, whose in¬
vention they attributed to the gods, although they derived it really from
the Egyptians. They divided the science into five parts—Physiology
and Anatomy; Aetiology, the doctrine of the causes of disease; Path¬
ology and Hygiene; Semeiology; and Therapeutics. Medical litera-
13
ture is traceable back to the works of Hippocrates of Cos, though doubt*
less as a science medicine was taught long anterior to him. He is said
to have been descended from ^Esculapius, the father of Grecian physi¬
cians. Medical schools flourished for a time at Rhodes, Cnidus, Cos,
Crotona, Cyrene and Alexandria. As now, so in ancient times differ¬
ent medical sects arose, the principal of which were the Dogmatics
foundded B. C. 400, by Thessabus, grandson of Hippocrates; the Eia-
pirici, founded B. C. 300, by Serapion, of Alexandria, and Philinus, of
Cos; the Methodici, founded by Themison, in the first century before
our era. To these succeeded the Pneumatici and the Electici, about
the middle of the first century of our era; and the Episynthetici. Af¬
ter Hippocrates the principal medical authors were Celsus, DioscoU-
des, Areteeus, Galen, Oribasius, ^Etius, Alexander, Tiallianus and
Paulus iEgineta.
Among the Greeks, physicians were highly esteemed,' and their pro¬
fession protected by law and rendered remunerative. Neither slaves
nor females were permitted to practice it, and the young practitioner
was bound by a solemn oath to discharge the duties of his profession
efficiently.
Thus in poetry, in history, in oratory, in painting, in sculpture, in
drawing, in philosophy, in law, in medicine, the Grecian youth Con*
tended for preeminence at their several Seminaries, and won for them¬
selves and their country, a proud name in the world of science and letters,
4. We hasten in the fourth place to direct your attention to the
schools of Italy. And here we are met by Suetonius, who tells us
"That grammar of old was so far from being in honor that it was inot so
much as in use at Rome, because the ancient Romans valued them¬
selves much more upon being warlike than learned, and that Grates of
Mallos, was the first to introduce grammar at Rome." The literary
history of Rome embraces five periods. The first period extends from
the earliest times to the first Punic War, about the year B. C. 240*
when several dialects were melting into one compound to form the
Latin tongue. During this period the elements of instruction were few
and simple. The second period extended from the year B. C. 240 to
the year B. G. 88, when poetry and letters began to be cultivated, and
schools to be instituted. The third period extended from the time of
Sylla B. C. 88, to the age of Augustus, B. C. 29, when Roman litera¬
ture and Roman schools were adorned by Varro, Cicero, Cassar, Virgil,;
Horace, and a host of other writers. The fourth period extended from
Augustus to Claudius—the age of pure Latinity, of well conducted
schools and superior teachers. The age, too, of Pomponius Mela, Co¬
lumella and Celsus. The fifth period extended from Claudius to the
death , of Trajan, A. D, 117, when the language was on the decline-
14
This was the age of Tacitus, the Annalist, and Aulus Gellius, the Phi¬
lologist, who thus complains: "We have totally changed the character
of our lauguage, and indulge unduly in innovations. The sixth pe¬
riod extends from the reign of Hadrian to the dismemberment of the
empire, A. D. 476. From the Greeks the Romans acquired a knowl¬
edge of letters, philosophy, science, eloquence, law and medicine. And
in all these departments they excelled. Their schools acquired a high
reputation. The study of law was highly valued. At first, instruc¬
tions in this department were given gratuitously by private citizens.
Subsequently schools for the systematic study of the law were founded,
the principal of which were located at Rome, Alexandria, Constantino¬
ple and Berytus.
At first the practice of medicine among theTRomans was confined to
slaves, and was accounted disreputable for citizens. Gradually edu¬
cation raised the profession to an honorable position, until in the year
B. C. 219, Arhagatus, a foreign physician, settled at Rome, whose ex¬
tensive knowledge, ability and fortunate practice, acquired for him the
honors of citizenship, and ever after rendered the profession respecta¬
ble and profitable, so much so that in the days of Augustus, one Quin-
tus Stertinius received from the emperor an annual salary of $19,530
for his professional services. Thus we have the origin of several de¬
partments of human learning;—Egypt contributing geometry, archi¬
tecture, medicine, laws and religion; Tyre, color and painting; the
Hebrews, law, true religion and morals; the Greeks, grammar, logic,
eloquence, rhetoric, philosophy, gymnastics, several .schools of medi¬
cine, oratory, poetry, and other polite accomplishments; and Rome^
the systematic study of law, government and political economy.
5. We will now direct attention to the learning of Christian nations.
When the light of Christianity dawned upon our world, it beheld sci¬
ence and philosophy competing for preeminence. Rightly judging
that profound erudition was only capable of. contending against the
philosophy of that age, the primitive Christians founded in the first
century two celebrated schools; one at Ephesus, the other at Smyrna,
over which the Apostle John and the Martyr Polycarp presided.
The following century beheld a school of superior order, located at
Alexandria, attended by a vast number of young men eagerly studying
Christian ethics in connexion with the usual branches taught in other
Seminaries. This school enjoyed the lectures of such master minds,
as Clemens, Athenagoras and Pantaenus, all of them alike celebrated for
their profound erudition and piety. During the fourth century Semi¬
naries were established at Rome, Constantinople, Marseilles, Edessa,
Nisibis, Lyons and Treves. This was the age of the Imperial Estab¬
lished Church, of Origen, of Arius, of Athanasius, of the Nicene
15
Council, and the ecclesiastical internal troubles, conflicts, and perse-
■ cutions exhibiting a strange anomaly of erudition—ignorance of prim¬
itive Christianity, and philosophical mental hallucination.
During the fifth and the succeeding century Monastic institutions
arose, whose influence on communities was variously felt—as they de¬
voted themselves to education or the revival of religion. In the seventh
century, learning became almost extinct. Both the clergy and people
were equally ignorant, more attention being paid to forms and ceremo¬
nies than to mental culture. Indeed says Mosheim—"Kings and no¬
blemen were attentive to everything rather than the cause of learning.
The rude and unlearned bishops suffered the Schools which had been
committed to their care, to languish and become extinct. It was rare
to find among them persons able to compose their own public dis¬
courses."
During the eighth century in continental Europe learning ceased to
shine, and retired to the British Isles. The attentive reader of Gib¬
bon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, will be able to account
for the overthrow of educational establishments in western continental
Europe. A few of the causes may be mentioned;—the invasion of the
Empire by the Alans, the Huns, the Goths and the Yandals—rude, il¬
literate nations ; the overthrow of the Empire, and its dismemberment
into a number of independent States ; the slaughter of the Christians in
defending their countries; the rapine and spoliation practiced by the
conquerors on every vestige of the vanquished; these all united in ex¬
tinguishing the flame of learning and science on the battle-fields of
Europe. But away from such strife, in the western islands of the At¬
lantic, science and learning found an asylum.
For centuries Ireland was the cradle of European learning. When
the whole continent was a literary waste, far away from the foot of the
Goth or the cimitre of the Moslem, in the distant Erin, was a pure lit¬
erature cultivated, which had been handed down from sire to son, for
more than a thousand years. Originally .their Seminaries were called
Druid Schools. But as Christianity was introduced into Ireland to¬
ward the close of the first century, Christian schools were also estab¬
lished. One of these was instituted at Lismore, in the second century,
of which St. Cathaldus, one of its pupils, thus speaks:
TJndiqne conveninnt proceres qnos <3nice trahebat
Discendi studium,, major num cognita virtus
An laudata foret.
Certatim hi properant diverso_ tramite ad urbem
Lesmoriam juvenis primos ubi transegit annos.
At this Seminary upwards of 3,000 students from foreign countries
were educated. Other schools were soon established at Clourad, Con-
naught, Connor, Bangor, Armagh, Ross-Carbary, Mayo and Derry.
16
The venerable Bede, an Anglo-Saxon historian, and of course by no
means prejudiced in favor of Celtic Ireland, mentioning a plague which
visited England in the year 664, says that it "visited Ireland likewise
with signal violence. There were in that country at the time we
speak of, many of the English nobility and middle classes, who at the
time of Bishops Finian and Colman, had left their native island and re¬
tired thither to Ireland, either for the purpose of studying the Word of
God, or else to observe a stricter life. And some indeed devoted them¬
selves to the monastic profession, while others chose rather to pay vis¬
its to the chambers of the different masters; all of whom the Irish re¬
ceived most cordially and provided with daily food free of charge, as
likewise with books to read, and gratuitous instruction." Again Bede
informs us that Bishop Agilbert, of Paris, was educated in Ireland
about the year 650. Again the same author says that King Alfred of
England was also educated in Ireland. From the Irish schools went
forth St. Columba, and on the Druid's Isle founded the Seminary of
Iona, whose fair fame will never die, and by whose indefatigable labors
the Picts were civilized and Christianized. St. Columbanus also left
his home and friends, and in the true missionary spirit, devoted his
learning and efforts to the Suevi, the Boi, and the Franks of Germany.
St. Kilian was the first to teach the eastern Franks. St. Willibroid
instructed the Batavians, the Frieslanders, and the Westphalians.
Cedda, Diumee and Frumshere kindled the torch of letters among the
Anglo-Saxons. Clemens and Albinus were the revivers of learning in
France. St. Gall went to Switzerland and became so popular that a
city and a Canton in that Republic are known by his name to this day.
Johannes Scotus Engena was the great literary and philosophical light
of the court of Charles the Bald. So famous had the Irish schools
grown in the estimation of foreigners, that John, son of Sulgen, Bishop
of St. David's, in the year 1070, wrote a Latin poem laudatory of them,
commencing—
Exemplo patrum. commotus amore legendi
Ivit ad Hibernos sophia mirabile claros.
Again in the year 1607, the learned Cambden and other Anglo-Saxon
historians, says: "The Anglo-Saxons used to flock together into Ire¬
land, as a market of learning; whence it is that we continually find it said
in our writers concerning holy men of old, 'He was sent away to be educa¬
ted in Ireland.'' And it would appear it was from that country the an¬
cients, our ancestors, received their first instructions in forming letters,
as it is plain they used the same character which is still used in Ire¬
land." Now from the pages of history, it appears the schools of
Ireland taught and sent out the first professors of the universities of
Oxford, Paris, Bobbio, St. Gall and Leuxeu.
17
III the ninth century, Alfred of England founded a school at Oxford,
and Charlemagne one at Paris, and another at Pavia. These in later
times became renowned Universities.
During the eleventh century learning began to revive in Italy
through the influence of the Normans from France, who diffused sci¬
ence and literature in Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily. Schools independ¬
ent of the Church also sprung up at this time, in which were taught
a more liberal course of studies, embracing Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic,.
Arithmetic, Music, Geometry and Astronomy.
In the twelfth century associations of learned men were formed for
cultivating science and letters, which resulted in the foundation of
Universities for teaching the whole circle of liberal studies, including
the college of Philosophy, the college of Law, the college of Medicine,
and the college of Theology. At Bologna, Angier and Montpelier,
Civil Law was studied with a zest equal to that of the Justinian age.
During the next century new universities were founded at Padua,
Modena, Naples, Capua, Thoulouse, Salamanca, Lyons, and Cologne.
The University of Paris had the honor of being the first to institute
four faculties under the name of "Stadium Universale."
During the fourteenth century, other Universities arose at Orleans,
Florence, and Pisa. Florence had the distinction of first introducing
the study of the Greek language into her University. It was no
where else cultivated in western Europe. Even in the sixteenth cen¬
tury the Doctors of the Sorbonne, or Theological Faculty of the Uni¬
versity of Paris admonished their students against the study of both
the Hebrew and Greek languages. "Greek, young friends," said they,
"is a new language, hitherto unknown; and as for Hebrew, it is very
certain that all who study it immediately turn Jews."
While Europe was yearning after an intellectnal culture, the Moors
of Spain had adorned literature and science with numerous names of
distinction, at the splendid and magnificent Court of the Alhambra—
whose intellectual gallaxy reflected a halo of mental brilliancy over
Spain, which ceased not to shine until the Alhambra was no more..
That was a sad day for Spanish literature, which saw the crescent
wand! on the blue waves of the Mediterranean.
But many events conspired to the revival of learning in Europe.
These were the crusades, the cultivation of the fine arts, a thirst for
scientfic investigations, the gentle strains of enchanting music, and
the inspirations of poetry, the overthrow of Constantinople, the spirit
of commercial enterprise and continental discovery; these all contri¬
buted to arouse the nations of the Old world from their dreary slumber
and to awaken their minds to an investigation of the principles ot.
knowledge. The crusaders added very much to the cause of free mqui-
3
IS
Leaving Italy and entering Constantinople, they saw the arts lti a
flourishing Condition, and literature far in advance, Acquiring con*
siderable knowledge of the arts and science and literature of the East,
on their return they awoke the genius of many poets, as the Trouba-
dours of France, King Richard I Gower and Chaucer of England,
Dante, Petrach, and Boccacio of Italy, who shed » flood of light on
Europes benighted sons and daughters*
Again, upon the Turks entering Constantinople in the year 1453, the
learned Greeks were dispersed over Europe, and wherever they weird
revived Grecian literattsre, and created a taste for a more rifined ed¬
ucation than had been previously acquired. But what gave a fresh
impulse to all was the art of printing. By this art a fiew era was formed
in the annals of the human race, in the progress of science, in the ad¬
vancement of letters, in the elevation of morality, ia? the development
of mind. By it men's thoughts became stereotyped. By it ignorance
and error were expelled. Scientific investigations disseminated, the arts
improved, and literary compositions refined.
Again, the Portuguese discoveries of Madeira and Cape Verde is*
lands—the doubling of the Cape of Good Hope, and finding a way to"
the Eastern world,—and the Spanish discovery of a new world, in¬
creased the sphere of human knowledge and gave a spring of action
to mind which was productive of the mightiest consequences.
At the same time, painting, sculpture, and architecture, were lend¬
ing their aid to the enlightenment of Europe. They invoked the ge¬
nius of an Angelo and a Raphael-—a Titian, a Correggio, and a Par-
meggiano, who united their efforts in behalf of intellectual supremacy.
And last of all was the Reformation which pervaded Germany, Hol¬
land, and England, and on its sweeping and irresistible course released
mind from the shackles of the Church, the decretals of Councils, the
rescripts of Pontiffs, and the philosophy of Schoolmen; a philosophy
by no means adapted to freedom of intellect or freedom of conscience.
Every man was now taught to think for himself that their was no
i'mperium in imperio over mind unless ordained by the Great Creator.
An entire change was soon effected in education, the great aim of
which was to render it practicable, adapted alike to the pulpit and the
press, the throne and the senate, the bench and the bar, the rostrum
and the labratory, the counting room and the work shop. To accom¬
plish this the masses had to be indoctrinated. Hence arose the Com¬
mon School. Honor to its founder? And with reverence he it said,
that was the Reformer Calvin, and Genera the place of its first establish¬
ment? Others soon succeeded in France and in Holland, in Scotland
and in Germany, in England, and in Ireland; and on the shores of New
England. Hence side by side the School house and the church arose,
19
the one as the nursery for the other. Thus Gradually was developed
that system of education which is now taught in our institutions of,
learning from the State of Maine to Alabama, and from New York to
California.
II. But in the second place Let us consider the object and aim of
this University.
The language of the law incorporating this institution is full and
comprehensive on this subject, It states, "That for the encouragement,
promotion, cultivation, and diffusion of the liberal arts and sciences,
literature, law, ami medicine, there shall he established at or near the
borough of Kittanning in the County of Armstrong a University to em¬
brace the departments of a University Grammar School, a Faculty of
Science and Letters, a Faculty of Law, a Faculty of Medicine, and an
Agricultural School, or any one or more of said departments, and what¬
ever other department may be deemed appropriate or necessary for,
such an institution."
The law does not comprehend a Faculty of Theology, nor does it
contemplate or prohibit it, if deemed desirable. The object of the
institution is to combine Letters, Science, Agriculture and Law; to
associate them together, to eraable them to go hand in hand in solving
the great problems of human destiny and civilization.
1st. In the department of Letters, the ancient and modem languages
and literature, are to be embraced, including the style of Moses the
Law-giver, David the poet, Solomon the moralist, and Daniel the seer,
in Hebrew and Chaldee; while the epics of Homer and Virgil, the narra¬
tions of Thucydides and Livy, the philosophy of Plato and Socrates,
the orations of Demosthenes and Cicero, will form a portion of the Clas
sical Course of instruction. The languages of Germany, Italy, France
and Spain, are also to be studied; while our own Anglo-American lit•
b nature in connexion with the literature of the British Isles, are to be
carefully cultivated.
: Need an apology for such a course be given? Who that has turued
Lais attention t literature will object to such a course of mental train¬
ing? Can better masters, for style, be given than those of Greece and.
Italy. It almost seems that the pure air of an Italian and Grecian
sky lias breathed, an inspiration into those classic writers little inferior
to perfection. Even their inferior productions are models in compar¬
ison with the effusions of modern literature. Let the young mind be
once imbued with a correct classic taste; let it be directed to admire
the beauties of Grecion and Roman poetry; let it infuse the spirit of
the ancient muses and orators into all its modes of thought, let it stand
$ide by side with Demosthenes competing for the crown, or with Ci-
20
cero thundering his withering sarcasm against Cataline; let it wan¬
der along the shores of Asia Minor with Homer; let it listen to
Aeneas detailing the fate of the Trojans to Dido; let it follow the
victorious Caesar until he exclaims—" The die is cast, the Rubicon is
crossed" and who will deny that the mind thus cultivated} imbued,
and inspired by the restless, philosophic, eloquent minds and works
of the ancients, will not enjoy an intellectual feast far superior to that
drawn from any other source, in addition to the advantages arising from
an investigation of history and laws, in preparing him for solving
the question of human jurisprudence.
Time fails me to speak of the advantages derived from an acqaint-
ance with the German, the French, the Italian, the Spanish, the Por¬
tuguese, and other European living languages; as they are essential
alike to the agriculturist and the mechanic, the statesman and the ma¬
gistrate, the judge on the bench and the lawyer at the bar, the physi¬
cian and the minister of religion. Yast numbers of immigrants come
annually from these kingdoms bringing with them their vernacular,
which in due time, intermingling with ours, will add new elements to
the Anglo-American tongue. Besides, the literature of Germany and
France have become so important that no well educated person should
be unacquainted with its ideas and philosophy. And what greater
pleasure can be enjoyed than by holding sweet converse with such
brilliant minds as Schiller and Goethe, Cousin and Lamartine!
2d. Again, the department of science is of paramount importance. It
deals with absolute reasoning. New developments—fresh discoveries
—are being daily made. No one is no\y contented with the ideas of
other years, in this department, except in what are sometimes called
the " exact sciences." But, in those of a progressive character, it is
widely different. It would require a greater stretch of imagination
than we possess, to believe now that any body of men, whether lay or
ecclesiastical, was correct in condemning a Galileo for his views of
Astronomical Science, and in compelling him to recant such heresy as
he therein had promulgated—or in placing implicit confidence in a
modern prince of the Church, Avhose theory, required by his followers
to be received as absolute truth—is that the diameter of our eastern
luminary does not exceed twelve inches.
Now, what is Science ? Is it not knowledge ? But, do you ask of
what? We answer, of God and his works! Science is not some
mysterious, inexplicable study—not something far off—not something
with which Ave should not intermeddle ! A great many talk of Science
depreciatingly. But Avhy is this done ? Simply because they have
no definite idea of Science in their minds. Noaat, Science is to be
found in the internal and external Avorld—having reference mainly, so
21
f%r as known by us, to the natural laws of God. And where are these
1 laws not exhibited ? Are they not in the firmament above, and on the
dearth below? There is not a flash that leaps from the clouds, nor a
' bud that peeps from the trees; there is not a dew-drop on the rose, nor
■a rainbow in the sky; there is not a pebble on the shore nor wave in
'the sea; there is not a bird that warbles in the air, nor a fish that swims
(in the deep; there is not an animal in the forest, nor a reptile in the
desert; there is not an earthpuake that shakes the earth, nor a volcano
that emits its flame—which are not in obedience to the natural laws of
God, alike in chemistry and in natural philosophy, alike in geology
and in mineralogy, alike in botany and in zoology.
In mathematics, astromomy, physics and chemistry, man has made
acquisitions, and because universal consent is conceded to the certainty
of human knowedge in those departments, few objections to them are
now raised. But we are not to forget that fierce were the battles once
waged, and tbat it is only because they have come out of great tribu¬
lation and vanquished their opponents that they now enjoy such proud
distinction.
But how is it with the younger sciences—geology and natural histo¬
ry? Against them formidable combatants are arrayed, A few years
ago one's orthodoxy would have been impeached had he said one word
in favor of geology. And even yet the science is greatly misunderstood
and confounded in the minds of many good men with scepticism, infi¬
delity and heterodoxey. It is true the opponents of the Sacred Scrip¬
tures seized upon geology in its infancy, and endeavored to make it lisp
a puerile testimony in their behalf, but as it reached its manhood its
best and ripest years have been spent atoning for its early sin. By
geology well understood infidelity has been foiled and the theories of
sceptics scattered to the wanton winds. Their theories were not facts
of science, and hence geology stands forth the champion of God's re¬
vealed will; showing that the two revelations given us harmonized exact¬
ly, that there is no defect unless in our perception and abilily to com¬
prehend them.
Similar opposition has been raised against natural history, because it
too has been unjustly made to rank against certain views of Revealed
Truth. This however is a mistake. Natural history has not controver¬
ted Divine Revelation, but only certain received views of the Sacred Vol¬
ume. Many opinions adopted by men on this subject are more tradi¬
tional than real and have been received rather from the statements of
others than from personal or mental investigation. We should how¬
ever examine whether our own views or the traditional views of men, of
even good men, are correct on this subject. We should strive to ascer¬
tain the very views the Divine writers intended to inculcate, and then
99
find whether those entertained by Naturalists differ or coincide. Lei
us never be dogmatic, or too certain we do not err, on a subject re¬
quiring the closest examination. Our fathers were equally as positive
of the correctness of their views on chemical, physical and astronomi¬
cal science, and yet we are by no means prone to reverence their
opinions on these subjects. The more these topics have been exam¬
ined the clearer has been the lustre reflected upon the sacred page.
Our motto should ever be, "Never condemn without investigationnot
a mere superficial inquiry into the subject, but an investigation of the
origin, development, adaptation, causes and corresponding results of
whatever subject attracts our attention. Science, therefore, has to
deal with facts philosophically considered, not delusive theories. It
is her pride to pry into the laws of the universe and see over and
above all the hand of omnipotence swaying the concerns of nature; to
stand by the astronomer viewing the countless worlds pursuing their
undeviating course in the paths of immensity; to assist the agricul¬
turalist in causing his fields to bud and blossom and teem with bounti¬
ful harvests; to aid the manufacturer, the artist and the mechanic, in
causing the wealth of the world to be more equally diffused by indus¬
try, improvements and national enterprise; to aid the merchant in
sending his ships from shore to shore, laden with the riches of every
clime. But what has science not done ? It has lessened human labor;
added to industry, comfort and prosperity; comforted the desert into a
fruitful garden, and rendered nations opulent, powerful and invincible.
And such, we trust, will be the practical results of science, as devel¬
oped in the prelections of this institution.
For Science consists not
In air schemes, or idle speculations ;
The rule and conduct of .all social life
Is her great province. Not in lonely cells
Obscure she lurks, but holds her heavenly light
To Senates and to Kings, to guide their councils,
And to teach them to reform and bless mankind.
3d. The Agricultural School is intended to prepare our young men for
cultivating their farms on the most approved scientific principles.
The greatest care was bestowed on their estates, by the ancients.
Every means they could adopt for rendering the soil more productive
was employed. Just think of the pains and the expense which the
ancient Assyrians incurred in irrigating their country, for agricultual
purposes. Look at those immense canals, built above ground, as so
many walls of solid material, with pipes and sluices capable of
conducting the water of the rivers over all parts of their country.
And though by no means either naturally fertile or capable of
producing rich crops, yet, by this process of fertilization, they were
23
enabled to supply more than sufficient for the sustenance of an over*
'flowing population, during their palmy days of prosperity.
The Egyptians also Were so famous for their love of agriculture,'
that their country Was Called the granary of the world. In like manner
Were the ancient Romans distinguished. Think of a Cincinnatus
leaving his plough, to immortalize his Country, in the martial combat,
Spain, too, could boast of her prolific soil, made fertile by an ingenious
method of irrigation. It is almost incredible to read of the vast
quantities of grain those countries produced. That was their chief
source of prosperity and wealth; and without such sources no country
can have any genuine or continued prosperity, Wherever the soil
has been carefully and, skillfully cultivated, bountiful harvests have
been produced. Even the most barren land may be rendered prolific
by skillful culture. How is it that Palestine and Assyria, once so
fruitful, are now barren wastes ? Just because they are no longer
cultivated with energy, perseverance, labor and knowledge. It is said
knowlodge is power ; and it occurs to me, in no department of life is
this more clearly illustrated than in its application to the soil, Agri-
culture is not the business of serfs, but of freemen—and no orfer Heeds
a more correct mental training than he who would successfully devote
his energies to the cultivation of the soil. To him the various branches
of mathematics, a correct acquaintance with physical and chemical
science, a knowledge of botany and zoology would be of paramount
importance. The soil is composed of its various earths, which act
chemically upon each other, that by a wise and intelligent adaptation
of their parts, its fertility may be greatly increased; hence the ne¬
cessity of establishing schools for acquiring a knowledge of Agri¬
culture on scientific principles, so as to enable the farmer to compete
with, if not greatly surpass, the ancients in rendering his soil both
fertile and prolific.
The earliest institution of this kind was proposed in 1775 by the
Abbe Rosseo to Turgot, the French Minister, under the name and style
of, "A Plan for a National School of Agriculture in the Park of
Chamford," which was unsuccessful. The next in order was com¬
menced by Emanuel Von Fillenburg, in 1799, on his farm of Hofeoyl,
near Berne in Switzerland. The third was instituted the same year,
in Bohemia, by Prince Schwartenzburgh, which was conducted in the
most satisfactory manner. From these beginnings similar schools
sprung up in other kingdoms, until We find them as necessary to the
social and scientific prosperity of the inhabitants, as other schools and
universities are for their intellectual improvement. So rapidly did
these institutions increase, that in little more than half a century from
the successful establishment of the first, there is reported to have been
24
in England 8; in Ireland 166; in Scotland 5; in France 80; in Bel¬
gium 10 ; in Prussia 35 ; in Austria 35 ; in Wertemburg 9 ; in Ba¬
varia 40; in Saxony 8; in Brunswick 3; in Mecklenburgh Schwerin
1; in Schleswig Holstein 5; in the Principality of Anholt 3; in the
Grand Duchy of Hesse 3; in the Grand Duchy of Weimer 2 ; in the
Duchy of Nassau 1; in the Electorate of Hesse 2; in the Grand
Duchy of Baden 1; in the Duchy of Saxe Meinengen 1; in Russia
70—or about 487 Agricultural Schools in Europe, including what
are denominated superior, intermediate, special and those connected
with colleges and Universities.
The first Agricultaral School in the United States, was founded at
the town of Ovid, in the State of New York. It has a farm of four
hundred acres of land, beautifully located within view of Seneca Lake,
one of the loveliest sheets of water in the Eastern States. To this
succeeded the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, in the
year 1850. At Cleveland, Ohio, the Ohio Agricultural College is lo¬
cated; and at West Cornwall, Connecticut, is another institution called
the Cream Hill Agricultural School. Another of a private nature is
conducted at Mount Yernon, N. Y., called the West Chester Farm
School. At College Hill, near Cincinnati, is a similar institution,
termed the Farmer's College. The State of Massachusetts has recent¬
ly established an experimental Farm School, at Westborough. In
our own Commonwealth, the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society
have organized the Farmer's High School, which has been incorpora¬
ted and aided by a Legislative grant of $50,000. But as that
school is east of the Alleghenies, and as the growing wants of the
Western part of this State require a Western school, we have asked
and obtained from the Legislature an Act of Incorporation for an Ag¬
ricultural School in connection with this University. And if the peo¬
ple of Armstrong and the adjoining counties are true to their interests,
they will come nobly forward and sustain this enterprize, which has
lor its object the development of the agricultural and mineral resources
of Western Pennsylvania. Let the Agricultural Societies of each
County come forward, let the owners of the mineral regions come for¬
ward; let the masters of furnaces and the manufacturers of iron and
coal oil come forward and lend their aid; and if they will, who can
tell, by a wise and proper management, what will be the future results
of this department! All that is required is united effort to crown its
labors with success and make it an invaluable boon to all.
4th. The Law department is organized for the cultivation of the gen¬
eral principles of jurisprudence, and enabling young gentlemen to be¬
come learned in the law, both theoretically and practically. For the
study of law, schools were established among both the Jews, the Greeks
25
an t e omans. On the revival of learning, a distinct faculty for this
stu y was created in all the Universities. And to this day, it is 'the
case m the most distinguished Universities of both Europe and Amer¬
ica. Young gentlemen preparing for the bar, the*counting-room, or
the Senate, will in this department receive such a training as will dis¬
cipline their minds for future usefulness in their respective business
or profession. The increasing intelligence of the age demands that
every young man should be thoroughly prepared for engaging in some
honorable calling. And should his attention be directed to the bar, it is
requisite that he should possess such legal learning and ability as would
enable him to discharge his duties with promptness, intelligence,
fidelity and zeal. No practicing lawyer, however varied may be his
learning and knowledge, if already in possession of a respectable
practice, could possibly have sufficient time to make a young man,
entering his office, critically acquainted with the theory and practice
of the several branches of legal study. This is too general a complaint
to need farther confirmation. But, as is too often the case, the taste ot
the preceptor may have been directed to a particular branch of law—
he may have paid more attention to Common, than to Civil Law, or
he may have taken more delight in Commercial than in Criminal
jurisprudence ;—his forte may lie in the law of Evidence, or in that of
Pleading, while no attention may have been given to Constitutional or
Parliamentary proceedings. In whatever channel, therefore, his taste
may run, it is more than probable his instructions would be influenced
thereby. A few departments at most would be cultivated to the neg¬
lect of the rest.
Tl»e well educated lawyer, however, combines a general acquaint¬
ance of polite literature, with the philosophy of history. He ever
aims at unraveling the mysterious problems of legal and political
science, by a just comparison of the past with the present age, and
with the acuteness of logical precision, marks the progress of mental
development. What is history but the details of the enactments of
society—unfolding the process of the emanation of law. Of all pro¬
fessions, none should be more deeply read in history than the legal.
Now, in a Law School, where the entire course of study is divided
among a number of instructors, the defects referred to are more easily
Temoved. Each professor having a particular department of the
course under his care, can therefore devote his time and attention to
its elucidation. One dovotes his attention to Civil, another to Com¬
mon law; one to Constitutional and International Jurisprudence;
while another, to Criminal and Statute law, Pleading and Practice;
one to Commercial law, Equity and Evidence, while another attends to
3
26
Medical Jurisprudence—thus embracing every department of knowl¬
edge requisite for the successful practice of the legal Profession.
Besides, in order to acquire a practical knowledge of the bar,
Mcot Courts are held weekly, at which causes are made out, argued by
the students, and opinions delivered by one of the prefessors, who pre¬
sides as judge. An Assembly is also convened weekly, where the
members of the school are taught parliamentary law, and exercised in
forensic eloquence—thus enabling them to acquire an accurate knowl¬
edge of the Forum, the Court, and the Senate; and on all students
who may give their attention to the studies of the department with en.
ergy, faithfulness and success', for the space of two years, and who may
after a rigorous examination on all the studies prescribed in the course,
give evidence of sufficient learning and ability to satisfy the in¬
structors, the degree of Bachellor of Laws will be conferred.
If the medical student, in addition to a certain training in the office
of a practicing physician, is required to attend a medical school for
at least two years before he can obtain a diploma to enable him to
practice his profession, is it not equally as reasonable that he who stands
in our courts in our room and stead, to plead our cause, or defend our
interests, should be as well prepared, by a course of legal training, to
discharge his duties efficiently, and by his previous course of mental
discipline, give a pledge to the community that he is professionally
qualified to attend to whatever business may be entrusted to his care.
Such is the design of the Law Department of this University.
This University is empowered to confer all Academical degrees usu¬
ally conferred by other incorporated institutions of learning in both
Europe and America. As University degrees are numerously enough
given and less understood, permit me to direct your attention briefly to
their origin and history. The earliest honors of this sort were conferred
by the Jews, after their return from Babylon, where doubtless they
acquired their knowledge from the schools of that country. Among
the Jews the young student, on entering the "Assembly of the learned,"
was designated "Disciple"—subsequently, from his youth he was
called "Junior;" and on account of being chosen into the society of
the school, he was termed "Elected" On completing a certain course
of study, he was admitted to his first degree, that of " Associate to a
Rabbi" which is similar to our degree of "Bachellor." After spend¬
ing a certain time longer in cultivating a more thorough acquaintance
with the Mosaic code, and the gloss of the fathers, he was publicly
created "Rabbi," or "Doctor of Laws."
Among the Romans such titles were originally unknown. As their
laws increased in number and intricacy, a body of men gradually
27
arose to expound them to their clients, at first gratuitously* subse¬
quent y for a stipulated fee* These had various names, as jurisperiti,
jurisconsulti, or simply consulti, who were both teachers and writers,
and whose voluminous works on the theory, customs, and practice of
the law were made the sources from which Justinian's Code, Institutes
and Pandects were extracted.
The Law Faculty of the University of Bologna, about the year
1192, adopted the custom from the Jews, of conferring the degrees of
Bachellor, and Doctor of Laws. In the year 1260, the Theological
Faculty of the University of Paris invented similar degrees for theol-
ogy, and hence the origin of "Doctor in DivinityIn the palmy
age of the Roman Empire on the practitioners of medicine, there
were three titles conferred—that of Arhiater, Iatrosophista, and
Actuarius. Each of these titles had distinct application for a certain
eminence in a particular department of the profession. Duiing the
thirteenth century the Medical Faculties followed in the wake of the
Legal and Theological, and conferred the degrees of Bachellor
and Doctor of Medicine upon their students and distinguished
professors. Subsequently the faculty of Philosophy—that which was
formerly known as the seven liberal arts, and what we call in thiji
University the department of "Science and Letters," and generally
throughout this country, the "Faculty of Arts"—began to confer the
degrees of Bachellor and Master of Arts upon their literati, to Which
the Dutch Universities added the degrees of "Doctor of Arts" and
"Doctor of Letters;" while the German and Spanish Universities added
another, that of Doctor of Philosophy, In those days no one received
a degree unless perfectly qualified to become a professor in one of the
faculties. This is still the case at European Universities,
Thus was the origin and adoption of academic titles, which, when
accompanied with talant, ability and learning, are highly honorable.
We have now glanced at the origin, progress, and establishment of
Universities, as Well as the object and aim of this institution, Wb look,
therefore, to you, as its honored Trustees, to sustain it with your coun-
sel and support it by your wise deliberations. Other institutions have
Commenced with feeble means and little support, and have neverthe¬
less grown up into large and flourishing Seminaries. What was done
once may be done again.
We invoke the aid of you, young gentlemen, who have the honor to
be the first students of this infant University, who, perhaps when
vnur heads become gray, and your pulse feebly beat, will look back
With nleasure at the parts you early sustained in forming the original
dasses in this, we hope to be your honored Alma Mater.
28
And to you, fellow citizens, we look for sympathy and assistance.
Will this institution not doubly repay you? Will its educational ad¬
vantages be not beneficial ? Will its influence on society not be felt?
Will it not increase your social pleasures—improve your sons and
your daughters—add to the number of your fellow citizens—enhance
the value of your real property—give an impetus to trade and com¬
merce—and be an everlasting benefit to the whole Community,