LrT o)- 
 
■LO^ 9 
 
 Hollinger Corp. 
 pH8.5 
 

 THE CLAIMS 
 
 THE COLUMBIAN COLLEGE, 
 
 AS SEEN IN ITS 
 
 PAST HISTOM AND PRESENT CONDITION. 
 
 To 
 
 Washington, D. C, January 1st, 1857. 
 
 You are addressed as one among a few who may appreciate the 
 claims of the Columbian .College ; once the hope of our pious 
 fathers, and sharing the deep interest of some of the greatest and 
 best men of our country, irrespective of political and religious 
 party ; and now recovered from oppressive debt, with the founda- 
 tion of an ample endowment laid, and only needing the aid of a 
 few enlightened, patriotic, and liberal patrons to give it such a 
 character as no other Institution in the country can possess. 
 
 The question, as to Columbian College, it should be distinctly 
 borne in mind, is not as to the founding of a new Institution of 
 our denomination at the seat of our General Government. Even 
 if this was the proposal, it might well claim serious attention, 
 when the voice of such statesmen as Washington, and of such de- 
 voted men as the companion of Judson, are heard urging its claims. 
 But the question is, when one of the finest positions on the heights 
 about Washington is secured, when an area of nearly fifty acres 
 occupied by one of the finest College buildings in the country is in 
 possession, when about $65,000 towards an endowment is in 
 hand, and when one of the most eflScient of College faculties, is 
 on the ground — the question is : Shall patriotic men abandon the 
 
Ax 
 
 earnest recommendation of the Father of his Country ? Shall 
 Christians leave the fruits of so much past sacrifice on the part of 
 their fathers, to go to waste ? Shall a denomination whose right 
 principles, as to Christ's Truth and its spread, and as to the 
 practical education of the young have made them in fifty years 
 to gain such a position of influence throughout our land — shall 
 they heedlessly abandon the vantage ground God has given them 
 for good at this great centre of national resort ? 
 
 The importance of a National University at Wash- 
 ington, as felt by Washington and others. 
 
 The earnest views of our best statesmen as to the demand for 
 
 a central seat of learning and of education at the heart of our 
 
 Confederacy have been almost forgotten in modern days. In his 
 
 message to the first session of the second Congress, convened 
 
 January 8 1790, when every thing was to be done, and various 
 
 projects were to be considered, Washington spoke as follows, in 
 
 regard to the importance of establishing some general system of 
 
 education for the young of the new nation : 
 
 " Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by affording 
 aid to Seminaries of Learning already established, by the institution 
 of a National University, or by any other expedients, will be well 
 worthy of a place in the deliberations of the legislature." 
 
 Seven years after, when nothing effectual had yet been done, 
 
 Washington thus again expressed to Congress the result of his 
 
 matured convictions. Expressing his decided conviction, that a 
 
 National University should be established, he says : 
 
 " Its desireableness has so constantly increased with every new 
 view that I have taken of the subject, that I cannot omit the opportu- 
 nity of, once for all, recalling your attention to it." 
 
 The advantages of such an Institution, he presents in expres- 
 sions like these : 
 
 " The assimilation of the principles, opinions, and manners of our 
 countrymen, by the common education of a portion of our youth from 
 every quarter." " The more homogeneous our citizens can be made 
 in these particulars, the greater will be the prospect of permanent 
 union." 
 
(^) One of the last acts of his life, devoted to his country's welfare, 
 
 ^ was to write the following in his last will and testament : 
 
 " I give the fifty shares which I hold in the Potomac Company, 
 towards the endowment of a University, to be established within the 
 limits of the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the General 
 Government, if that Government should incline to extend a fostering 
 hand towards it." 
 
 That this earnest wish of the first President, for which he was 
 anxious even to make personal sacrifice, was no part of his strong 
 federal views, is seen in the recommendation to the same efi"ect 
 made by the republican leader, Jefferson. Expressing the same 
 conviction of the importance of the object, yet doubting the power 
 of Congress, his feelings made him take advantage of the doubt ; 
 and in his Message of December 2d, 1806, he urges upon Congress, ; 
 " the present consideration" of the subject. i 
 
 This important measure was followed up by Mr. Madison du- 
 ring both terms of his administration ; even the distracting and 
 embarrassing demands, made by the war with Great Britain, not 
 diminishing his ardor to accomplish an end so dear to the found- 
 er of the nation. In his Message of December 5th, 1810, in the 
 early part of his administration, he asked the attention of Con- 
 gress — 
 
 " To the advantages of superadding to the means of education pro- 
 vided by the several States, a Seminary of Learning, instituted by the 
 National Legislature, within the limits of their exclusive jurisdiction, 
 the expense of which might be defrayed, or reimbursed, out of the 
 vacant grounds which have accrued to the nation within those lim- 
 its." 
 
 In urging his views of the advantages to be derived from such 
 an Institution, Mr. Madison presents the very reasons which so 
 weighed in the mind of Washington : 
 
 " Such an institution, though local in its legal character, would be 
 universal in its beneficial effects. By enlightening the opinions, by 
 expanding the patriotism, and by assimilating the principles, the 
 sentiments and the manners of those who might resort to this temple 
 of science, to be re-distributed in due time through every part of the 
 community, sources of jealousy and prejudice would be diminished, 
 the features of national character would be multiplied, and greater 
 extent given to social harmony. But above all, a well constituted 
 seminary in the centre of the nation, is recommended by the con- 
 sideration, that the additional instruction emanating from it, would 
 contribute not less to strengthen the foundations, than to adorn the 
 structure of our free and happy system of government." 
 
Again, on the close of the war, this measure of public policy 
 pressed itself on the mind of the President, whose admin- 
 istration had given the country such confidence in his statesman- 
 ship as to lead to his re-election. In his Message of December 
 5th, 1815, he thus returns to his urgent recommendation : 
 
 " The present is a favorable season also for bringing again into view 
 the establishment of a National Seminary of Learning within the 
 District of Columbia, and with means drawn from the property therein 
 subject to the authority of the General Government. Such an institu- 
 tion claims the patronage of Congress, as a monument of their solici- 
 tude for the advancement of knowledge, without which the blessings 
 of liberty cannot be fully enjoyed, or long preserved ; as a model, 
 instructive in the formation of other seminaries ; as a nursery of en- 
 lightened preceptors ; and as a central resort of youth and genius 
 from every part of their country, diffusing on their return, examples 
 of those national feelings, those liberal sentiments, and those congen- 
 ial manners, which contribute cement to our Union, and strength to 
 the great political fabric, of which that is the foundation." 
 
 Those long entertained opinions of such men, could not have been 
 hastily conceived ; nor could the object they had in view be one of 
 trifling importance. Nothing but the difl"ering views in the National 
 Congress as to the power of the General Government to act in the 
 matter, and the pressure of other claims, could have led to the con- 
 tinued neglect of these reiterated Executive recommendations. 
 r Washington's legacy was left unappropriated ; Jeff^son, after his 
 ^ Presidency, accomplished for his State, in the University of Virginia, 
 what he despaired of for the nation ;1 and since Madison's day, 
 private enterprise has been left to meet a want, which public 
 patronage could not attempt of itself, though it has fostered it. 
 
 The Founding of Columbian College. 
 
 There was left an open field for a great educational enterprise 
 at the National Capital, which it was hardly to be expected would 
 be overlooked by those ready to secure influence in such an under- 
 taking. The Jesuit College at Georgetown, which town for many 
 years was the emporium of Washington itself, took advantage of 
 the opening. Their institution, founded 1792, was liberally en- 
 dowed, and for a long course of years, secured the patronage of 
 
5 
 
 leading men, especially from the South, who brought or sent 
 their sons to this attractive centre to be educated. Other denomi- 
 nations of christians were pre-occupied by the claims of eminent 
 institutions in the older States ; and this new centre, though call- 
 ing so loudly on patriotic men, failed to secure from private as 
 well as public patronage, such an institution of learning as great 
 and good men had wished to see established. 
 
 In 1819, the lot of ground now occupied by the Columbian Col- 
 lege, embracing 46| acres, was secured for about $7,000, through 
 the instrumentality of Rev. Luther Rice and other friends of min- 
 isterial education. Having returned from India in 1813, to rouse 
 the churches to sustain Judson in Burmah, Mr. Rice, in his extend- 
 ed tours from Alabama to New Hampshire, had been deeply im- 
 pressed with the great lack of mental culture in the ministry. A 
 thorough classical education being indispensable for one who 
 should rightly interpret the original Scriptures in a foreign tongue, 
 the importance of this same culture in those who would defend the 
 plain truth of the sacred writings in their own tongue, became more 
 apparent. From this era, for seventeen years, till his death in 1836, 
 the College at Washington became paramount as the object of 
 Mr. Rice's life ; a life of intense activity and of devoted sacri- 
 fice. The Baptist General Convention meeting at Philadelphia in 
 May 1820, adopted the enterprise as their own. The present Col- 
 lege building, 117 feet by 47, and costing about $85,000, was begun 
 early that year ; and in the early part of 1822, it was so far fin- 
 ished, that the exercises of the College commenced with an able 
 Faculty, of which Rev. Dr. Staughton was the head. 
 
 Great interest in tlie College at its opening. 
 
 As former Presidents had been desirous to see a National Uni- 
 versity in operation, it was natural that leading men of the 
 nation should feel an interest in the enterprise thus so successfully 
 commenced by private efforts. After some discussion of its de- 
 tails, a Charter was obtained from Congress, which was approved 
 y Mr. Monroe, then President of the United States, February 
 
6 
 
 9th, 1821. In strong terms, Mr. Monroe spoke of his confidence 
 in the great advantages of the College to the young men who 
 should resort to it. He expressed his — 
 
 " Earnest desire that the college might accomplish all the useful 
 purposes for which it was instituted ;" and added : " there is good 
 reason to believe that the hopes of those who have so patriotically- 
 contributed to advance it to its present stage, will not be disappointed. 
 Its commencement will be under circumstances very favorable to its 
 success. Its position, on the high ground north of the city, is remark- 
 ably healthy. The act of incorporation is well digested, looks to 
 the proper objects, and grants the powers well adapted to their attain- 
 ment. The establishment of the institution within the federal dis- 
 trict, in the presence of Congress, and of all the departments of the 
 Government, will secure to the young men who may be educated in it 
 many important advantages ; among which, the opportunity which it 
 will afford them of hearing the debates in Congress, and in the Su- 
 preme Court, on important subjects, must be obvious to all. With 
 these peculiar advantages, this institution, if it receives, hereafter, the 
 proper encouragement, cannot fail to be eminently useful to the nation. 
 Under this impression, I trust that such encouragement will not be 
 withheld from it." 
 
 At a later period, John Quincy Adams took a lively interest in 
 the College and gave to it, in its time of need, his confidence and 
 material aid. In 1823, the Triennial Convention met in Washing- 
 ton ; Mrs. Judson on her return visit to her native land being 
 present. The new College was a subject of special consideration. 
 The members of the Convention called on Mr. Adams to represent 
 its interests, and from that day he became a warm friend. To the 
 loan which was then obtained for the College, he contributed 
 $18,555 ; from which he deducted 35 per cent, when in May 28th 
 1829 the College was not able to meet its liabilities, taking a mort- 
 gage for the balance, $11,410 74 ; thus giving over $7,000 to 
 the College, and waiting for this balance until, in March 1842, the 
 Institution was able to remove its debt. His cordial feeling, not- 
 withstanding this pecuniary embarrassment, was evinced in his 
 constant attendance on its public exhibitions, and in the words of 
 frequent and high commendation he expressed. 
 
 At the opening of the College also, many eminent men, both in 
 this country and England, expressed their interest both in words ; 
 and substantial acts. Moses Stuart and other professors at 
 Andover, considered — 
 
 "The establishment of the Columbian College as an event of great 
 
importance, and as likely to be of extensive and lasting utility to the 
 best interests of man." 
 
 Richard Rush, then minister from the United States to Great 
 Britain, expressed a — 
 
 " Sincere wish that aid might be obtained for the infant institu- 
 tion." 
 
 William Wilberforce made a liberal contribution, with an assu- 
 rance — 
 
 " That it was not in degree proportionate to the good will he felt 
 for the institution," 
 
 Joseph Butterworth remarked — 
 
 " The union of learning with sound Christian principles in the 
 Columbian College will, I have no doubt, be productive of most exten- 
 sive benefit to America, and to the world at large." 
 
 John Wilks was pleased that donations had been solicited in 
 
 England, and manifested deep interest in the success of the effort. 
 
 Sir James Mackintosh, Olinthus Gregory, Rev. E. Bickersteth, 
 
 Rev, Adam Clarke, Rev. John Rippon, and nearly forty other 
 
 distinguished men of Great Britain stated that they had — 
 
 " Heard with pleasure of the efforts making in North America for the 
 establishment of a university near the metropolis of the United States, 
 by enterprising individuals, relying for success on the generous co- 
 opercftion of the friends of literature, religion, and science." 
 
 Judson, in Burmah, thus expressed his warm approval of the 
 
 course of his old companion, whom he had so reluctantly parted 
 
 with as a fellow missionary. Writing from Rangoon, May 7th, 
 
 1821, to Mr. Rice, he says— 
 
 " I frequently wish that I had seen Philadelphia and Washington 
 and the scenes among which you are so much employed, that I might 
 be able to form a more definite idea of your situation and movements." 
 
 Not committing himself to the enterprise till he better under- 
 stood it, a year's further inquiry prepared his judicious mind to ex- 
 press himself strongly under date February 6th, 1822, thus : 
 
 " It is hardly necessary for me to say how fully I enter into all 
 your views and wishes in regard to the new College." 
 
 In a letter of August 1st, 1823, he again writes : 
 
 " You are evidently absorbed in the College ; but it is a great and 
 worthy oDject, and there is no truer maxim, than that a man never 
 does anything to purpose unless his whole soul is in it." 
 
The Character of the Institution. 
 
 The idea of the first movers in the founding of the Columbian 
 College seems to have been indefinite as to the shape which its 
 course of instruction should be made to assume. The idea of 
 special Theological instruction was uppermost in their minds. 
 Congress, however, would not grant a Charter for a denominational 
 Institution ; nor could a purely Theological school have any other 
 than a denominational character. 
 
 The important provisions the Charter granted, are these : 
 that the Institution shall be " a College, for the sole and exclusive 
 purpose of educating youth in the English, learned, and foreign 
 languages, the liberal arts, sciences, and literature ; the style 
 and title of which shall be, and hereby is declared to be, ' The 
 Columbian College in the District of Columbia.' The Trustees 
 are not to exceed in numbers ' thirty-one ;' to be elected tri- 
 ennially by the contributors to the College." The only super- 
 vision claimed by the United States Government is, "that 
 the Journal of the Proceedings of the Board of Trustees be 
 open to the inspection or examination of the Attorney General 
 of the United States ; and when required by either house of Con- 
 gress, it shall be the duty of the said Trustees to furnish any in- 
 formation respecting their own conduct, the state of the Institu- 
 tion, and their finances, which shall or may be required," 
 
 Under its charter, the College assumed the character of a 
 University ; having in addition to the Literary, a Theological, Law, 
 and Medical department. The Theological department was for 
 some years an important feature of the Institution ; and the 
 Medical department has been continued to this day. The Trustees, 
 after the College was adopted by the Baptist General Convention, 
 were elected triennially from among fifty names nominated by 
 that body ; but since the dissolution of that Convention, they have 
 been elected directly by the contributors. The persons entitled 
 to vote as contributors are nearly, if not quite all, of the Baptist 
 persuasion ; yet several of the Trustees and some of the Faculty 
 have, from the first, been from other denominations. A large 
 number of young men, without distinction of denomination, have 
 been educated, gratuitously in part, from year to year, at the 
 
9 
 
 College ; and never has a suspicion even been conceived that any 
 denominational bias existed in the conduct of the College. 
 
 When the charter was granted, the Editors of the National In- 
 telligencer, in noticing the passage of the bill, remarked : 
 
 " Though this Institution may be under the general direction of 
 persons of a particular religious denomination, we trust it will be 
 found to be under the management of liberal, as well as learned pro- 
 fessors, and that we shall be able to give to the Baptists all the honor 
 of having established it, without the least* apprehension of its being 
 devoted to sectarian purposes." 
 
 The history of the Institution attests that these expectations 
 have been fulfilled. It may be added, as to the supervision be- 
 longing to the General Government, that the occasion for its 
 exercise has never yet, through all the difficulties of the College, 
 arisen. 
 
 The Financial condition of the College past and 
 
 present. 
 
 At its opening, the present College building and two Professors' 
 houses were already erected; and almost immediately the increas- 
 ing number of students demanded new accommodations. The 
 erection of these buildings and the endeavor to sustain and extend 
 the operations of the College, without funds previously collected, 
 and on borrowed capital, followed by unsuccessful efforts to meet 
 the indebtedness thus incurred, soon left the Institution in a crip- 
 pled condition. In 1827, the Trustees were compelled to suspend 
 the operations of the College. The following year, however, it was 
 reopened. Rev. S. Chapin, D. D. having been invited to the 
 Presidency. Strenuous efforts from this time were made to meet 
 and remove its liabilities. In 1832, during General Jackson's 
 Presidency, a grant of city lots, valued at $25,000, was obtained 
 from Congress. The proceeds of the sale of some of these lots, 
 (about $7,000,) was, by virtue of a subsequent act of Congress, 
 devoted to aid in liquidating the College debt ; but the remainder, 
 both sold and unsold, are restricted to sale and investment for a 
 permanent endowment. In 1841, commencing with a meeting of 
 the Alumni at Baltimore, the friends of the College made a deter- 
 
10 
 
 mined effort to wipe off its entire indebtedness. On the 5th of 
 March, 1842, this was accomplished; the creditors generally 
 making liberal deductions. Two of the officers of the College, 
 Dr. Chapin the President, and Professor William Ruggles, besides 
 surrendering 35 per cent, of their claims, took in part pay of the 
 balance the Clopton legacy, in amount about $3,000 ; which legacy, 
 afterwards, proved an entire loss. In 1843, Rev. J. S. Bacon, D. 
 T>., became President of, the College ; occupying the post until 
 1854. In 1847, a small debt for accruing expenses had arisen, 
 which, however, a few liberal friends liquidated. The efficient 
 agencies of Rev. A. M. Poindexter commenced in 1847, and that 
 of Rev. William F. Broaddus, D. D., in 1851, 2, accompanied by 
 the liberal patronage of John Withers, Esq., of Alexandria, Ya., 
 have been the chief instrumentalities in raising the College to 
 its present position. 
 
 The amount of monies obtained for the College, since its found- 
 ation, have been substantially the following : 
 
 By Rev. S. Rice, from 1819-36, 150,000 
 
 Dr. A. Woods, about 1821-3, 15,000 
 
 Rev. E. Galusha and others, in 1826, 7, - - . - 20,000 
 
 Rev. Dr. Sample and A. Clopton, 1827-33, - - 8,000 
 
 Congress, grant of city lots, in 1832, - - - - 25,000 
 
 Rev. Dr. Sherwood, 1836-40, 8,000 
 
 Rev. T. W. Sydnor and others, 1841,2, - - - 6,000 
 
 Rev. Dr. Mercer, legacy, 1842, 2,000 
 
 Rev. A. M. Poindexter, 1847-9, - - - - 13,000 
 
 Rev. William F. Broaddus, 1851, 2, - - - - 40,000 
 
 Total, 
 
 The present property of the College consists of- — 
 
 College lands, 46J acres, estimated at - - - - $40,000 
 
 College edifice, 30,000 
 
 Three dwelling houses, (deducting loan of |3,000,) - - 13,000 
 
 Preparatory School and out buildings, - - - - 4,000 
 
 Philosophical and other apparatus, 500 
 
 Library of 6,000 volumes, - - - - - - 6,000 
 
 Furniture and other property, 1,000 
 
 Endowment Fund, in stocks, &c., 38,000 
 
 City lots, probable value, , - 20,000 
 
 Dwelling house in Washington, gift of J. Withers, - - 18,000 
 
 Total, - - - - $170,500 
 
11 
 
 Making a reasonable deduction now for excess of estimates and 
 for probable loss, it will be seen that the property now in hand is 
 in value only about $20,000 less than the aggregate ^ of all ever 
 contributed to the College. The following facts may show, that 
 this actual expenditure has been well bestowed ; and that the 
 finances of the College have been as economically managed as 
 those of most of our literary Institutions. The salaries of the 
 Professors have been paid, and successive classes have been educa- 
 ted for a period of thirty-five years. Not less than $20,000, the 
 entire amount probably of the above mentioned deficit, has been 
 directly given to students for the ministry, in tuition and room 
 rent ; a benefaction which no other College had been accustomed 
 to bestow, until within a few years past, prompted apparently by 
 its example, the University of Virginia and some few denomina- 
 tional institutions, have made a similar provision for indigent 
 young men studying for the Gospel ministry. Moreover, it should 
 be distinctly borne in mind, that the principle of all endowed 
 institutions is to make gratuitous the larger share of a College 
 education ; the salaries of the professors, which must otherwise 
 be paid wholly in the increased fees of students, being met to a 
 great extent by the income of endowment funds ; while the rent of 
 rooms, use of library, and board in commons, are all cheaper than 
 they could be afforded, but for the advantage of buildings already 
 belonging to the College, and therefore furnished rent free. The 
 comparative cost of female education in the higher branches, at 
 private schools where all the expense is met by the pupils, is an 
 indication of the amount of gratuity which every College must 
 give to its pupils. The Columbian College, in addition to the di- 
 rect gift of about $70 per annum to every student for the ministry, 
 peculiar to it among institutions of the kind, has been obliged to 
 extend the gratuity, without any income from endowment, which 
 other Colleges can give from the accruing interest of their invested 
 funds. It was impossible, therefore, that the money contributed 
 to the College should not have been drawn upon to meet this pre- 
 mium which higher education must always offer to young men who 
 would enjoy its advantages. Not to mention other sources of in- 
 evitable expenditure to which a College, in its manifold demands, 
 is exposed, these are more than sufficient to account for all the 
 
12 
 
 absorption of funds at the Columbian College. It is worthy to be 
 repeated, that probably few of our higher Institutions have been 
 as economically managed as the Columbian College. 
 
 Present Advantages and Future Prospects of the 
 
 College. 
 
 The demand for a seat of learning at "Washington, such as the 
 founder of the city and the father of his country wished to see, 
 and such as the Columbian College may easily be made, has been 
 felt more and more by far-seeing and patriotic men ; and the in- 
 telligent forecast and desire of such men has expressed itself in 
 almost the very words of Washington, Madison and Monroe. At 
 an immense gathering of the common schools in Washington, July 
 1856, at which Represesentives in Congress from different sec- 
 tions of the country were present and the President of the United 
 States distributed the premiums to the deserving pupils, the Hon. 
 *~Hr. Meacham, Chairman of the Committee on the District of 
 Columbia, himself once an able College Professor, announced his 
 intention that very day to urge the House of Representatives to 
 grant an appropriation of $25,000 for the common schools of 
 Washington. In doing so, he used this language — 
 
 " We want," he said in substance, " to see at this centre, where sons 
 of men from North, and South, East and West, are gathered to grow 
 up and be educated together, — we want to see the most perfect sys- 
 tem of common schools that the whole country can boast ; so that 
 some at least of the more promising youth of the land, moulded into 
 that one image which a like liberal culture produces, and drinking 
 into one spirit from school-boy associations, shall be links binding 
 our States together ; bands of union which nothing earthly can break." 
 
 It was the same longing desire that fired the breast of Wash- 
 ington ; and if the Columbian College be made what it may be, 
 that hope may be realized. 
 
 The special advantages also of this location for a liberal educa- 
 tion have increased since Madison and Monroe addressed Congress 
 on this point. The debates in Congress and the arguments in the 
 Supreme Court, now to be held in the new halls of the enlarged 
 Capitol, will be more available for hearers ; and under the super- 
 
13 
 
 vision of the Professor of Rhetoric, the students of the advanced 
 classes are now allowed, as a college exercise, to listen to prominent 
 speakers on special occasions. The pupils thus practically learn 
 from the best models of reasoning and of oratory, as well as from 
 . the theory of text books on Logic and Rhetoric, and the teachings 
 of the Professor in that department. The scientific and literary 
 interest connected with the Smithsonian Institute and other at- 
 tractions at Washington, draw together some of the ablest men of 
 the country in different departments of learning ; enabling the 
 College to secure the services of distinguished instructors, allow- 
 ing the pupils to listen to eminent lecturers, and furnishing in the 
 Cabinets and Libraries of the National Institue, the Smithsonian 
 Institution and of the Capitol, rare facilities for the full practical 
 illustration of any branch specially pursued. 
 
 Here, as worthy of special note, should be mentioned the pecu- 
 liar influence which society in Washington affords for that silent 
 influence on opinions, manners, and everything which goes to make 
 up a truly liberal culture. It is that insensible moulding of the mind 
 and heart by surrounding associations which has lately been styled 
 " Intuitive Education." This is a more important element of 
 liberal education than any one can appreciate who has not expe- 
 rienced it personally ; and it is that part of their education which 
 the early graduates of the Columbian College now recal with 
 special gratification. An unusually large proportion of these 
 graduates are now occupying most prominent positions ; some fil- 
 ling the pulpit in our cities and towns at the North and the South, 
 as well as holding prominent positions in Mission fields ; and 
 others, as the catalogues of past years reveal, having attained emi- 
 nence as authors, teachers and professors, as statesmen, jurists and 
 diplomatists, as well as at the bar and in the medical profession. 
 It is .to the peculiar stimulus and liberalizing influence of associa- 
 tions in Washington, that some at least of this number attribute 
 the peculiar bent given to their minds during their College days. 
 
 Yet, more important is it to notice the moral and religious in- 
 fluence, the very opposite of what some might suppose, which is 
 found in experience to be exerted by a College life spent in Wash- 
 ington. Many of the men who are sent to Washington, and who 
 resort there, are of unsettled moral principle, and easily led into 
 
14 
 
 dissipation while here. Immorality and impiety in high positions 
 are thus placed before young minds. The result, however, is this ; 
 virtue and vice are set forth in their real character and tendencies, 
 and piety and impiety take a more decided aspect. The truly 
 pious and virtuous are more devoted and consistent ; and as their 
 power is greater, so is their influence. Young men in College have 
 clear warnings, and strong safeguards, as well as peculiar tempta- 
 tions. Those liable to be led astray have a watchcare from pa- 
 rents and instructors, such as is not exerted in the thronged Uni- 
 versities of our States, located in communities more retired, and 
 resorted to by students from remote regions ; and, under the faith- 
 ful discipline pursued at the College, added to the self-watchcare 
 which open temptation prompts the student himself to exercise, 
 the history of the College will indicate a standard of morality 
 and piety such as few institutions of our land can maintain. 
 Columbian College was founded in the prayers of a denomination 
 of christians of intelligent piety and devoted zeal. It has, from 
 the first, been presided over by men who have sought, first of all, 
 to make it a school of moral and religious training. That feature 
 is now dearest of all others to the men to whom its interests and 
 its internal discipline are at present committed. 
 
 Meanwhile, the intellectual demands of such an institution have 
 been met. The College has now secured one of the fullest and 
 ablest Faculties that can be found in any College of its limited 
 endowment; and there is no limit to which the completeness and 
 ability of its corps of instructors may not, in every department, be 
 supplied at a centre like this. The Faculty, at present, consists of 
 a President, five Professors and two additional teachers in the 
 Literary Department of the College; the Medical having its own 
 distinct corps. As thorough and finished a course of study may 
 be pursued at the Columbian College now, as at any University, in 
 these leading departments. A Law School and a Theological 
 Department may hereafter, according to the original plan, be 
 re-organized, as the Literary Department has recently been 
 strengthened. 
 
 The wants of the College are embraced in the following par- 
 ticulars: ^ 
 
 1st. An increase of the endowment, so that it shall have an interest 
 
15 
 
 bearing fund of $150,000. This, with the $65,000 now available, re- 
 quires an addition of $80,000. 
 
 2d. A new edifice, containing a Library room, a Chapel in the 
 main hall, and Rooms for the Literary Societies of the College, or for 
 recitation rooms. The expense of such a building might be from 
 $15,000 to $25,000, according to the taste displayed in its construc- 
 tion. 
 
 3d. A dwelling house for the President of the College, which may 
 cost $5,000 or $6,000. 
 
 4th. An increase of the Library, to the amount of at least, from 
 $5,000 to $10,000. 
 
 5th. An addition to the Philosophical and Chemical apparatus, to 
 the amount of at least $3,000. 
 
 6th. A fund for premiums ; yielding an interest to be annually 
 appropriated of from $100 to $200. 
 
 7th. An improvement of the grounds, out-buildings and fences, and 
 a refitting and furnishing of recitation rooms, to the amount of $3,000. 
 
 It is not expected that all these ends are to be secured in a day ; 
 but they are those which the friends of the Institution feel ought 
 to be accomplished ; and they would think themselves recreant to the 
 trust committed to them from their fathers, if they did not keep 
 them steadily in view, and persevere till they are accomplished. 
 
 The College occupies a central position, which will always claim 
 and secure a large class of aspiring young men as students. It 
 is for those who can appreciate its peculiar position to say, whether 
 the Jesuit College shall be the Alma Mater of such young men ; 
 or whether the only Protestant College at this centre, shall be 
 worthy of patronage. The College makes its special appeal to the 
 Christian heart of a generation whose fathers in their poverty 
 sacrificed for it, because they wished it to be a nursery of piety 
 as well as of liberal learning. Can the children and successors of 
 these pious fathers do themselves a greater honor than to give a 
 fostering hand to an Institution, which, aside from these associa- 
 tions, has a promise so peculiar, and a position so commanding ? 
 
 The few fast friends of the College appeal to you, as one to 
 whom they believe they may with confidence represent its demands ; 
 and they ask you to take one or more of these objects specified 
 under your fostering care. 
 
 In behalf of the College, 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 029 892J33 9