^ A / V jniibffsitg INAUGURATION OF Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., AS CHANCELLOR, 17tli >^ovember, 1870 New York : J. Adnah Sackett, Book, Law and Job Printer, 48 John Street, 1871. '/ ^ close together, but each with time has moved a step up- ward in Alma Mater. I know that as Chancellor and Professor, we shall repeat the pleasant intercourse of Professor and Student. Your accession to the management of the University, comes at a time when changes are occurring in the Ameri- can system of instruction. The public demands a modi- fication of the time honored plan, and threatens with- drawal of its patronage from those institutions which do not respond. You have the difficult duty of adding to the curriculum what is advantageous among new things, without disturbing what has proved valuable in the past. The Council will sustain you in this, for it has always been generous with gifts of money, and liberal in its tone, and is ready to cooperate with the public, in whatever is needed to make the University as prosperous as any College in the land. We must provide for the people the intellectual food ADDRESS FROM THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE. 27 that their constitutions and desires demand, they will have what they want, or they will not come when they are bidden to the feast. Our Anglo Saxon race is stub- born in requiring in its education, not only that which polishes the mind, but also that which bears on the prac- tical affairs of life. Something is wrong in teaching, when a merchant says that he will not have a college boy in his office, that he is ruined for his purposes. In America, so young in history, and as yet only es- caping in intellect the leading strings of the mother country. Colleges have been too much prone to follow the old established systems, and forget that the mind of a nation develops as does the body of a child, and that that which is satisfactory to a people at one time, ceases to suffice afterwards. But in England, even at Oxford, which was the very type of the ancient order of things, the past few years have shown a great change, and ad- ditions and concessions to modern wants. To the course which is followed by the Universities of Europe, and particularly of Germany, one need hardly allude in face of this intelligent audience. Every one knows that they are very foci of modern mental activity. Now what is the present position of the University from this point of view ? Is she doing all that the public demands? Has she moved in the right direction and far enough ? Her Medical Department has by continued modification of its course, in accordance with the requirements of the profession, brought itself to a high stand among similar establishments. Only a few years ago, students were satisfied with the theoretical instruction of lectures, and 28 ADDRESS FROM THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE. an occasional visit to the wards of an Hospital, but as the advantages of the reduction of theory to practice became more evident, that Faculty, under the auspices of the late Dr. Mott, introduced sick persons into the class room, and taught the diagnosis and treatment of disease upon the living subject. To such an extent has the satisfying of this craving for practical instruction been carried, that on an average 2J hours each day are expended in it, partly in our own building, and partly in the public Hospitals. The consequence is that ihe Med- ical Department points with pride to nearly 3,000 grad- uates, and 9,000 students in America. In the Literary Department, for many years the Council has seen the importance of additions to the original plan, and the introduction of Science teaching on a more ex- tended scale. In 1860 a Professorship of Natural Science was added to the other chairs, though unendowed, and at a little later period, my brother and myself were en- couraged to establish from our own resources, a labor- atory for practical instruction in Analytical Chemistry. These and similar movements were important steps, and their effect has been to draw to the Institution those who would otherwise never have made their apperance within her walls. I look forward, Sir, under your auspices, and the con- trol of the Council, to a great development in this direc- tion. I trust the time may soon come when such studies as Physiology, or the construction and working of the human body, the practical applications of that most practical of all sciences Chemistry, Geology and Min- eralogy, anl their thousands of useful facts. Botany and ADDI^ESS FKOM THE ALUMNI. '20 Agricultural Chemistry, may not only be taught but taught thoroughly, nay even when the XJniversitj^ shall have her own Meteorological and Astronomical Observa- tories. It is not enough that such buildings and instru- ments as these last imply, should be in the private hands of Professors, and others connected with this Institution. They should be its property, and worked for its glory. The Universitj^ should not be made visible by borrowed lio^ht, but shine of itself like the Sun. It is with great pleasure that we may congratulate ourselves, on the recent action of the Council of the Uni- versity, in giving an impetus to the Scientific Department. It will be a proud day for all connected with her in all her branches, the Medical, the Literary, the Scientific, and Legal Departments, when she shall show what educa- tion should be, and point to her many students as the token of public approval. May a repetition of such magnificent practical discoveries as the Electric Telegraph of Professor Morse, and the application of Photography to human portraiture of Professor Draper, be her portion in the future. :o:- John Taylor Johnston, Esq., on behalf of the Alumni, addressed the Chancellor, as follows : Erother Alumnus : t" N behalf of the Alumni, I, their President, welcome to the highest office in the gift o! the University, cue who, like them, has made her academic halls the passage way to the busy world. For the first time in 30 ADDRESS FROM THE ALUMNI. the history of our Alma Mater a graduate has been se- lected for her care and supervision, and ta assist others in reaching that goal which he has already successfully passed. It is unnecessary to recall again, as has been re- called, that you have been alternately scholar and teacher, student and professor, member of the Council and now Chancellor and general head. We welcome you sincerely and heartily. From the day of your Inauguration, we hope to date a new era of progress for the University in all her departments, and to look back to it as the begin- ning of a grander development of the extensive designs of her founders. The graduates of the University are her life blood, her vitality, from which she draws fresh vigor and activity. She points with pride to the many names that adorn her roll, men eminent in position at the bar, in the pulpit, in the busy walks of commerce and general business, among our literary institutions and in public life. Everywhere they are to be found toiling to fulfil their individual missions in their day and genera- tion. During the late unhappy civil war they responded nobly to the call of their country, and many fell fighting bravely in her defence. The present Mayor of this city is a graduate from these walls, and whatever difference of opinion there may be about his politics, there can be none about his ability and energy. Let us hope that the Alumni will now be found urging forward with heart, hand and purse, the interests of their never forgotten Alma Mater ; and that, stimulated by your zeal and en- ergy, they also may successfully add to that prosperity which, without their steady and constant aid, can be but temporary. They see in you, sir, one of their number ADDRESS FROM THE ALUMNI. 31 devoting himself, without pecuniary recompense or re-^ ward, to the great work of building up in this commercial metropolis a literary centre worthy of the locality. Let this be a stimulus and a spur to them, and let them be a strong and valiant aid to you. Again, in their name, I bid you a hearty welcome to our halls in your new po- sition, and wish you a brilliant success. May the Alumni not fail to redeem the pledge of support that I make you in their name; may you have them with you in everyway ;. may that God who alone shapes our destinies guide and protect you, give you wisdom from on high, and a pleas- ant and useful career to look back on when its close- draws nigh. -.0: INAUGURAL OEATION. :o:- University is a living encyclopedia. The ideal Uni- versity would include arts, sciences, philosophy and technics, and the all of these. A living mind would communicate the truth in feacli of these departments of knowledge, and the truth in each case would be all the truth known to man, in relation to the given subject. Such is the ideal University. The actual Universities of the world may be considered attempts longo intervallo to reach this idea. Historically, we find the University originating in the 12th century, growing in a very natural way out of the schools attached to Cathedrals and Monasteries. Learn- ing gathered about these centres. The churchmen were tlie onl}^ educated class, and the students of the schools were candidates for positions and honors in the Church. The teachers or the students gradually formed themselves into corporations for mutual support, re- ceived local immunities, and they became integral parts of the ecclesiastical system. The Italian, and most of the French Universities, were corporations of students, while the University of Paris was a corporation of INAUGUKAL OKATIOX. 33 teachers. Those of Northern Europe and of Spain, occupied an intermediate position. Individual peculi- arities, arising from local circumstances, would mark •each Institution, but thiBir general features were alike. Cambridge and Oxford in England, and Pavia in Italy, are generally considered the oldest of the 108 Universities of Europe. The School at Cambridge goes back to the Heptarchy in A. D. 636, and Ingulphus tells us, that after the Normans had entered, as late as A. D. 1109, it consisted of four monks, teaching in a barn. But in A. J), 1231, it had reached the full pro- portions of a University, with Chancellor and Masters. The School at Oxford was founded by Alfred in A. D. 879, or rather an old school was restored by that ener- getic Monarch. In A. D. 1190, we first find it a Uni- versity. The school of Pavia claims to have been con- stituted by Charlemagne, in A. D. 774, but we must de- scend to the 14fch century, before w^e can recognize in it the features of a Universit}^ Four faculties, to wit, of Theology, Law, Medicine, and the Arts were found in the complete Universitj^, and these faculties severally consisted of all the teachers or students (acco)*dirig to the style of the Institution) in any one of these departments of knowledge, forming subordinate corporations of the University corporation. It continued its existence by granting degrees. The Bachelor (a term borrowed from knighthood) was an unfledged teacher. The Master was the teacher in full feather, and the Doctor was the teacher all feathered and with the use of his wings. When certain Masters and Doctors in later times received peculiar privileges 34 INAUGURAL ORATION. and fixed salaries, tliej became Professors, and so the original plan of teaching by graduates was to an extent superseded. To provide for indigent students Colleger or Halls were constituted in the University, the Hall be- ing an unincorporated College. These gradually be- came appropriated to particular Faculties, and lost their eleemosynary character, it becoming necessary for each student to be connected with some College. The head of the University was the Chancellor, whose duties were those of general oversight and granting of degrees. But the details of government and discipline were committed to the Rector, as presiding officer. These were the original features of the University. Modifications, according to the changes in social and political conditions, occurred, but the general outline remained as before. The Chancellor and Rector were sometimes the same, the discipline was sometimes com- mitted to a separate court, the Professors sometimes held different grades, as in the German Universities to- day are Professors ordinary, Professors extraordinary, and " Privat docents,'' the Professors were sometimes the governing as well as the teaching body, and the de- grees lost their specific character. From this historical sketch, we may see that the essentials of a University are faculties of high instruction in the various depart- ments of knowledge, with a system of sustentation and reward for the students, all under one general plan of government and discipline. The instruction, the susten- tation and the government, are the three efficiencies, in which we find the requisites for an Institution that claims for itself the name of University. INAUGUEAL OEATION. 35 No mere school, that seeks an elementary benefit for its pupils, even though that elementary instruction should be spread over a large surface of knowledge, and on the other hand, no school of profoundest teaching, if that teaching be confined to a single department of knowledge, can be called a University. The instruction must be both broad and deep. It must, to some extent, endeavor to meet all the wants of the times in its variety, and must be able to carry the student to the highest attainments in each department. To this end, there must be distinct groups of instructors, who may subdi- vide a department between them, each able to develop his own specialty to the fullest degree, and to present his subject in the best way under the circumstances to the minds before him. The system precludes any combining of subjects in the one teacher. Subdivision is the necessity for thoroughness. Methods of communi- cating knowledge cannot be stereotyped. As men and times change, they must or may change. Daily recita- tions, daily lectures, periodical examinations, either of these separately, or any two or all combined, may be adopted, the object being to convey the instruction in the best manner to the minds of the students. A wise teacher will adapt himself to circumstances. He must not be only a reservoir of knowledge, but a flowing stream. It hardly need be urged that the diddoKaXog should be StdaKTiKogj and yet perhaps emphasis on so plain a truth may be sometimes necessary. The University does not suggest a centre of eruditon, but, more than that, a place of instruction. It is not a literary, philosophical and scientific club, but a grand 36 INAUGUEAL OEATION. school, or congeries of schools, where learning propa- gates itself in all its multiformity, and grows in strength and fullness by the propagation. Its faculties are well- charged batteries, whose very function is to communi- cate intellectual life and arouse mind to energy. Life is the characteristic of a University. It is a rude and vulgar error to regard the mediaeval Universities as homes of sloth and drowsy bookishness. They were the creators of modern civilization, the elevators of soci- ety, the engines of all true progress. They held on high the torch of knowledge, and ever fed the cheering fire. Vigilem sacraverimt ignem, exciihias divum aeternas. They were the destroyers of feudalism and caste, and the practical preachers of liberty. They were all this as the dispensers of knowledge, by the very necessities of the case, rather than by any conceived purpose. They were all this in spite of mistakes that were insep- arable from the age and from their ecclesiastical origin. Bologna might send forth Gratian's Decretum, but cen- turies of legal talent and industry, devoted to the elucida- tion of jurisprudence, atone for this. The second efficiency, in which we find a requisite for a University, is sustentation. By that, I mean a method of meeting the wants of the indigent. It is a well es- tablished fact that learning and weeJth are not often partners. The men who have enlightened the world have had short purses and lean. They have pushed their way up the steep hill of Science through thorns; heroes they, who have welcomed poverty, if only wisdom were in her company. The ranks of the Universities INAUGURAL ORATION. 37 were filled by such. Very few of the princes, nobles and wealthy gentry could resist the fascinations of a luxurious or brilliant life, to devote their time to the confining labors of the study, and thus become plain citizens in the Eepublic of letters. A method of sup- porting the student was a necessity from the beginning, and to this end endowments from Church, State and in- dividuals were received. The recipients of the benefit were called " socii," or " fellows." Originally, these fel- lowships were available only for those who were under the direct instruction of the University, but afterward they were extended to the students beyond their course of study, until they obtained a benefice. At length the fellowships were limited to those who had reached the degree of Master, and a system of bursaries or scholar- ships and special foundations took care of the under- graduates and bachelors. The University was never intended to be supported by its pupils. It was an Alma Mater nourishing its own, and not nourished by them. It gave its advantages freely to all who were worthy, and rendered its scholars a sufficient maintenance to free them from worldly anxi- ety. All it asked of its children was their love and du- tiful attachment, together with their upright and schol- arly lives. It gave them , intellectual status, and de- manded of them the honor that was due. In the government of the Institution, we find the third requisite of a University. One system embraced the whole. This was necessary for an even development, and harmonious action. The Colleges became wheels within a wheel. They were not independent of the 38 INAUGUEAL OEATION. University, although independent of one another. The authority of the University was felt in every College. The Chancellor and the Council, University Court or Senatus superintended the teaching, administered the property, exercised the patronage to the chairs and managed all the general interests of the University. This governing centre had a great variety of forms in the different Institutions, but in almost all cases this feature was discernible; the Chancellor, Rector and Council, were Masters or Doctors of the University over which they presided. This bound them to its interests with the affection of children to a parent, and gave a peculiar unity of history and individuality of life to the University. It also eminently fitted them to guide the whole from their intimate acquaintance with its parts. If we carefully examine the history of any of the great Universities of Europe, we shall find, amid the very many modifications and additions and labyrinthine in- tricacies of detail, that the three characteristics we have emphasized are the only constant quantities. It will be seen at a glance, that the University scheme is one that can be realized only in an advanced condition of social life. Wealth and erudition must be present at the foundation, and a taste for high learning must be found in the community. In our own country, these conditions appeared first in New England and Yirginia, and in the formation of Harvard College and William and Mary College we may see traces of the University idea. But the immense work of taming a continent has until lately forbidden our educational system to look beyond the single Col- INAUGURAL ORATION. 39 fege with its one Faculty of Arts, by whom the mere <3lements of Classical, Mathematical and Philosophical learning were generally taught. The College usually in the United States is simply a High School, into which a student enters with so scant a preparation, and at so early an age, that proficiency in any department of re- search as the result of his curriculum is an impossibil- ity. The most that can be done is to strengthen the