PRESIDENT
OF
HOWARD UNIVERS I TY.
OCTOBER 9, 1877.
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WASHINGTON, D.C.:
W. M. STUAIRT, PRINTER
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INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
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The peculiarity of the occasion calls for an appropriate theme,
and I therefore invite your attention to The Relation of the
Higher Education to a True Civilization, and to the Elevation
of a Depressed Race.
A university fully developed, fitly manned, and adequately
endowed is the ripest product of modern civilization. It is
at once the outgrowth, the sign, and the guaranty of the highest
culture of a land.  Sending its roots deep into the soil of past
generations, and deriving no small part of its vitality from the
researches and the renown of' scholars who have ceased from
earthly studies and gone to wider fields of thought, it also draws
to itself the life-giving influences of the air and light of contemporaneous ability and learning.  Covering in its various departments, academic training, arcient and modern literature,
history, philology, natural science, philosophy, art, medicine,
law and theology, it ranges over all the past, while possessing the
wide present, and touches human thought and action at every
possible point.  The name itself stands for the idea of completeness. Hence since the early part of the twelfth century, when
the institutions at Bologna and Paris emerge from their obscure
beginnings, the names of the universities suggest the course of
European history and the glory of their respective lands. Speak
to a man of culture of historical France, and by the side of her
military fame he will put the renown of her former university
of Paris, with its theological college of the Sorbonne, whose
doctors at one time decided the grave disputes of all Europe,
and feared not to confirnt and oppose the infallible Pope himself.
Name modern Itaily, and the universities of Bologna and Padua,
of Ferrara and Pisa, of Naples and Palermo, of Perrugia and
Parma, with their illustrious compeers, rush at once into thought.
Germrnany-I had almost said, what is it, but the product of the
centuries of instructions g,iven within the universities of'i Heidel
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berg, Leipsic, Wuiirtzburg, Freiburg, Titibingen, lIalle, Go6ttin gen, and more modern institutions?  The influential thinkiJg
of Great Britain has been done by the men trained at Cam bridge and Oxford, at St. Anidrews, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh.
While our own land has had little but the superabounding
name of university, having developed in the place gymnasia,
under the title of colleges, yet these, with the higlher professional
schools, have not been a wholly inadequate substitute, and
throughout our brief history they have furnished a large pro portion of the men who have shaped and administered our
national affairs.  By the necessity of the case, a university, with
its several co-ordinate faculties under a common organization,
implies variety of knowle(dge with unity of ol-)ject, or wide and
increasing learning devoted to the advancement of coulntry and
mankind. It could exist only as it fell heir.to the treasures of
the buried past; it could have a right to continue to be, only
as it sought to transmit these, with all possible enrichment, to
the fast-coming future, and to use them in uplifting the race
from the limitations and degradations of ignorance. Slow of
growth is such an institution, and it must draw its resources
from many quarters, making frietnds of all lovers of humanity,
rejoicing in the smile of the State, and privileged with the
blessing of the Church.
In the Old World such institutions received their earliest
inspiration from the Church, springing from the scholastic discussions of the middle ages; but they have also owed their prosperity largely to the State, which gave them incorporation and
revenues, and retained a quite positive control.  It was tae glory
of a king or emperor, to found a university an(l to build a
cathedral.  In this New World, the higher institutions of learnimg have principally sprung fromn and been supported by private
generosity, receiving frll the State simply legal recognitionr, iii
the form of a charter, with an occasional rift of moniey or land.
It is thus that the colleges of New Enigllaiid and of the Middle
States were established.  qhe plan of a State University, under
direct legislative control, alnd supported by the lpul)lic treasury,
which has been attempted at the South and West, has been a 
noticeable success in but a sinlle instance, and then at the ex  pense of mutch personal anld political colntentiol.  T-he prefer  ellce for private control has arisen from  a general jealousy of
the State, and from the Amitricani principle of' separating, it
from everything which concerns religioii.  A  true university
must embrace a department of Theolog,y-a ftct which, under
our American system, at once cuts it ofr froni State support and
control. or conipels it to exist in a mutilated condition, which
belies its name; as if a sculptor should carve from the mnarble
an Apollo lacking a limb, or, I might rathler say, lacking a
head!  Not only so, but it may be predicted that, in the prog ress of philosophic, scientific, and theologic discussion, as lines
shall be nmore narrowly drawn, and as difiering consciences shall
collme into actiota, State Universities  will find themselves  in
trouble, even without  a theological  departmnent; for relig,ion
rlust be tauglht, or iiplied, or denied, in all the higher educa tion;  because its principles run everywhither, and touch human
thou,ght and life universally.  It is simply impossible to impart
a knowledg,e of philosophy, or history, or classical literature, or
modern  literature, as these should  be studied itn university courses, and it the spirit of a true scholarship, without canvass inD  points which involve religious difierences, as between de nominations of Christians, especially Protestants and Romanists,
and as between Christians and the deniers of a supernatural
relig,ion.  To preserve logical consistency and to avoid serious
practical difficulty, it would appear necessarv for the State ultinately to withdraw entirely from the field of the higher education, and to confine itself to the secularized commoni  school
systemi for imparting to the masses a kiowledge of the needful
prinlary branches.
But the complete uni'ersity-trainingi is essential to the developmenit of any wce and nation, and must be a fiactor in the
highest civilization.  Every people grows to it when rising from
barbarism, and then  gro%s by it in the development of the
natioiial life.  Hence we not only niote that the progress of the
civilization of moloderil Europe and that of its universities is a
parallel progress, but that, at a certalin stage, of the advancement
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of all races, whom we are striving to elevate, the demand is inevitably made for the establishment of institutions for the higher
education.  This is found to be necessary to give permanence
to the lower stages, as well as to continue the upward movement.
Hence, where Christiall missions have reached a sufficient development, they found a college, as  a natural result.  The
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions have
seen five such institutions grow up on their field within twenty
years; which will soon I)e ft;)llowed by as many more, till amid
the benighted races a Christian civilization shall be established
upon a firm basis.  For every such institution is both reservoir
and( fountain.  It collects fromn surrounditng springs of thought
and science whatever tends to human elevation, and it diffuses
this by numberless streams through call classes of society.  It is
easy and instructive to trace this relation of the University to
the development an(d elevation of the people, which, however,
we can do but briefly at this time.
First of all, it establishes the standard of national culture.
The " high-water muark" ot intellectual advancement is fixed by
the university-education, which thus measures and defines the
civilization of the people.  There are distinct types of mental culture, which are represented by the literati of the various lands,
who have their respective standards of learning.  Compare, in
this respect, the higher education of the Chinese, of the Mohammedan nations, and of Europ)e.  Each represents a marked
advance of the human mind, under such masters as Confucius,
Mohammed and Jesus; and in each case the special form of
civilization has crystalized in the superior schools or colleges.
Hentce China lsever thinks of a progress beyond that attained
three thousand years since, as its results are taught in the
colleges now maintained in the large cities.  In like manner
the schools or colleges of the Softas fix the limit of Mohaammedan culture.. And even under our own civilization a peculiar
stamp is given to the mind of the individual student and to the
conceptions of culture generally entertained, according as the
prevailing character of the university-education is Christian or
RIationalistic, is Protestant or Romisli.  In the unive'rsity is the
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fountain-head, higher than which the streams will not rise.
Scholarship means acquiring what is there taught.  Learning signifies eminent acquisitions in the branches of study
there recognized. Thus the difference in the universities of
various lands marks their standards of scholarly culture, which
we know to difler precisely in this way, in America, in Great
Britain, and in Germany.
Next we observe, that these crowning institutions of education
excite the enthusiasm and stir the ambition of the best youthful
minds among a people.  They do a double work-of selection
and of training.  The selection is of the natural or Darwinian
sort.  No explorers are sent forth to ascertain who  among the
youth have genius and aspiration, and to invite or command
their attendance within university walls. It is not as when the
eye discovers, and the hand grasps, diamonds among pebbles;
but rather as when the magnet comes in contact with the sand,
and draws to itself the kindred particles. A university exists
and does its work in a land, and there are attracted to it, as by
a necessity of their nature, the minds that thirst for knowledge
and that aim at the distinctions known to depend upon knowledge. It is in this well-known effect, of suggestion and inspiration, that at least a partial compensation has been found
for the unwise multiplication of colleges in our land. They
have doubled the number of those who otherwise would have
sought a liberal education. By them the appeal in favor of learning has been brought homue to every considerable community,
urban or rural,'by the impressiveness of the buildings, by the
sight of the professors and students, by the new topics of colnversation and discussion, and by the influence of the commencement occasions and of other public literary exercises. Each has
interested a wide circle ofriends, on local, reformatory, or denominational grounds, has secured endowed scholarships, and
has carried the inspiritng idea-of a possible liberal education
down among the people and before the mind of every mechanic's
and farmer's boy.  Hence come deep and unexpected thoughts,
the kindling of noblelambitions, and the rousing of latent
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powers, resulting in heroic, self-denying effort and triumphant
accomplishlment.
In these institutions also is gained the needed preparation for
achieving the highest results in each grand department of life
and work.  The preparation'is both specific and general.  The
niiversity-educatioon, in the Aueriicaii form, fits specifically for
each caililg c)f civilized life in which knowledge  and culture
and professional acquirements  are the conditions of success.
To enumerate such departments as the Classical and Scientific
Courses, and those of Theology, Philosophy, Medicine, Law
and Art, is to represent the leading  forces in the politics,
literature, religion, science and industry of the world.   hence
from the universities will largely come the erudite scholars, the
eminent authors, the explorers and discoverers inll new fields of
thought, the able and accomplished editors, the broad-minded
statesmen, the skillful physicians and surgeons, the  able instructors, the eloquent preachers, the competent advocates and
judges. Such must have the advantages which a university
offers, would they attain to the highest success and fill the
entire circle of their responsibilities; for thus alone can they
be thoroughly grounded in the principles and details of their
respective professions.
But the general preparation is equally important, as found in
the severe intellectual discipline and in the broad literary culture which result from the university-trainingi, and which, aside
firom professional details, afford that grasp of mind, solidity of
judgment, readiness of faculty, concentration of thought, freedol fron prejudice, and love of truth and beauty, which fit a
man for all possible work.   This is the result usually least appreciated, and yet widest in its bearings.  Lord Macaulay gave
an admirable illustration of its practical bearings, in his discussion of Civil Servic  Reform, and of Competitive Examinations.   In his relort he said:
"Skill in Greekl and Latin vers'fication has, in(leed, no direct tendency to
forni a judge, a financier, or a d(plonmatist; but the youth who does best what
all the ablest and niost ambitious youths about himn are trying to do well, will
generally prove a superior manai: nor can we doubt that an accomplishment by 
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which Fox and Canning, Greenville and Wellesley, Mansfield and Tenterden,
first distinguished themselves above their fellows inidicates powers of miid
which, properly trained and directed, niay do great service to thle State."
So important is his testimony as to the practical character of
a liberal education  in fitting for official duties of every kind,
that I venture onl more extended extracts from his sl,eechl iri
1833 on East India Company's Charter Bill:
"It is proposed that for every vacancy in the civil service four candidates
shall be named, and the candidate elected by examination.  We conceive that
under this system the persons sent out will be young menii above par-young
nmen superior either in talents or i diligence to the nmass. It is said, I know,
that examiinations in Latin, in Greek, and in mathenmatics are no10 tests of what
nmen will prove to be in life. I am perfectly aware that they are not infallible
tests, but that they are tests I confidently maintain.  Look at every walk of
life-at this house: at the other house; at the bar; at the bench; at the church
-and see whether it be not true that those who attaiii high distinction in the
world are generally men who are distinguished in their academic career.  II  deed, sir, this objection would prove far too much. even for those who use it.
It would prove that there is no use at all ill education. Why should we put
boys out of their way   * Why should we force a lad, who would much rather
fly a kite or trundle a hoop. to learn his Latin grammar r Why shjiould we keep
a young man to his Thucydides or his Laplace, when he would rather be shloot  ing? Education would be mere useless torture if, at two or three and twenty,
a man who has neglected his studies were exactly on a par with a man who has
applied himself to theme-exactly or likely to perform all the offices of public
life with credit to himself and with advantage to seciety. Whether the Elglishli
system of education be good or bad is not now  the question.  Perhaps I may
think that too much time is given to the ancient languages and to the abstract
sciences.  But what then?  Whatever be the languages, whatever be the
sciences which it is iii any age and country the fashlion to teach, those who be come the greatest proficients in those languages and thlose sciences will generally
be the flower of the youth-thle niost acute, the most industrious, the most am bitious of honorable distinctions.  If the Ptolenmaic systelml were taughlt at
Cambridge instead of the Newtonian, the'Senior Wriangler' would nevertheless
be in genelal a superior man to the  Wooden Spoon.'  If instead of learning
Greek, we learned the Cherokee, the man who ulnderstood the Cherokee best,
who niade the most correct and melodious Clherokee vel ses, who comlprelendl(led
nmost accurately the  effect of the Cliherokee particles, would generally be a
superior mali to himi who vwas destitute of these accomplishments.  If Astrology
were taught at our universities, the young lnal who cast nativities best would
generally turn out a superior mal  If Alchemy were taught, the young man
who showed the most activity in til pursuit of the philosophler's stone would
generally turn out a superiorinan."-Speechces 1 267, -c.
These ara not only the words of a scholar and a statesman,
but they appeal to the coli;noioti sense of every nmali.
Further, it should be considered that the university-iufluence
ultimately tends to) elevate the ideas and guide the action of
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,the mass of the people. Thought is like water, which spreads
in every direction upon the earth, sinks into every crevice of
the rock, and even moistens the air above.  The ideas of the
university color, in timne, the thinking, of the masses.  Thus,
recently ill Germany and France, during an age of scholarly
unbelief, skepticism and rationalism have come to leaven the
entire nation.  Materialism in the philosopher issues as Communism in the citizen.  But if error in such institutions proves
pervasive, so does truth; and the reason that, in our own land,
the popular mind thus far has sustained evangelical religion,
and also, on the whole, wise and righteous measures of civil
government, is found in the extent of liberal education from
the beginning, by which a high average illtelligence has been
preserved.  Out of the university come the superior teachers
for the various grades of schools, as also the leaders of thought
alnd action around whom  the people rally, in Church and in
State. For in both of these relations the peoplewill have leaders;
and itf these cannot I)e provided thiroughl educated men in the
various professions and business callings, they will be found in
ignorant and amblitious men amonig thetmselves, or in the un scrupulous demagogues of a class slightly above them. A
thoughtful observer must have felt, during the recent strikes
and riots, that one great need of working men is, to be kept in
colltact with the intelligence and virtue of thle upper classes, to
partake of their ideas and prilnciples, and to receive leaders of
more honesty an(t wisdom, who shall have a conception of the
solidarity of interests in a conin:uluity.  It requires intelligence
to have, ill the proper sense of the word, a commonwealth; for
unity of aim and effort is always nmade impossible by ignorance,
which, in its suspicioti and fear, in its narrow vision and sudden
impulse, fails to recognize those great principles which necessitate
common action* and those true friends who seek broad results
and a permanent welfare,
But it is time for mie to pass from these general considera  tions to their more particular connection with the occasion
which has convened this intelligent audience.
Howard University has, in one respect, but a slender claim 
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to represent the fact and influence of University-Education
Being at the beginning of its career, with resources confessedly
small, pecuniarilv and otherwise, an unfriendly critic might
suggest that, as with many other Americtan institutions, its
name is the grandest thing about it. Doubtless, also, others,
who look with a prejudiced eye upon its thoroughly democratic
basis of giving equal educational advantages to all, irr,espective
of race or sex, and its special encouragement of the rac(e which
hitherto has been largely excluded from literary ilistitutionIs,
will iti(lulge in a sneer of contempt for its object, or in an ex clamration of incredulity as to its success.  Nevertheless it pro poses to bear its part in the noble work of hunani elevatioi,
which has been briefly outlined, and its friends have faith to
believe that its object will justify itself to every patriot and
Christian. Howard University is a child of Providence, anul an
heir of the new future, born out of the great civil war, which,
in saving the National Union, gave freedom to four milliols of
slaves.  That, be it remembered, was an emancipation of four
millions of minds, as well as of so many bodies.  The greatest
crime of slavery was its virtual annihilation of the minlds of its
victims.  Hence, freedom instantly created a demand  for an
immense addition to the educational instrumentalities of the
land, of every grade-for the common school, the hig,h school,
the college, and the professional seminary; that the new citizens
might be fitted to assume their responsible position, and to fill
every post to which they might be called, from the lowest to
the-highest. With a wise forecast it was determined to locate
at the Nation's Capital a University, which should be open, in
all departments, to young men and young women of every race
and color, upon equal ternis. For what has learning to do with
distinctions of race or complexion. Is knowledge Caucasian, or
Mongolian, or African? Is literature white, red, yellow, or black?
Surely science, as such, has to do with mi(nd, not with varieties
of race; with man, nriot i-erely with the white man.   Every
true friend of leariung, takes as his imotto that famous sentiment
of the ancient poet, Tqreiice, who was by birth an African and
by position a freedman. "Homo sum, et nil humani a me alienum 
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puto"-" I am a mnan, and count nothing that is human foreitgn
to me."  In this spirit HIoward University opens its doors to all
comers who thirst for knowledge.  And if' Dartmouth College,
now of honorable and wide repute, began but as a hunmble school
for the North American Icndian, there may be a glorious futuie
for this institutionl, which, excludi,g none, yet has a word of
special encouragerment for the non-Caucasian races.  The vwlue
of such an institution in aiding to solve a national problem, and
to meet the pressing wants of millions hitherto in the most depressed condition of humanity, will be more evident if we bear
-in mind certain considerations which often are overlooked.
First of all, it must never be forgotten by the colored people,
or by their-friends,that they can be elevated upon no pnrinciples
and by no instrumelntalities other than those which apply to man-.
kind in general.  As "there is Do royal road to learning" to
suit dullards of kingly birth, so no peculiar and accommodating
pathway to wealth and power, to civilization and culture, opens
betore those of African descent. Their own expectations and
the etiorts of those who would assist them must be based simnply
on their manhood.  It is only as this shall be developed  andc
brought to bear upon  life's duties and opportunities, that
progress can be made in outward condition and in the estimnation of mankind.  There are no sudden  results to be secured
by artificial  means.   Neither special legislation, nor  military
protection, nor favor extended  bv those  in powe,:, nor the
peculiar regard and effort of philanthropists will, of thenmselves,
avail to procure the abolition ot caste-feeling, and the elevation
of the colored people to an entire equality with the whites.
The effects of ages of slavery are not to be removed in a day,
by a mere legislative vote. An amendment to the Constitution
alters no fact of ignoance, of poverty, of moral debasement.
The prejudices of the -whites, descending, thr(o)urh generations,
imbibed by individluals in -infancy and strengthened by  universal sentiment, practic~, and association of ideas, cannot be
easilv and soon overcomne, and are not, so far as feeling is concerned, wholly within the power of volition, so as to be annihilated at will.  They will vanish gradually in the presetce of 
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increasing evidence of a noble manhood.  Developed  intellectual power, the higher education, success in industrial pursuits, the acquirement of wealth and culture and character, will
cause it to disappear as the SUIl does the heavy, chilly, obscuriig,
mrists which night generates in the valleys. When I deposit a
gold coin on the table, it commands a certain degree of respect.
No one is obliged to argue in its behialf. It speaks for itself.
Hiaving intrinsic value and the added stamp of the national
iiiit, it represents so many graitis of precious metal and their
equivalent il  whatever money  will buy. Hence  everybody
welcomnes it, a.nd looks upon it with regard.  Will the result
not be analogous, when the colored  nmati shall be seen to have
an intrinsic value equal to that of the white man?  When otie'
shall no loigeri associate with  him  the ideas  of  bondage,'
pauperism, and barbarism, but those of freedom, prosperity, intellig,ence, and culture?  Whenrl he shall not only carry in his
person the stamp of American citizenship, but shall come out
fr'om a university-training a scholar and a gentleman, like a
glittering coin from the die?
But in securing this result, so difficult and yet so essential, the
process must be such as to throw the colored man linder every
possible quickening influence. Hetnce it is not best to separate
him  carefully from  his white brother, and to  raise him  in
an institution by himself, like a tender pla,it in a hothouse.
He needs the contact with the more advanced race.   The
acknowledgment of his nmanhood thus given will add to his
self-respect, and will fire his nobler ambitions, while the white
man will be essentially benefitted by laying aside his unrepub-L
lican and unchristian caste-feeling, and coming  into sympathy
with Burns's immortal declaration, which is true as regaras the
color of the skin, q welt as of poverty, that
"A maii's a mnan for a' that! 
Colored youth educated Wholly apart fromn the whites lose the
stimulus of the competition which they need to ilv;  for it is
well known that thd progress of a scliol-lr depetids upon: his
classmates as well as upon his teacher. An eager, industrious, 
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ambitious, and able class will tone up every mind which is in
it, while a set of dull, apathetic, slothful students will hang as
a dead  weight upon each individual associated with them
Hence it is not so importain to have institutions of leariing
expressly for the colored race, as it is to have those which are
open to them on equal terms with others.  And such is the
true character of Howard University, the charter of which
makes no allusion! to race or color, but simply says that there
"is hereby established, in the District of Columbia, a University
for the education of youth in the liberal arts and sciences, under
the name, style, and title of'Howardcl University.' " There is
' therefore no charter-hindrance to its developiig into a truly
grand National University, filled with students from all parts
of our widely-extended country, and drawn from alI the races
which compose its varied population. For when the United
States made over to the University property of great value, the
Trustees properly pledged the institution never to make any
distinction, in its treatment of students, based upon race, color,
or previous conditiorn of bondage.  It can never, therefore, pro scribe a man because he is white, or because he is black; because
he was descended fromn Sheml, or from  Ham, or from Japheth;
because he was born a king or a slave.  And  already not a
few students of Anglo-Saxon blood have availed themselIves of
its privileges, while the North American Indian, the Chinese,
the South American, and the Greek have here joined the Negro
in the' zealous pursuit of knowledge.  In one department (the
Medical) for several years the majority of the students have
been white.  By such a proper recognition of the colored man
in the higher branches of learning, and his consequent necessity
of competition with those whom he aspires to equal, there will
be secuYed for him a reaid elevation in intellect and character.
Every case whiq, is at all parallel, confirms the validity of
our reasoning. The classical scholar will, perhaps, remember
that Cicero, in writing to one of his friends, advises him, when
he has occasion to purchase a slave, not to buy onie of those stupid
Britons.  Doubtless, after the Roman wars in Britain;, thousands
of ctLItives liad been s'ent to Italy and exposed for sale, accord 
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ing to at(.ient custom; anrid those who bought them had learned
that they were intellectually inferior to slaves obtained fiorom
other sources.  Why does a Brito,i  no longer bear such a reputation    Because  generatioto  of favorable influences  have
brought him out of the barbaric condition in which he then was,
and have educated him into the representative of civilization.
Take the case of the Jew, who, in the mniddle ages, and even till
within a century, was regarded with universal odium throughout christendom, was excluded from society, was compelled to
live in a separate part of every European city, and was insulted
on the street with impunity by ally vulgar ruffian.  Why has
he now almost universal recognition, on an equality with his
Gentile brethren? Because he has not only acquired wealth,
but has displayed ability in every department of human
achievement; because he has furnished Europe withi leaders in
philosophy, in history, in philology, in statesmanship, and in
arts.  A  modified illustration may even be drawn from the
feelings entertained towards certain classes of immigrants in
this country.   In every land a foreigner is viewed  with a
measure of disfavor; but for a long time the American popular
feelitng was one of special aversion towards  the inmmigralnt
Irish and Germans.  The mass of them were of the lower
classes, and in their poverty, coarseness, anid ignorance seemed
below the average American.  But since the educated classes
have arrived, and since the children of the earlier comers
have been to the common schools, and have risen, in many
cases, to wealth and to political position, the current of opinion
and feeling has rapidly changed, and one less often hears
contemnptuous references to "the  Irish" and  " the Dutch."
There can be no  reasonable doubt, then, that educational
forces, rightly brought to bear upon thle colored people, will
in time wokaca
in time work a change in the matter of prejudice; which is only
partially au incident of difference of feature and complexion,
and is principally a  -manifestation of caste-pride.
And here the privileges of a utiversity-traininrg will show
marked results, not olly ii'iinidivi(luals, but also in the general
mass. For, in order to such a result, all classes of men need 
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appropriate leaders, who shall honorably represent them before
others, and who, possessing tlleir confidence, shall wisely guide
their aims and efitorts in every departmenet of action.  The mnass
of men must and will have leaders.  They are gregarious by
instinct, and they have not tbe intelligence to judge and act
independently.  The ig,lorant become thte victimus of ambitious,
setlf-sufficient and incoinpetent, even if well-mealnintg leaders.
It is the case of the blind leading, the blind, with the proverbial
result.  The also fall anl easy prey to designing, and hypocritical
dermagogues, who flatter their vanity, work upon their fears,
ieed their hopes, appeal to their unienlightened prejudices, and
use thern as tools with which to work out personal and selfish
ends.  He must have been a superficial student of human nature
in general, and anll unsophisticated admirer of inegro character
in particular; who can persuade himself that the ignorant and
unexperienced freedmen of our Southern States have not suf
fered extensively in these very ways.  Only a perpetual miracle
could have p)reserved them. Beyond question they have often
been dleceived  and  le(l astray, religiously and politically, by
white men and by those of their own race, who  abused their
confidence.  it is 11o more certain that emalncipation carried to
the South a lar,ge body of self-detliyitng Christia,,s and phiilalnthropists, anxious to instruct and elevate the frieedtien,. aind
who had their true interests at heart, than it is that there wt'nt
thither also ambitious ald unscrupulous adventurers. who cared
for the colored race onrly as some northern politicians care for
the Iristi, courting thein to ol)tain their votes and to use them as
tcols for selfish atnd corrupt ends. It is this fact, with its natural
results, which occasions such a ma(ligtiant utterance as that which
the newspapers ascribe to Mr. T'oorubs, of Georgia, who is represented as recently saying of the colored people:
"They are to be governed as every race of paupers are governed-by those
who own the property and givehem bread, and just the same as the red man
is governed.  No inferiornqan, no man without civilization, has a chance in thlis
race, and I wanlt to save this people from their worst fortunes in the contest.
As his friends tried to control him by-force and by fraud, we will control him
by fraud and force, to prevent hin-from bringing ruiln to us."
If the colored people remain'in ignorance, poverty, and degra
I 
17
dation, and thus become the natural prey of false friends and
open enemies, what can prevent the sentiment of Mr. Toombs
from becoming general? The only certain corrective for this
evil is general and special education, which shall raise the
average intelligence of the masses, so as to make them more
capable and independent in their judgments of men and
measures, and which shall also provide appropriate leaders
worthy of their confidence from among themselves.   These
leaders must  be  such as naturally come  to the  front  in
organized and cultivated society-the-men in all professions
and pursuits who to native talent add superior education.
There must be a speedy addition of cultivated mind to the
colored population if it is to be saved from follies which will be
fatal. That grade of mind must operate not only directly and
purposely through public addresses and by the press, but in all
those quiet, incidental, and unconscious ways of daily and hourly
intercourse, which are equally or even more effective. Hence
we must have colored lawyers, physicians, editors, authors,
clergymen, artists, statesmen, and teachers, whose attainments
shall be equal to those of white men in similar occupations, and
whose expressed opinions shall have just weight with their race
on the various mooted questions which may arise in Church
and State.
But, as the Theological Department of our University emphatically intimates, we include the religious among the most
powerful and necessary of the educational forces needed to
elevate a depressed race.  And herein is our advantage over
any university supported and controlled by the civil State;
which is not only precluded from having a department of
theology, but is much fettered in its attempt to recognize and
use the Christian religiou. Howard University seeks to imbue
its students with the principles of the gospel, and to surround
them continually with a Christian atmosphere; believing that
there can be no genuine success which does not include character, and that there is no such power to regenerate character
as the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Nothing else so purifies the
motives as well as the life, presents so high an ideal, and de        3 
18
velops such a sense of responsibility for making the most of a
manr, for his own sake and that of the world. We attach a
special importance to the Theological Department, therefore, be
cause the colored people nedd an educated ministry, to deliver
them from degrading superstitions, to preserve the more intelligent from the errors of infidelity, and to furnish all their
communities with those who shall favor genuine progress in
whatever tends to the elevation of their race. As the institution
receives aid and students from all denominations of Protestant
Christians, this department is conducted in the way of genuine
catholicity.  Four denominations are represented in its Faculty,
and it is under the special supervision and care of the Presbytery of Washington and the American Missionary Association
at New York, who unitedly provide the instructions and the
pecuniary support. Prominence will be given, in the instruction,
principally to the doctrines common to evangelical Christianity,
rather than to the peculiar tenets of the rival sects; which latter
are viewed historically and descriptively rather than for polemic
purposes. Here the friends of the freedmen may unite on a
broad Christian gro:lnd, above the contentions of party zealots,
to secure for the best minds a liberal training which yet shall
be true to the positive teaching of the New Testamnent. And
we lay the greater stress oil this feature, because the chief foes
of our evangelical faith, at the present time, among the freedmen, as elsewhere, are Romaan ism and Skepticismn; against both
of which it becomes Protestant Christians to stand in solid
phalanx rather than in divided companies.
It may be appropriate here to state, for the information of
the public, that Howard University has now in operation, prepared to receive students, these several departments:
I. The AcADEMIC, Which includes five courses of study, from
that of the eleimentary English branches to the usual Classical
College Course.
II. The MEDICAL, vwit a large and finely equipped building, a
connected hospital of three hundred beds, and an able facultya department havipg so umany professional advantages, that the
majority of its students are usually white, and tile numbers are
continually increasing.
t 
19
III. The LEGAL. This was last year temporarily discontinued,
owing to various difficulties, personal and pecuniary; but it has
been reopened this autumn on a small scale, and with hopeful
indications for the future. 
IV. The THEOLOGICAL, of which I have already spoken, and
where nmay be found a goodly company of pious men, usually
of quite mature age, some of whom are already preachers in
their own denominiations, atnd whose previous advantages have
been very small, but who desire to gain what additional knowledge they may, to fit them to be the religious teachers of their
race.  With their meager previous preparation we'canniot usually
carry tlhem through as high and thorough a course as we could
desire, but we aim to do good work with them so far as their
limited time and training will allow.
Through divine favor, the generous and etilightened action
of the Uniited States Government, and the liberality of the
Christian public, Howard University has been furnished with
spacious grouids and numerous buildings, costing over half a
million of dollars, ample for its purposes for years to come, and
which not inelegantly crown their commnanding site, whence
the eye takes in a prospect of peculiar beauty, including the
entire city of Washington. There are, besides, valuable vacant
lands, adjoiningi and in other parts of the city, fromn the sale of
which the University hopes eventually to secure partial en.dowments, but which, in these times of depression, cannot be put
upon the market. Its productive property affords but a small
income, insufficient to pay the current expenses on their present
restricted scale, and requiring to be liberally supplemented by the
gifts of the friends of the institution.  It has also no permanent
scholarships for the aid of indigent students, but is compelled to
rely, for this purpose, ipon the annual contributions of the
charitable.  Yet i will be seen that such  broad  and deep
foundations have been laid, as to make it safb and wise for the
benevolent and patriotic to build largely upon them in the
future. It was the misfortutle of the University to commence
when the country was in the intoxication of supposed wealth,
when large plans were laid and corresponding expenses were 
20
incurred, when not only was the present used, but also the
future was discounted, and debts were everywhere the order
of the day; and also when the enthusiasm for the elevation of
the negro was at its heightr immediately upon the close of. the
war. It has consequently shared in the reverses of the times,
while a partial reaction has taken place in the feeliigs of the
North with respect to the freedmen, and it has had also the internal changes of administration which accompany fluctuating
fortunes. But its friends now feel that the tide is to turn once
more in its favor. The floating debt of over one hundred thousand dollars, of three years since, has been entirely discharged,
and the only permanent debt on its valuable property is one of
eleven thousand dollars. There is reason to believe that it will
soon begin to share in the large benefactions of living philanthropists and Christians, and that it will be liberally remembered
in the wills of those who may be desirous of leaving behind, at
their death, a perpetual fountain of blessing for coming genlerations.
In closing, the speaker may be permitted a few words personal
to himself. In the latter part of a life which has always devoted
a large share of thought and action to the welfare of the colored
race, he finds himself called, in the providence of God, to preside over the interests of this rising and important institution,
of whose object and resources he has been speaking. He is
conscious how inadequate are his powers and various attainments to the full discharge of the duties of this position, antd it
is therefore with humility rather than with pride that he enters
upon them.  His trust is in the kind indulgence and active cooperation of those who shall be associated with him in the various
departments of instruction and in the Board of Trustees, while
above all he would gave the blessing of that God whose is all
truth, in every. department of learning; who delights in the
progress of his rational creatures in knowledge and holiness;
who) is ruling this world in the interests of the kingdom of his
Son, Jesus Christ; who, for some great purpose, has brought out
of bondage the millions of the freedmen; and who, for a coitncident end has established Howard University!
(I