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Foundation of Columbia College.

this view particularly, that Columbia College has been founded and sustained.

its

It appears from the records of Trinity Church, that in 1703, rector and wardens were directed to wait on Lord Cornbury, then Governor of the province of New York, to know what part of the King's farm, then vested in the church, had been intended for the college which he designed to have built.' No important step was taken till 1753, when an act of the assembly was obtained, appointing trustees of different religious denominations, for carrying their design into execution, and providing for a fund by a succession of lotteries.

In 1754, these trustees chose Dr. Samuel Johnson, of Connecticut, as the first president, who refused to accept the office till a charter was granted by the crown, but commenced the instruction of a class of ten students, in the vestry room of Trinity Church. The royal charter was granted in October of this year, from which time the existence of the college is properly dated. This charter sets forth, among other things, that the rector and inhabitants of New York connected with the Church of England, had provided funds to be devoted to a college. It ordains that the college shall be called King's College; and in consideration of the grant made by Trinity Church, that the President should always be a member of the Church of England, and that morning and evening service should be performed according to the liturgy of that church.

The governors of the college named in the charter, were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first Lord Commissioner for Trades and Plantations, both empowered to act by proxies, the principal officers of the Province and City of New York, three Clergymen of different denominations, the President of the college, and twentyfour of the principal men of the province and city. They were empowered to make all necessary regulations not contrary to the existing laws, and not excluding any person from the privileges of the college on account of his religious opinions.

The President and two tutors were the first instructors under the charter. The governors first met in 1755, and two professors were appointed. The college buildings began to be occupied in 1760, and efforts were made to obtain funds from abroad. In 1762, a Fellow of Oxford University, Dr. Cooper, was chosen Professor, and in 1763 was made President. In 1767, a Medical College with a Faculty of six Professors was established. The institution continued to flourish until the commencement of the Revolution; the plan of education, by means of endowments and other benefactions, being extended, in Dr. Cooper's language, 'almost as diffusely as any college in Europe.' A professor of Natural Law, History and Languages, was appointed in 1773, and a Grammar School annexed to the college, 'for the due prepa

Progress.-Former Presidents.

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ration of those who propose to complete their education with the arts and sciences.'

The disputes with the mother country interrupted the prosperity of the college. In the spring of 1776, the college building was converted, by order of the Committee of Safety, into a military hospital. The Professors and Students were consequently dislodged, and the library and philosophical apparatus were removed to the City Hall, from whence very few of the books, and a very small part of the apparatus, ever found their way back to the college. Although the public course of instruction did not recommence until after the close of the Revolutionary war, the course of tuition was, for a short time, carried on without the walls of the building; and two admissions are noted in the old matriculation book under the year 1777; after which, no trace is found of the continuance of any of the collegiate courses, until the restoration of peace.'

In the year 1784, all the seminaries of learning in the state, were, by an act of the legislature, subjected to the authority of "the Regents of the University," who immediately entered upon the regulation of the affairs of "Columbia College," to which the name of the institution was now changed; and in the course of a short time, seven new Professors and one tutor were appointed, and a Grammar school, and a Medical department of five Professors, were established.' The annual income of the college was estimated at only two thousand five hundred dollars, in consequence of which, the more enlarged views of the Regents could not be carried into effect. In 1787, by an act of the legislature, the original charter, with necessary alterations, was confirmed, and the college placed under the care of twenty-nine trustees.

In 1787, Dr. Wm. S. Johnson, the son of the first president, was appointed to the presidency. The college now had four academical professors, one of whom was of the German language, and thirty-nine students, five of whom resided in the college buildings. For some years after this, the proceedings of the institution indicate that it was in a state of increasing prosperity. The professorships increased to thirteen; but in 1798, their number was diminished, by uniting different branches in the same department, and by abolishing such as had been found unnecessary.

The ecclesiastical duties of Bishop Moore, who was the next permanent President, prevented that attention to the college which its condition demanded. On his resignation, Dr. Harris was chosen President; and the commanding talents, and influence of the late Dr. Mason, of New York, led to the temporary establishment of the office of Provost, to which he was appointed, and in which he appears to have exerted a powerful influence in elevating the character of the institution, for several years.

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Improvements in Instruction and Buildings.

From the year 1800, the college was continually gaining ground, instruction was given by highly respectable professors, the classes increased, and its funds were enriched, by grants from the legislature, while its land in the city became more valuable. In 1809, an important change was begun in the system of instruction, which may be considered as the commencement of a new era in the literary character of the institution. The requisites for admission to the college were raised much higher, and a new course of study, and system of discipline were established, for elevating the standard, and extending the course of college education. This has since undergone some important modifications; but it still remains the basis of the existing plan of study and system of discipline.

The Medical school of Columbia College was discontinued in 1813, in consequence of the establishment of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the city.

The ravages of time and war reduced the college buildings to an unsightly and ruinous condition.' 'In 1817, the trustees entered upon a thorough repair of the old edifice, and the erection of additional buildings.' Before the expiration of the year 1820, the alteration and improvements were completed, and the principal edifice now appears as in the engraving above. At the same time, improvements were made in the interior concerns of the Seminary,

Present Plan of Instruction.

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the usefulness and respectability of which, were afterwards farther increased by the re-establishment of the professorships of Law, and of the Italian and French languages and Literature. In 1827, the Grammar School was revived, and a new building erected in the rear of the college for its accommodation.

'On the death of Dr. Harris, the Hon. Wm. A. Duer, the sixth president of this institution, was appointed, and entered on the duties of his office in 1830. In the same year, a literary and scientific course was opened, and persons were admitted to the privileges of the college without being expected to pursue classical studies, or undergo an examination for the literary honors of the institution. Free scholarships were also established by the bounty of the trustees, the nominations to which were vested in each of the religious denominations of the city, and in its leading institutions for the promotion of knowledge; and the professors were authorized to deliver public lectures at extra hours. At the same time, the Grammar School was reorganized, the number of instructors increased to nine, and a junior department established; so that the pupil can be received as soon as he can read the English language, and be conducted through the various branches of the institution to the period of his graduation, in one uniform system of instruction.'

The present general course of instruction in the college may be considered as three-fold, viz.;

1. The Full Course, including every branch of collegiate study, but forbidding all professional pursuits and studies, and entitling the successful student to the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

2. The Literary and Scientific Course, which excludes the study of Ancient Languages, but includes that of the Modern, and admits the pursuit of professional studies. A College Testimonial is conferred by a vote of the Board of Trustees on the successful student in this course.

3. The Voluntary Course, requiring no matriculation, and limited solely by the wishes of the parents or the applicants, as to its duration and extent. It admits of a higher course of instruction in the Greek and Latin languages, and is capable of being rendered consistent, not only with professional, but even with mercantile and mechanical employments.

The course of classical studies is an object of special attention in Columbia College, and is said to be conducted in a manner more thorough and accurate, than in most of our literary institutions; and the great national subject of Constitutional Law is made a part of the course. We hope the reproach of superficiality in classical attainments, and of utterly neglecting our own political institutions, will soon be wiped away from all our colleges.

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Obstacles to Collegiate Intercourse.

Columbia College is now under the direction of a faculty consisting of the President and ten Professors, comprising names which rank high in the annals of American Science and Literature. It contained the last year about one hundred students. Among its former graduates, the names of Livingston, Jay, Morris, Johnson, &c. would adorn the catalogue of any institution; and the names of Griffin, Bruen, and Eastburn, are not less valuable testimonials to its recent influence.

DIFFICULTIES AND REQUISITES IN COLLEGIATE INTERCOURSE.

(Communicated for the Annals of Education.)

[We now publish the concluding remarks of our correspondent, on the intercourse in colleges; and we think no instructor can read them without deriving some useful hints, even if he does not agree with the writer on all points.]

IN two preceding articles, we have described the nature of the intercourse which should exist between instructors and pupils in our colleges. We observed that it should be based on mutual confidence, that it should be a free, courteous and christian intercourse. We remarked that the intercourse in recitations was also highly important, that much might be done there to secure influence over the student. But we are obliged to admit, that there are obstacles to this intercourse, to some of which we will advert.

We will merely mention the fact, that the students of our colleges are generally of an age which is impetuous and impatient of restraint, monitoribus asper,'-and at the same time, requiring, almost as much as any other, watchful oversight, and wise counsels; and remark in the first place, that the spirit of emulation, which has been much, and we think unduly fostered, in our literary institutions, presents a serious obstacle to the cultivation of such an intercourse. It has operated to make it disreputable in the college community to seek intercourse with the officers. To consult his instructors in regard to his studies, subjects the student to the suspicion of using undue methods to promote his private interest, and he runs the risk of being branded with no very desirable epithets. Preposterous as this state of feeling is in regard to the plainest. duty of the student, it nevertheless requires no little moral courage in a youth to contemn the obloquy, and to avail himself of the advantages which might be derived from the counsel and assistance of his instructors. We are rejoiced to believe, that within a few years, this absurdity has sensibly lost its power.