AMERICAN

ANNALS OF EDUCATION

AND INSTRUCTION.

APRIL, 1835.

COLUMBIA COLLEGE.

In recent numbers, we have given sketches of two of the oldest colleges of our country. The College of New Jersey, and the University of Philadelphia, appear to have been the next in succession to Harvard, William and Mary, and Yale; but the want of materials obliges us to defer their history for the present, and to pass on to the sixth established in our country-King's College, now Columbia College, in the city of New York.*

The question has been much debated, whether our collegiate institutions ought to be located in the city or the country. Our own conviction is, that a city offers advantages for professional and scientific pursuits to one who has finished his elementary studies which cannot be obtained elsewhere, in its libraries, public institutions, lectures, &c.; and in the easy access to literary men, and sources of information, both foreign and domestic. But we believe that for youth who are dismissed from parental control, and sent to our colleges at an early age, the moral dangers far overbalance the literary advantages. At the same time, it is important that each of our large cities, embracing as they do a population greater than several of our states, should have institutions of its own, in which those, whose circumstances render it desirable that they should remain under the parental roof, may receive all the advantages which our best colleges afford. It is in

* We are indebted for the materials of our account, to an interesting article from the Knickerbocker Magazine, for Feb. 1835, communicated to us by the writer. We have quoted a few passages entire.--EDITOR.

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Foundation of Columbia College.

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

It appears from the records of Trinity Church, that in 1703, its 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 Fresident 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,