AMERICAN COLLEGES.

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A COMPENDIUM OF THE HISTORY 0F AMERICAN COLLEGES

ESTABLISHED PRIOR TO THE YEAR 1800.

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INTRODUCTION.

In presenting the prominent facts in the history of the principal colleges of the United States, it may not be uninteresting to advert to the first efforts for the establishment of these higher institutions of learning. The first of these efforts seems to have had its origin with the early Pilgrims of Massachusetts Bay, and may be traced directly to that spirit which brought the Mayflower to Plymouth Rock. It was natural that institutions whose establishment was conceived by the disciples of John Robinson, and whose foundations were laid by their hands, should bear the impress of their influence, and should become to a certain extent during their early history an exponent of their views. Indeed, the first col- lego established in America may be said to have had a religious origin; and for more than a century and a half it remained under the guidance and control of those whose religious views were essentially iden- tical with the views of the Congregationalists who founded it. In tracing the history of subsequent col- lege organizations, we find their origin to have been, like the first, a religious one. The Jamestown (Va) colonists, unlike those of Massachusetts Bay, were loyal members of the Church of England; and the second college established in the colonies had its origin in the efiorts of zealous clergymen and laymen of that church. A third, like the first, originated in the efforts of Congregational ministers, and was established to meet the wants of the thrifty colonists of New Haven and the adjacent territory. The fourth originated with the Presbyterian colonists of New Jersey, and if not ostensibly founded by that denomination may justly be said‘ to owe its existence to their efforts, and has been from its foundation under its control. The fifth, formerly Kings and now Columbia College, like the second, was established by members of the American branch of the Church of England. The sixth was founded by the Baptists, as stated in the history of the institution, especially to meet the wants of that denomination. The seventh was founded by the Congregational settlers of New Hampshire; but it was not until 1784, or nearly a century and a half after the foundation of the first college, that an ostensibly undenomi- national institution was founded, on the banks of the Severn, in the State of Maryland. The Lutheran settlers of Pennsylvania founded the next college; New England established the ninth among the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts; the Congregationalism of Maine established the tenth at Brunswick; and a succeeding one established at Schenectady, N.Y., while not denominational, was nevertheless religious in origin. This review brings us to the year 1800, and the beginning of a new century. Of the colleges subsequently established, by far the larger part have, like their predecessors, had a religious origin; and it is a fact worthy of note, that with a few notable exceptions the leading universities and colleges of the United States are still under the direct control of religious denominations. The older of the institutions without exception have been of slow growth, and have come through the patient toil of generations to their present condition of prosperity; munificent endowment by single individuals is something of recent origin; and it remains to be seen whether institutions which have been fortunate enough to escape the pecuniary trials of the older colleges will be equally fortunate in developing a strength and character like that acquired by the growth of generations. If the good fortune of such

nstitutions cannot give them the dignity of age and a renown born of the past, it certainly relieves them

tom the trying embarrassmenta incident to the early history of the older colleges. ‘