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 XV ft^i- « 
 
 STATEMENTS, OPINIONS AND TESTIMONY 
 
 TAKEN BY 
 
 THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY, 
 
 APPOINTED BT THE 
 
 foste of dMtrmMa; (Mtoge. 
 
 JOHN W. AMERMAN, PRINTER, 
 No. 60 William-street. 
 
 1857. 
 

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INDEX 
 
 TO THE PAPERS CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME. 
 
 1. The Statement of the President. 
 
 2. " " Professor MeVickar. 
 
 3. " " Professor Anthon. 
 
 4. " " Professor Hackley. 
 
 5. " " Professor Drisler. 
 
 6. " " Professor Schmidt. 
 1- " " Professor MeCulloh. 
 
 8. " " Professor Hows. 
 
 9. " " William A. Jones, Esq., the Librarian. 
 
 10. Exhibits produced by the President and Professors respectively, and refer- 
 
 red to in their Statements. 
 
 11. Abstract of the Minutes of the Board of the College. 
 
 12. Communication of Mr. George T. Strong, a Trustee, made in reply to circu- 
 
 lar questions of the Committee. 
 
 13. Communications of gentlemen not officers of the College : 
 
 Author. Page 
 
 Dr. Francis Lieber 1 
 
 Chancellor Henry P. Tappan, 30 
 
 Eev. W. H. N. Stewart 64 
 
 President Benjamin Hale, CD., 99 
 
 President Francis Wayland, 112 
 
 President Edward Bourns, 116 
 
 Professor Henry Vethake, 131 
 
 Professor William H. C. Bartlett, 136 
 
 President Mark Hopkins 139 
 
 Professor George Tucker, 1 41 
 
 Professor William M Gillespie, 151 
 
 Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, D. D, 156 
 
STATEMENTS OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 Columbia College — President's Room, 
 Nov. 28, 1855.' 
 
 The President appeared and answered as follows : 
 
 Ques. "Will you please furnish to the committee a state" 
 ment showing the hours of attendance of each professor en- 
 gaged in instruction for each day of the week, and showing 
 what classes attend the professors at each of the hours of in- 
 struction ? 
 
 Ans. I herewith submit the schedule of the recitations, 
 which is an answer to the above question, and will have a 
 copy made. (Exhibit 1.) 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to give to the committee your 
 views as to whether the manner or extent of instruction in all 
 or any of the departments of instruction in the College are or 
 are not well adapted to impart to the students a thorough 
 knowledge of the subjects taught ? 
 
 A. As to the department of Professor McVickar, the sub- 
 jects are too numerous to allow the possibility of their being 
 well taught within the time prescribed for the College course. 
 The manner of instruction is mostly by lectures, of which the 
 student is required to take notes, and he is then examined upon 
 those notes. As to the department of the classics, I believe it 
 is thoroughly well taught in all particulars, and not over- 
 burthened. 
 
 As to Mathematics . and Astronomy, I there think the 
 professor overburthened ; and I do not think the results ar- 
 rived at are such as should be desired. I think the course of 
 studv in that department far too extensive. I would exclude 
 
 1 
 
the higher analysis and calculus, except as a voluntary study. 
 It is difficult to say what the manner is, except that the re- 
 sults do not satisfy me. My opportunities of observation 
 have been very few in his department in the lecture room. 
 
 The Adjunct Professor of Greek and Latin, I think, per- 
 forms his duty fairly and fully. 
 
 I think the department of Natural Philosophy and Chemis- 
 try is overburthened, both in regard to the subjects and the 
 duties assigned to the professor. The subjects are so numer- 
 ous that nothing more than a superficial knowledge can be 
 acquired within the period of the College course. The man- 
 ner is satisfactory, and produces good results. Lectures are 
 given, from which notes are taken, and examinations held 
 thereon. The manner of the professor is good, and well 
 adapted to impart knowledge. He is sometimes too rapid 
 to be followed by the classes: 
 
 I believe the German instruction is successful as far as it 
 goes. I think the German an important part of the course, 
 but it is not liked by the students. The professor is zealous 
 and earnest. I do not think that the subject is taught to a 
 sufficient extent to give a thorough knowledge of it. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any alteration or improvement in the 
 manner or extent of the instruction in all or any of these de- 
 partments ? 
 
 A. I should give to American History a more prominent 
 part, and less to Political Economy. I would not teach 
 Political Economy and the Evidences of Christianity in the 
 same term. American History, I think, should be a speciality 
 in our course. There is a general error in attempting to teach 
 too much in too short a time ; and the department in which 
 we best succeed is that to which we give most time, which 
 is the Classics. 
 
 The subjects in the department of Professor McYickar 
 should be diminished, or more time should be given to them ; 
 and there should be more than one instructor. I think that 
 more time is given in the senior year to the classics than in 
 any other College ; and the students like it. 
 
 The higher Mathematics should, in my opinion, be made 
 optional in the fourth year. 
 
The professorship of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy 
 should be divided, and more time given to it. I would not 
 diminish the subjects of instruction, but I would give more 
 time to them. 
 
 More time should be given to the German language and 
 literature, , 
 
 Q. If the course were extended in the departments in 
 which you have suggested an extension, would there not be 
 difficulty in arranging a scheme of allotment of hours of in- 
 struction during the four years of the College course ? 
 
 A. Not if the hours of daily attendance were increased. 
 
 Q. Do you think that more than four hours, a day of at- 
 tendance are desirable \ 
 
 A. I do not. I think four hours are enough. 
 
 Q. Is it the opinion of the President that the four hours of 
 attendance should be actually occupied ? 
 
 A. I think they should, I think an extensive course should 
 be preserved, but the study of the whole should not be re- 
 quired of each student. There should be an option after a 
 certain period. 
 
 Q. Are the subjects of the whole course of the College un- 
 derstood by the classes, so that they master them ? 
 
 A. Certainly not. That result cannot be attained in any 
 institution. 
 
 Q. Is this the case in every department of instruction ? 
 
 A. In some more than in others. 
 
 Q. In reference to each department, will you please to 
 state what proportionate number of -each class are masters of 
 the course in that department ? 
 
 A. It is hardly possible to answer that question. Scarcely 
 any student can be said to master the course, although many 
 in each department make great proficiency. In the several 
 departments some are proficient in one branch, and some in 
 another. On the whole, it may be said of the Belles Lettres 
 course, that there are a large number of proficients. The same 
 of the Classics. In Professor McVickar's department my ob- 
 servation would induce me to think that there were fewer 
 proficients in the Evidences of Christianity and in Political 
 
Economy than in the other branches. In Professor McVickar's 
 department generally the proficiency is very satisfactory. 
 
 The Classical Department is popular with the students, is 
 well taught, and there is great proficiency there. There are 
 fewer proficients in Mathematics and Astronomy, I suppose, 
 than in the other departments. I cannot undertake to ex- 
 press the opinion what number are proficients. 
 
 In the department of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry 
 the proficiency is not great, from the multiplicity of the sub- 
 jects, and the shortness of time, but the zeal is great. 
 
 In German, as well as I can judge, there is no great pro- 
 ficiency ; but there is in English composition in the Fresh- 
 man class, which subject is under the charge of Professor 
 Schmidt. 
 
 Columbia College — President's Koom, 
 .12th Dec, 1855. 
 
 Present — Mr. Bradford, Dr. Anderson and Mr. G. M. 
 'Ogden. 
 
 The examination of the President was resumed : 
 
 Q. Can you state the cause of the deficiency of the students 
 in any of the departments ? 
 
 A. I think there is not force enough in the number of in- 
 structors. There are too few teachers to instruct" as large a 
 number of students as is in each class. The consequence is 
 that no more than twelve students at the utmost are called up 
 for examination in each class within the hour assigned to each' 
 professor upon any day. The chance is therefore very great 
 that any student will not be examined more than once in 
 three or four days. The classes ought to be divided into sec- 
 tions of fifteen each, and a teacher assigned to each section 
 for each department. These teachers would be subordinate 
 to the professor, and subject to his directions. These mio-ht 
 be so graduated as to become a test of scholarship. 
 
 Q. Might not periodical public examinations be made a 
 
sufficient test of the proficiency and diligence of the students, 
 as efficacious as would be daily recitations in the lecture 
 room ? 
 
 A. I think not. I think the daily recitations all important. 
 The proficiency of the students would be promoted by care 
 given to them- at home to induce the students to be diligent. 
 Q. How many students are there in each class ? 
 A. In the senior class, 45 
 Junior, 28 
 
 Sophomore, 33 
 Freshman, 38 
 
 1U 
 
 # Q. Is it not important in elementary instruction to under- 
 stand the state of mind of, and to advise and assist individual 
 students ? 
 
 A. Certainly, it is important, but very difficult to accom- 
 plish, and especially under our circumstances. 
 
 Q. Is this end now attained in any, and which depart- 
 ment? 
 
 A. I am hardly able to give a satisfactory answer to that 
 question. 
 
 Q. How could this result be attained ? 
 
 A. I think, if at all, by dividing the classes and increasing 
 the number of teachers. 
 
 Q. How are the relative merits of the students in each de- 
 partment determined ? 
 
 A. By the reports of the professors in each department, 
 made at every weekly meeting of the Board of the College. 
 They do not make a written report except as to absences, de- 
 ficiencies and misconduct : they make none as to degrees of ex- 
 cellence. All these I keep, but the award of merit at the end 
 of the term is on the nomination of the professor and my 
 approbation. They do not make any report of merits. 
 
 Q. Do the professors keep a daily record of the perform- 
 ances of the students ? 
 
 A. Yes, sir ; each professor keeps his own book. 
 
 Q. Is that submitted to you ? 
 
6 
 
 A. No; it is not submitted as a matter of habit, but it is 
 subject to my inspection. 
 
 Q. Is there any uniform system of marks adopted by all 
 the professors ? 
 
 A. I don't know that there is; each professor has his own 
 method. 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of ranging all the students in each class in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system? 
 
 A. I think the present system works very well ; there is 
 value attached to the testimonials, and a struggle for thetn. 
 
 Q. What methods are resorted to, to excite the emulation 
 of those students who have no hope of obtaining testimonials ? 
 
 A. None other than the general inculcation of the value, 
 of education, and of the importance of their improving the 
 opportunities here. 
 
 Q. State your opinion, and any material facts within your 
 knowledge, in reference to the manner and extent of instruc- 
 tion now given in the College, and the success or want of suc- 
 cess attending it, and in reference to the propriety of any 
 change, either in the statutes or their administration in this 
 regard. 
 
 A. Nothing more than I have stated occurs to me .at pre- 
 sent. 
 
 Q. In presence of whom is the examination of the students 
 applying for admission into the Freshman class conducted, 
 and in what place ? 
 
 A. It is conducted by the professors of that class in the 
 chapel, or in the President's room, and in my presence for 
 the most part. Sometimes, for special reasons, the examina- 
 tions are private. 
 
 Q. Is that examination ever omitted ; and if so, under what 
 circumstances ? 
 
 A. Never, except the students of the grammar school, who 
 are admitted without examination. 
 
 Q. Is the result of these examinations reported to the 
 Board of the College ? 
 
 A. No. They are reported to me if I am not present, and 
 I determine as to the admissibility of the applicant. 
 
Q. Are these examinations strict ? 
 
 A. Yes, I think they are. The statute regulations are 
 strictly carried out. 
 
 Q. Are the reports of these examinations in writing ? 
 
 A. Sometimes verbal, but more frequently in writing. 
 
 Q. Are any rejected at these examinations ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. How many were rejected at the last examination ? 
 
 A. I cannot answer without looking at memoranda. 
 
 Q. Do you know whether the students admitted at the 
 last examination for admission into the Freshman class were 
 duly qualified for admission, by possessing the knowledge re- 
 quired as a condition for admission by the first clause of the 
 chapter of the statutes on admission ? 
 
 A. Yes, they were. 
 
 Q. Are the examinations for admission conducted in the 
 presence of other members of the faculty than the professors 
 instructing the Freshman class ? 
 
 A. No. They are not present. 
 
 Q. In what manner is it ascertained whether the persons 
 applying for admission into higher classes possess the know- 
 ledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. By the examination of all the professors of these classes, 
 except that in cases of students who have not previously 
 studied German. The examination in German for the Sopho- 
 more class has sometimes been omitted, on the condition that 
 the student should take a private tutor to enable him to keep 
 up with the class in that department. 
 
 Q. Do the examining professors report their opinion as to 
 the proficiency of the students so examined ; and if so, to 
 whom? 
 
 A. Yes, and to me. 
 
 Q. Who, then, decides as to whether the students shall be 
 admitted ? 
 
 A. I do. I never have decided to admit any one that the 
 professor did not report in favor of, or unless he concurred 
 with me. 
 
 Q. Is the question of the admission or rejection of such 
 
8 
 
 students brought before the Board of the College ; and if so, 
 upon what evidence of the facts bearing upon such question ? 
 
 A. No, it is entirely within my own discretion. 
 
 Q. Do the professors report such examinations in writing ? 
 
 A. Generally. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion — would, it be better that the 
 faculty, in whom the power of discipline is vested, subject to 
 the negative of the President,, should possess the power of 
 determining the question of the admission or rejection of 
 students applying for admission ? 
 
 A. No, sir. I think it is very well where it is. 
 
 Q. "What cases of admission into higher classes have oc- 
 curred since the concluding examination in 1854 ? 
 
 Columbia College — President's Room, 
 . December 20, 1855. 
 
 The Committee. Present — Mr. Ogden, Dr. Andekson and 
 Mr. Betts. 
 
 The President presented his answers to the following ques- 
 tions, which had been taken by him for consideration : 
 
 Q. State your opinion, and any material facts within your 
 knowledge, in reference to the manner and extent of instruc- 
 tion now given in the College, and the success or want of suc- 
 cess attending it ; and in reference to the propriety of any 
 change, either in the statutes or their administration in this 
 regard. 
 
 A. I have substantially answered this question, in part at 
 least, in the previous replies. I may add, however, that I 
 think we aim at teaching too much, with too small a force, 
 and in little time, and consequently that our teaching, as a 
 whole, is not successful. The changes I would suggest, there- 
 fore, would be a division of the duties of the chair of Belles 
 Lettres and Moral Philosophy, &c, of that of Mathematics, 
 and of that of Chemistry and Physics ; the raising of Pro- 
 fessor Drisler to a full professorship, and giving him charge 
 of the Sophomore as well as Freshman ; such an ar- 
 
rangement of studies as would allow a choice, beginning, per- 
 il aps, with the junior year ; an additional hour each day for 
 recitation, making fonr hours in all ; a division of the classes 
 into sections of from fifteen to twenty, and the addition of 
 such number of assistant professors and tutors as to make 
 sure that each student should, as a general rule, be heard at 
 each recitation. 
 
 Q. How many applicants for admission into the Freshman 
 class were rejected at the last examination of such appli- 
 cants ? 
 
 A. Three were found unprepared. 
 
 Q. What cases of admission into higher classes than the 
 Freshman, have occurred since the concluding examination 
 of 1854? 
 
 A. Four in .the Sophomore class, and two others offering 
 for that class, were rejected and admitted into the Freshman ; 
 one in the junior class, admitted after examination from 
 Williams College, where he was in the same class. 
 
 The following questions were put and answered at once : 
 
 Q. Were the reports of the professors favorable in each of 
 the cases you have mentioned ? 
 
 A. I presume so, from my knowledge of my habitual prac- 
 tice. In the case of one of the above students, there was 
 some hesitation about admitting him, but after consultation 
 and conversation in the Board, it was thought best to give 
 him a trial. The reports of the professors were doubtful of 
 his fitness for the junior class, but they concurred, after de- 
 liberation, in advising a trial. The reports of the faculty were 
 not preserved. 
 
 Q. Do you know any facts other than those you have 
 stated respecting the admission of students ; if so, please to 
 .state them ? 
 
 A. I do not remember any. 
 
 Q. Are the students of each class examined at the public 
 examinations upon the whole subjects or matter of the course 
 of study pursued during the last preceding term, or upon 
 selections from such subjects or matter? 
 
10 
 
 A. The whole subjects are not examined upon, but por- 
 tions of each become subjects of examination. 
 
 Q. How are these portions selected ? 
 
 A. By the professor. 
 
 Q. Do you know upon what principle he is guided in 
 making the selection ? 
 
 A. JNb, I do not. 
 
 Q. Are these selections marked upon slips, to be drawn by 
 the students by lot ? 
 
 A. Each subject is marked "upon a slip, and put in a 
 bundle on the table. The student to be examined draws one 
 of the slips, without seeing what is marked on it. The student 
 is called by the President, without the knowledge of the pro- 
 fessor. 
 
 Q. Do the students know from what parts of the subjects 
 of instruction the selections for examination will be taken % 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Does the review include the whole course of the term ? 
 
 A. I presume that it does, but I cannot speak with know- 
 ledge. It should do so. 
 
 Q. During what period does this review continue ? ' 
 
 A. About three weeks preceding the examination. 
 
 Q. How should this review be conducted, or is it advisable 
 at all ? 
 
 A. It must necessarily be conducted by the professor who 
 teaches. He is the only one competent to do it. I think it is 
 advisable, although not unattended with disadvantages, as 
 some of the students will postpone their preparation to the 
 period of review. 
 
 Q. Are the examinations upon any part of the course of 
 study which has not been reviewed ? 
 
 A. No. The examination is confined to what has been 
 reviewed. 
 
 Q. Are the examinations so conducted as satisfactorily to 
 test the knowledge of the student in the subjects of the course, 
 which were the objects of attention in the last preceding 
 term, and in the preceding terms? 
 
 A. I think 60. 
 
11 
 
 Q. Do the professors report the results of. the examinations 
 to the Board of the College after each examination ; if so, are 
 the reports made in writing ? 
 
 A. No reports are made of any sort to the Board. The 
 examination is in presence of the President, who keeps a re- 
 cord of each class, and of each performance. 
 
 Q. Is that record ever read to the Board of the College, or 
 acted upon by them ? 
 
 A. It is not read, but influences the President's decisions 
 in the award of the testimonials. It is constantly referred to 
 in the presence of the Board. 
 
 Q. Does not the Board, in administering the discipline of 
 the College, take the results of public examinations as tests of 
 the proficiency of the students ? 
 
 A. Not unless sustained by performances in the class- 
 rooms. 
 
 Q. Have the Board, within your recollection, excluded any 
 students from proceeding to a higher class because deficient 
 in the studies of the preceding year ? 
 
 A. Five or six were excluded at the last examination from 
 proceeding to a higher class. 
 
 Q. What disposition was afterwards made of the cases of 
 these students ? 
 
 A. They were permitted, on probation, to join their former 
 class. 
 
 Q. After what interval were they allowed to proceed ? 
 
 A. The judgment of the Board, excluding them, was given 
 at the concluding examination in July ; and they were per- 
 mitted to go on with their class at the commencement of the 
 next session in September, on the condition, that if at Christ- 
 mas the reports of the professors should be unfavorable to 
 their diligence and progress, they should be dropped from 
 the College rolls. This condition was made known to the pa- 
 rents of each. 
 
 Q. "Was it ascertained in any manner before they were al- 
 lowed to proceed with their class, that they had made up their 
 deficiency ? 
 
 A. No. It was rather a reliance upon the promise of the 
 parents that it should be made up. 
 
12 
 
 Q. How is the judgment of the Board, or of the President, 
 determined, in excluding students from proceeding with their 
 
 A. By the record of the President, compared with the re- 
 cords of the several professors and the general reports. The 
 question of exclusion, and of penalty or punishment gene- 
 rally, is always a matter of discussion with the Board. 
 
 Q. Are there any improvements in the mode of examina- 
 tion which you can suggest ? 
 
 A. There may he improvements ; hut I will give a fuller 
 answer to this question at the next meeting of the committee. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be strict in their requirements 
 upon the students to master the course of instruction pointed 
 out by the statutes ? or should allowance be made in favor of 
 those, that from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, 
 fail to acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to 
 impart? Please to state your opinion, with your reasons 
 for it. 
 
 Adjourned. 
 
 Columbia College — President's Boom, 
 Jan. 2, 1856. 
 
 Present — The President, Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 The President handed in a scheme of recitations for the 
 sessions of 1855 and 1856, an answer to the first question put 
 to him, Nov. 28, 1855, as Exhibit.l. 
 
 Question to President. "Will you have the goodness to 
 furnish the committee with a tabular statement showing the 
 cases in which the punishments of admonition, degradation, 
 suspension, dismission or expulsion have been adjudged and 
 administered, or inflicted in the four academical years last 
 past, specifying in each case the nature of the punishment, 
 the date at which it was adjudged, the date of its administra- 
 tion or infliction, the offence for which it was adjudged, the 
 date of the remission of the punishment, if remitted, and the 
 cause or reason of its remission, and the condition, if any, 
 upon which the remission was made ? 
 
13 
 
 A. I produce herewith a tabular statement, with explana- 
 tory notes, [which is annexed,] Exhibit 2. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, a department of instruction to 
 be assigned to the President ; and if so, what department ? 
 
 A. It would be better that he should be a teacher, at least 
 to the upper classes. The department must necessarily de- 
 pend upon the special qualifications of the President. For 
 my own part, I should prefer American History and the Out- 
 lines of Constitutional Law. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, or any of them, ever or commonly re- 
 port to the Board of the College students as having neglected 
 their studies ? 
 
 A. Yes, habitually. I now hand to the committee the re- 
 ports made by the professors, Dec. 25, 1855, Exhibit 3. They 
 are in the usual form of the weekly reports, and are regularly 
 filed. 
 
 Q. Are there any cases of discipline by the Board which 
 are not entered in its minutes ? 
 
 A. In a few cases private admonitions have been given in 
 the presence of the Board, without entry on the minutes or 
 notice to parents, where the effect of punishment seems to 
 have been produced without the necessity of such entry or 
 notice. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestion or opinion to offer upon the 
 statutes under the head of crimes and punishments, as to 
 their administration or alteration ; and can you state any facts, 
 in your opinion, material for the committee to know, in refer- 
 ence to the discipline of the College ? 
 
 A. Ko. 
 
 Q. How are punishments pronounced ? 
 
 A. Private admonitions are made by the President alone 
 with the student, in the President's room. Admonitions or 
 reprimands, ordered by the Board, are pronounced before the 
 Board in the presence of the student. Public reprimands in 
 the chapel are pronounced by the President according to a 
 written form, in the presence of all the classes, the student being 
 called upon to stand up. Suspensions, dismissions and expul- 
 sions are announced to the student in the presence of the Board, 
 
14 
 
 and communicated to the parents. In relation to these last men- 
 tioned punishments I have occasionally, though not habitu- 
 ally, announced them in the chapel, but not according to a 
 written form. 
 
 Q. "What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to re- 
 quire the attendance of any student as a witness ? 
 
 A. As a matter of fact the attendance of students as wit- 
 nesses has never been required by the Board. The students 
 themselves have produced fellow-students as witnesses in de- 
 fence, and I think that the statute ought to remain as it is. 
 
 Q. Is proper order preserved in all the lecture-rooms ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. In which is there a deficiency in this respect ? 
 
 A. At present, in Prof. McVickar's room. Order is al- 
 ways well preserved in the rooms of Profs. Anthon, Drisler, 
 and generally in those of Profs. Hackley and Smith and 
 McCulloch. 
 
 Q. What are the causes of the want of order in Prof. 
 McVickar's room ? 
 
 A. Imperfect seating in the room, the inconvenient en- 
 trance through a corridor, common to Prof. McVickar's and 
 Prof. Anthon's rooms, and difficulties inseparable from a 
 course carried on mainly by lecture. For some other causes, 
 not known to me, the professor is not so successful as he has 
 been in enforcing order in his room. 
 
 Q. Are these disorders so frequent as to impair seriously 
 the efficiency of instruction in this department ? 
 
 A. I cannot say that the efficiency of instruction is serious- 
 ly impaired, but it is impaired to a measurable extent. 
 
 Q. What are the means to which the professors usually re- 
 sort to repress or punish disorder in their rooms ? * 
 
 A. Admonition on the spot to the delinquent or class, send- 
 ing the offender from the room to the President, to report his 
 misconduct, and ordering him before the Board. 
 
15 
 
 President's Koom — Columbia College, 
 January 9, 1856. 
 
 Present — The President, Mr. Ogden, Mr. Betts, Mr. 
 Anderson. 
 
 The President produced his answers to two questions, 
 which he had requested to be left with him for more delibe- 
 rate consideration. These were as follows : 
 
 Q. Are there any improvements in the mode of examina- 
 tion which you can suggest ? 
 
 A. An improvement which seems to me desirable in the 
 mode of conducting examinations would be to make the ex- 
 amination of those who should announce themselves at the 
 beginning of the term as candidates for honors special and 
 searching, and to make the general examination less rigorous, 
 but still such as to ascertain proficiency, and then that the 
 names of students be entered on the register according to 
 their scholarship to be thus ascertained, and by the aggregate 
 of the weekly reports of the several professors. The special 
 examination to be held in the chapel, in the presence of the 
 trustees and the public; the other to be conducted in the 
 class-rooms, a committee from the trustees to attend each 
 room. Several examinations might thus be going on at once, 
 and the whole be completed in four or five days, instead of 
 requiring, as now, seventeen or eighteen. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be strict in their requirements 
 upon the students to master the course of instruction pointed 
 out by the statutes, or should allowance be made in favor of 
 those that, from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, 
 fail to acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to 
 impart? Please to state your opinion, and your reasons 
 for it. 
 
 A. I do not doubt that a strict exaction of the require- 
 ments of the statutes, as to the course of instruction, would 
 be advantageous as an ultimate result, or it would lead to 
 training a few thorough scholars annually. But with the lax 
 
16 
 
 views, so prevalent, respecting the value of thorough scholar- 
 ship, as conducive to success in the ordinary pursuits of life, 
 it may be doubted whether public opinion in this city would 
 sustain so strict a course. For indolence there should be no 
 claim, but for defect of intellectual capacity, or imperfect 
 elementary training, or, what is hardly less mischievous, the 
 indifference or inattention of parents at home, as to the studies 
 of their sons, (and in our system all the studying is or should 
 be done at home,) there must be some allowance, unless we 
 are ready to reduce our classes to the comparatively small 
 number who are in earnest in the pursuit of a good educa- 
 tion. Possibly the discrimination in conducting the exami- 
 nation, suggested in the preceding answer, may measurably 
 accomplish the desired result of certainly training some good 
 scholars, and of giving a chance to those less earnest, or less 
 prepared, or more feebly endowed, of acquiring some useful 
 knowledge, and, at the same time, of not diminishing our 
 numbers. 
 
 [Examination of the President resumed.] 
 
 Q. Are the students sometimes dismissed by the profes- 
 sors for the residue of the lecture or recitation, after the com- 
 mission of disorder ? 
 
 A. That used to be done, sometimes, by Prof. Eenwick, 
 Prof. Hackley, Prof. Schmidt, and, more rarely, by Prof. 
 McOulloh ; but it is now no longer done, having been dis- 
 continued at my request. 
 
 Q. Was there a question about the right of the professor so 
 to dismiss the student ? 
 
 A. On one occasion one of the professors thought that such 
 a right was necessary to the preservation of order in his room 
 but upon its being objected to by the President, it was con- 
 ceded that this power rested with him alone, a view of the 
 matter which I consider to be correct. 
 
 Q. State more particularly what are your views concern- 
 ing this right on the part of the professor, and the necessity 
 and propriety of its exercise. 
 
17 
 
 A. Considering the President as the executive officer, 
 specially charged with maintaining the discipline of the 
 College, and always on the spot during recitation, it seems to 
 me right that the propriety of such dismissal from recitation 
 should be referred to him. As a matter of fact, the usage of 
 all the professors is to send to him any student negligent or 
 disorderly ; and in his discretion he admonishes them, and 
 sends them back, or orders them before the Board. But if it 
 remained with a professor to dismiss for disorder, the very 
 knowledge that he had such power might often provoke dis- 
 order. 
 
 Q. What extent of authority ought the professor to have 
 for the preservation of order ? 
 
 A. What he now has is sufficient. He can now send the 
 student directly to the President for correction, or he can 
 order the student to appear before the Board, or he may do 
 both. 
 
 Q. Do the professor's reports, which you have mentioned 
 as being made weekly to the Board of the College, contain a 
 report of the conduct and proficiency of the students, as well 
 as a report of the absentees ? 
 
 A. They do not report good conduct, only absences and de- 
 ficiencies. Nor do they report degrees of conduct or pro- 
 ficiency. 
 
 Q. Does tbe Board of the College keep a book of minutes 
 of its proceedings ? 
 
 A. Tes. There is a book of minutes kept by the Presi- 
 dent, and read at every stated meeting of the trustees. 
 
 Q. Have the Board of the College a clerk ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Are the minutes of their proceedings read to the Board 
 of the College, or approved by them ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Is any member of the Board engaged in any profes- 
 sional pursuits from which he derives emolument, and which 
 are not connected with the College, either with or without 
 authority of the Board of Trustees ? 
 
 A. Prof. McVickar discharges the duties of chaplain of 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 the United States army, and I suppose with the consent of 
 the Board of Trustees. Prof. Anthon keeps the Grammar 
 School, and writes books. Prof. Hackley also writes books. 
 Prof. Drisler writes, and, by permission of the trustees, keeps 
 a school. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestions to make relative to the prac- 
 tical working of the chapter of the statutes of the Board of 
 the College, or to the propriety of any amendments to it? 
 
 A. I have none to make. 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with any facts concerning* the ap- 
 plication of that statute which is material for the committee 
 to know ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. How are general and special testimonials awarded, and 
 upon what evidence ? 
 
 A. The general testimonial is determined in each class by 
 a comparison of the opinions of all the professors. In case of 
 difference of opinion, by a vote of the professors, and in the 
 event of a divided Board, by the casting vote of the Presi- 
 dent. In general, however, the decision has been unanimous. 
 The mode of taking the vote is by beginning with the young- 
 est professor. There is no other evidence produced before 
 the Board than the expressed opinions of the professors. The 
 special testimonials in each department of each class are 
 awarded by the professor, with the concurrence of the Pre- 
 sident. 
 
 Q. How is the judgment of the professor and President 
 made up, as to what student's the special testimonials shall 
 be awarded ? 
 
 A. I presume, by the professor, from his observation of 
 the proficiency and diligence of the student — by the Presi- 
 dent, partly from his confidence in the representations of the 
 professor, and partly from his own knowledge of the merits 
 of the student. 
 
 Q. Do the professors keep a record of the performances in 
 the class, as well as at examinations, and do they judge from 
 these, or from their general impressions ? 
 
 A. They do keep such record ; but I do not know how they 
 arrive at their judgments in awarding testimonials. 
 
19 
 
 Q. Are such records ever exhibited to the President ? 
 
 A. They are not formally or necessarily submitted to him, 
 nor are they examined by the President, in aid of his judg- 
 ment, in the award of testimonials. 
 
 President's Room — Columbia College,* 
 January 16, 1856. 
 
 Present — The President, Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Continuation of questions addressed to the President : 
 
 Q. "What is the best mode of determining the relative 
 standing of the students, and ought not that mode to be 
 uniform ? 
 
 A. The best way is to adopt a given number, (the same in 
 all the classes,) as the indication of maximum excellence, and 
 to use the lower numbers appropriately, to indicate inferior 
 degrees of standing or performance corresponding to every 
 recitation. The aggregates of these numbers extended through 
 the whole term, will give the relative standing of the stu- 
 dents for that term. It should be inexorably insisted upon 
 that a student, not attaining a certain minimum, to be fixed 
 by the Board of the College, should be dropped from the 
 rolls. In accordance with this, I am of opinion that it would 
 be advisable to abandon the present alphabetical arrange- 
 ment for those who do not obtain testimonials, and to re- 
 establish the order of merit, to be ascertained as I have pro- 
 posed. 
 
 Q. Would it not be advisable to preserve — and is there 
 any difficulty in doing so — greater order among the students 
 at commencement, by preventing the shouting and stamping 
 in which they sometimes indulge ? 
 
 A. As a matter of fact, the disorder does not, in the main, 
 proceed from the College students. "What does, cannot be 
 altogether suppressed without creating other and perhaps 
 greater evils. 
 
20 
 
 Q. Is there any rule by which the parts of Greek, Latin' 
 and English Salutatory, and Valedictory Orator, are assigned 
 by the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. There is no rule, but as a matter of fact, the saluta- 
 tories are assigned according to the standing of the students 
 in their class, beginning with the Greek as the first honor, 
 then the Latin, then the English. As for the Valedictory, 
 there is a disposition generally to consult the wishes of the 
 class, but the Board, nevertheless, reserves to itself the right 
 of awarding this honor at its own discretion. In elucidation 
 of this answer, the President communicated a report which 
 he had prepared, in reply to an inquiry formerly addressed 
 to him by the Board of Trustees. (Exhibit 4.) 
 
 Q. Ought there, in your judgment, to be a uniform rule 
 by which the discretion of the Board of the College should be 
 regulated in awarding these parts at commencement ? 
 
 A. I see no cause for change. The existing practice has 
 not been attended with any disadvantage or discontent. 
 
 Q. Ought the President, in your opinion, to have the 
 power to grant vacations or intermissions of the lectures in 
 addition to those prescribed by the statute ; and if so, can 
 you suggest any restriction or limitation to which that power 
 ought to be subjected ? 
 
 A. Such discretion should exist with the President, each 
 exercise of it to be reported, with the motives thereof, to the 
 Board of Trustees, at their next meeting. 
 
 Q, Will you be good enough to give to the committee a 
 statement of the cases of discipline administered immediately 
 after the concluding examination of 1855, in respect to stu- 
 dents found deficient at that examination, specifying the 
 cause of the punishment then adjudged, the date of the first 
 action of the Board of the College upon it, and all the sub- 
 sequent action of the Board in relation to each of these cases ? 
 
 A. [The President requires a reference to the minutes, and 
 will answer at a future meeting.] 
 
 Q. The committee perceive, upon an examination of the 
 tabular statement which you have funished them, that the 
 punishments of degradation and suspension appear not to 
 
21 
 
 have been once administered during the whole period covered 
 by that statement. Will you be good enough to explain, if 
 in your power, why these grades of punishment have fallen 
 into disuse ? 
 
 A. Degradation, as I understand it, can only apply to the 
 reduction of a testimonial bearer to the alphabetical ranks, 
 and in that sense we have had no occasion to resort to it. In 
 the sense of depression to a lower class, or non-advancement 
 to a higher, there have been four or five instances of such 
 discipline, though the penalty was afterwards remitted. In 
 relation to suspension, the practice has been discontinued, as 
 it was regarded to have the effect merely of affording a holi- 
 day to the boy, and has not operated as a punishment. 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Ogden's Office, on Thursday, 
 4th June, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 The President attended the Committee, and responded to 
 questions proposed to him, as follows : 
 
 Q. From what observation, other than that had at public 
 examinations, is the President's opinion, as communicated to 
 the Committee, respecting the condition and efficiency of the 
 several departments, derived ? 
 
 A. From occasional visits to the professors' rooms during 
 recitation, and from the reports of the professors, and from 
 interchange of opinions, at the weekly meetings of the Board, 
 upon questions asked by the President, as to the proficiency 
 or standing of particular students. 
 
 Q. How often does the President make such visits to the 
 professors' rooms, and are they made for the purpose of ob- 
 serving the method, matter and success of the instruction of 
 the professor, or only for the purpose of repressing disorder? 
 
 A. In the Freshman year, three or four times a week to the 
 professor of the Classics, and that is done entirely to ascertain 
 
 3 
 
22 
 
 both the mode and efficiency of tbe instruction and the profi- 
 ciency of the students. In the other departments less frequent- 
 ly, but always for the same purpose. 
 
 Q. Are such visits ever and how often made at the request 
 of the professors ? 
 
 A. Never. 
 
 Q. Are these visits made equally to the rooms of all the 
 professors ? 
 
 A. No. The Classical department interests me most, and 
 is, I think, the basis of our education, and I understand it 
 better. The other departments are visited occasionally. In. 
 the present term I have been more frequently in the rooms of 
 the professors of Mathematics and Physics than heretofore. 
 I read a portion of the English compositions of the students 
 of each class, and examine their note-books after the exami- 
 nations. 
 
 Mr. Ogden's Office, June 5th, 1857. 
 
 The Committee met. Present, — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 The President attended the Committee, and the questions 
 to him were resumed : 
 
 Q. State, if you please, to the Committee your opinion as to 
 the effect upon the efficiency of the instruction in any and 
 which departments, which would be produced by the use of a 
 judiciously selected text-book on each subject, the study of 
 which should be prescribed to the students, and which should 
 be explained and elucidated by the professor, with such re- 
 marks as he might deem expedient to show differing opinions 
 and to direct or excite the reasoning of the students upon the 
 questions involved ? 
 
 A. I believe that in every department where the instruc- 
 tion is chiefly by lecturing, a standard text-book should be em- 
 ployed, and that should be the standard both for professor 
 
23 
 
 and for students. Differences of opinion might be referred to, 
 without the necessity of expressing them at length in text- 
 books of various characters. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that text-books should be desig- 
 nated or approved by the Trustees, and changed only by their 
 order ? 
 
 A. I think the designation and the change, if any, should 
 be on the suggestion of the professor, subject to the approba- 
 tion or veto of the Trustees. 
 
 Q. Do you know or can yon point out any disadvantages 
 attending the system of directing the attention of students to 
 several books of authority, without any specially designated 
 book ? 
 
 A. The danger is, of leading to uncertainty and vagueness 
 of ideas on any given subject in the mind of the student. 
 
 Q. Can you call the attention of the Committee to any 
 evils attending such a system, which have been practically de- 
 veloped in the College ? 
 
 A. I cannot positively say that I have perceived the evils, 
 which theoretically I am persuaded must result from a system 
 •of desultory reading without a standard text-book. 
 
 Q. Would you advise that in any, and in which depart- 
 ments of study, different courses, each composed of certain 
 books or parts of books, to be designated by statute, should be 
 prescribed, allowing the professor to choose any one of the 
 courses for any class ? 
 
 A. As a general rule, the discretion should be given to the 
 Faculty, to decide what books should be studied, and in what 
 order. The statutes should, at the same time, direct that a 
 certain amount of time and attention should be given to each 
 of the respective departments. 
 
 Q. What knowledge of the German language is possessed 
 by the students, or any of them, before they enter upon the 
 College course in that language ? 
 
 A. None, as a matter of requirement. Not one in ten has 
 any knowledge whatever of this language on his entrance 
 into College. 
 
 Q. Will you please to state whether or not, in your opin- 
 
24: 
 
 ion, it would facilitate the instruction in German to require 
 an acquaintance with elementary German Grammar, and the 
 ability to translate into English certain prescribed parts of 
 easy works in that language, upon entering upon the course 
 at the beginning of the Freshman year ; such preparation 
 being tested by a strict entrance examination ? 
 
 A. I decidedly recommend such a rule, and, moreover, 
 that it be required that, as a condition of entrance, they be 
 able both to write and read the ordinary German hand- 
 writing. 
 
 Q. Can you inform the Committee how many of the stu- 
 dents are, in your judgment, deficient in any, and in whieh 
 departments of the College, from immaturity ? 
 
 A. I cannot answer that without consulting my notes. 
 They are, however, not numerous. 
 
 Q. Are the records of the professors, showing the absolute 
 or relative merits of the students, as exhibited by their recita- 
 tion in the lecture-rooms, or the results of such records, ever 
 communicated or reported to the President or to the Board 
 of the College ; if so, at what times ? 
 
 A. They are not formally communicated ; but at the weekly 
 meetings of the Board of the College the professors bring their 
 class-books habitually, and when a question arises about any 
 student, they turn to their books and answer accordingly, 
 giving the required information both as to conduct and pro- 
 ficiency. 
 
 Q. The details, then, of such records are not communicated 
 or reported, except in answer to such inquiries made in the 
 Board of the College ? 
 
 A. No; except as I have before stated, weekly deficiencies 
 and absences are always noted in the professors' reports. 
 
 Q. Are any records of the merits of the students, as ex- 
 hibited in their daily recitations, preserved by the President 
 in any methodical form ? 
 
 A. No. No such records are furnished to him. 
 
 Q. Is any and what use made of the records of the pro- 
 fessors, showing such absolute or relative merits of the stu- 
 dents, and is any reference had to them, other than to inform 
 
25 
 
 or govern each professor keeping the record, as to his own 
 department ? 
 
 A. None other than to govern the professor himself, and 
 also to direct the President, in answer to any inquiry made 
 by him in reference to a particular student. 
 
 Q. Ought the examinations for admission into the Fresh- 
 man class to be in any cases dispensed with ; and if so, in 
 what cases ? 
 
 A. In none. 
 
 Q. Ought certain prescribed times to be appointed for such 
 examinations, and should all the students be examined at the 
 same time and place ? 
 
 A. Theoretically, ye3. Practically, this would be attended 
 with great difficulties. The rule is a good one, but excep- 
 tions should be allowed under peculiar circumstances. 
 
 Q. Ought these examinations to be public or private ? 
 
 A. They should be held in the presence of the Faculty, 
 but not otherwise public. The parents and previous in- 
 structors of the students ought to be admitted, and even in- 
 vited. 
 
 Q. By whom ought these examinations for admission to be 
 conducted, and who, as a matter of duty, ought to be present ? 
 
 A. By the professors of the class into which admission is 
 sought, and these professors and the President should be 
 present. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your judgment, the examination of the stu- 
 dents from the Grammar school, or from a school conducted 
 by any professor, to be dispensed with ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Is there any mode of deciding the question of the ad- 
 mission or rejection of students applying for entrance into 
 the Freshman class, that you can suggest, as calculated effect- 
 ually to secure the end that candidates should not be admitted 
 without the previous preparation required by the statutes? 
 
 A. The present mode is adequate, if carried out. 
 
 Q. Is it carried out ? 
 
 A. Prof. Drisler is rigid in insisting upon the proofs of pre- 
 paration according to the statutes. Prof. Hackley has gene- 
 
26 
 
 rally presumed that if they appeared, on examination, well 
 prepared in their Algebra, they were duly prepared in their 
 Arithmetic. 
 
 Q. Could the end sought, by a review in any class, be bet- 
 ter answered through a constant recurrence, throughout a 
 term, to the previous studies in that term, and be enforced 
 and ascertained by the questions of the professor, put from 
 time to time as the session advances ? 
 
 A. Possibly ; though that would retard the extent of in- 
 struction, if the time thus occupied exceeded the time now 
 allowed for review. 
 
 Q. Ought the public examinations to be written or oral ? 
 
 A. Both. 
 
 Q. Is there any particular method of examinations that 
 you would recommend? 
 
 A. I think that written papers would furnish the most sat- 
 isfactory method in most of the departments. 
 
 Q. How much time ought, in your judgment, to be given 
 in each class to the examination in the several departments. 
 
 A. I should prefer that the examinations should be divided 
 into such as are intended for those who compete for honors, 
 and such as are intended for those who do not. The former 
 examination should be much more rigid, and on a more ex- 
 tended range of study. The ordinary examination from term 
 to term might be gone through with in a week for all the 
 classes. Extra time should then be allowed for the examina- 
 tions for honors. 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Ogden's office, on the 9th 
 June, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 The President was present, and answered the further inqui- 
 ries of the Committee : 
 
 Q. How frequently ought examinations to be held ? 
 
27 
 
 A. I think that semi-annual examinations are enough. 
 
 Q. Would there, in your opinion, be an advantage in mak- 
 ing the examinations a thorough test of the proficiency of tbe 
 students in the whole course previously pursued ; and ought 
 they at all events to be made to afford a thorough test of the 
 students' proficiency in the studies of the last preceding term ? 
 
 A. Certainly of the last, and as far as possible of the 
 whole ; but this is very difficult of accomplishment. I mean 
 it is difficult for the student to be prepared for such a strict 
 examination, because his time does not allow a revision of 
 his previous studies and a proper preparation of the studies 
 actually before him. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, after each examination, report the 
 results to the Board of the College? 
 
 A. ~No ; they do not make any such reports ; they only re- 
 port failures or deficiencies. 
 
 Q. Are such reports as they do make, in writing ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. How long has the practice of making such reports ob- 
 tained I 
 
 A. Within about two years, in writing. They were pre- 
 viously made verbally, ever since my connection with the 
 College. 
 
 Q. Do such reports of the professors furnish any, and if 
 any, what information, with regard to the examinations, be- 
 sides failures and deficiencies ? 
 
 A. None, excepting the names of such students as may 
 have been absent from examination. 
 
 Q. Does the President make any note of the results of 
 such examination, and in reference to each student ? If so, 
 does the note of the President express the relative merit of 
 the student, and by what system or method, or does it only 
 express whether or not the student has failed ? 
 
 A. I keep a note of every student's performance, express- 
 ing, either by words or by a figure, the relative merit of each. 
 
 Q. Is the record, made by the President, read or commu- 
 nicated to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. Not officially communicated. It is always referred to 
 
28 
 
 by him in the presence of the Board, when arranging the 
 testimonials. 
 
 Q. Are such records preserved by the President in me- 
 thodical form ; and if so, in what way or form are they pre- 
 served ? 
 
 A. They are preserved as I write them, by being filed 
 away, together with all the other papers connected with the 
 examinations and the awards of testimonials. 
 
 Q. What nse, if any, is afterwards made of them, or is 
 any, and if any, what reference afterwards made to them$ 
 and for what purpose ? 
 
 A. No use or reference is afterwards made of or to them, 
 unless some inquiry is made concerning the performance of 
 a particular student at a particular examination, and then I 
 resort to them to answer any questions. These questions are 
 made by parents, and sometimes by students themselves. 
 
 Q. Do the professors make a record of the results of the 
 public examinations in their respective departments? 
 
 A. I presume so, but I do not know; and if they do, I 
 do not know the contents of such record. I know, however, 
 that they mark the result of the examination of each student 
 at the time. 
 
 Q. Do such marks of the professors, made at the time of 
 the public examination, express the relative merits of the 
 students, as exhibited at such examination ? 
 
 A. I do not know; I think some of them do; I think pro- 
 bably all of them. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your judgment, all the professors belonging 
 to the Faculty, and attending the public examinationsj and 
 especially the examining professor, to note the performance 
 of each student ; and would not this be requisite if the plan 
 of ranging all the students in the order of merit were re- 
 stored ? 
 
 A. As to all the professors it might be well ; it is indispen- 
 sable for the examining professor, and I presume he always 
 does. It would be requisite if the plan were restored of 
 ranging all the students in the order of merit. 
 
 Q. Are there any cases of students found deficient at the 
 
29 
 
 public examinations which are not entered in the minutes 
 of the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. Possibly relative deficiencies are not; but positive 
 failures are, where re-examination is ordered. 
 
 Q. Is it or is it not possible to have such a system of num- 
 bers for use in the lecture-room and at examinations, as that 
 they shall be a reliable test of the relative performance of the 
 students ? 
 
 A. Yes, both possible and desirable, and to be extended 
 to conduct as well as study. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that students should be disci- 
 plined according to their grade, to be ascertained by such a 
 system ; as if, upon an average being taken, a student should 
 fall below a certain number, then his connection with the 
 College should cease ? 
 
 A. Decidedly ; after fair notice. I mean, that if a student 
 enters the College with the understanding that such is the 
 rule, it ought to be strictly observed. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that examinations upon the 
 course of a session previously pursued should be conducted 
 by adepts, not officers of the College, or that they should be 
 conducted by the professors, in the presence of snch adepts, to 
 be appointed with power to propose questions, and to report 
 upon the results to the Board of the College, or to the Trus- 
 tees, in conjunction with the examining professor ? 
 
 A. I prefer the latter method suggested by the question, 
 and think it would be better than the present system. The 
 report should be made to the Board of the College, and by 
 them communicated to the Trustees. 
 
 Q. Do you think that a resort to the power of the Board of 
 the College, to require the attendance and testimony of any 
 student, adversely to a fellow-student, is necessary for the en- 
 forcement of discipline or for the discovery of perpetrators 
 of acts of disorder ? 
 
 A. I think the student should be compelled to answer, upon 
 honor, as to his own delinquency ; and when disorder occurs 
 in a class, without its being fixed upon any individual, each 
 member may properly be required to answer, yes or no, as to 
 
30 
 
 his participation in the disorder. If the testimony is used in 
 favor, as is allowed by statute, it should seem that it should 
 also be subject to be used against a student. I think that the 
 resort to the power to compel one student to testify against 
 another is necessary, if students are not compelled each to 
 purge himself — which I would very much prefer. 
 
 Q. State what, in your opinion, are the objections to the 
 punishment of dismission, as now or lately administered ; for 
 what causes it ought to be remitted, and to what regulations, 
 if any, it ought to be subjected ? 
 
 A. Dismission, without fixing a definite period within 
 which restoration cannot be made, I think, inexpedient — as 
 now practiced, it is a holiday. It mortifies parents without 
 possibly reforming or benefiting the student. As a general 
 rule, its chief efficacy is derived from the danger of its being 
 repeated. It is now remitted on due apology and promise of 
 amendment by the student, accompanied by the guaranty of 
 his parent or guardian. I think that a full discretion should 
 be allowed as to this. I would not subject it to any additional 
 regulation. 
 
 Q. On motions made to the Board by the College, as to 
 matters within their authority, is or is not the question put by 
 the President to the Board for their decision, in cases in which 
 the President has declared that if the motion were carried, he 
 would withhold his concurrence? Has the President ever 
 refused to put the question on the ground that he intended to 
 withhold his concurrence ? 
 
 A. This question is evidently prompted by an occurrence 
 in the Board of the College last year, when the President, for 
 the first and only time since his connection with the College, 
 interposed his veto to a question made iu the Board. Having,- 
 on due consideration, decided, on that occasion, not to allow 
 the motion to prevail — as a matter of delicacy to the professors, 
 whom he did not wish to see arrayed in opposition to each 
 other on a question, in rejecting which, he was willing and 
 had determined to take the whole responsibility — he did re- 
 fuse to put the question, for the reason that he did not mean 
 the vote, even if affirmative, should have any effect. 
 
31 
 
 The fact, that only once in eight years the veto has been 
 exercised in any form, is sufficient evidence that it is not 
 abused, while the knowledge that such a power does exist in 
 the President, exercises, as I deem it, a most salutary influ- 
 ence, both in the Board and over the students. 
 
 Although not called for by the question, I would like to 
 add here the expression of my decided conviction, that, in 
 the interest of the discipline of the College, the more absolute 
 the power of the President the better — subject always to the 
 obligation of reporting to the Board of the College, and thus 
 making a record of every exercise of disciplinary authority 
 Particularly should the President be empowered to suspend, 
 on the instant, any student charged with a grave offence, 
 leaving it to the Board of the College, after hearing the report 
 of the President, to take such order in the premises as might 
 be thought best. 
 
 Q. Can you explain why the Board of the College do not 
 meet statedly on every Saturday, for the purpose of adminis- 
 tering the general discipline of the College, as the statute 
 requires ? 
 
 A. It was for the convenience of the President and profes- 
 sors, who, having no duties on Saturday, there seemed to be 
 no use for their attendance on that day for the purposes of dis- 
 cipline, which can as well be administered on Friday. 
 
 Q. Is proper order preserved among the students of the 
 College at other times than when they are attending the 
 lecture-rooms ? 
 
 A. There is perfect order in the chapel for the most part. 
 In the new chapel there has never been the slightest disorder. 
 I do not observe any disorder, generally speaking, when the 
 students are on the College premises, and not in the chapel 
 or lecture-roorns. 
 
32 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Ogden's office, on the 17th 
 June, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 The President was in attendance, and answered the inqui- 
 ries of the Committee, as follows : 
 
 Q. The Committee observe, from the minutes of the Board 
 of the College, that on several occasions such Board has ad- 
 judged that students should " be dropped from the rolls of the 
 College." Will you please inform the Committee what is in- 
 tended by such a practice ? Is dismissal or expulsion in- 
 tended ? 
 
 A. It is, in effect, expulsion, but avoiding the stigma of 
 that word. 
 
 Q. Why is not the form of designation of the punishment 
 used which the statutes prescribe ? 
 
 A. It is merely to avoid the mortification to the parent,' 
 and produces the same effect as to discipline, and is never 
 administered unless upon previous notice to the student and 
 his parent, that unless the student re-establishes himself in his 
 standing be will be dropped. 
 
 Q. A student was adjudged to be dropped from the rolls on 
 the 16th February, 1855, and afterwards, on 9th March suc- 
 ceeding, re-admitted on trial for one month. Can you explain 
 this to the Committee % 
 
 A. The student, a Senior, was dropped, after having been 
 repeatedly admonished, for habitual neglect of duty, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1855. His father, an aged man, and the student him- 
 self, made most urgent appeal for restoration, and promises 
 of diligence and punctuality, if re-admitted. This appeal was 
 submitted, by the President to the Board, on 9th March, with 
 the question, " If re-admitted, and with diligence and punc- 
 tuality, is this student capable of going on with his class ?" 
 
33 
 
 The question was answered affirmatively by all the professors, 
 save Messrs. McCulloh and Schmidt, and he was accordingly 
 restored — those professors consenting, on condition that if, 
 at the expiration of a month, the reports of the Faculty con- 
 cerning him were not satisfactory, he should then be finally 
 dropped. At the expiration of the month special reports were 
 made concerning him, by each professor, all favorable, and 
 he went through his course and was graduated. 
 
 Q. Have or have not students been cited before the Board 
 of the College to answer for their absence from the public 
 examinations i 
 
 A. No, I imagine not. They account for that to the Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 Q. Are they in any and what way called upon for excuses 
 for such absence ? 
 
 A. They are always called upon by the President for an 
 excuse, and either excused or examined subsequently, before 
 or on joining the class at the beginning of the term. 
 
 Q. If a student is absent, and offers no satisfactory evidence 
 of the existence of a sufficient reason for his absence, is he 
 otherwise disciplined than by being required to be afterwards 
 examined before proceeding with his class ? 
 
 A. No. But in such cases the fact of his absence and the 
 necessity of his subsequent examination are communicated 
 to the parent. 
 
 Q. In cases' in which the students' excuses for their absence 
 are deemed sufficient, are they allowed to proceed with their 
 classes without re-examination ? 
 
 A. Yes ; not, however, without consultation with the pro- 
 fessors. Those cases in which they are allowed to proceed 
 without examination are rare, and are only where previous good 
 standing authorizes it, and where the excuse is severe sickness 
 or unavoidable absence. There have been one or two cases 
 where the standing of the students was not good, in which, with 
 the concurrence of the professors in whose departments their 
 standing was not good, the students were allowed to proceed 
 on trial without an examination, after being absent at the 
 public examination, under the idea that their ability to sus- 
 
34: 
 
 tain themselves could as well, indeed better, be ascertained 
 by tlieir recitations in class than by a private examination. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 whether the student of the Junior class, who acknowledged 
 that he had committed the offence for which four students of 
 the same class were called to answer before the Board of the 
 College on the 8th December, 1854, was called before the 
 Board for his misconduct or punished in any way ? 
 
 A. He was not. His name was not even made known to 
 the Board, nor, so far as I remember, to the President — 
 the professor (Dr. McTickar) having himself settled the dif- 
 ficulty in a manner he judged conducive to discipline, with- 
 out bringing the offending party (who had made himself 
 known to the professor) before the Board. The President 
 and Board acquiesced in this arrangement. . 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the Committee any 
 causes or considerations that may have induced the Board of 
 the College to allow the continuance in the College of stu- 
 dents found deficient at the concluding examination, and to 
 give your opinion as to whether or not the experience of the 
 institution shows that the exclusion of students found deficient 
 at such examinations is inexpedient? 
 
 A. The general cause of the indulgence of the Board has 
 been the urgent entreaty of the students and of their parents 
 for another trial, and the certainty, almost, that if remanded 
 for another year to their class, they would not remain. I 
 think that they are permitted on such occasions to go on only 
 on condition, that if, within a given time, they do not mani- 
 fest more diligence, they shall cease to belong to the College. 
 The experience of the institution does not, on the whole, show 
 that such a strict discipline as is suggested by the question is 
 inexpedient, provided that be the unwavering practice of the 
 College. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 whether the two students of the Sophomore class, who were 
 expelled on the 1st June, 1854, were afterwards allowed to 
 continue their attendance with their class ? 
 
 A. They were, the sentence of expulsion not having been 
 
35 
 
 carried out, by being announced in the chapel or communi- 
 cated to their parents. They were sentenced as the two 
 who — in a disorderly class — bad been identified in the com- 
 mission of disorder ; the whole class having been suspended 
 under circumstances of graver disorder, by the President, as 
 set forth in the records of the Board. The class having made 
 ample apology subsequently, it was deemed reasonable that 
 the two above referred to should share in the general amnesty, 
 and they accordingly were permitted to resume their place. 
 
 Q. How often does it occur that students are dismissed 
 from the rooms of the professors ? 
 
 A. Sometimes two or three times a day, and sometimes not 
 once in a week. In such cases they are sent to me. 
 
 Q. What course does the President pursue in such cases ? 
 
 A. I examine into the causes of the dismissal, and either 
 admonish the student or order him before the Board, as the 
 case requires, and make a memorandum in my own private 
 book. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, after citing students to appear before 
 the Board, excuse them without insisting upon their attend- 
 ance in conformity to the citation, and how often, so far as 
 you kuow, have such cases occurred ? Ought there to be any 
 regulation by statute in such case, and if so, what? 
 
 A. The cases do occur, but I do not know how often. I 
 think that in case of a student's being ordered before the 
 Board, he ought not to be excused without the concurrence 
 of the President. I do not think that any statute on the 
 subject is necessary. 
 
 Q. If students are absent longer than is reasonable, from 
 the room of any professor, after permission to absent them- 
 selves, what notice is taken of it ? 
 
 A. I can hardly answer that, as I do not know ; as that 
 matter does not come within my cognizance. 
 
 Q. Do you know whether such students, so absent for a 
 time from the room of any professor, ever never return ; and 
 if so, how frequently do such cases occur ? 
 
 A. They do occur, but how frequently I do not know. 
 They are sometimes reported to me. 
 
36 
 
 A. Are these cases not always reported to you ? 
 
 A. I presume not, but I cannot tell how often any occur. 
 I suppose it is a rare exception when they are not reported. 
 
 Q. Are the students regular in their attendance upon the 
 College lectures ? 
 
 A. Certainly, I should say so, as a general rule ; if they 
 are not, they are always reported. 
 
 Q. Are such, absences, to your knowledge, ever excused by 
 the professors, without a report to the President ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Do yon know of any, and if any, how many instances 
 in which students have been on the same day absent from 
 the room of one professor, and present in the room of another ? 
 
 A. The weekly reports will show ; I cannot at all enumerate 
 the cases. 
 
 Q. Is any and what action had in regard to such cases ? 
 
 A. They are always specially brought to account. My 
 general course in such cases is to write to the father, inform- 
 ing him of the fact. In case I am not satisfied, I order the 
 student to appear before the Board. 
 
 Q. Do all the professors report all the students who are 
 absent from their lectures on each day ? 
 
 A. Yes ; specifying on what particular days students re- 
 ported as absent were absent. 
 
 Q. Are these reports, or the information contained in them, 
 preserved by the President ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Are the facts stated in such reports recorded or pre- 
 served in any methodical form, by the President, for future 
 reference ? 
 
 A. No ; except by filing the reports. 
 
 Q. Is the President able to tell from such reports or other 
 materials how often any student has been absent from lectures 
 during any session, and from what particular lecture-rooms 
 he has been absent during such term ? 
 
 A. If examined with that view. 
 
 Q. From what materials, other than the reports of the pro- 
 
37 
 
 fessors, would the President be able to procure such inform- 
 ation ? 
 
 A. Rone. 
 
 Q. What excuses for the absence of a student from one or 
 all the lectures are accepted as sufficient ? 
 
 A. Generally 'that the parent asks that the student may be 
 excused, on the ground tha't he had kept the student at home, 
 or he had been absent -with his consent. 
 
 Q. For what length of absence are these excuses allowed as 
 sufficient ? 
 
 A. For casual absences ; except on special occasions. 
 
 Q. Are these excuses allowed for absences as long as for a 
 month, where previous permission has not been given ? 
 
 A. I think not ; I do not remember any such cases. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to state to the Committee the 
 instances of absences of students within the two academical 
 years of lS55-'56, and 1850-57, for periods of time from one 
 to twelve months ; stating, in reference to each case, what 
 was done in regard to it ; whether or not it was brought to 
 the attention of the Board of the College ; and what was 
 their action upon it; and if excused, what was the excuse 
 allowed ? 
 
 A. In the confusion of my papers, consequent upon re- 
 moval, I am unable to refer to them at once, so as to answer 
 this question, but will do it as early as possible. Meanwhile, 
 as a general fact, it may be said that absences extending 
 through long periods are very rare, and the occasions are ac- 
 counted for to the President, and are brought before the 
 Board. 
 
38 
 
 At a meeting of the Committee, held at the office of Mr. 
 Ogden, on the 18th June, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 The President was present, and -the inquiries to him were 
 resumed : 
 
 Q. "What would be the effect of calling in the aid of the 
 President, in the midst of a lecture or recitation, for the en- 
 forcement of order ? 
 
 A. The effect is always good as to the immediate lesults, 
 though it may diminish the respect for the authority of the 
 professor. It is a rare occurrence that the aid of the President 
 is required. 
 
 Q. Are the students punctual in their attendance upon the 
 lectures of the several professors ? 
 
 A. Upon the whole I think it may be said they are punc- 
 tual. 
 
 Q. What notice is taken of cases of unpunctuality? are 
 they reported, and if so, to whom, and what action is after- 
 wards had concerning them ? 
 
 A. Cases of unpunctuality as well as of absence are noted 
 in the weekly reports of the professors at the Board, and are 
 accounted for to the President, like all other failures. 
 
 Q. Are students called before the Board to answer for such 
 unpunctuality when guilty of it ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Are cases of such unpunctuality of frequent occurrence ? 
 
 A. Yes ; there are frequent reports of that sort, but not often 
 amounting to deliberate purpose. They sometimes loiter in 
 passing from room to room. It is the general rule to call the 
 roll immediately, and to mark as late all those who appear 
 after the roll-call. 
 
 Q. What proportion of those reported as late have been 
 nnpunctual to the extent of ten minutes and upwards ? 
 
 A. I could not answer that; it does not appear in the re- 
 
39 
 
 ports. If the unpunctuality is to a great extent, it is specially 
 noted. 
 
 Q. Is not this unpunctuality of the students a great evil, and 
 could not some College regulation be made which would pre- 
 vent any excuse for its occurrence ? 
 
 A. I do not see any remedy, except a demerit mark to be 
 given to the late student, to count in his general standing, 
 where the absence is not sufficiently explained. 
 
 Q. Are any and what measures taken to prevent or di- 
 minish this want of punctuality ? 
 
 A. Each student who is unpunctual is called upon by me 
 to explain the cause of his lateness, and admonished to greater 
 diligence ; and if it is continued, I sometimes send a note to 
 "the parents. The general excuse is, that the student came in 
 immediately after the roll-call. 
 
 Q. "Where the unpunctuality of a student is often repeated, 
 do you never consider it a case calling for the intervention of 
 the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. Not that I remember— as a specific offence. 
 
 Q. Is the record kept by the several professors submitted to 
 the Board of the College, upon the awarding of general testi- 
 monials, or to the President, upon the awarding special testi- 
 monials, or is this record, or are its results considered by the 
 Board of the College or by the President as the evidence upon 
 which they proceed, or do they judge from the verbal repre- 
 sentations of each professor, not expressly based upon the re- 
 sults of his record then stated by him to the Board? 
 
 A. The testimonials are awarded entirely upon the state- 
 ments of the professors, now made in writing. The course is 
 this : Beginning with the Senior class, the President asks each 
 professor whom of that class, and so of each class in succes- 
 sion, he prefers for the general testimonial ; and the students 
 having the 2iiajority of the Board, if approved by the Presi- 
 dent, receive the testimonial ; and it is very rare that the 
 award is not unanimous. The professors, on such occasions, 
 verbally state their opinions of the merits of the students un- 
 der consideration for the testimonial, but do not refer to their 
 records. The special testimonials are awarded on the nomi- 
 
40 
 
 nation of the professors of each department, approved by the- 
 President. The professors do not, on communicating to me- 
 their judgment as to the students to whom the special testimo- 
 nials ought to be awarded, inform me what is the standing 
 upon their records of the students designated by them as 
 the fittest to receive the honor; but I accept their nominations 
 as the evidence that the person named by them is the fittest ; 
 and if I know nothing to the contrary, I confirm the nomina- 
 tion. 
 
STATEMENTS OE PROF. McYICKAE. 
 
 Peesident's Room — Columbia College, 
 January 23d, 1856. 
 
 The committee met. Present — Mi\Ogden, Di\ Andersok, 
 Mr. Betts. 
 
 Professor JtcVickar attended the committee at their re- 
 quest, and the following proceedings took place : 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to give to the committee 
 your views as to whether the manner or extent of the instruc- 
 tion in all or any of the departments in the College are or 
 are not well adapted to impart to the students a thorough 
 knowledge of the subjects taught ? 
 
 A. I would observe that I cannot, either in delicacy or pro- 
 priety, answer for any thing beyond my own department. With 
 regard to my own department, I think some important altera- 
 tions may be made tending to advance the efficiency of the 
 department, and the benefit of the students. In regard to 
 the general enlargement, I think that of the general course 
 should be rather by subdivision of the existing system, than 
 by the introduction of new courses. The efficiency of the 
 department is lessened by crowding too many subjects in one 
 chair. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any alteration or improvement in the 
 manner or extent of instruction in your department ? 
 
 A. The result of long experience has enabled me to speak 
 very decidedly on that point. The chair, as now held, com- 
 prises the studies of two distinct professorships, which ex- 
 
2 
 
 isted as such in the earlier periods of our own College, and 
 exist uniformly in all other colleges of our country ; that ia to 
 say, the union of rhetorical, (including the care of composi- 
 tions,) and of historical with philosophic studies ; a modifica- 
 tion, if not an absolute division of these studies, should, I 
 think, be made. 
 
 There is another point. The second deficiency arises from 
 the total absence of tutorial aid in connection with the pro- 
 fessor's instructions. In those two points my department may 
 be greatly improved in efficiency. 
 
 Q. What modification would you advise in relation to the 
 division of the Ehetorical and Philosophical studies ? 
 
 A. I would suggest, as the simplest mode of obtaining that 
 end, a concentration of my time and duties upon the Senior 
 and Junior classes ; leaving out the study of History, and the 
 care of the compositions of the Sophomore class. This would 
 leave to some other arrangement the study of History, with 
 the lower preparation for the Ehetorical course. 
 
 Touching the manner of instruction, long experience has 
 satisfied me that the only efficient manner of instruction in 
 aesthetic, moral and intellectual science is by free, conversa- 
 tional lectures, aided by a general text-book, but mainly 
 dependent on wider reading — a manner of teaching which 
 encourages a student to independent inquiry, awakening tal- 
 ent and forming opinion, not by dogmatic teaching, but by 
 voluntary study." 
 
 Q. How many hours are you engaged in instruction in 
 each day ? 
 
 A. That appears in the scheme of the College. The classes 
 attend three hours each day. Their attendance on me on Mon- 
 days and "Wednesdays is three hours ; on Tuesdays and Fridays, 
 two hours. 
 
 Q. What classes do you instruct ? 
 ■ A. The three upper classes. 
 
 Q. Wbat were the subjects of instruction to each class 
 during the last academic year ? 
 
 A. The studies are, as far as possible, in accordance with 
 the statutes. 
 
First, as to the Sophomore class. The studies of the first 
 session consisted of the study of modern European History, 
 more especially from the latter half of the 15th century, be- 
 ing the period suggested by Heeren as the true commence- 
 ment of the European system. The second session was the 
 exact and critical study of English History, as the great store- 
 house of our political wisdom. In addition to this, there were 
 essays on subjects connected with the course, read and criti- 
 cised in the lecture-room ; the whole embodied in notes, as 
 stated in my annual reports. Familiar instruction was like- 
 wise given in Rhetoric and Oratory. 
 
 As to the Junior class. The first session was occupied by 
 Ehetorical studies, taking Whately as a leading guide, but 
 with large references, more especially to the teaching of Ar- 
 istotle. In addition, another subject was the study of Esthet- 
 ics, the Principles of Taste, Criticism, Beauty, Poetry. 
 
 The second session was engaged in the study of Logic, both 
 theoretical and practical, with the same general guidance ; 
 also the history of English Literature, critically examined, 
 with reference to original authors and the best authorities. 
 Also, a course of English themes, throughout the whole year, 
 upon the subjects of the course, read and criticised as before. 
 
 As to the Senior class. The studies of that class in the 
 first session were, 1st. The history of Ancient Philosophy, 
 leading into all questions of intellectual and moral science, 
 with large reference to original authorities ; and 2d. A course of 
 instruction in the great truths of Natural Religion ; a course 
 of evidences pursued in a similar manner. 
 
 In the 2d session : The study of Political Economy pursued, 
 with a large reference to leading authors. In addition, sec- 
 ondly, a course of evidences on the subject of Revealed Reli- 
 gion, with similar references. 
 
 Throughout the year in both sessions the results, both of 
 lectures and reading, were embodied in note-books analyti- 
 cally arranged, and throughout the year themes on the cor- 
 responding subjects of the course were prepared, read and 
 criticised in the lecture room so far as time permitted. 
 
President's Eoom — Columbia College. 
 
 The committee, at 2, P. M., on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 1856. 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Betts. 
 
 The questions and answers of the last meeting were read. 
 
 Q. "Was the instruction wholly oral, or partly oral, and 
 with the use of text-books ? 
 
 A. I have pursued the principle recommended in the sta- 
 tutes, of studying subjects and not books, a course impera- 
 tively demanded in all intellectual and moral science. My 
 text-books were therefore taken as a general guide, but not 
 learning definite lessons out of them, looking to the training 
 of the minds of the students, rather than the loading of their 
 memory with opinions. As for instance, in History, any 
 good history in their hands is sufficient; the subject is 
 studied, not the text-book. My practice is, at the commence- 
 ment, to explain the subject of text-books, and to give the 
 class a list of the best, any one of which would be satisfactory. 
 I have made it a point to ascertain from the best students of 
 other colleges the result of studying from text-books, and 
 have found that such instruction makes little impression on 
 the memory. 
 
 Q. Do you deliver your lectures from notes ? 
 
 A. I have written notes ; and in the earlier periods I used 
 to read lectures. Experience brought me to a freer use of 
 notes, as guiding the analysis of the subjects, but not 
 controlling the words. 
 
 Q. Could you produce your notes to the committee ? 
 
 A. I can and will produce my notes, if the committee 
 desire them. I began with the adoption of text-books, which 
 I had bound and interleaved with writing paper, in a large 
 royal quarto form. Upon those being filled, and found 
 inadequate to contain all I wished to convey, I adopted the 
 form of written lectures, which have now swelled to a lar^e 
 amount, but which are not literally delivered, inasmuch as by 
 
long use, the subjects are so familiar as to admit of freer and 
 fuller lectures. 
 
 Q. Do the students take notes of your lectures ? 
 
 A. They do. 
 
 Q. Please to explain the nature of such notes, and the facili- 
 ties afforded to the students to understand how to take them 
 with care, and without interruption of their attention. 
 
 A. The lecture commences with a clear analysis of the 
 subject of the lecture, under its leading heads, which is taken 
 down with precision, totidem Uteris. Each head is then taken 
 up, and treated in its principles, and with reference to authori- 
 ties. In all its leading characters it is given with sufficient 
 slowness for the student to take it down. For illustration, 
 example and general truth, I pass more rapidly, so that they 
 take down the substance, but not the words ; and at the end 
 of each branch of the subject, I pause for questions of inquiry, 
 or solution of doubts and difficulties. In this, each student 
 is provided for taking notes with paper, pen and ink ; some 
 writing in the books themselves, if they are satisfied with the 
 manner of it ; but the majority, with a view to the appear- 
 ance of their note-books, copying these notes at home, arrang- 
 ing them with care and neatness in their note-books, and then 
 enlarging, by reference to general reading, with their authori- 
 ties, - the left-hand page of their note-book being left blank 
 for that purpose. 
 
 Q. Are these note-books examined by yon ? 
 
 A. These notes are regularly presented to me once a week, 
 examined, and valued in each student's account ; and in case 
 of failure, the name of each failing student is included in my 
 weekly report to the President. 
 
 Q. Are these notes put to any use after you have examined 
 them ? ^ 
 
 A. The notes are left in the student's hands, and become 
 the basis of examination. At the public examinations they 
 are handed in with their compositions. 
 
 Q. Are the subjects of your course understood by the 
 classes so that they master them ? 
 
A. It is my principle never to pass from a subject until it 
 is understood and mastered, and the result is attained on the 
 part of the attentive. I never allow them to hold words until 
 they understand them. 
 
 Q. "What proportion of the students in your department do 
 satisfactorily master the subjects at all ? 
 
 A. I would begin by saying, that the difficulty of attaining 
 that end arises from the short time allotted to each subject ; 
 but I should say that at least two-thirds, perhaps three-fourths 
 of my classes attain it. I add, however, another qualification, 
 that the youth of the students, their immature minds, consti- 
 tutes a difficulty in all intellectual instruction. Manly studies, 
 in the hands of boys, can never be adequately mastered ; yet, 
 at the same time, such subjects are all important in education, 
 from the logical and intellectual training which they furnish. 
 By that, I mean to imply, that it is not the actual mastery of 
 a subject which is a test of its value, but it is the training of 
 the mind in the exercise of its faculties. It is material always 
 to bear in mind in education, the difference between sciences 
 of mind and sciences of memory. 
 
 Q. Can you specify in what subjects is the greatest profi- 
 ciency, and in what the greatest deficiency ? and likewise in 
 what subjects the immature age of the students presents an 
 impediment to their attainment of the desirable knowledge ? 
 
 A. It is not easy to specify with precision. The study of 
 ^Esthetic Science, Taste and Criticism are taken hold of, and 
 pursued with great interest. I am speaking of the Junior 
 year. The subject of Logic, except in its first principles, is 
 attained with difficulty. In the Senior year, the subjects most 
 satisfactorily pursued are, the subject of Evidences, and that 
 of Political Economy. The least satisfactory are the higher 
 questions of Intellectual Philosophy. But, with adequate 
 time, I do not think that there is any that might not be 
 pursued with advantage. In my judgment, the more abstruse 
 portions of these subjects would be better fitted to a graduate 
 course, where they would be pursued with riper minds, and, 
 as being voluntary, with greater zeal. 
 
Q. Could you point out hereafter to the committee what 
 portions might be properly postponed to a graduate course ? 
 
 A. I will willingly give my views. I will now answer that 
 no definite studies need be dropped from our course ; but 
 there should be adopted a higher course of philosophic 
 research into the deeper questions connected with them. In 
 the lower forms of these subjects, I hold them essential to the 
 intellectual and logical training of the mind, while the solu- 
 tion of their higher critical questions might be deferred to a 
 graduate course, for which the previous instruction would 
 afford a favorable preparation. 
 
 Q. Could, in your opinion, any definite limit of instruction 
 in your department, for the under graduate course, be pre- 
 scribed ? 
 
 President's Room, 
 
 Feb. 8, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Prof. McViokae, Mr. Ogden, 
 Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Q. [See previous sitting.] 
 
 A. Not with precision, inasmuch as I deem fundamental 
 instruction in each of those branches to be important for the 
 intellectual training of the student, as well as a needful pre- 
 paration for a higher graduate course, should such be added. 
 
 Q. What is the cause of the deficiencies of those students 
 who constitute that third of your classes which does not 
 attain satisfactory proficiency in your department ? 
 
 A. Some few from natural incapacity ; in the majority of 
 cases, from influences over which the professor can have little 
 control — influences, I mean, at home. For instance, some of 
 our least worthy students are from our best families. The 
 license at home is unfavorable to academic discipline. These 
 fail from negligence. 
 
Q. What is the remedy for this evil ? 
 
 A. The remedy I would suggest in my own department 
 would be the command of one hour per week, for each <ilass, 
 on the part of a tutor, into whose hands sucWjudents might 
 be thrown, as both a penalty and a corrective. * 
 
 Q. How far would the enforcement of the statutes, requir- 
 ing each student to do his duty or to leave the institution, be 
 efficacious ? 
 
 A. I do not think that it would be a judicious alteration 
 to dismiss every student from College, who did not come up 
 to a definite mark. It was tried for a time in the earlier 
 periods of Dr. Harris' presidency, in this College on that 
 express principle, but failed, with all his energy to enforce it. 
 The failure showed itself first in the diminution of the num- 
 ber of students, and still more markedly in the continued 
 existence (under the severest discipline) of such delinquencies. 
 
 Q. How often do the students in your classes recite ? 
 
 A. Once in each week every student is under examination 
 with his notes, by which I judge of his capacity, his atten- 
 tion and his intelligence. 
 
 Q. How long does the examination of each student 
 continue ? 
 
 A. That varies from the necessity of the case. All the 
 students of the class in attendance are examined in succes- 
 sion, within the hour ; and each has his number annexed to 
 the performance of his duty. 
 
 Q. Are you able, on such occasions, to detect the defi- 
 ciencies of each student in the previous part of the course, or 
 to discover and to explain away any difficulties he may 
 honestly labor under ? 
 
 A. Every student is called upon to state his doubts or 
 difficulties, with a view to their explanation, and in the state- 
 ment of such doubts and their solution, lies, in my judgment, 
 the most effectual means of their instruction. Every stu- 
 dent is, therefore, encouraged to ask questions. As regards 
 the detection of deficiencies, in the previous part of the 
 course, I would say that I can, through the medium of their 
 notes, detect those deficiencies. 
 
9 
 
 Q. Is it not important in elementary instruction to under- 
 stand the state of mind of, and to advise and assist individual 
 students ? 
 
 A. In all intellectual science, I hold it essential to under- 
 stand the state of mind of each student, since it is only by 
 awakening his own faculties and powers that I can satisfac- 
 torily advance and profit him. 
 
 Q. Is this end now accomplished in your department? 
 A. Certainly not with all, but highly satisfactorily with a 
 large proportion. Their minds are awakened to independent 
 inquiry, and their talents aroused, as may be evidenced by 
 the voluntary labors they undertake beyond their prescribed 
 duties, as exhibited in their note-books, and also by the long 
 and able themes written on subjects connected with their 
 course. 
 
 Q. How are the relative merits of the students in your de- 
 partment determined ? 
 
 A. By the marks severally attached each week to their 
 respective performances. These marks consist in : 1st. A, for 
 absence ; 2d. Zero, in case of failure ; 3d. A series of num- 
 bers, from 1 to 9, expressive of relative merit. These marks 
 are made on the occasion of the weekly examination. 
 
 Q. What, in. your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of arranging all the students in each class in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system ? 
 
 A. The general result would be more favorable than the 
 present method, which I think to be bad, but it would not be 
 the best. The evils in the present system consist in leaving 
 a large body of honorable and deserving students undistin- 
 guished from the idle and less worthy. Again, another evil 
 consists in awakening great dissatisfaction in their thus re- 
 maining undistinguished. The small number of prizes, com- 
 pared with the number of deserving students, has been the 
 means of breaking down the honorable ambition of very 
 many. In my view, the following would be the better prin- 
 ciple: To divide the class, primarily, into the worthy and 
 diligent students' — separating them from those who are not so 
 — and distinguishing them by some title of honor, such as the 
 
10 
 
 class of honor, or legion of honor ; and further, to have their 
 names enrolled in a catalogue, framed and hung up, through 
 the session, in the hall and the library of the College. Again, 
 I would add a distinction arising from attainments, upon a 
 principle similar to that now existing. There would then be 
 three grades. The first, the medallists, who are distinguished 
 both by faithfulness and high attainments ; the second, the re- 
 maining members of the class of honor, who had failed to attain 
 a medal; and, thirdly, the undistinguished or unworthy. The 
 principle of this division is, first, to give honor to worthiness 
 and doty; and, secondly, to give adequate rewards to actual 
 attainments. 
 
 Q. State your opinion, and any material facts within your 
 knowledge in reference to the manner and extent of instruc- 
 tion now given in the College, and the success or want of 
 success attending it, and in reference to the propriety of any 
 change, either in the statutes or their administration in this 
 regard. 
 
 A. I have no facts, except in reference to my own depart- 
 ment, and of those I have spoken in detail as above, and 
 suggested, in my judgment, the respective remedies. 
 
 Q. In presence of whom is the examination of the students 
 applying for admission into the Freshman class conducted, 
 and in what place ? 
 
 A. In regard to the entrance into the Freshman class, I 
 cannot answer with precision. The general principle adopted 
 is, that, in the examination of admission into any class, it is 
 conducted by the professors under whose charge that class 
 comes. The professors not having charge are not called upon 
 to attend. 
 
 Q. Do you know whether examinations for admission are 
 ever omitted ? 
 
 A. They are never omitted. "With regard to the grammar 
 school candidates for admission , I am not acquainted with 
 the existing rule. 
 
 Q. Is the result of such examinations for admission into 
 the Freshman class reported to the Board of the College? 
 
 A. It is. 
 
11 
 
 Q. Are those reports made in writiDg ? 
 
 A. So far as the names of successful candidates are con- 
 cerned it is. 
 
 Q. Does the Board decide as to whether or not the appli- 
 cants are to be admitted ? 
 
 A. The minutes of our Board will show the proceedings 
 on such occasions. A formal vote is rendered unnecessary 
 by a unanimous report favorable to the applicant. In case of 
 doubt, it becomes a matter of discussion and deliberation. 
 The admission, when it takes place, is considered always 
 under the sanction of the Board, whether a formal vote or not 
 be taken. 
 
 Q. Would it not have a favorable effect if all the members 
 of the Board of the College were to attend at and observe the 
 examinations for admission into the Freshman class, and if. 
 in every case of application for admission, the Board of the 
 College were formally to decide ? 
 
 A. In regard to the attendance of the other professors, I 
 think it would be valueless. In regard to the action of the 
 Board, I think the question of admission should be passed 
 upon by them. 
 
 New York — President's Chamber, 
 Feb. 22d, 1856. 
 
 Present — Prof. McVickar, Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson, 
 Mr. Betts. 
 
 Question to Prof. McTickar. 
 
 Q. Do you ever attend the examinations for admission into 
 the Freshman class ? 
 
 A. I do not, as a matter of imperative duty. 
 
 Q. In what manner i6 it ascertained whether the persons 
 applying for admission into higher classes possess the know- 
 ledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. By the examination of the candidate by the respective 
 professors on the studies previously pursued by the class for 
 which he is an applicant. 
 
12 
 
 Q. Do such professors report their opinion as to the quali- 
 fications of candidates ; and if so, to whom ? 
 
 A. They invariably report to the President, by whom the 
 report is brought before the Board. Action is then taken by 
 the Board on the admission of the applicant, based upon such 
 reports of the professors. 
 
 Q. Do the Faculty uniformly pass upon the question of the 
 admission or rejection of all candidates applying for admis- 
 sion into the higher classes ? 
 
 A. They do. 
 
 Q. "What is your opinion ? Is it better that the Board of 
 the College should possess, and uniformly and in form exer- 
 cise, the power of admission into the higher classes, rather 
 than that the President alone should exercise this power ? 
 
 A. I think that admission should always depend upon the 
 approval of the Board, inasmuch as the respective professors 
 are the only competent judges of the fitness of the applicant 
 to pursue the course in their respective departments. 
 
 Q. Are these reports of the professors to which you have 
 lately alluded made in writing ? 
 
 A. Not generally. Usually they are verbal reports, made 
 to the President in the presence of the Board. 
 
 Q. It appears that since the concluding examination of 
 1854, four students were admitted into the Sophomore class, 
 and one in the Junior class ; do you remember those cases ? 
 
 A. But a general recollection. 
 
 Q. Were they passed upon by the Board ? 
 
 A. The result of the examination of the student admitted 
 to the Junior class was, that he was prepared in my depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Q. "Was his case passed upon by the Board ? 
 
 A. It was passed upon after deliberation. 
 
 Q. Do you know any material facts other than those you 
 have stated, in reference to the admission of students ? If so, 
 please to state them. 
 
 A. I do not recall any. 
 
 Q. Are the students of each class instructed by you exam- 
 ^ed at the public examinations upon the w hole subjects or 
 
13 
 
 matter of the course of study pursued during the last preced- 
 ing term, or upon selections from such subjects or matter ? 
 
 A. They are examined upon the whole, with the exception 
 where time has been wanting to review, some minor parts 
 may have been omitted ; but no selection is ever made, the 
 statutes expressly requiring that revision should precede ex- 
 amination. 
 
 Q. Is the examination then confined to the parts of the 
 course of the previous term which have been reviewed ? 
 
 A. The statutes expressly require it ; but a review is of the 
 whole. My examination of the student is ever upon the sub- 
 ject, and not upon formal parts. 
 
 Q. Do the students at the examinations draw slips of paper 
 upon which the subjects are marked ? 
 
 A. They do. Their names being called out by the Presi- 
 dent irregularly, they draw a subject as they are called. 
 
 Q. Can you inform the committee what was marked upon 
 such slips at the last two examinations respectively. 
 
 A. I can produce papers showing the subjects given. The 
 subjects are very general. 
 
 [The Professor will bring them at the next meeting.] 
 
 Q. Do the students know, before the examination, what sub- 
 jects will be marked upon such slips ; and if so, how do they 
 obtain such information ? 
 
 A. They know it only by knowing the subjects of their 
 course. The paper exhibited, entitled " Subjects of the His- 
 tory of Philosophy," containing 36 subjects, were printed at 
 the opening of the course of the Senior class, and was used 
 by the students as a syllabus during the term. A slip con- 
 taining each one of these subjects was drawn by the students 
 as respectively called at the examination. On this occasion, 
 the papers were printed and known to the class. 
 
 Other papers, similar to this, upon other branches, are pre- 
 pared in manuscript at the termination of each course. They 
 are not known specifically to the students. They are pre- 
 pared as a compendious outline of the subjects pursued. 
 
 Q. Are these papers communicated to the class before the 
 examinations as the subjects to be marked upon the respective 
 slips? 
 
14 
 
 A. They are the compend of the notes which they have 
 taken at my lectures. These subjects are all known to the 
 class, and consist of a compendious outline of the whole course 
 they have pursued. They are known as the subjects which 
 are to be upon the papers, and from which they draw by 
 chance. 
 
 Q. "What end is proposed by communicating this list or 
 synopsis to the students ? 
 
 A. It is communicating to them nothing but what they 
 know from their whole course of instruction ; the subject of 
 their course consisting, necessarily, of these divisions. 
 
 The Committee met at the President's Eoom, 
 On Wednesday, February 27, 1856. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Betts, Dr. Andekson. 
 
 Professor McVickar was present, and presented several 
 papers of subjects mentioned by him at the last meeting of 
 the committee, and stated that they were the papers actually 
 used at the examination just passed, and which were drawn 
 by the students. 
 
 The questions proposed to Professor McVickar were con- 
 tinued as follows : 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the committee the 
 advantages or disadvantages or reason for this system of 
 drawing slips on the examination ; and whether you think 
 that this system is liable to any objection or is subject to any 
 abuse ? 
 
 A. It seems to me the only method by which a general - 
 subject can be divided among students at an examination so 
 as to free it from suspicion of abuse on the part of the pro- 
 fessor. Fairly conducted, I think it is the best method. In 
 my department, the divisions of the subject on the papers are 
 the necessary divisions of the subject in itself. To satisfy 
 myself, I would not adopt the measure, as it hampers the 
 
15 
 
 professor, but it seems the only mode of avoiding suspicion of 
 unfairness. My object in adopting it is to avoid partiality, 
 or an appearance of partiality. 
 
 Q. Are these slips, when drawn by the students, placed 
 upon the desk of the professor or upon the students' table at 
 the examinations ? 
 
 A. They are indifferently placed, either on one or the 
 other. They are laid with their faces down, and generally on 
 the table, although there is no usage. The manner of exam- 
 ination is this : Each student, as he is called, comes up and 
 draws from these slips, lying with the blank faces up, one 
 which, after being exhibited to the professor, he proceeds to 
 write upon the black board, that all present may see his 
 subject and what is written upon the slip. Upon the subject 
 thus written he is then examined. The table spoken of is 
 the table upon the stage, at which the students sit on their 
 examinations by some of the professors. 
 
 Q. Have you ever had any reason to believe or suspect that 
 students have substituted a paper containing subjects of their 
 own choice in place of the paper drawn by them ? 
 
 A. Once or twice, in the course of my experience, I have 
 had reason to believe it ; but it is almost impossible to be 
 done, inasmuch as the paper upon which they are examined 
 is returned to me immediately after the conclusion of the 
 examination of each student, before he takes his seat. One 
 instance of strong suspicion arose at the recent examination, 
 in the use of these printed papers, which has indisposed me 
 to use printed papers henceforward. I used them for the first 
 time at the recent examination of the Senior class. 
 
 Q. How much of your subjects of instruction, during the 
 last preceding terms, was reviewed previous to the last two 
 examinations ? 
 
 A. The whole. 
 
 Q. How long did this review continue at the end of each 
 term ? 
 
 A. It has always been limited by the period assigned in 
 the statutes to review — four weeks. 
 
 Q. Do you think it advisable that this review should be had ? 
 
16 
 
 A. I think that repetition is an essential element of thor- 
 ough learning. There must be sueh review either throughout 
 the session, or in a mass at its close. The principle of revis- 
 ion is essential. 
 
 Q. Are the public examinations of the College so conduct- 
 ed as satisfactorily to test the knowledge of the students in 
 the subjects of the course which were the objects of attention 
 in the last preceding term, and in the previous terms ? 
 
 A. The manner of the public examination in my depart- 
 ment, more especially in aesthetic and philosophic science, is 
 not to me satisfactory. Such examinations are suited to sci- 
 ences of memory rather than of mind. The pen is the true 
 test of the improvement of the students in all subjects of aes- 
 thetic and logical training. In other departments I am not 
 competent to judges 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state particularly, then, 
 what mode of examination in your department you would 
 recommend as well.adapted to afford a satisfactory test of the 
 knowledge of the student ? 
 
 A. The most satisfactory, though not perhaps so easily 
 brought into practice, is by the preparation of theses on ques- 
 tions previously given out, carefully prepared by the student, 
 accompanied by a logical synopsis of his argument, and being 
 prepared to defend it. That would test his real advancement 
 and knowledge of the subject. I think in the Senior class it 
 might be introduced. The thesis should be prepared by the 
 student at home, on a subject given out before. I think injus- 
 tice is done to my department at the examinations, from the 
 subject of compositions being passed over so lightly. 
 
 Q. Would it be allowed, then, to a student to be assisted in 
 the preparation of his thesis by a friend or a private instruc- 
 tor? 
 
 A. I would suggest this plan only for those who stand for 
 honors. Their defence of it would of course be the only test. 
 There would be no objection to procuring assistance in the 
 preparation of the paper. 
 
17 
 
 Columbia College — President's Room, 
 March 5, 1856. 
 
 Present — Prof. McYickak, Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 Question to Prof. McVickar. 
 
 Q. Do the professors report to the Board of the College 
 the results of the public examination in their respective de- 
 partments ? 
 
 A. They do, in regard to all who excel and all who fail ; 
 there being no order of merit in the body of the class, I only 
 report specific cases. 
 
 Q. Are these reports made in writing? 
 
 A. They are, by myself. 
 
 Q. Have the Board of the College, within your recollection, 
 excluded any student from proceeding to a higher class, be- 
 cause deficient in the studies of a preceding year ? 
 
 A. They have, but generally with the proviso, that if at 
 the end of the long vacation, an examination should prove 
 that he had made up his deficiencies, he be permitted to pro- 
 ceed. 
 
 Q. Do you remember and will you state any instances of 
 such exclusion of students from proceeding to higher classes ? 
 
 A. I remember frequent instances of this. The records of 
 the Board will show the particular circumstances. 
 
 Q. Do you remember the cases of five or six students, who 
 were excluded at the last concluding examination, from pro- 
 ceeding to a higher class ? 
 
 A. I remember several cases of such exclusion on that 
 occasion. I desire to state, that exclusion from proceeding to 
 a higher class sometimes arises from general, sometimes from 
 partial deficiency. Therefore, I am sometimes called on to 
 hold definite examinations of such as have been deficient in 
 iny department, and in every such case, where the deficiency 
 has been of this nature, I have so examined them, and re- 
 ported the result to the President, before their proceeding. 
 
 Q. Has any student been allowed to proceed, after having 
 been reported still deficient in your department ? 
 
18 
 
 A. He may have been allowed to proceed a short time on 
 trial, but never re-united to the College, until I had been 
 satisfied. 
 
 Q. Do you remember whether any of the students excluded 
 from proceeding to a higher class, after the last concluding 
 examination, were deficient in your department ? 
 
 A. I cannot call to mind the number, but in such case 
 
 . they were examined by me, before proceeding in their class. 
 
 In one of those cases thus put upon trial, the student was 
 
 finally separated from College, from his failure to make good 
 
 his deficiencies. 
 
 Q. Were such special examinations by you held before the 
 commencement of the session in September last ? 
 
 A. They were. 
 
 Q. Are there any improvements in the mode of examina- 
 tions which you can suggest ? 
 
 A. That is a wide question. I will endeavor to give my 
 views in regard to it. A public examination of students in 
 colleges should be regarded not as an instrument of internal 
 discipline, but as a source of external reputation. Therefore, 
 in my judgment, it would be better that public examinations 
 should be confined to those aspiring after honors, and that the 
 remainder of the class wanting in that ambition should be 
 examined privately. Such a principle is the universal one 
 in all colleges abroad, both in the English Universities and 
 the Continental. The details of a plan must be deferred until 
 the adoption of the principle. I would state, however, that 
 the private examinations should be a matter of discipline. 
 The public examination should be a matter of honor, and 
 confined to those who voluntarily present themselves. As to 
 the. private examinations, I would certainly recommend that 
 they should be in the presence of the Board of the College. 
 
 Q. "Would you recommend any change as to the frequency 
 of the examination of the students in the presence of the 
 President and the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. Under the supposed plan, I would advocate more fre- 
 quent examinations of that portion of the class who withhold 
 themselves from the public examinations. 
 
19 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that either these public exami- 
 nations, or the private, of which you have spoken, should be 
 conducted by examiners who are not officers of the College ? 
 
 A. I am not prepared to advise that change, though in my 
 own department I should have no objection to it, and, indeed, 
 should prefer it, provided such examiners were aware of, or 
 familiar with the general questions involved in the subjects 
 on which the instruction has been given. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of the proficiency of the stu- 
 dents in any department, affecting your own ? 
 
 A. There is no other department, except the classical, 
 holding such a relation to my own. Their proficiency in this 
 is essential to creditable performance in my department, 
 which has thus been much strengthened. 
 
 I familiarize my students with classical quotations, both in 
 oral examinations and in their written notes, regarding this, as 
 I do, a great fountain of authority, and as the established 
 password of a liberal education. In this country there is 
 little danger of its running into pedantic display. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state the results of your 
 observations made in your own department, on the profi- 
 ciency of the students in the other department you have just 
 mentioned ? 
 
 A. I can judge of their proficiency only in its bearing 
 upon my own course. That proficiency has been highly 
 satisfactory evidence, by the quickness with which they 
 receive classical quotations, and the facility and beauty of 
 their Greek manuscripts. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, a department of instruction to 
 be assigned to a President of the College ? 
 
 A. That a President of a College should have a branch of 
 instruction assigned to him, has been the practice in our own 
 and other colleges, but in the present 'over-crowded courses 
 of the college, it would be unwise to add a new department. 
 Constitutional law, or the law of nations, would be otherwise 
 a very proper department for the President of a College. But 
 such would be inexpedient, until our students enter with 
 maturer minds, which would enable them to master the 
 
20 
 
 existing courses of study more rapidly, and thus leave room 
 for a new department. 
 
 Q. Is there any branch of your own department, as now 
 under your charge, which can be advantageously assigned to 
 the President of a College, by way of greater extension 
 or amplification of that branch ? 
 
 A. I do not think there is. The subjects, in my judgment, 
 most in accordance with the position of a presiding officer of 
 a College, should stand apart, not adjunct, and should be 
 governing sciences, either the religious instruction (the 
 Course of Evidences) or the studies of International and 
 Constitutional Law, governing subjects to governing minds. 
 
 Columbia College — President's Room. 
 
 The committee met on Wednesday, the 12th of March, 
 1856, at 2 P. M. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Dr. Anderson, Mr. Betts. 
 
 Professor McVickar attended to answer the questions that 
 might be propounded to him. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, or any of them, ever or commonly 
 report to the Board of the College students as having neg- 
 lected their studies ? 
 
 A. Such reports are regularly made once a week by each 
 professor to the President, in the presence of the Board, 
 according to the judgment of the professor. There may be a 
 report of absence simply, or of failure. 
 
 Q. Are these repqrts submitted to the Board of the College, 
 or read before them ? 
 
 A. They are regularly read before the Board, and com- 
 ments made upon them tending to confirm or modify such 
 reports. 
 
 Q. Can you tell how many students you have so reported 
 during the last two preceding terms ? 
 
21 
 
 A. I cannot. Such record on ray book is a temporary one, 
 and not preserved after the end is attained. 
 
 Q. Will you explain the reasons which influenced the 
 Board of the College to the almost total disuse of the punish- 
 ment of suspension, and the substitution thereof of the pun- 
 ishment of dismission, as appears to be the case ? 
 
 A. I speak my own sense, and, I think, the sense of the 
 Board, in saying that the sentence of suspension is inoperative 
 for good, except when coupled with a transfer of the student 
 to some authorized teacher, under whom his studies will be 
 pursued with more of sacrifice on his part, of time and labor } 
 than in the College ; and that the appointment of such subsi- 
 diary discipline has been often recommended by me. Such 
 plan is universal in the English colleges, as coupled with sus- 
 pension. They are remanded to a discipline more severe than 
 the College. "Without this, suspension becomes but justified 
 idleness. No subsequent examination is adequate to attain 
 the desired end. In former years, suspension was not un- 
 usual. But, from the above convictions, the Board took upon 
 themselves to appoint such instructor, without whose certifi- 
 cate the student could not return. But such certificates were 
 found eventually to be inadequate. Hence has gradually re- 
 sulted a substitution of the punishment of dismissal, in place 
 of that of suspension. 
 
 Q. Is public admonition ever administered ; and, if so, how 
 frequently has it been so administered ? 
 
 A. It has been so administered by the present President, 
 before the assembled College after the chapel services, and 
 with effect, but I cannot state how frequently. It is not fre- 
 quent. It has been properly limited to cases where degrada- 
 tion in the eyes of the students themselves was the result ; 
 that is, where the offence was of that nature that it would 
 produce either self-degradatiou or degradation in the eyes of 
 the students, or both. In my judgment, it should be so con- 
 fined. Private admonition is the habitual punishment for 
 minor offences, in the presence of the Board of the College ; 
 such punishment being decided upon by the Board, and ad- 
 ministered by the President. 
 
22 
 
 Q. "Would not the establishing the rule that suspended stu- 
 dents must, during the suspension, attend a private authorized 
 tutor, render it necessary to appoint such tutor in each depart- 
 ment of instruction ? 
 
 A. Rightly chosen, it would not. In the cases of such 
 recent appointment, Messrs. Dodge and Dean, either was 
 per/ectly competent to every branch ; and so will be found 
 six or eight of every class graduating from the College. 
 
 Q. "Would it, besides, be expedient to test the faithfulness 
 with which the student has pursued his studies during sus- 
 pension by a private examination, conducted by each profes- 
 sor instructing the class of the suspended student ? 
 
 A. Certainly. Such examination would be less stringent, 
 under the circumstances of the student being placed under a 
 competent teacher. 
 
 Q. Are the committee to understand you to mean that 
 such examinations by professors would not be a sufficient test 
 of that faithfulness, without the enforced attendance upon an 
 authorized tutor ? 
 
 A. I think that the knowledge of such attendance and 
 course of study, under an officer of the College, would be a 
 strong guarantee for the satisfactoriness of the examination. 
 
 Q. "What is your opinion of the effect upon the students of 
 administering the punishment of dismission in such way as 
 that it is With facility remitted, being in operation for periods 
 varying from one week to a fortnight, and the student, upon 
 the remission of the punishment, being re-admitted to the 
 College without any examination, and without any test of his 
 having pursued the studies of his class during the continuance 
 of the punishment? 
 
 A. I do not deny but that the frequency of dismissal may 
 have an unfavorable influence, but there are two considera- 
 tions important in obviating objections. The first is, that, in 
 almost every case, it is a trial of character, and not a punish- 
 ment for neglect of study. Therefore, the time of separation 
 is not the matter in question, but the fullness and sincerity of 
 avowal by the student of his past offence and future resolu- 
 tions. The second consideration is, that he is not replaced in 
 
23 
 
 the position from which he is fallen, inasmuch as a repetition 
 of such punishment is eqiiivalent to expulsion. He therefore 
 works, as it were, with a sword over his head. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your judgment, the punishment of dismission 
 to be of course remitted, upon the confession of his fault by 
 the student and his promise of amendment, and might not 
 that punishment, in cases, be judiciously unremitted on any 
 terms ? 
 
 A. Certainly not, of course. The reception of a student 
 dismissed even on the fullest acknowledgments, is still a mat- 
 ter of deliberation and express vote by the Board. And I 
 agree that there are cases in which it would be well that such 
 restoration should not take place. Such a case occurred dur- 
 ing the last session. We are destitute in this College of a 
 form of separation from the institution habitually practiced 
 in other American colleges, which is that of remanding a 
 student to his home by a simple communication to his father 
 or guardian of such necessity. 
 
 Q. The statutes seem to prescribe suspension as a grade of 
 punishment inferior to dismission. Is not serious inconven- 
 ience and lack of efficient discipline occasioned by the want 
 of some grade of punishment inferior to that of dismission ; 
 and are not, under the present administration of punishments 
 in the College, offences visited by the punishment of dismis- 
 sion, to which an inferior grade of punishment would be more 
 appropriate ? 
 
 A. I think serious inconvenience arises from such waut. I 
 have already stated the causes which have brought the sen- 
 tence of suspension into comparative disuse, and think that 
 its restoration, as one of our established forms of punishment, 
 would be of great advantage, provided it were coupled with 
 the provision already referred to — that is, of an authorized 
 tutor under whose charge the student should be placed. 
 
 Q. What, in your judgment, is the meaning of the term 
 degraded, as used in the first section of the seventh chapter 
 of the statutes? Does it authorize, in your judgment, the 
 Board of the College, where a student, at any time, in the 
 course of a term, neglects his studies, to degrade him to a 
 lower class ? 
 
24 
 
 A. The language of the statute is vague. But in my judg- 
 ment such would be an unwise interpretation of it. Its only 
 practical interpretation, I think, is that it applies to those who 
 hold honors. It degrades them from their stand as medallists 
 or leaders of the class ; but such application is a narrow one. 
 To make it a valuable punishment requires a division of the 
 class wider than the mere medallists, viz., such as I have al- 
 ready suggested as a class of honor, comprehending all faith- 
 ful students. Then degradation would have a wide and in- 
 fluential bearing. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend any provision to be contained 
 in the statutes providing for the degradation at any and at 
 what time in the course, of a student neglecting his studies, 
 from a higher to a lower class ? 
 
 A. The statutes, as they now stand, make a provision at the 
 close of each academic year. But, in my judgment, such 
 penalty would be found nugatory. I do not remember a 
 single instance, in my experience, of such penalty having 
 been endured. It has been imposed, but upon re-examination, 
 such students have been allowed to proceed with their former 
 class, after examination at the end of the long vacation, or if 
 not, they have quitted the Institution. Such sentence, though 
 not likely to be enforced, might yet be justified on the score 
 of its being a humiliating sentence, and as operating favorably 
 upon other negligent members of the class. 
 
 The committee met at the College on Wednesday, the 
 26th of March, 1856, at 2 o'clock, P. M. Present— Mr. 
 Ogden, Mr. Bbtts. 
 
 Professor McVickar continued : 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestion or opinion to offer upon the 
 statutes, under the head of crimes and punishments, as to 
 their administration or alteration ; and can you state any 
 facts, in your opinion, material for the committee to know in 
 reference to the discipline of the College ? 
 
 A- The above question was submitted at the last meeting 
 of the committee ; and I have written my views, which are 
 as follows : 
 
25 
 
 Much improvement might be made, though not so much in the 
 enforcement of the present statutes as through the introduction 
 of a new source of discipline. It might be termed the substitu- 
 tion of a preventive, in place of a detective police. It con- 
 sists in bringing to bear pointedly in support of College disci- 
 pline the two great moving springs of College life, viz., the 
 sense of individual honor, and the control of the class over 
 its members, both of which, the last more especially, now 
 stand antagonistic to discipline. To bring out these views, I 
 would suggest them in the form of two new statutes, which 
 might run somewhat thus : 
 
 Statute on Class of Honor. 
 
 The Class of Honor comprises all students who regard their 
 matriculation subscription as a pledge of private honor, as 
 well as academic duty, binding upon them, both as gentlemen 
 and as students. 
 
 Of this class, every student is held to be, at his first matric- 
 ulation, a member, and also at each successive renewal of it, 
 unless especially there entered as on probation. 
 
 But, out of this class, any member of it may fall, in the 
 course of the year, through misconduct or habitual neglect, 
 in any one department of his studies — of which fact, the pro- 
 fessor in that department, together with the" President, shall 
 be sole judge. In such case, there shall be entered on the 
 minutes of the Board the simple record of the fact of such 
 exclusion, *. e., the name of the student as thus dropped from 
 the list of the Class of Honor, without specifications. 
 
 On the restoration of confidence in such student, on the 
 part of the professor or professors complaining, after not less 
 than a month's probation, such student's name may be re- 
 stored, and a corresponding entry made. 
 
 Statute II. — On Class Character. 
 
 Inasmuch as the character of each class is a matter of per- 
 manent record on the College annals, and reflects honor or 
 disgrace for all time on each individual member of the same ; 
 and inasmuch as such inquiry to character arises almost 
 
26 
 
 uniformly from the secret misconduct of some few of the least 
 worthy members, conduct, as manifestly against the wishes 
 as against the interest of the large majority of the class : 
 Now, therefore, with a view to meet this case, and enable 
 each class to become the effective guardian of its own reputa- 
 tion, the President is hereby empowered to refer all com- 
 plaints coming before the Board, of general misconduct in 
 the class, or secret individual irregularity, in the first instance, 
 and before any entry on the minutes, to the head of the Class 
 of Honor, for their prompt correction, which correction being 
 so reported, no entry shall appear ; but if not promptly cor- 
 rected, an entry shall be made, stating such failure, the same 
 working under two such entries against the class, in the course 
 of the session, loss of the following privileges, which shall 
 uniformly accrue to every class against which no such entry 
 shall appear during the session, nor act of discipline enforced. 
 
 Privileges. 
 
 1. One week of revision allowed at home, beyond the 
 classes that have not justified such confidence. 
 
 2. The choice of their own speakers, under the general 
 approval of the Board, on all public occasions, and their 
 suggested list of all honors in the class, subject to the approval 
 of the respective professors, in case of testimonials, or the 
 Board, in regard to commencement. 
 
 3. The entry of the names of the members of such honored 
 class on the minutes of the Board of Trustees, and a certified 
 copy of the same to be hung up, framed, in the Library, 
 through the ensuing year, and published. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 The pressing need for the introduction of the above princi- 
 ples of self-discipline arises from the obvious loss of the 
 earlier guarantee of imposed or external discipline— I mean 
 reverence, a willing recognition and submission to rightful 
 authority. Without this all discipline, ab extra, becomes harsh 
 and ineffective ; and the only true substitute is a discipline 
 ab intra, springing from self-respect and the sympathy of 
 
27 
 
 worthy companions. The influence of the body, overruling 
 the irregularity of its individual members, and that influence 
 being secured to good order and duty through the obvious 
 and present rewards attached to such conduct. 
 
 To awake these honorable principles in the students has 
 ever been my aim and reward ; but to give full efficiency to 
 them requires their entry on the statute-book as College laws, 
 sanctioned by authority and strengthened by judicious re- 
 wards of obedience. 
 
 This would bring rewards as well as punishments to bear 
 upon College conduct, and, as before said, substitute in a great 
 degree & preventive for a detective police in its discipline. 
 
 J. McVICKAK. 
 
 I would add, that the above principles of moral and gentle- 
 manly discipline as regulating the conduct of the student, are 
 peculiarly applicable to Columbia College, inasmuch as being 
 a College simply of instruction, it is free from all those irritat- 
 ing causes of antagonism between the authorities and the 
 students, which arise from continued residence. Colleges of 
 residence have to deal habitually with outbreaks and rebel- 
 lions among students — we, but with " school-boy " irregulari- 
 ties, (so far as conduct is concerned,) arising during their few 
 hours of recitation. To raise the " school-boy " character into 
 the " manly " character, is therefore one great problem of dis- 
 cipline — valuable not only in itself, but as the only sure 
 basis of the student's diligence and high attainments ; and for 
 the solution of this great problem, nothing (in my judgment) 
 will prove more effectual than the adoption of the above, or 
 a somewhat similar scheme, viz. : 
 
 1. A permanent honorable record of all willing and worthy 
 students, as constituting a Class of Honor, having reference to 
 quiet, gentlemanly obedience. 
 
 2. Appropriate rewards, as above suggested, conferred on 
 classes as such, who shall duly exercise the initiative power 
 of discipline, hereby granted to them, at once to repress and 
 put a stop to all secret irregularity, as not only affixing a blot 
 on the permanent character of the class, but also depriving 
 
28 
 
 each member of it of the immediate advantages which their 
 a;ood conduct as a class can alone secure. 
 
 & 
 
 Q. How are punishments, adjudged by the Board, pro- 
 nounced ? 
 
 A. They are pronounced by the President in presence of 
 the Board — the accused being called back to hear his sen- 
 tence. 
 
 Q. Are they pronounced by a written form, prepared by 
 the President, and read in the Chapel ? 
 
 A. A public announcement in the Chapel does not accom- 
 pany every sentence of the Board. When it is so- added, it 
 is read by the President from a written paper. 
 
 Q. Are public punishments, comprehending public admo- 
 nition, suspension, degradation, dismission and expulsion, 
 pronounced by a written form, prepared by the President, 
 and read in the Chapel ? 
 
 A. They are not always. It has been the practice to re- 
 gard the public announcement of the punishment as discre- 
 tionary. That' has been the practice during my whole con- 
 nection with the College. 
 
 Q. Do you recommend, then, any alteration of the statutes 
 with respect to the public announcement of punishments ? 
 
 A. I do. Secret punishment I believe to be more effective ; 
 and from my communications with presidents of other col- 
 leges, I learn that it is so considered by them. I therefore 
 hold that publication should be discretionary with the Board 
 of the College. 
 
 Q. "What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the.College to re- 
 quire the attendance of any student as a witness ? 
 
 A. My opinion is against all examination of students be- 
 fore the Board, except in special cases. I hold the govern- 
 ment of a College to be in principle an autocracy. My judg- 
 ment is against calling one student to testify against any other, 
 before the Board. The statement of a professor complaining 
 should be conclusive. 
 
 Q. "What is your opinion as to the expediency of calling 
 
upon any student to give testimony against his fellow-stu- 
 dents ? 
 
 A. I am decidedly opposed to it. 
 
 Q. Do the students, when in class in your lecture-room, pre- 
 serve strict decorum ? 
 
 A. In general they do. The present Senior class, from its 
 numbers and perhaps from the character of some in it, does 
 not always. The size and arrangements of the room are not 
 favorable, and the nature of the courses of study demanding 
 an ^influence over the individual mind, are not well fitted 
 to so numerous a class. 
 
 Q. Of what disorder are they guilty ? 
 
 A. A disorder of inattention, talking, and sometimes inten- 
 tional noises, tending to distract the attention of the class. Of 
 the other classes I have no complaint. 
 
 Q. Are you able to detect and report individual cases of 
 disorder ? 
 
 A. Disorder is of such a character that it is not easily fixed 
 in a definite charge, talking is explained as being in connec- 
 tion with the lecture, and intentional noises are of course 
 secret ; but in this the Senior class is much improved. This 
 class has been a singular exception, and the irregularity has 
 existed only within the last 18 months. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means for improving the disci- 
 pline in your room ? 
 
 A. I could not suggest any thing beyond what I have 
 already suggested ; that is, the adoption of a tutor, to whose 
 charge might be remanded inattentive students, and of the 
 moral discipline already suggested. 
 
 Q. "What are the means to which the professors usually 
 resort to repress or punish disorder in their rooms ? 
 
 A. I can only speak of my own. It is such union of au- 
 thority and kindness as I would use towards my sons, recall- 
 ing them to a sense of gentlemanly duty. 
 
 Q. Are the students sometimes dismissed by a professor, 
 for the residue of the lecture or recitation, after the commis- 
 sion of disorder ? 
 
30 
 
 A. Never, by myself. I have heard, incidentally, of such 
 cases reproved by the President, at the Board, as irregular. 
 
 Q. What is your view concerning the right of a professor 
 so to dismiss a student, and the propriety of its exercise ? 
 
 A. I hold it to be incorrect for a professor to dismiss a stu- 
 dent, by his own authority, from the duties of his room. 
 There are cases when it may be advisable to send in to the 
 President for his action ; that action being, so far as I have 
 known, always, after reproving the student, to remand him to 
 the lecture-room again. 
 
 Q. What extent of authority ought the professor to have 
 for the preservation of order 3 
 
 A. I think any thing, within gentlemanly limits, short 
 of dismissing him from the room. 
 
 Q. Do all the professors report concerning the conduct and 
 deficiency of the students at every meeting of the Board of 
 the College ? 
 
 A. Written reports are brought in by every professor, at 
 every meeting of the Board, containing a list of failures, and 
 such other reports as they deem expedient. These are read 
 before the Board, and handed to the President for his action. 
 
 Q. Do the Board of the College keep a book of minutes of 
 their proceedings ? 
 
 A. They do. 
 
 Q. Who keeps the book ? 
 
 A. At the present time it is kept by the President himself. 
 In former times, it was regarded as the duty of the junior 
 member of the Board, acting as clerk. For a number of 
 years it was, in this way, my duty to keep the minutes. 
 
 Q. How long has the practice of the junior- member of the 
 Board acting as clerk been discontinued ? 
 
31 
 
 Peesident's Room — Columbia College, 
 April 9, 1856. 
 
 Present — Prof. McVickab, Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Conference with Prof. McYickar continued. 
 Continuation of written answer from Prof. McV. 
 Interrogatories resumed : 
 
 Q. How long has the practice of the junior member of the 
 Board acting as clerk been discontinued ? 
 
 A. I cannot determine the date, but think it was some time 
 during the Presidency of President Moore. 
 
 Q. Have the Board a clerk ? 
 
 A. We have never recognised any special officer under that 
 title. It was (as stated before) the duty of the junior member 
 to act as such. 
 
 Q. Are the minutes of the proceedings read to the Board, 
 or approved by them ? 
 
 A. They are not, except such examination be called for, 
 and except such matters as were laid over for the action of 
 the ensuing Board. 
 
 Q. How often is such examination called for ? 
 
 A. I cannot state the frequency. It takes place only when 
 any question arises as to the matters contained. As a matter 
 of order, the minutes are npt read. 
 
 Q. Are you engaged in any professional pursuit from which 
 you derive emolument, and which is not connected with the 
 College ; and if so, will you have the goodness to state to the 
 committee all the facts and circumstances connected with this 
 subject which you may think it material for them to know ? 
 
 A. I am not engaged in any occupation beyond my College 
 duties, with the exception of the exercise of my clerical pro 
 fession on Sundays, freedom for such occupation having been 
 an original understanding with the Trustees, on the acceptance 
 of my professorship, and through leading members of the 
 Board of Trustees, my first engagements were so made at their 
 solicitation. This privilege has been from time to time exer- 
 cised by every clergyman of the Episcopal Church who has 
 
32 
 
 held a professorship in this College, my predecessor, Dr. 
 Bowden, among the number. 
 
 Such is the formal and legal view of this case. For the 
 moral question,! have never allowed, and would never allow 
 any other duty or occupation to break in upon the fullest devo- 
 tion of my time and talents to what I hold to be my primary 
 duty — my engagements as Professor of Columbia College. 
 Under these circumstances, I have never supposed that the 
 above employment of my time on Sundays constituted a 
 breach of the statute prohibiting engagements for emolument 
 other than those connected with the College. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestions to make relative to the prac- 
 tical working of the chapter of the statutes " on the Board of 
 the College," or to the propriety of any amendments to it ? 
 
 A. As a matter of discipline, I do not see that any impor- 
 tant change can be made. My view of the disciplinary 
 government of the College is, that the responsibility should 
 rest, not upon the discussions of the Board, but on the discre- 
 tion and judgment of the President. To clothe him with full 
 powers, and hold him to full responsibility, is, in my judg- 
 ment, a true principle of College discipline. I am not in favor, 
 therefore, of any detailed or imperative rules. There is an 
 end sought ; power is given, and that end should be de- 
 manded. 
 
 Q. The statute referred to in the last question requires that 
 the Board of the College shall. keep a book of minutes of their 
 proceedings. Can you explain how the practice has grown 
 up that a book, purporting to be such minutes, is, as a matter 
 of order, neither read to such Board nor approved by them ? 
 
 A. It has grown up, evidently, from the fact of their being 
 few matters of doubt or deliberation demanding such review 
 or approval by the Board. I think, however, that it would 
 be more conformable to the statutes, if the minutes were, as a 
 matter of course, read to the Board and approved by them. 
 
33 
 
 President's Room — Columbia College, 
 April 16, 1850. 
 
 Present — Prof. McVickae, Mr. Ogden, Mr. Andeeson, Mr. 
 
 Betts. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state more particularly the 
 nature of the professional engagement to which you have 
 alluded, the duties which it involves, and the emolument 
 derived from it ? 
 
 A. I some years since accepted, at the request of my friend 
 Colonel Bahkhead, an invitation to preach to the soldiers on 
 Governor's Island, which after a time resulted in an arrange- 
 ment to continue such services as chaplain to them. The sole 
 prescribed duty is one sermon, preached on Sunday morning, 
 and, in my own voluntary charge of the children of the island, 
 as a Sunday-school in the afternoon. The pay of a chaplain 
 is forty dollars a month ; which money, together with other 
 private funds, I employed in the erection of a free mission 
 church on the island, with the permission of the government 
 — the same being consecrated by Bishop Delancey, and the 
 title of it held by the Rector of Trinity Church, as trustee — 
 myself standing as their missionary, although receiving the 
 above pay from the government. 
 
 Q. How are the general and special testimonials awarded, 
 and upon what evidence ? 
 
 A. They are awarded in a full meeting of the Board, by 
 the President calling upon each member of it in order, to 
 vote for the head or chief testimonial in each class. The 
 special testimonials are openly assigned by the respective 
 professors in their departments, with the approval of the 
 President, but still open to deliberation on the part of the 
 Board itself, in case of special causes of doubt. The judg- 
 ment of each professor is founded on the records of each 
 student's conduct and proficiency in his own department. 
 
 Q. In your own department is your judgment upon the 
 question as to the awarding either general or special testimo- 
 nials founded entirely, or to what extent, upon your re- 
 cords of the performances and conduct of the student ? 
 
34 
 
 A. My judgment is always so formed, that is to say, 
 exclusively upon the record I keep of the students' conduct 
 and attainments. 
 
 Q. Do you keep a record of the performances in the class 
 and at examination ? 
 
 A. In my lecture-room my record is regularly and fully 
 kept. At examinations my record has reference not to the 
 body of the class, but to these who stand, in my judgment, 
 as candidates for testimonials. 
 
 Q. Are these records ever exhibited to the President ? 
 
 A. They are not; they are the private records of the pro- 
 fessors. What the President receives, is the judgment of the 
 professor founded on these records. 
 
 Q. "What is the best mode of determining the relative 
 standing of the students, and ought not that mode to be 
 uniform ? 
 
 A. In my judgment the most effectual method must be 
 left to the individual professor. The adoption of one uniform 
 system of numbers, applicable to all studies and every de- 
 partment, is, I think, impracticable, as a matter of equity 
 and justice. Some exercises demand a very different scale 
 from others, as, for instance, a well-written composition, the 
 result of days or weeks of labor, cannot be measured by the 
 same scale as a duty of a few hours' study. I do now use 
 numbers to designate relative proficiency in the ordinary 
 studies, with special symbols indicative of the rank of exer- 
 cises for which such numbers are deemed incompetent. 
 
 Q. On the supposition that there were no testimonials, 
 could not a uniform system of numbers be devised which 
 would exhibit the relative proficiency of the students in each 
 department of study ? 
 
 A., Certainly. It is only where the numbers of different 
 departments or studies are combined for the general result 
 that any difficulty arises. 
 
 Q. Would it not be advisable to preserve, and is there any 
 difficulty in doing so, greater order among the students at 
 commencement, by preventing the shouting and stamping in 
 which they sometimes indulge ? 
 
35 
 
 A. I think it would be highly desirable to give greater 
 academic dignity to our public exhibitions. The possession 
 of a Collegiate Hall, adequate for numbers, would be a great 
 step towards securing this result. 
 
 Q. Ought the President, in your opinion, to have the 
 power to grant vacations or intermissions of the lectures in 
 addition to those prescribed by the statutes ; and if so, can 
 you suggest any restriction or limitation to which that power 
 ought to be subjected ? 
 
 A. I think that such cases may, perhaps must arise, and 
 that the discrimination must rest in a wise discretion, subject 
 to full responsibility. 
 
STATEMENTS OF PROF. ANTHOtf. 
 
 The Committee met at the College at the President's 
 room, on "Wednesday, the 23d of April, 1856. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Betts. 
 
 Prof. Anthon was present, and answered the questions put 
 to him. 
 
 Q. How many hours are you engaged in instruction each 
 day in the College ? 
 
 A. Monday, two hours ; Tuesday, two hours ; Wednesday, 
 three ; Thursday, two ; Friday, two. 
 
 Q. What classed do you instruct ? 
 
 A. The three upper, Senior, Junior and Sophomore. 
 
 Q. What were the subjects of instruction to each class 
 during the last academic year ? 
 
 A. In the Senior class, the Latin and Greek Languages, and 
 a Course of Lectures, with examinations in Greek Literature, 
 and occasional exercises in Greek and Latin Composition, in 
 prose and verse. In the Junior, Greek and Latin Classics, 
 and Lectures on Koman Literature, with examinations, and 
 Greek and Latin Composition in prose and verse. In the 
 Sophomore class, the Greek and Latin Languages, Greek 
 Antiquities, and Greek and Latin Composition. 
 
 Q. Is your instruction from text-books, or not ? 
 
 A. From text-books, with oral explanations, as required. 
 In Greek and Koman Literature, however, and in Greek 
 Antiquities, the mode of examination is as follows : A certain 
 
 1a 
 
portion of the text-book is assigned for study at home, and 
 the student is allowed, in preparing this portion, to procure 
 from any other quarter additional information that may have 
 a bearing upon the subject. The professor, at the same time, 
 prepares a series of questions, drawn from the pages of the 
 text-boot, but kept strictly private, and which the student 
 hears read, for the first time, in the lecture-room. Each 
 student is supplied with a blank-book, and is placed in such a 
 way as to prevent any communication with his neighbor. The 
 questions are then read off, with their numbers, by the pro- 
 fessor, and after each question there is a pause, during which 
 the student writes in his blank-book an answer to the ques- 
 tion proposed, adding such additional information as he may 
 have been able to procure. When all the questions have been 
 read off and answered, each student, under the direction of 
 the instructor, gives his book of answers to another student, 
 who. becomes the examiner of its contents. The instructor 
 then reads off the correct answer to the questions which he 
 has previously given, and the examining student checks off 
 as many of these as he may find in the book which he has 
 before him. The number of correct answers given by each 
 student is then announced, and these numbers are written 
 down in the professor's class-book. 
 
 Q. Are you able to tell what text-books yon use ? 
 
 A. We give the preference to Leipsic, or small Oxford 
 editions. No edition of the Classics of my own is used, ex- 
 cept Tacitus. 
 
 Q. On what principle do you act in selecting from the 
 text-books prescribed by the statutes ? 
 
 A. We select such parts as may interest the students most, 
 and give them the fairest view of the author ; and. as far as 
 possible, I endeavor to use different books every year, in 
 order to guard against the possibility of the student using 
 translations. 
 
 Q. Do you prefer those editions of Classics which have 
 notes, or those which are without them ? 
 
 A. I prefer the editions with notes. 
 
 Q. Does not the bare text have the effect of promoting 
 
3 
 
 habits of patient, attentive application in the student, by 
 compelling him to find out for himself the meaning and con- 
 struction of the sentences and passages in the author read ? 
 
 A. In my opinion it does not, for this reason : There are so 
 many demands on the time of the student during his College 
 course, that he is obliged to economize, and I devote only a 
 comparatively small portion of his attention to this particular 
 subject ; and the access to English translation has become so 
 easy, that he finds it difficult to resist tie temptation of 
 resorting to it. 
 
 Q. Though the student presents a translation not his own, 
 can you not test his acquaintance with the passage, by 
 examining him on the construction of the sentence contained 
 in it? 
 
 A. This is always done, and comes under the general head 
 of parsing ; and unless a student can bear such an examina- 
 tion, he is marked deficient. 
 
 Q. Are not the students who resort to written or printed 
 translations deficient in knowledge of the grammatical con- 
 struction of the languages ? 
 
 A. Generally speaking, they are ; and the preference is al- 
 ways given in the lecture-room, to a performance, no matter 
 how crude, that indicates previous study, over one in which 
 the student appears to be aided by a translation. In relation 
 to notes to editions, I will add, that many authors would be 
 unintelligible without notes, or without a degree of oral in- 
 struction which could not be given. Notes impart life to the 
 dead languages. 
 
 Q. "What is the best mode of instruction in the Classics, 
 with the view of obtaining the object in view, of general in- 
 tellectual discipline, and improvement of the taste and facul- 
 ties? 
 
 A. A judicious combination of text-books with notes and 
 oral instruction, with a close examination as to whether the 
 students understand the structure of the language, and the 
 meaning and spirit of the author. 
 
 Q. Are the authors used by your classes those prescribed 
 by the statutes ? 
 
A. I have occasionally used other authors than those pre- 
 scribed by the statutes, having, as I conceive, obtained the 
 authority of the trustees'. The advance of the school reading 
 has been such as to include in the school course many works 
 prescribed by the College statutes, and renders it necessary to 
 enlarge the College course. 
 
 Q. Are the subjects of your course understood by the class- 
 es so that they master them ? 
 
 A. The classes so far master them, that as a general rule, 
 I am satisfied with them, particularly by comparing the re- 
 sults here with those in other colleges. The following extract 
 from an English translation of Siljestrom's " Educational In- 
 stitutions of the United States," may throw some light on this 
 subject. 
 
 " Indeed, not even in Germany would it be possible to pro- 
 ceed on a more minute and critical system of interpretation 
 as regards the classical authors than I heard applied in Co- 
 lumbia College when I was there." 
 
 Q. "What proportion of the students give you satisfaction 
 with their acquaintance with the subjects of study ? 
 
 A. There are many scholars that give me full satisfaction; 
 quite a fair proportion that give satisfaction generally ; and 
 some, as must be expected, who give but little. In general, 
 however, the improvement is satisfactory. 
 
 Q. What is the cause of the deficiency of those students 
 who do not give satisfaction ? 
 
 A. In my opinion there is not communication kept up be- 
 tween the College and the parents of such students as are de- 
 ficient. In general the first intimation a parent has, is the 
 dismission of a student for repeated deficiencies. A system 
 of periodical reports, monthly or otherwise, I think, would 
 be highly beneficial. 
 
 Q. Do you attribute this deficiency, then, to the neglect of 
 the students of their studies, rather than to their lack of in- 
 telligence ? 
 
 A. To the neglect of their studies, with few exceptions. I 
 think a system of reports would remedy the evil effectually. 
 Q. How often do the students recite ? 
 
A. On an average I can hear sixteen recitations in an hour, 
 accompanied with explanations ; but during a revision, I 
 can hear from twenty to twenty-five. 
 
 Q. Are you able, on such occasions, to detect the deficien- 
 cies of each student, or to discover and explain away any 
 difficulty he may honestly labor under ? 
 A. I consider the time amply sufficient for that. 
 
 Q. How are the relative merits of the students in your de- 
 partment determined ? 
 
 A. By a scale of numbers, varying from eight to twenty- 
 five ; when it falls below eight, I mark it defective, and at 
 the next recitation call on such deficient student to recite 
 again. 
 
 Q. Do you keep a daily record of these performances ? 
 
 A. I do, and make a weekly return to the President of 
 those students who are deficient. 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of arranging all the students in each class in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system ? 
 
 A. I should be decidedly in favor of such change, if made 
 in each department. Since we have abandoned the old 
 system, imperfect as it was, the scholarship of the College 
 has fallen off. In order to make the system truly effective, 
 however, I think that the order of merit should be established 
 in each department, and each professor should be held strictly 
 accountable for the order of merit in his room, and the class- 
 es should be seated according to the order of merit in his 
 room. 
 
 President's Chamber — Columbia College, 
 April 30, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. 
 
 Present — Prof. Anthon, Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Q. State your opinion, and any material facts within your 
 knowledge, in reference to the manner and extent of instruc- 
 
6 
 
 tion now given in the College, and the success or want of 
 success attending it, and in reference to the propriety of any 
 change, either in the statutes or their administration, in this 
 regard? 
 
 A. The system of instruction prevailing at present in some 
 of the departments of our College is, in my opinion, open to 
 very serious objections, which I will state very frankly ; and, 
 in so doing, I will give partly the results of my own expe- 
 rience, as a member of the institution, and partly what I have 
 elicited, by cautious inquiries, from the better class of students. 
 
 1. In the first place, I do not think that the attention of the 
 classes is sufiiciently called, in some departments, to the study 
 of text-books. A regular daily preparation of some portion 
 of a work, either in literature or science, appears to me abso- 
 lutely necessary as a foundation, on which to build the lecture 
 of the day.. Any mere system of dictation, no matter how 
 carefully given, is a poor substitute for a text-book, no matter 
 how defective. The mental indolence engendered by this pro- 
 cess of slavishly copying down whatever falls from the lips of 
 an instructor, is fatal to that habit of investigation and candid 
 inquiry which forms so essential a feature in every system of 
 sound education ; and the more so, if the student be precluded 
 from making any inquiries on the spot, either by the rules of 
 the lecture-room or by the fear of interrupting the business of 
 the day. It is no argument in defence of this system to say, 
 that the student can make the necessary inquiries at the end 
 of the lecture, for his own attendance is required elsewhere, 
 and the professor's time is demanded for a new class. Equally 
 objectionable is the custom of directing the students to open 
 up for themselves, by private reading, other sources whence 
 additional information may be obtained, and which informa- 
 tion is to be copied by them into the pages of their note-books, 
 and submitted at stated periods to the inspection of the pro- 
 fessor. The greater part of this same private reading is pur- 
 sued in the College library, after the lectures of the day have 
 terminated ; and as the library is not opened every day, and, 
 even when opened, is only so for about two hours, the student, 
 driven to the necessity of rapid reading, and oftentimes with- 
 
out sufficient leisure to weigh well the full import of what he 
 cites, puts together an incongruous mass of materials, and thus 
 becomes, to all intents and purposes, a mere quotation-machine 
 and hunter of indexes. Should the student's industry, how- 
 ever, prove, as is often the case, unequal to the task of even 
 going through with this scanty amount of rapid reading, he 
 betakes himself to the old note-books of previous classes, and 
 thus obtains a plentiful supply of extracts and quotations, 
 which have probably been made to do duty on many occasions 
 before. Nay, I have been informed, on the very best author- 
 ity, that ingenious students have sometimes manufactured quo- 
 tations, and appended to them the names of popular authors, 
 and that these singular specimens of " additional information" 
 have successfully escaped detection. The remedy for all this 
 is an easy one. Let a text-book be used. Let the students be 
 daily and orally exercised upon this. Let its errors, if there 
 are any, be pointed out. Let " additional information" be 
 imparted by the professor himself, from his own stores of in- 
 formation ; and let the student be required to treasure up this 
 information, and to display its fruits, not with ornamental 
 flourishes of calligraphy in the pages of a note-book, but in 
 his oral recitations in the lecture-room, and in the compositions 
 which he maybe called upon to produce. On this subject of 
 encouraging inquiry in the lecture-room, I must be allowed to 
 say, and I say it with honest pride, that it forms one of the 
 most marked features of the classical course of instruction, 
 and that to it is owing much of the interest with which the 
 students regard this portion of their daily labors. I learnt it 
 from my old preceptor, Dr. Mason, and I well remember how 
 much his constant habit of answering every question put to 
 him, and of removing every difficulty from the path of the 
 student, tended to increase our admiration of his eminent 
 abilities, and to make us interested and gratified learners. 
 
 2. Another evil in our College system, and one immediately 
 connected with the preceding, is the infrequency of daily reci- 
 tations on the part of each student. Where no text-book is 
 employed, daily recitations have, of course, no existence ; and 
 where there are no daily recitations there is little, if any, ini- 
 
8 
 
 provement. It should be made the duty of each professor to 
 call upon as many students to recite as may be consistent with 
 the size of the class and the requirements of sound instruction; 
 and each professor should be obliged to furnish monthly, for 
 the inspection of the trustees, a statement containing the 
 number of daily recitations in each class, during that month, 
 and also the average number of recitations in the case of each 
 student. 
 
 3. Another and very serious evil arises from the non- 
 attendance of students in one lecture-room, and their attend-' 
 ance in another on the very same day ; and, in almost every 
 instance where this occurs, their non-attendance is in the room 
 where the more difficult recitation is to be held. In connection 
 with this may be mentioned the frequent absence of students 
 from the lectures generally. The remedy for both these evils 
 is an easy one. Let there be a system of monthly reports 
 adopted, in the case of all students who may have been absent 
 from recitations, or in any way deficient or delinquent during 
 the month ; and let these reports be sent home, by some care- 
 ful messenger, to the parent or guardian of the student. By 
 not pursuing this course, our College is neglecting one of its 
 most valuable means of discipline. By all means should such 
 a course be adopted, when a student has been guilty of any 
 minor act of delinquency. It is an established rule in morals, 
 that no one becomes bad on a sudden; and if parental. au- 
 thority, therefore, be called in to aid the discipline of the 
 College, in checking, at the outset, a student's irregular career, 
 that parent will be spared the cruel infliction of learning most 
 unexpectedly that his son has been dismissed. or expelled from 
 the institution for some act of misconduct, which has been the 
 last in a long series of delinquencies, of which he has been 
 kept in total ignorance. 
 
 4. Another evil in our College system is the habit* in which 
 students too frequently indulge, of asking permission to leave 
 a lecture-room, sometimes when the lecture has hardly as yet 
 commenced, and, when this permission has been granted, of 
 wasting a large portion of valuable time in idle lounging around 
 the College doors. Not unfrequently permission to retire is 
 
thus given to more than one student from the very same room ; 
 and, now that the College grounds are laid open to public in- 
 spection, it certainly does not present a very edifying spectacle, 
 nor one very complimentary to the Faculty and to the general 
 discipline of the institution, to see a parcel of idle students 
 loitering and smoking without doors, when they should he 
 attending to their duties within. My own experience on this 
 head has taught me that the true corrective for this evil is to 
 make the lectures interesting to the student. In the classical de- 
 partment the applications for permission to leave the recitation- 
 room occur so seldom that, when they do occur, it generally 
 attracts the attention of the whole class. Nor would a second 
 student ever be allowed to leave the room (supposing such an 
 application to be made) until the previous one had returned. 
 The number of times that students leave the classical lecture- 
 room, during a recitation, is, on an average, for all the classes 
 attending me combined, about once in a fortnight or three 
 weeks. What is thus done in one lecture-room, can very 
 easily be effected in all. 
 
 5. Another evil in our College 6ystem is the total loss of 
 one day in the week, namely, Saturday. It might be made 
 a day for negligent students to attend and be subjected to 
 extra drilling. Or on that day additional exercises in oratory 
 might be performed, and the students be called upon much 
 more frequently than at present to exhibit their skill in decla- 
 mation. Or else, the College Board might hold its meetings 
 on that day, as was formerly the case, and delinquent students 
 be compelled to attend, and have their cases adjudicated, an 
 attendance which would frequently of itself prove to them no 
 slight punishment, by abridging their hours of recreation. 
 * 6. Another evil is the unequal distribution of the hours of 
 attendance among the different professors. For instance, Drs. 
 McVickar and Hackley work ten hours each per week, and 
 Prof. McCulloch and myself, each eleven hours. Until about 
 the middle of the last session, I had worked for many years 
 at the rate of twelve hours per week. On finding, however, 
 that this liberality was entirely thrown away, and that I got 
 no thanks for it, I gave up one of the hours to the German 
 
10 
 
 department. But the greatest piece of unfairness is, that Dr. 
 McYickar does no work whatever on Thursday of each week, 
 enjoying on that day a complete exemption from lectures of 
 any kind, while the rest of us are at work with our respective 
 classes. 
 
 7. Another evil is the singular mode of examination which 
 has recently sprung up. The College examinations hereto- 
 fore were conducted according to the good old plan of allow- 
 ing each professor one entire day for a class, an arrangement 
 fraught with decided advantage to the character of the insti- 
 tution, and also to the students themselves. But now every- 
 thing is hurried ; a day is divided between two classes, the 
 strictness of examination is injudiciously abridged, and every- 
 thing wears the appearance of a race against time. The only 
 thing gained by this haste, if it deserve the name of gain, is 
 an enlargement of the College vacations, which hardly seems 
 called for by any previous exhaustion on the part of the offi- 
 cers of the College. 
 
 8. Another evil is the mode of conducting some of the 
 College examinations, even under the new and rapid system. 
 The examination papers ought never to be prepared by any 
 student, even though that student be the head of the class. 
 There is always great danger either of the paper's containing 
 something more than the mere number of the particular 
 subject, or of double sets of papers being made. The so- 
 called Oxford mode of examination (a downright misnomer) 
 which has crept in among us, is nothing more than a broad 
 farce, and a most unfair one, too ; nor is that other system any 
 better, according to which the students are examined on page 
 after page of a volume, in the regular order of the pages, 
 since this amounts to nothing more than telling the student 
 beforehand, while at his seat, on what portion he is to stand an 
 examination. And then comes the hardest thing of all. A 
 student, who has stood a fair and searching examination in 
 other departments, is often, in the general seating of the class, 
 placed below others who have had the good fortune to gain 
 an additional testimonial in those departments where these 
 unfair modes of examining prevail. 
 
11 
 
 9. Another great evil is the total absence from our College 
 course of a regular and independent department of Ancient 
 History. At present, some very slight instruction is given 
 on this head to the Freshman class, but nothing like what 
 the importance of the subject demands. In the three upper 
 classes there is a total want of instruction on this head ; and 
 the deficiency is sought to be supplied in the Classical lecture- 
 room by constant attentions to Ancient History whenever 
 opportunities occur ; and the eager attention displayed by the 
 students as often as remarks are made on any of the remark- 
 able theories of the day, plainly shows how very interesting 
 such a department, in its broad and liberal sense, might be 
 made. 
 
 10. Having alluded in the preceding paragraph to the Fresh- 
 man class, I may here take the liberty of remarking that the 
 Classical course is altogether too limited. When I was 
 adjunct professor, and had charge of the Freshman Classical 
 studies, I devoted to them fifteen hours each week. The 
 time at present bestowed is but ten hours, and into that 
 limited period are crowded, besides the Classics, Ancient 
 Geography, Roman Antiquities and Ancient History. I 
 certainly think that the Freshman Classical course ought to 
 be materially enlarged, and I am the more induced to make 
 this suggestion, because the. parents of students who have 
 passed from the Grammar school into the Freshman class, 
 have often complained to me that their sons became indolent 
 in College, from their not being called upon to recite every 
 day, as had been customary at school ; and I may also men- 
 tion, in this connection, that they have complained of the 
 want of College reports, from which they could ascertain 
 whether their sons were industrious or indolent. I see no 
 reason, therefore, why we should not come back to the good 
 old custom which prevailed in Dr. Harris' time, (the heroic 
 age of our College,) of retaining the Freshman class until two 
 o'clock each day, and of giving them daily three hours of 
 Classical instruction. 
 
 11. Another evil is the existence of what are termed 
 " Secret Societies." If these associations merely contented 
 
12 
 
 themselves with a rivalry in new patterns of breast-pins, with 
 mysterious characters superadded, the whole affair would be 
 harmless enough. But when they presume to interfere in the 
 regular operations of the College, the evil becomes a serious 
 one. At no time is this more glaringly shown, than when 
 preparations are made for our annual commencements. In 
 accordance with an evil custom, which has for several years 
 been prevalent, the Senior class are allowed to select by vote 
 the speakers, and even the honors, subject, however, to the 
 revision of the Board of the College. A wide field is here 
 opened for the rivalry of secret associations, which, on these 
 occasions, exert a most mischievous influence. I would 
 suggest, therefore, that no student be allowed to receive a 
 testimonial, who belongs to any such secret society, and that 
 the arrangements for commencement, as far as regards the 
 selection of speakers, and the appointment to honors, be left 
 entirely with the Faculty of the College. 
 
 12. There is one other point lo which I wish to call the at- 
 tention of the committee, and as it is a very important one, I 
 have placed it last in order. I hope that I shall not be 
 deemed guilty >of any want of delicacy in mentioning it; but 
 it appears to me to be so intimately connected with the best 
 interests of the College^ that I shall not hesitate to allude to 
 it openly. The President of the College, in my opinion, 
 ought to take part in the instruction of the students. At 
 present, the situation of that functionary appears to me pecu- 
 liarly unfortunate. The students merely regard him in the 
 light of a chief executive officer, watching their movements, 
 and ready to punish them if caught in any act of delinquency ; 
 and the constant effort of a large proportion of them is to 
 avoid being thus caught. This is an unpleasant state of 
 things, and might easily be avoided, if the President, in ad- 
 dition to his general supervision of the College, were to be- 
 come an instructor of the Senior and Junior classes, or of the 
 Senior class alone. The ties would be drawn much closer 
 than they at present are, between the governing power and 
 the governed, and a moral influence would be placed in the 
 hands of the chief officer of the institution, which might be 
 
13 
 
 wielded with the happiest effect. And theD, again, what an 
 array of noble subjects presents itself, on which the head of 
 the College might impart information to the more advanced 
 students, with honor to himself, and the richest profit to 
 them — sketches of eminent statesmen, of ancient and mod- 
 ern times — comparisons of ancient and modern forms of 
 government — lectures on commercial law — the constitution 
 of our country — the great political questions of the day, with- 
 out their party spirit. No student would depart from such a 
 banquet otherwise than mentally invigorated, and with the 
 fixed determination of repaying his alma mater for such a 
 boon, by the most undeviating attachment. 
 
 Q. "Were the hours of attendance of the several professors, 
 as now assigned, prescribed by any order or direction of the 
 Board of the College ? 
 
 A. The present arrangement emanated from the President, 
 and was sanctioned by the Board of the College. 
 
 Q. Can you say for how long a time the hours of attend- 
 ance of the classes upon instruction has been less than four 
 for each day ? 
 
 A. I cannot recollect, with any degree of precision, when 
 the classes attended four full hours. 
 
 Q. Are you of opinion that the regulations of the second 
 subdivision of the third chapter of the statutes, in respect 
 to the hours of instruction, are wise, and ought to be carried 
 out? 
 
 A. Three hours of faithful attendance (with the exception 
 of the Freshman class, which requires four hours) would be 
 sufficient, at least under our present system. If the German 
 course were made a voluntary one, the hours of the sub- 
 graduate courses might be advantageously increased. ■ 
 
 Q. When was the practice of assembling the students on 
 Saturdays discontinued, and what influenced the Board of 
 the College in making the change ? 
 
 A. The change took place during the presidency of Dr. 
 Duer, and, as far as I can remember, was authorized by some 
 enactment of the trustees. 
 
 Q, Do the Board of the College now meet statedly on 
 
14 
 
 every Saturday, for the purpose of administering the general 
 discipline of the College? 
 
 A. They do not. 
 
 Q. Can you tell when the practice of assembling on that 
 day, for that purpose, was discontinued by them, and what 
 influenced them to make the change ? 
 
 A. I cannot say precisely when this change took place, 
 nor the reasons which induced it. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that the provision of the stat- 
 utes prescribing Greek and Latin composition, in verse, be 
 repealed ? 
 
 A. By no means. More time should, I think, be given to 
 compositions, whether in prose or verse, than at present. 
 
 Q. Do you think that any advantage would accrue by 
 making the College course one of three years duration, in- 
 stead of four ? 
 
 A. Most decidedly ; provided the requirements for en- 
 trance were enlarged, and the Faculty were more strict in 
 insisting upon full preparation for admission. The change I 
 would recommend would be to commence the College course 
 with the present studies of the Sophomore class. 
 
 Q. Do you recommend the adoption of a voluntary course 
 of study, either in addition and parallel to the ordinary 
 course, or in complete substitution for the same? and explain, 
 as fully as possible, any plan that you may think proper to 
 suggest. 
 
 A. I recommend one in complete substitution for the same, 
 with the proviso that the students be required to attend at 
 least three of the professors, such as he himself may select. 
 And it would be a part Of the plan that each professor be al- 
 lowed an equal sum for his services, to be paid by the Col- 
 lege, with an extra compensation derived by the professor 
 through the treasurer, from each of the students who might 
 attend his particular department, the rate of which compen- 
 sation shall be fixed by the Board of Trustees, and shall be 
 uniform. 
 
15 
 
 Pbesident's Room — Columbia. College, 
 New- York, May 7, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Antbon was also present to meet the committee. 
 The interrogatories addressed to Prof. Anthon were con- 
 tinued : 
 
 Q. In presence of whom is the examination of the students 
 applying for admission into the Freshman class conducted? 
 
 A. The examinations for admission are extremely informal, 
 and not at all as they were in former days. There may be said 
 to be in fact no formal public examinations for admission. 
 The candidates for entrance are mo3t commonly examined in 
 private by the professor of the mathematical or classical 
 department, and the result is stated to the President. On 
 those days, however, which have been appointed by the Pre- 
 sident, through the medium of the public papers, for the ex- 
 amination of students, these examinations take place, it is 
 true, in the College chapel, in the presence of the President, 
 but are even then altogether informal, and consist merely of 
 so many private examinations. 
 
 Q. Is the examination for entrance ever omitted ; and if 
 so, under what circumstances ? 
 
 A: I do not know that it ever is, except in the case of the 
 students of the Grammar School, in which case the certificate 
 of the Rector of their fitness to enter is regarded as equivalent 
 to an examination. 
 
 Q. You say that the examinations for admission are not at 
 all as they were in former days. Will you please 6tate how 
 such examinations were formerly conducted ? 
 
 A. The applicants for admission were formed into one large 
 class, and each student was publicly examined by the mathe- 
 matical and classical professor. The Board were generally 
 in full attendance, together with the President ; minutes 
 were taken of the performance of the candidates by the at- 
 tending professors, whether examining or not, and referred 
 
16 
 
 to in determining their votes as to their admission, and rela- 
 tive order of merit on admission. At the end of the examina- 
 tion, by book, in the classical department, a piece of English 
 was given out to the candidates, which they were required to 
 turn into grammatical Latin before leaving the examination 
 room, to which fictitious names were to be appended ; and it 
 was generally understood that this last-mentioned exercise 
 carried with it the greatest weight in determining the re- 
 lative position on admission. !N"o candidate was allowed 
 to hold communication with another while so turning this 
 piece of English into Latin. The examinations were ex- 
 tremely rigid, due allowance being made for any trepi- 
 dation on the part of the candidate. The Faculty then held 
 a meeting, at which they compared notes and settled the re- 
 lative position of the candidates by number ; and the result 
 was then formally announced by the President in the College 
 chapel. 
 
 A. How long has this mode of conducting the entrance 
 examination been discontinued ? 
 
 A. It was discontinued some time during the presidency of 
 Dr. Duer. The reason for making the change, as far as I can 
 recollect, was, that applicants for admission were deterred by 
 the strictness of the public examination, and preferred being 
 examined privately. The Faculty at last complied with the 
 wishes of the candidates in this respect, from a fear that an 
 adherence to the old system of examination would have an 
 injurious effect on the numbers applying for admission. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend a recurrence to the old plan of' 
 examinations for entrance in any, and in what respect? 
 
 A. If the object of the College be to gain students annually, 
 I do not think that such change would be at all for the better 
 inasmuch as they would betake themselves to other institu- 
 tions where the examinations for admission are much less 
 strict than our own, even under the new system. If, however 
 the object of the College be to become a nursery of sound and 
 thorough scholarship, I would recommend, by all means, a 
 recurrence to the old plan of examining candidates for en- 
 trance, some check being at the same time interposed to 
 guard against the frequency of private examinations. 
 
17 
 
 Q. Though the recourse to the old system might at first 
 have the effect to diminish the number of candidates, might 
 it not, after the lapse of a few years, really increase the number 
 of candidates ? 
 
 A. I think it would have this effect, by raising the reputa- 
 tion of the College, though it would require at least four 
 years to bring about this result. 
 
 Q. Is the result of the examinations for admission reported 
 to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. It never is, to the Faculty assembled as a Board. For 
 my own part, if I should wish to ascertain the names of the 
 members of the Freshman class, I should be obliged to have 
 recourse to the Matriculation book, there being no other record 
 of the names of the entering class. 
 
 Q. Does the Board of the College decide as to whether or 
 not the applicants for admission into the Freshman class shall 
 be admitted ? 
 
 A. They do not. The matter is settled entirely between 
 the President and the Classical and Mathematical professors, 
 who have examined the candidates. 
 
 Q. Do yoxi know whether these examinations for admission 
 are strict? 
 
 A. I do not know much respecting them ; but from what I 
 do know, I do not think they are now as strict as in former 
 days. 
 
 Q. In what manner is it ascertained whether the scholars 
 applying for admission to the higher classes possess the 
 knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. In the Classical department they are always examined, 
 and with great strictness. With regard to the other depart- 
 ments, I believe they are examined in some, but not in all. 
 Generally speaking, the two departments in which the ap- 
 plicants are examined, are the Mathematical and Classical. 
 
 Q. Does the President, or do the professors not examining, 
 attend such examinations of the upper classes ? 
 
 A. They never do. Such examinations are always private, 
 and the result stated to the President. 
 
 2a 
 
18 
 
 Q. Who decides whether the candidates for admission into 
 higher classes shall be admitted ? 
 
 A. The President of the College, but he is always guided 
 by the opinions of the examining professors. 
 
 Q. Was this question formerly decided by the Board of 
 the College, at the time when, as yon state, they used to de- 
 cide upon the question of admission into the Freshman 
 class ? 
 
 A. I do not know whether the Board actually decided, but 
 these matters were more strictly attended to than at pre- 
 sent. 
 
 Q. Will you please state your opinion, would it or not be 
 better that the members of the Board of the College should 
 be required all to attend the examinations for admission, 
 whether into the Freshman or other classes, to note the re- 
 sult ; and that the Board of the College should possess 
 and exercise the power of admission into any class, or the re- 
 jection of candidates applying ? 
 
 A. I think this would be a decided improvement, and I 
 am in favor of making any change which will tend to make 
 our system of examinations more formal and thorough. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that all examinations for admis- 
 sion, whether into the Freshman or the higher classes, be 
 public J 
 
 A. I .certainly would. 
 
 Q. Do you remember any cases of admission into higher 
 classes which have occurred since the concluding examina- 
 tions of 1854 % 
 
 A. I remember several. 
 
 Q. Do you remember the case of a candidate applying for 
 admission into the Junior class, who was admitted in Octo- 
 ber, 1855 ? 
 
 A. I remember the case distinctly. 
 
 Q. Will you state all the facts within your knowledge, re- 
 lative to the examination of that candidate, the reports made 
 thereon to the President, and the decision upon the case ? 
 
 A. I remember examining the candidate in the Classical 
 department, and certifying to the President his fitness, as far 
 
19 
 
 as his classical proficiency was concerned, to enter the Junior 
 class. Whether he was examined or not in the other depart- 
 ments, I do not know. He was, however, admitted into the 
 class for which he applied. 
 
 Pbesident's Chamber — Columbia College, 
 May 15, 1856. 
 
 Commitee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Andebson. 
 
 Prof. Anthon was also in attendance, and the interrogato- 
 ries addressed to him were resumed. 
 
 Q. Do you know any facts other than those you have stated 
 respecting the admission of students ? If so, please state them. 
 
 A. None, that I think of sufficient importance to mention. 
 
 Q. Are the students of each class examined in your de- 
 partment, at the public examinations, upon the whole subjects 
 or matters of the course of study pursued during the last pre- 
 ceding term, or upon selections from such subjects or matters ? 
 
 A. The examination is upon all that we have revised dur- 
 ing the period allowed us by the statutes, and this generally 
 embraces all that has been read during the session. Before 
 the commencement of revision an estimate is made of the 
 number of pages or lines that the class has read, and a cer- 
 tain portion of this is assigned to the classes each day, so as 
 to make up in the end the whole amount read by the class 
 during the session. 
 
 Q. Have the students any intimation or knowledge of se- 
 lections from the course of study of the previous term, which 
 the professora may think proper to question them upon at the 
 examination, or of any limitation of the examination ? 
 
 A. The students have no such knowledge. I make my se- 
 lections of passages the evening before the examination. The 
 classes are always informed that they must come prepared to 
 be examined on all they have revised. 
 
 Q. Are these passages, so selected by you, marked or des- 
 ignated upon slips of papers to be drawn by the students by 
 lot ? 
 
20 
 
 A. They are. 
 
 Q. Can you point out the subjects marked upon such slips 
 at the last two examinations respectively ? 
 
 A. I cannot do it conveniently, as I make it a point to de- 
 stroy the papers after they are handed me by the students. 
 The slips, however, merely contain the name of the author, 
 and the number of a particular page or line. 
 
 Q. How much of your subjects of instruction, during the 
 preceding term, was reviewed by your classes respectively, 
 previous to eacb of the last two examinations ? 
 
 A. Either all, or very nearly so. The exception is in the 
 departments of Greek and Roman Literature, and of Greek 
 Antiquities, on which there is no public examination. 
 
 Q. Why is there no public examination in these depart- 
 ments ? 
 
 A. The time allowed for the entire examination does not 
 admit of it. 
 
 Q. How much time is allowed to you for your entire ex- 
 amination? 
 A. About three hours for each class, or a little over. 
 Q. How much time would be requisite for the thorough 
 examination of each class ? 
 A. Six hours at least, if the class averaged thirty. 
 Q. Can you suggest any plan by which the whole time 
 now consumed in the examination of all the classes might not 
 be increased, and yet sufficient time be given to each professor 
 for a thorough examination in all his departments ? 
 
 A. For this purpose I would recommend the plan of par- 
 allel examinations, that is, of examinations held at the same 
 time by the respective professors, in the presence of commit- 
 tees designated by the trustees, who should, report accordingly. 
 
21 
 
 President's Room — Columbia College, 
 New- York, May 21st, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Anthon was also in attendance, and the interrogatories 
 addressed to him were continued. 
 
 Q. Will you please to give your opinion whether or not the 
 provision of the statute requiring a review ought to be retained 
 or altered ? 
 
 A. I would recommend that the provision of the statute he 
 retained by all means, for I consider the revision as forming 
 the most valuable part of the College course, and the true test 
 of the efficiency of the course of study pursued in a lecture- 
 room. 
 
 Q. Can you propose any method by means of which the 
 necessity of revision may be obviated ? 
 
 A. If the system of revision is objected to, I should propose, 
 as a substitute, frequent (for instance, monthly) parallel exam- 
 inations, superintended by the President and a committee of 
 the Board of Trustees, without any revision whatever. 
 
 Q. Are the public examinations so conducted as satisfacto- 
 rily to test the knowledge of the student in the subjects of the 
 course which were the objects of attention in the laBt pre- 
 ceding term and in the previous terms ? 
 
 A. I prefer answering with regard to my own department. 
 My opinion of the proficiency made by the student in the 
 studies of the session is based partly upon what he does at the 
 examination, and partly upon his previous performances in 
 the lecture-room, especially during revision. As a general 
 matter, I would say that no College examination, by itself, as 
 our examinations are at present conducted, can ever be a full 
 test of the progress of the student. 
 
 Q. Why can it not ? 
 
 A. Because I do not think it searching enough ; and it is 
 not searching enough because there is not allowed sufficient 
 time to make it so. The only way to bring about such a result 
 
22 
 
 would be to make our examinations partly oral and partly in 
 writing, and to let each professor devote a whole day to each 
 class. 
 
 Q. Could the examination, conducted as you have just 
 suggested, be made a satisfactory test of the knowledge of the 
 student in the subjects, not only of the last session, but of all 
 previous sessions of his College course ? 
 
 A. I certainly think it could ; especially, by means of 
 that part of the examinations which would be conducted in 
 writing. 
 
 Q. It is then the want of time only which prevents your 
 own examinations becoming such a test ? 
 
 A. It is ; and I would willingly undertake, if more time 
 were allowed me, to make the Classical examination produce 
 such a result. 
 
 Q. "Would there be an advantage in that result, and would 
 you recommend the adoption of a system calculated strictly 
 to test the knowledge of the students at the public exam- 
 inations ? 
 
 A. There would be a decided advantage in thisj and I would 
 so recommend. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, after such examination, report the 
 results to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. The professors make no such report whatever. The 
 President, while the examination is going on, makes a memo- 
 randum himself in the case of each student, extracts from 
 which are occasionally read to the Faculty ; but, except 
 where circumstances call for this communication, the Presi- 
 dent's notes are regarded as a private record. 
 
 Q. Do the professors keep a record of the results of their 
 own public examinations ? 
 
 A. I never keep such record, and I do not know that any 
 member of the Faculty does. 
 
 Q. Is it not desirable that all the professors should attend 
 the public examinations ; and should not all, especially the 
 examining professor, note the performance of each student? 
 
 A. As far as a constant attendance on my part at the pub- 
 lic examination is concerned, it would conflict with my duties 
 
23 
 
 in the Grammar school. Where nothing interferes with this 
 general attendance, it has undoubtedly a very useful effect, as 
 it imparts more formality to the examination, and enables the 
 members of the Board to arrive at a more accurate judgment 
 of the proficiency of the students in departments other than 
 their own. As regards taking notes by the non-examining 
 members of the Faculty, I think this would have a good effect 
 where the departments are more or less connected with each 
 other. The examining professor should certainly take notes 
 of the performance of the students under his examination, in 
 order to compare these with the memoranda taken by the 
 President. 
 
 Q. "Would not sueh general attendance of the professors upon 
 and careful noting by them of the results of, public exami- 
 nations be certainly requisite, if the old plan of arranging all 
 the students in the order of merit were restored ? 
 
 A. It would ; and when formerly the students were ar- 
 ranged in the order of merit, the professors were required to 
 be present, and to keep a very careful memoranda of the rela- 
 tive excellence of the performances at the public examination. 
 
 Q. Upon what evidence does the Board of the College act 
 in awarding testimonials of merit, the Board not having the 
 reports of any professor ? 
 
 A. The Board, as a College Board, do not award the testi- 
 monials. Each professor hands in to the President a list of 
 the students to whom he awards testimonials in his own de- 
 partment; and when called upon by the President to state 
 who ought to have the general testimonial, as the leading 
 scholar of the class, he names for such honor the most promi- 
 nent person in his own department, and the President then 
 declares the result, according to the majority of votes, his own 
 vote counting as one. 
 
 Q. Have the Board of the College, within your recollection, 
 excluded any students from proceeding to a higher class, be- 
 cause deficient in studies of the preceding year ? 
 
 A. They have occasionally passed sentences to that effect, 
 but I do not remember any instance where such sentence has 
 been fully carried out, the student being generally allowed 
 
24 
 
 to rejoin his former class on promise of future amendment. 
 It is not unusual for students to be dropped from a class for 
 want of proper proficiency, but I do not recollect, since I 
 have been a member of the College Faculty, of any instance 
 where a student, on having been sentenced to join a lower 
 class, has ever done so. 
 
 Q. Are there any improvements in the mode of the public 
 examinations which you can suggest ? 
 
 A. I think that each class ought to be divided into three 
 distinct portions — different in each department. That the 
 first portion should consist of the ablest scholars of the class 
 in such department, and that these alone should be publicly 
 examined in that department. The second portion should 
 consist of the medium scholars, who should be examined 
 every month, as I have previously suggested ; and that the 
 third and remaining portion should consist of the more indo- 
 lent members of the class, who should be drilled by a 
 tutor, and be examined every fortnight by the professor 
 in his lecture-room, in the presence of the President. Ac- 
 cording to this plan, the be6t scholars might be examined 
 only twice a year, and would be allowed more time, therefore, 
 for preparation. 
 
 Q. You have stated that you would not recommend that 
 the public examination should be conducted by persons not 
 officers of the College. Might not the same, or nearly the 
 same end be attained by the authorized attendance of some 
 adept, appointed by the trustees, who, without conducting the 
 examination, might yet, from time to time, as he saw oppor- 
 tunity or need, propose questions to them ? 
 
 A. The plan might, perhaps, answer a useful end, but it 
 does not meet my full approbation. 
 
25 
 
 New- York, May 2±th, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Anthon was also in attendance, and the interroga- 
 tories addressed to him were continued. 
 
 Q. Can you make any further suggestions relative to pub- 
 lic examinations ? 
 
 A. I think the old plan should be restored of subjecting 
 the candidates for admission to examination by the Jay pro- 
 fessor of the Greek and Latin languages, and not by the ad- 
 junct professor. I think, too, that the examination should 
 consist mainly of written translations from the ancient authors 
 into English, and made on the spot, as well as of exercises 
 in the writing of Latin made in a similar way. These trans- 
 lations and exercises should be examined by the Board of 
 the College, each student annexing a fictitious name to his 
 written work. 
 
 Q. Can you explain the reason that has influenced the 
 Board of the College to disuse the punishment of suspen- 
 sion ? 
 
 A. It arose, I presume, from their not regarding it as suffi- 
 ciently severe. Suspension, in my opinion, is no punishment 
 at all, unless it be for several weeks, and the student be com- 
 pelled, during that interval, to attend a private instructor, to 
 be named by the Faculty, a specified number of hours every 
 day ; and not to be re-admitted except on a certificate from 
 said instructors that he has been so employed. Otherwise 
 suspension operates virtually as a holiday. Another reason 
 why suspension has not been resorted to as a punishment, 
 consists in the great difficulty experienced of late in finding 
 competent private instructors. 
 
 Q. Is not the punishment of dismission liable to the same 
 objection, as being a virtual holiday, when the sentence is re- 
 mitted after an interval of a week or a fortnight, upon the 
 apology of the student, without any examination of the stu- 
 
26 
 
 dent, or any assurance that he has pursued his studies in the 
 interval ? 
 
 A. It certainly is ; and I would recommend its entire 
 abolishment, and the substitution of suspension in its place. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestion or opinion to offer upon the 
 statutes of crimes and punishments as to their administration 
 or alteration ; and can you state any facts, in your opinion 
 material for the committee to know, in reference to the dis- 
 cipline of the College ? 
 
 A. As regards the first section of this chapter, I think that 
 the punishments of admonition (whether private or public) 
 and degradation, as well as of dismissal, should be abolished. 
 "With regard to the third section, it is my candid opinion that 
 if a stricter system of academical police were observed within 
 the College grounds, and the visits of students to neighbor- 
 ing places of refreshment thus prevented, a great deal of good 
 would ensue, both to the College and to the students them- 
 selves. 
 
 Q. Are punishments which have been adjudged by the 
 Board of the College pronounced by a written form, prepared 
 by the President and read in the chapel ? 
 
 A. I believe they always are. 
 
 Q. Do you advise any alteration of the requirements of the 
 statute on this head ? 
 
 A. I do. I think the execution of the statute, as it stands, 
 always gives rise to more or less confusion, and arms the as- 
 sembled students with the means of showing, in some way or 
 other, their disrespect of the authority of the College. I think 
 that all academical punishments ought to be as secret and 
 mysterious as possible. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to re- 
 quire the attendance of any student as a witness? 
 
 A. As regards witnesses against a student summoned for 
 an offence, I think such power should be taken away, as it is 
 either liable to serious abuse or else amounts to a mere nullity, 
 in case said witness should refuse to answer, on the ground 
 that he might thereby criminate himself. Indeed, from my 
 
27 
 
 knowledge of the tone of feeling among the students, I do not 
 think such order on the part of the Faculty would be obeyed. 
 As regards the production of witnesses, on the part of the 
 accused student, I would throw the door open as widely as 
 possible, and would require that he be always informed by 
 the presiding officer of his right to produce such witnesses. 
 
 Q. Do you think that thorough discipline in the College 
 might be preserved without any recourse to the testimony, 
 voluntary or involuntary, of the students to prove any of- 
 fence ? 
 
 A. Most assuredly. 
 
 Q. Do you think it is in the power of an observant profes- 
 sor himself to detect the authors of disorders in his room ? 
 
 A. I certainly think it is. 
 
 Q. What qualities are requisite in the professor to enable 
 him to preserve order amongst the students in his lecture- 
 room? 
 
 A. There are three qualities which I think all-important. 
 First, a courteous treatment of the students ; secondly, thor- 
 ough self-possession ; thirdly, a complete acquaintance with 
 the subject of the lecture, resulting from previous preparation. 
 
 Q. Do the students, when in class in your lecture-room, pre- 
 serve strict decorum ? 
 
 A. They do. 
 
 Q. Do you report all cases of disorder to the President or 
 Board of the College ? 
 
 A. I have none to report. If any should occur, I think I 
 should be able to check it on the spot, without the necessity 
 of any such report. 
 
 Q. "What are the means to which the professors usually re- 
 sort to repress or punish disorder in their rooms ? 
 
 A. Some of them send for the President, or else for the 
 janitor, by whom they transmit a verbal message to the 
 President. Some dismiss the student from their rooms ; but, 
 in general, they either wait on the President, at the end of the 
 lecture, and make him acquainted with the case, or else order 
 the student to attend before the College Board at their next 
 
28 
 
 meeting. Occasionally, the student himself is sent in to the 
 President, to report his own misconduct. 
 
 Q. Is the student sometimes dismissed for the residue of 
 the recitation or lecture, after the commission of disorder ? 
 
 A. He sometimes is. 
 
 Q. Is there any question about the right of the professor so 
 to dismiss a student ? 
 
 A. It has been a matter of conversation among the mem- 
 bers of the Board, and opinions are divided on the subject. 
 
 Q. What is your view concerning this right, and the neces- 
 sity and propriety of its exercise ? 
 
 A. I should doubt whether a professor has the right to 
 dismiss a student from the lecture-room for the residue of the 
 hour. I think that cases might occur requiring the exercise 
 of such a right (if it existed) on the part of a professor. My 
 only doubt, as regards the expediency of arming him with this 
 power, arises from what my own experience has taught me, 
 that all acts of disorder in a lecture-room can be very easily 
 checked, in the outset, without any necessity arising for dis- 
 missing a student from the room. 
 
 College Library, 
 
 New-York, May 28th, 1856. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Anthon continued his replies to the interrogatories 
 addressed to him. 
 
 Q. Have you any further suggestions to make relative to 
 the discipline of the lecture-rdom, and the means of enforc- 
 ing it ? 
 
 A. I think that all offenders against the discipline of a 
 lecture-room should be immediately sent in to the President, 
 accompanied by the janitor ; and that the question whether 
 the offender should return to the lecture-room should be left 
 entirely to the discretion of the President. If the offender, 
 
29 
 
 however, on being restored to the lecture-room, should again 
 violate order, I would arm the professor with full power to 
 dismiss him from the room for the remainder of the hour, and 
 report him to the Board of the College. I am also of the 
 opinion that no professor, after ordering a student before the 
 Board, should be allowed to rescind such order, but that notice 
 be given by him immediately to the President ; and that no 
 further power be left with the professor of excusing the of- 
 fender from appearing before the Board. It appears to me 
 that a positive evil arises from a professor having the power, 
 in the first instance, to turn a student from the room during 
 the remainder of the hour, without notifying the President ; 
 because a student may thus be enabled to escape the duties of 
 the lecture-room, and prepare himself for the exercises of 
 another. I have known such cases often to occur. 
 
 Q. "Would the requiring suspended students to attend an 
 instructor, to be named by the Faculty, render it necessary or 
 expedient that private tutors should be permanently appointed 
 by the Board of Trustees ? 
 
 A. I think such an arrangement would be a good one. 
 
 Q. How many of such private tutors would be required? 
 
 A. Two or three. One would do for several departments. 
 
 Q. Would you leave to the parent of the student the right 
 to select a tutor other than one of those appointed by the 
 Board of Trustees ? 
 
 A. I would not. 
 
 Q. Would a strict examination of the suspended student, 
 made at the expiration of his term of suspension, answer the 
 same end as the certificate of an authorized tutor ? 
 
 A. I fear it would not. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend such strict examination in addi- 
 tion to the enforced attendance on the tutor, and to the pro- 
 duction of a certificate ? 
 
 A. I certainly would. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of the proficiency of the 
 students in any department of study affecting your own ? if 
 so, please state it. 
 
 A. I think that in the department of Ancient History, 
 
30 
 
 which has a direct connection with my own, the students be- 
 tray a lamentable ignorance ; and I have made a recommen- 
 dation already on this bead. I am not aware, however, that 
 this branch is taught in the College, except on a limited scale 
 in the Freshman class, and in the upper classes, as a matter 
 of revision. 
 
 Q. As you understand the statutes, whose duty is it now to 
 teach Ancient History ? 
 
 A. It seems, as to the Freshman class, to be the duty of the 
 adjunct professor of Latin and Greek ; and as to the subse- 
 quent classes, the revision and continuation of Ancient His- 
 tory and Geography falls to the department of the Jay pro- 
 fessor ; but, in my Opinion, the whole subject ought to be 
 assigned to a separate and new department, called the Pro- 
 fessorship of History, distinct from the other departments, and 
 embracing both Ancient and Modern History. 
 
 Q. Ought the College, in your opinion, strictly to require 
 the students to master the course of instruction pointed out 
 by the statutes, or should allowance be made for those that 
 from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence fail to 
 acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to impart ? 
 
 A. I think that such strictness is absolutely necessary ; and 
 no allowance should be made for incapacity or want of due 
 application to study. 
 
 Q. Do the Board of the College keep a book of minutes 
 of their proceedings ? 
 
 A. According to my view of the matter, they do not keep 
 a book of minutes. Until very recently, the President has 
 been accustomed to keep a record or journal, purporting to 
 state the proceedings of the Board, Which journal, however, 
 was never read to the Board. On a very recent occasion, the 
 matter came up for consideration, and the Board of the Col- 
 lege agreed that the old mode of keeping the minutes should 
 be revived, viz., that they should be kept by the youngest 
 member of the College Faculty, and be read at" the opening 
 of each succeeding meeting, to be corrected and approved. 
 By virtue of this arrangement, the duty of clerk was assigned 
 to Prof. McCulloh. At the opening, however, of the meet- 
 
31 
 
 ing of the Board next succeeding the one in which this ar- 
 rangement was made, the President informed the Faculty 
 that circumstances had occurred that induced him to take the 
 minutes again into his safe keeping, since which time he has 
 had the sole preparation and custody of the records. 
 
 Q. Did any member of the Board object to this resump- 
 tion of the care of the minutes on the part of the President ? 
 
 A. It was not objected to at the time. 
 
 Q. Has it since been objected to at any meeting of the 
 Board ? 
 
 A. There has been but one meeting since, and at this I was 
 not present. 
 
 Q. Are you engaged in any professional pursuits from 
 which you derive emolument, and which are not connected 
 with the College, with or without authority from the Board 
 of Trustees ? 
 
 A. I am not, unless the rectorship of the Grammar school, 
 which I hold by the authority of the trustees, be so regarded. 
 
 Columbia College Libeaey, 
 
 June 1th, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ooden, Mr. Andebson. 
 
 Prof. Anthon was also present, and the interrogatories 
 addressed to him were resumed. 
 
 Q. Are the minutes of the Board of the College now read 
 to them at their meetings, and are they approved ; or is the 
 question as to their approval put to vote ? 
 
 A. They are now read, but a vote on their approval is not 
 formally put or taken. I have, however, been present only 
 on one occasion since the rule of reading the minutes has 
 been adopted. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestions to make relative to the prac- 
 tical working of the chapter of the statutes " on the Board of 
 the College," or to the propriety of any amendments to it ? 
 
 A. I think that the powers of the Board, apart from those 
 of the President, ought to be more clearly denned, and that 
 
32 
 
 there ought to be some check on the presidential veto. I 
 think, also, that any two members of the Board should have 
 the right of calling a special meeting of the Board whenever 
 such should seem proper to them. 
 
 I think that the section which provides that the concurrence 
 of the President shall be necessary to every act of the Board, 
 ought to be remodelled in some way, since, by its present op- 
 eration, the Faculty are virtually deprived of all power. 
 
 Q. On motions made to the Board of the College as to 
 matters within their authority, is, or is not, the question put 
 to the Board for their decision, although it may be understood 
 beforehand that even if the motion is carried, the President 
 will withhold his concurrence ? 
 
 A. I do not remember any case where the Faculty have 
 been' called upon to vote, it being understood, at the same 
 time, that the President intended to interpose his veto after 
 such vote might have been taken. But I do remember a very 
 recent case where the President interposed his veto to pre- 
 vent a motion which had been duly seconded, from being 
 voted upon by the Board, or in other words, refused to put 
 the question, though requested so to do by several members 
 of the Board. 
 
 Q. Has the President ever refused to put a question, al- 
 leging, as the ground of this refusal, that he meant to with- 
 hold his concurrence ? 
 
 A. He has. On the recent occasion of the dismissal of 
 Romeyn, a motion was made by Dr. McCulloh and seconded 
 by Dr. Hackley, that the Board proceed to reconsider the sen- 
 tence of dismissal. The President refused to allow the ques- 
 tion to be put, on the ground, as appeared to me, that he was 
 decidedly opposed to the re-admission of the student. 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with any other facts concerning 
 the application of the statute "on the Board of the College," 
 which it is material for the committee to know ? 
 A. I am not. 
 
 Q. Will you please to state to the committee upon what 
 evidence testimonials, whether general or special, are 
 awarded ? 
 
33 
 
 A. The testimonials in both cases are awarded accord- 
 ing to the daily records kept by the professors of the per- 
 formances of the students. 
 
 Q. Do the professors keep a record of the performances in 
 the class as well as at examinations, and do they judge from 
 these or from their general impressions? 
 
 A. I am unable to speak, in this case, of any department ex- 
 cept my own. My opinion is always made up from the num- 
 bers entered on the class-book, as well as by the general im- 
 pressions produced by the student's recitations from day to 
 day, and by his performance at examination. 
 
 Q. What is the best mode of determining the relative 
 standing of the students in each class, and ought not that 
 mode to be uniform ? 
 
 A. I think the present system would be the best, if it were 
 uniformly followed, but I cannot say whether it is uniformly 
 followed or not. By the present system, I mean the practice 
 of giving the student a number proportioned to the merit of 
 his performance, and then having a due regard to the num- 
 bers at the end of the session. 
 
 A. "Would it not be an advantage that a uniform system of 
 numbers should be prescribed to all the professors ? 
 
 A. It certainly would. But the system of numbering 
 should be plain and simple. 
 
 Q. "What system would you recommend ? 
 A. I am not prepared at present to offer any system supe- 
 rior, on the whole, to the existing one. 
 
 Q. Is proper order, in your opinion, preserved at com- 
 mencement ? 
 A. Far from it. 
 Q. "What is the cause ? 
 
 A. It arises principally from the students being allowed to 
 leave their proper places, and to intermingle with the audi- 
 ence, and also from having access to refreshments before the 
 close of the exercises of the day. I think, also, that a more 
 numerous police force- ought to be employed, and that stu- 
 dents should be compelled to wear their academical dress. 
 
 3a 
 
34 
 
 Q. Is there, in your judgment, any difficulty in preventing 
 the shouting and stamping of the students on that occasion ? 
 
 A. None, whatever, if the students be kept in their proper 
 places. 
 
 Q. Is there any attempt made to restrain the students from 
 such disorderly conduct ? 
 
 A. The President occasionally makes a short address to 
 them without effect. I ought, in justice to the President and 
 students, to add, that the noise is not confined to the members 
 of our own College, but is shared in by the students of the 
 !New-York University and the Free Academy ; and, indeed, as 
 far as I have been able to learn, by far the greater part of this 
 noise is made by the students of the two last mentioned insti- 
 tutions. I think, too, that the members of the secret societies 
 are very active in promoting these disturbances. 
 
 Q. Ought not decorum and quiet behavior, on the part of 
 students, to be enforced on commencement days ? 
 
 A. It ought, but I do not exactly see how more order can 
 be preserved except by the employment of additional police 
 force. 
 
 Q. Is there any rule by which the parts of the Greek, 
 Latin and English Salutatory and Yaledictory Orator are as- 
 signed by the Board of the College ; and if so, what is that 
 rule? 
 
 A. The rule or mode of proceeding in such cases, is, I 
 think, a very bad one. A class meeting is held, at which it 
 is ascertained, by vote, not only who are to be proposed as 
 speakers at the commencement, but who also are to be pre- 
 sented to the Board as candidates for the honorary orations. 
 The Board of the College then pass their votes upon this ar- 
 rangement, excluding whomsoever they may see fit to exclude, 
 from the list of speakers, and confirming the nominations to 
 the honorary posts, or rejecting them, as they may see fit. 
 But in general the Board content themselves with leaving the 
 honorary nominations untouched, and introducing changes 
 into the general list of speakers. In myopinion, the honorary 
 posts ought to be assigned by the Board, on the ground of 
 
35 
 
 scholarship and general merit, without consulting the gradu- 
 ating class. 
 
 Q. Will you specify, if you please, in reference to each of 
 the parts of the Greek, Latin and English Salutatory and Vale- 
 dictory Orator, by what rule each ought to be assigned ? 
 
 A. The Greek oration should be given to the holder of the 
 general testimonial, the Latin to the best classical scholar, 
 the English Salutatory to the best in English Composition, and 
 the Valedictory might be left to the votes of the class. 
 
 Q. Has there, within your recollection, been any uniform 
 rule? 
 
 A. The rule in former days was to give the head of the 
 class the Latin Salutatory, the second student the English Salu- 
 tatory ; the Valedictory was determined by the vote of the 
 Board, and generally given to the best speaker. 
 
 Q. Ought the President, in your judgment, to be allowed 
 a discretion to grant vacations or intermissions of College 
 lectures besides those prescribed by the statutes, and ought 
 there to be any limitations of that discretion ? 
 
 A. I think that this power ought to be lodged with the 
 Board of the College, and of course limitations ought to be 
 maintained, but of what kind I am not prepared to say. 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, has been the effect of making 
 the compensation of the professors to depend in part upon the 
 number of the students ? 
 
 A. I have no data from which to give a positive answer to 
 this question ; but I consider the arrangement a very bad 
 one, and naturally open to abuse. 
 
 Columbia College Libeaet, 
 June 7th, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Andeeson. 
 
 Prof. Anthon also attended, and the interrogatories were 
 continued. 
 
 Q. Can you give the committee any information derived 
 
36 
 
 from your own observation, concerning the order or disorder 
 of the students while in attendance in the lecture-room of any 
 other professor ? 
 
 A. I would rather decline answering this question. 
 
 Q. A plan has been suggested by which the hours of the 
 attendance of the Senior class upon the professor of the An- 
 cient Language and Literature would be much diminished, in 
 order to give greater time to other departments. "Will you 
 please to give the committee your views concerning such a 
 plan? 
 
 A. I think, as far as the Classical department is concerned, 
 any diminution of the present hours of attendance would be 
 productive of very bad effect. Indeed, I would much rather 
 see the Classical course of the Senior class entirely done away 
 with, and the Classical studies to terminate with the end of 
 the Junior year, as is the case in some colleges. I do not, 
 however, wish to be understood as recommending this course, 
 but I merely regard it as the less of two evils. 
 
 Q. Are there any changes which you would recommend to 
 be made in the Classical courses of the three upper classes ? 
 
 A. I think that certain changes ought to be made, and, 
 with the permission of the committee, I will detail them on a 
 future occasion. 
 
37 
 
 At Mr. Ogden's Office, 
 
 16th July, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Prof. Anthon attended the Committee, and the proposing 
 questions to him was resumed : 
 
 Q. State, if you please, to the Committee, your opinion as to 
 the effect upon the efficiency of the instruction in your de- 
 partment, or in any other and what departments, which would 
 be produced by the use of a judiciously selected text-book on 
 each subject, the study of which should be prescribed to the 
 students, and which should be explained and elucidated by 
 the professor, with such remarks as he might judge expedi- 
 ent, to show differing opinions, and to direct or excite the 
 reasoning of the students upon the questions involved. 
 
 A. The mode of proceeding implied in this question is the 
 one which has always been pursued in my own department 
 with excellent effect, and I think it ought to be adopted, as 
 far as possible, in all the other departments. 
 
 Q. Ought not such text-books to be designated by the 
 Trustees, only to be changed by their order ? 
 
 A. Most undoubtedly they ought. 
 
 Q. Would not this be better than to direct the attention 
 of the students to several books, without . any capacity or 
 judgment on their part to enable them to select the best ? 
 
 A. It certainly would. 
 
 Q. Would not this be advisable in a course calculated for 
 mental training, to secure the object, that the students should 
 not read much, but accurately, and with care, thought and 
 comprehension ? 
 
 A. It would. 
 
 Q. May, in your own or other departments, and in which 
 departments, different courses, each composed of certain 
 
 4a 
 
38 
 
 books or parts of books, to be designated by statute, be ad- 
 vantageously prescribed, allowing the professor to choose any 
 one of the courses for any class ? 
 
 A. In my opinion the present state of things, as concerns 
 my own department, might better remain as it is, since it is 
 strictly regulated by the statutes. I do not think that any 
 more legislation on the subject is necessary. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the students is, in your opinion, 
 deficient in your own or any other, and what department or 
 departments, from immaturity of age ? 
 
 A. Within the last four or five years the proportion has 
 been very small. 
 
 Q. Do you judge of the relative merits of the students ex- 
 clusively by the showing of the record kept by you from day 
 to day, and of the one made by you at the public examina- 
 tions, or in any degree by your general impressions ? 
 
 A. I form my estimate of the relative merits of the stu- • 
 dents from such records, and not from mere general impres- 
 sions. 
 
 Q. Is there any difficulty to prevent a professor from so 
 grading the students, by a system of marks, as to make 
 them justly the sole test of the relative proficiency of the 
 students ? 
 
 A. There is, in my opinion, no difficulty whatever ; and 
 in making this answer I am guided by the experience of my 
 own lecture-room. 
 
 Q. Would it, in your opinion, promote thorough instruc- 
 tion, if the classes, or some and which of them were divided 
 into sections, to attend certain professors at different times ? 
 If so, what professors should the classes respectively attend 
 by sections? 
 
 A. The division into sections has long been a favorite idea 
 of mine, and I think it should be made to apply to all the 
 classes and all the professors. 
 
 Q. In what order are students called up by you to recite, 
 and how long is each kept under recitation ? 
 
 A. No regular order whatever is observed — the object be- 
 ing to call up the students in such a way as to insure prepa- 
 
39 
 
 ration on their part from day to day. Each student is kept 
 under recitation on an average about five minutes, but where 
 the class is large, this period is sometimes lessened — the object 
 being to call up as many as possible within the hour. 
 
 Q. Are all called upon to recite an equal number of times, 
 as near as may be? 
 A. They are. 
 
 Q. Have you any uniform system according to which stu- 
 dents are called upon ? 
 
 A. I have not ; and I would carefully guard against any 
 such, in order to prevent the possibility of a student's calcu- 
 lating upon the time when he would be called upon to recite. 
 Q. Is any student allowed to remaiu more than a week 
 without being called upon to recite? 
 A. By no means. 
 
 Q. Are students, when not well prepared, sent summarily 
 to their seats ; or is the attempt made to ascertain whether the 
 deficiency arises from the difficulty which the student has ex- 
 perienced after faithful study, or from indolence ? 
 
 A. A student is only sent to his seat when it is clear that 
 a more faithful preparation on his part, or a closer attention 
 to the general subject of the lecture, would have saved him 
 from such a course. 
 
 Q. Do yon put a mark opposite the student's name imme- 
 diately at the close of his recitation, and is the student then 
 informed of the character of it ? 
 
 A.' I always make a private mark at the end of each reci- 
 tation, and always state at the time whether I consider such 
 recitation to be good or bad. But the student is never in- 
 formed what number or mark is set opposite his name. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the attendance of the Freshman 
 class, engaged in receiving instruction in Mathematics, to be 
 greater than for three hours in each week 1 
 A. They ought, in my opinion, to attend daily. 
 Q. What number of hours of attendance upon the Profes- 
 sor of Mathematics ought to be prescribed for each of the 
 higher classes ? 
 
40 
 
 A. The number of hours ought to diminish as the classes 
 advance from year to year in their College course. 
 
 Q. Are there changes which yon would recommend to be 
 made in the Classical course ? 
 
 A. It would be superfluous for me to suggest any, now that 
 a new statute has been enacted, expressly regulating the 
 course of study to be pursued. 
 
 Q. Would it be advisable, in your opinion, to allow the 
 students, or their parents, an election between two or more 
 courses of instruction ? 
 
 A. It certainly would. 
 
 Q. At what point of the course should this election be 
 allowed ? 
 
 A. At the end of the Sophomore year. 
 
 Q. What studies should be required peremptorily ? 
 
 A. Those connected with my own department. 
 
 Q. What principle ought to determine the point in the 
 course at which the election should be allowed ? 
 
 A. I have named the end of the Sophomore year, because 
 by that time, in my opinion, a sufficiently solid foundation 
 would be laid in those courses of study, which parental ca- 
 price or the fashion of the day might induce the student to 
 abandon for other and more popular ones. 
 
 Q. What principle should govern as to the studies to be 
 required from all the students ? 
 
 A. They should be those which should pave the way more 
 directly for a proper appreciation of the remainder of their 
 College course. 
 
 Q. Should there be, after the point fixed for the division, 
 two or more courses, one of which should be required ? 
 
 A. There should, of course. 
 
 Q. Please to state, fully, your opinion upon the subjects in- 
 volved in the preceding questions relative to an election of 
 courses, accompanied with such practical suggestions as you 
 may think proper to make, relative to the subjects proper to 
 be assigned to each course in your own or any other depart- 
 ments of instruction, of which you may be willing to speak in 
 this connection. 
 
41 
 
 A. The subject of " elective courses of study" is a novel 
 one to me, and I would rather be excused from indulging in 
 any crude speculations relative to it. Time will prove our 
 best instructor in the premises. 
 
 Q. Are the records of the professors, showing the absolute 
 or relative merits of the students, as exhibited by their recita- 
 tions in the lecture-rooms, or the results of such records, ever 
 communicated or reported to the President or to the Board of 
 the College; if so, at what time? 
 
 A. The records are never exhibited. The President is 
 merely informed, at the weekly meeting of the Board of the 
 College, who have failed during the week, or who have proved 
 more or less deficient ; except so far as concerns these deficien- 
 cies, neither the records nor the results of them are ever 
 communicated to the President ofto the Board of the College. 
 
 Q. Are such records or the results of them ever preserved 
 by the President in any methodical form ; and if so, in what 
 way or form are they preserved ? 
 
 A. The President always preserves the special reports al- 
 luded to in my last answer, and I believe enters an abstract 
 of them in his private record or book of memorandums, for 
 future reference. 
 
 Q. Is any and what use made of 6uch records, or the re- 
 sults of them, and is any reference had to them other than 
 to inform or govern each professor keeping the record, as to 
 his own department ? 
 
 A. The President merely uses the abstract mentioned in 
 my last answer for the purpose of ascertaining the previous 
 conduct of a student, when any one is brought before the 
 Board of the College, either for indolence or improper conduct. 
 He also, I believe, whenever a student is subjected to any se- 
 vere academical punishment, sends a copy of this private re- 
 cord of his to the parent of the offender. I am not aware of 
 any other reference made to the records or the results of them. 
 
 Q. How many students have you, during the last two pre- 
 ceding terms, reported to the Board of the College as having 
 neglected their studies ? 
 A. Not very many, as I generally prefer to bring the dis- 
 
42 
 
 cipline of the lecture-room to bear on such cases, or else have 
 recourse to private and friendly admonition. 
 
 Q. Ought certain prescribed times to be appointed for exami- 
 nations for admission into the Freshman or upper classes ? 
 
 A. They ought. 
 
 Q. Ought they or ought they not to be held at the same 
 time? 
 
 A. Most undoubtedly they ought. 
 
 Q. When ought they to be held ? 
 
 A. During the week immediately preceding the opening of 
 the College, in the fall of the year. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your judgment, the examination of the stu- 
 dents from the Grammar school to be dispensed with ? 
 
 A. It ought not. 
 
 Q. Is there any mode of deciding upon the admission of a 
 student, other than the existing one, which would, in your 
 opinion, most effectually secure the end that candidates should 
 not be admitted without the previous preparation which the 
 statutes require ? 
 
 A. I think the question ought to be left to the Board of the 
 College, and that a majority of votes should be final in such 
 cases, without the power of any negative on the part of the 
 President. ■ 
 
 Q. How frequently ought examinations to be held ? 
 
 A. Not more than twice in a year. Any greater number 
 would amount to a serious interruption in the College course. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, after each examination, report the 
 results to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. They have not done so heretofore. At the last examina- 
 tion, however, when what is termed the parallel mode of ex- 
 amining was introduced, a written report of the result of each 
 examination was handed in to the President. 
 
 Q. "What is your opinion concerning these parallel exami- 
 nations ? 
 
 A. I am decidedly in favor of the system, provided always 
 a sufficient number of auditors can be obtained ; since, other- 
 wise, the examination amounts to little more than an ordinary 
 lecture-room recitation. Very few attended the last examina- 
 tion. 
 
43 
 
 Q. What is the nature of the report made by the professors 
 under the new system of parallel examinations ? Does it spe- 
 cify only the names of deficient students, or what other infor- 
 mation does it give in regard to the results of the examination, 
 and are such reports read to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. These reports were not read to the Board, but were 
 merely handed in to the President. I can only answer, there- 
 fore, in regard to my own report. It contained a brief me- 
 morandum opposite the name of each student, of the manner 
 in which he had acquitted himself during the examination, 
 and it also noted cases of absence. 
 
 Q. Does not the Board of the College, in administering the 
 discipline of the institution, take the results of public exami- 
 nations as tests of the proficiency of the students, or do they 
 not take such results into account in awarding testimonials f 
 
 A. The Board in general take such results as tests, in such 
 cases of discipline, though not always. In the awarding of 
 testimonials other than the general one, the question rests 
 entirely with the individual professor ; as regards the general 
 testimonial, I believe that each professor, in giving his vote, 
 is influenced more by the standing of the student in his own 
 department than by his appearance at the examinations in 
 the other departments. 
 
 Q. Previous to the last examination, was the record made 
 by the President at the public examinations read or commu- 
 nicated to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. It was not read to the Board ; but in case any member 
 wished to know the President's opinion respecting any stu- 
 dent, he read his account of the appearance of such student 
 from the record which he had made. 
 
 Q. Do you make a record of the results of the public ex- 
 aminations in your department ? 
 
 A. I never did make one until the time of the last exami- 
 nation, when the parallel system was brought in. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that the public examinations 
 should be conducted in the presence of adepts, appointed for the 
 purpose, with power tp propose questions and to report upon 
 
the results to the Board of the College or to the Board of Trus- 
 tees, in conjunction with the examining professor I 
 
 A. I should have no objections whatever to see such a 
 plan introduced, although I have serious doubts in regard to 
 any beneficial results to be produced. My main objection to 
 it is, that it would wear a degraded appearance in the eyes 
 of the students. Another objection is, that inasmuch as the 
 student under examination ought to have the right of de- 
 fending his positions orally, an unpleasant collision might 
 arise between the adept and the student, interfering more or 
 less with the grave character of the examination. The third 
 objection would be, the difficulty of procuring such adept, 
 -since an adept merely in name would tend to increase the 
 evil and bring the system into disrepute. 
 
 Q. The Committee observe, from the minutes of the Board 
 of the College, that on several occasions such Board has ad- 
 judged that students shonld "be dropped from the rolls of 
 the College." Will you please inform the Committee what 
 is intended by such a sentence ? is dismissal or expulsion in- 
 tended ? 
 
 A. As far as my own views go, virtual expulsion ia meant. 
 
 Q. Why is not the form or designation of the punishment 
 used which the statutes prescribe ? 
 
 A. I consider that the statutes, in their general spirit, arm 
 us with the power of acting as we have done in such cases. 
 
 Q. Have or have not students been cited before the Board 
 of the College to answer for their absence from the public 
 examinations ? 
 
 A. They have. 
 
 Q. Are they in any and what way called upon for excuses 
 for such absences ? 
 
 A. They are called upon for these excuses by the President. 
 
 Q. What excuses are accepted as sufficient ? 
 
 A. Generally speaking, those based upon ill health. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 whether the student of the Junior class, who acknow- 
 ledged that he had committed the offence for which four stu- 
 dents of the same class were called to answer before the 
 
45 
 
 Board of the College on the 8th December, 1854, was called 
 before the Board . to answer for his misconduct, or punished 
 in any way ? 
 
 A. I do not remember. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 any causes or considerations that may have induced the 
 Board of the College to allow the continuance in the College 
 of students found deficient at the concluding examination, 
 and to give your opinion as to whether or not the experience 
 of the institution shows that the exclusion of students found 
 deficient at such examinations is inexpedient ? 
 
 A. The causes or considerations referred to in the first 
 part of this question were sometimes ill health, sometimes 
 strong expressions of repentance on the part of the student, 
 and frequently urgent solicitations made by parents on behalf 
 of their sons. I have always allowed myself to be governed 
 very powerfully by these last, because I think that parents 
 ought to be apprised at intervals during the session of the 
 deficiencies and absences of their sons. In reply to the latter 
 clause of the question, I may remark, that in several cases 
 students thus threatened with exclusion, and saved from 
 punishment by any of the causes above mentioned, have 
 thoroughly reformed, and become good members of the Insti- 
 tution. Upon the whole, however, I would recommend that 
 exclusion in such cases be regarded as virtual expulsion, 
 without any prospect whatever of restoration. 
 
 18th July, 1857, at Mr. Ogden's Oflice. 
 Present, — Mr. Ogdew. 
 
 Professor Anthok attended the Committee, and the ques- 
 tions to him were resumed : 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 whether the two students of the Sophomore class, who were 
 
46 
 
 expelled on the 1st of June, 1854, were afterwards allowed to 
 continue their attendance with their class ? . 
 
 A. According to the best of my recollection, the sentence 
 of expulsion in this case was never executed by the President, 
 and the matter was subsequently brought before the Board 
 for re-consideration, as a result of which the two students 
 were restored. They were afterwards allowed to continue 
 their attendance. 
 
 Q. State whether, in your opinion, the punishment of dis- 
 mission, as now or lately administered, ought to be done away 
 with, and what you would suggest in its place. 
 
 A. I think that it ought to be expunged from the statute- 
 book, because, from its very nature, it amounts to a virtual 
 holiday — the offender being always allowed to return on send- 
 ing in a letter expressing penitence for the past and promis- 
 ing good conduct for the future — and the Board being unable 
 to impose any conditions of private study, in connection with 
 a sentence like this, which, on its face, purports to be a final 
 separation of the student from College., It appears to me to 
 be, in fact, nothing more than suspension shorn of its terrors ; 
 and the only alarming feature connected with it being its 
 name, to which the students, however, soon become accus- 
 tomed. I think that the punishment of suspension ought to 
 be substituted ; that the offender, daring such suspension, 
 should be compelled to attend at the College every day for 
 a much longer period than ordinary, and be subjected to 
 rigid drilling by College tutors, appointed for that purpose, 
 on whose certificate he is finally to be restored. 
 
 Q. Is proper order preserved among the students at other 
 times than when they are attending the lecture-rooms ? 
 
 A. There is occasional disorder when the classes are chang- 
 ing from one room to another, owing to the arrangement of 
 the building now occupied, but it is soon repressed by the 
 Janitor. 
 
 Q. What do you consider the order that a class should ob- 
 serve during lecture ? 
 
 A. Close attention to their text-book, or to the taking of 
 notes whenever explanations are given by the professor ; no 
 
47 
 
 conversation whatever with one another, and no request, on 
 the part of any student, except in very urgent cases, for per- 
 mission to leave the lecture-room during the class recitation. 
 
 Q. What offence would you consider sufficient to cause the 
 dismission of a student from the lecture-room ? 
 
 A. Continued conversation or inattention, after having been 
 admonished by the professor to cease therefrom. I think, 
 however, that if any such case were to occur, I would prefer 
 sending for the Janitor, and giving him the name of the 
 offender, to be laid immediately before the President, in order 
 that he might be sent for at once by the latter, and duly rep- 
 rimanded. 
 
 Q. How often do you find it necessary to dismiss a student 
 from your room ? 
 
 A. Never. 
 
 Q. Do you, during the hour of their attendance upon you, 
 allow any of the students to be engaged with the studies of 
 any other department ? 
 
 A. 1 never do. Indeed, were I to detect any student in 
 such an offence, I would immediately order him before the 
 Board of the College ; for I consider it to be one of the great- 
 est evils in a College course, and requiring to be checked in 
 the most summary manner. 
 
 Q. Do you ever dismiss your classes before the termination 
 of the hour which they should spend with you ; and if so, for 
 what reasons ? 
 
 A. I never dismiss a class after a recitation has once been 
 commenced in my room before the end of the hour, except- 
 ing, perhaps, two or three minutes, and then very rarely, un- 
 less authorized to do so by the President. On one or two 
 occasions I have excused a class from attending, but have 
 always doubted my power so to do, and of late have aban- 
 doned so doing altogether. 
 
 Q. How long, usually, when students have permission to 
 leave the room, do they remain absent ? 
 
 A. I always fix the time by my watch before they leave 
 the room, and this time seldom exceeds two or three minutes, 
 and they always return within this period. 
 
48 
 
 Q. How many receive such permission within the hour? 
 
 A. The request to leave my lecture-room is so seldom 
 made, that on an average not more than two or three students 
 make such request in all the three upper classes during a 
 whole week ; and never more than one is suffered to be ab- 
 sent at the same time. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that a short interval should be 
 allowed to the students between their dismission from one 
 lecture-room and their assembling in another ? 
 
 A. I would not ; in the first place it would amount to a 
 loss of valuable time, and in the next, would be productive of 
 very serious disturbance. I know of no other objections than 
 those two. There is no necessity for it, as students can pro- 
 cure leave of absence from a lecture-room, if. they please. 
 
 Q. Do you ever fail to meet your class at the appointed 
 time? 
 
 A. Never. 
 
 Q. Upon the assembling of the classes in your room, do 
 you yourself call the roll, and mark who of the students are 
 absent and who present ? 
 
 A. I always do ; and at the end of every recitation com- 
 pare my private roll with another, kept by the head of the 
 class. 
 
 Q. How soon after the bell ceases ringing does the call 
 commence ? 
 
 A. I invariably call the roll as soon as two or three stu- 
 dents make their appearance. 
 
 Q. What time is allowed for the class to enter and take 
 their seats before the recitation or lecture commences ? 
 
 A. About two or three minutes. 
 
 Q. How long does the roll-call continue ? 
 
 A. Generally about one minute. 
 
 Q. Are the students regular in their attendance upon Col- 
 lege lectures ? 
 
 A. Some of them are not. 
 
 Q. In case of absence from your lecture of a student, what 
 notice do you take of it ? 
 
 A. I make an entry on the roll of the class, and report such 
 
49 
 
 absence, on Friday, to the President at the meeting of the 
 Board. 
 
 Q. Do you ever excuse the student without reporting the 
 absence to the President or to the Board of the College ? 
 A. I never do. 
 
 Q. Do you ever fail to report to the President any case of 
 absence from your room ? 
 A. I never do. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any instance in which a student has 
 been, on the same day, absent from the room of one profes- 
 sor and present in the room of another ? 
 A. I know a large number of instances. 
 Q. How did you acquire this knowledge ? 
 A. From the weekly reports read by the different profes- 
 sors, on Friday, before the Board of the College. 
 
 Q. "Were such cases ever brought to the notice of the Presi- 
 dent and the Board of the College ? 
 A. Constantly. 
 
 Q. Was any and what action had in regard to such cases ? 
 A. I am unable to say. I believe, however, that these 
 cases fell under the cognizance of the President. 
 
 Q. Do you consider the frequency of such cases a serious 
 evil ? and please to state to what cause such frequency is at- 
 tributable, and what measures of correction, if any, are ad- 
 visable. 
 
 A. I certainly do regard it as a very serious evil. I tbink 
 it is owing to a wish, on the part of the students, to avoid 
 duty in certain rooms, and, in my opinion, it can very easily 
 be obviated by the professors sending in to the President a 
 daily instead of a weekly report of absences. 
 
 Q. Do yon preserve a daily record of the attendance of 
 your classes ? 
 
 A. I preserve a daily record for each week, and at the end 
 of the week communicate it to the President, and then oblit- 
 erate and make it anew. I would recommend, however, that 
 each professor be supplied with two books, properly ruled in 
 blank, one to contain a daily record of absences from week 
 to week, and the other a similar record of recitations. 
 
50 
 
 Q. In case of the absence of a student, either from one 
 lecture-room or several or all, what is done in reference to 
 such case? 
 
 A. He is summoned by the Janitor to attend upon the 
 President and account for his absence. 
 
 Q. What excuses are accepted as sufficient ? 
 
 A. In general those which assign* ill health or family con- 
 cerns as the cause of such absence. 
 
 Q. Are these excuses rendered to the President ? 
 
 A. They always are. 
 
 Q. If not deemed sufficient, what further is done relative 
 to the case ? 
 
 A. The student is ordered by the President to appear be- 
 fore the Board. 
 
 Q. For what length of absence are these excuses allowed 
 as sufficient ? 
 
 A. There is no time fixed. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any cases of absence as long as from 
 one to twelve months ? 
 
 A. I cannot very well tax my recollection with any, but I 
 am very sure that there have been some as long as for one 
 month, at least, although I cannot specify the individual cases. 
 I may add, however, in this connection, I have known of cases, 
 where leave of absence has been granted by the Board, in con- 
 sequence of ill health, in order to enable the student to travel 
 abroad. 
 
 Q. In cases where no leave of absence was previously 
 granted, and the absence was to the extent of one month, 
 were they brought to the notice of the Board of the College, 
 and did it act upon them ? 
 
 A. Not unless the President deemed the excuse insufficient. 
 
 Q. Do the Board of the College ever consider cases of ab- 
 sence except on the suggestion of the President ? 
 
 A. Never. 
 
 Q. In cases of absence, extending over the period of an 
 examination, please to state whether the student, upon his 
 return to the College, is examined before he is suffered to 
 resume his attendance. 
 
 A. As a general rule, he always is. 
 
51 
 
 Q. In cases of absence, which yon now remember, of such 
 a kind as are referred to in the last answer — that is, extending 
 over the period of an examination — do you recellect whether 
 the students were examined before they were suffered to re- 
 sume their attendance? 
 
 A. I cannot specify cases ; but my recollection is very dis- 
 tinct that several cases have occurred, where the student has 
 been excused from such examination by different members 
 of the Faculty, though not by all. 
 
 Q. Are the students punctual in their attendance upon 
 your lecture-room ? If not, what proportion of them are late, 
 and what is the extent, in time, of their want of punctuality ? 
 
 A. In general they are extremely punctual; sometimes, 
 however, an entire class is late, to the extent of four or five 
 minutes, and even more, in consequence of their having been 
 detained over the time in some other lecture-room, which is 
 an evil that ought certainly to be remedied. For my own 
 part I make it a point to break off the lecture whenever the 
 bell rings. I know of no want of punctuality arising from 
 any cause but this. 
 
 Q. "What notice is taken of cases of unpunctuality ? 
 
 A. The individual is marked on the roll as late and reported 
 on Friday. 
 
 ~ Q. Is the record of performances in class or at examinations, 
 as kept by the several professors, submitted to the Board of 
 the College upon the awarding of general testimonials ? 
 
 A. It is not. 
 
 Q. Is it submitted to the President upon the awarding of 
 special testimonials ? 
 
 A. As already stated by me, a record of the performances of 
 each student, at the late concluding examination, was handed 
 in to the President. But the awarding of special testimonials 
 was independent of this, and had nothing whatever to do 
 with such record — the professors not referring to it as the ground 
 of their award. 
 
 Q. Is this record, or are its results considered by the Board 
 of the College or by the President, as the evidence upon 
 which they proceed in awarding general or special testimo- 
 nials ? 
 
52 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Do they judge, then, in the premises, by the verbal repre- 
 sentations of each professor ? 
 
 A. They do, and the other members of the Board have 
 only a right to interfere in the case of such special testimo- 
 nial when the student who is recommended to receive it in 
 one department has failed at the examination in theirs. 
 
 Q. In awarding general or special testimonials, do you 
 govern your action exclusively by the showing of the record 
 of the performances of the students, kept by you, or are you 
 guided at all, and if so, to what extent, by your general im- 
 pressions ? 
 
 A. I am guided, in a great measure, by my general impres- 
 sions of the students' performances during the session ; but 
 the record of the examination also is allowed to have con- 
 siderable weight. I have very seldom, however, found any 
 discrepancy between such record and the general impression 
 which I may have formed during the session of the student's 
 ability. 
 
 Q. Please to make any recommendation you may think 
 proper on the subject of testimonials, prizes or honors. 
 
 A. I would recommend that the present system of testi- 
 monials be abolished; that medals be again introduced as 
 being more in accordance with the character of academic 
 prizes. I would also recommend that no professor have the 
 power, in any instance, to award any of these medals in his 
 own department, but that they be made a matter of open 
 competition for as many students as choose to come forward — 
 the relative merits of such students to be determined, by 
 the whole Board of the College, aided, if necessary, by adepts 
 selected for the purpose. 
 
STATEMENTS OF PROF. HACKLEY. 
 
 Columbia College, 
 Jwne 182A, 1856. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Andebson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley attended, and the following interrogatories 
 were addressed to him : 
 
 Q. What are your hours of attendance for each day in the 
 week engaged in instruction ? 
 
 A. Monday, three hours, from about 10 to about 1. 
 Tuesday, one hour, from 12 to 1. 
 Wednesday, two hours, from 11 to 1. 
 Thursday, two hours, from 9 to 10, and from 12 to 1. 
 Friday, two hours, from 11 to 1. 
 I had another hour on Tnesday, which was given up to 
 Prof. Schmidt, and which I should be glad to have back again. 
 This hour was assigned by the Board, with my concurrence, 
 to Prof. Schmidt. 
 
 In consequence of this change, the Junior class attendance 
 upon me was reduced from three hours in a week to two, 
 which has had a very bad effect upon their performances in 
 my department. 
 
 Q. What classes do you instruct ? 
 A. All. 
 
 Q. At what hour or hours on each day do the classes re- 
 spectively attend you, and for what length of time ? 
 A. Seniors — Mondays and Fridays, second hour. 
 
 In 
 
Juniors — "Wednesdays, second hour; Thursdays, first hour. 
 
 Sophomores — Mondays, first hour ; Tuesdays, third hour ; 
 Thursdays, third hour. 
 
 Freshman — Mondays, "Wednesdays and Fridays, third hour. 
 
 The duration of each recitation or lecture is one hour for 
 each class. 
 
 Q. What were the subjects of instruction given by you to 
 each class during the present academical year? 
 
 A. Freshman — Algebra, Plane Geometry, Plane Trigo- 
 nometry. 
 
 Sophomore — Navigation, Surveying, Geometry of Planes 
 and Solids, Spherical Geometry, Spherical Trigonometry, 
 Nautical and Practical Astronomy, Descriptive Geometry, 
 and its application to Shadows, Perspective and Stereotomy. 
 
 Junior — Analytical Geometry and Theoretic Astronomy, 
 with the uses of the Observatory. 
 
 Senior — Differential and Integral Calculus, Calculus of 
 Variations, and Introduction to Physical Astronomy. 
 
 Q. Was your instruction oral, or from text-books ? 
 
 A. Mostly from text-books, combined with more or less 
 oral instruction. The last two branches were taught by lec- 
 tures and notes. This mode of instruction was resorted to, also, 
 to some extent, in other parts of the course, particularly where 
 the text-books were deficient. 
 
 Q. In so far as your instruction was oral, was it from or 
 without notes ? 
 
 A. Both. 
 
 Q. Can you inform the committee in what case you lec- 
 tured from notes, and in what without notes ? 
 
 A. The lectures from notes were delivered to some extent 
 by dictation in the latter half of the Junior year devoted to 
 Theoretic Astronomy, and wholly so, in that part of the Sen- 
 ior year given to Physical Astronomy and the Calculus of 
 Variations. In this year, also, there was some dictation in the 
 Integral Calculus. In the Sophomore year, in the applications 
 of Descriptive Geometry, the instruction was given by lec- 
 tures without notes, on drawings upon the blackboard, of 
 which the students took a rough sketch, bringing next day a 
 
neat drawing, accurately constructed with instruments, and 
 made with India ink. There were subsequently recitations 
 upon such of these drawings as were necessary to explain the 
 principles. 
 
 In the Freshman and [Sophomore classes, the instruction 
 was principally from text-books, with occasional oral ampli- 
 fications and substitutions. This method was further pursued 
 in the first half of the Junior year, and also in the first half 
 of the Senior year. 
 
 Q. Do you give instruction without written notes for your 
 own guidance in cases where you use no text-book ? 
 
 A. Sometimes I do, bnt to no great extent. The general 
 rule is either text-book or dictation from written notes. 
 
 Q. In what subjects of instruction does the departure from 
 the general rule occur ? 
 
 A. In all occasionally. 
 
 Q. In cases in which your instruction is given from written 
 notes prepared for your own guidance, can you produce such 
 notes for the information of the committee ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. In cases in which the matter given to the students is 
 imparted to them by dictation, can the matter so dictated be 
 produced to the committee for their information ? 
 
 A. It can. 
 
 Q. So far as your occasional instruction was without text- 
 books or notes for your guidance, and was not dictated, can 
 you give to the committee any means of judging of the 
 matter of your lectures ? 
 
 A. I cannot, except as to its general nature. Such in- 
 struction was in the way of amplification, substitution or 
 completion of the subject treated of, either in my text-book 
 or note. 
 
 Q. Do the students take notes of your oral lectures ? 
 
 A. Sometimes they do, sometimes they do not. 
 
 Q. In cases where they do take them, explain the nature 
 of such notes, and the facilities afforded to the students to 
 understand how to take them with ease, and without interrup- 
 tion of their attention. 
 
A. Where the matter is to be prepared for examination, the 
 notes are slowly dictated. I formerly pursued a different 
 course, and gave demonstrations at the blackboard, which 
 the students were expected to preserve a memorandum of in 
 their own way. I found this practicable only for the best 
 students. Sometimes matter not dictated was left optional 
 with them to give at the examination. The students are not 
 required to take notes, except on dictated matter, although it 
 is sometimes voluntarily done, and sometimes they will be 
 able from memory only to give at examinations the matter 
 communicated, without dictation, during the term. 
 
 Q. Is this dictation made to them only during review, or is 
 it made throughout the whole course of the session ? 
 
 A. It is made, for the most part, previously to the review. 
 The review is, in some measure, upon the dictated matter. 
 
 Q. To what use are the notes of the students put by them ? 
 
 A., They are used to learn the course, and to prepare for 
 examination. ( 
 
 Q. "Will you please explain to the committee your system 
 of instruction ? 
 
 A. The time not occupied in lectures, as above described, 
 is employed in recitations. As many students as possible are 
 called up to the blackboard to demonstrate some portion of 
 the matter issued for the day ; sometimes all the students in 
 the class, sometimes not more than half a dozen. But gene- 
 rally as many as twelve or fifteen. Questions are also re- 
 peatedly put round the class, especially when it is necessary 
 to fill up the time in the interval of the demonstrations. 
 
 Colttkbia College Libbabt, 
 June 24:th. 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley was also in attendance, and the inquiries 
 addressed to him were resumed. 
 
Q. "Will you please to continue the explanation of your 
 6ystem of instruction ? 
 
 A. About three or four years ago I introduced a change in 
 my method of instruction, which I have since continued, and 
 which consists in requiring of all the students a preparation 
 upon a course of Mathematics as brief as to be considered 
 consistent with the requisitions and general aims of the sta- 
 tute, having a much more extensive course to be pursued vol- 
 untarily by the better students in this department. I was led 
 to the trial of this plan, with the results of which I have been 
 very well satisfied, by the wide difference that I had found to 
 exist in the natural capacity of students in this department. 
 A medium course my experience has shown to be too much 
 for a large number of the students of each class, and far too 
 little for some of them. 
 
 With regard to the principles of instruction, my aim is 
 mainly to exercise the reasoning powers in the theory and 
 rationale of the subject, although a certain amount of practi- 
 cal application is introduced. The modern analytic methods 
 are employed as extensively as possible, preference being 
 given to them over the geometrical. At the same time, an 
 evil which has lately been complained of in the English Uni- 
 versities, especially at Cambridge, is aimed to be avoided. 
 This evil is the losing sight of the subject-matter in the mere 
 formula, and it is sought to be avoided by pointing out the 
 connection existing between them. 
 
 The endeavor is, in every subject, to make the student feel 
 that he has exhausted it, and that there is nothing left behind, 
 either taken on trust or uncomprehended. The students are 
 required to remember and to be able to repeat at any time, 
 results and demonstrated rules, so as to preserve in the mind 
 a connected view of the whole subject for future application 
 or more extended acquisition. Latterly they have been re- 
 quired to remember the demonstrations themselves as well as 
 the results. I have done this, less out of any conviction of 
 its expediency, than because I have desired to comply with 
 expressed wishes and expectations emanating from a quarter 
 I felt bound to consult and respect. 
 
6 
 
 Q. Can instruction be advantageously given to both 
 classes of students, viz., to those who pursue the briefer 
 course, and to those who pursue the voluntary and more ex- 
 tensive course, when all the students are in the same class, 
 and in attendance at the same time ? 
 
 A. I find that instruction can be advantageously given un- 
 der these circumstances. 
 
 Q. When the student, pursuing the more extensive course, 
 is reciting as to those matters beyond the duty and compre- 
 hension of the common class of students, is it not a loss of 
 time and the necessary cause of inattention to the latter class 
 of students, and is not the converse also true ? 
 
 A. On the contrary, the common class of students are get- 
 ting a certain kind of knowledge in listening to the perform- 
 ances of the more advanced students, which, but for this ar- 
 rangement, they would lose entirely, whilst on the other 
 hand, the more advanced students, in listening to the recita- 
 tions of the others, are thus reviewing the more elementary 
 principles of the subject with less effort, and more agreeably 
 to themselves than by application to the text-book. They are 
 often, too, when not listening to the common students, most 
 intensely occupied in elaborate drawings of diagrams or 
 complicated analytical processes on the blackboard, in pre- 
 paration for recitation. There are, it is true, some draw- 
 backs attending the operation of this double course, which I 
 propose to detail at the proper time, and I will then submit 
 the methods by which I hope to lessen or remove these. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to state to the committee 
 your reason for preferring the analytic methods to the 
 geometric ? 
 
 A. Their greater brevity and comprehensiveness as well as 
 their superior elegance. As a matter of discipline, the geo- 
 metric methods have some advantages, but as we employ 
 these necessarily in a part of the course, and to some extent 
 in other parts, we perhaps secure the most complete and 
 varied discipline by the course now pursued. Another rea- 
 son for adhering to the analytic method is to be found in the 
 
consideration that the higher branches of applied Mathema- 
 tics cannot be prosecuted with any hope of success by geo- 
 metric methods alone. 
 
 Q. Are there not branches of instruction in Mathematics 
 where formerly the geometric method was alone employed, 
 and in which the analytic method has been of late years 
 substituted ? 
 
 A. There are. For instance, Trigonometry, Conic Sections, 
 portions of Mechanics and Astronomy. These afford, how- 
 ever, the best opportunities of introducing the student to a 
 knowledge of the analytical methods. 
 
 Q. Explain why the change took place. 
 
 A. The advantages attending the analytical process, all 
 things considered, had been found to preponderate over the 
 advantages belonging to methods purely geometrical ; and it 
 being necessary to initiate the student into analytical methods 
 in some portion of his course, it was found, on the whole, 
 most expedient to begin in the four branches I have men- 
 tioned, as affording suitable opportunities for so doing. At 
 the same time, the student acquires all the knowledge consti- 
 tuting these branches, at least as well by the analytic as by 
 the geometric method. 
 
 Q. Was this change introduced by you? 
 
 A. No. The analytic method had been introduced into 
 Columbia College, as into nearly all others, long before my 
 appointment. 
 
 Q. If a course of instruction were devised in which the 
 higher branches of applied Mathematics were not included, 
 would not the geometric methods be preferable in the ele- 
 mentary Mathematical conrse ? 
 
 A. I think some slight introduction of the analytic methods 
 in the Trigonometries would still be desirable, as giving 
 some scope for the application of the student's knowledge of 
 Algebra, and affording the peculiar kind of mental exercise 
 furnished by this method. But, in the subject of Conic Sec- 
 tions, the method of co-ordinates is so difficult of apprehen- 
 sion by many students, being, indeed, never rightly appre- 
 hended at all by some of them, who are very capable of ordi- 
 
nary geometric reasoning, that with this class of students, 
 I think the method of analytical co-ordinates should be left 
 unattempted as a prescribed part of a course not contempla- 
 ting in the sequel, the higher branches of applied Mathe- 
 matics. 
 
 Q. Ought instruction in Mathematics to be imparted by 
 oral lectures or by text-books ? 
 
 A. I consider text-books always desirable when they can 
 be had. 
 
 Q. What text-books do you use in instructing the classes 
 respectively ? 
 
 A. In the Freshman class I use those of which I am my- 
 self the author, that is to say, my treatise on Algebra, my 
 treatise on Geometry and Mensuration, and my treatise on 
 Trigonometry. In the first session of the Sophomore year I 
 use the two latter treatises, one of which includes applications 
 of Trigonometry to Navigation, Surveying, Nautical, Practi- 
 cal Astronomy and to Geodesy. In the second session of the 
 Sophomore year, Davies' Descriptive Geometry. In the first 
 session of the Junior year I have used sometimes Pierce's 
 Curves and Functions, and sometimes Church's Analytic Geo- 
 metry. In the second session of the Junior year I used, in 
 the voluntary course, during the year just elapsed, a new 
 work that appeared at the beginning of the year, (a Treatise 
 on Astronomy, by Prof. Bartlett, of "West Point,) in connec- 
 tion with dictated and printed matter of my own. In the 
 Senior year I now use Courtenay's Differential and Integral 
 Calculus, which is also a new work, having formerly employed 
 Pierce's Functions, and sometimes Church's Calculus. 
 
 Q. Which of these were used during the present academi- 
 cal year ? 
 
 A. All except Church's Calculus and Pierce's Curves and 
 Functions. 
 
 Q. Were the classes instructed in the whole of the text or 
 in selected parts ? 
 
 A. In selected parts. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to furnish to the committee 
 the text-boots that you have mentioned, with the selected parts 
 
9 
 
 assigned to each class marked, distinguishing between those 
 parts assigned to the common class of students and those 
 assigned to the students who pursue a more extended course. 
 And also to furnish to the committee the written notes pre- 
 pared for your guidance in lectures, and the written matter 
 dictated to the students, making the like distinction in regard 
 to both ? 
 A. I will. 
 
 Columbia College Library, 
 
 June 25th, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley was also in attendance, and the inquiries 
 addressed to him were continued. 
 
 Q. Tou have stated that parts of the text-books are selected 
 . for the use of the students. Would it or would it not be better, 
 in your department, to use such a text-book as would contain 
 only so much as the student ought to learn in the whole Col- 
 lege course, so as to be able to obtain a competent elementary 
 knowledge of the subjects taught ? 
 
 A. I think not. The best treatises on any subject would be, 
 in all respects, the most desirable for the student, provided he 
 be confined to such portions of them as he has time to com- 
 plete. Practically, the -main portion of each of the text-books 
 which I employ is, in most instances, taught. There is one ad- 
 vantage, in a comprehensive text-book, which I will mention. 
 If a student should, subsequently to his College course, desire 
 to obtain a more extensive knowledge of the subject than was 
 exacted from him in College, or should he, in the later 
 branches of his subgraduate course, find a more extensive 
 knowledge of the preliminary subjects desirable, he has 
 always a text-book at hand, with which he is already fa- 
 miliar. 
 
 Q. Are not the text-books which you use in your depart- 
 
10 
 
 ment intended for a different course of instruction from that 
 which you actually pursue, and are they not, for this reason, 
 more or less ill-adapted for the use of students not able to 
 prosecute studies beyond your limited course ? And is there 
 not matter inserted in the books that were better left out, and 
 matter left out which it would be expedient should be in- 
 serted ? 
 
 A. The text-books that I use contain every thing that would 
 be contained in briefer treatises, so that mere omission accom- 
 plishes the object contemplated in the question. At the same 
 time, the extended text-books are superior, for purposes of 
 instruction, in the elementary portions used in the limited 
 course. 
 
 Q. Could you advantageously distinguish the parts well 
 adapted to a limited course, from the parts required for a 
 more advanced course, by signs or by a difference of type ? 
 
 A. This distinction is resorted to in several of my treatises. 
 In my Algebra, the abbreviations affected by omitting the 
 parts intended for advanced students, require the exclusion of 
 more matter than is printed in the smaller type. The distinc- 
 tion of type is thus mainly, but not wholly the rule by which 
 the portions selected for thetwo classes of students are de- 
 signated. 
 
 Q. Is it your opinion, then, that such text-books as should 
 contain only so much as the students ought to learn in the 
 whole College course, as to be able to obtain a competent ele- 
 mentary knowledge, would not facilitate instruction in Mathe- 
 matics ? 
 
 A. I do not see any advantage that would be gained by 
 text-books thus limited. A great portion of each of the text-' 
 books employed in my department is used by me in teach- 
 ing the more advanced students. "With regard to higher 
 branches of Mathematics, the number of text-books in exist- 
 ence, from which to select, is small, and they do not differ 
 materially in size. 
 
 Q. Are there any text-books in print, such as are indicated 
 in the last question ? 
 
 A. There are, but intended for very young persons, and un- 
 
11 
 
 suitable, in some respects, for pupils of the age of students in 
 our College. They are not as well adapted for the present 
 undergraduate course as the books which are now used. 
 
 Q. "Would it or would it not, in your opinion, be advan- 
 tageous, by the adoption of such books as are referred to in 
 the last two preceding questions, to limit the discretion of the 
 professor, as to the mode of instruction ? 
 
 A. I think not. I am in favor of allowing the professor the 
 largest liberty, in this respect. 
 
 Q. If no such book is in print, how, if it were thought de- 
 sirable, could its compilation and publication be accomplished? 
 
 A. I do not know of any other way than to set the professor 
 having the charge of the department to work. While on this 
 subject, 1 wish to add, that in my treatise on Algebra, imme- 
 diately after the preface, the numbers are put down of the 
 pages and paragraphs which would constitute a minimum 
 course of Algebra ; and also the numbers of those suitable for 
 a more extended course, still not comprising the whole. I 
 have published a school edition of my Algebra, which I have 
 not adopted in my College classes, for the reason that the 
 higher branches of Mathematics taught in this College have, 
 sometimes, references to matter contained only in the larger 
 edition. 
 
 Q. Are the students, by your instruction, made to keep up 
 that knowledge of those principles from the beginning of your 
 course, which is necessary to enable them to comprehend each 
 succeeding step ? 
 
 A. They are, though it has recently occurred to me, in the 
 way of improvement in this respect, at the beginning of the 
 Sophomore year, when the students have been six months 
 without algebraical exercises, and have commenced the ap- 
 plication of Algebra to Trigonometry, to try the experiment 
 of expending a small portion of time, during at least the first 
 session of the Sophomore year, in algebraical exercises, from 
 the beginning, so much of the success of all after Mathemati- 
 cal studies depending on a quick and accurate use of Algebra 
 as an instrument. 
 
12 
 
 Columbia College Libkaby, 
 
 July 1st, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Allen. 
 
 Professor Hackley was in attendance. The minutes of the 
 examination of the 25th June were read aloud by Mr. Ogden, 
 and the inquiries to Professor Hackley resumed. 
 
 Q. By what means is the end, contemplated by the last 
 question, accomplished ? 
 
 A. I am accustomed, whenever a moment's time can be 
 given for the purpose, (and this may be said to occur daily,) 
 to put questions around the class upon the whole of the course 
 of the session from the beginning. I also take care, in the 
 more advanced branches, to see that the students understand 
 distinctly the connection between the subjects upon which 
 they are engaged, and the principles in the earlier parts of 
 their Mathematical course upon which they are based, prob- 
 ing them with questions for this purpose. 
 
 Q. "What influence to the same end would such a text-book, 
 as has been referred to in the previous question, have ? 
 
 A. I do not see that it would affect the matter one way or 
 the other. 
 
 Q. Tou have . stated that part of your instruction to the 
 Freshman class is in Algebra. To what extent is your in- 
 struction in Algebra carried ? 
 
 A. In the compulsory course, it comprises a thorough 
 knowledge of the Calculus of Radicals, negative and frac- 
 tional exponents of every variety of form, involution and ev- 
 olution of Monomials and Polynomials, the latter, however, 
 only as far as operations of the second degree ; the Binomial 
 Theorem^ Quadratic Equations, and Equations resolved like 
 those of the second degree, that is to say, where the exponent of 
 the unknown quantity in part of the terms is double its expo- 
 nent in the rest, some few theorems in the general theory of 
 Equations, and the process termed Synthetic Division, which 
 is employed in the general theory. In the voluntary course 
 there is included a pretty thorough knowledge of the general 
 
13 
 
 theory of Equations, embracing Sturm's Theorem and Horner's 
 method of approximating to the roots of an equation by 
 decimals, proportions and progressions, interest and annuities, 
 indeterminate analysis of the first degree, and exerciseB in the 
 solution of equations in the higher degrees by what are 
 technically termed artifices, which become applicable from 
 the peculiar forms of the equations, and which exercise the 
 ingenuity of the student. These are equations of one or more 
 unknown quantities. 
 
 Q. Is there any branch of instruction prescribed by the 
 statute for the Freshman year, which is not pursued by the 
 common class of students in that year ? 
 
 A. I hare been particularly careful to accommodate the 
 course given for that class of students to the letter of the 
 statute. During the last year I have, in anticipation of a 
 hoped for curtailment of the Mathematical course, required 
 from the class of students in question, omitted progressions, 
 logarithms, interest and annuities, intending to thoroughly 
 enter upon the instruction of logarithms in the first part of 
 the Sophomore year. 
 
 Q. In the present academical year, were subjects not pre- 
 scribed by the statutes for the Freshman year taught to either 
 class of students ? 
 
 A. I find that Plane Trigonometry, which I had included 
 in the voluntary course of this year, is not prescribed by the 
 statutes. I had been under the impression that it was. 
 
 Q. In your answer given on the first day of your attend- 
 ance on the committee, you placed your instruction in Plane 
 Trigonometry in the Freshman year, and not in the Sopho- 
 more. Do you mean to be understood that Plane Trigo- 
 nometry is not taught, in any year, to those students who 
 pursue your limited coarse ? 
 
 A. For thirteen years past I have taught more or less of 
 Plane Trigonometry to the whole Freshman class. In some 
 years it has been completely finished with that class ; but, 
 more frequently, a small portion has been left over for the 
 Sophomore year. I considered it as a study pertaining, there- 
 fore, to the Freshman, rather than to the Sophomore year, in 
 
14 
 
 the main ; but this year, having been for some time satisfied 
 that the weaker students in Mathematics were overtasked, I 
 have concluded, at a very late moment, to terminate the 
 compulsory course with Plane Geometry, in the Freshman 
 year — the voluntary course still including, in that year, the 
 greater part of Plane Trigonometry. I propose to prosecute 
 the study of Plane Trigonometry with all the students of that 
 class in the Sophomore year. I should state, here, that I have 
 been under the impression that the statute had been changed 
 (upon my own suggestion) so as to include Plane Trigonometry 
 in the Freshman year. In this, I now find, on examining the 
 statute, I was mistaken. 
 
 Q. You have stated that Nautical and Practical Astronomy 
 are taught by you in the Sophomore year, and Analytical 
 Geometry in the Junior — the first of these subjects being as- 
 signed by the statutes to the Junior, year, and the latter to the 
 Sophomore ; will you please explain to the committee your 
 reasons for your departures, in these studies, from the pre- 
 scribed order ? 
 
 A. I find that Nautical Astronomy can be more conven- 
 iently taught in connection with Spherical Trigonometry. 
 I think the practice of instructing in Analytical Geometry in 
 the Junior year was introduced before I came to the College. 
 At any rate, the introduction of Descriptive Geometry into 
 the Sophomore year rendered a postponement of Analytical 
 Geometry necessary. Descriptive Geometry was introduced 
 into the studies of the Sophomore year, at my suggestion, 
 about ten or twelve years ago. 
 
 Q. Are the subjects of your course understood by the 
 classes, so that they master them ? 
 
 A. They are by the voluntary students, and always have 
 been by some portion of the others — certainly not by all. I 
 think the number not thoroughly comprehending, in the 
 Freshman class, is very small this year. When the students 
 get beyond Plane Trigonometry, the proportion of those who 
 do not comprehend is considerably increased ; and no pains 
 or labor seem to be adequate to keep up this comprehension, 
 beyond the moment at which the familiar expositions are 
 
15 
 
 given. I have sometimes spent Lours, after the exercises this 
 year, in attempting to make some of the feebler students 
 comprehend the subjects of their instruction. They have told 
 me they did comprehend them, and appeared to do so ; but a 
 week afterwards appeared to be totally astray. On the other 
 hand, the more apt students in this department require but a 
 single exposition, which is never or rarely afterwards forgotten. 
 Q. What is the usual proportion of students in each class 
 who pursue the voluntary course ? 
 A. About one-fourth. 
 
 Q. Up to and including the subject of Plane Trigonometry, 
 what proportion of all the students do master the course ? 
 A. Very nearly all can be made to do so. 
 Q. In fact, what proportion do master it 1 
 A. Yery nearly all, except in the latter portions of Plane 
 Trigonometry, where, until the present year, students have 
 been, a little. too much hurried. 
 
 Q. "What proportion of all the students master the course 
 of instruction beyond. Plane Trigonometry ? 
 
 A. Not more than half, though all know something of it. 
 Q. Can you distinguish between the subjects of instruction 
 those in which they are most deficient, and those in which 
 they are best prepared, and can you state to the committee 
 how many of the students comprehend them, and how many 
 do not ? 
 
 A. There is but little difference except that I think that 
 the elementary principles of the Differential and Integral Cal- 
 culus are better comprehended than any other studies after 
 Plane Trigonometry. Next to those I should place Survey- 
 ing and Navigation, which may perhaps be considered as in- 
 cluded in Plane Trigonometry ; perhaps three-fourths under- 
 stand the elementary principles of Calculus ; this may be ow- 
 ing in part to the maturity of the students, and to the fact that 
 the subject is not intrinsically difficult except from its novelty. 
 Q. What is the cause of the deficiency of the students in 
 your department? 
 
 J.. Natural deficiencies of capabilities, which differ. much 
 more than in other departments. 
 
16 
 
 Q. Do you mean that the subjects of instruction are such 
 as to be beyond the mental capacity of half the students ? 
 
 A. I do ; that is to say, capacity for Mathematics. 
 
 Q. Is the cause of the deficiency in some degree the neg- 
 lect of their studies by the students in College ? 
 
 A. In some instances, but they are rare. I find that when 
 a student acquires the Mathematics with facility he applies 
 himself intensely. Occasional instances appear of students 
 discovering a talent for Mathematics after they have been 
 some time in College. One or two instances of this kind occur 
 every year in the commencement of the study of Descriptive 
 Geometry ; such students afterwards become models of appli- 
 cation. 
 
 Q. Can thorough instruction to all or nearly all of each 
 class be improved by limiting the range of instruction in your 
 department ? 
 
 A. I think not in the higher branches, but in Algebra, 
 Plane Geometry and Plane Trigonometry, I think it can. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to give to the committee, as 
 fully and distinctly as possible, your views as to the course of 
 instruction in Mathematics proper to be adopted as being 
 adapted to the intellectual capacity of general students, and 
 capable of being strictly enforced against all ? 
 
 A. In the course of Mathematics I should recommend a 
 minimum of requisition from candidates for the degree of 
 A. B., to comprise the following subjects : 
 
 1. Algebra to the end of Equations of the second degree. 
 
 2. Plane Geometry and Mensuration. 
 
 3. Plane Trigonometry, with the use of tables of Logarithms, 
 and of tables of Lines and Tangents. 
 
 4. Application of Plane Trigonometry to Navigation. 
 
 5. Application of Plane Geometry and Plane Trigonometry 
 to Surveying. 
 
 I base this recommendation on thefollowing considerations : 
 1. My experience has convinced me that almost every stu- 
 dent can be taught the above named branches of Mathematics 
 with tolerable thoroughness, but that, in attempting to do 
 more with the majority of students ', the labor, on the part of 
 
17 
 
 both teacher and taught, is entirely disproportionate to the 
 result. 
 
 The most that is effected is to convey some general notions 
 of the nature of the higher Mathematical analysis, which 
 would be even better secured by an attendance on the lec- 
 tures, and hearing the performances of those students who 
 are capable of becoming first-class mathematicians. At the 
 same time it might be expedient to permit all to take part in 
 the exercises of the lecture-room as far as they find them- 
 selves competent to do so, requiring an examination at the 
 close of the session in the higher branches of Mathematics, 
 from the candidates for honor only. 
 
 Such a change as is here contemplated would afford oppor- 
 tunity for much more thorough instruction in the minimum 
 course prescribed, and at the same time permit the course for 
 the few to be much more extensive than it can possibly be 
 now, where so much time of the professor is consumed in 
 vain attempts to do what nature never intended should be 
 done. 
 
 2. The plan here proposed is no novelty in our own country, 
 having been in practice for several years at Harvard Univer- 
 sity, an institution conspicuous for the prominence given in it 
 to Mathematical studies. 
 
 3. It is conformable, also, to the practice of the highest in- 
 stitutions of learning in Europe. German students, in pass- 
 ing from the Gymnasia to the Universities, undergo an exami- 
 nation termed the Abiturienten, which divides them into 
 three classes, the first two of which are denominated " ma- 
 ture," and the third " immature." 
 
 All may attend University lectures, but none, except the 
 " matures," can afterwards receive degrees, or be appointed 
 to any office of state. It is not customary for any to take de. 
 grees, except thoBe who enter the professions, or become 
 teachers. 
 
 On entering the University, students may select any four 
 branches of learning or science, which need not include Ma- 
 thematics at all, and indeed it is not usual for students of 
 Law, Medicine, Theology or Philology to attend Mathemati- 
 
 2b 
 
18 
 
 cal lectures, bo that the minimum of the Mathematical course, 
 even for those who take degrees in the German Universities, 
 may be said to be comprised in the studies prescribed for 
 the Abiturienten examination of the Gymnasia. 
 
 What these are is stated with mnch distinctness by Vic- 
 tor Cousin, in his treatise, entitled " Instruction Secondaire 
 dans le Eoyeaume de Prusse," tinder the head of " Princi- 
 ples on which the Certificate of Maturity is delivered." 
 
 After citing what is required in German composition, 
 Latin composition, and what kind of exercises in Cicero, 
 Sallust, Livy, Yirgil, Horace, and the principles of metre, 
 in Greek Grammar, the Iliad, Odyssey, Herodotus, the Cyro- 
 pedica, and Anabesis of Xenophon and Short Dialogues of 
 Plato, in French composition, in Christian doctrine, dogma, 
 morals and history, he goes on to state the requirements 
 which the student must fulfil, as follows : 
 
 If he shows himself capable in Mathematics, if he is skilful 
 in ordinary calculation, in the elements of Algebra and Geo- 
 metry, if he is not ignorant of Binomial Theorem, if he treats 
 with facility equations of the first and second degree, if he 
 knows how to make use of Logarithms, if he is sufficiently 
 exercised in right-lined Trigonometry, and principally if he 
 has given proof of intelligence, by a well-ordered account of 
 the ensemble of the propositions developed by him, the certi- 
 ficate of " Maturity " is accorded. 
 
 This is followed by a statement of the requisitions in Geo- 
 graphy and Physics. 
 
 The requirements for the degree of B. A., in the English 
 Universities, are still lower in Mathematical studies. 
 
 The following extracts are from the answers to questions 
 proposed by the Parliamentary Commission to the Examiners 
 of the Universities : 
 
 "The statute of 1830 requires every candidate for the 
 degree of Bachelor of Arts, to bring up for examination the 
 four Gospels in Greek, and the 39 Articles of the Church of 
 England, with the scriptural proofs of them. 
 
 " Under the head of Literae Humaniores, they are required 
 
19 
 
 to bring up (at their own option) at least three Greek and Ro- 
 man writers of the best age and mark. Custom requires a 
 portion of two Greek and two Latin works to be brought up, 
 one of which must be a historical work. " 
 The Greek authors on former lists of the Examiners are : 
 
 Historians — Thucydides, 4 books ; Herodotus, 4 ; Zeno- 
 phon's Expedition of Cyrus. 
 
 Poets — Homer, Iliad, 12 books ; ./Eschylus, 4 plays ; 
 Sophocles, 4 ; Euripides, 4 ; Theocritus. 
 
 Philosophers — Aristotle, Ethics, 6 books, Rhetoric ; Plato, 
 4 dialogues. 
 
 Orators — Demosthenes, 12 orations ; Demosthenes and 
 jEschines, De Corona. 
 
 LATIN AUTHOES. 
 
 Historians — Livy, 6 books ; Tacitus, Annals, 6 ; Tacitus, 
 Histories, 5 ; Caesar ; Sallust, with the Catilinian Orations of 
 Cicero. 
 
 PoeU — Virgil, Eclogues and Georgics, iEneid; Horace, 
 Odes, Epodes and Ars Poetica, Satires, Epistles ; Juvenal ; 
 Lucretius; Terence. 
 
 Philosophers — Cicero, Tusculan Questions, De Officiis, De 
 Oratore ; Qninctilian, Institutes. 
 
 Orators — Cicero, 12 Orations. 
 
 " In addition, every candidate is required to pass an ex- 
 amination in four books of Euclid, in Aldrich's Syllogistic 
 Logic, and to translate English prose into Latin prose with 
 tolerable accuracy. The latter constitutes one day's work, and 
 the entire examination of an ordinary candidate is finished on 
 the afternoon of the second day. 
 
 " The proportion of candidates rejected is ordinarily about 
 30 per cent. ; the proportion who withdraw voluntarily, the 
 same. So that out of 160 candidates, 60 would disappear 
 altogether, 90 obtain ordinary certificates, and 10 be placed 
 in the 4th class of honors." 
 
20 
 
 The three first classes constitute the tripos, for which there 
 is a separate examination. 
 
 "All the candidates for honors," that is for the tripos, 
 " have the same printed questions proposed to them, to be an- 
 swered in writing. This branch of the examination occupies 
 five days, the oral part one and a half to two and a half hours. 
 The books almost invariably brought upj" though optional, 
 " are the Ethics and Khetoric of Aristotle ; the Histories of 
 Thucydides, Herodotus, and some portion of the best writings 
 of Livy and Tacitus, the tragedies of iEschylus and Sophocles, 
 the poetical works of Virgil, Horace and Juvenal. Those 
 who aspire to the highest honors add to the lists, for the most 
 part, the politics of Aristotle, or some of the philosophical di- 
 alogues of Plato, and perhaps the treatise of Aristotle on Po- 
 etry. Occasionally Theophrastus, or Xenophon's Memora- 
 bilia ; the Odes of Pindar ; four or six of the Comedies of 
 Aristophanes ; some of the Orations of Demosthenes ; some 
 portions of Polybius ; four of the six tragedies of Euripides ; 
 Lucretius ; the Comedies of Terence ; some of the philosoph- 
 ical works of Cicero. In addition to this, they are required to 
 exhibit a tolerably accurate knowledge of the rules of syllo- 
 gistic logic, to write good Latin and Greek translations from 
 English prose, and show themselves fair critical scholars, and 
 acquainted with the laws of classical taste. 
 
 " The general subjects of the Mathematical examinations 
 are Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, Plane and Spherical 
 Trigonometry, Conic Sections, Newton's Principia, the Differ- 
 ential and Integral Calculus, Mechanics, Optics, Hydrostatics 
 and Plane Astronomy. Of late less attention has been paid 
 to Geometric knowledge, e. g., it is now rare for a candidate 
 to bring up the first three sections of Newton's Principia 
 since 1830, and more expertness is required in the use of the 
 analytic method." — Ox. Eo., p. 290, et ante. 
 
 At Cambridge the examination of candidates for honors in 
 the Mathematical department " commences on the Tuesday 
 next succeeding December 30th in every year, and is contin- 
 
21 
 
 ued three days. The subjects of examination daring these 
 three days are Euclid, Conic Sections, Arithmetic, Algebra, 
 Plane Trigonometry, the elementary parts of Statics, Dy- 
 namics, Hydrostatics and Optics, the first three sections of 
 Newton's Principia, and the elementary parts of Plane As- 
 tronomy. The examination is conducted entirely by printed 
 papers of questions placed before the candidate, and a certain 
 fixed time allowed for answering the questions in every paper. 
 The written answers to the questions are carried away, and 
 examined by the moderators and examiners in their own 
 rooms." There is no viva voce examination at all. 
 
 " On the Saturday of the following week the moderators 
 and examiners declare what persons have shown sufficient 
 proficiency to deserve places in the list of honors, and also 
 what persons, though not sufficiently qualified for honors, 
 have yet acquitted themselves in the examination well 
 enough to be allowed to pass for an ordinary degree, so far as 
 the subject of Mathematics is concerned. The examination 
 of the former is resumed on the following Monday, and con- 
 tinued five days. It embraces all the other parts of Mathe- 
 matics and Natural Philosophy, which are the subjects of 
 study in the "University, and is conducted in the same manner 
 as in the first three days." 
 
 At the close, the candidates are arranged in three classes, 
 called respectively Wranglers, Senior Optimes and Junior 
 Optimes, constituting the Mathematical Tripos, and the names 
 of each class are placed in order of merit. 
 
 " The subjects required to pass the B. A. degree are the 
 first three books, and first six propositions of the sixth book 
 of Euclid, certain specific rules of Arithmetic and Algebra, 
 and certain prescribed elementary principles and propositions 
 of Mechanics and Hydrostatics." 
 
 Besides the general examination in January, there are 
 three additional for the B. A. degree in every year ; one just 
 before Ash "Wednesday, one at the beginning of the Easter 
 
22 
 
 term, and one at the beginning of the Michaelmas term, all 
 conducted as above described. 
 
 List of Elementary Mathematical Works used at Cambridge. 
 
 Algebra. — Peacocke, Hind, Wood, De Morgan. 
 
 Trigonometry. — Hymers, Hind, Snowball. 
 
 Geometrical Conies. — Whewell, Hustler. 
 
 Theory of Equations. — Hymers, StevenBon. 
 
 Co-ordinate Geometry. — O'Brien, Hymers, Salmon, Wal- 
 ton's Examples. 
 
 Differential and Integral Calculus. — Moigno, Navier, 
 Miller, Hind, Heming, O'Brien, Hall, Hymers, De Morgan, 
 Peacocke's Examples, Gregory's Examples. 
 
 Theory of Gravitation. — Airy. 
 
 Statics and Dynamics. — Poisson, Whewell, Earnshaw, 
 Pratt, Griffin, Walton's Examples. 
 
 Hydrostatics. — Miller, Webster, Walton's Examples. 
 
 Geometrical Optics. — Griffin. 
 
 Plane Astronomy. — Herschell's Outlines, Grant, Hymers. 
 
 Differential Equations and Finite Differences. — Hymers, 
 Herschell's Examples. 
 
 Solid Geometry. — Hymers, Gregory. 
 
 Physical Astronomy. — O'Brien's Tracts, Airy's Tracts. 
 
 Undulatory Theory of Light. — Lloyd, Airy, Moigno. 
 
 Camb. Ex., p. 229. 
 
 It will be perceived, from the above quotations, that the 
 minimum I have proposed for our College embraces more 
 than that of the universities of Europe. I am not sure that it 
 would not be expedient to omit the two last heads, which I 
 have numbered 4 and 5, to wit : the Application of Trigo- 
 nometry and Geometry to Navigation and Surveying. 
 
 Q. Are there not subjects of instruction now prescribed by 
 the statutes, which are higher than those you have now 
 recommended to be compulsorily required, and which ought 
 to be mastered by all the students before being graduated 
 from the College, as preliminary to a University course in 
 science or art ? 
 
23 
 
 A. I think not. The great purpose of mental discipline is 
 sufficiently secured by the course I have proposed, and this 
 appears to be the opinion entertained in the universities of 
 Europe. At the same time, every student who has natural 
 qualifications and tastes for higher branches, should have 
 every facility afforded for their acquisition. 
 
 Q. How often do the students in your department recite ? 
 
 A. It is very variable : the Freshmen, two or three times a 
 week — their attendance being three times. In the Sopho- 
 mores, on an average less ; their attendance being the same. 
 In the Juniors, not more than once, though the class is small. 
 The Seniors still less frequently, their attendance being twice 
 a week, and the present Senior class very large. With them, 
 more is done by lecture and work at home than by recitation. 
 
 Q. How long does the exercise of each student continue, 
 when he is examined in your lecture-room ? 
 
 A. It varies very much. It sometimes occupies half an 
 hour. 
 
 Q. Are you able, on such occasions, to detect the deficien- 
 cies of each student in the previous part of the course, or to 
 discover and explain away any difficulties he may honestly 
 labor under ? 
 
 A. I can discover deficiencies, but cannot always take time 
 to meet the student's individual want, without injustice to 
 the rest. I have adopted the practice, this year, of remaining 
 after the College exercises for this purpose. I recommend 
 the students to have private tutors, when they can conven- 
 iently, for this purpose. It were well if our College system 
 provided new graduates, to whom all the students might be 
 at liberty to apply. 
 
 Q. Is it not important in elementary instruction to under- 
 stand the state of mind of, and to advise and assist individual 
 students ; and is this end now attained in your department? 
 
 A. It is important, and it is not so fully attained as might 
 be desired. I have attempted to remedy the evil in the 
 manner I have mentioned. 
 
 Q. Why is it not, and how could it be attained ? 
 
 A. All the professor's time, besides his course of lectures, 
 
24 
 
 ought to be employed in private study, and in keeping pace 
 with the progress of his department throughout the world. 
 The professor must either devote at least two hoiirs a day be- 
 sides the hours of lecture and daily examination of students, 
 to this particular duty, or it must be performed by recent 
 graduates who have been distinguished in Mathematics, ap- 
 pointed for the purpose, who could do it sufficiently well, or 
 employed by the students where they can find them, which 
 is to some extent actually the case. 
 
 The Special Committee of Inquiry, &c, met at the College 
 Library, on Wednesday, the 2d of July, 1856, at 2 P. M. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Betts. 
 
 Dr. Hackley was present to respond to any inquiries. 
 
 Q. How are the relative merits of the students in your de- 
 partment determined ? 
 
 A. It would be easily determined by the general impres- 
 sion which I have of their performances during the session ; 
 but in addition to this, I keep a record of the quality of the 
 recitation of each student. 
 
 Q. Explain, if you please, the nature of that record. 
 
 A. It is a system of numbers, ten indicating a recitation 
 satisfactory in all respects, and the numbers ranging from 
 that down to zero. "Where an exercise is remarkably excel- 
 lent, I put the number eleven. I add a small additional mark 
 over the number to indicate when the performance is volun- 
 tary. 
 
 Q. "What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of arranging all the students in each class in the 
 order of merit as compared with the present system ? 
 
 A. It is, I think, too difficult to determine the relative 
 merit. I should prefer including a certain number, admit- 
 ting some variation as to the number, to be registered and 
 published; something like the Fourth class of Honors at 
 Oxford. 
 
25 
 
 Q. State your opinion, and any material facts within your 
 knowledge, in reference to the manner and extent of instruc- 
 tion now given in the College, and the success or want of suc- 
 cess attending it, and in reference to the propriety of any 
 change, either, in the statutes, or their administration in this 
 regard. 
 
 A. I think that I have answered this in substance before, 
 so far as my own department is concerned. There is, however, 
 one thing I would suggest, that the course in Astronomy 
 (Theoretic Astronomy) should be transferred to the Senior 
 year, and that of the Differential and Integral Calculus to the 
 last half of the Junior year. This is for the benefit of the 
 department of Physics, as well as my own — a knowledge of 
 the Calculus being requisite to the pursuit of the studies of 
 that department to best advantage, as well as that of Theo- 
 retic Astronomy. With the exception of the above changes, 
 I would retain the form of the statute as it now exists for the 
 voluntary course. 
 
 I would recommend that in the changes recommended, the 
 minimum course should occupy the whole of the Freshman 
 year, and at least the first half, perhaps the whole, of the 
 Sophomore year : also, that students who might be deficient 
 in this minimum course, at the end of the Sopbomore year, 
 should be permitted to remain in the College, if not deficient 
 in other departments, until the end of the Junior year, attend- 
 ing with their class, and then be permitted another examina- 
 tion. 
 
 Columbia College Libeakt, 
 
 Tuesday, 2 P. M., July 8th, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Andebson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley attended. The inquiries continued. 
 
 Prof. Hackley requested permission to add something to 
 his last answer. That he should recommend the attendance 
 on the Mathematical lectures to be optional with the Senior 
 
26 
 
 class, which accords with a recommendation reported to the 
 Board of Trustees by the committee on the course. There 
 would be some advantage for drill, in a minimum course, 
 gained by dividing the class into two sections, and appoint- 
 ing an additional instructor, in order to carry on the exercises 
 of these two sections, simultaneously. The time of this addi- 
 tional instructor might be filled up, by requiring his attend- 
 ance a certain portion of each day after College hours, to re- 
 ceive and answer applications for private assistance from the 
 students on the past and subsequent portions of their College 
 course ; thus supplying a want I have alluded to before. It 
 must be admitted, however, that in this way, the less ad- 
 vanced students would lose the benefit derived from attend- 
 ing along with the more advanced, and listening to their 
 performance. 
 
 Q, At what point of attainment, then, would the course 
 terminate at the end of the Junior year ? 
 
 A. With the students of the minimum course, at Plane 
 Trigonometry and its applications to Navigation and Survey- 
 ing. With the students of the voluntary course, at the end 
 of the usual elementary course of the Differential and Integral 
 Calculus, comprising all the present course, except the Calcu- 
 lus of Variations and Theoretic and Physical Astronomy. 
 
 Q. Is all the voluntary course which you have recom- 
 mended to be pursued to the end of the Junior year essential 
 either for the general student, or as a preliminary preparation 
 for entrance upon the study of physical science in a Uni- 
 versity course ? 
 
 A. It is not essential for the general student, nor for some 
 branches of physical science, unless the highest refinement in 
 these branches of physical science is sought to be attained, 
 but for other branches of physical science it is essential. 
 
 Q. In so far as it is essential as a preliminary preparation, 
 for entrance upon the study of physical science in a Univer- 
 sity course, might it not with equal advantage be pursued in 
 such course immediately before the study of the physical 
 science is entered upon ? 
 
 A. It would take too much time in the arrangement of the 
 
27 
 
 University course, which occupies hut three years, commenc- 
 ing with the Senior year of the present College course, and 
 all that time is necessary for the studies of the University 
 course. The Mathematical instruction, other than the mini- 
 mum course, begins, as it is now given, in the beginning of the 
 Freshman year, and is continued to the end of the Senior year. 
 The Mathematical instruction, as I propose it, would begin 
 with the beginning of the Freshman year, and continue to 
 the end bf the Junior year. I suppose that the minimum 
 course would be acquired in one year by the students who 
 take the voluntary course, so that the latter course may be 
 considered as occupying the space of two years, though 
 spread over three. These voluntary students are employing 
 time at an early age in getting these acquisitions out of the 
 way before entering upon the University course, which time 
 would otherwise be lost. Again, they make these acquisi- 
 tions more easily at the same time that they are acquiring the 
 minimum course, as they consist in part of an extension or 
 more comprehensive study of the same branches. 
 
 Q. What part or parts of the voluntary course of instruc- 
 tion in Mathematics, which you have recommended, are, in 
 your opinion, essential for the general student ? 
 
 A. I have stated in my first answer, recommending a mini- 
 mum, that I thought this minimum alone would comprise all 
 that was requisite for the general student. 
 
 Q. If the course you recommend were fairly carried out 
 by you, in what proportion could you divide your time and 
 attention between the two classes of students ? 
 
 A. The students of the minimum course would receive the 
 greater share of my time and attention ; and this course 
 would be regarded as the main business of the lecture-room. 
 The other class of students would be allowed to come in only 
 as it could, without serious interference with the thorough 
 progress of the minimum course. Students pursuing a volun- 
 tary course require less attention, and do their work more 
 independently. 
 
 Q. While the professor is engaged with the voluntary 
 students, do you allow to the minimum students the option 
 
28 
 
 of preparing their own exercises, or of listening to the volun- 
 tary ones ? 
 
 A. I do, except when they are at the Board. 
 
 Q. As a general rule, how do they exercise this option ? 
 
 A. Generally more in preparing their own exercises, 
 though oftentimes the whole class will be found listening to a 
 voluntary exercise. 
 
 Q. Does this opportunity, which the students of the mini- 
 mum course enjoy, encourage a neglect of preparation before 
 the hour of recitation ? 
 
 A. 1 perceive no change for. the worse in this respect since 
 I commenced this method of instruction. When I first 
 thought of this mode of conducting the Mathematical course, 
 I had much misgiving on this and other points, and came 
 into my present method very gradually. I am now satisfied, 
 from a full and fair experiment, that the benefits prepon- 
 derate over tbe evils. 
 
 Q. In the presence of whom is the examination of the 
 students applying for admission into the Freshman class con- 
 ducted, and in what place ? 
 
 A. As a general rule, in the presence of the President, and 
 the professors who instruct tbe Freshman class. But of late 
 years, owing to the practice of families leaving the city 
 earlier than formerly, and previously to the day appointed for 
 the public examination of students, these examinations for 
 admission have been made of individuals separately, by the 
 professor alone, at the President's room, the President some- 
 times being present, or at the residence of the professor. 
 Where the student lives far up town, I usually request that 
 he call upon me at my own residence, thus saving the neces- 
 sity of both going down to the College. 
 
 Q. For the last two examinations of students applying for 
 admission, has neither of them taken place in the presence of 
 all the professors instructing the Freshman class, and of the 
 President ? 
 
 A, I think there has been an examination of some students 
 at the appointed time, in presence of the President and of the 
 professors instructing the Fresbman class. 
 
29 
 
 Q. Were those examinations appointed to be held in the 
 chapel, or in the President's room ; and in which of those 
 places were they held ? 
 
 A. I think they were publicly advertised, though I do not 
 remember whether the place of examination was specified in 
 the advertisement, but I think they were held in the chapel. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the students applying for admission 
 were examined at the time and place appointed ? 
 
 A. The students of the Grammar school, constituting one- 
 half of the whole number, are admitted on the certificate of 
 the rector of the Grammar school. Of the remaining num- 
 ber, not more than one-half were examined at the appointed 
 place and time. 
 
 Q. Is an examination, whether public or private, ever 
 omitted ; and if so, under what circumstances ? 
 
 A. It is not, except in the case above specified, viz., of the 
 students of the Grammar school ; and in the last examination, 
 the students coming from Prof. Drisler's Preparatory school 
 were admitted on the certificates of Prof. Drisler and of Mr. 
 Wilson, the Mathematical teacher in Prof. Drisler's school. 
 
 Q. How many students came from Prof. Drisler's school 
 at the last examination for admission ? 
 
 A. Three or four. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state what circumstances 
 other than those you have alluded to, are allowed as sufficient 
 reason for dispensing with a public examination of students 
 applying for admission into the Freshman class ? 
 
 A. Great constitutional timidity on the part of the student 
 has been admitted as a reason, though rarely, and only when 
 it was ascertained that this impediment really existed. All 
 students applying after the latter of the two days appointed 
 for the examination for admission, are privately examined 
 without any demand for excuses for not applying at the time 
 prescribed. These private examinations generally begin after 
 the work of the session has commenced. 
 
 Q. What are the two days which are appointed for those 
 public examinations ? 
 A. One is at the close of the concluding examination of 
 
30 
 
 of the undergraduates, and the other the Saturday before the 
 first Monday of October. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your judgment, the examination of the stu- 
 dents from the Grammar school and from Prof. Drisler's 
 school, applying for admission into College, be dispensed with? 
 
 A. I think that the authoritative sanction of any one pro- 
 fessor of the College of a student's qualification for admission 
 is sufficient. 
 
 Q. "Whose duty is it to examine in the Greek and Latin 
 languages, the students applying for admission into the Fresh- 
 man class ? 
 
 A. The adjunct professor of the Greek and Latin lan- 
 
 Q. Does he always conduct the examination of those 
 students who are subjected to the examination ? 
 
 A. He does. 
 
 Q. Do you yourself conduct the examination in Mathema- 
 tics of those students applying for admission who are sub 1 
 jected to examination ? 
 
 A. I do. 
 
 Q. Are the results of such examination, either in your own 
 or Prof. Drisler's department, reported to the Board of the 
 College ? 
 
 A. They are only reported to the President in writing. 
 
 Q. Does the Board of the College decide as to whether or 
 not the applicants shall be admitted ? 
 
 A. It does not. The decision is in effect by Prof. Drisler 
 and myself. Our decision is invariably sanctioned by the 
 President. Sometimes, where there is doubt, we make a 
 statement of the case, and lay it before the President, who 
 then decides. 
 
 , Q. What is the nature of the doubt which you allude to in 
 your last answer ? 
 
 A. The student may be deficient in some particulars. 
 
 Q. Are the examinations of students applying for admission, 
 when conducted by yourself, strict ? 
 
 A. Very strict, more especially the private examinations. 
 
31 J 
 
 Q. Are the students not admitted into the Freshman class 
 unless they possess the attainments required by the statutes ? 
 
 A. They are not. 
 
 Q. Were there, at either of the last two examinations for 
 admission into the Freshman class, any candidates rejected ? 
 
 A. There were. 
 
 Q. Can you state how many were rejected at either ? 
 
 A. Not precisely. I recollect the case of two brothers who 
 were rejected about a year ago. I have forgotten their 
 names. And there have been others. 
 
 Columbia College Libraey, 
 
 July 11th, 1856. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley attended, and the interrogatories addressed 
 to him were resumed. 
 
 Q. In what manner is it ascertained whether the persons 
 applying for admission into the higher classes possess the 
 knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. They are very carefully examined. 
 
 Q. Are they examined by all the professors instructing the 
 class into which they apply for admission ? 
 
 A. They are. 
 
 Q. Do such professors report their opinions ; and if so, to 
 whom ? 
 
 A. There is generally a consultation among those professors 
 in relation to the qualification of the candidate, and his fitness 
 or unfitness is reported to the President. 
 
 Q. Are these reports in writing ? 
 
 A. They are. 
 
 Q. Who, then, decides whether the student shall be admitted % 
 
 A. He is not admitted if any professor objects. The decis- 
 ion is in form by the President. 
 
 Q. Is the question of the admission or rejection of students 
 applying for admission into the higher classes brought before 
 
32 
 
 the Board of the College ; and if so, upon what evidence of 
 the facts bearing upon such question ? 
 
 A. This question is generally submitted at an informal 
 meeting for the purpose, and the evidence is the testimony- 
 presented by each professor of the result of the examination 
 in his department. 
 
 Q. Does not the President decide this question of the ad- 
 mission of students into the higher classes as well as into the 
 Freshman class ? 
 
 A. I think he does; though never, that I recollect, in oppo- 
 sition to the opinion of any single professor. 
 
 Q. "What is your opinion, would it be better that the Board 
 of the College, in whom the power of discipline is vested, 
 subject to the negative of the President, should possess and 
 exercise the power of admission of students into any class, 
 subject to the same negative ? 
 
 A. The present mode works very well in practice, and will, 
 so long as the President does not undertake to admit students, 
 where any one of the professors has reported against the ad- 
 mission. On the whole, I see no reason at present for a 
 change in this respect. 
 
 The only alteration I would suggest is, that if any professor 
 should object to the admission of a student, the question 
 should be referred to the Board of the College, subject, of 
 course, to the President's negative. 
 
 Q. Can you remember any cases of admission into the higher 
 classes, which have occurred since the concluding examination 
 in 1854? Was there not one or more of such cases in which 
 the report of one or more professors was adverse to the qualifi- 
 cations of the student, and yet such student was admitted ? 
 
 A. I do not remember any such. In some instances oppo- 
 sition has been made to the admission of students into 
 higher classes, on the ground that the preparation in the de- 
 partment of the objecting professor was not satisfactory, and 
 this opposition has been withdrawn after consultation. 
 
 Q. Do you know any facts other than those you have stated 
 respecting the admission of students ? if so, please state 
 them. 
 
33 
 
 A. I recollect no other. 
 
 Q. Are the students of each class examined in your de. 
 partment, at the public examination, upon the whole subjects 
 or matters of the course of study pursued daring the last 
 preceding term, or upon selections from such subjects or 
 matters ? 
 
 A. Formerly, the examination in my department was upon 
 selections from the course calculated to test a knowledge of 
 the whole. During the last year, the examinations have been 
 upon the whole course. The course during the session has 
 been somewhat shortened for this purpose. The amount pre- 
 pared for examination, and offered as voluntary by the better 
 students, has been somewhat increased. 
 
 Q. Are the subjects upon which the students are questioned 
 upon such examinations marked upon slips of paper, to be 
 drawn by the students by, lot ? 
 
 A. They are ; except some exercises which I give without 
 premeditation, and which neither the students nor myself 
 have ever seen before. 
 
 Q. Can you point out the subjects marked upon such slips 
 at the last two examinations respectively ? 
 
 A. I fear I cannot ; though I think I can furnish the slips 
 used at the present examination. 
 
 Q. Do the students know upon what part or parts of your 
 subjects of instruction they will be questioned at the public 
 examination ? 
 
 A. They have not the most remote idea. 
 
 Q. They have, then, no previous knowledge of the subjects 
 marked upon the slips which you have mentioned ? 
 
 A. They know what subjects will be upon the slips, but 
 these slips now comprise the whole course that they have 
 been over. 
 
 Q. How much of your subjects of instruction, during the 
 last preceding term, was reviewed by your classes, respectively, 
 previous to each of the last two examinations ? 
 
 A. The whole, or nearly all. 
 
 Q. In reference to each class, and in reference to each ex- 
 amination, please to mark the extent of review upon your 
 
 3b 
 
34 
 
 text-books, and upon your notes for your guidance in lectur- 
 ing, and the written matter dictated to the students. 
 
 A. I will do 60, when I produce such matter to the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Q. How long does this review continue ? 
 
 A. Four weeks. 
 
 Q. You say that this review includes all, or nearly all your 
 subjects of instruction during the last preceding term ; for 
 what reason is it ever confined to less than all such subjects ? 
 
 A. This last session the term concluded a week earlier with 
 the Sophomore and Freshman class than I supposed it would. 
 One or two days nfore of recitation would have completed the 
 review. These are the only cases, within the time referred to 
 in the question, in which the review has comprehended less 
 than the whole. I wish to add, in explanation of my last an- 
 swer, that I commenced the review of Descriptive Geometry 
 with the Sophomore class in the last session before the usual 
 time, carrying on this review simultaneously with the instruc- 
 tion in its applications to Shadows, Perspective and Stereoto- 
 my, continuing the instruction in these latter branches into 
 the usual period of the review. This I did for the purpose of 
 making the most of the time, the inspection of the students' 
 drawings occupying but a short time each day, leaving a 
 portion of the hour of lecture for recitation upon a single 
 problem, which they would prepare for recitation in review 
 in a half hour, in addition to the several hours they would 
 occupy in making the drawings for the day at home. 
 
 Q. How, in your opinion, should the review be conducted, 
 or is it advisable at all ? 
 
 A. Keviews and examinations are a drawback upon the 
 best students. The mass of the students, however, would 
 " probably do much less without the stimulus of examination, 
 which renders a review, either public or private, necessary 
 for them. I think that it should be left to each professor to 
 conduct the review in his department according to his own 
 judgment. I think that reviews might be omitted after the 
 Sophomore year in my department, if the plan of a minimum 
 which I have proposed should be adopted. Then I think that 
 
35 
 
 the test for honors should be the actual amount of attainment 
 of the candidates in the Junior and Senior classes, in the whole 
 range of Mathematics. The examination, in this case, should 
 not be upon particular demonstrations, but upon general 
 principles, and the power to use Mathematics as an instru- 
 ment in original investigations. 
 
 Q. What end does the review secure ? 
 
 A. Preparation for a better appearance at examination, 
 and a greater familiarity with the parts gone over ; but this 
 last advantage is more than made up, in the higher branches, 
 by the consequent loss of a more extended acquisition. 
 
 Q. Could not this greater familiarity be attained by the 
 students through a constant recurrence to the previous studies 
 of the session, and be enforced and ascertained by the ques- 
 tions of the professor, put from time to time as the session 
 advances ? 
 
 A. Yes, in a great degree. In the more advanced parts of 
 the course, the principles involved in the earlier parts are of 
 incessant application ; and the more extended the course, 
 therefore, the more familiar the student becomes with his 
 earlier principles ; and in this way most of the advantages of 
 a review are obtained, at the same time that the student's 
 sphere of knowledge on the subject of study is greatly enlarged. 
 A recurrence to text-books relating to the earlier parts of the 
 course will certainly be necessary, but the intelligent student 
 of Mathematics will make this for himself, quite as successfully 
 as under the supervision of the professor in formal review. 
 So far as his mental discipline is concerned, I think such a 
 method, with the amplifications it admits of in the course, 
 would be an improvement upon the system of reviews. 
 
 Q. Would this reasoning apply equally to the students of 
 the minimum and voluntary courses ? 
 
 A. Only to the latter. The former would, I fear, not be 
 able, unaided, to refer to the previous parts of their course ; 
 though this difficulty might be obviated, perhaps, by the ex- 
 istence in the College of consulting professors or tutors, such 
 as I have already suggested. I should be afraid to make the 
 
36 
 
 experiment with the students of the minimum course, though 
 I should not hesitate to do so with the others. 
 
 Q. Does not the knowledge, which the student possesses 
 during the session, that he will have an opportunity to review 
 at the end, induce him to a very superficial study until the time 
 of review arrives ? 
 
 A. Not as a general rule. This may be the case in some 
 single instances, with some individuals. 
 
 Q. Are your public examinations made upon any part of 
 your subjects of instruction not reviewed during the next pre- 
 ceding session ? 
 
 A. Some of the matter brought up as voluntary has some- 
 times not been reviewed ; in some instances, not even recited 
 upon at all previously in the session. The compulsory matter 
 has always been reviewed. 
 
 Columbia College Library, 
 July 15th, 1856. 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley was in attendance ; and the inquiries pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
 Q. Are the public examinations so conducted as satisfac- 
 torily to test the knowledge of the student in the subjects of 
 the course which were the objects of attention in the last pre- 
 ceding term, and in the previous terms? 
 
 A. They are confined to the subjects of the last preceding 
 term, and are 80 conducted in my department as to test the 
 students' acquaintance with the subjects of study belonging 
 to that session. If the student has been negligent in the 
 lecture-room, so that there is an impression on my own mind 
 unfavorable to him, his public examination is made more 
 carefully. And in case of those students about whom I en- 
 tertain no doubt, if the College accommodations admitted of 
 the examinations being written instead of oral, on common 
 
37 
 
 topics proposed to all the class, the examination would be- 
 come a more thorough test. As to the other departments, I 
 know no reason to doubt that the examinations are a satisfac- 
 tory test of the students' proficiency in the studies of the last 
 preceding term. The practice which has been recently intro- 
 duced of an oral examination upon a preparation previously 
 written in the examination-room, in the department of Phi- 
 losophy and Belles Lettres, I think, not objectionable, if the 
 students can be prevented from intercourse with one another. 
 
 Q. Would the plan of written examinations (the students 
 being prevented from communicating with one another) afford 
 a satisfactory test of the knowledge of the students in the 
 subjects of the course, not only of the term next preceding 
 the examination, but also of the previous terms, or are you 
 able to suggest any other plan that would accomplish that 
 object? 
 
 A. In the department of Mathematics a thorough examina- 
 tion of the session immediately preceding the examination 
 is, in effect, an examination upon the Mathematical studies 
 of all the previous sessions, because a thorough knowledge of 
 these latter is necessary to enable the student to sustain a 
 thorough examination upon the former. The most effective 
 way of conducting the examination would be to combine the 
 written with the oral method. The written method allows 
 more to be accomplished in a given time. The oral method 
 brings out the minute and formal accuracy of the student's 
 knowledge better than the written. Of two students of 
 equal ability, one would often bear a better written examina- 
 tion, the other a better oral one. By combining the two 
 methods, both would appear to equal advantage. 
 
 Q. In what way would you combine the two methods, 
 oral and written ? 
 
 A. They might go on simultaneously, a certain number of 
 minutes being occupied with each student in the oral exami- 
 nation, the rest being engaged in writing, or the oral and 
 written examinations might be at separate times. I think I 
 should give the preference to the former method of combining 
 the two systems of examination. 
 
38 
 
 Q. Do not the College accommodations admit of examina- 
 tions being written, and in what are such accommodations 
 defective ? 
 
 A. There is no room sufficiently large to admit of the 
 students being seated at tables, and prevented from commu- 
 nicating with each other. 
 
 Q. "Would it be desirable, then, to provide the necessary 
 accommodations for this purpose in any new College hall 
 hereafter to be built? 
 
 A. It would. The students' table should be at least ten 
 feet apart, and the examiner should pass frequently along the 
 line of the students under examination. To accommodate 
 forty students, a hall of eighty feet by fifty would not be too 
 large. 
 
 Q. Can the examinations, in your opinion, be made under 
 the present system a test of the student's knowledge of the 
 whole previous course ? 
 
 A. They might be, by an examination on the whole pre- 
 vious course. It would take more time than is now employed, 
 although in my department, in most of the studies, an exami- 
 nation on the course of the last preceding session implies an 
 examination of the previous sessions. 
 
 Q. How much time ought to be given to the examination 
 of each class in your department ? 
 
 A. On the present system, at least three hours, though 
 four would be desirable with large classes ; and it would not 
 take much longer if the oral and written systems were com- 
 bined in the way I suggested, and the examination then 
 would be more effective. 
 
 Q. "Would there, in your opinion, be an advantage in 
 making the examinations a test of the knowledge of the 
 students in the whole course, which they have previously 
 pursued ? 
 
 A. If the examinations were all thrown into one final one, 
 as is the case in the English Universities, and, as I believe, 
 now at Harvard, this would be expedient ; I don't know but 
 that it might be well to require some examination on all the 
 preceding studies at each succeeding examination. It would 
 
39 
 
 increase the labor of preparing for examination, and would 
 increase the evils of examinations themselves, which I have 
 already said I regard as an evil for the better class of students, 
 in the way they are now conducted, that is to say, by exami- 
 nations on single demonstrations, the success of which, so far 
 as the students are concerned, depends on a careful getting 
 up of the matter, for examinations alone, and not for future 
 use. Examinations, however, such as I have advised for the 
 students of the higher Mathematics, might, as I have sug- 
 gested in giving this advice, take a wide range. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, after each examination, report the 
 results to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. They do. 
 
 Q. Are the reports made in writing ? 
 
 A. They are now to be so made, by order of the President, 
 although they have not been so until recently. 
 
 Q. How long has the practice of reporting the results of 
 examination to the Board of the College obtained ? 
 
 A. The reports have always been made to the Board in full 
 session, orally, by each professor in turn, as to students 
 he deemed deficient in his department. The reports of the 
 performance at examination are made at the close of the en- 
 tire examination. They will hereafter be made in writing at 
 a full meeting of the Board. Some of the reports are already 
 prepared. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough, as soon as convenient, to 
 furnish to the committee a copy of your report of the now 
 pending examination, after such report shall have been sub- 
 mitted to the Board of the College? 
 
 A. I will. 
 
 Q. Have the Board of the College, within your recollec- 
 tion, excluded any students from proceeding to a higher class, 
 because deficient in the studies of the preceding year ? 
 
 A. They have. 
 
 Q. Do you remember what disposition was afterwards 
 made of the cases of such students ? 
 
 A. In one instance, a student of the Freshman class of last 
 year went back into the Freshman class of the present year. 
 
40 
 
 In most instances where this going back has been required, 
 the students have left College. In the case of the student, who 
 acquiesced in this exclusion, and joined the present Fresh- 
 man classj I cannot say that the result has been favor- 
 able. At the last concluding examination, some students 
 were prohibited from going on with the class, but were 
 taken back on trial immediately on the resumption of studies, 
 until Christmas. Two of these were subsequently dismissed, 
 in consequence of not having fulfilled, in the opinion of the 
 majority of the Board, the conditions required of them. 
 Others were allowed to continue. 
 
 Q. "Was it ascertained in any manner before the students, 
 referred to in your last answer, were allowed to proceed with 
 their class, that they had made up their deficiency ? 
 
 A. It was not ascertained at the time they were allowed to 
 attend with their class, that they had made up their defi- 
 ciency. "Without this assurance, they were allowed to attend 
 on trial, and the fact of their having made up their deficiency 
 during such probation, was subsequently ascertained by their 
 performances in the lecture-room. 
 
 Q. Are there any other improvements in the mode of the 
 public examination which you can suggest besides those yon 
 have already mentioned ? 
 
 A. I think it would be a great improvement, if practicable, 
 were the examination conducted by different persons from 
 those who give the instruction. I fear, however, that as yet, 
 no such suitable persons could be readily procured. In the 
 English Universities, examiners are appointed from the resi- 
 dent fellows of some of the colleges, and each one receives a 
 remuneration of about £100 for the performance of his duty. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of the proficiency of the stu- 
 dents in any department of study affecting your own ? 
 
 A. I do not know that there is any connection between my 
 own and the other departments in the College, that would 
 affect my own, except in the department of Physics. I avail 
 myself, in the course, of Physical Astronomy, of the knowl- 
 edge of Mechanics, which the students have acquired in the 
 department of Physics. There is considerable variety in the 
 proficiency of the students in the Senior class in this depart- 
 
41 
 
 ment, some of them being more deficient than can be desired. 
 But I attribute this to the natural want of capacity in such 
 students. 
 
 Q. What proportionate number of the class have you ob- 
 served to be deficient in that department ? 
 
 A. I cannot say precisely. From one-fourth to one-half, 
 more or less. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the committee 
 what is the character for attention and proficiency in your 
 own department, of those students in whom you have ob- 
 served that deficiency ? 
 
 A. They are those most deficient also in my own depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Q. Ought the College, in your opinion, to be strict in their 
 requirements upon students to master the course of studies 
 pointed out by the statutes, or should allowance be made for 
 those that, from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, 
 fail to acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to 
 impart ? Please to state your opinion fully, with your reasons 
 for it. 
 
 A. I think a minimum ought to be adopted in the Mathe- 
 matics, in the Classics, in English Literature and History, 
 without which no student should be permitted to receive a 
 degree ; and that to receive a degree, he should, in addition, be 
 required to make an average attainment in at least two of all 
 the other branches of study prescribed in the College course, 
 and that this rule should be rigorously enforced. The exam- 
 ination on the minimum should take place at the close of the 
 Junior year, in so far as not previously satisfactorily borne 
 in the course of the preceding examinations. At the exami- 
 nation at the close of the Junior year, all candidates for de- 
 grees should be examined at least on the studies pursued 
 since the last examination, and those who did not pass these 
 last examinations satisfactorily, should be examined on the 
 unpassed portion of the minimum. The method of subjecting 
 all candidates for a degree to an examination on the whole 
 minimum, whether the preceding examinations have been 
 satisfactorily borne or not, is deserving of consideration, and 
 
42 
 
 may perhaps be found expedient. It is worth while, also, to 
 consider the expediency of requiring the students of the 
 Freshman class to pass satisfactorily a rigorous examination 
 on the studies of the Freshman year, before being permitted 
 to go on to the Sophomore class. In other words, it may be 
 advisable to make the statute, which requires full proficiency 
 as a condition of promotion, imperative, instead of discretion- 
 ary, in passing from the Freshman to the Sophomore. In 
 the German Gymnasia the rule prohibiting promotion with- 
 out full proficiency is rigidly enforced. 
 
 Columbia College Libkaey, 
 July 16th, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley attended. The interrogatories addressed to 
 him were resumed and continued. • 
 
 Q. Would it not be advantageous to require that students 
 passing from any class to a higher should be masters of the 
 whole previous course ? 
 
 A. I should be satisfied with the application of this strict- 
 ness to the passage from the Freshman to the Sophomore 
 year, allowing a period of two years between the Freshman 
 and the end of the Junior year for such students as from ill- 
 ness or negligence, or other causes, may have failed in their 
 examinations, to retrieve themselves. 
 
 Q. Please state your reasons for this distinction. 
 
 A. If a student shall have mastered the studies of the 
 Freshman year, there is a good prospect that for the sake of 
 a degree, he will make the requisite attainments prescribed 
 in the minimum, even though he may have been interrupted 
 in the studies subsequent to the Freshman year, by any such 
 causes as I have above suggested. Whereas a deficiency in 
 the studies of the Freshman year, as a general rule, indicates 
 a hopeless inaptitude for study, and shows that the student's 
 time might be better employed elsewhere than at College. 
 
43 
 
 Q. Ought not a department of instruction to be assigned 
 to the President ; and if so, what department ? 
 
 A. I think it worthy -of consideration, whether the dis- 
 pensing entirely with a President, and transferring his duties 
 to a member of the Faculty elected annually by them, would 
 not be expedient, as is the custom in the "University of Vir- 
 ginia and in the German Universities. If the President's 
 office be retained, it is, perhaps, best that his duties be con- 
 fined entirely to the government of the College, and that he 
 be for this purpose relieved from the necessity of taking part 
 in the business of instruction. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, or any of them, ever or commonly re- 
 port to the Board of the College students as having neglected 
 their studies ? 
 
 A. Such reports are made at almost every meeting. 
 
 Q. How many students have you so reported during the 
 last two preceding terms ? 
 
 A. I cannot recollect. I should say twenty or thirty at 
 least. 
 
 Q. Can you explain the reasons which have influenced the 
 Board of the College to disuse the punishments of degradation 
 and suspension, and in place of suspension to inflict the 
 punishment of dismission, remitting the same after intervals 
 of from one to two weeks ? 
 
 A. I suppose because dismission has been found to be the 
 most efficient punishment — suspension having been regarded 
 in effect, giving the student leave of absence, without being 
 followed by any serious consequences to him ; inasmuch as a 
 second dismission by the statutes amounts to expulsion, the 
 students are very careful to avoid a first dismission. The 
 sentence of suspension has sometimes lately been proposed, 
 and voted for by some members of the Board, when that of 
 dismission has been passed. The cases where suspension 
 would be a suitable punishment are not of very frequent oc- 
 currence. The most ordinary cases for discipline are either 
 flagrant acts of insubordination, where dismission seems to be 
 the most appropriate sentence, or else general neglect of 
 duties on the part of students, for which a public reprimand 
 
44 
 
 by the President, in the presence of the Board, or in the 
 chapel, would be sufficient. 
 
 Q. Do you think that the punishment of suspension could 
 with advantage be sometimes resorted to, and are there any 
 measures which you can suggest as calculated to render it 
 efficient, or to remove objections to it which may now exist ? 
 
 A. I think there are cases in which it might be resorted to 
 with advantage and propriety. I have known such cases within 
 the last two preceding terms. One of these cases was where 
 the student was the accessory and not the principal. He was 
 also a student of excellent habits of study, and would have 
 felt severely the mere interruption of his attendance at College. 
 He presented a very apt case, in my judgment, for the appli- 
 cation of this mode of punishment. 
 
 I do not know that I can suggest any changes calculated 
 to render the statute more effective. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestion or opinion to offer upon the 
 statute, under the head of Crimes and Punishments, as to 
 their administration or alteration, and can you state any facts, 
 in your opinion, material for the committee to know, in refer- 
 ence to the discipline of the College ? 
 
 A. ^Nothing occurs to me at present. 
 
 Q. How are punishments pronounced ? 
 
 A. By the President, in the presence of the Board, imme- 
 diately after the trial of the delinquent. Sometimes by 
 special direction of the Board, by the President in the College 
 chapel. 
 
 Q. In the absence of such special directions, are the punish- 
 ments of public admonition, dismission or expulsion pro- 
 nounced by a written form, prepared by the President and 
 read in the chapel ? 
 
 A. I am not sure that they are then so pronounced. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to re- 
 quire the attendance and testimony of any student adversely , 
 to a fellow student, upon a charge against the latter ? 
 
 A. From a very long experience, commencing in early 
 youth, as an officer of institutions of learning and science, my 
 
45 
 
 mind is most distinctly made up, and upon no point more 
 decidedly, that it is totally inexpedient to require such testi- 
 mony. Nothing can take from a youth, who does such an 
 act, the persuasion that he has engaged in something un- 
 worthy, and that he ought to resist the authority imposing it ; 
 which, if he does not, he yields to motives of fear or self- 
 interest, which ought carefully to be prevented from being 
 placed in advantageous opposition to those of duty and con- 
 science by the regulations of a public institution. The evil 
 inflicted on the moral character of the student is the same, 
 whether this persuasion be well founded or not. 
 
 Q. Do you think that a resort to this .power of enforcing 
 such testimony is as necessary for the enforcement of discipline 
 as for the discovery of the perpetrators of acts of disorder ? 
 
 A. It certainly is not in this College, where the students 
 are constantly in the presence of either the professor or the 
 janitor. 
 
 Q. Is the student, who declines to testify against a fellow- 
 student, held excused by the President or the Board ? 
 
 A. I think that this sort of testifying is never enforced. 
 The students have sometimes been either frightened or sur- 
 prised into testifying, by the manner in which the President 
 has put the question, but he has not insisted upon this testi- 
 mony where refused. 
 
 Q. Is the student ever previously informed that adverse 
 testimony from him will not be insisted upon ? 
 A. He is not. 
 
 Q. Do all the professors report concerning the conduct and 
 proficiency of the student at every meeting of the Board of 
 the College ? 
 
 A. Only of those students who are remarkable for deficien- 
 cies of any kind. I think, however, it would be advisable to 
 have a formal report made of the standing of every student, 
 as determined by a scale of numbers every week, in order that 
 the President and whole Board might be made better ac- 
 quainted with the standard of every student in all the d'epart- 
 ments. It would be very easy to make these reports, by 
 means of blank forms prepared for the purpose. 
 
46 
 
 Q. Do the Board of the College, keep a book of minutes of 
 their proceedings ? 
 
 A. There is a book which is styled the Book of Minutes of 
 the Board of the College, and which is kept by the President, 
 and which is, I presume, the one read by him to the Board of 
 Trustees. There is no other book kept. 
 
 Q. Is this book read to the Board of the College, or ap- 
 proved by them ? 
 
 A. It is now, but was not until recently. The change took 
 place a few weeks ago. 
 
 Q. Have the Board at any time appointed a clerk ? 
 
 A. Prof. McCuJloh was appointed clerk, and requested to 
 keep the minutes of the Board, by the unanimously expressed 
 wish of the Board, the President assenting. 
 
 Q. Have the Board ever rescinded their' action, by which 
 they appointed Prof. McCulloh clerk ? 
 
 A. They have not. 
 
 Q. Has Prof. McCulloh, since his appointment as clerk, 
 kept the record of the minutes of the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. He has not. The President announced, at a subsequent 
 meeting, that he should keep them himself. 
 
 Q. Do you remember whether the President assigned any, 
 and if any, what reason for his determination himself to keep 
 the record, instead of allowing the clerk to do so ? 
 
 A. I was not present when that announcement was made. 
 
 Q. Has Prof. McCulloh ever resigned his office as clerk ? 
 
 A. He has not, to my knowledge. 
 
 Q. Has the Board, or any member thereof, at its meetings, 
 ever excepted in any way to the President's thus resuming 
 the keeping of the minutes of the Board ? 
 
 A. The Board has not excepted to this action of the Presi- 
 dent, and I am not aware that any member has. 
 
 Q. Are you engaged in any professional pursuit from 
 which you derive emolument, and which is not connected 
 with the College ? 
 
 A. I am not. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestions to make relative to the prac- 
 
47 
 
 tical working of the chapter of the statutes on the Board of 
 the College, or to the propriety of any amendments to it ? 
 
 A. I would suggest the addition of a section empowering 
 the Board, exclusively, to mate all regulations affecting itself ; 
 subjecting, however, this action still to the negative of the 
 President. This power would seem to be inherent in it from 
 the nature of the body, and from all analogy and practice in 
 similar bodies. Tet, as the President has recently assumed 
 the right of making regulations for the Board, some specific 
 legislation on the subject seems to be called for from the 
 Board of Trustees. 
 
 Q. "When the President announced the new regulations to 
 which you refer, did the Board object, or any member of it? 
 
 A. JSTot at the meeting at which they were announced ; but 
 at the next meeting, when they were read by the President 
 from his record as part of the proceedings of the Board, a 
 resolution was offered by a member of the Board, and second- 
 ed by another, declaring that the Board alone possessed the 
 power to pass regulations governing its own action. One-half 
 of the Board voted in favor of the resolution, after it had lain 
 over for two meetings, in order to give an opportunity to the 
 other members to examine the statutes ; the result of which 
 examination was the conclusion in their minds that the Board 
 of Trustees, in stating the powers of the President in the stat- 
 utes, had conferred on him, whether intentionally or not, the 
 right to make the regulations above mentioned ; though such 
 members, with one exception, did not believe that it was ex- 
 pedient that such a right should be conferred on the President 
 by the Board of Trustees. The resolution offered declaring 
 that the Board of the College alone possessed the power of 
 passing the above regulations was thus not carried. 
 
 Q. Have you any other suggestions to make relative to the 
 practical working of the chapter referred to in the last ques- 
 tion, or to the propriety of any amendment to it ? 
 
 A. I think it important that the record of the proceedings 
 of the Board should be kept by some person other than the one 
 who reads them to the Board of Trustees, as a check upon in- 
 accuracies, or individual opinions of expediency as to how 
 
48 
 
 much or how little of the actual proceedings should be com- 
 municated to the Board. I think that all resolutions offered 
 in the Board of the College should go on the record, and be 
 read to the Board of Trustees, whether passed or lost. This 
 has not been the case in practice. Some resolutions have 
 been passed, to which the President has refused his assent, 
 and these have not been entered on his minutes, even where 
 the desire has been expressed that they might be. With this 
 amendment to the statutes, limiting the veto power in this 
 respect, this power would be less objectionable. 
 
 At the same time that the resolution last described was 
 offered and failed, another resolution was offered to the effect 
 that the Board alone had the right of directing in what man- 
 ner the record of its proceedings should be kept. This reso- 
 lution was lost by a tie vote, for the same reason as the other. 
 
 Columbia College Library, 
 September 23d, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley was present, and the interrogatories were 
 resumed. The Professor desired to complete one of the an- 
 swers given at the last meeting of the committee. He re- 
 commended that the names of a small number of those who 
 had received the highest numbers of the scale for the week, 
 should be hung up in a public place in the College. This 
 custom prevails in many institutions, and has been found at- 
 tended with good effects. At "West Point the names of the 
 most deficient are also hung up, but I have doubts about the 
 expediency of adopting this feature of the plan in our College. 
 
 Q. Is proper order preserved amongst the students of the 
 College at other times than when they are attending the lec- 
 ture-rooms ? 
 
 A. Sufficient order is preserved on the whole. 
 
 Q. Do the students, when in attendance in your class, pre- 
 serve strict decorum ? 
 
 \ ' 
 
49 
 
 A. They do ; when, as rarely happens, there is a thought- 
 less breach of decorum, a single word is generally sufficient to 
 recall a student to his sense of propriety. 
 
 Q. In cases of disorder, when they do occur, of what na 
 ture is it ? 
 
 A. Talking or laughing. Never any wilful disorder. 
 
 Q. Are you able to detect the guilty students ? 
 
 A. They never attempt to conceal any thing from me. If 
 there is any unintentional disorder, the party from whom it 
 originates is readily seen by me, and discontinues it on his « 
 attention being called to it. 
 
 Q. Do you report all cases of disorder that occur in your 
 room ? 
 
 A. I do not find it necessary to report any. 
 
 Q. "What are the means to which the professors usually re- 
 sort to repress or punish disorder in their rooms ? 
 
 A. Reporting to the President, reporting to the Board, 
 and, in flagrant cases, ordering the student before the Board. 
 
 Sometimes the practice has been in use of sending the student 
 from the lecture-room. Recently the President has required 
 that this should not be done. This recalls to me a very few 
 instances since I came to the College in which I have sent 
 students from the lecture-room, and always with excellent ef- 
 fect, both on the offending student and on the class. I have, 
 also, in two or three instances, ordered students before the 
 Board, but on explanation after lecture, exculpating the indi- 
 vidual or testifying a penitent spirit, I have excused his at- 
 tendance. 
 
 Q. Ought a professor, in your judgment, to have the power 
 to dismiss a student from his room for the residue of the lec- 
 ture or recitation ? 
 
 A. I think the power should be possessed, but it should be 
 rarely exercised. The feeling of degradation is very great ; 
 but this is sometimes justly provoked, and seems the only is- 
 sue by which the authority of the professor and the good or- 
 der of the class can be maintained at the time. For instance, 
 when a student of rebellious spirit continues to mutter defi- 
 ance of the professor's authority, thus preventing the business 
 
 4b 
 
50 
 
 of the class proceeding in an orderly manner, his dismissal 
 from the lecture-room seems to be the only method of putting 
 an end to the difficulty. 
 
 Q. What objections have been urged against the exercise of 
 this power by a professor ? 
 
 A. The loss of the benefit of the lecture to the offending 
 student. But this loss is more than counterbalanced by the 
 greater loss incurred by the whole class from a continuance of 
 the disorder in the lecture-room. 
 
 Q. What extent of authority ought the professor to have 
 in his lecture-room and over the students, for the preservation 
 of order ? 
 
 A. I think the professor should have an unlimited power, 
 and that he should be responsible to the Board of Trustees 
 alone for the exercise of it, the President, of course, having 
 been previously informed of all serious breaches of decorum. 
 
 Q. What, in your judgment, would be the effect upon the 
 authority of the professor with the students, or the deference 
 and respect with which they ouglit to regard him, if, instead 
 of relying upon himself for the repression of disorder, he 
 were to call into his room, in the midst of his lecture, the 
 President to his aid ? 
 
 A. I. think the effect would be very unhappy. The calling 
 in of any aid must necessarily weaken the personal influence 
 of the professor with the student, and is to be avoided so long 
 as it can possibly be done. 
 
 Q. Is the attendance of the students upon your lectures 
 punctual ? 
 
 A. It is not universally so, in the first hour in the morning. 
 I invariably report those who are late to the President at the 
 weekly meetings of the Board, but I am under the impression 
 ,that no notice is taken by him, in summoning students to ac- 
 count to him, of any thing but absences. Those who are 
 merely reported late, are never summoned to attend the 
 President. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the students are late at their at- 
 tendance at the first hour, and what is the extent of their 
 .want .of punctuality ? 
 
51 
 
 A. Sometimes as many as half a dozen in each class. 
 They are generally but a few minutes late, from five to fif- 
 teen. Occasionally one will be absent half an hour ; when 
 he is reported very late. If he comes in only just before the 
 end of the hour, he is reported absent, and informed that he 
 is so reported.' These unpunctual habits are owing, no doubt, 
 to the increasingly late hours of rising and eating in the fam- 
 ilies of students, and I think it may be found expedient to fix 
 a later hour on our part for assembling at College, in order 
 to, meet the increasing lateness in the hours of repasts as now 
 prevailing in the city. Such an arrangement would have the 
 additional advantage of giving time for study to many stu- 
 dents before recitation on the same day. 
 
 Q. Do you yourself make any other attempt to correct this 
 evil than by reporting the cases to the President or to the 
 Board ? 
 
 A. I do not. I think it would be a good regulation to re- 
 quire each professor to order such students as are habitually 
 late in his department, before the Board, to account there for 
 their tardiness. 
 
 A. Does this tardiness or want of punctuality of the stu- 
 dents seriously diminish the efficiency of your instruction? 
 
 A. Certainly it does, so far as these students are concerned. 
 
 Q. Does it not also, by the interruption occasioned by their 
 successively entering the room during the progress of your 
 lecture ? 
 
 A. It does, especially as it is necessary to stop, and change 
 the record of " absence" into " late." 
 
 Q. At the ringing of the bell at the conclusion of each 
 hour of College attendance, what time is allowed to the stu- 
 dents to proceed from one lecture-room to another ? 
 
 A. "Very little ; they change with great rapidity. 
 
 Q. Do they, on such occasions, attend with punctuality 
 upon you, or what interval elapses between the cessation of 
 the ringing of the bell, and the time at which you are able to 
 commence your instruction ? 
 
 A. I require them to come in at once, and answer to their 
 names at the calling of the roll, afterwards obtaining per- 
 
52 
 
 mission to leave the lecture-room, one or two at a time. In 
 the first warm days of spring there is always a disposition, 
 particularly in the Senior class, to loiter outside of the lec- 
 ture-room. It is the Janitor's business to expedite their pass- 
 ing from one lecture-room to another, a duty which is gener- 
 ally faithfully performed by him, though sometimes, but 
 rarely, he is absent on official duty at the time of change of 
 classes. 
 
 The interval between the ringing of the bell and the call- 
 ing of the roll does not generally exceed three minutes, and 
 the business of the lecture-room begins immediately after 
 roll-call. 
 
 Q. For how long a time does the bell ring ? 
 A. Only a few strokes at the change of classes; considera- 
 bly longer for prayers. 
 
 Q. Is there any such delay in the passing of the students 
 from one lecture-room to another as materially to diminish 
 the time given to instruction, and is there any irregularity or 
 disorder in such passing as would require or render desirable 
 a remedy ? 
 
 A. To the first part of the question I should answer there 
 is not ; and to the second I have to say, that there is very 
 little disorder at the door of my lecture-room. As I am re- 
 mote from the other lecture-rooms, I am not able to state what 
 disorders occur there on such occasions. My own lecture- 
 room is one of the least exposed to this annoyance, as the 
 student enters the room directly from the outside, and passes 
 immediately from under the supervision of the Janitor to my 
 own. 
 
 Q. How many permissions to go out, on an average, are 
 given in the hour ? 
 A. From five to ten, depending on the size of the classes. 
 Q. What proportion of the applications for this privilege 
 grows out of mere restlessness, or of a desire to escape for a 
 short time the, confinement of the lecture-room, and what 
 proportioD, in your opinion, from actual necessity ? 
 A. Probably full one-half proceed from the former cause, 
 
53 
 
 i 
 
 but it is not possible to ascertain at the time of the applica- 
 tion the urgency of the case. 
 
 Q. Do yon take any steps to discourage this practice of 
 going out ? 
 
 A. I frequently request the students to leave the lecture- 
 room as little as possible, suggesting to them that the sup- 
 posed necessity depends a great deal upon habit. 
 
 Q. Would not a recess of five minutes at the expiration of 
 every hour, render it unnecessary for any student to leave a 
 lecture-room during the continuance of lecture ; and would 
 you recommend such an intermission, accompanied by the 
 rule of allowing no further privilege of going out ? 
 
 A. It would certainly greatly diminish and almost totally 
 obviate the necessity of absences during the lecture, but I 
 think that an absolute prohibition would be impracticable. 
 
 Q. What, in practice, is the character of those students 
 who apply most frequently for permission to leave the lec- 
 ture-room ? 
 
 A. They are generally those who are not addicted to study, 
 but there are exceptions. 
 
 The Committee met on Friday, October 16, 1856, at Mr. 
 Ogden's office. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Betts and Dr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley attended the committee. 
 
 The questions and answers recorded at the last meeting 
 were read. 
 
 Q. Are the students admitted into the Freshman class well 
 versed in the first four rules of Arithmetic, the rule of three, 
 direct and inverse, vulgar and decimal fractions, and the 
 extraction of the square and cube root, and Algebra as far 
 as the end of simple equations ? 
 
 A. Generally they have been, since my connection with 
 
54 
 
 the College, although not always. There has been a gradual 
 improvement going on in the preparation of candidates for 
 admission, until now it is exceedingly good. There have been 
 no students admitted lately not thoroughly prepared. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the attendance of the Freshman 
 class engaged in receiving instruction in Mathematics to be 
 greater than for three hours in each week ? 
 
 A. It would certainly be well that it should be greater, 
 if this could be attained without overtasking the student in the 
 daily tasks, and without interfering with the just claims of the 
 other departments on the student's time. 
 
 Q. What increase in the attendance of the Freshman class 
 upon the professor of Mathematics might be made with ad- 
 vantage, without overtasking the student ? 
 
 A. By dividing the Freshmen into two sections, (which 
 would render an additional instructor in the Mathematics for 
 the Freshman class necessary ;) the class might attend Prof. 
 Drisler, each student five hours a week, and the instructor of 
 Mathematics five hours a week.. This would leave the Classical 
 instruction in the Freshman class nearly as well provided for 
 as before, the time of attendance in the Classics and Mathe- 
 matics being made thus three hours a week less than by the 
 present arrangement. To restore these three hours, the whole 
 class might be required to attend upon the Classical professor 
 one hour additional three times a week. 
 
 Q. What benefit do you think would be derived from the 
 increased attendance of that class upon the Mathematical in- 
 struction ? 
 
 A. The daily recurrence of the Mathematical recitations, 
 without the intermission of every other day, would be an ad- 
 vantage, as it would tend to keep the subject fresh and con- 
 tinuous in the mind of the student. There' could be, at the 
 same time, so much the more drilling of the students by the 
 professor as the additional time would permit; and the smaller 
 number in attendance at one time would be highly favorable 
 to good order, attention and efficiency of instruction. 
 
 Q. What would you recommend should be the grade of the 
 additional Mathematical instructor, and what the extent of his 
 
55 
 
 duty beyond the Mathematical instruction of the Freshman 
 class ? 
 
 A. His grade might be the same as that of the present 
 Classical instructor of the Freshman class ; and if any other 
 duties are required of him than the ten hours of the week as- 
 signed to him as above, it might be in the shape of attendance 
 after College hours, to receive application from the students 
 of the Freshman, or of all the classes, for aid to them individ- 
 ually in their Mathematical studies. 
 
 Q. Could the present attendance of the Sophomore, Junior 
 and Senior classes, upon the Mathematical instructor, be ad- 
 vantageously increased, in the event of his being released from 
 the care of the Freshman ? If so, say in what way. 
 
 A. The Senior and Junior classes ought to attend me, each 
 one more hour in the week. 
 
 Q. Could any and what duties be assigned to this Junior 
 professor, which might render more practicable the division 
 which you have recommended (on the course of instruction in 
 Mathematics) into a minimum and a higher course 2 
 
 A. Three additional hours a week might be required of this 
 assistant professor, to instruct the students that take only the 
 minimum course in the Sophomore year, whilst those who 
 take the voluntary higher course would be instructed by my- 
 self. In the Freshman year, carrying on the two courses 
 simultaneously in the same lecture-room, has no disadvantages 
 of consequence, because all students are pursuing the same 
 subjects, though in different degrees of advancement, at the 
 same time. The branches of the Mathematics taught in the 
 Sophomore year are numerous, and it would be desirable that 
 the more advanced students should commence some of these 
 branches before the others are prepared to do so. And there 
 are several branches, as Descriptive Geometry, Nautical As- 
 tronomy, and Spherical Geometry and Trigonometry, now 
 studies of the Sophomore year, which are not included in the 
 proposed minimum course. I should strongly recommend 
 this arrangement. 
 
 Q. Have you any further suggestions to make to the com- 
 mittee on subjects connected with your previous statements ? 
 
56 
 
 A. I am of opinion that the connection between the Gram- 
 mar School and the College should be more intimate than it 
 is, and that means should be taken to make the studies of the 
 Grammar School and those of the College to flow into each 
 other continuously in all the departments. For this purpose, 
 a Grammar School Eoard should be constituted, to consist of 
 the President, the professor of History, the Classical professor, 
 who "is now the rector of the Grammar School, the professor 
 of Mathematics, and the professor of English Composition ; 
 and to this committee the arrangement of studies in the 
 Grammar School should be submitted fdr their approval, in 
 so far as they are preparatory to admission into College. 
 
 New-York, October 21««, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley attended, and the interrogatories were con- 
 tinued. 
 
 Q. "Will you please to state to the committee by whom and 
 by what evidence testimonials, whether general or special, 
 are awarded ? 
 
 A. General testimonials are awarded by a vote of the 
 Faculty, at one of their regular meetings. Special testimo- 
 nials in each department, by the professor of that depart- 
 ment, based on the performances in the lecture-room, during 
 the session and on the examination. The President asks each 
 professor to whom he gives his special testimonials, and al- 
 ways assents to the nominations of the professor. This is done 
 in the presence of the whole of the College Board, and is 
 considered open to criticism on the part of professors of other 
 departments. 
 
 A record is generally kept of the performances in the 
 lecture-room, and of the performances at the examinations. 
 In my department these records are kept in conformity with 
 a system of numbers indicative of the relative merit of the 
 performances. 
 
57 
 
 Q. Is this record, as kept by the professors, submitted to 
 the Board of the College upon the awarding of general testi- 
 monials, or to the President upon the awarding of special 
 testimonials, or is this record considered by the Board of the 
 College as the evidence upon which they proceed, or do they 
 judge from the verbal representations of each professor? And 
 is the case the same with the President ? 
 
 A. The records are now merely kept as guides for the 
 professor himself. The advantages of a different system 
 would be secured by a uniform scheme of numbers and a 
 corresponding weekly report of merit of each professor. 
 
 Q. In awarding general or special testimonials, do you 
 govern your action exclusively from the record of perform- 
 ances of the student, as you keep it, or are you guided at all, 
 and if so, to what extent, by your general impressions ? 
 
 A. I always examine carefully the record, before deciding 
 upon the relative standing of the students, but I am much 
 influenced by general impressions. The records of the com- 
 peting students will not generally differ much. I allow, also, 
 considerable influence to the examination, especially where 
 it is necessary to decide between students whose perfor- 
 mances during the session have been nearly equal in amount 
 and quality. 
 
 Q. Is it not possible to have such a system of numbers for 
 use in the class and at examinations as that they shall be a 
 reliable test of the relative performance of the students ? 
 
 A. I think that there are certain shades of impression which 
 a professor receives of such a nature that they cannot be ex- 
 pressed by a scale of numbers. And although the scale of 
 numbers should, in the main, be the guide in determining the 
 relative standing, yet some consideration should be allowed to 
 that indefinable impression which a professor, long familiar 
 with students, receives in regard to their relative merit. 
 
 Q. "What is the best mode of determining the relative 
 standing of the students in each class, and ought not that 
 mode to be uniform ? 
 
 A. I think a good mode would be to have a sum of num- 
 bers for the year, in the hands of every member of the Board 
 
58 
 
 of the College, or accessible for inspection, at the meeting at 
 which the standing is determined, as well as a record of 
 merit at examinations. That then the name of any student of 
 any grade in each department should be proposed by the 
 professor of that department, and the question whether he 
 should receive that grade should be decided by a vote of the 
 Faculty. This method would probably secure all due influ- 
 ence of the professor of the particular department derived 
 from his superior opportunities of forming a correct judgment 
 of the students in that department. 
 
 Q. "Would it not be an advantage that a uniform system of 
 numbers should be prescribed to all the professors ? 
 
 A. That would be essential to the plan proposed in my 
 last answer. 
 
 Q. "What system would you recommend ? 
 
 A. The decimal system, ten being the representative of a 
 faultless performance ; zero, of no performance at all ; while 
 numbers above ten, as eleven or twelve, might be used to 
 characterize very extraordinary excellence. 
 
 Q. Is proper order, in your opinion, preserved at com- 
 mencements? 
 
 A. I think, perhaps as good order as is practicable. I 
 have, on the whole, been favorably impressed by the good 
 behavior of the students of late years. I think that I have 
 seen clear indications that any recent exhibition of disorder 
 at commencements are attributable to others than students. 
 
 Q. Is there any rule by which the parts of the Greek, 
 Latin and English Salutatory and the Valedictory orator are 
 assigned by the Board of the College ; and if so, what is that 
 rule? 
 
 A. The Greek, Latin and English Salutatory are assigned 
 to the three students of the best general standing, conduct as 
 well as attainments being taken into account. Of late years, 
 the Yaledictory is given to some student distinguished for 
 elocution, if of good standing ; and recently, if possible, he 
 is selected in compliance with the wishes of the class. 
 
 Q. Are not members of the class proposed or nominated 
 by the class to the Board of the College as recipients for all 
 
59 
 
 or some of the honorary parts above mentioned ; and if so, 
 for which of them ? 
 
 A. They have been for three or four years last past for all 
 the honorary parts, but no regard has been paid to these 
 nominations except in the case of the Valedictorian. Fre- 
 quently there has been a nomination of one for Valedictorian 
 by part of the class, and of another by another part ; and the 
 Board have decided between them. 
 
 Q> Has there been any encouragement or discouragement 
 by the Board of the nominations by the class to any of these 
 honorary parts ? 
 
 A. Neither. The President generally, in announcing them 
 to the Board, has stated that he has informed the class that 
 they have nothing to do with the matter. 
 
 Q. "Will you please specify, in reference to each of the 
 honorary parts above mentioned, by what rule, in your 
 opinion, ought it to be assigned ? 
 
 A. I think, perhaps, that the Greek Salutatory should be 
 assigned to the best Greek scholar, and the Latin to the best 
 Latin scholar. The English Salutatory to the student of the 
 best general standing after these. I think it would be well to 
 allow the Valedictorian to be nominated by the class, but to 
 be appointed by the Faculty or not, as they should decide to 
 be expedient. I think it essential that the Valedictory orator 
 should be one of the best speakers in the class. Much of the 
 effect of the Valedictory depends upon the strong sympathy 
 between the orator and the class. 
 
 Q. Have there been, according to your recollection, any 
 departures from the rule by which you say that the assign- 
 ment of the parts of the Greek, Latin and English orators are 
 regulated ? 
 
 A. I do not recollect any. 
 
 Q. Ought the President, in your opinion, to be allowed a 
 discretion to grant vacations or intermissions of College 
 lectures besides those prescribed by the statutes ; and if so, 
 ought there to be any limitation of that discretion % 
 
 A. I think that if the exercise of any discretion be allowed, 
 it should rather be intrusted to the College Board, as the 
 
60 
 
 members of it are best able to judge of the effect of these 
 vacations on the interests of their respective departments at 
 the stage of progress in them of the studies of the session. 
 I think that some discretion of this kind should be allowed to 
 the Board of the College, with the limitation that they should 
 not have power to grant vacations exceeding one week in 
 duration. 
 
 Professor Hackley subsequently submitted to the com- 
 mittee the following statement of the matters of his instruc- 
 tion to the several classes, together with the text-books used 
 by him, marked as requested by the committee : 
 
 Statement of compulsory matter, contained in printed text- 
 books, assigned by the professor of Mathematics for recitation 
 to the students of the College, arranged in the order of classes, 
 commencing with the 
 
 Freshman Class. 
 
 First text-book — Hackley's Algebra, large edition, pursued 
 during the first session of the year from 1st October till 1st 
 March. Recitations on the following sections of the work 
 required from all the class : 
 
 §§ 24 to 26, exclusive of the latter. 
 
 48 
 
 u 
 
 51, « 
 
 52 
 
 « 
 
 66, " 
 
 67 
 
 <( 
 
 68, " 
 
 77 
 
 ic 
 
 80, " 
 
 105 
 
 a 
 
 112, " 
 
 " 178 to example XII., p. 203, with examples given at 
 random, of an easy description, for solution. 
 
 § 181 to example XX., p. 206, with numerous easy ex- 
 amples not in text-book. 
 
 § 187 to example XXVI., p. 217, inclusive. 
 
 Page 224— Problems, producing pure equations, to § 191, 
 p. 228. 
 
 §§ 238 to 239, exclusive of the latter. 
 
 " 244 " 246, " " " « 
 
 " 251 " 252, 
 
 j j 
 
61 
 
 Second text-book, studied in the second session of the 
 Freshman year, from 1st March till commencement — Hack- 
 ley's Geometry. Recitations required from the whole class 
 on the first 84 pages, including 73 theorems and 21 problems, 
 with the exception of the " Exercises" in fine print, and some 
 half a dozen theorems and three or four problems, which are 
 omitted on account of their difficulty and want of time for 
 them, or in consequence of not being necessary to the connec- 
 tion of the theorems with one another. 
 
 Sophomore Class. 
 
 Text-book in the first session, from October 1st till March 
 1st — Hackley's Trigonometry and Applications to Naviga- 
 tion, Surveying, &c. 
 
 Kecitations required from all the class on the matter in- 
 cluded between the commencement of the volume and page 
 81. 
 
 The next subject taken up in order by the class is Naviga- 
 tion, page 201 of the same volume, the whole of which sub- 
 ject is required of the whole class as far as page 225. Of 
 late years the theoretic part of § 97, p. 206, of § 99, p. 215, 
 and § 101, p. 221, have been omitted. Exercises in Naviga- 
 tion, not contained in the book, required of the whole class in 
 the lecture-room and at examinations. 
 
 The next subject in order taken up by the class has been 
 Surveying, p. 233, same volume. The whole of this gone 
 over with the class, with the exception of the subject of 
 Eoads, Eailways and Canals, and Hydrographic Surveying ; 
 and examinations on the instruments has been of late years 
 made voluntary. 
 
 The next subject has been Geometry of Planes — Text-book, 
 Hackley's Geometry. The whole of this studied by the class 
 except Prop. XVI. , p. 10, which was voluntary, and the exer- 
 cises at the end, p. 14. Polyhedral Angles next in same vol- 
 ume—only the first two propositions compulsory — residue, 
 voluntary. 
 
62 
 
 Next subject, Solid Geometry, same volume. Compulsory 
 as far as Prop. VII. — residue, voluntary. 
 
 Next subject, Spherical Geometry, same volume. Compul- 
 sory definitions and propositions I., III., VII., VIII. Resi- 
 due, voluntary. 
 
 Next subject, Spherical Trigonometry. Text-book, Hack- 
 ley's Trigonometry, p. 121. Compulsory to p. 82. Example 
 on p. 132. Residue, voluntary to p. 200, except what relates 
 to the transit instrument, which is taught the Junior class, 
 pp. 147-166. Next subject, Nautical Astronomy, p. 268, 
 same volume. Compulsory to p. 283. Residue, voluntary 
 to p. 297. 
 
 Second session of Sophomore year, from 1st of March till 
 Commencement — Davies' Descriptive Geometry. Of late 
 years only the problems relating to the right line and plane 
 have been made compulsory — the residue of the work, with 
 the omission of some problems, and the .whole of Spherical 
 Projections and Spherical Trigonometry, voluntary. 
 
 After finishing this work, the residue of the term is occupied 
 in drawings, which are applications of Descriptive Geometry. 
 The compulsory drawings are: 1. Shadow of a Cube. 2. 
 Shadow of a Chimney. 3. Perspective of a Cube. 4. Of 
 four Cubes on a Square. 5. Of a Circle, by inscribing it in 
 a Square. 6. Of a Curve by points. 
 
 Junior Class. 
 
 First session — subject, Analytical Geometry. Text-book, 
 by Prof. Church, of the Military Academy, "West Point. 
 The Determinate Geometry is made voluntary. The class at 
 large commence with Indeterminate Geometry, p. 24, and 
 study nearly all to p. 46. Spherical Geometry in Space, or 
 in three dimensions, pp. 46-103, is all made voluntary. The 
 whole class commence again at p. 103, and learn to § 90, p. 
 108 ; omit §§ 90 and 91 ; learn § 92 and § 93 as far as last 
 paragraph of p. 112 ; learn § 94. From § 95 to § 105, p. 129, 
 is voluntary. A manuscript demonstration of the method of 
 finding the equation of a parabola, and also that of an ellipse, 
 
63 
 
 is given in place of that contained in the text-boob, to those 
 of the class who take only compulsory matter. The compul- 
 sory course omits next from § 109 to 111, includes 111 and 
 112 ; omits to 115, includes 115 to 122, and from 123 to 
 135, where it terminates, p. 157, some of the more difficult 
 theoretic reasoning between 123 and 135 being omitted. 
 Exercises are given, of which a specimen in small quarto 
 manuscript accompanies this report. 
 
 The second session of the Junior year has been occupied 
 with Theoretic Astronomy. Of late, a small pamphlet, con- 
 taining a skeleton course of problems, making a tolerably 
 complete course, omitting every thing contained in popular 
 treatises, some of which are recommended for the students' 
 reading. A copy of the pamphlet accompanies this report, 
 in which the portions which are compulsory are marked in 
 pencil. The residue is voluntary. For the voluntary students, 
 a new work, by Prof. Bartlett, of West Point, has been em- 
 ployed in addition, of which a copy accompanies this report, 
 and the portions of it assigned for voluntary study will be 
 pointed out under the proper head of the report. There have 
 been manuscript additions to the voluntary course, also, a copy 
 of which is submitted with this. 
 
 Senior Class. 
 
 The first session has been occupied by this class in the study 
 of the Differential Calculus, which has been partly pursued in 
 a text-book and partly from MS. matter dictated, which last 
 has been printed within the last month. 
 
 The text-book has been, recently, Courtenay's Calculus, of 
 which a copy is herewith transmitted. 
 
 The compulsory matter in this volume has been, from the 
 commencement to § 3, p. 16 ; from § 6, p. 23, to p. 49, § 40, 
 omitting some of the more difficult exercises. The residue of 
 the matter, except the theory of maximum and minimum, (for 
 which there has been a MS. substitute,) as far as p. 147, has 
 been voluntary. 
 
 The compulsory matter commenced again at § 109, p. 147, 
 and terminated at § 115, p. 152. 
 
64 
 
 The second session of the Senior year has been occupied in 
 the study of the Integral Calculus, the Calculus of Variations 
 and Physical Astronomy. The same text-book, as for the 
 Differential Calculus, namely, Courtenay, has been used for 
 the last two years. The compulsory course commenced at 
 p. 248, and extended to § 22, p. 261 ; and one year, to p. 268. 
 The residue was voluntary to p. 322 ; compulsory from p. 322 
 to § 104, p. 333, omitting § 97 and some of the more difficult 
 examples. Compulsory again from § 106, p. 337, to § 113, 
 p. 347, omitting all the more difficult examples, and substi- 
 tuting a more simple demonstration for the theory of Quadra- 
 ture and Cubiture of Bodies. 
 
 In addition, MS. matter was dictated, a copy of which is 
 herewith transmitted. 
 
 The Calculus of Variations was explained in MS. very much 
 in the manner given by Dr. Bowditch in his notes to the 
 Mecanique Celeste of La Place. 
 
 The subject of Physical Astronomy was taught altogether 
 by lecture and dictation. A copy of the dictated matter ac- 
 companies this report, and is composed chiefly of extracts 
 from Pontecouland or La Place, with modifications to increase 
 the facility of comprehension. 
 
 The whole class was taught the MS. matter when I first 
 entered the College ; but I have been diminishing that which 
 was compulsory, till I have reduced it, the last year or two, to 
 the preliminary matter and a single problem— the Determina- 
 tion of the Direction of the Accelerating Forces acting on the 
 Planets, from the proportionality of Areas to Times. 
 
 Statement of voluntary matter actually pursued during the 
 past few years by students of the College classes : 
 
 Freshman Class. 
 
 Hackley's Algebra, p. 31-, § 26 ; Greatest Common Measure, 
 to p. 39, inclusive ; Least Common Multiple, p. 40, § 32, to 
 § 36, p. 43. All the matter omitted in the compulsory course 
 from p. 51 to p. 129. 
 
65 
 
 From p. 129 to p. 186 is required for admission into College. 
 The next voluntary matter actually prepared begins at p. 186 ; 
 Indeterminate Analysis of the 1st Degree, § 157, and extends 
 to p. 199, § 178. 
 
 Again, all the matter not compulsory, from p. 199, § 178, to 
 p. 258. 
 
 The subject of Logarithms, from p. 258 to p. 275, Las been 
 suggested for voluntary matter in the Sophomore year, but 
 not much of it has been offered. 
 
 Progressions, Interest and Annuities, from p. 276 to p. 294, 
 have all been given as voluntary, except a small portion of 
 Annuities. 
 
 Interpolation, at p. 294, is referred to in the course of As- 
 tronomy, both in the Sophomore and Junior year. 
 
 The whole of the General Theory of Equations, from p. 302 
 to p. 341, except what was compulsory, has been given as vol- 
 untary by some one or other of the students ; and at this point 
 the voluntary course of Algebra has terminated, except a 
 general demonstration of the Binomial Theorem, at p. 408. 
 
 The voluntary course of Geometry in the second session, 
 has included' nearly eveiy thing in the volume,, except what 
 has been already cited as compulsory. Nearly all the exer- 
 cises have been given, and large portions of the appendices 
 have been offered, as well as some part of the Mensuration. 
 
 Sophomore Class. 
 
 In Plane Trigonometry, every thing omitted by the students 
 of the minimum course, up to p. 86, and to p. 90 of the Ap- 
 pendix, and § 19, p. 107. 
 
 The whole of Navigation, commencing p. 203, exclusive of 
 the compulsory course, including Great Circle, Sailing, Ap- 
 pendix III., p. 227- 
 
 The whole of Surveying, p. 232, exclusive of the compul- 
 sory course. Minute examination on the structure and ad- 
 justments of the surveying instruments. 
 
 The whole of Nautical Astronomy, with the same excep- 
 tion, and some portion of the Geodesy, p. 31 5. 
 
 5b 
 
66 
 
 The whole of Spherical Trigonometry, except Appendix II., 
 relating to Unlimited Spherical Triangles, and the Appendix 
 to Part V. t < 
 
 The whole of Descriptive Geometry, with the exceptions 
 already mentioned, only one or two problems illustrative of 
 each principle or process being in general offered, to wit: 
 Probs. 23, 24, 25, 27, 33, §§ 214 to 220, 224 to 236, 238 to 
 the end. 
 
 Junior Class. 
 
 In Analytical Geometry, the voluntary course has included 
 the whole of the text-book, with tbe exception of some unim- 
 portant portion. In the last few years the students do not 
 seem to find time for surfaces of the Second order, though for- 
 merly this was done. 
 
 In Theoretic Astronomy, the whole of the printed pamph- 
 let, the whole of the manuscript matter herewith submitted, 
 and in Bartlett's Astronomy the following portions : From the 
 commencement to p. 87, except what is contained in the 
 studies of the Sophomore year ; also, in Bartlett's Astronomy, 
 § 297, p. 102, §§ 322-331, p. Ill, § 749, p. 234, to § 775, p. 
 244 — Projection of a solar eclipse. The descriptive portions 
 of this work are read by the students. 
 
 In Hackley's Trigonometry and Applications, the following 
 was included in the voluntary course of Astronomy : 
 
 Description, adjustment and corrections for errors of ad- 
 justment, with analytical investigations of the theory of the 
 same, for the Transit Instrument, pp. 147 to 164, (pp. 164 
 and 165 were in the compulsory course.) Of the Mural Cir- 
 cle, p. 306 to p. 311, and of the Equatorial Instrument, p. 361 
 to p. 364. 
 
 Conversion of Astronomic and Geocentric Latitudes, p. 365. 
 Changing Eight Ascension and Declination into Latitude and 
 Longitude on the Celestial Sphere, p. 139. 
 
 The voluntary course of the Senior year has included the 
 whole of the printed pamphlet on the Differential Calculus 
 and Courtenay, as far as p. 204, and matter already specified 
 as omitted. Chiefly the theory of Maximum and Minimum 
 supplied now in the pamphlet. 
 
67 
 
 Integral Calculus, Oourtenay, as far as p. 298. The sub- 
 ject of Trigonometrical Functions, treated in manuscript. 
 Again, Courtenay, from pp. 316 to 356, Calculus of Variations, 
 
 MS. 
 
 Physical Astronomy, MS. The whole presented by some 
 of the students as voluntary. 
 
 Integral Calculus, Calculus of Variations and Physical As- 
 tronomy contained in MS. book with blue covers. 
 
 ■The committee for Inquiring into the state of Discipline, &c, 
 of Columbia College, met at Mr. Ogden's on "Wednesday, 
 January 21, 1857. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Betts and Dr. Andeeson. 
 
 Prof. Hackley attended the committee. 
 
 The proposing interrogatories to him was resumed. 
 
 Q. State, if you please, to the committee, your opinion as 
 to the efficiency of the instruction in your department, or in 
 any other, and which departments, which would be produced 
 by the use of a judiciously selected text-book, on each sub- 
 ject, the study of which should be prescribed to the students, 
 and which should be explained and elucidated by the profes- 
 sor, with such remarks as he might judge expedient to show 
 different opinions, and to direct or excite the reasoning of the 
 students upon the subjects involved. 
 
 A. In reference to my own department, an answer to this 
 question will be found in the preceding part of my testimony. 
 The other departments in which text-books are not used are, 
 I believe, that of Ethics and Belles-Lettres, and the depart- 
 ment of Chemistry and Physics. The impression of distin- 
 guished graduates of some years' standing, with reference to 
 the firstj seems to be, that the method of written skeleton 
 courses in connection with : extensive reading with them, 
 
 6b 
 
forms, practically, a very valuable training. My own predi- 
 lections, however, would have been in favor of text-books, 
 especially on scientific subjects of that department, such as 
 Logic, Rhetoric, Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. It is 
 not easy, however, to find a single unexceptionable text-book 
 on some of these subjects. In the department of Physics and 
 Chemistry, the present professor has been so short a time at 
 the College that I have not been able to form an opinion as 
 to the success of his system of instruction without a text- 
 book. I made the experiment myself of instructing without 
 a text-book when I first came to the College, and found that 
 we did not succeed at all. The deficiency I first supplied 
 by dictation in writing, and finally substituted printed matter. 
 Q. In those departments of instruction in which it is ad- 
 visable to use text-books, ought not such text-books to be des- 
 ignated by the trustees, only to be changed by their order ? 
 
 A. I think not. I think it better to leave it to the professor 
 in each department, although the practice in the Military 
 Academy is different. I think it better that the whole re- 
 sponsibility of the department, and, therefore, the control of 
 every thing affecting its efficiency should be thrown upon the 
 professor. 
 
 Q. May, in your or other departments, and in which, dif- 
 ferent courses, each composed of certain books or parts of 
 books, to be designated by statute, be advantageously pre- 
 scribed, allowing the professor to r choose any one of the courses 
 for any class ? 
 
 A. It would be better, I think, to prescribe, by statute, the 
 courses themselves in a general description, without reference 
 to text-books. 
 
 Q. Explain the nature of the daily examination of the stu- 
 dents in your lecture-room. 
 
 A. Three or four are called to the black-board at once, and 
 subjects assigned to them from the lesson appointed for the 
 day, upon which they are given a few minutes to prepare for 
 demonstration. The first time going over a subject they are 
 permitted, if they cannot get on without it, to assist them- 
 .selves with a text-book,, but not in the review. At the. same 
 
69 
 
 time, others who offer are allowed to go to the board with 
 voluntary matter. They are called upon, then, in turn, as they 
 are ready to give, the demonstration ; and when it is finished 
 some questions are put on what they have done. The exam- 
 ples which are given, especially in the review, are such as are 
 not in the text-book, but are made up by me on the instant 
 for the occasion. When a moment of waiting occurs for 
 students at the board, questions are passed rapidly around 
 the class, generally in the way of a revision of the whole 
 subject. 
 
 Q. Are questions on such occasions put to all the students 
 who are at the black-board for their answers ? 
 
 A. Not always. If there are any indications that a stu- 
 dent does not thoroughly understand his demonstration, ques- 
 tions are sure to be put. A brilliant demonstration is some- 
 times allowed to pass with simple applause, unless some ad- 
 ditional light is to be thrown upon the subject which the text- 
 book does not clearly present. This is sometimes elicited 
 from a student's own mind by properly directed questions. 
 
 Q. How long, on an average, will the exercise of a student 
 in the Minimum Course continue, and how long the exercise 
 of a student of the Yoluntary Course ? 
 
 A. I should say, the former, three to five minutes ; the 
 latter, five to fifteen minutes. It varies very much. 
 
 Q. Are so many questions put to each class of students as 
 are necessary fully to test their knowledge of the subject? 
 
 A. Yes ; except when there is some accidental cause of 
 haste, which prevents it, such as a desire to go on to more 
 important matter, or to give some exposition of the matter to 
 be prepared for the following day ; or sometimes, for an in- 
 stant, a momentary absence of mind. 
 
 Q. What proportion do you suppose are so fully questioned 
 as to test their knowledge of a subject, and what proportion 
 not? 
 
 A. The proportion who are not fully questioned is so small 
 as not to be worth mentioning. Their knowledge may not 
 always be brought out by questioning ; it may appear on the 
 face of the demonstration itself. 
 
10 
 
 Q. Would the mere demonstration be in all subjects a 
 sufficient test of the knowledge of the student? and in cases 
 where it is not, how do you test that knowledge ? 
 
 A. A student may recite memoriter, or read off a succes- 
 sion of equations on the black-board, without comprehending 
 the force of the reasoning which the demonstration involves. 
 It is easy to detect where this is the case, and the source of 
 detection depends on a particular instance ; or if not to detect,, 
 certainly, at least,, to suspect a want of thorough comprehend 
 sion ; and the probe of questioning is an infallible test. 
 
 Q. How many students are called, up to the black-board 
 within the hour ? 
 
 A. Generally fifteen or twenty latterly, though sometimes 
 much less, in consequence of the length of some of the volun- 
 tary demonstrations. These voluntary demonstrations some- 
 times, but rarely, occupy half an. hour; perhaps once a 
 month. 
 
 Q* How many students are within the hour questioned so 
 fully as to test their knowledge of the subject i> 
 
 A. Sometimes all that are called up, sometimes not more 
 than two or three. Sometimes, for a succession of days, there 
 will be incessant questioning; then, again, for several days 
 scarcely a, question may, be. asked, 
 
 Q. These questions and exercises, are they a test of the 
 student's knowledge of the subjects pursued since his last 
 recitation, or only of the subjects of the day ? 
 
 A. Both ; and even of his knowledge from the commence- 
 ment of the subject. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the students are, in your judgment, 
 deficient in your own, or in any other, and which department, 
 from immaturity ? 
 
 A* A very small proportion; not, more than one-twen- 
 tieth. 
 
 Q. Please to state to the committee, as fully and distinctly 
 as possible^your views, of instruction in any of the depart- 
 ments, other than your own, concerning which, you would be 
 willing to give your opinion as to the course of instruction 
 proper to be adopted, as being adapted to the intellectual 
 
71 
 
 capacity of general students, and capable of being enforced 
 against all. 
 
 A. I have nothing at present to offer in this connection. 
 
 Q. Do you judge of the relative merits of the students ex- 
 clusively according to the showing of your record of their 
 performances, or in any degree by your general impressions ? 
 
 A. Both these sources of judgment enter into the estimate. 
 
 Q. Is the record of any professor, showing the relative or 
 absolute proficiency of a student, or the results of that record, 
 ever reported or communicated to the Board of the College, 
 or to the President? Are such records, or the results of them, 
 preserved or recorded, except by the professors? 
 
 A. The only records read or communicated to the Board 
 or President are those which mark deficiency. Neither the 
 records nor the results aTe preserved or recorded, except by 
 the professors ; except, as has been stated, those which mark 
 absolute deficiencies. Those which mark deficiencies are 
 preserved by the President, by being filed. There is no 
 index, or collation of them, that I am aware of. 
 
 Q. Would it, in your opinion, promote thorough instruc- 
 tion, if the classes, or some and which of them, were divided 
 into sections to attend certain professors at different times ? 
 If so, what professors should the classes respectively attend 
 by sections ? 
 
 A. A division into sections would, I think, conduce in- 
 calculably to thorough instruction, as a general rule, especially 
 where the classes are large. If practicable, sections of 15 or 
 20 would be of a judicious size. The division of the Freshman 
 class into sections has had an admirable effect in my depart- 
 ment. This division is simply an alphabetical one, without 
 reference to the mathematical aptitude of the student, and 
 answers well in that class. I am fully prepared to recommend 
 that the Sophomore class be divided into two sections ; one 
 section of those who take the minimum course, the other of 
 those who pursue the more extended course. In the Junior 
 class, I am most strongly persuaded of the expediency of 
 making mathematical studies voluntary ; and if that be done, 
 a division into sections would be unnecessary. In the Classical 
 
72 
 
 department, a division into two sections also already exists in 
 the Freshman class. I should think a maximum and a mini- 
 mum course in the Sophomore class, in that department, 
 would be highly expedient ; and that a division into sections 
 should be made, analogous to that which I have proposed for 
 the mathematical department. The same may be said of the 
 Junior year. In the departments of Physics and Chemistry, 
 and of Ethics . and Belles Letters, so much more depends on 
 lecture, and so much less on catechetical instruction, that the 
 same necessity may not exist in those departments. 
 
 Q. In what order are students called up by you to recite ? 
 
 A. No regular order. I take care to call up on any given 
 day, those who have not been called up on the previous reci- 
 tation. 
 
 Q. Are all called upon to recite an equal number of times, 
 as nearly as may be ? 
 
 A. That is the aim ; and I believe it is accomplished. 
 
 Q. Have you any uniform system, according to which 
 students are called upon ? 
 
 A. I have not, except to call them all up in succession, and 
 to get them all up about equally often. I call on those who 
 have been longest without recitation first. 
 
 Q. Are students of the voluntary course called upon to re- 
 cite upon the minimum course ? and if so, are they called 
 upon to recite as often upon the latter course as the students 
 who take only the minimum ? 
 
 A. The students of the voluntary course are occasionally 
 called upon the minimum course, especially on those days 
 when they offer nothing voluntary ; and they are all examined 
 on the minimum course at the public examination. They are 
 not called upon as often as the students of the minimum 
 course upon that course. It would be superfluous. Their 
 voluntary performances require and imply a thorough know- 
 ledge of the minimum course. They would be called upon 
 every day if there were time to do it. 
 
 . Q. How frequently do the exercises of the students occupy 
 fifteen minutes? 
 
 A. Perhaps once a fortnight. 
 
73 
 
 Q. How often are tbe students of the minimum course 
 called upon to recite ? and how often those of the voluntary ? 
 
 A. Now, of the Freshman class both every day they recite, 
 since the division into sections. The Sophomore class, upon 
 an average, the students of the minimum course once a week ; 
 the voluntary students, some of them, every day. 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Ogden's, January 23, 1857. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden and Mr. Allen. 
 
 Prof. Hackley attended and answered as follows : 
 
 Q. Have you any thing to add to your answers given at the 
 last meeting of the committee ? 
 
 A. I beg leave to add, that in the daily examinations of the 
 students iu my department, in addition to the performances 
 required of them in the lecture room, exercises are occasion- 
 ally given them to take and bring written out for my inspec- 
 tion. Also, in reference to divisions into sections in other 
 departments of the College, the classes in Optics and Me- 
 chanics would seem to require a division into sections for the 
 same reasons as those in pure Mathematics, unless the subject 
 of Mechanics be made voluntary, which, so far as it is studied 
 by the aid of the Calculus, I should deem expedient. 
 
 Q. Are these two classes of students — voluntary and mini- 
 mum — distinct and separate, as regards their studies, from 
 the commencement to the end of their course ? 
 
 A. They become so very early in the course of the session. 
 There is no distinct division between voluntary and mini- 
 mum. Any student may offer a voluntary who chooses. I pre- 
 scribe for the minimum what I consider necessary for a 
 degree, and any student may go beyond that who chooses, and 
 at any part of the session. 
 
 Q. Where a student offers a voluntary exercise, do you not 
 pass him with a less questioning than if his exercise had not 
 been a voluntary one ? 
 
74 
 
 A. I do not. Sometimes I question him much more. 
 When I suspect a student of offering voluntary exercises -to 
 get rid of what is more difficult in the compulsory, I give him 
 something from the compulsory course. 
 
 Q. How many voluntary .exercises are there in a day ? 
 
 A. It depends on the class. In the Junior, now, not more 
 than three or four. In the Senior more. In the Sophomore 
 ten or fifteen. In the Freshman about the same as in Sopho- 
 more. 
 
 Q. "When the students first come into your room, at the 
 commencement of the lecture, do not many of them offer to 
 do voluntary exercises ; and in such cases do you or not ac- 
 cept all such offers ? 
 
 A. I put down all the names offered, in the order in which 
 they are presented, and call as many as possible— generally 
 all— and those who were omitted I call first in order the 
 next day. 
 
 Q. How far does this admit of a sufficient examination of 
 the students in the minimum course? 
 
 A. It admits of a sufficient examination of all,. except in 
 the Sophomore class, which is too large without a division 
 into sections. 
 
 Q. The exercises of the voluntary students are difficult? 
 
 A- They are. 
 
 Q. It must take some time, then, first for the student to 
 write his exercise, and then for you to test his knowledge 
 upon it. Is your average of from ten to fifteen minutes for 
 the continuance of those exercises sufficiently lax*ge? 
 
 A. Several studentB being called up at once to the black- 
 boards, sometimes as many as six, the writing out of the ex- 
 ercises take place simultaneously, so that the average of time 
 occupied is about what I have stated in a former answer. 
 
 Q. Is any student allowed to remain more than a week 
 without being called upon to recite ? 
 
 A. Very rarely, unless by accident. 
 
 Q. Is any student allowed to remain more than two weeks 
 without being called upon ? 
 
 i. I am not aware of any such case, unless formerly, in 
 
75 
 
 the Senior class, when the instruction was by written dicta- 
 tion. Until the review, the recitations from the whole class 
 were few, it being considered by me less necessary with a class 
 of that mature age, to examine so frequently, the instructions 
 being mere lectures, solely, during that period. 
 
 Q. Cannot you say positively whether, within two years 
 past, any student has been allowed to remain more than two 
 weeks without being called upon to recite ? Has he ever re- 
 mained as long as three or four, five, six or seven weeks with- 
 out being called upon to recite ? 
 
 A. I cannot say with reference to the Senior class at the 
 time I refer to, in my last answer, that two weeks may not 
 have classed, and even more without a particular student 
 being examined. The Senior class attend me but twice a 
 week, and when the subject was taught by lecture and dicta- 
 tion entirely, so large a portion of the time was occupied in 
 this way, that until the revision students ceased, could be 
 surely examined in the lecture-room. With regard to all the 
 other classes, and to the Senior class at all other times, I can 
 say positively that no student has been two weeks without 
 examination, unless absent or excused because behind the 
 class, and engaged with a private tutor to bring himself up, 
 or for some other similar cause. The habitual practice is 
 regular daily examinations of as many students as practicable. 
 
 Q. Are students, when not well prepared, sent summarily 
 to their seats or is the attempt made to ascertain whether 
 their deficiencies arise from the difficulty which the student 
 has experienced after faithful study, or from indolence? 
 
 A. If it is evident that the student has utterly neglected his 
 preparation, he is sent to his seat, but an attempt is always 
 made, wherever there is an earnest desire to learn, to aid the 
 student in the comprehension of the subject. 
 
 Q. Do you put a mark opposite to the student's name imme- 
 diately at the close of his recitation, and is the student there 
 informed of the character of it ? 
 
 A. I put a mark immediately after his recitation, but the 
 student is not informed of the character of it. My record is, 
 
76 
 
 however, always freely open to their inspection^ and occasion*-* 
 ally examined by them. 
 
 Q. Would it he advisable, in your opinion, to allow to the 
 students or their parents an election between two or more 
 courses of instruction ? 
 
 A. It would. 
 
 Q. At what point of the course should this election be 
 allowed ? 
 
 A. At the beginning of the Sophomore year. 
 
 Q. What studies should be required peremptorily ? 
 
 A. Classics, Mathematics, Ehetoric, English composition 
 and the elements of History. 
 
 Q. What principle ought to determine the point in the 
 course at which the election should be' allowed? 
 
 A. The time when the students have been long enough in 
 College to develope their aptitudes. 
 
 Q. What principles should govern as to the studies to be 
 required from all the students? 
 
 A. The training^equisite for every educated man, whatever 
 may be his future pursuit. The training should be chiefly of 
 a gyranastical character. 
 
 Q. Should there be, after the point fixed for division, two 
 courses, one of which should be required ? 
 
 A. I think the student should be allowed to take portions 
 of both courses at his option, provided he fulfils the minimum 
 prescribed on all. 
 
 Q. Please to state fully your opinion on the subjects in- 
 volved in the preceding questions relative to an election of 
 courses, accompanied with such practical suggestions as you 
 may think proper to make relative to the subjects proper to 
 be assigned to each course in your own or any other depart- 
 ment of instruction of which you may be willing to speak in 
 this connection. 
 
 A. I would have the courses occupying different hours of 
 the day, in whole or in part, so as to admit of an election from 
 both by the same student ; an extended course of Classics, with 
 a minimum conrse of Mathematics in the earlier hours ; and 
 an extended course of Mathematics ; with a minimum course of 
 
Classics in the later hours. I would include Rhetoric, English 
 Composition, Elements of History, in both courses ; Chemis- 
 try and Physics, in the course of the later hours, but not in 
 the course of the earlier hours. 
 
 Q. What should be the required Mathematical studies, and 
 in what courses and during what periods should they be 
 pursued ? 
 
 A. In the minimum course, Algebra, as far as the end of 
 Quadratic Equations, plain Geometry and plain Trigonome- 
 try, with the use of the tables. To this may be added the 
 application of plain Trigonometry to "Navigation and Survey- 
 ing, or not. In the more extended course, or that for the 
 later hours of the day, in addition to the minimum course, 
 higher Algebra, including indeterminate analysis of the first 
 and second degree, Proportions and Progressions, the theory 
 of Logarithms, Interest and Annuities, General Theory of 
 Equations, Limination in Equations of Higher Degrees, and 
 the Diophantine Analysis, Spherical Trigonometry, Geometry 
 of Planes, of Polyhedral Angles, Solid and Spherical 
 Geometry and Mensuration, Spherical Astronomy, Nautical 
 Astronomy, Descriptive Geometry and its Applications to 
 Shadows, Perspective and Stereometry ; Analytical Geome- 
 try, in two and three dimensions, and its Applications to 
 Conic Sections and Surfaces of the Second Order ; the Dif- 
 ferential Calculus, Integral Calculus and the Calculus of 
 Variations. This list includes the studies suitable to the end 
 of the Junior year. In the Senior year, and subsequently, (if 
 more years should be added to the course,) should come pro- 
 perly Theoretic Astronomy and Physical Astronomy, together 
 with Professional Mathematical studies, such as the Princi- 
 ples of Insurance, Geodesy and Engineering. In the mini- 
 mum course, I would recommend that the attendance should 
 be three times a week, and in the more extended course, four or 
 five. In the Freshman class, the attendance should be daily, 
 and the subjects of the Freshman year should be Algebra and 
 plain Geometry, the instruction in that class permitting the 
 arrangement of voluntary exercises, such as I have already 
 fully described ; and voluntary students being allowed, in the 
 
78 
 
 Freshman year, to add plain Trigonometry. The residue of 
 the minimum course to be completed at the end of the Sopho- 
 more year, and the more extended course as far as the com- 
 mencement of Analytical Geometry, at the same time. 
 
 Q. Please to communicate to the committee your opinion, 
 and any facts within your knowledge, as to the method, man- 
 ner and extent of instruction of the professor of Ethics, pro- 
 fessor of Ancient Languages, the adjunct professor of Lan- 
 guages, and the professor of Physics and Chemistry. 
 
 A. "With regard to the first three, 1 am very well satisfied ; 
 with reference to the fourth, I am not yet sufficiently ac- 
 quainted with his method to be able to pronounce any 
 opinion. He has displayed a very great zeal and energy in 
 supplying his department with suitable illustrations, and they 
 appear to be very well selected. 
 
 Q. Ought certain prescribed times to be appointed for ad- 
 mission into the Freshman class % 
 
 A. In my opinion, yes. 
 
 Q. Ought all such examinations to be held at the same time? 
 
 A. In a population constituted like ours, I think the rule 
 should not be rigorously enforced. So many people spend 
 half the year in the country, that it would operate incon- 
 veniently in many instances. 
 
 Q. Ought these examinations to be public or private ? 
 
 A. I think it makes little difference, but the general rule 
 should be, that they should be public. 
 
 Q. By whom ought such examinations to be conducted ? 
 and who, as a matter of duty, ought to be present ? 
 
 A. I think it not essential that any one should be present 
 besides the professor, in whose department the examination 
 is made, and the examination ought to be conducted either 
 by him, or by some person delegated by him. 
 
 Q. Is there any mode other than the action of the Board 
 of the College, or of the President, which would be, in your 
 opinion, effectual to decide whether candidates for admission 
 into the Freshman class should be admitted, and at the same 
 time secure the end that they should not be admitted without 
 the previous preparation which the statutes require ? 
 
19 
 
 A. I don't know of any other modes. 
 
 Q. Are there any suggestions that you can make relative 
 to entrance examinations ? 
 
 A. None. 
 
 Q. Are the public examinations in your department so 
 conducted as to be, and are they, in fact, fair and thorough, 
 tests of the proficiency of each student in the subjects of the 
 course pursued during the term preceding the examination, 
 so far as the manner of examination will allow? 
 
 A. They are. I think they might be rendered much mora 
 effectual by examinations in the different departments going 
 on simultaneously, under committees appointed for the pur- 
 pose, the members of which should be selected with reference 
 to their peculiar qualifications for superintending the examina- 
 tion in the department to which they are assigned, and in- 
 creasing the time of examination allotted to each department 
 — the committee to be composed of members of the Board of 
 Trustees and of Alumni, who are Masters of Arts. 
 
 Q. Please to state if the students have any information or 
 knowledge of the range or extent of subjects coming under any 
 head, put upon the slips used at the public examinations, upon 
 which questions will be asked at such examination. 
 
 A. In a measure they have. These slips contain heads of 
 subjects occupying a portion of the course, and include alto- 
 gether pretty much the substance of the whole course which 
 is prescribed for all the students. By this means a portion 
 of their examination is such as to preclude the professor 
 from any favoritism, or disposition to assign to a particular 
 student what is known to be within his attainments. In 
 addition, an exercise is given to each student at examination, 
 which he has never seen before, nor any one else, it being 
 made up for the occasion on the instant. This tests his 
 general knowledge of the whole subject. 
 
 Q. Is any such range or extent pointed out to them by 
 reference to a text-book, or otherwise ? 
 
 A. In some cases it is, in others it is not. Where the sub- 
 jject is a complete demonstration in itself, as is generally the 
 case, there are natural divisions which the student will com- 
 
80 
 
 prehend without any special designation of page or line ; 
 sometimes they are such that a certain portion will be satis- 
 factory. They may add more or not, as their industry or am- 
 bition prompts. Sometimes the additional matter is not 
 contained in the text-book, but is given in a lecture. In 
 these cases the matter put down upon slips is an exercise 
 which students have not been specially aware would be there, 
 but only that it would be taken from certain parts of the 
 course, or from the course in general. The student has no 
 information or intimation that the public examination will be 
 confined to a certain portion of the portion indicated on the 
 slips. 
 
 Q. How frequently ought the examinations held at the 
 conclusion of a session to be appointed ? 
 
 A. Not more than two in the year. 
 
 Q. What is now the nature of the reports made by the 
 professors to the Board of the College upon the results of the 
 public examinations? Do they specify only the names of 
 deficient students ? or what other information in regard to 
 the results of the examination do they furnish ? 
 
 A. In addition to the names of deficient students, they 
 present the names of students recommended for honorary 
 testimonials. t 
 
 Q. Do those reports give the relative merits of the stu- 
 dents, or any of them, and in what form or way ? 
 
 A. Only of those recommended for testimonials, and in the 
 order of rank, viz. : the name of the student for the first testi- 
 monial, and for the second. 
 
 Q. Does not the Board, in administering the discipline of 
 the institution, take the results of the public examination as 
 tests of the proficiency of the students ; or do they, or not, 
 take such results into account in awarding testimonials ? 
 
 A. They do both. If the student bears an examination 
 successfully, he is allowed to go on to the next class, or to an 
 advanced standing in the same class, as the case may be, 
 though he may have been deficient during the session. 
 
 Q. Does the President make any note of the result of such 
 examination, at the time of examination, and in reference to 
 
81 
 
 each student? And if so, does the note of the President ex- 
 press the relative merits of the student, and by what system 
 or method, or does it only express whether or not the student 
 has failed? 
 
 A. He does keep full notes, and they express the quality 
 of the student's performance. 
 
 Q. Is the record made by the President read or communi- 
 cated to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. It is in the case of those students who come under the 
 discussion of the Board, either for deficiency, or as to claims 
 for both testimonials. 
 
 Q. In no other case ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Are such records preserved by the President in methodi- 
 cal form ; and in what way or form, if any, are they pre- 
 served ? 
 
 A. I don't know. 
 
 Q. Is any use afterwards made of them, and any, and, if any, 
 what reference is afterwards made to them, and for what pur- 
 pose? 
 
 A. I am not aware of any ; though I have some vague im- 
 pression ,of their being used in some cases of students on trial 
 before the Board for misdemeanor. 
 
 Q. Do you keep a record of the results of the public exami- 
 nations in your department? 
 
 A. I do. 
 
 Q. How long have you been in the practice of keeping such 
 record ? 
 
 A. Always. I may have omitted it on one or two occa- 
 sions. 
 
 Q. Does this record express the relative merits of the 
 students ; or of any, and how many of them, so far as they 
 are exhibited at the examinations ? 
 
 A. It does of all. I attach a numerical mark to each 
 name. 
 
 Q. Is it not desirable that all the professors should attend 
 the public examinations, and should not all, and especially 
 the examining professor, note the performance of each stu- 
 
82 
 
 dent ? "Would not this be Requisite if the place of arranging' 
 all the students in the order of merit were restored ? 
 
 A. I think it not desirable that all the professors should' at- 
 tend all Ihe examinations of each department. It were much 
 better if each examination were attended faithfully through- 
 out its whole continuance by adepts in the department, 
 who should each keep a record of the performance of each 
 student. 
 
 The opinion of one wlio is not an adept is good for nothing ; 
 perhaps worse than nothing. He would be likely to be more 
 affected by brilliancy of manner than by real merit. It might, 
 perhaps, if the system I have recommended be not adopted 
 but the old system continued, that the professors in Mathe- 
 matical and Physical' sciences should be required to attend all 
 the examinations in those departments; their various professors 
 of languages, including the German, all the examinations in 
 their departments ; and the President and professor of Ethics 
 and Belles-Lettres, only the examinations in that department; 
 and to keep records. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that examination upon the 
 course of a session previously pursued, should be conducted 
 by adepts, not officers of the College, or should be Conducted 
 by the professors in the presence of such adepts appointed} 
 with power to propose questions and to report on the results 
 to the Board of the College, or to the trustees, in conjunction 
 with the examining professor. 
 
 A. By the adepts solely, if they can be procured of suita- 
 ble qualifications. 
 
 Professor Hackley produced to the committee slips drawn 
 by the students of the Junior class, at the examination in 
 July, 1856. [Exhibit 4.] And also a list of theorems 
 which the professor stated were presented to members of the 
 Board of Trustees, and other gentlemen present, and selected 
 by them at pleasure, for the examination of students of the 
 Freshman class, as they were called up, constituting the Com 51 
 pulsory Course in plain Geometry ; and also subjects offered 
 for voluntary exercises at the same examination by students^ 
 respectively of the Junior, Sophomore andFreshman classes. 
 
83 
 
 Q. Are yon not able to produce to the committee the slips 
 used at the public examination in July, 1856, for other classes 
 than the Junior and Freshman ? 
 
 A. They are either mislaid or destroyed. 
 
 Q. In reference to each class, and in reference to each of 
 the last two examinations, please to state, by reference to 
 your text- books, the matter which was reviewed by your classes 
 previous to the examination. 
 
 A. I will do so. 
 
 Q. State what, in your opinion, are the objections to the 
 punishment of dismission, as now or lately administered, and 
 to what regulations, if any, it ought to be subjected. 
 
 A. There are no objections, in my view. It works admirably. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, punishments to be pronounced 
 in the presence of the assembled students, or'what regulation 
 would you recommend relative to the mode of pronouncing 
 punishments ? 
 
 A. In my opinion it is inexpedient, as a general rule, that 
 they should be publicly announced. They are always known 
 immediately to the whole College, and'public^announcement 
 is sometimes a provocation to expressions of dissatisfaction, 
 which it is best to avoid. 
 
 Q. On motions made in the Board of the College as to 
 matters within their authority, is,, or is not the question put 
 by the President to the Board for their decision, in cases in 
 which the President has declared that if the motion were 
 carried, he would withhold his concurrence ? Has the Presi- 
 dent ever, within your knowledge, refused to put the question, 
 on the ground that he meant to withhold his concurrence ? 
 
 A. In some recent instances he has refused to put the 
 question on a motion made and seconded, and his refusal has 
 been based on the ground that he intended to withhold his 
 concurrence. 
 
 Q. Can you explain why the Board of the College do not 
 meet statedly on every Saturday for the purpose of adminis- 
 tering the general discipline of the College as the statutes re- 
 quire ? 
 
 A. Since the statute on this subject was framed, applica- 
 
 7b 
 
84. 
 
 tions, for students living at a distance on Long Island, Staten 
 Island and Hudson River, to be excused from attending on 
 exercises of declamation on Saturday, having become very 
 numerous, it was decided to be expedient to add time enough 
 to the College exercises on the other days of the week to ad- 
 mit exercises in declamation from two students on each day, 
 which was, I believe, sanctioned by the Board of Trustees : 
 there being nothing, after this arrangement, to call the pro- 
 fessors together on Saturday, except the meeting of the Board, 
 and some of the professors living at the distance of two or 
 three miles, it was found much more convenient to have the 
 meeting of the Board on Friday, after the College exercises. 
 Whether the arrangement was made by an act of the Board 
 or by the President, I don't recollect, but my impression is 
 by the latter. 
 
 At Mr. Ogden's, January 24th, 1857. 
 Present — Mr. Ogden and Mr. Anderson. 
 Prof. Hackley was again interrogated. 
 
 Q. Have you any thing to add to the answers made at the 
 last meeting? 
 
 A. I would add, in reply to the question on the two courses, 
 that I should think it expedient to have two or three courses 
 of Chemistry in the later hours of the day, one a very ele- 
 mentary course, embracing only the general principles of 
 Chemistry, the nomenclature and notation, the composition 
 and properties of such substances as are most familiar to or- 
 dinary experience ; secondly, a more extended course, em- 
 bracing the whole range of modern Chemistry ; and thirdly, 
 a course of Analytical and Agricultural Chemistry. Also, 
 "two courses of Physics, one embracing the general principles 
 of Heat, Electricity and Magnetism, and the principles of 
 Optics, treated mathematically only so far as it involves the 
 elements of common Geometry ; secondly, a more extended 
 
85 
 
 course, requiring the aid of the higher mathematical analysis. 
 In the department of Philosophy, &c, the subjects of Politi- 
 cal Economy and Intellectual Philosophy should be thrown, 
 forward into the Senior year. 
 
 Note. — The professor here produced his report, made .to 
 the Board of the College, of the public examination held in 
 July, 1856, of which the following is an abstract: 
 
 Of the Senior Class — 
 Twenty -nine members were publicly examined in the 
 chapel and passed satisfactorily ; four failed and were re- 
 quired to be re-examined, two of whom were subsequently 
 re-examined in private and passed; seven were absent, of 
 whom three were excused from examination by the Board on 
 account of sickness, and one, by order of the Board, was ex- 
 amined privately previously to the public examination. 
 
 Of the Junior Class — 
 
 Seventeen members passed satisfactorily at the public exam- 
 ination ; three were deficient, two of whom were subsequently 
 re-examined and passed ; four were absent, of whom two 
 were excused on account of sickness, and two were examined 
 by authority of the Board, previously to the public examina- 
 tion. 
 
 Of the Sophomore Class — 
 
 Twenty-two members passed the public examination satis- 
 factorily; one was deficient, and five were absent. 
 
 Of the Freshman Class — 
 Thirty members passed the public examination satisfacto- 
 rily ; one was found deficient, but on a subsequent private 
 examination passed ; four were absent. 
 
 Q. What do you consider the order that a class should ob- 
 serve during lecture ? 
 
 A. Such as not to interrupt, in any degree, the exercises of 
 the lecture-room. This is only compatible with very little 
 intercourse between the students, and that in the most sup- 
 pressed whisper. 
 
86 
 
 Q. Do you allow this intercourse between the students in 
 suppressed whispers, without restraint? 
 
 A. When I see that it is for a good purpose, such as assist- 
 ing one another in the difficulties of their subjects of study, 
 or for any necessary purpose, I do. "Where it is mere idle 
 conversation, I stop it entirely. 
 
 Q. How can you tell the objects of the conversation ? 
 
 A. By its being over a text-book, and by the earnest ex- 
 pression of deep thought on the face of the student whtn it is 
 of the oue kind, and by the appearance of levity or other in- 
 dications, when it is of the other. Conversation, even upon 
 subjects of study, is repressed when it operates in the least as 
 an interruption. The moment that habits of talking for any 
 purpose grow too common, I prohibit all talking, in order to 
 bring the class to' a better state. 
 
 Q. Do the students now, when in attendance in your class, 
 preserve strict decorum, and state, in reference to such class, 
 whether the students composing it preserve strict decorum ? 
 
 A. They do in all the classes. I allow a little more liberty 
 in the Senior class, on the ground of their being nearer the 
 end of their career, and on account of the small number of 
 the class. In the other classes, there is a little more confusion 
 in coming into the room during the severely cold weather, 
 owing to the desire of the students to get near the fire for a 
 •moment, which, in many cases, wbere they come from a long 
 distance, is quite necessary. The order of the room is, how- 
 ever, perfect, when the exercises have commenced. 
 
 Q. Are there no cases of disorder in your room ; and if so, 
 of what nature are they ? 
 
 A. None of any wanton character. One or two instances 
 of thoughtlessness, which were not worth noticing, occurred 
 within the last two months. 
 
 Q. What offence do you consider sufficient to cause the dis- 
 mission of a student from the room, or the calling him to 
 answer, in any way ? 
 
 A. Any wanton or intentional disturbance of the exercises 
 of the room. 
 
 Q. How often do you find it necessary to dismiss a student 
 
87 
 
 from the room, and what further notice is taken of such cases, 
 if any exist? 
 
 A. I have dismissed but one student from the room during 
 the last session. It was done in a very good-natured way by 
 me, and borne very good-naturedly by the student. It was 
 done in consequence of his snapping a piece of chalk across 
 the room. The student was sitting on the front seat, in full 
 view of myself, and could not have hoped to escape detection ; 
 probably did it in mere absence of mind, and he being a Fresh- 
 man, was perhaps less on his guard. I took no further notice 
 of the matter, and treated him next day as if nothing had 
 happened. I thought it necessary to do something to apprise 
 the class that this thing could not be permitted, and, at the 
 6ame time, did not think that the case demanded any severe 
 punishment. It is a long time since I had to dismiss a student 
 from the room before. I do not recollect a case in the pre- 
 ceding year. 
 
 Q. Did this treatment of the offending student prevent the 
 recurrence of similar misconduct on his part ? 
 
 A. Entirely, as well as on the part of any other students of 
 the class. 
 
 Q. For what offences do you consider it necessary to order 
 a student to appear before the Board of the College ; and do 
 you, after such citation, ever excuse him ? and if so, for what 
 cause and on what excuse ? 
 
 A. For gross neglect of repeated reprimands for disorder, 
 (such disorder, I mean, as immoderate talking,) or for any 
 overt act of wanton disorder. I have, in the few cases in 
 which, for several years, I have ordered students before the 
 Board, excused them, either because I have found myself 
 under a misapprehension, or on very solemn pledges (which I 
 had reason to believe would be fulfilled) of abstinence from 
 all causes of complaint for the future. I have had no reason 
 to regret the course pursued in these cases. 
 
 Q. Do you, during the hour of their attendance upon you, 
 allow any of the students to be engaged in the studies of any 
 other department? 
 
 A. I have not prevented this entirely at all times, because 
 
88 
 
 I have found the students who have acquitted themselves, 
 best in ray department inclined to this practice. When a 
 dull youth is having some of the most plain and easy princi- 
 ples slowly made to enter his mind by the patient explana- 
 tions of a professor, the better class of students would gain 
 little by listening. If, in the next hour, they have an exercise 
 in another lecture-room, on which some further preparation 
 is desirable, it would seem to be at the moment the best ap- 
 plication of their time to be improving the opportunity for this 
 additional preparation. And if permitted in one case, it must 
 be, to some extent, permitted in others. I endeavor to prevent 
 this practice from interfering in any way with the benefit of 
 the instructions of the room being felt by all for whom 
 they are intended at the time they are being given. Some- 
 times, when a voluntary exercise, totally beyond the compre- 
 hension of one of the students of the minimum course, is pro- 
 ceeding, he may, if he made his recitation, or prepared his 
 exercise for my lecture-room, be well employed in making 
 preparation for another. It is certainly better that this should 
 occur than that time should be listlessly spent without any 
 mental occupation. 
 
 Q. Have you any reason to believe that a similar privilege 
 is accorded to the students in other lecture-rooms ? 
 
 A. I believe it is in some, but not in all. In the study of 
 a language the same reason does not exist, for every student 
 can profit by hearing a translation or an analysis of sentences 
 fey another. 
 
 Q. Do yon ever dismiss your classes before the termination 
 of the hour which they should spend with you ; and if so, for 
 what reasons ? 
 
 A. Very rarely. Sometimes on account of the state of my 
 own health. Sometimes because the room is not sufficiently 
 warm. Sometimes because the exercises for the day are all 
 completed, and there is some cause for the students being ab- 
 sent from College earlier than usual. This never occurs ex- 
 cept near the end of the last hour, and never more than five 
 minutes before the time. It may have occurred once within 
 two or three years in tha beginning of the hour, from there 
 
89 
 
 being no fire. I have dismissed them but once before the 
 time during this session. On the other band 1 ought perhaps 
 to add, that I often remain after the hour to hear recitations, 
 or give explanations to students who choose to remain in the 
 lecture-room after the classes are dismissed. This is of fre- 
 quent occurrence — the dismissal of the class before the time, 
 very rare indeed. 
 
 Q. How long usually, where students have permission to 
 leave the room, do they remain absent ? 
 
 A. I allow but one to leave at a time, and they return, 
 therefore, as quickly as possible, say on an average, three 
 minutes. But one is allowed to be out at a time. Now and 
 then one is absent too long, in which case he is reprimanded, 
 and sometimes reported. This, however, is now of rare oc- 
 currence. 
 
 Q. Do they ever not return during your lecture ; if so, 
 what notice is taken of such a case ? 
 
 A. This has occurred and is always reported. That is, if 
 the time of being out has been unreasonably lopg. These re- 
 ports are made at the end of the week, in writing. 
 
 Q. How frequently does it occur that a student does not 
 return ? 
 
 A. Not more than half a dozen times in a session. 
 
 Q. Do you ever fail to meet your class at the appointed 
 time? If so, how often have you done so in the three years 
 last past, and for what cause ? 
 
 A. I have so failed, in consequence of error of watch in 
 one or two instances. In one or two other instances in con- 
 sequence of unusual delay in the progress of the cars or 
 stages, and once, I believe, in consequence of mistaking the 
 arrangement of hours. Altogether, in the three years last 
 past, I have failed to meet my class at the appointed time 
 not more than six or eight times, excluding the cases in which 
 I have been detained at home by illness. In those cases of 
 delay which I have mentioned, I was only a few minutes be- 
 hind the time. 
 
 Q. Upon the assembling of the classes in your room, do yon 
 
90 
 
 yourself call the roll and mark who of the students are absent 
 and who present ? 
 
 A.*I call the roll and mark the students absent, which of 
 course shows who are present. I have had the practice of 
 having the roll called by the head of each class under my 
 own supervision. I have latterly adopted the practice of 
 calling the roll myself, except in the case of the Junior class. 
 It was, I think, some time last year that I discontinued the 
 practice of allowing the head of the class to call the roll and 
 mark the absentees. 
 
 Q. Have you ever had reason to believe that the student 
 calling the roll did not correctly mark the absences, or re- 
 corded at any time a student as absent who was present? 
 
 A. I have not. 
 
 Q. How soon after the bell ceases ringing does the roll call 
 commence? 
 
 A. The moment that the bulk of the class enters the room ; 
 and this occurs in about three minutes after the ringing of 
 the bell. , 
 
 Q. Are the students regular in their attendance upon Col- 
 lege lectures ? 
 
 A. Quite so, on the whole. 
 
 Q. In case of absence from your lecture-room, of a student, 
 what notice do you take of it ? 
 
 A. None, except to record it in my weekly report made to 
 the President at the meeting of the Board. 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Ogden's apartments on Tuesday, 
 January 27th, 1857, at 7£- P. M. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden and Mr. Beits. 
 
 Professor Hackley appeared before the committee, and 
 answered the questions proposed as follows : 
 
 Q. State what action was had in regard to students who were 
 examined at the final examination in 1850, in your depart. 
 
91 
 
 ment, and found deficient, and were not passed at a subse- 
 quent private examination. 
 
 A. None. 
 
 Q. State, also, what action was had in regard to the cases 
 of students who were absent from that public examination in 
 your department, and who you have not stated to have been 
 examined by you : first, in regard to those whose absence 
 was excused : and next, in regard to those whose absence was 
 not excused. 
 
 A. It was agreed, by the Board of the College, that those 
 in the Senior class, whose absence was excused on account of 
 illness, should be permitted to take their degrees ; and those 
 in the other classes should be allowed to pass on to the next 
 class, in consideration of their good standing in the class 
 during the session. With reference to those who were ab- 
 sent, and not excused on account of illness, no subsequent 
 action was taken. 
 
 Q. Do you ever excuse a student for absence from your 
 lecture-room, without reporting him to the President or the 
 Board of the College ? 
 
 A. I do not, and never have. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any instance in which a student has 
 been, on the same day, absent from the room of one profes- 
 sor, and present in the room of another? 
 
 A. I recollect that such instances have been noticed by a 
 comparison of the reports of the professors to the Board. 
 
 Q. How many of such cases have you known? 
 
 A. It would be difficult to say. They occur occasionally, 
 but are not frequent. 
 
 Q. Were these cases, or any of them, brought to the notice 
 of the President or the Board of the College ? and was any, 
 and what action had in regard to them ? 
 
 A. In my last answer I alluded to those publicly noticed 
 in the Board. It was understood that the President would 
 attend to them, which I believe he did. I do not recollect 
 any case of discipline for such an offence by an act of the 
 Board. These absences are often occasioned by sudden ill- 
 ness. 
 
92 
 
 Q. Do you preserve a daily record of the attendance of, 
 your classes ? If so, please to produce it for the inspection of 
 the committee. 
 
 A. I have been in the habit of preserving all my records, 
 and can furnish all that may be desired. 
 
 (The professor being so requested, agrees to furnish his cur- 
 rent book.) 
 
 Q. How is it ascertained by the President what students 
 are absent from the lectures of the professors on each day? 
 
 A. By a report at the meeting of the Board at the end of 
 the week. 
 
 Q. Does each professor, in his report, specify on what par- 
 ticular days students reported as absent were absent ? 
 
 A. He does. 
 
 Q. Are these reports, or the information contained in them, 
 preserved by the President? Are the facts stated in such 
 reports recorded or preserved in any methodical form by the 
 President for future reference ? 
 
 A. The reports are filed by the President; and I believe 
 an abstract of extraordinary matters is made by him in a 
 book, which contains a sort of an account current of each 
 student. 
 
 Q. In case of the absence of a student, either from one lecture- 
 room, or several, or all, what is done in reference to the case? 
 
 A. They are sent for by the President to account for their 
 absences. If the absences are repeated for a considerable 
 period without satisfactory excuse, which is required to be a 
 written one from the parent or guardian of the student, the 
 offender is cited before the Board- by the President, and 
 punishment of suspension or dismission is sometimes admin- 
 istered. 
 
 Q. "What is done if there is no satisfactory excuse, but the 
 absence cannot be said to be repeated ? 
 
 A. There is, I believe, a reprimand by the President, and 
 a communication to the parent or guardian of the student. 
 
93 
 
 Q. Do you know what excuses for absence are accepted as 
 sufficient, either by the President or the Board of the College? 
 
 A. Almost any excuse that is deemed sufficient by the au- 
 thority at home, is taken for an occasional absence ; but not 
 for numerous repeated absences. 
 
 Q. For what length of absence are these excuses allowed 
 as sufficient ? 
 
 A. For a day or two. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any cases of absence as long as for 
 one, two or more months ? If so, state the length of absence 
 in each case, if in your knowledge, specifying when the stu- 
 dent ceased his attendance, and when he returned, and 
 whether he had leave of absence, and for what term. 
 
 A. 1. During the present session a student of the Fresh- 
 man class was absent from my lecture-room from the 3d of 
 November till the 2d of December. 
 
 2. Also, this session, a student of the present Senior class 
 was absent from the 24th of November till the 12th of Jan- 
 uary. 
 
 3. Another student of the Senior class was absent from the 
 24th of November till the 27th of December, 1856. 
 
 4. A third student of the present Senior class was absent 
 from the 7th of May till the 18th of June, 1856. 
 
 5. A fourth student of the present Senior class was absent 
 from the 7th of May till the 11th of June, 1856. 
 
 6. A student of the Senior class of last year was a great 
 deal absent, though not for a month together. 
 
 7. A student of the Senior class of 1855-6, was absent from 
 the 12th of May till the 23d of June. 
 
 8. A student of the Junior class of 1854-5, was absent from 
 the 25th of April till the end of the session. 
 
 9. A student of the Freshman class of 1853-4, was absent 
 most of the last session of that year, and most of the last ses- 
 sion of the following year, 1854-5. 
 
 10. Astudent of the Sophomore class of 1853-4 was absent 
 from the 20th of April till the 18th of May. 
 
 11. A student of the Sophomore class of 1853-4 was absent 
 from March 8th till May 25th. 
 
94 
 
 12. A student of the Junior class of 1853-4 was absent 
 from the middle of May till the end of the session. 
 
 13 and 14. Two students of the Freshman class of 1854-5, 
 were absent from the middle of April till the end of the session. 
 
 Q. In each case, how was the absence excused, and was 
 the case brought to the notice of the Board of the College? 
 Did they act upon it, and was their action entered upon 
 their minutes ? 
 
 A. The student, whose is the first case mentioned in the 
 last answer was dismissed from College for his absence, 
 by action of the Board, and the action was entered on the 
 minutes. The student whose is the second case, had been 
 informed by the President that unless he passed the ap- 
 proaching examination in a manner entirely satisfactory, 
 he would be dropped from the class. The third student had 
 leave of absence, which was granted by action of the 
 Board, on account of the bad state of his eyes, and the 
 action of the Board in his case was entered on the minutes. 
 He is one of the most successful and exemplary students 
 in the College. The fourth had leave of absence to be with 
 a sick father at the South. The absence of the fifth was 
 occasioned by illness. The sixth was frequently ill, and dis- 
 tinguished as a student having taken numerous testimonials. 
 The absence of the seventh was from the same cause. Both 
 were exemplary students, the latter, before his illness, the head 
 of the class. The eighth's absence was from the same cause. 
 He was ultimately compelled to leave College on account of 
 ill health, and has since died. The ninth was twice dis- 
 missed from College for absence, by action of the Board, and 
 the proceedings entered on the minutes. The tenth was dis- 
 missed, taken back on probation, like the last mentioned 
 student, and finally dismissed in the Senior class. The 
 eleventh's absence was on account of illness. He was finally 
 withdrawn for a year, and entered again at a less advanced 
 standing, being now a member of the Junior class. The 
 twelfth had leave of absence to accompany his father and 
 mother to Europe. The thirteenth and fourteenth never re- 
 
95 
 
 turned to College after their absences. Their names do not 
 appear on the matriculation book of the following year. 
 
 The cases of students who are to be subjects for discipline 
 on account of absences are always brought, by the President, 
 before the Board for its action. He exercises his discretion 
 as to when it is necessary to resort to this course, and when 
 his own action is sufficient to remedy the evil. He has not, 
 as yet, thought it necessary to bring the second case above 
 mentioned before the Board. 
 
 The dismission of the student whose case is the ninth of 
 those above stated, was by act of the Board, and was entered 
 on the minutes. The same may be said of the tenth case. 
 All action in the eleventh case was by the Board. 
 
 Q. If the case was not brought to the notice of the Board 
 of the College, or they did not act upon it, or it was not 
 entered on their minutes, please to explain the reason for the 
 course which was adopted. 
 
 A. In the cases above mentioned, wben the Board did not 
 act, no action appears to have been required. The President 
 reported, in the cases of absence from illness, the cause of 
 absence to the Board. The leaves of absence in the fourth 
 and twelfth cases were granted, probably, by the President, 
 he baving power to grant them by the statutes. 
 
 Q. In reference to each case, please to state whether, upon 
 his return to the College, the student was examined before he 
 was suffered to resume his attendance. 
 
 A. I do not recollect that any of the students above named 
 were examined on their return, though my impression is that 
 the student whose case is the eleventh was. In the third, 
 fifth, sixth and seventh cases, the standing of the students 
 was so excellent as to render an examination superfluous. 
 
 Q. In reference to each case, by whose authority was the 
 student suffered to resume his attendance? 
 
 A. In the second case, by authority of the President. The 
 students whose cases are the fifth and seventh returned in 
 course as soon as health was restored. In the fourth and 
 twelfth cases, the students, in the same manner, at the 
 expiration of their leaves of absence. 
 
Q. How often does the want of punctuality of the students 
 in coming into your lecture-room occur to the extent of half 
 an hour or more ; how often to the extent of fifteen minutes 
 or more ; and how often to the extent of five minutes or more ? 
 
 A. During the present session, now at its close, there has 
 been in the Freshman class but one case of entering the lec- 
 ture-room five to fifteen minutes late. 
 
 In the Sophomore class six instances of one case each 
 among six different individuals, two cases of one other indi- 
 vidual, and four cases of another, making twelve in all in 
 this class during the session. This is the largest class in 
 the College. 
 
 In the Junior class three single instances. In the Senior 
 class one of one individual, (2) two of another, and (2) two of 
 a third. In the second session of last year there were in the 
 Senior class two cases of students arriving at the lecture- 
 room half an hour late. Two cases of the same kind in the 
 Freshman class in the same session. One in the Junior. 
 None in the Sophomore. 
 
 Q. Is the same student guilty of this want of punctuality 
 repeatedly ? 
 
 A. It is generally the same students who are unpunctual 
 from day to day. 
 
 Q. Can you give the committee any information, derived 
 from your own observation, concerning the order or disorder 
 of the students while in attendance in the lecture-room of any 
 other professor ? 
 
 A- I cannot. My room is remote from all the other lec- 
 ture-rooms. 
 
 Q. Can you state any material facts concerning testimo- 
 nials or the awarding them ? and please to make any recom- 
 mendation you may think proper on this subject. 
 
 A. The only recommendation of importance which I have 
 to make is the use of " Brackets," as it is termed in the Eng- 
 lish universities ; that is to say, where two or more students 
 are so nearly equal that it is difficult to distinguish between 
 them ; this should be recognised in the testimonials. 
 
97 
 
 The professor here produced to the committee the follow- 
 ing statement of the matter reviewed by all his classes pre- 
 viously to the intermediate and concluding examination in 
 1856 : 
 
 Statement of matter reviewed for examination of February 
 and July, 1856, Mathematical department. 
 
 FBESHMAN CLASS. 
 
 February. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Algebra, article 14, page 19, to article 15, page 20. 
 " 24, " 31, " 34, « 34. 
 « 48, " 51, " 66, " 64. 
 " 67, " ,65, " 68, " 67. 
 " 77, " 72, to middle of page 177. 
 middle of " 76, " " 78. 
 
 I. page 80, to article 81, " 81. 
 
 " 105, page 100, " 111, " 105. 
 " 178, " 199, to ex. 11, " 201. 
 From italics " 205, to end of page 208. 
 
 From middle of " 209, « « 212. 
 
 Examples 9 to 14, page 216. 
 Page 224, problems 1, 2, 3. 
 Article 190, page 225, to bottom of page 226. 
 Page 236, examples 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 
 Article 238, page 302, to article 239, page 303. 
 Examples, page 369, to Prop. V. 
 Examples, page 312. 
 Examples, page 316 to page 319, end. 
 Plane Geometry to page 71. 
 Theorem 73, omitting exercises in fine print. 
 
 VOLUNTABT. 
 
 Article 26, page 34, to article 36, page 43. 
 " 66, " 64, " 67, " 65. 
 " 68, " 67, " 78, " 72. 
 
98 
 
 Middle of page 74, to middle of page 76. 
 « « 78 " " 80. 
 
 Article 81, page 81, to article 91, page 91. 
 " 101, " 96, " 105, " 101. 
 " 119, " 119, " 134, " 129. 
 " 137, " 186, " 178, " 199. 
 Example IV., page 201, to italics, page 205. 
 Page 207, to middle page 29. 
 Page 213, to page 224. 
 Some of the examples omitted. 
 ,• io Article 192, page 252, to page 336. 
 
 Page 257 to page 239. 
 Some of the examples omitted. 
 Article 197, page 242, to article 198, page 244. 
 " 199, " 246, " 204, " 250. 
 " 209, " 255, " 210, " 255. 
 Some of the examples omitted. 
 Article 277, page 276, to page 291. 
 " 244, " 308, to example 301. 
 " 245, to examples, page 312. 
 " 246, page 312, to 247, page 302. 
 " 248, " 313, to 249, " 314. 
 " 251, " 315, to examples, page 316. 
 " 252, " 319, to example III., page 329. 
 Page 328, to end of page 335. 
 
 July. 
 
 GEOMETRY. 
 
 The residue of Plane Geometry, except the general note, p. 
 93, and the end of Appendix II., from page five. 
 Plane Trigonometry as far as page 51. 
 
 SOPHOMORE CLASS. 
 February. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Geometry of Planes, Definitions, Props. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 
 11,12,17. 
 
99 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 The residue of the Geometry of Planes, with the exercises, 
 voluntary.- 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Polyhedral Angles, Definitions, Props. 1, 2. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 Residue of Polyhedral Angles, except exercises. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Solid Geometry, Definitions, and Theorems 1, 2, 3, 4, 10. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 Residue of Solid Geometry, voluntary. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Spherical Geometry, Definitions, and Theorems 1, 7. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 Residue of Spherical Geometry, except exercises. 
 Appendix III., IY., Y., omitted, and Mensuration, except 
 Prop. YII. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Plane Trigonometry to page 78 ; also pages 74, 75 and 76. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 Plane Trigonometry from page 68, to 74. 
 " « " " 76, " 86. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Spherical Trigonometry, page 121, to article 82, page 128. 
 From article 80, page 141, to exercises, page 144. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 Spherical Trigonometry, from art. 82, p. 128, to ex. II., p. 139. 
 " " " " 92, " 145, " schol. " 143. 
 
 « " " " 93, " 165, " " 169. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Navigation, from page 204, to article 97, page 206, Trig. 
 
 Examples on page 208. 
 From article 98, page 206, to article 100, page 217. 
 
 Examples on page 224. 
 8b 
 
100 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 Article 97, page 206, to examples on page 208, Trig. 
 
 Examples on page 209. 
 Article 100, page 207, to end of page 223. 
 
 Appendix III., page 228, Gr. Circ. Sail'g. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Surveying, first two pages. The instruments described on 
 the following pages explained by lectures on them, but 
 examinations on them not required. 
 
 From page 224 to page 244, and page 256 to page 258. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 Description and adjustment of Surveying instruments. 
 Also from page 244 to page 256. 
 
 " 256 to end of Surveying. 
 
 Continuation of Sophomore Class. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Nautical Astronomy. 
 From beginning to end of p. 277, art. Ill, p. 279 to ex. p. 282. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 P. 277 to art. Ill, p. 277. 
 
 Ex. 4, p. 252 to end. 
 
 2 pp. of App. to Part Y., p. 299. 
 
 July. 
 Descriptive Geometry. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 From the beginning to p. 50, omitting probs. 8, 9, 13. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 § 108, p. 53, to prob. 27, p. 71. 
 
 Prob. 27 to p. 73. 
 
 Chap. Till., p. 84. 
 
 Prob. 31, p. 90. 
 
 Prob. 33, p. 90. 
 
 P. 145 to § 220, p. 148. 
 
 § 224, p. 151 to § 236, p. 161. 
 
 § 228, p. 105 to § 240, p. 168. 
 
101 
 
 JUNIOE CLASS. 
 
 February. 
 
 Analytical Geometry. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 P. 25 to p. 46, art. 39. 
 Art. 8, p. 103, to art. 90, p. 108. 
 92, 110, to end of p. 112. 
 Mid. of p. 131, to art. 118, p. 139. 
 Art. 125, p. 146, to art 127, p. 148. 
 130, 152, " 131, 133. 
 
 Art. 
 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 
 39, p. 46, 
 
 to art 
 
 , 84, p. 
 
 103. 
 
 95, 
 
 114, 
 
 u 
 
 105, 
 
 129. 
 
 135, 
 
 157, 
 
 (( 
 
 142, 
 
 167. 
 
 143, 
 
 168, 
 
 (i 
 
 158,.- 
 
 182. 
 
 161, 
 
 184, 
 
 a 
 
 167, 
 
 199. 
 
 July. 
 Notes on Astronomy. — See pamphlet. 
 From the beginning to Prob. XI., p. 16. 
 Prom Prob. XVI., p. 22, to Prob. XVIII., p. 25. 
 From Prob. XIX., p. 26, to Prob. XXIII., p. 30. 
 
 Notes on Astronomy. — See. printed pamphlet. 
 From Prob. XI., p. 16, to Prob. XVI., p. 22. 
 From Prob. XVIIL, p. 25, to Prob. XIX., p. 26. 
 From Prob. XXII., p. 30, to end p. 39. 
 
 From Bartlett's Astronomy the voluntary matter reviewed 
 for examination, in July, was the following : 
 Art. 86, p. 21, to art. 115, p. 37. 
 
 .124, 
 
 42, 
 
 u 
 
 135, 
 
 50. 
 
 148, 
 
 56, 
 
 u 
 
 151, 
 
 59. 
 
 202, 
 
 82, 
 
 u 
 
 216, 
 
 86. 
 
 254, 
 
 95, 
 
 a 
 
 268, 
 
 98. 
 
 H*, 
 
 234, 
 
 u 
 
 770, 
 
 243. 
 
 In addition to the above, the following matter, from theap- 
 
102 
 
 plications in my treatise on Trigonometry, was reviewed for 
 examination in July, in the course of Astronomy by t the 
 Junior class. 
 
 COMPULSOEY. 
 
 Scholium, p. 145, to middle of p. 147. 
 Examples, p. 164, to Problem, p. 165. 
 
 VOLUNTABY. 
 
 Example, p. 139. 
 
 From middle of p. 148, to ex. p. 164. 
 
 P. 306 to p. 311. 
 
 P. 361 to end of p. 363. 
 
 P. 365. 
 
 SE1STIOE CLASS. 
 February. 
 
 COMPULSOET. 
 
 Pamphlet on the Differential Calculus, for the use of the 
 Senior Class. 
 From the beginning to art. 45, p. 6. 
 From art. 52, p. 9, to example 26, on p. 15. 
 Examples 27, 28, 29, on p. 15. 
 From art. 57, p. 16, to art. 65, p. 19. 
 
 Courtenay's Differential Calculus. 
 Art. 109, p. 47. 
 
 VOLTJNTAEY. 
 
 Pamphlet on the Differential Calculus, for the use of the 
 Senior Class. 
 From art. 45, p. 6. 
 From art. 45, p. 6, to art. 52, p. 9. 
 
 Examples 26, 30, 31, 32, on p. 15, and examples on p. 16. 
 From art. 67, p. 20, to end. 
 
 Courtenay's Differential Calculus. 
 From art. (3), p. 16 to 6, p. 23. 
 
 12, p. 30 to 43, p. 55. ' 
 
 47, p. 61 to 49, p. 65. 
 
103 
 
 July. 
 
 COMPULSORY. 
 
 Courtenay's Integral Calculus. 
 P. 248 to 17, p. 259. 
 80, p. 312 to example 5, p. 314. 
 92, p. 322 to 96, p. 323, example 3, p. 325. 
 103, p. 330 to example 3, p. 332. 
 108, p. 338 to example 2, p. 339. 
 112, p. 345 to example 4, p. 345. 
 
 VOLUNTARY. 
 
 From art. 19, p. 259, to art. 55, p. 286, and a few examples. 
 
 Example 2, p. 324. 
 
 Art 117, p. 353, to example 2, p. 354. 
 
 9B 
 
STATEMENT OF PROF. DRISLER. 
 
 The Committee met on the 29th day of July, 1856, at 2 
 o'clock P. M. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden and Mr. P>etts. 
 
 Professor Drisler attended, and answered the inquiries of 
 the Committee, as follows : 
 
 Q. How many hours do you attend each day, engaged in 
 instruction ? 
 
 A. Two hours. 
 
 Q. Do you instruct the Freshman class only ? 
 
 A. Only the Freshman class. 
 
 Q. During what hours on each day does that class attend 
 you? 
 
 A. The class attends me the first two hours of each day, and 
 immediately after the chapel service. The hour of attendance 
 at the chapel is half-past nine. 
 
 Q. Will yon be good enough to state to the Committee the 
 subjects of your instruction to that class during the present 
 academical year ? 
 
 A. The subjects of instruction during the present year 
 were as follows : in the first session, in Greek, the first, second 
 and third books of Homer's Odyssey ; in Latin, the Satires 
 of Horace ; besides these there were exercises in scanning 
 the Greek and Latin, and rules of prosody, miscellaneous ex- 
 ercises in Greek and Latin Grammar, and Latin exercises, 
 
 1e 
 
Ancient Geography and Roman Antiquities. In the second 
 session, in Greek, extracts from the First Book of Herodotus ; 
 and in Latin, Cicero de Senectute, and the life of Atticus by 
 Cornelius Nepos; exercises in writing Latin and in Greek 
 Grammar ; History of Greece, (Smith's ;) Anthon's Manual 
 of Ancient Geography and Anthon's Roman Antiquities. 
 
 Q. "Was your instruction wholly from text-books, or was it 
 partly oral ? 
 
 A. The Greek and Latin, and the History, Geography and 
 Antiquities were from text-books ; the exercises were oral in- 
 struction. They were dictated by myself. Latin Prosody 
 was studied from Prof. Anthon's Manual. For examples of 
 the mode of dictation : I would give a passage from the au- 
 thor of the, day, in Greek, say Herodotus, and require the class 
 to produce a Latin translation ; for Latin verse I would select 
 several lines from some author, and give the class the words 
 out of order, and require them to restore these words to 
 metrical order. The students would be required to point out, 
 on a map hanging in the room, the places that might occur in 
 the recitation of the day ; all my oral instruction was of this 
 character, not by formal lecture. 
 
 Q. Please to explain your system of instruction . 
 
 A. In the languages I require the students to prepare a 
 certain specified amount at home ; the next day they are 
 called upon to recite from their previous day's preparation. 
 Any student is called up at random, without previous intima- 
 tion. The moment the class comes into the room I call the 
 roll, then the recitations commence immediately. The student 
 called upon leaves his seat and places himself at a table in the 
 middle of the room. He then reads the original text of the 
 passage selected, and is required to translate it. After this 
 he is questioned upon the grammatical construction, and the 
 incidental matters alluded to. If he performs the task, he is 
 informed of what has been the character of his exercise and 
 allowed to go to his seat. If unable to perform his task, or 
 if he declines to come to the table, he is then marked as un- 
 prepared, and so reported at the end of the week. To keep 
 up the attention of the other students, questions are constantly 
 
passed to them relating to tbe passage -which is the subject of 
 recitation. Then another student is called up, and so on until 
 the time of recitation expires. The Jesson of the day is re- 
 quired to be read over by the students at night, making the 
 corrections which have been made during the morning's reci- 
 tation, and recited rapidly the next day, before the regular 
 recitation of that day. In the other subjects of study the 
 class recitations are partly oral and partly written. On some 
 days I call upon the students to recite in the same way as in. 
 the language recitations, by coming to the table and answer- 
 ing questions put to them ; at other times I require thern to 
 bring paper and pencil to the room, and I then dictate a series 
 of questions covering the matter for the day's recitation, re- 
 quiring them to answer the questions at once. I then either 
 direct them to exchange papers, or allow each to retain his 
 own, and give out the correct answers, requiring them to 
 mark on the papers such answers as are correct. A third 
 mode I sometimes adopted was to give out a question to each 
 student, following the order of the class, so that each member 
 should recite on that day. During the review the students 
 were required to prepare, as well as they could remember, 
 the translation of the authors read during the session, and 
 were parsed as far as the time would allow. The examina- 
 tion in the Classics was conducted orally. 
 
 Q. Do the students take notes of any part of your oral in- 
 struction ? , 
 
 A. During the first session the students copied the trans- 
 lation, as corrected, in the room ; but were not required to 
 do so. During the last session they did not write down the 
 translations, but were required to remember them as well as 
 they could from their daily recitations. A portion of the 
 class has always been accustomed to note any matter that 
 occurs to them as valuable, falling from the professor, bear- 
 ing upon the language or subject matter of their author. 
 This has always been voluntary. These are all the students 
 take now, except that in Roman Antiquities and Ancient 
 Geography I dictated a series of questions to direct their at- 
 
tention to the parts important to be studied, as tbeir text- 
 books were too copious to be studied in detail. 
 
 Q. Please to explain the facilities afforded to the students 
 to understand how to take notes (when required or allowed 
 to do so) with ease, and without interruption to their atr 
 tention. 
 
 A. In respect to dictated matter, they endeavor to copy 
 the very words. In regard to other matter, they are allowed 
 time to copy down any information which strikes them as 
 valuable or interesting; and explanations are always given 
 when asked for. They have very few facilities in my lecture- 
 room for taking notes. The room is not large enough. The 
 desks are narrow. They have no conveniences for placing 
 their inkstands. , 
 
 Q. To what use are the notes of the students put ? 
 
 A. They furnish replies to similar questions which recur 
 in subsequent parts of their reading, and are intended to in- 
 struct them in the principles of tfye language they are 
 studying. The dictated notes point out to them the particu- 
 lar parts of the subject on which they are to prepare them- 
 selves in Ancient Geography and Roman Antiquities. 
 
 Q, Are the matters of such dictations the same as are 
 contained in the text-books on the same subjects used by 
 the class? 
 
 A. They are based entirely upon the text-books which 
 are used, and direct the attention of the students to the parts 
 which they are to prepare. 
 
 Q. In what respect, then, does the language of the dic- 
 tated notes differ from the language of the text-books from 
 which the notes are drawn ? 
 
 A. The dictated matter, being in the form of questions, is 
 tmade appropriate to those points and passages in the text- 
 ibooks which the student is expected to be prepared upon. 
 
 Q. How far ought instruction in your department to be 
 rfi-om Text-Books, and how far oral ? 
 
 A. I think the instruction should be chiefly from text- 
 books; but that the professor should endeavor, by questions 
 and oral instruction, to draw out and correct, if needed the 
 information supplied by the text-books. 
 
Q. What editions of the Classics do you use ? 
 
 A. Of Homer's Odyssey, I have generally used Owen's ; 
 of Herodotus, Johnson's Selections ; of Xenophon's Memora- 
 bilia, of Horace and of Cicero, Anthon's. But the students 
 are allowed to procure and use any edition they please, pro- 
 vided it does not contain any improper aid on the same page 
 with the text. They have also used the Grseca Majora, but the 
 use of this is now discontinued, from the fact that the portions 
 read by che Ereshmen have been published in this country 
 in a convenient form and at a cheaper price. 
 
 Q. AVhich of these editions are with notes? 
 
 A. All except the Leipzig. 
 
 Q. Why do you prefer such books with notes, rather than 
 those which have neither note nor comment on the text? 
 
 A. I use them because I think the student often needs the 
 aid which the notes afford him. And the use of such notes 
 often renders unnecessary recourse to more objectionable 
 modes of preparation. 
 
 Q. Does not the use of these notes prevent the necessity of 
 that exercise which the study of the ancient languages is re- 
 lied upon to give ; or in other words, would not the bare text 
 have the effect to promote habits of patient attention and 
 application in the student, by compelling him to find out for 
 himself the meaning and construction of the sentences and 
 passages in the author read ? 
 
 A. If the student could be prevented from having recourse 
 to other means, such as English translations of the authors, 
 or if he could, in his study hours, have the supervision of a 
 competent instructor, who could explain to him his peculiar 
 difficulties, I think it would be better to dispense with the 
 use of notes. But when a student is required to make out 
 his lesson by himself, be is apt to'become discouraged if he 
 meets with difficulties which he cannot solve, and sometimes 
 becomes careless, or learns to rely upon others to do his work 
 for him. In our College, it is impossible to control the stu- 
 dies of the classes, as they are pursued at home, and not under 
 the eyes and supervision of the College officers. These notes, 
 explaining difficulties of construction, and giving much 
 
collateral- information, in a measure furnish the aid alluded 
 to above, and in this way, perhaps, are not objectionable. 
 
 Q. Are not the difficulties which you state it to be expedi- 
 ent to remove through the assistance afforded by notes, in a 
 greater or less degree occasioned by the lack of preparation 
 in the students at the time of their entrance into College ? 
 
 A. I think they are. 
 
 Q. In what degree are they occasioned by this cause ? 
 
 A. These difficulties are partly owing to a want of a suffi- 
 ciently thorough knowledge of the principles of the language, 
 and partly to a want of ability to understand the nature of 
 complex sentences. (See, further, p. 15.) 
 
 Q. If each student, applying for entrance, were required 
 and had the ability to possess the knowledge of Greek and 
 Latin Grammar, and of the authors prescribed, as a condition 
 for admission into the Freshman class, wonld he not, in your 
 opinion, be able, by his own exertions, reasonably to master 
 the books in Greek and Latin in which you instruct him? 
 
 A. If the student has the ability, and a sufficient knowl- 
 edge of Greek and Latin Grammar to understand readily 
 and fully master the books required for entrance, I think he 
 could generally ascertain the meaning of the authors read 
 subsequently in the College course, without the aid of notes. 
 But there are many points requiring elucidation, where a 
 student needs reference to illustrative works which he does 
 not own or to which he has not access. 
 
 Q. "Would it not be better, in your opinion, so far as the 
 directions of the professor could accomplish it, that the 
 students should be required to rely upon their own unaided 
 exertions, and that the further explanations and elucidations 
 should be given to them by the professor at the time of reci- 
 tation ? 
 
 A. If the professor had time to examine each student 
 separately, to see that his explanations were received and un- 
 derstood, I think it would be better. 
 
 Q. Is there any improvement in the mode of instruction 
 which yon can recommend, which might obviate the necessity 
 of the editions of Classics with notes ? 
 
A. The only mode that I see of reaching such a result 
 would be by giving each professor or instructor a • small 
 number of students, so many merely as he could examine each 
 day, requiring them to be prepared in the language of the au- 
 thor, and in such books and illustrations of the language and 
 subject-matter as he might refer them to ; by then rigidly 
 examining in such matters, and adopting some method by 
 which those, who are unable to continue the course with 
 credit, should be placed under the supervision of an officer 
 of the College, and required to pursue their studies under his 
 inspection beyond the hours of recitation. 
 
 Q. Is it possible, in our College, to prevent students, though 
 prohibited from using editions with notes in the lecture-room, 
 from resorting to these editions at home ? 
 
 A. I do not think it is possible. 
 
 Q. A certain degree of knowledge of the author could be 
 got without assistance. Is not the student more benefited by 
 getting this degree of knowledge without assistance than by 
 the greater degree of information he gets with assistance ? 
 
 A. I think the most important point in classical training 
 is the mental discipline derived from the study, and that 
 this is far more valuable than a greater amount of informa- 
 tion obtained without an equal exercise of the intellectual 
 powers. 
 
 Q. Would it not, in your opinion, then be, on the whole, 
 better, that so far as depends upon the system of instruction, 
 the student should be afforded no external help, and that it 
 should be enjoined upon him to master the passages pre- 
 scribed, by his own unaided exertions, and that further 
 information or more critical knowledge should be imparted 
 by the professor to such extent as may be within his power? 
 
 A. Supposing the student to be possessed of good natural 
 ability, and to be previously well-drilled in the elements of 
 the two languages, and the number of students assigned to 
 the professor not too large, I think, upon the whole, a better 
 mental discipline might be attained by pursuing this course. 
 Where students can be induced or compelled to work out the 
 meaning of their author by themselves, the ultimate results 
 
8 
 
 would be much more enduring and more desirable ; but in 
 the arrangements of our College, there are very great difficul- 
 ties in the way of securing this result. 
 
 Q. As to the number of students assigned to the professor, 
 could not the same result that would be accomplished by 
 diminishing their number, be reached by increasing the hours 
 of attendance of the Freshman class upon your instruction ? 
 
 A. l^oi so well. For by increasing the hours of attend- 
 ance, the student becomes tired, especially when confined to 
 the same room and to the same studies during several hours 
 of the same day. But if the class be divided, and the sections 
 attend the professor at different hours, the same result would 
 doubtless be attained. 
 
 Q. How many students could be, with advantage, instruct- 
 ed by any one professor in one hour ? 
 
 A. I think that fifteen, being the maximum that could be 
 examined in one hour, would be as many as a professor could 
 instruct properly each day. ' He might, however, impart in- 
 struction to twenty in one hour, in the subject of language, 
 though not so satisfactorily. In the collateral studies such 
 subdivision would not be necessary. 
 
 New- York, September ZOth, 1856. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden and Mr. Andekson. 
 
 Professor Dkisler was also present, and the interrogatories 
 addressed to him were resumed and continued : 
 
 Q. If the class were composed of forty students, and 
 divided into sections of twenty each, what ought to be the 
 prescribed number of hours of attendance of the professor 
 upon the class in each week? 
 
 A. Supposing there to be but one professor, an attendance 
 of three hours a day would be requisite, one hour for each 
 section in the languages, and an additional hour for collateral 
 studies. But unless the class were similarly divided in the 
 other departments of study, a difficulty would arise in dispos- 
 
ing of one section of the class while the other was engaged in 
 the classical recitation. 
 
 Supposing, in the department of Mathematics, a similar ar- 
 rangement to be made, the two sections might recite in both 
 departments in different hours, and then be united at the end 
 of the second hour for other recitations as one class. 
 
 If two classical instructors were employed, the two sections 
 of the class might be required to attend each of these instruc- 
 tors one hour, and the whole class might then attend one of 
 them an additional hour for collateral instruction in Ancient 
 History, in Geography and Antiquities. 
 
 Q. Do you think that this division of the class into sections 
 would be equally necessary to accomplish the end in view, 
 with the students of the three superior classes? 
 
 A. I think it would be as necessary with the Sophomore 
 class, and desirable in the Junior class, provided the num- 
 bers were such as to demand this arrangement, but not ne- 
 cessary or desirable in the Senior class under the present ar- 
 rangement. 
 
 Q. Would the employment by the College of a tutor with- 
 out a division in the Classical department of the Freshman 
 class be equally efficacious with this division into sections, 
 conducted by one or two professors. Or which plan would 
 you recommend? 
 
 A. I would recommend the division of any class, exceeding 
 thirty in number, into two sections. If there is but one pro- 
 fessor, the sections must attend at different hours, as stated 
 above. If this division is to be confined- to the Freshman class, 
 I think it would be unnecessary and undesirable to employ 
 more than a single instructor. If this division is to be ex- 
 tended to the Sophomore and Junior classes, it would require 
 some time and reflection to prepare a scheme of attendance 
 upon the several professors ; and if I am required to propose 
 such a scheme, I will endeavor to have one in readiness to be 
 presented at our next meeting. 
 
 Q. Suppose that one professor of the Ancient Languages 
 and Literature were assigned to the Sophomore and Fresh- 
 man classes, could the division into sections (each of which 
 should be instructed by him with the attainment of the re- 
 
10 
 
 suits indicated by the last preceding questions and answers) 
 be advantageously adopted, without prescribing to him too 
 many hours of attendance during the week ; and if so, by 
 what plan could this be effected? 
 
 A. I will present my views on this subject at our next 
 meeting, in connection with the scheme of attendance, men- 
 tioned in my last answer. 
 
 Q. If it were prescribed that the students should be, so 
 far as the injunctions of the professor could accomplish it, 
 unassisted by a resort to notes, translations or commentaries, 
 could you then fairly test the relative merits of the students, 
 although some of them might resort to such assistance and 
 others might not? 
 
 A. The professor, by a rigid examination of each pupil, 
 can generally satisfy himself whether the recitation has been 
 carefully prepared, and may regard the results of such an 
 examination as a fair test of the scholarship of the members 
 of the class, independently of the manner of preparation. 
 
 Q. "Will you please to produce to the Committee the text- 
 books which you use ? 
 
 A. I will bring them down with me when I next meet the 
 Committee. 
 
 Q. "Were the classes instructed in the whole of the text or 
 in selected parts ? 
 
 A. As I have already answered, in selected parts. 
 
 Q. Will yon be good enough to mark upon the books such 
 selected parts, designating those appropriated to each class, 
 distinguishing the parts allotted to each session. 
 
 A. I will do so. 
 
 Q. Are the students, by your instruction, made to keep 
 up that knowledge of the principles of the languages which 
 is necessary to enable them to comprehend the succeeding 
 portions of the course ? 
 
 A. They are, as far as I can effect it. Having large classes 
 to instruct, it is not always possible to drill all the members 
 in the minutiae of the language as thoroughly as is desirable, 
 especially as more or less are always, in a measure, deficient 
 in some of these elementary points. 
 
11 
 
 Q. "What measures would, in your opinion, be sufficient to 
 accomplish this object ? 
 
 A. There are two measures which would contribute very 
 materially towards the attainment of this object. One would 
 be a more thorough preparation, on the part of those who 
 enter, in their grammatical studies ; and the other would be 
 the division into sections alluded to above. Both these im- 
 provements are necessary, in order to effect the proposed 
 object. But I do not think perfect success, in this respect, 
 can ever be attained, unless we refuse admittance and the 
 privileges of the College to many deserving youths, who are 
 somewhat deficient in natural abilities. 
 
 Q. Are the subjects of your course understood by the class 
 you instruct, so that they master them ? 
 
 A. The subjects of study are such that the class could 
 master them, with reasonable industry, if they were possessed 
 of average ability, and had the previous preparation requisite. 
 Practically there are always students of whom I cannot affirm 
 that they have mastered the studies of the class, so that they 
 understand them fully. 
 
 New-York, October 1th, 1856. 
 Committee met. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Andeeson. 
 
 Prof. Deislee attended, and the inquiry was continued : 
 
 Q. Please now to furnish the information promised by you 
 at our last meeting. 
 
 A. I present a scheme of attendance of all the classes for 
 three hours a day, as at present arranged, with provision for 
 increased instruction in Classics and Mathematics for the 
 Freshman class, without interfering with the arrangement of 
 the upper classes. 
 
12 
 
 It would be impossible for a single professor to take entire 
 charge of the Freshman and Sophomore classes, and impart 
 instruction in the manner and with the sectional division in- 
 dicated in the question proposed to me, relative to this subject, 
 at our last meeting. Each section of both classes should re- 
 cite at least once a day in Glassies, while the Freshman class 
 should have one hour a day additional for collateral studies. 
 The proper discharge of the duty, thus devolved upon the pro- 
 fessor, would require an attendance on his part of twenty-five 
 hours a week, or, if he were allowed to confine his instruction 
 to the languages alone, of twenty hours a week, or four hours a 
 day, while the classes or sections attend butthree hours a day; 
 and yet, in my opinion, for the proper and efficient instruc- 
 tion of the classes alluded to, the amount of time suggested 
 for their attendance on the Classical professor is not at all too 
 great. 
 
 The sectional arrangement in the Classical department, 
 with one classical professor to impart instruction, would ren- 
 der necessary a similar division in some other department. 
 
 If the cidjunct professor were relieved of the instruction 
 in certain collateral studies of the Freshman class, and if the 
 Jay professor took charge of one section of the Sophomore 
 class, or one division of their classical studies, (say Greek,) the 
 arrangement, so far as relates to the division of the Freshman 
 and Sophomore classes into two sections each, could be carried 
 into effect without interfering with the studies of the Junior 
 and Senior years. Or if the two classical professors were 
 to divide the languages between them, or to give instruction 
 in both languages alternately, the division of the two lower 
 classes could be effected, and increased time and instruction 
 be given to the two upper classes. 
 
 Subjoined are schemes of attendance for various divisions 
 of the classes, made in accordance with the request and by 
 the direction of the Committee. 
 
Present arrangement of attendance of the classes on the pro- 
 fessors, with division of Freshmen into two sections. 
 
 
 Monday. 
 
 Tnesday. 
 
 Wednesday. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 M'C 
 
 2 1 3 1 4 
 
 1 
 M'V 
 
 \* 
 M'C 
 
 2 
 
 A 
 
 H 
 
 M'V 
 
 8 
 M'C 
 
 M'V 
 A 
 
 1 1 
 8 
 H 
 
 M'C 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 A 
 
 M'C 
 
 8 
 
 8 | 4 
 
 M'C| 
 A 1 
 II | 
 
 1 
 H 
 A 
 M'C 
 
 -D- 
 
 2 | g 
 
 
 M'V 
 
 H 
 
 M'C 
 
 A 
 
 M'V 
 
 
 8 ;M'C 
 
 Junior, 
 
 M'C 
 
 A 
 
 M'V 
 
 S 
 
 M'V 
 
 M'C 
 
 
 M'Vj 8 
 
 Sophomore, 
 
 H 
 
 M'V 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 8 
 
 H 
 
 
 A |m'v 
 
 1st sect 
 
 Freshman, . 
 
 2d sect. 
 
 D 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 D 
 
 II 
 
 dI 
 
 -D- 
 
 D 
 H 
 
 D 1 
 
 8 
 
 S 
 
 H 
 
 r> 
 
 -D- 
 
 I 
 
 D 
 H 
 
 8 1 
 
 D H 
 
 8 
 
 
 D 
 
 H | D 
 
 Scheme 2d. Proposed attendance of the Freshman and Sopho- 
 more classes, each in two sections, on one professor, under an ar- 
 rangement requiring the classes to be present but three hours a 
 day. 
 
 
 Monday. 
 
 Tuesday. 
 
 Wednesday. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 
 1 | 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 2 1 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 Gr. 
 
 H'y 
 
 -&- 
 G'y 
 
 2 
 
 Lat 
 D 
 
 M 
 
 3 
 
 Senior, 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1st sect 
 
 Sophomore, . 
 
 2d sect. 
 
 
 
 *Gr. 
 
 
 
 Lai. 
 
 
 
 Gr.l 
 
 G'y 
 D 
 
 Lat 
 D 
 
 Gr. 
 
 ..g_ 
 
 -S- 
 
 
 
 *Lat 
 
 
 Gr. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lat. 
 
 
 1st sect. 
 
 Freshman,.. 
 
 2d sect. 
 
 D 
 
 S 
 
 8 
 D 
 
 M. 
 
 TTy 
 G'y 
 
 H'J 
 
 G'y 
 
 1) 
 
 D 
 
 M 
 
 -s- 
 
 -S-- 
 
 D 
 
 8 
 
 M 1 8 
 " [G'y 
 
 M 
 D 
 
 * The Greek and Latin to alternate every other week. 
 
 SchemeZd. Attendance of the classes (Sophomore and Fresh- 
 man, each in two sections) on the two classical professors, alter- 
 nately. 
 
 
 Monday. 
 
 Tuesday. 
 
 "Wednesday. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 8 1 4 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 Gr. 
 
 3 
 
 1 1 2 
 1 L " 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 r 
 
 Gr. 
 L. 
 
 2 
 
 I,, 
 -or- 
 Gr. 
 
 TFy 
 G'y 
 
 M. 
 
 3 
 
 
 Gr. 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 L. 1 
 
 Gr. 
 
 or L 
 
 Junior, 
 
 
 
 -L- 
 
 
 
 -Gr. 
 
 
 
 
 
 -Gr.' 
 
 _l_ 
 
 L. | 
 
 H'y M. 
 -&- 
 
 G'y, Gr. 
 
 Gr. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1st sect 
 
 
 
 
 Gr. 
 
 Lat. 
 
 L. 
 
 
 
 Gr. 
 
 
 
 L. 
 
 2d sect 
 
 Gr. 
 
 
 
 L. 
 
 
 
 Gr. 
 
 1st sect 
 
 Freshman, . 
 
 2d sect 
 
 L. 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 Gr. 
 
 H'y 
 G'y 
 
 M 
 
 H X M. 
 & 
 
 G'y L. 
 
 Gr.! 
 
 Tf S - 
 
 S. 
 
 H'y 
 G'y 
 
 M. 
 L. 
 
 Gr. 
 
 M 
 
 L. 
 
 S. 
 
 -S.- 
 
 S. 
 
 Try 
 
 G'y 
 
14 
 
 I also present the course of study pursued during the last 
 year in the Freshman class, designating the authors, with the 
 amount of each read in the course of the session. 
 
 First Session. 
 
 Homer's Odyssey, book i., ii., iii., to 1. 284. 
 
 Horace's Satires, book i., except 2d satire, and book ii., 
 sat. 1, 4, 6, 8. 
 
 (Anthon's) Roman Antiquities, to p. 73, then omit to p. 
 243 ; Eoman Camp, p. 243 to 246, and Naval Affairs, 264 
 to 274. 
 
 (Anthon's) Ancient Geography ; Europe, (general introduc- 
 tion,) p. 1 to p. 12, and Italy, in selections, p. 246 to p. 326 (?) 
 
 (Anthon's) Latin Prosody through " Rules," p. 16 to 101. 
 
 Second Session. 
 
 Herodotus, (Johnson's Selections,) book i., chap. 1 to chap. 
 187, reviewed to end of chap. 182. 
 
 Euripides, the Alcestis, 213 lines, (a voluntary exercise.) 
 
 Cicero de Senectute, with Nepos' Life of Atticus. 
 
 Roman Antiquities, p. 202 to 243 ; from p. 246 to p. 264 ; 
 from p. 277 to p. 295 ; from p. 310 to p. 318 ; from p. 351 
 to p. 373 ; and from p. 420 to p. 424. 
 
 Ancient Geography ; Greece, in selections, p. 465 to p. 585. 
 
 History of Greece, (Smith's,) to p. 114, and from p. 126 to 
 p. 139 ; reviewed to p. 71, and from 126 to 139. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the students acquire a satisfactory 
 mastery of the subjects in your department? 
 
 A. I think that the class might generally be divided, as 
 regards proficiency in study, into three divisions, not intend- 
 ing that to be in every case a strict division, varying more or 
 less. 
 
 One portion, and the best, would comprise those who strive 
 for and obtain the honors of the class. The second division, 
 those who do their duty fairly and understand the subjects of 
 study well, but cannot be distinguished by any mark of merit 
 
15 
 
 from the body of the students who receive no testimonials. 
 The last portion would comprise those who, from various 
 causes, indolence or want of previous preparation, or want of 
 natural ability, do not master the course of study pursued by 
 the class. 
 
 Two-thirds do their duty well ; one-third may be said not 
 to answer fully what ought, in strictness, to be required of 
 them. 
 
 Q. To what extent do you think that the deficiency arises 
 from the want of intellectual capacity ? 
 
 A. I think nearly one-half of the third division, that is of 
 those who fall short of the requirements, are deficient, from 
 inaptitude to comprehend the particular studies of my de- 
 partment. I believe that a larger number fail in under- 
 standing satisfactorily the studies in the classical department 
 from want of intellectual ability to grasp the principles of 
 language, than from the want of memory to retain the details 
 of grammar. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the deficient students, whose de- 
 ficiency is not caused by the lack of capacity, are deficient 
 for want of adequate preparation at the time of entering 
 College. 
 
 A. Nearly all those who are deficient from other causes than 
 want of capacity are deficient, either directly or indirectly, 
 from want of thorough preparation for entrance. In many 
 cases, a student disposed to attend fairly to his studies becomes 
 disheartened when he finds himself far behind his classmates, 
 and sometimes then abandons the hope of going on success- 
 fully with his studies, and becomes indolent. This indolence, 
 of course, I would ascribe to want of sufficient preparation 
 at entrance. 
 
 Q. What proportion of your time, when engaged in in- 
 struction, is employed in instructing the students in the gram- 
 mar of the Greek or Latin tongues ? 
 
 A. That I cannot state definitely; because the grammati- 
 cal instruction is blended with the regular recitations of the 
 students from the classical authors. But I am compelled, at 
 the beginning of each collegiate year, to give an occasional 
 
16 
 
 recitation in Greek Grammar and Latin Prosody, generally 
 appropriating one hour on Friday for this purpose. This is 
 in addition to the instruction given incidentally every day in 
 the course of recitation. 
 
 Q. Are the students, upon entering College, and in what 
 proportion, accurately acquainted with the grammar of the 
 Greek and Latin tongues, including such rules of prosody as 
 may be applicable to such of the poets as they are to be ex- 
 amined upon ? 
 
 A. Not more than half are found to possess these attain- 
 ments. 
 
 Q. Does not the deficiency of the students in this respect 
 seriously interfere with the progress that the class might other- 
 wise make, and render necessary, at intervals, the devotion 
 of a large part of your attention and time to make up for 
 this want? 
 
 A. Certainly it does. 
 
 Q. What is usually the period of time devoted in the 
 schools to the study of Greek and Latin as a preparation for 
 entrance into Columbia College? 
 
 A. It varies greatly. In some schools a term of four years 
 is occupied in the Latin preparation for College. In this case 
 three years are employed in the study of Greek. In other 
 schools a year less is taken up in each of these studies, and 
 the one or the other of these, is, in my opinion, the more 
 usual period employed, when boys commence earty in life. 
 But frequently students commence at a later period their 
 classical studies, and then do not give more than two years to 
 their Latin and one to their Greek. 
 
 Q. Is there any thing in the character of these languages 
 that prevents a student, by such time of preparation, to ac- 
 quire such a knowledge of grammar and of words as to euable 
 him to read the languages with such facility as to make it 
 unnecessary to expend nearly so much time as is now done 
 in attention to grammatical construction, and so as to allow 
 more to be read in the College course. 
 
 A. The difficulty does not consist so much in the character 
 of the languages as in the difference of ability in the students 
 
17 
 
 composing the class. Under a course of training, such as the 
 longer periods named above, a boy of good ability could 
 acquire sufficient knowledge of the grammar of the Greek 
 and Latin languages, to read much more than is now 
 generally assigned for a dav's recitation. And if it be de- 
 sired to increase the amount of reading, this object could be 
 attained in a class composed of the materials of our present 
 classes, by having a fixed recitation for the whole class, in 
 which strict attention should be paid to the construction of 
 sentences, to the style of the author aad to grammatical 
 analysis ; while those members of the elass, who desired it, 
 might read an additional author as, a voluntary exercise, 
 from which to gather an additional stock of words, without 
 dwelling so minutely on the construction. In the study of 
 these languages, one of the most important results, in my 
 opinion, is a knowledge of the structure of language, arising 
 from the constant and minute analysis of the portions daily 
 read. 
 
 Q. What remedy would you propose for the deficiency 
 which you have mentioned in the students, as continuing or 
 increasing after the admission of the class ? 
 
 A. Where the deficiency arises from the want of natural 
 abilities, I see no way of remedying this evil, if the student 
 is to remain in College. I do not think it always desirable to 
 send such students away, provided that they are industrious 
 and well-behaved. The atmosphere of study in which they 
 move will no doubt contribute in some measure to their 
 mental improvement ; and, as most of such students ■will 
 possess, in after life, the influence which wealth gives, it 
 seems desirable to enable them to use that influence for useful 
 ends. In other cases, the statutes seem to me, to invest the 
 Board of the College with" sufficient power to remove the evil, 
 if the punishments and requirements prescribed by these stat- 
 utes are strictly enforced. 
 
 2e 
 
18 
 
 Nevi-York, Oct. 25th, 1856. 
 
 Committee met. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden and Mr. Andebson. 
 
 Professor Dbjslee attended, and the interrogatories intend- 
 ed for him were resumed : 
 
 Q. How often do the students of your class recite ? 
 
 A. The class attends me- two hours every day. In the 
 first hour, generally, I take up the examination of a Greek 
 or Latin author, and call up as many students, as I can hear 
 recite within the hour. The number will vary from perhaps 
 eight to twelve, if I give each one his fair allowance of 
 time for a pretty thorough recitation. In the second hour, 
 I endeavor to make each student recite in the collateral 
 studies, either by giving out questions, the answers to which 
 are to be written down at once, or by passing questions to 
 .each member of the class in order, the answers to which are 
 to k be given viva vooe, and, at the end of the hour, placing 
 opposite each student's name the number of correct answers 
 given. 
 
 Q. How many students are there now in the Freshman 
 class ? 
 
 A. Forty-six. 
 
 Q. How long does the exercise of each student continue in 
 the lecture-room ? 
 
 A. I have no fixed amount of time. My mode of instruc- 
 tion is generally to give a student a certain number of lines 
 to translate, and then to question him on the construction 
 and other matters of interest occurring in the passage, until 
 such points are exhausted. Perhaps I might state, as a limit 
 of time, from five to ten minutes. It sometimes happens 
 that in a difficult passage I cannot limit the time to the 
 average. 
 
19 
 
 Q. Are you able, on such occasions, to detect the deficien- 
 cies of each student in the previous part of the course, or to 
 discover and explain away any difficulties he may honestly 
 labor under? 
 
 A. To the first part of the question I would answer, that I 
 cannot always do so, since the student may, by faithful labor 
 on a given recitation, master the points likely to arise in his 
 recitation of that lesson. In regard to the second part of the 
 question, I would answer, that I generally can do so ; occa- 
 sionally, however, by exceeding, as stated in the previous 
 answer, the average time allotted to a student's exercise. 
 
 Q. Is it not important, in elementary instruction, to under- 
 stand the state of the mind of, and to advise and assist indi- 
 vidual students, and is this end now attained in your depart- 
 ment ? 
 
 A. My opinion is, that it is desirable, but I cannot carry 
 out this design fully for want of time, and from the numbers 
 of the class attending my instruction. The result is attained 
 in the case of some students, by the assistance of private 
 tutors. But many, however, are not able to employ such 
 assistance, and these do not receive such advice and aid from, 
 the professor as would be desirable. 
 
 Q. Are the private tutors employed by the students of the 
 Freshman class known to you ? 
 
 A. Many of them are, but not always. Some of the stu- 
 dents employ the teachers by whom they are prepared for 
 College, to assist them in their College course. But I think, 
 generally, they are those recommended by the president or 
 the professor. 
 
 Q. Can you tell the Committee how many students, on the 
 average, avail themselves of private instruction ? 
 
 A. In the last Freshman class, which numbered thirty- 
 eight, there were, I think, eight students having private tutors 
 to assist them ; and in the present Freshman class, which 
 numbers forty-six, there are, as far as I am aware, not more 
 than six employing such assistance. 
 
 Q. Can you say how many private tutors are employed by 
 each Freshman class ? 
 
20 
 
 A. My impression is, that each student employing a tutor 
 .has a different instructor, and that that is usually the case. 
 
 Q. "What is the character of the students who resort to 
 private instruction ? 
 
 A. It has been heretofore the fact, that students employed 
 private tutors only when required to do so, or when they felt 
 they were falling behind their class in their studies, and were 
 not able of themselves to accomplish the prescribed tasks. 
 The employment of a private tutor has been generally looked 
 upon as evidence of inferior scholarship. I think, however, 
 that students of higher character, and who aim at attaining 
 a distinguished place in their class, are beginning to employ' 
 private instructors — not so much as in the other case — to ex- 
 plain their lessons for them, as to have the certainty, by 
 recitation previously to a competent person, that they under- 
 stand and have mastered all the points of their exercise. 
 
 Q. "Would you recommend to candidates for honors — that 
 is, for general or special testimonials — the aid of private in- 
 structors ? 
 
 * A. I would not, where the studies of the class are the 
 same to all the students, as is the case in our College at 
 present. 
 
 Q. Could the end of understanding the state of mind of, 
 and advising and assisting individual students, be attained by 
 the professor or other officer of the College, in yoitr depart- 
 ment ; and if so, in what way ? 
 
 A. "When the professor is brought into contact -with a lim- 
 ited number of students, not larger than he could hear recite 
 every day, and where those students enter College well pre- 
 pared, the professor or instructor himself could give the neces- 
 sary advice and guidance to the students for their preparation 
 at home. In our College system, I do not suppose that the 
 plan of having an instructor, who shall be with any portion 
 of the students during the preparation of their lessons, is 
 practicable. If the number of students in a class is so great 
 that the professor cannot call upon the student each day, and 
 if some of them are not properly prepared at entrance, I 
 think it desirable to refer those who need fuller explanation 
 
21 
 
 and assistance than the professor has time to give, to compe- 
 tent private tutors ; and that such tutors should be, if possible, 
 graduates of the College; and that the Board of Trustees of 
 the College should, in some way, recognise them, by conferring 
 upon those they might so select some collegiate title. These 
 tutors would have an interest in the success of their pupils, 
 and would feel bound, by the honor conferred upon them, to 
 do their dutj r faithfully towards the College. 
 
 Q. Supposing that all the students were perfectly prepared 
 at entrance, and a class of fifty were divided into two sections, 
 as you have recommended, would the end suggested in the 
 last preceding question be satisfactorily attained by the pro- 
 fessor alone ? 
 
 A. I do not think, in such a case, private instructors would 
 be necessary ; and my opinion is, that the professor could 
 perform every necessary duty towards them, except that of 
 daily examination. I think he could give all necessary expla- 
 nations. The only difficulty in the case would be to keep 
 them up to the degree of proficiency which might reasonably 
 be expected from their preparation at entrance. 
 
 Q. Are the Committee to understand, then, that if all the 
 students were perfectly prepared at entrance you would not 
 recommend the appointment, by the College, of tutors; but 
 if they were not so prepared you would recommend such em- 
 ployment? 
 
 A. That is a fair conclusion, from what I have said ; and 
 I think it better that the College should recognise such in- 
 structors while they are requisite, from whatever cause, than 
 that they should be employed without the College authori- 
 ties having any control over them, or knowledge of their 
 capacity for imparting instruction. The preparation for Col- 
 lege, which would be perfect enough to dispense with any 
 such assistance, seems, at present, almost unattainable in a 
 literary institution. 
 
 Q. "Why do you deem it unattainable ? 
 
 A. This results from many causes. The views of parents 
 with regard to their sons at that period of life when they 
 would probably enter College undergo a change, and students 
 
22 
 
 are titted for College at a comparatively late period of life, 
 when they have been, in the first place, destined for a differ- 
 ent pursuit. Then, again, our preparatory schools are not all 
 of a sufficiently high character, in all departments of study, 
 to produce that perfect degree of preparation. Again, stu- 
 dents are prepared oftentimes in classes — the members of 
 which are intended to go to different Colleges — and no one 
 course of instruction will prepare them alike well for these 
 different institutions. Occasionally students who have at- 
 tended the full number of years at school have been kept 
 away for certain portions of time by sickness or other causes ; 
 and these students, while prepared in the general amount of 
 reading required by the statutes, may be deficient in some 
 matters, which are not generally considered sufficient to ex- 
 clude them. 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Ogden's office, on Saturday, the 
 22d November, 1856, at 2 P. M. Present, Mr. Ogden and 
 Mr. Betts. 
 
 Professor Deislek resumed his statements, in answer to the 
 inquiries by the Committee, the answers given by him at the 
 last meeting having been first read over to him : 
 
 Q. Plow are the relative merits of the students in your de- 
 partment determined ? 
 
 A. Each day the character of each student's recitation is 
 noted in the class-book, and the better students — that is those 
 who are likely to be the recipients of the College honors — are 
 required to answer the questions missed by the student under 
 examination at any given time. The result of these two 
 modes determines the relative standing of the students in 
 the department of languages. In the other studies of my 
 room, on some days, numbers are taken down as the result 
 of examination, in writing, of the whole class, and these num- 
 bers, combined with characters for individual recitation on 
 other days, form the basis for estimating the relative standing 
 of the students. 
 
23 
 
 Q. Your record of the performances of the students is con- 
 fined, then, to the results of their recitations? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Are not the answers of one student to questions pro- 
 posed to and missed by another, taken into account in esti- 
 mating the relative standing of the answering student? 
 
 A. The genera] character of a student, which is soon 
 learned by a professor, and the promptitude and correctness 
 with which he answers questions of this kind, have some 
 effect upon his standing, and generally serve to distinguish 
 between or among those of nearly equal merit in point of 
 recitation. I have not thought it necessary to make any 
 entry of such exercises, as I have not of the public examina- 
 tion, though a marked difference in the latter case would 
 serve the same purpose, viz., that of distinguishing between 
 students nearly equal, as shown by the results of their recita- 
 tion. The determining the relative standing of the students 
 of the Freshman class, at public examinations is made 
 generally on the day after their public examination, and 
 while their relative merit is still fresh in the professor's mind, 
 and the President always takes down, in writing, the charac- 
 ter of each performance at the public examination. 
 
 Q. Is the practice which you adopt for determining the 
 relative merits of the students satisfactory to yourself, as ac- 
 complishing fairly the end in view ? 
 
 A. It is not entirely satisfactory, and I have a difficulty at 
 the end of each session in making the necessary selection : 
 among students of nearly equal ability and industry, it is 
 difficult to indicate absolutely, by a mark or number, the 
 character of a recitation in a study like that of the ancient 
 languages. 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, would be the best mode of de- 
 termining the relative standing of the students in each class ; 
 and ought not that mode to be uniform ? 
 
 A. I know of no better mode of arriving at this result, 
 upon the whole, than the decimal system ; that is, by adopting 
 10 as a maximum for a perfect recitation, and then, for reci- 
 tations which fall short of excellence, an inferior mark suited 
 
24 
 
 to the character of each ; e. g., for one with a few mistakes of 
 no great importance, 9 ; for a good recitation, but inferior to 
 the preceding, 7 or 8 ; for a fair recitation, but with some 
 evidence of carelessness, 4 to 6 ; and for a careless recitation, 
 3 to 4 ; for a very bad one, almost a failure, 1 to 2 ; and for a 
 failure or a refusal to recite, 0. The advantage of this system 
 is, that it can be made uniform in all the departments, which 
 I think ought to be the case. These remarks refer to the 
 daily recitations of the class ; at the end of the session, the 
 marks of each student should be counted up, and divided by 
 the number of his recitarions. Let the public examination, 
 numerically expressed, with 10 as the maximum, be counted 
 equal to one-half the exercises of the session ; then, if the 
 mark received by a student be 6, at public examination, 
 you would add this number to twice the average received for 
 marks in recitations, and divide that sum by three; the quo- 
 tient would show the standing of the student in class resulting 
 from his recitations and examination, expressed numerically. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that the marks given by the 
 professors respectively to the students, at recitations or at. 
 public examinations, should be reported by them to the Board 
 of the College ; and, if so, at what intervals or times, and for 
 what purpose ; and would you recommend that the Board 
 should take, or be required to take, any action on such 
 reports ? 
 
 A. I would recommend that the reports of the professors, 
 expressing numerically the character of the recitations of each 
 student, be made to the Board of the College monthly, and 
 that such reports be entered, by the President, in a book kept 
 for the purpose, and that both parents and students might 
 have information in respect to the standing of any student in 
 the class at any time, for the period covered by such report ; 
 such entry would thus serve as a stimulus to the deserving 
 student, by letting him know his relative standing in class, 
 and also be a means of urging on the less industrious, by 
 giving the President the means of informing the parents of 
 such dilatory students of the neglect of their sons, without 
 having to depend upon the special reports by the professors 
 
25 
 
 of delinquencies, and would still further serve to secure ac- 
 curacy on the part of tbe professors themselves in their mode 
 of keeping tbfeir account of the exercises of the students. 
 Then, at the close of each session, -when the examination is 
 completed, each professor should submit to the Board the 
 average resulting from the marks obtained by each student 
 for his recitations during the session, and from those obtained 
 at the public examination, reduced as above; and in accord- 
 ance with these reports, the students should be graded in each 
 department of study by the Board. The Board would also, 
 in determining the grade of the students, determine the limit 
 below which it would be considered a failure of duty, on the 
 part of the student, to fall; and should, therefore, I think, as- 
 sign certain duties to be performed by those who fall below 
 the prescribed minimum of excellence or attainment ; and at 
 the close of the final examination of each year, should deter- 
 mine, in accordance with this same system, the conditions on 
 which a student who fails of obtaining this minimum of marks 
 should be allowed to go on with his class. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that the system of numbers 
 deemed the best, and the duties of the professor and of the 
 Board of the College, which you deem advisable according 
 to the suggestions made in your last preceding answer, should 
 be prescribed by statute, or left to be regulated by the Board 
 of the College? 
 
 A. I think it should be prescribed by statute, or otherwise 
 it might be difficult to procure uniformity of action. 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Beadfoed's house, on Wednes- 
 day, the 26th November, 1856. 
 
 Present, — Messrs. Beadfoed, Andeeson and Ogden. 
 
 Profesior Deisler appeared before the Committee, and 
 after his statements, made at the last meeting, were read over 
 to him, the questions to him were resumed : 
 
 Q. Are there any suggestions which you desire to make, 
 
26 
 
 relating to matters of your statements on the last day of your 
 examination ? 
 
 A. I would add, that it would be desirable to take notice 
 of the attendance of the students, and that every unexcused 
 absence on any given day, and every absence on the day 
 the student would be called upon regularly to recite, should 
 be counted as zero, which would thus affect his average stand- 
 ing. Want of punctuality and any slight irregularity should 
 be noted by the professor, and enter into the estimate of the 
 student's general character, but should not affect his literary 
 standing. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, disorder, whether of a light or 
 a flagrant character, not to affect the average standing of the 
 student ? 
 
 A. I think disorder of a serious character, or persisted in 
 after admonition, should affect the student's standing in his 
 class ; but I do not think that slight irregularities, such as a 
 professor does not consider sufficient to require discipline, or 
 when the student, after admonition by the professor, corrects 
 his deportment, should affect it, especially in the younger 
 classes. 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of arranging all the students in each class in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system ? 
 
 A. The advantage, in my opinion, would be that the in- 
 citement to study would reach a larger number of students. 
 Under the present system only a small portion of the class 
 are induced to work by the prospect of obtaining an honorable 
 position ; while, under the system referred to in the question, 
 the stimulus would be applied to every member of the class. 
 The great difficulty in the way of making this arrangement 
 lies in being able to arrange the students in the order of merit, 
 as regards the different departments of study. 
 
 Q. Would you prefer, then, that the students should be 
 separately and differently arranged in each department, accord- 
 ing to their merit in that department, without any general 
 order of merit. 
 
 A. It seems to me more simple to arrange them so ; but I 
 
27 
 
 would prefer that there should be a general arrangement, 
 if any scheme could be devised to reach that end ; but I do 
 not think of any scheme which could be adopted to effect 
 the purpose, as students differ in ability very much in the 
 different departments of study. 
 
 Q. In presence of whom is the examination of students 
 applying for admission into the Freshman class conducted, 
 and in what place? 
 
 A. There are two periods appointed for the public exami- 
 nation of candidates for entrance to the Freshman class — the 
 one immediately after the College examinations in July, and 
 the other just before the opening of the College in the fall ; 
 on. which occasions, those applying for admission are required 
 to* appear and be examined in the College chapel, in the 
 presence of the President and the professors having charge 
 of the Freshman class ; but the numbers appearing on such 
 occasions is not generally a large portion of the class. Those 
 from the Grammar school have been admitted on the certifi- 
 cate of the Rector. On one occasion, those from my own 
 school were admitted on my certificate. With regard to 
 others, it has been the custom to apply to the President for a 
 private examination ; and whenever a person having the 
 permission of the President to pass a private examination 
 has called upon me, I have examined him, generally in 
 the President's room in the College, sometimes at my own 
 house. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the classes entering in 1S55 and 
 1856 were examined at the time and place appointed for the 
 public examinations, and what proportion of the same classes 
 were privately examined by the permission of the President, 
 and what proportion were admitted on the certificate of the 
 Hector of the Grammar school, or on your certificate ? 
 
 A. In 1855, the Entering class contained 38 ; and of these, 
 so far as my memoranda which I have left, aided by my re- 
 collection, furnish the facts, 15 were examined either in the 
 chapel or the President's room, in presence of the President; 
 12 were admitted from the Grammar school ; 8 were ex- 
 amined privately; one re-admitted, having withdrawn volun- 
 
28 
 
 tarily from tlie previous Freshman class. Two were private 
 pupils of my own, who were examined in Mathematics by 
 Professor Hackley, and had read the whole classical course 
 with me, but were not otherwise examined. In 1856, 14 
 were publicly examined, 12 privately ; 12 were admitted 
 from the Grammar school, and 8 from my own school. 
 
 Q. "Were the President and the professors, instructing the 
 Freshman class, present at the examinations referred to in 
 the last question ? 
 
 A. Tney were not in all cases present at the private exami- 
 nations ; for example, when they were held at my own house, 
 no one was present except myself, and occasionally the parent 
 of the applicant. When held in the President's room, the 
 President was generally present. At the public examination's 
 the President was generally in chapel, where the examination 
 was. held, and the Mathematical and Classical professors, so 
 long as either of them had any pupils to examine, were also 
 present. On the last occasion, I think the President was not 
 in chapel, but Dr. Anderson, who supplied the place of the 
 Mathematical professor on that occasion, and myself, were 
 there present. 
 
 Q. Do any other members of the Board of the College ever 
 attend such examinations ? 
 
 A. Not for that special purpose ; but other members of the 
 Board are occasionally present during the time of such ex- 
 aminations, if required to be there for any special duty relat- 
 ing to their own departments. 
 
 Q. Do you know what circumstances are admitted as suf- 
 ficient cause to excuse applicants from such public examina- 
 tions, and to entitle them to a private examination ? 
 
 A. Sometimes previous sickness is given as the reason, re- 
 quiring the applicant to leave the city before the hot weather 
 ot July, when the examination is held ; sometimes family 
 arrangements, producing the same result — that is, leaving the 
 city — but generally timidity on the part of the applicant. 
 There may be other causes which I do not now recall. These, 
 I believe, cover most of the cases. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your judgment, the examination of the appli- 
 
29 
 
 cants from the Grammar school and from your own school 
 to be dispensed with? 
 
 A. Theoretically, I think not ; but unless some general 
 system is adopted by which the students shall be graded, 
 according to their scholarship on entering College, and 
 which, I think, would be desirable, I do not see any special 
 advantage in having them examined in their Classical studies 
 publicly, as in each case, at present, the professor in the 
 Classical department takes charge, in person, of the appli- 
 cants for entrance in these studies. There seems to be no 
 good reason why they should not be examined in Mathemat- 
 ics, unless the Professor of Mathematics, by occasionally visit- 
 ing the school in person, and listening to the performances 
 of those about to enter the College, should be satisfied with 
 their preparation. 
 
 Q. Do you always conduct the examination of those ap- 
 plicants for admission into the Freshman class who are sub- 
 jected to examination ? 
 
 A. Always, in the Classical department. 
 Q. Are these examinations strict and rigid, and do they 
 afford a satisfactory test of the possession by the applicants 
 of the preliminary knowledge required by the statutes? 
 
 A. Such examinations are not always made strict and 
 rigid, but are rather as gentle as the nature of the case will 
 allow ; but at the same time they afford a satisfactory test of 
 the scholarship of the applicant. 
 
 Q. Are the students, then, who, from such test, are found 
 not to have the required scholarship, rejected ? 
 
 A. Not always. My course has been, when a student 
 passes a satisfactory examination, to tell him that he is ad- 
 mitted, so far as my department is concerned, and to report 
 the fact to the President. When the results of the examina- 
 tion are not satisfactory, I report the facts to the President, 
 with the extent of deficiency, and then leave the further dis- 
 position of the matter with him. 
 
 Q. How many did you so report as deficient in 1854, 
 1855 and 1856, respectively, and what disposition was made 
 of those cases ? 
 
30 
 
 A. In 1854 the Entering class contained thirty-four members. 
 So far as the memoranda I have preserved"and my own re- 
 collection enable me to state, there were six so reported as 
 deficient; of these, three, after examination, were required to 
 continue their Greek reading — which requisition was com- 
 plied with — and tbey were then admitted. The other three 
 were admitted on certain conditions ; of these, one was with- 
 drawn in the course of the session, and entered the next Fresh- 
 man class. One student subsequently applied for entrance, 
 but was not admitted after examination. He entered the next 
 Freshman class. 
 
 In 1855 the Entering class contained thirty-eight members. 
 There were, so far as I can ascertain, six this year who, on 
 examination, were found deficient, but were admitted on 
 condition of faithful study ; two applied for the Sophomore 
 class, but they were not admitted into that class, and entered 
 as Freshmen ; three applicants for the Freshman class were 
 not admitted ; one of them entered the next year ; the other 
 two did not come back. 
 
 In 1856 the Entering class contained forty-seven. Of 
 these, six were reported deficient, but were admitted on 
 condition of study. Two were examined in July, and were 
 recommended to pursue certain studies during vacation, but 
 not to be reexamined ; two were required to read additional 
 Greek, and during the vacation made up the greater part of 
 their deficiency ; one candidate had read the required amount, 
 but not thoroughly, and his father was advised not to enter 
 him this year ; he was accordingly withdrawn, to be entered 
 next year. 
 
 Q. Can yon tell whether the public examinations of appli- 
 cants for admission into the Freshman class in Mathematics 
 are strict and rigid, and are made a satisfactory test of the 
 possession by the student of the preliminary requirements in 
 that department required by the statutes, and what disposi- 
 tion has been made of the cases of those applicants who were 
 deficient in this department in such requirements in the 
 years 1854, 1855 and 1856 ? 
 
 A. I cannot answer. 
 
31 
 
 Q. Please describe the mode of the public examinations of 
 candidates for admission into the Freshman class. 
 
 A. On the da}' and at the hour appointed, the applicants 
 assemble in the chapel where the examination is to be held. 
 The Professor of Mathematics occupies one part of the cha- 
 pel, the Classical Professor another portion, and has placed 
 beside him a table containing copies of the books required by 
 the statutes for admission. Then the President or the profes- 
 sor calls np any one of the applicants, and the professor ex- 
 amines him until he has satisfied himself in regard to his at- 
 tainments. Another is then called up, and so on till all are 
 examined; both professors examining at the same time. The 
 Mathematical professor generally has his black-board placed 
 on the south side of the chapel, near the platform ; the profes- 
 sor himself either occupying a seat on the south side of the 
 platform, or standing near the black-board. The Classical 
 professor has his table on the north side of the platform, near 
 the window, and the student takes his seat on the opposite 
 side of the table. The President occupies his own chair, 
 about midway between the two professors. The President 
 cannot, I think, always hear what the student says ; his at- 
 tention must be distracted between the two students under 
 examination at 'the same time, unless he directs it to either 
 one, when he may hear what is going on. 
 
 "When the examination is completed, the professors report 
 to the President, and the latter gives his directions to the 
 applicant, if admitted by the professor; if not, he sometimes 
 requires him to attend him in his own room, and there an- 
 nounces the result, and states the conditions, if any are 
 exacted, on which the applicant may be allowed to enter. 
 The professors are generally consulted by the President, on 
 such occasions, before making such announcement. 
 
 Q. Are the results of the examination of the candidates 
 for admission into the Freshman class, either in your own or 
 in the department of the Professor of Mathematics, reported 
 to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. They are not ; they are reported to the President alone, 
 and are taken cognizance of only by him and the professors' 
 having charge of examinations for admission to that class. 
 
32 
 
 Q. The Board, then, never considers or decides as to whether 
 or not the applicants for admission to that class should be ad- 
 mitted ? 
 
 A. It does not. 
 
 Q. In what manner is it ascertained whether the persons 
 applying for admission into the higher classes possess the 
 knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. Those who apply for admission to an advanced class are 
 generally examined on the previous year's studies of the class 
 into which they seek admission by the professors having 
 charge of the studies of that class. An exception has been 
 made in the case of some applicants for admission into the 
 Sophomore class from the Grammar school, who have been 
 on one or two occasions admitted without examination. In 
 all other cases it rests, I believe, with the professors of the 
 several departments how far the examination shall extend 
 and how rigid it shall be made. 
 
 Q. Do the examining professors of such candidates report 
 their opinion of their qualifications, and if so, to whom? 
 
 A. A report is always made in such cases, and to the Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 Q. Who decides whether the applicant shall be admitted? 
 
 A. It is determined by the assent of the professors, who have 
 conducted the examination, usually taken at a meeting of the 
 Board, but sometimes the assent is informally given ; that is, 
 if the professors are satisfied with the attainments of the ap- 
 plicant, their assent is signified to the President, and such 
 opinion, as I have always supposed, is taken as the judgment 
 of the Board of the College. 
 
 Q. Are all the members of the Board thus consulted? 
 
 A. Generally those only who have charge of the class into 
 which the applicaut seeks to enter, excepting applicants for 
 admission into the Sophomore class, when the candidate has 
 been sent, by the President, to me for such examination, and 
 not to the Jay-professor. When I have not examined an ap- 
 plicant for admission, I have never expressed any opinion on 
 the propriety of his admission. 
 
 Q. Is the question of the admission of such candidates into 
 
S3 
 
 the higher classes, or their rejection, ever formally brought 
 up before the Board of the College for its decision ? 
 
 A. When a meeting of the Board is held immediately after 
 an examination, the question as to the disposition to be made 
 of such applicants is generally brought before the Board, as 
 a part of the business of the meeting; but the instances of 
 applications for admission into advanced classes are few, and 
 sometimes the examination is held after the session is com- 
 menced, and the decision is made by the opinions of the pro- 
 fessors, expressed to the President, without any meeting. 
 
 Q. "Would it not be better that the Board of the College, in 
 whom the power of discipline is vested, subject to the nega- 
 tive of the President, should possess and formally exercise 
 the power of admission of applicants to any class, subject to 
 the same negative? 
 
 A. I think it would be better that the Board should so de- 
 termine the admission of applicants to the advanced classes ; 
 but I think it unnecessary that the action of the whole Board 
 should be had in regard to applicants for admission into the 
 Freshman class. I think the decision in regard to the latter 
 should rest with the President and the professors having 
 charge of that class. 
 
 Q. Can you remember any cases of admission into the 
 higher classes which have occurred since the concluding ex- 
 amination in 3854 ? Was there not one or more of such cases 
 in which the report of one professor or more was adverse to 
 to the qualifications of the applicant, and yet such applicant 
 was admitted ? 
 
 A. I do not remember any such case. 
 
 Q. State your opinion as to the practice of admitting ap- 
 plicants from the Grammar school into the higher classes 
 without examination. 
 
 A. I think it objectionable for several reasons : First, it 
 gives a professor, who is rector of the school at the same 
 time, the power of the President and the entire Board, in re- 
 lation to these particular applicants, and interferes with other 
 departments, by rendering the professors in those departments 
 responsible for the attainments and progress of students, of 
 
 3e 
 
Si 
 
 whose qualifications they were ignorant, and over whose ad- 
 mission they had no control. Secondly, it presents, also, a 
 temptation to the rector of the school to induce students to 
 remain out of College and in the school beyond the time 
 when they would and should enter College. A third reason 
 is, that sometimes students entering College from the Gram- 
 mar school recite together in the same class ; and while per- 
 haps the best members of that class will enter as Freshmen, 
 inferior members, either from age or the request of their 
 parents, may be put into an advanced class, and thus serve 
 to disparage the value of the College system. 
 
 Q. Do you know any material facts, other than those you 
 have stated, respecting the admission of students ? 
 
 A. In some instances, students, who have been admitted 
 into an advanced class with insufficient preparation, or with- 
 out examination, have not performed their duties satisfactorily 
 as members of the class into which they have been thus ad- 
 mitted, and have subjected themselves to reports for deficien- 
 cies in several departments of College study. The same is 
 true, no doubt, of 6ome of those who enter at the beginning, 
 and pass regularly on with their class-mates ; but then these 
 have complied with the statutes in full, by undergoing the 
 required preparatory examination, and then pursuing the 
 required College studies ; and their proceeding to a higher 
 class is determined by the common action of the Board of the 
 College; while some of those who seek entrance into the 
 Sophomore class, without passing through the Freshman, 
 neglect certain subsidiary studies of that class, and some 
 even seek to shorten their preparation by substituting the au- 
 thors, or portions of authors prescribed by the statutes, to be 
 used in the Freshman year, for some of the requisite prepara- 
 tory studies, thus avoiding the strict requirements of the 
 statutes, and defeating a portion of the benefit of the Fresh- 
 man year, which serves, in a measure, to bring to some 
 degree of uniformity (especially in pronunciation) the often- 
 times discordant materials of the incipient collegians. I 
 think that, as a general thing, students, unless fully prepared 
 in every respect, should not be allowed to enter an advanced 
 
35 
 
 class, and should rather be urged and encouraged to begin 
 with the Freshman year; and that all applicants for ad- 
 mission to the Sophomore class should be examined first in 
 the preparatory studies required by the statutes, and then in 
 the studies of the Freshman year, by the professors having 
 charge of that class. 
 
 Q. Are there any recommendations you can make in rela- 
 tion to the preparatory examination of students for admission 
 into the Freshman class? 
 
 A. It would be desirable, in my opinion, and would tend 
 to produce a more thorough preparation, to make the ex- 
 amination of applicants for the Freshman class public, except 
 in very special cases, (arising from sickness, or other unavoid- 
 able cause.) the sufficiency of which is to be judged of by the 
 President of the College ; and to have stated times for such 
 examination, to be publicly announced in the daily papers, 
 e. g., on a given day, at the close of the College year in June, 
 and again just before the opening of the new session in the 
 fall. These examinations should be conducted by the pro- 
 fessors or instructors having charge of the Freshman class, 
 the President of the College and the instructors alluded to 
 being present on occasion of each examination. All those ad- 
 mitted should then be graded according to the character of 
 their exercises. As the applicants would probably present 
 themselves at different times, the grading should be made 
 with reference to some fixed standard of attainment, and 
 not in comparison with each other. The same system of 
 numbers might be adopted as suggested in reference to the 
 other examinations. Unless some inducement of this kind is 
 held out to applicants to distinguish themselves at entering 
 College, the examination will be, as it is now, looked upon 
 with fear and aversion, and efforts will be made to avoid it ; 
 but if it be made a means of honorable distinction, though 
 still regarded with apprehension, there will be mingled with 
 this feeling the natural desire of success, which will cause it, 
 in many cases, probably to be sought rather than shunned. 
 
 It does not seem to me necessary or desirable to make the 
 entrance examination, in every instance, very rigid or severe. 
 
36 
 
 There are many causes why boys, even of good abilities, may 
 not appear well at their first examination, who may yet be- 
 come worthy members of their class, in their subsequent 
 College course. In the case of naturally dull boys, also, there 
 should be some relaxation of the strict interpretation of the 
 statute. The requirements for entrance into Columbia College 
 are, in the Classical department, higher, perhaps, than in any 
 other of our Colleges ; while, then, I would not seek to alter 
 the statute or diminish these requirements, I think some dis- 
 cretion should be left to the examiner in judging of the 
 deficiencies of those who fail to comply with the letter of the 
 statute. If the same test were applied to all applicants, the 
 dull and deficient ones would be thrown into the lowest 
 grade ; but they, of course, must expect this, and they would 
 stand on the same footing as those who are now admitted on 
 conditions of faithful labor, or who are required to obtain the 
 assistance of a private tutor. Such conditional admission is, 
 I suppose, customary in all general institutions of learning, 
 and even in most professional schools. After admission, the 
 daily recitations and the subsequent examinations may serve 
 to detect the indolent, and the regulations of the College 
 afford the means of removing those who are wilfully deficient. 
 In the English Universities, a wide allowance is made 
 for those who are slow of apprehension, or naturally deficient 
 in certain mental qualities, as is shown by the comparatively 
 small amount of reading required for the ordinary B. A. de- 
 gree ; and yet nowhere is more accurate, elegant and ready 
 scholarship found than at the examinations of the candidates 
 for honors in these same Universities. The Classical subjects 
 for the degree of B. A. in the University of Cambridge, in 
 1841, were— the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th books of Homer's 
 Iliad, and the Bellum Catilinarium of Sallust. Dr. Peacock 
 (in his remarks on the statutes of the University of Cambridge, 
 in 1841) says, " The recent regulations of the University re- 
 quired a competent knowledge of the first six books of the 
 Iliad of Homer and of the JEneid of Virgil, (Paley's Moral 
 Philosophy and Evidences of Christianity, the first four 
 books of Euclid, Arithmetic, and the elements of Algebra,) 
 
37 
 
 and it has been found that their strict enforcement has raised 
 these conditions, simple and elementary as they may appear, 
 much above the capacity of a considerable part of our aca- 
 demical population, and that no examination takes place in 
 which the number of failures does not bear a very large pro- 
 portion to those who succeed." 
 
 Oar College students can hardly be said to be, in the 
 average, intellectually in advance of the English Uuiversity 
 students ; and a strict enforcement of the statute of admission 
 would necessarily exclude many applicants. Any reforma- 
 tion in this respect should be gradual. A custom has pre- 
 vailed for many years of omitting certain requirements laid 
 down in the statutes, and it has been supposed by those fitting 
 pupils for College, that the possession of the preliminary 
 knowledge necessary for pursuing, with success, the subse- 
 quent College course, was required, rather than any prescribed 
 number of books or treatises. This practice is open to the 
 objection that it leads, in many cases, simply to an abridg- 
 ment of the time and degree of preparation. If it be deemed 
 best, however, to insist upon thorough previous preparation, 
 suitable notice should be given publicly, that after a certain 
 date, sufficiently future, no applicant will be allowed to pre- 
 sent himself for examination who has not fully complied with 
 the statute of admission, by having read all the authors or 
 portions of authors, and having studied all the additional sub- 
 jects therewith connected, that are prescribed by the statute. 
 
 December 2, 1856. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Beadfoed and Mr. Andeeson. 
 
 Professor Deislee attended the Committee, and his exami- 
 nation was resumed : 
 
 Q. Do you know any facts, other than those you have stated, 
 respecting the admission of students ; if so, please state them ? 
 A. I do not think of any thing else material. 
 
38 
 
 Q. Are the students of the Freshman class examined in 
 your department, at the public examinations, upon tbe whole 
 subjects or matters of the course of study pursued during the 
 last preceding term, or upon selections from such subjects or 
 matter ? 
 
 A. My custom has been to' commence at the time appointed 
 for review, and to continue steadily during that period with 
 the studies of the previous part of the session, and to examine 
 the classes on what they were able to review. This did not 
 generally cover the entire amount read during the previous 
 part of the session. I have sometimes also made some of the 
 collateral studies, after having been reviewed, a voluntary 
 exercise for the better portions of the class. Generally these 
 subsidiary studies are also reviewed, as far as the time will 
 allow, and then are made matter of public examination for the 
 whole class. One reason for abridging the examination in 
 the studies alluded to was the want of time to complete 
 the examination in one day ; but this has been obviated by 
 having two days allotted for the examination of the Fresh- 
 man class in my department, on one of which they are ex- 
 amined in the Classics, and on the other in the subsidiary 
 studies. 
 
 Q. "What proportion of the matter of the course of the 
 previous session does the review cover ? 
 
 A. Sometimes nearly the whole; generally, perhaps, about 
 two-thirds. 
 
 Q. Do the examinations of the Freshman class afford a fair 
 test of the knowledge of the students of the whole course of 
 the last preceding term ? 
 
 A. I do not think that the examinations, as now conducted, 
 afford a fair opportunity for testing fully the relative knowledge 
 of the members of the class, as the time is not sufficient to dwell 
 upon all the details, which are many, that have been entered 
 into in the course of the session's work. If the examination 
 commenced at 9 o'clock and ended at 3, giving six hours— 
 which is perhaps as far as it ought to be extended in one day- 
 it would allow, in a class of thirty students, twelve minutes 
 a-piece without any loss of time, and in a class of forty students, 
 
39 
 
 but nine minutes a-piece — certainly not a sufficient time to test 
 a student's knowledge of the language of his author, transla- 
 tion, parsing, and all the minutiae relating to it. 
 
 Q. What time is now allowed ? 
 
 A. The time stated in the last answer was allowed, until 
 within a year past. Now it is from 9 A. M. to 12 M., or from 
 1 P. H. to 4 P. M. — about three hours. 
 
 Q. What time, in your judgment, would be necessary ? 
 
 A. I think the mode of examination should be changed, 
 and three or four hours might answer under such new system. 
 
 As the viva voce examination does not accomplish the result 
 of testing fully the relative merit of the members of the class, 
 within the time allotted for the purpose, and as the students 
 are not subjected to equal tests, and the examination, as at 
 present conducted, cannot enter largely into the determination 
 of the rank or grade of those subjected to it, I would suggest 
 the propriety of adopting an examination in writing, as the 
 basis of comparison of the relative merits of the members of 
 a class, but retaining also the viva voce method, which has its 
 advantages. For example : On the day appointed, let each 
 student of the class under examination be furnished with pen, 
 ink and paper, and a clean copy of the author, (if in Classics,) 
 containing nothing but the text ; and let him be placed at a 
 desk or table by himself, at a sufficient distance from any class- 
 mate to prevent consultation ; then, after the professor has 
 stated the amount of matter read and reviewed by the class, 
 let the Chairman of the Committee of Trustees, or some mem- 
 ber of their body appointed for the purpose, or the President 
 of the College, select a passage of suitable length within the 
 above limits; let the professor then direct the whole class to 
 write a translation of the selected passage, to scan it, or a part 
 of it, (if poetry,) giving rules for quantity, selecting the more 
 important constructions, and explaining them, explaining the 
 historical and geographical allusions, and generally giving 
 such analysis as would show the degree of scholarship of each 
 student. While the class is engaged in this work, the oral ex- 
 amination might go on as usual ; one student at a time being 
 called upon for a few minutes, and time being allowed to make 
 
40 
 
 up for any delay thus caused in any particular case ; it would, 
 however, be very nearly equal in every instance, or might be 
 made so. At the expiration of the allotted time, the written 
 exercises should be handed in to the professor, and submitted 
 to those present, to see the general character of each exercise, 
 and the degree of fullness or brevity with which each student 
 had performed his work; but they should be taken in charge 
 by the professor, and examined by him carefully, and then 
 credited according to the system applicable to the daily reci- 
 tations. Thus the two methods of examination would be con- 
 bined, and the students at the same time would all be sub- 
 jected to the same test, and the examination could be made 
 to bear equally and appreciably on the student's position. 
 
 In the collateral studies of the Classical department I would 
 recommend that the examination be conducted in writing ; 
 the professor preparing before the day of examination a series 
 of questions selected from the whole course, studied and re- 
 viewed during the (previous) session, but not communicated 
 to the students until assembled in the chapel or other ap- 
 pointed place. The students should then be arranged, as sug- 
 gested above, and furnished with pen, ink and paper; they 
 should then copy the questions, as dictated by the professor, 
 (or a number of copies equal to the number of students in 
 class might be printed and distributed,) and immediately write 
 the answers — sufficient time being allowed to answer the ques- 
 tions fully — at the expiration of the allotted time the exercises 
 should be collected and disposed of as in the case of the Clas- 
 sical examination papers. 
 
 Q. How are the passages read by the students at exami- 
 nations selected — by chance on the day of examination, or 
 carefully beforehand ? 
 
 A. I will state my method of preparing the papers for 
 examination. I always take the authors and the subjects of 
 collateral studies, a day or two before the day of examination, 
 and make out from these, at home, a list of passages or of 
 matters selected from and covering the part reviewed. In the 
 Classical authors I note down the passages, either by the line or 
 section, and transfer to separate papers as many of such eub- 
 
41 
 
 jects as there are students in the class. . In the other studies, 
 I denote either by the pages or by the number of the subject, 
 which refers to the questions given in the course of the ses- 
 sion and explained in the previous part of my answers, the 
 parts on which the students are to be examined, on separate 
 pieces of paper, according to the number of the class. These 
 papers are then carefully folded by myself, and no one else 
 has access to them until the day of examination, when I bring 
 them to the Chapel, and keep them in my own possession 
 until the President enters. I then place them upon the table 
 in the centre of the chapel, shaking up each parcel thor- 
 oughly beforehand, so that it is impossible for me, or any one 
 else, to say how they are arranged. Then any member of 
 the class is called upon by the President, according to any 
 mode he sees fit ; the student goes to the table and draws 
 one paper from each parcel ; these papers he brings to me, 
 and then takes his seat at the table, and is there informed of 
 what the paper contains. — At the last examination the mode 
 was different, as I have previously explained. 
 
 Q. Dave the students any knowledge or intimation, pre- 
 vious to the examination, of the subjects marked upon these 
 slips, or of the limitation of the examination which these slips 
 make? 
 
 A. They have not. They know merely the amount of 
 Greek and Latin reviewed, and the whole number of subjects 
 in other studies which are to form the matter for examina- 
 tion, but nothing of any selection or arrangement of these 
 papers. 
 
 Q. Can you point out the subjects marked upon such slips 
 at the last two examinations, respectively ? 
 
 A. I would say, in further explanation of the previous 
 answer, before proceeding to answer the present question, 
 that in History, which is studied from a text-book adapted to 
 school and College use, the matter is learned and recited 
 regularly in the arrangement of the volume, and the subjects 
 for examination are generally by the pages of the text-book — 
 each subject covering a certain number of pages — perhaps 
 five or sk as an average. In the Geography and Antiquities 
 
42 
 
 the manuals used contain a great deal of information, too 
 minute and oftentimes too speculative for the young student. 
 No other manual of Geography better adapted to the pur- 
 pose is published here. I have had, therefore, to choose be- 
 tween giving the class a text-book, and making selections 
 from it, or dictating the matter to be learnt, so as to be copied 
 by the class. I have, on different occasions, adopted both 
 these courses. The chief objection to the latter mode is, the 
 time consumed by one subsidiary branch in a department 
 having so many different objects of attention. I usually, how- 
 ever, give out a series of questions, divided into " subjects," 
 of about twenty questions each, to direct the attention of the 
 class to the most important points in their text-book ; those 
 which will have a bearing upon their future College studies, 
 or will illustrate authors, they will be likely to read ; this ap- 
 plies to the Antiquities also. These subjects are numbered 
 1, 2, 3, &c, or have a caption derived from the matter treated 
 of, as Italy, Liguria, Gallia Oisalpina, &c. This division of 
 the whole matter for examination into such subjects isknown 
 to the students, because the questions are so given out to 
 them in the first place ; but at the public examination the 
 selection of subjects is made from those they have reviewed 
 without their knowledge of the arrangement ; and these sub- 
 jects are marked on the slips of paper simply as — 
 
 History, I History, I , I Geography, I Geography, I Antiq. I Antiq. I . 
 1. | 2. | ffl0 - I 1. I 2. I 1 I 2. I 
 
 as many of each as the class has reviewed, or rather more 
 altogether than the number of students in the class. The 
 slips containing these divisions are thoroughly shaken up and 
 mixed together at the time of examination, as described in 
 a previous answer, so that no student can tell whether he 
 will draw a subject in History, Geography or Antiquities — 
 each student being examined on one subject only out of the 
 whole number, and not on a subject in each department of 
 study. A copy of each of the books used has been sent to 
 the Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry, and a detailed 
 account submitted of the particular portions of each book 
 studied during the last two sessions. At the first examina- 
 
43 
 
 tion of last year, the whole class was not, I think, examined 
 in these subsidiary studies, in consequence of the length of 
 time to which the Classical examination was extended. The 
 particular selection of subjects for the examination I do not 
 remember, as I have not retained any of the papers ; but it 
 did not differ materially from preceding ones, of which I can 
 state very nearly the subject matters : 
 
 Geography. — Europe, general outline. 1 Geography. — Italy — Origin of name, 
 1. | 2. main divisions, <fcc. 
 
 Geography. — Liguria. I Geography. — Gallia Cisalpina. I Geography. — Venetia 
 3. 4. ) 5. and Histria. 
 
 Geography. — TTmbria. I Geography. — Picenum, <fec. I Geography. — Etruria. 
 6. 1. I 8. 
 
 <£sc, (Sec. 
 
 Antiqq. — Origin of Rome, Population. I Antiqq. — Hills of Rome and Bridges. 
 1. | 2. 
 
 Antiqq. — Roman Roads and Modes of I Antiqq. — Basilicas, Thermae, Circi and 
 3 Construction, and Temples. | 4. Arcus. 
 
 Antiqq. — Aqueducts. <fec, &c. 
 
 5. 
 
 As before stated, each subject contained, on an average, 
 about twenty questions — rather more than could be asked 
 and answered even when time was afforded expressly for 
 this examination ; but when the two were held together, the 
 Classical necessarily absorbed much the larger portion of the 
 time. As specimens of the subjects, I subjoin the " First 
 Subject" of the Ancient Geography and the Roman An- 
 tiquities, respectively : 
 
 Ancient Geogbaphy. 
 Subject 1. — Europe. {Always give modem name, if any.) 
 
 1. The name "Europe" first occurs where, and earliest ap- 
 plication ? 
 
 2. Derivation of the word ? 
 
 3. Eastern boundary of Europe in time of Herodotus and 
 of Plato, respectively ? 
 
44 
 
 4. Boundaries of Europe, according. to Ptolemy ? 
 
 5. Mention the tribes, successively emigrating into- Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 6. Elements entering into the Greek and Latin languages? 
 
 7. How far did Homer's knowledge of the world ex- 
 tend? 
 
 8. To whom was a further acquaintance with the countries 
 of Europe owing ? 
 
 9. At the time of Herodotus, what countries known to the 
 Greeks ? 
 
 10. By whom was this knowledge subsequently extended ? 
 
 11. Name the seas and connecting straits of Europe, com- 
 mencing at the north. 
 
 12. Earlier and later name of the_Euxine, and the reasons? 
 
 13. Derivation and meaning of the word "Bosporus?" 
 
 14. Name the six principal rivers of Europe. 
 
 15. The eight next in size. 
 
 Roman Antiquities. 
 Subject 1. — Origin of Rome, <&c. 
 
 1. Common account of the origin of Eome? 
 
 2. What festival commemorated it, and date ? 
 
 3. What hill first occupied ? 
 
 4. In what form was the city, and how divided ? 
 
 5. Point of intersection called what, and what supposed to 
 be derived from it? 
 
 6. Where were Etruscan settlements formed ? 
 
 7. Origin of the name " Vicus Tuscus ?" 
 
 8. Principal Etruscan settlements ? 
 
 9. What hills were occupied by the Sabines ? 
 
 10. Name of their principal settlement? What derived 
 from it ? and what did it probably become ? 
 
 11. Over what did Eome spread, and what epithet hence 
 applied to it? 
 
 12. Derivation and application of " Pomcerium ?" 
 
45 
 
 13. "What meant by the phrase " Pomcerium proferre," 
 and by whom done ? 
 
 14. What was the character of the buildings in the ancient 
 city, and when changed? 
 
 15. When did a more splendid class of buildings begin to 
 be erected ? 
 
 16. What remark is Augustas said to have made ? 
 
 17. When was the style of building again improved ? 
 
 18. Population of Rome in its most flourishing period ? 
 
 When a student drew a subject of Ancient Geography, he 
 took his place by the large map used for the purpose, and in 
 naming the places, pointed them out on the map. So, in 
 Antiquities, if he drew a subject, e. g., Roman camp, or circus, 
 which could be illustrated by a cut, he took the plan and 
 pointed out the particulars on it. As this arrangement al- 
 lowed each student to be examined in but one study, I 
 changed the mode of conducting the examination, and ob- 
 tained a separate day. Instead of slips of paper, containing 
 the subjects to be drawn, I prepared, at home, the day before 
 the examination, a series of questions, selected at pleasure 
 from the whole matter reviewed — an equal number of ques- 
 tions in each study — and gave the same to all, as explained 
 on next page. 
 
 Questions submitted, to Freshman, class at the concluding 
 examination, July, 1856, to be answered in writing, in 
 chapel. 
 
 Histoet. 
 
 1. Give the Greek origin of the Greek tribes, and their 
 names, with the relative situation and importance of these in 
 the earliest ages. 
 
 2. Who were the Pelasgians, and how divided ? 
 
 3. What was the origin of Grecian civilization \ what tra- 
 ditions contradict this, and how did these traditions arise ? 
 
 4. Give the story of Theseus, and state what political insti- 
 tutions were ascribed to him. 
 
46 
 
 5. "What was the state of society, political and social, of the 
 Heroic age — giving the bright and dark features of its social 
 condition ? 
 
 6. Give a summary account of the invasion of the Pelo- 
 ponnesus by the Dorians, with the names of their leaders, 
 and the division made of the conquered country. 
 
 7. What colonies settled on the coast of Asia Minor? in 
 what order, and produced by what movements at home? 
 mention, also, the tract of country occupied by each. 
 
 8. What was meant by, and what included in the "Epic 
 Cycle," and who were the Cyclic poets ? 
 
 9. What known of Homer ? How were his poems regarded 
 in antiquity ? and give an account of the controversy respect- 
 ing them in modern times, with a summary of Wolf's theory. 
 
 10. How many and what were the great festivals of the 
 Greeks ? and give some account of the principal one of these. 
 
 11.- Give a brief account of the personal history of Lycur- 
 gus, and of the regulations ascribed to him. 
 
 12. Who were the Helots? origin of the name? and how 
 treated ? 
 
 13. Who was Hesiod ? what works ascribed to him ? how 
 many genuine, and how regarded ? 
 
 14. Origin of Greek Lyric poetry ? and name some of the 
 principal writers. 
 
 15. Name the philosophers of the Ionic school, with the 
 distinguishing doctrine maintained by each. 
 
 Ancient Geogeapht. 
 {Modern name, if any, always to he given.) 
 
 1. Name the principal gulfs around Greece, (with modern 
 name of each.) 
 
 2. Give the principal rivers on both sides of Greece. 
 
 3. Origin of the name Peloponnesus, with the different 
 provinces. 
 
 4. What islands form the Ionian Confederation, with their 
 ancient names ? 
 
 5. Name and describe the harbors of Athens. 
 
47 
 
 6. Name and give some account of the harbors of Corinth. 
 
 7. Principal mountains of the Peloponnesus. 
 
 8. Describe Delphi and its oracle. 
 
 9. Describe Thermopylae, with the historical associations, 
 and the present condition of the pass. 
 
 10. Where was Leucas? how connected with the main land? 
 and describe its condition at different periods. 
 
 11. Width of the Isthmus of Corinth? between what gulfs ? 
 what means of communication between opposite sides ? and 
 what attempts were made here ? 
 
 12. Where was Actium ? for what noted ? and how com- 
 memorated ? 
 
 13. Give some account of Mount Parnassus, with its foun- 
 tain and cave. (Two omitted.) 
 
 Roman Antiquities. 
 
 1. (Draw an outline, and describe the different parts of a 
 Roman Circus.) 
 
 2. Origin of gladiatorial shows among the Romans ; and 
 describe the different kinds of gladiators. 
 
 3. What was an amphitheatre? By whom was the first 
 regular amphitheatre erected, and which was most celebrat- 
 ed, with its usual name ? 
 
 4. The interior of an amphitheatre divided into what parts ? 
 and describe each briefly. 
 
 5. How were the seats arranged ? and to whom allotted ? 
 
 6. How did a Greek differ from a Roman theatre? and to 
 what use was the orchestra in a Roman theatre put ? 
 
 7. Meaning and use of the cothurnus, soccus, persona ? 
 
 8. What were the numbers in a Roman legion at different 
 times? and give the periods. 
 
 9. Duties, position and number of the Tribuni, Centuriones, 
 Optiones, Legati, Prasfecti Sociorum ? 
 
 10. What were the standards of the Roman army at dif- 
 ferent times ? and what difference between them ? 
 
 11. Name the different kinds of " crowns" given as military 
 rewards, and for what each given. 
 
 12. Give the seven conditions on which a triumph was 
 granted at Rome, and describe the triumphal procession. 
 
48 
 
 13. "What were the different articles of dress worn by Roman 
 men? and give a brief description of each. 
 
 14. Draw the plan and describe the general arrangement 
 of a Roman house. (There were 15 ; two not given out.) 
 
 I have not retained the list of subjects at either of the last 
 two preceding examinations in Classics. The paper containing 
 the Greek subjects was in the volume of Herodotus, at the 
 time it was handed to the chairman of the Committee; but, 
 as it was supposed to be of no further use, it was taken by 
 me, with other memoranda, and probably destroyed, as pre- 
 vious ones had been. I can give very nearly the contents of 
 the slips, as they are very nearly the same in amount at each 
 examination. In the selections from Herodotus, they were 
 marked thus : 
 
 Herodotus, Herodotus, Herodotua, 
 
 Ch. 1—3. "" Ch. 4—5, middle. Ch. 6—1, end, &c, <fcc. 
 
 Making the 38 selections (equal to number in the class) ex- 
 tend over the matter read, each slip referring to about three- 
 fourths of a page. In Cicero de Senectute, they were 
 marked : 
 
 Cic. de Sea. Cie. de Sea. Cie. de Sen. 
 
 § 1—8' § 3—5. § 5—1, &c, <fec. 
 
 Each selection covering about the same amount as in 
 Herodotus. 
 In Homer and Horace, the reference was by lines, e. g. : 
 
 Horn. Od. Horn. Od. 
 
 Book I. Book I. 
 
 1—20. 21—40, <fcc, <!ic. 
 
 in selections of about 20 lines each, varying, however, 
 with the character of the passage and the appropriateness of 
 the termination— selecting the parts generally that presented a 
 connected narrative or thought, or such as could be, with best 
 advantage, separated from the context. So in Horace : 
 Horace, Horace, Horace, Horace 
 
 Ode I. Ode II. Sat. L Sat. I. 
 
 1-20. 1-20. 21-45, &c.,«fcc. 
 
 It depended on the size of the class whether the students 
 were examined in both Greek and Latin ; but there was al- 
 
49 
 
 ways a selection of passages in both languages, equal to the 
 number of students in the class. 
 
 Q. How, in yonr opinion, should the review be conducted, 
 or is it advisable at all ? 
 
 A. I think it desirable. While the regular session should 
 be given to a careful analysis of the language of the author, of 
 the grammatical structure, and, in fact, of all the minutiae of 
 scholarship, the review, I think, should be directed rather 
 to facility of expression in translation, correcting errors or 
 oversights of the members of the class in this particular, and 
 fixing it more firmly in their memories. Frequent repetition 
 enables a student oftentimes to see an expression or construc- 
 tion in a light which does not strike him at the first reading ; 
 and by being enabled to take larger portions of an author, he 
 obtains a more general and connected view of the matters 
 treated of than in the short daily lessons. The review enables 
 the professor thus to combine with accuracy of study, in the 
 session, more facility of expression and a wider range of 
 reading at one time. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, after each examination, report the re- 
 sults to the Board of the College? 
 
 A. After the examinations there is always a meeting of the 
 Board, and the results of the examinations are discussed, and 
 the places of the students assigned by the professors who 
 have conducted the examinations of the particular classes. In 
 the Freshman class those only who have conducted the ex- 
 amination of that class decide upon the results of its exami- 
 nation. I am not aware that any professor makes a formal 
 report of the entire results of the examination to the Board, 
 although failures are stated. 
 
 Q. Have the Board of the College, within your recollection, 
 excluded any students from proceeding to a higher class, be- 
 cause deficient in the studies of the preceding year ; and if 
 so, do you remember what disposition was afterwards made 
 of the cases of such students ? and if such students were al- 
 lowed to proceed with their class, was it ascertained in any 
 manner, before they were so allowed to proceed, that they 
 had made up their deficiency ? 
 
 4e 
 
50 
 
 A. Instances of such exclusion have occurred within 
 my recollection. During the last year there were, I think, 
 five such cases ; these students having failed to perform their 
 duty satisfactorily, after repeated admonitions, and not having 
 passed their examination at all creditably, were allowed, how- 
 ever, to join their respective classes at the beginning of the 
 last collegiate year, with the distinct assurance that if found 
 negligent still they would not be allowed to continue. After 
 the time allowed them had expired, as they were still negli- 
 gent, they were pronounced by the Board unfit to go on with 
 their class ; but to save their parents the pain of having them 
 degraded, the parents were requested to withdraw them, and 
 they were accordingly withdrawn. There were also three 
 others, who though not formally excluded by the Board, were 
 yet, if I remember aright, withdrawn by their parents, in 
 consequence of the representations of the President, in ac- 
 cordance with the reports of the professors. In general, when 
 a student has failed to perform the duty required of him, and 
 is unable to pass a satisfactory examination, he is required to 
 study the subject on which he has failed during the vacation, 
 and to be re-examined before being allowed to go on with his 
 class. Such arrangements are made at the regular meetings 
 of the Board, and are, I suppose, part of its proceedings ; 
 but the President and professor of eacli department takes 
 particular notice of the delinquents in that department ; the 
 professor reporting to the President whether said delinquent 
 has made good his deficiency. Failure in one department 
 has not been considered sufficient cause to prevent a student 
 from going on with his class; and no student has been 
 removed, except voluntarily on the part of parents, from 
 College without the regular action of the Board. The dis- 
 tinction between indolence and natural dullness has always 
 been observed in dealing with deficiencies and failures during 
 the session and at the examination. In the case of a good 
 student, who has been kept from the public examination by 
 accidental causes, a professor often, generally I believe, 
 waives the subsequent examination as unnecessary — the stu- 
 
51 
 
 dent's absence from, public examination excluding him, ia 
 that branch of study, from all College honors. 
 
 Q. Are there any other improvements in the mode of pub- 
 lic examinations which you can suggest, besides those you 
 have already mentioned? 
 
 A. In order to create a studious character in a class, and 
 to give an interest to the business of the session, as well as to 
 afford occupation for those whose preparation or abilities en- 
 able them readily to keep in advance of the main body of 
 their class-mates, whose average ability must regulate the 
 studies of the class, I recommend the establishing of two 
 special prizes, each of the value of $200 per annum, one in 
 the classical and the other in the mathematical department, 
 to be awarded, at the close of the Freshman year, to the 
 students (one in each department) who shall pass the best ex- 
 amination in some special study, apart from and in addition 
 to the regular course ; said special study to be assigned by the 
 professor at the beginning of the collegiate year, and to con- 
 sist of not more than one play of Euripides, or two books of 
 Homer (not before read) in Greek, and one play of Terence, 
 or one book of Livy in Latin ; the mathematical subject to 
 be, of course, suggested by the professor in that department. 
 This scholarship, or whatever it may be designated, should 
 be enjoyed by the successful candidate for the. remaining 
 three years of his College course, provided he does not fall 
 into the lowest grade in any department of regular study, or 
 below the highest grade in that department in which he 
 gained the prize ; and provided, also, that no student he 
 allowed to compete for the prize who has not made a re- 
 spectable performance in all departments of study at the reg- 
 ular Cullege examination. 
 
 At the end of the Senior year I would recommend the 
 founding of a prize in money, say $300 per annum, with the 
 title of " Fellow of Columbia College," in each regular de- 
 partment of College study, to be contended for in like man- 
 ner, by an examination on some voluntary course, apart from 
 and in addition to the regular College studies, and subsequent 
 to the concluding College examination : no student to be a 
 
52 
 
 candidate who is not of at least respectable standing in every 
 department, so as to prevent neglect of regular duty. This 
 examination to be held in the presence of the College Faculty 
 and a committee of the Board of Trustees ; the successful 
 candidates to enjoy the title and emolument for three years, 
 and to have precedence in appointments as College tutors in 
 their respective departments, and the preference as private 
 tutors, when any right of nomination to such office, from' 
 whatever cause, conies under the control of the College au- 
 thorities. These tutors would form an efficient corps of in- 
 structors, who might, under the sanction and aided by the in- 
 fluence of the College, establish schools in and around the 
 city, as nurseries to supply the College itself with well-trained 
 pupils ; a line of policy which in some cases has proved suc- 
 cessful. The tutors or Fellows continuing, in many cases, 
 the studies in which they excelled, might supply the College 
 ■with its future professors. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of the proficiency of the 
 students in any department of study affecting your own? if 
 so, please state it. 
 
 A. I have not. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be* strict in their requirements 
 upon the students to master the course of instruction pointed 
 ont by the statutes, or should allowance be made for those 
 who, from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, fail to 
 acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to impart? 
 Please to state your opinion fully, with your reasons. 
 
 A. By the mode of conducting the public examinations, and 
 by the additional incentives to exertion which I have sug- 
 gested, I believe that the desire of distinction will make the 
 examination a severer test of scholarship than any penal 
 regulations, for the majority of well-disposed students ; but 
 there will always be, in every class, some who, either from 
 indolence or from natural dullness, will not or cannot reach 
 the standard of attainment established by their more indus- 
 trious or more fortunate class-mates. To the former of these 
 the indolent or careless students, I should suppose it just and, 
 proper to apply a rigid and severe test, and if they were 
 
53 
 
 found deficient, after reasonable admonition and trial, to 
 apply the discipline of the College statutes. With the latter 
 I should feel disposed to deal more leniently. The object of 
 a College education is not mainly the acquisition of knowl- 
 edge, but, in a greater degree, the training of the mental 
 faculties ; therefore, in minds of different calibre, the standard 
 of acquirements, to serve as a test of a faithful discharge of 
 duty, must be different. A student of inferior mental powers 
 may perform far less than is required of his class-mates, 
 and yet may be making the highest use of his College course, 
 training his mind to habits of patient study and systematic 
 effort, that may make him in after years a better member of 
 society, a more useful citizen, than his brilliant but irregular 
 class-mate. At any rate, such men will form a part of socie- 
 ty, often possessed of the influence which wealth give3, and 
 it seems better that they should have the liberalizing influ- 
 ence of association with study, and a familiarity with the 
 names and forms of literature and literary men, to enable 
 them to use their position and wealth for the good and not fdr 
 the injury of their fellow-men. I do not think that the disci- 
 pline or tone of a class is injured by a dull but faithful and 
 earnest student; but if one who is dull and indolent at the 
 same time, or if a student of known abilities, but habitually 
 negligent of duty, is allowed to go on with his class, the dis- 
 cipline of the institution will be impaired, and the effect upon 
 a portion, at least, of the class, will be injurious. 
 
 Q. Would it or not be advantageous to require that stu- 
 deuts, passing from any class to a higher one, should be 
 masters of the whole previous course ? 
 
 A. 1 think it would. It should be exacted, except in the 
 case of those who, from natural slowness of apprehension, are 
 not able to attain the whole mastery of it. 
 
 Q. Would students of such a grade be able to remain in 
 College, if the practice were only to dismiss such as fall be- 
 low a fair average number, according to the system of marks 
 you have recommended ? 
 
 A. I think so ; for a professor, when giving a student credit 
 for the character of his performance, might very easily and 
 
54 
 
 properly in each case rate it according to the effort required 
 and the diligence exhibited in preparing the recitation, and 
 not, as in the case of other students, according to the fixed 
 standard. 
 
 Q. Ought not a department of instruction to be assigned to 
 the President ; and if so, what department ? 
 
 A. I should say, generally, that it is better for the President 
 of a College to come in contact, as an instructor, say once or 
 twice a week, with the Senior class of a College ; and I should 
 suppose that a very proper subject of instruction for a Presi- 
 dent would be, the Constitution of our country and the duties 
 of citizens — and that he might, once a week or fortnight, 
 have essays read or debates held in his presence, by the 
 members of the Senior class, on points connected with these 
 topics. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, or any of them, ever or commonly re- 
 port to the Board of the College students as having neglected 
 their studies ? 
 
 A. Such reports are made every week. 
 
 Q. How many students have you so reported during the 
 last two preceding sessions ? 
 
 A. Nineteen students', on nineteen different occasions. 
 
 Q. Can you explain the reasons which have influenced the 
 Board of the College to discontinue the punishments of de- 
 gradation and suspension, and in place of suspension to inflict 
 the punishment of dismission, remitting the same after inter- 
 vals of from one to two weeks? 
 
 A. I cannot. 
 
 Q. Do you think that the punishment, of suspension could 
 with advantage be sometimes resorted to, and are there any 
 measures which you can suggest, calculated to render it 
 efficient, or to remove objections to it which may now 
 exist ? 
 
 A. I do. I think suspension may be made a very efficient 
 punishment, by requiring the student so suspended to read 
 the studies of his class with a private instructor, during the 
 period of his suspension ; and on presenting himself, at the 
 expiration of the term of his sentence, to bring a written 
 
55 
 
 statement from his tutor that lie had diligently employed the 
 intermediate time, and even then not to be admitted without 
 satisfactorily passing an examination. 
 
 Q. Which do you consider the lightest punishment, sus- 
 pension or dismission ? 
 
 A. As heretofore practiced, I think dismission a lighter 
 punishment than suspension properly enforced. 
 
 Q. On what terms and under what circumstances ought a 
 student, after being dismissed, to be re-admitted ? 
 
 A. Dismission should be made a punishment distinct from 
 and more marked than suspension. It is an actual severing 
 of the ties between the student and the College, and the Board 
 of the College in inflicting it, should probably not deem it pro- 
 per to attach any condition or limitation to the sentence. 
 This punishment should not be often or lightly resorted to ; in 
 most cases, probably, suspension would be a more appropri- 
 ate sentence, especially when the offender had been previously 
 negligent of study. It should be applied to open violations 
 of known regulations, gross misconduct or defiant persever- 
 ance in any neglect or violation of duty, after admonition and 
 warning, and should therefore be only less than expulsion. 
 In certain cases of sudden and unusual resistance of authority, 
 or of acts committed under the influence of excited feelings, 
 where the offender had previously borne a good character, a 
 letter of regret, on the part of the offender, containing an 
 ample apology and submission to the College authorities, 
 might be deemed suflicient, provided the Board were fully 
 satisfied of his penitence, and agreed to his restoration by a 
 unanimous vote. It is difficult, in questions of this kind, to 
 lay down any general rule, where the individuals that come 
 under its operation differ so widely, and as punishment is 
 designed for the reformation of the party punished, and 
 through him for deterring others from like offences. It might 
 be best to leave the precise extent of the sentence undefined ; 
 but, to say generally, that no student dismissed from College 
 shall be restored until the Board has been satisfied from 
 the student himself, and from his parent or guardian, that 
 the punishment has had its proper effect, and that the 
 
56 
 
 offender, if restored, will be a faithful and orderly student ; 
 and further, that no student, dismissed for any violation of 
 College regulations, shall be re-admitted, except after exami- 
 nation, in presence of the Board of the College, in all the 
 studies of his class, as if he were a new applicant for admis- 
 sion to Collejre. 
 
 December 12th, 1856. 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden, Dr. Haight. 
 Professor Dkisler attended. Examination resumed : 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestion or opinion to offer upon the 
 statutes, under the head of crimes and punishments, as to 
 their administration or alteration ; and can you state any 
 facts in your opinion material for the Committee to know, in 
 reference to the discipline of the College ? 
 
 A. I think the statute on this head sufficiently full and ex- 
 plicit. I have stated my views in regard to the nature and 
 application of several of the punishments prescribed in pre- 
 vious answers. I would only say, in addition, that I do 
 not think the Board is always consistent in administering the 
 punishments which the statutes prescribe, and that they too 
 often remit their sentence when it has been passed. The 
 certainty of punishment has a greater effect than its severity 
 to prevent crime; and if the Board would always weigh well 
 the charges agajnst a student, before passing sentence, and 
 then adapt the punishment to the nature of the offence, and 
 refuse afterwards to reconsider or alter their decision, (except 
 on the production of new evidence,) I think the discipline of 
 the College would be improved, without increasing the amount 
 of punishment. 
 
 Q. What period of time, in your opinion, ought to be al- 
 lowed for the public examinations ? 
 
 A. Eight or ten days — two examinations each day, not less 
 than three hours each, nor more than four hours. 
 
57 
 
 Q. What length of time would be necessary in your own 
 department? 
 
 A. If the examination be conducted mainly in writing, two 
 such periods as given in the previous answer would be suffi- 
 cient ; but if by the viva voce method solely, I should think 
 it desirable, in order to test the knowledge of the students 
 fairh T , to have two periods of six hours each for the classical, 
 and one period of three or four hours for the subsidiary studies. 
 
 Q. What accommodations would be required in order to 
 conduct written examinations efficiently, and can they now 
 be afforded in the College buildings ? 
 
 A. I should think it desirable to have for this purpose a 
 hall furnished with separate tables, equal to the number of 
 students to be examined at any given time, placed at intervals 
 of four or five feet apart, and furnished with conveniences for 
 writing. At present, no such conveniences exist, but we are 
 obliged to use the long tables brought from the Library, and 
 to place those students who cannot be accommodated at these, 
 on the ordinary benches of the chapel. 
 
 Q. Do the professors keep a record of the results of their 
 own public examinations? 
 
 A. I have no knowledge of the practice of others. I have 
 not done so myself. 
 
 Q. Do the professors attend the public examinations in de- 
 partments other than their own? 
 
 A. The professors are present, more or less, for a part of 
 the time, at examinations other than their own, but not regu- 
 larly ; nor is there, so far as I am aware, any general rule ob- 
 served by them in this matter. 
 
 Q. Is it not desirable that all the professors should regu- 
 larly attend at the public examinations ; and should not all, and 
 especially the examining professor, note the performance of 
 each student ? 
 
 A. I think that the professors should attend regularly at 
 all the examinations. Under the system suggested in my 
 previous answers, the examining professor would be obliged 
 to note particularly the performance of each student. 
 
 I do not, however, think it necessary or desirable that any 
 
58 
 
 other than the examining professor and the President should 
 keep such an account. 
 
 Q. Would it not be expedient, in your view, that the grading 
 of the students, ascertained both from their performances in the 
 lecture-room and at the public examinations, should be passed 
 upon by the Board of the College ; and if so, would it not be 
 important that the professors, by closely watching and noting 
 the results of the public examinations, should be enabled to 
 judge of the justice of this grading, in part at least, by their 
 own obse'rvation ? 
 
 A. 1 1 ink it desirable, if a general grade is adopted, that 
 that grade should be decided by the Board ; but I think that 
 each professor should have the sole determination of the 'grade 
 of the students in his own department; and that it should be 
 the President's duty to take the supervision of the public ex- 
 aminations, make note of the performances of the students 
 on such occasions, with a view to subsequent comparison with 
 the record kept by the examining professor, and for the pur- 
 poses alluded to in the question. 
 
 At Mr. Ogden's Office, 
 
 llih June, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 The questions to Prof. Deislek were resumed : 
 
 Q. State to the Committee, if you please, your opinion as to 
 the effect upon the efficiency of the instruction in your depart- 
 ment, or in others and which departments, which would be 
 produced by the use of a judiciously selected text-book on 
 each subject, the study of which should be prescribed to the 
 students, and which should be explained and elucidated by 
 the professor, with such remarks as he might judge expedi- 
 ent, to show differing opinions, and to direct or excite the 
 reasoning of the students upon the questions involved. 
 
59 
 
 A. In my opinion the use of a text-book is desirable in the 
 under-graduate classes of the College, in all the departments. 
 In the Classical department a text-book is of course essential, 
 because the instruction is based upon the language contained 
 in such text-book. In the collateral branches in that depart- 
 ment and in the other departments, I consider a text-book 
 useful, as presenting a definite course of study to the mind of 
 the student, which may serve also as the basis for the profes- 
 sor to found his lectures upon, in imparting additional infor- 
 mation, and save time and labor to the student, which would 
 be expended if the whole of the instruction were communi- 
 cated orally by the professor, and required to be written out 
 by the student. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not such text-books to be designated by 
 the Trustees, only to be changed by their order ? 
 
 A. I think the text-books ought to be suggested by the 
 professor in eacli department to the Trustees, and then in- 
 serted in the statute relating to the course of study, and only 
 to be changed after that, at the suggestion of the professor — 
 should any circumstance arise rendering such change neces- 
 sary — and for which the professor in question might make 
 application to the Trustees. 
 
 Q. "Would not this be better than to direct the attention of 
 the students to several books, without any capacity of judg- 
 ment on their parts to enable them to select the best? 
 
 A. I think so, certainly, while at the same time, if any 
 author or any portion of an author throws light upon the 
 subject which a student is pursuing at any given time, the 
 professor could recommend such book to the attention of the 
 student, pointing out the particular passage or portion to be 
 .perused. 
 
 Q. Would not the designation of such books, in the way 
 you have indicated, be advisable in a course calculated for 
 mental training, to secure the object, that the students should 
 not read much, but accurately, and with care, thought and 
 comprehension ? 
 
 A. I think so, decidedly. 
 
 Q. May, in your or other departments, and in which de- 
 
60 
 
 partments, different coufses, each composed of certain books 
 or parts of books, to be designated by statute, be advanta- 
 geously prescribed, allowing the professor to choose any one 
 of the courses for any class ? 
 
 A. In the Classical department I think such an arrange- 
 ment would be very desirable, both for the professor and for 
 the classes. I cannot answer as to the other departments, 
 except that, in my opinion, the statutes ought to indicate the 
 subjects of study and the extent of each, (as nearly as possi- 
 ble,) arranged by the divisions of the Collegiate year; 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to recommend to the Com- 
 mittee such a selection of books proper for the Classical de- 
 partment, with the extent in each prescribed for instruction, 
 arranged in courses, with reference to such liberty of choice 
 by the professor? 
 
 A. I suggest the following alternative course of study 
 for the Classical department, arranged by sessions : 
 
 FRESHMAN CLASS. 
 First Session. 
 
 ( Homer's Odyssey, 3 books, (any 3 a3 equiv.) or 
 
 1. Greek, -j Equivalent [ Homer's Iliad, any 3 books after the 6th. 
 
 ( H '{ Euripides, the Aleestis. 
 
 I" Cicero de Seneetute, with Nepos' Life of Attieus, or 
 2 Latiu J { Cicero's Oration for Mureua, ) or S 
 
 '. I Equivalent, -j do. do. Cluontius, j or V 
 
 I ( Livy, 1st book ; or 21st book. 
 
 S. Subsidiary Studies. 
 
 Smith's History of Greece. 
 Geography of Greece and Colonies. 
 Greek Prosody and Latin Exercises. 
 
 Second Session. 
 
 {Herodotus, 90 chapts. of 1st book, or equiv., from any other part 
 except JSgyptiaca. 
 Equivalent \ Xen °P»°n's Hellenica, about two books. 
 ' ( Isocrates, Panegyrieus. 
 
 ( Horaee, Odes and Epodes, or 
 
 2. Latin, -{ „ . . ( Ovid's Fasti ) 
 
 ( E 1 ulvalent ' j Virgil's GeoVgics, } 2 *°°*- 
 
 3. Subsidiary Studies. 
 
 LidiitfU's History of Rome. 
 Geography of Italy, Gaul and Spain. 
 Latiu Prosody. Greek and Latin Exercues. 
 
 or Select Philipp. 
 or Verrine Orat's. 
 
1. Greek, 
 
 61 
 
 SOPHOMORE CLASS. 
 Fibst Session. 
 f Euripides, Hecuba, Medea, or other play. 
 
 ( " ' ' ( Hesiod, " Works and Days," or Theogony. 
 
 (Tacitus, Germania et Agricola ; or 
 ( Cicero's Select Letters, ) ,-, . 
 Equivalent,] Pliny, do. do. [Equiv. in amount 
 ( Cicero, De Amicitia. 
 
 3. Subsidiary Studies. 
 
 Grecian and Roman Geography, (continued.) 
 
 Roman Antiquities. 
 
 Latin Composition, Prose and Verse. 
 
 Second Session. 
 
 Xenophon's Mem 
 fThi 
 1. Greek, - 
 
 'Xenophon's Memorabilia, 1£ books; or 
 
 f Thucydides, 70 ch. 1st book, or other book equiv. 
 
 Eauivalent J Herodotus, ^Egyptiaca, (book IL and part of III.) 
 ^ '[ about 100 cliapters. 
 
 ^Lysias, Oratio Funebris and in Eratosthenem. 
 
 f Horace, Satires; or 
 
 2. Latin, < Fnuivalenr i Terence, the Andrian, or Heautontimorumenos, or 
 
 ( " ' ( other play. 
 
 3. Subsidiary Studies. 
 
 Grecian Antiquities. 
 
 Roman Antiquities, (continued.) 
 
 Latin Prosody, and Greek and Latin Exercises. 
 
 JUNIOR CLASS. 
 Fibst Session. 
 
 f Demosthenes C<Eschines)de Corona; or equiv; fromOlynthiac, or 
 , r, , I Philippic Orations. 
 
 'I E uivalent \ PIato ' 8 0or ^' a8 - 
 |_ " ' | do. Phsedo, Crito and Apologia Socratis. 
 
 ( Plautus, Aulularia, or Miles Gloriosus, or other play. 
 
 2. Latin, -j Eou ; va i en f ( Horace's Epistles, (including Art of Poetry.) 
 
 ( q ' ( Seneca's Medea, or Hercules Furens, or other drama. 
 
 3. Subsidiary Studies. 
 
 History of Greek Literature. 
 
 Latin Prosody and Metres and Composition. 
 
 Second Session. 
 
 ( JEschylus, Prometheus Vinctus, or Agamemnon, or other drama. 
 
 1. Greek, i „ ■ , . ( Aristophanes, Acharnians, or Clouds, or other 
 
 ( M ulvalent . \ play. 
 
 I Cicero de Officiis, 1st book. 
 
 2. Latin, 1 Eauivalent -i ( -'' cer0 ' Tusculanse Disputationes, 1st book. 
 
 ( " ' ( Tacitus, Annals or Histories, 1st or equiv. book. 
 
62 
 
 3. Subsidiary Studies. 
 
 ^rplX-d^tal- Scanning and Condition, Prose and 
 Verse. 
 
 SENIOR CLASS. 
 Fibst Session. 
 
 {Plato, de Republica, 1 book. 
 ( Aristotle, Ethica, about 1 boot. 
 Equivalent, -3 do. Rhetoriea or Poetica, do. 
 ( Longinus, " On the Sublime." 
 
 i Cicero de Oratore, 1st book. , . 
 
 ( Cicero, Philosophical "Works ; equiv. in amt. 
 Equivalent, ) Quintilian, 10th book, or other equiv. _ 
 I Dialogus de Causis Corruptee Eloquentise. 
 
 3. Subsidiary Studies. 
 
 Greek and Roman Literature and Archaeology. 
 Greek and Latin Composition, Prose and Verse. 
 
 Second Session. 
 
 ( Sophocles, CEdipus Tyrannus, or other drama. 
 
 1. Greek, \ -r, ■ , t ( Pindar, the Olympic Odes. 
 
 ^ ( Equivalent, } do _ Nemean, or other. 
 
 I Juvenal, 8 Satires; or 
 
 2. Latin, -j Equivalent, -j Lucretius, 1st book, or one of the other books 
 
 3. Subsidiary Studies. 
 
 Greek and Roman Literature and Archaeology. 
 Greek and Latin Composition, Prose and Verse. 
 
 Q. State, if you please, your opinion as to whether or not 
 it would facilitate the instruction in German to require an 
 acquaintance with elementary German grammar, and the 
 ability to translate into English certain prescribed easy works 
 or parts of easy books in that language, upon entering upon 
 the course at the commencement of the Freshman year, and 
 to be ascertained and enforced by a strict entrance examina- 
 tion, and make any suggestions in respect to a course of 
 instruction in this or any other language, or in regard to their 
 statutory regulation and practical arrangement. 
 
 A. I do not think it possible to give satisfactory instruction 
 in the modern languages to a class of the size of an ordinary 
 
63 
 
 College class, as a part of the regular undergraduate course, 
 where the elements of the language have to be learned after 
 the student's entrance into College. The study of Greek and 
 Latin is pursued, not merely for the practical utility those 
 languages afford, but as an efficient means of mental disci- 
 pline, established by the common usage of cultivated na- 
 tions, for which result the modern languages are not equally 
 well adapted, and in this respect, therefore, are unnecessary. 
 They are to be studied, consequently, for their practical util- 
 ity, and a question arises, whether they should be introduced 
 into the regular and established disciplinary course of study, 
 or whether they should be placed on the same footing with 
 those studies which are sought by merely a portion of those 
 who enter College, for the bearing they may have upon the 
 subsequent career of the student. The Trustees should con- 
 sider, therefore, whether such studies should be compulsory, 
 or whether the means of pursuing them should be afforded, 
 and the choice left to parents or pupils to pursue them or not. 
 If these languages are made a part of the undergraduate 
 course, my opinion is that a certain degree of proficiency 
 should be expected at the student's entrance into College, to 
 be ascertained and judged of by examination ; that this 
 should extend to a knowledge of the grammatical forms of 
 the language, with some facility in translating and construing. 
 ~No pupil capable of preparing himself properly for entrance 
 into College could not, without much extra labor, acquire suffi- 
 cient knowledge of at least one modern language besides his 
 own to undergo the requisite examination. If such an ar- 
 rangement were adopted, it should not be put into execution 
 until after an interval of one or two years, so that schools 
 might be enabled to make suitable arrangements ; and a 
 choice should be allowed from among several languages. 
 
 Q. "What proportion of the students is, in your judgment, 
 deficient in your own, or any other, and which department or 
 departments, from immaturity? 
 
 A. A very small proportion from that cause alone ; not 
 more, I should judge, than four or five per cent. I suppose 
 it likely that a larger proportion is found deficient in this re- 
 
64 
 
 spect in the department of Mathematics than in any other, 
 but cannot pretend to speak positively or from knowledge on 
 that point. 
 
 Q. Is there any difficulty to prevent a professor from so 
 grading the students, by a uniform system of marks, as to 
 make them justly the sole test of the relative proficiency of 
 the students? 
 
 A. I think the system of marks, referred to in a previous 
 answer, the best for the purpose ; although, in my department, 
 it is sometimes difficult to discriminate accurately between 
 recitations of nearly equal merit. 
 
 Q. Is any student allowed by yon to remain more than a 
 week without being called upon to recite? 
 
 A. Never. 
 
 Q. Are students, when not well prepared, sent by you 
 summarily to their seats, or is the attempt made to ascertain 
 whether the deficiency arises from the difficulty which the 
 student has experienced after faithful study or from indo- 
 lence ? 
 
 A. I very rarely send a student summarily to his seat, but 
 generally endeavor to ascertain whether his ignorance, in case 
 he is deficient, arises from inability on his part to compre- 
 hend a difficult passage, or from some peculiarity of construc- 
 tion in the passage in question, or from want of study. In 
 the former case I endeavor to explain the difficulty to the 
 student, and to furnish him with the means of solving future 
 difficulties, while in the latter I consider it better to make the 
 student submit to the annoyance of having his ignorance ex- 
 posed to his teacher and classmates, than to release him from 
 it by dismissing him at once to his seat. In such cases, also, 
 I generally dwell upon the analysis of the passage, and make 
 the student go through the grammatical and metrical points 
 connected with it, so as to extract a recitation of some kind, 
 if possible, and at the same time to impart some instruction 
 by frequent repetition of the same points to those who do not 
 or cannot perform their work successfully at home. 
 
 Q. Do you put a mark opposite the student's name imme- 
 
65 
 
 diately at the close of his recitation, and is the student then 
 informed of the character of it? 
 
 A. I always indicate the character of the recitation of each 
 student by a corresponding in ark made immediately at the 
 close of it, and generally inform the student at once what 
 mark lie has received ; and he may always know it by asking. 
 
 Q. Are there any changes which you would recommend to 
 be made in the classical course? 
 
 A. I have, in previous answers, suggested several changes 
 wbicli I thought likely to increase the efficiency of our de- 
 partment. A division of the duties of the classical chair 
 having been made, it is unnecessary to speak further on this 
 point, but only to suggest those other alterations which may 
 improve the practical working of the new arrangement, and 
 give more time to the professors with the higher undergradu- 
 ate classes. The subject of Ancient History, which was trans- 
 ferred to the classical department when the President ceased 
 to give instruction to the classes, should, of course, be assigned 
 to the chair of History, to which it properly belongs. The 
 time devoted to classical studies by the Freshman class 
 should not be diminished, and yet the Sophomore and Junior 
 classes should have at least one hour a day for those same 
 studies. Supposing the present numbers of the College classes 
 not to diminish — and the probability is that they will be in- 
 creased — each of the three lower classes should be divided 
 into at least two sections, and each section should attend, if 
 possible, the professor of Greek or the professor of Latin one 
 hour each day : until the organization of the post-graduate 
 classes, this arrangement may be attained, very nearly, by a 
 little extra labor on the part of the professors above men- 
 tioned, without the appointment of any additional instruct- 
 ors ; but when the post-graduate course is in full operation, 
 if a portion of the time of the classical professors be required 
 in that course, it will be necessary to appoint a tutor or as- 
 sistant professor, either to take charge of the Freshman class 
 entirely in their classical and collateral studies, or to relieve 
 the professors of Greek and of Latin of the subjects of Greek 
 and Roman Antiquities and of Ancient Geography in the 
 
 5e 
 
66 
 
 Freshman and Sophomore years. As the study of the Classics 
 forms an important part of the mental discipline, and as the 
 disciplinary course may be said, in one sense, to be completed 
 at the end of the Junior year, the first three years of the un- 
 dergraduate course are most important in forming systematic 
 habits of study, and in making those elementary and funda- 
 mental acquisitions which are essential to success in any future 
 course of University or private education. It seems desirable, 
 therefore, that the students, during these disciplinary years, 
 should be uninterruptedly under the charge of experienced 
 and earnest men, who may impart to them sound and accurate 
 instruction, and at the same time, by their example and ex- 
 perience, form their characters and train them to future use- 
 fulness. In this point of view it seems better that the incip- 
 ient collegian should come at once under the charge of the 
 professors who are to be his guides and exemplars during the 
 disciplinary part of his career, and that at the termination, of 
 this he should be transferred, if necessary, to other instruct- 
 ors, with whom he is to enter upon a new and wider course of 
 study, and to pursue it to its termination with them, than that 
 he should pass from school to a temporary instructor for a 
 single year, and should then, when new habits and attach- 
 ments are beginning to be formed, abruptly break off, to 
 form still other new ones. It would be better, therefore, when 
 necessary, to appoint an instructor in Ancient Geography and 
 Antiquities for the Freshman and Sophomore classes than to 
 place the Freshman class entirely under the charge of a dis- 
 tinct instructor. 
 
 In the Junior year time should be allowed for a course of 
 instruction in Eoman Literature, in addition to the regular 
 classical studies, and in the Senior classical year for Greek 
 Literature, and for many points of Epigraphicaland Archae- 
 ological study, which could not be properly introduced at an 
 earlier period. 
 
 A change in indicating the subjects of study for the classical 
 department, as laid down in the statutes, has been suggested 
 in an answer previously given, in reply to a question bearing 
 upon that point. The removal of " Sallust" from among the 
 
67 
 
 preparatory books, and the practical omission of the portions 
 of the New Testament, render necessary a revision of the 
 statute on admission. 
 
 It might be desirable, also, not to allow the use of editions 
 of the Classics with notes in the lecture-room, to prevent any 
 attempt at seeking information there which ought to have 
 been gained elsewhere. 
 
 Q. "Would it be advisable, in your opinion, to allow to the 
 students or to their parents an election between two or more 
 courses of instruction ; if so, at what point of the course 
 should this election be allowed ? 
 
 A. I think it might be desirable, toward the close of the 
 undergraduate course, to allow parents an election from 
 among several courses, and that the termination of the Junior 
 year would be a proper point in the course of study where 
 such election might be allowed. 
 
 Q. What studies should be required peremptorily after 
 the election ? 
 
 A. I would regard the course designated by the Trustees 
 — " the Senior Class in the Department of Letters" — as the 
 proper collegiate complement of the three previous discipli- 
 nary years, and would, therefore, suggest, as obligatory in this 
 course, a reasonable proportion of those branches of study 
 which have been, by long usage, regarded as essential to a 
 proper and well-balanced development of the powers of the 
 mind ; and, in addition, an acquaintance with the elementary 
 principles of those departments of knowledge which enter so 
 largely into the material improvements of the present age. 
 
 The subjects of study, therefore, in this year, should be, in 
 my opinion, somewhat as follows: 
 
 1. Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, and the Evidences 
 of Religion. 
 
 2. Greek and Latin. 
 
 3. History and Political Philosophy. 
 
 4. Certain branches of mixed Mathematics. 
 
 5. Physical Science. 
 
 6. Chemistry. 
 
11 
 
 11 
 
 It 
 
 (I 
 
 11 
 
 (1 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 tt 
 
 It 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 It 
 
 It 
 
 68 
 
 And in addition, Composition, Dissertations on Philosophi- 
 cal subjects, and in History and Political Science, and extem- 
 poraneous discussions. 
 
 Supposing the class to attend twenty hours a week, the 
 time which should be allotted to these subjects respectively 
 might be arranged in this proportion : 
 
 To Philosophy, History, &c, 5 hours per week. 
 " Greek and Latin, 5 
 
 " Physical Science, 3 
 
 " Chemistry, 2 
 
 " Mathematics, (Astronomy,) 3 
 " Composition and Debates, 2 
 
 20 " " " 
 
 Q. "What principle ought to determine the point in the 
 course at which the election should be allowed ? 
 
 Q. What principle should govern as to the studies to be 
 required from all the students ? 
 
 Q. Should there be, after the point fixed for the division, 
 two courses, one of which should be required ? Please to 
 state, fully, your opinion upon the subjects involved in the 
 preceding questions, relative to an election of studies, accom- 
 panied by such practical suggestions as you may think pro- 
 per to make, relative to the subjects proper to be assigned to 
 each course in your own or any other departments of instruc- 
 tion, on which you may be willing to speak in this connec- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. What should be the required Mathematical studies, 
 and in what courses and during what periods, respectively, 
 should they be pursued ? 
 
 A. The close of the Junior year of the undergraduate 
 course seems the most appropriate point for a division of the 
 subsequent studies, because here the more disciplinary and 
 elementary studies are supposed to be completed, and the 
 application of these elementary acquisitions to higher attain- 
 
69 
 
 rnents to commence. At this point, too, the student, having 
 arrived within a year of the termination of his College course, 
 may be supposed to be prepared to select that profession or 
 occupation which he is to follow in after life, and may, there- 
 fore, be presumed competent to decide as between a further 
 purely disciplinary course, and one which has a direct bear- 
 ing upon his future career. As the College proposes to offer 
 both a strictly scholastic education, and also special courses 
 of instruction, it seems most appropriate to mate, at the end 
 of the Junior year, a marked division, retaining a literary 
 or scholastic course, the students in which should be entitled 
 to a full degree, but allowing all who chose to pursue cer- 
 tain elective or substitutional branches, and to receive a 
 special degree adapted to the class of subjects so selected. 
 Thus, in what is called by the Trustees " the Department of 
 Letters," the student should pursue the studies suggested in 
 the previous answer as obligatory ; and, at the conclusion of 
 the first year of that course, on passing a satisfactory exam- 
 ination in all the studies required, should receive a full de- 
 gree of Bachelor of Arts. 
 
 But some of those who had passed through the three pre- 
 vious years might desire to pursue professional studies more 
 exclusively, ami to omit, in whole or in part, purely literary 
 ones ; there would also, no doubt, be applicants for admis- 
 sion to the Scientific Departments, who had not pursued the 
 previous undergraduate course or Classical studies at all. In 
 such cases a distinction should be made between those who 
 wished to continue their literary and classical studies, but 
 yet to devote a greater amount of time to scientific pursuits, 
 and those who desired to pursue merely scientific studies. 
 Those students of the College who had passed, satisfactorily, 
 the final examination of the Junior year in all the depart- 
 ments, but who desired to devote their chief attention to 
 science, might be allowed to pursue a minimum course of 
 classical and literary studies, say two hours a week for each, 
 and substitute, in the hours thus gained, certain scientific 
 studies, and yet receive, at the close of the year, on passing 
 a satisfactory examination, the regular College degree of 
 
70 
 
 B. A. Those, on the other hand, who abandoned their classi- 
 cal studies entirely, and those who had not pursued the pre- 
 vious disciplinary studies, should receive, at the close of the 
 first year of the "Department of Science," on passing a satis- 
 factory examination in the studies of that department, the de- 
 gree of Bachelor of Science. 
 
 In the Department of Jurisprudence, where the Classical, 
 Philosophical and Historical studies would be continued, the 
 same degree (B. A.) should be awarded, at the close of the 
 first year, as in the Senior classical course. 
 
 The further prosecution of the studies of either department 
 for two years, followed by a satisfactory examination at the 
 close, should, in my opinion, entitle a student to the degree 
 of Master of Arts. 
 
 Q. Are the records of the professors, showing the absolute 
 or relative merits of the students, as exhibited by their recita- 
 tions in the lecture-room, or the results of such records, ever 
 communicated or reported to the President or to the Board of 
 the College ? If so, at what times ? 
 
 A. They are not reported either to the President or to the 
 Board, in the case of all the students, so far as I am aware. 
 In the case of those who receive testimonials, the standing of 
 the students recommended for testimonials is presumed to be 
 the result of the records kept by the professors of the recita- 
 tions of the students and of their examinations; but even in 
 these cases they are communicated in no other way than by 
 its being understood that the vote of each professor is deter- 
 mined by what appears from his book. 
 
 . Q. Is any and what use made of such records, or the results 
 of them, and is any reference had to them other than to in- 
 form or govern each professor keeping the record, as to his 
 own department ? 
 
 A. I know of no other use, except that when students are 
 shown by the record to be frequently deficient, a professor 
 sometimes copies such student's account from the record, and 
 makes a special report of his deficiency to the President. Oc- 
 casionally, when a student appears before the College Board, 
 and a question arises as to his standing and habits of applies 
 
71 
 
 tion, reference is made to the records of the professors to fur- 
 nish the information desired. 
 
 Q. Does not the knowledge which the student possesses 
 during the session, that he will have an opportunity to review 
 at the end, induce a very superficial study until the time of 
 review arrives ? 
 
 A. In some cases, no doubt, the student puts off as long as 
 possible applying himself diligently to his tasks, but I do not 
 think it arises from a belief that he will have time to make 
 up his deficiencies during the review ; but that in such cases 
 the somewhat increased application of such students, during 
 that period, arises from the necessity of making the best pre- 
 paration they can for the approaching examination, and that 
 such students work only from the fear of their failure at the 
 public examination, and would no doubt pursue a similar 
 course, if no period were allowed for review. 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Ogden's Office on the 23d June, 
 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor Deislee attended the Committee, and the ques- 
 tions to him were resumed : 
 
 Q. How frequently ought examinations to be held ? 
 
 A. I think that the present system of 'semi-annual exami- 
 nations is sufficient and desirable. I would not recommend 
 any change in the number. 
 
 Q. Are the reports of the results of each examination made 
 to the Board of the College in writing ? 
 
 A. This has not been the custom heretofore, but the Pre- 
 sident, at the conclusion of the last examination, desired the 
 professors to make the reports of the results of the examina- 
 tion to him in writing. It has been usual, before this, for the 
 Board of the College, after each examination, to hold a meet' 
 
72 
 
 ing, at which the President would ask the names of the stu- 
 dents entitled to receive testimonials in each department of 
 study, and the professors would give in their returns verbally. 
 But in the case of those who had failed or who were absent, 
 the names were either written down by the professor, and 
 handed to the President, or read off by the professor, and 
 copied down by the President, so as to be retained by him in 
 a permanent form. 
 
 Q. How long has the practice of making such reports ob- 
 tained ? 
 
 A. As stated in the previous answer, the reports in writing 
 were made only at the conclusion of the last examination. 
 The custom of making the verbal reports has prevailed as 
 far back as I remember. 
 
 Q. What is the nature of such reports in writing ? do they 
 specify only the names of deficient students, or what other in- 
 formation in regard to the results of the examinations do they 
 furnish ? 
 
 A. The reports state, in detail, the character of each per- 
 formance, the number and names of those absent from the 
 examination, and of those who have failed to satisfy the pro- 
 fessor at such examination, as well as of those who have been 
 found deficient, whether requiring to be re-examined or not. 
 The reports also state who is considered, by each professor, to 
 be the student of the best general standing in the class, and 
 gives the names of those entitled to testimonials in each depart- 
 ment of study. 
 
 Q. Are such reports read to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. They are, and one good result from their being read at 
 the meeting of the Board is, that if a student's name appears 
 on one professor's list, as entitled to a testimonial, and on 
 that of another, as having failed in his department, the regu- 
 lation of the Board, which prescribes that a student who fails 
 in one department of study, shall not receive a testimonial 
 in any other department, can be at once carried into effect. 
 
 Q. Does not the Board, in administering the discipline of 
 the Institution, take the results of public examinations as tests 
 of the proficiency of the students, or do they or not take such 
 results into account in awarding testimonials ? 
 
73 
 
 A. The Board does not, in its collective capacity, make the 
 public examination a test of the proficiency of the students, 
 but each professor, I presume, takes the result of the exami- 
 nation into account, in awarding the testimonials in his own 
 department, and the only action of the Board in this respect 
 is the" one alluded to in the latter part of the previous answer. 
 
 Q. Does the President make any note of the results of such 
 examinations, at the time of the examination, in reference to 
 each student? If so, does the note of the President express 
 the relative merit of the student, and by what system or me- 
 thod, or does it only express whether or not a student has 
 failed? 
 
 A. The President was accustomed to make notes of the re- 
 sults of the public examination at the time of the examination, 
 and in reference to each student, until the change at the close 
 of the last session rendered it impossible for him to be present 
 at any one examination, a sufficient length of time, to make 
 such notes of any value. On which account, it became ne- 
 cessary for the professor to take note of the character of the 
 performance of each student, and report in writing to the 
 Board. The notes of the President expressed, I believe, his 
 opinion of the absolute merit of each student's performance ; 
 but I am not prepared to say by what system or method. 
 
 Q. Was the record made by the President read or commu- 
 nicated to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. Not in full. But when a question arose as to the rela- 
 tive merits of several students, the President would read the 
 remarks he had made, at the time of the examination, on the 
 performances of the students in question. If a professor was 
 in doubt as to the relative. merit of two students in his depart- 
 ment, and a marked difference was noted by the President in 
 the performance of the two at the public examination, the 
 professor would sometimes be guided in his decision by the 
 notes of the President. 
 
 Q. Are such records preserved by the President in a me- 
 thodical form, and in what way or form, if any, are they pre- 
 served ? 
 
 A. I do not know, nor do I know that they are ever refer- 
 red to afterwards. 
 
74 
 
 The Committee met at Mr. Ogden's Office on the 24th of 
 June, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor Deisleb attended the Committee, and the ques- 
 tions to him were resumed : 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that examinations upon the 
 course of a session previously pursued should be conducted 
 by adepts not officers of the College ? 
 
 A. I would not, except in those examinations which are 
 held for the prizes. 
 
 Q. Should the public examinations be conducted by the 
 professor, in the presence of adepts, appointed with power to 
 propose questions, and to report upon the results to the Board 
 of the College or to the Trustees, in conjunction with the ex- 
 amining professor ? 
 
 A. I think the public examination should be conducted by 
 the professor who has instructed the class in that branch of 
 study in which it is to be examined, and that it is desirable 
 that persons selected for the purpose, acquainted with the 
 subject under examination, should be present, and note the 
 character of the performance of each student. I think, also, 
 that they should not take part in the examination, by them- 
 selves proposing questions, but might have the right to sug- 
 gest questions connected with the subject, to be put by the 
 professor, to any student under examination, at the close of 
 his examination. Each professor, in conjunction with the 
 examiner associated with him, should draw up a joint-report, 
 exhibiting the results of the examination as applied to each 
 student in the class, and such report should be made to the 
 Board of the College, which, being entered upon their minutes, 
 should thus also come before the Trustees. 
 
 Q. Who should be present at the examinations upon the 
 course of a session, held at the conclusion of it? 
 
75 
 
 A. The President and the professors; persons not offi- 
 cers of the College, selected by the Trustees with reference 
 to their acquaintance with the subject under examination ; 
 one or more members of the Board of Trustees similarly 
 selected ; a Committee of Alumni of the College, invited by 
 the Trustees to co-operate with them ; parents of the students, 
 and others who feel sufficient interest in the subject to attend 
 on such occasions. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to 
 require the attendance and testimony of any student, adversely 
 to a fellow-student, on a charge against the latter ? 
 
 A. Such power might as well be abrogated, as it is never 
 enforced. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, punishment to be pronounced 
 in the presence of the assembled students, or what regulation 
 would you recommend relative to the mode of pronouncing 
 punishments ? 
 
 A. In the case of serious punishments, such as suspension, 
 dismission or expulsion, the announcement of the sentence 
 should be made to the students on the first occasion of their 
 assembling thereafter. I would not, however, advise such 
 announcement to be made in the chapel, as inappropriate to 
 a place for religious services; and we have as yet no other 
 room where all the classes meet in common. 
 
 Q. Do the Board of the College keep a book of the minutes 
 of their proceedings ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Are the contents of this book read to the Board of the 
 College or approved by them? If so, how long has this 
 practice been observed ? 
 
 A. At each regular meeting of the Board of the College, 
 the minutes of the previous meeting are read first in order, 
 and the question of their correctness is put. If any inaccu- 
 racy has been observed by any member of the Board, he 
 may call in question the accuracy of the minutes. He may 
 have them corrected, if the inaccuracy is obvious ; or, if doubt 
 
76 
 
 exists, the question of their accuracy is submitted to the Board. 
 This practice has obtained since May, 1856. 
 
 Q. Have the Board at any time appointed a clerk ? 
 
 A. Until President Moore's time, the minutes, so far as I 
 know, were kept by the Junior professor, acting as clerk. 
 President Moore assumed that duty himself, and President 
 King followed the practice he found existing when he came 
 into office as President. At a meeting of the Board of the 
 College, held May 1856, some discussion having arisen as 
 to the impropriety of throwing the burden of keeping the 
 minutes of the Board upon the President, it was suggested 
 that it might be desirable to return to the practice which 
 formerly prevailed, by assigning the duty of keeping the min- 
 utes to the Junior professor ; whereupon, Professor McCulloh 
 remarked that he, as Junior professor, was willing to under- 
 take that duty. The other professors expressed their assent 
 to this arrangement, and the President either expressed his 
 assent or made no opposition ; but the question was not dis- 
 tinctly put for approval or rejection, and the whole proceed- 
 ing was an informal one. 
 
 Q. By whom were the minutes kept, after the action by 
 the Board or agreement of its members, to which you have 
 referred in your last answer ? 
 
 A. By the President. 
 
 Q. Have the Board ever rescinded their action, by which 
 Prof. McCulloh was to perform the duties of clerk ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. "Why has not Prof. McCulloh, since his appointment as 
 clerk, kept the minutes of the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. -At the next meeting of the College Board, the Presi- 
 dent announced that he did not regard the appointment of 
 Prof. McCulloh, to be clerk of the Board, as an official act of 
 the Board, and that he intended to keep the minutes himself, 
 as he had previously done. 
 
 Q. Has Professor McCulloh ever resigned his office a3 
 clerk ? 
 
 A. He has not, to my knowledge — indeed, he has never 
 acted as such. 
 
77 
 
 Q. Has the Board, or any member thereof, at its meetings, 
 excepted in any way to the President's thus assuming the 
 keeping of the minutes of the Board, after the appointment 
 of a clerk? 
 
 A. At the meeting of the Board of the College, after the 
 informal action in relation to Prof. McCulloh, remarks were 
 made and motions proposed by one or two members of the 
 Board, intending to assert the right of the Board of the Col- 
 lege to keep its own minutes, in opposition to the views of 
 the President. A difference of opinion existed among the 
 professors as to the proper interpretation of the clause of the 
 statutes upon this point. The subject was discussed for two or 
 three successive meetings, and was eventually laid upon the 
 table by a vote of the Board, I think. 
 
 Q. On motions made to the Board of the College, as to 
 matters within their authority, is or is not the question put 
 by the President to the Board for their decision, in cases in 
 which the President has declared that if the motions were 
 carried he would withhold his concurrence? Has the Presi- 
 dent ever, within your knowledge, refused to put the question, 
 on the ground that he meant to withhold his concurrence ? 
 
 A. The only case of the kind that I remember is the one 
 which appears on the minutes of the Board, under the date 
 of 2d May, 1856; and the account there given I believe to 
 be correct. The President, on one or two other occasions, 
 made a somewhat similar declaration, but afterwards, I be- 
 lieve, changed his opinion. 
 
 Q. Are you engaged in any professional pursuit from 
 whicli you derive emolument, and which is not connected 
 with the College ? 
 
 A. I have charge of a school, by consent of the Board of 
 Trustees, in which students are prepared for entrance into 
 the College, and from whicli I derive emolument in addition 
 to my College salary. My connection witli the school, how- 
 ever, is to be discontinued at the termination of the present 
 school year. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestions to make relative to the prac- 
 tical working of the chapter of the statutes on the Board of 
 the College, or to the propriety of any amendments to it ? 
 
78 
 
 A. I have no material alteration to suggest in these re- 
 spects. The duties of the Board, of which the President, also, 
 is a member, and ex-officio its presiding officer, seem to me 
 to be laid down in the present statutes with sufficient defi- 
 niteness, and the distinctive powers of the President and the 
 Board sufficiently secured by proper checks and limits. The 
 President has the general supervision of the College, and is 
 empowered " to perform such acts generally as shall promote 
 the interests of the Institution, so that they do not contra- 
 vene the charter, the statutes nor the decisions of the Board 
 of the College?'' He is, therefore, restrained from altering 
 arbitrarily any act of the Board, or from superseding or dis- 
 regarding its enactments ; while, as a member of the same, he 
 has the right to propose or advocate any proper measure. 
 On the other hand, the President has a negative on the pro- 
 ceedings of the Board, and they cannot pass any measure 
 without his approval. The Board is thus prevented from 
 attempting, by any arbitrary enactment, to thwart or em- 
 barrass the President of the College. If the Board of 
 Trustees met but once a year, it might be deemed advi- 
 sable to lay down more strictly defined powers and privi- 
 leges for the guidance of those thus subjected to their control ; 
 but in our own case, if a difference of opinion arises as to the 
 extent of powers or privileges of the President or Board, or 
 of interpretation of a statute, the question may be sub- 
 mitted at once, within a month at farthest, for solution, to the 
 judgment of the enacting body. In the practical details of 
 the College system it seems to me better to leave a wide dis- 
 cretion to the judgment of the members of the Board. They 
 should feel most deeply interested in the success of the Insti- 
 tution, and it should be their endeavor to make all their con- 
 sultations and acts contribute to its harmony, welfare and 
 success. By a few general directions as to the extent and 
 limit of the respective spheres of President and professors, 
 (such as the present statute,) and by the appointment of 
 judicious, zealous and faithful men to the position of profes- 
 sors, the Trustees would, in my opinion, be more likely 
 
79 
 
 to secure harmonious and useful action in their College 
 council, than by the enactment of a more stringent body of 
 statutes. Differences of opinion as to tbe interpretation of a 
 statute can best be settled by the body which passed it. The 
 Committee Lave inquired into the usage which has prevailed 
 with regard to keeping the minutes of the Board. This is one 
 of those questions which must be settled by the Board of 
 Trustees : if it be designed that the duty referred to shall be 
 thrown upon the President, the statute should state this fact ; 
 if otherwise, the statute should prescribe that the minutes be 
 kept by a member of the Board, other than the President, and 
 should define the mode of his appointment. 
 
 Q. The Committee observe, from the minutes of the Board 
 of the College, that on several occasions such Board has ad- 
 judged that students should be " dropped from the rolls of 
 the College." Will you please inform the Committee 
 what is intended by such a sentence ? Is dismissal or expul- 
 sion intended ? 
 
 A. I understand it to be equivalent to expulsion in effect, 
 without the odium of the name. 
 
 Q. Why is not the form of designation of the punishment 
 used which the statutes prescribe ? 
 
 A. I do not know any satisfactory reason for the change, ex- 
 cept so far as the designation applies to the case of those who, 
 having absented themselves for along time from College, had 
 failed to appear when cited, and who might not have received 
 the citation. 
 
 Q. Have or have not students been cited before the 
 Board of the College to answer for their absence from the 
 public examination ? 
 
 A. JSIot to my recollection. 
 
 Q. Are they in any and what way called upon for excuses 
 for such absences ? 
 
 A. The duty of receiving their excuses rests with the Presi- 
 dent, and he has been, I believe, accustomed to call upon 
 them for the reasons for their absence on such occasions. 
 
 Q. What excuses are accepted as sufficient ? 
 
80 
 
 A. Sickness, or inclemency of the weather, in certain cases 
 where students reside out of the city. I cannot answer more 
 fully on this head. 
 
 Q. Is there, in your judgment, any, and if any, what defect 
 in the administration of the discipline of the College, in re- 
 spect to such absences from the examination? Ought not 
 the students to be summoned before the Board to answer for 
 such absence as a distinct offence ? 
 
 A. I think that absences from the examinations occur too 
 frequently ; and, no doubt, in some instances, a student ab- 
 sents himself from the fear of failure at the public examina- 
 tion, and in the hope of securing a private one. Such ab- 
 sences ought to be prevented, if possible ; and it would, no 
 doubt, tend to diminish their number, if the Board re- 
 garded such absence, except from sickness or physical 
 inability to be present, a misdemeanor, for which the of- 
 fender should be summoned to account before the Board. A 
 student voluntarily absenting himself from the public exam- 
 ination should not be examined in private, but be required 
 to pass his examination before the President and professors. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 any causes or considerations that may have induced the Board 
 of the College to allow the continuance in the College of stu- 
 dents found deficient at the concluding examination, and to 
 give your opinion as to whether or not the experience of the 
 Institution shows that the exclusion of students found defi- 
 cient at such examinations is inexpedient ? 
 
 A. The Board of the College have, in certain cases, deemed 
 it expedient to allow students found deficient at the conclud- 
 ing examination to endeavor to make up their deficiencies 
 during the ensuing vacation, and to present themselves for a 
 re-examination at the opening of the ensuing term : if on 
 such examination, the student has made up his deficiencies, 
 he is likely to go on successfully with the studies of his class. 
 If a student has been prevented by sickness, or other causes 
 deemed satisfactory to the President and the Board, from 
 passing a satisfactory examination, and by the same cause or 
 
81 
 
 causes has been prevented from pursuing his studies during 
 the vacation, he has, in some instances, been allowed to con- 
 tinue with bis class, in the expectation and under a promise 
 that he will make up, with due diligence, his former de- 
 ficiency. In some cases this has been done; but in the 
 greater number of instances it ha3 not been done ; and I 
 have no doubt that the exclusion of such students would, in 
 a measure, have improved the discipline of the institution, 
 and have saved to the professors much time and labor con- 
 sumed by their inattention and neglect of duty. 
 
 At Mr. Ogden's Office, 
 
 7th July, 1857. 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor Dbislee attended the Committee, and the ques- 
 tions to him were resumed : 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 whether the two students of the Sophomore class who were 
 expelled on the 1st June, 1854, were afterwards allowed to 
 continue their attendance with their class? 
 
 A. They were subsequently in attendance with their class. 
 
 Q. Is proper order preserved amongst the students in the 
 College at other times than when they are attending the lec- 
 ture-rooms ? 
 
 A. I do not think there is, especially when a class is dis- 
 missed before the termination of the hour at which their lec- 
 ture should properly close. My own class has frequently been 
 disturbed by students of other classes so dismissed. 
 
 Q. How frequently, and from what professor or professors, 
 are students dismissed before the termination of the hour ? 
 
 A. I cannot state very definitely the frequency of such dis- 
 missals, but probably they have happened five or six times 
 during the past year ; nor do I know with certainty in every 
 
 6e 
 
82 
 
 case from what professor's room ; but on one or two occa- 
 sions, when complaint was made to the President of such 
 disturbance, he has stated that the students were dismissed 
 by Professor McVickar. 
 
 Q. What measures, if any, are taken to repress or punish 
 such disorder? 
 
 A. The President has directed the Janitor, in cases that 
 have come to my knowledge, to order the students so dis? 
 missed, if in the last hour, to leave the green quietly, and to 
 report to him any disobedience to his orders. When the dis- 
 turbance occurred before the last hour, he has sometimes di- 
 rected the students engaged in causing disturbance to repair 
 to the chapel or to his own room. I do not remember that 
 any were punished or cited before the Board solely for such 
 disorder. 
 
 Q. What do you consider the order that a class should ob- 
 serve during lecture ? 
 
 A. I think that a class, during lecture, should retain their 
 seats ; should refrain from conversation which would distract 
 their own attention or attract the notice of the professor ; 
 should refrain from all noises which would disturb the course 
 of the professor's instruction, and from every act which would 
 attract the attention or excite the laughter of members of 
 the. class ; and should pay such attention either to the lecture 
 of the professor or to their text-book, that if asked about any 
 point under discussion in the lecture or in the recitation, they 
 could give a satisfactory answer. 
 
 Q. In cases of disorder in your room, when they do occur, 
 of what nature is it ? 
 
 A. A student sometimes talks too loud ; sometimes laughs ; 
 sometimes is inattentive, or seeks to get information from a 
 neighboring student — which he should have got at home — or 
 tries to consult stealthily the notes appended to his text-book, 
 when he should be attending to the recitation. I do not 
 think of any other. 
 
 Q. How often does such disorder occur ? 
 
 A. Ordinary cases of the kind above mentioned occur, 
 perhaps, daily. 
 
83 
 
 Q. Are you able to detect the guilty students ? 
 
 A. I am generally able to do 60. 
 
 Q. Do you report all cases of disorder that occur in your 
 room ? 
 
 A. I do not, for the reason that no disorder occurs of a na- 
 ture to interfere with the proper business of the room ; and 
 the student, when reminded of his impropriety, immediately 
 becomes orderly and attentive. 
 
 Q. How many have you reported for the year last past ? 
 
 A. None for disorder. 
 
 Q. What offence do you consider sufficient to cause the 
 dismission of a student from the room, or the calling him to 
 answer in any way ? 
 
 A. I should consider it a sufficient cause to require the 
 dismissal of a student from the room, if he were to persist in 
 any violation of propriety, after having been called to order, 
 or if he were wilfully to commit any act to excite the merri- 
 ment of his classmates, or to interfere with the proper busi- 
 ness of the room — or if I should detect him in bringing into 
 the room any forbidden article, or any substance of such a 
 nature as to cause a noise or an unpleasant odor, or if he 
 were insolent towards the professor, in manner or language. 
 
 Q. How often do you find it necessary to dismiss a student 
 from the room, and what further notice is taken of such cases ? 
 
 A. I have not found it necessary in several years to send 
 a student from the room on acconnt of misconduct. 
 
 Q. For what offences do you consider it necessary to order 
 a student to appear before the Board of the College, and do 
 you, after such citation, ever excuse him ; and if so, for what 
 cause or on what excuse ? 
 
 A. I would consider it necessary that a student whose con- 
 duct was such as to require his dismission from the room, 
 should be cited to appear before the Board of the College, 
 and I would be unwilling to excuse him from so appearing, 
 unless he could show very clearly that there was good reason 
 to suppose that I had made some mistake in regard to his 
 conduct. 
 
 Q. Are there any suggestions that you can make that 
 
84: 
 
 would insure good order during the time of lecture or recita- 
 tion in your room ? 
 
 A. I believe that good order generally prevails in my room 
 at present ; and I think the most effectual way to insure its 
 continuance is to be in earnest and fully prepared in the 
 subject-matter of the recitation or lecture myself, and to keep 
 the students of the class as busily occupied as possible, and 
 to endeavor to make the recitation instructive to them. 
 
 Q. Do yon, during the hour of their attendance upon you, 
 allow any of the students to be engaged with the studies of 
 any other department? 
 
 A. I do not. 
 
 Q. Do you ever dismiss your classes before the termination 
 of the hour which they should spend with you ; and if so, for 
 what reasons ? 
 
 A. I do not. 
 
 Q. How long, usually, when students have permission to 
 leave the room, do they remain absent? 
 
 A. Perhaps two or three minutes. 
 
 Q. Do they ever remain absent longer than for that period ; 
 if so, how often ? 
 
 A. Sometimes, but infrequently. 
 
 Q. If they are absent longer than is reasonable, or if they 
 do not return, what notice is taken of it? 
 
 A. If a student does not return after receiving permission 
 to leave the room, which very rarely happens, lie is reported 
 at the end of the week as having absented himself from the 
 iroom after being present in it. If he is absent a longer time 
 ithan seems reasonable, unless he can account for such absence 
 satisfactorily, he is refused permission to leave the room the 
 following day, or perhaps for several days. 
 
 Q. How many receive such permission within the hour ? 
 
 A. When the class is with me but one hour at a time, per- 
 mission to leave the room is very rarely asked and very 
 ■rarely accorded. But when the whole class, or a section of it, 
 remains with me a second hour, and, as it has been sometimes, 
 .a third hour, I have deemed it but reasonable to grant per- 
 mission to leave the room to every student who might ask. 
 
85 
 
 In such cases, probably eight to ten may leave within the 
 hour. 
 
 Q. How many are ever suffered to be absent at the same 
 time? 
 
 A. Not more than one, except in a few instances, where a 
 student after receiving permission to leave the room has been 
 sent for by me. 
 
 Q. Do they ever, and how frequently, not return ? 
 
 A. In two or three cases, I think, during the past year, a 
 student after receiving permission from me to leave the room, 
 has been allowed by the President to go home on account of 
 sickness or other sufficient reason. I do not remember 
 any case during the past year of a student's not returning to 
 my room, after being allowed to leave it, without such per- 
 mission. 
 
 Q. Do you ever fail to meet your class at the appointed 
 time? How often have you done so in the three years last 
 past, and for what cause ? 
 
 A. I do not usually, and I have but once in the past three 
 years been later than the appointed time; and on that 
 occasion I started from home at the usual time by my watch, 
 but on reaching College found that chapel service had been 
 over about ten minutes. The class was kept waiting for me 
 in the chapel by the President. I have usually made it a 
 matter of duty to be present at chapel services, and have very 
 rarely failed of being present at them. 
 
 Q. Upon the assembling of the class in your room, do you 
 yourself call the roll, and mark who of the students are absent 
 and who present ? 
 
 A. I always do it myself. 
 
 Q. How soon after the bell ceases ringing does the call 
 commence? 
 
 A. Within two or three minutes, or as soon as eight or ten 
 students of the class have entered the room. 
 
 Q. What time is allowed for the class to enter and take 
 their seats before the recitation or lecture commences ? 
 
 A. I allow three minutes after the ringing of the bell for the 
 students to enter and take their seats, but mark as late any 
 
86 
 
 one who enters after that time. I do not, however, wait the 
 three minutes before commencing the recitation, whether the 
 students are all in or not. 
 
 Q. How long does the roll-call continue ? 
 
 A. Probably not more than a minute. 
 
 Q. Are the students regular in their attendance upon 
 College lectures ? 
 
 A. In the Freshman class, until the last session, the stu- 
 dents have been pretty regular in their attendance ; but 
 during the past session there have been more absences in that 
 class than I have ever known before in the same period, 
 owing in part to the unusually inclement weather, and in part 
 to the discomfort of a newly-finished building. 
 
 Q. In case of absence from your lecture-room of a student, 
 what notice do you take of it ? 
 
 A. I mark him on the roll of the class as absent, and make 
 a report at the end of the week to the Board of all absences 
 during that week. The President is expected to call upon a 
 student, reported for absence, to bring from his parent or 
 guardian a written excuse for such absence, stating the reason 
 or cause of it. The usage has prevailed that the Professor 
 considers his duty in the matter performed when he has made 
 his written report to the Board of the College. 
 
 Q. Do you ever excuse the student without reporting the 
 absence to the President or to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. Never. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any instance in which a student has 
 been on the same day absent from the room of one professor 
 and present in the room of another ? 
 
 A. I have known of many such cases. 
 
 , Q. How did you acquire this knowledge ? 
 
 A. By a comparison of our reports of the absences of 
 students from different lecture-rooms, made to the Board of 
 the College at the end of the week, on which occasions each 
 professor reads aloud his own report, and the other profes- 
 sors sometimes draw the attention of the President or of 
 each other to the fact, that a student reported as absent on 
 
87 
 
 some one day from the room of one professor has been pre- 
 sent in that of another. 
 
 Q. Was any, and if any, what action had by the Board of 
 the College in regard to any such cases? 
 
 A. I do not remember that a student was brought before 
 the Board specially for such an offence ; but it has been al- 
 leged as part of the misconduct of a student, in bringing him 
 before the Board of the College for continued neglect of duty, 
 and has been remarked upon by the President and members 
 of the Board as a serious misdemeanor. 
 
 Q. Do you preserve a daily record of the attendance of 
 your classes ? 
 
 A. I do. 
 
 Q. How is it ascertained by the President what students 
 are absent from the lectures of the professors on each day? 
 
 A. By the written reports of the professors, read at the 
 weekly meetings of the Board, and then handed to the Presi- 
 dent for preservation. 
 
 Q. In case of the absence of a student, either from one 
 lecture room, or several, or all, what is done in reference to 
 the case ? 
 
 A. In the first instance, the President, after receiving the 
 weekly reports of the professors, calls upon the students, re- 
 ported therein for absence,' to bring him a written excuse for 
 such absence from their parents or guardians, and with this 
 each professor considers that he has nothing to do — his duty 
 being performed in making the report; but if the absence is 
 continued for several weeks, especially if it is known that a 
 student has been in attendance in the room of any professor 
 during that time, or that he is not sick, a professor from 
 whose room he thus absents himself considers it his duty to 
 make a special report in the case of such student, and to call 
 upon the President to ascertain the reason for such continued 
 absence : on such a demand, the President, if he does not 
 obtain a satisfactory answer, sometimes cites the delinquent 
 to appear before the Board ; where, if he appears, he is pun- 
 ished as the Board judge expedient, or, if he does not appear, 
 as has sometimes occurred, his name is dropped from the 
 
88 
 
 rolls of the College— that haB been the phraseology of the 
 sentence. 
 
 Q. What excuses are accepted as sufficient? 
 
 A. That is a matter left with the President. 
 
 Q. Does the President accept and allow excuses for all 
 absences, however long, without calling for the interference 
 of the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. "When a student, from sickness or other cause, has been 
 absent from College, whether for a longer or shorter period 
 of time, without having given intimation of the cause to the 
 Board, he, on his return, is expected, to bring from his parent 
 or guardian a written excuse, assigning the reason or cause 
 of such absence, and of the validity of this the President is 
 considered the judge; but when, from previous sickness or 
 other necessary, cause, a studen.t is compelled to absent him- 
 self from College, and makes application for leave of absence, 
 although, the statutes give the power of granting such leave 
 of absence to the President, he frequently (generally, I be- 
 lieve) lays the application before the Board of the College, 
 asking their counsel in the matter, and submitting the pro- 
 priety of granting permission to their decision. When such 
 permission is granted, it is commonly understood that the 
 student, on his return, shall be allowed to join his class with- 
 out examination, unless the contrary is specially stated. In 
 ordinary cases, the President receives the excuses for absence, 
 and judges of their sufficiency without the 1 action pf the 
 Board ; but where a student is frequently absent, or for a con- 
 siderable length of timej any professor may make a special 
 report of such absence, which is to be acted upon, unless the 
 President states that he has received a satisfactory excuse for 
 the absence reported, which is then-read or submitted by him 
 to the Board. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any cases of absence as long as from 
 one to twelve months? If so, state the length of absence in 
 each case within your knowledge, specifying when the student 
 ceased his attendance, and when he returned, and whether 
 he had leave of absence, and for what term. 
 
 A. I know of instances of students who have been absent 
 
89 
 
 for a period of a month and upwards. As I have kept a roll 
 of the Freshman class only, I can specify only the instances 
 of absence which Lave occurred in that class. The following 
 list comprises the names of students who have been absent 
 from College for a month and upwards within the last three 
 years, with the dates of such absence : 
 
 1S54-5. 
 flame. 
 1. Reid. 
 
 Period of absence. 
 From April 18th to end of 
 June. 
 Jones. " May 23d to end of June. 
 
 3. Cooper. " June 4th to end of ses- 
 
 1855-6. 
 
 4. Minturn. 
 
 5. Toy. 
 
 6. Rogers. 
 
 7. Martine. 
 
 8. Thorn. 
 
 9. Jenks. 
 10. Brown. 
 
 From January 1st to about 
 
 February 1st. 
 " March 17th to May 26th. 
 " April 16th to May 12th, 
 
 and from May 14th to 
 
 end of June. 
 
 From Dee. 19th to Jan. 20th. 
 " Nov. 24th to Jan. 23d. 
 " Mar. 2d to end of June. 
 " Ap'l 13th to May 15th. 
 
 Cause, and ly whom excused. 
 Sick, and excused by President — 
 
 withdrawn from College. 
 
 Visited Europe with his father — 
 
 had leave of absence from the 
 
 Board, (I think.) 
 
 Leave of absence given by the 
 
 Board, (I think.) 
 
 Sick, and went South by permis- 
 sion of President, (I think.) 
 Sickness. 
 Sick, and withdrawn from Col- 
 
 Absent without permission. 
 
 Do. do. 
 
 Sickness. 
 By permission of the President. 
 
 Q. In each case how was the absence excused, and was the 
 case brought to the notice of the Board of the College ? Did 
 they act upon it, and was their action entered upon their 
 minutes ? If the case was not brought to the notice of the 
 Board of the College, or they did not actupon it, or it was not 
 entered on their minutes, please to explain the reason for the 
 course which was adopted. 
 
 A. In the list given in the previous answer, those students 
 who are stated to have been absent from sickness, were ex- 
 cused by notes to the President, from their parents or guardians, 
 on their return to College. In one or two instances it was 
 deemed advisable that the student, after recovery from his 
 sickness, should not return immediately to College, and in 
 those instances, at the request of the parent, the President 
 
90 
 
 granted a leave of absence for a specified time, to the student, 
 to seek the benefit of change of climate. These facts were 
 all communicated to the Board of the College. To those who 
 went abroad, permission was granted by the Board, at the 
 request of the parent, made through the President ; the as- 
 sent of the Board, in their case, was a part of its regular 
 proceedings, and entered upon its minutes, I presume; I 
 cannot state positively, as I have not referred to the minutes 
 for the purpose. The students who are stated to have been 
 absent without permission, were ordered before the Board by 
 the President, because of insufficient excuses from home ; one 
 was suspended, the other withdrawn from College. 
 
 Q. In reference to each case, please to state whether, upon 
 his return to the College, the student was examined before he 
 was suffered to resume his attendance. 
 
 A. The only one of the number who was required to sub- 
 mit to an examination was the student who was suspended, 
 and the examination was imposed as a part of the sentence. 
 Two, from continued illness, were withdrawn from College ; 
 one was withdrawn at the suggestion of the Board ; the rest, 
 as far as my recollection goes, were allowed, on their return, 
 to join their class, without examination. 
 
 Q. In reference to each case, by whose authority was the 
 student suffered to renew his attendance ? 
 
 A. When the Board gives leave of absence, for a specified 
 time, to a student, the practice has been, unless the contrary 
 was expressly stated, to allow the student, at the expiration 
 of the time, to join his class, without examination. The same 
 practice has prevailed in case of those to whom leave of ab- 
 sence has been granted by the President. When a student 
 is absent from sickness, if, on his return, he brings to the 
 President a satisfactory statement from his parent or guardian, 
 he is allowed to join his class without examination, provided 
 no public examination has been held during the period of 
 such absence. In each case referred to the usual practice 
 was observed. 
 
 Q. What extent of authority ought a professor to have in 
 his room and over the students for the preservation of order ? 
 
91 
 
 A. I think that a professor should have entire control of 
 the discipline and studies of Ids class while in his lecture- 
 room, subject only to the general supervision of the President, 
 as the representative of the Board of Trustees, but that the 
 President should not supersede or control, in any way, the 
 power of the professor over his class. 
 
 Q. What are the means to which professors usually resort 
 to repress or punish disorder occurring in their rooms ? 
 
 A. Admonition; warning that a repetition of or continuance 
 in disorder would require a student's dismissal from the room ; 
 such dismissal ; and, finally, an order to appear before the 
 Board of the College. 
 
 Q. Ought a professor, in your judgment, to have the power 
 to dismiss a student from his room for the residue of the 
 lecture or recitation ; and if so, for what reason ? 
 
 A. In my judgment, he ought ; and for refusal to behave 
 properly when admonished by the professor, or for any con- 
 duct which prevents the professor from continuing the in- 
 struction of his class. 
 
 Q. "What objections have been made against the exercise 
 of this power by a professor ? 
 
 A. That students seek the opportunity of being dismissed 
 from the room by a professor, and thus convert what should 
 be a punishment to a means of amusement or release from 
 duty. 
 
 Q. What would be the effect of calling in the aid of the 
 President in the midst of a lecture or recitation for the en- 
 forcement of order ? 
 
 A. It would weaken, and in fact almost destroy the control 
 of a professor over his class. 
 
 Q. Are the students punctual in their attendance upon 
 your lecture-room ? If not, what proportion are late, and 
 what is the extent of their want of punctuality ? 
 
 A. With few exceptions they are punctual, and of those 
 few who are not so, the majority are tardy from circumstan- 
 ces over which they have no control. I do not think that 
 more than three or four in the class of forty-six are habitually 
 
92 
 
 late voluntarily, and in the cases last referred to, the tardi- 
 ness amounts to from five to fifteen minutes. 
 
 Q. Can you give the Committee any information, derived 
 from your own observation, concerning the order or disorder 
 of the students while in attendance in the lecture-room of any 
 other professor ? 
 
 A. I cannot. 
 
 10th July, 1857, at Mr. Ogden's Ofiice. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor Deisler attended the Committee, and his exam- 
 ination was resumed : 
 
 Q. Will you please to state to the Committee by whom 
 and upon what evidence testimonials, whether general or 
 special, are awarded ? 
 
 A. The general testimonial is awarded by a majority of 
 the votes of the professors who have had charge of the class in 
 which the testimonial is assigned, and these votes are given 
 either viva voce or in writing. The special testimonials are 
 assigned in the different departments of study by the profes- 
 sor in each department, who prepares a list of those entitled 
 to the testimonials in his department, and hands this list to 
 the President, at a meeting of the Board, convened for the 
 purpose of settling the testimonials. No evidence is sub- 
 mitted to the Board, but each professor is governed in his 
 vote and in the lists of names submitted, by his own judg- 
 ment, however formed. 
 
 Q. Is the record kept by the several professors submitted 
 to the Board of the College, upon the awarding general testi- 
 monials, or the President, upon the awarding special testi- 
 monials ; or is this record or its results considered by the 
 Board of the College or by the President as the evidence 
 upon which they proceed ; or do they judge from the verbal 
 representations of each professor ? 
 
93 
 
 A. The record kept by the several professors is not sub- 
 mitted to the Board of the College on awarding either 
 general or special testimonials. The results of the record 
 kept by each professor are presumed to be the basis upon 
 which he forms his own judgment in awarding testimonials ; 
 but neither the record itself nor its results are actually sub- 
 mitted for the consideration of the Board of the College. 
 The results of the examination enter into the awarding of 
 testimonials, in so far as a professor may object, if a student 
 is named by another professor as entitled to a testimonial in 
 his department, to his receiving this testimonial, in case he 
 has failed at the public examination in the department of 
 the objecting professor. The student thus objected to by any 
 professor is prevented thereby from receiving any testimonial. 
 
 Q. In awarding general or special testimonials, do you 
 govern your action exclusively by the showing of the record 
 of the performances of the students kept by you, or are you 
 guided at all, and if so, to what extent, by your general im- 
 pressions ? 
 
 A. In awarding the general testimonials, I am guided by 
 my record of the performances of the students, as exhibited 
 in the average of numbers or marks of the session. In regard 
 to special testimonials, I find it difficult, and sometimes im- 
 possible, to be guided solely by the average numbers or 
 marks of the students in each particular branch of study in 
 my department. The difficulty arises from the fact that 
 sometimes there are several students whose marks are exactly 
 equal, and in such case it is impossible to select one for the 
 testimonial, without making allowance in some other way for 
 the others, or else doing injustice to those who are not 
 honored. In such cases I have been obliged to compromise 
 between different branches of 6tudy, in awarding special 
 testimonials, and thus have had sometimes to give a first 
 testimonial in one branch, to a student whose average, per- 
 haps, was second in that branch, while in certain other 
 branches his average on the record has been equal to the 
 first, and he was excluded from any testimonial in those 
 branches. In such estimates, however, I have relied entirely 
 
94 
 
 upon the record, and not upon general impressions. This 
 applies to the last year. 
 
 Q. Can you state any material facts concerning testimo- 
 nials or the awarding them ? And please make any recom- 
 mendations you may think proper on the subject of testimo- 
 nials, honors or prizes. 
 
 A. The present mode of awarding a first and second testi- 
 monial, for excellence in each department of study, seems to 
 fail of attaining the object in view. On every occasion of 
 awarding the testimonials, a difficulty arises in selecting the 
 proper recipients. The professors rarely, I imagine, feel 
 entirely satisfied with the asvard, and scarcely ever satisfy 
 the expectations of students. The object sought to be attained, 
 by awarding the testimonials, is to create a wider and more 
 earnest degree of study in the class at large ; but practically 
 the influence is limited to a third of the class at farthest, and 
 all the others are hopelessly cut off from any other induce- 
 ment except the satisfaction arising from the consciousness of 
 mental improvement. Now, if the stimulus of honors and 
 awards is good for the more able and ambitious of the class, 
 it is certainly equally, if not more necessary, for the rest. The 
 decision, which assigns absolutely a first and second testimo- 
 nial, where there are several competitors, who are sometimes 
 almost or quite equal in the average of their marks for reci- 
 tations, tends to discourage those who are passed over ; 
 especially since, if they just fall short of a testimonial, they fall 
 at once into the undistinguished mass. For example, if in 
 the average of marks at the end of a session, one student has 
 10, and two others 9f-, and several others between 9 and 10, 
 and the professor is obliged to assign, besides the first testi- 
 monial to the one who has 10, a second to one of the others, 
 and to pass over without honorable distinction the rest, the 
 professor seems to act unjustly, and the students who thus 
 fail of obtaining the public recognition of their real merit ; 
 and standing by the College authorities, may feel aggrieved 
 with some show of reason, and may thereby become discour- 
 aged. If, however, in place of this absolute distinction of a 
 first and second in each department of study, certain stand- 
 
95 
 
 ards of attainment are agreed upon, and the professor, ac- 
 cording to the average of marks received by the students for 
 recitations during each session, distributes the members of the 
 class into grades, without limiting the number of students who 
 may enter each grade, but determining the admission by the 
 average of marks, the stimulus will extend throughout the 
 entire class, and each member will feel that he has it in his 
 own power, according to his ability, to regulate his standing, 
 or, at any rate, that according to his industry or indolence 
 will be his position in the result of the distribution of the 
 class into grades at the end of each session. The mode of 
 establishing the standard for the different grades would be 
 by the numerical system alluded to in a previous answer, 
 (pp. 23, 24.) It might be found advisable to establish five 
 grades, in which the average resulting from marks for recita- 
 tion and at the public examination should be as follows : 
 
 Grade. Average ofMarkt. 
 
 1 9—10 
 
 2 8—9 
 
 3 6—8 
 
 4 4— 6 
 
 5 3—4 
 
 All those whose average in the different departments fell 
 below the fifth grade, to be ipso facto required to enter the 
 next lower class, or dropped from the rolls of the College. 
 
 Q. Is proper order, in your opinion, preserved at Com- 
 mencements ? 
 
 A. Not always. 
 
 Q. What is the cause of the disorder which occurs ? 
 
 A. The disorder, which occasionally prevails at our Com- 
 mencements, is caused partly by the students themselves, and 
 partly by their friends and acquaintances, who are frequently 
 present on such occasions for the sake of what they consider 
 a little sport. It is a fault of voluntary assemblages, espe- 
 cially of young men, where a favor seems to be conferred by 
 attending, to be prone to indulge their whims of the moment, 
 
96 
 
 without regard to the courtesy due to older persons and ladies 
 who may be present. This disposition is not confined to our 
 own College, or city, or country. Mr. Bristed, in his " Five 
 Years in an English University," says, " I may say here, that 
 English young gentlemen, at a public meeting, are more un- 
 gentlemanly than any class of our people; they never look 
 upon the occasion in a serious light, but seem to consider it 
 the most natural one for a lark." I fear something of the 
 feeling expressed in the last sentence lies at the basis of the 
 disorder with us. Besides, the students, instead of having 
 sufficient and comfortable seats assigned them, in a conspicu- 
 ous position, where they would be under the observation of the 
 Trustees and officers of the College, and of the audience, 
 generally scatter themselves about the building, too often con- 
 gregating near the door, where some of them are incited by 
 the example of young men not students, who feel no interest 
 in the College and attend only for amusement, to create dis- 
 turbances, or at least to indulge in unseemly and nnstudent- 
 like conduct. The influence of the secret organizations among 
 the students is another cause of disorder, by the attempts of 
 rival factions to unduly extol their friends or decry their op- 
 ponents. A still further cause, I regret deeply to be obliged 
 to write it, is to be found in the habit, in. which, I fear, some 
 students indulge on such occasions, of partaking of stimulat- 
 ing drinks ; under the influence of which they forget the pro- 
 priety due to their own character and to the occasion. 
 
 Q. Is there, in your judgment, any difficulty in preventing 
 the shouting and stamping of the students on these occasions ? 
 
 A. I think the disorder caused by the shouting and stamp- 
 ing of the students might be prevented by requiring them, 
 on these occasions, to retain seats assigned to them, where 
 they should be under the observation of the President and 
 professors, and by making such disorder an offence for which 
 the student shall be amenable to collegiate discipline. I do 
 not think that the exhibition of approbation, moderately ex- 
 pressed, on such occasions ought to be forbidden, but only to 
 be kept within proper bounds. 
 
97 
 
 Q. Ought "not decorum and quiet behavior, on the part of 
 the students, to be observed on Commencement days? 
 
 A. They ought, in my opinion, with the concession referred 
 to at the end of the previous answer. 
 
 Q. Is there any rule by which the parts of the Greek, Latin 
 and English Salutatory and the Valedictory Orator are as- 
 signed by the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. It is customary to assign the Greek Salutatory to the 
 student who receives the general testimonial at the close of 
 the Senior year. The other parts are now assigned, I believe, 
 at the discretion of the Eoard of the College. The Valedic- 
 tory Oration is generally given to the student in the Senior 
 class who is considered by the Board as the best writer and 
 speaker of the class, exclusive of the one who receives the 
 Greek Salutatory. 
 
 Q. By what rule ought each of those parts to be assigned ? 
 
 A. If the present system of arranging the classes accord- 
 ing to the number of testimonials continue, or if a general 
 grade should be adopted, I would assign the Greek Salutatory 
 to the student of the best general standing ; the Latin Saluta- 
 tory, as the second honor, to the student who received the 
 greatest number of special testimonials, or who by the general 
 grade was placed second in his class ; the English Salutatory 
 to the student who, by either mode of arrangement, ranked 
 third in his class. I would leave the selection of the Vale- 
 dictory Orator to the class itself, subject to the sanction of the 
 Board of the College, provided the class acted with good faith 
 and a reasonable degree of unanimity as a class, and not in 
 the sections into which they are sometimes divided by their 
 secret organizations. 
 
 Q. Are nominations for the assignment of such parts made 
 by the students to the Board of the College ? If so, state how 
 they are presented, and by whom, and what action is had in 
 regard to them. 
 
 A. Such nominations are often, and I believe generally, 
 made by the students ; they are sent to the President by the 
 hands of a committee of the class, and by the President are 
 generally read to the Board of the College, but usually coupled 
 
 7e 
 
98 
 
 with a statement that he merely reads them as matter of infor- 
 mation, but does not recognise any right on their part to inter- 
 fere in the matter, and takes no further account of the com- 
 munication. The Board makes its own appointments, without 
 reference to these communications of the students. 
 
 Q. Can you make any and what recommendations con- 
 cerning Commencements or the awarding Commencement 
 honors ? 
 
 A. I think more ceremony ought to accompany the cele- 
 bration of the Commencement exercises. The College has 
 retained a few forms ; these ought to be increased. The 
 President and professors ought to be regularly and uniformly 
 present, arrayed in their proper robes. The old procession 
 from the College building to the place of celebration ought 
 to be restored. There are few enough attachments at present 
 between the graduates and the institution ; the habit of meet- 
 ing once a year at least at the home of Alma Mater served to 
 revive old and pleasant ties. The exercises ought not to be con- 
 fined to a single day ; but Commencement week ought to be 
 made a kind of jubilee. "We cannot expect the same degree 
 of enthusiasm in a College Commencement in a city like this, 
 full of exciting occurrences, as in institutions situated in the 
 country — in a quiet country town the College Commencement 
 is the great event of the year, and is looked forward to, long 
 beforehand, with eager anticipations — but we may, perhaps, 
 interest a larger portion of the public than at present. It 
 would be, in my opinion, an improvement to have the day or 
 evening before the exercises proper of Commencement day 
 a kind of Junior exhibition of members of the undergradu- 
 ate classes in prize declamation — the prizes to be publicly 
 awarded on Commencement day. I would recommend, also, 
 that the two College societies should hold a public exhibition 
 on another evening of the same week, at which some distin- 
 guished alumnus of the College, or other suitable person, 
 should be invited to deliver an oration ; and there might be 
 a poem, also, on the same occasion. On the day of the regu- 
 lar Commencement exercises the President, professors and 
 students of the College in their gowns, accompanied by the 
 
99 
 
 Trustees and invited guests, should move in procession from 
 the College building to the place selected for holding the 
 exercises ; the students should have assigned them seats in a 
 conspicuous position, arranged by classes, so that they might 
 be ready, when called upon to appear on the stage, to present 
 themselves without delay. The feeling should be encouraged 
 as far as possible among the students, to regard themselves as 
 responsible for the preservation of good order, and as honored 
 or disgraced by the occurrences of the day. With this view 
 it might be well to select a considerable number of their own 
 body to aid in securing good order, and in carrying out the 
 proper arrangements, and to distinguish them on the day by 
 some badge of honor. All the public exercises should be 
 attended with as much form and ceremony as possible ; not 
 only the incipient Bachelors, but the candidates for the degree 
 of M. A. should, in my opinion, present themselves (if they 
 could be present) on the stage, properly arrayed, to receive 
 their diplomas. At the conclusion of the exercises, there 
 should be arrangements made for a social gathering of Trus- 
 tees, Officers, Alumni and invited guests — either a public din- 
 ner at the College, or an evening assemblage — where old 
 friends and classmates might meet, and old attachments be 
 revived. 
 
 Q. Ought the President, in your judgment, to be allowed a 
 discretion to grant vacations or intermissions of College lec- 
 tures besides those prescribed by the statutes ? or if the dis- 
 cretion is necessary, in whom should it be vested, and ought 
 there to be any and what limitations of such discretion ? 
 
 A. In my opinion the President ought to have such dis- 
 cretion allowed him ; and I do not see that it is necessary to 
 establish any rule limiting such discretion, until there is 
 evidence that such discretionary power has been abused. 
 
STATEMENT OE PROE. SCHMIDT. 
 
 15th July, 1857, at Mr. Ogden's Office. 
 
 Present — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor Schmidt attended the Committee, and questions 
 were proposed to him, which he answered as follows : 
 
 Q. What are your hours of attendance each day eDgaged 
 in instruction, what classes do you instruct, and at what 
 hour or hours on each day do the classes respectively attend 
 you, and for what length of time ? 
 
 A. I have fourteen hours a week for all four classes — two 
 hours a week for the Seniors, two for the Juniors, two for the 
 Sophomores and eight for the Freshman. 
 
 Q. What were the subjects of your instruction to each class 
 during the academical year just closed ? 
 
 A. I instructed all the classes in German ; the Freshman 
 also in Khetoric, Universal Grammar and English Composi- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. Will you he good enough to state to the Committee, as 
 particularly as possible, the extent of instruction in German 
 Grammar and German Literature imparted by you to each 
 of the classes, designating the amount of their reading in 
 class in each of the German authors which they have perused 
 in any degree under your direction ? 
 
 A. My practice is, to take the Freshman class, during the 
 first term of the academic year, twice through Eickhorn's 
 Grammar, entering the second time into particulars which 
 
 lc 
 
have to be omitted in going through the first time. On the 
 whole, it is the more general elements, principles and rules 
 of the German Grammar which I require the classes to learn 
 directly from the book, as I believe that the more minute 
 details, the more particular rules, and the idiomatic forms 
 and turns of expression are more effectually communicated 
 by being constantly repeated, viva voce, by the instructor, 
 and more firmly fixed in the memory of the student, when 
 he is himself called upon to repeat them every day, according 
 to the ancient maxim, " Bepetitio mater studiorum." As 
 respects the amount read by the several classes in the course 
 of a year, it will, perhaps, be best to answer the question 
 by simply transcribing my record for the last two academic 
 years : 
 
 I. From October, 1855, to February, 1856. From March 3d 
 to July, 1856. 
 
 Senior Class. 
 
 1st Term, Eead Schiller's Play, "Der Neffe als Onkel," 19 
 pp. Made exercises in Eickhorn's Grammar. 
 
 2d " Eead nearly the whole of Goethe's "Egmont," 
 and wrote Exercises. 
 
 Junior Class. 
 
 1st " Head the whole of Schiller's "Der Yerbrecher 
 aus Verlorner Ehre," and made Exercises. 
 
 2d " Bead 37 pp. of Schiller's " Eevolt of the United 
 Netherlands," and made Exercises. 
 
 Sophomore Class. 
 
 1st " Eead a considerable part of Schiller's " Wilhelm 
 Tell." 
 
 2d " Eead the whole of Schiller's "Spiel des Schick- 
 sals," and a considerable portion of "Der 
 Geisterscher." Wrote Exercises. 
 
Freshman Class. 
 
 1st Term, Eickhorn's Grammar through, and read 1st ch. 
 of Genesis, and several smaller pieces in 
 Eickhorn's Grammar. 
 
 2d " Kead 26 pp. of Schiller's Geisterscher, and re- 
 vised Eickhorn's Grammar. 
 
 II. From October, 1856, to July, 1857. 
 
 Senior Class. 
 
 1st and 2d Terms, Eead the whole (with some trifling omis- 
 sions) of Schiller's Play, "Turandot." Made 
 and wrote Exercises. 
 
 Junior Class. 
 
 1st Term, Eead Schiller's " Der Yerbrecher aus Verlorner 
 
 Ehre." "Wrote Exercises. 
 2d " Kead a considerable part of Schiller's "Don 
 
 Carlos." "Wrote Exercises. 
 
 Sophomore Class. 
 
 1st and 2d Terms, Kead nearly two acts of Schiller's "Jung- 
 frau von Orleans." "Wrote Exercises. 
 
 Freshman Class. 
 
 1st Term, Twice through Eickhorn's Grammar, and wrote 
 Exercises. 
 
 2d " Read a considerable portion of Schiller's " Geis- 
 terscher," and wrote Exercises. 
 
 Q. "What knowledge of the German language is possessed 
 by the students, or any of them, before they enter upon the 
 course in that language ? 
 
 A. The most of them possess no previous knowledge at 
 all. Some, however, come with a pretty fair knowledge of 
 
4 
 
 the Grammar, so that they are able to translate easy things. 
 These latter usually constitute about one-fourth of the class. 
 Some very few come with a very considerable knowledge, and 
 this in most classes. All who come from the Grammar 
 school, and from Professor Drisler's school, have some pre- 
 vious knowledge of the language. Such as have considerable 
 knowledge, have enjoyed for some length of time instruction 
 with a private tutor. I do not include, in the above statement, 
 students whose vernacular the German has been at any time. 
 
 Q. Is any previous acquaintance with the German lan- 
 guage required of the students ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. State your opinion as to whether or not it. would facili- 
 tate the instruction in German, to require an acquaintance 
 with elementary German Grammar and the ability to trans- 
 late into English certain prescribed easy works or parts of 
 easy works in German, before entering upon the course at 
 the commencement of the Freshman year, and to be ascer- 
 tained and enforced by strict entrance examination. 
 
 A. It certainly would in every way. As it is now, the 
 students are not on an equal footing in the class — some are 
 prepared, and some not. The latter are thus placed at a 
 great disadvantage among their classmates, and discouraged. 
 If they came prepared, a high course of instruction could be 
 pursued with them in College, and- mueh more satisfactory 
 results attained. By the present arrangement, which re- 
 quires the students to begin with the rudiments of the lan- 
 guage after entering College', the study is degraded in itself 
 and in their estimation ; and not being on an equal footing 
 with other studies, it is looked upon by many as an extraor- 
 dinary imposition, and thus becomes very distasteful. 
 
 Q. To what extent do. the students 1 acquire a knowledge of 
 the German language during the College course ; and are 
 any, and if so,, what proportion: of them. able,, on graduating, 
 to read,, speak or write it with facility I 
 
 A. The amount of knowledge of the German language 
 acquired by the students varies so much, according to the 
 different degrees of capacity possessed, and of industry em- 
 
ployed by different students, that a very definite answer is 
 here scarcely possible. Many take no interest in the study, 
 and accomplish very little: these constitute, perhaps, one- 
 third of a class ; another third performs respectably, and 
 acquires a considerable facility in reading or translating 
 German ; the remaining third, composed of the best students of 
 the class, acquires a great familiarity with the language, 
 translating correctly with great ease, and understanding 
 pretty well what is spoken. A few among these acquire some 
 facility in expressing themselves in German, both in speaking 
 and writing. But it is impossible to acquire any facility in 
 speaking any language whatever, without constant practice 
 in speaking. But with large mixed College classes, exercises 
 of this kind are, for various reasons, totally out of the ques- 
 tion. With large classes, exhibiting every grade of capacity 
 and application, from the highest to zero, the only practicable 
 method of teaching languages is the old synthetic method, 
 strictly carried oat, in requiring the grammar to be accu- 
 rately memorized, and its principles and rules applied in 
 translation and in writing exercises. My constant practice 
 has been, after a student had translated a portion of the given 
 lesson, to give him one sentence after the other, and require 
 him to put it into a different construction, such as imperative, 
 precative, interrogative, assertory and dependent, i.e., be- 
 ginning with any relative word, a pronoun, adverb or con- 
 junction. In this way, attentive students acquire a very 
 considerable facility in constructing sentences correctly, and 
 all that is wanting to enable them to speak German with 
 facility and fluency, is regular and constant practice in 
 speaking the language ; and this can be had only by living 
 among those who speak it. In our College, a great deal more 
 time and attention are given to Greek and Latin than to 
 German ; but who ever learns to speak Greek or Latin ? While 
 the German has to be taught substantially in the same man- 
 ner as those two languages, in much less time, no very 
 extraordinary results can be accomplished. 
 
 Q. Please to state your opinion and any material facts 
 within your knowledge in reference to the manner and extent 
 
of instruction in German in the College, and the success or 
 want of success attending it, and in reference to any change 
 in the statutes or their administration in this regard ; and 
 please, also, to present to the Committee any views in con- 
 nection with the subject of instruction in German which you 
 may think proper to lay before the Trustees. 
 
 A. The first part of the question is, I think, fully answered 
 in my replies to the preceding queries. As respects the 
 second part, I might say a great deal, which will not, how- 
 ever, under existing circumstances, be of any avail. I regard 
 the study of the German language to be among the most im- 
 portant pursued by the youth of this country ; its practical 
 value is next to that of our own vernacular, greater than that 
 of any other modern language. Accordingly, I cannot but 
 entertain the opinion, that instead of our diminishing the 
 amount of time and attention bestowed upon it, it should re- 
 ceive more than it has yet received. With the time now 
 allotted to my department, I cannot hope to effect much 
 more than I have done hitherto ; if less time should be given 
 to it, the result would necessarily be very unsatisfactory. 
 "With different arrangements, if a tutor could be employed 
 to take charge of those who fall behind their class, leaving 
 to me the better and more advanced students, I could safely 
 promise to accomplish a great deal more than I have yet 
 done. But, well aware of the difficulties and perplexities 
 connected with this whole subject, I cannot venture to add 
 any thing more at present. 
 
STATEMENT OF PROF. M'CTJLLOH. 
 
 At Mr. Ogden's, on Thursday evening, January 29, 1857. 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 v » 
 
 Professor McCulloh attended, and the following interroga- 
 tories were proposed to him : 
 
 Q. What are your hours of attendance for each day engaged 
 in instruction ? 
 
 A. The first and third hours after the services in the chapel 
 on each day, except Thursday. Then, on Thursday, the 
 classes are with me in the first, second and third hours. 
 Besides this time, I have devoted during a considerable part 
 of this term, one or two hours during four days of the week, 
 to practical instruction in chemical experiments. I do not 
 include in the above the hours in which I am engaged in my 
 laboratory, in preparation for lectures, which average about 
 three on each day. 
 
 Q. What classes do you instruct ? 
 
 A. The three higher classes. 
 
 Q. At what hour or hours on each day do the classes re- 
 spectively attend you, and for what length of time ? 
 
 A. The Senior class during the third hour. The Sopho- 
 more class during the first- hour on three days of the week. 
 The Junior class during the first hour on two days in the 
 week, and during the second hour on Thursday. An hour is 
 always the duration of a lecture or recitation. 
 
 If 
 
Q. What were the subjects of your instruction to each 
 class during the academical year ? 
 
 A. The Sophomore class study Inorganic Chemistry, in- 
 cluding Mineralogy, as Materia Chemica. The Junior class 
 study Organic Chemistry, together with Vegetable and Ani- 
 mal Physiology, and commence the study of Mechanics. 
 The Senior class finish the study of the Mechanics of solids, 
 liquids and airs ; after which, they commence the study of 
 Heat, Electricity and Light, with their applications. The 
 rest of their time is devoted to Architecture studied estheti- 
 cally. A course of lectures on Geology would complete their 
 instruction, but I have not yet found it practicable to get the 
 time to deliver such a course, and I do not expect to be per- 
 mitted to teach Geology in the present year, the number of 
 hours allotted to me not being sufiicient. 
 
 Q. Is your instruction oral or from text-books ? 
 
 A. Partly oral and partly by aid of text-books. 
 
 Q. So far as it is oral, is it from or without notes for your 
 guidance ? 
 
 A. Always without notes, except what may be written on 
 the black-board, which are designed not only for my own 
 use, but that of the class, to enable them to get numbers and 
 exact facts with greater accuracy ; and, also, by furnishing 
 them the general heads of the subject, to permit them to 
 make a better brief or analysis of the lecture. Quotations 
 are always copied out in full on the black-board. 
 
 Q. Will you please to explain your system of instruction ? 
 
 A. It is chiefly demonstrative, by actual exhibition of 
 objects themselves and experimental phenomena, so that the 
 student becomes his own observer of nature. The lecture 
 consists in the necessarily accompanying descriptions and ex- 
 planations, and in setting forth such general laws and con- 
 clusions as are either established by, or exemplified in the 
 phenomena experimentally shown. Some parts of the course 
 are necessarily inductive, leading to general laws, and other 
 parts deductive from those laws, the latter requiring rigid, 
 and generally mathematical reasoning. 
 
 The classes are also instructed by recitations, which consist 
 
of close interrogation on all the» points embraced in every 
 lecture ; sometimes recitations on the same subject are assign- 
 ed from text-books, when these are attainable; also, each 
 student is required to take brief memoranda or notes of 
 the lectures, and to write these out fully, at home, accom- 
 panying them with diagrams of his own drawing. All 
 copying, from any source whatever, is strictly prohibited. 
 They are also urged to confine themselves to the matter of 
 the lectures, instead of seeking other and irrelative informa- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. Please to explain the facilities which are afforded to 
 the students to understand how to take notes of your lectures 
 with care and judgment, and without interruption of their 
 attention. 
 
 A. The use of the black-board, in the manner which I have 
 described, aids them in taking notes systematically. They 
 are also aided by diagrams, either prepared beforehand, on 
 paper, or drawn at the moment on the black-board, and 
 which often represent the apparatus on the table. But to 
 prevent distraction of attention, the student is urged to take 
 only brief notes, and is not permitted to attempt to write the 
 lectures out in the room itself ; to guard against which he is 
 required to submit, for inspection, both his brief notes and 
 his fully written notes ; and the language of the latter is re- 
 quired to be well chosen, the sentences neatly framed, and 
 not a mere transcript or filling up of the brief notes. It 
 always requires at least two months practice before a student 
 can report a lecture with considerable accuracy. I have 
 often to advise them individually how to overcome particular 
 difficulties, and the indolent or stupid never learn to . take 
 notes properly. They, however, I believe, learn more by their 
 imperfect attempts than they would if not required to take 
 notes. I rely more upon the drill of recitations than upon 
 any thing else. 
 
 Q. To what use are the notes of the students put ? 
 
 A. They constitute books of reference to enable them to 
 recollect or review. Many of them also keep them, and 
 make use of them in after life. 
 
Q. Can you give the Committee any means of judging of 
 the matter of your lectures, further than you have already _ 
 done? 
 
 A. I think I have stated it as completely as I can do. 
 
 Q. Do you use any text-books in your department, pre- 
 scribed to the students to be read by them ? If so, please to 
 give to the Committee a list of them. 
 
 A. In Chemistry I have used, first, Silliman's, then 
 Fowne's Chemistry ; but not being satisfied with either of 
 them, I recently substituted, with the Sophomore class be- 
 ginning Chemistry, Eegnault's Treatise, translated from the 
 French — a work of high repute and great merit. In v ege- 
 table Physiology I use Gray's Botanical Text-Book. The 
 work of Agassiz and Gould on Zoology is the text-book used 
 for Animal Physiology. In Mechanics I am unable to give 
 the class a suitable text-book — those which can be had being 
 either too mathematical for their comprehension, or too super- 
 ficial for their proper instruction. On the subjects of Heat, 
 Light and Electricity, as well as Architecture, we are also 
 without proper text-books. In this matter we are entirely in 
 the hands of the booksellers, who generally pay trifling sums 
 to incompetent individuals to supervise the reprinting of 
 British books, not adapted to our use, and usually miserable 
 productions — the British scientific literature being very in- 
 ferior to that of the continent of Europe. The digests 
 studied by men of science themselves, in our country, are 
 cEiefly those of France and Germany. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to furnish a statement show- 
 ing, in reference to each book prescribed by you to the stu- 
 dents for their use, how much and what parts of it are 
 required to be read by the classes respectively? 
 
 A. Generally a text-book is employed as a book of refer- 
 ence, which the student may read on the subject of each 
 lecture, in advance of the lecture, as well as afterwards, if he 
 sees fit, so as to enable him to learn more accurately and 
 fully than he might otherwise do. Eecitations are only as- 
 signed from text-books on more difficult subjects, which re- 
 quire closer thought and a greater effort of attention than is 
 
usually given to oral instruction alone, such as parts in which 
 Mathematical Demonstrations and Calculations are involved. 
 On these the drill of recitation is also rendered more rigid, 
 and repetition is frequently resorted to. It would be im- 
 practicable for me to designate the precise parts which have 
 been assigned for recitations, for they have varied ; and even 
 the books themselves have been changed for the respective 
 classes. I am governed usually by my knowledge of the par- 
 ticular wants of a class in assigning to it its daily duty, rather 
 than by any stereotyped routine. I never use written lec- 
 tures, and never intend to use them — my belief being that 
 they tend to indolence and an indifference to the progress of 
 scientific knowledge, and destroy the sympathy between the 
 teacher and his pupils, which is necessary to their advance- 
 ment. 
 
 Q. State, if you please, to the Committee, your opinion as 
 to the effect upon the efficiency of the instruction in your 
 department, or in other and which departments, which 
 would be produced by a judiciously selected text-book on 
 each subject, the study of which should be prescribed to the 
 students, and which should be explained and elucidated by 
 the professor, with such remarks as he might judge expedient 
 to show differing opinions, and to direct or excite the reason- 
 ing of the students upon the questions involved. 
 
 A. In Experimental Philosophy and Descriptive Natural 
 History, a student should be taught by actual exhibition of 
 the phenomena and objects as much as possible ; and this 
 requires that such exhibition be accompanied by simple oral 
 explanations and remarks, which, to be appropriate, should 
 be extemporaneous. Text-books cannot supersede or supply 
 the place of such exhibitions ; and, therefore, their use in 
 scientific instruction needs to be restricted somewhat, so 
 that they should be rather books of reference, for more com- 
 plete information, than constitute in themselves the subjects 
 of study. Mathematical instruction, whether abstract or ap- 
 plied, ought always to be with the aid of text-books, if they 
 can be procured. It would doubtless be advantageous to 
 give to the student a text-book on every subject, but these 
 are often not to be obtained for the studies of my department. 
 
With reference to the other departments,.! am not aware 
 that there is a single subject which could not be better taught 
 by text-books than by lectures, and I presume it is not im- 
 practicable to procure good books for any of them. 
 
 Q. On such subjects of your instruction upon which there 
 exist no proper text-books, could the want of them be sup- 
 plied, and if so in what way ? 
 
 A. It could only be done by inducing some able man of 
 science either to write them originally, or to prepare them by 
 translations from the French, with such additions and altera- 
 tions as would be requisite to adapt them to our country, and 
 include all new discoveries. But the booksellers bo manage 
 the whole business of supplying schools as to render it almost 
 impracticable to introduce good books, except through them- 
 selves, and they will not adequately compensate men of 
 science to secure their labor. Those who would be able to 
 write proper books can make original investigations and dis- 
 coveries, which not only advance their own reputation, but 
 in the end prove pecuniarily lucrative, by procuring for them 
 the most desirable positions; and they are, therefore, not 
 willing to write school books. There is also a difficulty in- 
 herent in the nature of the subjects themselves. Natural 
 science is so progressive that a text-book soon becomes so 
 much behind-hand as to be obsolete, and this difficulty is only 
 to be overcome by publishing a new edition every two or 
 three years. In Mechanics and in Optics we have some 
 good text-books, and these might and should be employed, 
 if the students of our Colleges were properly drilled in Mathe- 
 matics ; but their instruction is usually so deficient that these 
 books are incomprehensible to them, and, therefore, are but 
 very little used. Of the best text-book on Optics which was 
 ever published in the United States only six copies were sold 
 in two years, because mathematical formulae were used in it. 
 I, therefore, under these circumstances, think that it would 
 not be expedient that an attempt should be made to supply 
 text- books in my department. I have sometimes thought of 
 printing a syllabus of the course of instruction followed by 
 myself, to aid the students in comprehending the lectures, 
 
and writing their notes more perfectly than they could other- 
 wise do ; this syllabus being designed for their use only, 
 and not for publication, and to contain, especially, every 
 mathematical demonstration and formula. But I would pre- 
 fer to use the books in existence, if the mathematical instruc- 
 tion of our schools and classes was improved to a sufficient 
 degree. 
 
 Me. Ogden's Rooms. 
 
 January Z\st, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden, Mr. Andeeson. 
 
 Prof. McCulloh attended, and the interrogatories were re- 
 sumed : 
 
 Q. Ought not text-books, when proper to be used, either in 
 your own or other departments, to be designated by the 
 Trustees, only to be changed by their order ? 
 
 A. I think that text-books should usually be selected by 
 the professor, for the reason that it is his duty to keep himself 
 well informed concerning the literature of his department, 
 and that his devotion to his particular branch of study ren- 
 ders him, or should render him, a judge of their respective 
 merits ; but it might be well that the books employed in an 
 institution should be subject to the approval of the Trustees. 
 The plan followed in France, (which is analogous to the one 
 recommended,) with reference to the books employed in the 
 University, is, I believe, regarded not only as a good one in 
 itself, but also as one tending greatly to improve French 
 school literature. 
 
 Q. "Would not this be better than that the professor should 
 direct the attention of the students to several books, without 
 any capacity of judgment on their part to enable them to 
 select the best ? 
 
A. "When a good text-book can' be designated and readily 
 purchased it is, I believe, always best that it should be pre- 
 scribed, instead of leaving youDg men to their own choice as 
 between several, even if of equal merit. 
 
 Q. Would not this be advisable, also, whether the instruc- 
 tion were by lecture or not, in a course calculated for mental 
 training, in order to secure the object that the student should 
 not read much, but accurately, and with care, thought and 
 comprehension? 
 
 A. Intense and accurate thought is certainly the true 
 mode of mental discipline; and, therefore, students ought 
 not to be permitted to grope in the dark and indulge in de- 
 sultory reading. 
 
 Q. May in any and in which departments. of instruction 
 in the College, different courses, each composed of certain books 
 or parts of books, to be designated by statute, be advanta- 
 geously prescribed, allowing the professor to choose any one 
 of the courses for any class ? 
 
 A. Certainly it could not be done advantageously in my 
 own. Nor do I think that in the Mathematical Department the 
 subjects admit of any considerable variation. "With reference 
 to the other departments, I cannot presume to speak, of know- 
 ledge, or therefore to offer an opinion. 
 
 Q. Explain the nature of the examination of the students 
 in your lecture-room. 
 
 A. They recite on every thing that has been embraced in 
 the preceding lecture, and on Thursday of each week the re- 
 citation consists in a review of all that has been studied 
 during the week. They are also expected to read attentively, 
 or study the subjects in any text-book employed, if one has 
 been designated, and to be able to answer any question which 
 the information furnished them by the lecture or the text-book 
 should enable them to do. 
 
 Q. Are questions, on such occasions, put to them for their 
 answers ? 
 
 A. Always. 
 
 Q. How many questions are put to each of them, and how 
 long does the examination of each continue ? 
 
A. The average duration of a recitation is perhaps ten 
 minutes for each student. The number of questions would 
 vary almost in inverse proportion to the knowledge of the 
 student. A general question often serves to indicate the 
 subject, and the best students usually proceed to state their 
 knowledge fully, exhausting even the subject without requir- 
 ing interrogation. "When a question is put to a student re- 
 citing, which he fails to answer, it is propounded successively 
 to others, until it is answered. The chief object of this is, to 
 secure the strict attention of all. 
 
 Q. When they do not themselves exhaust the subject with- 
 out question, are they questioned fully upon the subject of 
 instruction pursued since their last recitation ? 
 
 A. Always ; and I invariably seek to render a recitation a 
 complete review. 
 
 Q. How many are so fully questioned within the hour as to 
 exhaust their knowledge of the subject upon which the student 
 recites ? 
 
 A. Each one called upon to recite is so questioned, and 
 therefore the average duration of each student's recitation is, 
 as I have stated, ten minutes, giving six in the hour. 
 
 Q. Do the students receive any marks, except for the pro- 
 ficiency shown by their note-books ? 
 
 A. Yes, they are also marked for recitations. 
 
 Q. Do the subjects of your course involve a knowledge of 
 Mathematics ? 
 
 A. Many of them do. 
 
 Q. Have yon had any, and what experience and practice 
 as an instructor in Mathematics ? 
 
 A. I was Professor of Mathematics in Jefferson College, 
 Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, for two years and a half, and 
 at Princeton I taught, for the space of five years and a half, 
 all the Mathematics required in the physical and mechani- 
 cal studies. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to give to the Committee your 
 views of the relative merits of the analytical and geometric 
 methods of instruction, particularly as applied to the use of a 
 general student, in a course of mental training, and also, to 
 
10 
 
 distinguish in what brauch of Mathematics each is prefer- 
 able ? 
 
 A. The word " analytical " is used technically in Mathe- 
 mathics, usually, as synonymous with Algebraical, or to des- 
 ignate the employment of symbols and equations as a language 
 of reasoning; while the term geometrical now means usually 
 little more than the mere use of diagrams, or mathematical 
 pictorial illustrations.. Certainly, Analysis, as the language 
 of mathematical reasoning, can be rendered a far more 
 powerful instrument of mental training, and requires greater 
 power of abstract thought in its employment, than the use 
 of diagrams, which are rather aids to conception than in 
 themselves subjects demanding intense thought. In general 
 training, both ought to be used, and the student should be made 
 master both of simple Algebra and of Elementary Geometry. 
 These ought to be so learned that they can never be forgotten ; 
 that they may be used at all times readily, they should 
 he fully understood. In Plane Trigonometry, if the student 
 intends to pursue his studies so as to include the higher de- 
 partments and applications of Mathematics, the analytical 
 method is preferable. But if he intends merely to study 
 Trigonometry for itself, and for its use in surveying, he may 
 confine himself to the geometrical method. Spherical Trigo- 
 nometry ought to be taught algebraically and geometrically. 
 Analytical Geometry is another name for Algebraical Geom- 
 etry. The Calculus constitutes only a higher branch of Alge- 
 bra. Its applications to curves, &c, involve Geometry. In 
 analytical Mechanics we use both algebraical expressions 
 and diagrams, though the latter may be dispensed with. In 
 Physical Astronomy the analytical method may also be em- 
 ployed without diagrams, and was so used by Laplace in his 
 Mecanique Celeste. Analysis is indispensably necessary in 
 it, whether with or without the assistance of diagrams. In 
 Physical Optics we may dispense entirely with diagrams, 
 though they facilitate conception. As a mental discipline, I am 
 of the opinion that the mind is better exercised when the aid 
 of diagrams is withheld, provided the student has mastered 
 the analytical method as a language of reasoning. 
 
11 
 
 Q. If a course of instruction were devised, in which the 
 higher branches of applied Mathematics were not included, 
 would not the geometric methods be preferable in the elemen- 
 tary mathematical course ? 
 
 A. Such a course, in my opinion, would consist solely of 
 a training in classical, literary, metaphysical, ethical and es- 
 thetical studies. Euclid's Elements, or a more modern sub- 
 stitute, might be employed, as used to be done a half century 
 ago, for mathematical training, and Arithmetic might be 
 learned, for its practical utility. Natural Science, if by that 
 term we mean any thing more than Natural History, the phi- 
 losophy of induction of laws of nature from phenomena, and 
 the rigid deduction of phenomena themselves from such laws 
 as their consequence by reasoning, the language of which 
 must be mathematical, would necessarily be a sealed book to 
 a mind so trained. Unless science is to be thoroughly taught, 
 I believe it had better not be taught at all ; and it can be so 
 taught, in my opinion, without interfering with what is re- 
 quisite for classical and other studies, if we require the Gram- 
 mar schools to do more thoroughly their work of elementary 
 mathematical instruction, and demand for admission to the 
 Freshman class a good knowledge of elementary Algebra 
 and Plane Geometry. 
 
 Q. For the general student, in a course of mental training, 
 would or would it not be better to use in the department of 
 Mathematics such text-books as contain only so much as ought 
 to be studied by him, rather than to use more extensive works 
 from which parts must be selected for his attention ? 
 
 A. Text-books for instruction of classes ought certainly 
 to consist of selections of portions requisite to be studied, 
 and they ought not to be complete treatises, such as are re- 
 quired for the use of mathematicians themselves as books of 
 reference, or even as manuals. The French elementary books, 
 which consist solely of selected parts, are printed often in 
 two kinds of type, the larger designating those parts which may 
 be studied by the beginner, and the smaller type indicating 
 subjects for his study in the more advanced stage of his know- 
 ledge. And this, I think, is an excellent plan. 
 
12 
 
 Q. Are there, to your knowledge, any text-books of the 
 kind suggested by the last question or of the kind suggested 
 by yourself in your answer, which are well adapted to give 
 to the students such a knowledge of Mathematics as is desira- 
 ble in a course of mental training ? 
 
 A. I cannot speak, of knowledge, with reference to the 
 books now sold by our booksellers, and used as school-books 
 for mathematical instruction. Most of these books have been 
 introduced since I ceased to be a teacher of Mathematics, and 
 therefore I am not familiar with them except in a few instan- 
 ces. My own mathematical books of reference and study are 
 almost all of them French, and it is to the European mathe- 
 matical literature that we have to turn for new information. 
 Our American books, or very many of them, are little else 
 than compilations or translations from European works. 
 
 Q. The works now used in the Mathematical Department 
 are — 
 
 In the Freshman Year : 
 
 Hackley's Algebra, large edition. 
 Hackley's Geometry. 
 In the Sophomore Year : 
 
 Hackley's Trigonometry and Applications to Naviga- 
 tion, Surveying, &c. 
 
 Hackley's Geometry. 
 Davies' Descriptive Geometry. 
 In the Junior Year : 
 
 Church's Analytical Geometry. 
 Pamphlet, by Dr. Hackley, on Theoretic Astronomy. 
 Bartlett's Astronomy. 
 In the Senior Year: 
 
 Printed matter dictated by the professor. 
 Courtenay's Calculus. 
 Please to give to the Committee your opinion of the cha- 
 racter of these works, or any of them, as respects their fit- 
 ness to be used in the instruction of the students of the Col- 
 lege as text-books ; and whether or not they are well suited 
 to explain the subjects treated of, to students of the state of 
 maturity, and of the average capacity for such subjects of 
 
13 
 
 those who frequent the College ; and whether or not such 
 books are proper to impart to such students that comprehen- 
 sion of the subjects which they ought to attain in a College 
 course ? If you consider any of the works defective, please 
 to explain in what particulars and for what reasons they are 
 defective. 
 
 A. Davies' Descriptive Geometry, Bartlett's Astronomy, 
 Church's Analytical Geometry and Courtenay's Calculus' are 
 all excellent text-books — well suited for elementary and 
 thorough instruction. The printed pamphlets of Professor 
 Hackley on Astronomy and the Calculus, if intended as text- 
 books, should, I think, be superseded by the books of Bart- 
 lett and Courtenay ; they lack the elegance and comprehen- 
 siveness of the latter. 
 
 Of Professor Hackley's larger works, his Algebra appears 
 to be the best. It was, however, I think, a mistake that he 
 should have sought to combine the French, German and Eng- 
 lish models. The clearness, simplicity and comprehensive- 
 ness of the French mathematical literature places it far in 
 advance of the British and German. And this superiority is 
 due to the fact that Lagrange, Laplace and Monge were not 
 only the ablest mathematicians of modern times, but also the 
 most eminent and successful teachers and founders of the 
 Normal and Polytechnic Schools. Professor Hackley's Trigo- 
 nometry and Geometry are open to similar criticism — they 
 lack elegance and simplicity. His Trigonometry is not, I 
 think, sufficiently analytical ; and it is overloaded with ex- 
 traneous matter, which ought rather to constitute separate 
 treatises on Surveying, Navigation, Geodesy, &c. 
 
 With reference to Hackley's Geometry^ I do not think it 
 comparable with the elegant treatise of Legendre, used in 
 most of our schools. But I belong sufficiently to the old 
 school in geometric taste to prefer Play fair's Euclid (except 
 its fifth book on Proportion) to any other treatise. The ad- 
 mirable ' work of Euclid is, I believe, the only one which 
 geometers of every age and country agree in considering al- 
 most perfect. The edition by Playfair adapts it to modern 
 wants and improvements ; and it is the model which all 
 
14 
 
 geometers copy ; (Legendre included ;) and very few succeed 
 in avoiding to injure. In the mathematical drill I think that 
 Euclid or Legendre's Geometry should be used ; and every 
 proposition of the first four and the sixth books of Euclid should 
 be so thoroughly and repeatedly learned that the most im- 
 portant of them will never be forgotten through future life. 
 
 There is nothing more difficult than to write an excellent 
 text-book. The books of Professor Hackley may be the best 
 for himself. 
 
 Q. Please to examine the statement of the professor of 
 Mathematics, showing the matter of his instruction to the 
 students contained in the books mentioned in the last pre- 
 ceding question, and to give to the Committee your opinion 
 of the course of instruction thus exhibited, as being expedient 
 or otherwise, and as to the probable or possible results of 
 such a course in reference to the success of instruction in 
 Mathematics. 
 
 A. The course of study indicated by Professor Hackley 
 as that pursued in his room by the students, appears to be 
 sufficiently comprehensive, and ought, if mastered, to impart 
 a good elementary knowledge of the subject. I would modify 
 it, however, by dispensing with the distinction of voluntary 
 and involuntary; and the study of Descriptive Geometry 
 should not interrupt that of Analysis, so as to postpone the 
 Calculus to the Senior Year. All mathematical discipline 
 should be compulsory. Its efficiency depends upon the 
 thoroughness of the drill. Recitations by each student should 
 be daily. 
 
 Q. Are the students in your department made, by your 
 instruction, to keep up that knowledge of principles which is 
 necessary to enable them to comprehend each succeeding 
 step ? 
 
 A. The more intelligent portion of them are, in so far as 
 those principles are of my own department itself; but de- 
 fective mathematical training is the great difficulty which 
 students in all of our Colleges encounter in physical studies, 
 and this has its origin usually in the preparatory schools, and 
 
15 
 
 cannot readily be remedied in their advanced stages of edu- 
 cation, such instruction being fundamental. 
 
 Q. So far as accomplished by you, by what means is the 
 end mentioned in the last preceding question attained ? 
 
 A. First, by causing the student clearly to comprehend the 
 subject, and afterwards by constant drill. 
 
 A. Are the subjects of your course understood by your 
 classes so that they master them to the extent to which in- 
 struction in them is imparted ? 
 
 A. Generally they are, with the exception of the parts de- 
 manding mathematical reasoning; and these are mastered 
 only by a few. There are always in a class some who, for 
 want of ability, feeble health, indolence or other obstacles, 
 fail to learn almost every subject thoroughly. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the students so master the parts 
 not demanding mathematical reasoning, and what proportion 
 the parts demanding mathematical reasoning ? 
 
 A. I cannot answer this question accurately, but I believe 
 that about three-fourths of a class usually learn well portions 
 not mathematical. In our classes, say of forty to fifty, not 
 more than four or five seem to understand fully, and readily 
 learn the mathematical subjects. In Princeton the propor- 
 tion of the students in the classes pursuing with me the same 
 studies successfully, (the mathematical parts inclusive, and 
 these far more thoroughly than I can teach them here,) used 
 to be about one-half their number. This difference I ascribe, 
 in part, to the fact that they had three mathematical instruc- 
 tors to do the work which is here required of one only, also 
 a much larger proportion of time was there devoted to Mathe- 
 matics. If the Grammar schools would do their work pro- 
 perly, and our system were improved, I am confident thatfour- 
 fifths instead of one-half might be the proportion. 
 
 Q. Can you distinguish more accurately than you have 
 done between the subjects of instruction, those in which the 
 students are deficient and those in which they are best pre- 
 pared ? And can you state, in reference to each of such sub- 
 jects, how many comprehend them and how many do not ? 
 
 A. In my own department three-fourths of the class 
 
16 
 
 usually attain, I presume, to a respectable knowledge of the 
 subjects not involving mathematical ideas, and these subjects 
 are Chemistry, Yegetable and Animal Physiology, Pneu- 
 matics, Heat, the Steam Engine and Experimental Electricity. 
 In all subjects requiring mathematical knowledge, four- 
 fifths, I presume, of each class that has been under my in- 
 struction in Columbia College have signally and grossly 
 failed, for want of information in Arithmetic, Algebra, Ge- 
 ometry, Trigonometry, &c. And these subjects are chiefly the 
 Mechanics of Solids and Fluids, Electro-Magnetism and Op- 
 tics. They would also have failed in Acoustics, but I have 
 never had sufficient time to teach that subject. 
 
 The Committee met on Tuesday, the 3d of February, 1857, 
 at YJ o'clock P. M., at Mr. Ogden's rooms. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden, Kev. Dr. Haight, Mr. Betts. 
 
 Professor McCulloh appeared and answered as follows to 
 the questions propounded to him : 
 
 Q. "What is the cause of the deficiency of the students in 
 your department ? 
 
 A. There are various causes of deficiency. Some through 
 gross indolence ; others, through a desire to excel in other 
 departments, encouraged by the practice of awarding special 
 testimonials in each department, without regard to the stand- 
 ing of a student in others ; so that a student, by confining his 
 attention exclusively to one department, and neglecting all 
 others, may obtain a testimonial, and thereby rank as among 
 the distinguished students of the class. Others fail for such 
 reasons as inability, usually the consequence of ill health — 
 mental incapacity being comparatively very rare. The chief 
 cause of deficiency, however, is want of mathematical know- 
 ledge and skill. 
 
 Q. What proportion of the students is, in your judgment, 
 deficient in your own, or any other, and which department or 
 
17 
 
 departments, from natural incapacity, and what proportion 
 from neglect of their studies ? 
 
 A. I do not think that the number of students deficient, 
 either in my own or any other department, from want of men- 
 tal capacity, amounts to as much as five per cent. Our Ame- 
 rican youth are usually very intelligent. In my last answer 
 I did not think of immaturity as a cause of deficiency, but I 
 believe that in Columbia College especially this is one of the 
 chief causes of deficiency, not only in my own, but in other 
 departments. The average age of our students, is, I think, at 
 least two years younger than those at Princeton and other 
 country colleges. This difference of age I ascribe in part to 
 the intense activity of trade and business in this city, and 
 the consequent anxiety of youth to press forward into life. 
 Another reason for it is, I think, that while we require in 
 our students an unusual proficiency in classical knowledge, 
 we are not equally exacting in any other. The proportion 
 of students in each class who suffer from immaturity is not 
 less than three-fourths. Indolence is a cause of more or less 
 deficiency in, I believe, usually four-fifths of our entire class. 
 This I believe is more the fault of the Board of the College 
 collectively, than of the students themselves, as they do not 
 consider us in earnest in requiring of them proper attention 
 to their duties. When a student is turned back for gross neg- 
 ligence at the end of the year, he is permitted to go on with 
 his class again at the commencement of the next year, with- 
 out any examination, by vote of the Faculty. 
 
 Q. Supposing that the preparation in the schools, previous 
 to the entrance of students into College, were such as it should 
 be, is there any insuperable difficulty in the mental incapa- 
 city or inaptitude of the students, or their immaturity, which 
 should prevent a large proportion, and if so, what proportion 
 of the students from acquiring such a knowledge of Mathe- 
 matics as is necessary properly to acquire those subjects in 
 your department, which require the practical application of 
 Mathematics? 
 
 A. I have already stated that three-fourths suffer from im- 
 maturity. These, I do not believe, could be thoroughly 
 
 2f 
 
18 
 
 instructed, even if it were attempted in the Grammar schools 
 to improve their mathematical training, provided their average 
 age is to remain the same. But I am confident, that if we 
 should rigidly require of those schools a thorough mathema- 
 tical drill, this alone would keep back the students at least 
 another year, greatly to their benefit in every department, and 
 especially in those demanding chiefly the exercise of the rea- 
 soning faculties. 
 
 Q. What is the average age of the students when they 
 enter the Freshman class ? 
 
 A. I should suppose between fourteen and fifteen. A 
 student should not be less than fifteen at the time of entering 
 the Freshman class ; and better sixteen. Most of the students 
 at Princeton enter the Sophomore class. Out of the whole 
 number of students, usually about two hundred and fifty, 
 there are not more than twelve or fifteen Freshmen. The ave- 
 rage age of the Sophomores is about seventeen to eighteen. 
 
 Q. Can the success of the instruction in your department, 
 or in any other, and what departments, be improved by limit- 
 ing the range of instruction ? 
 
 A. I believe it may. There are subjects prescribed by the 
 statutes, in my own department, which ought to form no 
 part of collegiate study, to wit : Civil and Military Engineer- 
 ing ; also, Architecture, except in so far as the last subject 
 may be brought in illustratively to applied Mechanics, and 
 in so far as it should be taught aesthetically to every liberally 
 educated person. Again, Geology, except its mere elements, 
 ought rather to be regarded as a subject for university than 
 college instruction. Mineralogy ought also to be excluded 
 from college instruction, except so much of it as is necessary 
 to elementary Chemistry. In the department of Mathemat- 
 ics, the Calculus of Variations should form no part of the 
 course of a college education. In the other departments I 
 do not profess to be competent to express a proper opinion. 
 
 Q. Please to give to the Committee, as fully and distinctly 
 as possible, your views as to the course of instruction in the 
 subjects under your charge, proper to be adopted, as being 
 suited to the intellectual capacity of general students, and 
 
19 
 
 capable of being enforced against all — the same as to Mathe- 
 matics, and any other departments of instruction concerning 
 which which you may be willing to give your opinion in this 
 respect. 
 
 A. In my own department, Mechanics and Physics should 
 be regarded as disciplinary mathematical studies, as part of 
 applied or "mixed" Mathematics. These subjects should be 
 taught to all students, provided they have previously master- 
 ed the study of pure Mathematics. Without mathematical 
 knowledge it is useless for a student to attempt to acquire a 
 knowledge of Physics or Mechanics. 
 
 Chemistry and Physiology, vegetable and animal, may and 
 should be taught to all. These studies require no Mathema- 
 tics, except mere arithmetical addition and subtraction, and 
 are therefore comparatively easy of comprehension, though 
 more difficult to remember, because particular facts and 
 properties, rather than general laws, constitute the subjects 
 of information. Mineralogy ought to be regarded only as 
 materia chemioa. 
 
 Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Analyti- 
 cal Geometry and the Differential and Integral Calculus, 
 ought to constitute the disciplinary course in Mathematics. 
 The Calculus of Yariations should form no part of elementary 
 instruction. Descriptive Geometry, (or as it might be called, 
 mere graphical Geometry,) should be taught to all, together 
 and in connection with linear and perspective drawing, which 
 is an sesthetical discipline as well as a useful accomplish- 
 ment. 
 
 Q. How often does each student recite in your lecture- 
 room ? 
 
 A. It varies with the number in the class. I endeavor to 
 call up the students respectively an equal number of times 
 during each term ; and as the number reciting is not more 
 than six for each recitation, it follows that a student does not 
 recite as often as is desirable ; and therefore is it chiefly that 
 I insist on their taking notes, and submitting those notes 
 frequently for examination. The only manner in which a 
 greater frequency of recitation could be attained would be the 
 
20 
 
 adoption of the tutorial system, in such a manner as it is used 
 in France. The Hepetiteurs there attend to the duty of drill- 
 ing by recitation. The assistant teachers at "West Point are 
 similarly employed. I would recommend such a system for 
 every study in which it would be admissible. 
 
 Q. Are you able, on the occasions of the recitations of the 
 students, to detect the deficiencies of each student, both in 
 the matter that he then is examined upon, and in the previ- 
 ous part of the course, or to discover and explain any diffi- 
 culties he may honestly labor under ? 
 
 A. I am always able, even by a single recitation, to form 
 a very accurate opinion of the proficiency of the student, and 
 of his mental capacity, but I cannot explain away difficulties 
 that he may be laboring under, when these are due to exten- 
 sive want of such knowledge and training as are pre-requisite 
 to clear comprehension. 
 
 Q. Is it not important in elementary instruction to dis- 
 cover the state of mind of, and to advise and assist individual 
 students, and is this end now attained in your department ? 
 If not, how could it be attained ? 
 
 A. It is certainly desirable to adapt instruction to individ- 
 uals as well as to classes collectively ; and this, in my depart- 
 ment, could only be accomplished by a tutorial system. I 
 always invite, and even urge students to come to me freely, 
 to ask any questions and to state any difficulties or doubts, 
 that I may render them such aid as far as possible ; and I 
 presume that I spend on an average at least a half hour of 
 every day with some of them in this manner — they remain- 
 ing after the College hours for the purpose. 
 
 Q. How are the relative merits of the students in your de- 
 partment determined ? 
 
 A. By marking numerically the relative values of their re- 
 citations, examinations and notes. 
 
 Q. Do you preserve these markings in the form of a record 
 kept by yourself? if so, please to explain the nature of the 
 record and your system of marks. 
 
 A. I do preserve them. To perfect recitation is marked 
 10 ; a failure, zero ; and intermediate numbers indicate my 
 
21 
 
 judgment of the merits of intermediate performances. The 
 number given for each recitation is always announced at the 
 time it is written, so that justice may be done ; and this 
 number is subject to revision at the close of the recitation, if 
 the student who recited considers it unjust, but is never 
 changed unless he can convince me that I was mistaken. In 
 an analogous manner I mark them for their notes ; but the 
 marks for notes are held subject to revision at the close of 
 the term, when I spend usually several days comparing their 
 note-books, one with the other, as well as with printed books, 
 &c, to detect all copying ; and copying without acknow- 
 ledgment is always treated as a cause for deduction. The 
 public examination is rated in a similar manner. 
 
 Q. Could a student copy from the note-book of a student 
 from a previous class without detection ? or have you ever 
 had reason to suppose that this was practiced? 
 
 A. It is very frequently attempted, but I generally detect 
 it, owing to the fact that my lectures vary from year to year,' 
 and that my memory serves to let me recognise the ghost of 
 an old lecture. 
 
 Q. Do you judge of the relative merits of the students ex- 
 clusively according to the showing of the record of j'our 
 marks? or do you judge in any degree by your general im- 
 pressions ? 
 
 A. In determining relative standing, I follow the marks 
 strictly ; but in forming my own opinion of the natural 
 ability and personal character of a student, I am, of course, 
 guided by other circumstances. The indolence of a student 
 is usually also proportional to his number of absences, but to 
 this rule there are exceptions. 
 
 Q. Is there any difficulty to prevent a professor from so 
 grading the students, by such marks, as to make them justly 
 the sole test of the relative proficiency of the students in any 
 department ? 
 
 A. I do not think there is, although there are peculiarities 
 of certain studies, as, for instance, the system of notes in my 
 own, which require that the system of markings be not con- 
 fined to recitations only. 
 
22 
 
 Q. "What is the best mode of determining the relative 
 merits of the students, and ought not that mode to be uni- 
 form ? 
 
 A. I believe that the numerical method is the best, and 
 that it should be uniform. 
 
 Q. "What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of ranging all the students in the order of merit, 
 as compared with the present system ? State fully to the 
 Committee any system or regulation which you recommend 
 in this connection. 
 
 A. The present system I consider a very unjust and detri- 
 mental one to all the students in each class, except the few 
 who get testimonials ; and even these are often obtained by 
 means which are improper, such as the exclusive or undue 
 devotion of study to one or two departments. A system 
 which fixes the relative standing of each student, especially 
 when the results are made known to parents and guardians 
 by printed circulars, sent after each examination, operates 
 most beneficially. I speak not from hypothesis but from 
 knowledge and. personal experience. Such a system has been 
 in operation in Princeton College for twenty-five years. I 
 recollect the effects of it upon myself and my fellow-students 
 while I was a pupil there, as well as the general opinion we 
 then had of its justice, as applied to ourselves respectively. 
 I found the same system in operation when I returned to 
 Princeton as a professor, after an absence of thirteen years ; 
 and during my connection with that institution as an instruc- 
 tor I became only the more satisfied of its usefulness, so that 
 I was led to propose its adoption to the President, shortly 
 after I came here. At his request I prepared a paper setting 
 forth its details, which he submitted to the Board of the 
 College, but it was never acted upon. 
 
 Q. "Would it, in your opinion, promote thorough instruc- 
 tion if the classes, or some and which of them, were divided 
 into sections to attend certain professors at different times ? 
 If so, what professors should the classes respectively attend 
 by sections? 
 A. I believe it would be advantageous to divide all the 
 
23 
 
 classes into sections for recitations on subjects taught with 
 reference to mental discipline especially, whether by lecture 
 or otherwise. But this would require the employment of 
 assistants, whose duty it should be to aid the professor in 
 drilling the sections, which should attend the professor on one 
 day and the tutor or tutors on the day or days following, so 
 that each section would be taught by the professor quite as 
 thoroughly as he alone can now teach au undivided class. 
 Thus the hour allotted now to the professor would be that 
 during which the several sections would attend, one the pro- 
 fessor and the others the tutors, in the same branch of study. 
 
 Q. "Would you recommend this arrangement in your own 
 department ? . 
 
 A. Not only in my own, but in every other. 
 
 Q. In what order are students called up by you to recite» 
 and how long is each kept under recitation ? 
 
 A. I do not follow any order. I endeavor to render it as 
 uncertain as possible, in the mind of a student, whether he 
 will or will not be called upon to recite, and therefore some- 
 times call upon the same student two or three times consecu- 
 tively. The average duration of a recitation is, as I have 
 stated, ten minutes. 
 
 Q. Are all called upon to recite an equal number of times, 
 as near as may be? 
 
 A. Nearly so, but the practice which I have just explained 
 prevents equality, though my record enables me to counteract 
 this tendency. 
 
 Q. Have you any uniform system according to which 
 students are called upon ? 
 
 A. None, except what I have just stated. 
 
24 
 
 February Uh, 1857. 
 At the De Lanct House — Mr. Betts' Rooms. 
 
 Mr. Bstts and Mr. Allen were present. 
 
 Professor McCulloh attended and testified as follows : 
 
 Q. I3 any student allowed to remain more than a week 
 without heing called upon to recite ? 
 
 A. Yes, frequently. The number of recitations in my de- 
 partment are too few to permit me to call on every student 
 each week. Frequently an interval of two or three weeks 
 may elapse without a student's being called upon to recite. 
 Every student is, however, interrogated weekly, by questions 
 passed from one to another, until a correct answer is given. 
 
 Q. Do you put a mark opposite to the student's name im- 
 mediately at the close of his recitation, and is the student 
 then informed of the character of it 2 
 
 A. Yes, always. 
 . Q. Have you any knowledge of the proficiency of the stu- 
 dents in any department affecting your own ? 
 
 A. Yes ; in the Mathematical Department. 
 
 Q. If you have observed any deficiency, state in what 
 proportion of the respective classes you have noticed such 
 deficiency. 
 
 A. The Senior class is the one for which mathematical 
 knowledge is requisite in the studies of my department ; and 
 the proportion of students deficient has been, I presume, 
 both in the last class and the present, four-fifths.. In the 
 class before the last, one of unusually small number, the 
 proportion was probably two-thirds. This difference was, 
 perhaps, due to the fact that a smaller class can be more 
 thoroughly drilled by a single teacher. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 what is the character for attention and proficiency in your 
 
25 
 
 own department, of those students in whom you have ob- 
 served this deficiency ? 
 
 A. Many of them do very well in all the subjects which 
 do not demand mathematical knowledge. 
 
 Q. Ought the College, in your opinion, to be strict in these 
 requirements upon students, to master the course of studies ; 
 or should allowance be made for those that, from defect of 
 intellectual capacity or indolence, fail to acquire the know- 
 ledge which the institution aims to impart ? Please to state 
 your opinion fully, with your reasons for it. 
 
 A. Want of intellectual capacity is, I believe, a sufficient 
 and just excuse ; for which, therefore, allowance should be 
 made — but such cases are very rare among our American 
 youth. And this difficulty, if it be very great in any instance, 
 should cause the student to be stopped early in his College 
 course ; if, however, it be of less degree, so that hope may 
 be justly entertained that he would profit by the instruction, 
 he should be allowed to proceed. 
 
 Indolence being voluntary, and, therefore, both culpable 
 and inexcusable, no allowance should be made for it. To do 
 so is not only to encourage the student himself in pursuing a 
 course to his own detriment, but also the effect of his example 
 and influence of his association is injurious to his fellow-stu- 
 dents. If discipline be the main object to be attained in 
 education, certainly indolence is not to be tolerated. 
 
 Q. Would it not be advantageous to require that the stu- 
 dents passing from any class to a higher, should be masters 
 of the whole previous course ? 
 
 A. Not the whole of it ; for there are some studies, the 
 object of which is rather simple information than mental 
 discipline: but in the disciplinary studies, especially the 
 classical and mathematical, it is, I am confident, absolutely 
 necessary that progress should be regarded as demanding 
 familiarity with all pre-requisite portions ; and to this end a 
 student ought never to be permitted to be ignorant of funda- 
 mental elementary subjects, such as Arithmetic, Algebra and 
 Geometry, or the grammatical studies in the classical depart- 
 
26 
 
 ment — in each perpetual drill should render his knowledge 
 always at command. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the attendance of the Freshman 
 class, engaged in receiving instruction in Mathematics, be 
 greater than three hours in each week ? 
 
 A. It ought to be double that time. 
 
 Q. "What attendance by the Freshman class upon the Pro- 
 fessor of Mathematics might be required, without overtasking 
 the student ? 
 
 A. I believe that the distribution of studies of the Freshman 
 year should be such, that about four-fifths of their whole time 
 should be devoted, in equal proportion, to classical and mathe- 
 matical 6tudy — the other fifth to be assigned to ethical in- 
 struction, modern languages and drawing — which, I think, 
 should constitute an exercise required throughout the College 
 course of every student. 
 
 Q. What advantage would be derived from such increased 
 attendance upon Mathematics ? 
 
 A. If they were properly taught, it would render them 
 masters of Algebra and Elementary Geometry, and thereby 
 lay the foundation, not only for all higher mathematical know- 
 ledge, but also ibr all inductive science, which cannot be 
 taught to persons ignorant of Algebra and Geometry. 
 
 Q. What times of attendance in the week, upon the Pro- 
 fessor of Mathematics, ought to be prescribed for each of the 
 higher classes ? 
 
 A. The distribution . of studies for the Sophomore year 
 ought, I believe, to be similar to that for the Freshman year. 
 In the Junior year, the elementary mathematical course 
 ought to be completed, and this ought not to require quite 
 so much of the student's time as should be given in the two 
 previous years. The time which may be spared from the 
 mathematical ought to be transferred to the physical, ethical 
 and literary departments. In the Senior year the study of 
 Natural Science should be pursued. Mathematics should not 
 be taught any longer, except in so far as it is involved in 
 Astronomy, Mechanics and Physics. If in this year other 
 subjects, such as Chemistry, Geology, &c, should be regard- 
 
27 
 
 ed as requiring a considerable portion of the student's time, 
 this could only be attained by diminishing the studies of the 
 classical and ethical departments, which certainly ought not 
 to be done if it can possibly be avoided. In almost all of our 
 Colleges, either classical and ethical instruction is sacrificed 
 for scientific, or the latter for the former. And the only way 
 of correcting this evil, and, at the same time meeting the 
 demand and expectation of the public, is, I believe, to crowd 
 the studies of the Freshman year back into the Grammar 
 schools, where boys can be drilled as well as they are in 
 College, in rudimentary, classical and mathematical subjects. 
 Such a plan is now the settled purpose of some of our leading 
 institutions, and very many others would gladly adopt it if 
 their poverty and consequent dependance on public patron- 
 age did not render them fearful of diminished classes. I 
 would recommend and urge that the whole studies of the 
 Freshman year, in Classics and Mathematics, should be 
 transferred to the Grammar school. In this case, however, 
 the mathematical course in College ought to begin with a 
 thorough review of Algebra and Geometry. 
 
 . Q. Ought, in your opinion, a department of instruction to 
 be assigned to the President ; and if so, what subjects % 
 
 A. The President ought to be a teacher, that he may un- 
 derstand the practical difficulties and wants of instruction ; 
 also, that his moral power with the students may be founded 
 not on mere social relations. It is, I believe, immaterial what 
 particular subject should be allotted to him, but this ought to 
 be the one in which he is proficient. If the College organi- 
 zation is to remain as it is, probably the President might be 
 an officer whom it would be expedient to keep ; but it is a 
 question well worthy of consideration, whether he ought 
 not to be elected only for a term of years ; and in some insti- 
 tutions they even dispense with a President altogether, — the 
 chairman of the Faculty, elected by themselves, from time to 
 time, being the executive officer. This mode of organization 
 is, I believe, the only proper one for a university, for in such 
 an institution control of the professor by a President would 
 be impracticable. 
 
28 
 
 Q. Would it be advisable, in your opinion, to allow to the 
 students or to their parents an election between two or more 
 courses of instruction ? 
 
 A. As an experiment, such, a thing might be done, but I 
 have no confidence that its result would be other than unsatis- 
 factory. Students themselves ought not to be permitted to 
 select their studies of discipline, All severe discipline (and 
 to be useful it must be severe) is inherently painful ; and 
 those who most heed it, are those to whom it is most distaste- 
 ful. Parents, also, are very apt to be influenced, and even 
 misled by the feelings of their children ; but if two courses, 
 one say classical, the other scientific, be tried experimentally, 
 neither of them alone can attain the end of liberal and sym- 
 metrical education, and, therefore, they would each, in my 
 opinion, serve only to bias the mind of the student too much 
 in one direction, and consequently fail. I have no faith in 
 any system of education which would produce only experts, 
 whether scientific, literary or of any other kind. 
 
 Q. Supposing there be an election, at what point of the 
 College course ought it to be allowed ? 
 
 A. If any such experiment is to be tried, I believe the elec- 
 tion should be made when the student enters College, at the 
 beginning of the Freshman year. If he is to be trained clas- 
 sically, his studies ought to be classical, literary, ethical, his- 
 torical, and such portions of natural science as are merely de- 
 scriptive and phenomenal, and which therefore should be called 
 rather Natural History than Natural Philosophy ; the whole 
 of Mathematics should be omitted, with the exception of 
 plane Geometry; and this ought to be taught rigidly for 
 mental discipline only. Perhaps geometrical, perspective 
 and so much of descriptive Geometry as is needed for profi- 
 ciency in the art of drawing, ought to be taught. The study 
 of that art I deem of the highest importance in sesthetical 
 training. In the scientific course of study, the ethical, literary 
 and aesthetical training should be the same as for the classical. 
 For ancient languages, French and German might be sub- 
 stituted ; but to these not much time should be allotted. For 
 if we take leave of the discipline of classical study, the only 
 
29 
 
 substitute for it is, certainly, the most rigid and thorough 
 scientific training, which should consist of analytical Mathe- 
 matics, used for the reasonings required in physical Astronomy, 
 in Mechanics and in Physics. Such a course ought to be anal- 
 ogous to that of the Polytechnic School of France or the 
 Military Academy at "West Point. If the studies of the 
 Freshman year be transferred to the Grammar schools, and 
 we thereby are enabled to obtain the advantage of an addi- 
 tional year for instruction in our College course, it would, in 
 my opinion, be perfectly practicable to give to our graduates 
 an education which should equal in mathematical and natural 
 science that of the West Point Academy ; while it would 
 combine therewith our present classical instruction, and in 
 the department of Ethics, &c, permit the students to be much 
 more thoroughly taught than they are, either in this institu- 
 tion or most of those of the highest rank in our country. 
 
 Q. What studies should be required peremptorily ? 
 
 A. For the classical course, I ought to restrict my reply 
 to the scientific studies, and these should be simple Geome- 
 try, Astronomy taught descriptively, elementary Chemistry, 
 experimental Physics, and some general ideas of 'Geology ; 
 perhaps, also, of Physiology. 
 
 In the scientific course, all of the Mathematics, from Arith- 
 metic to the Integral Calculus inclusive, should be peremp- 
 tory, as well as Mechanics, physical Astronomy and Physics, 
 mathematical as well as experimental. The instruction in 
 elementary Chemistry, Geology and Physiology ought also 
 to be more extensive and thorough. Drawing ought to be per- 
 emptory for both courses, as well as the knowledge requisite 
 thereto. 
 
 Q. What principle ought to determine the point in the 
 course at which the election should be allowed? 
 
 A. I do not believe it possible that the students of each 
 course can advantageously pursue the same studies, say to 
 the end of the Sophomore year, or any other advanced pe- 
 riod, and afterwards devote themselves successfully to either 
 alone. Certainly this would be the case for the scientific 
 course. We cannot teach science thoroughly, if classical 
 
30 
 
 studies are to conflict with the mathematical ; and the only 
 possible way of harmonizing the two, is, I believe, that which 
 I have indicated, to wit : the gaining of a year by excluding 
 the studies of the Freshman class. 
 
 Q. What principle should govern as to the studies to be 
 required from all the students ? 
 
 A. The governing principle should be, that these studies 
 be those which would best attain the end of subjective edu- 
 cation : the training of the entire man, not only with refer- 
 ence to his intellectual faculties, but also to his relations as a 
 moral, social and religious being. 
 
 Q. After the point fixed for the division, should there be 
 two courses, one of which should be required ? 
 
 A. If this question is designed to inquire whether or not 
 studies may be optional, I can only say, that all disciplinary 
 study ought to be compulsory. Mere information, designed 
 for objective use, might be rendered more or less optional. 
 Lectures on such subjects, in an attractive and lively manner, 
 are well calculated to awaken interest and impart useful in- 
 formation in the most agreeable mode. 
 
 Q. Please to state fully your opinion upon the subjects in- 
 volved in the preceding questions, relative to an election of 
 courses, accompanied with such practical suggestions as you 
 may think proper to make relative to the subjects suitable to 
 each course in your own or any other department of instruc- 
 tion, of which you may be willing to speak in this connec- 
 tion. 
 
 A. Doubting entirely the expediency of such a division, 
 and regarding it as an experiment destined to fail, if tried, I 
 respectfully state, with reference to the department of Me- 
 chanics and Physics, that these subjects can only be taught 
 properly to students who have completed a thorough ele- 
 mentary Mathematical Course, and therefore must be confined 
 to the last two years of a four years' course. In the Scien- 
 tific Course, the studies of my department should be pursued 
 thoroughly and completely. In the Classical Course, not 
 knowing what those who deem it expedient to make a di- 
 vision contemplate as its object, I have only to remark, that 
 
31 
 
 unless Mathematics be first well mastered, no ideas of Physi- 
 cal Science, worthy of being considered knowledge, can be 
 attained ; and if all that is expected be a mere smattering of 
 information about experimental phenomena, this may serve 
 to amuse, and may save the necessity of confessing total igno- 
 rance, when such things as electrical machines and steam en- 
 gines are spoken of by well-informed persons; but such classi- 
 cal experts could not be mistaken for liberally educated men, 
 nor in scientific attainments be deemed more proficient than 
 boarding-school misses. In equally strong terms would I 
 condemn mere scientific studies, to the exclusion of classical 
 and literary, in due proportion, as a system of education. The 
 mind should be developed symmetrically, in all its faculties, 
 and not biased by excessive cultivation of any special branch 
 of knowledge. Such a bias is to be guarded against as an 
 evil. It is a prevalent but a false notion that there is in the 
 minds of boys generally an idiosyncrasy adapting one class 
 to scientific and the other to literary studies. But any expe- 
 rienced teacher is well aware, from observation, that the boys 
 who excel in classical and literary knowledge are usually 
 those who are most able and proficient in mathematical and 
 scientific subjects. The principle of division of labor, and 
 the necessity to restrict professional pursuits within a narrow 
 range, becomes operative and proper for the man in active 
 life, but the very opposite course is to be pursued in the sub- 
 jective education of a boy. 
 
 With reference to the scientific studies which should form 
 a part of a collegiate sub-graduate course, they should be 
 Mathematics. Chemistry, Vegetable and Animal Physiology, 
 Mechanics, mathematical and applied, the physics of Heat, 
 Light and Electrieity, Astronomy, theoretical rather than 
 practical, Elementary Geology and Drawing. Of the classi- 
 cal and literary studies, I prefer to allow others to designate 
 what is most eligible. 
 
 Q. What should be the required mathematical studies, and 
 in what courses, and during what periods respectively should 
 they be pursued ? 
 
 A. The only mathematical course which any one can pur- 
 
32 
 
 sue, who desires a knowledge of the subject, is the following: 
 Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, plane and spherical Trigo- 
 nometry, analytical Geometry, including Conic Sections, the 
 Differential and Integral Calculus and analytical Mechanics ; 
 descriptive Geometry ought also to be taught, in connection 
 with the art of Drawing, but as an appendix to, rather than a 
 part of, the regular mathematical course. The course of study 
 indicated above is all of it pre-requisite to that of physical 
 and astronomical science. 
 
 If, in a strictly literary or classical course, it be considered 
 wise to exclude a thorough mathematical training, then a 
 sufficient knowledge of Arithmetic, for the purposes of baying 
 and selling, is perhaps all the Mathematics the classical expert 
 might need to carry hira safely through the journey of life. 
 If it be deemed important to teach hira some Mathematics, 
 merely as logic, let him learn the first book of Euclid well. 
 But in after life, let him, if he can, never regret that he dare 
 not open his mouth to talk about Natural Science, lest he 
 commit some awful blunder. 
 
 Q. State your opinion, and any material facts within your 
 knowledge, in reference to the manner and extent of instruc- 
 tion now given in the College, and the success or want of 
 success attending it y and in reference to the propriety of any 
 change, either in the statutes or their administration in this 
 regard. 
 
 A. I believe that the classical instruction is the only por- 
 tion which is thoroughly efficient. In the Freshman year 
 an undue preponderance is given thereto, at the expense of 
 the mathematical course. In the remaining years probably 
 the classical department has only its fair share of time. 
 But I think there is reason to believe that, even in those 
 years, the daily exercises required in Greek or Latin are 
 of such length as to demand a disproportionate amount of 
 study at home, (more than one-third.) 
 
 Owing to causes, which have been in operation for years, 
 Columbia College has become little else than an appendage 
 to the Grammar School, under the charge of its professor 
 
33 
 
 of ancient languages, and the latter department of study is 
 the only one properly pursued. 
 
 In rny own department I have been able to teach elemen- 
 tary Chemistry only to a sufficient degree; in Physics and 
 Mechanics the classes fail grossly, for want of the simplest 
 ideas of Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. 
 
 The above remarks do not refer at all to the study of the 
 German language, which though of some secondary value as 
 an instrument, yet should not be permitted to encroach, as it 
 does, on studies of disciplinary and primary importance. A 
 man may be very well educated and highly learned, who can- 
 not read or speak German, Spanish or Italian, but not if he 
 is ignorant of Arithmetic, the Solar System, the most useful 
 metals or the electric telegraph, or is untrained in the use 
 of his mother tongue and unacquainted with Greek or Latin. 
 
 That Columbia College now fails signally to give to its 
 pupils a proper education, and does not rank higher among 
 the Colleges of the country than as a third-rate institution, 
 is due to the fact that it is a mere classical school. This one- 
 sided condition is owing partly to faulty organization, but 
 more to the relative ability of its professors. An able and 
 energetic man must always have a preponderating influence: 
 to restore and preserve the symmetry of study, the classical 
 instruction must be kept at its present high standard, nay, im- 
 proved, if practicable, and the other departments must be ele- 
 vated by appointing additional and able professors. This is 
 the only possible way. 
 
 If the proper teaching of other subjects demands the taking 
 away of hours now allotted to the classics, a compensation 
 must be brought to pass, by adding another year, which can 
 best be done at the beginning, that is to say, by putting the 
 studies of the Freshman year into the Grammar school. 
 
 3f 
 
34 
 
 At Mr. Beits' Rooms. 
 
 Feb. 10th, 185T. 
 
 Committee met. Present, — Mr. Betts, Mr. Anderson-. 
 Prof. McCulloh was present and interrogated : 
 
 Q. Are the records of the professors, showing the absolute 
 or relative merits of the students, as exhibited by their reci- 
 tations in the lecture rooms, or the results of such records, ever 
 communicated or reported to the President or to the Board of 
 the College? If so, at what times? 
 
 A. I have no knowledge that such records are kept, except 
 my own. They certainly are never communicated to the 
 Board. They may, however, be communicated to the Presi- 
 dent, but of this I have no knowledge, nor have I ever heard 
 the President say any thing of them. 
 
 Q. How many students have you, during the two last pre- 
 ceding terms, reported to the Board of the College as having 
 neglected their studies ? 
 
 A. None. For the reason that I have no confidence that 
 any such report would lead to improvement. 
 
 Q. Please to communicate to the Committee your opinion 
 and any facts within your knowledge as to the method, man- 
 ner and extent of instruction of the following professors, viz., 
 the professor of Ethics, of Ancient Languages, of Mathe- 
 matics and the adjunct professor of Languages. 
 
 A. In relation to the professor of Ethics, I cannot speak, 
 of knowledge, with reference to the extent or manner of his 
 instruction, but from hearsay I have been led to form the 
 opinion that his mode of teaching is oral, by dictation rather 
 than from text-books ; the students writing down verbatim the 
 language of the professor. Also in their note-books th'ey append 
 much additional matters, so styled, I believe ; and this they 
 gather from various books, spending many hours in the Col- 
 
35 
 
 lege Library for this purpose. This I know, because I have 
 been repeatedly present when they were so employed. In my 
 opinion, such work is injudicious, because it can be little else 
 than groping. I do not think that dictated lectures are pre- 
 ferable to text-books. They lack animation and the thorough- 
 ness of complete treatises. But in offering this opinion, I do 
 it with deference to the professor himself, as I do not profess 
 to be an adept in the studies of his department. 
 
 With reference to the instruction of the professor of Ancient 
 Languages, I believe it to be thorough and critical. I form 
 this opinion from the examinations of his classes, as well as 
 from the statements of the students themselves. 
 
 In relation to the instruction of the professor of Mathemat- 
 ics, as I have already been interrogated concerning it, and 
 have answered fully in other replies, I may refer to them ; 
 but, perhaps, I should here say, that I consider it defective, 
 chiefly for the reason that he is required to do what at least 
 two, or perhaps three, should perform. Also, I regard his 
 division of the course into a voluntary and a compulsory 
 course injudicious, and think it might be improved by some 
 changes in the order of studies, which he himself, I believe, 
 contemplates. 
 
 In relation to the adjunct professor of Ancient Languages, 
 I know nothing of the character of his instruction, but believe 
 it to be very good, because I have heard Professor Anthon 
 speak of it with satisfaction. 
 
 Q. Is the result of examinations for admission into the 
 Freshman class reported to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. Not in detail. Perhaps a pro forma report is made, 
 and if so, by the President. 
 
 Q. Ought the examinations for such admissions to be in 
 any case dispensed with ; and if so, in what cases ? 
 
 A. I think they ought not to be in any. 
 
 Q. Ought certain prescribed times to be appointed for 
 such examinations ? 
 
 A. They should be. 
 
 Q. Ought they or ought they not to be held at the same 
 time? 
 
36 
 
 A. The student should be examined publicly, in the pres- 
 ence of all, and by each of the professors, on the appointed 
 day or days. 
 
 Q. Who, as a matter of duty, ought to be present ? 
 
 A. All the professors of the departments, the studies of 
 which may be obligatory, whether such professors take im- 
 mediate charge of the admitted students or not. These ex- 
 aminations cannot, in my opinion, be rendered too rigid, 
 and they must be so if we would elevate the instruction of 
 the institution. 
 
 Q. Should, in your judgment, examination of the students 
 from the Grammar school, or from Prof. Drisler's school, be 
 dispensed with ? 
 
 A. It ought not to be dispensed with from any school 
 whatever. 
 
 Q. Does the Board of the College decide whether or not 
 applicants for admission into the Freshman class should be 
 admitted ? 
 
 A. It does not. 
 
 Q. In what manner is it ascertained whether the persons 
 applying for admission into any of the classes possess the 
 knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. I know nothing of the mode in which they are admit- 
 ted into the Freshman class nor into the Sophomore. Students 
 applying for admission into the higher classes have been 
 referred by the President to me, that I might determine for 
 him their knowledge of the studies of my own department, 
 but this has only been done in some instances ; in other cases 
 students have made their appearance in my lecture and re- 
 citation room, as members of the higher classes, without 
 having been subjected to any examination by myself, by (as 
 I presume) the authority of the President. 
 
 Q. Are persons so applying for admission into the higher 
 classes examined by all the professors instructing the class 
 for which they apply for admission ? 
 
 A. Generally, I presume, they are ; but in some cases they 
 are not, as my last answer serves to show. 
 
 Q. Do the professors report their opinions ; and if so, to 
 whom? 
 
37 
 
 A. I believe they do, informally, to the President. 
 
 Q. In writing? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Who decides whether the student should be admitted ? 
 
 A. The President. 
 
 Q. Is the question of the admission or rejection of students 
 so applying for admission into the higher classes brought be- 
 fore the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. I have never known it to be, except in one case, and 
 that recently. Then, I believe, it was because the President 
 did not wish to assume the sole responsibility of the rejection. 
 This was a case of very unusual character. 
 
 Q. "Would it be better, in your opinion, that the Board of 
 the College, in whom the power of discipline is vested, subject 
 to the negative of the President, should possess and exercise 
 the power of admission of students into any class, subject to 
 the same negative ? 
 
 A. Yes, provided they would perform that duty indepen- 
 dently, and without regard to other considerations than the 
 attainments of the applicant and the requirements of the in- 
 stitution. At present, the fact that two of the College pro- 
 fessors are principals of Grammar schools, would, in my belief, 
 necessarily bias them in the mere exercise of judgment on a 
 matter of official duty. 
 
 Q. Is there any other mode of deciding this question, which, 
 in your opinion, would most effectually secure the end, that 
 candidates should not be admitted without the previous pre- 
 parations which the statutes require ? 
 
 A. Yes. Examiners might be appointed for the purpose, 
 whose duty it should be to conduct such examination, and 
 who should be bound in honor as well as in duty, to conduct 
 them rigidly, without bias or partiality, and to reject every 
 student who should not be found fully prepared. Perhaps, 
 however, the duty of examination ought to be confided to the 
 Board of the College, and they should be held bound to its 
 rigid performance. If so, the present mode of compensation 
 ought to be altered, and ought not to vary with the number 
 of students. It ought not to be the pecuniary interest of a 
 
38 
 
 professor to admit an unprepared student. Nor ought profes- 
 sors to be the preliminary instructors of candidates for admis- 
 sion. 
 
 Q. Can you remember any cases of admission into the 
 higher classes which have occurred since the concluding ex- 
 amination in 1854 ? 
 
 A. There have been two. 
 
 Q. Was there any in which the report of one or more pro- 
 fessors was adverse to the qualifications of the student, and 
 yet the student was admitted ? 
 
 A. Snch was, I believe, the case with reference to the ad- 
 mission of a Mr. Davies, now a member of the Senior class. 
 The circumstances of his admission have passed somewhat 
 from my recollection, as I do not particularly charge my me- 
 mory with such matters ; but I am of the impression that he was 
 unprepared in several of the departments, including my own. 
 
 Q. Do you know any facts other than those you have 
 stated respecting the admission of students? If so, please 
 state them. 
 
 A. Kecently a student joined the Junior class, after having 
 been absent more than a year in Europe, who had formerly 
 been connected with the College as a member of the same 
 class when they were Freshmen, so that he must have been 
 permitted to proceed with the Junior class without attending 
 to the studies of the Sophomore year. Whether or not he 
 had left College and ceased to be a member of it, I cannot 
 say. I presume, however, the President did not regard him 
 as having ceased to be connected with the institution ; but 
 certainly no student ought to be permitted to skip the studies 
 of one entire year. 
 
 Q. Are there any suggestions which you can make relative 
 to entrance examinations ? 
 
 A. They ought to be public ; and the President ought not 
 to decide whether or not a student should be admitted, i In 
 doing so, friendships might bias his decision adversely fo the 
 interests and instruction of the College ; and an amiable man 
 naturally shrinks from inflicting the pain which a rejection 
 involves. It is better, therefore, in my belief, that the result 
 
39 
 
 of an examination should be decided by the Board ; and per- 
 haps it might not be amiss, in order to render this rigid, 
 that the vote should be by ballot ; and even that one adverse 
 vote should reject the candidate. But if sucb a mode were 
 adopted, it should be discretionary with the Board whether 
 or not, upon the representation of the parent or guardian, 
 ill health or other infirmity might not be deemed sufficient 
 cause for leniency; and incases of rejection, to guard against 
 injustice, a student should be permitted to be re-examined — 
 as not unfrequently embarrassment is a cause of confusion 
 and seeming ignorance. If we have to be thus rigid, it should 
 be the duty of the professors, or those conducting the ex- 
 amination, to render them, in manner and language, as con- 
 siderate as possible of the feelings of the applicant. Also, it 
 might not be amiss to require that these examinations be 
 made in the presence of a Committee of the Board of Trus- 
 tees ; and in deciding with reference to any applicant, the 
 result of his examination should be matter of discussion, if 
 desired by any member of the Board. 
 
 Q. Are the students of each class examined in your de- 
 partment, at the public examinations, upon the whole subject 
 or matters of the course of study pursued during the last pre- 
 ceding term, or upon selections from such subjects or matters ? 
 
 A. They are examined upon the whole ; and as fully as 
 the time will permit. 
 
 Q. Are the subjects upon which the students are ques- 
 tioned at such examinations marked upon slips of paper, to be 
 drawn by the students by lot ? 
 
 ' A. They are not. I did so once, by request of Mr. 
 Aycrigg, a member of a Committee of the Alumni ; but I 
 never repeated it, for the reasons that I did not consider the 
 plan judicious and that students have informed me, that in 
 other departments in which such papers are used, they not 
 only can, but do substitute for any paper drawn, one which, 
 by preconcerted arrangement, is to be used in its place — so 
 that a single proposition or subject is all that a student has 
 to learn to be prepared for his examination. This statement, 
 
40 
 
 I have reason to believe, is true ; although I do not presume 
 that the professor imposed upon was aware of the imposition. 
 
 Q. Do the students ever know, before the public examina- 
 tions, upon what part or parts of your subject the class will 
 be questioned at the public examinations ? 
 
 A. They have no knowledge of the sort whatever; nor 
 have I myself: for the questions put to them are those which 
 occur to my mind at the time of examination only. g^. 
 
 Q. Are the examinations in your department so conducted 
 as to be, and are they, in fact, fair and thorough tests of. the 
 proficiency of each student in the subjects of the course pur- 
 sued during the term next preceding the examination, so far 
 as the manner of the examination will allow? 
 
 A. They are. Some diffident students frequently fail to do 
 themselves justice ; but my knowledge of the daily work of 
 such students enables me to do them justice, by making 
 proper allowance in the record which I keep. 
 
 Q. How much of your subjects of instruction, during the 
 last preceding term, was reviewed by your classes respec- 
 tively, previously to each of the two last examinations? 
 
 A. Previously to the examination, at the close of the last 
 collegiate year, the Senior or graduating class reviewed and 
 were examined upon all that they had studied, with the ex- 
 ception of Optics. This was omitted, because the time did 
 not permit us to do more than commence it before the close 
 of the regular course. I should not have touched it at all, had 
 I not desired to awaken some interest in their minds in so 
 brilliant and perfect a branch of natural science. The Junior 
 and Sophomore classes reviewed the whole that they had 
 studied. 
 
 During the term which has just closed, by permission of 
 the Board of Trustees, I have followed a different plan, de- 
 voting every Thursday to a review of the studies of the pre- 
 ceding week — instead of setting apart the four weeks imme- 
 diately preceding the examination for review — and I am well 
 satisfied with the result. My classes have shown themselves 
 better drilled upon the entire course of study. 
 
41 
 
 Mr. Beits' Rooms. 
 
 February 11th, 1857. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Anderson, Mr. Betts. 
 
 Professor McCulloh was present. 
 
 Professor McCulloh added to his answer to tbe following 
 interrogatory : " Please to communicate to the Committee your 
 opinion and any facts within your knowledge as to the method, 
 manner and extent of the instruction of the professor of 
 Mathematics," as follows : 
 
 Having reflected upon the answer I gave to this question, 
 when first put, I regard that answer as perhaps not suffi- 
 ciently definite or full, and deem it my duty to the Committee 
 to be more explicit. According to my recollection, I remarked 
 that the division of the instruction into a compulsory and 
 voluntary course was, in my opinion, "injudicious." I ought, 
 perhaps, rather to have said, that I believed the practical ef- 
 fect of such a division to be, that the compulsory course, so 
 styled, fails to impart any considerable knowledge, and that 
 the students following, that course are, therefore, ignorant of 
 what they ought to learn. Students following the voluntary 
 course are the only members of the class who attain to a re- 
 spectable proficiency, and these are few, for the reason that 
 mathematical discipline is generally somewhat distasteful, 
 and, therefore, if left to himself, the student would usually 
 prefer avoiding it. I express this opinion with regret from 
 feelings of delicacy, but under a sense of duty. I do not 
 think that I do injustice to Professor Hackley, in my belief 
 that this is the effect of such a division, for the reason, that 
 in conversations between us he has usually expressed the 
 opinion that it is impossible to teach Mathematics to more 
 than a very small proportion of students, by reason of their 
 incapacity. Convinced of the contrary, by what I have my- 
 self seen elsewhere, I have urged, in our interviews, that if, 
 
42 
 
 by the appointment of an additional instructor, the drill could 
 be more thorough, and our examinations for admission could 
 be made more exacting, a much higher degree of attainment 
 in Mathematics could be made by nearly all of our pupils. 
 This, however, I presume, he believes erroneous, and, if pos- 
 sible, not desirable. The West Point course of instruction,, and 
 the well-known failure of the instruction of Professor Pierce 
 of Harvard, were referred to between us as examples proving 
 the impracticability of general mathematical instruction. 
 With reference to the case of Professor Pierce, it is well un- 
 derstood to be owing simply to the fact that he looks with 
 contempt upon the duties of a College instructor, devotes 
 his time to scientific investigations for the advancement of 
 science itself, and does not condescend to teach any but the 
 4 very best of his pupils. Such a course is regarded by the 
 scientific men of the country as failing in the performance of 
 what is due to the patrons and pupils of the school ; and that 
 it is tolerated at all, is ascribed only to the friendship and 
 esteem in which Professor Pierce is held by the Trustees and 
 Faculty of Harvard, as an able man of science and accom- 
 plished gentleman. With reference to West Point, it is a 
 mistake that mathematical instruction is not generally im- 
 parted. I have learned, authentically, that of the number of 
 cadets admitted, about forty per cent, is the average number 
 graduating ; thirty per cent, are dropped at the first exami- 
 nation after admission, the other thirty per cent, fall off, one 
 by one, subsequently ; and it is believed, by the experienced 
 instructors of that academy, that if instead of cadets being 
 admitted, as they are now, by appointment of the President 
 of the United States, and through political favor of members 
 of Congress, they were required to pass a strict examination 
 for admission, there would not be more than ten per cent, of 
 the whole number admitted who would have subsequently to 
 be dropped from their rolls for any reason whatever, moral 
 or intellectual; and that the ninety per cent, who would thus 
 pursue their course of instruction would all be well instructed 
 in Mathematics. I have no doubt, if Professor Hackley re- 
 gards his division of his course judicious, that it is for the 
 
43 
 
 reason that he believes it impracticable to instruct in Mathe- 
 matics other than a very small proportion of any class. 
 
 Q. In respect to each class, and in respect to each exami- 
 nation, please to mark the extent of review by reference to 
 your text-books, or your notes for your guidance in lecturing, 
 and the written matter dictated to the students. 
 
 A. In my previous answers I have already stated that I 
 use text-books only as books of reference ; that I employ no 
 notes, except those written on the black-board, and never dic- 
 tate any thing. 
 
 Q. How, in your opinion, should the review be conducted, 
 or is it advisable at all ? 
 
 A. I cannot express an opinion, with reference to the classi- 
 cal and literary studies of the institution, concerning the man- 
 ner in which reviews should be conducted, but in scientific 
 studies I am confident that the only proper mode of review 
 is perpetual drill. The Latin phrase, " iterum, iterum que," 
 would express my idea of what reviews should be, in mathe- 
 matical and in physical science which demands Mathematics 
 for its comprehension. A student ought never to be permit- 
 ted to forget pre-requisite and fundamental knowledge ; and he 
 can only keep his knowledge ever ready and at his command 
 by perpetual reviewing. He ought, at all times, to be ready to 
 answer any question that may be put, in relation to impor- 
 tant preliminary subjects ; and to accomplish this end, not 
 only ought the daily drill to be thorough, but our examina- 
 tions also ought to extend back and embrace, for a student 
 who has studied the Calculus, every portion, even Arithmetic 
 itself. The system of four weeks of review, preliminary to a 
 public examination, restricted to the subjects of study during 
 the current term, and sometimes, I believe, embracing only 
 selections, has appeared to me to be only a mere cramming 
 for exhibition. Self-respect alone would have prevented me 
 from regarding it with favor; and I believe that this subject 
 is one which particularly demands attention, with a view to 
 reform and improvement. 
 
 Q. What end does the usual review secure ? 
 
 A. It encourages indolence and rewards deception. 
 
Q. Does not the knowledge which the student possesses 
 during the session, that he will have an opportunity to re- 
 view at the end, induce a very superficial study until the 
 time of review arrives ? 
 
 A. I am convinced that it does ; and therefore is it that I 
 have characterized such a review as an encouragement to in- 
 dolence. 
 
 Q. Are the public examinations conducted so as satisfac- 
 torily to test the knowledge of the student in the subjects of 
 the course, which were the objects of attention in the last 
 preceding term and in the previous terms ? 
 
 A. They certainly are not, as they are confined, by estab- 
 lished custom, to the studies of the immediately preceding 
 term. 
 
 Q. Ought the examinations to be written examinations or 
 not? 
 
 A. They ought to be oral, for the reason that it has been 
 found in Colleges impracticable to prevent students from 
 obtaining the aid of others in written examinations. 
 
 Q. What accommodations and precautions would be ne- 
 cessary if written examinations were held ? 
 
 A. The student examined ought to be the only one present. 
 A table and paper and ink the only facilities he would require. 
 
 Q. What method of examinations would you recommend ? 
 
 A. That the examinations be conducted not only by the 
 instructor of the class, but the questions be also put by the 
 persons present; and if necessary, to insure a searching ex- 
 amination, such as the statutes now require, that gentlemen 
 who are experts in the particular subjects of the examination 
 be present, for the purpose of putting questions, so as to in- 
 sure that the examination be a full and fair test of knowledge. 
 
 Q. How much time ought to be given to the examination 
 of each class in your department, if oral ? 
 
 A. The time now given, namely, about three to four hours 
 for each class. 
 
 Q. How frequently ought examinations to be held ? 
 
 A. I think our present system the best in that respect, to 
 wit, two examinations in a year, lasting not more than a 
 
45 
 
 fortnight each. In some Colleges they have four of a week 
 each ; but I do not think any advantage is gained by this 
 greater frequency. 
 
 Q. "Would there, in your opinion, be an advantage in 
 making the examinations a thorough test of the efficiency of 
 the students in the whole course previously pursued ; and 
 ought they not, at all events, to be made to afford a thorough 
 test of the student's proficiency jn the studies of the last pre- 
 ceding term ? 
 
 A. Public examinations are not the proper test of a student's 
 knowledge. Modesty is characteristic of merit in youth, and 
 the best students are those who suffer most from embarrass- 
 ment on such occasions. The conceited and ignorant are not 
 very sensitive. The daily performance of a 6tudent in a reci- 
 tation room is the just measure of his relative and absolute 
 knowledge. The proper use of public examinations is, I be- 
 lieve, to stimulate application ; and they serve more to excite 
 the indolent than to benefit the industrious. 
 
 Q. Do the professors, after each examination, report the 
 results to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. They do not. 
 
 Q. Have reports in writing ever been made to your know- 
 ledge ? 
 
 A. They have not. 
 
 Q. Does not the Board, in administering the discipline of 
 the institution, take the results of public examinations as 
 tests of the proficiency of the students ; or do they or not 
 take such results into account in awarding testimonials ? 
 
 A. They do not have regard to examinations in the disci- 
 pline of the institution, and I have never known a failure in. 
 examination in one department to prevent a student's receiv- 
 ing a testimonial in another, except in one instance, and that 
 has just occurred. Testimonials are awarded by the Presi- 
 dent and the professor of the departments respectively, 
 except in the case of the general testimonial, which is award- 
 ed by the Board collectively. 
 
 Q. Do you think that a failure at a public examination in 
 one department, should preclude a testimonial in another ? 
 
46 
 
 A. It certainly should. Even the students themselves, 
 pleased although they are with being publicly rewarded in the 
 presence of their friends, with testimonials which should be 
 true certificates of distinction, yet speak of them usually in 
 private with contempt, for the reason that they may be obtained 
 by neglecting all the studies, with the exception of those of a 
 particular department. 
 
 Q. Does the President make any note of the results of the 
 public examinations, at the time of the examination, and in 
 reference to each student ? 
 
 A. He does. 
 
 Q. Does the note of the President express the relative merit 
 of the student ? 
 
 A. The notes are for his own use ; and that he makes them 
 at all, I only know because I happen to have seen them. What 
 they express, I do not know. 
 
 Q. Are such notes or records preserved by the President in 
 methodical form ; and in what way or form, if any, are they 
 preserved ? 
 
 A. They are his private memoranda, and I do not know 
 what he does with them. 
 
 Q. Do you keep a record of the results of the public ex- 
 aminations in your department ? 
 
 A. I do. 
 
 Q. Does it express the relative merits of the students, or 
 any of them, so far as exhibited by such examination ? 
 
 A. It does, of all. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to produce your report made 
 to the Board of the recent examination ? 
 
 A. I made no report. It is not customary to make any. 
 
 Q. Please to give a statement of what students were then 
 found deficient, or were absent. 
 
 A. I will present such a statement. 
 
 Q. "What was done in each case of absent and deficient 
 students, in this or the preceding examination ? 
 
 A. They go on with the class without any serious obstacles 
 being thrown in their way. The President sometimes sends 
 them to the professor, and they come asking whether or not 
 
47 
 
 he will prevent their proceeding with their class, if the Pre- 
 sident is willing that they should go on; after which they 
 attend again as usual. Absentees, who have shrunk from pub- 
 lic examination, come sometimes bringing written permits of 
 the President for private examination. I have never known 
 a student to be prohibited from going on with his class and 
 graduating, however gross his deficiency and indolence. On 
 one occasion, at the end of the collegiate year, about six stu- 
 dents who had failed in the studies of other departments than 
 my own, were, upon motions of the professors of those de- 
 partments, forbidden to proceed with their class in the succeed- 
 ing year ; but at the very opening of the next session, and at 
 the first meeting of the Faculty, they were all re-instated ; 
 and I was the only member of the Faculty who voted against 
 what I deemed an act so inconsistent and wanting both in 
 dignity and self-respect. After this, I determined that I would 
 never present the name of any student for deficiency in my 
 own department, because I had no confidence that such defi- 
 ciency would be regarded seriously ; and therefore I never 
 report failures, or complain of neglect of study ; what I can 
 accomplish individually, I do, and I attempt nothing more. 
 
 Q. Was it ascertained in any manner, before the students 
 referred to in your last answer were allowed to proceed with 
 their class, that they had made np their deficiency ? 
 
 A. It was not. They were restored through favor, and at 
 the entreaty of themselves and their parents, as was orally 
 stated in the Board at the time of their restoration. 
 
 Mr. Betts' Booms. 
 
 February 2Uh, 1857. 
 Committee met. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Betts and Mr. Anderson. 
 
 Prof. McCdxloh attended, and the interrogatories were 
 resumed : 
 
 Q. Is it not desirable that all the professors should attend 
 the public examinations ; and should not all, and especially 
 
48 
 
 the examining professor, note the performance of each 
 student ? 
 
 A. Not as our examinations are now conducted ; for the 
 reasons that those examinations are not, I presume, designed 
 to test the knowledge of students, and I have seen nothing to 
 be gained by mere attendance, as a matter of form. Onr 
 examinations ought, I think, to include subjects studied in 
 previous years, to prevent these from being forgotten, in 
 whole or in part. And if this were done, several examinations 
 would have to be in progress at the same time in different 
 rooms. Our examinations are, I believe, sufficiently public 
 now, and would be so in any case, if two or three, whether 
 Trustees or members of the Faculty, should be in attendance. 
 And I believe the effect of the presence of outsiders is much 
 better than that of the instructors themselves. 
 
 Q. "Would not this be requisite in order to restore the 
 method of arranging the students in the order of merit ? 
 
 A. No. Nor would it be desirable that any one besides 
 the instructor of the class should allot to the students re- 
 spectively their relative positions in his department. He 
 alone is familiar with their daily performances in the recita- 
 tion room, and therefore is the only proper judge of allow- 
 ances to be made for embarassment at public examinations ; 
 and he should be responsible to the students themselves, in 
 so far as such responsibility is demanded by justice. 
 
 Q. Have the Board of the College, within your recollection, 
 excluded any students from proceeding to a higher class be- 
 cause deficient in the studies of a preceding year ? 
 
 A. No ; I have never known deficiency to have been a 
 cause of preventing a student from proceeding with his 
 class. 
 
 Q. Are there any improvements in the mode of public ex- 
 aminations which you can suggest, besides those which you 
 have already mentioned ? 
 
 A. I do not recollect precisely what I have suggested, but 
 the improvements which I think desirable and important are, 
 that students be examined as the statutes require, to wit, in 
 a searching manner, though with due tenderness. And to this 
 
49 
 
 end, that they should be questioned upon the whole subject 
 of study in which they have been engaged, instead of selected 
 portions ; and that questions be asked them by others who 
 may be present, as well as by the instructors of the class. 
 Then, also, that the examinations should extend back, in the 
 disciplinary studies, to the very beginning — in Mathematics 
 to Arithmetic, in Latin to the Grammar. This is the plan 
 now pursued in several of our best Colleges — at Yale, bien- 
 nially ; at Princeton, semi-annually — and the effect of it is to 
 insure review and perfect command of requisite fundamental 
 knowledge. 
 
 Q. Is it, or is it not possible to have such a system of 
 numbers for use in the lecture-room and at examinations as 
 they shall be a reliable test of relative performance of the 
 students ? 
 
 A. It is perfectly practicable and easy, and is done in 
 many of our Colleges, as well as at West Point, where the 
 subsequent rank of the cadet in the army is determined ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend that examinations upon the 
 course of a session previously pursued should be conducted by 
 adepts not officers of the College, or how otherwise ? 
 
 A. No ; I think that all that relates to the instruction of 
 the student in a College should be confided to the instructors 
 thereof. They should be worthy of such confidence, and if 
 not, should be dispensed with. 
 
 Q. Would you then discourage the putting of questions by 
 adepts or experts ? 
 
 A. Not by any who may happen to be in attendance. 
 And it might also be well that such gentlemen should pur- 
 posely be present, in order to impress the minds of the 
 class previously with the belief that an examination would 
 be a test of their knowledge, and not a mere performance of 
 memory. As a matter of form, or with a view to preserve 
 order, questions by others ought to be put through the pro- 
 fessor who conducts the examination. 
 
 $. Can you explain the reasons which have influenced the 
 Board of the College to disuse the punishments of degradation 
 
 4f 
 
50 
 
 and suspension, and in place of suspension to inflict the pun- 
 ishment of dismission, remitting the same after intervals of 
 from one to two weeks ? 
 
 A. The punishment of degradation I have never known 
 to be proposed, except on certain occasions, when a whole 
 class defied the authority of the President; and then it con- 
 sisted in the arranging of the students in alphabetical order, 
 and therefore only affected the testimonialists. If intended 
 in earnest, this was never carried into effect on such an occa- 
 sion. With reference to dismission, when at times suspension 
 has been proposed, the former has been preferred, for the 
 reasons that a dismissed student must make promise of good 
 behaviour before he can be restored ; and a student twice 
 dismissed cannot be restored at all. 
 
 Q. Do you think that the punishment of suspension could 
 sometimes be resorted to with advantage, and are any there and 
 what measures which you can suggest as calculated to render 
 it efficient, or to remove objections to it which may now exist ? 
 A. Suspension is, I think, inherently a very defective 
 punishment. It inflicts a wrong by withholding from a stu- 
 dent opportunities of instruction for which his parent or guar- 
 dian has paid ; and being for, usually, a definite period of 
 time, or else unduly protracted if indefinite, it makes the mere 
 lapse of time the atonement required. I think it ought 
 rarely to be resorted to. The moral effect of dismission, cou- 
 pled with the necessity of promise of good behaviour for res- 
 toration, is, I believe, far preferable. In either case, parental 
 mortification and rebuke are elicited. I believe suspension is 
 too much resorted to by the Colleges of our country; and I 
 have known it to be justly the subject of grievance and com- 
 plaint on the part of parents, not inclined, either, to extenuate 
 the culpability of their children. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to 
 require the attendance and testimony of any student, adversely 
 to a fellow-student, upon a charge against the latter ? 
 
 A. I believe it to be dishonorable in a student to inform 
 against his fellow-students ; and have always expressed this 
 opinion freely, even to the students themselves. In a College 
 
51 
 
 such as Columbia College, limited to the mere mental educa- 
 tion of youth and the preservation of order during tbeir hours 
 of attendance, perfect government is a matter so easy, if ju- 
 diciously managed, and the faults committed are of a charac- 
 ter so trivial, if the professors be what they should be, that 
 there is certainly no reason why proceedings so strict, and 
 certainly questionable, ever should be resorted to. The in- 
 timacy between students and the friendships connected there- 
 with, forbid that they should be informers on each other ; 
 and if required to be so as witnesses summoned, they may 
 so far forget themselves at times as to become volunteer in- 
 formers, or, in other words, spies upon their fellow students. 
 I have known such things to happen. 
 
 Q. Do you think that a resort to this power is necessary for 
 the enforcement of discipline, or for the discovery of perpe- 
 trators of acts of disorder ? 
 
 A. If a professor will use his eyes and ears, he needs no 
 other sources of information to maintain order in his own 
 room, if he be one who can command the respect of his class ; 
 and if he cannot do this, he is unfit for his place. Outside 
 of the recitation-rooms, proper administrative regulations, 
 rigidly enforced, will do all else that is requisite. In Columbia 
 College much of the disorder within the recitation-rooms is, in 
 my opinion, due to defective government outside of them; 
 and it is not easy for a professor to preserve order in his own 
 room, when noisy students are allowed to collect in numbers 
 in the entries. 
 
 Q. State what, in your opinion, are the objections to the 
 punishment of dismission, as now or lately administered ; for 
 what cause it ought to be remitted, and to what regulations, if 
 any, it ought to be subjected. 
 
 A. The only fault I have to find with this mode of punish- 
 ment as administered is, that it is not inflicted for neglect of 
 duty, and is sometimes applied in cases of trivial offence, sin- 
 gled out as examples, after protracted and habitual disorder 
 for which the professor is more responsible even than the stu- 
 dents. In voting for the dismissiou of a student, I have on 
 several occasions done so very reluctantly, and under the con- 
 
52 
 
 viction that though both parties were to blame, the professor 
 was the more so of the two. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestion to offer on the statute of 
 crimes and punishments, as to its administration or alteration ? 
 
 A. I think that the power of the President ought to be 
 restricted in relation to it. His veto power, as a pardoning 
 power, should remain as it is ; but he ought not to be permit- 
 ted to announce to students, before their cases have been even 
 submitted to the Faculty, what shall be their punishment. 
 When a student is summoned before the Faculty, the President 
 ought not to be allowed to demand of him that he shall con- 
 fess his offence, if guilty, and thus require him to criminate 
 himself. The principle of our courts, which exempts a party 
 accused from such acknowledgments, is, I have uo doubt, 
 founded on principles of justice ; and these ought never to be 
 violated. It is the usual practice of the President to make 
 such demands of students, without treating their confession 
 as any palliation of their offence. The temptation to falsehood, 
 under such a course, is of itself a sufficient reason why it 
 should be abandoned. The administration of the discipline 
 of the Institution should, in my opinion, be vested in the 
 Board of the College ; and much discretion should be allowed 
 to them, that they may properly adapt their punishments to 
 particular cases. If this power be restricted at all, it should 
 only be for the purpose of securing leniency. 
 
 Q. Can you state any facts, in your opinion material for 
 the Committee to know, in reference to the discipline of the 
 College ? 
 
 A. The professors ought to be required to preserve order 
 in their rooms; and the President should see that the regula- 
 tions of the Institution, for the behaviour of students out- 
 side of the recitation-rooms, are duly enforced. Nine-tenths 
 of all the cases of discipline for disorderly conduct that have 
 occurred since I have been connected with the institution, 
 have been, in my opinion, the fault of the Faculty and not of 
 the students. It is, I believe, easy to have perfect order, and 
 then a case of discipline would be very rare ; but this could 
 not be brought to pass if neglect of study be tolerated. 
 
53 
 
 Q. How are punishments pronounced? 
 
 A. By the President, in such terms as at the moment he 
 sees fit to employ. 
 
 Q. Are they, and if so under what circumstances, pro- 
 nounced by a written form, prepared by the President and 
 read in the chapel? 
 
 A. I do not know. I never was present on such an occa- 
 sion. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, punishments to be pronounced 
 in the presence of the assembled students? or what regula- 
 tion would you recommend relative to the mode of pronounc- 
 ing punishments? 
 
 A. They ought never to be publicly pronounced. To do so 
 only serves to weaken the moral effect of the punishment, 
 and usually leads to disorderly conduct by the students, such 
 as stamping, &c. The only suggestion I have to make, with 
 reference to the mode of pronouncing punishments, is, that 
 the sentence should always be in strict conformity with a 
 written resolution, prescribing what that punishment shall 
 be. The practice of offering such resolutions orally has led, 
 in some cases, to material discrepancy between the act of the 
 Board and the sentence by the President, as its executive offi- 
 cer — unconsciously, however, and certainly unintentionally, 
 I believe, upon his part ; but such things ought not to happen. 
 
 Mr. Betts' Booms. 
 
 March 3d, 1857. 
 Present, — Mr. Betts. 
 
 Professor McCulloh continued his answers to the inter- 
 rogatories : 
 
 Q. Do the Board of the College keep a book of the minutes 
 of their proceedings ? 
 
 A. Tbe President keeps such a book, and by a decision of 
 the Board his will is their law. 
 
54 
 
 Q. Are the contents of this book read to the Board of the 
 College, or approved by them ? If so, how long has this prac- 
 tice continued ? 
 
 A. They are simply read to the Board, and this has been 
 the case for about a year. 
 
 Q. Have the Board at any time appointed a clerk ? 
 
 A. They have not. It was proposed about a year since 
 that the junior member of the Board should be their clerk. 
 This proposition, originating, I believe, with the President, 
 was assented to ; it was not voted upon. At the next meet- 
 ing of the Board the President announced it to be his inten- 
 tion to continue to keep the minutes himself, for the alleged 
 reason that he did not deem it " safe" to do otherwise. 
 
 Q. Did the President use that word ; and if so, did he state 
 any reason why he did not so consider it? 
 
 A. The word was his own. He did not explain it, but refer- 
 red to the case of young Eomeyn, as having caused him to 
 adopt his opinion. 
 
 Q. Have the Board ever rescinded their action by which 
 they appointed Professor McGulloh clerk ? 
 
 A. The President rescinded it, and they acquiesced. 
 
 Q. What reason was assigned by the President for this 
 course ? 
 
 A. He referred to the case of young Komeyn as having 
 led to it. 
 
 Q. Has Professor McCulloh ever resigned his office as 
 clerk ? 
 
 A. I never held the office. 
 
 Q. Has the Board, or any member thereof, at its meetings, 
 excepted in any way to the President's thus assuming the 
 keeping of the minutes of the Board, after their appointment 
 of a clerk ? 
 
 A. When the President saw fit to announce his aforesaid 
 purpose, he accompanied the declaration with the reading of 
 certain regulations or rules for the government of the Board 
 in its proceedings, made solely by himself. No member of 
 the Board, at the time, took exception to his action. I forbore 
 to do so lest it should be supposed I was influenced by feeling, 
 
55 
 
 either in connection with the case of young Romeyn, or the 
 President's remark that he would not deem it " safe" that 
 the book of minutes should be kept by myself. At the next 
 meeting of the Board, however, no one else having seen fit 
 to dissent, I offered a resolution to the effect that the statutes 
 do not give to the President the authority to mal<e rules 
 for the government of the Board of the College. This reso- 
 lution, after discussion at several successive meetings, was 
 lost — Professors Anthon and Hackley voting with me in its 
 favor, so that it was decided by the President's casting vote. 
 
 Q. On motions made to the Board of the College, on mat- 
 ters within their authority, is or is not the question put by 
 the President to the Board for their decision, in cases in which 
 the President has declared that if the motion were carried 
 he would withhold his concurrence? Has the President 
 ever, within your knowledge, refused to put the question, on 
 the ground that he meant to withhold his concurrence? 
 
 A. In the proceedings relative to the case of young Ro- 
 meyn, the President did declare that he would withhold his 
 concurrence ; and, therefore, should and did refuse to put to 
 vote a motion offered and seconded ; but this is the only oc- 
 casion upon which I have known him to exercise such 
 power. 
 
 Q. Are you engaged in any professional pursuit from which 
 you derive emolument, and which is not connected with the 
 College ? 
 
 A. I am not. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestions to make relative to the prac- 
 tical working of the chapter of the statutes on the Board of 
 the College, or to the propriety of any amendments to it? 
 
 A. I will refer to it, and answer this question at a subse- 
 quent meeting of the Committee. 
 
 Q. Can you explain why the Baard of the College do not 
 meet statedly every Saturday, for the purpose of administer- 
 ing the general discipline of the College, as the statutes re- 
 quire ? 
 
 A. Friday is more convenient, both to the professors and 
 the students ; and I know of no disadvantages attending this 
 
50 
 
 change from the time specified by the statutes. By what 
 authority a change was made I do not know, as it took place 
 before my connection with the College ; but the custom being 
 known to the Board of Trustees, and by them acquiesced in, 
 is supposed to-be at least sanctioned. 
 
 Q. Is proper order preserved among the students of the 
 College at other times than when they are attending the lec- 
 ture-rooms? 
 
 A. No, it is not. 
 
 Q. What do you consider the order that a class should ob- 
 serve during lecture? 
 
 A. Perfect silence and attention. 
 
 Q. Do the students, when in attendance in your room, 
 preserve strict decorum? and state, in reference to each class, 
 whether the students composing it preserve strict decorum. 
 
 A. They do generally. Sometimes individual members 
 are guilty of slight disorder; and this happens now more 
 frequently with the Junior class than with either of the others. 
 They are less studious than either the Senior or the Sopho- 
 more classes, and, therefore, more frequently forget them- 
 selves. 
 
 Q. In cases of disorder, when ,they do occur, of what na- 
 ture is it ? 
 
 A. They sometimes whisper, or become slightly inatten- 
 tive. The chief cause of disorder in my room at present is,. 
 the habit of loitering outside of the lecture-room, and then 
 coming in after the lecture is begun. I used to lock these loit- 
 erers out; but the President recently having taken exception 
 to my so doing, I now send them to him, which has but little 
 effect — serves only to amuse them — and the habit of loitering 
 is consequently increasing. I would lock them out again if 
 the exercise of that authority, in opposition to the wishes of 
 the President, was my evident right. This demands some 
 remedy. 
 
 Q. How often does such disorder occur ? 
 
 A. Loitering, almost always, of perhaps one-fourth of the. 
 whole class ; whispering, occasionally only. Often there is 
 none of it. Again, when any thing has occurred outside of 
 
57 
 
 my room, calculated to excite the students, they are apt to 
 whisper during the first few minutes after entering ; but a 
 gentle rebuke readily puts a stop to this ; and that rebuke 
 usually consists only in a look, so that the student offending 
 is alone aware of it. It is rarely that I have occasion to 
 speak to one of them ; and then a word is all that I need 
 say. 
 
 Q. Ave you able to detect the guilty students ? 
 
 A. Always. 
 
 Q. Do you report all cases of disorder that occur in your 
 room ? 
 
 A. I never report any. 
 
 Q. What offence do you consider sufficient to cause the 
 dismission of a student from the room, or the calling him to 
 answer in any way ? 
 
 A. When a student, cheeked in any disorder, repeats the 
 offence during the same recitation or lecture, he ought to be 
 sent from the room, if his doing so be apparently intentional ; 
 and, without promise of good behaviour, he ought not to be 
 permitted to return. 
 
 If, by the words, " calling him to answer," is meant or- 
 dering him to appear before the Board for discipline, this 
 ought only to be done in cases of grave offence or gross dis- 
 order; and these need never occur if minor disturbances are 
 duly suppressed. 
 
 Q. How often do you find it necessary to dismiss a student 
 from the room ; and what further notice is taken of such 
 cases ? 
 
 A. At the beginning of a term after vacation, when the 
 habit of discipline is somewhat lost, I usually find it neces- 
 sary, in each class, to send a few cases out of the room ; but I 
 doubt even the expediency of doing so. I sometimes order 
 a student to change his seat, and take one immediately in 
 front of me, and this has a much better effect, both upon 
 himself and his class. If they are sent out of the room they 
 go to the President, and come back smiling — the moral effect 
 of which is detrimental. I used to order the students out of the 
 room to stay ; but the President having disputed my right to 
 
58 
 
 do so, I substituted the plan of requiring them to change 
 their seats in iny room. This I have rarely occasion to re- 
 sort to. 
 
 Q. Does the dismission of a student from the room prevent 
 the recurrence of similar misconduct on his part ? 
 
 A. When a student is sent out of the room it is to go to 
 the President, and he comes back immediately, smiling at 
 so trifling a matter. This only invites the repetition of the 
 offence, and weakens the authority of the professor, through 
 an imbecile appeal to the President. If a professor cannot 
 preserve order in his room and command respect, the Presi- 
 dent cannot help him to do it. An instructor should be clothed 
 with sufficient authority to require obedience. 
 
 Q. When a student is dismissed from your room and re- 
 turns from the President, what further notice is taken of his 
 offence ? 
 
 A. Nothing more; and, therefore, he does not heed it. I 
 now only send loiterers to the President, and that because I 
 cannot pass over loitering without some notice. They always 
 smile when I tell them to go to him. 
 
 Q. For what offences do you consider it necessary to or- 
 der a student before the Board of the College ; and do you, 
 after such citation, ever excuse him ; and if so, for what 
 cause or what excuse ? 
 
 A. I never have occasion to order a student before the 
 Board. I would do so to correct the indolence, neglect of 
 duty and habitual absence of some, if I had any confidence 
 that the Board of the College would treat such cases with 
 proper discipline, and adhere to their action. 
 
 Q. Are there any suggestions which you can make which 
 would insure good order during the time of lecture or recita- 
 tion in your room ? 
 
 A. None, except that I should be clothed with authority to 
 put a stop to loitering, by excluding such students from the 
 room after the roll has been called, or the whole class, col- 
 lectively, if they fail to come promptly into the room. 
 
 Q. Do you, during the hours of their attendance upon you, 
 
59 
 
 allow the students to be engaged in the studies of any other 
 department ? 
 
 A. I never permit a student to have open, in my room, 
 any book or paper, except his note-book or a text-book, re- 
 lating to my own subjects. If I even suspect such a tiling, I 
 never fail to inquire whether my suspicion is or is not correct; 
 and I would order a student before the Board for discipline 
 who should commit such an offence. 
 
 Mr. Ogden's Office, 
 
 ZUh June, 1857. 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor McCulloh attended, and the questions to him 
 were resumed : 
 
 Q. Do you ever dismiss your classes before the termina- 
 tion of the hour which they should spend with you; and if 
 so, for what reasons ? 
 
 A. I have never done so except with the Senior class, who 
 have attended me in the last hour; nor has this occurred 
 more than three or four times during my whole connection 
 with the institution. The reasons for doing so I do not now 
 recollect, except that I know they were, in each case, in my 
 judgment, proper and just to the students. I have never 
 done so for my own convenience, in a single instance, but 
 always in consideration of the class. It has been with me a 
 rule always to be in my recitation-room during the entire 
 hours ; and this rule I have followed so rigidly as to adhere 
 to it even in cases of death occurring among my near rela- 
 tives residing within the city. 
 
 Q. How long, usually, when students have permission to 
 leave the room, do they remain absent? 
 
 A. I presume about five to ten minutes. 
 
60 
 
 Q. Do they ever remain absent longer; if so, bow often? 
 
 A. Sometimes, but very rarely. 
 
 Q. If they are absent longer than is reasonable, or if tbey 
 do not return, what notice is taken of it ? 
 
 A. I always speak to them about it ; and in cases of their 
 not returning, have reported them to the President. 
 
 Q. How many receive such permission within the hour? 
 
 A. The number varies very considerably. Generally there 
 are none ; but I have known as many as five or six, on some 
 occasions, to obtain such permission. 
 
 Q. How many are ever suffered to be absent at the same 
 time? 
 
 A. Never more than one. When I first began, however, 
 and for a short time, I permitted two to be absent together, 
 understanding such to be the rule or custom ; but I soon dis- 
 continued this, and have not since permitted more than one 
 to be out at a time. 
 
 Q. Do they ever, and how frequently, not return ? 
 
 A. Very rarely. I have no distinct recollection of such 
 an occurrence having taken place more than two or three 
 times. 
 
 Q. Do you ever fail to meet your class at the appointed 
 time ? How often have you done so in the three years last 
 past, and for what cause ? 
 
 A. I have never failed to meet the class except during a 
 few days in January, 1855, when I was confined to my bed 
 by sickness. 
 
 Q. Upon the assembling of the class in your room, do you 
 yourself call the roll, and mark who of the class are absent 
 and who present ? 
 
 A. I always call the roll myself and mark the absentees. 
 
 Q. How soon after the bell ceases ringing does the call 
 commence ? 
 
 A. The time varies. The roll is called as soon as the class 
 is seated. 
 
 , Q. What time is allowed for the class to enter and take 
 their seats before the recitation or lecture commences ? 
 
 A. The classes ought to go directly from one room to an- 
 
61 
 
 other, without any allowance of time ; but instead of this 
 they usually loiter outside to talk with each other, and con- 
 tinue so to do until they are driven in by the Janitor. This 
 loitering has often been so protracted as to waste a very con- 
 siderable portion of the hour. The janitor often complains 
 about it, but neither he nor I possess the power to remedy 
 this evil. The subject has been brought to the attention of 
 the President repeatedly, and I used to occasionally lock my 
 door after part of the class had entered ; but I have ceased 
 to do so during the last year, at the solicitation of the Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 Q. Can you tell for how many minutes the loitering stu- 
 dents have usually remained out of your room after the bell 
 had ceased ringing ? , 
 
 A. It would usually amount to from five to ten minutes. 
 
 Q. What is the difficulty to prevent your ordering students, 
 thus unpunctual, to appear before the Board of the College to 
 answer for the offence ? 
 
 A. Because it is a matter of frequent occurrence, and usu- 
 ally a large number of the class thus loiter. Under such cir- 
 cumstances I do not believe that the Board would sustain 
 the professor in invoking discipline. 
 
 Q. Are the Committee to understand that you have brought 
 this unpunctual attendance to the attention of the President ; 
 if so, what was his response? 
 
 A. I have repeatedly spoken to him about it, and the 
 janitor has often said to me that he had made it a matter of 
 complaint to the President. But the President has not 
 seemed to attach much importance to it when I have spoken 
 to him on the subject. I do not remember any particular 
 response on any occasion, and can therefore only state my 
 impressions produced by such interviews. 
 
 Q. How long does the roll-call continue ? 
 
 A. It is called as rapidly as possible, and does not ever, 
 I presume, occupy more than two minutes. 
 
 Q. Are the students regular in their attendance upon Col- 
 lege lectures ? 
 
62 
 
 A. Some of them are — others are not. The average at- 
 tendance I do not consider as good as it ongbt to be. 
 
 Q. In case of absence of a student from your lecture-room, 
 what notice do you take of it ? 
 
 A. It is reported to the President at tie weekly meeting 
 of the Board. 
 
 Q. Do you ever excuse a student without reporting the 
 absence to the President or to the Board of the College ? 
 
 A. I never excuse or give leave of absence. 
 
 Q. In cases of absence of students from your lecture-room, 
 do yon ever fail to report the absence to the President ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any instance in which a student has 
 been, on the same day, absent from the room of one professor 
 and present in the room of another ? 
 
 A. Such instances have occurred. 
 
 Q. How frequently and how recently have they oc- 
 curred ? 
 
 A. I cannot state, as I have not given special attention to 
 the subject. 
 
 Q. How did you acquire this knowledge ? 
 
 A. From the reports of absences submitted by each pro- 
 fessor at the weekly meetings of the Faculty. 
 
 Q. Do you preserve a daily record of the attendance of 
 your classes ? 
 
 A. I do. 
 
 Q. If so, please produce it for the inspection of the Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 A. I will. 
 
 Q. How is it ascertained by the President what stu- 
 dents are absent from the lectures of the professors on each 
 day? 
 
 A. The absences are reported in writing, by the professors 
 to the President, at each weekly meeting of the Board. 
 
 Q. Does each professor, in his report, specify on what par- 
 ticular day students reported as absent were absent « 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. In case of the absence of a student, either from one 
 
63 
 
 lecture-room, or several, or all, what is done in reference to 
 the case ? 
 
 A. I do not know. The report of a professor to the Presi- 
 dent ends the relation of the professor to the matter, and the 
 President only can answer what is done subsequently by 
 himself. 
 
 Q. Is there, in your judgment, any defect in the adminis- 
 tration of the discipline of the institution, in respect to such 
 absences, and would you recommend any statutory provisions 
 as likely to lead to an improvement? 
 
 A. I am of the impression that absences are dealt with too 
 leniently, and I think it would be advisable that the standing of 
 a student in his class should be lowered as a means of checking 
 absence, a deduction being made in each case. This I would 
 deem just, because an absent student certainly loses informa- 
 tion by such absence ; and in case of indolent students absent- 
 ing themselves intentionally and habitually, the statutes, I 
 believe, provide that they may be disciplined, and these 
 statutes should be carried out. 
 
 Q. Do you know of any case of absence as long as for from 
 one to twelve months ? If so, state the length of absence in 
 each case within your knowledge, specifying when the student 
 ceased his attendance, and when he returned, and whether he 
 had leave of absence, and for what term. 
 
 A. I have known of students being absent for several weeks 
 at a time, who it was alleged had been granted leave of ab- 
 sence by the President for such reasons as ill health ; and in 
 one case, that of Mr. "Ward, of the present Junior class, he 
 was absent in Europe for, I believe, nearly if not quite twelve 
 months — ill health being, it is my impression, the alleged rea- 
 son. On his return he joined his class without examination, 
 at least in my department, by authority of the President, and 
 without having pursued the required studies. 1 cannot spe- 
 cify any other instances. There are others, but I have not paid 
 such attention to them as to be able to mention them. This 
 I remember, because I thought it &trange that the young man 
 should walk into my room after an absence for a year. 
 
 Q. Were any of these cases brought to the notice of the 
 
u 
 
 Board of the College ; and if so, was any, and if any, what 
 action had in regard to them ? 
 
 A. I believe the whole subject of granting leave of absence 
 is deemed by the President his own prerogative. Mention 
 has been made of the cases of absent students, incidentally, at 
 the meetings of the Board, for the information of the profes- 
 sors ; but usually there has been, I believe, no action of the" 
 Board. I cannot state positively, however, whether or not 
 the President may not have occasionally submitted such mat- 
 ters to the Board. Recently I recollect several cases being 
 acted upon by the Board, at the instance of the President — 
 leave of absence being granted by vote. 
 
 26th June, 1857, 
 
 At Mr. Oqden's Office. 
 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor McCuxloh attended the Committee, and the ques- 
 tions to him were resumed : 
 
 Q. What extent of authority ought a professor to have in 
 his room and over the students, for the preservation of order ? 
 
 A. His authority should be unlimited, and free from all 
 control or interference within his own room. It is obviously 
 the duty of the institution to its pupils that order be enforced, 
 so that those who wish to learn may not be wronged by the 
 indolent and disorderly. If a professor be clothed with abso- 
 lute power, it is expedient and perhaps requisite that it be 
 made his duty to report in writing all cases of the exercise of 
 such power, in which the means resorted to by him may ex- 
 ceed a mere oral rebuke at the moment. "With such a check 
 upon his discretion, no undue or improper use could be made 
 of such authority. He is the executive officer of the institu- 
 tion for the occasion, is in duty bound to preserve order, and 
 this responsibility would be null and void if he should not 
 
65 
 
 possess the requisite authority. It is the opinion of the Pre- 
 sident that his aid should be invoked ; but a teacher, who does 
 not himself enforce order in his room, thereby forfeits the re- 
 spect of his pupils, and becomes incompetent to the proper 
 discharge of duty. The report of the professor above alluded 
 to should be made at the meeting of the Faculty, and be re- 
 corded in their minutes, so that if any abuse of power should 
 occur, it would be duly brought to the Board of Trustees, to 
 whom he is responsible. 
 
 Q. What are the means to which professors usually resort 
 to punish or repress disorder occurring in their rooms ? 
 
 A . I do not know. Upon this subject they are not commu- 
 nicative. With reference to myself, when I first came into 
 the institution, I was obliged, on several occasions, to order 
 students to appear before the Board for discipline. But these 
 examples removed all serious difficulty. Formerly I used to 
 send students for minor offences to the President, but I have 
 not done so in a single instance, I believe, in the last two 
 years. If any thing more than a mere look or gentle repri- 
 mand is ever necessary to restrain whispering or other trifling 
 disorder, my plan is to require a student to change his seat, 
 which answers every purpose, and is far preferable to sending 
 him out of the room. If gentle means will not answer to 
 preserve order in a room, a professor should, after privately 
 remonstrating with a student or otherwise, as he may deem 
 expedient, resort to the remedy of punishment by the Board. 
 Q. Ought a professor, in your judgment, to have the power 
 to dismiss a student from his room for the residue of the lec- 
 ture or recitation ; and if so, for what reason ? 
 
 A. I believe he possesses the power already, although it is 
 not so expressly stated in the statute. It is certainly the duty 
 of a teacher to maintain order in his room, that he may fulfil 
 his obligations to those pupils who are orderly and attentive ; 
 and to the end that order be maintained, I believe it to be the 
 right of every teacher, in every school, to dispense with the 
 presence of a disorderly student. Without such power there 
 can be no control. I further believe, that in case of insolence 
 without subsequent apology, a professor should possess the 
 
 5f 
 
66 
 
 right to exclude a student from his room until he shall have 
 appeared before the Board of the College for their judgment 
 and action in matter; otherwise he may be there in a spirit 
 of defiance and disrespect. 
 
 Q. What objections have been made against the exercise 
 of this power by a professor ? 
 
 A. The President has objected to it, on the ground that he 
 is the proper judge of offences, and that a professor should 
 invoke his aid instead of enforcing order himself. He has 
 also objected that formerly the frequent abuse of this power, 
 by a particular professor, caused the students to provoke its 
 exercise every day, with the view of obtaining leave of ab- 
 sence from lecture or recitation. 
 
 Q. Are the students punctual in their attendance upon your 
 lecture-room? If not, what proportion are late, and what is 
 the extent of their want of punctuality ? 
 
 A. The hours occupied by my lectures have usually been 
 the first hour after prayers and the third hour. In the third 
 hour the students have generally been punctual, loitering 
 collectively, however, before coming into the room, as I have 
 already 6tated in a former answer. They frequently remain 
 in the entry or outside the doors, delaying to enter, even after 
 being repeatedly ordered so to do by the Janitor in the name 
 of the President. During the lecture of the first hour many 
 students are tardy, often delaying to the extent of a half hour, 
 and I have known students to enter the room when the hour 
 is nearly expired. With reference to the proportion of stu- 
 dents late, it has varied very much with the different classes. 
 Of the present Senior or graduating class about one-fourth, 
 perhaps, have been frequently tardy. Of the Junior class, 
 which is less industrious, as many as one-half or more are 
 wanting in punctuality. The Sophomore class is a very ex- 
 cellent class. Many of them are ambitious, laborious and dili- 
 gent, giving a superior tone to the whole class, and in this 
 class not more than one-tenth of their number are remiss in 
 punctuality. The average extent of tardiness, when it occurs, 
 js, I presume, from fifteen to twenty minutes. 
 
67 
 
 Q. Is the same student guilty of this want of punctuality 
 repeatedly ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. "What notice is taken of cases of un punctuality ? Are 
 they reported, and if so, to whom, and what action is after- 
 wards had concerning them ? 
 
 A. I have been in the habit of sending such students to the 
 President as soon as they appear. In my weekly report, I 
 report as absent all who were not present at roll-call, leaving 
 to the President and the student himself the correction of 
 that report, for instances of tardiness, which may readily be 
 done, as the students, when tardy, are sent to the President. 
 I have never learned what action he sees fit to take in such 
 cases, but I have not observed that the tardiness of any par- 
 ticular individual was apparently affected by my sending him 
 to the President. The whole subject of the attendance of the 
 students is in the hands of the President, and a professor has 
 no power to check remissness in this respect, except by friendly 
 advice and gentle remonstrance. 
 
 Q. Does it not lie in the power of the Board of the College 
 to punish individual students guilty of this remissness ? 
 
 A. It certainly does ; but as the absences are reported to the 
 President for his action, and as that is usually the sole busi- 
 ness upon which we meet upon Friday, individual members 
 of the Board naturally leave to the President the responsi- 
 bility thus devolved upon him, and take leave of it them- 
 selves. If an attempt were made by a professor to take the 
 matter out of the hands of the President, by an action of 
 the Board, it would be deemed by him an interference with 
 his own prerogative. He would, doubtless, be sustained by 
 those who usually act with him ; and if even a majority of 
 votes should be cast against him, his veto power would be ab- 
 solute in the matter. It would therefore appear to be mere 
 factiousness in any professor to attempt a change. 
 
 Q. Can you give the Committee any information, derived 
 from your own observation, concerning the order or disorder 
 of the students while in attendance in the lecture-room of any 
 other professor ? 
 
A. I bave no information, derived from my own observa- 
 tion. Being busily engaged in my own room, it has been im- 
 possible that I should personally know what was occurring 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Q. The Committee observe, from the minutes of the Board 
 of the College, that on several occasions such Board has ad- 
 judged that students should " be dropped from the rolls of 
 the College." "Will you please inform the Committee what 
 is intended by such a sentence ? Is dismissal or expulsion in- 
 tended ? Why is not the form of the punishment used 1 which 
 the statutes prescribe? 
 
 A. The President only can answer this question. He 
 keeps the record, and the words cited are, I presume, his own. 
 I should suppose, in the absence of knowledge to the con- 
 trary, that dismissal or expulsion is the true signification of 
 the President's language. I have no recollection of any such 
 punishment having been inflicted, nor any other than those 
 expressly prescribed by the statutes. 
 
 Q. Have or have not students been cited to appear before 
 the Board of the College to answer for their absence from the 
 public examination? 
 
 A. I do not recollect any such case, if it has occurred. 
 
 Q. Are they in any way, and in what way, called upon for 
 excuses for such absences ? 
 
 A. The President, I believe, usually takes notice privately 
 of such absences. 
 
 Q. "What excuses are accepted as sufficient ? 
 
 A. I do not know. The President only can answer. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 whether the student of the Junior class, who acknowledged 
 that he had committed the offence for which four students of 
 the same class were called to answer before the Board of the 
 College, on the 8th December, 1854, was called before the 
 Board for his misconduct, or punished in any way ? 
 
 A. The student who committed the offence was excused 
 by the professor or President, and the matter was not brought 
 before the Board. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to state to the Committee any 
 causes or considerations which may have induced the Board 
 
69 
 
 of the College to allow the continuance in the College of 
 students found deficient at the concluding examination, and 
 to give your opinion as to whether or not the experience of 
 the institution shows that the exclusion of students found de- 
 ficient at such examinations is inexpedient ? 
 
 A. I cannot state what may have been the causes or con- 
 siderations operating upon the minds of my colleagues in 
 such cases. If I recollect aright, it has been only in a few 
 instances, and those principally occurring at the close of the 
 academic year, 1854-'55, that students were actually pro- 
 nounced by the Board deficient. Their action was then to 
 degrade such students to a lower class ; but at the first meet- 
 ing, which took place at the beginning of the ensuing session, 
 all those students were permitted, by vote of the Board, to 
 proceed with their original classes, without passing an ex- 
 amination. This caused me to think that the Board of the 
 College, as then constituted, would never insist upon the 
 performance of duty by students. It is my opinion that 
 students deficient, especially in the Freshman and Sophomore 
 years, should not be permitted to proceed with their classes. 
 It is a gross wrong to a student to allow him to waste the 
 best years of his life in confirming bad habits. It is a kind- 
 ness to stop him in such a career. His example in the in- 
 stitution, and the influence of his association upon his fellow 
 students, is positively injurious. But if a student has been 
 permitted to proceed with his class, session after session, to 
 the end of the collegiate course, lie becomes, I believe, enti- 
 tled to his diploma as a matter of form. Certainly the 
 Faculty have no right to dispute a claim upon his part, found- 
 ed upon acknowledgments of their own, tacitly implied by 
 their allowing him to proceed. "With reference to Columbia 
 College, during the period of my connection with it, I am 
 confident that the evil of permitting indolent students to pro- 
 ceed without check, has been very great, and it is one of the 
 things which I think most needs correction. But if we are 
 to remedy this, we must act upon better evidence than vague 
 impressions, orally stated by professors. It is the right of a 
 stndent to be condemned, if at all, only upon evidence which 
 
70 
 
 will bear the most rigid scrutiny. Each, professor ought to 
 keep a record, showing accurately the performance of every 
 student in his own department, open to inspection by a student 
 himself, as well as by the professor's colleagues, if they shall 
 so wish. 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to state to the Committee 
 whether the two students of the Sophomore class, who were 
 expelled on the 1st of June, 1854, were afterwards allowed 
 to continue their attendance with their class ? 
 
 A, I was not then in the College, but the students whose 
 names are mentioned to me by the Committee as those of 
 the persons referred to, were in the College afterwards, and 
 have since been graduated. 
 
 Q. Will you please to state to the Committee, by whom 
 and upon what evidence testimonials, whether general or 
 special, are awarded ? 
 
 A. The general testimonials are given by a vote of the 
 Faculty, each professor designating the student by name 
 whom he considers entitled to the reward. No evidence is 
 produced in the case. The special testimonials are always 
 awarded by the professor of the department to which they relate. 
 He acts as he sees fit — if upon evidence, he only has any 
 knowledge of it. But I have repeatedly seen, what to me ap- 
 peared to warrant the belief, that some of the professors have 
 acted, not upon evidence, but upon vague impressions, and I 
 therefore have regarded the testimonial system in use as very 
 defective, and as one which operates, in some cases, very 
 wrongfully. The students themselves, are in the habit of 
 speaking of it as very unjust and capricious, and they often 
 charge that partiality and prejudice find in this system its 
 mode of indulgence. My own plan has been, to keep a 
 numerical record of the performance of every student, open 
 at all times freely to his inspection, and to award testimonials 
 in strict accordance therewith. 
 
 Q. Do you disapprove of the system of testimonials now in 
 force, or only the manner in which it is executed ; and are 
 there any regulations on the subject of prizes or testimonials 
 or honors, which you would recommend ? 
 
71 
 
 A. I do disapprove entirely of the system of testimonials, 
 at present employed, even if carried out in the most consci- 
 entious and faithful manner. It has no'reference to absolute 
 scholarship, but only to relative. This is a detect ; because 
 students, to be thus rewarded, ought to be held to positive 
 performance. But the chief objection to the system is, that 
 the number of testimonials being very limited — although it 
 has been, I know not by what authority, extended to three 
 times the statute number in each department — excludes from, 
 honor, not unfrequently, many who ought to receive it, and 
 makes distinctions where there are often no differences : for 
 example, in the present Sophomore class, for the current ses- 
 sion, there are five students from whom I have always re- 
 ceived a perfect recitation, perfect notes, and who passed, 
 with equal success, a most rigid and searching examination, 
 (several of them being examined, not only by myself, but by 
 Dr. Torrey, on my invitation, at the public examination ;) all 
 of these students have, therefore, attained the maximum 
 scholarship denoted by the number 100 in a centesimal scale. 
 I cannot, either in my own mind or from any facts, justly 
 make any distinction between them ; and yet the testimonial 
 system obliges me to make such a distinction as a matter of 
 form ; and in doing so, I have to explain to those students 
 why and how it is that I am obliged, by the system in use, to 
 do what, to their own friends and to others, may appear a 
 wrong and an injustice. If prizes are to be awarded, and I 
 believe that they may be substituted with great effect for the 
 testimonials now given, these prizes should be contended for, 
 not only in every recitation and in every duty, including 
 those in exemplary behaviour, but also in an especial exami- 
 nation, to be held for the purpose, in which the candidates 
 for prizes should be examined comparatively, to determine 
 their relative and absolute proficiency. In allotting prizes, 
 reference should be had not merely to relative scholarship, as 
 at present, but also to absolute ; and I would even recommend, 
 that if in one class there should be a larger number than usual 
 of students attaining to that degree of scholarship that should 
 justly entitle an individual to one of these prizes, and at 
 
72 
 
 the same time, there should be a deficiency of number in an- 
 other class, then that the prizes which would be awarded to 
 the class in deficiency be transferred to and awarded in the 
 class of superior scholarship. This is not an imaginary case. 
 It is one which may, and I presume will, occasionally occur. 
 At the present moment, the Junior class in the College is an 
 inferior class in absolute scholarship, while the Sophomore 
 class is a very superior class ; and in awarding testimonials 
 to those classes, I have desired to give to the Sophomore class 
 ■ even a larger number of testimonials than custom has allotted. 
 I asked permission to award eight, instead of six, but an ob- 
 jection being raised by another professor that it would give 
 undue preponderance to any studies, I withdrew my request. 
 To the Junior class, custom entitled me to give also six testi- 
 monials ; I gave only two, for the reason that two only of 
 that class had attained to the scholarship denoted by the 
 number 97, and that I had made a rule in my department, 
 repeatedly announced, that I would award a testimonial to 
 no student who should not attain to that degree of absolute 
 scholarship. If the absolute scholarship, denoted by the 
 number 97, should entitle a student to a testimonial, there 
 would have been, I believe, ten members of the Sophomore 
 class who would have received testimonials at this time. 
 The number of students in the Sophomore class is about that 
 of tbe Junior. 
 
 3d July, 1857. 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor MoCdlloh was also present, and questions were 
 proposed to him as follows : 
 
 Q. Is the record kept by the several professors submitted 
 to the Board of the College, upon the awarding general testi- 
 monials ; or to the President, upon the awarding special tes- 
 timonials ; or is this or its results considered by the Board of 
 the College, or by the President, as the evidence upon which 
 
73 
 
 they proceed; or do they judge from the verbal representa- 
 tions of each professor? 
 
 A. !No record is ever submitted; the verbal representa- 
 tions of the professors are the only evidence produced at 
 meetings of the Board. 
 
 Q. In awarding general or special testimonials, do yon 
 govern your action exclusively by the showing of the record 
 of the performances of the students kept by you, or are you 
 guided at all, and if so, to what extent, by your general im- 
 pressions ? 
 
 A. I am governed exclusively by the record of perform- 
 ances, and I would distrust my general impressions, because 
 they might, and probably would be biased by partiality or 
 prejudice, and would, therefore, operate unjustly. 
 
 Q. Can you state any material facts concerning testimoni- 
 als, or the awarding them? And please mate any recom- 
 mendations you may think proper on this subject. 
 
 A. I believe the testimonial system, as heretofore carried 
 out, to be one which ought to be abolished. It operates to 
 discourage a far greater number than it stimulates to in- 
 creased effort. The student of moderate ability especially 
 needs the stimulus of reward ; and those whose ambition 
 and talents lead them to excel, do not require, to the same de- 
 gree, the aid of an artificial system. The statutes provide 
 that two special testimonials only shall be awarded in each 
 department. Custom has extended this number to six. The 
 consequence is, that a large number of students in each class 
 become testimonial bearers, and take rank above their class- 
 mates who may not have received testimonials. Such a sys- 
 tem prevents the conscientious and diligent student, faith- 
 fully working in each and every department with moderate 
 ability, yet successfully, from being a testimonial bearer, while 
 a student who is, with every other professor than the one who 
 may award him a testimonial, grossly negligent, is among the 
 honored of his class. I have frequently conversed with the 
 students on this subject, and have generally found them ridi- 
 culing the whole system. Such a system is bad in itself, even 
 if well administered ; but when testimonials are awarded ca- 
 
 6f 
 
74 
 
 priciously, the professor acting upon general impression, and 
 misled by partiality or prejudice, it becomes positively in- 
 jurious. I would most earnestly recommend, that instead of 
 this testimonial system, the students should be ranked in their 
 elasses, not by their performance in special departments, but 
 their average performance in all, which can be easily be done 
 by the adoption of a uniform numerical system. If it be 
 deemed desirable that testimonials be awarded and publicly 
 presented at the commencements and semi-annual exhi- 
 bitions, let a number, even as great as at present, be given ; 
 but let these be for general scholarship, to be awarded by the 
 whole Board of the College, upon the evidence shown by the 
 records kept by the several professors, and summed up by a 
 clerk, and let money prizes be given, as high honors to the 
 students at the heads of the classes. 
 
 Q. Is proper order, in your opinion, preserved at commence- 
 ments ? 
 
 A. It was not at the one which has just taken place. There 
 was drunkenness of young men, and boisterous behaviour in 
 consequence thereof. I am not aware that any one of the 
 students was, however, under the influence of liquor. There 
 is a bar-room connected with the theatre, to which I presume 
 resort was had. On future occasions it is evidently important 
 that this 'should be guarded against. The young men who 
 were guilty of such misconduct, appeared to be of genteel con- 
 nections, and the police-officers in attendance may, very pro- 
 bably, have considered them students of the College. It ought, 
 I think, to be made the duty of the Janitor on these occasions 
 to direct the police-officers to arrest any person guilty of such 
 disorder, as well as to observe the conduct of the students, 
 and report those who may have misbehaved. There was also 
 boisterous shouting, hallooing, &c, in the passage-ways, which 
 I supposed to proceed from the students themselves. This 
 ought not to be permitted; and the Janitor should, I think, be 
 required to detect and report to the President such offences. 
 Eeports thus made by the Janitor ought to be communicated 
 by the President to the Board, and students guilty of such 
 misconduct ought to be disciplined. 
 
75 
 
 Q. Is there, in your judgment, any difficulty in preventing 
 the shouting and stamping of the students on those occasions? 
 
 A. I certainly believe that all boisterous and grossly dis- 
 orderly conduct may readily and should be prevented. 
 
 Q. Ought not decorum and quiet behaviour on the part of 
 the students to be observed on commencement days ? 
 
 A. Moderate applause, by clapping the hands, such as would 
 not be deemed indecorous in any genteel company, might 
 be permitted, as well as any other becoming manifestations 
 of joy, but no rude or boisterous behaviour ought to be tole- 
 rated. 
 
 Q. Is there any rule by which the parts of the Greek, Latin 
 and English salutatory and valedictory orations are assigned by 
 the Board of the College ; and if so, what is that rule? 
 
 A. I believe there is no rule, and I am sorry to say that I 
 believe that these honors as well as the speeches are allotted 
 capriciously, and often unfairly and unjustly. The allotment 
 made by the Faculty for the class which has just been graduated 
 was deemed by the students unfair, complained of, and then 
 brought up again in Faculty meeting by those who had made 
 the allotment, to be re-fashioned, as it was not satisfactory to 
 themselves. But it was confirmed instead of being altered, 
 not, however, because it was deemed right in itself. "With re- 
 ference to the Greek and Latin salutatory, these, I believe, are 
 awarded to the two students who stand highest in their class — 
 the standing being that which is determined by the testimonial 
 system. 
 
 Q. By what rule ought each of those parts to be assigned ? 
 
 A. The valedictory oration may, I think, with propriety 
 because of its peculiar nature, be given without reference 
 particularly to scholarship. The salutatory and other speeches 
 should, I think, be determined by scholarship only. It cer- 
 tainly is wrong that a student who has been negligent and 
 sometimes disorderly in his College career, should, on such an 
 occasion, take precedence of one who has been exemplary. 
 The order in point of time of the speeches delivered might 
 be that of the relative standing of the students respectively, 
 with the exception of the valedictory. 
 
76 
 
 Q. Are nominations for the assignments of such parts (of 
 orators at commencements) made by the students to the Board 
 of the College ? If so, state how they are presented and what 
 action is had in regard to them. 
 
 A. No nominations are so made to the Board of the College,, 
 although they are, I believe, to the President. "Whether he 
 ever has encouraged them, I cannot say ; but of late he has 
 repelled them as intermeddling. The Board of the College 
 usually act upon a list submitted by the President, made out 
 by himself. 
 
 Q. Can you make any, and what recommendations, concern- 
 ing commencements or the awarding commencement honors ? 
 A. Our commencements are, I think, upon the whole, well 
 conducted, except that there is too much disorder, and the 
 exercises are too protracted. They ought not to last longer 
 than two hours ; and it would be well to curtail the number 
 of speeches, limiting the whole, say to the number of ten, 
 including the salutatory addresses and the valedictory. Ora- 
 tions by candidates for degrees higher than that of A. B. ought 
 to be omitted ; and the conferring of degrees and awarding 
 testimonials ought to be done not to students individually, but r 
 as much as possible, collectively. By these means, I think the 
 whole performance would be brought within the compass of 
 two hours, and rendered far less tedious. 
 
 Q. Ought the President, in your judgment, to be allowed a 
 discretion to grant vacations or intermissions of College lec- 
 tures besides those prescribed by the statutes ? or if the dis- 
 cretion is necessary, in whom should it be vested, and ought 
 there to be any and what limitations of such discretion ? 
 
 A. A discretionary power to grant such vacations or inter- 
 missions, might, I think, be advantageously vested, not in the 
 President, but in the Board of the College. It ought to b& 
 restricted as to duration, and it should be required that, when- 
 ever it is exercised, the object and reasons for granting such 
 intermission be duly recorded in the book of minutes of the 
 Faculty, for the information of the Trustees. 
 
SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT of Prof. McCULLOH. 
 
 At Mr. Ogden's Office, on the 7th August, 1857. 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. 
 
 Professor McCtxlloh attended, and submitted the following 
 statement concerning matters in respect to which he had 
 promised, at his previous examinations, to submit his answers 
 at a future time : 
 
 Q. Please to state what students were found deficient or 
 were absent at the examination held in February, 1857. 
 
 A. The students who failed, or were absent from the ex- 
 amination of February, 1857, in my department, were : 
 
 Of the Senior class, Messrs. Brower, Francis, Packwood 
 and Sears. 
 
 Of the Junior class, Messrs. Manley, A. G. Richards and 
 Stuyvesant. 
 
 Of the Sophomore class, Messrs. Hyatt, Lacombe, Mellen 
 and Van "Wyck. 
 
 I also beg leave to submit to the Committee, for the more 
 complete understanding of the numerical mode of grading the 
 students according to their relative and absolute scholarship, 
 which is in use in some of the Colleges of the country, the 
 following details : 
 
 1. The professors to make reports, filling the blanks of 
 printed forms. 
 
 7f 
 
78 
 
 2. Kecitations to be estimated numerically, thus : 
 
 If perfect, 10 
 
 "Very good, but with only one or two trifling 
 
 mistakes, 9 
 
 Good, but more defective, 7 a 8 
 
 Indifferent, 5 # 6 
 
 Bad, 3a4 
 
 Yery bad, 1 a 2 
 
 A total failure, or a refusal to recite, • Zero. 
 
 3. A summary statement for each class, giving the average 
 centesimal value of the performances of every student in each 
 branch of study, to be printed after each examination, and 
 copies thereof to be sent to parents or guardians, who may 
 wish them. 
 
 4. After each examination the average centesimal grade of 
 each student to constitute his relative position in his class ; 
 and in computing said grade, the numerical value of his ex- 
 amination in each department shall weigh only one-half as 
 much as all his recitations in said department ; e. g., if his 
 examination were 60, and the average of his recitations 90, 
 then the grade would be (90+ 90) + 60 divided by 3, or 80. 
 
 5. The general scholarship of a student, or his grade in his 
 class, to be the average of his grades in the several depart- 
 ments of study ; and in computing this average, the grades of 
 the different departments or professors to weigh proportion - 
 ably to the time devoted respectively thereto. For instance, 
 if a class spend four hours per week in the study of Greek, 
 four in Mathematics, and say two in English literature, then 
 to compute the average grade from the particular grades 90, 
 80, 70, for example, we would have : 
 
 Greek, 90 x 2, 180 
 
 Mathematics, 80 x 2, 160 
 
 English, 70 
 
 Adding which together, we have 410 
 
 To be divided by 5, or 82, as the averaged grade. 
 
79 
 
 The above plan was proposed by me to the President and 
 Board of the College some time since, but no action was 
 taken, for the alleged reason that the subject is under con- 
 sideration by your Committee. 
 
 The Trustees having granted permission to the professors 
 to employ any system, provisionally, for this purpose, which 
 each individually might see fit, I have used the above in my 
 own department, and I herewith submit copies of the circu- 
 lars issued in March, 1857 : 
 
 Columbia College, March , 1857. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have the honor to transmit, for your informa- 
 tion, the annexed circular, showing the scholarship of the 
 
 class, and of your son 
 in the study of for the first term of the present Col- 
 
 legiate year. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Tour obedient servant, 
 
 Charles King, President. 
 
 There was annexed to the foregoing form of a note, ad- 
 dressed to the parent of each student, a copy of one of the 
 following reports, according to the class to which the student 
 belonged. 
 
80 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 Depabtment of Natueal Philosophy. 
 
 1st Term, 1856-57. 
 
 Seniors. Grade. 
 
 W.R.Smedberg,... 1 99.1 
 
 W. E. Talbot, 2 99 
 
 D. S. Tuttle, 3 98.8 
 
 T. Parkman, 4 98.8 
 
 MMaury, 5 98.5 
 
 G. H. Redmond, 6 97 . . 8 
 
 H. B. Kott, 7 95 
 
 W. C. Massett, 8 93 
 
 J. T. Tailer, 9 92 
 
 "W. H. Martin 10 91 
 
 "W. S. Boardman,... 11 90 
 
 J. B. Herrick, 12 80 
 
 E. P. Smith, 13 79 
 
 J. H. Slipper, 14 78 
 
 E. T. Gerry, 15 76. 
 
 D. S. Jackson, 16 73 
 
 M. Brower, 25 . 25 
 
 R. S. Dana, 17 70 
 
 H. E Davies, 23 54 
 
 S. W. Francis, 24 45 
 
 G. 6. Haven 20 63 
 
 P. W. Holmes, 18 66 
 
 E Mason, 21 60 
 
 P. McCarty, 19 65 
 
 R. T. Pack wood, 27 19 
 
 C. E Sears, 26 25 
 
 W. B. Winslow, 22 56 
 
 Recita- 
 
 tions. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 nation 
 
 ' Absences. Remarks. 
 
 99.4 
 
 100 
 
 97.5 
 
 1 
 
 The maximum grade, 
 
 98.6 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 
 or highest attain- 
 
 98.6 
 
 98 
 
 100 
 
 
 able scholarship, is 
 
 98.6 
 
 99 
 
 99 
 
 2 
 
 100. 
 
 98.6 
 
 97 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 96 
 
 99 
 
 100 
 
 3 
 
 The total number of 
 
 96.6 
 
 97 
 
 90 
 
 1 
 
 lectures and reci- 
 
 87 
 
 99 
 
 100 
 
 10 
 
 tations daring the 
 
 90 
 
 98 
 
 90 
 
 2 
 
 term was 64. 
 
 88 
 
 97 
 
 90 
 
 6 
 
 
 83 
 
 97 
 
 95 
 
 
 The average scholar- 
 
 90 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 2 
 
 ship of the entire 
 
 74 
 
 98 
 
 70 
 
 4 
 
 class for the term 
 
 72 
 
 70 
 
 100 
 
 2 
 
 was 72. 
 
 70 
 
 90 
 
 70 
 
 7 
 
 
 72 
 
 70 
 
 80 
 
 7 
 
 The number of stu- 
 
 20 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 dents in this class 
 
 73 
 
 75 
 
 60 
 
 5 
 
 is 27. 
 
 64 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 22 
 
 
 65 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 
 56 
 
 50 
 
 90 
 
 15 
 
 
 60 
 
 75 
 
 70 
 
 2 
 
 
 31 
 
 90 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 
 55 
 
 90 
 
 60 
 
 4 
 
 
 38 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 32 
 
 90 
 
 70 
 
 7 
 
 
 RlOHAKD S. McCuXLOH, 
 
 Prof. Natural Philosophy. 
 
81 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 
 Department of Chemistry. 
 
 1st Term, 1856-57. 
 
 Juniors. Grade. B ^ 
 
 W. P. Baxter, 1 100 100 
 
 H. C. Kinney, 2 99.8 100 
 
 E. K. Richards, 3 98 .7 100 
 
 A. W. Champney,.. 4 98.5 100 
 
 C. H. Marshall, 5 94.7 90 
 
 T. F. Thatcher 6 94.5 91 
 
 A. Bedell 7 93.5 90 
 
 D. L. Mallison 8 92 . 5 95 
 
 J. W. Romeyn, 9 £0 84 
 
 H. VanWagenen,.. 10 83 75 
 
 S. Van Rensselaer, . . 11 82.3 82 
 
 P. M. Lydig, Jr., 12 82 88 
 
 H. W. Cooper, 13 81.3 90 
 
 H. Hendricks, 14 77 19 
 
 8. B. Cornell, 16 70 63 
 
 L. A Curtis, 17 69 78 
 
 D. S. Duvall, 19 61 47 
 
 J. A. Geissenhainer, . 21 55 30 
 
 H. L. Jones, 22 50 55 
 
 N. Luquer, Jr., 23 .. 
 
 J.R. Manley 16 69.3 90 
 
 Benj. Pell 19 64 51 
 
 A. G. Richards, 26 . . 
 
 R. R. Stuyvesant, ... 25 17 35 
 
 G F. Totten, 20 61 57 
 
 F. C. Wainwright, . . 18 67 70 
 J. Ward, Jr. 24 .. 
 
 Notes. 
 100 
 99 
 100 
 99 
 99 
 97 
 99 
 90 
 97 
 97 
 95 
 60 
 75 
 80 
 80 
 30 
 70 
 80 
 
 
 97 
 75 
 
 
 50 
 60 
 
 nation, 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 95 
 
 95 
 100 
 100 
 
 95 
 
 90 
 
 95 
 
 85 
 
 70 
 
 90 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 75 
 90 
 80 
 80 
 90 
 
 80 
 
 
 80 
 80 
 
 5 
 5 
 12 
 1 
 3 
 3 
 1 
 4 
 7 
 13 
 3 
 2 
 14 
 
 7 
 1 
 22 
 11 
 10 
 35 
 18 
 9 
 13 
 
 Remarks. 
 The maximum grade, 
 or highest attain- 
 able scholarship, is 
 100. 
 
 The total number of 
 lectures and recita- 
 tions was 40. 
 
 The average scholar- 
 ship of the class 
 for this term was 
 67.5. 
 
 The number of stu- 
 dents in the class 
 is 26. 
 
 R. S. McCulloh, 
 
 Professor of Chemistry. 
 
82 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 
 Department of Chemistry. 
 
 Sophomores. Grade. B ^^' Note*. ^St Absences. Remarks. 
 
 S. R. Reynolds, 1100 100 100 100 3 The'maximum grade, 
 
 John C. Brown, 2 99.1 100 99 98 2 or highest attain- 
 
 J. A. Slipper S 98.1 96.6 99 100 .. able scholarship, is 
 
 fm Jay, Jr., 4 9*7.3 95 99 100 2 100. 
 
 JohnDuer, 5 97. 1 96 99 97. 5 1 
 
 fm. Lummis, 6 96.8 97.5 97 95 
 
 Robt. Watts, Jr., .. . 7 95.7 97 99 90 The total number of 
 
 Chas. A. Jackson, .. 8 95.6 91.6 99 100 lectures and reci- 
 
 Jas. F. Moore, 9 94.8 92.5 99 95 1 tations was 40. 
 
 F. P. Church, 10 93.8 95 95 90 3 
 
 J.F. Gesner, 11 93.5 90 99 95 1 
 
 E.F.Browning, 12 92.5 95 90 90 1 The average scholar- 
 
 C. deP. Field, 13 92.3 90 99 90 3 shipoftheclassfor 
 
 0. E. Schmidt 14 91.3 95 95 80 2 this term was 80. 
 
 "W. D. "Walker, 15 91.3 87.5 90 100 1 
 
 E. H. Anderson 16 90 90 90 90 4 
 
 T. I. Benjamin, 17 90 90 90 90 
 
 Francis Stanton, 18 90 95 90 80 11 The number of stu- 
 
 S. W. Phoenix 19 89 . 2 88.3 90 90 dents in the class 
 
 H. Whitehouse 20 88.8 94 97 70 is 40. 
 
 T. F. Trenor, 21 87 5 85 90 90 1 
 
 R. S. Bacon 22 85 80 90 90 
 
 R. B. VanKleeck,... 23 85 85 80 90 1 
 
 W. L. Raymond, 24 84 83 90 80 
 
 E Whitehouse, 25 83.8 82.5 90 80 
 
 "W. T. Sabine 26 82.5 85 90 70 
 
 1. Grinnell 27 80 80 80 80 3 
 
 E. T. Hustace, 28 80 80 90 70 
 
 F.Miller, 29 80 90 90 50 5 
 
 E. S. Caldwell, 30 75 80 80 60 6 
 
 G. Cruger 35 54 45 75 50 6 
 
 W. F. Cushman, 32 70 60 80 80 8 
 
 J. H. Draper 34 64 60 75 60 9 
 
 E. T. Hyatt, 40 35 45 50 14 
 
 J. P. Lacombe 89 42 70 30 
 
 A. Mellen, Jr., 36 53 53 75 30 3 
 
 H. Miller, 38 46 66 50 
 
 G. M. Tooker, 33 68 70 80 50 1 
 
 Geo. W. Toy 31 75 70 80 80 2 
 
 W. H. Van Wyck, . . 37 50 55 70 20 15 
 
 RlCHABD S. MoCULLOH, 
 
 Professor of Cliemistry. 
 
83 
 
 In reply to the invitation to suggest any changes in the 
 statute, entitled, " Chap. 11 of the Board of the College," I 
 respectfully submit the following : 
 
 In section 4, after the words "The Board shall have power," 
 insert, 
 
 To make the rules for their own proceedings; to admit 
 students ; 
 
 Section 8, to read — The Board shall appoint a clerk, who 
 shall keep a book of minutes of their proceedings, under 
 their direction. 
 
 Also, if a uniform system of marking students for their 
 performances be adopted, the clerk should keep the record 
 thereof, compiled from the professors' reports ; it will involve, 
 after each examination, a fortnight's work, chiefly of numeri- 
 cal calculations : and this labor should be performed by some 
 person paid for it, and thus in duty bound to attend to it 
 properly. 
 
STATEMENT OF PROE. HOWS. 
 
 At Mr. Ogden's Office, on the 24th July, 1857. 
 Present, — Mr. Ogden. * 
 
 "5 
 
 Prof. Hows attended the Committee, and the following 
 questions were proposed to him : 
 
 Q. "Will you be good enough to state to the Committee what 
 classes you instruct, and in what order or during what hours 
 they respectively attend you? 
 
 A. I instruct the four classes of the College on the fourth 
 hour on Mondays and "Wednesdays. The speakers of all the 
 classes appointed for the following week attend me during 
 those hours, to prepare for their chapel declamation. There 
 are ten speakers appointed for each week, five of whom attend 
 me on Monday and the five others on Wednesday. 
 
 Q. Is this attendance compulsory upon the students, or is 
 it merely voluntary ? 
 
 A. I do not know. The President tells me they must at- 
 tend, and that they are notified by him to attend. From the 
 irregularity of the attendance, however, I should think it was 
 not compulsory. 
 
 Q. "What number of the students usually attend you at the 
 assigned hours ? 
 
 A. Perhaps two or three as the average. I have had the 
 whole five together at tiroes. 
 
 Q. How often does it happen that none attend ? 
 
 1g 
 
A. Not more than three or four times in the College year, 
 I should say. * 
 
 Q. Will you please to explain to the Committee what is the 
 method, manner and extent of your instruction ? 
 
 A. The students are modelled by me in the themes they 
 have selected for their chapel declamation, and, as far as time 
 will permit, I endeavor to illustrate and explain the general 
 principles of Elocution, Oratory and Action, directing more 
 especially their attention to the relative connection between 
 sound and sense, so essential to be understood in the delivery 
 of language, and which is indeed the only true basis of ora- 
 torical art. I point out defects, where such exist, and en- 
 deavor to furnish remedial suggestions. 
 
 In addition to these specific duties, I have volunteered my 
 services to the speakers appointed at our semi-annuals and 
 commencements, to prepare them for these public occasions. 
 Every year some two or three of such speakers have availed 
 themselves of the privilege, and it is satisfactory for me to 
 add, that those gentlemen have made a favorable impression 
 upon their auditors, and have been specially marked by com- 
 mendatory notices from the press. I simply mention these 
 facts to illustrate the value of elocutionary training. " The 
 orator must be made !" 
 
 Q. Is your instruction successful, so that you are satisfied 
 with the results? and if not, be good enough to suggest to 
 the Committee any statute regulations which you may deem 
 well calculated to promote the success of your instruction. 
 
 A. In replying to the first clause of this question, I feel as- 
 sured that I shall be anticipated by the intelligence of the 
 Committee to whom it will be suggested, " That the limited 
 time appropriated to me for instruction in College, and the 
 infrequency and irregularity of attendance on the part of 
 the students, necessarily preclude any decided satisfactory 
 results from my teaching. Elocution is an art that requires 
 long and continuous study and practice in the pupil to attain 
 to even an ordinary degree of eminence. Yet, discouraging 
 and comparatively unsatisfactory as my labors have been, 
 they have not been altogether unsuccessful. During my 
 
connection with the College, a spirit of interest has been 
 awakened in the students generally, regarding elocutionary 
 exercise. In numerous instances this has led to very favorable 
 specimens of oratorical excellence ; and I think I may ven- 
 ture to add, that if our College does not stand pre-eminent in 
 the department of oratory, it is yet acknowledged to be 
 characterized for its natural, manly and gentlemanly-toned 
 style of public speaking. We rarely hear " vulgar mouthing" 
 at our College exhibitions. 
 
 In reply to the last clause of this question, I beg to state to 
 the Committee, that a few years since, when it was contem- 
 plated, by the Board of Trustees, to re-organize the studies of 
 the College, I took occasion to furnish President King, for 
 presentation to the Trustees, a systematized course of instruc- 
 tion of so practical a character that I hoped it might meet 
 the approbation of the Board. President King gave me a 
 most cordial approval of the plan, but no action, I believe, 
 was taken by the Board on the subject. 
 
 The plan embraced in brief — compulsory instruction to all 
 the classes — beginning with the Freshman, in the elementary 
 blanches of the art, and progressing up to the Seniors, where 
 it terminates with a close analytical dissection of Shakspeare 
 and the higher class of poets. In fact it comprises a course 
 of aesthetic elocutionary culture, invaluable, I conceive, to the 
 student, in his progress through the departments of Rhetoric 
 and Belles Lettres. It was based upon the system I have 
 adopted in my long practice as a private teacher of Elocu- 
 tion, and which I have found to be eminently successful 
 in developing the faculties and perceptions of young or old 
 pupils. 
 
 Under the newly adopted organization of the classes, time 
 may not be permitted for the full acceptance of this plan. A 
 portion of it may be worthy the attention of your Committee. 
 The Freshman class might be trained in the elementary 
 principles of Elocution, and especially with reference to the 
 training of the voice ; and it might be made obligatory on all 
 speakers appointed for public exhibitions connected with the 
 College, that they duly prepare themselves under my in- 
 
struction. This latter suggestion has always appeared to me 
 of vital consequence to the character of the College ; and in 
 the present efficient re-organization of the classes, it appears 
 to be imperatively necessary that our speakers should never, 
 in future, be permitted to come before the public unless they 
 are duly prepared to appear with credit to themselves and 
 honor to the College. This will never be effected, unless the 
 Trustees exact an equal authority over the department of 
 Elocution which they extend to the other departments of 
 study. My best efforts will be comparatively useless without 
 the support and encouragement of the College authorities. 
 
 Q. Are there any other measures, in regard to your de- 
 partment, which you would recommend for adoption by the 
 Trustees ? 
 
 A. In addition to the recommendations I have ventured to 
 make, in reply to the last question of the Committee, I would 
 beg to submit a proposal that I have long desired to bring 
 before the Trustees of the College, and which, if adopted, I 
 believe would be found a powerful auxiliary in producing 
 successful results in my department of instruction. 
 
 I therefore propose, for the consideration of the Committee, 
 the instituting a yearly course, of Elocutionary illustration, to 
 be given by me during the winter — say six in number — in 
 which I can, by familiar commentaries and illustrations, 
 bring before the students the beauties of the best poets, ora- 
 tors and writers in our language, and excite an interest in 
 elocutionary studies by the mere force of example. I have 
 been for several years past called to such exercises, in our 
 most intelligent and refined private circles, and the influ- 
 ence has been most salutary. To make these lectures and 
 readings effective, they should be given at some designated 
 place in the city, in the evening, and permission should be 
 extended to the students to invite their parents, relatives and 
 friends, by which a powerful co-operation would be exerted 
 for the benefit of the student. These lectures should be fur- 
 nished gratuitously by the College, or they would fail en- 
 tirely in their effect ; as similar lectures, attempted by several 
 professors have failed, by exacting from the students and their 
 
friends an admission fee. The expense would not be heavy, 
 and I shall be willing to consider the duty as falling within 
 the legitimate sphere of my prescribed duties — 'should the 
 Board make that addition to my Balary which I hope from 
 their justice and liberality. 
 
 Similar lectures or illustrations to these I propose are 
 given in Colleges and institutions of education, by Professors 
 of Elocution attached to such establishments, under the au- 
 thority of Trustees and Directors. The popularity of such 
 exercises is undoubted, and the pleasure and improvement 
 to be derived from them will not be questioned by any in- 
 telligent mind. 
 
STATEMENT OF THE LIBRARIAN. 
 
 Q. What is now the condition and character of the College 
 Library ? 
 
 A. Its character almost wholly scholastic ; the condition 
 of the books, as regards binding, in general, good. Very few 
 volumes missing since its removal. 
 
 Q. Please specify in what departments the Library is well 
 supplied and in what deficient. 
 
 A. So far as the Librarian is competent to decide this 
 question, it is tolerably complete in but one department, 
 though well mounted, but not by any means thoroughly, in 
 several others. In the classical department, in numerous 
 valuable and occasionally very rare editions of the Greek 
 and Roman classics, in works on antiquities, in philology, up 
 to the commencement of the present century or a little later, 
 and in the various collateral aids to th» classical scholar, it is 
 full and rich. Not equally so in the physical and mathemati- 
 cal sciences, and very much less so in Ethics, with its cognate 
 philosophies, and in classical English Literature. In German 
 Belles Lettres it has a well selected though not large body of 
 writers. In Italian Literature, especially in poetry, (of which 
 there are fine editions of certain of the best authors,) History 
 and Political Economy, though not complete, it is much richer 
 than in most collections of the same size and character. The 
 Library is deficient in entire sets of the great Philosophical 
 Transactions, e. g., those of the London Eoyal Philosophi- 
 cal Society, the Eoyal Astronomical Society, Memoirs de 
 l'Institute and the Philosophical Annals. It is deficient in; 
 
 Id 
 
some of the great works that belong to every important col- 
 lection,^ for instance, it wants Michaud's Sylva, with Nutt- 
 all's Continuation, Hawkins' Burney's History of Music, the 
 Supplement to the Biographie Universelle, Bowditch's La 
 Place's Mechanique Celeste. 
 
 For a Library of such limited dimensions, 12,000 volumes 
 and upwards, the Library has many curious and valuable 
 works on Theology, old Law and Miscellaneous Literature. It 
 is well furnished with works of references, Encyclopedias, 
 general Dictionaries, Lexicons. In the descriptive sciences 
 and in mathematics equally, it is burdened with poor copies 
 of sterling authors and inferior books, that have been long 
 superseded. The lighter English Belles Lettres (in which 
 province is not included fiction, nor the drama since Shaks- 
 peare) is the weakest portion of the Library. In History, par- 
 ticularly Modern, and especially that of England and. of the 
 United States, it is fairly supplied, with the collateral illus- 
 tration of lives, memoirs, voyages, travels and illustrated 
 works on topography, maps, &c. In a word, it is strong 
 only in the classical department, alcoves 5 and 6, cases D. and 
 E., while there is room for many and valuable additions and 
 alterations in all of the other departments. 
 
 Q. What has been the annual increase of the Library for 
 the period during which you have been Librarian, and what 
 has been expended annually upon its increase during the 
 same period ? 
 
 A. On an average the annual increase has been 125 
 volumes per annum, falling as low as 60 and rising again as 
 high as 300, exclusive of periodicals. The annual appropri- 
 ation has been little more than nominal, $100 serving to 
 cover subscriptions to periodicals, and for the purchase of a 
 few books of the current higher literature, in history, science 
 and general literature. The Librarian has relied upon special 
 appropriations for the purchase of expensive and voluminous 
 works. For the past six years, during which the Librarian has 
 held his post, there has been appropriated, in 1851, $300; in 
 1852,1853,1854, $100 each; 1855, $300; 1856, $500; in all 
 $1,400 ; a large proportion of the first appropriation was de- 
 
voted to bills contracted before the present Librarian's appoint- 
 ment, and a larger proportion of the very last was expended 
 in a purchase against his judgment. 
 
 Q. Please to give the Committee your opinion as to the 
 stated annual appropriations needed for the gradual improve- 
 ment and increase of the Library, and to what they ought to 
 be applied. 
 
 A. The Librarian would beg previously to state, that to 
 refit the departments most requiring improvement : 1st. The 
 scientific, in completing its broken sets of transactions, and 
 in procuring new editions of standard works, as well as later 
 works, especially French and German ; 2d. The classical, in 
 German and English Philology, of the last thirty or forty 
 years ; 3d. -The philosophical, including good editions of 
 old English authors, modern French, &c, in Ethics, Meta- 
 physical Philosophy, in Evidences, Political Economy, the 
 English classics of the 17th and 18th centuries, &c, a hand- 
 some special appropriation of from $2,000 to $3,000, exclu- 
 sive of the very large bill for binding Dr. Haight has been 
 authorized to contract, and exclusive of additional salary to 
 the Librarian, should be devoted to the Library for the ensuing 
 year : afterwards, an annual appropriation of $500 ought 
 to be sufficient to supply the Library with the regular scien- 
 tific periodicals and philosophical transactions, new works of 
 value and rare occasional old works in the different sciences, 
 in History and Belles Lettres, and in all the requisite de- 
 mands of a College Library, of moderate pretensions, in a 
 large city. 
 
 Q. To what extent, and in what way, and by whom is the 
 Library now used ? 
 
 A. Yery moderately as a circulating Library ; very much 
 more as a Library of reference, by the Faculty, Trustees and 
 three classes of the students regularly ; occasionally onlv. and 
 by permission, by the Freshman class, by the teachers in 
 the Grammar School, and such of the Alumni as see fit to 
 subscribe. During the past six years the annual circulation 
 averaged 400 volumes, whereas the reference was tenfold, at 
 least. Several students of the late Senior class came con- 
 
stantly, remaining the full period the Library was open, who 
 did not take out half a dozen volumes during the entire 
 academic year. 
 
 About one-quarter of all the students use it constantly, 
 come with pleasure, and derive much benefit from it ; as 
 matty visit it occasionally, while many come rarely or never, 
 from several causes — 1. Because their parents or guardians 
 have good collections at home ; 2. Or they have a right else- 
 where ; 3. Because they live at a distance ; or, 4. From in- 
 difference. 
 
 The classes of books most referred to and most read are 
 those on History and Speculative Philosophy, Criticism, His- 
 tory of Literature, and of Philosophy, Political Economy, 
 &c. Works on Science are rarely handled. Greek and 
 Latin Classics hardly ever. This is the student's use of the 
 Library. Of course the officers of the College examine and 
 take only books of the highest character. These are almost 
 wholly scientific, as a general rule. During the past six 
 years, four Alumni have subscribed for one year each. 
 
 Q. What are the hours of attendance by the Librarian in 
 each week ; and during what parts of the year is it continued ? 
 Is this attendance sufficient ? Please to specify what duties 
 the Librarian performs, and what duties would be required 
 from him in case of the adoption of such measures for the 
 increase of the Library as you may recommend. 
 
 A. The attendance of the Librarian, by the last amend- 
 ment of the Kules, November 7tb, 1844, is " from half-past one 
 to three o'clock, P. M., Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 
 while the College is in session." The Librarian, to accommo- 
 date the students, has been in the habit of giving an extra 
 hour. He thinks that just double the number of hours, or 
 from noon to 3 o'clock, P. M., on the same days, would be 
 ample. 
 
 The duties of the Librarian are twofold, (in the Library,) 
 clerical and critical. The first alone properly belong to the 
 office ;. the second are in aid of the professor. To the former 
 belong the ordinary duties of giving out books called for . 
 noting the titles in books kept for the purpose, and also not- 
 
ing their return ; in acknowledging all the donations not ac- 
 knowledged specially by the President ; in recording all pur- 
 chases by himself, or at the suggestion of others, (and by 
 whom ;) and all donations for and to the Library ; in keeping 
 up the Catalogue ; in notifying all who are remiss (except 
 Trustees) in returning books ; in preserving order, (a prime 
 duty,) which has been uncommonly well maintained, and 
 equalled by only one of the lecture-rooms. These are the 
 ordinary duties in the Library-room. 
 
 The selection and purchase of books, from appropriations 
 ordered by the Committee and the Board, forms the out-of- 
 door business. The chief duty is beyond any of these, and is 
 purely critical. In the performance of it, the Librarian is 
 really an instructor, as much so as a professor, though with- 
 out the title or salary. In History, civil or literary, of Phi- 
 losophy or Art, in Criticism, ^Esthetics, Ethical and Meta- 
 physical Philosophy, Logic, the Evidences of Christianity, 
 Political Economy, he necessarily comes in aid of the profes- 
 sor — as the Library is, as it were, an upper lecture-room for 
 illustration and expansion of the outline designed for the 
 classes. His business is not merely to suggest plans of read- 
 ing, but actually to discuss a subject. By way of example, 
 in the history of opinion, a theory or the doctrines of a certain 
 school are traced through a number of authorities, from the 
 original founder to the latest writer on the subject. In Po- 
 litical History, the character of a sovereign or a statesman, 
 the consequences of a party or a faction, are looked up in 
 contemporary sources and later philosophical critics. A 
 question of taste arises, and reference is had to classic writers 
 and standard authorities. A point of statistics comes up, 
 and is carefully examined. A student wishes to know who 
 have written on any given subject, and the resources of the 
 Library are presented to him. At the same time, repeated 
 caution against indiscriminate reading is given, and desul- 
 tory reading discouraged. In the event of the large proposed 
 special appropriation, additional time and the exercise of 
 critical judgment in the selection of books by himself, and 
 canvassing those recommended by the professors, would nn- 
 
 1d* 
 
questionably be expended. This extra labor the Librarian 
 would cheerfully assume. As to his fitness for this duty, the 
 list of his purchases for the past six years is the only evi- 
 dence he can or wishes to furnish. 
 
 Q. Are the present regulations, prescribed by the standing 
 order of the Trustees, passed 4th March, 1844, for the charge, 
 government and direction of the Library, found to be efficient ? 
 and are there any provisions which you would recommend, 
 so far as concerns the officers to whom such duty should be 
 committed, and the regulation of their proceedings? 
 
 A. It has often occurred to the Librarian that an alteration 
 in the composition of the Library Committee might be advis- 
 able. Officers of the College, as interested parties, it would 
 seem, ought not to be members of the Library Committee. 
 The President, besides, as having multifarious duties to per- 
 form, and various interests to regard, may not (as is really 
 the case) take any active part. The Librarian to be excluded 
 from all but the executive authority of an agent, suggesting 
 books to be bought — but not to be held responsible for unau- 
 thorized purchases. The Chairman and Treasurer, as al- 
 ready constantly occupied by a multitude of official duties, 
 might give way to two gentlemen of the Board, who, with 
 Mr. Betts, would form a most desirable committee. Mr. 
 Strong, with his cultivated literary taste and general infor- 
 mation, and Dr. Anderson, with his scientific acquirements 
 and judgment, are suggested as remarkably well fitted for 
 the duties of members of the Library Committee. 
 
 The regulations referred to are generally observed ; but no 
 regularity has been preserved as to times or frequency of 
 meetings ; though when any pressing necessity has arisen, 
 the members of the committee have been prompt, punctual 
 and most judicious. 
 
 Q. Are the rules and regulations for the Library of the 
 College (adopted by the Library Committee, on 4th April, 
 1838) now in force, and are they obeyed ? If not obeyed, 
 j3tate for what reason they have not been enforced. 
 
 A. They are still in force, with the exception of the amend- 
 ment of November 7, 1844, as to the hours, {vide page 4.) 
 
Tiiey are obeyed, except in two particulars, and for which 
 disobedience there are plausible excuses. Great remissness 
 had been the rule as to return of books, &c, before the ap- 
 pointment of the present Librarian, but this is now the excep- 
 tion. At the present time, in consequence of repeated issues 
 by the Librarian, of lists of books out, through Mr. "Weeks, by 
 notes and messages, very few books belonging to the Library 
 are now missing; and these, with a very few exceptions, are 
 in the hands either of a few of the Trustees, who are amenable 
 to no rule in the premises, or of the professors, who ask spe- 
 cially to retain them during the vacation, for specified ob- 
 jects. And rare neglect to pay the proper fines has occurred, 
 some sufficient excuse having been furnished. When the rules 
 have not been enforced, it has been partly out of courtesy to 
 the members of the faculty, partly out of indifference to the 
 value of the Library, and, also, very much for the reason, that 
 a great degree of laxity had prevailed under the two previous 
 Librarians, and indulgence had become warranted by prece- 
 dent. 
 
 Q. For what periods are books taken from the Library, by 
 persons entitled to its use, retained by them ? Specify to the 
 Committee the names of all works now off the shelves, which 
 have been retained for over six months, with the dates at 
 which they were taken out, and the names of the persons to 
 whom they were issued. 
 
 A. Of late years, the books are generally returned with 
 great punctuality, and retained only so long as permitted by 
 Rule 4. Exceptional cases occur, with officers of the College, 
 to a much less degree than formerly, and in these cases the 
 excuse is obvious. As remarked* in answer to the previous 
 question, the number of books now off the shelves, and re- 
 tained over six months, is very small, owing to particular 
 exertions in getting them in, at the close of the past academic 
 year. According to the direction of the Committee, the list 
 of books now out, by whom retained, and at what dates taken, 
 is appended. 
 
 Q. How often have the Library Committee met within the 
 
last six years, and at how many of such meetings has busi- 
 ness been transacted ? 
 
 A. On eight occasions — November 5, 1851 ; March 31, 
 1852 ; July 3, 1855 ; April 10, 1856 ; May 5, 1856 ; March 
 3, 1857; June 23, 1857; June 29, 1857. At all of these 
 meetings business was transacted, except the last, when the 
 report of the Librarian and lists of duplicates, odd volumes 
 and books proposed to be bought, was handed to the chair- 
 man, Dr. Knox. 
 
 Q. Have you any suggestions to offer relative to the heat- 
 ing and shelving of the Library, or its interior arrangement or 
 regulation ? 
 
 A. The only prospective mode of heating the Library hall,, 
 (a room of 65 by 28 feet,) appears extremely defective and 
 injudicious. But one vent for the furnace is prepared, and 
 that is in an alcove, where, if the heat is sufficiently great to 
 warm the entire room on a very cold day, it must be exces- 
 sive, and injure the bindings materially. But it is antici- 
 pated (it has not been tested) that a single register, and in such a 
 position, cannot adequately warm the room. &.s to additional 
 shelving, it is supposed that there is now accommodation for 
 an addition of from 2,000 to 3,000 volumes, an increase even 
 at a much higher rate than formerly, that will occupy some 
 years, and space remains for additional shelving hereafter, to 
 almost equal extent. Any alteration of (raising) the roof is 
 inexpedient, especially at the present time, after great pains, 
 labor and some expense have been incurred in the re-arrange- 
 ment of the Library. As to a suggestion of tables in the al- 
 coves, necessarily excluding the students from the supervision 
 of the Librarian, that would be quite inexpedient, and would 
 revive, it is apprehended, the disorder that prevailed some 
 years since, before the incumbency of the present Librarian. 
 
 The Librarian would beg to suggest one amendment of the 
 Kules, of Eules 6 and 12, and to alter their bearing upon 
 officers of the College, permitting them to retain books, for 
 the purposes of study and reference, during the vacation. 
 
Boohs that have been kept out over Six Months — previous to 
 July lj 1857. 
 
 By Tbtjstees. 
 (Not amenable to any Rule.) 
 
 Taken Out. 
 
 Mr. Betts, Reed's Lectures, English Hist., May 4, 1856. 
 
 Mr. Allen, Grote's Hist. Greece, Yol. ii.> Jan. 7, 1856. 
 
 Mr. Ruggles, Imitation of Christ, May 10, 1854. 
 
 " Andrew's Reports, July 20, 1854. 
 
 Dr. Haight, Huber's Universities, 3 v., June 27, 1855. 
 
 " " N. British Review, 43, 44, July 16, 1855. 
 
 By Faculty. 
 
 President, Lossing's Field Book, Yol. i., Mar. 12, 1855. 
 
 " Ranke's Hist, of the Popes, Oct. 27, 1856. 
 
 Prof. Drisler,*Niebuhr's Ethnography, 2 vols. May 24, 1856. 
 
 " Jelf 's Greek Grammar, " 28, " 
 
 " Bopp's Comparative Grammar, June 4, " 
 
 " "Wordsworth's Pictorial Greece, " 20, " 
 
 " Mure's Hist, of Greek Lit., 4 v. Oct. 10, " 
 
 G. H. Hinton — Geaduate. 
 (On authority of the President.) 
 
 1858. 
 
 Nov. 7, Hume's Essays, Vol. i. 
 
 Dec. 11, Michelet's France, Vol. i. 
 
 June, Historical Sketch of Logic. 
 
 Nov. 7, Stewart's Dissertation, and 
 
 Dec. 3, Massette, late Senior. — Vince on Hydrostatics — in 
 the very first rank of good students, has been 
 long ill, and very probably never received the 
 mote and messages sent to him. 
 
 P. S. — By extra diligence, all of the books that have been 
 taken out prior to Jan. 1, 1857, except the above brief list, 
 have been returned. 
 
 * See next page. 
 
10 
 
 Books Missing since removal, hut not assigned to any one 
 
 person. 
 
 Sidney Smith's Miscellanies, 
 Chaucer, 
 
 Aristophanes, (Brunck,) 
 Herodotus, (Schaefer,) 
 Adelnng's Mithridates, 
 Southey's Hist. Peninsular "Wars, 
 Bancroft's U. S., 
 Hale's Chronology, 
 Heber's Travels, 
 Eussell's Modern Europe, 
 Ruskin's Modern Painters, 
 
 Vol 
 
 .1st. 
 
 a 
 
 2d. 
 
 a 
 
 1st. 
 
 u 
 
 1st. 
 
 u 
 
 3d. 
 
 a 
 
 5th and 6th 
 
 u 
 
 6th. 
 
 « 
 
 4th. 
 
 a 
 
 1st. 
 
 u 
 
 3d. 
 
 u 
 
 2d. 
 
 Note. — The Librarian Communicated to the committee the 
 following note, received by him from Professor Drisler : 
 
 Monday, July 13th. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 The volumes which I now have from the College Library, 
 and which I desire to retain during the vacation, are the 
 following : 
 
 Bopp's Comparative Grammar, translated by Eastlake. 3 
 
 vols. 8vo. 
 Peloponnesos von Ernst Curtius. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 Niebuhr's Lectures on Ethnography. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 On reading again, after many years, the Library regula- 
 tions, I find I have, in several instances, violated the one 
 which requires all the books belonging to the Library to be 
 on its shelves by a certain day in July. While engaged in 
 editing Liddell's and Scott's Greek Lexicon, (before your time,) 
 I was allowed to retain from the Library, for more than a 
 
11 
 
 year, several Lexicographical works of great service to me, 
 but probably not called for during that time by any one else. 
 I have consequently lost sight of the regulation, and intended 
 to retain the volumes above mentioned, for study during the 
 ensuing vacation. I still might, I suppose, comply with the 
 letter of the rule, but I cannot suppose that it is intended by 
 that regulation to shut the Library absolutely, and to lock up 
 its treasures during one-fourth of the entire year, especially 
 from those who have then far more leisure for self-improve- 
 ment than amid the many occupations and duties of the 
 regular College session. I presume the object is to ascertain 
 that the books are safe and in good condition, and to enable 
 the Librarian to make his yearly report with all the necessary 
 data at hand. I have preferred, therefore, to retain the 
 volumes which I now have, and request you to state the rea- 
 sons for my so doing in your report, believing that, while I 
 am engaged in extending my own researches in the various 
 branches of learning connected with my department, I am 
 advancing the interests of the College, and that the regulation 
 is not intended to apply to such cases ; if I am mistaken in 
 this supposition, the Committee can correct it, and I will ob- 
 serve the regulation in future if in force. I trust, however, 
 you will suggest a modification of Regulation 6th, so that it 
 will be sufficient for professors to report, at or about the time 
 of commencement, what books they have in their possession 
 belonging to the Library, and to enable them to use the 
 treasures of the Library for their own improvement or the 
 benefit of their classes during vacation. 
 
 Tours, very truly, 
 
 H. Deislee. 
 To "W". A. Jones, Esq., 
 
 Librarian of Columbia College. 
 
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 " Anthon.... 11 
 u Hackley,.. 10 
 " Schmidt,... 10 
 " McCnlloh,. 11 
 " Drialer,.... 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Exhibit 3. 
 
 {See President's Statement, page 13.) 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 
 Professors' Reports. 
 
 December 21, 1855. 
 
 SENIORS. 
 
 Monday. 
 
 Tuesday. 
 
 WednMay. 
 
 Thursday 
 
 Friday. 
 
 Behabks. 
 
 Bidwell, 
 
 1 
 
 l 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 No Compo- 
 
 Stanton, 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 sition-. 
 
 Mcllvaine, 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mcllvaine. 
 
 Kay, 
 
 1 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 
 Meeks. 
 
 Benjamin, 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 
 
 Baldwin, 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 
 D. Lee, 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 
 Seabury, 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 
 Willet, 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 
 juniors. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Packman, 
 
 1 
 
 l 
 
 l 
 
 
 l 
 
 Wo Compo- 
 
 Brown, 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 sition. 
 
 Francis, 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Packwood. 
 
 Packwood, 
 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 Dana. 
 
 SOPHOMORES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Champney, 
 A.Ricnards. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 
 Thatcher, 
 
 
 • 
 
 l 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 Manly, 
 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 Prof. McVickab. 
 
-6 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 Peofessoes' Kepoets. 
 
 December 21, 1855. 
 
 SENIORS. 
 
 Monday. 
 
 Tuesday. 
 
 Wedn'day. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 Remakes. 
 
 Bidwell, 
 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Hendricks, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Benjamin, 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 Browne, 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clement, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 D. Lee, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Mcllvaine, 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 Meeks, 
 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Bay, 
 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 JUNKIES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tuttle, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Slipper, 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Smedberg, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Parkman, 
 
 A 
 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 Brower, 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Francis, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Holmes, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Jackson, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Mason, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Packwood, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Sears, 
 
 
 
 Late. 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 "Winslow, 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 S0PHOMOEES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cliampney, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maury, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thatcher, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Durkee, 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 Manley, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Stuyvesant, 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Cooper, 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Pbesident King, < 
 
 ?. C. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C] 
 
 IAELES 
 
 Anthon. 
 
COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 
 Professors' Reports. 
 
 SENIORS. 
 
 Monday, 
 
 Tuesday. 
 
 Wedn'day. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 Bevabks. 
 
 Clark, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Bidwell, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Walton, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Meeks, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mcllvaine, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Eay, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stanton, 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 JUNIORS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Slipper, 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Parkman, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Francis, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Jackson, 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 Packwood, 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Sears, 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 SOPHOMORES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mahan, (?) 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lydig, (?) 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Darkee, 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Manley, 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 Richards, 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 FRESHMEN. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Billings, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Cruger, 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Field, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 H. Miller, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 F. Miller, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 D.W.I 
 
 Iacklet. 
 
8 
 
 Report of the Freshman Class for the week ending 
 December 21st. 
 Absent. 
 Cruger on Friday. 
 Caldwell on Thursday. 
 Carter on Wednesday and Thursday.; 
 Dater on Tuesday. 
 Field on Tuesday and "Wednesday. 
 Hyatt on Thursday. 
 
 Lacombe, F. Miller and H. Miller on Wednesday. 
 Stanton one hour on Monday. 
 
 H. Deisleb. 
 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 
 
 
 Peofessors' Eeports. 
 
 Friday, Dec. 21st, 1855. 
 
 SENIORS. 
 
 Monday. 
 
 Tuesday. 
 
 Wedu'day. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 G. Kingsland, 
 
 
 
 
 Absent 
 
 
 
 Benjamin, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Bogert, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Clement, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Cutting, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Gregory, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 A. Kingsland, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 D. Lee, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Stanton, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Shepard, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Thompson, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Mcllvaine, 
 
 
 
 
 
 Absent 
 
 
 Clark, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Bidwell, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Walton, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Clement, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Meeks, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Mower, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Eay, 
 
 
 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 Cox, ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Seabury, >• 
 
 
 
 
 Not pre- 
 pared. 
 
 
 
 Ulshoeffer, ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
JUNIORS. 
 
 Monday. 
 
 Tuesday. Wedn'day. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 Bbuabes. 
 
 Sears, 
 
 Packwood, 
 
 Parkman, 
 
 
 Absent 
 do. 
 
 
 
 Absent 
 do. 
 
 
 SOPHOMORES. 
 
 Stuyvesant, 
 Bedell, 
 Manley, 
 A. Eichards, 
 Ly di g> 
 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 Not pre- 
 pared. 
 
 
 Absent 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 
 
 FRESHMEN. 
 
 Cruger, 
 
 Field, 
 
 Caldwell, 
 
 Carter, 
 
 Hyatt, 
 
 Lacombe, 
 
 Dater, 
 
 
 Absent 
 do. 
 
 Absent 
 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 H. J. Schmidt. 
 
8 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 Peofessoes' Reports. 
 
 SENIORS. 
 
 Monday. 
 
 Tuesday. 
 
 Wedn'day. 
 
 Thursday. 
 
 Friday. 
 
 Kemaeks. 
 
 Clark, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Bidwell, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Yan Eiper, 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 G. Kings! and, 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Walton, 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Hendricks, 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Prime, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Baldwin, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Clement, 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Gregory, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 A. Kingsland, 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 JUNIOES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Labagh, 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 D. Lee, 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Mcllvaine, 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Meeks, 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Mower, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Kay, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Stanton, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Timpson, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Willett, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 SOPHOMOEES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Slipper, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Parkman, 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Riley, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Brower, 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Davies, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Sears, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Taylor, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 FEESHMEN. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Champney, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Mahan, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Lydig, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Marshall, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 1 
 
 
 Thatcher, 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 l 
 
 1 
 
 
 Cooper, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Lyndsay, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 Man ley, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 1 
 
 
 A. Richards, 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 R. Richards, 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 December 21. 
 
 R. S. MoColloh. 
 
11 
 
 Hyslop has, during the past term, been regular in his at- 
 tendance in my room — absent twice : nor has he ever failed 
 to perform quite respectably when called up. 
 
 Willett has been absent four times, and not prepared twice. 
 When he does recite he performs pretty well, but might do 
 better. 
 
 Say has been absent thirteen times — not prepared three 
 times, and recited passably twice. This is the account of all 
 the hours in my room, except four. He is good for nothing. 
 
 Keteltas has been absent three times ; reported himself as 
 not prepared eleven times ; made a barely tolerable recitation 
 (nothing more than translation) twice, with Massett's assist- 
 ance. He brings no book into the room ; does nothing what- 
 ever while here, and is utterly good for nothing. 
 
 H. J. Schmidt. 
 
12 
 
 Exhibit 4. 
 
 Report of the President of the Standings in their Classes re- 
 spectively, of the Graduates to whom the Honors of the 
 Cheek, Latin and English Salutatories, at Commencement, 
 were Awarded in each year since 1830, inclusive / made 
 in compliance with a Resolution of the Board of Trustees,, 
 passed ith June, 1855. (See the President's Statement, 
 page 20.) 
 
 1830. — 19 in Class — recorded alphaietically in conformity with Resolution of ZOth 
 January, 1830. 
 
 Latin Salutatory,. ... B. F. Miller, 1 Honor. 
 
 English do. H. Niooll 2 do. 
 
 Valedictory, E. Jones 3 do. 
 
 '31. Latin Salutatory,. . . . R. Emory, Gold medal. 
 
 English do Edwin Taylor, 4 2d medals. 
 
 Valedictory, Gallagher 
 
 '32. Latin Salutatory,, ... W. T. Johnson, Gold medal. 
 
 English do. . . . . Wm. C. Eussel, 3 Special testimonials. 
 
 Valedictory E. R. Townsend, 
 
 '33. Latin Salutatory,. . . . S. Bard McVickar Gold medal. 
 
 English do Henry Renwick, 2 Special. 
 
 Valedictory Ed. Slosson, 
 
 '34. J. C. Lelaplaine, Gold medal. 
 
 "Wm. M. Gillespie,. 1 Silver, 1 Bronze. 
 
 No record of speakers. 
 
 '36. Greek Salut. 1st time, O. Harriman, Jr. Gold medal. 
 
 Latin do C. H. Lyon 1 Silver. 
 
 Valedictory, J. R. Thurman Silver medaL 
 
 Duyckinck Zabriskie Silver medal. 
 
 '36. Greek Salutatory, ... G. M. Hillyer, Gold medaL 
 
 Latin do Jno. Jay, 4 Silver. 
 
 English do Jno. Graham, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze. 
 
13 
 
 'Z1. Greet Salutatory,... Samuel Blatchford, Gold medal. 
 
 Latin do. .... Charles Aldis 4 Silver, 1 Bronze. 
 
 English do. If. W. Chittenden 8 Silver, 3 Bronze. 
 
 Valedictory, J. Vanderbilt, Jr., 
 
 '38. Greek Salutatory, ... M. M. Backus, Gold medal. 
 
 Latin do George T. Strong, 6 Silver medals. 
 
 English do J. M. Knox 2 Silver, 2 Bronze. 
 
 Valedictory, IV. Fowler, 3 Bronze. 
 
 '39. Greek Salutatory,... Arthur Carey, Gold medal. 
 
 Latin do G. T. Cornell 5 Silver. 
 
 English do. .... Ingersoll, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze. 
 
 Fowler being excused at his own request 
 Valedictory, J. "W. Walsh, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze. 
 
 '40. Greek Salutatory,... William C. Schermerhorn, Gold medal. 
 
 Latin do Samuel Bowden 3 Silver, 1 Bronze. 
 
 English do. .... James G. Graham, 4 Bronze. 
 
 Valedictory, William Nicoll 1 Silver. 
 
 '41. Greek Salutatory, .. . James Emett, Jr., 6 Bronze. 
 
 Latin do G. W. Collard, 4 Silver. 
 
 English do. 0. W. Gibbs 4 Silver. 
 
 Valedictory, E. D. Van Voorhis, 1 Bronze. 
 
 '42. Greek Salutatory, ... A. S. Hewitt Gold medaL 
 
 Latin do William S. Kernochan, ... 3 Silver. • 
 
 English do J. S. Hitchcock, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze. 
 
 Valedictory, Ed. E Potter, 
 
 '43. Greek Salutatory, ■■ ■ William McCune, Gold Medal. 
 
 Latin do. C. T. Buckley 4 Silver. 
 
 English do. .... G. P. Quackenboss, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze. 
 
 Valedictory, J. W. Gerard, Jr., 1 Silver. 
 
 '44. Greek Salutatory, ... J. P. G. Foster, General testimonial, sub- 
 stituted for medals this year. 
 
 Latin do Ed. McGee 5 Special 
 
 English do Samuel Hollingsworth,... 1 Special. 
 
 William B. Minturn had two — no reason given for 
 passing him over. 
 
 Valedictory N. Bergasse Laban 
 
 '45. Greek Salutatory. . . . Lefroy Ravenhill General testimonial. 
 
 Latin do J. J. Elmendorf, 4 Special. 
 
 English do George B. Draper, 1 Special. 
 
 Valedictory, Alexander McCrie, about whose appointment there 
 
 was delay, owing to disagreement in the class. 
 '46. Greek Salutatory,. . . W. W. Olsen, General testimonial. 
 
 Latin do Henry A. Bogert, 2 Special. 
 
 English do Nathaniel Loder, No honor and no explana- 
 tion. 
 
14 
 
 '41. Greek Salutatory, . . . Robert Holden, Had no honor. 
 
 Latin do Joseph Westervelt, Jr., ... 2 Special. 
 
 English do Francis Van Rensselaer, . . No honor. 
 
 '48. Greek Salutatory,... MorganDix, General testimonial." 
 
 Latin do. .... Theodore ¥. Lewis 1 Special. 
 
 English do George C. Farrar, No honor. 
 
 Kelly had 3 Special ; Harper, 1 ; Swan, 1 ; — no explanation why not speakers. 
 
 '49. Greek Salutatory,... Ed. C. Babcock, General testimonial. 
 
 Latin do N. A. Beach, 2 Special. 
 
 English do. .... William A. Armitage 2 Special. 
 
 Why B. before A. — both being equal. 
 
 '50. Greek Salutatory, . . . Seymour, General testimonial. 
 
 Latin do Byron, 1 General testimonial on 
 
 motion of Prof. A. 
 
 English do Hodges 3 first Specials. 
 
 Harrison also had 3 first Specials. 
 
 '51. Greek Salutatory, .. . De Ruyter General testimonial 
 
 Latin do. .... Anthon 2 first Specials. 
 
 DeKoven, Walter, Wood had more than A. 
 English do Dickerson No honor. 
 
 '52. Greek Salutatory,. . . J. A. Kernochan Special testimonial. 
 
 Latin do, . . . . G. W. Dean, 
 
 English do. .... W. Emerson, Jr., 
 
 '53. Greek Salutatory, .. i Marvin R. Vincent General testimonial. 
 
 Latin do Charles E. Morgan, 1 Special, Greek Litera- 
 ture — 5 above him. 
 
 English do S. L. Woodford 1 Special, Composition — 
 
 8 above him. 
 
 In compliance with the above resolution, the President re- 
 ports the names and standing of the speakers as called for. 
 It results that, although generally the three speakers referred 
 to, seem to have been assigned according to the standing in 
 the class of each speaker, this practice was not uniform, 
 nor is any reason given for the departure from it, when de- 
 parture has occurred. 
 
 The only rule on the subject of the assignment of speeches 
 is contained in the following section, numbered 4: of chapter 
 XI. of the statutes of Columbia College : 
 
 " 4. It shall be the duty of the Board to designate those 
 who are to speak, and also to assign to each speaker his re- 
 spective part on Commencement day, and any student neg- 
 
15 
 
 lecting or refusing to perform the part assigned to him, shall 
 not receive his degree." 
 
 As the members of the Board must necessarily be the best 
 judges of the relative fitness of each student for the parts at 
 Commencement, and as no evil seems to have resulted from 
 the practice adopted under the above rule, it would seem well 
 to leave it undisturbed. 
 
 Charles King, 
 President of Columbia College. 
 July 2, 1855. 
 
16 
 
 Exhibit 5. 
 
 The following papers were produced by Professor Mb Vickar, 
 27th February, 1856. {Seepage 14 of his Statement.) 
 
 SUBJECTS IN THE HISTOET OF PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 1. Give the nature and value of a History of Philosophy, 
 
 with its leading historic divisions, and the character of 
 each. 
 
 2. Give the early changes of Greek Philosophy, -with ex- 
 
 amples of each, and the specific characters of its latest 
 or systematic form. 
 
 3. State the two fountain heads of the schools of Greek Phi- 
 
 losophy, with their early character and subsequent 
 changes. 
 i. Give an account of the school of Thales, his life and doc- 
 trines, with its subsequent teachers to the time of Socra- 
 tes, and the changes induced by them. 
 
 5. Give an account of the school of Pythagoras, his life, 
 
 rank, doctrines and subsequent changes. 
 
 6. Give the rank and influence of Socrates, his life, manner 
 
 of teaching and our sources of information. 
 
 7. Give the teaching of Socrates under the three-fold division 
 
 of religious, moral and scientific. 
 
 8. Give the characteristic merits of Socrates, with the charges 
 
 against him, and satisfactory answers. 
 
 9. State the six permanent schools of Greek Philosophy, 
 
 their founders and specific characters ; also, some of the 
 more prominent temporary schools, with their teachers. 
 
 10. Give the rank and influence of Plato and his school, with 
 its distinctive appellations, together with his life and 
 writings. 
 
17 
 
 11. Give the leading teaching of Plato, under the fourfold 
 
 division of Aim of his Philosophy, Fundamental Doc- 
 trine, Subject- Matter and Method. 
 
 12. Give the threefold division of Philosophy adopted by 
 Plato ; show its analytic worth ; state its subsequent 
 change of terms. Give Bacon's opposing analysis. 
 
 13. Give the rank and character of the Dialectics of Plato ; 
 
 state his views as to the origin of words, the Platonic 
 style, the form of his writings, the difficulties attending 
 that form, and the rule for their interpretation. 
 
 14. "What is meant by the " double doctrine" taught in Greek 
 Philosophy ? Give proof of the fact. "Whence did it 
 arise ? Give the terms and doctrines of each branch. 
 
 15. Give the Platonic division of "Theoretica," or things 
 
 to be known. Give the rank and character of his " The- 
 ologica," or religious teaching. Give the various opin- 
 ions as to his sources of knowledge. Explain the Pla- 
 tonic Trinity and its probable source. 
 
 16. Give the physical teaching of Plato under the three- 
 fold division of material nature, man and primal source 
 of man's knowledge. Show its analogy to modern 
 teaching. 
 
 17. Give the mathematical teaching of Plato, his rank and 
 merits, his estimate of its value, with a just comparison 
 of mathematical and moral reasoning. 
 
 18. Give the practical teaching of Plato under his own di- 
 vision of Politica, Economica and Mhica, his merit in 
 each, together with his enumeration of the cardinal vir- 
 tues and their respective spheres. 
 
 19. Give the subsequent history of the Platonic school under 
 the historic division of the old, middle and new acad- 
 emy ; the ground of such division, together with names 
 of leading teachers. 
 
 20. Give the rank and titles of the school of Aristotle, his 
 life and general estimate as to merits and defects of his 
 Philosophy. 
 
 21. Give the Aristotelian branches of Philosophy, the lead- 
 ing works of Aristotle in each, the difficulties attending 
 
 2l 
 
.13 
 
 their interpretation, from style, state of the manuscripts 
 and double doctrine. , 
 
 22. Give the analytic teaching of Aristotle, his rank in logi- 
 
 cal science, his distinctive merits, the various schools of 
 logic, the practical value of the syllogistic. logic. 
 
 23. Give the leading' teaching of Aristotle under the three- 
 fold division of Physics, Metaphysics and Religion, 
 
 24. Give the practical teaching of Aristotle, his rank as a 
 moralist, leading principles and three-fold division of 
 moral science, with his teaching in each. 
 
 25. Give the history of the Peripatetic Philosophy subsequent 
 to Aristotle, down to the present time, dividing it into 
 five historic periods, with the character and influence of 
 each. 
 
 26. Give a general view of the Stoic school, its rank and 
 distinctive character as compared with, other leading 
 schools; state our authorities, early and, late, with the 
 change of teaching in them and its probable source. 
 
 27. State the Stoic branches of Philosophy ; give the rank of 
 its logic, its errors and result, also its physical teaching, 
 with its principles, in religion, nature and man. 
 
 28. State the practical teaching of the Stoic school, its rank, 
 theoretic principles, practical principles, doctrine of sui- 
 cide — refute it. 
 
 29. Errors of moral teaching in Stoic school. Its consequent 
 fate — revival at Home, with its leading writers — causes 
 which made it a prevailing school at Eome. . 
 
 30. Give the rank and character of the Epicurean school, in 
 
 its founder and in his followers, with the causes of its 
 rapid popularity, both moral and critical. Give, also, its 
 scientific division of Philosophy with our leading au- 
 thorities. 
 
 31. State the nature of the Canonica of Epicurus, its rules 
 and value. Give the physical teaching of this school, 
 its scientific system, with its bearings on religious truth 
 and moral duty. 
 
 32. Give the ethical teaching of Epicurus, its leading princi- 
 ples : 1. As to right and wrong. 2. Connection between 
 
19 
 
 virtue and happiness. 3. Eule and end of life. State 
 its errors and their influence. 
 
 33. State the nature and origin of the Pyrrhonic or sceptical 
 
 school. Give the progressive steps of its rise in Greece, 
 the causes that made it popular, both moral and critical, 
 with its general character and influence. 
 
 34. State the peculiar form of its teaching, and why ? Enu- 
 
 merate the five hypotheses of Sextus Empiricus, and un- 
 fold their bearing on the dogmatic schools. 
 
 35. Refutation of the Pyrrhonic hypotheses, through the me- 
 
 dium of the reason, as distinct from the logical under- 
 standing; explain that difference, justify it, show its 
 universal recognition, and the absolute necessity of it in 
 moral and mental Philosophy. 
 
 36. Fate of the Pyrrhonic school, causes, its continuance as 
 
 a spirit in modern times. Enumerate the leading sources 
 of scepticism in our own day, intellectual and moral, 
 with their correctives. 
 
20 
 
 SUBJECTS IN KHETORIO AND ^ESTHETICS. 
 
 .(Esthetics. 
 
 J. Name. 
 
 2. Province. 
 
 3. Objections, 
 i. Advantages. 
 
 5. Object sought. 
 
 6. Where to be sought. 
 
 (1.) 
 
 Art. (2.) 
 
 1. Relation to Nature. 
 
 2. True view of Art. 
 S. Division of Arts. 
 4. Enumeration. 
 
 Theories of Beauty. (3.) 
 
 1. Nature and Variety. 
 
 2. Classification. 
 
 3. Theory of Sense. 
 
 1. Nature. 2. Argument. 3. Main- 
 tainors. 4. Decision. 
 
 4. Theory of Association. 
 
 1. Nature. 2. Argument. 3. Main- 
 tainors. 4. Decision. 
 
 Taste. (5.) 
 
 1. Meaning. 
 
 2. Nature. 
 
 3. Elements. 
 
 4. Means of Improvement. 
 
 Disputed Terms. (6.) 
 
 1. Sublimity. 
 
 1. Relation to Beauty. 2. Correct 
 Theory. 3. longinus. 
 
 2. Novelty. 
 
 3. Picturesque. 
 
 4. Grace. 
 
 1. Name. 
 
 2. Nature. 
 
 3. Elements. 
 
 Style. (7.) 
 
 Sentence. 
 
 1. Definition. 
 
 2. Nature. 
 
 3. Divisions. 
 
 4. General laws. 
 
 5. Qualities. 
 
 (8.) 
 
 Qualities of a Sentence. (9.) 
 
 1. Clearness. 
 
 1. Nature. 2. Importance. 3. Ele- 
 ments. 4. Rules. 
 
 2. .Foree. 
 
 1. Nature. 2. Importance. 3. Ele- 
 ments. 4. Rules. 
 
 Qualities of a Sentence. (10.) 
 
 1. Imaginativeness. 
 
 1. Nature. 2. Importance. 3. Ele- 
 ments. 4. Rules. 
 
 2. Harmony. 
 
 1. Nature. 2. Importance. 3. Ele- 
 ments. 4. Rules. 
 
 Poetry. (11.) 
 
 1. Nature. 
 
 2. Theories. . 
 
 3. Elements. 
 
 4. Antiquity. 
 
 5. i<b»7HS. 
 
 Lyric Poetry. (12.) 
 
 1. Nature. 
 
 1. Essence. 2. Antiquity. 3. Cha- 
 racters. 
 
 2. Periods. 
 
 3. .*i>«:i«n< History. 
 
 1. Greek Lyric. 2. Latin Lyric. 
 
 4. Modern History. 
 
 Epic Poetry. (13.) 
 1. Nature. 
 2 .Rani. 
 
 1. As to Time. 2. ^Esthetic sense. 
 3. Comparison with Tragic. 
 i. Elements. 
 
 1. Fable. 2. Characters. 3. Narra- 
 tive. 
 
 Dramatic Poetry. (14.) 
 
 1. Nature and division. 
 
 2. Tragedy. 
 
 3. Aristotle's definition. 
 
 4. Tragic sympathy. 
 
 5. Elements. 
 
 l.Plot. 2. Characters. 8. Treatment. 
 
21 
 
 Pastoral Poetry. (15.) 
 
 1. Nature. 
 
 1 . Popular, and 2. jEsthetic views. 
 
 2. Antiquity, (two views also.) 
 8. Form. 
 
 4. History. 
 
 Rhetoric. (1.) 
 
 1. Definition and Limitations. 
 
 2. Two leading Schools and Teachers. 
 
 3. Ancient fourfold division. 
 
 4. Threefold source and Explanation. 
 
 5. Ancient and Modern Estimates. 
 
 6. Difference and Rational Estimate. 
 
 Histoet of Rhetoric. (2.) 
 
 1. Has it a history ? if not, why ? 
 
 2. History before Aristotle. 
 
 3. Aristotle. 
 
 4. Later Greek Teachers. 
 
 5. Roman Teachers. 
 
 6. Modern Teachers. 
 
 Proposition. (3.) 
 
 1. Definition and Nature. 
 
 2. First object of speaker. • 
 
 3. Distinction between hearers. 
 
 4. Unity. 
 
 5. Copiousness, Nature and Value. 
 
 6. Discovery and Arrangement of Argu- 
 
 ments. 
 
 Division of Arguments. (4.) 
 
 1. Province of Rhetoric. 
 
 2. Nature of division. 
 
 3. Laws of division. 
 
 4. Various kinds of arguments. 
 
 Testimony. (5.) 
 
 1. Nature and Value. 
 
 2. Kinds. 
 
 3. Concurrent Testimony. 
 
 4. Examples. 
 
 5. Fallacies. 
 
 Progressive Approach. (6.) 
 
 1. Nature. 
 
 2. Examples. 
 
 3. Euthymeme. 
 
 Burden of Proof. (T.) 
 
 1. Nature. . 
 
 2. Importance. 
 
 3. Examples. 
 
 4. How transferred. 
 
 5. When untransferable. 
 
 Order of Arguments. (S.) 
 
 1. Importance. 
 
 2. Primary rule. 
 
 3. Exceptions. 
 
 4. Arguing step by step. 
 
 5. Waiving a question. 
 
 Refutation. (9.) 
 
 1. Position. 
 
 2. Forms and value. 
 
 3. Logical Process. 
 
 4. Excessive Proof. 
 
 5. Irony. 
 
 6. Result. 
 
 Parts of a Discourse. (10.) 
 
 1. Enumeration and Nature. 
 
 2. Exordium. 
 
 3. Proposio. 
 
 4. Divisio. 
 
 Parts of a Discourse. (11.) 
 
 1. Narratio vel Explicatio. 
 
 2. Argumentum. 
 
 3. Persuasio. 
 i. Peroratio. 
 
22 
 
 SUBJECTS IN HISTOEY. 
 
 Give a definition of History, moral and 
 critical. 
 
 Show its progressive advance. 
 
 Historical divisions. 
 
 Define European History.' 
 
 Various suggested periods for its com- 
 mencement. 
 
 Select and justify the preference. 
 
 Justification of the end of the 15th 
 century, as the commencement of 
 Modern History. 
 
 Divisions of European History since 
 that time. 
 
 Dates and character. 
 
 Leading authors. 
 
 SUBJECT DL 
 
 Early History of Constantinople. 
 Condition at the fall. 
 Circumstances of the siege. 
 Political results. 
 
 SUBJECT IV. 
 
 Discovery of America. 
 Claims prior to Columbus. 
 
 SUBJECT T. 
 
 Discovery of America by Columbus. 
 Results of that discovery. 
 
 SUBJECT VI. 
 
 India trade before the discovery of a 
 
 passage by sea. 
 History of the discovery. 
 Commercial results. 
 Political results. 
 Final results. 
 
 SUBJECT VII. 
 
 Leading forms of Government. 
 
 Bonds of Union. 
 
 Exceptions. 
 
 Varieties. 
 
 Tendencies. 
 
 subject vm. 
 
 Ruling Houses. 
 
 Influence. 
 
 Enumeration. 
 
 Central power and rant. 
 
 English Houses. 
 
 SUBJECT IX. 
 
 Law of Nations. No. 1. 
 Nature and influences. 
 Elements. 
 
 SUBJECT XI. 
 
 Law of Nations. No. 2. 
 
 Instances. 
 
 Desideranda, 
 
 Founder. 
 
 Subsequent authors. 
 
 subject xn. 
 
 Feudal system. 
 Nature and terms. 
 Extent and influence. 
 
 subject xra. 
 
 Feudal system. 
 Historic origin. 
 Philosophic origin. 
 
23 
 
 SUBJECT XIV. 
 
 Spain. 
 
 Northern conquerors. 
 Moorish conquerors. 
 Re-establishment of the 
 
 power. 
 Constitutional condition. 
 Political condition. 
 
 SUBJECT xv. 
 
 France. 
 
 Northern conquerors. 
 
 Dynasties. 
 
 Houses. 
 
 Progress. 
 
 Condition. 
 
 SUBJECT xvr. 
 
 Germany. 
 Nature. 
 Organization. 
 Ruling families. 
 Condition. 
 
 subject xvn. 
 
 Papal and temporal powers. 
 
 Nature. 
 
 Origin. 
 
 Influence. 
 
 Organization. 
 
 Condition. 
 
 Character. 
 
 subject xvur. 
 
 Papal and spiritual power. 
 
 Nature. 
 
 Origin. 
 
 Progress. 
 
 Results. 
 
 Condition. 
 
 SUBJECT six. 
 
 Italy. No. 1. 
 
 Rank. 
 
 Division. 
 
 Political condition. 
 
 Literary condition. 
 
 Milan. 
 
 Christian 
 
 SUBJECT XX. 
 
 Italy. No. 2. 
 Venice. 
 Papal power. 
 Florence. 
 Naples. 
 
 SUBJECT XXI. 
 
 Invasions of Italy. 
 
 General outline. 
 
 Invasion of Italy by Charles VIIL 
 
 Invasion of Italy by Louis XII. 
 
 Italian leagues. 
 
 Contemporary sovereigns. 
 
 SUBJECT XXTT. 
 
 Colonies. 
 Nature. 
 Classification. 
 Character and results. 
 
 subject xxin. 
 
 Period of Charles V. 
 
 Character. 
 
 Authorities. 
 
 Dates. 
 
 Origin of the contest. 
 
 Relative strength. 
 
 SUBJECT XXIV. 
 
 "Wars of Charles and Frances. No. 1. 
 
 Outline. 
 
 First war. 
 
 SUBJECT XXV. 
 
 Wars of Charles and Frances. No. 2. 
 
 Second war. 
 
 Third war. 
 
 Fourth war. 
 
 Results. 
 
 SUBJECT XXVI. 
 
 Reformation. No. 1. 
 
 Nature. 
 Dates. 
 Errors. 
 General results. 
 
 SUBJECT XXVUI. 
 
 Revolution of the Netherlands. 
 
 Early history. 
 
 Condition. 
 
 Causes. 
 
 Progress. 
 
 Leaders. 
 
 Results. 
 
24 
 
 SUBJECT 
 
 "Wars of the League-. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Dates. 
 
 Character. 
 
 Leaders. 
 
 Results. 
 
 subject xxx. 
 
 Progress of colonies. 
 General changes. 
 
 Spanish colonies. 
 Portuguese colonies. 
 Dutch colonies. 
 English colonies. 
 
 English and French colonies. 
 
 Rank. 
 
 Origin. , 
 
 Progress. 
 
 Present condition. 
 
 French colonies. 
 
ABSTRACT OF THE MINUTES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BOARD OF THE COLLEGE. 
 
 Note. — The Committee, for greater facility of reference and 
 more clear exhibition of the administration of the discipline 
 of the Institution, have arranged the following abstract and 
 extracts, under the heads of the acts of discipline, or offences 
 of students, or other subjects treated of in the minutes. These 
 heads are : I. Examinations. II. Neglect of Studies. III. 
 Disorder in Professors' rooms. IY- Disorderly Conduct. 
 Y. Absences. YI. General bad Conduct. YII. Punishment 
 of Classes. YIII. Minutes of the Board of the College.. 
 IX. The President and the Board of the College. 
 
 I. 
 
 EXAMINATIONS. 
 
 1855, February 16th. 
 
 Sbnioes. 
 Sawyer, JBbsmer, 
 
 Schiefflin, Harmon, 
 
 Absent from intermediate examination. 
 
 Sawyer, 
 
 Presumed to have left College, as he had not attended 
 for three months. 
 
 1h 
 
Schiefflin, 
 
 Excused from examination, by request of his father, by 
 reason of inflamed eyes, which physician forbid him 
 to use. 
 To rejoin his class. 
 Hosmer, 
 Excused from examination, on condition of taking pri- 
 vate tator named by President— to produce his cer- 
 tificate of diligence during recess. 
 Harmon* 
 
 Permitted, last October, to go on with his class, only 
 on condition of greater punctuality and diligence. 
 Inattentive during the term. Dropped from the 
 rolls of the College. 
 Wendell,f Senior, 
 Who failed with Prof. Hackley, and absent from ex- 
 amination of Prof. McCullbb, to be examined in 
 chapel on 3d March ; if he did not appear or did 
 not pass, to be dropped from the rolls. 
 
 1855, February 16th. 
 
 JuNIOKS. 
 
 TJlslioeffer, absent from examination from illness. 
 Fuller, 
 Williams, " from death of sister. 
 
 Good students. Excused from examination. 
 Zdbriskie, withdrawn from College. 
 Camman, Cutting, 
 
 Mower, Stebbins, 
 
 Excused from the examination by the Board, previous 
 to examination, for reasons satisfactory to them. 
 
 * March 9th, 1855. — It is stated in the minutes that this student 'was dis- 
 missed. Ke-admitted on trial for one month. After that to be a special report 
 for consideration, upon which would depend whether he should be continued 
 in College. 
 
 f March 9th, 1855. — To go on upon one month's probation. 
 
Moore,* 
 
 Did himself little credit in any department. Absent 
 from German examination. 
 A. Kingsland, absent from German examination. 
 Babcock, " " " 
 
 Mcllvaine, \ 
 
 Hay, v Absent from three out of five examinations. 
 
 Willet* ) 
 
 All the six students last named to attend in chapel 3d 
 March, to be examined in departments in whicb 
 they failed, or from which they were absent, or be 
 dropped from the rolls. 
 
 1855, February 23d. 
 
 Sophomoees. 
 Louis Johnson, 
 
 Absent from Prof. Hackley's examination, and failed 
 with Prof. McCulloh, from whose recitations he had 
 been habitually absent. 
 Kettletas, 
 
 Absent from all the examinations. Produced a cer- 
 tificate from physician, that a severe affection of the 
 head rendered it hazardous for him to study. 
 
 One more trial for a month to be given to them ; 
 if, during that time, they failed in diligence and 
 punctuality, they should be dropped from the rolls. 
 Packwood, 
 
 Absent from Prof. Hackley, and who knew very little 
 of Prof. McCulloh's course. To be examined on 3d 
 March, in chapel, in Mathematics. 
 
 [Note. — There is nothing on the minutes showing that the 
 students of the Senior, Junior and Sophomore classes, ordered, 
 on the 16th and 23d February, to be re-examined on 3d 
 March, were so examined.] 
 
 * March 9lh, 1855. — To go on upon one month's probation. 
 
1855, 30th March. 
 
 Reports on cases of students attending on probation. [Not 
 satisfactory as to proficiency or attendance.] Decision of 
 Board, as to all, reserved. 
 
 1855, 22d June. 
 
 Zmbury, ) Graduating Clas8j 
 
 Perry, ) 
 Having, at the request of their parents, and with a 
 view of going to Europe, been excused from exam- 
 ination and attendance at Commencement, were, 
 nevertheless, from their general standing in their 
 class, recommended for the degree of A. B. 
 
 1855, July 6th. 
 
 Junioes. 
 
 Bahooch, failed with Prof. Anthon. 
 Willet, " " " Hackley; 
 Left room of Prof. McOulloh without permission and 
 without examination ; barely passed with Prof. Mc- 
 Vickar. 
 Bay, absent during whole examination ; 
 Gregory, absent from Prof. Hackley's examination. 
 Left room of Prof. McOulloh without permission and 
 without examination. 
 Hyslop, 
 
 Failed with Professor Anthom 
 
 u " " McOulloh. 
 
 All again and again admonished, and warned to 
 
 greater diligence. 
 Ray and Willet only permitted last year to proceed 
 upon an assurance, on their part, of greater diligence 
 and regularity. 
 In the case of all, the frequent absences during the 
 term, and want of application and attention, seemed 
 to forbid their further progress with their class. 
 
All five excluded from proceeding with their class, 
 and to be remanded to the Junior class. 
 
 Juniors. 
 
 Camman, Weeks, , 
 
 J). Lee, Fuller, 
 
 Mcllvaine, 
 
 Were excused from the examination on condition of 
 undergoing examination in each department, before 
 proceeding with their class in October. 
 
 [Note. — This entry is made after the examinations were 
 concluded.] 
 
 Juniors. 
 
 Thompson, ] Absent from Professor Hackley's exami- 
 Moore, ) nation. 
 
 S " fem ' [Failed with him. 
 Brown, ) 
 
 To be examined by him before rejoining their class. 
 
 Thompson, Junior, failed with Professor Anthon ; to 
 
 be examined by him. 
 
 Sophomores. 
 Johnson, 
 Ktttletas, 
 Found deficient last year, but allowed to proceed, in 
 
 hopes of amendment. " 
 Much absent during the term — partly through indis- 
 position — had asked to be excused from examina- 
 tion. 
 Excluded from proceeding with their class, and re- 
 manded to the Sophomore class. 
 
 Sophomores. 
 ' [ Absent in Europe, by permission. 
 
 'I Absent from " both departments." 
 
6 
 
 ruger, i ^k gent f rom examination of Professor 
 Stuyvesant, Y Hacklev 
 Thatcher, j ilackIe ^' 
 
 To be examined on Tuesday, 18th September, first 
 two " in both .departments," and the last three by 
 Professor Hackley. 
 
 1855, September 19th. 
 
 The Collegiate year commenced to-day. The President 
 summoned a special meeting of the Board, and " brought 
 before the Board, for reconsideration, the case of the seven 
 students, who, having been found deficient at the concluding 
 examination, had been remanded, for another year, to their 
 respective classes. From Babcock and Kettletas, of the late 
 Junior class, he received letters explanatory of the cause of 
 their deficiency, and verbally stated explanations made in the 
 case of the others, except Johnson, from whom or whose 
 parents nothing had been received. After a full interchange 
 of opinion among the members of the Faculty, and under 
 the impression, shared by all, that the ends of discipline had 
 been, in a great measure, attained by the sentence passed on 
 the students, which, both because it was unusual and severe, 
 had excited much interest and attention in all the classes, 
 and having confidence that the earnest application for resto- 
 ration of those who were under discipline was prompted by 
 a purpose of future diligence. and regularity, it was deter- 
 mined, Professor McCulloh dissenting, that all of them should 
 be received back into their respective classes, on probation, 
 until Christmas, on this express condition, that a report as to 
 the conduct and performance of each should be made by the 
 professors of their class ; and that as such report might be 
 favorable or unfavorable, the student should be reinstated 
 fully in his class, or then be finally dismissed from College. 
 This decision to be communicated by the President to the 
 parents of each of the students to be affected by it." 
 
1855, November 16th. 
 
 Kettletas, of Junior class. 
 
 The President brought his case to the attention of the 
 Board — having addressed to his father a request to 
 withdraw his son from College, as he had failed in 
 his promises, upon the faith of which he had been 
 received back at the commencement of the present 
 term. The father of the student had urged that he 
 might have a further trial. 
 
 It was decided that the President should renew his 
 suggestion to the father of the student to withdraw 
 his son. 
 
 1855, December 1\st. 
 
 Hyslop, | 
 
 Willet, V Of Senior class. 
 Bay, ) 
 Kettletas, of the Junior class. 
 
 All had been allowed to rejoin their respective classes, 
 on probation. 
 
 Their cases were disposed of as follows : 
 Hyslop had reinstated himself. 
 
 Permitted to proceed with his class. 
 Willet, not as diligent and regular as he might have been. 
 
 Permitted to proceed with his class. 
 May, \ Failed in their promises of regularity and 
 Kettletas, ) diligence. 
 
 Dropped from the rolls, and to cease to belong to the 
 College. 
 
 1856, February 15th. 
 
 Clement, A. Kmgsland, \ 
 
 Willet, Mower, l Of the Senior class. 
 
 Mcllvaine, Timpson, \ 
 
 " Absent from some or all of the examinations ; to 
 be examined in the chapel on Friday, 29th Febru- 
 
8 
 
 ary ; the first two by all the professors ; the next 
 
 two by Professors Hackley, McOulloh and Schmidt ; 
 
 and Mcllvaine by Professor Anthon; Mower by 
 
 Professor McOulloh, and Timpson by Professor 
 
 Anthon — from whom, respectively, these students 
 
 were absent." 
 
 Meeks, ) 
 
 Gregory, V Of the Senior class. 
 
 Thompson, ) 
 
 Failed with Professor Hackley ; 
 
 To be examined by him, at the same time and place. 
 
 Meeks, 
 
 Also to be examined by Prof. Schmidt. 
 
 Gregory, 
 
 Thompson, 
 
 To be examined by Prof. McOulloh. 
 
 Cutting, of Senior class, 
 
 To be re-examined by Prof. Hackley, with whom he 
 
 was very imperfect. 
 
 Camman, Seabury, ) ,-.„„ . 
 
 o jr. 7- z , f ut oenior class. 
 
 csujfern, Labagh, i 
 
 To be re-examined by Prof. McOulloh, having shown 
 
 little proficiency in study at examination. 
 
 Students of the Junior class, being either absent from or 
 having imperfectly acquitted themselves at some of the ex- 
 aminations, will present themselves in the chapel at 10 A. M., 
 on Friday, 29th February, for re-examination by the profes- 
 sors respectively named : 
 
 Winslmo, by Prof. Hackley and Prof. Anthon. 
 
 McOarty, 
 Brown, 
 Mason, 
 Davies, 
 
 tc 
 
 a 
 a 
 
 1C 
 
 Hackley. 
 Hackley. 
 Hackley. 
 McOulloh. 
 
 Dean, 
 
 (C 
 
 Anthon. 
 
 Packwood, 
 
 (C 
 
 Anthon and Schmidt. 
 
The following students of the Sophomore class, absent from 
 or failing or imperfect at the examination, will be re-examin- 
 ed on Friday, 29th February, by the respective professors : 
 
 Lydig, absent, 
 Lyndsay, failing, 
 
 By all the professors. 
 Van Rensselaer, 
 
 By Profs. Anthon, Hackley and McCulloh. 
 Thatcher, Pell, Mahan, 
 
 Manly, Geissenhainer, Champnay, 
 
 Cooper, Duvall, Stuyvesant, 
 
 By Prof. McCulloh. 
 Pell, 
 Stuyvesant, 
 
 Also by Prof. Schmidt. 
 Van Wagenen, by Prof. McVickar. 
 Totten, by Prof. Anthon. 
 
 Students of the Freshman class ordered to be examined : 
 
 Lacombe, absent, by all the professors. 
 Toy deficient, by all the professors. 
 Hyatt, by Prof. Drisler. 
 Caldwell, by Profs. Drisler and Schmidt. 
 Dater, Walker, 
 
 Draper, Van Wyck, 
 
 By Prof. Hackley. 
 
 1856, February 29th. 
 
 The students ordered to be re-examined were in attendance 
 to-day in the chapel. " This re-examinatiou being concluded, 
 the Board met, and no objection being made, all were al- 
 lowed to proceed with their respective classes." 
 
 1856, May 30th. 
 
 Sears, of the Junior class. 
 The President stated that he had given to this student 
 
10 
 
 leave of absence till 1st November, if not able to 
 rejoin bis class sooner, on the earnest application, 
 by letters, of the father, accompanied b} 7 a certificate 
 of a physician, that some months respite from study 
 was required by the student's health. 
 
 It was understood, in order to the full benefit of 
 this respite, that the student might rejoin his class 
 without examination — subject, of course, to be re- 
 manded if found incapable of going on with it. 
 
 1856, July 11th. 
 
 Vavies, of Junior class, 
 Failed with Profs. Anthon and Hackley ; to be re- 
 examined by them before going on with his class. 
 Bedell, of Sophomore class, 
 
 Absent from Prof. Hackley's examination. To be ex- 
 amined by him. 
 
 Students of the Fkeshman Class. 
 
 H. Miller, 
 Field, 
 
 To be re-examined by Prof. Drisler. 
 Bedford, Hyatt, } . ., , 
 
 DaL, Toy, I AU abseDt 
 
 To be examined by all the professors. 
 
 1857, January 23d. 
 Stuyvesant, of Junior class. 
 
 President stated that he had excused him from ex- 
 amination, on the certificate of a physician that ill 
 health had prevented his attention to College duties. 
 Stipulated that he was to take a private tutor, and 
 carry on hi B studies under him henceforth. 
 
11 
 
 1857, February 12lh. 
 Haven, Senior, 
 
 Failed with Prof. McVickar. To be re-examined by 
 that professor. 
 Francis, Senior, 
 
 Absent from indisposition. Excused from examina- 
 tion. 
 Paehwood, Senior, 
 
 Absent at the South, partly with his father and partly 
 from indisposition. To be privately examined be- 
 fore going on with his class. 
 
 Students of the Juniob Class. 
 
 Fell, Hendricks, ) 
 
 Fedmond, Duvall, > Failed with Prof. McVickar. 
 Totten, j 
 
 To be re-examined by him, before going on with their 
 class. 
 Cooper, y 
 
 Wainwright, \ Failed with P ' of essor Anthon. 
 
 To be re-examined by him, before going on with their 
 class. 
 Luquer, ) Presented certificates of physicians that 
 Manly, \ they were unable to study for examina- 
 Stuyvesant, ) tion. 
 
 Excused from examination. 
 Ward, 
 Having joined his class late, (on his return from Eu- 
 rope,) to have private examination. 
 
 Students of the Sophomoee Class. 
 
 Cruger, loth Millers, ) 
 
 Zacombe, TooTcer, > Failed with Prof. McCulloh. 
 
 Mellen, Van Wyck, ) 
 To be re-examined by him. 
 
12 
 
 Hyatt, absent. 
 
 Also to be examined. 
 
 Students of the Freshman Class. 
 
 Waddington, 
 
 By reason of illness, excused from examination. 
 Dawson, 
 Absent, unavoidably, from Professor Drisler's exami- 
 nation. — Excused. 
 Bradford, 
 
 His studies were interrupted by illness ; attended all 
 examinations excepting Professor Schmidt's. — Ex- 
 cused. 
 
 1857, April 2d. 
 
 Hyatt, of the Sophomore class. 
 
 It was stated by the President that this student was 
 excused from last examination, on condition of be- 
 ing re-examined before rejoining ; that he bad not 
 prepared himself for re-examination, and altogether 
 was an idle student. 
 [Note. — See this case, under head of Neglect of Studies.] 
 
 1857, June 22d. 
 
 On the recommendation by the Board of the College of the 
 graduating students to the Trustees for the degree of A. B., 
 Professor H. not present when the above vote was taken, 
 without moving a reconsideration, objected to the recommen- 
 dation, as follows : 
 
 Professor Hackley objects to the recommendation of Pack- 
 wood and Davies, for the degree of A. B. To the former, on 
 the ground that he has been uniformly deficient on every part 
 of the mathematical course, from the Freshman year. To the 
 latter, on the ground of his deficiency at the last examination, 
 and of his late entrance as a student of the College. 
 
 Sears, of Senior class, 
 Was excused, by reason of long sickness, from exami- 
 
13 
 
 nation in Mathematics, his general standing being 
 very good. 
 
 Students of Juniob Class. 
 Duvall, ) 
 Totten \ - a -" 8ent * rom a " tne examinations. 
 
 Hendricks, 
 Failed with Professor McVickar ; did very well with 
 Professor Anthon ; absent from all the other depart- 
 ments. 
 Geissenhainer, 
 Failed with Professor McVickar ; deficient with Pro- 
 fessor Hackley ; very fanlty with Professor Schmidt. 
 All to undergo an examination before proceeding with 
 their class. 
 Lydig, 
 Absent on leave, having been previously examined. 
 
 Students of Sophomoee Class. 
 Hyatt, 
 
 Under suspension, not having complied with the con- 
 ditions of his sentence, was not examined, but re- 
 manded for examination to the commencement of 
 the next term, provided he bring a certificate from 
 his private tutor of diligent study meanwhile. 
 Lacombe, 
 
 Did not return after leave of absence in time for ex- 
 amination, (fixed for a week earlier than the usual 
 time.) 
 To be examined in the fall. 
 H. Miller, 
 Absent from Professor McVickar ; failed with Profes- 
 sor Hackley . 
 Toy, 
 
 Failed with Professor Schmidt. 
 Walker, 
 Failed with Professor Anthon. 
 All the three last named to be re-examined in the fall. 
 
14 
 
 Students of Fkeshman Class. 
 
 B. Morris, > Absent from examinations of Professors 
 
 Steele, ) Drisler and Schmidt. 
 
 Lyon, 
 
 Absent from Professor Drisler in Classics, and failed in 
 other branches. 
 Ward, 
 
 Absent from History examination of Professor Drisler. 
 
 tt ' ( Failed with Professor Drisler in History. 
 
 All required to be re-examined at the commencement 
 of the next term. 
 Jenks, 
 
 Absent from long illness ; excused from examination. 
 Jones, } Absent on leave, and examined before thei 
 
 es, ■) 
 
 Lydig, ) departure. 
 
 II. 
 
 HEGLECT OF STUDIES. 
 
 1855, January 26th. 
 
 Schiefflin, Harmon, \ 
 
 Sawyer, Hbsmer, > Seniors. 
 
 Wendell, Knight, ) 
 
 Gregory, Bay, > Juniors . 
 
 Minturn, Zabriskie, $ 
 
 Brown, > a „ , 
 „ 7 , \ bophomores. 
 Fackwood, ) 
 
 Better, } 
 
 Stuyvesant, \ Fr eshmen. 
 
 Keported by Professor Hackley as not having made a 
 single recitation in his room during the present ses- 
 sion. 
 
15 
 
 He said they were utterly unfit to be examined, and asked 
 that they might be excluded from the examination. Decided 
 in the negative. 
 
 1856, January 25th. 
 
 p ' j. Of Senior class. 
 
 Dairies, of Junior class. 
 
 Special and unfavorable reports by the professors were 
 made in relation to these students, the substance 
 of which was communicated to their parents, with 
 the intimation that unless, at the examination, they 
 should acquit themselves reputably, it might go 
 hard with them, except in the case of Davies, of 
 whom the report is more favorable. 
 
 1856, December 22d. 
 
 Olmsted, of Sophomore class. 
 
 Summoned by the President. 
 
 Offence — General neglect of duty and irregularity. 
 
 Suspended till 1st March ; to pursue his studies under 
 a tutor to be appointed by the President, and to be 
 re-admitted on the certificate of the tutor and ex- 
 amination. 
 
 1857, January 9th. 
 
 The above student withdrawn from College. 
 
 1857, March 6th. 
 
 Ward, of Freshman class. 
 Complaint by Prof. Hackley. 
 Offence — Negligent of duty and disorderly. 
 Suspended for one month ; to pursue his studies under 
 a private tutor, and to be re-examined before re- 
 joining his class. 
 
16 
 
 Geissenhainer, of Junior class. 
 Cited by Prof. Hackley. 
 The charge does not appear. 
 The student did not attend, although he had been in 
 
 College the same morning. 
 His general standing being inferior, and his conduct 
 
 contumacious, suspended for one month ; to pursue 
 
 his studies with a private tutor, and to be examined 
 
 before rejoining his class. 
 
 1857, March 20th. 
 
 Geissenhainer, of Junior class. 
 His non-attendance before the Board being explained, 
 and it appearing he had taken a private tutor in 
 Mathematics, he was re-admitted. 
 
 1857, April 2d. 
 
 Hyatt, of Sophomore class. 
 Cited by the President. 
 
 Charge — Not having a book in Prof. Schmidt's room. 
 Unfavorable reports of the proficiency and diligence 
 of this student made by all the professors. 
 
 It was stated by the President, that Hyatt was 
 excused from last examination on condition of being 
 re-examined before rejoining ; that he had not pre- 
 pared himself for re-examination, and altogether 
 was an idle student. 
 
 Suspended for the residue of the term ; to take 
 a private tutor ; be examined in June, and failing, 
 to be dropped from the rolls. 
 
 1857, April 2d. 
 
 H. Miller, of Sophomore class. 
 Cited by Prof. Schmidt. 
 Charge — Total neglect of duty. 
 
 Same statement made by all the professors, except 
 Prof. Anthon, who said he was doing something 
 with him. 
 
17 
 
 As he was suspended once before, and only re- 
 admitted on promise of future diligence and regu- 
 larity, he was dismissed. 
 
 1857, April 9th. 
 
 Sluyvesant, of Junior class. 
 
 President informed the Board that he had written to 
 parents of this student, advising them to withdraw 
 him from College, as his negligence of duty was 
 such that otherwise he must be dismissed. 
 
 His mother requested that he might have another 
 trial, and as he could not undergo a public exami- 
 nation, he might have a private one. 
 
 The decision of the President was confirmed. 
 
 III. 
 
 DISORDER EST PROFESSORS' ROOMS. 
 
 1854, January 6th. 
 
 Cox, of Sophomore class. 
 Offence — Whistling. 
 Cited by Prof. Schmidt. 
 Publicly reprimanded. 
 
 1854, April 2,1st. 
 
 ZairisHe, of Sophomore class. 
 Cited by Prof. McYickar. 
 
 Offence — Habitual trifling in Prof. McYickar's room. , 
 Specific Offence — Stretching out his foot, with appar- 
 ent attempt to create disorder. 
 Adjudged — Offence not such as to authorize severe 
 punishment. Judgment suspended. Letter written 
 to his father. 
 
 2h 
 
18 
 
 1854, May 5th. 
 
 Willett, Timpson, i go homores . 
 
 M. Hendricks, Howes, j 
 
 Cited by Prof. McVickar. 
 
 Offence— Habitual neglect of duty ; omission to take 
 notes ; general idleness and disposition to disorder. 
 [Reprimanded. 
 
 1854, May 26th. 
 Baldwin, 
 
 Baldwin, ) of gop^^re class. 
 Zabriskie, j 
 
 Cited by Mr. Dodge, tutor. 
 
 Dismissed. 
 
 1854, November 17th. 
 
 Shepard, of Junior class. 
 
 Cited by Prof. McVickar. 
 
 Offence — Scraping and stamping with his feet, and 
 ready to indulge in laughter on the slightest pre- 
 text. 
 
 Publicly admonished. 
 
 1854, December Bth. 
 
 Same Student. 
 
 Cited by Prof. McYickar. 
 Offence — Continued irregularity. 
 Dismissed. 
 
 1855, January 13th. 
 
 President notified the Board that this student had been 
 restored to his class, that he might commence his revision 
 with them. [There had been an apology before entered in 
 minutes.] Approved. 
 
19 
 
 1854, December loth. 
 
 Hosmer, of the Senior class. 
 
 Cited by Prof. McCulloh. 
 
 Offence — Talking repeatedly, and refusing to promise 
 to endeavor to refrain from talking for the future, 
 and that he would rather appear before the Board. 
 
 Dismissed. 
 
 1855, January 13th. 
 
 Restored after apology and promise. To be admonished. 
 
 1854, December 8th. 
 
 Hydop, f^.) Of Junior class. 
 
 Got, Moore, j 
 
 Cited by Professor McVickar. 
 
 Offence — Were around the stove when offensive sub- 
 stance was thrown upon it. Professor did not know 
 who committed the act. 
 Case laid over, in hopes that reflection might have 
 good effect upon these students, and lead to detec- 
 tion of offender. 
 
 1854, December 15th. 
 
 It was stated that Professor McYickar (as he had commu- 
 nicated to the President) had notified the four students above 
 named that they were exonerated from blame, as the real 
 delinquent had made himself known. 
 
 1855, April 5th. 
 
 JEmbury, of the Senior class. 
 
 Cited by Professor McCulloh. 
 
 Offence — Professor was admonishing the class, and 
 saying, that if a student (whom he had ordered be- 
 fore the Board for disorder, and afterwards excused) 
 had appeared before the Board, he would proba- 
 
20 
 
 bly have been dismissed. Embury then remarked, 
 in a tone of voice audible through the room, "If he 
 had, we should all have followed." Previous uni- 
 form good conduct and character. Reprimanded 
 by the President, in the presence of his class. 
 
 1855, April 20th. 
 
 Fuller ) 
 
 ™. , ' > Not stated to what class they belong. 
 
 Walton, 3 j b 
 
 Cited by Professor McVickar. 
 
 Offence — Habitual disrespect, in manner and bear- 
 ing ; carelessness of deportment ; indifference to 
 study. 
 
 Walton — generally insubordinate behavior ; no overt 
 acts could be laid hold of. 
 
 Both reprimanded by President, before the Board. 
 
 • 
 
 Same date. 
 
 Da Costa, of Senior class. 
 
 Complaint of Professor McCulloh. 
 
 Offence — Ordered to report himself to the President ; 
 returned with a smile on his face. "When he was 
 ordered to quit the room he said, " Thank you, 
 sir." Thereupon the professor ordered him to ap- 
 pear before the Board. 
 
 Another day afterwards, the same student talked dur- 
 ing the lecture ; professor ordered him to leave the 
 room and not return to it until he had appeared 
 before the Board. Again, on leaving the room, 
 the student said, " Thank you, sir." 
 
 As a preliminary matter, however, the President 
 stated, that " the professor, under a misapprehen- 
 sion, doubtless, of the practice of the College and of 
 the rights of the President, had refused a student 
 permission to resume his place in the class, when 
 ordered by the President to do so. That hence 
 arose the original offence ; for the student knew, or 
 
21 
 
 had reason to suppose, that when the President di- 
 rected him to return to his class there was no au- 
 thority elsewhere to forbid it. The President, there- 
 fore, wished it to be understood as the settled law, 
 that no professor could exclude a student from his 
 class — that prerogative belonging to the President 
 alone — with whom was to rest the decision as to 
 what further proceedings were necessary." 
 
 All the professors assented to this view except 
 Professor Hackley. 
 
 In hope of an apology, and in view of previous 
 good standing of the student and the short period 
 yet to run of his College career, case laid over. 
 
 1855, April 21th. 
 
 Da Costa had apologised to the satisfaction of the professor 
 and President, and the latter excused his further attendance. 
 
 1855, June 1st. 
 
 Baocoek, \ 
 
 Walton, \ Of Junior class. 
 Meeks, ) 
 
 Cited by Professor McVickar. 
 
 Offence — Burst into his lecture-room when he was en- 
 gaged with another class. Professor immediately 
 , ordered them to retire. Instead of doing so, they 
 advanced to his seat, proclaiming themselves a com- 
 mittee of the Junior cla,ss, deputed to inform him of 
 the decision of that class, and then laid upon his 
 table a paper, in the words following : "The Junior 
 class decided, by a large majority, nofto print Dr. 
 McVickar's Suggestions on Logic." They withdrew, 
 turbulently and abruptly ; cheers from class out. 
 side ; missiles thrown into the windows of the room. 
 The professor stated that he had not desired the 
 class to print, and it was not alleged that he had ; 
 but only that a student had made the suggestion to 
 
22 
 
 the class, and that they supposed it was made at 
 the instance of the professor. 
 
 Long deliberation. 
 
 Students called in and told, the Board would have 
 dismissed all three, but for the consideration that 
 two had been once dismissed, and their dismissal 
 would prevent their return, whilst the third would 
 have a chance of restoration ; and as they all stood 
 in pari delictu, this was deemed inequitable. 
 
 The case was laid over. 
 
 1855, June 8th. 
 
 Professor McYickar stated that he had settled in his class- 
 room the complaint against certain members of the Junior 
 class, laid before the Board at their last meeting. That the 
 offending students and the whole class had manifested, during 
 the past week, a very proper spirit and feeling in relation to 
 the charge, and that he was satisfied that the end of good 
 discipline would be attained by disposing of the subject as 
 he had done. The President expressed his satisfaction at 
 this result, and his entire concurrence with Prof. McVickar. 
 
 No action of the Board. 
 
 1855, November 9th. 
 
 Mahan, ) % 
 
 Geissenhainer, V Of Sophomore class. 
 Bedell, ) 
 
 Professor McVickar's complaint. 
 Offence— The professor stated that the Sophomore 
 class had been insubordinate, and had manifested a 
 bad spirit. Frequently shot were thrown about the 
 room, and offensive matter cast into the fire, pro- 
 ducing suffocating fumes. 
 Mahan, 
 
 The professor saw throw something across the room, 
 but no noise followed. Subsequently the professor 
 
23 
 
 saw him throw shot. The student admitted these 
 
 acts. 
 Dismissed. 
 Geissenhainer, 
 Bedell, 
 
 The professor said they were light and Jrivial in their 
 
 behavior, inattentive, restless and always disposed 
 
 for laughing. 
 These students denied the charge. 
 Reprimanded. 
 
 1855, November 16th. 
 
 Mohan, of Sophomore class. 
 Upon a letter from his father and the apology of the 
 
 student — 
 Re-admitted. 
 
 1856, January 11th. 
 
 Thatcher, of Sophomore class. 
 Charged by Professor McVickar. 
 Offence — Obstructed the exit of his class from the 
 professor's room, by holding the door to from the 
 outside. 
 Dismissed. 
 
 1856, April 11th. 
 
 Brower, \ 
 
 Mason, V Of the Junior class. 
 
 Davies, ) 
 
 Charge of Professor McVickar. 
 
 Offence — Habitual disturbers of the order of his room, 
 not by any acts that could be specified, but by gene- 
 ral manner. Brower, by rude and defiant tone 
 and. inopportune questionings. Davies, by whist- 
 
 ling ' 
 By request of Professor McYickar, Brower and Mason 
 
 were reprimanded and Davies dismissed. 
 
24 
 
 1856, April 18th. 
 
 Davies, of Junior class. 
 The President communicated to the Board, that at the 
 intercession of Professor Anthon and the earnest 
 entreaty of the student, he had taken the responsi- 
 bility of suspending the sentence of this student, 
 upon the earnest promise of the student of exactness 
 and diligence hereafter, and with the knowledge on 
 his part that the sentence was suspended only, and 
 not rescinded, and upon any new offence on his part 
 might be immediately carried out. 
 No action of the Board. 
 
 1857, April 2d. 
 
 Thatcher, of Junior class. 
 
 Cited by Professor McVickar. 
 
 Offence — Disorderly and disobedient, in refusing to 
 take his seat, upon the direction of the professor, and, 
 instead thereof, leaving the room. 
 
 Suspended for the residue of the term, to take a private 
 tutor, be examined in June, and, failing at that ex- 
 amination, that his name be dropped from the rolls 
 of the College. 
 
 1857, May loth. 
 
 Thatcher, of Junior class. 
 Resolution was passed, on application of this student, 
 that he be allowed to rejoin the College if he has 
 complied with the conditions on which, when he 
 was suspended, he was allowed to present himself 
 for examination. • 
 
25 
 
 1857, May 22d. 
 Same student. 
 
 The President reported that he had not complied with 
 the conditions on which he was suspended, by taking 
 a private tutor. 
 Resolved, that he may present himself for re-admission 
 after examination, provided he furnish evidence to 
 the President that he has complied with the condi- 
 tions of his sentence, by taking a tutor and following 
 the studies of his class. 
 
 1857, June 22d. 
 
 Thatcher, of Junior class. 
 Not having complied with the condition of his sen- 
 tence, was ordered still to do so, and present himself 
 for examination in October. 
 
 IV. 
 
 DISOEDEKLT CONDUCT. 
 
 1855, November 16th. 
 
 Meld, of the Freshman class. 
 Complaint of Professor Schmidt. 
 Offence — During prayers the student had plugged up 
 the key-hole to the door of the professor's room with 
 a piece of wood, which the professor had to remove, 
 with the class looking on, before he could enter. 
 The student admitted the act. 
 Dismissed. 
 
 1855, November 23d. 
 
 Meld, of the Freshman class. 
 
 On apology of the student and the request of his father, 
 Re-admitted. 
 
26 
 
 1856, March 28th. 
 
 Curtis, 
 Lydig, 
 Van Rensselaer, 
 
 Complaint of the President. 
 
 Offence — The President, in the chapel, reproved stu- 
 dents of several classes for having, on the preceding 
 day, left the College without permission from him" 
 self. 
 
 On reaching the hall below, after their dismissal 
 from the chapel, many of the students " gave three 
 tumultuous cheers for the person they called Bull 
 Anthon." 
 
 These students were reported to the President by 
 the Janitor as having joined in the cheers. 
 They admitted the truth of the charge. 
 The sentence was expulsion, to be publicly an- 
 nounced in the chapel on Monday next ; unless an 
 apology, in writing, were signed by them, to be 
 publicly read, in the chapel on that morning. The 
 paper was in these words : " Having joined in the 
 disorderly cheers given on Tuesday in the hall, after 
 leaving chapel, the undersigned desire thus pub- 
 licly to express their regret for that public violation 
 of decorum, and disclaim all purpose of disrespect 
 to the President or other authorities of the College," 
 as dictated by the Board of the College. 
 
 1856, April 3d. 
 
 It was announced to the Board that the stndents above 
 named, having made the required apology, were reinstated. 
 
27 
 
 1856, April llth. 
 
 Homeyn, of Freshman class. 
 
 Charge by the President. 
 
 Offence — On 1st April, while the Junior class was en- 
 gaged in recitation in Professor McVickar's room, 
 a vial of suffocating and nauseous liquid was thrown 
 into the room, which caused the dismission of the 
 class. This student was seen to deposit the vial on 
 the College ground, and confessed to the President 
 that he had brought it upon the premises, but de- 
 nied that he had thrown it into the room. The 
 President told him, that unless the party who threw 
 the vial into the room should make himself known, 
 he, Komeyn, would have to bear all the penalty. 
 The President, moreover, stated to the Sophomore 
 class the offence of Romeyn, and his purpose to 
 punish it severely, unless the greater delinquent 
 should give himself up, or be given up by the class. 
 Dismissed. The dismissal to be final, unless the 
 party throwing the vial should be made known to 
 the President. 
 
 1856, November 21st. 
 
 K. Miller, of Sophomore class. 
 Wainwright, of Junior class. 
 Charge by President. 
 
 Offence — Gross disorder in passage way between Pro- 
 fessor McVickar's room and Professor Anthon's 
 room. 
 Sentence — Miller suspended until 4th January next ; 
 to take a private tutor and follow all the studies 
 of the class ; and on returning, bring a certificate 
 of his tutor of the subjects and hours he had studied 
 and be only re-admitted on examination. 
 Wainwright dismissed. 
 
28 
 
 1856, December 5th. 
 The last named student was readmitted on his apology. 
 
 V. 
 
 ABSENCES. 
 
 1853, December 16tk. 
 
 Edward Zvdlow, of Freshman class. 
 
 Cited by President. 
 
 Offence — Frequently absent from lecture-room of Pro- 
 fessor Hackley — although present on same day with 
 Professor Drisler ; habitual want of diligence and 
 preparation. 
 
 Reprimanded by President, and informed that repe- 
 tition of the offence would cause his dismission from 
 the College. 
 
 1854, May 12th. 
 
 Zabriskie, ] 
 
 Stebbins, V Sophomores. 
 
 D. Lee. ) 
 
 Cited by President. 
 
 Offence — Absenting themselves after the first hour 
 without permission. President stated, Zabriskie and 
 Stebbins had been repeatedly absent. 
 Zabriskie admonished. 
 Stebbins and Lee excused. 
 On their representations. 
 
 1855, November lath. 
 
 Moore, of Senior class. 
 Complaint of the President. 
 
 Offence— President stated the numerous and continued 
 neglects of duty, absences from College, &c, of this 
 student, and that the only account given by the stu- 
 dent himself was, that he had thought of leaving 
 
29 
 
 College and going to Yale ; that he had been ac- 
 tually examined there for admission ; but being 
 deficient in Natural Philosophy, could not suc- 
 ceed, and now returned to College. The conduct 
 and standing of this student was always negligent 
 and inferior. 
 
 It does not appear that the student attended be- 
 fore the Board, though summoned. Dismissed. 
 
 1855, November 23d. 
 
 Moore, of Senior class. 
 
 Upon application of student, and his father and cousin, 
 his case was reopened. But inasmuch as the stu- 
 dent had been twice dismissed, and, therefore, by 
 the statutes, his dismissal was final, there seemed 
 difficulty in reconsidering the sentence. After 
 much discussion, the matter was laid over until the 
 Dext meeting. 
 
 1855, November 28th. 
 Moore, of Senior class. 
 
 Sentence modified so as to read, " Dismissed at the re- 
 quest of his father." 
 
 1856, June 13th. 
 
 Of the Sophomore Class. 
 Baxter, Wainwright, Lydig. 
 
 Hendrickson, Bedell, A. Richards, 
 
 Champney, Cooper, Thatcher, 
 
 Hendricks, Geissenhainer, Totten, 
 
 Marshall, Jones, Van Rensselaer, 
 
 Mahan, Zyndsay, Van Wagenen, 
 
 Charge by the President. 
 
 Offence — Absented themselves from College on Friday 
 last, during the third hour, leaving only six of their 
 class to attend Prof. McVickar. 
 
 The testimonial bearers involved in the offence to 
 
30 
 
 be degraded, and their names to be called alphabeti- 
 cally on the roll. The sentence to be publicly an- 
 nounced in the chapel. 
 
 1857, January 23d. 
 
 Marline, of Freshman class. 
 Cited by the President. 
 
 Offence — The President stated the repeated unex- 
 plained absences of this student, and that he had 
 sent a note to his father stating the impossibility of 
 the student remaining in College, without a satis- 
 factory explanation being made of his irregularity. 
 His excuse was unsatisfactory. Dismissed. 
 
 1857, January SOIL 
 
 Martine, of Freshman class. 
 
 The President reported that the mother of the student 
 had made an earnest appeal for his re-admission. 
 ■ The Board assented to the recommendation made 
 by the President to her, that he should take a pri- 
 vate tutor, diligently pursue his studies with him 
 during the week of examination, and that on his 
 presenting a request, at the commencement of the 
 next term, for his re-admission, with a certificate of 
 his diligence in the interim, and a pledge of the 
 student of future regularity and application, he 
 would probably be re-admitted. 
 
 1857, March 13th. 
 
 Hendricks, of Junior class. 
 
 Cited by the President. 
 
 Offence — Having been reported for absence from Col- 
 lege, he was required to bring -a, written excuse. 
 He neglected to bring such excuse, at one time say- 
 ing that his word ought to be sufficient, and after- 
 wards, after having had notice to bring one or ap- 
 pear before the Board, he said he had not thought 
 of it. 
 
31 
 
 His excuse before the Board was, that he had not 
 before been required to bring a written excuse. 
 Dismissed. 
 
 1857, March 21th. 
 
 Van Rensselaer, of Junior class. 
 Cited by the President. 
 
 Offence — Had left the College grounds, to avoid a re- 
 citation in Prof. Hackley's room, without asking 
 leave. His negligence during the last month had 
 been great. 
 
 The case was laid over for the present, to give 
 the student another chance. 
 
 1857, April 9th. 
 
 Lacombe, of Sophomore class. 
 
 The President consulted the Board as to the expedi- 
 ency of giving this student leave of absence for two 
 weeks next month, to accompany his uncle on a tour 
 to the West, on the condition that he return in time 
 for the public examination. All the professors, save 
 Prof. McCulloh, assented to the leave. 
 
 1857, May 22d. 
 
 Redmond, } Qf genior c]ags> 
 Haven, ) 
 
 These students had had leave to be privately examined 
 in the present week, on the ground that they wished 
 to avail themselves of a favorable opportunity of 
 visiting the western country ; and after their private 
 examination such leave was now given to them. 
 
 1857, June 5th. 
 
 Barry, of the Freshman class. 
 Cited by the President. 
 
 Who stated, in his (the student's) presence, that he 
 had been guilty of deliberate and defiant disobedi- 
 ence, in absenting himself from College on the pre- 
 
32 
 
 ceding day, in order to attend the Regatta, after 
 having been peremptorily forbidden by the Presi- 
 dent to do so. Being asked what he had to say, the 
 student was mute. Having withdrawn, the Presi- 
 dent, looking upon the offence as a very grave one, 
 moved the expulsion of the student, which was con- 
 curred in, Profs. Anthon, Hackley and McOulloh 
 dissenting, and preferring dismissal. The student 
 was re-called, "informed of the sentence, and informed 
 that it would be made known to his parents. 
 
 1857, June 6th. 
 
 Same Case. 
 
 The Board met on special summons by the President. 
 The President, stated that he had called them together to re- 
 consider the case of Barry, whose sentence he had, in view 
 of the extreme penitence and regret exhibited by the student, 
 taken upon himself to suspend until he could consnlt the 
 Board anew, as once officially announced and carried out, it 
 would be irrevocable. He said Barry had called upon him 
 after the adjournment, yesterday, and entirely satisfied him 
 that it was not contumacy nor defiance, but embarrassment 
 at being for the first time before the Board, that prevented 
 his stating there that he had supposed, being sure of his 
 father's permission to attend the Regatta, that if he brought 
 a note to that effect next day, it would excuse him ; that he 
 had such a note, but being ordered at once before the Board, 
 he was embarrassed and did not make his excuse ; that he 
 meant no disrespect nor disobedience ; that he was most 
 anxious to show, by future conduct, his sincere sorrow for 
 having transgressed ; and, both in manner and language, 
 showed so conclusively that punishment had worked its 
 fullest effect, that I was induced to say to him, I would sus- 
 pend his sentence, and consult the Board anew. Having 
 said thus much, and the opinions of Profs. Hackley, McCul- 
 loh and Schmidt, (who were absent,) having been expressed 
 to the President in favor of the student's complete restora- 
 
33 
 
 tion, the President moved that the sentence be reconsidered. 
 Carried unanimously. 
 
 He then moved that Barry be restored unconditionally. 
 Carried unanimously. 
 
 VI. 
 
 GENERAL BAD CONDUCT. 
 
 ' [ Of the Freshman class. 
 
 1854, May 12th. 
 
 Packwood, Kettletas, 
 
 Pairchild, Morton, 
 
 Cited by the President. 
 
 Offence — Habitual neglect of College duties — long 
 continued and oft repeated. 
 
 Dismissed. 
 
 1854, May l$th. 
 
 Morton, Kettletas, 
 
 Fairchild, Packwood, 
 
 Restored on apology. 
 
 1855, November \Uh. 
 
 See case of Moore, of Senior class, under head of absences. 
 
 VII. 
 
 PUNISHMENT OF CLASSES. 
 
 1854, April 1th. 
 
 Case of Sophomore class, disorderly on the green; 
 Complaint by the President. 
 Offence — President saw them singing on the green. 
 [No measures appear to have been taken to detect 
 any individuals guilty of the disorder.] 
 President told the class, in the chapel, that they must 
 make an apology, or he would be compelled to 
 3h 
 
34 
 
 single out some members and make them an ex- 
 ample. 
 
 Again reprimanded them, and warned them to make 
 an apology, otherwise he would recommend the 
 Board to expel two or three, and to that end would 
 ask the professors to send him a list of those who 
 were least diligent, attentive and orderly, and from 
 the list would select two names and recommend their 
 expulsion. This was done by all but Prof. Anthon. 
 
 The President recommended that 
 Edwin S. Bdhcock and 
 Joseph Meeks 
 Be expelled. 
 
 Carried. Prof. Anthon dissenting, preferring suspen- 
 sion. 
 
 The minutes state that the controlling consideration 
 as to Babcock (who was not present at time of dis- 
 turbance) was, that he had uttered insubordinate 
 and violent language in the chapel, at the time at 
 which the class attended for reprimand by the 
 President. 
 
 1854, April 13th. 
 
 Parents expostulated to President ; father of Babcock rep- 
 resented that his son was not present at the time of the dis- 
 turbance. 
 
 The President stated that he had postponed official notifi- 
 cation, and that he had received the apology of the class, 
 upon his announcement of the decision of the Board with- 
 out the names of the students expelled. 
 
 President told the class he would recommend the Board to 
 rescind the sentence of expulsion. 
 
 Sentence rescinded. 
 
 1854, June 1st. , 
 
 Sophomoee Class. 
 President stated he had to-day suspended all the stu- 
 dents present in Mr. Dodge's room. 
 
35 
 
 Offence — Insubordination in that room ; throwing and 
 exploding torpedoes during recitation. The Presi- 
 dent had repeatedly admonished them, if such mis- 
 conduct continued, he would hare to hold the class 
 responsible. 
 Mcllvaine, of that class, detected in throwing torpedo. 
 
 Expelled. 
 Meeks conducted himself insolently. Expelled. 
 
 1854, June 2d. 
 
 As to Delinquency of whole Class. 
 
 Mcllvaine, 
 
 Meeks. 
 
 It being determined, in view of the delinquency of the 
 whole class, not to proceed further at present with 
 the individual cases, and after much discussion it 
 was determined that the Sophomore class be dis- 
 missed, unless, before Monday, at 9f A. M., the of- 
 fenders confess their offence, or their names be sur- 
 rendered by the class to the President ; and that 
 no one dismissed shall be re-admitted, unless he de- 
 clare to the President that he had no participation 
 in bringing or exploding torpedoes in Mr. Dodge's 
 room on Thursday. 
 
 1854, June 5th. 
 
 Resolutions of the class were read, expressing their desire 
 to be restored ; regret ; acknowledge misconduct ; promise to 
 refrain from disorder, and to appoint committee of vigilance 
 to deliver up to authorities of College any disorderly student. 
 
 Ordered class to be restored, if each member sign the 
 paper. All who have testimonials to be committee of vigi- 
 lance. 
 
 1855, March 30th. 
 
 Many students of each class were absent one day from 
 lecture, on the ground that it had been usually allowed as a 
 holiday, though not by the statutes. 
 
36 
 
 The bearers of testimonials in each class who were absent 
 to be degraded, and their names to be called alphabetically, 
 Rescinded 5th April, on apology of Senior and Junior 
 
 1857, March Uth, 
 
 Sophomoee Class. 
 
 Torpedoes were thrown on the floor of the lecture-room of 
 Prof. McVickar, and thrown from time to time during the 
 attendance of the Sophomore class. Professor was unable to 
 detect the offenders. 
 
 On Monday succeeding, the President detained the class 
 in the chapel ; expressed "his regret and indignation at such 
 unmannerly and unmanly conduct," and said he would re- 
 quire from the class an apology or expression of regret and 
 disapprobation for such conduct, as discreditable to the class, 
 and a promise that in future each would exert his influence 
 to prevent a recurrence of disorder ; must be in writing, and 
 signed by every member present on that day. 
 
 Brown rose, and said he would not remain in the College 
 on such terms. Repeated it, on being asked by the Presi- 
 dent what he had said. The President told him that if he 
 persisted he must not again return to College. He went out 
 and twelve or fourteen with him. Afterwards the President 
 wrote to the father of Brown that he could only rejoin his class 
 by an apology in chapel, before his class. Brown afterwards 
 expressed his regret, and willingness to apologise in that way. 
 Was told this course was honorable and manly, and would 
 be perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 The paper, prepared for the class to be signed, is tacked to 
 the. minutes on a small slip of paper, and reads : 
 
 The undersigned, members of the Sophomore class, present 
 in the room of Prof. McYickar during the disturbances on 
 Friday last, express their regret at and disapprobation of 
 such proceedings, as discreditable to the class, and pledge 
 themselves to exert their influence to prevent the recurrence, 
 of any disorder or irregularity of the class hereafter. 
 
37 
 
 The Board of the College resolved that the class be re- 
 quired to sign such paper. 
 
 Ou 27th March the President stated to the Board that 
 thirteen only had signed, and had substituted another paper, 
 which their committee declared the class were willing to 
 sign, which was to this effect : 
 
 Regret disturbances, and, so far as our example can go, 
 will endeavor to discourage any similar indecorum for the 
 future. Paper decided by the Board not to be satisfactory. 
 
 The President then moved that he be authorized to an- 
 nounce, on Monday, to those of the class who should not 
 have signed the paper, that they were, ipso facto, suspended. 
 Carried. Ayes, 4; noes, 3. At same meeting the head of 
 the class stated to the Board, after the rejection by the Board 
 of the proposition of the class had been communicated to 
 him, that the class entertained scruples, shared by their 
 parents and friends, about the use of the term '■'■influence?' 1 
 He submitted a new proposition of the class, which, as the 
 Board had come to its conclusion, was not read. 
 
 On next day, Saturday, the Board was convened, at the 
 request of Profs. McVickar and McCulloh. On motion of 
 Prof. McVickar, a paper proposed to be signed by the class 
 was accepted, and the President was requested to notify the 
 committee of the class of the decision, and that this course 
 was taken to satisfy both the parents and the students. 
 
 This paper, from a committee of the class, tacked in the 
 minutes by wafers, objects to the pledge " to exert their in- 
 fluence," «fec, as a clause of uncertain import and extent, 
 liable to various interpretations, and seeming to go beyond 
 the matriculation pledges required of the students by the 
 statutes ; and they ask leave to substitute the accompanying 
 paper : 
 
 Such paper expresses the regret and disapprobation of the 
 proceedings in the lecture-room of the professor, and renews 
 their matriculation pledge, in the language of the statute, 
 " to observe the strictest decorum" when in the room of Pro- 
 fessor McVickar, " neither doing nor countenancing any thing 
 which may tend to incommode their teacher or divert the at- 
 tention of their fellow-students." 
 
38 
 
 1857, March 27th. 
 
 Junior Class. 
 
 A portion went into Professor McVickar's room at an hour 
 at which their attendance was required elsewhere. Pretence 
 — made a mistake; scattered around some offensive sub- 
 stance, which rendered the room uninhabitable. Sophomores 
 , could not attend Professor McVickar at that hour, and were 
 dismissed. Juniors came in after room had been ventilated, 
 after lapse of an hour ; took their seats ; explosion of fire- 
 crackers in the grate. Professor could not ascertain the 
 guilty, and reported the case to the President. He told the 
 class he was too ill to expatiate upon the indecency of such 
 conduct ; and, therefore, put it into their own hands to deter- 
 mine what satisfaction should be made by the class for this 
 violation of duty and discipline. That on Friday, at the 
 meeting of the Board, he should state the case, and take the 
 advice of the Board as to what proceedings should be had 
 against the class, and would communicate the result to the 
 class on Monday, unless, in the meanwhile, he received satis- 
 factory atonement from them. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of the College, held 27th March, 
 1857, the President called the attention of the Board to this 
 case, and asked the vote of the Board on the following ques- 
 tions : 
 
 1. Shall the class be held responsible, as a class, for dis- 
 order or irregularities, when the offenders cannot be 
 recognised ? — Ayes, 2 ; noes, 5. 
 
 2. Shall each member of the class be asked and required 
 to answer, yes or no, as to his participation in the spe- 
 cific offence ? — Aye, 1 ; noes, 6, 
 
 President and McYickar voted in the affirmative on first 
 question. President on second. 
 
 Kesolved, that the case be held under advisement, and the 
 class be 60 informed. 
 
39 
 
 VIII. 
 
 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF THE COLLEGE. 
 
 1856, May 2d. 
 
 There having been some question as to what was the sen- 
 tence actually ordered by the Board, in the case of Eomeyn, 
 the President announced it as his purpose to read hereafter, 
 at every meeting of the Board, the minutes of the preceding 
 meeting, so that there should be no ground for mistakes. 
 
 In the minutes of the same meeting is the following 
 entry : 
 
 " It was also agreed, that the minutes of the Board shall 
 be henceforth kept by the Junior professor, (Professor McCul- 
 loh, now, who expressed his willingness, if it was desired to 
 do so,) and that they be read preliminary to each meeting." 
 
 1856, May 16th. 
 
 " The President also stated his purpose to keep the min- 
 utes himself, and not commit that duty to another." 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT AND THE BOARD OF THE COLLEGE. 
 
 1856, May 2d. 
 
 In relation to the sentence of Eomeyn — " Professor Anthon 
 then said, he would move a reconsideration, but was re- 
 minded by the President that he had no right to do so — not 
 having voted for the sentence. Professor McCulloh, then, 
 with a view of testing the question, moved a reconsideration, 
 and was seconded by Professor Hackley. Feeling that the 
 question was one of deep importance to the College, and quite 
 resolved, after the most careful consideration, not to give his 
 assent to any action of the Board that should modify the 
 original sentence, the President declined putting the ques- 
 tion, on the ground, that inasmuch as he had made up his 
 mind to interpose, under any circumstances, his absolute 
 negative upon any decision of the Board adverse to that of 
 
40 
 
 11th April, it did not seem worth while to spread upon the 
 minutes any useless motion." 
 
 1856, May 16th. 
 
 f( The President stated, that before proceeding to business, 
 he had some regulations to read, which would be the future 
 law of the Board. That he had felt himself impelled to 
 that course by occurrences that had come to his knowledge 
 since the last meeting of the Board, in connection with the 
 case of Eomeyn. That a memorial had been presented by 
 the father of that student to the Board of Trustees ; accom- 
 panying which memorial were certain letters, written by Pro- 
 fessor Anthon and Professor McCulloh s plainly showing that 
 a more formal mode of proceeding at the Board of the Col- 
 lege was demanded." 
 
 These regulations are as follows : 
 
 1. The College bell will toll three minutes ; at the expira- 
 tion of which, the Board will immediately organize. 
 
 2. The absence, at that time, of any member, will be 
 noted on the minutes, and no excuse, other than 
 physical disability, will be deemed valid. 
 
 3. The professors will bring with them their reports made 
 out. 
 
 4. The first business in order will be the reading of the 
 minutes of the preceding meeting. 
 
 5. The reports will then be read in order, beginning 
 with the Senior professor. 
 
 6. No proposition will be entertained by the President^ 
 unless submitted in writing. 
 
 7. On every question the ayes and noes will be recorded. 
 
 1856, June 6th. 
 
 A resolution, proposed by Professor McCulloh, declaring 
 that the President might lay before the Board any regula* 
 tions for their government, but that such regulations should 
 not be binding, unless sanctioned by a vote of the Board- 
 laid over at a preceding meeting-^-were put, and lost by a 
 tie vote. 
 
STATEMENT OF GEORGE T. STRONG, ESQ., 
 A Trustee of the College. 
 
 The undersigned respectfully returns the following answers 
 to the interrogatories addressed to him by the Committee of 
 Inquiry : 
 
 Questions 1 — 7. 
 
 The Grammar School should teach whatever is required 
 for admission to the Freshman class. Under its present re- 
 lations with the College, the details and order of its course 
 should be left to its Rector. 
 
 Modern languages (at least French and German) should be 
 taught throughout its course. Their study should not be 
 compulsory, but every student should be expected and en- 
 couraged to take up one of them, without extra tuition fee. 
 
 The risk (if any) of consequent detriment to thorough in- 
 struction in Greek and Latin would be removed by adopt- 
 ing the "conversational method" of teaching modern lan- 
 guages. 
 
 The efficiency and tone of the school would be improved if 
 it were periodically inspected by a Committee or Board of 
 Yisitors from the Faculty, or the Trustees, or both, who 
 should award prizes on examinations conducted in their 
 presence ; and still more by scholarships (with a small sti- 
 pend) in the College, to be awarded by the Faculty on spe- 
 cial examination of candidates for the Freshman class from 
 the school. 
 
 Questions 8 — 9. 
 
 Hours and programme of attendance will be most con- 
 veniently regulated by the President and Faculty. The 
 
 Ik 
 
Trustees will experience great practical embarrassment in 
 settling tbem accurately, and the President and Faculty will 
 probably be obliged to assume a dispensing power to correct 
 and readjust the details of any statute that can be framed 
 on this subject. 
 
 Questions 10 — 19. 
 
 The discretion of each professor should be unlimited as 
 to method of instruction. He should be responsible for its 
 efficiency, and free to adopt that for which he is best qual- 
 ified, and in which he is most at home. Restrictions on his 
 liberty of choice between text-books and oral teaching would 
 embarrass him in his duties and give him an excuse for failure. 
 
 The teaching in every department will probably be more 
 or less oral. 
 
 Such teaching cannot be recalled or retained without 
 notes. There is no substitute for them. All lecture-rooms, 
 therefore, should be of such size and so furnished that every 
 student can write conveniently. 
 
 Students should not be required or expected to copy such 
 notes. Transcription helps to fix them in the memory, and is 
 so far of use. But as a method of acquiring knowledge, it is 
 bad economy of time, and as a means of training it is worse 
 than useless, inasmuch as it substitutes for direct mental effort 
 a mechanical process, the visible results of which on paper 
 tempt the copyist to believe himself a hard student. 
 
 Such notes (whether explanatory of yb text-book or inde- 
 pendent) are to be used as material for study and the basis of 
 examination. 
 
 No general rule should be established as to text-books. 
 Though the oral teaching of an earnest, accomplished and 
 sympathetic instructor is the highest of all educational agen- 
 cies, it is not always to be obtained. A teacher may be 
 eminent and useful, and yet not possess that special faculty. 
 Without it he must use k text-books to a greater or less ex- 
 tent. No uniform rale is desirable or attainable. 
 
 In legislating on the course, the limits of a particular sub- 
 
ject are often most conveniently defined by naming a partic- 
 ular treatise. But the professor should not be thereby bound 
 to use it as a text-boot, if he can impart more thorough 
 knowledge of its contents in some other way. And on this 
 point each must decide for himself. 
 
 A very few works of special dignity and note (as, e. g., 
 Butler's Analogy) may be excepted from this rule, as being in 
 themselves subjects. 
 
 There should be no action by the Trustees on the subjects 
 of these interrogatories. 
 
 Questions 20, 21, 22. 
 
 The objects sought will be attained by employing the 
 best qualified instructors. Without such instructors legisla- 
 tion will not materially promote them. "The personal influ- 
 ence of the teacher is able, in some sort, to dispense with an 
 Academical system, but the system cannot in any sort dispense 
 with personal influence. With influence there is life, with- 
 out it there is none." 
 
 A College with second-rate professors will turn out second-, 
 rate graduates, and be a second-rate College, however mat- 
 merous its teachers, however great its resources and however 
 perfect its system. 
 
 Assuming competent instructors provided, that "know- 
 ledge of principles from the beginning of any science which 
 is necessary to enable students to comprehend each succeed- 
 ing step," will be promoted by basing every public exami- 
 nation not merely on the studies of the term immediately 
 preceding it, but also on the substance or outlines of the 
 whole preceding course. 
 
 Diligence and attention will be promoted — 
 
 1st. By making the public examinations a practical test, 
 and establishing a scale of penalties, invariably following the 
 several degrees of deficiency thus ascertained. 
 
 2d. By employing at least two tutors to aid each professor, 
 and dividing each class into a corresponding number of 
 sections. 
 
Scholarships or fellowships in the proposed University 
 should be established, each with a certain stipend for (say) 
 three years, to be competed for by students of the Senior 
 class on a special examination. 
 
 From the incumbents of these scholarships tutors should be 
 selected. They should give certain time daily to their duties 
 as such, while carrying on their own studies, and receive an 
 increased stipend. 
 
 3d. By tangible and valuable rewards for Academic merit, 
 especially scholarships, with a stipend in the College and in 
 the post-graduate course. Such stipends should be graduated 
 in amount. If {e. g.) ten are to be awarded at the end of the 
 Junior year, the highest should be (say) $200, the next should 
 be $190, and so on down to $100; the ten successful com- 
 petitors taking them in order of relative merit. 
 
 This, of course, implies the existence of some method of as- 
 certaining relative merit much nicer and more reliable than 
 the general impressions of a professor at the end of the term, 
 or a viva voce examination, which subjects no two students to 
 exactly the same test. 
 
 Limited means should not be a condition of eligibility to 
 scholarships with stipends. 
 
 If our present resources do not permit us to establish such 
 scholarships, we should exempt (say) the first third of each 
 class from tuition fees during the succeeding year. 
 
 Under either system, (especially under that of stipends,) 
 paternal admonitions to diligence, and supervision of the stu- 
 dents' time at home, would become more earnest and more 
 watchful. The importance of strengthening these domestic 
 influences on students in a City College can hardly be over- 
 estimated. 
 
 The duty of such supervision is very generally neglected or 
 imperfectly performed. If strong and steady domestic in- 
 fluence and pressure in aid of the College can be made the 
 rule, instead of continuing to be the exception, the prominent 
 objections to a City College are at once removed, and it will 
 probably work more efficiently than if established in the 
 country. 
 
4th. By a strict and exact discipline, founded on marks for 
 each instance of deficiency ; such marks to be reported 
 weekly to the Board, and registered on its books against the 
 name of the student. 
 
 Twenty (e. g.) of these marks during a term should cause 
 notice to be given to the student's parent or guardian. 
 
 Forty should, ipso facto, involve an hour's extra daily at- 
 tendance for drill under a tutor in the department wherein 
 the deficiency occurred. 
 
 Sixty should make it necessary for the student to engage 
 one of the College tutors as a private instructor, with some 
 consequent increase of tuition fees, enuring to the tutor's 
 benefit. 
 
 A higher number should involve degradation to a lower 
 class, and a still higher, dismissal. 
 
 There should be no power in the President or Faculty 
 to cancel such marks for subsequent merit, or to remit the 
 penalties thus incurred. 
 
 5lh. By requiring the Trustees to act in rotation as inspect- 
 ors of the College. One member of the Board should visit 
 the College daily, if only long enough to walk through the 
 lecture-rooms with the President ; and if his engagements 
 permit, should spend a little time in each. The good effect 
 of such visitations on students and professors would be very 
 considerable, and the duty would not be found onerous. If 
 the rotation were daily, it would require of each Trustee an 
 hour or two every three weeks, during eight months of each 
 year. 
 
 Questions 23, 24. 
 
 More thorough instruction could be imparted by limiting 
 its range, especially in Mathematics and Physical Science. 
 
 There should be two courses of study, diverging at the end 
 of the second year ; Classical studies predominating in one, 
 Mathematics and Physical Science in the other. Students 
 should elect between them. Any student should have it in 
 his power to combine the two ; but such combination should 
 be practicable only in cases of unusual talent and industry. 
 
Questions 25 — 32. 
 
 Students should recite daily to a professor or tutor. One 
 hour for each department seems proper. 
 
 "With a staff of tutors and a class divided into sections, a 
 professor can thoroughly instruct (or make himself respon- 
 sible for the thorough instruction of) a class of 150 at least. 
 Assistance becomes necessary, and a professor (of average 
 capacity) ceases to be able to advise the individual student, 
 understand his state of mind, and detect the point where his 
 deficiency begins, if the number of the class much exceed 
 fifteen, assuming an hour given to the class daily. (At West 
 Point, each section is understood to include not more than 
 twelve cadets.) 
 
 Such sympathy between the teacher and the individual 
 student is of the greatest value. The smaller the class the 
 more likely is it to be established. 
 
 To insure its establishment, each class should be divided 
 into sections of not less than ten nor more than twenty, each 
 with its tutor and its separate room. The professor should 
 spend the hour allotted to the class with its several sections, 
 in one room, or two, or in all the rooms successively, accord- 
 ing to his own discretion. The tutor should be responsible 
 to the professor, should represent him, and adopt the methods 
 of instruction and examination he may indicate. While in 
 the section-room the professor should in his discretion either 
 supersede the tutor, or inspect the performance of his duties. 
 Each class as a whole should be assembled for lectures or 
 examination by the professor whenever he should think it 
 best. 
 
 Questions 33—36, and 89, 90. 
 
 The relative merit of students in each department should 
 be determined mainly by the public examinations, if these 
 examinations be conducted in writing, as hereafter suggested ; 
 but if the present mode of examination be retained, entirely 
 by a system of daily marks for merit and demerit of perform- 
 ance in the lecture-room, irrespective of the result of public 
 
examinations. Such marks should be reported weekly to the 
 Board and registered, and honors should be awarded by sim- 
 ple computation of their number. 
 
 A whole class should not be arranged in order of merit. 
 Such arrangement should not extend below the students re- 
 ceiving honors. If carried through the whole class it demor- 
 alizes the lowest half dozen. 
 
 Honors have been too numerous and too cheap. Each 
 professor should award but one first and one second testimo- 
 nial or medal to each class. If there be two for each of the 
 dozen subjects into which a department may be subdivided, 
 they are likely to be distributed somewhat at random among 
 the first dozen of the class. 
 
 There is high authority in favor of confining honors to such 
 students as choose to compete for them, and stand a special 
 examination. All to whom honors are a stimulus would be- 
 come candidates, and the effect on the undistinguished ma- 
 jority would be better than that of the present system. 
 
 If stipends and free tuition be introduced as Academic re- 
 wards, medals or testimonials may be dispensed with, or be 
 retained only to a limited extent, and awarded, for instance, 
 for the best English essay, or specimen of Latin composition 
 in prose or verse. 
 
 Students are generally disposed to take up with the mis- 
 chievous notion that Academic rank is awarded unfairly. 
 Its prevalence seriously diminishes the value of honors as a 
 stimulus. They ought, therefore, to be awarded on some sys- 
 tem that furnishes tangible' evidence that can be preserved 
 and compared, of each student's merit, viz., that of daily 
 marks, or that of examinations in writing. It is probably 
 best to combine them. The latter is far the better and more 
 conclusive of the two, but, if made the sole test, might tempt 
 to indolence during term, and " cramming" for examination. 
 
 Questions 37, 38, 39, and Question 8. 
 
 Each class should attend four hours, and an extra hour 
 or hours for optional studies ; (as modern languages ;) extra 
 
8 
 
 attendance in charge of a tutor sLould follow a certain grade 
 of deficiency, and, students thus deficient should not be al- 
 lowed to undertake optional studies. 
 
 Questions 40, 41. 
 
 The President's proper duties do not include instruction, 
 and if fully performed leave him little time for it. He 
 should be selected solely with a view to his fitness for them, 
 and no department of instruction should be assigned him. 
 
 But he might advantageously lecture once a week, or of- 
 tener, before the Senior class, on some subject in which he 
 may be specially qualified, as (e. g.) the history of a particu- 
 lar period, literature, or science, the principles of art, or of 
 architecture, &c, indicating to them a course of reading, but 
 not examining them during the term. 
 
 The subject should be selected by himself, and need not be 
 the same in each year. 
 
 Questions 42, 43, 44. 
 
 The most obvious comment on the course of study is, that 
 it covers a great deal of ground, and if honestly carried out,, 
 (and each subject enumerated should be taught thoroughly or 
 not at all,) may be a little beyond average capacity. Many 
 who can easily master classical studies, cannot make much 
 progress in Mathematics, except by great labor, and vice versa. 
 Average attainment in both departments is lowered in con- 
 sequence. 
 
 The remedy is to establish two courses. Each course may 
 then be advantageously enlarged by additional subjects, 
 which the College ought to teach, but cannot while the 
 course of study is the same for all. 
 
 The opinion of experts should be relied on for the details 
 of the division. 
 
 Natural History should be a prominent subject in that 
 course in which science predominates, and extend through 
 two years. 
 
In the other course, History, ancient and modern, should 
 receive more attention, and the subject of ^Esthetics might 
 perhaps be introduced with advantage. 
 
 Both French and German should be prescribed as part of 
 the undergraduate course or courses, but should be carried 
 only so far as to enable each student to read them with tole- 
 rable facility. He should not be required to speak or to 
 write them. This would not be felt as a serious addition to 
 his work, and such ability is all but indispensable to those 
 who contemplate post-graduate studies. Further instruction 
 in either, and also in Italian and Spanish, should be optional. 
 
 No previous preparation in any modern language should 
 be required of candidates for the Freshman cla^s. 
 
 Questions 45 — 60. 
 
 Candidates for the Freshman and every other class should he 
 admitted, unless manifestly unable to keep up with the class. 
 If badly qualified, but not absolutely unfit, they should be 
 admitted on condition of the extra attendance required in 
 other cases of deficiency. 
 
 Such examination should in no case be dispensed with. 
 
 It should be viva voce and public, but the attendance of 
 strangers should not be invited. No members of the Board 
 should be required to attend any examinations but the Presi- 
 dent and the examiner. 
 
 There should be stated days in September or October for 
 such examinations. For sufficient cause the Faculty should 
 have power to order a special examination of precisely the 
 same character. 
 
 A candidate for any class should be examined by the several 
 professors with whom his duties will commence if he is ad- 
 mitted. To. admit him, only the unanimous certificate or as- 
 sent of those professors should be required, any one of them 
 being at liberty to assent on condition of extra attendance. 
 
 The result should be reported to the Board. Only formal 
 action on the report seems generally necessary. But it is 
 
10 
 
 proper that the power to exclude a candidate thus found qual- 
 ified should exist somewhere, to be exercised, for instance, in 
 a case of notoriously bad character, or expulsion from another 
 College. The Board, therefore, (rather than any single offi- 
 cer,) should have a negative on the favorable decision of the 
 examiners. 
 
 Questions 61 — 75. 
 
 Each public examination should cover the whole subject 
 of the preceding term. If a whole Greek play has been 
 read, the student should be examined upon it, and not upon 
 selections from it, revised for the examination. 
 
 It should also test the student's knowledge of subjects studied 
 during the preceding terms, having any direct connection 
 with the particular subject of examination. An examination 
 on Juvenal or Aristophanes, for instance, in the Senior year, 
 should include questions (suggested by the text) on History, 
 Antiquities and Ancient Geography. An examination on 
 the History of Philosophy or of Literature should be to some 
 extent ; also, on Political History, (previously studied,) in its 
 bearings on either subject.. 
 
 The final examination for a degree should be especially 
 comprehensive. 
 
 This is recommended chiefly as a means of training. Stu- 
 dents who make no effort to keep up their knowledge of a 
 subject after they have taken up another, suffer more than 
 the mere loss of certain positive knowledge — their faculty of 
 acquiring knowledge permanently is weakened. 
 
 Examinations should be annual rather than semi-annual. 
 If semi-annual, the concluding examination of the year should 
 be the more important and searching, and should cover (at 
 least) the whole ground of that year. Revision is beneficial 
 in itself, and should not be dispensed with. The period 
 named in the statute seems the proper one. 
 
 The time assigned for examinations cannot be much di- 
 minished under the present mode of examining. It ought 
 rather to be increased. By means of examination papers it 
 
11 
 
 could be very much shortened. (See Eeport of Oxford Uni- 
 versity Commission, 1852, p. 291, and of Cambridge Univer- 
 sity, pp. 259, 277, &c.) 
 
 If instruction by tutors were introduced, three classes could 
 go on with their routine of attendance and duty while the 
 fourth was under examination. Even without tutors, the rou- 
 tine can be kept up for three hours of each day, and this 
 change would be a great improvement. 
 
 It is the duty of the College to be most strict in requiring 
 students to attain a certain standard. No allowance what- 
 ever shonld be made for indolence or want of capacity. 
 Whether that standard be high or low is comparatively un- 
 important. If too high for average capacity and diligence, 
 it should be lowered. But it is absolutely essential to the 
 success, the usefulness and the dignity of the College, that its 
 attainment be indispensable, and the consequences of failure, 
 total or partial, be uniform and inevitable. 
 
 Assuming the interior life of the College to be now what 
 it was in 1834-8, one-third at least of the students in each 
 class never make any serious effort to learn, but devote their 
 energies chiefly to escaping the particular attention of the 
 professor, and to evading his questions when called up, or 
 devising excuses for being unprepared. Among them are 
 some two or three who seem absolutely without power to 
 learn or to work in any department whatever, who always 
 fail when not helped through, and who furnish the class with 
 permanent and recognised entertainment by their wonderful 
 faculty of misunderstanding and mis-stating first principles. 
 Even these " get through somehow" and take their degrees 
 with the rest, and some of them in after years display facility 
 and talent in traffic and other money-making pursuits, and 
 become wealthy and distinguished citizens. But during the 
 four years of the College course half the time of each pro- 
 fessor has been wasted in worry and vexation over the inertia 
 and the evasions of this lowest third of the class. The other 
 two-thirds have been kept back, and obliged to hear the rudi- 
 ments of every subject repeated and explained over and over 
 again to a listless and inattentive minority. Twenty students 
 
12 
 
 willing to learn have been sacrificed to ten who were unwil- 
 ling, and two or three who were both unwilling and unable. 
 
 This state of things, if it now exist, (and it assuredly has ex- 
 isted within twenty years,) is a wrong to the community. 
 
 The College professes to teach certain specified subjects. 
 Its degrees certify to the world that the attainments of the 
 graduate in those subjects are substantial, or at least appre- 
 ciable. Good faith requires that such certificate be not given 
 to young men unable to parse a line of Virgil, to work out a 
 simple equation or to state the rudimental laws of Chemistry. 
 
 It is a still graver wrong and practical injury to the under- 
 graduates. Increased strictness would instantly create real dili- 
 gence in the majority of the inert and indifferent third of each 
 class, who are wasting their time and their faculties because 
 they know they can get through without serious thought or 
 effort. Only a very few, incurably indolent or absolutely in- 
 capable, would be cut off, and they would take up with other 
 business for which they may be much better qualified than 
 for letters, and cannot possibly be worse. 
 
 The rest of the class would advance faster and farther when 
 rid of this dead weight. The privileges of the College would 
 be increased for those who can use them, and would be denied 
 only to those who cannot. It would be an act of justice and 
 mercy to both, and not censurable as harsh or cruel to those 
 who are excluded ; for a young man may possess great merit 
 and capacity for usefulness, and yet be out of place in a seat 
 of learning. 
 
 If his friends are unwise enough to put him there, it is due 
 not only to those whose progress he obstructs, but to himself, 
 to send him elsewhere when his incapacity is clearly ascer- 
 tained. 
 
 There should be five grades of penalty for deficiency, (as- 
 certained by marks during term, or by public examinations,) 
 viz., notice to the students' parents — extra attendance — the 
 employment of a tutor at home — degradation to a lower class, 
 and dismissal. No allowance should be made for failure 
 from any cause. 
 
13 
 
 If the examinations were conducted in writing, failures from 
 perturbation couid hardly occur. 
 
 Even under the present system such failures are very rare 
 with students decently well prepared. The excuse ought to 
 be distrusted, and its genuineness tested by a very searching 
 examination in private. 
 
 The form of the public examination should be changed. 
 The viva voce method tests absolute merit very imperfectly 
 and relative merit not at all. 
 
 Different questions are addressed to each student, where- 
 as the questions to each must be the same, if their relative 
 standing is to be decided by their answers. The examination 
 of one happens to be protracted and severe, and that of an- 
 other near the close of the day is hurried and easy. Leading 
 questions, and the piecing out of imperfect answers by a good- 
 natured examiner often help a student through, without his 
 knowing anything whatever of the rudiments of his subject. 
 Only a few minutes can be given to the actual examination 
 of each, and the knowledge of each is actually tested on only 
 the twentieth or thirtieth part of the whole subject. It has 
 often happened that a student tolerably familiar with a single 
 chapter of a text-book, and absolutely ignorant of all the rest, 
 has been favored by fortune in the subject allotted to him, 
 and passed his examination with distinguished credit. 
 
 The method of examination should be substantially as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 1. On the day before examination of each class, the pro- 
 fessor prepares (with or without supervision by the President 
 or Faculty) a list of (say) twenty-five questions, covering, as 
 nearly as may be, the whole subject. 
 
 2. The list is printed, and the printed copies delivered to 
 the President or the examiner the next morning. 
 
 3. The class is assembled and each student provided with 
 materials for writing. One of the printed copies is given to 
 each, and each proceeds to write his answers. A certain 
 period is assigned for this work, during which the President 
 and examining professor attend to preserve order, prevent 
 conversation and exclude surreptitious books of reference. 
 
14 
 
 Three hours would generally be sufficient. (See evidence an- 
 nexed to Cambridge University Report, p. 277, &c.) 
 
 For the classical examination each student would bring 
 with him the text from which he is to be called on for transla- 
 tions. 
 
 4. On the expiration of the hour, each student signs and 
 hands in his answers, which the professor examines and com- 
 pares at his leisure. Any student who has exhausted his 
 knowledge and stopped writing before the hour expires, 
 hands in his paper and withdraws. 
 
 5. The questions should be such as test the relative amount 
 as well as the accuracy of each student's knowledge, and 
 should not merely call for some single fact, name rule, &c, 
 e. g., " Give an outline of" or " state what you know of" a 
 specified event or period in political or literary history ; " Enu- 
 merate and describe" a certain specified class of chemical 
 compounds*, " State the arguments for" or "for and against" 
 a given proposition in Ethics or Political Economy, &c, &c. 
 
 In Mathematics, the class would do on paper what is now 
 done at the black-board. In language, the examination papers 
 would call for written instead of oral-translations of specified 
 passages, with questions on construction, &c. 
 
 This system gives a nervous student ample time to rally his 
 faculties. It puts all on terms of equality. Its result furnishe3 
 a perfect test of scholarship, on which the professor can award 
 honors with deliberation, and close, accurate comparison, (and 
 on the advice of others, if he distrust his own judgment as 
 likely to be biased in any particular case) and gives the Board 
 the means of justifying its action against a deficient student, 
 if such action be complained of by his friends. It is, more- 
 over, sanctioned by the highest authority. 
 
 But if the viva voce system be retained, (and it may be de. 
 sirable to retain it in some cases and to some small extent, as 
 accessory and subordinate to that of examination papers,) it 
 needs two material changes. The class should not attend in 
 the examination room, but should be called in successively 
 from an adjoining room, and much more time should be given 
 to each student. 
 
15 
 
 The appointment of adepts to conduct examinations 'would 
 be useful in many respects, but would be unfair, because many 
 students would lose all presence of mind when examined by 
 total strangers. 
 
 Answers to examination papers might be very advantage- 
 ously submitted to adepts by the Trustees, at intervals of two 
 or three years, for their opinion on the efficiency of the Faculty. 
 
 The examining professor should report to the Board the re- 
 sults of his examination, viz. ;- which students have passed it, 
 and which have failed, in whole or in part, specifying in each 
 case the grade of deficiency and the appropriate penalty. 
 Such report should be conclusive. 
 
 Questions 76 — 85. 
 
 The penalty of suspension should be abolished. There are 
 objections to it as part of the discipline of a City College that 
 cannot be obviated. It is a punishment only to such as very 
 seldom incur it. 
 
 Degradation to a lower class should be retained, but not as 
 a punishment for offences against discipline. It should be 
 the natural and necessary consequence of a certain degree of 
 deficiency in scholarship. 
 
 Offences against discipline should have no effect on Aca- 
 demic rank, which should depend on scholarship alone. But 
 such offences should work a forfeiture of stipends and of the 
 right to free tuition. 
 
 Punishment should be less frequent and more severe. It 
 should be the uniform and certain consequence of conviction. 
 Mitigation of the sentence should be exceptional, and only 
 on application made by the offender, with special cause shown , 
 after the sentence is pronounced. Punishment should never 
 be wholly remitted. 
 
 , : An offence of the lowest grade (as unpunctuality at chapel 
 or lecture-room) should be recorded with a "demerit mark " 
 by the officer under whose observation it comes. These 
 should be reported weekly to the Board, and registered in the 
 same manner as marks for deficiency, but separately from 
 
16 
 
 them. These marks, on reaching certain aggregate numbers, 
 should ipso facto involve certain penalties, private admoni- 
 tion by the President, notice to the student's father or 
 guardian, public reprimand, imposition of extra work and 
 dismissal. There should be no power in the President or 
 Faculty to cancel demerit marks or remit penalties thus 
 incurred. 
 
 Of more serious offences, the most frequent are such as 
 arise in the lecture-room from mere spirit of mischief and 
 fun. Tliey are in themselves venial, and not inconsistent 
 witli a meritorious and attractive character. Every one is 
 disinclined to treat them with much severity. But they 
 ought to be the most rigorously repressed and inexorably 
 punished of all, because they are the most common, the 
 most contagious, and practically the most mischievous to 
 the class, and the easiest to suppress by firm and uniform 
 discipline. 
 
 A second conviction of snch disorder in the lecture-room 
 should be uniformly and inevitably followed by excision from 
 the College, in the form of an amicable " consilum abeundi" 
 to the offender, as not yet sufficiently matured for the Insti- 
 tution, rather than by a penal sentence of dismissal or ex- 
 pulsion. 
 
 One month's adherence to this rule, the removal of three 
 or four students, and an absolute refusal to restore them on 
 any terms, would make the College twice as useful to all the 
 rest, and raise the tone of the whole undergraduate body. 
 
 All other offences — insubordination, immorality, violence 
 between students, &c, &c, should be visited by the penalties 
 above enumerated, and in extreme cases by expulsion. 
 
 It may be right in principle -to require students to give 
 evidence against each other, and to punish refusal, but the 
 ru'e cannot be practically enforced, (except in very serious 
 a, d exceptional cases,) and thorough discipline can be main- 
 lained without it. 
 
 W here an offender cannot be identified, each student under 
 suspicion should be required to answer, on his honor, as to 
 
17 
 
 his own guilt or innocence. Refusal to answer should be 
 followed by dismissal. 
 
 This process would seldom fail to bring out the offender. 
 Should it fail, a certain number of those under suspicion 
 (whose demerit marks are most numerous) should be subject- 
 ed to the appropriate penalty. 
 
 The power vested in a professor to keep order in his lecture- 
 room need not be large. Demerit marks will suffice for 
 trivial misconduct. More grievous offenders should be dis- 
 charged from further attendance in that lecture-room until 
 their case has been passed on by the Board. Disorder grave 
 enough to require this remedy, should always be followed by 
 removal from the College. 
 
 No professor should dismiss from the residue of the day's 
 attendance, but only (in case of sickness or like cause) from 
 the residue of his own hour. 
 
 The minutes of the Board should be kept by one of its 
 members, elected or appointed its clerk. They should be, like 
 the minutes of every other* board or committee, a record of 
 all its action. 
 
 It is also plainly due to members of the Faculty, that any 
 proposition offered, but not passed, or the ayes and noes on 
 any question, be entered on the minutes, if such entry be 
 called for by any member of the Board. The President 
 should have no special control over them. 
 
 Question 88. 
 
 No member of the Faculty should engage in professional 
 pursuits outside of the College, except under a revocable 
 license from the Trustees. Such licenses should be liberally 
 granted and construed. 
 
 The powers vested in the President by the statute, relative 
 to the Board, seem very large. "Whether practical good 
 would result from diminishing them, should be determined 
 by the opinion of the President, and present and former 
 members of the Faculty, who have witnessed the actual work- 
 ing of that statute. 
 
 2k 
 
18 
 
 The President ought to have an absolute veto on every 
 general regulation, hut it may be doubtful whether his veto 
 on particular acts (e. g., of discipline) should not be limited. 
 
 Questions 91—95. 
 
 Honorary parts should be assigned as heretofore. The 
 class should elect its own valedictorian, subject to the ap- 
 proval of the Board. 
 
 There should be fewer speakers, and more time given to 
 each. The speakers (except those having honorary parts) 
 should be selected mainly in reference to their ability in 
 composition. 
 
 Strict order need not be preserved. 
 
 There is room for doubt whether the exhibitions known as 
 College Commencements are not a little below the dignity and 
 gravity of a seat of learning, taking into account the nature 
 of the audience and th^e. real weight of the orations. Proba- 
 bly a Commencement would dp more credit to a College 
 (especially to a College established in a great city) if its 
 exercises were limited to salutatories, the reading of a prize 
 essay, the conferring of degrees and honors and a valedictory 
 address. 
 
 Many of the interrogatories on the sub-graduate course 
 relate to subjects which seem within the province of the 
 Faculty rather than of the Trustees. We shall probably do 
 most to improve the present system by selecting the ablest 
 professors to administer it, and giving them power to develop 
 and reform it step by step. 
 
 But if the Committee conclude that we ought to enter on 
 this difficult undertaking, the undersigned recommends them 
 to frame and report statutes on the following subjects, viz : 
 
 1. Of tutors and the subdivision of classes. 
 
 2. Of undergraduate stipends and free tuition. 
 
 3. Of demerit marks for deficiency and for misconduct. 
 
 4. Of the penalty of extra attendance. 
 
19 
 
 5. Of the course and its division at the close of the Sopho- 
 more year. 
 
 6. Of examination papers. 
 
 7. Of inspection by the Trustees. 
 
 AS TO TJNIVEESnT STUDIES. 
 
 No attempt should be made at the oiitset to organize a 
 complete University system, because it is impracticable to do 
 so. A University cannot be organized and set in operation 
 like a bank or an insurance company. Even with unlimited 
 means at hand, a corps of the best teachers assembled, and 
 all the apparatus of instruction provided, the Institution is 
 not created. These are only favorable conditions for its de- 
 velopment, or elements out of which it may be formed in 
 time. It must grow and shape itself gradually, and if des- 
 tined to last, and to become a great intellectual power and 
 centre, it will probably grow up slowly and from a small be- 
 ginning. If we try to anticipate this natural process, and con- 
 struct it at once, the structure will fall down again as fast it 
 is finished. 
 
 In this country the work of its founders, for the first gene- 
 ration at least, must be especially cautious and tentative. For 
 they have not only their proper office to perform, but also to 
 create a demand for high education. They have to ascertain 
 by experiment how long, and for the sake of what kind of 
 teaching, young men will consent to postpone entering on 
 active life ; to what rule of discipline and attendance they 
 will submit, whether enough of them can be got together to 
 make reasonable fees from each compensation for a profes- 
 sor, and many other questions equally material to a complete 
 system, which cannot be answered in advance, but will settle 
 themselves, one after another, when the seeds of the Institu- 
 tion are planted and it begins to grow. 
 
 All that can be done in the first instance is to employ pro- 
 fessors of great repute and ability to teach, and to invite (if 
 necessary to hire) students to learn ; confiding everything, at 
 the outset, to the control of the teachers, finding out, by de- 
 
20 
 
 grees, what we want, and feeling our way towards a code of 
 rules, step by step. 
 
 In other words, we should settle nothing in advance that 
 we can possibly leave open. 
 
 It seems, therefore, inexpedient to attempt any immediate 
 determination of some of the questions as to a University 
 system proposed by the Committee. 
 
 But whatever may be done or left undone in the form of 
 legislation and endowment, it seems certain that we shall effect 
 nothing lasting or important except by and through teachers 
 of the first order and the highest repute. They are not merely 
 necessary to the vigor of the Institution, but conditions of its 
 existence. Whether the experiment succeed or fail depends, 
 mainly on their presence or absence. With professors of re- 
 spectable mediocrity or a little above it, a College will lan- 
 guish, but may subsist indefinitely. But a University cannot 
 be planted and long sustained in life without professors of 
 splendid name and ability, especially in a community where 
 such institutions are unknown and where general mediocrity 
 of attainment and aspiration is the obstacle to be removed 
 and the evil to be remedied. If they be obtained, the Aca- 
 demic system we establish for them, even if prematurely and 
 unwisely settled, will do little harm. They must be dili- 
 gently sought, and, like founders of Universities in all ages, 
 we shall probably be obliged to seek them beyond (as well 
 as within) the limits of our own country and language. 
 
 As the first step, it is suggested that a certain number of 
 young men (alumni having the preference) be forthwith ap- 
 pointed tutors in the College for (say) three years, on condi- 
 tion of their pursuing courses of study to be prescribed to 
 each by the Faculty, and under their direction and control. 
 
 Next, certain post-graduate courses of study should be 
 established as the nucleus of a University — those subjects 
 being selected in which there is practically the greatest de- 
 mand for thorough education. 
 
 Two should be first organized, viz: Law and Physical 
 Science. 
 
 1st. In the former, instruction for the ordinary training, of 
 
21 
 
 a law student would be best obtained by the appointment of 
 (6ay) four practising members of the bar in high standing, as 
 lecturers and examiners in Commercial Law, the Law of Real 
 Property, &c, respectively, compensated by fees, and for the 
 first year or two, perhaps, by a small stipend in addition. 
 Such appointments should be for a short term of years, say 
 fire. 
 
 Both law students and young practitioners feel the want 
 of opportunities for such training, and several attempts have 
 been made within a few years to obtain it by voluntary asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 This course would be, in a certain sense, completed by pro- 
 fessorships of Civil and International Law, Constitutional 
 History, (English and American,) Modern History and 
 Ethics. 
 
 The College lecture-rooms could be used, as the business of 
 the school would be mostly in the afternoons or evenings, (a 
 certain proportion of its students being engaged during the 
 day in offices down town) ; but it would be better to provide 
 rooms elsewhere. 
 
 2d. In the latter, (Physical Science,) there should be a 
 group of special departments : Engineering, Mining, Chem- 
 istry of Manufactures, Agricultural Chemistry, Metallurgy, 
 &c, each with its special instructor, compensated at first, 
 in whole or part by a salary, but ultimately, if the experi- 
 ment succeed, by fees alone. 
 
 The instructors in these departments should be " practical 
 men," the most eminent and successful in their respective 
 specialities. They need not rank as professors. 
 
 Young men who intend to go into the iron business or to 
 become manufacturers, want to be taught these things thor- 
 oughly, not as an accomplishment, but as a tangible acquisi- 
 tion that has money value. If they can be taught them most 
 thoroughly at a University, they will come there for its teach- 
 ing, and they should receive it on condition of such further 
 training as will make them accomplished in science, instead 
 of mere metallurgists or manufacturers. In this department 
 the University should teach " useful knowledge" in its lowest 
 
22 
 
 and most material form, to induce men to come and be 
 taught something higher. 
 
 For this purpose the department should include a profes- 
 sorship of Mathematics and professorships of the several de- 
 partments of Physical Science, in their higher range, such 
 as should give every student a thorough and liberal scientific 
 training. 
 
 It should include or be allied with a Medical College. 
 
 These two departments being established, it is easy to see 
 how each may be enlarged and further liberalized by addi- 
 tional professorships, entitling each to be called a Univer- 
 sity course. The first step in this direction would naturally 
 be to add to both the education which, however little in 
 demand, is the most urgently needed, and of which the ab- 
 sence is most injurious and most dangerous to the commu- 
 nity. 
 
 Our prevailing habits of superficial thought and low at- 
 tainment in reference to two subjects — Religious Truth and 
 Political Science — are undoubtedly " more mischievous and 
 more perilous than our low standard of culture in any other 
 department of knowledge, or in all others together. 
 
 Instruction in those two subjects should, therefore, be 
 closely incorporated with each of the two courses above sug- 
 gested. 
 
 The teaching of Political Ethics and Economy and the 
 Philosophy of Society and Government should be the same 
 in both. 
 
 The internal and historical evidences of Christianity would 
 be appropriate subjects for the religious teaching in the 
 School of Law, and the evidences, illustrations and analogies 
 furnished by Physical Science would be appropriate for the 
 other department. 
 
 It may be objected that this gives us, in the first instance, 
 merely a Law School and a Polytechnic School, instead of a 
 University. 
 
 Of course, the ideal University is something far more than 
 this. But that ideal has never been fully realized, and pro- 
 bably never will be. Practically, in reference to any given 
 
23 
 
 age and people, the best University is that which best teaches 
 what that people at that time wants, or can be persuaded to 
 learn. Its claims and counsels will be always a little above 
 the popular demand, but not too far above it. If too ele- 
 vated, the institution will be simply out of place and useless — ■ 
 an anachronism — as the Oxford or Paris of the twelfth cen- 
 tury would be if brought to life and planted in Boston. 
 
 It is to be feared that few clever and ambitious New-York- 
 ers of eighteen, want or can be persuaded to spend the next 
 three years of their life in pursuing any kind of scholarship 
 for its own sake. What they want is to gain distinction, or 
 to make money, or both. If a University course give them 
 some considerable advantage over their competitors, in their 
 anticipated struggle for position and profit, they will gladly 
 enter a University ; but if it do not, they will prefer plung- 
 ing at once into Wall-street. 
 
 The education now most fruitful of practical advantage, and 
 consequently now most desired, is that which qualifies for 
 the profession of the law, (and consequently for political life,) 
 and that which confers facility and power in converting mat- 
 ter and the laws of matter to profitable uses. 
 
 Such education is as much wanted now as was training in 
 Theology and Logic six hundred years ago. The great 
 schools of the middle ages numbered their students by the 
 thousand, and controlled the intellect of Christendom, be- 
 cause they were the best teachers of the things the people of 
 their time desired to know. A University fulfilling the same 
 conditions now, and teaching with equal efficiency what 
 Americans of the nineteenth century desire to know, would 
 be as crowded and more powerful. But if it base its teach- 
 ing chiefly on something else, it will be deserted and feeble. 
 
 This is not a low view of the office and aim of a Univer- 
 sity, but a true view of the low intellectual wants and aspira- 
 tions of the age and people in and for which this particular 
 University is to be founded. We must recognise these 
 wants and aspirations, or we shall fail to elevate them. In 
 founding the Institution, we must subdue its first workings 
 into harmony with the spirit and temper of to-day, that we 
 
24 
 
 may gain conspicuous position and power, to be used for the 
 improvement of to-morrow. 
 
 The above suggested plan for an embryo University is 
 liable to objections which (abstractly considered) are fatal. 
 It is hardly necessary to say, that the laws of human society 
 and the properties of matter are not thus. put forward as 
 being the highest or most important subjects of human 
 knowledge. As already stated, it seems that an American 
 University must either teach these two subjects with signal 
 efficiency, or else attract no students, and consequently teach 
 nothing ; and it has been assumed that our resources will not 
 enable us to begin with more than these two. 
 
 But if they will, and it be in our power not only to do thi3, 
 but to provide, in addition, a higher course of training, which 
 the community has not yet learned to desire, we should pro- 
 ceed to establish, at once, a third course or school, including 
 professorships of History and Ethics, (already provided for 
 in that of Law,) the Philosophy of Literature, Philology and 
 the Ancient Languages— these last being the central and 
 characteristic subject of this department. 
 
 Questions 97, 98, <&c. 
 
 There should be no general rule excluding a professor in 
 the College from duties in the University. If the College 
 professor of Mathematics is the most competent person to 
 teach the higher Mathematics of the University, and if he 
 have time and energy to do the work of both chairs thor- 
 oughly, he should be appointed to both. Should the College 
 and University classes become large, however, it will proba- 
 bly be seldom found expedient to assign to the same professor 
 the duty of instruction in both courses. 
 
 Until the University has been in operation long enough to 
 establish a demand for its teaching, scholarships with sti- 
 pends should be employed to attract students. Probably 
 $10,000 per annum could not be more advantageously ex- 
 pended than in hiring thirty young men, of moderate means 
 
25 
 
 and high talent, to be thoroughly educated in any department 
 of knowledge. There should also be free scholarships without 
 stipends. Both should be awarded on rigorous examinations. 
 The University should furnish students of this class with 
 rooms, heated during the winter, free of charge, leaving them 
 to provide themselves with light and food ; and a hall should 
 be erected for their accommodation, whenever the means of 
 the College permit. 
 
 The- University should be open to all comers, who are 
 ascertained, by a not very severe examination, to be qualified 
 to attend it with advantage to themselves. No other con- 
 dition should be imposed. There should be several standards 
 of qualification for the several departments or courses of study. 
 
 In granting degrees, reliance should be placed on a strict 
 examination rather than on any prescribed measure of at- 
 tendance. 
 
 Question 119, dec. 
 
 The programme of hours and studies, text-books, mode 
 of instruction, &c, should be entirely under the control of 
 the professors and instructors — the Board merely retaining 
 the power to interfere, and postponing all interference until 
 better informed than it can be at present. 
 
 Rules of discipline should not be established. The Uni- 
 versity Faculty should have the right of nominating candi- 
 dates to fill vacancies in their own body, reserving to the 
 Trustees the power of rejection or confirmation. 
 
 The professors should have the privilege of pursuing occu- 
 pations not connected with their duties as such. 
 
 There should be no preliminary censorship of text-books, 
 and the professor should be sole judge of the method of in- 
 struction in his own department. 
 
 Eminent men, resident elsewhere, should be not only al- 
 lowed, but invited to take part in the lectures and teaching of 
 the University. 
 
 Question 117, &c. 
 
 Permanent buildings should not be contemplated till 
 the nucleus of the University has been in operation for some 
 
 3k 
 
26 
 
 time. (Unless it may be a hall with dormitories for free 
 and stipendary scholars, to be erected on the College 
 grounds.) 
 
 We are not yet qualified to determine their site or their 
 character. Three or four dwelling-houses, hired for the pur- 
 pose, will suffice for the first five years. The necessary al- 
 terations in them can be made at very moderate cost. 
 
 Until teachers and students have been in contact long 
 enough to work the Institution into definite shape, and give 
 it practical importance, any outward and visible signs of 
 Academic dignity, in the shape of imposing structures, are 
 inappropriate. Even then they will be in no degree essen- 
 tial. 
 
 ' Many of the great continental seats of learning are with- 
 out special buildings of any kind, and even Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge have few University buildings. 
 
 The University must begin by appealing to the dominant 
 wants and impulses of the time, and should, therefore, place 
 itself in close contact with the centres of population and ac- 
 tivity. Academic shades and cloisters seem out of the ques- 
 tion at present, but they may come in time, provided we do 
 not attempt to begin with them. 
 
 Question 116, dec. 
 
 The University is the appropriate forum for the discus- 
 sion of all scientific controversy, and of much that may be 
 classed as political. Part of its office is to adjudicate with 
 authority, as the intellectual organ of the community, on 
 questions of this nature. The utmost latitude should be al- 
 lowed to the introduction of controverted matter coming under 
 either of these heads. 
 
 As to religious controversy, the opposite rule must prevail. 
 The Institution, if it is to be of real value, must found its 
 teaching on a "positive Christian basis," distinctly defined, 
 and assumed as fundamental, and, therefore, not a legitimate 
 subject of Academic discussion. 
 
27 
 
 The undersigned begs it may be understood that these 
 memoranda are returned to the Committee under a full ap- 
 preciation of the difficulty and importance of the questions 
 proposed by it, and, as to some of those questions, with con- 
 siderable doubt as to the value of his own judgment. 
 
 George T. Steong, 
 
 Trustee. 
 New- York, February 3, 1857. 
 
REPLIES 
 
 detrtlemeit not (Ifers of tjje Institution 
 
 PRINTED CIRCULAR QUESTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 COMMUNICATION" OF PROF. FRANCIS LIEBER, 
 Sent to the Committee in September, 1856. 
 
 The Committee of Inquiry, appointed by the Board of Trus- 
 tees of Columbia College in the City of New-York, propose 
 the following questions to Dr. Francis Lieber, Professor of 
 History and Political Economy and Philosophy in S. C. Col- 
 lege, and ask the favor of him to prepare and transmit to the 
 Committee, at his earliest leisure, his written answers — the 
 written question in each case immediately to precede the ap- 
 propriate answer. 
 
 The Committee would premise that a Grammar School, un- 
 der the charge and direction and control of the Trustees, is 
 and has been for many years in operation, in which the pupils 
 are prepared for entrance into the College ; and the Trustees 
 have under consideration plans for the establishment of a 
 course of University studies. 
 
 The charter and statutes of the Institution, and a report of 
 
 1j 
 
a Committee on the Course of Instruction, are furnished here- 
 with to Dr. Lieber for his information. 
 
 The Committee request you to return your answer to 
 Mr. G. M. Ogden, at New-York. 
 
 AS TO THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged to Dr. Lieber to suggest 
 a course of instruction for the Grammar School. 
 
 A. The answer to this question could only be given after 
 the settlement of the whole plan of the College, a thoroug 
 discussion, of the precise wants of: this community, and the 
 degree of knowledge which a pupil has it in his power to 
 acquire in the preparatory schools here — information which 
 I do not possess in detail. 
 
 Q. Ought the modern languages, or any of them, and if 
 any, which of them, to have a place in that course ? 
 
 A. French ought to be taught in the Grammar School, and, 
 perhaps, the rudiments of German Grammar. If it be be- 
 lieved that our intercourse with South America requires a 
 familiarity with the Spanish language, this ought to be sub- 
 stituted for the German, in the Grammar School, (not in the 
 College.) 
 
 Q. Ought the study of any, and which of such languages, 
 if placed in such course, to be compulsory ? 
 
 A. Asa general rule, all courses in the Grammar School 
 ought to be compulsory. The contrary, if at all admitted, 
 ought to be very exceptional. ;. 
 
 Q. What place, in point of time or period, ought the study 
 of modern languages (if any ought to be prescribed) to have 
 in the Grammar School course ? 
 
 A. French ought to be commenced in the lowest class. 
 There ought to be thirty hours of instruction in the Grammar 
 School, (six on each day, except Saturday ; or six on Monday, 
 Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and three on "Wednesday and 
 Saturday,) and four hours a week ought to be given to modern 
 languages; by which term, in this connection, English is not 
 meant. Languages are, I take it, always treated under 
 ancient, English and modern languages; - 
 
Q. Could the study of one or more of the modern languages, 
 and if so, how many, be efficiently pursued in the Gram- 
 mar School, without detriment to thorough instruction in the 
 Greek and Latin languages in the same course, so far as is ne- 
 cessary for preparation for the College course ? 
 
 A. Most certainly it can, and is done in ever so many 
 instances. I always mean by study of modern languages, 
 when applied to the Grammar School, such study as will be 
 preparatory to the higher pursuit of the same in the College. 
 
 I wish to mention here, once for all, what I hold to be an 
 important truth, viz., that — 
 
 1. Every educated man may as well know two additional 
 modern languages besides his own, as not. It is clearly proved 
 in Germany and other countries. 
 
 2. While Latin was a living and general language in the 
 Medieval times — it being the language of the Church — a person 
 knowing two modern languages besides his own, is, in modern 
 times, only in the position in which he that knew Latin was 
 in the middle ages. Then there were no literatures in the dif- 
 ferent national languages ; now an American or Englishman 
 that is not able to read French and German, is, in a great 
 measure, debarred from knowing the general progress of his 
 kind, and situated as a man without the knowledge of Latin 
 was in the middle ages. 
 
 3. French and German are indispensable for a thorough 
 culture of the modern professional American and English 
 scholar. In Germany they teach French and English; in 
 France, German and English. 
 
 Q. If there should appear to be difficulty in making tho- 
 rough instruction in one of these branches of study compa- 
 tible with thorough instruction in the other, please to suggest 
 such a remedy as you may think effectual. 
 
 A. I cannot answer this question, .because I do not see any 
 difficulty. American lads are quite as bright as others. The 
 only point is to strain them more. 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged to you for any sugges- 
 tions you may judge material touching the superintendence, 
 government or regulation of the Grammar School. 
 
A. I take it, this question is not meant for rne. I do not 
 know your Grammar School, and entering on the subject in 
 general would lead to the writing of a book. 
 
 THE SUB-GKADUATE COUESE. 
 
 Q. What ought to be hours of the attendance of each pro- 
 fessor each day, to be employed in instruction ? 
 
 A. This is a question that can hardly be answered by a 
 single number. I shall state a few points appearing to me of 
 more or less importance : 
 
 1. It is a mistake, prevailing in America, that all professors 
 ought to be employed exactly by the same pattern ; it is an 
 especial mistake in a large city like New-York. " Avail 
 yourself of as much talent as you can, with a proper pursuit 
 of your College ends," ought to be the rule. There is no ob- 
 jection to engaging a distinguished man to lecture, for instance, 
 to the Senior class only, and to pay for his services accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 2. It is highly beneficial to the minds of the young to come 
 in contact with a variety of prominent minds. It incites and 
 quickens. 
 
 3. Different branches require very different exertions of 
 the teacher, and so do the different classes. 
 
 4. If a professor teaches higher branches, constantly re- 
 quiring additional study and reading ; if he teaches actively 
 engaged with his own mind, and not by the rote of recitation ; 
 if, above all, he has before his mind that important truth, that a 
 good and true teacher ought to possess the solar quality of shed- 
 ding life — and warmth-evoking light — if he be a teacher whose 
 soul is in the business of communicating knowledge, and of in- 
 citing a love of it in the young ; then, I say, two hours every 
 day is quite enough. Three such hours as I have indicated are 
 exhausting, unless he merely lecture, as in Germany, which, 
 however, would not be the true method for our colleges. 
 
 Q. What classes ought to be assigned to each professor, 
 having in view his subjects of instruction, according to the 
 suggestions which you may make, relative to the course of 
 instruction, in reply to questions of the Committee ? 
 
A. I do not see that I could possibly answer this question, 
 without a knowledge of the professors and the whole plan of 
 the College. 
 
 Q. In reference to each department of study, in your judg- 
 ment proper for the undergraduate course, please state 
 whether the instruction ought to be from text-books or oral. 
 
 A. The rule ought to be : Appoint first-rate teachers — men 
 approved in their departments, and then trust to them. If 
 they do not know this subject as well as any other persons, 
 they are not first-rate men, and ought not to be appointed. 
 
 All good teaching, all essentially efficient instruction, must 
 be a combined result of the teacher's individuality and the 
 peculiar character of the instructed. 
 
 My whole method of teaching has gradually developed 
 itself into a compound system of lecturing, (and taking notes,) 
 of reciting partly orally and partly on large black-boards, (of 
 which seven are used at once,) of the fitting out of tables, 
 scheduled on a black-board ; of writing on questions not an- 
 swered in the text-book or in the lectures, and of several other 
 elements. 1 believe this compound system is considered search- 
 ing, efficient and time-saving ; it has been very gradually 
 developed ; but, although I have no doubt that portions of it 
 can be adopted by every one, direct or modified with profit, 
 yet I would not say that it ought to be adopted either by 
 every teacher or for every branch. I, myself, vary in the 
 different branches which I teach, and in the different classes. 
 
 Q. Ought such instruction, when oral, to be from notes 
 of the professor, previously prepared ; and would any regu- 
 lation on this subject be expedient ? 
 
 A. Any regulation would be highly inexpedient. Select 
 your professors with utmost care as to their knoioledge, skill 
 and professional conscientiousness • and leave them free, un- 
 der the advice of the President, &c. 
 
 Q. In cases where oral instruction is proper, ought the 
 students to be required to take notes of the lecture of the 
 professor ? 
 
 A. Always / talcing notes is one of the very things America 
 has to learn. The American youth do learn it, with proper 
 
perseverance and encouragement on the part of the teacher. 
 My experience has proved it to me. 
 
 Some professors are in the habit of lecturing by reading a 
 manuscript perfectly written out, and then lending it to the 
 students, to be copied by them. This is objectionable. It is 
 lifeless, consumes time, and the whole might as well be read 
 in the shape of a printed book. 
 
 Q. If so, what should be the nature of such notes, and 
 what facilities ought to be afforded to the students to enable 
 them to understand how to take them with ease and without 
 interruption of their attention ? 
 
 A. Any experienced professor will show this ; but it would 
 lead to details of furniture, stationery, &c, hardly in their 
 place here. 
 
 The new fountain-pen may be a great additional improve- 
 ment. I do not well understand to what the latter part of 
 the question refers. Taking notes fixes the attention. 
 
 Q. To what use ought such notes of the students be put? 
 
 A. To every possible use; the students ought to recite 
 upon them ; topics for the general examination ought to be 
 selected from them ; and they may deliver speeches from 
 them in the legislatures, as I have known instances. 
 
 Q. Ought the notes to be transcribed by the students ? 
 
 A. Students often acquire a skill to write, so that no tran- 
 scribing is necessary. Sometimes a number will meet to 
 unite in restoring the whole lecture, writing it at the same 
 time. 
 
 But these questions are regarding subjects that cannot be 
 regulated, and ought not to be settled by any Board. It is 
 the good teacher, the friend of knowledge and of the students, 
 that settles this with them. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any mode of enabling the students to 
 retain and recall the matter of oral lectures, not liable to 
 equal objections with note-taking by students ? 
 
 A. There are no real objections to lectures in their proper 
 place. The method must change, as a matter of course, in 
 many cases. I generally lecture on my own text-books dif- 
 ferently from what I do when lecturing on general topics. 
 
Occasionally it is necessary to write a definition, or tbe di- 
 vision of the subject, on tbe black-board. 
 
 Q. "Would it be advisable in any, and if in any, in what 
 departments of instruction, to use such a text-book as should 
 contain only so much as the student ought to learn in the 
 whole College course, so as to be able to obtain a competent 
 elementary knowledge of the subjects taught? 
 
 A. Each professor must have the liberty of selecting his 
 own text-books. If he is not to be trusted with that, he ought 
 not to be professor. 
 
 Skipping, as well as exposing the errors of a text-book, are 
 by no means objectionable of themselves. 
 
 Let the student always see what is yet behind the hill he 
 has ascended. 
 
 Q. Would such text-books facilitate instruction in Mathe- 
 matics ? 
 
 Q. Would it, or would it not be advantageous, by the 
 adoption of such a text-book, to limit the discretion of any 
 (and if so, which) professor or professors, as to mode of in- 
 struction ? 
 
 A. There are, indeed, occasionally, professors who, eager 
 to rise to higher branches, who may benefit a very few at the 
 cost of the large body of a class ; but, certainly, nothing can 
 be regulated regarding this subject. The President must 
 have his influence with the professor ; and if an extraordi- 
 nary case arises, the Trustees must provide an extraordinary 
 means. 
 
 Not clipping the wings, but applauding the noblest flight, 
 ought to be the permanent rule. 
 
 Q.Gan you suggest any means by which the students can 
 be made to keep up that knowledge of principles, from the 
 beginning of any science or braneh of instruction, which is 
 necessary to enable them to comprehend each succeeding 
 step? 
 
 A. Every good teacher will necessarily attend to this, and 
 in the stated general examinations occasional reference o.ught 
 to be had to previous portions of the branch, (yet without 
 pedantry or tutorial unfairness.) It is a truth in all spheres 
 
8 
 
 of. knowledge or skill, that the rough acquaintance with the 
 elements is necessary, but that they cannot nor need be re- 
 tained with all the minuteness necessary when they were first 
 imparted. 
 
 Q. "Would a text-book, of the kind referred to in previous 
 questions, tend to accomplish such object? 
 
 A. The answer entirely depends upon the degree and kind 
 of repetition and recurrence which is meant here. 
 
 All sound instruction consists in imparting facts and truth 
 in detail ; in showing how each of these is connected with 
 the whole, and in showing how the elements of the branch 
 constantly reappear in different combinations. 
 
 But if a repetition by memory is meant, it is like all other 
 mechanical learning ; scholastic formalism is injurious, and 
 not to be recommended. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means, besides the discipline of 
 students, according to the results of periodical examinations, 
 that would tend to diminish the deficiencies which arise 
 from the neglect by the students of their studies, so as to se- 
 cure the uniform and continued diligence and attention of the 
 students ? 
 
 A. I shall describe that system which, by successive 
 changes, has been elaborated in S. C. College, and which has 
 produced the best effects in that institution. I can give the 
 merest outline only, but shall gladly explain it, if called 
 upon. 
 
 For every recitation, writing, &c, the student receives a 
 number. The maximum is 9. Every unexcused absence is 0, 
 and so is a failure to recite. The average of all these is made 
 out at the end of the term for each student by each professor. 
 For the examination papers, at the end of each term, the 
 maximum is 100. The number given for the examination is 
 then reduced to a fraction, and multiplied with the average, 
 which, of course, reduces the latter very much. For instance, 
 say a student's average in History is 8.50, his examination 
 paper 78, which, reduced to a fraction, would be .78 ; this, 
 multiplied with 8.5, gives 6.63 for History. Now, if a student 
 has an average in all branches of these compound numbers 
 
above 6, be is called meritorious, and bis name is published 
 in the catalogue. If he has an average of 1.5 in three de- 
 partments (which I consider too low a minimum) he cannot 
 go on with bis class. If he has 1.5 in one or two branches, 
 he is noted for re-examination in those branches. There are 
 prizes, besides, in all classes, separate from this system, 
 which, stated as I have done, looks artificial, but is in reality 
 not so. The apparently disproportionate influences or power 
 of the result of the half-yearly examination is intended to 
 be so. 
 
 Q. Could, in your opinion, more thorough instruction be 
 imparted by limiting the range of instruction in any, and 
 what departments ? 
 
 Q. If so, how would you limit it ? 
 
 A. Not intended to be answered by me. 
 
 Q. How often ought the students to recite? 
 
 A. The great object is to keep the minds of all the students 
 steadily engaged ; and the recitations must be conducted ac- 
 cordingly. Any method which enables the students to cal- 
 culate when they may be called up, is bad. With the method 
 I have adopted and have described I can take up ten or 
 twelve in an hour. I generally keep three or four, after the 
 class has been dismissed, to examine their writing on the 
 black-board, and on the floor of the room, to which, very 
 generally, their writing extends. The higher the class, the 
 fewer the actual recitations. 
 
 Q. How long ought the exercise of each student to con- 
 tinue when he is examined in the lecture-room ? 
 
 A. This must depend upon the branch, and even the topic. 
 I have had a student recite for half an hour. 
 
 I never question a student in my branches. I call him up, 
 give him a topic, when he takes a seat on a separate bench 
 before me, and reflects on his subject, while I examine some 
 one else. He then comes to a certain place, and speaks 
 without interruption ; after which, I point out the mistakes, 
 &c. This method has been adopted by some other professors. 
 It works exceedingly well in my branches. 
 
 Q. How large a class can each professor thoroughly in- 
 
10 
 
 struct, by the adoption of a proper system ; and in what 
 case should he have assistance, if any is proper? 
 
 A. Depends upon the branches. I can manage very well 
 from sixty to seventy in my branches. At one time the 
 classes in S. 0. College were divided into several sets, taught 
 by the same teacher ; it did not work well in that institution. 
 I cannot teach with real animus twice the same thing in suc- 
 cession. 
 
 Q. If any assistance is necessary, please describe its na- 
 ture, and what duties ought to be devolved upon the assist- 
 ant, and what upon the professor. 
 
 A. This must wholly depend upon the branch, the profes- 
 sor and the assistant ; even upon the individual method of 
 teaching. 
 
 Q. In what department or departments, if any, would such 
 assistance be necessary 
 
 Q. In a class of what number of students ought an efficient 
 instructor to be able, without assistance, to detect the defi- 
 ciencies of each student in the previous part of the course, or 
 to discover and explain away any difficulties he may honestly 
 labor under? 
 
 Q. Is it not important, in elementary instruction, to un- 
 derstand the state of mind of, and to advise and assist indi- 
 vidual students ? 
 
 A. To the latter question I answer, of course a good teacher 
 will constantly challenge questions on the part of .the students. 
 
 Q. What means would you suggest as calculated to insure 
 the attainment of the ends suggested in the last two ques- 
 tions, and to assure the Trustees from time to time that they 
 are accomplished ? 
 
 A. None in particular ; all general means. 
 
 Q. How ought the relative merits of the students in each 
 department to be determined ? 
 
 A. Has been answered above. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be any prescribed and uniform system 
 of numbers for recording the performances of the students in 
 class ? 
 
 A. Has been answered. 
 
11 
 
 Q. Ought any use, and if so, what use to be made of such 
 a record, beyond that by which the professor keeping it may 
 be enabled to form his judgment of the relative merits of 
 the students ? 
 
 A. Has been answered. 
 
 Q. "What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of ranging all the students in each clas^, in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system of con- 
 fining such order to those of the students who have been re- 
 cipients of honors ? 
 
 A. Students ought to sit alphabetically ; and as there is 
 always some advantage or disadvantage connected with a 
 certain seat, I have directed the students to sit half the term 
 in the common alphabetical order, beginning with A., and 
 the other half, the reverse, beginning with Z. 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance in each week ought to 
 be assigned to the Freshman class? 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance ought to be assigned to 
 the higher classes? 
 
 A. My conviction is that four hours a day, except Satur- 
 day, is the proper number, not three. 
 
 This may be lessened, possibly, in the Senior class, if the 
 Faculty are convinced of a general spirit of study in the class ; 
 for it is one of the important aims to encourage private study 
 and the visiting of libraries. 
 
 Q. In reference to each class, what portion of the 
 hours allotted for their attendance ought to be appro- 
 priated to the subjects of instruction, respectively assigned 
 to the class ? 
 
 A. Depends upon the whole plan of instruction, to be 
 elaborated by the Faculty, with a committee of the Trus- 
 tees. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, a department of instruction to 
 be assigned to the President ? 
 
 A. Yes ; he ought to instruct three or four hours a week. 
 It identifies him more with the whole. He ought to instruct 
 in the Senior, perhaps, also, in the Junior class, and, of course, 
 ought always to be able to instruct. 
 
12 
 
 Q. If so, what department would be best suited to that 
 office? 
 
 A. That on which he is truly distinguished ; for a 
 President of a College ought always to be a scholar, or 
 literary character, or distinguished in some branch of know- 
 ledge. 
 
 Q. Please to state your opinion concerning the course of 
 instruction prescribed by the statutes, and concerning such 
 provisions therein as have a bearing upon its success ; and 
 also to recommend such changes and provisions under this 
 head as you may think calculated to promote thorough and 
 efficient instruction. 
 
 A. This requires a labor I cannot perform now, but will 
 do it at a later period, if indeed it be desirable that I should 
 answer this question. 
 
 Q. And the Committee particularly ask your opinion, 
 whether the study of any one or more of the modern lan- 
 guages ought to be prescribed as part of the undergraduate 
 course ; and if so, what language or languages ? 
 
 A. I have in part answered this question. 1 believe that 
 German and French ought to be taught. If both have been 
 taught in the Grammar School, then the instruction of both 
 languages ought to go through all classes ; if not, French 
 ought to be taught in the Freshman and Sophomore classes ; 
 German in the Junior and Senior classes. 
 
 Q. If you should answer the last preceding question in the 
 affirmative, please state if any, and if so, what previous pre- 
 paration ought to be required. 
 
 A. lias been answered. 
 
 Q. In presence of whom ought the examinations of candi- 
 dates for admission into the Freshman class to be con- 
 ducted ? 
 
 A. All examinations for admission ought to be chiefly in 
 writing, so that the particular presence of any person is in- 
 different. The President and some professors ought to be 
 present, as a general rule. 
 
 Q. Ought the examination of such candidates to be dis- 
 pensed with, provided they have been students of the Gram- 
 
13 
 
 mar School, and hold the certificate of the master of that 
 school that they are qualified to enter the College ? 
 
 A. All admissions ought to be the result of Faculty resolu- 
 tion, upon the report of each examiner, and I think the cer- 
 tificate of the master of any school ought not to be sufficient. 
 
 Q. Ought the examinations for admission into the Fresh- 
 man class to be public or private ? 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid ? 
 
 A. The examination ought to be exact according to a pro- 
 portionately high standard. To raise the standard for ad- 
 mission into College, is almost the only means in America to 
 raise the standard of the schools. 
 
 Q. In what cases, if any, ought the public examination of 
 such candidates to be dispensed with ? 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the result of the examinations for 
 admission into the Freshman class to be reported to the Board 
 of the College ? 
 
 A. I have auswered the last ; as to the first I cannot state 
 all the exceptions, which certainly may occur. The Faculty 
 ought to decide. 
 
 Q. In whom should the power and duty reside, to decide 
 as to whether or not the applicants for admission into the 
 Freshman class shall be admitted? in the Board of the Col- 
 lege, subject to the negative of the President, or in the Presi- 
 dent alone ? 
 
 A. It ought to reside in the Faculty, without a veto of the 
 President. It is purely a matter of knowledge, in which I 
 cannot see that the veto of any one finds a proper applica- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. In what manner ought it to be ascertained whether the 
 persons applying for admission into the higher classes possess 
 the knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. Applicants for higher classes ought to be examined on 
 all that has been taught in the lower ones. 
 
 Q. If by examination, in presence of whom ought the ex- 
 amination to be conducted ? 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid ? 
 
 Q. Ought they to be public or private ? 
 
14 
 
 A. All these questions have heen answered. Private ex- 
 aminations are not at all desirable. 
 
 Q. Ought stated days to be established for such examina- 
 tions, and none to be permitted at any other times ? 
 
 A. Yes. Exceptions ought to be rare and only for urgent 
 reasons, which ought to be settled beforehand ; for instance, 
 if a young man comes from a very great distance. 
 
 Q. Ought a similar arrangement to be made in relation to 
 candidates for admission into the Freshman class ? 
 
 A. Yes, it is all-important. 
 
 Q. Please to make any suggestions that may occur to you 
 on this subject. 
 
 Q. In whom should reside the power and duty of deciding 
 whether or not candidates for admission into the higher classes 
 shall be admitted? the Board of the College, subject to the 
 negative of the President, or the President alone ? 
 
 A. Answered above ; and I would state here that I do not 
 think that the President ought to have a veto in any case. 
 He is the chief executive officer and general adviser. He is 
 not made President because he knows the branches better 
 than the professors. He ought to have a casting vote in ad- 
 dition to his own, whenever, after his voting, the votes are 
 equally divided. This is the state of things to which I have 
 been accustomed, and I have seen no case making another 
 arrangement necessary or desirable. 
 
 Q. "Would you, or not, recommend that all the members 
 of the Board of the College should be required to attend all 
 examinations, and to note the result, in order to have, as 
 members of the Board of the College, the means of judging, 
 from their own observation, the qualifications of candidates 
 for admission, or of students examined in the course subse- 
 quent to their admission ? 
 
 The Committee will be obliged by any suggestions or 
 opinions you may be willing to submit, relative to the ex- 
 amination or admission of candidates for admission into the 
 College as students. 
 
 A. The change from oral to written examinations in 
 S. C. College has been so great, and the beneficial effect 
 
15 
 
 so remarkable, that I urgently recommend it, wherever in 
 season. It vastly increases the labor of the professors, but 
 it has a searching and stimulating effect. It is a common 
 thing that students, having three hours given for each 
 branch, give me twelve or fourteen pages foolscap on my 
 four or five questions. Of course, they have no assistance 
 whatever, are not allowed to talk, and must sign a very 
 stringent declaration, on their honor, that they have not 
 known the questions, and have had no assistance from notes, 
 memorandum, &c. 
 
 Q. Ought the students of each class to be examined at the 
 public examinations upon the whole subjects or matters of 
 the course of study pursued during the last preceding term, 
 or upon selections from such subjects or matters ? 
 
 A. An examination is an inquiry into proficiency, limited 
 to a certain time. The judicious selection of questions or 
 framing them, so that they have never been put before, yet 
 can be answered from what has been studied in the class, or 
 collaterally by the advice of the teacher, is an important art ; 
 but nothing of the kind can be settled by regulation. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any statutory provisions, such as in 
 your opinion would secure the proper extent of such exami- 
 nations, and would enable the Trustees to enforce it ? 
 
 A. Prescribe written examinations. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to suggest to the Committee 
 such method of examination in relation to each department, 
 and such regulations in regard to the same, as would, in your 
 opinion, secure a strict and rigid examination, having a due 
 regard to fairness towards the students, and to precaution 
 against their failure from perturbation ? 
 
 A. Written examinations. 
 
 Q. How much time ought to be allowed for the examina- 
 tion in the departments of instruction respectively. 
 
 A. We have tried two hours for written examinations, but 
 the students have always begged for three. Oral examina- 
 tions in our Colleges generally degenerate into very decep- 
 tive performances without a searching character. 
 
 Q. What plan, if any, would you recommend to allow 6uf- 
 
16 
 
 ficient time for the thorough examination in each department 
 of study, and yet to diminish as much as possible the whole 
 period allotted for the continuance of the examinations of all 
 the classes ? 
 
 A. The written examination lessens the time materially, 
 while it extends it for each student. You examine a whole 
 class in three hours ; you may even take two classes together. 
 The professor takes the papers home, and there peruses them. 
 
 If he is diligent and takes a sufficient part of the night, he 
 may generally finish a class of fifty in a day and a half. In 
 the mean time other professors go on — the President being ge- 
 nerally present. 
 
 Q. "Will you please to give your opinion as to whether or 
 not the provisions of the statutes requiring a review, should 
 be retained or altered ? 
 
 Q. Can you propose any method by means of which the 
 necessity of revision may be obviated? 
 
 Q. Ought the public examinations to be so conducted as 
 satisfactorily to test the knowledge of the student in the sub- 
 jects of the course, which were the objects of attention, not 
 only in the last preceding term, but also in the previous 
 terms ? 
 
 Q. How could they be made such test ? 
 
 A. All these questions have been answered. 
 
 Q. Ought the examining professors to make a report to the 
 Board of the College of the results of the public examinations 
 conducted by them ? 
 
 A. The method described by me, shows in numbers the 
 result to the Trustees. The President, moreover, may be re- 
 quired to make a report. 
 
 Q. If so, ought or ought not such reports to be in writing ? 
 
 A. I should think a verbal report would amount to little. 
 It ought to go on record. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the professors to be required to keep 
 a record of the results of their own public examinations ? 
 
 A. I have always kept one. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not students found at any public exami- 
 nation deficient in the studies of the previous part of the 
 course, to be excluded from proceeding with their class ? 
 
17 
 
 A. Explained and answered previously, where I have given 
 the method of S. C. College. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend the appointment by the Trus- 
 tees, from time to time, of adepts in the respective depart- 
 ments, to be charged with the duty either of conducting the 
 public examination in the departments to which they may be 
 assigned, or else, without conducting the examination, of pro- 
 posing questions from time to time to the students, as they 
 may judge to be requisite, in the course of the examination 
 by the professor? 
 
 A. This is a graver question than may appear at first glance. 
 We have such "adepts" for the examination of the Senior 
 class, but it is exceedingly difficult to find men who under- 
 stand the branches thoroughly, are fair in their judgment, 
 have proper regard to the College course, and do not think 
 every thing wrong that does not agree with their notions. I 
 speak from long experience. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be strict in their requirements 
 upon the students, to master the course of instruction pointed 
 out by the statutes ; or should allowance be made for those 
 that from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, fail to 
 acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to impart? 
 Please to state your opinion, with the reasons upon which it 
 may be based. 
 
 A. Strict, by all means. Indolence must find no quarter in 
 a College any more than in life. As to incapacity, a weak 
 student ought to have given him, in kindness, the opportunity 
 of withdrawing before exposure by examination takes place. 
 Nothing interferes more with the essential prosperity of a 
 College than laxity on - this point. Sluggards depress the 
 spirit and animation of whole classes. 
 
 Q. Please to look at the chapter of the statutes on crimes 
 and punishments ; ought any of the punishments therein pro- 
 vided for to be disused ? 
 
 Q. What are the objections to suspension ? 
 
 Q. If any, in what way can those objections be obviated, 
 and suspension be made an efficient and useful means for the 
 enforcement of discipline ? 
 
 2j 
 
18 
 
 A. If necessary, I shall give at the end, or at some other 
 time, my views on these subjects. 
 
 Q. Are there any, and if any, what objection to the punish- 
 ment of degradation from the class to which a student belongs, 
 to a lower class ? And would you recommend that degrada- 
 tion in such sense should be retained as a College punishment? 
 
 A. The objection is, that the punishment does not agree in 
 character with the offence. Besides, I have never seen stu- 
 dents willing to take a lower class when they were lowered 
 for deficiency. They would rather leave the College. 
 
 Q. Ought degradation, in the sense of removing a student 
 from a higher to a lower place in the same class, to be retained 
 as a punishment? 
 
 A. According to all that I have seen and experienced, in 
 Europe or here, and according to all my feelings, this punish- 
 ment is not even fit for the higher classes of the Grammar 
 School. 
 
 Q. Please to give the Committee your opinion upon the 
 chapter of the statutes last above referred to, and to recom- 
 mend such alterations of the same as you may think expe- 
 dient. 
 
 Q. In what manner, and in what place, and in presence of 
 whom, ought adjudged punishments to be pronounced? 
 
 A. In the presence of the adjudger or adjudging board. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to 
 require the attendance and testimony of any student adversely 
 to a fellow-student, upon a charge against the latter ? 
 
 A. No student ought ever to be allowed to give testimony 
 against another. It is abhorrent to all the nobler feelings of 
 youth. According to some continental codes of Europe, no 
 member of a family can be made to testify against another. 
 The principle ought, above all, to exist for students. Nor can 
 the contrary ever be thoroughly carried out. 
 
 Q. Do you think that thorough discipline in the College 
 might be preserved without any recourse to the testimony, 
 voluntary or involuntary, of the students to prove any offence? 
 
 A. Yes. In S. C. College a student is always asked whether 
 
19 
 
 he has committed the offence charged against him, and 
 his word is always taken as conclusive. The students would 
 expel any fellow-student who should tell a falsehood. There 
 is, however, a law which authorizes the Faculty to ask a stu- 
 dent, regarding himself, only on the ground of " reasonable 
 suspicion." 
 
 Q. To what means ought professors to be allowed to resort 
 to punish or repress disorder in their rooms ? 
 
 A. I do not understand the question. He must address 
 the class, and if general disorder continues, I should think 
 he must dismiss the class, and either send for a committee of 
 it, or make a report to the Faculty. I have not had any dis- 
 orders in the course of many years, except once or twice, 
 scraping, which I soon stopped by a few words, or by giving 
 permission to leave the room, to any one who should wish to 
 do it. No one availed himself of the permission. 
 
 Q. Ought the power to dismiss students for the residue 
 of the day's attendance to be allowed to the professor ; and if 
 so, ought any, and if any, what restrictions to be imposed 
 upon the exercise of this power ? 
 
 Please to make any suggestions you may think proper 
 relative to the order of the lecture-room, and the means of 
 enforcing it. 
 
 A. The professor, supposed to be a scholar and a gentleman, 
 ought to have great discretionary powers. 
 
 Q. Ought the professor to report at every meeting of the 
 Board of the College relative to the conduct and proficiency 
 of the students? If so, what ought to be the nature of such 
 reports ? 
 
 A. Continued neglect, absences, &c, ought to be reported to 
 the Faculty, and the student to be dealt with accordingly. 
 Dismissal is the proper punishment for continued neglect and 
 incorrigible indolence. 
 
 Q. Ought they to be in writing ? 
 
 A. No, but accurate minutes ought to be kept by the 
 Secretary of the Faculty, to be examined by the Trustees 
 whenever they choose. 
 
 Q. Be good enough to make any suggestion that may occur 
 
20 
 
 to you relative to the minutes of the proceedings of the Board 
 of the College, required to be read by the President of, the 
 Board of Trustees, particularly stating your opinion as to by 
 what officer should the record be kept, and what should be 
 entered therein. Please to recommend such provisions as 
 you may deem necessary relative to propositions made but 
 not passed, and relative to the exercise of the respective 
 powers of the President and the Board of the College, as af- 
 fecting the contents of such minutes. 
 
 A. The Secretary of the Faculty ought to be a paid officer, 
 either one of the professors or some other person. The 
 minutes ought to be kept accurately and faithfully. I do not 
 understand the last two lines. They have, probably, reference 
 to something I do not know. 
 
 Q. Ought any member of the Board of the College to be 
 allowed to engage in any professional pursuits from which he 
 derives emolument, and which are not connected with the 
 College? 
 
 The Committee will be obliged by your opinion upon the 
 statute relative to the Board of the College, and by the sug- 
 gestion of any alterations which yon may think requisite. 
 
 A. Yes. It is so in Cambridge, and I have never heard 
 any complaint. The salaries are not sufficiently fair to pro- 
 hibit it. 
 
 Q. How and upon what evidence ought general and special 
 testimonials to be awarded ? 
 
 Q. What is the best mode of determining the relative stand- 
 ing of the students in each class, and ought that mode to be 
 uniform ? 
 
 Please to make any remarks or recommendations that may 
 occur to you as likely to assist the Committee, upon the sub- 
 ject of the statute concerning testimonials. 
 
 A. This is chiefly answered by my description of the me- 
 thod adopted in S. C. College. 
 
 A. The testimonials, which are to serve a student in after 
 life, ought to be given according to the records of the numbers- 
 spoken of, with additions about character, &c. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, strict order of the students to 
 
21 
 
 be preserved at Commencements ; or what license ought to 
 be allowed to them on those occasions ? 
 
 A. I do not know what license is meant. The strictest 
 possible order at Commencement appears the only natural 
 thing to an old professor and old soldier like myself. 
 
 Q. Can you recommend any rule by which the honorary 
 parts of speakers at Commencements should be assigned ? 
 
 A. The eight or ten students highest, according to the 
 method described, ought to speak. He who refuses loses 
 his degree. 
 
 Q. Ought the students graduating to be allowed to elect 
 or nominate any of such speakers ; and if so, which of them ? 
 
 A. The students ought to have nothing to do with the 
 appointments. Speaking at Commencement ought to be a 
 high honor. 
 
 Q. How should the speakers, others than those taking 
 honorary parts, be selected ? 
 
 A. There ought to be none. 
 
 Q. Do you recommend any, and if so, what changes in the 
 arrangement and designation of honorary orators at Com- 
 mencements ? 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged by any suggestions you 
 may think proper to make on the subject of Commencements. 
 
 AS TO UNIVERSITY STUDIES. 
 
 The Committee solicit you to make any recommendations 
 you may deem useful or material in reference to a University, 
 and to its proper government and regulation ; to the course 
 or courses of study expedient to be provided, in the order of 
 their importance or greater usefulness ; to the system and 
 manner of instruction best adapted to produce valuable results 
 in the several departments respectively, particularly in refer- 
 ence to the end or practical result which ought to be sought. 
 
 A. About two or three years ago I was requested to give my 
 views regarding a University in New-York. I sent a paper 
 to President King, and would now refer to it. 
 
 Q. Would it be expedient in any, and what departments, 
 
22 
 
 to assign to the same professor the duty of instruction in both 
 the sub-graduate course and the University course ? Please 
 to give your views fully. 
 
 Please to make any recommendations that you may think 
 proper, touching the mode of the compensation of the profes- 
 sors of the College and the professors of the University. 
 
 A. The most prominent men ought to be appointed for the 
 University, whether they are professors in the College or not. 
 There is nothing whatever that interferes. The compensation 
 of the University professor ought to consist of a salary and 
 fees of the hearers, as in Germany. 
 
 Q. In the absence of civil privileges or political advantages, 
 what motives, beyond interest in the subject, or the way in 
 which it is taught, can you suggest as probably sufficient to 
 induce bachelors to attend and study for higher degrees ? 
 
 A. University degrees ought to be given after strict ex- 
 amination only — they ought to mean something substantial, 
 readily understood by the community, so that they would be 
 sought for on account of their practical use ; very much as 
 now the fact that a person is a graduate of Oxford, Cambridge 
 or Dublin, has a practical use in this country for principals 
 of schools, and is always mentioned. 
 
 Persons pursuing a profession or preparing for it, would 
 doubtless hear several lectures connected with their own 
 branches. 
 
 Q. Ought the Post-Baccalauriate courses to be open to all 
 comers, or ought they to be confined to graduates of Colleges? 
 A. Lectures ought to be open to all, partly in order to 
 allow every one to profit by them, partly because the name 
 College is used in our country, in some cases for institutions 
 whose testimonials or degrees would prove a doubtful pre- 
 ceding course of education. But, in order to obtain the 
 degrees of the University, persons ought to have had a good 
 previous College education, or be examined on entering the 
 College, and to have attended certain courses. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be any condition of admittance to the 
 University attendance ; and if so, what ? 
 
 Q. If no condition be required beyond the payment of fees 
 
23 
 
 and the observance of order, ought there or ought there not 
 to be subsequently made (at the granting of the higher de- 
 grees, for instance) a distinction between those who have 
 attained the lower degrees and those who have not ? 
 
 A. Both have been answered. 
 
 Q. How ought the University Board to be constituted ? 
 "Who ought to preside, and what should be the relative 
 powers of the President and Faculty? 
 
 A. A full answer to this question would require, on my 
 part, inquiries into existing conditions, and, probably, an 
 entire essay. , 
 
 An important previous question is, whether there ought to 
 be a permanent President, or whether the whole government 
 ought to rest with the Faculty, (or the body of " Faculty pro- 
 fessors,") with an annual chairman elected from among them, 
 and under the supervision of the Board. 
 
 Q. Ought the proposed University to aim at the establish- 
 ment of schools of Theology, Law and Medicine, and grant 
 degrees therein ? 
 
 A. Yes ; with reference to the latter two. In the course 
 of time eminent men might be appointed to lecture on theo- 
 logical branches of a historical or critical character ; but a 
 theological school can hardly be established in this country 
 with any justice, except by sects or denominations. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend for the University a closer or 
 less intimate union with the city or state than now prevails 
 between the College and the same ? 
 
 A. I ain unable to answer this question without more ex- 
 tended inquiry than I have made so far. 
 
 Q. Ought the University halls to be nearer the centre of 
 population than the College halls ; and would any incon- 
 venience be likely to arise from their local separation ? 
 
 A. They ought to be, by all means, separate. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be a prescribed order and measure of 
 attendance as indispensable to a master's or doctor's degree, 
 or would you recommend an exclusive reliance on a strict 
 examination ? 
 
 A. I would almost exclusively rely on a strict and wise 
 examination. 
 
24 
 
 Q. Ought degrees ever to be granted without correspond- 
 ing Faculties ? 
 
 A. This depends upon what the degree is intended to 
 mean. I think, however, that as no degree in medicine is 
 given except by physicians, so the giving of degree in the- 
 ology ought to be left to the theological faculties or bodies. 
 
 Q. Would it be expedient to grant certificates of special 
 attainment in any branch of study, however limited, chosen 
 by the candidate ? 
 
 A. Yes ; I have always thought so. 
 
 Q. What are the subjects most appropriate, in your opinion, 
 to classes of candidates for degrees higher than the Bacca- 
 lauriate ? 
 
 A. A University aims at teaching every thing worth know- 
 ing and requiring, beyond the book, the living teaching by 
 word of mouth of eminent men. I have spoken in the men- 
 tioned paper of the details. 
 
 Q. Is it well to demand a certain minimum of actual at- 
 tendance, leaving the learner the choice of subjects, and the 
 right of discretionary change at any time he may see fit ? 
 
 A. The attendance ought to be perfectly unrestrained, ex- 
 cept that for certain degrees, certain courses ought to have 
 been heard. • 
 
 Q. Under whose control should the programme of hours 
 and studies be placed ? 
 
 A. The very little control that is requisite on this point 
 ought to belong to the united Faculty professors. 
 
 Q. Ought the University studies to cover as large a portion 
 of the year as the College studies ? 
 
 A. They ought to cover two semestres of four months each. 
 
 Q. Ought the University graduates to hold a separate Com- 
 mencement, and in other respects be but little connected with 
 the College, or the reverse ? 
 
 A. I think there would be no Commencement of the Uni- 
 versity at all, in the sense in which that term is taken in 
 America ; and if there were one, it ought not to be connected 
 with that of the College, in any way. 
 
 Q. How should the University professors be appointed, 
 
25 
 
 supposing the appointing power to be already vested in a 
 Board of Trustees, filling their own vacancies? 
 
 A. The appointment of professors forms one of the most 
 difficult subjects ; and what I am going to state is the result 
 of profound and long study, as well as practical observation. 
 I recommend, therefore, my proposition, urgently to the candid 
 reflection of whosoever may be concerned in this inquiry. 
 
 All College appointments of a higher kind, in this coun- 
 try, ought to be made by a Standing Committee of three, 
 elected, say for three or four years — the appointments to he 
 conformed by the Board. The Committee ought always to 
 propose their candidate with a written report, containing the 
 reasons of the appointment. Without this concentration of 
 responsibility, appointments are liable to the most serious in- 
 conveniencies and mistakes. 
 
 In the University appointments the Faculty professors 
 ought, in our country, to have a share, as also the body of 
 graduates, as I have explained in my paper, previously re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 Q. Ought the University professors to have the privilege 
 of pursuing occupations from which they derive emolument, 
 and not connected with their duties as professors ? 
 
 A. Unquestionably they ought. Without it the services of 
 many of the most eminent men cannot be obtained. I go 
 further, and say, that with our facilities of travelling, non- 
 residents, if highly eminent, ought to be engaged to deliver 
 shorter or longer courses. 
 
 Q. Ought a greater or less latitude than is now usual to 
 be conceded to the introduction of controverted matter, 
 whether rel'gious, moral, political or scientific ? 
 
 A. The highest freedom of thought ought to be permitted ; 
 but this does not imply irresponsibility in the teacher. It 
 is a question of wisdom. As the University professors would 
 depend upon fees, in a great measure at least, much may be 
 left to this regulative element. Still, suppose a professor of 
 Political Philosophy were to teach rank yet insinuating com- 
 munism or monarchical despotism in dangerous times, and 
 were to persevere in representing either as the best govern- 
 
26 
 
 ment, common sense would show that some remedy must be 
 provided. But it would be exceedingly dangerous and 
 wholly inappropriate if the Board of Trustees were to con- 
 stitute themselves into a general Board of Censors. 
 
 Q. Ought the text-books, whether original or adopted, to 
 be subjected to a preliminary censorship and sanction ; and 
 if so, how can this best be effected ? 
 
 A. Even the College professors ought to have perfect lib- 
 erty as to their text-books. The contrary seems to me de- 
 grading ; and I doubt whether any eminent man would 
 allow himself to be appointed University professor without 
 the liberty of choosing bis. 
 
 Q. Would you or would you not leave the University pro- 
 fessor sole judge of the mode and measure of instruction in 
 his special department, prescribing only the general outline 
 and intent? 
 
 A. He must necessarily be left at full liberty ; but you must 
 appoint men of established character as men and teachers. 
 
 Q. What rules of discipline, if any, would you establish 
 between the professor and his class ? 
 
 A. None. 
 
 Q. By whom and in what manner should the examination 
 for higher degrees and honors be conducted ? 
 
 A. By the Faculty, in writing and orally, because there 
 will be few to be examined, I take it. 
 
 Q. Would or would it not be expedient to allow eminent 
 men, resident elsewhere, to deliver, as part of the University 
 course, a limited number of lectures, to be agreed upon for 
 a stipulated compensation ? 
 
 A. I have already proposed this, not having seen this 
 question. 
 
 The following further recommendations were submitted by 
 Professor Liebee, in February, 1857 : 
 
 SUGGESTIONS ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 
 
 1. It seems more important to begin the University at 
 once, although on a limited scale, than to wait until a fully- 
 
27 
 
 organized institution can be called into existence. Four pro- 
 fessors, say one of Languages or Literature, one of History 
 and Political Sciences, and two for the Natural Sciences, 
 would seem sufficient to make a beginning. Growth and or- 
 ganic expansion have formed the strength and health of the 
 greatest institutions of learning and of charity. 
 
 2. The principle of fees for admission to the different 
 courses ought to be adopted at once. It is of great import- 
 ance for the students as well as for the professors — so im- 
 portant, indeed, that I consider it, under all the circumstan- 
 ces, essential to success. 
 
 3. There ought to be three classes of professors, viz. : 
 (a.) Full or ordinary professors, residing in this city. 
 
 (b.) Professors appointed to teach a single course each term 
 — persons eminent in some speciality;, or following some pro- 
 fession, residing in this city. The salary ought to be pro- 
 portionately less. The talent collected in so large a place as 
 New- York ought to be utilized as much as possible by an insti- 
 tution intended for the cultivation and diffusion of knowledge. 
 
 (e.) Occasional lecturers invited to deliver a course, or per- 
 sons at a distance, but periodically repairing to New-York to 
 deliver a certain course of lectures. Our railways enable us 
 to carry out the principle of multiplying the usefulness of a 
 public teacher, adopted as early as under Trajan, in a far 
 more effectual way. 
 
 4. The professors designated under a, and such of c as 
 may be especially appointed by the Trustees, to form the 
 University Senate — at least for the present. They elect, 
 from among themselves, a dean for a limited term, say for 
 two years. The dean is the connecting link between the Sen- 
 ate and the Trustees, the presiding officer of the Senate and 
 the executive officer of the University. 
 
 5. Whenever the University shall have sufficiently ex- 
 panded to form separate Faculties, such as a Faculty of Law 
 or Jurisprudence, of Philosophy and Ethical branches, of 
 Natural Sciences, &c, then each Faculty shall elect its own 
 dean ; and the Faculties united shall form the Senate, which 
 shall elect its own chancellor from among its own members 
 
28 
 
 for a limited term — the chancellor (or rector) to be the con- 
 necting link between the University and the Trustees. 
 
 6. After the first four professors have been appointed by 
 the Trustees, the Senate ought to have the exclusive right to 
 nominate professors for new professorships and for all vacated 
 chairs, and the duty to accompany their nomination with a 
 report to the Trustees, stating the reasons why the nomina- 
 tion has been made. So soon as there will be different Facul- 
 ties, each Faculty shall have the duty to propose to the Sen- 
 ate, for nomination, persons to fill chairs, belonging to that 
 particular Faculty. The Senate will then make the nomina- 
 tion to the Trustees. 
 
 7. The Board of Trustees will establish no new chair, after 
 the foundation of the first four chairs, without first obtaining 
 the opinion of the Senate. 
 
 8. Every person, whether a graduate of any College or 
 not, shall have the right to attend any course of lectures for 
 the common fees of admission, and some courses ought always 
 to be delivered at such hours of the day as to make it possi- 
 ble for persons engaged in the various pursuits in life to 
 attend them. Merchants, engineers, theological students, 
 teachers, lawyers, manufacturers, agriculturists, (during the 
 winter months,) navigators, mechanics, &c, ougbt thus to 
 have the opportunity of profiting by the liberal diffusion of 
 knowledge provided for by the University. 
 
 9. .Nevertheless, there shall be regularly matriculated stu- 
 dents, who, after having attended certain prescribed courses, 
 and having duly passed certain prescribed examinations, 
 shall receive degrees and diplomas, bestowed by the Senate. 
 
 10. A University building, in an accessible part of the city, 
 would be of great convenience, but it is not indispensably 
 necessary. There are many Universities of renown in Europe 
 without University buildings. In order to make a beginning 
 without delay, a convenient house might be readily hired or 
 bought. It would not even be necessary that all University 
 lectures should be delivered in this house. A professor of 
 Chemistry, for instance, or a professor of the Fine Arts, might 
 find it convenient to lecture in other places. The Senate, or 
 
29 
 
 the Senate and the Trustees, would be the proper authorities 
 to regulate this matter. 
 
 11. College professors may be, but need not necessarily be 
 University professors. 
 
 12. Annual prize questions ought to be established : a. for 
 matriculated students; b. for competitors at large, in the 
 United States and out of them. 
 
 13. The Senate should have the right to grant, to persons 
 properly qualified, permission to deliver courses of lectures 
 in the University. These licentiates will have no salary, but 
 shall receive the fixed fees of admission to their own lectures. 
 The Senate shall give the license to lecture on certain and 
 distinctly stated branches only. The Senate can annul the 
 license at any time; nor shall it be given for a longer period 
 than five years, after which it may be renewed. The pro- 
 posed delivery of lectures by licentiates is to be published 
 with the intended lectures of the professors, previous to the 
 beginning of each semi-annual term. The licentiates would 
 correspond to the private docents of the the German Univer- 
 sities, where they have been found of great use. The ap- 
 pointment of private docents grew out of the privilege of 
 lecturing, which the degree conferred upon every graduate 
 in the early Universities ; indeed, this was the early meaning 
 of the degree of A. M. 
 
 New- York, February, 1857. 
 
30 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF CHANCELLOR HENRY P. 
 
 TAPPAN, 
 
 Of the Univesity ojf Michigan, 
 as to the gkammak school. 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged to Chancellor Tappan 
 to suggest a course of instruction for the Grammar School? 
 
 A. The idea of a course in the Grammar School must be 
 determined by the position of this school in relation to the 
 whole course of education. The Grammar School is really 
 the beginning of that course which is completed in the sub- 
 graduate course. 1 would have the Grammar School organ- 
 ized in the College buildings, or in the immediate vicinity, 
 as heretofore. The President of the College should be the 
 President of the Grammar School, also. I would consider 
 the Grammar School as a part of the instruction secondaire. 
 The Grammar School and College should be made equivalent 
 to a German gymnasium. This principle is really recognised 
 in England as well as in Germany ; for Eton, "Westminster 
 and Rugby, for example, only begin what is completed at the 
 Colleges of the University. 
 
 The leading studies of the Grammar School should be 
 ancient and modern languages. The human being, first of 
 all, learns a language ; the proclivity to the study of lan- 
 guage is, therefore, greatest in the early period of life. The 
 elements of Geography and History should be pursued at the 
 same time. Music and Drawing cannot be commenced too 
 early. I would introduce no Mathematics, beyond simple 
 Arithmetic. 
 
 I would have instruction in ancient languages given in the 
 same way with instruction in the modern ; that is, I would 
 have both given orally, as far as practicable. Why not learn 
 to speak Latin and Greek as well as French and German ? 
 The instruction in the Grammar School should be considered 
 
31 
 
 as merely a preparation for education. What better prepa- 
 ration can be made, than to become familiar with the sounds, 
 the conversational idioms and the rudiments of these four 
 languages. 
 
 This is the time to acquire a proper and graceful elocution. 
 
 Q. Ought the modern languages, or any of them, and if 
 any, which of them, to have a place in that course ? 
 
 A. Yes, French and German. These acquired, together 
 with the Latin, will make the acquisition of any other of the 
 principal European languages easy. 
 
 Q. Ought the study of any, and which of such languages, 
 if placed in such course, to be compulsory ? 
 
 A. I would make French and German compulsory. In- 
 deed, I would make the whole course compulsory. Let the 
 idea which governs you, be that of complete culture. 
 
 Q. What place, in point of time or period, ought the study 
 of modern languages (if any ought to be prescribed) to have 
 in the Grammar School course ? 
 
 A. I cannot answer this with precision. In the order of 
 study, I would begin with Latin and French together ; and 
 after a certain progress in these, begin Greek and German 
 together. All these languages should be carried through the 
 whole Grammar School course, and be studied with equal 
 thoroughness. The ancient languages would require more 
 time than the modern, for obvious reasons. 
 
 Q. Could the study of one or more of the modern languages, 
 and if so, how many, be efficiently pursued in the Gram- 
 mar School, without detriment to thorough instruction in the 
 Greek and Latin languages in the same course, so far as is 
 necessary for preparation for the College course ? 
 
 A. My answer, of course, is that French and German can 
 be so pursued. 
 
 Q. If there should appear to be difficulty in making thor- 
 ough instruction in one of these branches of study compatible 
 with thorough instruction in the other, please to suggest a 
 remedy as you may think effectual ? 
 
 A. I see no difficulty. Take time enough for all. 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged to you for any sugges- 
 
32 
 
 tions you may judge material, touching the superintendence, 
 government or regulation of the Grammar School. 
 
 A. The President of the College should have the general 
 superintendence. Under him a rector would be required. 
 I would dispense with corporeal punishment altogether. Gov- 
 ernment depends more upon the character and tact of the 
 teacher, than upon the mechanical force of rules. (See Cock- 
 burn's Memorials of His Own Time, pp. 11-13, and pp. 27-32.) 
 
 THE SUB-GRADUATE OOUESE. 
 
 Q. What ought to be the hours of attendance of each pro- 
 fessor each day, to be employed in instruction ? 
 
 A. Three or four hours. Not always on three or four sub- 
 jects, however. I see no law which always limits a lecture 
 or re6itation to a single hour. 
 
 Q. What classes ought to be assigned to each professor, 
 having in view his subjects of instruction, according to the 
 suggestions which you may make, relative to the course of 
 instruction, in reply to questions of the Committee ? 
 
 A. I do not clearly comprehend this question. 
 
 Q. In reference to each department of study, in your judg- 
 ment proper for the undergraduate course, please state 
 whether the instruction ought to be from text-books or oral. 
 
 A. Oral, as far as possible. Teach by subjects, and refer 
 to books. If a text-book be introduced, the professor should go 
 beyond it. One of the greatest defects in our method of in- 
 struction is the servile devotion to text-books. Does that 
 deserve the name of instruction, where one person holds an 
 open book in his hand while others recite the contents ? He 
 is no professor who is under the necessity of carrying his 
 book with him, and who cannot get out of it. 
 
 Our land is flooded with text-books, while there is a great 
 scarcity of good instructors. We have not only text-books, 
 but text-books with questions appended, and even keys to 
 resolve all difficulties. We are attempting to make both 
 teaching and learning easy ; the consequence is, both teachers 
 and learners are superficial. 
 
33 
 
 Q. Ought such instruction, when oral, to be from notes of 
 the professor, previously prepared, and would any regulation 
 on this subject be expedient? 
 
 A. If I object to the general and servile use of text-books, 
 I must, of course, object to any regulations on this subject. 
 A competent professor will prepare notes when he finds it 
 necessary ; and if his own judgment and ability cannot be 
 relied upon, no regulations can supply the defect. 
 
 Q. In cases where oral instruction is proper, ought the 
 students to be required to take notes of the lecture of the 
 professor ? 
 
 A. Generally, the students ought to be required to take 
 notes. On certain subjects the memory of good students will 
 suffice. Strict examinations upon the lectures will impel 
 students to prepare themselves the best way they can. 
 
 Q. If so, what should be the nature of such notes, and 
 what facilities ought to be afforded to the students to enable 
 them to understand how to take them with ease and without 
 interruption of their attention ? 
 
 A. A competent professor will naturally give his class di- 
 rections with respect to taking notes. Students, also, will 
 best learn how to take notes from practice. The necessity of 
 being prepared for the subsequent recitations and examina- 
 tions will form the best stimulus on this subject. 
 
 Q. To what use ought such notes of the students to be 
 put? 
 
 A. They ought to form a subject of subsequent recitations 
 and examinations. 
 
 Q. Ought the notes to be transcribed by the students? 
 
 A. They ought to be transcribed and preserved. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any mode of enabling the students to 
 retain and recall the matter of oral lectures, not liable to 
 equal objections with note-taking by students? 
 
 A. I have nothing to suggest. Note-taking, in general, is 
 best. Any thing further must be left to the wisdom of the 
 professor to suggest as the occasion may offer, and to the 
 talent and tact of the student. This early discipline in 
 
 3j 
 
34 
 
 taking notes, and in exercising discretion on the subject, will 
 form an important preparation for the University lectures. 
 
 Q. Would it be advisable in any, and if in any, in what 
 departments of instruction, to use such a text-book as should 
 contain only so much as the student ought to learn in the 
 whole College course, so as to be able to obtain a competent 
 elementary knowledge ot the subjects taught? 
 
 A. When text-books are used, some might be found of the 
 highest value on one portion of the subject designed to be 
 taught, and some on another portion of the subject. No text- 
 book, however complete, ought to exempt a professor from 
 the duty, or to deprive him of the privilege of adding any 
 additional knowledge which he may possess, or of making 
 original observations. I would apply this to all subjects. 
 
 Q. Would such text-books facilitate instruction in Mathe- 
 matics ? 
 
 A. Text-books will generally be advisable in Mathematics, 
 it being understood that the professors shall not be confined 
 to them. Neither professor or students ought to carry the 
 text-book into the recitation-room. The course of study es- 
 tablished by the College will limit the professor as to his 
 subjects, but ought not to prevent the free application of his 
 genius in giving instruction upon the subjects prescribed. 
 
 Q. Would it or would it not be advantageous, by the 
 adoption of such a text-book, to limit the discretion of any 
 (and if so, which) professor or professors, as to mode of in- 
 struction ? 
 
 A. A good professor must be beyond the necessity of any 
 such limitation, and a poor one would not be much improved 
 by it. It belongs to a mechanic to know how to handle his 
 tools. It belongs to a teacher to know how to give instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means by which the students can 
 be made to keep up that knowledge of principles from the 
 beginning of any science or branch of instruction, which is 
 necessary to enable them to comprehend each succeeding 
 step ? 
 
 A. The main thing is to instruct thoroughly and to learn 
 
35 
 
 thoroughly. I have found in experience of horticulture, here 
 at the West, that it is a bad plan to plant potatoes very 
 shallow, and then to attempt to make a good hill, by hoeing up 
 the ground afterwards. Plant deep enough at first. Nothing 
 can repair this mistake. My experience and observation 
 lead me to believe, that where principles, " from the beginning 
 of any science or branch of instruction," are absolutely mas- 
 tered, they will be retained without much difficulty. I think 
 this results, too, from the very constitution of the human 
 mind. It will be understood that I approve of books being 
 referred to by the professor ; and that if any one book is more 
 complete on a given subject than others, it should be regarded 
 as a text-book, although not as absolutely controlling the pro- 
 fessor. Such a book, together with the written notes, ought 
 to be preserved for reference. 
 
 Q. Would a text-book, of the kind referred to in previous 
 questions, tend to accomplish such object? 
 
 A. This is answered in what precedes. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means, besides the discipline of 
 students according to the results of periodical examinations, 
 that would tend to diminish the deficiencies which arise from 
 the neglect by the students of their studies ; so as to secure 
 the uniform and continued diligence and attention of the 
 students ? 
 
 A. Good, thorough and spirited instruction, begetting in 
 a class an esprit de corps, is the first thing ; after this, an ab- 
 solute exaction of the lessons, and of preparation for examina- 
 tions, under penalty of being put back into a lower class. 
 These two together will secure the end. 
 
 I would add, however, the condition that no more be re- 
 quired than can be accomplished by proper diligence and 
 attention. We have committed two great mistakes in our 
 College : 1. The admission of students not fully prepared : 
 2. The assignment of more study than can be thoroughly 
 accomplished in the undergraduate course. The first mis- 
 take will be corrected by a proper ordering of the Grammar 
 School connected with the College. The second, by institut- 
 ing a University course above the undergraduate. In the 
 
36 
 
 absence of the University course, we have endeavored to 
 crowd as much as possible into the undergraduate. We 
 have attempted to make our Colleges, at the same time, Col- 
 leges and Universities. The consequences have been hurried 
 study, superficial acquisition and a disgust at College discipline. 
 Under such a system, a student cannot experience the delights 
 of knowledge, nor be stimulated by a consciousness of suc- 
 cess. Soon perceiving that what he is required to do he cannot 
 do well, the young student becomes remiss, and gives up 
 scholarship in despair. The professor, also, perceiving the 
 inability of bis pupils to accomplish the prescribed task, is 
 led to make liberal allowances for deficiencies in recitation, 
 and to afford undue helps in examinations. Where there 
 cannot be a reality, by common and tacit consent, there 
 grows up an artful and pretentious show of knowledge. But 
 where a University course exists, the sub-graduate course 
 can be properly limited, and studies impracticable there can 
 be reserved for the higher discipline. 
 
 Q. Could, in your opinion, more thorough instruction .be 
 imparted by limiting the range of instruction in any, and 
 whafdepartments ? 
 
 A. My answer must be in the affirmative from what pre- 
 cedes. The limitations should be in Mathematical and Physi- 
 cal Science, in Natural History, and in Philosophy or Meta- 
 physical Science. These are studies for maturity, and belong 
 in their higher points of view to the University course. The 
 sub-graduate course is mainly disciplinary. Languages — 
 not under philological points of view — should be thoroughly 
 acquired. History, as a narrative of events, Geography, Elo- 
 cution and Khetoric, Elegant Literature, Deductive Logic, 
 Mathematics up to the point where the Calculus begins, 
 or, perhaps, stopping short at Analytical Geometry, and the 
 Elements of Physical Science, ought to complete the under- 
 graduate course. 
 
 Q. If so, how would you limit it ? 
 
 A. This is answered above. 
 
 Q. How often ought the students to recite ? 
 
 A. This depends somewhat upon the nature of the studies. 
 
17 
 
 Students, also, may recite oftener the further they proceed, 
 since their knowledge and readiness, and general ability to 
 study, must continually grow. An apprentice, as he ap- 
 proaches the end of his apprenticeship, can do more work 
 than at the beginning. The sub-graduate course is the ap- 
 prenticeship of the scholar. There should never be less than 
 two nor more than five recitations a day. When only two 
 are given, the subjects should be such as require longer 
 study than usual to prepare for them, and more than an hour 
 in the recitation. This may be the case in Algebra and 
 Geometry, especially when the professor gives additional 
 exercises in the recitation-room. In case of four or five reci- 
 tations, not more than an hour should be consumed in each 
 recitation. Geography, History, Modern Languages, Elocu- 
 tion, Rhetoric and Literature may be subjects admitting of 
 four or five daily recitations. A recitation should never prove 
 a mere task, but ought always to bestow upon the pupils 
 some positive benefit. I would recommend to the Committee 
 to consult the programmes of the German Gymnasia, and 
 particularly those of Berlin, on this subject. Indeed, I would 
 say, once for all, that these programmes will be of great ser- 
 vice to them, both in respect to the Grammar School and the 
 College. 
 
 Q. How long ought the exercise of each student to continue 
 when he is examined in the lecture-room ? 
 A. The professor must be the judge of this. 
 Q. How large a class can each professor thoroughly in- 
 struct, by the adoption of a proper system ; and in what case 
 should he have assistance, if any is proper ? 
 
 A. Not more than fifteen or twenty ; because, in the under- 
 graduate course, each student should recite as often as possible. 
 "When classes are larger than this, they should be divided 
 into sections, and assistants should be employed. The pro- 
 fessor should change sections with his assistants. The "West 
 Point method is good, where all the sections are placed under 
 assistants, and the professor visits all the sections. This is 
 particularly good in Mathematics and all elementary drilling. 
 In advanced classes in languages, when some elegant author 
 
38 
 
 is read and commented upon, the sections ought to be united 
 under the professor. 
 
 Q. If any assistance is necessary, please describe its nature, 
 and what duties ought to be devolved upon the assistant and 
 what upon the professor. 
 
 A. This is substantially answered under the preceding 
 question. I would only add, that those who have passed 
 through the University, as well as the undergraduate course, 
 ought to be employed as assistants. 
 
 Q. In what department or departments, if any, would such 
 assistance be necessary? 
 
 A. In all departments, more or less. 
 
 Q. In a class of what number of students ought an efficient 
 instructor to be able, without assistance, to detect the defi- 
 ciencies of each student in the previous part of the course, or 
 to discover and explain away any difficulties he may honestly 
 labor under? 
 
 A. In a class of fifteen or twenty, as stated above ; unless, 
 in the more advanced classes, where the standing of the 
 students has become known, and where it may be less ne- 
 cessary to have frequent recitations from each one. 
 
 Q. Is it not important, in elementary instruction, to under- 
 stand the state of mind of, and to advise and assist individual 
 students ? 
 
 A. It is very important. 
 
 Q. "What means would you suggest as calculated to insure 
 the attainment of the ends suggested in the last two questions, 
 and to assure the Trustees, from time to time, that they are 
 accomplished ? 
 
 A. A professor can easily find out the state of a student's 
 mind, by proper questions in the recitation-room, and also by 
 allowing the students to ask questions, both publicly and 
 privately. It is essential to the success of a professor that he 
 gain the confidence of his pupils. After this, he can have 
 free access to their hearts. He ought, also, directly to invite 
 them to communicate their difficulties. The best assurance 
 the Trustees can have that a professor faithfully discharges 
 these and all other duties, is his known character and effi- 
 
39 
 
 ciency. Beyond this, they must rest upon the capacity and 
 fidelity of the President, who is charged with a supervision 
 of the professors. This officer ought, also, to be accessible to 
 the students. The Trustees may, also, gain a direct acquaint- 
 ance with the Institution by attending recitations and ex- 
 aminations. The supervision, both of the President and 
 Trustees, requires to be exercised with great wisdom and 
 delicacy, and ought never to appear to be invading the pro- 
 vince of a professor. 
 
 Q. How ought the relative merits of the students in each 
 department to be determined ? 
 
 A. Jointly, by the daily recitations and the stated public 
 examinations. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be any prescribed and uniform system 
 of numbers for recording the performances of the students in 
 class ? 
 
 A. I think a uniform system is best. I would leave it, 
 however, to the Faculty, to frame their own system. 
 
 Q. Ought any use, and if so, what use to be made of such 
 a record, beyond that by which the professor keeping it may 
 be enabled to form his judgment of the relative merits of the 
 students ? 
 
 A. Where a uniform system is adopted, the Faculty ought 
 to keep a record of the results. Where honors are awarded, 
 this would form the basis. 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of ranging all the students in each class, in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system of con- 
 fining such order to those of the students who have been 
 recipients of honors ? 
 
 A. I would confine this to the Grammar School. I would 
 not even except " students who have been recipients of 
 honors." It is decidedly juvenile in its character. 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance in each week ought to 
 be assigned to the Freshman class? 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance ought to be assigned to 
 the higher classes ? 
 
 A. I have already answered as to the hours each day. 
 
40 
 
 The American Colleges, visually, I believe, have recitations 
 during five days only, each week. Perhaps five days and a 
 half would be an improvement. 
 
 Q. In reference to each class, what portion of the hours 
 allotted for their attendance ought to be appropriated to the 
 subjects of instruction, respectively assigned to the class ? 
 
 A. If I understand this question, I would reply, all the 
 hours. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, a department of instruction be 
 assigned to the President ? 
 
 Q. If so, what department would be best suited to that 
 office? 
 
 A. If his other duties will permit, he ought to give instruc- 
 tion to some one class. The department ought to be left to 
 his choice. The class ought to be highest. 
 
 Q. Please to state your opinion concerning the course of 
 instruction prescribed by the statutes, and concerning such 
 provisions therein as have a bearing upon its success ; and 
 also to recommend such changes and provisions under this 
 head as you may think calculated to promote thorough and 
 efficient instruction. 
 
 A. My answer to this will be found under questions 21 and 
 22. See, also, question 1. In establishing a University 
 course, and in connecting the Grammar School with the un- 
 dergraduate course by regular gradation, you will be led to 
 modify your present course; and you will then be enabled to 
 determine what properly belongs to each grade. 
 
 Q. And the Committee particularly ask your opinion, 
 whether the study of any one or more of the Modern Lan- 
 guages ought to be prescribed as part of the undergraduate 
 course; and if so, what language or languages ? 
 
 Q. If you should answer the last preceding question in the . 
 affirmative, please state if any, and if so, what previous pre- 
 paration ought to be required. 
 
 A. See questions 1, 2, 3 and 4. I would have the same 
 preparation made in the French and German, relative to their 
 further prosecution in the sub-graduate course, as in the An- 
 cient Languages. 
 
41 
 
 It is impossible to pursue science and literature in their 
 higher spheres, without a knowledge of German and French, 
 at least. 
 
 Q. In presence of whom ought the examinations of candi- 
 dates for admission into the Freshman class to be conducted ? 
 
 A. In presence of the School Faculty or a Committee of 
 the Faculty ? 
 
 Q. Ought the examination of such candidates to be dis- 
 pensed with, provided they have been students of the Gram- 
 mar School, and hold the certificate of the master of that 
 school that they are qualified to enter the College ? 
 
 A. It ought not to be dispensed with. The prospect of such 
 an examination will exert a salutary influence over the Gram- 
 mar School. 
 
 Q. Ought the examinations for admission into the Fresh- 
 man class to be public or private ? 
 
 A. Public. 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid ? 
 
 A. Eigid. 
 
 Q. In what cases, if any, ought the public examinations of 
 such candidates to be dispensed with ? 
 
 A. I know of no case, unless it be that of very great timidity 
 on the part of the candidate. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the result of the examinations for 
 admission into the Freshman class to be reported to the Board 
 of the College? 
 
 A. It ought to be reported. 
 
 Q. In whom should the power and duty reside to decide 
 as to whether or not the applicants for admission into the 
 Freshman class shall be admitted ; in the Board of the Col- 
 lege, subject to the negative of the President, or in the Presi- 
 dent alone ? 
 
 A. In the Board of the College, the President to have the 
 casting vote. 
 
 Q. In what manner ought it to be ascertained whether the 
 persons applying for admission into the higher classes possess 
 the knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. By examination. 
 
42 
 
 Q. If by examination, in presence of whom ought the ex- 
 amination to be conducted ? 
 
 A. The Faculty. 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid ? 
 
 A. Strict and rigid. 
 
 Q. Ought they to be public or private ? 
 
 A. Public. 
 
 Q. Ought stated days to be established for such examina- 
 tions, and none to be permitted at any other times? 
 
 Q. Ought a similar arrangement to be made in relation to 
 candidates for admission into the Freshman class? 
 
 A. There ought to be days appointed. They might be ex- 
 amined at other times, also, if necessary. 
 
 Q. Please to make any suggestions that may occur to you 
 on this subject. 
 
 A. Faithful examinations are a duty both to the candidate 
 and to the College. They prevent trouble and vexation after- 
 wards. 
 
 Q. In whom should reside the power and duty of deciding 
 whether or not candidates for admission into the higher 
 classes shall be admitted ; the Board of the College, subject 
 to the negative of the President, or the President alone? 
 
 A. See question 41. 
 
 Q. "Would you, or not, recommend that all the members of 
 the Board of the College should be required to attend all ex- 
 aminations, and to note the result, in order to have, as members 
 of the Board of the College, the means of judging, from their 
 own observation, the qualifications of candidates for admis- 
 sion, or of students examined in the course subsequent to 
 their admission ? 
 
 A. Yes, 'by all means. 
 
 Q. Ought the students of each class to be examined at the 
 public examinations upon the whole subjects or matters of the 
 course of study pursued during the last preceding term, or 
 upon selections from such subjects or matters? 
 
 A. Selections are sufficient; but they ought to be made 
 from all parts of the course, and ought to be absolute tests. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any statutory provisions, such as in 
 
43 
 
 your opinion would secure the proper extent of such exami- 
 nations, and would enable the Trustees to enforce it? 
 
 A. Might be embodied in a statute. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to suggest to the Committee 
 such method of examination in relation to each department, 
 and such regulations in regard to the same, as would, in your 
 opinion, secure a strict and rigid examination, having a due 
 regard to fairness towards the students, and to precaution 
 against their failure from perturbation? 
 
 A. Perturbation ought to be allowed for. When a student 
 fails undoubtedly from this cause, he ought to be allowed an- 
 other trial. His general standing, too, ought to be taken into 
 the account. 
 
 In advanced classes, where suitable preparation for such a 
 trial may be presumed, let the student be placed alone in a 
 room, without books, to write upon a theme then assigned 
 him, in English, the Ancient or Modern Languages, as the 
 may be. In Mathematics, let a problem be given him in the 
 same manner. 
 
 Q. How much time ought to be allowed for the examina- 
 tion in the departments of instruction respectively ? 
 
 A. I cannot state with precision. The end proposed must 
 determine. Take time enough. 
 
 Q. What plan, if any, would you recommend, to allow 
 sufficient time for the thorough examination in each de- 
 partment of study, and yet to diminish as much as possible 
 the whole period allotted for the continuance of the examina- 
 tions of all the classes ? 
 
 A. By judiciously selecting absolute tests, the course of 
 examination will be best shortened. 
 
 Q. Will you please to give your opinion as to whether or 
 not the provisions of the statutes requiring a review, should 
 be retained or altered ? 
 
 A. I think the necessity of a general review before exami- 
 nation, in our American Colleges, arises, very much, from 
 the imperfect manner of hearing the lessons at first. Where 
 no more is assigned than what a student can learn thoroughly, 
 and where time enough is taken, and he is carried along slowly 
 
44 
 
 and surely, there can hardly be a necessity for a review. As 
 it now is, students must he prepared for examination. 
 
 In the German Gymnasia there is no statute requiring the 
 teachers to carry their classes through a review before exami- 
 nation. A teacher may do so, if he deems it advisable ; but, 
 I believe, it is very seldom done. In Germany the students 
 are carried over the same ground in a more advanced class, 
 after a different manner from the first time. The Iliad, for 
 example, in the first going over, is read very slowly, and in 
 particular reference to grammatical accuracy. The second 
 time it is read more rapidly, and in reference to its merits as 
 a poem. If you make the Grammar School and the College 
 one consecutive course, this method can be introduced, for 
 then there will be time enough, taking the whole together. 
 
 Q. Can you propose any method by means of which the 
 necessity of revision may be obviated ? 
 
 A. This question is answered above. 
 
 Q. Ought the public examinations to be so conducted as 
 satisfactorily to test the knowledge of the student in the sub- 
 jects of the course, which were the objects of attention not 
 only in the last preceding term, but also in the previous 
 terms ? 
 
 A. In all the preceding terms, as far as possible. 
 
 Q. How could they be made such tests ? 
 
 A. In languages it would not be necessary, since in reading 
 any author the student's acquaintance with the language must 
 be evinced. 
 
 In Mathematics, on the contrary, Bince every step of the 
 advance is based upon what precedes, the examination can, 
 very naturally, be made to embrace questions which would 
 test how well the student has retained the subject from its 
 elements onwards. The same remark will apply to History. 
 
 Q. Ought the examining professors to make a report to 
 the Board of the College of the results of the public exami- 
 nations conducted by them ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. If so, ought or ought not such reports to be in writing ? 
 
 A. In writing. 
 
45 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the professors to be required to 
 keep a record of the results of their own public examinations? 
 
 A. They ought to keep a record. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not students found at any public ex- 
 amination, deficient in the studies of the previous part of the 
 course, to be excluded from proceeding with their class ? 
 
 A. They ought to be excluded. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend the appointment by the Trus- 
 tees, from time to time, of adepts in the respective depart- 
 ments, to be charged with the duty either of conducting the 
 public examination in the departments to which they may be 
 assigned, or else, without conducting the examination, of pro- 
 posing questions from time to time, to the students, as they 
 may judge to be requisite, in the course of the examination 
 by the professor ? 
 
 A. The appointment of an Examining Committee is to be 
 approved of. The professor should conduct the examination, 
 but the Committee ought to be allowed to ask questions. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be strict in their requirements 
 upon the students to master the course of instruction pointed 
 out by the statutes; or should allowance be made for those, 
 that from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, fail to 
 acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to impart? 
 Please to state your opinion, with the reasons upon which it 
 may be based. 
 
 A. The College ought to require the students to master 
 the course. Any other practice would destroy all the ends 
 of educational discipline. 
 
 No allowance ought to be made for indolence ; for indo- 
 lence is, at least, an academical sin. I believe it, in general, 
 to be one of the worst of sins. 
 
 "Where a defect of intellectual capacity is suspected, the 
 student ought to be made to repeat the course in which he 
 has failed. If, then, his incapacity becomes apparent, his 
 parents ought to be informed of it. If they persist in desir- 
 ing him to prosecute his studies in the College, I would suf- 
 fer it. The influence of such an example could be of little 
 
46 
 
 account, as the nature of the case would soon come to be un- 
 derstood. 
 
 Q. Please to look at the chapter of the statutes on crimes 
 and punishments ; ought any of the punishments therein pro- 
 vided for to be disused ? 
 
 A. Instead of " degradation, dismission and expulsion," I 
 would say, " dismission and expulsion." A student may be 
 dismissed on the ground, partly, of expediency, when his 
 offence is not flagrant. Expulsion implies disgrace, and is to 
 be used in case of flagrant offences. 
 
 Q. What are the objections to suspension ? 
 A. The principal objection is, that a student being thrown 
 out of his class temporarily loses ground, and may be unable 
 to resume his place when he returns. 
 
 Q. If any, in what way can those objections be obviated, 
 and suspension be made an efficient and useful means for the 
 enforcement of discipline ? 
 
 A. Perhaps by compelling him, when he returns, to enter 
 a lower class. 
 
 Q. Are there any, and if any, what objection to the pun- 
 ishment of degradation from the class to which a student be- 
 longs, to a lower class ; and would you recommend that deg- 
 radation in such sense should be retained as a College punish- 
 ment? 
 
 A. "Where it would manifestly tend to improve his scholar- 
 ship. This would apply to the case of a student who loses 
 ground in consequence of suspension. I would not use the 
 word " degradation." In popular usage it is almost equiva- 
 lent to " infamy." Besides, I would wish to inculcate the 
 sentiment, that where a student, from any cause, falls behind 
 his class, his wisest and most honorable course is to enter a 
 lower class. I would not, therefore, call it " the punishment 
 of degradation" — although it may have the moral effect of a 
 punishment. 
 
 Q. Ought degradation, in the sense of removing a student 
 from a higher to a lower place in the same class, to be re- 
 tained as a punishment ? 
 
47 
 
 A. I think not. I would remove it from the chapter of 
 punishments to the chapter of educational discipline. 
 
 Q. In what manner, and in what place, and in presence 
 of whom, ought adjudged punishments to be pronounced? 
 
 A. Dismissions ought, generally, to be private ; expulsions 
 public, and announced to the students. 
 
 Q. "What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to 
 require the attendance and testimony of any student, adversely 
 to a fellow-student, upon a charge against the latter ? 
 
 A. I deem it inexpedient to require a student to testify 
 against a fellow-student. The noblest and best will generally 
 refuse ; and then an unfortunate issue is made. 
 
 Q. Do you think that thorough discipline in the College 
 might be preserved without any recourse to the testimony, 
 voluntary or involuntary, of the students to prove any offence ? 
 
 A. Yes; if any student voluntarily gives testimony'against 
 another, it of course cannot be refused ; but I would not en- 
 courage it. I would not compel or encourage a young man 
 to violate his sense of honor — even if it be a mistaken sense. 
 
 Q. To what means ought professors to be allowed to resort 
 to punish or repress disorder in their rooms ? 
 
 A. A professor, able in his instructions, gentlemanly in 
 his demeanor and strict and firm in enacting good recita- 
 tions, without manifesting passion, or even excitement, can 
 rarely have any disorder in his room. Such a professor will 
 be protected by the respect and sympathy of his class. 
 
 Q. Ought the power to dismiss students for the residue of 
 the day's attendance to be allowed to the professor ; and if 
 so, ought any, and if any, what restrictions to be imposed 
 upon the exercise of this power? 
 
 Please to make any suggestions you may think proper rela- 
 tive to the order of the lecture-room, and the means of enforc- 
 ing it. 
 
 A. Disorder, if it occurs in the room of such a professor, 
 will be confined to some ill-bred student, and can usually be 
 repressed by a dignified rebuke. If the student persist in 
 his disorder, the professor has no choice but to dismiss him 
 
48 
 
 from the room ; and in this case he ought to be informed that 
 he cannot return without making an apology. If he refuse 
 or delay, he ought to be cited to appear before the Faculty. 
 I know of no restrictions that can be laid upon the professor 
 by statute. His own good judgment and tact ought to be 
 confided in. Where a professor is destitute of these qualities, 
 no statute can make amends for the defect, or prevent the 
 evils wl-ich may ensue. 
 
 Q. Ought the professor to report at every meeting of the 
 Board of the College relative to the conduct and proficiency 
 of the students ; if so, what ought to be the nature of such 
 reports ? 
 
 A. A weekly report of standing I do not think necessary. 
 The professors ought to report such deficiencies or delinquen- 
 cies as require the notice of the Board. 
 
 Q. Ought they to be in writing ? 
 
 A. Written reports are always to be preferred. 
 
 Q. Be good enough to make any suggestion that may occur 
 to you relative to the minutes of the proceedings of the Board of 
 the College, required to be read by the President to the Board 
 of Trustees, particularly stating your opinion as to by what 
 officer should the record be kept, and what should be entered 
 therein. Please to recommend such provisions as you may 
 deem necessary relative to propositions made but not passed, 
 and relative to the exercise of the respective powers of the 
 President and the Board of the College, as affecting the con- 
 tents of such minutes. 
 
 A. The minutes of the Board should be kept by one of the 
 professors as Secretary of the Board. 
 
 The President ought to make an annual or semi-annual 
 report to the Trustees of the condition of the College. This 
 report ought to be adopted by the Board of the College be- 
 fore its presentation to the Trustees. In this report, " propo- 
 sitions made, but not passed," may be noticed, if the Board 
 agree to it. I suppose a professor has the right to address a 
 private communication to the Trustees. 
 
 Q. Ought any member of the Board of the College to be 
 allowed to engage in any professional pursuits from which he 
 
49 
 
 derives emolument, and which are not connected with the 
 College ? 
 
 The Committee will be obliged by your opinion upon the 
 statute relative to the Board of the College, and by the sug- 
 gestion of any alterations which you may think requisite. 
 
 A. Manifestly not, if it interfere with a proper discharge 
 of his duties in the College. I think it would be best to 
 amend the statute so as to read, "shall not be engaged, &c, 
 without obtaining permission from the Trustees." 
 
 Q. How and upon what evidence ought general and special 
 testimonials to be awarded ? 
 
 A. The daily record, kept by the professors, together with 
 the examinations. 
 
 Q. What is the best mode of determining the relative 
 standing of the students in each class, and ought that mode 
 to be uniform ? 
 
 A. A uniform mode, by numbers. 
 
 Q. Please to make any remarks or recommendations that 
 may occur to you as likely to assist the Committee, upon the 
 subject of the statute concerning testimonials. 
 
 A. I am doubtful of the expediency of awarding testi- 
 monials at all. The principle of good scholarship is the love 
 of knowledge and culture. The ambition of obtaining a testi- 
 monial is inferior to this, and, I think, conflicts with it. It is, 
 also, extremely difficult to select one student as really the 
 first in general standing. There is no reason why there should 
 be only one of the highest grade. Some parties always feel 
 aggrieved by the award of a first testimonial. Heartburnings, 
 jealousy and hatred are prone to be awakened. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, strict order of the students to 
 be preserved at Commencements ; or what license ought to 
 be allowed to them on those occasions ? 
 
 A. No license ought to be allowed, and as good order 
 ouo-ht to be kept as it is possible to enforce. 
 
 Q. Can you recommend any rule by which the honorary 
 parts of speakers at Commencements should be assigned ? 
 
 A. The speakers taking honorary parts must be determined 
 by general standing. 
 
 4j 
 
50 
 
 Q. Ought the students graduating to be allowed to elect or 
 nominate any of such speakers ; and if so, which of them ? 
 
 A. Perhaps the recognised Literary Societies might be 
 allowed to select speakers. I feel doubtful on the subject, 
 however. 
 
 Q. How should the speakers, others than those taking 
 honorary parts, be selected ? 
 
 A. Generally by the Faculty. The selection ought to be 
 made of the best writers and speakers. 
 
 Q. Do you recommend any, and if so, what changes in 
 the arrangement and designation of honorary orators at Com- 
 mencements ? 
 
 The Committee will be obliged by any suggestions you 
 may think proper to make on the subject of Commencements. 
 
 A. I would dispense with the Yaledictory, for reasons given 
 above. 
 
 AS TO UNIVERSITY STUDIES. 
 
 Q. The Committee solicit you to make any recommendations 
 you may deem useful or material in reference to a University, 
 and to its proper government and regulation ; to the course 
 or courses of study expedient to be provided, in the order of 
 their importance or greater usefulness ; to the system and 
 manner of instruction best adapted to produce valuable results 
 in the several departments respectively, particularly in refer- 
 ence to the end or practical result which ought to be sought. 
 
 A. The Committee will pardon me for speaking, in the first 
 place, of the University organization generally. After this, 
 I will speak of the plan of Columbia College, and answer the 
 specific questions proposed to me. 
 
 The word Universitas, in the middle ages, was applied to 
 other associations besides those of learned men. It was 
 nearly identical with our modern use of the word corporation. 
 In time, it came to be confined to learned associations ; it was 
 now and henceforth the Universitas Magistrorum — the Cor- 
 poration of Masters, Doctors or Professors. In other words, 
 
 it is AN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS FOE THE PURPOSE OF ADVANC- 
 ING and communicating knowledge. I use the word scholar 
 
51 
 
 here in tbe highest sense — I mean the highest order of learned 
 men. 
 
 In point of intelligence and acquirements, and in respect 
 to its objects, such an association is beyond every other known 
 on earth. It has the highest authority of any mere secular 
 association ; for it possesses all earthly knowledge and en- 
 larges its sphere ; it forms the standard of criticism, and 
 propounds the method of investigation ; it directs thought, 
 and leads on all improvement, civilization and culture. 
 Princes, municipalities and corporations can afford it pro- 
 tection, privileges and means ; but cannot govern it : a cor- 
 poration of scholars — it must govern itself. In respect to its 
 peculiar objects, and the manner of accomplishing them, the 
 very idea of placing any authority over it is absurd ; for 
 here, by supposition, is constituted the highest authority, 
 and these scholars are associated for the very purpose of con- 
 stituting such an authority. 
 
 Provide for the members of such an association suitable 
 stipends ; assign them a building for these uses ; collect 
 around them libraries the most complete, and every kind of 
 means for conducting their investigations and for communi- 
 cating knowledge, and the work is done — the University is 
 established. Provide the workmen and their tools, and assign 
 them their wages for their support, and they begin their 
 labors at once, with no impediment. 
 
 They advance knowledge by investigation — but how do 
 they communicate it ? They communicate it by papers read 
 before academies composed of their own members — these 
 academies being associations for specific objects; by pub- 
 lishing books ; and by public lectures. Their lectures are 
 attended by disciples who have been prepared in the pre- 
 vious disciplinary course. It requires this previous prepara- 
 tion — this apprenticeship of scholarship — to attend them, un- 
 derstandingly and with profit. These disciples they lift up 
 to their own sphere — they imbue with their ideas — they fill 
 with their spirit. Thus the race of learned men is perpet- 
 uated. They enlarge science; they create learned men: 
 these are their great works. Thus professors are raised up 
 
52 
 
 to take their places when they are no more : Thus professors 
 are raised up for the Colleges, and teachers for Grammar and 
 Normal Schools: Thus the most thoroughly educated men 
 are sent out into the professions, into the service of the 
 state, and into all influential walks of life : The higher cul- 
 ture is made to abound : All grades of education are per- 
 fected : Sciolism and pretension are exposed, confounded 
 and repressed, and sure foundations are laid for a national 
 literature. 
 
 What I have said above finds its illustration in all the 
 great Universities of Europe. They are just such corpora- 
 tions as I have described, and do just the work I have de- 
 scribed. 
 
 With these introductory remarks, I proceed to consider the 
 proposition of Columbia College to estahlish a course of Uni- 
 versity studies. 
 
 Whether she purposes to establish a University in full, or 
 only a limited number of University professorships, she must 
 proceed substantially in the same way : She must create a 
 corporation of scholars competent to perform the labors of a 
 University, and with power, at least, to nominate candidates 
 for professorships in their own body. Even the despotic 
 government of Prussia does not assume to appoint or remove 
 professors. Each Faculty nominates its own professors, and 
 confers its own degrees. The relation of the Trustees to the 
 University would be similar to that of the Prussian govern- 
 ment to the Prussian Universities. 
 
 Q. Would it be expedient in any, and what departments, 
 to assign to the same professor the duty of instruction in both 
 the sub-graduate course and the University course ? Please 
 to give your views fully. 
 
 A. I think not. The time of a professor in either course 
 is fully occupied. I deem it impossible for any man to give 
 all the minute and careful instruction required in the sub- 
 graduate course in any of its departments, and at .the same 
 time to pursue the investigations and deliver the lectures of 
 a University professor. Men employed to instruct in the sub- 
 graduate course may be better fitted for University professors, 
 
53 
 
 and in this case may be removed from the one to the other. 
 University professors may give lectures in the sub-gradaate 
 course ; but it does not comport with their duties to have re- 
 citations there, and to give the classes that drilling which 
 they require. To assign the same professor both duties is, 
 also, nothing less than to destroy the distinction between a 
 University and a College, and to make the former only an 
 extension of the latter. In the College, students are led 
 through a prescribed discipline, and recitations are exacted 
 from day to day. In the University, students having learned 
 the art and formed the habits of study, and also having 
 made the requisite preparation, apply themselves to such 
 courses as they may select, with manly freedom and discre- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. Please to make any recommendations that you may 
 think proper, touching the mode of compensation of the pro- 
 fessors of the College and the professors of the University. 
 
 A. I am inclined to think that fixed salaries is the best 
 mode of compensation for both. If fees be charged, let them 
 go into the common treasury. There are some branches, 
 such as the higher Mathematics and Astronomy, which, from 
 the nature of the subjects, would draw comparatively few 
 students, while the labor of the professors would be equally 
 great, or even greater than in branches which would attract a 
 large number. No one can doubt that it is of the utmost 
 importance to the interest of science that these few students 
 should have every possible advantage. 
 
 Q. In the absence of civil privileges or political advan- 
 tages, what motives beyond interest in the subject, or the 
 way in which it is taught, can you suggest as probably suffi- 
 cient to induce Bachelors to attend and study for higher de- 
 grees ? 
 
 A. Under all forms of government, the love of knowledge 
 and the desire of high culture will exert equal influence. 
 And although, under our institutions, thorough education is 
 not made a condition of promotion, nevertheless, the maxim 
 that knowledge is power, is acknowledged. Heuce, he who 
 would enter a profession, engage in public life or occupy a 
 
54 
 
 high social position, cannot but be aware that success and 
 influence are rendered more certain, and when gained must 
 prove more lasting, where they are based upon extensive 
 knowledge and ripe culture. 
 
 In addition to the above, we are to consider that the de- 
 mand for instructors in our Colleges and other institutions of 
 learning is constantly increasing, and that this demand can- 
 not now be met with men of the first grade of education. 
 One great end of a University is to raise up instructors fully 
 qualified for their work. 
 
 There is a great demand, also, for literary labor of every 
 description. We have, in consequence, a vast number of au- 
 thors, from the boarding-school girl to the veteran scholar. 
 There are very few veteran scholars among them, however; 
 by far the greater part are of inferior quality, and can enjoy 
 only an ephemeral reputation. They unquestionably will be 
 drawn to the University from literary ambition as well as 
 taste ; for no one doubts that learning and elegant culture 
 are essential to authorship ; and that genuine authors, when 
 they come into the field, must drive out the ephemera and 
 charlatans of literature. 
 
 We need indulge in no fears respecting the success of a 
 true University. History does not record a single instance 
 where such a University has failed. The existence of a 
 society of scholars, associated for the great work of advancing 
 knowledge, and publishing the results of these labors, would 
 at least be made certain. Such a society would attract dis- 
 ciples in our country, as they always have done in the whole 
 civilized world. If we are so far below other civilized na- 
 tions that our Universities are likely to collect few students, 
 then I would establish them the more ; for there is no other 
 instrumentality that can create nobler tastes, and raise us to 
 our true position in the world. I would create the University 
 as leaven cast into the mass of society. The number of stu- 
 dents would increase by a law as potent as that of elective 
 affinity. I would do as Leyden did, bring together the 
 Sculigers and the Salmasiuses to "improve by conversation 
 and to stimulate by example the learned of the place" and the 
 
55 
 
 youth of our country : " ut nominis sui honorem Academics 
 huic impertiret, scriptis eandem illustraret, pr essentia con- 
 decorareV (See Sir "W. Hamilton's Discussions on Philoso- 
 phy, pp. 363-4, London ed.) There are now in European 
 Universities about 150 American students. 
 
 Q. Ought the Post-Baccalauriate courses to be open to all 
 coiners, or ought they to be confined to graduates of Colleges ? 
 
 A. I would debar none from attendance upon the Univer- 
 sity lectures. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be any condition of admittance to the 
 University attendance; and if so, what? 
 
 A. Those who become regular students must, of course, 
 pay the fees. Perhaps all who attend ought to pay fees ; or 
 the lectures may be made free to all, as in Paris. I see no 
 reason for any special condition. Those who love learning 
 ought to be permitted to attend. Those who do not will stay 
 away. If any attempt a course, and find themselves unpre- 
 pared to derive advantage from it, they will soon desist. The 
 observance of good order is always presumed. 
 
 Q. If no condition be required beyond the payment of fees 
 and the observance of order, ought there or ought there not 
 to be subsequently made (at the granting of the higher de- 
 grees for instance) a distinction between those who have at- 
 tained the lower degrees and those who have not ? 
 
 A. I would grant no degrees except to those who have 
 passed the lower examinations. 
 
 Q. How ought the University Board to be constituted? 
 Who ought to preside, and what should be the relative pow- 
 ers of the President and Faculty ? 
 
 A. I like the division of Faculties adopted under Napoleon 
 
 1. in the Imperial University. 1. Faculty of Theology. 
 
 2. Faculty of Law. 3. Faculty of Medicine. 4. Faculty of 
 the Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 5. Faculty of Let- 
 ters. Each Faculty should have its own President, to be 
 elected every year ; nominate its own professorships and 
 confer its own degrees. 
 
 All the Faculties together should constitute the Senate of 
 the University. The presiding officer may be styled the 
 
56 
 
 Chancellor, in accordance with English usage. The profes- 
 sors in turn may hold this office ; or a Chancellor may be 
 elected for a term of years, or on a perpetual term. If the 
 man can be found in whom you can repose so great a trust, 
 there would be an advantage in electing him as you do the 
 President of your College, at least in the beginning of your 
 organization. Such a man would prove your chief agent in 
 organizing the University. Afterwards he ought to be elected 
 by the Senate. The powers of the Presidents of the Facul- 
 ties and of the Chancellor ought to be those of presiding 
 officers in general. It is not necessary for me, at this time, 
 to be more specific. The Chancellor, together with the 
 President of the particular Faculty granting a degree, should 
 sign the diploma. 
 
 The University may be styled. The University of Colum- 
 bia, or Columbia University. 
 
 Q. Ought the proposed University to aim at the establish- 
 ment of schools of Theology, Law and Medicine, and grant 
 degrees therein ? 
 
 A. 1. I would establish a Faculty of Medicine. Nothing 
 can be more loose than the practice of the medical schools 
 of our country. Compared with the Universities of the con- 
 tinent of Europe, how short and superficial is the course of 
 study ! The greatest abuse is the admission of young men 
 to the medical lectures, and subsequently to a degree, who 
 are not prepared to enter the Freshman class of a respectable 
 College. This profession, in the Old World, has given us 
 soaie of the greatest lights in Science and Philosophy. I 
 would endeavor to restore it to its true rank in the New 
 World. Hence, I would collect a Faculty of the profoundest 
 erudition, and I would confer the degree of Doctor of Medi- 
 cine only upon those who, previous to entering upon the 
 study of Medicine, had graduated in the College of Arts 
 and Sciences, and had spent one year in the study of Phi- 
 losophy in the University. 
 
 2. I would establish a Faculty of Law, on similar princi- 
 ples and for similar reasons. It is a question whether the 
 degree awarded at the end of the course should be that of 
 
57 
 
 Bachelor or Doctor of Law. Doctor of Law, simply, would 
 be different from L.L.D., now awarded as an honorary de- 
 gree. 
 
 3. The Trustees of Columbia College might establish, I 
 suppose, a Faculty of Theology, with propriety. Since, how- 
 ever, there are already established in the city of New-York 
 two theological seminaries of unexceptionable organization, 
 I would suggest that the Faculties of both be incorporated in 
 the University organization, with the privilege of continuing 
 their separate organizations and operations. These same pro- 
 fessors might give lectures in the halls of the University, 
 besides those given in the schools to which they belong. 
 There might also be appointed additional professors in those 
 great departments of Theological Science and Literature, 
 which, without being denominational, are of the highest in- 
 terest to all theological students. 
 
 The degree of Bachelor of Divinity might be given to all 
 students who attend both the courses of their own Seminary 
 and the course in the University. The new University ought 
 to elevate the degree of Doctor of Divinity to an extraordinary 
 honor. I would say the same with respect to the LL.D. 
 
 Doctor of Philosophy might be adopted as the peculiar de- 
 gree awarded by the Faculty of the Mathematical and Phy- 
 sical Sciences ; and Doctor of Letters as the peculiar degree 
 awarded by the Faculty of Letters. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend for the University a closer or 
 less intimate union with the city or state than now prevails 
 between the College and the same ? 
 
 A. The University of Columbia I would make either, in 
 itself, the University of the great city in which it is located, 
 or the grand nucleus of it, or a grand component of it. What- 
 ever else may spring up, or can be made to spring up, of a 
 University character and form, should, in some way, be incor- 
 porated, or harmoniously linked with it. There must be no 
 collision between it and any other genuine movement of the 
 like kind. Our scholarly and educational forces are not so 
 great that we can afford to weaken them by division and op- 
 position. If Mr. Cooper establishes University professorships 
 
58 
 
 in the Department oftbe Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 
 I would have those professorships recognised as belong- 
 ing to that particular Faculty of the one grand Univer- 
 sity organization. If Mr. Astor establishes professorships in 
 connection with the Library which bears the name of his 
 family, I would assign them, likewise, to their proper Faculty. 
 If the city establishes University professorships, let them also 
 take their proper place. And let all the professors of these 
 different organizations form the one great University Senate. 
 And let the different Faculties thus composed nominate to 
 all the vacancies in all the distinct parts, leaving to the 
 Trustees of each part to confirm the nominations made in 
 their part of the learned fraternity. 
 
 It would be quite immaterial to the integrity of the Facul- 
 ties and to the integrity of the Senate, in what buildings 
 the different professors should deliver their lectures, or from 
 what sources they should derive their support ; they, to- 
 gether, would form an association of scholars foe advanc- 
 ing AND COMMUNICATING KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Have we not a perfect illustration of this in Paris, where 
 the Sorbonne, the College of France, the Garden of Plants, 
 the School of the Fine Arts and other schools, all unite in 
 one University, and co-operate in one great purpose? 
 
 Q. Ought the University halls to be nearer the centre of 
 population than the College halls ; and would any inconven- 
 ience be likely to arise from their local separation ? 
 
 A. Let the University halls be located in or near Lafayette 
 Place. There is already a University Library. The position, 
 also, is central and quiet. After this I would name Madison 
 Square, if it could be appropriated to this purpose. I can 
 conceive of no inconvenience arising from a local separation 
 of the University from Columbia College, any more than 
 from the other Colleges of the city ; for they must all become 
 dependencies of the University. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be a prescribed order and measure of 
 attendance as indispensable to a Master's or Doctor's degree, 
 or would you recommend an exclusive reliance on a strict 
 examination ? 
 
59 
 
 A. I would recommend a reliance mainly upon examina- 
 tion, but I would require of all' candidates for University 
 degrees to devote one year to Philosophy. In the Faculties 
 of Law, Medicine and Theology, I would require a minimum 
 term of study. 
 
 Q. O nght degrees ever to be granted without correspond- 
 ing Faculties ? 
 
 A. Never. 
 
 Q. Would it be expedient to grant certificates of special 
 attainment in any branch of study, however limited, chosen 
 by the candidate ? 
 
 A. I see no objection to it. 
 
 Q. What are the subjects most appropriate, in your 
 opinion, to classes of candidates for degrees higher than the 
 Baccalauriate ? 
 
 A. I have already indicated this under the division of 
 Faculties. 
 
 Q. Is it well to demand a certain minimum of actual 
 attendance, leaving the learner the choice of subjects, and 
 the right of discretionary change at any time he may see fit? 
 
 A. As to attendance, see previous answer. I would allow 
 a choice of subjects, and the right of discretionary change. 
 I would allow a student to attend as many lectures as he 
 pleases, in addition to those of his particular coarse. 
 
 Q. Under whose control should the programme of hours 
 and studies be placed ? 
 
 A. I would allow each Faculty to regulate these for itself. 
 
 Q. Ought the University studies to cover as large a por- 
 tion of the year as the College studies ? 
 
 A. I would have two semestres, of four and a half months 
 each — say from October 1st to July 1st. 
 
 Q. Ought the University graduates to hold a separate 
 Commencement, and in other respects be but little connected 
 with the College, or the reverse ? 
 
 A. I would have no University Commencement, in the 
 ordinary sense — only examinations. 
 
 Q. How should the University professors be appointed, 
 
60 
 
 supposing the appointing power to be already vested in a 
 Board of Trustees, filling their own vacancies ? 
 
 A. I have already indicated the general method of ap- 
 pointment. The only question that here arises respects the 
 first appointments. 
 
 I would recommend to the Trustees to take counsel of the 
 most eminent and reliable men, in making a certain number 
 of appointments out of the most eminent and reliable men. 
 Then let these nominate the rest. 
 
 The advice of Cousin determined, recently, the appointment 
 of the successor of Sir William Hamilton. 
 
 The machinery once set in motion, will afterwards generate 
 its own motive power. 
 
 Q. Ought the University professors to have the privilege 
 of pursuing occupations from which they derive emolument, 
 and not connected with their duties as professors ? 
 
 A. I think not, when they are supported entirely by a 
 fixed salary. "Where fees are allowed, a minimum number 
 of lectures should be fixed ; but the professor should then 
 be allowed to increase his income, by increasing the number 
 of his lectures. I like the first method best. 
 
 Q. Ought a greater or less latitude than is now usual to be 
 conceded to the introduction of controverted matter, whether 
 religious, moral, political or scientific ? 
 
 A. I would leave theological questions to the Faculty of 
 Theology ; and all other questions to their appropriate Facul- 
 ties. I would lay no restraint upon thought and discussion in 
 the several Faculties. But sectarian contentions, and political 
 harangues, in reference to questions which agitate the public, 
 are out of place. I would have every thing to wear the 
 aspect of philosophic dignity and calmness. The light of 
 scholars is the " day-light" of Lord Bacon. 
 
 Q. Ought the text-books, whether original or adopted, to 
 be subjected to a preliminary censorship and sanction; and 
 if so, how can this best be effected? 
 
 A. I would have no text-books ; a University professor re- 
 quires none ; a University student cannot be limited to one. 
 
 Q. Would you or would you not leave the University pro- 
 
61 
 
 feasor sole judge of the mode and measure of instruction in 
 his special department, prescribing only the general outline 
 and intent ? 
 
 A. I would leave him to judge. Who can judge better 
 than he ? It is his vocation to judge of this. 
 
 Q. "What rules of discipline, if any, would you establish 
 between the professor and his class ? 
 
 A. No other rules than those which regulate the inter- 
 course of well-bred men. 
 
 Q. By whom and in what manner should the examination 
 for higher degrees and honors be conducted ? 
 
 A. By the Faculty which confers the degree. The ex- 
 amination should be conducted in public ; it should be full 
 and rigid ; the candidate should answer questions, and read 
 Theses. 
 
 Q. Would or would it not be expedient to allow eminent 
 men, resident elsewhere, to deliver, as part of the University 
 course, a limited number of lectures, to be agreed upon, for 
 a stipulated compensation ? 
 
 A. This plan has been proposed. It would be desirable, 
 in that it would enable the University to avail itself of the 
 services of eminent men, who cannot leave, permanently, 
 their present spheres of labor. Beyond this, the plan would 
 be attended with many disadvantages, and might run into an 
 excess that would virtually destroy the University organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 Let us suppose all the professors to be non-resident ; then 
 the University would become little more than a scientific 
 association, meeting at certain times to read papers. Just as 
 far as we introduce non-residents, we tend to introduce such 
 a state of things. 
 
 Then, again, there would be the evil of divided interests 
 and divided employments, and of the possibilities of un- 
 pleasant interferences from a distance, arising from competi- 
 tion, and various causes to be found in human nature. Many, 
 too, might be offended, when not invited to deliver lectures 
 at the University ; to prevent which, and to afford general 
 satisfaction, the extending of invitations to prominent men in 
 
62 
 
 the church and in the state, might degenerate into the pay- 
 ing of compliments. 
 
 I have no doubt that there would be some difficulty, at 
 first, in finding in our country a sufficient number of eminent 
 scholars to supply the Faculties of the University, if certain 
 eminent and well-known men could not be obtained. I have 
 heard it affirmed, and it is probably true, that in the whole 
 United States we could find only a sufficient number of emi- 
 nent professors to constitute one University. Now, this 
 scarcity of scholars, while it forms one of the strongest argu- 
 ments for establishing a University without further delay, 
 reveals an evil which the University itself must, in due time, 
 effectually cure. "We may not, therefore, adopt a plan in 
 perpetuity, suggested by a temporary difficulty. If any thing 
 of the kind is resorted to, let it be understood to be a tempo- 
 rary arrangement to meet a present exigency. New- York 
 is a desirable place for the permanent residence of scholars, 
 and their presence is there required, for the highest good of 
 the city as well as of the country at large. The professors 
 of a University ought to reside together, to quicken, aid 
 and sustain each other. The idea with which I started, 
 that "a University is an association of scholars for advanc- 
 ing and communicating knowledge," ought never to be lost 
 sight of. 
 
 I snbrnit the above answers to the respected Committee of 
 the Trustees of Columbia College, in all candor and good in- 
 tent, and with a profound appreciation of the great objects 
 which they have proposed to themselves. I regret that a great 
 pressure of duty has prevented me from elaborating my 
 answers to their questions as much as I could have wished. 
 I have answered simply, directly, and often with some ap- 
 pearance of bluntness, for the very form of question and 
 answer has led to a conversational ease and familiarity. 
 Can I indulge the hope that I have also answered satisfac- 
 torily? 
 
 It is a great theme, deserving the utmost consideration. 
 It has occupied my mind much ; it always awakens in me 
 the liveliest and most genuine interest. If I have replied to 
 
63 
 
 you in ex tempore language, I have not written from ex tem- 
 pore thought. 
 
 I have the honor to be, gentlemen, 
 
 Your very ob'dt servant, 
 
 Heney P. Tappan. 
 
 University of Michigan, Nov. 11th, 1856. 
 To 
 
 G. M. Ogden, Esq., 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of the Trustees of Columbia 
 College, New- York. 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 1. Professors might be called from foreign Universities. 
 A University is cosmopolitan in its nature. Professors from 
 foreign Universities have often been called to fill chairs in 
 new Universities. 
 
 2. The English students who now resort to the Continent 
 of Europe would be likely, at least a considerable proportion 
 of them, to resort to New- York, if its University should offer 
 equal advantages. 
 
64 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF THE EEV. W. H. N. 
 STEWAET. 
 
 Answers to questions of a Committee of Inquiry, appointed by 
 the Board of Trustees of Columbia College, New-York, 
 propounded to W. H. N. Stewart, A. B., of the College of 
 The Hdby and Undivided Trinity \ Dublin, Ireland ; 
 Prizeman in Classics, and Moderator in Logics and Ethics 
 in that University. 
 
 GEAMMAE SCHOOL. 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged to Mr. Stewart to sug- 
 gest a course of instmction for the Grammar School. 
 
 A. English. — The usual branches, Composition aDd read- 
 ing aloud, in the higher classes. 
 
 Greek. — Lucian, Dialogues. "Walker's edition, after the 
 rudimentary books ; New Testament — St. Luke, St. John, 
 Acts of Apostles ; Xenophon, Anabasis, first three books ; or 
 Xenophon, Cyropoedia, ditto ; Homer's Iliad, the first eight 
 books. 
 
 Latin. — Sallust, after rudimentary books ; Virgil, first six 
 books ; Juvenal, Satires, III., X., XIIL, XIV. ; Horace, Odes, 
 Epodes, Satires, Epistles, exclusive of those usually omitted 
 in schools, and of the Art of Poetry ; Livy, the first three 
 books ; Terence, Andria or Heautontimoroumenos, for Collo- 
 quial Latin. 
 
 Observation.— -The Grammar School being, as I suppose, 
 a nursery for the College, this course to be thoroughly pre- 
 pared for entrance, and all candidates for entrance to be re- 
 sponsible in it, at public examination, whether they have 
 gone through the Grammar School or not. 
 
 Q. Ought the modern languages, or any of them, and if 
 any, which of them, to have a place in that course ? 
 
 A. No. If any, French and German, or either, are the 
 most useful. The latter is in some measure necessary for 
 
65 
 
 Classical students, and the former for students who pursue 
 the higher Mathematics ; some of the most admirable philo- 
 logical works are written in the German language, and Pois- 
 son, La Place, Le Grange, Euler, Sturm and other writers 
 on pure and applied Mathematics make French desirable, in 
 connection with the College course. 
 
 Q. Ought the study of any, and which of such languages, 
 if placed in such course, to be compulsory ? 
 
 A. No. The study of them, in a profitable way, is best 
 promoted by prizes or medals for distinguished proficiency. 
 
 Q. Could the study of one or more of the modern lan- 
 guages, and if so, how many, be efficiently pursued in the 
 Grammar School, without detriment to thorough instruction 
 in the Latin and Greek languages in the same course, so far 
 as is necessary for preparation for the College course. 
 
 A. The knowledge likely to be acquired of modern lan- 
 guages, in the Grammar School, will probably be limited to 
 a knowledge of the grammar of the language studied. If the 
 principles of universal grammar are taught on the basis of 
 the Latin or Greek languages, the student will do well to 
 limit his attention to that, and by so doing, thoroughly pre- 
 pare himself for the study of any modern language after- 
 wards. I do not think modern languages can be pursued in 
 the Grammar School without detriment to thorough instruc- 
 tion in Greek and Latin. 
 
 Q. What place, in point of time or period, ought the study 
 of modern languages (if any ought to be prescribed) to have 
 in the Grammar School course ? 
 
 A. The two higher classes ought to study them in the 
 course, if they be prescribed at all. 
 
 Q. If there should be a difficulty in making thorough instruc- 
 tion in modern languages, compatible with thorough instruc- 
 tion in Latin and Greek, please suggest a remedy such as you 
 may think effectual. 
 
 A. Abandon one or the other ; or rather let the student or 
 his guardians make the choice between ancient and modern 
 languages. If he decides for the system which universal ex- 
 perience approves, let him go to College, and obey the College 
 
 5j 
 
66 
 
 authorities who direct Lis studies. If he wishes to be a 
 modem linguist, let him go to a professor and leave College. 
 If he has linguistic ability he can, on the basis of the universal 
 grammar, build up a knowledge of any particular modern 
 language, to which, more or less, Greek and Latin are intro- 
 ductory handmaids; and for proficiency in that particular 
 language, let Collegiate distinctions be given in the shape of 
 annual prizes in the four classes of the College and the higher 
 classes of the Grammar School. 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged to you for any sugges- 
 tions you may judge material touching the superintendence, 
 government or regulation of the Grammar School. 
 
 A Government.— -There should be a head master, invested 
 with supreme power and patronage within his school, over 
 teachers and pupils. Patronage sustains power. Let the 
 class-masters be appointed by the head master. Let him dis- 
 miss them, also, at his discretion. Superintendence. — If 
 there be six classes or forms, one class-master can take the 
 two Junior classes ; and there should be one master for each 
 of the other classes, the master of the highest or head class 
 being selected with reference to his unquestionable ability as 
 a classical scholar and teacher. This is of great importance 
 to the future Collegiate success of the Grammar School 
 students. 
 
 The head master shall review, on one Friday in every 
 month, each class, in all that the class has gone through the 
 preceding four weeks. The third and fourth, and second and 
 first classes will take one day each pair. The fifth class and the 
 head class to have an entire 'day for review. The condition 
 of a class depends upon its master, as that of a company of 
 soldiers on its captain. The head master shall review and 
 admonish both teacher and pupils. One review will deter- 
 mine the capacity and power to teach possessed by the class- 
 master. 
 
 The head master to have no class, and no other business 
 
 but the Grammar School, to be always in his room. If the 
 
 head master have any special subject he is fond of or pro- 
 
 . ficient in, he may take the classes seriatim from the class- 
 
67 
 
 masters, while they revise and correct compositions and 
 themes. Head master has the sole power of punishment. 
 Class-masters send delinquents and offenders to him. Head 
 master to be present at the opening and closing of school 
 each day. Every case of discipline to be dealt with at the 
 time promptly ; no punishments to be deferred or carried 
 over to next day. Sufficient to the day, literally, will be the 
 evil thereof. Teachers require looking after as well as pupils. 
 Head master must be prompt and keep them punctual. Half 
 an hour puts out a whole school. Trustees or visitors of the 
 Grammar School, and the success of pupils in College, will 
 tell how the school works. There should be free scholarships 
 in the school, to be held during good behaviour, by boys or 
 youths whose ability or proficiency have been tested by pre- 
 liminary examination. The attainment of them should be 
 made honorable ; and if distinctive costumes are permitted, 
 the free scholar may wear a velvet cap, while ordinary 
 students wear cloth ones. They are commonly the men that 
 will give the school a name and bring the College honor. 
 
 SUB-GRADUATE COUESE. 
 
 If the above system be thoroughly pursued in the Gram- 
 mar School, the professors will have little to do but to indi- 
 cate the topics and modes of study, and the authors most 
 profitable to the student. In answer to the question, what 
 ought to be the hours of attendance of each professor each day, 
 to be employed in instruction, I think the professors of Greek, 
 Latin, Mathematics, and in the third year the Logical and Ethi- 
 cal professor, ought to lecture on the book or subject appoint- 
 ed for the term and class, briefly, indicating where information 
 may be found, and solving questions of students, and points 
 referred, three times a week to each class. Recitations to a 
 professor are waste of time. If the scholastic preparation be 
 complete and thorough they are not needed. The professor 
 can mark the passages where criticism or explanation are 
 needed in each author or subject, and call attention to them 
 without going over the whole lesson for the day. 
 
68 
 
 I am unable to say what classes ought to be assigned to 
 each prof essor ; but I think that, eventually, when men gra- 
 duate with distinction, as prizemen, in different branches, 
 their services should be retained for two or three years as 
 Fellows, and the morning lectures should be delivered by 
 them. They are fresh from the work ; and, for their credit- 
 sake, will be pains-taking and diligent, and will not feel the 
 weariness, in details, which professors who travel the same 
 road constantly with tyros must experience. Such Fellows 
 would give zest and freshness to the instruction. You may 
 call them adjunct professors, if you choose. Their business 
 would be to act as College tutors — properly so called ; and 
 that provision for a post-graduate course would fall in with 
 this idea, as giving such graduates as pursued it a position 
 and rank in the College. 
 
 Q. In reference to each department of study, in your judg- 
 ment proper for the undergraduate course, please state 
 whether the instruction ought to be from text-books or oral. 
 
 A. The text-book is appointed in the carriculum of study. 
 Subjects, or branches and departments of subjects, indicated 
 by the text-book, are to be pursued. The student will be re- 
 sponsible, not only in the book, but in the subject. Oral in- 
 struction by the professor, indicating the ramifications of the 
 subject and the sources of information, must necessarily be 
 oral. 
 
 Q. In cases where oral instruction is proper, ought the 
 students to be required to take notes of the lecture of the 
 professor ? 
 
 A. The professor, as a wise master-builder, will show the 
 connection of his topic with the text-book. The student may 
 be left to his own discretion to take notes of those observa- 
 tions of the professor which he may think suggestive, ex- 
 planatory or guiding. 
 
 Q, If so, what should be the nature of such notes, and 
 what facilities ought to be afforded to the students to enable 
 them to understand how to take them with, ease, and with- 
 out interruption of their attention ? 
 
 A. They should be very brief. The underscoring of a 
 
69 
 
 word in the text-book ; the appending to the statement of the 
 text-book of the name of an author who dissents or varies in 
 his view. I am opposed to elaborate note-taking. The stu- 
 dent who does this thinks with the professor's mind — not 
 with his own. If he has the outline of the subject, which, 
 by no great effort of abstraction, he can make in single words, 
 he can, by a very easy memorial exercise, recall the points 
 where inequalities in the surface, or gaps in the continuity of 
 it occur ; and a note of interrogation, after a statement or 
 word, will mark where difficulties emerge or thought is lost 
 in the abyss of infinity or ignorance which underlie all 
 knowledge. 
 
 Q. To what use ought such notes to be put ? 
 
 A. They are for the individual student's private aid in 
 studying out his subject. 
 
 Q. Ought notes to be transcribed by the students ? 
 
 A. Le jeu ne vant pas la chandelle. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any mode of enabling students to re- 
 tain and recall the matter of oral lectures, not liable to equal 
 objections with note-taking by students? 
 
 A. First, thorough grounding in the text-book, without 
 vote or comment. Secondly, the celebrated Polish Major 
 Benowski suggested to students a mechanical division of 
 their minds, regarded as houses, into various rooms, labelled 
 Greek, Latin, Mathematics. These rooms furnished all round 
 with shelves, as depositaries of ideas, and labelled with the 
 names of authors. If the idea be adopted, and the thoughts 
 suggested by the professor be so clearly put that the student 
 can see their place, in connection with the subject of the lec- 
 ture, the memorial exercise of recalling his remarks and 
 their connection will not be very difficult. Further, it is to 
 be supposed, though it is not necessary, that the questions at 
 examinations by professors, if the professors are to be examin- 
 ers, will be suggested by the lectures, or be related to them. 
 If so, the printed examination papers, containing questions 
 only, will, as they accumulate, suggest lines of thought, and 
 recall the matter of previous lectures. 
 
 Q. Would it be advisable, and if in any, in what depart- 
 
70 
 
 merits of instruction, to use such a text-book as should contain 
 only so much as the student ought to learn in the whole College 
 course, so as to be able to obtain a competent elementary 
 knowledge of the subjects taught? 
 
 A. No. If you make students study subjects, which is most 
 desirable, they should be taught to consider themselves re- 
 sponsible in the subject — the professor warning them to avoid 
 unprofitable ranges of thought or reading. In answer to ques- 
 tion 10, such a text-book, in an accurate science, such as Ma- 
 thematics, would probably be useful, but it is, I think, as yet 
 unwritten, and is likely to be so. The professor should, in the 
 exercise of his knowledge of the subject and of the contribu- 
 tions made by each author appointed to be read in the course, 
 mark out the part of his book where he has added to the 
 sum of attainable knowledge, and show the students how he 
 is connected, historically or really, with the subject in hand. 
 
 Q. Would it or would it not be advantageous, by the adop- 
 tion of such a text-book, to limit the discretion of any (and 
 if so, which) professor or professors as to the mode of instruc- 
 tion? 
 
 A. Professors have their idiosyncrasies. They are, except 
 by the professor's own good sense and intelligent apprehension 
 of the end to be obtained, uncontrollable. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means by which students can be 
 made to keep np that knowledge of principles from the be- 
 ginning of any science or branch of instruction which is ne- 
 cessary to enable them to comprehend each succeeding step ? 
 
 A. The students must have some prehensile power in 
 their minds. "Without grasp of thought in them no system can 
 work. Brown's Lectures on "The Philosophy of the Human 
 Mind" present an instance of very successful summing up at 
 the close of each lecture, and of recapitulation at the begin- 
 ning of the ensuing one ; he suggests, in these places, to the 
 student's ear catch-words, which connect and carry on in their 
 minds the theme on which he dwells. 
 
 Q. Would a text-book of the kind referred to in previous 
 questions tend to accomplish such object ? 
 
 A. It would be a crutch lo imbecility or weak minds, 
 
71 
 
 which class of students will inevitably tail off, under any 
 system, to the lowest degree of proficiency. Colleges cannot 
 depress average or superior minds, or create tliem where they 
 do not exist. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means, besides the discipline 
 of students according to the results of periodical examinations, 
 that would tend to diminish the deficiencies which arise from 
 the neglect by the students of their studies, so as to secure the 
 uniform and diligent attention of such students ? 
 
 A. ISTo. The difficulty is in the students themselves, not 
 in their Collegiate surroundings. It may be abated by culti- 
 vating among students a public opinion against uuprepared- 
 ness and neglect. 
 
 Q. Could, in your opinion, more thorough instruction be 
 imparted by limiting the range of instruction in any and 
 what departments ? 
 
 A. This question touches the whole carricnlum of studies. 
 If you study subjects, they limit themselves by their own con- 
 dition, acquisitions from time to time, and general progress. 
 But something might be done, by agreeing on one standard 
 of proficiency for all students, and requiring a higher standard 
 from men who seek prizes and honors or testimonials. The 
 giving of testimonials recklessly is absurd and unnecessary. 
 The mere fact of a student having passed his examination, is 
 a testimonial ; those who are ambitious of distinction beyond 
 that, should be re-examined for honors, or prizes, or testimo- 
 nials, and their right to re-examination should depend upon 
 the aggregate of the independent judgments as to their profi- 
 ciency, given by the examiners at the ordinary periodical ex- 
 aminations. Thus, suppose there be three examiners, one in 
 Latin and Greek, another in Mathematics, and a third in 
 Logic. Suppose a student to get for Latin and Greek an A. 
 1, judgment ; for Mathematics an JE. judgment ; for Logic 
 an .2E. judgment ; then the examiners might unite in recom- 
 mending such a student for re-examination in an extended 
 and previously appointed course of Latin and Greek; and if 
 his proficiency justifies it, he might receive honors or prizes. 
 If he feels himself unprepared in the honor course, then the 
 
72 
 
 recommendation for examination is a testimonial of his ex- 
 cellent proficiency in the ordinary course. If he feels him- 
 self well prepared, he will go to the examination for honors, 
 and may win them. In any case he is a good average man. 
 But if his judgment mark for Mathematics were M. 3, and 
 Logic M. 3, then his deficiency in these respects would hinder 
 his distinction in Classics, which probably would, in any 
 such case, be his speciality, and therefore would need for the 
 ordinary course less proportionate application. The next time, 
 after such a failure, that an aspiring classical student intended 
 to try for classical prizes, he would look up his Mathematics, 
 however distasteful, and his Logic, however unpleasant, and this 
 would be discipline for his mind, and perhaps disclose to him 
 new powers there, which, in pursuit of his own tasks, he had 
 allowed to be dormant. I esteem this a very important 
 point. Let it be understood, that in order to obtain honors 
 or prizes in any one department, competent proficiency in 
 others will be required, to be determined by the judgment 
 marks they receive for others in the course. Thus each man 
 may pursue his speciality, not inordinately or to the neglect 
 of other departments of learning, which will make him totus, 
 teres, atque rotundus. I mean mentally, for it is not a corporeal 
 desideratum. 
 
 Q. If so, how ought it to be limited ? 
 
 A. I have in the foregoing remarks answered this ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. How often ought students to recite ? 
 
 A. Construe first every day in Grammar School, then 
 translate a fine exercise in fluency and choice of words, (in 
 their own language.) Then diminish the construing as the 
 facility for translation at sight increases. Put back inaccurate 
 men to construing. Accuracy is the point of honor in trans- 
 lating. Students in College are supposed to have attained 
 some considerable degree of accuracy and facility in trans- 
 lating. The professor or morning lecturer may require 
 them at lecture to take difficult passages and translate 
 them. I would have no other recitations. The students 
 may suggest what they think to be difficult passages, and 
 
73 
 
 be shamed into study by their easy solution by their fellow- 
 students. 
 
 Q. How long ought the exercise of each student to con- 
 tinue, when he is examined in the lecture-room ? 
 
 A. As I understand it, the student is not present in the 
 lecture-room to be examined, but to prepare himself, by the 
 aid of the professor's suggestions, for his term or periodical 
 examinations. The subject he shall be responsible for may 
 be divided into portions for each day ; one or more students 
 may recite. If he is uncorrected by the professor, what he 
 says is to be considered right. Let the students mart their 
 errors for themselves as he goes on. I think recitations, that 
 is, saying lessons, unsuited to a College. 
 
 Q. How large a class can each professor thoroughly in- 
 struct by the adoption of a proper system, and in what case 
 should he have assistance, if any is proper ? 
 
 A. The size of the class is limited only by the power of 
 hearing. The assistance to professors, or rather, the relief of 
 them from morniDg lectures, on authors studied, I have sug- 
 gested in my remarks on the use that might be made of those 
 who remain for the post-graduate course, and have had their 
 ability quoad hoc tested by examination, before their election 
 or appointment as adjunct professors or Fellows. 
 
 Q. If any assistance is necessary, please describe its nature, 
 and what duties ought to devolve on the professor, and what 
 on his assistant ? 
 
 A. I have said assistance is necessary ; the mode I propose 
 for supplying assistants will be doubly beneficial to the post- 
 graduate and to the students. (See remarks on question 2.) 
 The duty of the professor should be, to introduce each author 
 or subject to the students, with observations on his character, 
 life, times, style, peculiarities, merits, and to give an estimate 
 of his aggregate contributions to human knowledge, marking 
 the points he is expected to make in connection with the 
 universal course, &c, &c. 
 
 Q. In what departments, if any, would such assistance be 
 necessary ? 
 
 A. In the classical ; probably in the mathematical and 
 
74 
 
 logical, if the Fellows or post-graduates had evinced undoubt- 
 ed ability or genius in those departments. 
 
 Q. In a class of what number of students ought an efficient 
 instructor to be able to detect, without assistance, the defi- 
 ciencies of each student in the previous part of the course, or 
 to discover or explain away any difficulties he may honestly 
 labor under. 
 
 A. The deficiencies, if gross, of any student in & previous 
 part of the course, are irreparable iu that part of the 
 course where they are discovered. He must go back to go on. 
 The deficiencies will be detected at the periodical, quarterly 
 or term examinations, (not less, they ought to be, than three 
 in a year for each class,) or the student may at lecture 
 disclose them, to be dealt with by the professor or his assistant. 
 
 Q. Is it not important, in elementary instruction, to un- 
 derstand the state of mind of, and to advise and assist indi- 
 vidual students ? 
 
 A. The thing which Collegiate training discovers, is whether 
 the student has any mind or not ; the degree of his capacity 
 will be discovered at examination. The facilities for advice 
 and assistance, professorial and mutual, afforded by a College, 
 are as great as any one not an imbecile or a fatuous person 
 can require. 
 
 Q. What means would you suggest as calculated to insure 
 the attainment of the ends suggested in the two last questions, 
 and to assure the Trustees, from time to time, that they are 
 accomplished ? 
 
 A. The examiners, on detecting deficiency, may confer to- 
 gether and with the student on its causes and remedies. I 
 think the causes, except in a rare case, will be found to be 
 neglect or mental incapacity. 
 
 A. How ought the relative merits of the students in each 
 department to be determined ? 
 
 A. By the judgment marks opposite their name? on the 
 examiners' list. After each examination, the examiners meet 
 for the confirmation of judgments before publication. In ex- 
 aminations for honors, when two students have mark for mark, 
 they are to be bracketed in the published judgments as equal. 
 
75 
 
 If there be but one prize or honor awarded, they must be ex- 
 amined until the first mistake occurs ; and he who makes it, 
 loses the prize. No step should be given and no prize or 
 honor won but by good answering at examination. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be any prescribed and uniform system 
 of numbers for recording the performances of students in class? 
 
 A. In class, no. At examination, yes. I may say here, that 
 at the general entrance examination, the assignment of the 
 " first place" at entrance ought to be made a matter of 
 record, and should be made a high distinction. In my own 
 experience, few men in the University of Dublin ever at- 
 tained first place, or second, or third, without keeping the 
 lead in College and in life afterwards. 
 
 Q. Ought any use (and if so, what use) to be made of such 
 a record beyond that by which the professor keeping it may 
 be enabled to form his judgment of the relative merits of 
 students ? 
 
 A. If it be a class record, no; if an examination judg- 
 ment list, yes. The results as to position and honor should 
 be of record with the Registrar of the College, and appear 
 in the College calendar from year to year, and in the news- 
 papers, and on the College gates, after the confirmation of 
 judgments and the making up of the lists of those recom- 
 mended for re-examination, and of those who, after re-ex- 
 amination, have obtained honors. 
 
 Q. "What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of ranging all the students in each class, in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system of con- 
 fining such order to those students who have been recipients 
 of honors ? 
 
 A. Did you ever see a horse race ? If so, you know very 
 few and only the leading horses are " placed." After the 
 third horse or so, there is little relative merit. If they do not 
 " save their distance," they cannot run again. All those who 
 lead, and those who are " distanced," being marked for 
 honor or dishonor, the intermediates are average animals, 
 and are " in the ruck." They entered for the race, and ran 
 well ; no more need be said. 
 
76 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance in each week ought to 
 be assigned to the Freshman class ? 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance ought to be assigned to 
 the higher classes ? 
 
 A. I cannot say; it will depend upon the subjects they 
 study. The higher classes will need less time for attendance 
 than the Junior. Practically among men who have distin- 
 guished themselves in the Freshman years, attendance upon 
 the professors will be felt to be less necessary as they go on 
 in their studies. 
 
 Q. In reference to each class, what portion of the hours 
 allotted for their attendance ought to be appropriated to the 
 subjects of instruction respectively assigned to the class ? 
 
 A. I cannot say. The Freshman well need more time — 
 the Sophomore less. Or they ought to. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, a department of instruction to 
 be assigned to the President ? 
 
 A. No ; he should appear or be present at every term and 
 general examination, at the confirmation and publication of 
 judgments, which should be signed by examiners, and coun- 
 tersigned by him officially. At Fellowship examinations, or 
 examinations for foundation or other scholarships, or for first 
 place at entrance, he should be present. If he have any 
 speciality, he might, to give dignity to the examination, take 
 a part or conduct a general viva'voce examination, after the 
 particular examination of the candidates by the professors 
 of the various subjects of examination. This will discover 
 the clear, prompt, "ready" answerer, who if he prove as 
 well furnished as the merely " full" man, is the better man 
 of any two. 
 
 Q. If so, what department would be best suited to that 
 office? 
 
 A. If any, the one he is best suited for, by love or taste 
 for it. But nequid nimis with him. 
 
 Q. Please to state your opinion concerning the course of 
 instruction prescribed by the statutes, and concerning such 
 provisions therein as have a bearing on its success. 
 
 A. The distinction I should like to see between the (what 
 
77 
 
 I may call) average or ordinary course, and the extended 
 course for honors, is not marked sufficiently clearly. For in- 
 stance : if the first book of Euclid be required for the first 
 term examination of the Junior Freshman (first) year, I 
 would have those who sought honors, to know the second 
 book would be required of them for the honor examination, 
 and so with Classics. In the Senior Freshman, that is the 
 second year, at the third or Michaelmas examination of that 
 year — if Logics and the Philosophy of the Human Mind be 
 the subjects, and Aldrich and Locke the text-books — then 
 the honor men would be responsible, beside these in Whate- 
 ley's book and Stewart's or Brown's systems; and so on. 
 The books required to be prepared, and the portions of them 
 necessary at each ordinary term examination, should be 
 clearly noted in the curriculum, and the additional ones re- 
 quired for honors, as distinctly marked down. I think, with 
 due deference, that a careful comparison of the curricula of 
 other Universities — Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge — would 
 suggest alterations in the times assigned for the study of par- 
 ticular works, for which palpable reasons, arising out of the 
 natural relations of their subjects to different lines of study, 
 will appear. Thus Cicero's books, De Officiis, De Contem- 
 nenda Morte, De Natura Deorum, should be studied not for 
 the language's, but for the subject's sake. The relation of 
 the subjects they treat of connect them with the Ethical and 
 Philosophical departments. I think Horace's Epistles, Plau- 
 tus, Lncan, Livy, Tacitus,' Pliny's Letters, Latin ; and Euri- 
 pides, Homer's Iliad, Homeric Hymns, Herodotus, Thucy- 
 dides, an utterly impracticable amount of Classics for the 
 second year. Count the lines in these works and the time it 
 would take merely to read them cursorily. Homer's Iliad, 
 Herodotus and Euripides are more than enough Greek, and 
 Lucan, Livy and Tacitus too much Latin. I think it quite 
 impossible that men in their second year can study accurately 
 and critically so many authors. He who reads Yirgil regu- 
 larly need not read Lucan in College. The nature and scope 
 of Epic Poetry may be taught on the basis of the JSneid and 
 Iliad. He who can read Livy need not read Tacitus in Col- 
 
78 
 
 lege, or vice versa. The knowledge of the ancient drama 
 may be taught on the basis of Plautus or Aristophanes, or 
 Terence or Euripides, without going through all their plays, 
 and the discretion allowed the President as to the works or 
 the portions of them to be read does/ not abate the exorbitant 
 demand I think this course of study makes on the students, 
 and does not increase the security of the students as to the 
 portions he will be eventually responsible in. I suggest the 
 comparison of the annexed tabular statement of the curricu- 
 lum of study for the Senior Freshman (second) year, in the 
 University of Dublin, which is notoriously jealous of its 
 classical reputation and honors, while duly attentive to other 
 branches of knowledge, with the course for the second year in 
 Columbia College. 
 
 SENIOR FKESHMAN. 
 
 [The Sophomore class in Columbia College.'] 
 
 FOE ALL STUDENTS. 
 
 ADDITIONAL FOE HONORS. 
 
 a - Greek — Euripides, Hecuba. 
 
 | Latin — Terence, Adelphi and He- 
 
 S Mathematics. 
 * Logic. 
 
 The Medea. 
 
 Phormio — Andria and Heautontimo- 
 roumenos. 
 
 Additional Mathematics. 
 Logic. 
 
 ^ Greek — Sophocles, CEdipus Tyrannus. 
 .§> Latin — Horace, Odes. 
 .£ Mathematics. 
 h Logic. 
 
 CEdipus Coloneus. 
 Epodes Carmea Scecul : 
 
 » Greek — Euripides, Phcemssoe. 
 
 J Latin — Hor. Sat. and Ep. 
 *> * 
 S Mathematics. 
 
 ^ Logic. 
 
 jEschylus, Septem Contra. 
 Thebas, Latin Art of Poetry. 
 
 This is one year's classical work ; but in it there is re- 
 quired the most complete and thorough Historical, Critical, 
 Geographical, Poetical, Metrical and Linguistic accuracy. 
 The blanks for Logic and Mathematics are not filled in, in 
 the above, because it was, besides, my purpose to do so at this 
 point. 
 
79 
 
 Q. And also to recommend such changes and provisions 
 under this head as you may think calculated to promote 
 thorough and efficient instruction. 
 
 A. Without knowing precisely the details of Columbia 
 College, I may say that I think three examinations in each 
 year and in each class the very least number which ought 
 to be appointed. At the Michaelmas examination of the 
 second year, the students should have no additional matter 
 assigned for study, but be made then responsible in all the 
 subjects and books of the preceding two years — the students 
 being allowed to select the subjects, Classics, Mathematics 
 or Logic and Ethical Philosophy, in which they design to try 
 for honors. It should be understood that students who design 
 to try for honors in any department must get even or average 
 judgments for the other branches of the course ; and that 
 those who desire to obtain prizes for linguistic skill in modern 
 languages, must get fair judgments in all the subjects of the 
 course ; or, if not, be disqualified from being honored in their 
 speciality. The Michaelmas or fall examination of the second 
 year, and of the fourth year, (which will be the degree exami- 
 nation,) should be most searching; each individual should be 
 examined separately, by examiners appointed in the different 
 subjects ; and the examiners, on comparing their judgments, 
 can agree on whom they will recommend for re-examination. 
 The recommendations for re-examination must not be made 
 lightly, or in such numbers as to hinder such recommendations 
 in themselves from being considered high testimonials of 
 ability and proficiency. It is probable that many of those 
 recommended will not " go in" for the prize or honors, but 
 rest content with the recommendation. Those who do go 
 in should be examined orally and by printed papers of ques- 
 tions, which individual students can answer in writing while 
 their competitors are being separately and orally examined. 
 
 Q. And the Committee particularly ask your opinion 
 whether the study of any one or more of the modern lan- 
 guages ought to be prescribed as part of the undergraduate 
 course ; and if so, what language or languages ? 
 
 A. Proficiency in any language (modern) may be recog- 
 
80 
 
 nised and rewarded by the College, providing a place for 
 examination in it, and prizes for proficiency — French and 
 German, or either. 
 
 Q. If you should answer the last preceding question in the 
 affirmative, please state if any, and if so, what preparation 
 ought to be required ? 
 
 A. The whole subject of modern languages must be left 
 to individual will, taste, necessity, and the prospective con- 
 sideration of the parties interested. 
 
 Q. In presence of whom ought the examinations of candi- 
 dates for admission into the Freshman class to be con- 
 ducted ? 
 
 A. A day in each year, or two days in each year should be 
 appointed for entrance. At these times — either of which 
 should be at least three months distant from the first exami- 
 nation of the Freshman year — all students whatsoever 
 should be required to enter. In case of certified illness they 
 may put their names on the entrance roll, and subsequently, 
 when recovered, pass a private examination for entrance in 
 the appointed books and subjects. The general entrance ex- 
 aminations should be held in the public assembly-room of the 
 College, from which all but the candidates and examiners are 
 excluded. The public have to do with the results ; those are 
 published. 
 
 Q. Ought such examination to be dispensed with, provided 
 they have been students of the Grammar School, and hold 
 the certificate of the master of that school that they are 
 qualified to enter College ? 
 
 A. No. The students from Trinity School, for example, 
 and from Columbia Grammar School, meet on the floor of the 
 examination hall at entrance, to compete for first place. The 
 school whose candidate obtains it is honored, and its course 
 of instruction thoroughly endorsed and advertised. 
 
 This competition private schools will enter into, and such 
 rivalry is most effective and wholesome. That school whose 
 candidate gets first place for years successively must deserve 
 patronage for its thoroughness. "When you have once estab- 
 lished your first and second places at entrance as honors, and 
 
81 
 
 prescribed a uniform course of authors or subjects for exami- 
 nation in order to secure it, every boy who is head of his 
 class, and has any Collegiate prospects, will be quickened. 
 He rises to be " Cap" of his school, and takes the lead at his 
 entrance into College. It is an honor immediate, within 
 a schoolboy's scope, and the attainment of it will subserve 
 the schoolmaster's interest and reputation. I have known 
 the master of the head class in a public school, where I was 
 educated, to go up with the men he had drilled for a year, 
 and while going up in the coach, during the whole day, " put 
 them up" to points of practice at examination, and test their 
 self-possession and readiness by plunging, in medias res, like 
 an examiner, that he might see how they would conduct or 
 acquit themselves. The men of this school had obtained first 
 place at entrance into College for years. I believe the suc- 
 cess is yet unbroken. The " first-place men" are known even 
 when they are in the lower classes. 
 
 Q. Ought examinations for admission into the Freshman 
 class to be public or private ? 
 
 A. The public, friends and relatives should be excluded 
 from the examination hall. 
 
 Q. Ought such examination to be strict and rigid? 
 
 A. Certainly. 
 
 Q. In what cases, if any, ought the public examination of 
 such candidates to be dispensed with ? 
 
 A. Having suggested a mode of meeting cases of illness, 
 by allowing the name of the sick candidate to go on the en- 
 trance list, and the examination being held after recovery, I 
 know of no instances where a strict and rigid public exami- 
 nation before admission to College ought to be dispensed 
 with. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the result of the examinations for 
 admission to the Freshman class to be reported to the Board 
 of the College ? 
 
 A. I cannot say. If by the Board of the College the 
 Board of Trustees is meant, I cannot see how the Trustees 
 can be interested in this detail. 
 
 Q. In whom should the power and duty reside, to decide 
 
82 
 
 as to whether or not applicants for admission into the Fresh- 
 man class shall be admitted ; in the Board of the College 
 subject to the negative of the President, or in the President 
 alone ? 
 
 A. This seems to me a very strange question. I think, as 
 far as the literary or mental qualifications of the candidate 
 for entrance is concerned, under a very simple system the 
 candidate would mainly determine that point himself. If it 
 were the known rule of the College, that certain judgment 
 marks were the very lowest on which entrance could be ob- 
 tained, then the judgments assigned to him on the examiners' 
 lists would determine his admission or rejection. So far with 
 respect to literary qualifications. In questions of admission 
 hinging upon moral character, as it is desirable for the 
 students' sake to prevent such matters from being ventilated, 
 it is better to leave them to the sole decision of the Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 Q. In what manner ought it to be ascertained whether the 
 persons applying for admission into the higher classes possess 
 the knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. They may matriculate ; that is, enter their names at 
 any time on the College books as students, and attend lec- 
 tures, &c, like other students, until the next examination of 
 the class they intend to join, respecting which they shall 
 advise with the authorities of the College. At such next 
 ensuing term or periodical examination they shall be held 
 responsible, at the discretion of the examiners, in all the 
 previous studies of that class; this will give sufficient indul- 
 gence to the late-learned, who have little time to spare, and 
 give the College power to reject the flagrantly deficient can- 
 didates. 
 
 Q. If by examination, in presence of whom ought the ex- 
 amination to be conducted ? 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid ? 
 
 Q. Ought they to be public or private ? 
 
 A. These questions are inclusively answered in the fore- 
 going reply. 
 
83 
 
 Q. Ought stated days to be established for such examina- 
 tions, and none to be permitted at other times? 
 
 A. For every reason, the College ought to adhere firmly 
 to such a rule. The days should be noted in red letter in the 
 College Almanac or Calendar. 
 
 Q. In whom should reside the power and duty of deciding 
 whether or not candidates for admission into the higher 
 classes shall be admitted, the Board of the College, subject to 
 the negative of the President, or the President alone? 
 
 A. I have answered the above in another connection. Testimo- 
 nials to character may be required as a preliminary to matricu- 
 lation ; that is, the entering of the name on the College boots. 
 The literary qualifications of the candidate will be discovered 
 by the judgment marks of the examiners at the next ensuing 
 examination which he shall be required to attend. All such 
 admissions require to be guarded by strict rules, and the onus 
 of establishing his right to join any class should be distinctly 
 and weightily cast upon the candidate in the formation of the 
 rules. 
 
 Q. "Would you or not recommend that all the members of 
 the Board of the College should be required to attend all ex- 
 aminations, and to note the result, in order to have, as mem- 
 bers of the Board of the College, the means of judging from 
 their own observation the qualifications of candidates for ad- 
 mission, or of students examined in the course subsequent to 
 their admission? 
 
 A. I would not. 
 
 Q. The Committee would be obliged by any suggestions or 
 opinions you may be willing to submit, relative to the exami- 
 nation or admission of candidates into College. 
 
 A. The main points of my recommendations or suggestions 
 will be found in the foregoing answers. To recapitulate : I 
 would have the importance of the entrance examination mag- 
 nified ; it should be held at fixed invariable times ; be strict 
 and rigid. Good answering should be made honorable, and 
 "the first place" at entrance be made a mark of distinction. 
 All questions respecting admission to be determined by the 
 
84 
 
 President legally, the admissibilty of the candidate being 
 determined by the judgments assigned him on the examiners' 
 list, and the lowest admissible judgment being determined by 
 law. If any examiner shall, after examination, disqualify a 
 candidate by a lower mark than the one required for en- 
 trance, the examiner must be sustained. To appeal from the 
 examiner's judgment is to vacate his office of its usefulness. 
 Even personal application or importunity to him should be 
 forbidden. Public opinion on this point in the College may 
 be soon created. The effect will be that students will not 
 present themselves without due preparation. 
 
 Q. Ought the students of each class to be examined at the 
 public examinations, upon the whole subjects or matters of 
 the course of study pursued during the last preceding term, 
 or upon selections from such subjects or matters ? 
 
 A. The student's knowledge of, and competent proficiency 
 in, the whole " subject" or matters of the course appointed 
 for that examination, should be tested by individual examina- 
 tion. This will be best effected by leaving the selections from 
 such " subjects," on which each individual student shall be 
 tested, to the arbitrary choice of the examiner. Thus, if two 
 books of Euclid be the subject appointed, the examiner 
 may, after a few scattering questions, concentrate his exami- 
 nation of a student upon the doctrine of rectangles in the 
 second book, and give the candidate a thorough sifting. He 
 may test another on the relations of triangles ; and a third 
 upon the properties of circles ; or he may take some casual 
 remark of the candidate, or some assumption of his, and pur- 
 suing that line of investigation, test his knowledge of the sub- 
 ject. And so with Greek and Latin. Prompt, accurate and 
 clean answering in any department of the subject \}t\\ prove 
 knowledge; and if the candidate pretends to honors, such an- 
 swering will tempt the examiner to go on, and give the can- 
 didate, what every man who knows his business wants, a 
 chance to display his knowledge. If any candidate cannot 
 answer thus, he is not prepared properly / he may have the 
 knowledge, but it is not available. I once got A. 1 marks in 
 every thing but Greek. In translating Homer, I rendered 
 
85 
 
 KAivSafLcvos Kara Kmpov, " having rolled over in the dirt." nwpovf said 
 the examiner. " Dung," I answered ; that is, " chewed grass" 
 from the stomach of the animals which had been slain for in- 
 spection by the soothsayers or in sacrifice by the priests. 
 He said " yes," but he give me A. 2 for my inaccuracy, and 
 that made the difference between a first and second honor 
 with me. Durum erat, sed quicquid oorrigere est nefas, le- 
 vins fit patientia. That is the way to examine. With such 
 examiners, no man dares to come unprepared. I have 
 thanked him often since. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any statutory provisions such as, in 
 your opinion, would secure the proper extent of such exami- 
 nations, and would enable the Trustees to enforce it? 
 
 A. No statutory provisions. The examination day being 
 appointed, and the subjects assigned to that day being be- 
 forehand known, it must be left to the conscience of the ex- 
 aminers to do their duty to the students, who will be cheated 
 into an unfounded faith in their own proficiency by the ex- 
 aminers' laxity, and to the College, whose honor is involved 
 in not putting the stamp of its coinage upon an inferior or 
 unassayed metal. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to suggest to the Committee 
 such method of examination in relation to each department, 
 - and such regulations in regard to the same, as would, in your 
 opinion, secure a strict and rigid examination, having a due 
 regard to fairness towards the students, and to precaution 
 against their failure from perturbation. 
 
 A. This question concerns fairness towards the students, 
 and precaution against their failure from perturbation. 
 
 The examiners are presumed to be men of integrity 
 and fairness. If they see a student perturbed, they can re- 
 assure him in a kind way, and defer his examination for some 
 time, taking another meanwhile. There are few cases where 
 a man, who really knows Ms business, becomes perturbed — 
 none, that I know of, unless impracticable cases of invincible 
 constitutional timidity — in which a short delay will not restore 
 self-possession. 
 
86 
 
 Q. How much time ought to be allowed for examination 
 in the departments of instruction respectively ? 
 
 A. If the hours of atcendance be from 9 until 12, A. M., and 
 from 1 until 4, P. M., on examination days, one examiner in 
 each subject, for every division of forty students, will be suffi- 
 cient to finish the. examination in one day. This may do for 
 ordinary term examinations. Those recommended for re- 
 examination, with a view to honors, should be examined the 
 next day. In the case of the fall examination of the second 
 year, and the degree examination, two days may be assigned 
 to the respective classes, and an additional day for honor 
 examinations. Thus, suppose one examiner in each of the 
 following subjects : Printed questions to be answered without 
 book, in writing ; a passage of English prose to be turned 
 into Latin or Greek ; Latin translation ; Greek translation ; 
 the requisite Mathematics. Each examiner would have, each 
 man in his division for nine minutes under viva voce exami- 
 nation ; the remaining time the student would employ in 
 answering his printed questions and making his translation 
 into Latin or Greek. This is quite sufficient. More time may 
 be given for examination by increasing the number of exam- 
 iners assigned to each division of forty men. 
 
 Q. What plan would you recommend to allow sufficient 
 time for the thorough examination in each department of 
 study, and yet diminish as much as possible the whole period 
 allotted for the continuance of the examination of all the 
 classes ? 
 
 A. Increase the number of examiners. 
 
 Q. Will you please to give your opinion as to whether or 
 not the provisions of the statutes requiring a review, should 
 be retained or altered? 
 
 A. I do not clearly know what statutes requiring a review 
 you mean. 
 
 Q. Can you propose any method by means of which the 
 necessity of revision may be obviated ? 
 
 A. There will be objections to every earthly course, how- 
 ever good, advanced by persons who do not know the other 
 side, and are incompetent to grasp the general subject dealt 
 
87 
 
 with. I know of no means of obviating the necessity of 
 revision, but one. Make as few statutes as possible — make 
 them with due advisement, and stick to them when made. 
 
 Q. Ought public examinations to be so conducted as satis- 
 factorily to test the knowledge of the student in the subjects 
 of the course which were objects of attention, not only in the 
 last preceding term, but also in the previous terms ? 
 
 A. The suggestions I have made respecting the fall or Mi- 
 chaelmas term examination of the second year, and of the 
 fourth, is based upon the experimental knowledge I have of the 
 expediency of such a reference to the subjects of the course 
 whjch were objects of attention in the previous two years or 
 four years respectively. 
 
 Q. How could they be made such a test ? 
 
 A. Public examinations of the intermediate kind would be 
 made such a test, if students were forewarned of their respon- 
 sibility at any examination in all previous matters, but espe- 
 cially at the "little go" in the fall of the second year, and at 
 " the great go" in the fall of the fourth year — the degree ex- 
 amination. This, with the requirement of an average mark, 
 in all other matters from the candidate for honors, in any 
 special matter, would make the public examinations such a 
 test as is desired. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the professors to make a report to 
 the Board of the College of the results of the public examina- 
 tions conducted by them ? 
 
 A. The examiners will make lists of the names of the men 
 in their respective divisions, with spaces for the judgment 
 marks. These may be made matters of record if desirable. 
 I think, certainly, that the entrance, " little go," and " great 
 go" examinations ought to be recorded on the College books. 
 The matriculation book may be ruled into spaces for such 
 judgments, which it shall be the duty of the Registrar of the 
 College to record. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not such reports to be in writing ? 
 
 A. Certainly ; on forms prepared and uniform, which will 
 be matters of record, and as affecting the estimate which the 
 College may form of the proficiency of any student; and as 
 
88 
 
 judgments which will go down to posterity, the conscientious- 
 ness of examiners will be kept in play, by the constant sense 
 of the grave responsibility which rests on them in giving 
 judgments. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the professors to be required to 
 keep a record of the results of their own public examina- 
 tions ? 
 
 A. The examination lists, signed by examiners, are to be 
 in compliance with what I have heretofore suggested, kept 
 on file, until transcribed into the registry of the College, by 
 a sworn Registrar. This office may be held for a term of 
 years by post-graduates, and made honorable in a Collegiate 
 point of view, by being attached to a scholarship obtainable 
 after the ordeal of an examination. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not students found at any public ex- 
 amination deficient in the studies of the previous part of the 
 course, to be excluded from proceeding with their class ? 
 
 A. What else can you do with them ? 
 
 If they do not get the judgment marks required by 
 statute for passing on, they fall, by their own default, into 
 the class below them, and cannot, ordinarily, receive honors 
 there, though they may be credited in the class to which 
 they have fallen, with the judgment and place their absolute 
 (not relative) merit entitles them to in the published lists. 
 This will hinder precocious sciolists from entering College 
 too young. If a lad is fit (with an average fitness) to enter 
 College at fourteen or fifteen years of age, it will be better 
 for him to wait and study a year longer before entrance, than 
 to have a year to spare after graduating. Such youths often 
 press on and break down, through lack of physical strength, 
 in the overwork they put upon themselves to keep up with 
 their seniors. To revert to my horse-racing illustration : it is 
 asking too much of the best kind of horse flesh, to run a 
 three-year-old with weights assigned to ripe horses. The 
 prospect of breaking down, in undue competition, will keep 
 " the colts" back at lighter work, until they gain age, and 
 the muscles of the mind acquire hardness and consistency. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend the appointment by the Trus- 
 
89 
 
 tees, from time to time, of adepts in the respective depart- 
 ments, to be charged with the duty either of conducting the 
 public examination in the departments to which they may be 
 assigned, or else, without conducting the examination of pro- 
 posing questions, from time to time, to the students, as they 
 may judge to be requisite in the course of the examination of 
 the professor ? 
 
 A. To the first part of this question I answer, with great 
 confidence, yes. To the last part, no. Let the adepts be 
 charged with an independent share in the examination. 
 Cutting in upon the professor's examination would be in- 
 vidious and disturbing. The examiner who would test pro- 
 perly prepared men— and such an examiner is the greatest 
 blessing and comfort to the student — must get the student, 
 first of all, to see the topic or line of thought in his (the ex- 
 aminer's) mind, then the student can go along with the 
 examiner ; and if he knows his business, there is no fear of 
 perturbation or bad answering. Some men, though they 
 know ever so much, cannot examine. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be strict in their requirements 
 upon students to master the course of instruction pointed out 
 by the statutes ? 
 
 A. To this part of this question, I answer yes. The rest 
 of the question is — Or should allowance be made for those 
 that, from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, fail to 
 acquire the knowledge which this institution aims to impart ? 
 
 The judgment marks required for average men being 
 determined upon, after a fair estimate of what should be re- 
 quired of average intellects, no allowance should be made for 
 defect of capacity. Men below the average in intellectual 
 capacity should be educated privately. A great institution 
 cannot depart from rules made in the interest and for the 
 benefit of the general mind, to indulge particular cases with 
 a stamp and sanction they do not merit. So far from indo- 
 lence deserving indulgence, I think it should be visited with 
 condign punishment. 
 
 Q. Please look at the chapter of the statutes on crimes and 
 
90 
 
 punishments; ought any of the punishments therein provided 
 to be disused ? 
 
 A. I think the punishment of degradation should be assign- 
 able only to what I may call " literary offences." It takes 
 place, ipso facto, on my system, when literary deficiency is 
 disclosed on examination. If a man has intellect or know- 
 ledge which gives him precedence or place, he has it in spite 
 of all moral disqualifications or offences. The man who has 
 mind, and is degraded from the place he won hy it, for any 
 moral offence or misbehaviour, despises the degradation. He 
 is mentally superior, notwithstanding. If, under the first 
 article of the statute on crimes and punishments, a student 
 misbehaves himself, the professor or examiner may refuse to 
 examine him ; he will thus miss his examination, and fall to 
 a lower class. The other punishments are wholesome and 
 necessary to the maintenance of discipline. 
 
 Q. What are the objections to suspension ? 
 
 A. They may best be gathered from one who has under- 
 gone the punishment. If he has no objections to it, it is 
 good for nothing as a punishment. If he has objections to 
 it, before or after experience, it is to be supposed that he will 
 avoid it, and so it answers the end of punishment, which is to 
 reform or deter from crime. I think suspension a good bad 
 thing — all punishments are bad. 
 
 Q. If any, in what way can those objections be obviated, 
 and suspension be made an efficient and useful means for the 
 enforcement of discipline? 
 
 A. In answer to this question I cannot say how suspension 
 can be made efficient or useful in discipline. 
 
 Q. Are there any, and if any, what objections to the 
 punishment of degradation from the class to which a student 
 belongs to a lower class ? 
 
 A. Yes. I have noted the objection that strikes me in 
 my answer to the sixty-eighth question, (the question third in 
 order before this.) 
 
 Q. And would you recommend that degradation in such 
 sense should be retained as a Collegiate punishment ? 
 
91 
 
 A. ~No, not as a punishment for general offences against 
 College law. 
 
 Q. Ought degradation, in the sense of removing a student 
 from a higher to a lower place in the same class, to be re- 
 tained as a punishment ? 
 
 A. ~No, not for general offences : but inevitably, and by 
 the student's own deficiency or default, it will take place 
 when the student gets bad judgments. 
 
 Q. Please to give the Committee your opinion upon the 
 chapter of the statutes last above referred to, and to recom- 
 mend such alterations of the same as you may think ex- 
 pedient. 
 
 A. I have no alteration to suggest. I think the chapter is 
 very well as it stands, except in regard to degradation. 
 
 Q. In what manner and in what place, and. in presence of 
 whom, ought adjudged punishments to be pronounced ? 
 
 A. If the President discharges the duties of Proctor, in his 
 presence, at some general assembly of the students, for other 
 purposes. It is highly desirable that the students should, after 
 the pronouncing of the adjudged punishment, pass on to some 
 ordinary business or study, that no opportunity may be taken 
 away for cabals or demonstrations of indignation or sympathy. 
 This can best be suppressed, indirectly, by the positive call 
 of some immediate duty, rather than by the negative prohibi- 
 tion of a law forbidding such demonstrations. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College 
 to require the attendance and testimony of any student, 
 adversely to a fellow-student, upon a charge against the 
 latter? 
 
 A. The power is necessary. In a law-abiding country like 
 this, it is a part of the discipline and training of the College 
 to make the student obedient to the laws of the community 
 in which he lives. Every citizen is hound to tell the truth, 
 and to appear, after proper summons, that he may tell it be- 
 fore the authority charged with the execution and maintenance 
 of the laws. And I do not think, in answer to the next ques- 
 tion, and in its very words, that thorough discipline in the 
 
92 
 
 College can be preserved without some recourse to the testi- 
 mony, voluntary or involuntary, of the students and minor 
 officers of the College, the janitors, porters, &c, to prove 
 offences. 
 
 Q. To what means ought professors to be allowed to resort 
 to punish or repress disorder in their rooms ? 
 
 A. The students are gentlemen. Men who behave in a 
 manner unbecoming a student and gentleman should be ex- 
 cluded, as in other public assemblies, from the lecture or ex- 
 ercise, and so many exclusions should disqualify the student 
 from presenting himself at the next examination, and that 
 would affect his standing for the year. 
 
 Q. Ought the power to dismiss students for the residue of 
 the day's attendance to be allowed to the professor; and if 
 so, ought any, and if any, what restrictions, to be imposed 
 upon the exercise of this power ? 
 
 A. I know of no restrictions that would be practically de- 
 sirable. By making a certain number of dismissals affect his 
 qualification for examination, at the ensuing term examina- 
 tion, and by making the omission to attend and pass that, 
 affect his year's progress, an incorrigibly disorderly student 
 would be got rid of, and the evil consequences, in terrorem, 
 for repeated offences, would suppress such ebullitions, if 
 appeals to the student's sense of propriety and courtesy 
 failed. 
 
 Q. Please make any suggestions you may think proper, 
 relative to the order of the lecture-room and the means of 
 enforcing it. 
 
 A. I have none to make. 
 
 Q. Ought the professor to report, at every meeting of the 
 Board of the College, relative to the conduct and proficiency 
 of the students ; if so, what ought to be the nature of the 
 report ? 
 
 A. I think he ought not. Before examination day, the 
 professor will report to the Registrar the names of those dis- 
 qualified, by frequent dimissals, from attending the examina- 
 tion. This disqualification shall be noted on the margin of 
 the lists furnished by the Registrar to each examiner, and 
 
93 
 
 the student, with such a mark against him, shall not be ex- 
 amined or noticed at the examination. 
 
 Q. Be good enough to make any suggestion that may 
 occur to you, relative to the minutes of the proceedings of 
 the Board of the College, required to he read by the Presi- 
 dent to the Board of Trustees, particularly stating your opin- 
 ion as to by what officer should the record be kept, and 
 what should be entered therein. 
 
 A. I think the minutes of the Board of the College should 
 be made in accordance with those general and wholesome 
 rules which govern other Boards. That the minutes should 
 present an accurate view of the res gestae aut gerendm of the 
 meeting, whether their transactions were inchoate or com- 
 plete, and that the minutes should be made without reference 
 to the possible view which any other Board should take of 
 them ; and the officer who makes the minutes should be a 
 merely mechanical person, who would simply, without inter- 
 est or partiality, record what occurred as it occurred. Perhaps 
 an honored student might fill the place. I cannot see how 
 the President or the Board can, with propriety, exercise any 
 power affecting the contents of such minutes. The clerk of 
 the Board shall minute what comes before the Board. The 
 manner in which it shall appear on the minutes must be, in 
 disputed cases, determined by the view which the majority 
 of the Board shall take of that manner. 
 
 Q. Ought any member of the Board of the College to be 
 allowed to engage in any professional pursuits, from which 
 he derives emolument, and which are connected with the 
 College ? 
 
 A. I think not. It is a discretionary matter. I have no 
 observations to make relative to the Board of the College. 
 
 Concerning the statute "on testimonials," the amendments 
 I have to suggest are incorporated in my observations upon 
 the subject of examination, judgments and the method of re- 
 cording them, and making them tests of proficiency and merit. 
 
 Strict order ought to be maintained at Commencements. 
 I cannot speak with any degree of judgment respecting hono- 
 rary speakers. Are they necessary or desirable? If they 
 
94: 
 
 are to be elected, the students who shall be permitted to 
 elect should earn the franchise, by attaining certain judg- 
 ment marks at examination. Suppose you designate such 
 an honorary orator the " Columbian Orator " of such a year, 
 and limit the franchise to electors of a certain grade ; the 
 post would become honorable in time, instead of honorary, 
 and might be more desirable to men ambitious of Collegiate 
 honors than Chancellorships at Oxford or Cambridge. 
 Such a man would be the creme de la creme of Collegiate nota- 
 bilities. 
 
 I think it very undesirable that Commencements should be 
 held in theatres or public halls. The halls should be Colle- 
 giate. There is in such things a great deal in the associa- 
 tions and surroundings. 
 
 Pittffield, Mass., December 27th, 1856. 
 Gouverneur M. Ogden, Esq. : 
 
 Dear Sir, — I am glad to find, by your letter of the 22d inst, 
 which would have been answered before this but for Christ- 
 mas duties, that you have derived some practical information 
 from my paper, which will probably be useful to the Board 
 of Trustees. 
 
 I am in possession of the pamphlets you mention, and have 
 given tbem such consideration as is possible in the midst of 
 parochial engagements. I think that the arrangement by 
 which the examination of his own class is intrusted to the 
 professor who has previously had the instruction of that class 
 in charge, is a bad arrangement. 
 
 Without imputations of an unfavorable kind upon any pro- 
 fessor, it seems to me that this arrangement conflicts with 
 that rule of your College which is most wholesome — the rule 
 which requires subjects to be studied rather than books. 
 Now, it is inevitable that the student, following the indica- 
 tions of the arrangement I have ventured to call a bad one, 
 will fall into the professor's line of thought, and follow his 
 
95 
 
 track, to the exclusion, in most instances, of independent in- 
 quiry and study. Of course, the nature of the case requires 
 that this should be so, to some extent; and a professor of 
 genius or great ability will inevitably make his mark upon 
 the minds which he undertakes to train. The effect of unmiti- 
 gated professorial influence is to make men imitators, and, in 
 some sense, sciolists. I think this bad result may be counter- 
 acted by that regulation which I have proposed, by which 
 the student, who knows that he will be responsible in a cer- 
 tain subject, shall be examined by two or more examiners 
 other than the professor, who may vary from the professor in 
 their views of the subject ; or, in examining, after detecting 
 the student's (i. e.pro hac vice, the professor's) assumptions, 
 or postulates may test the student's knowledge of the subject, 
 by tracing these postulates to their root in it. Suppose, for 
 instance, the professor takes M'Intosh's Yiew of Conscience, 
 as a compound faculty, and has instructed the students in 
 that branch of Ethics upon the theory laid down by Sir 
 James, it would be competent to an examiner to pick all 
 round the roots of that theory, and test the student's know- 
 ledge of the subject, by catching hold of some efflorescent 
 truth on the top, and asking the student to trace it down and 
 show its points of junction or contact until he reaches the root, 
 or vice versa. This would test the student's knowledge of the 
 subject infinitely better than answering any number of ques- 
 tions propounded by the professor, in those lines of direction 
 previously traced at recitations or professorial examinations. 
 In regard to the age at which students should enter College, 
 I do think that, for the guidance of precocious youths, vain 
 parents and others, the College should express a decided 
 opinion, or at least manifest its opposition to youths entering 
 College before sixteen years of age. I am well aware that the 
 ambitious spirit of our country's youths plunges them early 
 in medias res, but I submit that it is at the expense of power 
 and thoroughness, and largeness of view in after-life. As a 
 matter of practical importance, no man can engage in the 
 practice of any profession before he is of age. By entering 
 College at sixteen years of age, and by thoroughly testing 
 
96 
 
 his preparation at the entrance examination, the College will 
 have better security that the student will profit by his under- 
 graduate course, than the institution could have by leaving 
 the question of age to his own decision, and beginning its 
 precautions at the examinations subsequent to entrance. Be- 
 sides, the student who shall finish his Collegiate course at eigh- 
 teen or nineteen, has two or three years of the most important 
 part of his life in a good measure unoccupied ; whereas a 
 proper scholastic preparation, and corresponding undergrad- 
 uate success, would justify the College in permitting the stu- 
 dent to begin studies with the Faculties of Law, or Theology, 
 or Medicine, in the last year of study in Arts, and this would 
 enable him to finish his professional studies the year after he 
 was of age — supposing that those specialities required three 
 years each, which I think, with a well-disciplined mind, ac- 
 customed to acquire knowledge, and trained in habits of ap- 
 prehension, would probably be a longer period than would be 
 necessary. In my own Alma Mater, students in Medicine 
 or Theology were allowed to attend medical or divinity lec- 
 tures (if they had obtained certain marks in previous busir 
 ness) during their fourth year. And for those who had 
 studied late, or were pressed by res angusta domi, this was a 
 convenience which stimulated efforts to excel in the under- 
 graduate course. And those who obtained the qualifying 
 marks (in the first three undergraduate years) were com- 
 monly able to carry on their professional studies and their 
 Collegiate successes, pari passu, during the year they were 
 coincident. 
 
 It occurs to me here, on reference to your letter again, 
 though the remark is connected with the former part of this 
 letter, that it is injudicious for the Board of the College to 
 come in between the student and the examiner in the deter-, 
 mination of the place a student should occupy. There should 
 be a fundamental law requiring a judgment mark not inferior 
 to Valde, or Bene, or Valde Bene, for passing in any exami- 
 nation — Minime Bene in any thing should disqualify. No 
 plea in abatement of that disqualifying judgment should be 
 entertained unless a medical certificate of the number of days 
 
97 
 
 a student was disabled by sickness. And even this should 
 not have force nnless accompanied by the professor's certifi- 
 cate, that notice had been given to him in writing, by the 
 student or friends of his, of the illness which he expected 
 would interrupt his studies. The possibility of the failure of 
 the student to pass should be kept clearly before the student's 
 eyes, in a fundamental law, prescribing the " passing mark." 
 After the marks have been given by the examiners, no sub- 
 sequent " talk" is tolerable. The examiners are judges of 
 proficiency, or they are nothing. If, as I suggest, you 
 establish three or four term examinations (I prefer three) in 
 the year, and if you make it fundamental that the student 
 shall, in order to rise out of that year, pass two examinations 
 at least in that year, you provide for all ordinary cases of ill- 
 ness ; and if any student is disqualified at any one of the 
 three examinations, he loses that examination — gets no credit 
 for it ; and if the same thing occurs at either of the other two 
 examinations, he loses the year. This will give flexibility to 
 a necessarily stringent rule, respecting judgment marks and 
 disqualifications. If, through neglect or inadvertence, a 
 student is disqualified at t\\a first examination of his year, 
 he must pass both the subsequent ones creditably to save his 
 year. If he is again disqualified at the second, it must be 
 the result of wilful neglect or incapacity, and his case de- 
 serves no relaxation of rule or judgment. At meetings of 
 the Board indulgence is craved, and excuses offered, &c, and 
 the time of the members of it taken up with, what is often 
 " scheming" and what is never desirable, the excitement of 
 feeling, &c. Let the examiner be the authority to give the 
 judgment marks, and let the man that does not get a quali- 
 fying one drop into the next class, or, being " cautioned" by 
 his failure, apply himself with diligence to retrieve it. In 
 College slang, such a disqualification is called a " caution," 
 and a man who has lost his year is called a " dropper ;" and 
 as the " caution" is more than once repeated before the 
 " drop," these phrases indicate that in the minds of Collegians 
 the dropper himself is saddled with the fault, and not the 
 College with the odium of the sentence. 
 
 7 j 
 
98 
 
 I was aware that professors in Columbia College have 
 daily recitations, and are tutors and professors at the same 
 time. I must respectfully insist that professors do not thus 
 get fair play. It is cutting stone with a razor, when it might 
 better be done with a cold chisel. If the institution can af- 
 ford it, I would urge the appointment of Fellows, selected 
 after examination, to act as tutors, giving morning lectures 
 and hearing recitations, and allowing the professors time to 
 lay themselves out upon their subjects, and vary their lectures, 
 and increase their own knowledge ; that, from the reservoirs 
 of their minds, stored with fresh springing and not stagnant 
 waters, they may irrigate the soil which the tutors have 
 stirred and dressed and prepared. If I may hazard the illus- 
 tration, I should compare the professor to an architect, and 
 the Fellows who are tutors to the master-mason, master-car- 
 penter, master-plumber, &c. The professor will, at his open- 
 ing lecture, give an elevation of the edifice, all the parts of 
 which he knows thoroughly, and subsequently ground plans 
 and sections, drawings of important parts which the Fellows, 
 line upon line, will fill up. The tendency of scholastic and 
 tutorial instruction is to be fragmentary. It is absolutely ne- 
 cessary to have, in the professor, one who will combine and 
 reduce to order, place and proportion the fragmentary know- 
 ledge of students. 
 
 I am encouraged to write at length, as you seem to find 
 that this somewhat discursive plan has given yon some prac- 
 tical assistance. The remaining questions will be answered 
 and forwarded as soon as I can command the necessary leisure. 
 Very truly, yours, to command, 
 
 "W. H. K StEWAKT. 
 
99 
 
 COMMUNICATION OFKEV. BENJAMIN HALE, D.D., 
 
 PRESIDENT OF HOEAKT FREE COLLEGE, NEW-TOKK, 
 
 Sent to the Committee, 7th January, 1857. 
 of the grammar school. 
 
 Q. Ought the modern languages, or any of them, and if 
 any, which of them, to have a place in the Grammar School 
 course ? 
 
 A. I think French ought to have a place in the Grammar 
 School, and, with the better scholars, German. 
 
 Q. Ought the study of any, and which of such languages, 
 if placed in such course, to be compulsory ? 
 
 A. I think not, unless required in preparation for College. 
 
 THE SUB-GRADUATE COURSE. 
 
 Q. What ought to be hours of the attendance of each pro- 
 fessor each day, to be employed in instruction ? 
 
 A. Three hours would be full duty. Some kinds and 
 methods of instruction are more exhausting than others. 
 Time should vary accordingly. 
 
 Q. In reference to each department of study, in your judg- 
 ment proper for the undergraduate course, please state whether 
 the instruction ought to be from text-books or oral. 
 
 A. The instruction in all departments ought, I think, to be 
 from text-books. Oral instruction and close questioning 
 should be connected with it, but cannot, with undergraduates, 
 supply its place. 
 
 Q. In cases where oral instruction is proper, ought the stu- 
 dents to be required to take notes of the lecture of the profes- 
 sor? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. "Would the use in the department of Mathematics of such 
 a text-book as should contain only so much as the student 
 ought to learn in the whole College course, so as to be able to 
 
100 
 
 obtain a competent elementary knowledge of the subjects 
 taught, facilitate instruction in that department ? 
 
 A. I am inclined to think so. 
 ' Q. Would it or would it not be advantageous, by the 
 adoption of such a text-book, to limit the discretion of any 
 (and if so, which) professor or professors, as to mode of in- 
 struction ? 
 
 A. I question the advantage of limiting the discretion of a 
 professor as to his mode of instruction. Every able teacher 
 is likely to have his peculiarities, and would be hampered by 
 being obliged to teach after a pattern. Get the best men, 
 and make them responsible for the result of their work. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means, besides the discipline of 
 students according to the results of periodical examinations, 
 that would tend to diminish the deficiencies which arise from 
 the neglect by the students of their studies, so as to secure 
 the uniform and continued diligence and attention of the stu- 
 dents ? 
 
 A. Students might be called upon to make up deficient 
 lessons at extra hours. 
 
 Q. Could, in your opinion, more thorough instruction be 
 imparted by limiting the range of instruction in any, and 
 what departments ? 
 
 A. It is a great fault in our American Colleges that we 
 go over too much ground to do our work thoroughly. The 
 English Universities do not require for ordinary degrees so 
 much Mathematics, e. g., as we do. For honors they require 
 more. But what they do require for ordinary degrees is done, 
 and thus something is really learned. 
 
 A young man gets a better education by really mastering 
 the elements of Algebra and Geometry, and perhaps Plane 
 Trigonometry, than by being dragged, as many are, through 
 the fullest course of Mathematics. 
 
 West Point is strictly a professional school, and should by 
 no means be made the standard of mathematical study by the 
 Colleges. I mean as to the extent. Whatever is studied at 
 Colleges ought to be studied as severely as at West Point. I 
 refer to it because I know that West Point is in the eyes of 
 
101 
 
 many ambitious professors. They may have full play with 
 candidates for honors — for I think it would be well to con- 
 stitute honors — but they should not be allowed to put an im- 
 practicable load on all candidates for degrees. 
 
 I think that in other departments, also, no more should be 
 done than can be done thoroughly. 
 Q. If so, how would you limit it ? 
 
 A. If, as suggested in the answer to the preceding ques- 
 tion, we should make a distinction between "pass men" and 
 "class men," prescribe a certain amount within the capacity 
 of ordinary men to do and do well, and a higher for those 
 who aspire to honors, a College Faculty would be able to 
 arrange the limits. 
 
 Q. How often ought the students to recite ? 
 A. Sixteen times a week is the ordinary amount, and not 
 too much. 
 
 Q. How long ought the exercise of each student to continue 
 when he is examined in the lecture-room ? 
 A. I should leave that to the professor. 
 Q. How large a class can each professor thoroughly in- 
 struct, by the adoption of a proper system ; and in what case 
 should he have assistance, if any is proper? 
 A. Twenty to twenty-five. 
 
 Q. In a class of what number of students ought an efficient 
 instructor to be able, without assistance, to detect the defi- 
 ciencies of each student in the previous part of the course, or 
 to discover and explain away any difficulties he may honestly 
 labor under ? 
 
 A. Of twenty or twenty-five. 
 
 Q. Is it not important, in elementary instruction, to under- 
 stand the state of mind of, and to advise and«assist individual 
 students ? 
 
 A. Unquestionably. The true teacher will not feel that he 
 is teaching if he does not. 
 
 Q. What means would you suggest as calculated to insure 
 the attainment of the ends suggested in the last two ques- 
 tions, and to assure the Trustees from time to time that they 
 are accomplished? 
 
102 
 
 A. None. The teacher will find the means, and adapt 
 himself spontaneously to each case as it arises. 
 
 I do not know how the Trustees are to be assured but by 
 occasionally visiting, if they please, the class-rooms, and by 
 the results of the examinations. 
 
 Q. How ought the relative merits of the students in each 
 department to be determined ? 
 
 Q. Ought there to be any prescribed and uniform system 
 of numbers for recording the performances of the students in 
 class ? 
 
 Q. Ought any use, and if so, what use to be made of such 
 a record, beyond that by which the professor keeping it may 
 be enabled to form his judgment of the relative merits of the 
 students ? 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of ranging all the students in each class, in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system of con- 
 fining such order to those of the students who have been re- 
 cipients of honors ? 
 
 A. "We use the system employed at West Point, and mark 
 numerically each recitation according to its excellence, from 
 1 to 10, which is the maximum, and given only to the 
 highest excellence. We enter the weekly aggregates under 
 each subject into a ledger, and at the close of the term,, add 
 up each one's merits, and to the sum add the examination 
 merits, and by the result determine the standing of the stu- 
 dent. 
 
 The maximum for the examination in any particular study 
 is determined by the number of recitations in that study ; for 
 example, if a class has had sixty recitations in Analytical 
 Geometry, then*sixty will be the maximum for the examina- 
 tion merits. 
 
 This method arranges the whole class, and determines the 
 relative position of its members. 
 
 It may be also the foundation, as it is with us, of what we 
 call grades of scholarship— all whose average merit equals 8, 
 being in the first grade, and so on. We make five grades. 
 The advantage of this arrangement is, that it introduces a 
 
103 
 
 ranking of the members of a class, not only in reference to 
 each other, but by an ideal standard ; and one may stand 
 low relatively to others, and yet not be in a very low grade 
 of scholarship ; and high relatively to others, and yet not be 
 in the first grade. 
 
 The method has its defects ; but I know none better. It 
 will be embarrassed by practical difficulties, which the prac- 
 tical good sense of the Faculty will know how to meet. 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance in each week ought to 
 be assigned to the Freshman class ? 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance ought to be assigned to 
 the higher classes % 
 
 Q. In reference to each class, what portion of the hours 
 allotted for their attendance ought to be appropriated to the 
 subjects of instruction, respectively assigned to the class ? 
 
 A. Your arrangements are different from ours, .and my 
 experience will be of no service in answering these ques- 
 tions. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, a department of instruction to 
 be assigned to the President ? 
 
 A. The President, by having a department of instruction, 
 comes more fully into contact with the students, and has a 
 better opportunity to know them thoroughly. 
 
 Q. If so, what department would be best suited to that 
 office? 
 
 A. That which best suits his tastes and talents. 
 
 Q. And the Committee particularly ask your opinion, 
 whether the study of any one or more of the modern lan- 
 guages ought to be prescribed as part of the undergraduate 
 course ; and if so, what language or languages ? 
 
 A. We prescribe French and German as a part of the un- 
 dergraduate course. 
 
 Q. In presence of whom ought the examinations of can- 
 didates for admission into the Freshman class to be con- 
 ducted ? 
 
 A. I should leave it to the Faculty to direct. 
 
 Q. Ought the examination of such candidates to be dis- 
 pensed with, provided they have been students of the Gram- 
 
104 
 
 mar School, and hold the certificate of the master of that 
 school that they are qualified to enter the College? 
 
 A. I see no objection to it. 
 
 Q. Ought the examinations for admission into the Fresh- 
 man class to be public or private ? 
 
 A. As the Faculty think best. 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the result of the examinations for 
 admission into the Freshman class to be reported to the Board 
 of the College ? 
 
 A. To the President. 
 
 Q. In whom should the power and duty reside, to decide 
 as to whether or not the applicants for admission into the 
 Freshman class shall be admitted ; in the Board of the Col- 
 lege, subject to the negative of the President, or in the Presi- 
 dent alone ? 
 
 A. In the President, upon the report of the examiners. 
 
 Q. In what manner ought it to be ascertained whether the 
 persons applying for admission into the higher classes possess 
 the knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 
 A. By examination in all the studies pursued by the class, 
 into which they seek admission, by the professors in the seve- 
 ral departments. 
 
 Q. If by examination, in presence of whom ought the ex- 
 amination to be conducted ? 
 
 A. To be arranged by the Faculty. 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid? 
 
 A. Tes. 
 
 Q. Ought they to be public or private ? 
 
 A. As the Faculty may direct. 
 
 Q. Ought stated days to be established for such examina- 
 tions, and none to be permitted at any other times ? 
 
 Q. Ought a similar arrangement to be made in relation to 
 candidates for admission into the Freshman class? 
 
 A. I would give the same answer to these two questions as 
 to the next preceding one. 
 
 Q. In whom should reside the power and duty of deciding 
 
105 
 
 whether or not candidates for admission into the higher classes 
 shall be admitted ; the Board of the College, subject to the 
 negative of the President, or the President alone ? 
 
 A. If the examiners all report favorably to the President 
 it seems to be sufficient for him to proceed to the admission 
 of the candidates ; if otherwise, he might refer the cases to 
 the Board. 
 
 Q. "Would yon, or not, recommend that all the members of 
 the Board of the College should be required to attend all ex- 
 aminations, and to note the result, in order to have, as mem- 
 bers of the Board of the College, the means of judging, from 
 their own observation, the qualifications of candidates for ad- 
 mission, or of students examined in the course subsequent to 
 their admission ? 
 
 The Committee will be obliged by any suggestions or opin- 
 ions you may be willing to submit, relative to the examina- 
 tion or admission of candidates for admission into the College 
 as students. 
 
 A. It would be better for the examinations of classes in the 
 course of the College studies to be conducted by others than 
 their teachers — when such can be had — and I suppose among 
 the graduates of Columbia College, residing in New- York, 
 such examiners could be found. If appointed beforehand, 
 and informed as to the subjects of examination, they could 
 make easily the required preparation. In such a case, the 
 examiners should decide upon the merits of the examination. 
 
 Q. Ought the students of each class to be examined at the 
 public examinations upon the whole subjects or matters of 
 the course of study pursued during the last preceding term, 
 or upon selections from such subjects or matters ? 
 
 A. Each one should feel that he is liable to be examined 
 on any part of what the class has gone over. It would be 
 proper, however, if, in any classic for example, a part had 
 been reviewed and only a part, to limit the examination to 
 the part reviewed, provided it be so considerable in amount 
 as to make the examination a test of the fidelity of the stu- 
 dents in their daily studies, and not of the success of a cram. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to suggest to the Committee 
 
106 
 
 such method of examination in relation to each department, 
 and snch regulations in regard to the same, as would, in your 
 opinion, secure a strict and rigid examination, having a due 
 regard to fairness towards the students, and to precaution 
 against their failure from perturbation ? 
 
 A. "We adopt for the Senior and Junior classes, in the 
 Classics, examination by writing full answers to questions pre- 
 pared and laid before them at the examination. 
 
 The most important security for fairness , is fairness on the 
 part of the examiner. And a kind manner and patience will 
 be the best security against perturbation. 
 
 Q. How much time ought to be allowed for the examina- 
 tion in the departments of instruction respectively ? 
 
 A. We allow three hours for each study, which has occu- 
 pied a class one recitation a day during the term. We have 
 three terms in each year. Time enough should be allowed, 
 however, for the examination to be deliberate ; and the time 
 required will depend on the number to be examined. 
 
 Q. What plan, if any, would you recommend to allow suf- 
 ficient time for the thorough examination in each department 
 of study, and yet to diminish as much as possible the whole 
 period allotted for the continuance of the examinations of all 
 the classes ? 
 
 A. The examinations might proceed, especially if con- 
 ducted by examiners appointed for the purpose, without in- 
 terrupting the exercises of the classes not under examination, 
 and then the abridgment of time would be a matter of little 
 consequence. 
 
 Q. Will you please to give your opinion as to whether or 
 not the provisions of the statutes requiring a review, should 
 be retained or altered ? 
 
 A. I am in favor of reviews. 
 
 Q. Ought the examining professors to make a report to the 
 Board of the College of the results of the public examina- 
 tions conducted by them ? 
 
 Q. If so, ought or ought not such reports to be in writing ? 
 
 A. The examiners should report in writing. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not students, found, at any public ex- 
 
107 
 
 amination, deficient in the studies of the previous part of the 
 course, to be excluded from proceeding with their class ? 
 
 A. If very deficient, yes ; if less so, they might be con- 
 ditioned, and allowed to make up and be examined again. 
 But if very deficient, they should not have passed the pre- 
 ceeding examination without censure. 
 
 Q. "Would you recommend the appointment by the Trus- 
 tees, from time to time, of adepts in the respective depart- 
 ments, to be charged with the duty either of conducting the 
 public examination in the departments to which they may be 
 assigned, or else, without conducting the examination, of pro- 
 posing questions from time to time to the students, as they 
 may judge to be requisite, in the course of the examination 
 by the professor ? 
 
 A. I have expressed my opinion above. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be strict in their requirements 
 upon the students, to master the course of instruction pointed 
 out by the statutes ; or should allowance be made for those, 
 that from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, fail to 
 acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to impart? 
 Please to state your opinion, with the reasons upon which it 
 may be based. 
 
 A. My preceding remarks will give the basis of my an- 
 swer to this question. I will add, that while no allowance 
 can be claimed for indolence, some may be for honest and 
 faithful moderates. 
 
 Q. Please to look at the chapter of the statutes on crimes 
 and punishments; ought any of the punishments therein 
 provided for to be disused ? 
 
 A. I think not. 
 
 Qi "What are the objections to suspension ? 
 
 Q. If any, in what way can those objections be obviated, 
 and suspension be made an efficient and useful means for the 
 enforcement of discipline ? 
 
 A. A rigid examination for re-admission will remove some 
 of the objections to suspension as a punishment. I do not 
 see how it can be dispensed with. 
 
 Q. Are there any, and if any, what objection to the pun- 
 
108 
 
 ishment of degradation from the class to which a student be- 
 longs, to a lower class ? And would you recommend that 
 degradation in such sense should be retained as a College 
 punishment ? 
 
 A. Not as a punishment, except for failure at examina- 
 tions ? 
 
 Q. Ought degradation, in the sense of removing a Btudent 
 from a higher to a lower place in the same class, to be re- 
 tained as a punishment ? 
 
 A. We use no such punishment. Offences, however, might 
 very properly be held as disqualifying for College honors. 
 
 Q. In what manner, and in what place, and in presence of 
 whom, ought adjudged punishments to be pronounced? 
 
 A. I would leave this to the Faculty. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to 
 require the attendance and testimony of any student adversely 
 to a fellow-student, upon a charge against the latter ? 
 
 A. In the present state of public opinion, I suppose such 
 testimony can hardly be enforced. 
 
 Q. Do you think that thorough discipline in the College 
 might be preserved without any recourse to the testimony, 
 voluntary or involuntary, of the students to prove any offence ? 
 
 A. Involuntary testimony can often be obtained by a little 
 address, which is of great value. Every student should be 
 held bound to answer every question in regard to himself. 
 
 Q. To what means ought professors to be allowed to re- 
 sort to punish or repressdisorder in their rooms ? 
 
 A. If a professor has not the tact or talent to keep order 
 in his room, it is not easy to help him by any legislation. 
 There may, however, occur cases of disorder which will call 
 for extraordinary means. He may properly send the dis- 
 orderly out of his room, and then submit the case to the 
 Board, or manage it himself, as he sees best. It is generally 
 best for him to settle it himself. It is a sign of feebleness to 
 be obliged to call in the aid of the Faculty. This will depend, 
 however, on the nature and aggravation of the offence. 
 
 Q. Ought the power to dismiss students for the residue of 
 
109 
 
 the day's attendance to be allowed to the professor ; and if 
 so, ought any, and if any, what restrictions to be imposed 
 upon the exercise of this power? 
 
 A. Answered above sufficiently. 
 
 Q. Ought the professor to report at every meeting of the 
 Board of the College relative to the conduct and proficiency 
 of the students ; if so, what ought to be the nature of such 
 reports ? 
 
 A. Free communications at such meetings, in regard to 
 the character and habits of students, are very useful. They 
 may be more or less formal, as the Faculty choose. 
 
 Q. Be good enough to make any suggestion that may occur 
 to you relative to the minutes of the proceedings of the Board 
 of the College, required to be read by the President to the Board 
 of Trustees, particularly stating your opinion as to by what 
 officer should the record be kept, and what should be entered 
 therein. Please to recommend such provisions as you may 
 deem necessary relative to propositions made but not passed, 
 and relative to the exercise of the respective powers of the 
 President and the Board of the College, as affecting the con- 
 tents of such minutes. 
 
 A. I keep the minutes of our meetings and make the re- 
 cords, and make them at my discretion. If any member 
 wishes a resolution, not passed, to be recorded, he can move 
 it, &c. 
 
 Q. Ought any member of the Board of the College to be 
 allowed to engage in any professional pursuits from which he 
 derives emolument, and which are not connected with the 
 College ? 
 
 A. Not if he has a competent income from the College, 
 unless it be some occasional work, which will not interfere 
 with his proper devotion to his College duties. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, strict order of the students to 
 be preserved at Commencements ; or what license ought to 
 be allowed to them on those occasions ? 
 
 A. This must be left to the management of the presiding 
 officer. Should he find himself in want of power from the 
 Trustees, he can ask for it. 
 
110 
 
 Q. Can you recommend any rule by which the honorary 
 parts of speakers at Commencements should be assigned ? 
 
 A. We assign them from their standing, as ascertained by 
 the books. 
 
 Q. Ought the students graduating to be allowed to elect or 
 nominate any of such speakers ; and if so, which of them ? 
 
 A. We give no such liberty. 
 
 AS TO A UNIVERSITY. 
 
 I think a great deal has been said and written, very good, 
 but very impracticable. 
 
 In our country, in which the legislative power gives no 
 special value to degrees, and does not make a University edu- 
 cation a necessary preliminary to any position whatever, a 
 University must, I think, be a growth and not an erection. 
 
 It may be well, however, to plant the seeds, and to be 
 governed in doing so by watching the wants of the public. 
 
 Something of this kind has been done at Harvard, in the pro- 
 fessional and scientific schools. It is growing into a true 
 University. 
 
 It seems to me that professors might be appointed to give 
 courses of lectures, on different subjects, interesting to the 
 public and promotive of good learning, at some convenient 
 location within the city ; and that in this way just such a 
 University as we need might grow up, without any flourish 
 of trumpets. 
 
 I question whether any regular post-baccalaureate course in 
 preparation for higher degrees is or ever will be practicable. 
 Bachelors may want and will want more instruction, and will 
 go where they can get it. The higher degrees in the English 
 Universities have scarcely, if any more reality, than in our 
 Colleges. The law and medical professors in the Universities 
 are deserted, and students rush to the large cities ; profes- 
 sional schools have taken the place with us. They might be 
 connected, especially in large towns, with Universities ; and 
 it is in our large towns, I imagine, that our Universities are 
 most likely to grow up. JSTo place is more suitable than New- 
 
Ill 
 
 York ; and a beginning being made, the thing would then be 
 ultimately accomplished. 
 
 It does not seem to me necessary or expedient that a per- 
 fect plan should be arranged before a beginning is made. 
 Better not. A few professors might at first be appointed to 
 give lectures upon such subjects as would meet most imme- 
 diately the wants of the public and interest public attention, 
 and others appointed as called for, and provision could be 
 made for them. 
 
 I think it would be well that the endowments should not 
 be sufficient for the full support of a professor, but that he 
 should derive his income in great part from his fees. The 
 professorships should not be places of repose for drones, nor 
 even the reward of past services. 
 
 A difference might properly be made, however, between 
 professorships in departments that are of general interest, 
 as history, public economy, &c, &c, and such as would in- 
 terest and be of value to a few educated men only, and 
 designed for the carrying on of the education of those who 
 had taken their first degrees. 
 
 There are some very good suggestions of a " working plan 
 for the foundation of a University," by Prof. Pierce, of Har- 
 vard College, to which I beg leave to refer you. I do not 
 think it necessary, however, to wait for the endowment of 
 twenty-five professorships. In connection with a College, or 
 as an outgrowth of it, lectures might be commenced by one 
 or more or any number, with the understanding, that as soon 
 as called for and provided for, others could be established. 
 
112 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF PRESIDENT FRANCIS 
 WAYLAND, 
 
 Lately of Brown University, Rhode Island. 
 
 Providence, February 7, 1857. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I have looked over the questions which you have sub- 
 mitted to me, and to which you request definite replies. I 
 regret to say that to comply with your request is wholly out 
 of my power. To answer the questions and give my reasons 
 would occupy a considerable volume. This I have not the 
 time at my command to perform. 
 
 In the mean time, however, I will offer a few suggestions 
 on the general subject. I do it with some diffidence, be- 
 cause my views are somewhat at variance with many teachers, 
 and because I am aware that an institution of education must, 
 in a variety of respects, conform itself to the public opinion 
 of the locality in which it exists. Though New-York is my 
 native city, I am very little acquainted with its intellectual 
 habitudes, and would speak with reserve of an institution 
 designed for its citizens. If, however, you will allow me to 
 offer to you the ideas which suggest themselves in reading 
 your queries, they are substantially as follows : 
 
 I. I think you have too great confidence in the efficacy of 
 laws for the government of a College. Any one acquainted 
 with the working of a system, knows that such laws are sys- 
 tematically disobeyed. I do not say that they are so for the 
 first year ; but such is the tendency ; and here, as elsewhere, 
 things follow their tendencies. If you ask, what would you 
 do then? I answer, I would strive to place officers under such 
 conditions that it should be for their interest to do the very 
 best for the College, in mode of instruction, examinations, 
 number of recitations, thoroughness, supervision, &c, that 
 
113 
 
 shall be in their power ; so that in fact, they shall find abun- 
 dant and remunerative employment for all the time that 
 shall remain after preparatory duties are discharged in the 
 College itself. 
 
 2. Your system seems to me too complicated. You ad- 
 here to, or as St. Paul says, ye observe days and months 
 and times and years. You involve questions in a most com- 
 plicative system of arrangements. This would answer in 
 small Colleges fifty years since, when but little was to be re- 
 quired, but it is difiicult to accomplish with your plans. 
 "Why not simply establish the professorships you need, each 
 independent of the others, and let the young men pursue 
 such as they please. You may then determine which and 
 how much of such shall be required for a particular degree, 
 and every professor will be at liberty to carry his course as 
 far as he can find pupils to follow him. 
 
 3. I think you make a distinction in studies which does not 
 exist. You seem to divide them into those which improve 
 and harmonize the mind and those which simply confer 
 practical skill. I think the distinction false and wrong. Take 
 physical science or the knowledge of the laws of nature — the 
 very ideas of God — are not these harmonizing and exalting? 
 Are they not as exalting as the study of grammar or the 
 poetry or rhetoric .of men? Ought not a course of liberal 
 education to keep pace with the wonderful revelations which 
 God has made for fifty years and which he is daily un- 
 folding ? 
 
 4. I observe your Committee lay great stress upon the 
 moral and religious culture of young men, and on this as an 
 argument for providing residence in College for students. 
 As to the desirableness of the object there is no question. 
 But it cannot be attained in this way. You can oblige men 
 to attend prayers and recite catechisms. But unless officers, 
 with one consent, make it a part of their duty to converse in- 
 dividually with their pupils on the subject of their soul's sal- 
 vation, and are much in their society, this cannot be done. 
 And where will you find the men to do it? And unless it be 
 done the rooming of students in masses is one of the most 
 
 8 j 
 
114 
 
 fruitful sources of moral corruption. This renders the passing 
 through College a fearful moral trial. I see no help for it but 
 keeping back young men until their principles are more 
 formed and their feeling of social responsibility greater. At 
 all events, you will find this the most difficult part of your 
 work, and you had better not undertake what you do not see 
 clearly the means of accomplishing. 
 
 I think examinations and reviews in the recitation and lec- 
 ture-room indispensable. You will not otherwise impress 
 upon the student his knowledge, and you will not otherwise 
 know how he is improving his time. If he is not studying, 
 he will almost always be vicious. I think, also, the most 
 strict and impartial examinations at the close of a term in-! 
 dispensable. This will aid the daily examinations, in sifting 
 out bad subjects, and will enable you to make a degree valu- 
 able as a reliable testimonial. I believe you would accom- 
 plish your purpose best by appointing suitable persons for 
 examiners and paying them well for it. This course is pur- 
 sued in the London University. 
 
 You have a noble field before you — the noblest, probably, 
 now on earth — nearly a million people within reach, and of 
 this million a larger proportion than can anywhere else be found 
 of those who are able and willing to expend any reasonable 
 amount in the education of their children. You have means 
 in abundance ; and when I think of your position I tremble 
 at the responsibility which rests upon you. May you be en- 
 abled to meet it as men, as patriots and as Christians. 
 
 Excuse the freedom of these rough hints. I claim to be 
 an older soldier, not a better, and have offered you such sug- 
 gestions as have occurred to me. "With the greatest respect, 
 
 I am, my dear sir, yours truly, 
 
 F. "Wayland. 
 Gout. M. Ogden, Esq. 
 
115 
 
 Providence, June 22, 1857. 
 
 My Dear Sik : 
 
 Tour note was received a day or two since. I assure you 
 I am not about inveigling you into a correspondence. Yet I 
 will add a word or two. 
 
 I take it for granted that what I write is only for private 
 use, and not for publication. 
 
 Ton have before you the opportunity of establishing the 
 noblest institution in the world. Tour means more ample, 
 above precedent, will continue to increase almost indefinitely. 
 Let me earnestly suggest that you do not take any existing 
 institutions for your models. Apply the common principles 
 of business to the orgauziation of a University. It is com- 
 monly supposed that teachers are a peculiar class of men, 
 entitled to peculiar privileges, and not to be dealt with on or- 
 dinary principles. I do not believe it. Any class of men is 
 injured by this treatment. They lose self-reliance, common 
 sense and sympathy with the people. "What you need, I 
 think, is to treat a man generously, and give him a good op- 
 portunity to distinguish himself and earn a good position, 
 which, in fact, no man of spirit can have unless he makes it 
 for himself. If you take up men and carry them, they will not 
 walk, much less run. 
 
 Excuse me for telliug you what you so well know already. 
 Impute it to my interest in your success. 
 
 ******* 
 
 I am yours, truly, 
 
 F. Wayland. 
 G. M. Ogden, Esq. 
 
116 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF PRESIDENT EDWARD 
 BOURNS, 
 
 OF NORWICH UNIVERSITY, VERMONT. 
 
 Sent to the Committee, 18th February, 1857. 
 
 Q. What ought to be the hours of attendance of each profes- 
 sor, each day, to be employed in instruction ? 
 
 A. Four hours a day. I know of no men in any profes- 
 sion paid so highly as College professors are, and enjoy- 
 ing so much rank and honor in the community, who are 
 employed so few hours as they are. Their duties are severe 
 for the time, but not more so than lawyers, physicians or 
 others. 
 
 Q. What classes ought to be assigned to each professor, 
 having in view his subjects of instruction, according to the 
 suggestions which you may make, relative to the course of 
 instruction, in reply to questions of the Committee ? 
 
 A. I don't think any general rule could be laid down. I 
 have seen a senior professor whose taste and forte lay in 
 teaching the elements of language, when the junior preferred 
 and excelled in instructing in the higher classics. 
 
 Q. Ought instruction to be from text-books ? 
 
 A. Always from a text-book ; at least some text-book ought 
 to be recognised, and students required to know what is in it ; 
 at the same time that they should be encouraged to study the 
 whole subject, and the best books for that purpose pointed 
 out to them. The professor need not be confined to this text- 
 book, but teach his class all he knows or can learn of the 
 matter. A class should not be allowed to say, it is not fair 
 to put questions, the answers to which are not in the text- 
 book ; every thing connected with the subject should be fair ; 
 though no student should be deemed deficient who had mas- 
 tered the text-book. 
 
117 
 
 Q. Ought instructions to be from notes ? 
 
 A. No general rule could be laid down. Some will make 
 notes for their own convenience ; some are so familiar with 
 their subject that it would be uselessly laborious for them to 
 make the notes. Besides, any rule on this point could easily 
 be violated, and who could detect the violation ? Again, the 
 best teacher, the man most earnest in conveying information, 
 would be the most likely to neglect the use of those notes and 
 adapt his lecture to what he saw were the wants of his class. 
 
 Q. Ought students to be required to take notes? 
 
 A. ~No. It is quite possible to take notes correctly and 
 mechanically without the note-taker's retaining any know- 
 ledge of the lecture given. One student will retain the 
 substance of a lecture better without a line of note than an- 
 other who laboriously notes all. The best newspaper reporters 
 are often what are called long-hand reporters ; they merely 
 note the points in a speech and JUl up themselves. I know 
 of no method of retaining a lecture but by attention, aided 
 sometimes, as in case of names or dates, or such matter, by 
 short notes. The lecturer may ascertain how far his words 
 have been understood and remembered by subsequent exam- 
 ination the next day, or at the end of some given time. 
 
 Q. Would text-books facilitate? &c. 
 
 A. My experience is in great measure derived from the 
 plan pursued in Trinity College, Dublin. There they always 
 adopt a text-oook, but that text-book contains only the mini- 
 mum required from those who pass through creditably. No 
 honors, not even the highest judgments or marks are given, 
 except to those who have mastered more than this text-book, 
 i. e., valde, or very well, being the highest mark short of a 
 premium. The mere text-book man will only be marked 
 oene, or well. 
 
 Q. Can, you suggest any means, besides the discipline of 
 students according to the results of periodical examinations, 
 that would tend to diminish the deficiencies which arise from 
 the neglect by the students of their studies, so as to secure 
 the uniform and continued diligence and attention of the 
 students ? 
 
118 
 
 A. No means, I fear, will ever be found to secure uniform 
 diligence and attention in students. I know no better means 
 to approach this desired point but to disgrace the very remiss, 
 and to stimulate, by commendation and rewards, the studi- 
 ous and attentive. 
 
 Q. How often ought students to recite ? 
 
 A. About three or perhaps four times each day. The 
 fourth hour could most profitably be employed in some collate- 
 ral study, as by the professor of languages on History, An- 
 tiquities, &c, and in like manner by the other professors on 
 their own subjects. 
 
 Q. How long ought the exercise to continue? 
 
 A. Not more than an hour at a sitting. It would always 
 be desirable to allow some intermission between two lectures. 
 
 Q. How large a class can each professor thoroughly in- 
 struct, by the adoption of a proper system ; and in what case 
 should he have assistance, if any is proper? 
 
 A. For myself, I never desire more than twenty, perhaps 
 twenty-five; some successful teachers will take thirty in a 
 class; but if the recitation occupies only one hour, twenty 
 seems to me a fully sufficient number. 
 
 Q. If any assistance is necessary, please describe its nature, 
 and what duties ought to be devolved upon the assistant and 
 what upon the professor. 
 
 A. The employment of regular assistants is always a deli- 
 cate matter* A good one is apt to be an object of jealousy ; 
 a bad one is worse than useless. The practice in Dublin was 
 to encourage the members of the lower classes to employ 
 some, amongst tbe best, indigent scholars of the higher classes, 
 as private tutors. The number so employed was, and proba- 
 bly is, very great. They were, of course, not members of the 
 corporation, but usually recommended by the professors ; 
 they assisted the young student in preparing his recitations. 
 This plan seemed to work well ; many youths cannot study 
 alone, though willing to do so; many others want some per- 
 son more mature than themselves to induce them to attend 
 regularly and systematically to the duty of preparing them- 
 selves for the recitation- room. These private tutors can al- 
 
119 
 
 wavs be reached by the professors, and are more willing to 
 receive their hints and advice than tutors regularly members 
 of a Faculty. 
 
 Such an arrangement may no doubt be abused. The older 
 student may be seduced from his own studies by the love of 
 money. The younger may depend too much on others — not 
 enough on liimself. But these evils might be corrected or 
 kept within due bounds by care on the part of the President 
 or professor. It is almost superfluous to add that the older 
 student is often materially benefited by this plan. His 
 knowledge of the elementary studies is freshened and im- 
 proved, whilst many times the money so received is a most 
 timely, even indispensable aid to him in completing his 
 studies. I paid almost my whole expenses in that way from 
 the close of my second year. 
 
 Q. Is it not important, in elementary instruction, to under- 
 stand the state of mind of, and to advise and assist individual 
 students ? 
 
 A. Most important in all instruction. The plan I have al- 
 ready mentioned seemed to me to accomplish this end better 
 than any other that I have seen or heard of. 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of ranging all the students in each class, in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system of con- 
 fining such order to those of the students who have been re- 
 cipients of honors? 
 
 A. It might be well to make, suppose, three divisions of 
 them, all according to merit, but within those divisions to 
 range them alphabetically. This would be enough to stimu- 
 late all, without wholly disgracing or discouraging any. 
 Youths may sometimes fail from temporary idleness, from 
 embarrassment, from what they would call ill-luck, in being 
 examined in a part on which they were particularly iinpre- 
 pared. It is well to stimulate those, but they should not be 
 utterly disheartened. 
 
 Q. Ought a uniform system of marking to be used ? 
 
 A. Yes ; but though the numbers be the same, no two 
 professors are likely to use them alike ; each will have his 
 
120 
 
 own scale of merit denoted by those numbers. I can see no 
 reason why students should not see or know their marks. 
 Individuals of a class may be dissatisfied, but the voice of a 
 class generally decides pretty correctly on its own mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance ? &c. 
 
 A. Where the students do not reside in the College build- 
 ings, so much time as will suffice for recitations, with a rea- 
 sonable intermission between each two. I don't see why 
 Seniors and Freshmen should not attend an equal number of 
 hours, except the Seniors have some academic duty to attend 
 to, such as composition, &c, as will profitably employ 
 them at home. All students in all classes require the stimu- 
 lus and support which are derived from attendance on pro- 
 fessors and communication with each other. 
 
 Q. Ought a department of instruction to be assigned to the 
 President ? 
 
 A. A President may possibly have so much duty in his 
 own particular office as to make it impossible or very incon- 
 venient to him to attend to the instruction of a class ; but if 
 not, it is decidedly desirable that he should take some de- 
 partment himself. 
 
 No workmen in any business willingly submit to be di- 
 rected by any person who is not of their own body. They do 
 not respect him thoroughly, unless he is himself a good work- 
 man, and his ability is best proved by his doing the work. 
 Besides, in dealing with a class in recitation, a President 
 gains a kind of intimate knowledge of the temper and ability 
 of his students, which he cannot gain by any other means. 
 Again, this dealing closely with the students secures better 
 respect from them, whilst it increases largely the sympathy 
 which ought always to subsist between the President and the 
 other members of the Faculty. The best department for the 
 President is that he can best fill, from taste or actual know- 
 ledge and experience. It would be desirable, however, that 
 he should take the Senior class. 
 
 Q. And the Committee particularly ask your opinion, 
 whether the study of any one or more of the modern Ian- 
 
121 
 
 guages ought to be prescribed as part of the undergraduate 
 course ; and if so, what language or languages ? 
 
 A. The knowledge of modern languages is highly desirable ; 
 but I should not feel disposed to make the study compulsory, 
 from the fear of overloading the course. I would make it 
 voluntary, and offer small premiums and encouragements to 
 students to take them up. I should prefer French and Ger- 
 man to all others ; perhaps French rather than German. 
 
 Those who would join the classes in modern languages 
 should be masters of the mere elements, forms of declensions, 
 verbs, &c. 
 
 The time in College of a professor and class is too precious 
 to be spent on these elements ; besides, if the students begin 
 at the very beginning, they have not time to do more than 
 learn the mere elements in College. 
 
 Q. Examination of Freshmen ? 
 
 A. A public examination does not seem absolutely neces- 
 sary. The object of the examination is simply to ascertain 
 whether the candidate ought to be admitted or not. Now, an 
 adult of good talents and well-disposed may be admitted 
 safely, though he has studied much less than a mere boy. The 
 adult of this sort will often, even generally, far outstrip the 
 boy, towards the end of his course, though much inferior to 
 him in scholarship at the time of bis admission. Such an 
 adult might appear so deficient at a public examination that 
 the examiners might feel compelled to reject him, lest they 
 should seem partial, or unduly to lower the standard of ac- 
 quirement for admission, whereas he could be admitted in 
 private, safely and profitably to himself and the Institution. 
 
 Q. Ought the examination of such candidates to be dis- 
 pensed with ? &c. 
 
 A. The Grammar School ought not to have any such spe- 
 cial privilege. It gives it an unfair advantage over other 
 schools. A faithful teacher, not of the Grammar School, may 
 go through the drudgery of instructing a boy for two or three 
 years, and just when the youth has almost finished his pre- 
 paration, and the teacher hopes to obtain some credit by him 
 from his admission, examination and subsequent course, 
 
122 
 
 the boy prevails on his parent or guardian to allow him to 
 spend the last term at the Grammar School, that he may thus 
 avoid the admission examination. The lad then enters 
 ostensibly from the Grammar School, and that school obtains 
 all the credit of the other teacher's labor. If the Grammar 
 School has this privilege, other qualified teachers ought to 
 have the same. 
 
 Q. Ought examination to be strict ? 
 
 A. It would be unwise to make any inflexible rule on this 
 point. Very young candidates should be strictly examined; 
 but in older ones, general intelligence and desire to learn are 
 more important than positive acquirements, provided, always, 
 the principal elementary studies have been mastered. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the result of the examinations for 
 admission into the Freshman class to be reported to the Board 
 of the College ? 
 
 A. A good general rule is, that the examiners in each de- 
 partment denote by a figure the degree of merit of each can- 
 didate. These should be summed up. They should then 
 agree on the gross number necessary in each case for admis- 
 sion. In case a candidate should fall short by a very little 
 of this required number, it would be well for the Board to 
 consider such case or cases, and decide by a vote. As the 
 Faculty will have the trouble of such students, and ought to 
 be best able to decide on them, they ought to determine 
 them. 
 
 I see no reason why the President should not vote on such 
 cases, but do not think he ought to have the power of decide 
 ing them independently of the Faculty. 
 
 Examination for the higher classes might be conducted 
 in the same manner, but much more rigidly than for Fresh- 
 men. It is a great tax on a professor's time and patience, and 
 unfair towards the class generally, that he should be obliged 
 to go over again, to one or two students, the elementary in- 
 struction he has previously, in course, given the rest of the 
 class. 
 
 Q. Ought stated days to be appointed for the examination 
 of candidates for admission ? 
 
123 
 
 A. Yes ; but on other days, also ; perhaps one day in each 
 week, or every second week, in all cases. 
 
 Q. Ought the students of each class to be examined at the 
 public examinations upon the whole subjects or matters of the 
 course of study pursued during the last preceding term, or 
 upon selections from such subjects or matters ? 
 
 A. A class may go over a whole subject, and review only 
 a part, or prepare themselves on some given part for exam- 
 ination fairly and profitably ; but a clear, plain statement 
 should be made as to how the matter stands at the examina- 
 tion, and the examination should be in the whole of the part 
 reviewed or set apart. There should be on no account an agree- 
 ment between the examiner and the students as to where or 
 in what particular part they shall be examined. The Trustees 
 might prescribe the minimum that a class should be exam- 
 ined in, but even that might produce evil. If a professor has 
 not zeal, talent and energy enough to carry an average class 
 though a fair amount of each study, the sooner he vacates his 
 chair the better; such a man would probably find some mean 
 trick by which to elude any positive law of any Board of 
 Trustees. 
 
 Q. Will you suggest a method of examination ? &c. 
 
 A. To secure fairness, I w.ould take care that no transla- 
 tion, no underlined books or such things, should be used for 
 this purpose in languages. Each examiner should provide a 
 boqk, his own or belonging to the College, free from notes, 
 and in this same book all should be examined. In Mathe- 
 matics and such studies I would take the utmost care that no 
 slips of paper or pages of books were concealed and used, 
 and if such were found on a student, it should be considered 
 a very serious offence. On the part of the examiner, I know 
 of nothing but a sense of honor and fair dealing to guide him. 
 This, and the presence of intelligent gentlemen, ought to be 
 sufficient. No arrangement will preserve students wholly 
 from perturbation. Perfect confidence in the fairness and im- 
 partiality of the examiners are the best preventatives. I 
 would, as a general rule, allow the student to sit down and be 
 as little occupied with himself as possible. 
 
124 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any statutory provisions, such as in 
 your opinion would secure the proper extent of such exam- 
 inations, and would enable the Trustees to enforce it? 
 
 A. I am decidedly of opinion that no statutory provision 
 could reach the case. The best provision must lie in the 
 quality and disposition of the officers themselves. If they 
 are not zealous, conscientious and efficient, I fear no fixed 
 law can make them so. An intelligent, experienced, vigi- 
 lant President ought to be able, by his presence and his 
 opinion expressed to the Faculty, to secure the proper per- 
 formance of the duty of examination. If these fail, a compe- 
 tent Trustee might perhaps bring a gross case of neglect be- 
 fore the Board, and amend the fault or dismiss the officer. 
 But generally a good officer receives most unwillingly any 
 instruction as to the mode of performing his duty from any 
 Trustee. The eye and ear of a practical, efficient President 
 are the best provision to secure a fair examination. 
 
 Q. Ought students to be examined on past studies ? 
 
 A. They certainly ought ; but I have never heard of this 
 being done in America. In Dublin, the practice is (or was) 
 to examine students (except in the department of languages) 
 in the lack science, as it is called. This back science in- 
 cludes, for the first two years, all the subjects previously 
 gone over at the beginning of the third, or what in America 
 would be called the Junior year. The subjects of the first 
 two years are droned, and from that time to the end of the 
 course, i. e., for the last two years, the back science includes 
 all subjects studied from the beginning of the third year. 
 This back science is always deemed most important, and pre- 
 miums and honors are always decided with reference to the 
 answering in it. It may not be out of place here to say, that in 
 Dublin, as the classes are very large, they are at examination 
 cut up into divisions. These divisions are examined by the 
 Fellows or professors indiscriminately, i. e., the professors are 
 not limited to the examining their own pupils. This seems 
 one means of securing fairness of examination. I will add, 
 for fear of mistake, that the Fellows instruct their classes 
 separately during term, but at examination all these smaller 
 
125 
 
 classes are thrown into one ; this one is set off in divisions, 
 and one or two professors examine each division — having, of 
 course, sometimes a few of his own term class in his division, 
 and sometimes not. A Senior officer allots the divisions 
 without any choice allowed the Fellows or professors. 
 
 Q. What plan, if any, would you recommend to shorten 
 the time of examinations ? 
 
 A. I see no reason why two classes, at least, might not be 
 examined at the same time. Trustees and persons interested 
 in the proceedings might pass from room to room occasionally, 
 and yet hear and Bee as much as would be necessary or agree- 
 able — say that the mathematics of the Seniors and the lan- 
 guages of Juniors might go on at the same time, &c. 
 
 Q. How ought they to be made the test ? 
 
 A. Always by a minimum mark. If a student stand at 
 this point in any study, let him be called deficient. 
 
 Q. Ought examining professors to make a report to the 
 Board of the College of the results of the public examina- 
 tions conducted by them ? 
 
 A. Certainly, in writing, from their own private written 
 reports. 
 
 Q. Ought deficient students to be excluded ? &c. 
 
 A. Yes ; as a general rule. But where a vacation follows 
 the examination, they might, in many cases, be allowed to 
 study during that time, and so make good their deficiency, 
 sufficiently to be allowed to proceed with their class. In this 
 case they should be re-examined before joining the class, and 
 suffer some penalty. I am not sure that it would not be well 
 to fine them a small sum. This fine might be given to the 
 examiner for extra trouble. It could hardly, I suppose, tempt 
 an examiner to be unjust or harsh in his first examination. 
 
 Q. "Would you recommend the appointment of Trustees 
 for examiners? &c. 
 
 A. No. The duty of an examiner, in general, is to show 
 how much the students know, not to puzzle them.' Again, 
 Trustees and other men, not actually teachers, sometimes 
 over-rate their own abilities. A conceited Trustee or amateur 
 adept would inevitably bother the regular examiner and the 
 
126 
 
 class, and in all likelihood expose himself to the ridicule of 
 the students, as I have myself seen done. In case of an ex- 
 amination for a premium or medal, some really skilful per- 
 son might, perhaps, profitably assist, but generally it would 
 be much better to leave the business in the hands of the 
 officers. Let no pains, no money be spared to secure good 
 officers ; but when they are obtained, it is not wise to inter- 
 fere much with them. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be strict? 
 
 A. A minimum standard should be fixed fully within the 
 reach of ordinary ability, with industry ; all should be re- 
 quired to come up to that, but no more. All will not be 
 very intelligent or very industrious ; many, however, will 
 pass quietly and unnoticed through College, never shining 
 in any department, who will afterwards make excellent men, 
 useful men, and will have benefited greatly by their College 
 course, though they have never been at all distinguished. 
 A high standard would act injuriously towards this large, 
 perhaps largest class. Better to encourage all who are able 
 to do much to exert themselves to the utmost, by rewards, 
 commendations, &c, but hoipolloi should not be shut out in 
 this republican land. All the European institutions I have ever 
 heard of recognise this principle. In connection with this 
 part of the subject, I will even run the risk of being thought 
 anti-republican, and say that young men of large expecta- 
 tions, who must become wealthy and influential in society, 
 should be dealt with indulgently, for this reason. They have 
 great temptations to idleness ; they have not the inducements 
 to study that will stimulate poorer young men. If these 
 wealthy youths be driven out of College by great strictness, 
 they will probably run into gross dissipation and vice ; when, 
 if kept in College, though they do not study much, still they 
 must imbibe a good deal from association, oral instruction 
 and other sources. I know it requires great caution to deal 
 with such characters, but they are worthy of a good deal of 
 consideration. Of course, the openly profligate, or the obsti- 
 nately irregular, negligent student, must not be retained, to 
 the breaking down of all discipline, or demoralizing the others. 
 
127 
 
 Q. "What plan, if any, would you recommend to allow 
 sufficient time for the thorough examination in each depart- 
 ment of study, and yet to diminish as much as possible the 
 whole period allotted for the continuance of the examinations 
 of all the classes ? 
 
 A. An examination cannot be made a review of a whole 
 term's work. A professor, generally, knows pretty well be- 
 fore he begins, how his class will answer. The object should 
 be by a few fair searching questions, to show, by the answers, 
 that all who have been industrious have got a good know- 
 ledge of the subject. If any have done remarkably well in 
 term time, it is easy to bring it out ; also, if the professor 
 thinks some have failed from incapacity or inattention, he may 
 prove it to the other members of the Faculty and Trustees 
 present. That is all that ought to be attempted. The rest 
 must be done in the recitation-room, the proper place for 
 actual instruction. I have already said that two classes 
 might be examined at the same time. Examinations must 
 always occupy a long time, if they are assumed to be the 
 means of instruction, which they ought not to be. I will ven- 
 ture to state, that in Trinity College, Dublin, the number of 
 undergraduates amounts to from twelve to fifteen hundred. 
 The regular examination of the whole body occupies only 
 eight days — each class two. My own class of Freshmen 
 numbered 340 ; we were all examined in one large hall, in 
 two days, and I suspect no student complained that he had 
 not had enough. The examination there is not public. The 
 examination for prizes and premiums comes afterwards, and 
 takes up, of course, additional time. I can see no reason why 
 Seniors should be excused for the week preceding examina- 
 tion. It is never wise to admit to students that the highest 
 favor you can confer on them is to give them holidays. Good 
 students do not think idleness a favor, and bad ones ought 
 not to be listened to on this point. 
 
 Q. Please to look at the chapter of the statutes on crimes 
 and punishments; ought any of the punishments therein 
 provided for to be disused ? 
 A. Punishments are difficult matters to deal with. When a 
 
128 
 
 student cannot be induced, by a kind admonition, to comply 
 with rules, and attend to his business, it is about time to let 
 him go away. I am strongly of opinion that any attempt to 
 reclaim a student by punishments, severe or public, will 
 fail ; and this, after many years experience. Suspension in- 
 terrupts study, and disqualifies a student for his class. 
 Degradation often is regarded as glory. I might fill pages, 
 but all would amount to the same thing. When a young man 
 cannot be reclaimed or stimulated by mild reproof, the 
 sooner he is sent off the better. Public admonition is al- 
 ways bad. It is in nineteen out of twenty cases regarded as 
 a joke — the means of conferring glory on some worthless 
 fellow. 
 
 Q. Ought the power to dismiss students for the residue of 
 the day's attendance to be allowed to the professor ; and if 
 so, ought any, and if any, what restrictions to be imposed 
 upon the exercise of this power ? 
 
 A. Certainly it ought to be vested in the professor ; other- 
 wise the business of the class may be interrupted for the 
 whole recitation. The professor should not so dismiss a stu- 
 dent until he finds he cannot keep him in order by mild re- 
 proof. Perfect order in lecture-room ought to be enforced. If 
 disorder occurs frequently in the same room, and it can be 
 traced to one or more particular students, let them be invited 
 to state frankly the cause, if there be any reason for com- 
 plaint, on their part, against the professor. Let the professor 
 cease from this offensive measure, and in passing judgment 
 let the student's point qfvieio be taken into account and al- 
 lowed for. If, after a fair effort has been made to satisfy the 
 reasonable objections of students, the disorder continues, 
 then I should expel the delinquents. Good order is as essen- 
 tial in a lecture-room as good instruction. 
 
 But if a professor cannot, with an average class, maintain 
 order in his room, he is not fit for his position. The ability 
 to govern youth, whether a gift or an acquirement — and I be- 
 lieve it partakes of both — is indispensable in a professor. I 
 would add, on this subject, that when symptoms of disorder 
 have shown themselves in my room, I always have asked 
 
129 
 
 publicly if the class or any member of it had any complaint 
 to make of me or my conduct ; if so, I was ready to hear it, 
 and if in fault to alter my course ; but if there was no ground 
 of complaint against me, I should insist on order, and I have 
 very seldom failed to put a stop to the noise or disturbance. 
 A good deal may also be done by talking to the orderly mem- 
 bers of a class, and getting up right feeling amongst them, 
 and through them in the others. 
 
 Q. The expediency of taking away or limiting power of 
 requiring testimony of students ? 
 
 A. A very difficult matter to deal with. The Faculty 
 ought to have the power of questioning students, but it is in 
 vain to attempt to compel them to answer. One who would 
 give evidence against a fellow-student would be deemed in- 
 famous, and he who should refuse becomes a martyr. Stu- 
 dents may be examined, their evidence compared, and so 
 something like the truth arrived at, but no more. Especially 
 as, I fear, in too many cases, the maxim is acted upon, that it 
 is quite lawful and right to deceive an officer by any means ; 
 that falsehood in such a case ceases to be a crime. Whilst 
 such a principle is recognised amongst young men it is in vain 
 to talk of evidence of any kind. Rather diminish offences, 
 and to this end I would have two or three active men always 
 moving about the building, whose business should be to 
 report any disorder or damage. They might be called pre- 
 fects or any other name, but should be, in fact, peace-officers. 
 These might be corrupt, partial or inefficient, but such could 
 be removed and others tried in their places. I believe the 
 evils arising from employing such persons might, with mode- 
 rate care in the selection and supervision of them, be made 
 much less than those now existing in all Colleges, caused by 
 disorder. 
 
 Q. Suggestions relative to proceedings of the Board of 
 the College ? 
 
 A. The President ought to make the report from his own 
 minutes, or those of a secretary. Measures proposed but not 
 adopted should not, in general, be mentioned. Such a course 
 
 9j 
 
130 
 
 would swell a report with what must, from the nature, of 
 things, be generally worthless. But if .a member thinks some 
 particular measure he has proposed, but which has been 
 rejected, so important that it ought to be laid before the 
 Trustees, let him put his thoughts on paper, and if not offen- 
 sive to the President personally, he should present it. If an 
 attack be intended on the President, let that be done through 
 some Trustee. The best, the most desirable thing is, that the 
 Faculty shall be in harmony amongst themselves. But if 
 there be disagreement and dissatisfaction I should never at- 
 tempt to smother it. Let it explode — much, the safest way — 
 in some regular manner. 
 
 Q. Ought a member of the Board to engage in other pro- 
 fessions? 
 
 A. Tes. Enough for the Gollege, if its duties are fully 
 and well performed — no abatement, on these points — but it 
 would be in vain to attempt more. The best professors are 
 the most likely to have other employments. To them it would 
 be very irksome to be restrained, besides they could easily 
 evade any rule made to limit them in their labors. Poor, in- 
 efficient professors would have no temptation to violate the 
 rule. 
 
 Q. Ought students, to be kept to order at Commencements? 
 
 A. Most certainly. Let the term continue until all Com- 
 mencement exercises are over, and the students be under 
 College laws up to the end. No uudue severity need be used, 
 but the rules of good order and good manners should, by all 
 means, be enforced ; and any disorder, insolence or insult to 
 a member of the Faculty at that time should be punished the 
 same as during term. I would have order at that time above 
 all others, if it required twenty policemen to enforce it. Dis- 
 order at that time, before the public, is more injurious to the 
 institution than at any other. 
 
 Q. Ought graduating students to elect their speakers? 
 
 A. 1 dare not speak very confidently on this point, but 
 am of opinion that, in general, it is well to let [them choose 
 their own speakers. All the plans I have seen or known of 
 on this point seemed to have objections. I suspect it must 
 
131 
 
 be so, from the very fact that there is a selection made by- 
 somebody. But I believe the election by students, especially 
 as they leave College immediately afterwards, is less objec- 
 tionable than any other. 
 
 Edwaed Bourns, 
 President Norwich University, Vermont. 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF PROFESSOR HENRY 
 VETHAKE, 
 
 Of the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Philadelphia, February 21th, 1857. 
 Sir: 
 
 For a considerable time after receiving your communica- 
 tion of the 28th of last November, I meditated a detailed 
 reply to most, if not to all the questions, which you have put in 
 behalf of the Committee of Inquiry of the Board of Trustees 
 of Columbia College. On much reflection, however, I have 
 concluded to express no opinion respecting the subjects re- 
 ferred to in a very large proportion of them. And I am thus 
 reserved, partly from a conviction that most of those subjects 
 had better be entrusted to the discretion of the President and 
 professors of the College, (their decisions being of course, in 
 all cases, liable to revision and alteration by the Trustees,) 
 and partly, too, from motives of respect and delicacy towards 
 those gentlemen, motives which influence me the more on 
 account of the official position I now occupy in a similar in- 
 stitution. 
 
 I shall take the liberty of offering to you a few general re- 
 marks on the principles upon which your University depart- 
 ment should, in my opinion, be founded ; and I shall then 
 subjoin some of the questions put by you, with my answers. 
 
 1st. The utmost care should be had that the University 
 department be not in any manner injurious to the College 
 department, but on the contrary it shall tend to elevate the 
 
132 
 
 character of the latter. For this purpose, I think it of pri- 
 mary importance that the University courses should be of an 
 elevated order ; in every case, if possible, so superior to the 
 corresponding courses of instruction given in any of our Col- 
 leges, or so called Universities, at present existing, as to com- 
 mand an acknowledgment of the fact being such from every 
 graduate of another institution who may attend the lectures 
 of the professors. I would also repudiate all mere popular 
 lectures, to which women and children, and the men who 
 accompany them, come only to be amused, as in their 
 nature calculated to substitute a superficial smattering for 
 a sound and substantial knowledge of a subject, and to 
 inculcate upon young men, and their parents for them, that a 
 much easier route to literature and science is opened to them 
 than through the portals of Columbia College. I would also 
 reject all propositions for the delivery of comparatively short 
 courses of lectures by strangers or others, as exceedingly 
 liable to be superficial and unsatisfactory. Let suitable pro- 
 fessors be appointed in the University, and there will be no 
 necessity, it seems to me, for enlisting the services of any in- 
 terlopers. Again, with the view of giving additional dignity 
 and importance to the professors in the College department, 
 and therefore a greater prominence to the College itself, I 
 would have no assistant or adjunct professors — all the in- 
 structors should be professors — and I would suggest the de- 
 sirableness of the College professors, all of them, giving 
 courses of instruction also in the University. I need not add 
 that, to enable them to do so, it would become necessary to 
 increase their number ; which measure would in itself tend 
 to give a new impulse to the College. 
 
 2. The mode of instruction in the University, in my opin- 
 ion, should be by lectures, accompanied always by an oppor- 
 tunity afforded to the students to put questions to the profes- 
 sor, and to converse with him on the subject of his preced- 
 ing lecture. While such an arrangement as this will be found 
 to be eminently useful, and to be so precisely in proportion 
 to the ability of the professor, any attempt to make the 
 young men recite from day to day (whether graduates of Col- 
 
133 
 
 leges or others) would only deter them from coming to the 
 institution, about to be opened for their benefit. 
 
 3. In nearly all the German Universities there are four 
 Faculties, Theology, Medicine, Law and Philosophy, the last 
 comprehending in its range the whole circle of literature and 
 science,; excepting Theology, Law and Medicine, in the most 
 extensive acceptation of these terms. I would suggest the 
 adoption of the same classification of the Faculties in the new 
 University. And at stated periods in every year I would 
 confer, as is done in Germany, the usual degrees, in each of 
 these Faculties, on such members of the institution as should 
 appear, on examination, to be possessed of a certain amount 
 of knowledge. 
 
 4. In rearing the new University, I think it would be wise 
 to organize at the outset only the Faculty of Philosophy, 
 comprehending in this, besides, the various branches of litera- 
 ture and science, as is the case in Germany, also the applica- 
 tions of science to the arts, mechanical and chemical. When 
 this task had been satisfactorily accomplished, your Trustees 
 could with more advantage direct their attention to the or- 
 ganization of another of the Faculties, and so on. In the 
 peculiar circumstances of our country, however, and for 
 reasons which will readily suggest themselves to your mind, 
 any attempt to organize a Theological Faculty, in connection 
 with the University, would, in my opinion, be inexpedient. 
 
 QUESTION PROPOSED RELATING- TO A COURSE OF INSTRUCTION 
 FOR THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 
 
 Ought the modern languages, or any of them, and if any, 
 which of them, to have a place in that course ? 
 
 A. I am of opinion that this would be inexpedient, as hav- 
 ing a tendency to exclude from admission to the College 
 pupils from other schools where such languages were not 
 taught, and to induce the teachers of the schools generally to 
 exercise an influence upon their pupils in favor of other Col- 
 leges, rather than be at the inconvenience and expense of in- 
 troducing the additional instruction required into their schools. 
 
134 
 
 QUESTIONS BELATING TO THE COLLEGE COUBSE. 
 
 1. Would it be advisable in any, and if in any, in what 
 departments of instruction, to use such a text-book as should 
 contain only so much as the student ought to learn in the 
 whole College course, so as to be able to obtain a competent 
 elementary knowledge of the subjects taught ? 
 
 A. Whether a text-book should be used at all, and if so, 
 what text-book should be used, ought, I think, to be left very 
 much to the professor. Professors differ exceedingly in their 
 capacity of communicating knowledge to their pupils, and of 
 exercising or disciplining the minds of the young men who 
 attend to their instructions ; but I feel well assured that every 
 professor will teach most effectually in the method of which 
 he himself most approves. 
 
 2. How many hours of attendance in each week ought to 
 be assigned to the Freshman class ? and how many ought 
 to be assigned to the higher classes ? 
 
 A. I should say that three hours in a day of recitation is 
 a proper allowance for the students of every class ; unless, 
 perhaps, an hour or half an hour more might be required of 
 the Freshman. 
 
 3. Ought the examination of candidates for admission into 
 the Freshman class be dispensed withj provided they have 
 been students of the Grammar School, and hold the certificate 
 of the master of that school that they are qualified to enter 
 the College ? 
 
 A. I think not, to guard against giving offence to the 
 teachers and patrons of other schools, and to present to the 
 public the appearance, as well as the reality, of impartiality 
 to all the candidates. 
 
 4. Would you recommend the appointment by the Trus- 
 tees, from time to time, of adepts in the respective depart- 
 ments, to be charged with the duty either of conducting the 
 public examination in the departments to which they m'ay 
 be assigned, or else, without conducting the examination, of 
 proposing questions from time to time to the students, as they 
 
135 
 
 may judge to be requisite, in the course of the examination 
 by the professor ? 
 
 A. I would not recommend any measure of the kind, for 
 reasons which, I have little doubt, yon will readily conjec- 
 ture. 
 
 QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY STUDIES. 
 
 1. "Would it be expedient in any, and what departments, 
 to assign to the same professor the duty of instruction in both 
 the sub-graduate course and the University (or post-graduate) 
 course ? 
 
 A. This question has been already answered in the general 
 remarks with which this communication begins. 
 
 2. Ought the Post-Baccalaureate courses to be open to all 
 comers, or ought they to be confined to graduates of Colleges ? 
 
 A. I would say to all comers. 
 
 3. "Would it be expedient to grant certificates of special 
 attainment in any branch of study, however limited, chosen 
 by the candidate ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 4. Ought the text-books, whether original or adopted, to be 
 subjected to a preliminary censorship and sanction ; and if so, 
 how can this be best eifected ? 
 
 A. I would have the instruction rendered, as I have al- 
 ready stated, to be by lectures ; which, however, would not 
 preclude the putting of text-books into the hands of the stu- 
 dents. The selection of J;ext-books, for a like reason as in the 
 case of the instruction given in the College department, I 
 think had best be left to the professors. 
 
 5. "Would you or would you not leave the University pro- 
 fessor sole judge of the mode and measure of instruction in 
 his special department, prescribing only the general outline 
 and intent ? 
 
 A. I would prescribe to each professor the general subject 
 and the extent of his course. 
 
 6. Would or would it not be expedient to allow eminent 
 men, resident elsewhere, to deliver, as part of the University 
 
136 
 
 course, a limited number of lectures, to be agreed upon for a 
 stipulated compensation ? 
 
 A. I most earnestly object to this being done, not only for 
 the reason assigned in my preliminary remarks, but also as a 
 measure calculated to reflect injuriously upon your own pro- 
 fessors, and thus to lower their standing, and thereby, too, to 
 lower that of the institution with which they are connected, 
 and, so to speak, identified. 
 
 I have answered only a very few of the questions which 
 you have put, and have been thus restricted from motives 
 that seem to be readily excusable, and that have already 
 been stated. 
 
 I am, 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 Tour ob't serv't, 
 
 .Henry Vethake. 
 To 
 GorvEENETTE M. Ogden, Esq., 
 
 Chairman of Com. of Inquiry. 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF PEOFESSOE WILLIAM H. C. 
 BAETLETT, 
 
 Oe the United States Mhjtaey Academy at West Point. 
 
 West Point, March 2d, 1857. 
 
 My Deae Sir : 
 
 I received from you, some time ago, a list of printed ques- 
 tions relating to the future of Columbia College, and laid it 
 aside, in the hope of being able soon to give it the attention 
 its importance deserves. In this, however, I have been dis- 
 appointed. I have as yet found no sufficient leisure from my 
 other pressing occupations, and I now make this acknowledg- 
 ment, lest longer silence may be misunderstood to imply in- 
 difference to the subject, or want of courtesy to yourself. 
 
137 
 
 As you are about to mature a system of education for the 
 youth that are soon to control your great city, and, through 
 it, a large portion of our country, will you permit me to offer 
 a single suggestion in regard to your beginning ? We are 
 too apt to confound education with the mere acquisition of 
 knowledge. How common it is to find men possessed of all 
 that diligence in the pursuit of books can give, and yet who 
 accomplish little in the practical concerns of life, while the 
 most valuable results are often brought about by the illiter- 
 ate. Tie explanation is easy. One may stultify himself by 
 the mere habit of absorbing, as it were, the ideas of others, 
 or grow strong by the habit of independent thought. To ed- 
 ucate is to develop and give to youth free and. easy use of its 
 own inherent but latent powers of mind, and to this all our 
 efforts should be directed. Give to a youth at first a clear 
 perception of a few simple relations, and teach him how to 
 evolve from these others, and you give a pleasure as stimu- 
 lating to his mind as are the juices of the grape to his body. 
 Repeat this slowly, cautiously, and you arouse a conscious- 
 ness of power which ripens into self-reliance ; the mind, 
 having once digested, acquires appetite ; books and nature 
 become its larder ; and information and learning as surely 
 follow as vigorous, physical growth follows the supply of ap- 
 propriate food and healthful assimilation. 
 
 "We must educate by a system of thorough elementary 
 training, and by thorough I don't mean the forcing a boy 
 over the surface of many hooks, like driving a hungry horse 
 over a rich pasture, of which he can only occasionally snatch 
 a taste, but the leading his mind patiently through a course 
 so elementary and so logically connected in all its parts as to 
 constitute, in fact, as well as in name, a system of mental 
 training. 
 
 s The study of language, when rightly directed, affords the 
 b&st means of mental discipline, and should by no means be 
 abateQfinuch less abandoned. Besides its effect upon the 
 mind, it gives the ability, the most precious we can have, of 
 imparting concisely our own ideas, and of receiving clearly 
 the ideas of others. But the laws of matter and their appli- 
 
138 
 
 cations to the appliances of life are now of paramount import- 
 ance to our people, in their efforts to develop the resources 
 of our new and vast country, and these can only be studied 
 through the medium of the Mathematics — the highest and 
 most profitable system of logic, and the only unerring test of 
 physical truth. A thorough training in Arithmetic, Algebra 
 and Geometry I should regard as fundamental, and the only 
 foundation for all useful scientific attainment. These ele- 
 ments I should regard as indispensable additions to a good 
 elementary knowledge of Latin and English, and perhaps 
 some one or other of the more practically useful of the modern 
 languages, as French, Spanish or German, to entitle a candi- 
 date for admission into the College to be received. In a 
 word, my dear sir, I would aim at thoroughness — ■dejmite- 
 ness. Begin your preparation with the conventional lan- 
 guages and end it with the natural language, Mathematics ; 
 for Mathematics is but a language of the most comprehen- 
 sive, and, at the same time, condensed kind. If a bby have 
 any thing in him this will bring it out. 
 In the hope that you will pardon my long delay, 
 I am Sir, 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Wm. H. C. Baktlett. 
 G. M. Ogdeu, Esq., 
 
 Urea-York, N. T. 
 
139 
 
 COMMUNICATION" OF PRESIDENT MARK 
 HOPKINS, 
 
 Of Williams College, Vermont. 
 
 WilUams College, March 3d, 1857. 
 G. M. Ogden, Esq. : 
 
 Dear Sir, — Some time since I received from you a series 
 of questions and some documents, relative to Columbia Col- 
 lege and a proposed University, with a request that I would 
 answer the inquiries. I would gladly do so if I had time. 
 One of your questions I will answer, by saying, that I think 
 the President of a College should give instruction. His posi- 
 tion will give weight to his instruction, and his power of in- 
 struction will add moral influence to his position. Such a 
 man as Dr. Dwight could have found his position only in 
 the combined office of President and Instructor, and the 
 highest influence of an institution upon the minds of young 
 men can probably be reached in no other way. If, however, 
 the President is not to give instruction, the office should be- 
 come a secondary one, and such men as Mr. Everett and 
 President Walker, who are understood to have fine powers of 
 instruction, should never be appointed, unless, indeed, it be 
 as a sinecure or to lay them honorably upon the shelf. There 
 is no congruity in setting such men to attending to excuses 
 and the details of business merely. Much of business there 
 must be ; but the object of an institution is instruction and 
 training ; and if the man of the highest and most general 
 power should be chosen to give dignity to the office of Presi- 
 dent of a great institution, he is the very man who should 
 come most fully into contact with the minds of the students 
 on the highest subjects. This I say as preliminary to my 
 excuse for not answering your questions generally ; for while 
 I believe the President should give instruction, it is obvious 
 he may be required to give too much, and I suppose I give 
 
140 
 
 nearly double as much as any one similarly situated in the 
 country. This is required by the poverty of the institution. 
 Besides attending to the general business incident to the 
 position, I hear, for the most of the year, two recitations a 
 day, and give numerous written lectures, besides a lecture 
 every Saturday evening. In this way, with the addition of 
 some labor similar to that which you request, but less oner- 
 ous, I have been occupied since receiving yours, and am 
 confident you will not attribute my declining this additional 
 labor to any want of interest in the subject. Besides, what 
 you want, is not a mass of conflicting documents, but a few 
 able men who can give their time to the subject, and a sys- 
 tem that shall be flexible to the teachings of experience. 
 
 What I feel mainly interested in is the University. Of 
 Grammar Schools there are, perhaps, enough; of Colleges, 
 too many in the country. Kelatively these are local in their 
 interest, and they will be. Whatever you may do in this 
 line will be of no general interest to the country at large. 
 But the country does need a University, of which we have 
 yet scarcely the beginning any where, and, in my judgment, 
 it would be better if it could be entirely separated from any 
 College. It should be an institution in which the graduates 
 of all our Colleges might feel that they had an equal interest 
 and an equal right. The subject, however, is one of great 
 difficulty. Cambridge, Tale and Union, in addition to 
 yourselves, are endeavoring to engraft a University course 
 upon their Collegiate one, and the prospect is that all will 
 relatively fail. Money alone cannot do it. Tou need men, 
 and the general interest and sympathy of the country. 
 
 Please excuse these few remarks, and be assured it would 
 give me much pleasure if I could aid you in any way in your 
 great work. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 Mabk Hopkins. 
 
141 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF PROFESSOR GEORGE 
 TUCKER, 
 
 Of the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Philadelphia, March 25th, 1857. 
 
 Sir: 
 
 I owe you an apology for my tardiness in replying to your 
 letter of the 22d of January, on behalf of the Trustees of Co- 
 lumbia College. At the time that your Circular reached me, 
 I was so closely occupied with carrying a book through the 
 press, that it was out of my power to offer such suggestions 
 on the subject of education as experience or reflection might 
 dictate, on a topic which so eminently deserves the attention 
 of the philosopher and the patriot. I now avail myself of the 
 first interval of leisure to answer some of your inquiries. I 
 should, however, premise that the institution in which I was 
 twenty years a professor, differs in several important particu- 
 lars from Columbia College, and which I will briefly notice, 
 that you may better judge, of my competency, or rather my 
 incompetency, to give answers, founded on experimental 
 knowledge, to many of your questions. These points of dif- 
 ference (peculiar, I believe, to the University of Virginia) 
 are the following : In that institution there is no fixed grada- 
 tion of classes, but every student may attend any professor or 
 prpfessors whom he prefers, and can obtain a diploma in each 
 school that he may attend, whenever he is found, on exam- 
 ination, to deserve it. No length of attendance will entitle 
 him to any honorary distinction, and the shortest attendance 
 will be sufficient for him who proves his proficiency. An- 
 other peculiarity is, that there are daily examinations in every 
 school on the subject of the preceding lecture ; and lastly, the 
 half-yearly examinations to determine the comparative merit 
 of the students of each class are founded on the numerical 
 
142 
 
 values of the questions and answers, according to a plan 
 which will be more particularly noticed. 
 
 Q. As to the Grammar School — its course of instruction — 
 what modern languages should be there taught ? 
 
 A. Having had no experience in this department of juve- 
 nile instruction, I will not venture to suggest any particular 
 course. I will, however, express my sense of the importance 
 of the study of all dead languages, as beyond every other in 
 exercising and strengthening a boy's mental faculties. On 
 this subject I could dilate with pleasure, if I did not consider 
 it superfluous to those whom I address. But I hope to be 
 excused for adding, that this branch of study seems not to 
 have been so assiduously cultivated in our country as it de- 
 serves to be, owing partly, perhaps, to some superficial 
 theories on this subject, and partly to the impatience of our 
 youth to finish their education. Some thirty or forty years 
 ago I frequently met with teachers in Virginia — generally 
 from New-England — and among them I do not remember to 
 have found one who was acquainted with Prosody, or who 
 seemed to set any value on it. The English, probably, give 
 too much time to longs and shorts, and the Scotch and the 
 Irish too little. But we must be better prosodists than we 
 are to reach the middle point between them. 
 
 Of the modern languages which should be taught in the 
 Grammar School, I should think the answer would depend 
 on the line of life for which the student was intended. If he 
 is to follow one of the learned professions, then I should think 
 that German, which is so rich in every species of knowledge, 
 and is ever adding to its stores, would be preferable to any 
 other. If not, then French. But it must be remembered 
 that proficiency in Latin and Greek will make the acquisition 
 of any one or all the Eomanic languages comparatively easy, 
 and it might economise time to postpone them. 
 
 Of the exercises in the Grammar School, translations from 
 the English into a dead language should be frequently re- 
 quired and rigidly enforced, as putting in requisition all the 
 thinking faculties. The duties which these exercises will 
 
143 
 
 impose on the professor cannot be adequately discharged 
 without assistance. 
 
 Q. Should the instruction in each department of study be 
 from text-books or oral ? 
 
 A. I should say, both. A well-selected text-book may be 
 a useful guide to the professor as to the order in which the 
 different parts of the subject, in which he lectures or gives 
 oral instruction, should be studied by the class. But text- 
 books ought never to be solely relied on. The best facul- 
 ties of the professor will find ample field for employment 
 in explaining, illustrating, enforcing, and, occasionally, op- 
 posing the text-book ; by which the subjects treated of 
 cannot fail to be better understood by the student. Writ- 
 ten lectures will be useful for this purpose, but extempore, 
 far better. By the last mode the lecturer can present a sub- 
 ject in a variety of aspects, which neither the text-book nor 
 his own written lecture would venture on, especially when he 
 reads in the faces of his hearers, as he commonly may do, 
 that some of them have not clearly understood him. Extem- 
 porary lectures, moreover, secure a degree of attention and 
 interest on the part of the student which written lectures can 
 rarely give. 
 
 It may be objected that the lectures of a professor are 
 likely to be inferior to the best text-book. That will gener- 
 ally be true ; but then the views of the professor are so much 
 superadded to the text-book, and it would be strange if his 
 contributions did not shed further light on the subject, in ad- 
 dition to the benefits of his explanations, illustrations, criti- 
 cisms, &c. Nor is this all. By requiring the professor to 
 deliver a course of lectures on the subject which he is to 
 teach, you avoid the risk of having dull, shallow, untaught 
 instructors. From these considerations I should consider no 
 one properly qualified to be a professor who was incapable of 
 lecturing. When the instruction is solely from, text-books, it 
 requires little other qualification to fill a professor's! chair 
 than to be able to read ; and if the text-book should have that 
 notable improvement of printed questions and answers ap- 
 pended to it, then that little additional qualification may be 
 
144: 
 
 dispensed with. In the same degree that these prepared ques- 
 tions and answers save a student's time and labor, they im- 
 pede his improvement. They are about as wise as to continue 
 the use of the go-cart after the limbs can attain pliancy and 
 Btrength by spontaneous exercise. The two primary objects 
 of juvenile instruction are to impart knowledge and to im- 
 prove the faculties, of which the last is far the most impor- 
 tant, and this improvement can be effected only by giving to 
 them frequent and sometimes laborious exercise. If we 
 wish to appreciate the wonders achieved by habitual exercise 
 and reiterated effort, we have only to look at the accomplished 
 rope-dancer, or juggler, or musician, or public speaker, or 
 one skilled in penmanship, besides numerous others, and com- 
 pare the excellence which they have finally attained with 
 their first awkward beginnings. 
 
 Q. Should the student be required to take notes of the pro- 
 fessor's lecture? 
 
 A. I think it should be optional. The chief benefit of 
 notes is, that they may be referred to for supplying the defects 
 of the memory. But there is always some disadvantage in 
 taking them. According to my own experience, both what we 
 hear and what we read is better understood at the time, and 
 better remembered afterwards, when the mind has given an 
 undivided attention to the subject. Numerous petty associa- 
 tions and suggestions which would then be fastening facts and 
 arguments in the memory, and exercising the judgment, would 
 be prevented by the mental, as well as manual process of 
 taking notes. 
 
 Q. Is there any mode of enabling the student to retain and 
 recollect not liable to the objections to taking notes ? 
 
 A. Yes ; by daily examinations on the subject of the pre- 
 vious lecture. If he has been attentive to the lecture he will 
 remember much. When he knows he is to be examined, he 
 will be likely to prepare himself, by going over the subject 
 when it is fresh in his memory or more easily recalled; 
 and should it have entirely escaped him, the repetition of it 
 is likely to make it remembered. 
 
145 
 
 Q. How large a class can each professor thoroughly instruct, 
 and when is assistance proper? 
 
 A. When his instruction is by lecture, the number of his 
 class is limited only by the size of the room and the laws of 
 acoustics. Experience, too, shows that a large class is more 
 favorable to order in the lecture-room than a small one. But, 
 on the other hand, the larger the class the less, of course, is 
 the proportional benefit to each student from the daily exam- 
 inations. It would not be advisable to give to examinations 
 more than a third of the time spent in the lecture-room. 
 
 In teaching the languages, both ancient and modern, and 
 Mathematics, assistants are indispensable, if the class exceed 
 a hundred, and would be useful with a less number. In these 
 departments of instruction, written exercises by the student 
 are of the greatest importance, and the time required for their 
 correction would be, if not impracticable, too heavy a tax on 
 the professor. I have, indeed, known Mr. Long and Mr. Key, 
 (since professors in the London University,) to correct about a 
 hundred exercises each in a day ; but these must be regarded 
 rather as exceptions to be admired than as a rule likely to be 
 followed. 
 
 Q. What would be the effect of ranging all the students 
 of each class in the order of merit ? 
 
 A. I think that at the half-yearly examinations, the stu- 
 dents of every class may be, and ought to be thus ranged. 
 In the intermediate time, the benefit of such a scale would 
 not repay the trouble of making, and would probably be 
 quite as prolific of discontent among the students as of emu- 
 lation. 
 
 Q. Ought a department of instruction to be assigned to 
 the President; if so, what department? 
 
 A. Yes, if he is qualified and wishes it. The subjects ap- 
 parently best suited to his station are those which are merely 
 speculative, as Morals, Metaphysics or History, requiring en- 
 larged philosophical views and a mature mind. 
 
 Q. As to the course of instruction prescribed by the 
 
 statutes ? 
 
 10j 
 
146 
 
 A. If I migbt venture to suggest any change, it would be 
 that mental Philosophy should be part of the Junior course 
 as well as of the Senior. Believing that this study, better 
 than any other, prepares the mind for reasoning on those ab- 
 stract relations in which men in the higher pursuits of life are 
 60 much engaged, I do not think that it should be postponed 
 to the last year of the Collegiate course. When a youth has 
 become familiar with the mental operations, so as to be able 
 to speculate and reason on these shadowy subjects almost as 
 readily as on material and sensible objects, his mind has re- 
 ceived the best training for investigating and understanding 
 the principles of government, of legislation, of social and 
 political philosophy, and of literary criticism ; of which fact 
 Lord Bacon, Locke, Hume, Adam Smith, Jeffrey, Sidney 
 Smith, Brougham, afford illustrious examples, without refer- 
 ring to other nations, from Aristotle down to Humboldt and 
 Guizot. 
 
 The advantage of Mathematics, as affording a discipline to 
 the mind, is often insisted on, and justly it may be to a cer- 
 tain extent. In all that relates to number and quantity, in 
 which alone mathematical science is conversant, they afford 
 us the most perfect logic. But they do not aid us much in 
 our investigations on the relations of resemblance and classi- 
 fication, of cause and effect, and those of the moral and in- 
 tellectual faculties ; all of which relations, altogether alien to 
 Mathematics, are of such frequent recurrence and are so im- 
 portant to civilized man, and which contribute so much to 
 further the progress of civilization. 
 
 I am aware that the study of Metaphysics has its abuses 
 and its dangers. It is apt to bewilder weak brains. In minds 
 of average strength this tendency may be counteracted, if the 
 professor would inculcate on the student, both by precept and 
 example, that while he thinks like the metaphysician, he 
 should talk like the people. Brain language will commonly 
 prove an efficient corrective of views that are false or unin- 
 telligible. But though the remedy should fail, it is no solid 
 objection to a study whicli makes a strong mind stronger and 
 more useful, that it renders a weak one absurd and ridiculous, 
 
147 
 
 more than it is to a species of food which is nourishing to 
 sound constitutions but is injurious to dyspeptics. Besides, 
 the peccant humors which one course had engendered may 
 be purged off in two. 
 
 Q. Ought the examinations for admission into the Fresh- 
 man class to be rigid ? 
 
 A. I should think that there ought to be less strictness in 
 examinations for admission into this class than into any other. 
 I have known many instances of those who have attained 
 great proficiency, but who would have been excluded from 
 College under a rigorous examination. The question of ad- 
 mission may be safely left to the professors whom the student 
 is to attend. The mischief of undue indulgence is far less 
 than that of undue rigor. 
 
 Q. As to the mode of examination in each department? 
 
 A. I will state the modes pursued in the institution of 
 which I was so long a member, and my opinion of the results. 
 Besides the daily examinations on the preceding lecture, there 
 were half-yearly examinations, to determine the comparative 
 merit of the students in each class, and examinations for de- 
 grees, in the first of which the student's proficiency was al- 
 ways, and in the last, occasionally determined by numerical 
 values of his answers. 
 
 This mode was introduced into the University of Virginia 
 from one of the English Universities, (Cambridge,) where it 
 had not been very many years in use ; and it is as follows : The 
 pirofessor in each school prepares a number of questions — 
 commonly from twelve to twenty — on the subject which he 
 has taught, of which questions the students have no know- 
 ledge until they enter the lecture-room to write their answers. 
 To each of these questions a numerical: value is assigned and 
 appended, according to its estimated relative difficulty. The 
 professor, at his leisure, then carefully estimates the value of 
 each answer by each student, and at the semi-annual exami- 
 nations those students whose answers are equal in value to 
 three-fourths of the total value of the questions are placed in 
 the first division ; those whose answers are one-half of the whole 
 are placed in the second division ; those whose answers are 
 
148 
 
 one-fourth are in the third division, and those whose answers 
 are Jess than one-fourth, or who give no answers at all, are in 
 the fourth and last division. At the Commencement succeed- 
 ing, only those students who were in the first division are 
 publicly named as having' " obtained distinction," In the 
 examinations for degrees, the same course is sometimes pur- 
 sued, and the candidate whose answers attained a certain 
 proportion of the whole numerical value affixed to the ques- 
 tions (commonly three-fourths) was considered to be entitled 
 to his diploma. The questions in examinations for degrees 
 were much more difficult than those in the examinations for 
 distinction. 
 
 I have no hesitation in saying that the above mode of ex- 
 amination furnishes an accurate test of the student's pro- 
 ficiency, and its justice is so generally admitted as to preclude 
 complaint. All the examinations are made under the super- 
 vision of committees, each consisting of -three members of the 
 Faculty. 
 
 Q. Ought any of the punishments mentioned in the statutes 
 to be disused ? 
 
 A. I think not, unless it may be suspension, but for which it 
 does not seem easy to find a substitute. There is less objection 
 to such temporary dismission, if the student can reside during 
 the term of his suspension with his parent or guardian. "When 
 this is impracticable, his place of residence should be deter- 
 mined by the Faculty or President. 
 
 Q. As to the punishment of degradation ? 
 
 A. On this mode of punishment having had no experience, 
 I speak with hesitation. I should doubt its expediency. It 
 does not seem to have that relation to offences which appeals 
 to our sense of justice, and makes punishment efficacious. 
 
 Q. As to the power of requiring one student to give testi- 
 mony against another ? 
 
 A. I am decidedly of opinion that this power ought not to 
 be exercised, except in cases of crime or misdemeanors cog- 
 nisable by the laws of the land. I do not think that the 
 power is necessary. 
 
 Q. As to order in the lecture-room ? 
 
149 
 
 A. The power of the professor to send an offending student 
 out of the lecture-room is sufficient for small offences ; and 
 for greater he may be reported to the President and punished 
 by the Faculty. I think that there should be no restriction on 
 this power of the professor. It is better to risk his abuse of 
 the power then the chance of a new controversy, by which 
 the student's delinquency may afford to him matter of tri- 
 umph. 
 
 Q. Ought the professor to report at every meeting of the 
 Board the conduct and proficiency' of the students of his 
 class ? 
 
 A. I think not. There may be an excess of regulation, 
 of which this seems to be an instance. 
 
 Q. As to the minutes of the Faculty Board— by whom to 
 be kept ? 
 
 A. The best mode of keeping a full and accurate record of 
 the proceedings is by a secretary appointed for that purpose. 
 Next to that is by one of the members of the Board. The 
 President, however, should keep a record of his own acts, as 
 the head of the institution, to be reported to the Trustees, to- 
 gether with the proceedings of the Faculty. 
 
 Q. As to the rule of selecting speakers for Commence- 
 ments ? 
 
 A. This is often an embarrassing subject in Colleges, and a 
 rule which answers at one time or in one place may not suc- 
 ceed in another. The easiest mode is, perhaps, to allow the 
 societies which are likely to exist in all Colleges, to make 
 nominations from which the Faculty may select the public 
 speakers. But no oration or public address should be de- 
 livered which has not received the previous sanction of the 
 Faculty. 
 
 Q. The compensation of the professors ? 
 
 A. I entirely agree with. Meiners, a German writer on the 
 subject, that the safest and best mode of remunerating a pro- 
 fessor is partly by a fixed salary and partly by fees paid 
 by the students. By giving him an interest in the number 
 of his students, he has a constant stimulus to improve his 
 lectures and increase his reputation ; and should any pro- 
 
150 
 
 fessor prove an exception to this general rule, he will be 
 probably influenced by the example of his associates. I can 
 truly say that during the twenty years which I passed at the 
 University of Virginia, where the mode of compensation now 
 recommended then prevailed, there was no professor who 
 was not most industrious and assiduous in improving himself. 
 That mode has, indeed, been since changed, as tbe compen- 
 sation from fees had become too large, and the visitors did 
 not like to lessen the fees, and sufficient time has not since 
 elapsed to show the consequences of the change ; but I confi- 
 dently predict that the first mode will, under some modifica- 
 tion, be restored. 
 
 Q. As to Schools of Theology, Law and Medicine in the 
 University ? 
 
 A. Such schools ought to be established, whenever com- 
 petent professors can be procured ; that is, when adequate 
 compensation can be provided, as the duties of a professor, 
 both in the College and the University require, for their 
 proper discharge, the best talents of the country. That com- 
 pensation must be liberal. As a general rule, the degree of 
 talent will be in proportion to the amount of pay ; nor does 
 any occupation demand a higher order of intellect than that 
 of an instructor. It was once assigned to the profoundest phi- 
 losophers. 
 
 Q. As to the degree of doctor or master — its condi- 
 tions ? 
 
 A. To give those degrees their due value, they should be 
 granted only after a strict examination. 
 
 Q. As to the portion of the year to be given to University 
 studies ? 
 
 A. I think it should be as long, or nearly as long, as that 
 given to College studies. I see not why lectures in the Uni- 
 versity should be suspended on Saturdays. 
 
 Q. May professors pursue other occupations for emolu- 
 ment? 
 
 A. By no means. Such occupations would, in many ways, 
 interfere with the proper discharge of a professor's duties. 
 He ought not to find them necessary, or even desirable. 
 
151 
 
 Perhaps the professor of medicine may furnish a qualified 
 exception. 
 
 In conclusion, I would remark that every one who has at- 
 tained intellectual eminence, has done far more to educate 
 himself than has been done by others ; and that system of in- 
 struction is the best which is most likely to excite the desire 
 of improvement, and to superinduce the habit of spontaneous 
 intellectual exercise, leaving the result to nature, as the best 
 physician is he who is most guided by the self-healing powers of 
 nature, and best succeeds in removing their obstructions, and 
 giving them fair play. There seems to be a close analogy 
 between the self-improving process of the mind and the self- 
 curing process of the body. 
 
 I have now, sir, answered such of your questions as I 
 deemed most important, and on which I could venture to 
 give an opinion. Wishing to the Trustees all success in their 
 laudable efforts, 
 
 I remain, with profound respect, 
 
 Your and their obedient servant, 
 
 Geoege Tucker. 
 
 COMMUNICATION OF PEOFESSOE WILLIAM M. 
 GILLESPIE, 
 
 Of Union College, New- Yoke. 
 
 b j 
 
 Union College, Schenectady, June 15, 1857. 
 
 Deae Sie : 
 
 The pressure of my College duties has rendered it impossi- 
 ble for me to answer the questions which your " Committee 
 of Inquiry" did me the honor to address to me. I regret this 
 the more, as many of those questions related to subjects on 
 which I had thought much, which I had investigated in a 
 recent visit to the leading European schools of practical 
 science, and which I had tested in practice. But though I have 
 
152 
 
 been thus prevented from contributing my mite to aid in the 
 progress of my Alma Mater. I beg leave to make one sug- 
 gestion. 
 
 While I am rejoiced to see, in the recent action of your Board, 
 such a liberal enlargement of the College sphere of action 
 as gratifies my filial pride, it seems that the subject of the 
 Applied Sciences has not as yet received that attention which 
 its importance deserves. I refer particular!}' to Civil Engi- 
 neering, i. e., Applied Mathematics and Mechanics; and 
 Chemical Technology, i. e., Applied Chemistry. 
 
 No departments of instruction are more valuable to the 
 community at large, and in no other place could such chairs 
 do so much good as in the city of New- York, the metropolis 
 of the nation, and receive in return so much stimulus and 
 improvement by the reaction of their own work. Permit 
 me to dwell a moment on the former department, with which 
 my practice and studies have made me more familiar. 
 
 Our rail-roads, canals, bridges, water-works, dry-docks, &c, 
 have made the name of Civil Engineering familiar to all, and 
 testified to its indispensable importance. But to give an ap- 
 propriate definition of it is very difficult. It has been char- 
 acterized as " the application of Physical Science to the busi- 
 ness of life." This, however, is too general. Most, if not all 
 of its special objects would be embraced, if we should call it 
 " The Science of Transport," of persons and of things. Eor 
 this end are most of its great works executed. The means 
 which it employs to attain this are mostly modifications on a 
 large scale, of the surface of the earth ; such as cutting 
 through hills ; filling up valleys, or bridging them over ; 
 erecting dams to retain water, or constructing channels to 
 guide its flow, &c, &c. 
 
 The labors of the Civil Engineer in bringing about these 
 results may be classified thus : 
 
 I. — Making the measurements necessary to determine pre- 
 cisely the form of the ground to be operated upon, i. e., Sur- 
 veying and Levelling. 
 
 II- — Determining the forms and dimensions of the works 
 to be constructed, i. e., Making Projects. This requires a 
 
153 
 
 knowledge of the mechanical principles of the strength of 
 materials and of the stability of structures, together with 
 the rules of construction, as dependent on the physical laws 
 involved, and the adaptation of the best means to the desired 
 ends. 
 
 III. — Eepresenting on paper objects and places as they 
 are, and as they are designed to be, i. e., Draughting and 
 Mapping ; their foundation being Descriptive Geometry. 
 
 IV". — Measuring the quantity of the proposed works, and 
 determining their cost, i. e., Mensuration and Estimation. 
 
 V. — Marking out on the ground the lines of the intended 
 operations and structures, and directing their execution, i. e., 
 Field-work and Superintendence. 
 
 A mastery of all these branches (which involve an im- 
 mense amount of detail in calculations, &c.) ought to be 
 possessed by every one about to enter on the arduous and re- 
 sponsible profession of a Civil Engineer. The leading object 
 in such a course of instruction should be two-fold ; firstly, to 
 familiarize the student with the use of instruments and the 
 routine of engineering operations, as far as is possible, and thus 
 to prepare him for immediate usefulness ; and, secondly, to 
 supply him with principles, formulae and data to determine 
 the character, dimensions, &c, of works requiring a know- 
 ledge of mathematical and engineering science. The value 
 of such a course will be most heartily acknowledged by the 
 intelligent but unedncated engineer who has felt how much 
 he needed to know, and has discovered how little he really 
 did know. The construction of the public works of this 
 country has generally been directed by men of great natural 
 ability, whose genius, experience and experiments have in 
 some degree compensated for their want of previous prepara- 
 tion. They are well aware of their own deficiencies, and will 
 be the first to confess how much their progress would have 
 been facilitated, and their operations economized, if they had 
 been able to profit by the teachings of science. It was esti- 
 mated by the famous Vauban, that the instruction of the 
 young engineers of France, by experience alone, added six- 
 teen per cent, to the cost of the works on which they were 
 
154 
 
 engaged. With the practical character of the American 
 mind, such a waste would be less, but still great. 
 
 The field for the civil engineer in this country is constantly 
 enlarging. Our numerous rail-roads are not a tithe of those 
 which will eventually be constructed, as will appear if we 
 compare our maps with those of old countries like England. 
 The demand for new and more permanent bridges will con- 
 tinue to increase. All our large towns will require supplies 
 of pure water. Most of our rivers need the improvements in 
 their navigation which engineering can give. The increasing 
 value of land near large cities will repay skilful and extensive 
 drainage of swamps, &c. Our large farms will in many ways 
 be benefited by the aid of the engineer. The sanitary re- 
 forms of cities will create new openings for him. Mines will 
 give him other employment. All our States will eventually 
 make elaborate trigonometrical and topographical surveys of 
 their surface. And the general demand for his services must 
 increase with the increasing wealth of the country. 
 
 But, aside from the professional study of a course of Civil 
 Engineering, no liberal education can be considered complete 
 unless it comprises a general knowledge of the principles on 
 which these works are constructed, of the uses of their va- 
 rious parts, of the reasons for their peculiar arrangements, of 
 the useful ends sought to be attained, and of the dangers to 
 be guarded against. The distinguished " Master of Trinity," 
 Rev. Dr. Whewell, even goes so far as to say, that " every 
 roof, frame, bridge, oblique arch, machine, steam-boiler, loco- 
 motive, ought to be looked upon as a case to which every 
 well-educated man ought to be able to apply definite and 
 certain principles, in order to judge of its structure and work- 
 ing." 
 
 Most of the students usually attendant on the regular 
 course of Columbia College are likely in after life to become 
 directors of rail-roads and other public works, or to be called 
 to legislate respecting their best policy, or to try causes in- 
 volving some of their principles, or at least to be pecuniarily 
 interested in them. It therefore especially behooves them to 
 acquire such a knowledge as is indicated above. 
 
155 
 
 Such a department in Columbia College, in view of its 
 probable attendants, should be organized in rather a peculiar 
 manner, so as to embrace, firstly, a series of lectures to the 
 Senior class, (perhaps as an optional study,) giving a clear 
 and precise, but general, resume of the leading principles 
 and their applications ; and then a special professional course, 
 running parallel with the former, and taking up all the prac- 
 tical and minute details and more abstruse investigations, for 
 the benefit of professional engineers, or students designing 
 to become such. To properly combine and apportion the two 
 courses would be difficult, it is true, but not impossible for a 
 man fully master of his subject, practically as well as theo- 
 retically. 
 
 If the funds of the College, which, though large, are neces- 
 sarily limited, should be insufficient at present for these de- 
 partments, it might be possible to have the subjects taught 
 at first during one term of the year — say the winter one — the 
 professors receiving half their full salary, and having the 
 other half of the year at their own disposal. This would have 
 the advantage in the civil engineering department, that the 
 practical men likely to avail themselves of such a course are, 
 in great part, at leisure during the winter season. 
 
 Permit me one more suggestion. Mining is also a most 
 important, subject; and should you desire to introduce it, 
 this could most easily be done by establishing a chair of 
 Geology, Mineralogy and Mining ; and making " Applied 
 Chemistry" a part of the chemical professorship, in the place 
 of the Geology and Mineralogy taken for it. 
 
 With wan h interest in the prosperity and honor of old Co- 
 lumbia, I remain, very respectfully, 
 
 Tour obedient servant, 
 
 ¥m. M. Gillespie. 
 Gout. M. Ogden, Esq. 
 
156 
 
 COMMUNICATION" OF THE EIGHT REVERENT) 
 ALONZO POTTER, D. D. 
 
 AS TO THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged to Bishop Potter to sug- 
 gest a course of instruction for the Grammar School. 
 
 Q. Ought the modern languages, or any of them, and if 
 any, which of them, to have a place in that course ? 
 
 A. French, German or Spanish, at the option of parent. 
 
 Q. Ought the study of any, and which of such languages, 
 if placed in such course, to be compulsory ? 
 
 A. Doubtful. 
 
 Q. "What place, in point of time or period, ought the study 
 of modern languages (if any ought to be prescribed) to have 
 in the Grammar School course? 
 
 A. A lesson every other day. 
 
 Q. Could the study of one or more of the modern lan- 
 guages, and if so, how many, be efficiently pursued in the 
 Grammar School, without detriment to thorough instruction 
 in the Greek and Latin languages in the same course, so far as 
 is necessary for preparation for the College course ? 
 
 A. Yes; one. 
 
 THE SUB-GRADUATE COURSE. 
 
 Q. What ought to be the hours of attendance of each pro- 
 fessor each day to be employed in instruction ? 
 
 A. From three to four. 
 
 Q. In reference to each department of study, in your 
 judgment proper for the undergraduate course, please state 
 whether the instruction ought to be from text-books or oral. 
 
 A. Both ; most from text-books. 
 
 Q. Ought such instruction, when oral, to be from notes of 
 the professor, previously prepared ; and would any regulation 
 on this subj ect be expedient ? 
 
157 
 
 A. Doubtful. 
 
 Q. In cases where oral instruction is proper, ought the 
 students to be required to take notes of the lecture of the pro- 
 fessor ? 
 
 A. He ought to be required, on a subsequent day, to give 
 the outline of such instruction. 
 
 Q. If so, what should be the nature of such notes ; and 
 what facilities ought to be afforded to the students to enable 
 them to understand how to take them with ease and without 
 interruption of their attention ? 
 
 A . At given points in the course, require each student to 
 present a written summary of the instruction of the preced- 
 ing period. 
 
 Q. Would it be advisable in any, and if in any, in what 
 departments of instruction, to use such a text-book as should 
 contain only so much as the student ought to learn in the 
 whole College course, so as to be able to obtain a competent 
 elementary knowledge of the subjects taUght? 
 
 Q. Would such text-books facilitate instruction in Mathe- 
 matics ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Would it, or would it not be advantageous, by the 
 adoption of such a text-book, to limit the discretion of any 
 (and if so, which) professor or professors, as to mode of in- 
 struction ? 
 
 A. Aye. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means by which the students can 
 be made to keep up that knowledge of principles from the 
 beginning of any science or branch of instruction, which is 
 necessary to enable them to comprehend each succeeding 
 step? 
 
 A. More frequent and thorough reviews. 
 
 Q. Would a text-book, of the kind referred to in previous 
 questions, tend to accomplish such object? 
 
 A. Aye. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any means, besides the discipline of 
 students according to the results of periodical examinations, 
 that would tend to diminish the deficiencies which arise from 
 
158 
 
 the neglect by the students of their studies, so as to secure 
 the uniform and continued diligence and attention of the 
 students ? 
 
 A. Y&v'\o\\s prises for the best oral examinations ; best writ- 
 ten examinations ; best essays, &c, &c. 
 
 Q. Could, in your opinion, more thorough instruction be 
 imparted by limiting the range of instruction in any, and what 
 departments? 
 
 A. Have fewer departments — limit range in each. 
 
 Q. If so, how would yon limit it ? 
 
 A. In Classics, a few choice authors read and re-read. 
 
 Q. How often ought the students to recite? 
 
 A. Thrice daily. 
 
 Q. How long ought the exercise of each student to continue 
 when he is examined in the lecture-room ? 
 
 A. Should' be determined by circumstances, and vary from 
 day to day. 
 
 Q. How large a class can each professor thoroughly in- 
 struct, by the adoption of a proper system ; and in what case 
 should he have assistance, if any is proper ? 
 
 A. Thirty. 
 
 Q. If any assistance is necessary, please describe its nature, 
 and what duties ought to be devolved upon the assistant and 
 what upon the professor. 
 
 A. No general rule can be prescribed. 
 
 Q. In a class of what number of students ought an efficient 
 instructor to be able, without assistance, to detect the defi- 
 ciencies of each student in the previous part of the course, 
 or to discover and explain away any difficulties he may 
 honestly labor under? 
 
 A. Thirty to fifty. 
 
 Q. Is it not important, in elementary instruction, to under- 
 stand the state of mind of, and to advise and assist individual 
 students ? 
 
 A. Aye. 
 
 Q. "What means would you suggest as calculated to insure 
 the attainment of the ends suggested in the last two ques- 
 
159 
 
 tions, and to assure the Trustees from time to time that they 
 are accomplished ? 
 
 A. Supervision. 
 
 Q. How ought the relative merits of the students in each 
 department to be determined ? 
 
 A. Partly by daily recitations, partly by special examination. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be any prescribed and uniform system 
 of numbers for recording the performances of the students in 
 class ? 
 
 A. I think so. 
 
 Q. Ought any use, and if so, what use to be made of such 
 a record, beyond that by which the professor keeping it may 
 be enabled to form his judgment of the relative merits of the 
 students ? 
 
 A. By President, as a general record. 
 
 Q. What, in your opinion, would be the advantage or dis- 
 advantage of ranging all the students in each class, in the 
 order of merit, as compared with the present system of con- 
 fining such order to those of the students who have been re- 
 cipients of honors? 
 
 A. The stimulus of hope and fear applied to all instead of 
 part of a class. 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance in each week ought to 
 be assigned to the Freshman class ? 
 
 A. Sixteen. 
 
 Q. How many hours of attendance ought to be assigned to 
 the higher classes ? 
 
 A. Sixteen. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, a department of instruction be 
 assigned4;o the President ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. If so, what department would be best suited to that 
 office? 
 
 A. English literature or Ethics ? 
 
 Q. And the Committee particularly ask your opinion, 
 whether the study of any one or more of the modern languages 
 ought to be prescribed as part of the undergraduate course ; 
 and if so, what language or languages ? 
 
160 
 
 A. Same as in Grammar School. 
 
 Q. If you should answer the last preceding question in the 
 affirmative, please state if any, and if so, what previous pre- 
 paration ought to be required. 
 A. The Grammar and easy translations. 
 Q. In presence of whom ought the examinations of candi- 
 dates for admission into the Freshman class to be conducted ? 
 A. Of their teacher, and the professors in Languages and 
 Mathematics. 
 
 Q. Ought the examination of such candidates to be dis- 
 pensed with, provided they have been students of the Gram- 
 mar School, and hold the certificate of the master of that 
 school that they are qualified to enter the College ? 
 
 A. I think not. It would be an invidious distinction, and 
 devolve too much responsibility on the Principal. 
 
 Q. Ought the examinations for admission into the Fresh- 
 man class to be public or private ? 
 A. Private. 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid ? 
 A. Reasonably strict. 
 
 Q. In what cases, if any, ought the public examination of 
 such candidates to be dispensed with ? 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the result of the examinations for 
 admission into the Freshman class to be reported to the Board 
 of the College ? 
 A. Tes. 
 
 Q. In whom should the power and duty reside, to decide 
 as to whether or not the applicants for admission into the 
 Freshman class shall be admitted ; in the Board of the Col- 
 lege, subject to the negative of the President, or in the Presi- 
 dent alone ? 
 A. The Board. 
 
 Q. In what manner ought it to be ascertained whether the 
 persons applying for admission into the higher classes possess 
 the knowledge requisite for their admission ? 
 A. By examination. 
 
 Q. If by examination, in presence of whom ought the ex- 
 amination to be conducted ? 
 
161 
 
 A. Teachers and professors. 
 
 Q. Ought such examinations to be strict and rigid? 
 
 A. Reasonably strict. 
 
 Q. Ought they to be public or private ? 
 
 A. I should say private. 
 
 Q. Ought stated days to be established for such examina- 
 tions, and none to be permitted at any other times ? 
 
 A. Stated times preferable — not always practicable. 
 
 Q. In whom should reside the power and duty of deciding 
 whether or not candidates for admission into the higher classes 
 shall be admitted ; the Board of the College, subject to the 
 negative of the President, or the President alone ? 
 
 A. The Board. 
 
 Q. Would you or not recommend that all the members of 
 the Board of the College should be required to attend all ex- 
 aminations, and to note the result, in order to have, as mem- 
 bers of the Board of the College, the means of judging, from 
 their own observation, the qualifications of candidates for ad- 
 mission, or of students examined in the course subsequent to 
 their admission ? 
 
 A. It would be well. 
 
 Q. The Committee will be obliged by any suggestions or 
 opinions you may be willing to submit, relative to the ex- 
 amination or admission of candidates for admission into the 
 College as students. 
 
 A. It should be orally and by writing. 
 
 Q. Ought the students of each class to be examined at the 
 public examinations upon the whole subjects or matters of the 
 course of 6tudy pursued during the last preceding term, or 
 upon selections from such subjects or matters ? 
 
 A. This depends on the time allotted to the examinations. 
 
 Q. Can you suggest any statutory provisions, such as in 
 your opinion would secure the proper extent of such exam- 
 inations, and would enable the Trustees to enforce it ? 
 
 A. Let the sections, chapters or problems be drawn by 
 
 lot. 
 
 Q. Will you be good enough to suggest to the Committee 
 such method of examination in relation to each department, 
 
 Hj 
 
162 
 
 and such regulations in regard- to the same, as would, -in your 
 opinion, secure a strict and rigid examination, having a due 
 regard to fairness towards the students, and to precaution 
 against their failure from perturbation ? 
 
 Q. How much time ought to be allowed for the examina- 
 tion in the departments of instruction respectively % 
 
 A. Two or three hours — one at each sitting in the more 
 important departments. 
 
 Q. What plan, if any, would you recommend to allow 
 sufficient time for the thorough examination in each depart- 
 ment of study, and yet to diminish as much as possible the 
 whole period allotted for the continuance of the examinations 
 of all the classes ? 
 
 A. Examination by writing allows all to work at same 
 time. 
 
 Q. "Will yon please to give your opinion as to whether or 
 not the provisions of the statutes requiring a review should 
 be retained or altered? 
 
 A. Eeviews are of the utmost importance. 
 
 Q. Ought the public examinations to be so conducted as 
 satisfactorily to test the knowledge of the student in the sub- 
 jects of the course, which were the objects of attention, not 
 only in the last preceding term, but also in the previous 
 terms ? 
 
 A. I incline to say yes. 
 
 Q. How could they be made such test ? 
 
 A. Giving questions which involve what has preceded. 
 
 Q. Ought the examining professors to make a report to the 
 Board of the College of the results of the public examinations 
 conducted by them ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. If so, ought or ought not such reports to be in 
 writing ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not the professors to be required to 
 keep a record of the results of their own public examina- 
 tions ? 
 
 A. Desirable. 
 
163 
 
 Q. Ought or ought not students found at any public ex- 
 amination deficient in the studies of the previous part of the 
 course, to be excluded from proceeding with their class ? 
 
 A. Doubtful. 
 
 Q. Would you recommend the appointment by the Trus- 
 tees, from time to time, of adepts in the respective depart- 
 ments, to be charged with the duty either of conducting the 
 public examination in the departments to which they may 
 be assigned, or else, without conducting the examination, of 
 proposing questions from time to time to the students, as 
 they may judge to be requisite, in the course of the examina- 
 tion by the professor ? 
 
 A. Their presence and aid might be very useful. 
 
 Q. Ought the College to be strict in their requirements 
 upon the students to master the course of instruction pointed 
 out by the statutes ; or should allowance be made for those, 
 that from defect of intellectual capacity or indolence, fail to 
 acquire the knowledge which the institution aims to impart ? 
 Please to state your opinion, with the reasons upon which it 
 may be based. 
 
 A. Discrimination must and ought to be made in favor 
 of feeble minds. 
 
 Q. What are the objections to suspension ? 
 
 A. If public, it disheartens. 
 
 Q. If any, in what way can those objections be obviated, 
 and suspension be made an efficient and useful means for 
 the enforcement of discipline ? 
 
 A. Make it private, to be followed by final dismissal if 
 there is not amendment. 
 
 Q. Are there any, and if any, what objection to the pun- 
 ishment of degradation from the class to which a student 
 belongs, to a lower class ? And would you recommend that 
 degradation in such sense should be retained as a College 
 punishment ? 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Ought degradation, in the sense of removing a student 
 from a higher to a lower place in the same class, to be re- 
 tained as a punishment ? 
 
164 
 
 A. Doubtful. 
 
 Q. In what manner, and in what place, and in presence of 
 whom ought adjudged punishments to be pronounced ? 
 
 A. The more private the better, unless in very flagrant 
 cases. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion as to the expediency of taking 
 away or limiting the power of the Board of the College to 
 require the attendance and testimony of any student adversely 
 to a fellow-student, upon a charge against the latter? 
 
 A. Such power is of no use. 
 
 Q. Do you think that thorough discipline in the College 
 might be preserved without any recourse to the testimony, 
 voluntary or involuntary, of the students to prove any of- 
 fence ? 
 
 A. Testimony can be had if it is not required. 
 
 Q. To what means ought professors to be allowed to resort 
 to punish or repress disorder in their rooms? 
 
 A. Private admonition ; kindness; dignity of deportment; 
 dismissal. 
 
 Q. Ought the power to dismiss students for the residue of 
 the day's attendance to be allowed to the professor ; and if 
 so, ought any, and if any, what restrictions to be imposed 
 upon the exercise of this power? 
 
 A. Yes, in extreme cases, to be reported by the student 
 dismissed to the President. 
 
 Q. Ought the professor to report at every meeting of the 
 Board of the College relative to the conduct and proficiency 
 of the students ; if so, what ought to be the nature of such 
 reports ? 
 
 A. Doubtful. 
 
 Q. Ought they to be in writing ? 
 
 A. Too many and too exact reports are inexpedient. 
 
 Q. Ought any member of the Board of the College to be 
 allowed to engage in any professional pursuits from which he 
 derives emolument, and which are not connected with the 
 College ? 
 
 A. Yes, if he does full and effective work. 
 
 Q. Ought, in your opinion, strict order of the students to 
 
165 
 
 be preserved at Commencements ; or what license ought to 
 be allowed to them on those occasions ? 
 
 A. Some license is inevitable. 
 
 Q. Ought the students graduating to be allowed to elect or 
 nominate any of such speakers ; and if so, which of them ? 
 
 A. It might be well. 
 
 Q. How should the speakers, others than those taking honor- 
 ary parts, be selected ? 
 
 A. By the Faculty. 
 
 AS TO TOTrVEESITT STUDIES. 
 
 Q. "Would it be expedient in any, and what departments, 
 to assign to the same professor the duty of instruction in both 
 the sub-graduate course and the University course ? Please 
 to give your views fully. 
 
 A. An affirmative answer — with limitations. 
 
 Q. Please to make any recommendations that you may 
 think proper, touching the mode of compensation of the pro- 
 fessors of the College and the professors of the University. 
 
 A. Mixed — partly fixed — partly contingent on number of 
 pupils. 
 
 Q. In the absence of civil privileges or political advanta- 
 ges, what motives beyond interest in the subject, or the way 
 in which it is taught,, can you suggest as probably sufficient 
 to induce Bachelors to attend and study for higher degrees ? 
 
 A. Privilege to teach in College or University — above all 
 prizes. 
 
 Q. Ought the Post-Baccalaureate courses to be open to all 
 comers, or ought they to be confined to graduates of Colleges ? 
 
 A. Open to all. 
 
 Q. If no condition be required beyond the payment of fees 
 and the observance of order, ought there or ought there not 
 to be subsequently made (at the granting of the higher de- 
 grees, for instance) a distinction between those who have at- 
 tained the lower degrees and those who have not ? 
 
 A. Doubtful. 
 
 Q. Ought the University Halls to be nearer the centre of 
 population than the College Halls ; and would any inconven- 
 ience be likely to arise from their local separation ? 
 
166 
 
 A. Not much. 
 
 Q. Ought there to be a prescribed order and measure of 
 attendance as indispensable to a Master's or Doctor's degree, 
 or would you recommend an exclusive reliance on a strict 
 examination ? 
 
 A. On examination. 
 
 Q. Would it be expedient to grant certificates of special 
 attainment in any branch of study, however limited, chosen 
 by the candidate? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What are the subjects most appropriate, in your opinion, 
 to classes of candidates for degrees higher than the Bacca- 
 laureate? 
 
 A. To depend on the nature of the degree. 
 
 Q. Is it well to demand a certain minimum of actual at- 
 tendance, leaving the learner the choice of subjects, and the 
 right of discretionary change at any time he may see fit ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Ought the University studies to cover as large a portion 
 of the year as the College studies ? 
 
 A. Hardly. 
 
 Q. Ought the University graduates to hold a separate Com- 
 mencement, and in other respects be but little connected with 
 the College, or the reverse ? 
 
 A. No separate Commencement. 
 
 Q. Ought the University professors to have the privilege 
 of pursuing occupations from which they derive emolument, 
 and not connected with their duties as professors ? 
 
 A: Yes. 
 
 Q. Ought a greater or less latitude than is now usual to 
 be conceded to the introduction of controverted matter, 
 whether religious, moral, political or scientific ? 
 
 A. It would be inevitable. 
 
 Q. Would or would it not be expedient to allow eminent 
 men, resident elsewhere, to deliver, as part of the University 
 course, a limited number of lectures, to be agreed upon, for 
 a stipulated compensation ? 
 
 A. Yery expedient.