s^ 
 
 
 m 
 
 A LETTER 
 
 vcife^g 
 
 TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, | 
 
 A CITIZEN. 
 
 NEW YOEK: 
 THOMAS N. STANFORD, 63Y BROADWAY. 
 
 M.DOOO.LVI. 
 
 \^ri 
 
A LETTER 
 
 TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, 
 
 A CITIZEN. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 THOMAS N. STANFORD, 637 BROADWAY. 
 
 M.DOOO.LVI. 
 

 JOHN' F. TROW, 
 
 Printer, Stereotyper and Electrotyfier. 
 377 & 879 Broadway. 
 
TO THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 The atmosphere of a mercantile city is not pro- 
 pitious to the cause of education. Its seductive pleas- 
 ures corrupt the healthful mind, and enervating pur- 
 suits substitute manly sports in the open air. But 
 more fatal are the influences of examples which divert 
 the attention from higher objects to easy gratifications, 
 and instil the sad error into young hearts, that to make 
 money is more worthy of ambition, than to be 
 
 " a man of worth, 
 
 A man of manners and of letters too." 
 
 To combine physical and moral, with mental cul- 
 ture, is sought after by the great schools of England, 
 and the success of our own military academy, furnishes 
 an argument we are proud to offer. 
 
 But that deferential regard, which a Faculty ought 
 to acquire, can hardly be conceded in the marts of 
 trade, nor can it be supposed that professors, in their 
 social relations, could enjoy exemption from that waste 
 of time to which they are exposed. Nor is it reasona- 
 ble to hope, whatever may be the provision by charter 
 
or statutes, tliat tlie devotion which their occupation 
 demands, will not be desecrated by secular pursuits. 
 
 The teacher and the student of a literary institution, 
 must feel that they are in a false position, if not de- 
 graded at the court of the Money King. But, far 
 enough removed to escape the familiarity of contact, 
 they would all be respected and cherished. A seat of 
 learning belonging to this city, yet set apart from its 
 turmoil of business, and pleasure, would be an object 
 of pride and protection for its merchant princes. From 
 you, who have studied your present local position, and 
 are about to repeat your experience, I trust that the pro- 
 ject I am about to offer, although it may be thought 
 speculative, will be considered with indulgence; for if 
 problematical, it is yet to be condemned by experiment. 
 Your affairs, gentlemen, are at a crisis, and it may 
 be that there is more danger of losing an opportunity, 
 than in a bold effort to turn occurrences to advantage. 
 In a circuit of thirty miles around New York, there are 
 few locations on the map, exempt from objection ; but 
 that difficulty facilitates a choice. There is one section 
 of country, in the county of Westchester, which seems 
 to offer every inducement to make it the favored one. 
 It is a fine rolling country with broad southern declivi- 
 ties. It has a granitic subsoil, pure water, and a whole- 
 some climate. There are advantages of access, enjoyed 
 perhaps, by no other part of the Union to the same ex- 
 tent at present, or for the future. Railroads from 
 north, east, and west, pour a flood of travel through an 
 isthmus, between the Hudson and the Sound, and re- 
 
 NEW YOKK PUBL. LIBR. 
 IN BXCHANGe. 
 
turning from the city they divei-ge with the expansion 
 of the county lines, until the whole surface will be 
 riddled with accommodations. Add to this, that steam- 
 boats are seen from every height, penetrating the har- 
 bours of the county, and furnishing easy, safe and beau- 
 tiful approaches to the city. 
 
 In regard to abundance and variety of provisions, 
 it can have no compeer from land or sea, from produc- 
 tion or supply there must always be plenty, and even 
 luxury. 
 
 Now, then, let me propose to you to procure one 
 thousand acres of land in Westchester Count}^ which 
 shall have been judiciously selected, for the seat of a 
 University. Such land^^ may be purchased at one 
 hundred and fifty dollars per acre, yet at greater cost 
 in approaching the city. 
 
 But it is in your power to enhance their value 
 wherever chosen, at an equal pace with the cost of im- 
 provement, and the University can be established with 
 the requisite accommodations, without ever having in- 
 vaded her sources of income. This peculiar ability to 
 create property, is of great consequence, and should be 
 considered. Through you. Gentlemen, I now address 
 myself, to the judgment of men every where about you, 
 who have studied the imjDrovement of real estate, and 
 I expect from them, as ex|)erts, a confirmation of my 
 views. 
 
 If one hundred acres of this land were appropriated 
 for the Lyceum, Halls, Colleges, commons, and campus, 
 <fec., it may be estimated, that the remaining nine hun- 
 
dred acres would attain a marketable value equal to 
 the cost of the buildings, more or less as required. It 
 would be from possession and improvement of adjacent 
 lands, that this value could be realized by the trustees ; 
 but if in other hands, their occupation might be still 
 convenient to the University, — but for her, the profit 
 would be lost. On the other hand, were it as it might 
 be a question of lands within the precincts of a city, 
 whether the adjacent lots were occupied by colleges, 
 or private buildings, it would matter little, they would 
 only rise in value to the common level of demand. 
 
 Your property south of the Central Park, on which 
 you propose to rebuild, will be in seven years as valu- 
 able for private residences, as any other in New York, 
 and the use therefore of a part for the college, would 
 deduct that much from your own valuable resources, 
 and would add by any expenditure of your money, 
 nothing to the value of the rest, which it would not as 
 well acquire by other means. Our tide of population, 
 doubled always in fifteen years, will have overflowed, 
 and occupied the bounds of the old Botanic Garden in 
 half that time. 
 
 But let us return to Westchester, and assume that 
 the nine hundred acres of land surrounding the Univer- 
 sity and its campus, lately in pasture fields, now dedi- 
 cated by your act to the uses of capital and population. 
 Let us suppose it mapped out into lots, and streets, 
 after the plan adopted for this island, accommodated 
 only to the 23robable differences of tastes, habits and 
 customs ; there would then be 10,800 city lots, of such 
 
dimensions as we use in New York, to be disposed of, 
 by sale, or lease. Your action has created the demand, 
 and you have secured for a possession the circuit of its 
 influence, which must have a great and continued ac- 
 cretion of value. I may venture to say that two hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars would be found, on inquiry, to be 
 the average value of lots in any thrifty village of the 
 county; and counting twelve lots and the adjacent 
 street, for each acre, you would arrive upon this esti- 
 mate at the enormous result of $2,700,000.* 
 
 But if it should be reasonably objected that a popu- 
 lation, capable of occupying so many lots, is not to be 
 expected, I reply that the number of lots is only an 
 approximate measure of population ; that such an ap- 
 portionment of ground is a matter of convenience. It 
 will enable purchasers, or tenants to narrow or enlarge 
 their boundaries at their pleasure. If each should oc- 
 cupy four lots, or one hundred feet square on an aver- 
 age, and at the end of seven years, one third of the 
 premises should have been sold or leased, there must 
 then be estimated a population of 4,500, or 900 proprie- 
 tors, and the proceeds of sales would be $900,000. 
 
 After having witnessed the rapidity with which 
 lots have been sold, and population has accumulated 
 in suburban villages, which are springing up in all 
 directions about New York, and when we contemplate 
 the attraction, that such an enterprise must afford, I 
 think we arrive at no conclusion which can be pro- 
 nounced extravagant, by any one whose experience or 
 * See letter appended. 
 
observation enables Mm to be a good judge in sucb a 
 case. It is true there can be no mathematical certainty 
 in results from this kind of reasoning, but any fair and 
 sound mind may balance probabilities, and form a satis- 
 factory opinion as to the feasibility of such an enterprise. 
 It is not necessary here to take into account the 
 building fund, which may be provided by sales, if it 
 should be thought expedient, or it may be derived from 
 the source which has been appropriated for that pur- 
 pose, in any other event. But should it be deemed ad- 
 visable, this whole tract of land might be put under 
 liberal leases, renewable in terms of seven years, for 
 ever, and thus invest the capital, facilitate the occupa- 
 tion, and secure a revenue from your own domain. 
 Permit me to exemplify these views, by a statement of 
 the problematical result, npon the expiration of seven 
 years, viz: — 
 
 Cost of 1000 acres of land at $150 per acre, 1 150,000 
 
 Interest on same at 6 per cent, 9,000 
 
 Survey, Grading. streets, &c 10,000 
 
 Aggregate cost of buildings erected from time to 
 
 time, during term, at need, 700,000 
 
 Interest estimated on one half this sum, as it may 
 
 accrue from use $42,000, 21,000 
 
 Balance for credit side account, 41,500 
 
 $931,500 
 
 By sales of 300 acres, or 3,600 lots, at I 250 each, 
 
 in parcels to suit demand, $ 900,000 
 
 Estimate of average interest, or rent, at 6 per cent, 
 
 1 $45,000, 22,500 
 
 Estimate of rent of chambers, for 600 students at 
 
 $3 per month, $18,000, 1- 9,000 
 
 $931,500 
 
Estimate of property on hand at tlie end of seven 
 years, viz: — 
 
 GOO acres, or Y,200 lots, unsold at $250 each, $1,800,000 
 Buildings at cost as assumed requisite during 
 
 terra, 700,000 
 
 Ground and site of University, say 100 acres, or 
 
 1,200 lots at $ 250 300,000 
 
 12,800,000 
 
 5 acres of Botanic Garden left available by re- 
 moval to Westchester, say GO lots at $ 6,000 
 each, value in seven years, $360,000 
 
 The basis of this estimate wouhl he the assumed 
 average value of lots, certainly too low, if the project 
 is otherwise feasible, and not too high if it should 
 only be attempted. With ample means, you would ob- 
 tain as strong a faculty as that of Cambridge or of Yale, 
 and why not under otherwise more favorable auspices, 
 as many students as either, less on an average than that 
 of the English or German Universities. 
 
 But to what a variety of circumstances may we look 
 to people the precincts of such an Oxford ? and with 
 what an aptitude does the project present itself to 
 the wants of our country ? Parents devoted to the 
 education of their children, people with moderate 
 means who seek retirement and economy, men of let- 
 ters who court congenial life, professional men, pleased 
 with philosoj^hic ease for the evening of their days, the 
 merchant, escaping betimes from the anxieties of trade, 
 the planter, from solitude or distasteful toil, and citizens, 
 north and south, who seek a summer residence, dread- 
 
10 
 
 ing the care of a farm, or tlie ennui of a village, — those 
 who with simple and social taste shun the crowd at 
 Saratoga, and the fashion at Newport, with shopkeep- 
 ers, and mechanics, and all who congregate to supply 
 the daily wants of life, — all would delight in this " Kus 
 in Urbe," these academic shades, "nee tumultus nee 
 solitudo." But it is competent, under our government, 
 to make the domain of the University the limit of a 
 Township, in which the magistrates, more carefully 
 elected, and better compensated, might furnish a pat- 
 tern example of that primary department, the town, — 
 in which the laws, as adequate to all purposes of order, 
 if duly administered, bring justice and judgment to 
 every man's door, might fitly relieve the University of 
 the obloquy that follows all police duty, and, without 
 impairing the authority of the faculty, leave the defer- 
 ence and dignity which belongs to their office unoffend- 
 ed by details. 
 
 Laws against breach of the Sabbath, profanity, 
 vagrancy, riot, nuisance, tfec, elsewhere often neglected, 
 might be enforced ; and where the faculty in other 
 colleges are impotent, witnesses may be called by sub- 
 poena, and examined under oath, and the offender con- 
 demned and punished by civil cmtliority. — As a student, 
 he stands then before his order, faithless to his promise 
 to observe its rules, and to conduct himself as a good 
 citizen. Tarnished as a gentleman by the recorded sen- 
 tence of a penal court, the faculty are constrained in 
 sorrow to rebuke, dismiss, or expel the delinquent. 
 Only in a country where the people make their own 
 
11 
 
 laws, could the police of -a University be maintained 
 with effect, and yet incur neither dissatisfaction nor re- 
 sistance to its authority. 
 
 The culture of mind has nowhere such freedom from 
 political and religious restraint, and in no other country 
 is it so divested of the shackles of ancient usages, and 
 of social distinctions. A University, capable of at- 
 tracting and combining the learned men of our own 
 and of foreign countries, is the greatest want of the 
 United States, and such an institution has been a favor- 
 ite object of some of our best and greatest men. But 
 the constitutional powers of the General Government 
 have not reached it, and the States, under a generous im- 
 pulse of popular opinion, have exceeded perhaps the lim- 
 it of organic law, in the extent of common school educa- 
 tion, and with such success, that the chartered favorites of 
 colonial times, are limping behind the foremost of these 
 modern institutions. 
 
 The prospective wealth of Columbia College is a nu- 
 cleus in the hands of a prosperous community, and they 
 are ready, with a just and generous impulse, to roll it 
 up to the measure of their pride and patriotism. The 
 charters of this institution make it in no way sectarian, 
 but proclaim and reiterate, that it is in every sense 
 Catholic. It first courted golden opinion on all sides, 
 for its unbounded liberality, in an age not teeming 
 with such qualities. It united in its government " the 
 functionaries of the Province, the Mayor of the City, 
 the E-ector of Trinity Chui'ch, the senior minister of the 
 Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, the minister of the 
 
 LgSQ. 
 
12 
 
 Ancient Lutheran Church, the minister of the French 
 Church, and the minister of the Presbyterian congrega- 
 tion," and provides that "no person shall be excluded 
 from the college on account of his particular tenets in 
 matters of religion." But not content with this protec- 
 tion of learning against sectarian jealousy, our legislature 
 afterwards provided, " that no persons shall be trustees 
 in virtue of any offices, characters or descriptions whatso- 
 ever," and thus, by an act worthy of the republic, 
 ignored all differences, by destroying all distinction. 
 
 The College was to be essentially Protestant, but 
 this feature required a security in the appointment of 
 its President, which was happily effected by the con- 
 dition of an endowment from Trinity Church. 
 
 Here none quarrel with the motive who feel the 
 benefit of its effects ; each might have had a preference, 
 but who is prepared to say, that it would have come to 
 a different result, if the choice had been left to a gene- 
 ral election by all denominations. 
 
 " Let there be light " is the high behest to which 
 all bow with common devotion. Let research be free 
 and thought unbounded ; still sound learning and true 
 science are bulwarks of the Church Catholic, and your 
 close corporation will act safely within its fiduciary 
 trust, when it shall countenance no pragmatical jealousy. 
 Is it not considerate of its purposes to go beyond the 
 sound of Bow-Bells, move out of the shadow of Trinity 
 Church, escape the cramp of a local prejudice, and in 
 the spirit of your organic law, to assume your true po- 
 sition, at the head of the Protestant cause ? If the in- 
 
18 
 
 stitution is relieved of all hurtful connection with the 
 City, so, too, its influence with the inhabitants must in- 
 crease, and ties that bind educated men to an " Alma 
 Mater " will be multiplied fondly and freely, upon all 
 sides, until they render her more appropriately its own. 
 For the numerous objections, which limit the number 
 of candidates for admission, and which have grown 
 stronger, with a proportional increase of population, 
 as now too clearly manifested by a disproportion of 
 students, will then be removed. A University fre- 
 quented by a majority of New York students, would 
 emphatically belong to the city, for it would be its ma- 
 triculations that would constitute its character, which 
 in nowise could be impaired by its location. 
 
 Again, connected perhaps with an academy of art, 
 not incompatible with the general object, — the sense 
 of beauty with the love of truth, — -a capacious Athese- 
 um might be erected on some part of the old Botanic 
 Garden, where, in fit courses of popular lectures, the 
 Professors of the University might identify it with the 
 interests of the City. The reputation which has given 
 them their position must attract large audiences, indul- 
 gent, and confident of their ability to teach, while their 
 emolument and fame, will be- as advantageous to the 
 University as grateful to themselves. 
 
 Happy in the means of an intellectual amusement, 
 which has become a custom of the times, hoi^ored at 
 home and abroad by great ability, our citizens will re- 
 gard the University in its influence upon their taste 
 and manners as a benefaction, and it will indeed be so 
 
u 
 
 when it shall make them consent to be proud of it, 
 when it shall be known and identified with New York, 
 as it has never been known and identified before. 
 
 If a national Institution had been chartered by 
 Congress, its safety and usefulness would have been 
 placed at the hazard of political opinion, but it may be 
 your mission to strengthen the foundations of the Re- 
 public, while you stand aloof from the errors of party 
 politics. 
 
 An essential part of the education of a gentleman, 
 is to be well grounded in the history, and fundamental 
 law of his own country ; and nothing can contribute 
 more to the individual and common welfare, than 
 sound elementary knowledge in this department. The 
 geographical, political, and commercial position of New 
 York, should give an importance to her teachings of 
 that knowledge, which must advance her influence, 
 while it acts with magnetic power on the Union. Per- 
 haps, next to that of the Chief Justice, no place will be 
 more coveted, none more influential, and none better 
 filled, than that of Professor of Constitutional Law in this 
 University. He who forms the future statesmen of this 
 country, should be a man to rank with Marshall and 
 Story,^ — the Federalists,* — and the great trio — the Poin- 
 ters — and the Polar star of Constitutional Law. 
 
 Probably the idea of a University for this country 
 could only be developed, in time, by the faculty who 
 are to control it ; but I entertain the common notion, 
 that it is an institution in which the foundations of 
 
15 
 
 universal knowledge may be laid, with the classics and 
 mathematics as the chief corner-stones. 
 
 I suppose if such a project were entertained by your 
 wealthy corporation, in the neighborhood, and under 
 the patronage of this City, that many a man of parts 
 and acquirement in our wide country, who finds his 
 field narrow and his views large, will feel a glow of 
 generous ambition when the ramor reaches him 
 
 I suppose, that wherever man has prospered and 
 his fortune flowered, whether here in our streets, or on 
 the banks of the Mississippi, its first fruits would be 
 gladly offered for such an education of his son, as would 
 crown the labors of his own life, and rescue him from 
 the vices and manity of wealth; but its best fruits 
 would be to raise an Aristocracy, which would stand 
 and shine, the strength and the ornament of the state 
 — whose knowledge will be its power, — whose beauty 
 will be its virtue, — its fraternal bond, — " idem sentire 
 de Republica." 
 
 I am so humble a man, that my name would give 
 no force to my words, and I prefer to use the freedom 
 of speech which would not offend, yet accords less with 
 the respectful tone of a quiet gentleman, than with 
 that of 
 
 Aisr Eaenest Citizen. 
 
Dear Sir, 
 
 In answering your inquiries in reference to the 
 value of village lots in the southei'ly part of the county of Westchester, 
 and my ability to give information on that subject, I would say, that I 
 Lave had some opportunities of judging of the value of real estate in 
 "Westchester county, having resided there and practised surveying for 
 more than twenty years. The following statement will give you a 
 pretty correct idea of the present value of vacant lots within the settled 
 part of the villages enumerated : 
 
 Mott Haven, from |150 to $400 per city lot 25X100. 
 
 Morrisania, " 
 
 100 
 
 a 
 
 500 
 
 Fordhara, " 
 
 125 
 
 (( 
 
 300 
 
 West Farms, " 
 
 100 
 
 (( 
 
 500 
 
 Westchester, " 
 
 100 
 
 u 
 
 300 
 
 Eastch ester, " 
 
 50 
 
 u 
 
 250 
 
 Yonkers, •' 
 
 200 
 
 u 
 
 1000 
 
 Tarry town, " 
 
 100 
 
 a 
 
 500 
 
 Whiteplains, " 
 
 100 
 
 u 
 
 400 
 
 New Rochelle, " 
 
 100 
 
 u 
 
 400 
 
 In the old villages, the lots on the main streets bring more money than 
 those in the new villages. The value of lots in the villages of West" 
 Chester, Eastchester, West Farms, and Whiteplains, have been more 
 uniform than in any of the other villages enumerated. You are at 
 liberty to make any use of this statement you may deem proper. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 ANDREW FINDLAY. 
 
 West Morkisania, April 2d, 1856. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 029 929 036