'■1 
 
 ■ f BRIEF REVIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TEN YEARS’ WO«K 
 
 OF THE 
 
 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES CAREY THOMAS, M. D. 
 
 Om of the Trustees 
 
 An Address delivered at the Tenth Anniversary of 
 the University, April 26, 1886 
 
 BALTI MORE 
 I 886 
 
m 
 
 JOHN MURPHY & CO., PRINTERS, 
 BALTIMORE. 
 
 V ' 
 
 OCT 15 1930 
 
 DUPI.ICATE 
 .'■Xr«/|.r,F.O 
 
 < 11 % 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 T he foundation and growth of a University is an event of 
 the greatest interest. 
 
 Its functions and use have been elaborately discussed by 
 many modern thinkers and scholars. I shall call your atten¬ 
 tion to three statements of men of differing schools of thought. 
 Goldwin Smith, discussing Oxford University organization, says, 
 “ Experience seems to show that the best way in which the 
 University can promote learning and advance science is 
 
 “ (1) by allowing its teachers, and especially the holders of its 
 great Professorial chairs, a liberal margin for private study; 
 
 “ (2) by keeping its libraries and scientific apparatus in full 
 efficiency and opening them as liberally as possible; 
 
 “ (3) by assisting through its press in the publication of learned 
 works which an ordinary publisher would not undertake; 
 
 “ (4) by making the best use of its power of conferring literary 
 and scientific honors.” 
 
 Matthew Arnold says, the university “ ought to provide facili¬ 
 ties, after the general education is finished, for the young man to 
 go on in the line where his special aptitudes lead him, be it that of 
 languages and literature, of mathematics, of the natural sciences, 
 of the application of these sciences, or any other line, and follow 
 the studies of this line systematically, under first-rate teaching.” 
 
 Again, “ The idea of a university is, as I have already said, that 
 of an institution not only offering to young men facilities for 
 graduating in that line of study to which their aptitudes direct 
 them, but offering to them, also, facilities for following that line of 
 study systematically under first-rate instruction. This second 
 function is of incalculable importance, of far greater importance 
 even than the first. It is impossible to over-value the importance 
 
 3 
 
4 
 
 to a young man of being brought in contact with a first-rate teacher 
 of his matter of study, and of getting from him a clear notion of 
 what the systematic study of it means.” 
 
 John Henry Newman says, “ It is a great point then to enlarge 
 the range of studies which a university professes, even for the sake 
 of the students ; and though they cannot pursue every study which 
 is open to them, they will be gainers by living among those and 
 under those who represent the whole circle. This I conceive to be 
 the advantage of a seat of universal learning, considered as a place 
 of education. An assemblage of learned men, zealous for their 
 own sciences and rivals of each other, are brought by familiar in¬ 
 tercourse and for the sake of intellectual peace to adjust together 
 the claims and relations of their respective sub jects of investigation. 
 They learn to respect, to consult, to aid each other. Thus is created 
 a pure and clear atmosphere of thought, which the student also 
 breathes, though in his own case he only pursues a few sciences out 
 of the multitude. He apprehends the great outlines of knowledge, 
 the principles on which it rests, the scale of its parts, its lights and 
 its shades, its great and its little, as he otherwise cannot appre¬ 
 hend them. 
 
 “ Hence it is that his education is called ‘ Liberal.’ A habit of 
 mind is formed which lasts through life, of which the attributes 
 are freedom, equitableness, calmness, moderation and wisdom. 
 This then I would assign as the special fruit of the education fur¬ 
 nished at a university. . . . This is the main jDurpose of a uni¬ 
 versity in the treatment of its students.” 
 
 And a great thinker of another generation, George Fox, advised 
 the setting up of schools for instructing “ in whatsoever things were 
 civil and useful in the creation.” 
 
 We may then conclude that a university, wisely planned and 
 faithfully administered, should be able to gather together a com¬ 
 pany of teachers, distinguished in character and learning; to 
 present courses of study, important and thorough ; and to attract 
 scholars mature in age and competent by reason of previous 
 training to pursue special lines of study, in order to fit themselves 
 in a worthy manner for their chosen vocation. It should be wide 
 in its scope and able to supplement the College, and aid students 
 to perfect themselves in many departments of learning. It should 
 provide liberally all the apparatus for this study. It should be 
 rich in laboratories, in books, in instruments. It should endow 
 
research and stimulate investigation and discovery. It should be 
 prepared to give results of work done within its halls speedy and 
 wide publicity amongst scholars engaged in kindred pursuits. It 
 should give its contribution to society by training men who are 
 fitted to help in the solution of the problems of the age—scientific, 
 social, political, moral and religious, both by stimulating the 
 production of books, and by contributions to the journals and 
 literature of the day. It should encourage all noble aspirations, 
 conserve all good inheritances of the past, and create an atmos¬ 
 phere of enthusiasm for hard work. It should be able to bestow 
 honors worthy of the name in reward for faithful devotion and 
 for the successful fulfillment of its courses of study. Its work 
 should be known and recognized where learning is known and 
 recognized, and its name should carry weight in other univer¬ 
 sities and centres of research in the world of letters. 
 
 Such thoughts as these, I am sure. Judge Dobbin, were in 
 your mind and in the minds of the other trustees to whom was 
 entrusted by our late towns-man Johns Hopkins, the foundation 
 and guidance of this university which was to bear his name. 
 On the completion of the first decade of its existence, in the 
 presence of the trustees and the President and faculty of the 
 university, before the graduates, the present fellows, and students 
 of the university, and in the presence of this company of our 
 friends and fellow-citizens, it has seemed fitting to allude to these 
 sentiments, as w^e proceed to consider the progress of this uni¬ 
 versity. 
 
 I am glad to take this opportunity of replying in public to 
 questions such as were asked me by a young Baltimorean, who 
 the other day said: “Why do Baltimoreans have to go to New 
 Haven or somewhere abroad to learn about the Johns Hopkins? 
 “ Why do you not tell us what is being done ? ” In order to do 
 this before a Baltimore audience, I have supposed my friend to 
 have asked the following questions, to which I shall briefly reply: 
 
 1. Have great teachers been attracted to the university? 
 
 2. Have important courses of study been instituted ? 
 
 3. Have students come, and from whence ? 
 
 4. Have patient and successful researches been carried on ? 
 
 5. Has the university gathered together suitable apparatus, etc., 
 for study ? 
 
6 
 
 6. Have the results of these researches been given by the uni¬ 
 versity to the world ? 
 
 7. Has the work done here been recognized elsewhere ? 
 
 8. Has the training given proved valuable to those who have 
 received it ? 
 
 9. What has the university done for this community ? 
 
 The Board of Trustees was incorporated in August, 1869, at 
 the instance of Johns Hopkins and during his lifetime. About 
 a year after the death of the founder in December, 1873, the 
 Board was put in possession of the endowment provided by his 
 beneficence, and organized for work. The President of the 
 Board, the late Galloway Cheston, took an active part in the 
 enterprise, and by his advice greatly aided in laying the founda¬ 
 tion of the University, and his name will always be honorably 
 associated with its history. The other members of the Board, 
 all of whom had been named by Johns Hopkins, Avere Keverdy 
 Johnson, Jr., the first chairman of the Executive Committee, 
 Francis T. King, Lewis N. Hopkins, Thomas M. Smith, William 
 Hopkins, John W. Garrett, Francis White, Charles J. M. Gwinn, 
 George W. Dobbin, George Wm. Brown, and James Carey 
 Thomas. 
 
 What great teachers have been attracted f 
 
 It was soon apparent that the wise and untrammelled directions 
 of Johns Hopkins to his trustees to found a university would 
 attract the attention of those interested in the cause of education, 
 especially in the United States. 
 
 The opportunity of developing an institution suited to the needs 
 of the country was sufficient to draw to Baltimore from across 
 the continent the then President of the University of California, 
 Daniel C. Gilman, who was named to the trustees as the man best 
 fitted by previous training and devotion to the study of educa¬ 
 tional methods, to advise and direct the establishment of the new 
 foundation, by his former colleagues of Yale College—by Presi¬ 
 dent Eliot, of Harvard University, at once the most renoAvned 
 and the most venerable institution of learning in the country— 
 by President White, of Cornell University, then in the early days 
 of its groAving importance and usefulness—by President Angell, 
 of the University of Michigan, the crowning institution of learn¬ 
 ing of the Avell-organized system of public instruction in that 
 
7 
 
 great and strong western State—and by numerous other leading 
 educators. At the request of the trustees Mr. Gilman came to 
 Baltimore, and after consultation with them accepted the Presi¬ 
 dency of the Johns Hopkins University. Under his thoughtful 
 care and constant and laborious effort the plan originally con¬ 
 templated has been gradually and harmoniously developed. 
 
 Besides President Gilman the University also drew from across 
 the ocean, from Woolwich, England, Professor Sylvester, one of 
 the two greatest English mathematicians, and indeed one of the 
 greatest of the world; and from Virginia, in our own land. Pro¬ 
 fessor Gildersleeve, second to none in his attainments in and 
 devotion to Greek and other classical study—besides younger 
 men whose subsequent career has justified the bright promise 
 of their early years. I shall not mention further by name the 
 present distinguished staff of Professors and teachers, whose work 
 I have alluded to and who form the permanent renown and 
 attraction of the University. 
 
 I will give a list in chronological order of those gentlemen, 
 not now connected with the Univei’sity, who, for a longer or 
 shorter period, have lectured here during the past ten years : 
 
 In Language and Literature, Professors F. J. Child, James Rus¬ 
 sell Lowell, W. E>. Whitney, C. R. Lanman, Thomas C. Murray, 
 H. C. G. Brandt, Sidney Lanier, too early lost. Professors W. W. 
 Goodwin, J. A. Harrison, J. Rendel Harris, Hiram Corson, A. S. 
 Cook, Messrs. George W. Cable, Edmund Gosse, Justin Winsor, 
 A. Melville Bell, Drs. Isaac H. Hall and W. Hayes Ward; in 
 History and Political Science, Professors T. M. Cooley, F. A. 
 Walker, W. F. Allen, the lamented J. L. Diman, H. Von Holst, 
 Austin Scott, Janies Bryce, E. A. Freeman, who gave six lectures 
 and imparted a decided impulse to historical study here, R. M. 
 Venable, Messrs. J. J. Knox and Eugene Schuyler; in Archseol- 
 ogy and Art, Messrs. W. W. Story, F. Seymour Haden, J. Thacher 
 Clarke, W. J. Stillman, Dr. Charles Waldstein, and Mr. Fred¬ 
 erick Wedmore ; in Philosophy and Logic, Professors William 
 James, G. S. Morris, Mr. C. S. Pierce, and Dr. Josiah Royce; in 
 Physical and Mathematical Science, Professors J. E. Hilgard, J. 
 Willard Gibbs, John Trowbridge, A. Graham Bell, S. P. Langley, 
 Arthur Cayley, C. S. Hastings, and Sir William Thomson; in 
 Chemistry and Biology, Professors J. W. Mallet, W. G. Farlow, 
 J. McCrady, W. T. Sedgwick, H. Sewall, and W. Trelease. 
 
8 
 
 At our Commencements, Anniversaries, and other gatherings, 
 we have heard from Presidents Eliot and White, from Dean 
 Stanley, Dean Howson, Professor Huxley, Archdeacon Farrar, 
 Chief Justice Waite, Hon. W. M. Evarts, Dr. W. A. P. Martin, 
 Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Hon. S. T. Wallis, J. B. Braithwaite and 
 others. 
 
 Many of these have been listened to by those not members of 
 the university who were specially interested in their subjects, and 
 it may be fairly said that many eminent and great teachers have 
 been both for long and short periods attracted to the university. 
 
 What university courses are here offered, and what graduate 
 students have been attracted^ 
 
 The courses of university studies that have been pursued have 
 been so often and so fully referred to in the Reports and Circulars 
 of the University, that I can only enumerate those: in higher 
 Mathematics, in Physics, in Chemistry, in Mineralogy and 
 Petrography, in Biology; in Greek, in Latin, in Sanskrit, in 
 Hebrew, in Aramaean, in Arabic, in Assyrian, and in Sumero 
 Akkadian; in English, in German, in the Romance group of 
 languages, including French, old and modern, Wallachian, 
 Italian, Spanish, Catalan, old Proven 9 al, modern Provencal, 
 and Portuguese; in History, ancient and modern, in Political 
 Economy, Physical and Historical Geography; in Psychology, 
 Pedagogics and Philosophy, in Mental Hygiene and Ethics. In 
 these studies advanced instruction has been given by all avail¬ 
 able means such as lectures, laboratory practice, seminary work, 
 books, models and plates, in order to fit those who are preparing 
 for teaching or special research. 
 
 That these courses have succeeded in attracting students of 
 mature age is evident from the fact that out of the total number 
 of students (923) enrolled during the decade, 590 have pursued 
 graduate courses, and these 590 came from more than 100 differ¬ 
 ent universities and colleges as widely separated as Russia and 
 Japan. 
 
 What apparatus and appliances have been gathered together f 
 To aid in the instruction given, the trustees have from the first 
 had in view securing the most convenient and free access to the 
 most modern means of promoting research. They were greatly 
 
9 
 
 aided by the existence in Baltimore of a library of unusual value 
 to students—the gift of the late George Peabody, and brought 
 together with much care and diligence by the trustees, the 
 provost, and the librarian of the Peabody Institute—and which has 
 been liberally opened to members of the university. As a supple¬ 
 ment to the Peabody collections the university has*placed within 
 its own walls twenty-nine thousand volumes—a portion of which 
 are standard reference books needed by all the teachers and 
 students, the remainder are special and often costly books which 
 have been called for by the specialists here engaged in work. 
 
 The plans of the university being at first, from the nature of 
 the case, tentative, the work was begun in two dwelling houses 
 purchased in 1875, on Howard street near Monument street, and 
 in a hall erected at the time and named after the founder, which 
 contained an assembly room and accommodations for the library 
 and for the biological laboratory, and in a chemical laboratory 
 built at the same time, and this was for some time the modest seat 
 of the university. The location was found more convenient than 
 had been foreseen, both for students who lived in the city and for 
 those that came from elsewhere, who readily found accommodation 
 in lodgings suited to their taste and means. Easy access was had 
 to the Peabody and other collections of books, as those of the His¬ 
 torical Society, and later of the Pratt Library, and there have 
 gradually grown around the present site complete and well 
 equipped laboratories. The chemical laboratory has been greatly 
 enlarged and perfected. The biological laboratory adjoining 
 has been erected after plans suggested by years of work and by 
 comparison with foreign institutions of a similar kind, and there 
 is now building near by the physical laboratory, of which Pro¬ 
 fessor Kowland has been speaking to you to-day. Laboratory 
 work in pathology has been begun in one of the buildings of the 
 Johns Hopkins Hospital, and it is intended to erect the Medical 
 School on a lot now owned by the university, adjacent to the 
 hospital. 
 
 Into these various buildings have been gathered, at the sug¬ 
 gestion and under the careful personal supervision of various 
 experts, about $70,000 worth of apparatus of the most approved 
 modern make, thus placing within the reach of investigators the 
 means of pursuing advanced research as well as enabling students 
 
10 
 
 to become familiar by personal use with the newest methods of 
 study and experiment. 
 
 What research is carried on—and what has been published f 
 
 The researches which have been made have been many and 
 varied. I cannot refer to the more technical, such as those in 
 mathematics and inorganic chemistry, &c., but briefly to the more 
 easily stated. 
 
 Our knowledge of the nature of the sun, as perceived through 
 the solar spectrum, has received accessions from the beautiful 
 image, thrown from the gratings first made here by the agency 
 of a wonderful dividing engine, the invention of the Professor 
 of Physics. From this image a map of the spectrum has been 
 published, very much more minute than any before made. 
 
 Researches in electricity and magnetism have been made under 
 the auspices of the United States Government, with the coopera¬ 
 tion of other nations ; the mechanical equivalent of heat has been 
 re-determined; investigations have been conducted in physiology, 
 especially of the heart’s action; lower animal life has been studied, 
 especially that of the oyster in connection with the State of Mary¬ 
 land ; both here and in Boston the cause of water pollution in 
 great reservoirs has been discovered ; the curious geological forma¬ 
 tion of our own neighborhood has been brought to notice and has 
 attracted wide attention. The philologians and grammarians 
 have been engaged in the investigation of Greek and Latin 
 syntax; in editing ancient writings, such as Pindar, the newly 
 discovered Greek MSS. of the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, 
 and part of an old Syriac MS. of the New Testament. Baltimore 
 is now one of the centres for the interpretation of Sanskrit texts 
 and of Assyrian inscriptions. A great contribution has been made 
 to the study of American Institutions, and new methods of his¬ 
 torical research and of publication have been initiated. 
 
 It is with satisfaction that I state that these researches have 
 been widely recognized at home and abroad, not as promises for 
 the future, but as successful experiments recorded, and con¬ 
 clusions reached which have passed into the history of science. 
 By means of them the fame of the univei’sity has been carried 
 into every seat of learning in the world, from Oxford and Cam¬ 
 bridge in England, to Tokio, Japan; from the northern and more 
 modern universities of Sweden and Russia to the ancient seats of 
 
11 
 
 learning in Italy and Southern Europe. The exchanges on the 
 shelves of our library, received with almost every foreign mail in 
 return for the six scientific journals published by the university,^ 
 attest both its importance and its estimation outside its own walls. 
 Besides this, personal and unsolicited testimonials from eminent 
 men are on file in the office which have been received from many 
 quarters. 
 
 These researches, delicate, prolonged, and important, and others 
 not now mentioned, have been made by Professors, Fellows, and 
 advanced students. Indeed the whole plan of fellowships has in 
 reality been a most practical and efficient endowment of research 
 and has richly repaid the university and the community in the 
 importance and value of the results obtained. 
 
 Twenty young men who have not quite completed their work, 
 as students following masters, but who have gone far enough to 
 indicate that they are possessed of unusual ability, are annually 
 chosen by the Academic Council and are encouraged by a gener¬ 
 ous stipend to devote all their time to study which is not of a dis¬ 
 tinctively professional character. They are chosen because of the 
 hope they give of future achievements, or are selected on the evi¬ 
 dence they submit of their previous intellectual attainments. The 
 system here adopted has elsewhere been followed. 
 
 What has been the value of this training f 
 
 Has the training here been of value to the men that have sub¬ 
 mitted to the severe ordeal of discipline and who have often 
 surrendered honorable and lucrative positions to avail themselves 
 of the advantages offered for research and study ? Or in other 
 words are the diplomas to be given to-day as testimonials of the 
 University to the attainments of those to whom they are so 
 worthily awarded, of real value to their possessors ? 
 
 Of the 69 persons who in these ten years have been admitted to 
 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, denoting proficiency in var- 
 
 ^ 1. The American Journal of Mathematics, commenced in 1878, now in 
 its eighth volume; 2. The American Chemical Journal, commenced in 1879, 
 now in its eighth volume; 3. The American Journal of Philology, commenced 
 in 1880, now in its seventh volume; 4. Studies from the Biological Labora¬ 
 tory, commenced in 1879, now in its third volume; 5. Studies in Histori¬ 
 cal and Political Science, begun in 1882, of which the fourth series is in 
 progress; 6. The Johns Hopkins University Circulars, begun in 1879, of 
 which forty-nine numbers have been issued. 
 
12 
 
 ious lines of special graduate study, either in letters or in science, 
 56 have obtained honorable positions as professors and teachers in 
 32 universities and colleges; and of the 90 to whom the degree of 
 Bachelor of Arts has been given, 20 have engaged in teaching in 
 16 colleges and high schools. 
 
 I will conclude this part of my subject by quoting the reply 
 made by a graduate student from North Carolina, when asked 
 what he had found here of most use, he replied: “ The freedom 
 of access to able teachers and the stimulant of studying in com¬ 
 pany with men of maturer minds than one meets elsewhere.” 
 
 But ivhat has the university done for this community f 
 
 Besides the incidental advantages which must accrue to any 
 community from the presence of a great seat of learning, the trus¬ 
 tees have had in mind from the first the special needs of this city 
 and state. At the conclusion of the late war fewer boys were at 
 college than at former periods. Many young men here and 
 further south had foregone college training, and circumstances 
 forbade the sending of others who were growing up. It was 
 manifest that the need of our own people was first a college in 
 order to train for life, or for further university instruction. So 
 side by side with the university has developed the college depart¬ 
 ment of the Johns Hopkins University. This was begun when 
 the discussion of a fixed, a free or wholly or partly elective col¬ 
 lege course had not been so warmly debated as at the present 
 time, but it was evident that the wide range which the develop¬ 
 ment of various branches of knoAvledge has taken since the old 
 arrangement of college studies was effected, and the limited time 
 Avhich can ordinarily be devoted by students to preparation for 
 their life work, made a readjustment of the college course desirable. 
 This was accomplished here by arranging, after a fixed matricula¬ 
 tion, the studies in groups rather than years, and demanding in 
 each group a certain required amount of training in other than 
 the main study of the course. Thus classical students are required 
 to study some science, scientific students some classics, and all to 
 receive a fixed amount of general English training in literature, 
 ethics, philosophy, and modern languages. 
 
 The seven groups, for which, in accordance Avith these princi¬ 
 ples, arrangements are noAA^ made, are these:— 
 
 1. Classical,—corresponding closely Avith Avhat has been hitherto 
 knoAvn in this country as the usual college course; 
 
13 
 
 2. Mathematical-Physical,—which meets the wants of those who 
 are expecting to enter upon the modern vocations in which rigid 
 mathematical discipline is indispensable ; 
 
 3. Chemical-Biological,—which is adapted to those, among 
 others, who expect to enter upon the subsequent study of 
 medicine; 
 
 4. Physical-Chemical,—which is most likely to be followed by 
 students preparing for those scientific pursuits which are neither 
 chiefly mathematical nor chiefly biological; 
 
 5. Latin-Mathematical,—which affords a good fundamental 
 training, without prolonged attention to the study of Greek; 
 
 6. Historical-Political,—which furnishes a basis for the subse¬ 
 quent study of law ; 
 
 7. Modern Language,—where French, German, English, and 
 in exceptional cases, other modern languages, take the place of 
 Latin and Greek in the traditional classical course. 
 
 It cannot be said that this arrangement is perfect, but it has 
 worked well and great effort is made to have it at once liberal and 
 adapted to the exigencies of active life. I should like all the 
 time at my disposal to expand more fully this slight sketch of the 
 college course which lies near my own heart, but must content 
 myself with stating that it has from the first attracted our owui 
 boys to whom great inducement has been held out, and who have 
 proved some of our most enthusiastic and successful students, have 
 won for themselves many of our own fellowships, and have gone 
 out to positions of importance and emolument. Their number is 
 rapidly increasing and the university is constantly endeavoring to 
 make closer the connection between the high schools, whether 
 private or public, and the collegiate department of the Johns 
 Hopkins University. 
 
 Various free scholarships are annually offered to students 
 coming from Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, and have 
 been held by 150 students from these States. The existence 
 in our midst of such advantages is stimulating our young men to 
 avail themselves of them, and is increasing the number and effi¬ 
 ciency of preliminary schools. We have now in the collegiate 
 department one hundred and thirty students. 
 
 I have thus, in the briefest and most prosaic manner endeavored 
 to summarize the work of ten years into the space of twice as 
 
14 
 
 many minutes. It has been impossible ; although I have not even 
 glanced at the various literary and scientific societies formed for 
 themselves by the members of the university, nor alluded to the 
 common college life, nor spoken of the work of the Christian 
 Association of the University which has served an excellent pur¬ 
 pose, but yet I think that I have shown that something has been 
 done to bring together great teachers, to start liberal courses of 
 study, to attract students, to collect libraries and apparatus, to 
 stimulate research, to publish results, and have stated in what 
 manner this work has been recognized, and how the needs of this 
 community have been considered. 
 
 But I am sure that in reaching these conclusions you must feel 
 how little has been done in comparison with what is practicable 
 with longer time and greater resources. The perpetuation and 
 enlargement of the university on a broad and liberal foundation 
 should be the pride of every citizen. It is a great trust to be 
 handed down to those who shall succeed us. Let us be careful to 
 see that no detriment happen to it. 
 
 Amidst the jarring of contending factions and classes there 
 needs must be thoughtful men, trained to habits of patient inves¬ 
 tigation and quiet study—amidst the rush of business and compe¬ 
 tition, men who in secluded laboratories pass hours and days in 
 subtile experiments—amidst the selfishness of politicians and 
 placemen, historians and philosophers and teachers who can recall 
 the lessons of past ages and vindicate the great moral principles 
 which underlie all true progress. 
 
 For these and other great purposes universities should exist 
 and be richly endowed. They should be few, but strong. 
 
 A president of a growing western college, last week in Balti¬ 
 more, emphasized most strongly the importance of adding efficiency 
 to existing universities in order to make them great centres for 
 training and research. The possessors of great wealth, most fre¬ 
 quently in this country accumulated in the course of a single life, 
 have often felt their responsibility in its ultimate destination. 
 They have in many instances, amongst which the course of Johns 
 Hopkins is conspicuous, returned their accumulated gains to the 
 community in noble gifts, founding great institutions of learning 
 and great charities, for the training of the future citizen and for 
 the alleviation of human suffering. These should be fostered and 
 
r 
 
 15 
 
 enlarged, as has been done at Harvard and at Cornell, in order 
 that the greatest good may be accomplished. 
 
 The training of men is after all the most important end of all 
 educational effort. It is to you, young men, the sons of this new 
 foundation, that your teachers and friends look as the best evidence 
 of the success of their endeavor. Your learning, your usefulness, 
 your accomplishments, your high aims and noble character, your 
 achievements, whether in the pulpit or the forum, the college or 
 the laboratory, at home and abroad will afford a continual and 
 living reminder of this, the place of your training. 
 
 To a State founded on the beneficent precepts of Christianity, 
 the walls of its defense must be not the physical strength of 
 its citizens but their moral character. In vain will science 
 harness the powers of the universe unless they are yoked to 
 the chariot of peace and good will. In vain will learning and 
 training give efficiency to individual influence and native genius, 
 unless the purposes of the man are noble and far-reaching. The 
 truth which sets free, is the truth which warms the heart and 
 expands the sympathies, as well as enlightens the intellect, which 
 is of Him who is the truth Himself. Let us have confidence in 
 the supremacy of truth. Such has hitherto been the guiding 
 lamp of the Johns Hopkins University. May it ever be the 
 beacon of the future. 
 
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