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VOL. i.
University oNotoraska. .
! "X, i L
NO. 5
.S N'
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872. J?
"WHEKE THE MEN GOME FROM."
candid historlanof Now England, is ono of Channlng and a host of others aro indls
A somewhat remarkable papor, under tho
above caption, appeared in tiio last number
of the Student. Tiio paper was porhaps
not more remarkablo for its ex parte pre
sentation of facts than for the deficiency of
its theory. Designing to show that Yale,
Harvard and Michigan Universities have
done little or nothing in tho training of tho
leading minds of our country, our author
first passes in review tho names of certain
men, some eminent and some quite obscure,
who were not graduates of cither of theso
great Universities, then, with sweeping
assumption, avers that they nro the only
ones worth mentioning, and finally presents
a striking theory in explanation of such a
result. On llrst reading, wo wcro sure the
paper contained within itself its own anti
dote or corrective. From those not ac
quainted with the facts in the case, its
astonishing statements must provoke inves
tigation; while from those who are con
versant with the facts, these statements
might provoko a little merriment, possibly
a little indignation. It is for tho benefit of
the former class that wo submit tho follow
ing conunonts, and not, bo i't understood,
-with Hiti)sl!irlitAct tntantfrm nLi,sm.'2iiii.tliQ.
-wKoUyHnpotrtuous task of'ptorpoidng.a
dcfcn'eo of these justly eclojlrated institu
tions of loarnlng. Wo quote: "Yale and
Harvard have hardly had the honor of send
ing forth a single representative of tiio high
est class in any department of thought or
action. Their part is, at best, but second
rate. Let us see!"
To begin with, we will take the depart
ment of history and of historical investiga
tion. In this connection, the name that
presents itself first to every American is, of
course, Georgo Bancroft. This is the name
of a man hardly less eminent as a states
man than as an historian. "Whether as
member of the Cabinet at "Washington, as
Minister toEngland,or as atpresent, to Ger
many, tho foremost State of Europe, or as the
great historian, lie has conferred imperisha
ble luster on the American name. He is, of
course, a graduate of Harvard. Could not
America have better spared a score of
Frank Pierces than one Geo. Bancroft?
A graduate of Harvard is, also, John
Lothrop Motley, tho eminent historian of
tho Iuteh Republic and of the United
Netherlands. For graphic description, lie
'istho equal of Macauloy; for comprehen
sive discernment and careful statement, ho
is not surpassed by Halluiu; while, by rea
son of his Catholic sympathies, his gener
ous enthusiasm, his intuitive perception of
tho tendencies of events, ho is at tho head,
facile princeps, of tho historians of tho ago.
Of Harvard, too, is "Win. II. Prescott, fif
teen of whose solid, instructive, volumes
onricli tho library of our State Uniuersity.
Samuel Elliot, tho clear-headed, far
sighted historian of Liberty, is also from
Harvard, John G. Jalfrey, the able and
her sons. Jarcd Sparks, whoso untiring
research lias collected and collaborated
most of tho materials of American history,
Is not only a graduate of Harvard, but ono
of her former Presidents. Francis Park
man was of Harvard, while Richard llil
dreth, Cooper and others were of Yale.
Not ono eminent American historian
from any of tho lesser colleges so much
lauded by our author ! Surely hero was a
strange oversight, indeed, in ono who', was
estimating candidly the comparative merits
of different institutions! "Yet Yalo and
Harvard have hardly had tho honor of
sending forth a single representative of tho
highest class in uny department of thought or
action!"
Lot us try again l "Wo are correctly in
formed by the writer that Jefferson, Mad
ison, Hamilton, Benton, Buchanan and
Taney were not of Yale or Harvard, while
he seems quite oblivious of tho fact that
Samuel Adams, Jas.Otis, Jos. "Warren, the
two Presidents, John and John Qulncy
Adams, Judgo Story, Edward Everett,
Robert C. Winthr
Walker and Hill
Harvard: while of
who aro dead") Chancellor Kent, ttalhounl
tho two gifcat lexloogr-aphcriTOf tUblKapfflh
iltfifffLvil
op, Presidents Fclto?
, ad libitum, tcera al of
Yalo wcro ("of those'
esldeiits"
putably of Yale or Harvard.
Indeed, in looking through Spraguo's
"Annals of the American Pulpit," Vol. II.,
wo found that of tho one hundred and
tbrty-onc Congregational ministers whoso
biographies are thoro given, seventy-six
aro of Harvard and Yale, and only sixty
from all other colleges combined I
. .Jn the department of magazine lltcrai.uro,
Dr. Holland, an Amherst man, seems to
our author, par excellence, tho leading rep
resentative. Gladly do we recognize, so far as wo may,
11s peculiar merits. Tho stream of Ills
thought Is shallow indeed, but it is usually
pure and sweet. He has written much that
is good, . even if rather common-place;
A strong
about life, manners and morals.
Lor deep independent thinker, ho is not.
Who would think of comparing him to that
peerless critic, scholar, essayist and poet,
Prof. Lowell ? or to that great master of
pure and vigorous English, Col. Higgln
son? or to tliat most genial, witty and hu
morous of essayists, as well as poet, whoso
"lyrics ring and sparkle liko cataracts of
sliver," tho fascinating, charming Dr.
Holmes? or to tho graceful aim facile
Donidd'G'. Mitchell? or to Emerson, Alcott,
rHnloields,. Jlpwelhj, Story, tho Adamses,
and otli'ers-, tlVo editors ami most of the con-
tribtitoVsfof the great magazines of the
gifcat loScioofciaplicMr
try, Wobster and Worcester, Pr
wards, Dwight, &c.
Tho author should have homo in mi'iuTj) countrythe New Englandor, the Nortlj
that, of the men ho mentions, (of IhosoJ
who are dead) only two wcro from thof
same institution, while altogether, their
number is not equal to the number of
those, certainly not less eminent, from
Harvard alone.
Let us lo'jk a little further. Our govern
ment in casting about among tho great and
powerful legal minds of our country for
those best qualified to present our claims
for damages before the high court of arbi
tration at Geneva, selected Chas. Francis
Adams, Caleb dishing, Geo. T. Curtis, of
Massachusetts; J. Bancroft Davis, Win. M.
Evarts, of New York. Of these eminent
men, all but one, Mr. Evaits, are graduates
of Harvard, and he received his L.L. B.
after a three years course in the Harvard
Law School, having previously received
his A. B. at Yale. Harvard and Yalo alone
then, It seems, In the estimation of our gov
ernment, could produce men, fitted by their
training, their scholarly attainments and
general ability, to cope successfully with
tho great minds formed by Oxford and
Cambridge.
To these names of Harvard men, eminent
among lawyers, might bo added those of tho
two Parsons, wlioso works aro -. indispen-
blo adjunct of every lawyer's library; of
Theodore W. Dwiglit, of the Danas, tho
Qulncoys, and but we forbear since an
end must be made somewhere.
In tho Department of Divinity, tho great
wight and
names
Clarl
es, such as Edwards, and Dwl
!c, and Thompson, Htorrs, He
Hedge and
American, tho Atlantic all from Yalo or
Harvard ?
To embellish his list of names, our author
lias added those of Henry Clay, John
Marshall and Chancellor Kent. He should
have added, though this was not to his
purpose, that neither Marshall nor Clay
was of any'lnstitutlon, while Chancellor
Kent, as wo have said, was of Yale.
But porhaps, after all, it is tho Mlcliigun
University, whose celebrity appears to our
author so ridiculously disproportioncd to
its merits.
Again, wo quote: "Wo havo never
learned tho naino of a single graduate of
that institution by reason of anything lie
lias done, although it lias been graduating
men for more than thirty years!" Our
author, albeit lie knows nothing of tiio
graduates of Michigan University, ought to
have known that the last assertion is incor
rect. So grave an error, upon so important
a point, Is hardly excusable. He should
have known that Michigan University
never had a president or a distinctive ofllcer
or a substantive existence at Ann Arbor
until 1850, twenty-two years ago! From
180 dates tho real history of that institu
tion. It is true, that tho nucleus of the
present great University was formed by tho
union at that time of twb or three schools
then existing in different parts of tho State ;
but even though wo call these schools, ono
or all of tlicin, the Michigan University,
wo havo only to go back to tho year 1845,
twenty-sevn years ago, not "over thirty," to
llnd her first graduate! Ic becomes? a
writer to bo careful in his assertions; iu
regard to facts! Now then, to tiio question,
what lias she done? Is she indeed, us im
plied by our author, a mere mushroom,
tilling a large space with little substance,
or is her growth a substantial one; her
work solid, earnest, enduring? Even with
her comparative youth, remembering; that
her oldest graduate is yet in tiio prime of
life, is it true, as our author asserts, that
her graduates aro excluded from "the
pulpits, the professorial chairs," and other
responsible positions, "that they aro led aud
fed by men more happily moulded?"
Looking over into tho State of Iowa, avp.
llnd her nourishing Agricultural College
presided over by a graduate of Michigan,
President A. S. "Welch, an accomplished
scholar and an author of no mean reputation.
T. B. Cuming, Governor of Nebraska in
1858, is ono of her graduates, also, the
Prosldont of rlrSjOhio Female College, Dr.
Donclson; the President of Chicago Met- ""
leal College, Dr. Johnson; Governor
May, of Michigan ; O. P. Stearns, Uuitcd
States Senator; Congressman Phelps; Con
gressman Becker; Gov. Hinsdale, of Col
orado ; the President of Fiske University.
Beslded.'-so, ftt-jivc of her graduates arc .
occupying professorial chairs in dltYevem)
colleges .and universities, from Maine to
California. Hundreds ot her young nicu
aro tilling responsible positions, as School
Superintendents, &c, throughout the Wed
and East. Prof. Watson, a member of the
National Academy of Science, is generally
regarded a the leading astronomer of this
country. Ho is author of a powerful astron
omical work, accepted as an authority 011
that work. Profs. Evans, Adams and
others are writers of a national reputation,
as every reader knows.
It Is impossible here, in our limited space,,
to make anything like an adequate show
ing of what Michigan has accomplished
Sulllce it that not only has she far surpassed
any other Institution In tho West, but he
is threatening to take the laurels from Yale
and Harvard. Why is it that Michigan has
done so well and so much in so brief a
time? Tho reason Is quite obvious. From
the first, under the guidance of the wise
and philosophical Dr. Tappan, she tool
broad, high and catholic ground. Himself
and tho remarkablo faculty which ho called
around him, chanced to be, as no faculty
ever were before, emancipated from many
of tho narrow and exclusive dogmatisms of
tho past, and to entertain somewhat of u
profound idea as to what a University
should bo, in order to bo adapted to the
American pcoplo, to American needs, ami.
to our own times. They were men broad
minded enough, without ignoring, to m.-
independently of tho educational experi
ence of Europe and tho past, and to build,
for the present and future. On the very
threshold they set aside tho absurd prar-
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