USA > Ohio > History of Ohio Methodism : a study in social science > Part 14
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The university has what is regarded, by those com- petent to speak, the model college library building of America. The Slocum Library, opened to students in 1897, is a beautiful stone structure of classic de- sign, and perfectly fireproof throughout. The build- ing has a capacity for two hundred and fifty thousand volumes. The large reading-room, 60 by 100 feet, is admirably lighted and ventilated. The interior of the building is well equipped and adapted to the end in view. This building stands on the site of Thomson Hall, which was taken down for the purpose. The stu- dents find here the best facilities for gathering infor- mation on the great variety of subjects treasured up in the many thousand volumes found within these classic walls.
The Museum embraces five different cabinets. In
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1859 the university purchased from William Prescott, of Concord, New Hampshire, his large cabinet of biology, valued at $10,000. Numerous additions have since been made to the cabinet by Dr. R. P. Mann, of Milford Center; William Wood, of Cincinnati; and W. R. Walker, of Columbus, and others. The Geo- logical and Archæological collections contain more than one hundred thousand rare and valuable speci-
SLOCUM LIBRARY.
mens. It is now one of the richest museums and cabi- nets of natural history in the West.
The Ohio Wesleyan University began its educa- tional work without any permanent funds for the sup- port of teachers. This popular institution was not es- tablished by the benefactions of a few persons. A
portion of the grounds and buildings were donated; but the university started with a debt, and for years was obliged to struggle to meet the current
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expenses. It was not until 1849 that the indebtedness for purchase money was paid. The college has grown up by slow degrees, depending largely upon the small offerings of those who, for the love of Christ and his cause, have made sacrifices to establish a college where even the poorest young men and women might enjoy the best educational advantages, and have their latent desires for Christian usefulness fanned into a holy enthusiasm.
In 1843, Revs. Frederick Merrick and Uriah Heath were appointed agents to raise funds from donations to the university, or by sale of scholarships. In the course of two years they had secured subscriptions, notes, lands, and cash, whose value aggregates $65,000. In 1849, six years after the university was founded, the total net assets were estimated at $70,000, and of this amount the endowment money and subscriptions were only $54,000. At this time a more effective policy for raising funds, through sale of scholarships, was proposed. These scholar- ships were of several varieties, securing free tuition for one student at a time for three, four, six, and eight years, and costing severally, fifteen, twenty, twenty- five, and thirty dollars.
By the year 1854 there were nearly four thousand scholarships sold, calling for more than twenty-five thousand years of tuition. A sufficient sum was thus secured to raise the endowment to $100,000, with an annual income of $8,500. The introduction of the scholarship system advertised the school and increased the attendance. Hundreds of young men of limited means were thus induced to enter college. However,
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as the sale of scholarships increased, the revenue from tuition fees was cut off, and the university was depend- ent upon the income from endowment. The sale of scholarships has recently been discontinued with a view of enlarging the revenue. The endowment was slowly and steadily increased until 1866, the centennial year of American Methodism, when it aggregated more than $200,000.
Within the past five years the material improve- ments and endowment of the university have had a very marked growth. In 1897 the grounds of the uni- versity, with the buildings upon them, were valued at $562,000; and the endowment fund aggregated $492,934. Of this amount $200,000 is subject to an- nuity, so that the available income from the endow- ment fund is too small for the proper support of this growing university. It is encouraging to note that the total value of grounds and endowments of the university aggregate $1,055,000. The university, in fifty years, has reached the million-dollar line. It took some of the older colleges of America two hun- dred years to attain this standard.
The university should have $5,000,000 endowment to enable her to meet the providential work of the twentieth century. Wealthy men could not make a better use of their money than by giving it to this university, and they would thus do a great and glori- ous work for God and humanity.
The rapid growth of the university increased the sense of want for a college for women. The pro- priety of the co-education of the sexes in the higher schools of learning fifty years ago was regarded with
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little favor by the Church or college. Rev. Wm. Gris- sell and wife came to Delaware in 1850, and bought the old academy building on University Avenue, and opened a school for women. The attendance was en- couraging. In 1852 the property was bought by cit- izens interested in the education of women, and the Delaware Female College was organized. A more eligible site was soon needed. Accordingly, in April of the following year, a public subscription for $7,000 was taken to purchase the homestead of Mr. William Little. This beautiful and romantic site, on which was a large and commodious house, gave ample ac- commodations to the college. The school was incor- porated under the name of the Ohio Wesleyan Female College, and the property was accepted by the North Ohio, and afterwards by the other Conferences in Ohio, as joint patrons with equal rights and privileges.
The continued growth of the school led to the erection of a central block and wings, now known as "Monnett Hall," named in honor of Miss Mary Mon- nett, who, in 1857, donated ten thousand dollars towards the building fund. The school from the be- ginning became self-supporting. Classical and scien- tific courses of study were offered, and degrees con- ferred. The graduates in the college numbered, in 1875, more than four hundred.
The friends of co-education had long hoped that this institution would be united with the university, and for this they steadily worked. The pressure of public sentiment in this direction had advanced for a quarter of a century, when, in 1877, it was decided to unite the two schools. The union at once brought
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to the university $100,000 worth of property, and added nearly two hundred students to her enrollment. Experience has confirmed the wisdom of this action. It has added to the influence of the university, and kept her abreast of the growing sentiment in favor of the co-education of the sexes.
The movement in favor of the higher education
MONNETT HALL.
of women, and especially of co-education, is gaining almost universal acceptance. Two-thirds of the col- leges in the United States admit women, and the re- sults show that it has been eminently beneficial to society. Co-education in this university is based upon perfectly equal terms, and occasions no unanticipated anxiety or difficulty. The young women do their work in the recitation-room and at examinations with as much ease and credit as the young men, and their
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health improves rather than deteriorates as they pass from the lower to the higher classes.
The university has been fortunate in the selection of her presidents. We briefly sketch the career of each of the four prominent men who have filled this office. The first president was:
The Rev. Edward Thomson, D. D., LL. D., born in 1810, died 1870. He possessed remarkable ability as an educator, writer, and preacher. He received a classical training, and likewise graduated in medicine. He spent six years in the itinerant ministry; six years as principal of Norwalk Seminary; two years as editor of the Ladies' Repository; fourteen years as president of the Ohio Wesleyan University; four years as editor of the Christian Advocate, and was six years a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At one time he was offered the presidency of the University of Michi- gan, but preferred to remain in the service of the Church he loved. He had a delicate frame, classical features, modest bearing, and an erect, manly carriage. His high scholarship, broad sympathy, eloquence, and devotion were everywhere recognized. His published lectures are faultless in style, and models of strong, clear thought and beauty of expression. He assumed the active duties as president and professor of Phi- losophy in the university in 1846. "For fourteen years," says Professor Williams, "he filled and graced this office. No college president in the Church has shown larger administrative abilities or won a more enviable place in the affections and admiration of college and Church alike. The depth, beauty, and fervor of his Sunday lectures gave him a wonderful
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power, and left a lasting impression of his thought and spirit on his rapt listeners."
Rev. Frederick Merrick, D. D., LL. D., was born in 1810, and was educated in the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. He was elected professor of Natural Science in the university in 1845. He was chosen president, to succeed Bishop Thomson, in 1860. He held the office thirteen years, but owing to failing health resigned, and was appointed lecturer of Natural and Revealed Religion. His profound scholarship and purity of character have given him an unusual in- fluence with the many friends and students of the university.
Rev. Charles H. Payne, D. D., LL. D., was born in 1830, and graduated in 1856 at Wesleyan Uni- versity. He occupied several important positions in the Church until 1876, when he assumed the active duties of president of the Ohio Wesleyan University. He is a vigorous thinker, a magnetic speaker, and a good writer. During his administration there was a marked increase in the attendance of students. In 1888 he was elected by the General Conference to the secretaryship of the Educational Society of the Church, where his commanding abilities find an ample field for usefulness.
Rev. James W. Bashford, Ph. D., D. D., was born in 1849. He received a classical training in the Uni- versity of Wisconsin, and afterward took post-graduate courses of study in theology, oratory, and philosophy, in Boston University. He extended his knowledge and experience by taking two extended trips abroad. He had ten years' experience in the pastorate before
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accepting the presidency of the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity in 1889, which position he now fills with great acceptability.
The university has always been a nursery of true scholarship. The course of study for the first year was confined mainly to languages and mathematics. The following year a chair of Natural Science was established, and President Thomson occupied the chair of Philosophy. Even this limited Faculty was able to give some instruction in all the subjects which go to make a complete and symmetric culture. The educational idea of the university is progressive. The means of knowledge has greatly enlarged within half a century. The new fields of science, history, philoso- phy, and languages, opening up to the student new lines of investigation, have claimed the interest and encouragement of the university. The courses of study, from time to time, have been adjusted to meet the growth of the sciences and the new life of an ever- widening scholarship. These courses are scientifically graded, extending through a period of four years, and touch nearly every department of human knowl- edge.
The university now presents extended courses of study in collegiate lines. Besides these there are special courses in music, fine arts, elocution and ora- tory, and methods of business. Philosophy is an in- tegral part of the college course, and the Natural Sciences department offers enlarged facilities. The system of studies is being developed along the lines of modern thought and activity. The university is
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keeping abreast of the demands of the day in her college work, and will move forward with a progress- ive activity, and enlarge the scope as fast as her resources will justify.
The university adopts the most effective methods of instruction to economize the student's time and powers. The students are trained to direct their facul- ties by self-conscious effort, and thus acquire habits of philosophical investigation. They are to discover principles that will be the key to all investigations as future occupation or inclination may lead them. The ideas and principles are taught likewise with reference to giving direction and purpose to character.
Personal contact of professors and students is an important factor in teaching. This is effectively done by dividing the classes, as they do at the best uni- versities in England and Scotland, into sections num- bering about thirty or forty students in each class.
The teaching force has necessarily been increased to meet the increase of students and the multiplica- tion of classes. Fifty years ago the university began with four professors, and there are now more than forty professors and instructors. Several able pro- fessors have been added to the Faculty. It is the teach- ers that make a college. If the professors are men of force of character and scholarship, and carry into their recitation-rooms high enthusiasm, they will thrill the class with a subtle and suggestive power which will incite thought and awaken and vivify character.
The university has sought to place the students under instructors of the highest ability and character-
17
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ized by the spirit of investigation. Their uplifting and animating influences have been felt by the stu- dents. They have been distinguished for their zeal and efficiency as teachers. Their lofty faith in Chris- tianity and their earnest effort in looking after the mental and spiritual welfare of the students have borne perennial fruit.
The enrollment of the students for the first year was one hundred and ten, from which number the attendance gradually increased to two hundred and fifty-seven in 1848. The large sale of cheap scholar- ships widened the circle of the patronage of the uni- versity, and the following year the enrollment ran up to five hundred and six. At the close of the first decade there was an attendance of seven hundred and fifty-three students. The attendance continued about the same until the last decade, when there was quite an advance. She now has more students in her col- lege classes than any other college in Ohio, or in all Methodism. The 1,27I students enrolled in 1897 represented eighty-four of the eighty-eight counties in Ohio, more that thirty States in the Union, and ten foreign countries.
The moral government of the university is liberal, yet firm. The students in the university are distin- guished for their good conduct and morals. The sovereign force is the high standard of moral char- acter and general honor. The students enter the uni- versity with good recommendations, and are received as ladies and gentlemen. They are trusted to con- duct themselves as such; but if they fail to fulfill their
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obligation, they forfeit their right to remain. This freedom rarely proves perilous. The students have always been vigorously restrained from attending theaters, saloons, and public houses. The president and professors seek to deal individually with any careless and reckless students, and lead them to a higher life.
The students endeavor to maintain among them- selves good order and decorum. The feeling of con- tempt for vice and extravagance grows as the student remains in college. Delaware is a center of elevating influences which are soon felt by the student. The university life is molded by a noble spirit into a homo- geneous community, into which the student may come and have the current of his own thought and life guided onward and upward. In this atmosphere of social refinement and moral and religious earnestness the moral character is not only invigorated, but the student is stimulated to diligent application in study.
The university is a center of evangelical power. No year in her history has passed without a gracious revival. These meetings have large audiences of attentive and thoughtful students.
Through all the channels of culture and discipline there goes a strong moral and religious current. Aside from this, the Bible is chiefly expounded in the daily chapel service, and is studied in Hebrew, in Greek, and in English in the class-rooms. This work is supple- mented by Bible classes on Sunday, in which the student is led to appropriate the truth and life the Book contains. The result is a greater intellectual
1
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grasp of the Bible and a fortified and intelligent faith, which becomes the foundation for an increased humil- ity, reverence, and devotion.
The traditions as well as the moral and intellectual atmosphere of the university is exemplified in the Alumni and students.
The majority of her students fill positions of trust, and exert a wholesome influence in the Church, the State, and society. Her power and credit to-day rests upon the character and public efficiency of her Alumni and students. They are found in all vocations of life, and as a class become efficient helpers in the Church, Sunday-school, and social reform movements. These students are the living monuments of her strength and grandeur.
The university has an individuality of which she may well be proud. The spirit and vigor of the pres- ident, professors, and students are the elements which enter into college life, and help determine its type. Certain historic conditions and social environments have contributed to develop the type of the college, which in turn molds the individual. This type or individuality of a college is the result of growth, and is an important factor in education; and in a large measure shapes ideals, and gives quality to the char- acter of the students.
The living force and character of the Ohio Wes- leyan University is easier felt than expressed. One of the characteristic ideals is carnestness of purpose. The trustees show it in their readiness to provide the amplest facilities for the broadest culture. The pres-
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ident and professors are earnest in their work as teachers and investigators. The students do not come because they are sent, but with ardent souls and a high determined purpose.
Another characteristic ideal is a symmetrically de- veloped manhood and womanhood. She believes that education fundamentally wrong that does not develop the spiritual nature along with the physical and intel- lectual life. She acts upon the principle that spirit- uality does not hinder, but promotes true scholarship, and gives purpose and impulse to duty, and makes the student's work hopeful and attractive.
One of the foremost ideals is that of consecrating the individual talents to the highest service. Education is a means to this end. Life with any narrower pur- pose is a failure. The aim is both scientific and prac- tical. The students are stimulated to unite with sta- bility of character, intelligence and refinement, prac- tical activity, and general usefulness. They are made to feel that the university exists to help each one to come into such relations to the concrete life of hu- manity that each will be sensitive and responsive to the great interest of the human race.
These ideals are summed up in the expressive motto of the university as given by President Bash- ford: "Every one at his best, and the world for Christ." With such high ideals kept before the student, it is not to be wondered that the Alumni and former stu- dents have had such brilliant records in all vocations of life, and on every continent on the globe. It is an omen of good that the whole university is instinct
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with life, energy, and aspiration for the highest service.
The possibilities of the university are the very best. Her high grade of scholarship, and the army of noble young men and women that have gone forth to grace the home and bless the human race, challenge com- parison with any other college of equal resources in the land.
The eminent scholars, statesmen, and others who are familiar with the inward life of the university, have said that the Ohio Wesleyan University represents the highest form of Christian education, and is an ex- ponent of the best forces of Christian thought and activity. Perhaps no institution of learning has richer possibilities of growth.
It was through the prayers and sacrifices of the pioneer fathers that the university was planted. The university was born and baptized with the hope and purpose that she should become a powerful agency for promoting the cause of Christ in the world. In view of this, it would be treachery to the Church and sacrilege before God if the Christian people do not continue to make her an aggressive power for Christ and the Church. With a vision of the wonderful pos- sibilities of the twentieth century before the Ohio Methodists, let them devoutly pray that the Ohio Wes- leyan University, the child of Providence and the hope and pride of her friends, may continue to shed her light and beneficence with increasing luster through com- ing years.
The following table exhibits the endowment and
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numerical strength of Methodist colleges in Ohio for 1897:
COLLEGES.
Buildings, .
Grounds and
Value of
Endowment, .
Debts, . . . .
Teachers, .
Students, . .
Baldwin University, ..
$131,564 $109,944 $44,083
19
326
German Wallace College,
71,473
71,480
.
7 163
Mt. Union College, .
200,000
75,000
1,300
19
462
Scio College, .
35,000
17 477
Ohio Wesleyan University, .
562,000
492,934
43,000
98
I27I
.
Total, .
$1,000,019 $749,358 $88,383 160 2689
The work of the Church is to evangelize the world. Christian education is closely allied to this great work. The founding of Kingswood School in England, and the establishing of Cokesbury College in America, in the early history of the Church, attests the fact that Methodism believes education to be of prime im- portance to her growth and success. The zeal and sacrifice of the Methodist Church, from her earliest history to the present day, for building up her edu- cational institutions, shows how vital they are regarded in extending the work of the Master.
Methodism is in many ways adapted to leadership in the field of university education. President W. F. Warren says:
"This adaptation is seen in a multitude of par- ticulars, no one of which can at this time be adequately treated, and but few of which can even be named. I will barely enumerate: First, Methodist anthropol-
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ogy. A second characteristic, qualifying Ecumenical Methodism for educational leadership is seen in its exceptionally cosmopolitan spirit and aim.
A third thing, adapting Ecumenical Method- ism to the proposed world-leadership, is its intelligent
grasp of vital sociological principles.
A
fourth adaptation for this providential call is seen in the number, the pecuniary resources, and the geo- graphical distribution of Ecumenical Methodism. I hasten to mention, as a fifth and final quali- fication for world-leadership, our appreciation of the Divine element in all true and lofty education. Man's true life being from God, and in God, and unto God, all culture processes which recognize and utilize this fact lay hold of aims and motives and forces whose constant evolutionary efficacy and whose successive outcomes transcend all finite cal- culation."
The magnitude and efficiency of the Methodist forces make it imperative to put Christian education at the forefront and thought of the people. The Church must continue to put forth heroic efforts for her colleges in order that her youth may receive Christian culture for leadership in all great intellect- ual and religious movements of the twentieth century.
Chapter IX. Literature and Publishing house. 265
WAKENED mind demands reading, especially Methodist mind. Whence comes the impulse? Wesley was a prodigy as a book producer. He published one hundred and nineteen vol- umes, including grammars of English, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He published fifty-two works of poetry, and five on mu- sic and collections of tunes. With such an origin, it is not strange that the Methodist Episcopal Church should publish from its Book Concern more than one-half of all the denominational religious literature issued in this country in the past hundred years. Put the religious literature of our Church in one scale, and all the literature of the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Congregational Churches in the other scale, and then add the enormous publications of the Amer- ican Bible Society in the same scale, and the many kick the beam. The one outweighs them all."-Bishop Henry W. Warren.
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