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- JUST forty years ago, the famous Indian
Chief Black Hawk, let loose the dogs of
- war - his Sacs and Foxes - against
the power of the United States. The military operations that
followed were little more than a wild chase of the savages, from
central Illinois up through the valley of Rock River into central
Wisconsin and thence westward to the Mississippi, where the struggle
terminated in the capture of the wily leader. In the midst of
the region thus traversed, lies the site of Beloit College, once
a favorite camping-ground of the Indians and a chosen, perhaps
sacred, spot with the race that preceded them. Within the college
enclosure are still preserved some fifteen or twenty earth-works
of the mound-builders.
- The brief strife of arms brought into
notice the wonderful beauty and fertility of this
- country, and steps were taken immediately
to open it for the inflow of emigration and Christian civilization.
The town of Chicago was organized in 1833, with only twenty-eight
voters on the ground. The village of Milwaukee was laid out in
1835. In the same year, the first public sales of land within
the boundaries of Wisconsin took place. Then through the two
lake-ports a flood of settlers poured in to occupy the prairies
and openings between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river,
with a rapidity up to that time unexampled in this or any other
land. Wisconsin was organized under a distinct territorial government
in 1836. Its whole population then numbered about 11,000. In
1838 it had become 18,000, - in 1840, 31,000, - in 1842, 47,000,
- in 1845, nearly 120,000, and, by the census of 1870, it is
over 1,000,000. The same movement filled up with like rapidity
the northern part of Illinois, a tract of country homogeneous
in all its physical features, and fitted also, by the homogeneous
character of its incoming population, to be united with Wisconsin
in one field for the work of higher education.
- The course of emigration runs naturally
on the lines of latitude, and Yankee eyes are
- quick to discern the good chances as
they open. Hence there was a large infusion of New England elements
in the stream of human life which poured in and spread itself
over this attractive field. Puritan ideas of the home, the school,
the church, and the college, were thus transplanted and took
root here with the first upturning of the prairie sod. Those
sent out as missionaries to take possession of this goodly territory
in the name of the Lord Christ, were especially moved by the
rapid crystallization of society under their eye and the evident
necessities of a very near future, promptly to organize as best
they could all the forces of Christian civilization. Among these
they regarded a Christian college of prime importance. So within
ten years of the time when the Indian council-fires were extinguished
by the Black Hawk war, we find these men in council, as did the
New England fathers, praying together and thinking on a college
a college, as Cotton Mather says, the best thing that ever New
England thought upon.
- These thoughts were deepened as these
brethren met other ministers and
- representatives of northwestern churches
in convention at Cleveland, in June, 1844. They became defined
and matured in four successive conventions held in that and the
following year, for the specific purpose of considering what
could be done to found a college. In these deliberations were
heartily united the ministers and churches of Wisconsin and northern
Illinois, who; in association, presbytery, or convention were
joined to maintain the one pilgrim faith in this region, made
one by its geographical necessities and the common characteristics
of its growing population. The main question was settled in the
third convention, which met May 27th, 1845. There were in attendance
forty-two ministers and twenty-seven laymen, representing all
the Congregational and Presbyterian ecclesiastical bodies then
in this region. They were aided by the counsel of several college
officers and pastors of churches from other parts of the country.
If it is considered how feeble and scattered were the churches
in that day, and how few and poor the facilities for traveling,
it will be understood how deep and strong was the impression
on their minds of the importance of the question brought before
them. With great carefulness and prayerfulness, they studied
the present and prospective wants of the field, and what the
Lord would have them do to meet these wants in respect of means
for high intellectual, moral, and Christian culture. It was an
hour of thrilling interest, never to be forgotten by those present,
when, with hearts enlarged and harmonized by contemplating the
great common object, after an hour of special prayer, they gave
expression to their unanimous judgment, approving and confirming
the resolution of the first convention That the exigencies of
Wisconsin and Northern Illinois require that there be a college
and a female seminary of the highest order located in this region,
one to be in Northern Illinois contiguous to Wisconsin and the
other in Wisconsin contiguous to Illinois. In accordance with
this action, Beloit College and Rockford Female Seminary were
established.
- Such was the origin of Beloit College.
No individual ambition - no local interest or
- money speculation - no partisan zeal
- no crotchets of radicalism - no wild conceits of eccentric
minds, called it into being. It was born of patient, thoughtful
consideration on the needs of human society, the grand purpose
of Gods redeeming providence, and the instrumental agencies by
which Gods good-will to men is carried out in the progressive
advancement of Christian civilization towards its final consummation
of peace on earth and glory to God in the highest. It was the
child of the churches - cradled in prayer and faith and the holy
consecration of love for truth and right - for God and men. It
stands, from its beginning, identified with the world-wide interests
of Christ's kingdom among men. Like this, in all essential respects,
was the origin of nearly all the institutions of these young
States to which the Western College Society has extended its
fostering care.
- It is not our purpose to follow out,
in detail, the unfolding of the enterprise thus
- begun. A concise outline must suffice.
A charter for the college was obtained from the Territorial Legislature
of Wisconsin in 1846. In the summer of 1847, the corner-stone
of the first college building was laid, and in the autumn of
the same year, the first class was received as Freshmen for the
prescribed course of study. The central idea in the whole movement
was to provide for the true work of an American college according
to the main features of the New England model - that is, the
thorough discipline and liberal culture of young men for four
years in the transition period from youth to manhood. It was
designed at first to hold the institution strictly and exclusively
to this proper college work. But it was soon found that, for
lack of classical academies or their equivalent in the region,
a preparatory school must be provided as a necessary adjunct.
- The commencement in July next will
be an anniversary of special interest, because it
- will mark the completion of the first
twenty-five years in the life of the college. Leaving a full
review of the period to be more fitly presented then, we may
state now that during this quarter of a century nearly 2000 young
men have been for a longer or shorter period under its culture.
Nearly two hundred will have completed the full course and been
graduated. All these, both the partial and the complete fruits
of its direct work, may be reckoned as a clear addition to the
results of higher education in the land. For in this time, partly
through its indirect influence, as many young men, probably,
have gone from this field to seek the benefit of older colleges
at the East, as would, without the presence of this institution,
have sought a liberal education anywhere. Nine-tenths of all
who have enjoyed in any degree the culture of this college, have
found their life-work in the West The remaining tenth are scattered
over the wide earth, many of them filling places of important
trust in connection with the pulpit, the public press, and the
work of Christian missions.
- During this period of twenty-five years,
the financial resources of the college have
- grown, from the gift by the people
of Beloit, according to their early pledge, of a site and first
building, in value not less than $10000, till, through the benefactions
of many friends in the West and the East, the college has accumulated
a permanent property estimated at more than $225,000, its running
expenses having been, mean time, kept up, by close economy and
careful management, without incurring debt This sounds small
by the side of the millions set down to some of the New England
colleges. But here, it is a sign of some strength. It answers
well the purposes of the "dimension stones" at the
bottom of a foundation, on which the walls of a goodly structure,
yet to be builded up, may safely rest. Its value is enhanced
by the consideration that a great part of the funds thus far
gathered, is the fruit of real self-denying devotion to the great
interests which the college represents; and rich spiritual blessings,
above all price, have come in answer to the fervent prayers which
accompanied and followed the gifts of Gods people.
- But we must turn from this glance at
the past to consider the future of Beloit College.
- We shall attempt only a concise statement
of a few thoughts respecting its ideal object, its embarrassments,
and its wants.
- The object of the college, distinctly
contemplated in the outset, kept steadily in view
- through all its history, and regarded
in the policy of its administration now, with a profounder sense
of its importance than ever before, is to make thorough work
with young men in the training part of a liberal Christian education.
- To expand and explain, we say, with
young men, under the conviction, confirmed
- rather than shaken by the prevalent
discussions respecting the co-education of the sexes, that the
culture of true manhood is best carried on in an atmosphere essentially
masculine, as that of true womanhood is in an atmosphere
essentially feminine. Whether or not individual exceptions
need to be recognized and provided for, we will not stop here
to discuss. We speak confidently of the general rule for the
general quality in either case.
- We say again, "in the training
part" of young mens education, to distinguish a
- period in the life and a stage in the
process. The period of life referred to is the four years which
immediately precede the time when the man, adult in body and
in mind, is left to his own free choice and independent action.
By common understanding and consent, a man comes of age on completing
twenty-one years of his life. Peculiar circumstances may hasten
or postpone the time which one shall give to college work; but
for most, the best period, no doubt, is that which lies between
the ages of seventeen and twenty-one. And the process contemplated
for this period is a systematic, widely varied, and precise drilling
of all the powers of the mind by actual exercise in the great
leading departments of human thought and learning. The end sought
is not so much to make great acquisitions of knowledge, as to
gain facility in the manifold operations of which the mind is
capable, so that all its faculties shall be trained, brought
under command, and made reliable for any purpose. Considerable
knowledge will be acquired in the training process; but the best
part of it will be in the form of fundamental principles and
methods and general outlines - starting-points and guides for
the more specific and exhaustive studies of a later stage. For,
as there is presupposed a previous elementary education, through
which some knowledge has been gained and the powers have been
somewhat developed, so there is anticipated an advanced stage,
when, in some defined line of effort, the man will furnish himself
for his life-work of investigation or achievement. Such training
all true leaders of men must and will get. If they have not opportunity
to come under the prescribed regimen of a college, they will
subject themselves to self-imposed task work, as did Franklin
and Lincoln, to gain the same end, at considerable disadvantage.
To make this training thorough and efficient, it must be carried
on under a prescribed intellectual and moral regimen, close and
severe. It properly belongs to that time of life when the man
is under tutors and governors. It is not consistent with permitting
its subject, to any great extent, to follow his own inclination
merely and exercise his own option as to the branches of study
and the kinds of practice he will attempt; for the object of
the training is to bring out the neglected faculties and strengthen
the weak ones, so as to secure a symmetrical development of the
man, with a willpower that can, if need be, overcome aversion
and cross inclination.
- We speak of thorough work, referring
not to the completeness of a finished result,
- but to the process as involving work,
mental exertion, strained up in each effort towards the limit
of the minds ability. To accomplish this, the method of teaching
must be chiefly by recitation in which the student is held to
a daily accountability, to test both his faithfulness in application
and the style of his minds action in appropriating, assimilating,
and expressing truth. Only by thorough exercise are the powers
of either body or mind expanded or strengthened. Only by such
actual tests does one come to the knowledge and full possession
of his own powers or acquisitions. No man knows that he knows
a thing, till he can express it clearly to anothers apprehension.
To habituate young minds to close application, to accurate investigation,
to sound reasoning, and to clear statement, is a work
of patience and perseverance with both learner and teacher. To
consider and treat it otherwise is to encourage shams. They who
go to college just to have a good time make an egregious mistake,
and the regimen of the college ought to be such as to reveal
and correct the mistake. But under the law of habit, that which
is begun as task-work grows easy, till, at length, work itself
becomes play, - the most satisfactory and enjoyable play to which
a man can give himself. One has a good time in college just in
proportion as he is by his own efficiency under its regimen molded
to this habit, so that he can find pleasure even in task-work
because he takes hold of it conscious of his power and with heartiness.
- We speak of this as part of a liberal
Christian education, recognizing the tendency
- of this culture to bring the mind into
its true freedom, and recognizing also the relation of Christian
truth to all other forms of truth which are made the subjects
of study, and the value of Christian precepts to keep the soul
in all its action true and right under a sense of accountability
to God, its Father. The soul gains freedom, not by breaking away
from all law, not by declaring its independence of all external
authority, not by casting aside, as of no account, the results
of human thinking, accumulated through the ages; but by a full
understanding of the laws of its own being and the free exercise
of its powers in conformity with those laws, by willing subjection
to the rightful authority of God, its moral governor, and by
the grateful acceptance of that which the worlds masterminds
have wrought out as food for its thinking, to be digested and
assimilated and made part of its own life and growth. The fetters
which need to be broken are the clogs of laziness, the bands
of ignorance, the cramps of prejudice, the narrowness of restricted
observation, the intolerance of self-conceit, the bigotry of
exclusive devotion to particular research. With respect to his
special line of work, the man loses nothing; with respect to
the proportions of his character and the grandeur of his general
movement and influence, he gains much by this liberalizing culture.
To give the balance of complete development, the poise of noblest
manhood, Christian truth and morality need to be infused through
all the educational process. And we emphasize the word Christian
in this connection, to indicate further the intent that the results
of the culture given shall be, as fully as possible, consecrated
to the propagation of the truth and the extension of the power
of Christianity in the world, by directly increasing the number
of able preachers of the gospel.
- We are aware that these thoughts are
not new - quite otherwise. As old ideas
- perhaps, in the love of novelty which
characterize our times, they have been too much set aside and
lost from view. We cannot believe that the world has outgrown
them, or can outgrow them, since they spring from the very constitution
of mans nature and his wants. We bring them together here, to
make definite the object which Beloit College aims at. It appears
an object quite distinct from that of the common school or the
academy on the one side, and from that of the professional, the
technical, or the scientific school on the other. We cannot see
that it is properly embraced within the purview of a true university.
Because the object is so clearly defined and so important in
itself and its relations, it may fitly be made the chief not
to say the single object of an institution or class of institutions.
It seems likely to be best realized when prosecuted as a specialty.
Up to a comparatively recent period, this was the chief the peculiar
work of Yale College, and great and blessed have been her achievements.
Whether under the transformation which is changing Yale College
into Yale University, just this work through which her
glory in the past has been won, will be as well and fitly accomplished,
remains to be seen. We feel sure it is not best that every college
should be ambitiously pushing in the same direction. It would
seem, too, that the object defined must be but imperfectly attained,
when made, as it is in many institutions, only an adjunct to
an immense variety of miscellaneous work, mostly of a lower grade.
However it may be elsewhere, the aim at Beloit is steadily fixed
on perfecting a true college work in the line indicated. If,
in the future, the college shall be called to undertake some
higher, broader work, it will be only as she shall have proved
herself true to this her present mission. To success in this
mission, she now bends all her energies, content with the work
and with such honor as may come from its faithful performance.
- There are embarrassments which hinder
the attainment of this object, especially as
- respects the numbers of those who come
into and go through the full course of training. Prominent among
these is the fact that the object itself is but partially understood
or appreciated. On the proper field of the college, there is
now probably a population of one and a half millions. It has
grown to this number within thirty years, chiefly by immigration.
The early emigrants were mostly young people, characterized by
general intelligence, great energy, and indomitable spirit; but
the proportion of liberally educated men among them was much
less than was found among the early pilgrims of New England,
or than is now found among the citizens of the Eastern States.
Many strong, vigorous minds have been developed by a practical
training under the pressure of immediate responsibilities thrown
upon them. They have done well, and are highly to be honored
for what they have made of themselves. Yet through the whole
frame-work of society, there is an obvious lack of those ideas
and sentiments which are the fruit of broad, liberal culture.
Hence the aim of the college fails to be fully appreciated, and
the value of its work is underrated. Not many parents seek its
benefits for their sons. Not many young men set their aspirations
in this direction, till they come within the direct influence
of the institution.
- The last remark suggests another embarrassment
from the want of academies and
- schools in which young men can be prepared
for admission to college. If this region were dotted here and
there, as New England is, with institutions like the two Phillips
Academies and Williston Seminary, the embarrassment just referred
to would be very much relieved. These would be so many centers
of influence working all the time on the public mind, in full
harmony and co-operation with the college, and sending year by
year recruits for college classes already initiated in the training
process. But this help is, in great measure, wanting. Four-fifths
of all who have been graduated at Beloit, were dependent on the
college for the preparatory as well as for the advanced culture.
During these twenty-five years, public school systems of a high
order have been established in each of the two States. These
are doing much to promote general intelligence. The friends of
the college have been foremost in helping on this movement, and
none rejoice more heartily than they in the results. Yet it must
be confessed that not much aid comes from this quarter to further
the direct object of the college. So much are the teachers of
all grades, even those in the High schools, under the general
influences first referred to, that in very many cases a boys
thought and desire for a collegiate education would be repressed
rather than encouraged. Through the thoughtful and timely suggestions
of teachers, hundreds of bright, active minds might be induced
to seek that liberal culture which would expand and enrich their
own souls and send into society trained leaders, whose influence
would leaven the mass with elevating and refining elements.
- We will name only one other embarrassment.
It comes from the rapid development
- and material prosperity of the region,
in the form of a strong temptation to young men to cut short
the time given to their intellectual training, that they may
hurry into active business. Amid the distractions of bustling
enterprise around them, with the prizes of wealth, office, and
power, apparently within their reach, and laboring often under
the embarrassment of scanty pecuniary resources, it is not strange
that many, started on the college course, should grow impatient
of the long road before them and turn aside, and that many others
should be deterred from starting at all. It happens thus that
college classes, on an average, lose half their numbers on the
way, and it is sometimes difficult to sustain the interest and
spirit of those who remain.
- These are real embarrassments; yet
there is a brighter side even to this condition of
- things. The life and activity characteristic
of a new country furnish excellent material for the college to
work upon, when brought within its range. Those who come to college,
come of their own accord and with a purpose, and they respond
kindly and heartily to the efforts put forth for their thorough
training. The people generally, if their ear can be gained and
the merits of the case can be fairly laid before them, are quick
of apprehension to take up right ideas; and many of those in
prominent stations, to which they have lifted themselves without
the benefit of early education, conscious of their own deficiencies,
join with earnest zeal in commending and supporting a genuine
college work.
- Sustained by these encouragements,
amid the embarrassments named, the college
- has held on its way, true to its own
ideal, confident that the surest way to success was to keep the
standard well up. The results which already appear are very cheering,
and exceed the brightest expectations of its founders. By the
steady maintenance of its standard, and through the influence
of its alumni and others who, in attendance on its instruction,
have understood its aim, the community has been in a considerable
degree educated to appreciate its object and divine its advantages.
And now for its future enlargement and increased usefulness,
its immediate wants may be indicated in a general way
under three particulars. There is needed, first, the active influence
of educated men, especially of ministers of the gospel, in the
region, to give to parents and their sons right ideas of what
a liberal education means and of its value. The work of the college
has been much aided in this way, but vastly more would be done
if all felt a personal responsibility in this matter. Why should
not each pastor charge himself with the duty of seeing that his
flock, however small, be constantly represented in the college
by at least one earnest student? Why should he not enlist the
teachers in the public schools to cooperate with him for this
end? The effectiveness of such influence has been abundantly
illustrated in the history of older colleges in the East. The
considerations before suggested, make it of the highest importance
for all true college work in the West.
- The second immediate want of Beloit
College is a distinct foundation on which its
- preparatory school can be set up, separate
from the college, yet under the direction and control of the
college trustees and faculty. This is needed that the legitimate
object of the college, as defined in this Article, may stand
out to the apprehension of both students and the public in its
distinctive characteristics. With such an arrangement, too, the
restlessness which naturally springs from long familiarity with
one set of instructors and one routine of duty, prompting the
student to break off in mid career, will be relieved. Faculty
and students will engage with more zest and zeal in the studios
of the college course, the standard of scholarship will be raised
and the thoroughness of the training will be enhanced. It is
believed that the moderate sum of $25,000 will provide for this
object. Is there not some one among the readers of this Article
who will love to give his money and his name to such a foundation?
- Then there is the great want, ever
pressing, of additional endowments, for the
- immediate relief and for the necessary
enlargement of the college. With the closest economy, the current
expenses of the institution exceed the reliable income by nearly
$2000 each year. The deficiency has been met by the avails of
outstanding general subscriptions and miscellaneous property
- a resource which must be soon exhausted. Rightly to fulfill
its object, the college must rapidly enlarge its operations:
a foundation is needed for the support of a librarian and treasurer.
Its corps of instructors must be increased, that the pressure
on the members of the faculty of double duty in daily exercises
may be relieved, so, that they can advance their own culture,
and come with ever fresh life and interest to their work. Such
enlargement is essential to keep the prestige already gained,
and to give the institution steady growth, proportioned to the
growth of all things around it. The very life of a college, as
of all other living things, depends on such growth. To meet deficiencies
and to provide for this necessary enlargement, that the college
may have a fair start for its next quarter-century of living
progress, the sum of $100,000, to be added to its permanent endowments,
is imperatively needed, and earnestly sought for. What safer
place for permanently productive investment can be found? What
nobler monument can a faithful steward, entrusted of God with
wealth, desire, than to have his name and memory identified with
the life and growth, and perennial, precious fruits of such a
Christian college?
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