The History of the University of Pennsylvania/Chapter XIII

by George B. Wood

 

Chapter XIII.

 

New Regulations.—Institution of the Philomathean Society.—Improved State of the School.—Establishment of the Department of Natural Science.

 

In the year 1810 a reformation was commenced by a complete separation of the seminary into two parts, the boundaries of which were distinctly marked, and their objects accurately defined. The students of the college, arranged into three classes—the freshman, junior, and senior—were placed under a faculty composed of three professors, who filled respectively the chairs of moral philosophy, of natural philosophy and the mathematics, and of the languages. Of these professors one was the provost, and the second the vice-provost of the university. The term of study was confined to three years; and the course of instruction embraced, together with the Latin and Greek classics, all those higher branches of learning and science which are usually taught in colleges. By a special determination of the board it was provided, that whenever punishments might be necessary, they should be directed exclusively to "a sense of duty, and the principle of honour and shame." From this it would appear, that the students might previously have been subjected to occasional bodily chastisement—a degradation to which high-minded young men could not be expected to submit; and the liability to which, if it really did exist, must have had a great effect in lowering the general standard of character and attainment in the school, and bringing down its reputation to that inferior level upon which it stood for many years.

The resignation of Dr. Rogers gave the trustees an opportunity of abolishing the professorship of English and the belles-letters; and the English school, which, from the foundation of the institution had constituted a part of it, was shortly afterwards dissolved. Under the name of the academy, a grammar school was retained, in which were taught the various inferior branches of learning, necessary as a preparation for entering upon a collegiate course. Over this school was placed one or more teachers, without the title of professor, without any authority in the general management of the institution, and subject to the superintendence and control of the collegiate faculty. The charity schools, which constituted a third division of the department of arts, were also placed under the care of the faculty; so that the college, while in itself independent, was enabled to exercise over the inferior branches a degree of authority, sufficient to preserve them in accordance with its own interests, and to give the character of a regular system to all the operations of the seminary.

Such were the first steps in the path of improvement Further advances were gradually made, as the way became clearer, and experience began to demonstrate the safety if not expediency of the course pursued. To raise the character of the college, higher qualifications for admittance were made requisite; and among these qualifications, a suitable age was considered essential. Formerly, boys had not unfrequently been permitted to pass through and receive the honours of the institution, whose immaturity of years was, of itself a sufficient evidence of their unfitness for these honours; and men who beheld these unfledged alumni, could not but doubt the judgment and prudence of that alma mater, who had sent them forth from her bosom while yet so incompetent to their own intellectual management. It was resolved that no applicant should be received into the lowest class under the age of fourteen; a time of life at which it was thought that the sense of honour might be sufficiently developed to serve as a motive for strenuous application, and the intellect sufficiently mature to render such application productive.

With the view of exciting emulation among the students, greater care was taken to apportion the several grades of honorary distinction at the commencements to the merits of the candidates; while, in the mean time, they were taught to feel more strongly the influence of public sentiment, and to allow it more authority over their conduct, by occasional exhibitions of their skill in oratory before respectable assemblages of citizens.

They were, moreover, encouraged to form among themselves an association, similar to those which exist in many other colleges in this country, and the influence of which has been found highly beneficial, both to the young men who belong to them, and to the seminaries under the auspices of which they have been established. In these societies, the charm of secrecy has been employed to attract new members, and to maintain a stronger interest among the old; while it is deprived of all mischievous tendency by the participation of the professors and other officers of the college. To be able fully to appreciate the importance of such institutions, we must revert to the period of our own youth, and call to mind the deep interest, the spirit at once of union and emulation, the kindly feelings towards each other united with the energetic determination to excel, inspired into us by their manlike exercises; and while dwelling on these recollections, we shall experience in the love with which our hearts warm and expand towards the scene of our young efforts, and the vivid desire which arises to witness and contribute to its prosperity, a sure evidence of the lasting benefit which must flow to the seats of learning, from multiplying such sources of pleasant and affectionate association. The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania was founded in the year 1813, and still exists. The attention of the public is annually called to it by an address, commemorative of its origin, delivered by some one of its older members, appointed for the purpose.^[1]

Notwithstanding all these changes, there yet remained, in the plan and arrangement of the seminary, some errors which it was important to rectify. The period of three years, to which the college term was restricted, was insufficient for the completion, without extraordinary talent and industry, of the prescribed course of studies; and the proper qualifications for a degree could not therefore be so rigidly insisted on, as if a due portion of time had been allotted. Nor was the number of professors proportionate to the task of instruction, embracing as it did almost the whole circle of the sciences. Some branches were necessarily omitted or imperfectly taught; and thus, to the want of time, was added another cause for insufficient preparation on the part of the student. It naturally followed from these circumstances, that the requisites of graduation were considered lower, and consequently the honour of a degree less, in the university, than in most of the prominent colleges of the United States; and, as the regulation requiring a long attendance of the students upon the professors remained unaltered, and the grammar school, though entirely separate in its government and conduct from the college, was still maintained in the same building, and therefore frequently confounded with the higher department, the institution was not yet able to rise entirely out of that reputation of inferiority, which had been attached to it from the period of the revolution.

The trustees, however, becoming sensible of these disadvantages, have recently made alterations, which, so far as regards the organization of the department of arts, leave little further to be desired. The grammar school has been removed from the building in Ninth Street, and located in the old academy; so that the collegians no longer incur the risk of being confounded with the inferior pupils, and are allowed to enjoy unalloyed the natural and salutary sense of importance belonging to their station. That other unsatisfactory regulation relative to the time of their attendance has also been altered; and in this respect they are now placed on a footing with the students of the highest and most respectable seminaries. The term of study has been extended to four years; another class has been added to the three previously existing; and the faculty has been augmented by the appointment of a tutor, and the institution of a fourth professorship.

Time has not been allowed, since the adoption of these regulations, for the full development of those good effects which may reasonably be expected from them; but the result of the changes which were made at an earlier period has been highly favourable. Since the year 1810, the university has certainly taken a higher standing than it had previously enjoyed. Its operations have been conducted with greater regularity; the courses of instruction have been more complete and efficient; and the annual number of graduates, varying from seven to thirty-four, has exhibited an increase of reputation and popularity, which though by no means equal to the wishes of its friends, or to its just claims, gives us a cheering assurance that the later improvements, which are but just beginning to be carried into effect, will not be fruitless in the end.

In the same spirit which originated the measures above detailed, the board of trustees, in the year 1816, determined to institute a new department in the university, to be devoted more especially to the advancement of those branches of science which could not be advantageously brought within the scheme of the seminary as it then existed. It was evidently impossible, during the regular collegiate course, to acquire an intimate and thorough acquaintance with all the diversified subjects of human knowledge. All that could be aimed at with discretion, was the communication to the young student of such varied elementary instruction, as might enable him, in his subsequent career, to pursue beneficially any particular subject of study to which his interest or his genius might incline him. But there are many branches of science both ornamental and useful, which, even with the aid afforded by this elementary instruction, are still attended with so many difficulties, that the learner is apt to be discouraged at the threshold, and to turn away his steps towards some object of more easy attainment, but less honourable in the pursuit, and less advantageous in possession. These difficulties, consisting often in the want of practical and experimental illustrations of the facts and deductions of science, may be removed or greatly diminished by courses of lectures, delivered by well qualified professors, with the assistance of extensive cabinets of Specimens, and a suitable apparatus. This remark is particularly applicable to those branches of knowledge which are designated by the general title of natural science. As the means requisite for the proper illustration of these subjects are often beyond the resources of individuals, it was thought by the board, that by constituting a faculty of professors, and affording them such facilities in the prosecution of their several courses of instruction as might be within the power of the university, they would be contributing towards the public good, and at the same time elevating the character of the institution over which they presided. A department of natural science was accordingly created, embracing five professorships, which were immediately filled by the choice of men recommended either by their general talent, or by their peculiar fitness for the offices to which they were appointed. The duty of the professors was to give annual courses of lectures to the public, for which their remuneration was to consist in the fees of the attendants; and the advantages which they derived from the university, beside the honour of the connexion, were the gratuitous use of suitable apartments, and access to the apparatus belonging to the institution. Though the rule demanding annual courses has not been exactly complied with by all the gentlemen who have accepted professorships in this department, yet on the more important and popular subjects lectures have been regularly given, in some instances, to numerous classes; and the general result, if not so favourable as might have been anticipated, has been such as fully to justify the original adoption of the measure, and to give rise to the hope that much good may flow from it hereafter.

1. Another society of a similar character, has since been instituted among the students of the university, under the name of the Zelosophic Society.— January, 1834.