y is broader and more
comprehensive. The German _gymnasia_ hold the place of our high
schools and academies, and their course of study carries the student
through what is an equivalent to our Sophomore year in college.

The colleges established in the early history of our country were
shaped in some measure after the English model, but the American
college of to-day "is the bright consummate flower of democracy." We
may apply to it what Lowell says of Lincoln:

"For him her old-world moulds aside she threw,
And choosing sweet clay from the breast
Of the unexhausted West,
With stuff untainted shaped a hero new."

The American colleges have held fast to the best of the ancient
learning and utilized the best experiences and ideas of the English,
German and French systems of education, and mapped out a distinctive
system for themselves. They have sought to meet the needs of our age
and the requirements of our generation, and we have as a product the
modern American college, adapted to the wants of the people and the
formation of a strong national character.

The American people believe in individual rights and personal
sovereignty. They have accordingly shaped their institutions in
harmony with this view. In Germany the man is educated largely for
the State, but here we educate the man as a citizen and as an
individual whose intrinsic dignity and value are worthy of training.
The American college makes adequate provision for the full development
of all the human powers and the exercise of the functions of the
noblest manhood and womanhood. Her halls have always been wide open to
all the youth of the land, who have gathered by the thousand to drink
in "the American spirit of freedom and brotherhood of mankind, of
reverence for God, for law, for the Bible and for the Sabbath." Our
colleges have been built up through the generous and effective support
of the several churches, and of the patriotic people. For more than
two and a half centuries it has been the settled policy of the
American people to maintain and perpetuate colleges. They are deeply
rooted in the hearts of the people, since they are the offspring of
their free-offerings and voluntary sacrifices.

A few unthinking people are indifferent and fail to see and realize
the vital relations the colleges sustain to the national welfare; but
the more enlightened public opinion is eager and restless for their
advancement and influence. Our colleges ar