Excerpt from John Hopkins University Circulars, Vol. 20: March, 1901

The good genius that watched over the cradle of our existence as a people has never ceased to preside over its development. A hundred and fifty years of colonial education prepared the Ameri can people for civic freedom and the duties of self-government. The two great interests of the early colonists were the church and_ the school, both aiming to mould the individual man with a view to fitness for a useful and virtuous life, and seeking above all to develop personal character. And those were happy beginnings for the growth of a great nation, in which each citizen was to be a determining factor, for what better introduction to the privileges and responsibilities of self-government could be devised than the training of every unit of the population to habits of considerate self-restraint through reverence for eternal laws implanted in the conscience and incorporated into daily life by willing obedience? Upon such a foundation of faith and virtue it was not difficult to erect the structure of a free republic in which the powers of gov ernment could be safely entrusted to sovereign citizens.

Very early in our history the need of preparation for public service was clearly understood, and in 1657 a colonial governor of Connecticut bequeathed a portion of his estate to give some encouragement for the breeding up of hopeful youths for the public service of the country in future times. A half century later, in 1701, this thought of Edward Hopkins found new expression in the charter of Yale College, one of whose pur poses was declared to be, to found a school where youth may be fitted for public employment in the church and civil state. And thus, two hundred years ago, was felt the foreshadow ing of the great responsibilities in store for us as a people in the guidance of that enterprise of free government whose development could then be only a prophetic vision.

Looking back over our country's history we cannot escape the conviction that, notwithstanding its many imperfections, the higher education has exercised a powerful influence upon every great crisis in our national development. From the very first, no session of Congress has ever assembled without the conspicuous participation of college and university graduates, and no presi dential administration has ever been fully deprived of their influence. It is not without significance that the thesis of Samuel Adams for the master's degree at Harvard, read and defended before Governor Shirley and the Crown officials in 1743, was.

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