Columbia College [pp. 583-586]

1871.] COL UiJiLBIA COLLECE 583
to the law, in the first place-especially in a foreign land. But, if he
did, the law could only assign the child to him; it could not find him
for him. Get Felix ready for a journey, and I will arrange my plans,
meanwhile, and will communicate with you to-morrow at latest. Do
not be surprised or unprepared if I call for the child at a very early
hour in the morning. That is, if there is need of haste in the mat ter."
"Yes, yes-there is great need of haste-immediate haste. I do
not know how near my husband may be. Probably he is in Amer ica."
" This St. John cannot himself molest you?"
" Not unless he were to entice Felix away. The child was always
very fond of him-he might do that," said she, suddenly rising, with
terror in her eyes. "I must return at once to Morton House. He
told Babette that he was coming there. Good Heavens! I don't
know what may happen while I am away."
Mr. Warwick did not attempt to detain her. He saw that it would
be cruel to do so. Her fears were causeless, for Babette was fully
alive to the danger, and St. John could sooner have snatched Felix
from the den of a lion than from Morton House, guarded by her, and
garrisoned by a troop of servants; but all the same it would have
been useless to reason with, and still more useless to detain, a woman
whose nerves were strung to the pitch which Mrs. Gordon's now
were. He saw this, and opened the office-door. " I will see you tomorrow," he said, and, as he said it, she uttered a sudden, half-stifled
cry, and caught his arm "There!-there!" she gasped, shrinking back into the room, and
pointing eagerly across the street.
His eyes followed the motion of her hand, and he saw a slender,
well-dressed man sauntering along. "That is the man?" he asked,
though the question was almost unnecessary.
" It is St. John!" cried his companion, with a wild burst of tears.
" It is the wretch whom I have not seen since-since-"
He put her gently into a chair, and said in a quiet voice, the very
tones of which were reassuring, "Trust to me, and try and compose
yourself. If you allow yourself to become unnerved in this manner,
you will put yourself entirely at the mercy of this man, if, by any accident, he succeeds in gaining admittance to your presence. And the
child-you must think of him. For his sake, endeavor to control
yourself."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked to the window, and followed Mr. St. John's retreating figure with his eyes,
as far as it could be seen. It was a good thing that Mr. St. John
was thinking deeply; or that keen glance might have made itself
felt- not comfortably. Few men like to be scrutinized in that
searehing fashion; and this man especially had good reason for
avoiding it. When he finally turned a corner, and was out of sight,
Mr. Warwick went back to his companion.
"He is gone," he said, gently. "Let me put you into the carriage
now, Mrs. Gordon."
She extended her hand silently, and he conducted her out. After
she was in the carriage, and the door had been closed, she leaned forward and spoke. "God bless you!" she said. That was all; but the
words, and the sound of the rich, sweet voice that had spoken them,
lingered with him long after he went back into his office, and sat down
to Mr. Sloan's deed.
[To BE cONTINtTED.]
COLUMBIA COLLEGE.
COLUMBIA COLLEGE, the oldest institution of learning in the
city of New York, was founded about the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1746, the Legislature authorized two thousand
two hundred and fifty pounds to be raised by lottery toward the founding of a college, and in 1751 three thousand four hundred and fortyfour pounds having been raised, that sum was vested in trustees, and
in 1754 the college charter was granted. In 1753, the trustees elected
Dr. Samued Johnson, of Stratford, Connecticut, the first president of
King's College, as the institution was then called. Soon after the incorporation of the college, Trinity Church presented it with all the
land between Barclay and Murray Streets, from Church Street to the
North River. Upon this land the erection of a suitable college build
ing was commenced, and on the 23d of August, 1756, the corner stone was laid, and in May, 1760, the building was so far advanced
that the officers and students began to lodge and mess there. The
building which was then erected formed the central portion of the
edifice in Park Place, occupied by Columbia College until 1857.
Dr. Myles Cooper, who succeeded Dr. Johnson in 1763, gives the fol lowing description of the situation at that early day:
"The college is situated on a dry, gravelly soil about one hundred
and fifty yards from the banks of the Hudson, which it overlooks;
commanding, from the eminence on which it stands, a most extensive
and beautiful prospect of the opposite shore and country of New
Jersey, the city and island of New York, Long Island, Staten Island,
New York Bay and its islands, the Narrows forming the mouth of the
harbor, etc., and being wholly unencumbered by any adjacent build ings, and admitting the purest circulation of air from the river and
every other quarter, has the benefit of as agreeable and healthy situa tion as can possibly be conceived."
The building had a cupola surmounted by an iron crown, in honor
of King George II., after whom the college was named. This crown
was, at the time of the Revolution, sawed off and placed in the college
library, where it is still preserved. We give an illustration which rep resents King's College as it stood just before the Revolution. It is
copied from an old engraving in the college library. In those days
the discipline was very strict, and great attention was paid to all
points of etiquette. Among the old statutes we find the following:
" If any student shall pass a professor without lifting his hat, he shall
be fined two shillings."
The college remained unchanged until the time of the Revolution ary War, whenits exercises were necessarily suspended. The presi dent, Dr. Cooper, was a Tory, and distinguished himself in many of
the political contests of the day. Among his opponents was Alexan der Hamilton, whom Columbia is proud to reckon among her aluimni,
though, owing to the troublous times in which he entered her walls,
he was not enabled to complete his academic course. Dr. Cooper, hav ing become very obnoxious on account of his political principles, was
obliged to leave this country and flee to England, and the Rev. Benjamin Moore, afterward Bishop of New York, succeeded him as temporary president. But this office in a few months was rendered a sinecure in consequence of the college being converted, in May, 1776, into
a military hospital. Most of the apparatus and books disappeared,
but some seven hundred volumes, after having for many years been
considered as lost with the rest, were found in a room leading off from
one of the galleries of St. Paul's Chapel. The college library contained at the time of this dispersion many valuable works. All the
governors of the province had made donations to it. And these, together with the gifts of Dr. Bristowe and the Earl of Bute, and a
copy of each of the books issued from the University Press at Oxford, had laid the foundations of a very fine and extensive library.
After the close of the war, an act was passed, in 1784, changing
the corporate name of the college, and placing the institution under
the control of a body of officers styled the Regents of the University
Governor Clinton, as governor of the State, became, ex ofcio, the first
chancellor. De Witt Clinton, afterward so celebrated in the history
of this State as the projector of its great system of canals, was the
first student of the new university. But the plan of a university not
being successful, three years afterward the college was restored to its
original condition, the name, however, being changed from King's to
Columbia. The Board of Regents was continued, but after this time
they had general supervision of all the educational institutions of the
State. Dr. William Samuel Johnson, a son of the first president, was,
by a singular coincidence, made the first president of the college under
its amended charter. Dr. Johnson was succeeded in 1801 by Dr.
Wharton, who, after a few months, resigned the position, and Bishop
Benjamin Moore was appointed president. He had been the temporary president through the war. Under his charge the building was
altered somewhat and enlarged. Mr. Harris succeeded him in 1811.
During his presidency, in 1816, the grant of the botanical garden of
the late Dr. Hosack was made to the college, with the condition that
it should be removed there within twelve years. But, some five years
afterward, this condition was rescinded. This piece of ground consisted of about twenty acres, situated between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and Forty-seventh and Fifty-first Streets. It was laid out by
the late Dr. David Hosack, and called the Elgin Botanic Garden.
Here were gathered plants from all parts of the world, either exposed
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