Evening Star Newspaper, February 20, 1889, Page 9

GECRGETOWN COLLEGE. ITs ‘ENTENNIAL. A LONG AND USEFUL LIFE. Its History and Progress sketched at Length. —_-_—-—_ POUNDED BY FATHER CARROLL IN 1739, IT HAS BECOME THE IN T LEADING CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY NENT PRES- OUNTRY—SOME OF T IDEN SSORS AND PUPILS—SoM. ESTING INCWWENTS IN ITS HONORABLE CAREER. eens As the centennial celebration of Georgetown takes place Wednesday, a sketch of ost celebrated Catholic institution of ng in this country is believed to be i it will, no doubt, be read with in- From time to time bits of news in re- t. gard to this centennial have been published ix ‘Tux Sran, but only the committees who have bed charge of the details have any real idea nitude of the proposed celebration. *s of the college will come from every section of the Union to participate in the ceremonies, and former members of the faculty, who are now engaged in other labors, will aixo be present to give interest to the oc- casion. To invest the exercises with the hi est ecclesiastical dignity Cardinal Gibbons wiil from Baltimore to coufer the degrees in Although Georgetown will now only cele- brate its one hundredth anniversary, the idea of establishing a Catholic seat of learning in this locality was first broached in 1635 by Father Ferdinand Poulton, who wrote the Eng- lish provineial of the Jesuit order on the sub- jeet. and received encouraging permission to proceed in the execution of his project. This resulted in the establishment of a school at Calverton manor, the home of Lord Baltimore, . but four years after the establishment ¢ Harvard university at Cambridge, Mass. her sehool was established at Newtown or in 1677, but the one at Bohemia manor, in Cecil county, Md., in 1740, by the Rev. Thos. Poulton, was the direct predecessor of the col- lege at Georgetown, THE FOUNDER OF THE COLLGE. Father John Carroll, afterward the first bishop and then the first archbishop of Baltimore. was the founder of George- town college, and the history of enesis of the college is a story of Father Carroll's life. He was the son of 4 Daniel Carroll, who, with his father, Charles Carroll, had emigrated to this country from Ireland in 1650. The amily acquired large racts of land in Mary- and, and Daniel Carroll settled at Upper Marl- F boro’, Prince George county, where, January ha 8. 1735. Jobn Carroil ad was born. He was sent to school at the a of eleven at the Jesnit school at &E mia Manor, Cecil county. Of this school, which, as has been said, may be considered the prede- cessor of rgetown college, not a trace remains. Among his schoolmates here was his cousin, the afterward famous Charies Carroll, of Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. ‘The two oung Carrolls, with a companion, Robert ent, of Aquia Creek, Stafford county, Va., Were sent to St. Omer’s, in French Flanders, in Yr i ion, After six years at this college, John Carroll, in 1753, entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Watten. His novitiate was completed in 1755, when he was sent to Liege to finish his course in phil- osophy and theology. _He was ordained to the priesthood in 1759, and was sent first to teach at St. Omer’s and afterward to Liege as pro- fessor of philosophy, thus acquiring practical experience in the work of teaching, to which he afterward gave so many years of his life at Georgetown. Father Carroll returned to America and to his home on Rock creek, just above George- town, in 1774, and there he lived with his mother for many years. He was an ardent patriot during the Revolution and had great in- Ticace among the Catholics of Maryland and Virginia. His uportance in that respect was so well recognized that he wax made a member of the commission which included Benjamin Frank- lin, Samuel Chase and Chas. Carroll, of Carroll- ton, to go to Montreal to secure the aid or at least the neutrality of the Canadians. It is said that it was largely due to the efforts and in- fluence of Father Carroll that the commission was able to accomplish the little that it did. During that journey Father Carroll and Frank- lin conceived a very warm regard for each other to which the priest probably owed his mitre, for when Franklin was minister to France in 1734 it was partly on his advice that Carroll’s name was chosen from the list sub- mitted for appointment as ‘Superior of the Catholic clergy in the United States.” THE FIRST BUILDING ERECTED. Father Carroll had an ambition to establish @college in Maryland, and after the cessation of the hostilities of the Revolution he directed his energies to the accomplishment of this his fondest wish. As early as the 30th of March, 1 was sent out the following: ‘Pro- Bowale for establishing an academy, at George- own, Patowmeck River. Maryland. ~The object of the proposed institution is to unite the Means of communicating Sciences hb an effectual Provision for guarding and proving the Morals of Youth. With this View the Seminary will be superintended by those who. having had experience in similar Institutions, know that an undivided Attention may be given to the Cultivation of Virtue and literary Improvement, and that a System of Discipline be introduced and preserved incompatible with Indolence and Inattention in the Professor or with Incorrigible Habits of Immorality in the Student, ~The Benetit of this Establishment should be as general as the attainment of its Object is de- sirable. It will therefore receive Pupils as soon us they have learned the first Elements of L id will conduct them through. the uches of classical Learning to that Stage of Education from which they may pro- ceed with Advantage to the Study of the higher Sciences in the University of this or those of the neighboring states, us it will Be caleu- lated for every Class of Citizens, as Reading, Writing. Arithmetic, the earlier Branches of the Mathematics and the Grammar of our Na- tive Tougue will be attended to no less than the Learned Languages. y will be at Liberty to frequent the orship and Instruction appointed by their Parents; but with Respect their moral Conduct all must be subject to general form Discipline. choice of Situation, Salubrity of Air, Convenience of Communication and Cheapness of living have been principally consulted, and Georgetown offers these united Advantages. “The Price of tuition will be moderate; in the reduced still solicits and, it is not Presumption to add, deserves public En- couragement, ~The following gentlemen, and others that may be appointed hereafter, will receive Sub- scriptions and inform the Subscribers to whom, and in what Proj ion. Payments are to made: In Maryland—The of Carrollton; He: Robt. Darnall, Geo, Net THE EVENT YG STAR: WASHINGTO — —_ # 2 ¢ THE COLLEGE I i N OLDEN TIMES. | Tuitte. F In Pennsylvania—Geo, Mead | and Thos. ¢itzsimmons. ivqs.; Mr. Jos, Canff- | man, Mr. Mark Wilcox and Mr. Thos. Lilly. In Virginia—Col. F Esqs: and at New Y rbseriptions will also b ssary information given Gentlemen, Directors of the undertek j Rev. Messrs. John Carroll, Jas. Pelle Q Molyneux, Jobn Ashton and Leonard Nea THIS METHOD OF RAISING FUNDS was not successful, but the money derived from the sale of some land owned by the Jesuits was taken. A site at Georgetown was secured from Col. Deakins and Mr. Thielkeld, and the college became en established fact in 1789, utd and Geo. Brent, : nece Of course, the early beginnings were very modest. and the accommodations consisted of asingle brick building which still stends in the center of the south range of the buildings which compose the present pile. Its appear- ance indicates its ag. It is of substantial brick, with ridgepolé roof, low eaves, over- hanging the upper windows, the old-fashioned attic. with dormers giving light to sleeping rooms immediately under the roof. ge. heavy brick chimneys, built of imported brick, rotrude through the roof. in stolid detiance of he rules of modern architecture. side of the quadrangle. It was commen 1792. but it was not until 180+—a stru sixteen years being required to se funds to keep the work going it was completed. This portion of the coll is after the French chaieau style of archite ture. ~ towers on the north of its expo- sure. The towers, however. were not part of the original plan of the stracture. but were added partly for ornament. but chiefly to give strength to the wa Prior to 1877 the college buildmgs numbered some half those already named—the obser ary, gymnasium and greenhons er with various shops and ouices connected with the college farm. In the north building are the dormitories and class rooms of senior de- partment, the college library and musoum, the chemical’ lnboratory and — philosophical cabinet, besides a billiard-room, reading room ‘and i for ents. Here, too, are the visitors tion parlor and the president's room, where hangs a fine painting by Luca Giordano, surnamed Fra Presto, ‘The Calling of St. Matthew,” one of the few art treasures the college can boast. In the south row the west building contains the students’ refectory and chapel and the senior study hall; the middle building, the oldest of them all, which has already been described, is the community house, and the east building holds the dormi- tory, study hall and class rooms of the junior students, who have likewise a separate’ play- ground, and whose domain is known as the “small boys’ side.” THE TOWERS BUILDING has a large and comfortable porch, a favorite lounging place at all .imes, especially mer. In its shadows famous men in sum- e sat and ars ago the states- men at the capital would sometimes stroll ov: to Georgetown and up to the college for a with the learned fathers, or perhaps to consult some of the rare books in their library, for the Congressional library was not in existence at that time. Benton, Clay. and Calhoun are said to have been frequent visitors at the The tower is said to have been used asa place of punishment for students who haa vi slated the college rules, and many a 1 n remem- ber his confinement in one of tae upper rooms of this tower. The boys were der regular fare while in confinement, but they used to obtain forbidden Juxuri: ting down a basket from the window by a string to ir associates who were not in disgrac: These would place good things in the which would be drawn up by the prisoner. talked, Thirty or forty j Peeimicas THE CENTENNIAL NEW BUILDING. ! ing health, was a man of great energy and he | secured stions and bequests ft d friends of the colle The largest of the donations came from James B. Coleman, of Caiiforni € X d from the heirs of the 51.000 1 the col- d to sell rise in value of s lege owned and which it | for about #30.¢ | tistance in liquidating the debt that had incurred on account of the new buiiding. THE BEAUTIFUL Of course when father Carroll fixed the loca- tion of the college upon the picturesque bluff which overlooks the Potomac, he bad uo idea that the capital of the then at rer would be located here, but he builded better than he knew and the university and its beau- | tiful grounds now form one of the most « t- | ive features of the national capital. At tl entrance of the grounds are two whitewashed | gate-honses, which look like guard hoases, and ich were used as such during the period that the coll by the soldiers in the ear! When hostilities commenced in 1861, 2nd the troops came to Washington, the college wa converted into a barracks and the stud professors were crowded into ‘The nt was the first io be sand when they we ey were jal a= been Grow? tered at the coileg dered to the feont th nty-ninth New After the departnre of this regiment, he the coilece was free from y control until the fol i vear. wher stle of the Second Gull lian, the building. were taken for hospital purposes and so occupied for i pout a sward. divide y a road bordere field tothe left of the entr foot-bail matches, and anodd t of bri: kat its upper end, jike the wall and gable of a ruined ¢ which used to stand tere, was the bowling-alley. Here, | in former days, the students used to play hand | ball, of which the modern base ball, | profession: its rmies and lex an evolut too, the students used to meet sometimes to settle their little dit in a stand-np fight. al most frequen ences by this method was * ‘The origin of the charming woodland prome- nade known as ‘the walks’ is said to h -y cowpath, first enla owner of the land in 1526, the order of Jesuits as a Isy brother, sac | afterward, he extended his labors, and, with | | no other assistance than a spade and a natural taste for landscape gardening, he produced a little sylvan parac tin house and gymnasium, at. th north building, “the walks” wind sides of a roi irr gular se ings for ged by the the Upon his joinin east end of the all g the in an » build- n runs and poplar trees form an id and surroundings which are calculated to bri out the poetic side of one’s natare. re has | always centered much of the y leas- | ure of college life; here the st me to engage in both physical and metaphysical con- 's—to test whether he or his adversary was better man, where the fight would not be to be interrupted, and to cram for ex- ence. Here, too, in the old days when smoking by the stud was forbidden by the feculty, the youth we steal off to indulge in the luxury of a furtive pipe. There were times when the youngster, wrapped in contemplation and smoke would be startled by a heavy footstep, and turning his head would find an amiable professor stroll- ing down the path pnfting a eigar. “The free- masonry of the weed always secured the scholar from being reported, and the two would diplomatically place pipe and cigar be- hind them as each lifted his hat in salutation. ‘The walks” are free now, and smoking is no | longer forbidden to the senior class, but it is | hardly possible that the practice is so greatly enjoyed by the students as it was when a ban was placed upon the habit. The grounds com- prise in ail 156 acres, 64 of them wood-land, TWO HISTORIC CANNON, Before leaving the grounds reference should be made to two historic cannon which now mount guard at the entrance to the new building. They stand on grassy mounds | supported by their trunnions on ronghiy-cut | blocks of Potomac gneiss,-but their story runs back to the first Catholic settlement of Mary- land, for they were brought from England by Leonard Calvert, the first actual governor of the colony of Maryland. On the 22d of No- eastern | families out wi | of its silvery bell | old college pile | ates of the insti tled, and for over a century lay in the bed of the river, whence they were rescued in the early part of this century by Capt. Carberry, one of the old inhabitants of that region. They were pitted with rust and deprived of much of their weight by corrosion, From his hands they passed into the pos:ossion of his brother, Father Carberry, of p25 Society of Jesus, supe- rior of the hotise at St. Inigo’s, They were bronght to G wn college in June of last year dire Inigo’s, through the en- deavors of Father Doonan, then president of the college, THE OLD COLLEGE CLOCK. In the old building of the college group, at the head of the odd-looking stairway which leads up to the room of the president of the institution, there is like a patient sentinel, crim and uncommunicative. a clock so old that its coming is not within the memory of man, with the exception of the venerable Fether Curley, who only knows that it was there when he entered the college. sixty-two years ago. This was in olden times a pl ishinent, or pillory, as it were, for of unrnly scholars, who were and compelled to nd fac th of time adeqnate to the offense committed, But some one of the delinquents. studying the lineamonts of the face of the old clock with inten'nes. which he should have applied to le found s to shorten the term of bation by set the hands forward. Thi too good to os imparted t inquents, bec an open seeret, whi ry of th k was abandoned as a m the we er old thing, this clock, It was niladelpbla, by one I. Fertig, after glish style. it has om its face no of the state of Penney of the taste of its creator, whom it has. x rung ont into the chur: ‘ece of antiquity has ushered ¢ to the world, as it has ushered into the next on h peals of j events. as ithas done for y restless pdulum in cadenc never varying monotony of tick! tic sonorons toujours music with the pul tering another ev with its and its on to the le edding more to the already burdened genins—tick! tick! toujours! !tonjours! jamais! time and more uifals of hum: Manan THE OLD PELL. One of the most interesting relics early history of the college. aronnd clusters many memories of the older ution. will be looked vain by those who will next week revisi scenes of their youthful struggles and triumphs, This is the old bell, whose tintionabulations for many yearsawakened, at inopportune moments often, the echoes of those cloistered watis, and summoned all too soon from their s' the unprepared scholars to thei duties: bat whose clamorous to: tardy enough in its announce old bell came from t some time during 1770, soon aiter it when it came into the possess town college. While performir duties of summoning 8 ers, one fine morning in November. 15° was suddenly a sound of mutiled effort: the heart of the faithful old thing had snapped asunder. and its voice became mute and use- less, It was carefully and tenderly laid to rest, all .ts goodness remembered, all its errors for- gotten. Now, when it is wanted to shed glory upon the house of its refuge it is not to be found. Whether it has been consigned to that cemetery of useless things, the shop of a bric- a-brac dealer, whether it lingers in some safe obscure corner, listening to the ghosts of its own past vibrations r itis simply lost in the multipli fy ces formed by the have taken place in and about its old home, no man knoweth, but it is not where it can be reached and brought forth and set upon a pedestal as it should be to add to the interest of the coming joyous cele- THE COLLPGE LIBRARY. bration. The library now contains about 45.000 vol- umes, among which are many rare books and manuscripts. There are 100 with dates from 1460 to 1520, and one illuminated manuscript of the year 1280. Among these rare and curious volumes may be mentioned a Bible of 1609; the Gospels of St. John, in Japanese; portfolio of Pope Pins 1X, presented by F. 0. St. Clair, of State departmen ymologies of St, Isadore of Seville, Augsburg. 1472; Bibles 1479; a Catholic’ praver-book the Epistles of St. Paul, 137: Geometry, 1533; a copy of Virgil, 1502. few of the bibliographical treasures whieh have found a resting place in the college library. but they are suflicient to indicate that while the collection is not so large as some includes books and manuscripts which are in- valuable and which cannot be duplicated, In the center of the library is an ancient of the which gradu- the vember, 1653, (thirteen years after the first voyage of the Mayflower to Plymouth), a party of about 200 persons, led by Leonard Calvert, sailed from Cowes, Isle of Wight. The little fleet consisted of two vessels—the Ark. emblem Sind es TRE HANDSOME NEW BUILDING, The new building, which is the crowning glory of the college, was commenced in 1877, during the presidency of Father Healy, the plans having been drawn by Messrs, Smithmyer the eastern side of the quadrangle around which all the buildings are erected, It is one of the handsomest structures in the District, and when completed will be one of the most desirable and best equipped college buildings im the country. Its len; is 312 feet, and the wails are of ‘blue gneiss rock from the upper Potomac, with bluish-gray Ohio free stone and North river blue stone for the cut work. The court front is of selected bri nd correspot in the & Pelz. This building faces the east and forms | of safety and refuge, and the Dove, emblem of ace. The former vessel was a ship of about tons, the latter a pinnace of about 50 ton which flew the governor's flag. On their voy- age they stopped at the Canary Islands, Barba- does and other ports, arriving’ at Point Comfort in Virginia, Feb, 24, 1634, where they remained until the 3d of March following, when they | proceeded up Chesapeake bay and into the Po- | tomac river, to which the name St. Gregory was | given. | The river was ascended as far as where it. Vernon is now, and returning the voyagers table—filled with books which the gorged shelves refuse to entertain—oval in form, made of old black San Domingo mahog- any, which was the dining and council table of the first actual governor, Leonard Calvert, of the colony of Maryland. Around this hospitable table, doubtless in the governor's house, if ‘tables could speak. ty be told tales of meetings, social and political. After the social _ part was over came discussion on state affairs, when the grim aspect of the savages on one side and Claiborne on the other taxed their re- sources, and was not an easy question to dis- pose of, ‘This heirloom has descended to Georgetown college, coming direct to it from St. Inigoes. The old library has long ceased to be capaci enough for the store of books. It is overflowing, and order, “heaven's first law,” has sunk into abeyance, but when the new building is completed these precious vol- umes will be properly disposed, and then be consulted by all who desire, CECILIUS CALVERT, Georgetown college is an appropriate depos- itory for these relics of the Calvert expedition. It was through the enterprise of Cecilius Cal- 2 vert, the second Lord Baltimore, that the cross and the English standard were > poe on the shores land. Although ive ‘land charter to was granted to his father, Cecilius Calvert vas the first to take ica, but he always took a deep in- 4 terest in the welfare of the colony ame through his munificence and ene: le contributed largely from his private fortune to aiding the new colonists, and Scriy his influence the new province became a haven for those who suffered from religious intolerance elsewhere. Georgetown college is a legitimate outcome of the true Catholic spirit that animated Cecilius Calvert and loyal cavaliers who sailed over the ocean under his banne. The First President. Although the college was established mainly through the earnest efforts of Father Carroll he was not allowed to preside over the institu- tion, for in the very year of its foundation he was appointed bishop of Baltimore, and the first president of Georgetown college was Rev. Robert Plunkett. He did not enter — snes org nc 1791, for it was not until at year that buildi a or sees student of Gaston, of if aRe ali Fszi i tor in | D. C.. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 18 89, continne long in office, and in 1796 he was sueceeded by REV, WM. N. DU ROURG, who was afterward bishop of New Or- leans. then bishop of Montanbean, and finally of Besaucan, | Father Dn man of and ex- tensive erndition, who had came here from France in and | under his rule contin- | ued progress was made | by the twas | ollege. th: th honored by A VISIT FROM GES, WAS “INGTON, then serving his se term as Pr ‘This visit is thns described by a contemporary of that year: “While the small college was sur- 1} by a whitewashed paling fence 4 as n, well stric *s but of nob tired the humble enclosure with a benevolent | ser: nity of countenance and a placid look of Americ nan feels in visiting hi On this the pleasur to we come to ¢ college Gen. George Washington, | It is els where stated that Washington “was | received by a poetical ress of welcome by Robert Waish, etat 12,” afterward to becom dely known as editor and publicist. # U.S. consul to Paris, Robert Wa! sof age when he entered col . This action of Washington in visit | Georgetown college bas been f | successors. for, with the exception of William Henry Herrison, who served but month after his inaugarsticn, and Gen, G fi-ld. whose sad ta sudden ublic mind, all Presid : oliege and assisted at the com- coment exercises, q uther Du Bourg remained in office unt'l 1793, when he proceeded to Havana in order to | establish in that place a college and a semin- ary. Feiling, however, in his object he re- turned to this country and became the fi president of old St. Mary’scollege in Baltimore n 1803 he aided Rev. Mr. Bois in establishing Mount St. Mary’s college at Emmitsburg. It was three years after this that he was elevated toa bishopric. When Father Du Bourg left the college he was the recipient of TWO ADDRESSES OF REGRET, one from the students and the other from the faculty, both of which were published in full in “The Centinel of Liberty and Georgetown and Washington Advertiser” of the period. The address of the students was signed by J Bankhead, son of Thomas Bankhead, of ‘Ale er neral, U. & son of Hon. I founder of the colleg Law. son of Thomas Law, a Washington capi- talist, brother of Lord Ellenborough, and mar- ried to Mra, Washington's granddaughter, ter of G. W. P. Custis, of Arlington, and Gar- rett Barry, son of James D. Barry, of Washing- ton. The address of the teachers is signed by John Wade, Nicholas A. Fenwick, Philip Laur noch Fenwick, niab Connor. Wade was the fencing-master; Nich- olas Fenwick was the son of James Feuwick, of Georgetown, and had been a student of the college; Enoch Fenwick. it has already been stated, was a member of the first class of the college, and of the others notuing particular is known. REY, LEONARD NEALE succeeded Father DuBourg, aud gave his atten- tion particularly to the improvement of the course of studies, In the beginning the school was merely an _acad- emy. English, Latin, Greek and mathematics were taught, but those who desired tocomplete their education were compelled to go else- where. Father Neale’s exertions did not cease & until he had introduced the full college course. 4 In 1800 he became ec adjutor or assistant to the bishop of Baltimore, though he continued to ring, reined up his charger | . nd hitched Riaida. Aliens with grate Gua aune Bee RVATORY. CHARTERED AS A UNIVERStTY. Rev. Francis Neale succeeded Father Mat- thews as president, and he in turn was suc- ceed d by Rev. John Gras«i His ad- ministration was an eventful on Washing- h public buildings were burned. The college buildings. however - caped injury, The two important events, how- ever, were the re-estab- lishment of the Jesuits throughout the world in 1814, and the pas by Congress in 1515 ‘of nd empowering its ties to confer degre J his act was introduced by the first graduate, Rev, FRANCIS NRALE, Wm. Gaston, when he was a member of the House of Representatives, and its passage was rgely due to his persis efforts, The r: tablishment of the Jesuits took to Rome se lof the graduates of the college. who h quently pursued their novitiate studies. ¥ t they might fully perfect them- stibs FST ARLISU WENT OF THE ORSERVATORY, Rev. Jas, Carley, who was then the professor of astronomy, personaily superintended the erection of the observatory building in 1844, At that time there were very few observatories in this country, and those were mostly of ara. dimentary character, The observatory of Williams college, began in 1836, was the first established in the United States, That erected by Prof. Elias Loomis, of the Western Reserve of Hudson, Ohio, soon followed, These, with th ional observatory. had drawn his plane in ignor- ance of the fact that a government observator was contemplated. Calling upon his wiend, Capt. Gillies, he showed him the drawings, and was surprised when the latter drew from his drawer more elaborate designs to be presented to Congress during the following win arred in the property which was h funds for the college ob- rv, an os Congress was prompt in al Propriating #20.000. the sum needed for @ | naval observatory. this was cnabled to precede j the college building by about one year, The | great observatory of Harvard was not estab- | lished for some years later. THE EXPENSE OF THE GEORGETOWN RYrTLpTNe was defrayed by a legacy received by the Rev. Thomas Meredith Jenkins, professor of litera- ture. This eminent man, to a most gentle and lovable charactor, added an intense zeal for | learning and the sciences. He afterwards laid down bis life in Rio de Janeiro, while attend- ing upon and instructing an American boy and Sirl stricken with the yellow fever, The build- ng thus erected ix60 fect longand 90 wide, and | is divided from east to west into three rooms, 7 Q ie pert of the observatory is tes bich and has a rotary dome. room contains a well-mounted equa- pe, made by Troughton & giving p been one-third larger had it been made im Peris, as originally intended. but the maker who had undertaken the contract dymg, it was and during the delay thus caused Congress passed a tariff bill impos- uty of 33 per cent ad valorem on all in- s imported from abroad even for col- For this reasou the diameter of the lens } was reduced by one rd to make the available funds cover the expense. No sooner was the iustrument finished and imported than Con- gress, petitioned by all the colleges of the country, removed the duty, This instrument, though of no great diameter as telescopes go | nowadays, IS REMARKABLY CLEAR AND PERFRCT in definition. The eastern room contains a first-class meridian circle, by Troughton & Simms, of Le The divided are of the circle has a diameter of 45 inches, reading by microscopes to fractions of a second of an are. | The telescope is a 4-inch glass, Inthe western pm is mounted # fine transit instrument, by . of Munich. It is 7 feet ke s-inch object-glass, Former]; the eye and ear method of recording the time of observations was depended upon, each of these instruments was accompanied by a fine sidereal clock, by Molyneaux, of London. But | ives in ratio studiorim” of the order. at present the clocks, one arranged for mean Father Grassi's immediate Rev. | time, and er for sidereal, stand beside Ben euwick Wes himself fe the chre oh on the pier of the central by Rte -|room, ‘There are, moreover, five portable gentlem lied the period up when the your riests spoken of above having gone to Rome etarned. having com; pleted their studies an@ fully acquired the “ratio of the or- e were Father Mulledy or ‘ather Tom,” as he vas familiarly called “SY ‘ho became president =" of the college. Father REV. PENEvic: rexwic: Ryder as vice-president and Father Enoch Fenwick as prefect of studies, a, FATHER “TOM” MULLEDY. Father “Tom” was a man not only of great executive ability, but with a certain brusque | geniality combined with a native force and resolution which ena- bled him to effectively deal with the students when their passions were aroused and they became disobedient and turbulent. More than once concerted rebel- lions threatened not only the life of the coliege, but even of some obnoxious _pre- fect, as the officers charged with the disci- pline of the school are called, In the famous emeute, still fondly em- balmed in college le- gend as the great rebellion of "37, a prefect, it is said, had to entrench himself in his room against a mob of malcontents. A story is told of Father “Tom,” while he was a scholastic. which illustrates the temper of the man, and also shows the character of some of the pupils of those days. While the young scholastic was teach- ing class one day a burly backwoodsman. re- nowned for fiistie prowess, defied his authority and proposed to throw him out of the window if he insisted on it, It was a crisis, as all pres- ent knew, and unless the teacher could com- mand it his usefulness was gone, Mr. Mulledy, without stopping the lesson, quietly sent to his president for permission to treat the defiance in his own way, and that obtained. tucked up his sontane and proceeded to knocl: the spots of the refractory pupil. He polished him off beautifully and scientifically, to the intense de- light of the class, Some who tell this story say that Mulledy threw the boy out of the window. but others say that after he got over his sur- prise at being so quickly thrashed the pupil admitted that he had not properly sized up his teacher, and was never guilty of any serious infraction of the rules during the remainder of his stay at the college. With the accession of Father Mulledy to the presidency, the entire college course was thor- oughly reorginized. He received great as- sistance from his two associates, Fathers Ryder and Fenwick. and to these three men the in- stitution owes much of its present status, It was through the efforts fill his position as head of the college until 1306. On the death of Archbishop Carroll, in 1815, Father Neale became his successor. AN IMPORTANT EVENT. In 1805 an event occurred which exercised a great influence on the future of Georgetown. The Jesuits who still remained in Maryland received authority to reorganize their mission, and the college — came under their com- ete control in the following year, where it remained ever since. Rev. Robert Moly- neux again became president, having been ‘appointed superior of the Society of Jesus in this country. One of his first acts was to es- tablish at Georgetown a novitiate and a scho- lasticate of the society, that the young Jesuits might receivethat train- ing which would enable them afterwards to teach in the college or to open other colleges in Various parts of the ve country, e first who v entered the novitiate were Enoch Fenwick, Spink, Leonard Edctia. 8) lin, Chas. Bowling and about seven lay broth- —_ great ditteulty to Whitemarsh, Md., atin 1883 was trans- ferred to Frederick, of Father Ryder that the Philodemic Debat- ing Society was estab- lished in 1830, The Phi- ‘onomosian Society was established a few years later. The prosperity of the college became © great that it was Jound necessary to add to the buildings already erected, and the west building of the south row was commenced in 1831 and completed so that the commence- ment exercises of that ear were held in the vew study hall for the first time. Previous to this commencements PATHAK Miwt~ had been held in old | astronomical instruments, and a librery of 500 works on astronomy, mathematics and the physical sciences, Many of these are rare and curious books, ‘The total c was about = of the building and instruments Wa very o able sum to ays in the interest of pure In those carly times these instruments stituted a very ample and even xplendid quipment, fully equal to those of the univer- sity observatories of the times. THE PROFESSORS OF ASTRONOMY. Father Curley was the first to make use of the building and instruments, and took great satisfaction in knowing that he could farnish to the students interested in astronomy facili- ties so much greater for the prosecution of in- ion in this science than had been possi ment of the observatory, however, several dis tinguished Italian Jesuits came to Georgetown college, having been forced to flee their native country by the revolution of 1847 and 184%, Among them were Fathers de Vico, Secchi, and Sestini. The firstof these, Father de Vico, had been the director of the observatory of the Roman college. Here, besides bis more ayste- matic astronomical work, he had discovered no less than six comets. for which he had been the recipient of a gold medal from the king of Denmark. This medal is still preserved in the museum of Georgetown college. Father de Vico remained at pone gente onl, short time, having been called back to London to transact some important business, where be died a few weeks later. Father Secchi tenght physics for one year, and then returned to Rome to enter upon the career in physical as- tronomy in which he soon gained promi- nenve and world- celebrity. His first in- terest in this study dates from the observa- tions he made with Father Curley at Georgetown. Father Sestini, during his years’ professor- ship of pyhsics at Georgetown, made sev- eral series of observa- tions on star colors and sun spots, which were . published by the rm axcezo seccat. Cuited ‘States govern- ment. Then “ather Carley resumed the work again, and others less noted also assisted in astronom- ical investigations, but this particular science has languished at the college since the war until recently, and now it is expected it will be pushed forward with greater energy and intel- ligence than ever before. The ground for this hope is found in the fact that FATHER HAGAN, A DISTINGUISHED ASTRONOMER, has assumed the direction of the observatory. Father Hagan was born in 1847, and bas already obtained a high reputation among scientists both in Europe and in this* country. He first pursned his studies at the Jesuit college of Feldkirck, Austria, and then studied mathematics and astronomy at the universities of Bonn and Munster. He finished his theo- logical course in England, and was then sent to the United States. For some eight he was engaged in observations on variable stare at asmall observatory in Prairie du Chien, Wis. Father Hagan is known in scientific circles as the author of a series of observations on “Sus- ted Variables,” published in vol. xiv of the Harvard observatory ainals, His other “Ob- servations on Known Variables” will be fur- nished in a forthcoming volume of the same series, when a satiefactory method of reduction has been determined on. A few years ago Father Hagan, in connection with Director Holden, of the Lick observatory. in Calitorni published the re avestization « the Italian astronomer, Tacchini, on southerm stars reduced to i THE WORCESTER COLLEOE STARTED. In 1843 Father Mnulledy, with some professors from lege of the Hols until 1865 the leg fused to grant a chu the degrees wer the Holy Cross col Georgetown. ‘Lhe college proved tobe one of the tional institutions in New FATHER 30uN N'ELE In the meantime one of the sous of George- ‘ge at Trederick, Md society ax a lay brother, jin thet grade he at George-