REPORT of the REGENTS of the UNIVERSITY, made to the

Legislature, the 9th of March, ult. and entered on the Journals of both Houses.

To the HONORABLE the LEGISLATURE,

The Regents of the University

Respectfully report,

That during the year past, Columbia and Union Colleges, and Erasmus-Hall, Johnstown, Cooperstown, Canandarqua, Oxford, Hamilton-Oneida, Cherry Valley, Union in Stone Arabia, Clinton, Washington and Lansingburgh Academies, have been visited by Committees of the Regents; and from the reports of the Committees, the following appears to be the state of these seminaries respectively.— Columbia College consists of two faculties, the faculty of arts and the faculty of physic. In the faculty of arts there are seven professors— one of the mathematics, natural philosophy, astronomy, geography and chronology, one of the Greek and Latin languages, and Grecian and Roman antiquities, one of the Oriental languages, one of natural history and agriculture, one of the French language, one of law, one of logic and moral philosophy, and one of belles-lettres; and in the faculty of physic there is a dean and six professors— one of midwifery, who is also clinical lecturer in the New-York hospital, one of the theory and practice of physic, one of surgery, one of anatomy, and one of botany and materia medica: there are ninety-four students in the faculty of arts, and about thirty in the faculty of physic. The only compensation to the Medical Professors are the fees of tuition; and the salaries of the President and of the Professors in the faculty of arts remain nearly the same as at the time of the last annual report. The President, in his report to the committee who visited the College,1 states it to be in general in a flourishing state— that strict order and discipline are maintained— that by arranging the students after each examination according to their respective merits in their classes, such a general emulation has been excited, as in a great measure to supersede the necessity of punishment— that from the learning & reputation of the professors, from the increasing number of students, from their progress in their studies, from the general plan and good government of the institution, and from the number of grammar schools in and near the city, under able and reputable teachers, he has reason to expect, that a few years will greatly enhance the growing fame of the college, at least double the number of its students, and raise it to a pitch of exalted prosperity; he however, suggests, that it labors under the greatest difficulties for the want of a convenient library, a suitable hall for public exhibitions, a sufficient number of lecture rooms, and proper apartments for the arrangement and use of the philosophical and chymical apparatus; and requests the attention of the Regents to the situation of the Faculty of Physic, whose emoluments are by no means a compensation for their assiduous and learned labors, and that a fostering public aid is requisite to promote this useful and rising medical institution on which the lives and health of our citizens so essentially depend.2 Union College— From the report of the Committee of the Trustees, it appears that the property of the college consists in various articles, to the following amount, namely:

		Dolls.	Cts.
Bond and mortgages, producing an annual interest of 7 per cent.		21,301	6
Subscriptions and other debts due on the books of Treasurer		4,983	10
Cash appropriated for the purchase of books		1,356	45
House and lot for the President		3,500
Lot for the scite of the College		3,250
House and lot heretofore occupied for the Academy, a donation from the consistory of the Dutch Church		5,000
Books, &c. in the possession of The Trustees, and on the way From Europe		2,381	99
Cash appropriated by the ReGents, for the purchase of books in the hands of the committee		400
Legacy by Abraham Yates,3 jun. Esq. of Albany		250
		42,422	60

And 1604 acres of land. The faculty of the College at present consists of the President and one Tutor, and the salary of the former with an house for his family is 1100 dollars, and of the latter 665 dollars per annum, with an additional allowance at present of 250 dollars, on account of the extraordinary price of the necessaries of life. There are thirty-seven students, eight in the class of languages, twenty in the class of history and belles-lettres, six in the class of mathematics, and three in the class of philosophy. The course of studies is, the first year Virgil, Cicero’s orations, Greek testament, Lucian, Roman antiquities, arithmetic and English grammar— the second year, geography and the use of the globes, Roman history, history of America, and the American revolution, Xenophon, Horace, criticism and eloquence— the 3d year, the various branches of mathematics, and vulgar and decimal fractions, & the extraction of the roots—geometry, algebra, trigonometry, navigation, mensuration, Xenophon continued, and Homer; and the 4th and last year, natural philosophy, the constitution of the United States and of the different states, metaphysics, or at least that part which treats of the philosophy of the human mind, Horace continued and Longinus; and during the course of these studies, the attention of the classes is particularly required to elocution and composition in the English language; a provision is also made, for substituting the knowledge of the French language instead of the Greek, in certain cases, if the funds should hereafter admit of instituting a French professorship; all which together with the system of discipline, is contained in a printed copy of the laws and regulations for the government of the College, and which accompanies this report.4 The trustees further report, that the officers of the College discharge their duty with ability, diligence and fidelity, and that the students generally have exhibited specimens of their progress in science, at the examinations, which are public, and statedly three times a year; that the recent institution, or the entire want of grammar schools and academics, in the different towns and counties most convenient to Schenectady, considerably impedes for the present the increase of students in the College, which has hitherto been indebted for its principal supplies to the grammar schools in that place, and to the academy in Salem, in Washington county; that there are, however, indications which evince, that in proportion to the establishment and proper management of schools and academies to the northward and westward, this seminary will become an institution of immense importance to the interest of science, in this part of the United States; and they beg leave to represent, agreeably to their statement of the last year, that an alteration in some of the articles of their charter would be of considerable service to the College, as it regards the number of trustees requisite to form a quorum for business and the exercise of discipline by the officers of the College, without the necessity of summoning a meeting of the trustees for the purpose;5 and finally, that it would essentially promote the interest of that part of the country, if the Legislature would patronize with further donations this infant seminary; the want of means to endow professorship, obliges the present officers to attend to too many branches of science, insomuch so that the President has during the present year, instructed the classes in history, chronology, antiquities, geography, natural and moral philosophy, criticism, logic, constitutions of the United States and of the different states and languages. Erasmus Hall— In this Academy there are one hundred and six scholars, all of whom, except from the city of New-York, are from the West indies or distant parts of the United States— the branches of education are the same as heretofore reported, and three of the scholars are studying the principles of natural philosophy, and thirty learning the French language, in connection with their other studies, and all of them give the most satisfactory specimens of progress and accuracy in the several branches in which they were examined, and the institution under the same principal and teachers, continues to support its high reputation. Clinton Academy has sixty three scholars, three of whom are taught Latin and Greek, three mathematics, six English grammar, and fifty-one reading and writing; in addition to which, there are thirty scholars in arithmetic and English grammar, who attend in the evening only. Johnstown Academy has forty-four scholars, sixteen of whom are taught mathematics, sixteen spelling, and twenty-seven reading and writing, comprehending fourteen who are taught arithmetic. The building consists only of one room of a convenient size, and [the] teacher is paid out of the tuition money. This Academy has no funds, owing to which, and to a want of attention in those to whom the direction and superintendance of it is intrusted, it is not so flourishing as when visited the preceding year. Cooperstown Academy— The building which is sixty-six feet long, forty feet broad, and two stories high, is nearly finished, and in erecting it the whole of the property, except two shares in the Albany Banks, has been expended. Canandarqua Academy— The donations in land and subscriptions in money to this Academy, are estimated to amount upwards of 30,000 dollars, and it is expected it will be respectable and useful. Hamilton-Oneida Academy is in a worse situation than it was the preceding year— The building is covered, but there is no prospect it will be further completed; the funds being wholly expended, and the property already taken in execution to satisfy debts still due. Union Academy in Stone-Arabia— The trustees of this Academy have hitherto employed a person to teach as in an ordinary school only, in a small house, belonging to a one of the churches there, the teacher lately died, and no other has since been procured; materials however have been prepared for erecting a building in the course of the ensuing summer. Oxford Academy, has sustained a considerable injury by the resignation of the late principal,6 but it is expected he will soon resume his charge, and his talents and attention afford prospects of very great usefulness. Cherry-Valley Academy— The building is convenient, two stories high, 60 feet long and 30 feet broad, and nearly finished— the subscriptions amount to 3100 dollars, of which 2815 dollars have been received, and the additional sum of 1587 1–2 dollars has been lately been subscribed for the purpose of employing teachers. The present principal appears to possess talents and industry, and is allowed a salary of 400 dollars, and there is an assistant teacher, who has a salary of 200 dollars per annum. The number of scholars amount to eighty, of whom twenty are taught Latin, and the rest arithmetic and reading English— The prospect that this Academy would become useful, was such as induced the committee to pay to them the sum allotted to it by the Regents, as a donation to purchase books. Washington Academy has thirty scholars, ten of whom are taught Latin and Greek, two mathematics and book-keeping, and the remaining eighteen, English grammar, writing and arithmetic, and during the last year five students were admitted into Union College from this Academy— No alteration, with the respect to the estate or compensation to teachers, or the mode of instruction, has taken place since the last report. Lansingburgh Academy has forty scholars, who are instructed in the English language and grammar— The trustees have provided a convenient building, consisting of two rooms on the first and three on the second floor, but as yet unfinished; and they contracted with a person to teach the Latin language; and from the increase of Lansingburgh and the other towns in the vicinity, and the zeal of the trustees, the committee was induced to pay to them the sum appropriated by the Regents during the last year. It is only necessary for the Regents to request the attention of the Legislature to the real and personal property vested in the Regents by law, and they respectfully suggest the propriety of enabling the Regents to make such disposition thereof, by sale or otherwise, as that an annual income may result to the University, to be disposed of by the Regents, in their discretion, for promoting literature. By Order of the Regents,