No. 632.
Mr. Maynard to Mr. Fish.
Legation of the United States,
Constantinople, July 23, 1875.
(Received August 28.)
No. 13.]
Sir: I have the honor to mention an affair
which I am sure will in terest our countrymen no less than yourself.
Passing up and down the Bosphorus, one never fails to be struck with the
great American institution of learning, known as Robert College, on a
commanding elevation at the narrowest part of these celebrated straits.
Conspicuous no less for the style of architecture than for the
situation, it is an object of universal interest. It is understood here
to have been established by the sagacity and energy of Rev. Dr. Cyrus
Hamlin, once American missionary, made effectual by the endowment of Mr.
Christopher R. Robert, a merchant of New York. The number of students
has averaged about two hundred, Turks, Americans, English, Armenians,
Bulgarians, Greeks, French, Germans, Jews, Russians, Dalmatians, Poles,
and Negroes, studying no less than nine different languages, under a
corps of sixteen instructors. English is the prevailing language of the
school, that is to say, the language which all the students learn; and
before my arrival, I was informed by an old resident of Constantinople,
not an American, that the influence of the college, in disseminating a
knowledge of English, has been very great. The young men educated there
are engaged in various pursuits, with the success usual to cultivated
mind regulated by healthful moral discipline. * * * Yesterday, the
closing exercises of the year attracted a large concourse of spectators.
At the request of the director, and following the precedents established
by my predecessors, I presided. Among the distinguished persons present,
and sitting upon the stage, was one of the Ottoman officials, also Sir
Philip Francis, Her British Majesty’s consul-general, and among the very
ablest of her subjects in this capital; and Mr. Tuckerman, our late
minister to Greece. The usual bachelor’s degree was conferred upon
eleven, all of whom delivered addresses.* * * As far as I can judge,
there is a very general kind feeling entertained for the institution and
the very able men at its head and I cannot doubt that its influence,
silent and inoffensive as it appears to be, will do much to promote
friendship and good correspondence between the two governments. It is
this aspect of the subject that has induced me to dignify it with this
official communication. I inclose also a report of the public exercises
of the college taken from one of the daily papers.
I am, &c.,
[Page 1307]
[Inclosure 2 in dispatch No.
13.]
The examinations at Robert College.
[From the Daily Levant Herald.]
The annual examinations at Robert College have taken place during the
course of the present week, and on Thursday last a large audience
assembled to hear the orations by the graduating class and the
addresses on the conclusion of the years work. The interest of the
meeting was greatly added to by the presence of Mr. Robert, to whose
more than princely munificence the various races of the empire are
indebted for this noble institution on the Bosphorus.
The chair was taken by the Hon. Horace Maynard, the American
minister. There were also present Sir Philip Francis, H. M.
consul-general and judge, the Hon. Mr. Tuckerman, late American
minister at Athens, and a considerable number of the leading
American and English residents.
Dr. Washburn, the director, introduced the different members of the
graduating class to the audience, and afterward conferred upon them
the degree of B. A. The orations which appeared to meet with the
highest approval, were on “Universal Peace,” by Constantino
Yorghiades, and one on “The Labor Question,” by Alexander Latzanoff.
Another on the “Instability of Human Governments,” by Todore
Ivanchoff, was also very good, and indeed the whole of these
orations struck us as being considerably above the average of the
last two years, and indicated a distinct advance in the progress of
the college. There could be but one opinion on the enormous
advantage it is that the young men of Turkey should have an
institution of this kind whereby they are brought directly into
contact with the culture and morality of the western world, and on
the thoroughness and the systematic, business-like way in which the
educational course of the college is worked.
After the conferring of degrees the chairman (Mr. Maynard) delivered
an address, in which, after pointing out to the students that their
educational career was intended to fit them for their future
pursuits in life, and that it was valueless unless they put in
practice the precepts of morality upon which they had enlarged, he
expressed the satisfaction he felt that his countrymen were so ably
pursuing this educational work.
Sir Philip Francis followed, and referred to the noble example set by
Mr. Robert, and to the interest which he always felt in the success
of the college. The Rev. Edwin Bliss, the Hon. Mr. Tuckerman, and
the Rev. Mr. Millengen having spoken, the chairman called upon Mr.
Robert. His appearance was greeted by a round of long-continued
applause, which must have satisfied every one present that there was
none who did not feel it an honor to see and hear him.
Mr. Robert, after addressing himself especially to the young men who
were leaving the college, urging them in particular to remember that
their acquirements would be of little value unless they added
integrity, perseverance, and frugality, he remarked, that in all
probability to most of those present, he was taking a last farewell,
and in the course of his observations, during which he nearly broke
down from emotion, he declared that he looked forward to the time
when, by the help of Robert College and of similar institutions,
this country would again take high rank among the nations of the
earth. With his address and a concluding prayer by Dr. Woods, the
proceedings of the day terminated. The intervals between the
orations were enlivened by a band of music.
It is only right to mention that all present bore the very highest
testimony to the exertions of Dr. Washburn and the professors
associated with him.
