A Great Warning

In view of the attempt to establish a art of the medical department of the Jniveraity in Detroit, the following words, uttered by President Tappan, June 22, 1858, in an addrees to the Christian library asociation, are important. Detroi t reached out 30 years ago, seemingly, to grasp the [Jniversity. Mr. Tappin said : ■'The very idea of a University is that of con. ouDtrating booka and apparalus, and learned men in one place. AU branches of human learning are cognate, and require for their successful prosecution, cordial co-operation and mutual support. Nay, they are logically interdependeat, so that to separate them would be to render their development impossible. The relations existing between the branches of knowlcdge eymbolize the relations of the professors and studente in these branches. Together tney forra a learned society, the members of which opérate upon each other by the communication of ideas in dally converse, by the force of example and by the excltement of noble and generous competition. We have seen how highly the Uniyersity of Leyden rated the effects of this association in the efforts which they made to secure merely the residence of Joseph Scaliger, and after him, of Salmasivis, at Leyden, that both professors and studente might be guided and stlmulated by their conversation and example. No one can visit Berlín, in our day, without perceivine that a certain grace, dignity and inspiring influence exist there from the presence of the illustrious Humboldt- the unrivalled model of a scientific man. Merely to see him.quickens one'siutellectual nature ; and only a brief conversation witfc him leaves an ennobling impresión never to be forgotten. "Idonotwi8h to speak wilh severity of those who may differ from me in opinión; nordnesit become me to impugn any man's motives. But I certainly have a right to state what I believe to be an indisputable fact, that no true University has ever yet been established by distribution of its parts in different localities ; and that none of those great men who have hitherto created these institutions, and whqm the world accounts an unquestionable authority on this subject, have ever attempted it. " If you remove one department from the eommon locality, you admit the right and possibility of removing other departments. If you find reasons for removing the Medical Department to Detroit, you may fiad reasons for establishing the Law Department at Lansing. The Upper Península, from its abundant mineral resources, and its geologlcal indications, may claim to be the proper Beat of the Department ol Geology aud Minerology: The vast northern forests of tbe Lower Península would offer great facilities for Botany and Zoology: The island of Mackinaw might be deemed a beautiful location for the Observatory : The professor of Greek might be tempted by the Arcadian beauty of the banks of the St. Joseph, at Niles: The professor of Latin might find something to remind him of the Roman energy in the enterprising character of Grand Rapids: The professor of History might be charmed to Monroe by the historical associations which cluster on the banks of the Raisiu: The professor of Mathematics might üad attractions in nis old associations among the lakes of Pontiac : The rural shades of Pinckney have not lost their hold upon the imagination of the professor of Modern Languages: Grand Haven might claim the professor cf Chemistry: The sylvan beauty of Kalamazoo might seem fit haunts for Belles Lettres and the fine arts: anö Physics and Civil Engineering might be divided between the thriving towns of Marshall and Jackson. An equitable división of books and paratus might also be made. Then the President in solitary dignity might extend his gardens lnto the College Campus without rebuke ; and uumolested, lead about his class in philosophy. and rival the great Stagyrite in practical peripateticism. Room too, he would have in abiindance, for the accommodation of the professors in their occasional visits, and for the learned men of other countnes, who, attracted by our fame, should come to search out the University ol Michigan. Some of us, however. notwithstanding the brilliancy and charms of these novel experimenta, may deern it less hazardous to listen to the teaching of experience, and to yield to the authority of well established precedent. Much has alreadybeen done byadhering to the principie of concentration. We see much more than can be uudertaken, on this principie, with the surest prospect of success. The University in Hs present location has been found qufte accessible to the youth both of our State and of other States. Local jealousies, if they have exlsted, must soon subside before a generous common sense. Every part of Michigan will recognize the University as its own ; and even Ann Arbor itself as the seat ol th's common possession, will come to be regarded as in some soit belonging to the State. Least of all do I apprehend that Detroit will be ambitious of taking possession of one of the Departments of the University, when I behold on yonder hill a work of her own liberality consigned to this locality. She has enriched and adorned the University with an Observatory ; she has given it her name ; but she has not lopped it from the parent stem. And her intelligent cltlzens have doubtless well considered that although a Medical College might be planted there. as such Colleges have been planted in other eitjes, yet the mere name of the University could give it no real elevation above others of the same class, wbile cut off from a vital connectiou wlth it ; and wbile removed from that circle of learned association which alone supplles to a University school, in any of the professions, a real dístinction and a higher character in comparison with those isolated schools which are merely private establishments. Foregoing then all doubtful and impracticable questions, let us consider the location of the University as a point determined. and, with a liearty uuion, bend our effbrts to perfect all its departments, by enlarging the means of instruction, by introducins: higher standards of scholarship, and by increasing fidelity and devotion to the noble work we have uudertaken. In the fable of the buudle of twigs we are taught how eaeh twig taken separately may be broken byan infant's hand; while all bound firmlytogether may bid deliance to a giant's strength.'