LYNDON INSTITUTE.

By WALTER EUGENE RANGER, A. M., Principal.

The story of Lyndon Institute is that of most academies. A few schools, established by some princely gift, have begun life like youth born to luxury, but most have been founded in the toil and self-sacrifice, in the prayers and faith of many benefactors. This institution was chartered in 1867 and founded in 1869. Its beginnings, however, were of an earlier date. The imagination may readily supply the story of raising funds, of contributions large and small, of labor contributed by those having no money to offer, of hope alternating with disappointment, of progress and delay, and of the ultimate completion of the building. The founders of the institution were mostly of the Free Baptist faith; it was fostered by the denomination, and its past usefulness and honor, and also whatever service it shall render in the future, will give honor to this body of Christians.

The institute building is a fine structure of brick and granite 100 by 70 feet, having a basement, two stories, and a French roof. The erection of the building exhausted all available funds, and the school opened in great want of furniture and apparatus.

In the autumn of 1870 the school opened with George W. Worthen as principal. J. C. Hopkins, A. M., was principal in the year 1871-72 and John Sewall Brown, A. M., in the years 1872-1881. The average attendance of pupils during these eleven years was 67. During this period praiseworthy work was done under adverse circumstances. Nearly thirty students were graduated and several hundred were instructed. Among these are many men and women who to-day fill positions of service and honor. But the attempt to maintain a school of high standard without endowment failed, and the school was closed in 1881.

Soon the friends of the school by active measures raised an endowment of $25,000 and improved the school property to the extent of $8,000. These repairs consisted chiefly in finishing and furnishing the basement and third floor.

In the autumn of 1883 the school was reopened with Walter Eugene Ranger, A. M., as principal, and with three associate teachers. Mr. Ranger has been at the head of the school for several years. There are now 10 teachers. During these eight years the board of instruction has been eminent for its sound scholarship and professional skill. Its teachers have all been graduates of colleges and higher institutions of learning. Some have had the advantages of foreign and postgraduate study. The school began in 1883 with 53 pupils and for two years grew slowly. Its numbers have doubled in the past four years. the last fall term 160 were registered. The average attendance for the current year is 140, and 225 different pupils are enrolled for the year.

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During the eight years 775 different students have been in attendance, and in the past six years 73 have been graduated from the four-year courses and 87 from the commercial department.

The institute offers four courses of study-four years' college preparatory, four years' ladies' classical, four years' scientific, and one year commercial. There are also departments of music, art, elocution, phonography, and typewriting.

During the eight years about $3,500 has been raised and expended in furniture and school supplies. The institute has a chemical laboratory, a large and very valuable cabinet of minerals, fossils, etc., a well-furnished art studio, a fine reading room, a library of 800 volumes, elegant parlors and other rooms, philosophical apparatus, etc. It has also steam heat, spring water, a boarding department, and large grounds. In 1883 the cabinet was greatly enhanced by the acquisition of a fine collection of minerals, fossils, woods, birds, shells, etc., at an expense of several hundred dollars. Other valuable additions have been made. It occupies a large room, fitted up for the purpose, with cases of glass and cherry. It now contains over 3,000 specimens, is constantly increased by additions, and in extent, variety, and quality of its specimens is equaled by few school cabinets.

The chemical laboratory is arranged for individual experimenting, and is supplied with sufficient apparatus. In the past it has been of inestimable service to classes in chemistry.

The philosophical and other apparatus, though somewhat limited, is of very considerable value. It is expected that additions will soon be made.

The Young Gentlemen's Philadelphian and the Young Ladies' Literary societies have been organized for several years for intellectual improvement and drill in parliamentary usage. These societies are under the management of students and their activity depends upon the interest of their members.

The Natural History Society was organized for the study of natural objects. Its work is under the supervision of the teacher of natural science and is a part of the regular work in natural history.

The Christian Association of Lyndon Institute was organized for the advancement of the cause of Christ and for the Christian culture of its members. Since its organization it has been in a most vigorous condition.

The Artemian Athletic Association was organized a few years ago to promote field sports and enlarge opportunities of students for physical culture.

A permanent organization of the graduates of Lyndon Institute was effected at a meeting held in the chapel June 12, 1889. Prizes are awarded each year for excellence in public declamation, as also honors for general scholarship.

During 1891 a new boarding hall was erected, called the "Sanborn Students' Home." It is named in honor of Mr. I. W. Sanborn, secretary and treasurer of the institute, and one of its constant benefactors since its organization.

Among the many benefactors of the institute are Hon. S. S. Thompson, D. P. Hall, T. N. Vail, and L. B. Harris, who have given the largest sums. The aggregate gifts of the first two amount to more than $35,000. Very many others have rendered as worthy service in gifts and labor.

GREEN MOUNTAIN SEMINARY.

The Green Mountain Seminary was founded about twenty years ago by the Free Baptist denomination of Vermont, and is open to both sexes. Besides the English, classical, and college preparatory courses, much attention is given to music, art, and elocution. But one of the chief features of the seminary is the Minard Commercial School, which affords excellent advantages for acquiring a thorough business education. It has a large corps of teachers, commodious building, and is located at Waterbury Center in the midst of some of the grandest scenery of Vermont.

TROY CONFERENCE ACADEMY.

The history of the academy dates from the organization of the Troy Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which in 1833 was formed from the northern part of the New York Conference, being bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by the Green Mountains of Vermont and Massachusetts, reaching about 15 miles south of Albany and extending west to Fort Plain, thence north to Canada.

In the new conference thus formed were men of deep piety, marked ability, and sincere earnestness, who clearly saw and deeply felt the need of a school for the young of their communities. In 1834 a charter was obtained from the legislature of Vermont. The institution was located at Poultney, then as now a typical New England village. Sixty years ago the Methodist Church had little money at its command, but when called upon to contribute for an academy the conference responded liberally. There is no more pathetic page in the church's history than that which records its generosity to her educational enterprises. Some of the preachers literally divided their living with the schools.

Forty thousand dollars was needed, and in the Christian Advocate and Journal of September, 1836, we find an appeal by S. D. Ferguson and Cyrus Prindle, as agents, calling for funds. In it they say:

The board of trustees have purchased a farm of 100 acres for $5,000 and the buildings for the school are going up. The main building is 112 feet long by 36 wide, to be four stories above the basement, and the rear building 90 feet long and three

stories above the basement. The buildings will be very substantial and well adapted to the end for which they are designed; the site is a lovely one. The school is to open the 1st of September. It is a part of the plan of the school to connect with it the manual-labor system. This is required, first, for the preservation of the health of students, and second, to bring education within the reach of those who are not able to pay the full amount of tuition and board in ordinary academies. This class is very numerous, and they are looking anxiously to the complete establishment of our academy in Poultney, with high hopes of obtaining a good education.

The building was ready for the fall term of 1837. However, the trustees opened a school a year earlier in a house standing on the farm, with S. S. Stocking as principal, who gave place at the end of the year to Daniel Curry, later the distinguished journalist and author. dents came in large numbers, and the school took high rank. But some part of the cost of the property remained unpaid. This debt soon became a source of embarrassment, and to be free from it the trustees in 1855 gave a perpetual lease to Rev. Joshua Poor. From 1855 to 1863 Mr. Poor conducted the school as a private enterprise, retaining its name and nominal relations to the conference. In 1863 the property passed into the hands of Rev. John Newman, D. D., who changed the school into one for ladies only, under the name of Ripley Female College. In 1874 the conference repurchased the property and restored to the school its original character and name. Rev. M. E. Cady, D. D., was the first principal. Upon his resignation in 1877 Charles H. Dunton, D. D., who had been a teacher in the institution since its resuscitation, was elected to the position, which he continues to fill.

During recent years a fine building for chapel, recitation, and society purposes has been erected, at a cost of $14,000. The property is now estimated at $70,000, upon which there is no debt.

College preparation is made a specialty, though generous provision is made for those who will complete their school days in the academy or go from it directly to professional schools. Graduate courses in the music, art, and commercial departments are also maintained.

About 6,000 different students have been enrolled. Forty-three per cent of all the male graduates have entered the Christian ministry. For four years the number of applicants for admission has exceeded the capacity of the buildings.

Among the principals who have left their individual impress upon the academy should be mentioned Jesse T. Peck, Orin Faville, and Ralza M. Manley. Dr. Peck was at the head of the school from 1840 to 1848, and resigned to take the presidency of Dickenson College. He was elected a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872. Mr. Faville, after leaving Poultney, was lieutenant-governor and superintendent of public instruction of the State of Iowa. Mr. Manley is now a professor in Wellesley College.

Among the subordinate teachers were Erastus Wentworth, D. D.; James Strong, S. T. D., professor of exegetical theology in Drew

Theological Seminary; Henry R. Pearson, late chancellor of the University of the State of New York; W. P. Coddington, professor of Greek in Syracuse University; Rev. R. H. Howard.

Among those who received their academic training in the academy are the late Judge W. C. Dunton, of Vermont; Ezek Cowen, of the court of appeals of New York; Professor Petty, of Burlington; Hon. P. K. Gleed, of Morristown; Hon. R. A. Parmeter and F. J. Parmeter of Troy; Gen. George S. Batcheller, minister to Portugal; Mrs. Julia C. R. Dorr; Gens. W. Y. and Edward Ripley; Rev. Dr. Merrit Hulburd; Prof. L. A. Austin, and Rev. Dr. Joseph E. King.

VERMONT METHODIST SEMINARY.

Angust 13, 1832, Capt. Alden Partridge and Hon. D. A. A. Buck addressed the New Hampshire conference at Lyndon, Vt., on the subject of founding and maintaining a literary institution within its borders. The conference appointed a committee, of which Solomon Sias was chairman, to consider the subject referred to. This committee reported that "in their opinion the time had come for the conference to extend its patronage to a literary institution within its borders;" and recommended that "a committee of seven be appointed to entertain propositions for locating this literary and scientific institution, with power to make contracts and enter into any arrangements necessary to carry the contemplated object into effect." The report was adopted and seven leading members of the conference appointed. Of three towns desiring the school, Newbury was selected because of the central and very desirable location, and because the town offered to contribute $6,000, which was half the estimated cost of the buildings. The seminary was chartered in November, 1833, and opened in September, 1834. Funds were solicited by the first treasurer, Timothy Morse, and the building erected under his direct supervision, from plans furnished by Wilbur Fisk of sainted memory. Rev. Charles Adams, D. D., whose very useful and distinguished life ended in Washington, D. C., in 1890, was the first principal, with Rev. O. C. Baker, afterwards a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as assistant, and Miss Elsie French (later Mrs. Joel Cooper) preceptress. Thus was founded what is to-day the Vermont Methodist Seminary.

Dr. Adams remained in charge of the school for five years, during which time the attendance increased from 122 to 326, and the institution came into very general favor throughout the conference. He was succeeded by Professor Baker, who likewise held the office for half a decade. Under his wise and popular management the success and prosperity of the past were not only continued but greatly augmented. It is not too much to say that very few men ever wielded so strong an influence over their pupils as did Principal Baker over the young men and women of Newbury during his ten years of service