and patronized by Presbyterians and Congregationalists. In addition
there are some forty classical academies, under the care of different
Synods and Presbyteries, which have over 3,000 students, and property
whose net value is over $1,000,000. Fourteen theological seminaries
are scattered over the country, with more than 1,200 students. These
have property and endowments amounting to $8,164,762. This makes the
total investment of the churches in classical institutions and
seminaries to reach the large sum of $22,837,162. Immediately
connected with these halls of learning are some 700 of the church's
finest scholars and most devoted Christians acting as teachers, while
14,343 of the best and brightest young men and women sit at their feet
as learners.

Methodism has been a great educational force in this country. It took
its rise in a university, and its leaders were trained in the oldest
of English universities. The Methodist zeal for higher education has
put her in the front ranks of the moral and educational forces of the
age. Though among the youngest of Christian bodies of this country,
the magnitude and extent of her educational work is second to none.

The Methodist Episcopal Church comprises less than one-half of the
Methodists in the United States, yet she has 49 institutions of
collegiate grade, with property and endowment of over $17,000,000, and
from the 6,000 students there are sent out annually 1,500 graduates
with the Bachelor's degree. In 1892, she had 195 institutions of
learning of every grade, with property and endowment valued at
$26,000,000, with 2,343 professors and teachers and 40,026 students.

"The increase in population in the United States from 1880 to 1890 was
26.7 per cent.; for the same period the increase of students in
college classes in all schools in the United States was 53.1 per
cent.; in all Methodist schools in the United States, 52.3 per cent."
It is certainly a hopeful indication of the ambition and lofty purpose
of Methodist youth that one-eighth of the whole number of students of
the Johns Hopkins University are Methodists, seeking the broadest
educational facilities. A church with such a record will not lose her
hold upon the intellect and scholarship of the age.

Methodism has wisely undertaken to establish the American University
in Washington City. The founding of such a university was the dream of
Washington and other great statesmen. This is the most strategic
educati