THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

On the twenty-fourth of December, 1873, a man died in Baltimore who had succeeded in erecting to himself a monument the inscription of which will never become effaced. The old question as to whether human progress is a thing that cannot be checked, whether it would consummate itself independently of the personal influences and exertions of various individuals, or whether it is determined by individual activities without which it could not be effected, has of course not been fully answered by his life and deeds, but the personal element in the conception of history has certainly gained considerably from his example. This one man and this one man's knowledge and feeling will have obtained such a significance for the spiritual and intellectual development of this country that it is well worth while to begin the history of the Johns Hopkins University with that of Johns Hopkins himself.

He was born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, near Annapolis, on the nineteenth of May, 1795. His grandfather, of the same name, was one of the few men-all like himself belonging to the Quakers-who, long before the revolution, had already declared slavery to be an unworthy and inhuman institution, and—after the manner of Quakers -had put their convictions into practice. He emancipated his hundred slaves and worked his lands, as well as he could, with free labor. His son Samuel, the father of Johns, was forced to buy out his brothers' interests and thus had his means considerably reduced. His wife Hannah seems to have been the soul of the domestic hearth and her word was not without influence in the management of the property and even in the annual meetings of the community. She is pictured as a woman of great strength of character and of ripe intelligence.

Her son Johns was the oldest of her eleven children. A

large part of the farm work was performed or managed by him. In addition to this he was the teacher of the younger children. He early developed a strong desire for learning, and greedily devoured all the printed matter in the county which was accessible either on foot or on horseback. When, at seventeen years of age, he left the farm, he had read all the books in the neighborhood— perhaps not too great a number in that slave-holding part of the country. To this passion for reading he remained true to the end of his life. By the time he died, he had collected and studied a library of two thousand volumes mostly on historical and biographical, but partly also on. poetical topics. Shakespeare seems ever to have remained his favorite poet.

In 1812 he removed to Baltimore, where he remained to the end of his life. He was for many years clerk in a wholesale grocery business until in 1819 he established himself on his own account. At that time he possessed a thorough knowledge of his business, showed strict economy and all the tenacity and circumspection of his sect, and owned four hundred dollars. In his establishment there was a great number of empty boxes and barrels and all sorts of samples; but these were samples by which he either made sales or which he actually sold and then quickly replaced. Application to business and good luck remained with him from that time on. At the time of his death he owned one hundred and fifty warehouses, of which not one had ever burned down.

He accumulated his great fortune in his business, in his stock transactions, and in later years, from the natural income of his earlier accumulations. That which often appeared to be mere luck was simply the direct result of his sound judgment and insight. Thus, for instance, in the year 1847 he was one of the directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, which was then in a condition nearing bankruptcy as the construction of branch lines which were absolutely necessary for the growth of the main road had exhausted all its means and there were no new resources to draw upon. He freely offered his whole private account, the company was tided over its difficulties,

and at the time of his death he still possessed two millions in shares.

Of course he in no wise limited his business operations. He bought real estate wherever he had the opportunity and at once improved it and built on it. Many of the best houses in Baltimore have been erected by him and some parts of the city have increased in value through his initiative.

This is about all one has to say of his outward life. The only biography of him that I know of appeared in the Unitarian Review and Religious Magazine for August, 1877, by Caroline H. Dall. She points out that the incorrigible bachelor was not as strict as might be desired in respect to a certain kind of morality. But the fact is that in his testament only sixteen nephews and nieces figured as heirs. To each of these he gave fifty thousand dollars, adding, "Whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil."

He was not what is usually called a charitable man. Perhaps he denied himself the fleeting enjoyment of momentary giving in the interest of a greater purpose. He gave no alms. He more often denied than granted. His refusal was at times couched in these words: "My money has its master. My money is not for you. I need it for my purposes. Besides, I have not made it." But when he did give he had a definite purpose, and without such he did not give. For the erection of a meeting-house for his sect the multimillionaire could spare but three thousand dollars. But to a commercial house which could not make any headway because he collected his rents inexorably, he voluntarily gave ten thousand dollars to ease up business. Other loans made with the same purpose he refused to take back, saying: Continue to loan to others in a similar manner." His word was as heavy as lead," a negro once said of him. A promise he never forgot. And wherever he saw chance for great personal gain he willingly gave the same opportunity to others. His portrait can be found in many Baltimore counting houses.

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He finally came to rely upon his steady luck. His friends knew for what purpose he hoarded his money and, towards the end of his life, grew anxious lest he might

die without adequate preparation. One day Mr. King asked him, Why don't you make your will? Make it at once." Hopkins' cool answer was-and not very long before his death at that-" Don't be uneasy. I'm not yet quite ready."

He did get "ready" at last, however, when on August 24, 1867, at the age of seventy-two, he had incorporated by the state legislature the "Johns Hopkins Hospital" and the "Johns Hopkins University."

The management of both institutions was in part vested in the same board of directors This is why both are so often spoken of together. Indeed, they belong to each other in so far as, according to the view of Johns Hopkins, the hospital should be an essential factor in the work of the university. Hence, his attention was early centered on the preparations for the hospital. Five renowned physicians were charged with the elaboration of plans. Of these not one was finally accepted in its entirety, but one of the gentlemen, Dr. John G. Billings, was retained in the capacity of health officer and expert. These plans and the one definitely accepted have gained wide popularity. In every great library in Europe and in many great sanatoria they are looked upon as standards. Hopkins' original plan embraced not merely a hospital but also a training school for nurses. The zeal with which, in spite of many an obstacle, the well-known Bellevue Hospital Training School for Nurses was founded in New York, was kindled, fostered, and made fruitful through the instigations of the old Baltimore merchant. This first requirement is contained in his first letter to the board of directors. Along with this he insisted upon equal privileges to colored people, and upon the construction of an asylum near the hospital. Finally, on the 10th of March, 1873, he issued his instruction to the board of managers, to whom he at the same time assigned thirteen acres bounded by Wolfe's monument, Broadway and Jefferson Street, for the construction of the hospital. Enclosed with this was one hundred thousand dollars to begin work. The motto, however, from the very beginning was, Make haste slowly. Do not touch the capital. Work with the inter

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est. Do nothing for show. No expensive buildings for the university."

The extensive grounds should first be levelled to the highest natural point. After perfect drainage the construction should slowly commence. Nothing should be accomplished without the advice and assistance of American and foreign experts. The hospital should be for the poor and sick of all ages, sexes, and races, and in addition should include an asylum for four hundred colored orphans. Provision should be made for establishing a department for convalescents in the country, and in the main building accommodations should be provided for strangers and for pay patients. The hospital was to form part of the university. In other respects, however, the managing board was to have perfect freedom of action. Fortunately its members were as consistent as its founder was perspicacious. The eight million dollars and the three hundred and thirty acres just at the gates of Baltimore with which the beginning was made are yet intact, and it is already years that the university, which is still in the process of formation and development, is actively pushing its work, while nearly a dozen extensive hospital buildings have been completed.

In the fourth annual report of the Johns Hopkins University, published in 1879, the president of that institution tells us that the board of directors convened some time after the death of the founder. Its first session took place on February 6, 1874. It was decided to hold conventions and to enter into correspondence with presidents and professors of American schools for higher education, and to visit the most renowned of these. Moreover, a representative was sent to Europe to study the universities of the old world. On February 22, 1876, i.e., two years later, the results of the previous studies and findings were announced, a teaching corps was organized in the course of the following summer and fall, and instruction begun on October 3, 1876.

In their plans the members of the board of directors took for their point of departure the view that it was not worth the trouble simply to add another to the many