The president of Howard University for many years has been the Rev. J. E. Rankin, D.D. With him is associated an able faculty. Dr. Rankin was the pastor of the leading Congregational church in Washington, but gave up his work to devote himself to his chosen field of education, in which he has achieved great success. The University was named after Gen. O. O. Howard.

Catholic University of America.

The Catholic University of America is a national institution of high grade. It is the pride and hope of the Roman Catholic Bishops of the United States. The grounds are very extensive, and lie a few miles northeast of the city. Though the University has been open for ten years, it is yet in an incomplete state as to buildings. The two great university structures which have been erected already are the Divinity Hall and the McMahon Hall of Philosophy.

Divinity Hall is a solid stone structure, five stories in height. The lower floor is given up to class-rooms, museums, and the library; while the upper floors furnish lodgings for the professors and students. The McMahon Hall is built of granite, and is an imposing structure. Its interior consists of class-rooms, lecture-rooms, museums, and laboratories. There are two departments. The School of Philosophy comprises letters, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry,

and technology. The School of the Social Sciences includes departments of ethics and sociology, political science, economics, and law.

Affiliated with the University are three smaller colleges called, respectively, the Marist, St. Thomas, and Holy Cross. The divinity courses of the University are attended only by ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church. The other courses are open to students of all creeds. The first rector of the Catholic University was the Right Reverend Archbishop John J. Keane. The present incumbent is Monsignor T. J. Conaty. The faculty numbers many noted Roman Catholic theologians, as well as eminent literary men and scientists of that faith. It has many students from all parts of the country, and is constantly extending its sphere, while at the same time increasing its facilities.

Methodists Plan Great American University.

It is the purpose of the great Methodist Episcopal denomination to have a national post-graduate university in Washington. For half a score of years the project has been under way. The moving spirit has been Bishop John F. Hurst, one of the most eminent scholars of the country. A splendid tract of ground was secured, lying beyond Georgetown, not far from the historic Tenallytown road. The site was appropriately called Wesley Heights. The build

of another $5,000,000. Some of the buildings are already in a process of erection. Among those for which provision already has been made, are the Pennsylvania Hall of Administration, the Ohio College of Government, the Illinois College of Languages, the Maryland College of Physics, New England College of Technology, New York College of Administration, and the College of History. The latter was the first structure to be completed. This Hall of History was built of fine statuary marble and cost $200,000.

There is also to be the Epworth College of Literature, to be constructed at an expense not to exceed $250,000, and to have an endowment of $300,000. This is one of Bishop Hurst's cherished plans. The means are to be secured by contributions from the members of the Epworth League. There are said to be 1,700,000 young people enrolled under the banner of the League throughout the United States.

It is not a secret that when President McKinley becomes a private citizen again, the American University hopes to have him enrolled as one of its honorary professors.

There are many private schools and seminaries in and around Washington, some of which enjoy a high reputation.

Proposed Government University.

The idea of a great national university at the seat of the Government is as old as the Government itself. With the fathers of the Republic, the purpose was to have it a state institution, that is a university under the direct control of the Government. Washington and Jefferson and John Adams all had this dream.

Washington in his will left a fund for the establishment of a national university. Those who still have faith in the idea declare that another general university to be a rival to the established institutions of the country is not desirable. What they plan is a graduate university for science first, with schools for the social sciences, jurisprudence, international law, and the training of diplomats and consuls. The regents of the Smithsonian Institution have considered plans along the same lines. Committees of Congress have also discussed the subject; but much reluctance has been shown to committing the Government to such a project, though bills are regularly introduced with that object. The common judgment seems to be that the institutions already established will meet the needs for a national university without the Government intervention.

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CHAPTER XXII.

Churches and Churchgoers.

UBLIC men are more generally churchgoers than is supposed. The President's pew in a Washington church usually means that its occupant is a communicant of the denomination where he attends worship. And certainly the National Capital is a city of churches. Some of them are humble edifices, and some are magnificent structures. The proportion of the churchgoers is large. It is estimated at nearly one-half

the population.

Of the many fine structures in Washington, the Metropolitan Methodist Episcopal Church is one of the most spacious. Its graceful, towering spire may be seen from any part of the city; though it is located almost in a hollow, on Fourand-a-Half street, a short distance from Pennsylvania avenue, in a section which now is far from being fashionable. Many years ago this was the heart of the residence section. The structure itself is of brownstone and is quite imposing in appearance. President McKinley has a pew in this church, and with his family regularly attends the morning services.

Pride of Methodist Denomination.

The Metropolitan Church was at one time called the National Methodist Episcopal Church, because contributions for it came from all parts of the country, and pews were set aside specially for the President and the Chief Justice. During his term of office as President, Ulysses S. Grant occupied a pew in the Metropolitan, and was one of the trustees. The pastor at that time was the Rev. John P. Newman, who was for a while Chaplain of the Senate. Dr. Newman returned to the pastorate of this church some twenty years afterward, when it still had many distinguished men among its members. I believe that he went from this pastorate to become a Bishop. The present pastor is the Rev. F. M. Bristol, who is noted for his eloquence.

The interior of the edifice has many beautiful memorial windows, and the keystone of the arch over the pulpit was sent from Jerusalem with the story