OUR GREAT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY. 549 



in general literafare, they were undoubtedly the proper things to 

 have ; and we considered the professor lucky in having them. Brotli- 



er A was, of course, dissatisfied with the whole proceeding. He 



thought that the money should have been placed at the disposal of 

 our professor, who knew best how to expend it ; and he also grumbled 

 because our committee had not bought something called a spectro- 

 scope. Such an instrument was never heard of in my days, so I sus- 

 pected it of some occult connection with sjjiritualism, and expressed 

 myself accordingly. What has science to do with spectres ? The 

 instrument was never bought. 



Before the university opened, all tlie moneys collected during my 

 Eastern trip, together with minor sums contributed at home, were 

 expended. All sorts of unforeseen expenses kept rising before us. 

 There was furniture to buy, of course, and maps, and stationery, and 

 books. Indeed, a library was indispensable, so we voted to invest a 

 thousand dollars in books, and placed this sum in the hands of a com- 

 mittee, of which I was chairman. I think few committees could have 

 done better than we did. Many valuable works we obtained very 

 cheaply from a second-hand dealer in New York ; scarcely a new 

 book was purchased. We were especially careful not to get any 

 thing which might prove injurious to our young men ; not a volume 

 of Darwin, Tyndall, or Spencer (except the "Faery Queene "), has to 

 this day found its way upon our shelves. No, indeed ! we bought 

 good editions of the old pagan authors, and the works of the early 

 fathers, and full sets of the sermons j^ublished by the leading lights in 

 our own denomination. We had also a few histories, some of the 

 poets, and two or three worn-out schoolbooks upon chemistry and 

 natural philosophy. I doubt whether any college in the world could 

 show a more respectable and less dangerous library than the one 

 which we collected. 



At length all was ready for opening. Oar professors were on 

 hand, our building furnished, our money spent. Now for the rush of 

 students eager to partake of the intellectual feast so cheaply offered 

 to them. We had all been very busy drumming up recruits, and con- 

 fidently expected a large class ; but only thirty appeared. Out of 

 these, twelve were studying for the ministry, and expected tuition 

 free. Only eighteen paying students, yielding us an income of $900 

 a year ; and this Avhen we had calculated upon $25,000 ! Why, it 

 would pay little more than the interest on our debt, to say nothing 

 of professors' salaries. In this terrible emergency, the Hon. Magnus 

 Vii-tue again became our benefactor. I myself went boldly to him, 

 and told how we were situated. Said I : " The university bears your 

 name ; if it fails, your reputation will suffer ; ' he that giveth to the 

 poor lendeth to the Lord. ' " He grumbled a good deal at what he 

 called our "wretched mismanagement," and especially at our extrav- 

 agance in the matter of teachers' wages. " Why should we pay a 



