246 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



and our own Society as to the means of bringing about 

 a closer relation between the Annex and the Univer- 

 sity. 



. . . We began the Annex as an experiment. We did 

 it in the hope that Harvard would finally take us in 

 some way under her protection. She has now made 

 the first step in that direction. She has assumed the 

 whole responsibility of our education, and I confess 

 it has never occurred to me that a degree given under 

 her signature and seal would not be equivalent to a 

 Harvard degree. It seems to me a distinction without 

 a difference. What can any institution give more sa- 

 cred than its signature and its seal.^^ A pledge so guar- 

 anteed cannot be broken by any honorable body. To 

 make this guarantee valid Harvard must keep our 

 education up to the level of that of the Harvard stu- 

 dent. She cannot set her hand and seal to an inferior 

 degree. But I do her injustice in even hinting at 

 such a possibility — the offer is made in perfect good 

 faith and with the purpose of enlarging our education 

 as fast and as fully as possible. 



It seems to me unreasonable to expect the Corpo- 

 ration of Harvard to declare to the public between 

 today and tomorrow everything they intend to do 

 in a new departure which must be experimental for 

 them as it has been for us. You may say that our ex- 

 periment should suflSce for them; on the contrary 

 theirs is far more complicated, and has intricacies upon 

 which ours did not touch. In saying this I allude to 

 the governing boards, not to the professors. It would 

 have delighted you to see the enthusiasm and earnest- 



