Ka//o>ia/ Scientific and lidiicatioiial Ins/ i/ it /ions. 275 



cursory view of a chart of North America, recei\e(l this natural and truly correct 

 impression. The look of general Washington, the energy of his mind, his noble 

 and irresistible eloquence, all conspired, so far to impress the writer with these sub- 

 jects, that if ever he should unfortunate!}- become insane, it zui7/])q from his anxiety 

 for the federal city and national univp:rsitv.' 



In another part of the same book Mr. Blo(ls;"et describes a conversation 

 with Washing-ton, which took place after the site of the capital had been 

 decided upon, in which the President " stated his opinion, that there were 

 four or five thousand inhabitants in the city of Washington, and until 

 congress were comfortably accommodated, it might be premature to com- 

 mence a seminary. * * -'^ He did not wish to see the work commenced 

 initil the city was prepared for it; btit he added, that he hoped he had 

 not omitted to take sttch measures as would at all events secure the entire 

 object in time, even if its merits shotild not draw forth from every quarter 

 the aid it would be fottnd to deserve," alluding, of course, to th^ provi- 

 sions in his own will. "He then," continues Blodget, "talked again 

 and again, on Tvlr. Ttirgot's and Doctor Price's calculations of the effect 

 of compound interest, at which, as he v^'as well versed in figures, he 

 could acquit himself in a masterly manner."'' 



Concerning the fate of the Potomac Compau}-, a portion of whose stock 

 was destined by Washington as a nucletts for the endowment of a univer- 

 sity, it is not necessar}^ now to speak. The value of the bequest was at the 

 time placed at /^5,ooo sterling, and it was computed by Blodget that had 

 Congress kept faith with Washington, as well as did the legislature of 

 Virginia in regard to the endowment of Washington College, his dona- 

 tion at compovmd interest would in twelve years (1815) have grown to 

 $50,000, and in twenty-fotir years (1827) to $100,000, an endowment 

 sttfhcient to establish one of the colleges in the proposed uni\'ersity. 



Madi.son, when a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, 

 probabl}^ acting in harmony with the wishes of Washington, proposed 

 as among the powers proper to be added to tho.se of the General I,egis- 

 lature, the following: 



To establish a univcrsit}'. 



To encourage, by premiums and provisions, the advancement of useful knowl- 

 edge and the discussion of science.' 



That he never lost his interest in the universitx' idea is shown by his 

 vigorotis appeal while President, in his nies.sage of December, 1810, in 

 which he urged the importance of an in.stitution at the capital which 

 would ' ' contribute not less to strengthen the foundations than to adorn 

 the structure of our sy.stem of government." 



Quite in accord with the spirit of Madison's me.s.sage was a letter in 

 the Pennsylvania Gazette of I788,'' in which it was argued that the new 

 form of government proposed by the framers of the Constitution could 

 not sticceed in a republic, unless the people were prepared for it by an 



' Economica, p. 22. 3 jviadi.son Papers, I, ])]). 354, 577. 



= Idem,, Appendix, p. ix. •• See Appendix A. 



