1879II History of Indiana University 



on relatively poor land just south of the line ot 

 glacial drift which enriches the soil of the northern 

 three fifths of the state. And while the college had 

 from the beginning some eminent teachers, its presi- 

 dents, chosen from the clergy of different religious 

 denominations, were as a rule neither scholarly nor 

 progressive. One of them (Dr. Dailey) is said to 

 have openly proclaimed that "the people want to 

 be humbugged; it's our duty to give them what 

 they want." Moreover, notwithstanding its clerical Humbug 

 heads, the institution was wholly secular, a fact f ^°'^' 

 exploited to give color to the old damning charge 

 of "godlessness." Several sectarian colleges in the 

 state had thus more than once combined to try to 

 shut off public appropriations. 



In spite of many embarrassments, however, In- 

 diana University had maintained an honorable 

 record, educating many teachers, many politicians, 

 and a few statesmen. It was able to point with 

 pride to John W. Foster, Secretary of State, and to 

 Dr. William A. Martin, president of the University 

 of Peking, as well as to numerous governors, con- 

 gressmen, clergymen, and honored men of business. 

 And in Indiana, as all over the Middle West, the 

 state institution ultimately triumphed, acquiring 

 more students, more resources, and more influence 

 than all the denominational colleges put together. 



Yet its hold on the people was for a long time 

 precarious, so that students of collegiate rank 

 rarely exceeded 150 in number; and to secure even 

 so many it was deemed necessary to maintain a 

 special preparatory department. Indeed, in those 

 days, the mixing of youth of high school age with 

 their university elders — a process by which the 



1: 1873 



