LIFE AT MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY-1857-1864 257 



Going to the door, I looked in, and saw at the high table an 

 old man, strong-featured, heavy-browed, with spectacles 

 resting on the top of his head, and just at that moment he 

 spoke very impressively as follows: &quot;The best field of 

 work for graduates is now in the West; our country is 

 shortly to arrive at a switching- off place for good or evil ; 

 our Western States are to hold the balance of power in 

 the Union, and to determine whether the country shall 

 become a blessing or a curse in human history. 



I had never seen him before ; I never saw him afterward. 

 His speech lasted less than ten minutes, but it settled a 

 great question for me. I went home and wrote to sundry 

 friends that I was a candidate for the professorship of 

 history in any Western college where there was a chance 

 to get at students, and as a result received two calls one 

 to a Southern university, which I could not accept on ac 

 count -of my anti-slavery opinions ; the other to the Univer 

 sity of Michigan, which I accepted. My old college friends 

 were kind enough to tender me later the professorship in 

 the new School of Art at Yale, but my belief was firm in 

 the value of historical studies. The words of Wayland 

 rang in my ears, and I went gladly into the new field. 



On arriving at the University of Michigan in October, 

 1857, although I had much to do with other students, I took 

 especial charge of the sophomore class. It included many 

 young men of ability and force, but had the reputation of 

 being the most unmanageable body which had been known 

 there in years. Thus far it had been under the charge of 

 tutors, and it had made life a burden to them. Its prepa 

 ration for the work I sought to do was wretchedly imper 

 fect. Among my duties was the examination of entrance 

 classes in modern geography as a preliminary to their ad 

 mission to my course in history, and I soon discovered a 

 serious weakness in the public-school system. In her pre 

 paratory schools the State of Michigan took especial 

 pride, but certainly at that time they were far below 

 their reputation. If any subject was supposed to be 

 thoroughly taught in them it was geography, but I soon 



I.-17 



