280 AS UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR- II 



largely in control, and they have dealt nobly with their 

 alma mater. The State has justly become proud of it, and 

 has wisely developed it. 



Dr. Tappan s work was great, indeed. He stood not 

 only at the beginning of the institution at Ann Arbor, but 

 really at the beginning of the other universities of the 

 [Western States, from which the country is gaining so 

 much at present, and is sure to gain vastly more in the 

 future. The day will come when his statue will commem 

 orate his services. 



But there was another feature in his administration to 

 which I refer with extreme reluctance. He had certain 

 &quot;defects of his qualities.&quot; Big, hearty, frank, and gen 

 erous, he easily became the prey of those who wrought 

 upon his feelings ; and, in an evil hour, he was drawn into 

 a quarrel not his own, between two scientific professors. 

 This quarrel became exceedingly virulent; at times it al 

 most paralyzed the university, and finally it convulsed the 

 State. It became the main object of the doctor s thoughts. 

 The men who had drawn him into it quietly retired under 

 cover, and left him to fight their battle in the open. He 

 did this powerfully, but his victories were no less calami 

 tous than his defeats; for one of the professors, when 

 overcome, fell back upon the church to which he belonged, 

 and its conference was led to pass resolutions warning 

 Christian people against the university. The forces of 

 those hostile to the institution were marshaled to the sound 

 of the sectarian drum. The quarrel at last became politi 

 cal; and when the doctor unwisely entered the political 

 field in hopes of defeating the candidates put forward by 

 his opponents, he was beaten at the polls, and his resigna 

 tion followed. A small number of us, including Judge 

 Cooley and Professors Frieze, Fasquelle, Boise, and my 

 self, simply maintained an &quot;armed neutrality, &quot; standing 

 by the university, and refusing to be drawn into this 

 whirlpool of intrigue and objurgation. Personally, we 

 loved the doctor. Every one of us besought him to give up 

 the quarrel, but in vain. He would not; he could not. It 



