306 AS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT-II 



securities for the five hundred thousand dollars required 

 by the charter, but also gave two hundred acres of land as 

 a site. Thus came into being Cornell University. 



Yet the services of Mr. Cornell had only begun: he at 

 once submitted to us a plan for doing what no other citizen 

 had done for any other State. In the other common- 

 wealths which had received the land grant, the authorities 

 had taken the scrip representing the land, sold it at the 

 market price, and, as the market was thus glutted, had 

 realized but a small sum ; but Mr. Cornell, with that fore- 

 sight which was his most striking characteristic, saw 

 clearly what could be done by using the scrip to take up 

 land for the institution. To do this he sought aid in vari- 

 ous ways; but no one dared join him, and at last he deter- 

 mined to bear the whole burden himself. Scrip repre- 

 senting over sey^n_hunjir^(^t^Qu^and ..acres still remained 

 in the hands of the comptroller. The trustees received Mr. 

 Cornell's plan for dealing with the scrip somewhat doubt- 

 fully, but the enabling act was passed, by which he was 

 permitted to ' ' locate ' ' this land for the benefit of the uni- 

 versity. So earnest was he in this matter that he was 

 anxious to take up the entire amount, but here his near 

 friends interposed : we saw too well what a crushing load 

 the taxes and other expenses on such a vast tract of land 

 would become before it could be sold to advantage. Finally 

 he yielded somewhat : it was agreed that he should take up 

 five hundred thousand acres, and he now gave himself day 

 and night to this great part of the enterprise, which was 

 to provide a proper financial basis for a university such as 

 we hoped to found. 



Meanwhile, at Mr. Cornell's suggestion, I devoted my- 

 self to a more careful plan of the new institution ; and, at 

 the next meeting of the board, presented a "plan of or- 

 ganization, " which sketched out the purpose and consti- 

 tution of such a university as seemed needed in a great 

 commonwealth like ours. Mr. Cornell studied it carefully, 

 gave it his approval, and a copy of it with marginal* notes 

 in his own hand is still preserved. 



