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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 851 



knowledge and ability is tested, the practi- 

 cal character of the instruction, the close 

 touch with industries, the power of adapta- 

 tion and resources manifested by its gradu- 

 ates, and so forth. These are doubtless all 

 contributory causes and are the causes that 

 naturally suggest themselves to a student 

 not specially versed in the history of the 

 institute. 



At this season, when we are celebrating 

 the fiftieth anniversary of its chartering, it 

 seems natural to lay somewhat more em- 

 phasis on historic causes. 



The more one looks into the matter, the 

 more is he impressed by the fact that al- 

 though many enlightened men cooperated 

 in launching the institute on its course, the 

 enthusiasm and the guiding power were 

 supplied by one man — Rogers. His choice 

 of Boston as a suitable place for the new 

 venture was made deliberately. Be it re- 

 membered that he was not a New Eng- 

 lander, that he was nearly sixty years of 

 age when the institute was founded, and 

 that until then he had spent the greater 

 part of his active life in the southern states. 

 To the serenity of outlook on human affairs 

 that marks the scientist and the philos- 

 opher, he added an element of passion 

 (perhaps derived from his Irish ancestors), 

 when he touched the realm of education. 

 Nowhere in the world is the supreme worth 

 of children more thoroughly appreciated 

 than in America; nowhere is the prepara- 

 tion for their future regarded more gen- 

 erally as one of the holy offices ; nowhere in 

 America is this sacred duty more clearly 

 recognized and more anxiously discussed 

 than in Boston. So Rogers placed the insti- 

 tute here, not because of the paucity of 

 schools in this neighborhood, but because of 

 their abundance ; not because of their weak- 

 ness, but because of their strength. This, 

 he thought, should be good ground in which 

 to sow fresh educational seed, and ere long 



his expectations were fully justified. Men 

 of light and leading in the community gave 

 hearty support to the new venture. Gover- 

 nor Banks favored state aid to the institute 

 on the ground that such an institution 

 would "keep the name of the common- 

 wealth forever green in the memory of her 

 children." His successor,- Governor An- 

 drew, who signed the institute's charter, 

 was greatly interested, and did all that he 

 could to help. "We ought," he said, "to 

 start out on a broad gauge and inaugurate 

 a great plan looking to the long future of 

 the conunonwealth. " An imposing array 

 of individuals and of societies petitioned 

 the legislature to aid in forwarding the 

 new scheme. Had Rogers chosen his loca- 

 tion less wisely, he might easily have failed 

 to enlist such support. The advantages of 

 his chosen ground became still more appa- 

 rent at the critical time when men had to 

 be found to carry out the new ideas. He 

 realized that this was the point where he 

 was to gain victory or suffer defeat, and in 

 spite of the exceptional difficulties pre- 

 sented, he soon succeeded in surrounding 

 himself with the right men. The original 

 faculty of ten professors formed a vigorous 

 group, with great reserve of strength, 

 physical as well as mental. They all lived 

 to a ripe old age, and nearly all earned 

 distinction in their own fields. Four of the 

 men are still happily with us, including the 

 professor of analytical chemistry, Charles- 

 W. Eliot, whose vigor is not perceptibly 

 diminished after forty years of exacting 

 toil in the presidency of Harvard. 



It seems clear, then, that one important 

 factor in the institute's success has been 

 the place of its birth. And if the place 

 was propitious, the time was in some re- 

 spects peculiarly so. It was a period of 

 upheaval, to be followed immediately by 

 one of rapid forward movement. The 

 charter was granted within a few days of 



