246 ELIZABETH CARY AGASSIZ 
and our own Society as to the means of bringing about 
a closer relation between the Annex and the Univer- 
sity. 
. .. Webegan the Annex as an experiment. We did 
it in the hope that Harvard would finally take us in 
some way under her protection. She has now made 
the first step in that direction. She has assumed the 
whole responsibility of our education, and I confess 
it has never occurred to me that a degree given under 
her signature and seal would not be equivalent to a 
Harvard degree. It seems to me a distinction without 
a difference. What can any institution give more sa- 
cred than its signature and its seal? A pledge so guar- 
anteed cannot be broken by any honorable body. To 
make this guarantee valid Harvard must keep our 
education up to the level of that of the Harvard stu- 
dent. She cannot set her hand and seal to an inferior 
degree. But I do her injustice in even hinting at 
such a possibility — the offer is made in perfect good 
faith and with the purpose of enlarging our education 
as fast and as fully as possible. 
It seems to me unreasonable to expect the Corpo- 
ration of Harvard to declare to the public between 
today and tomorrow everything they intend to do 
in a new departure which must be experimental for 
them as it has been for us. You may say that our ex- 
periment should suffice for them; on the contrary 
theirs is far more complicated, and has intricacies upon 
which ours did not touch. In saying this I allude to 
the governing boards, not to the professors. It would 
have delighted you to see the enthusiasm and earnest- 
