MY LIFE 



[Chap. 



Senator Stanford had a very high opinion of his adopted 

 State, California, as being the richest part of the Union. He 

 dilated on its million inhabitants producing corn enough for 

 ten millions, of its illimitable possibilities of fruit production, 

 and on the general well-being of the people. He expressed 

 surprise that we do not federate all our English-speaking 

 colonies, and thus form a " union comparable in strength 

 and extent with their own ; and it is no doubt the great and 



The educational portion is massively constructed of stone or concrete, and a very 

 striking feature, and one well adapted to the climate, is that both the inner and the 

 outer quadrangles are surrounded by continuous arcades, supported on massive 

 stone pillars with groined roofs and about twenty feet wide, thus affording com- 

 munication between the whole of the buildings, with complete protection from the 

 ardent sun of California. These magnificent cloisters aggregate a mile and a 

 quarter in length ; and at the more important entrances the semicircular arches are 

 highly decorated with carved ornamentation in the Mooresque style., and are 

 supported on clustered columns. 



The museum is a very fine building in a graceful Romano-Grecian style, and is 

 full of fine works of art of all periods, as well as specimens of natural history. But 

 ornament has been most lavishly bestowed upon the church, which is cruciform, 

 one hundred and ninety feet long by one hundred and sixty feet wide, with a 

 central tower, one hundred and ninety feet high. It is decorated with costly 

 mosaic work both inside and out, and must be one of the most magnificent of 

 modern churches. 



At the present time there are more than fifteen hundred students, and nearly one 

 hundred and fifty professors and teachers. The entire education is free for residents in 

 California, with very moderate fees for those from other States. The entire cost of 

 board and lodging, with incidental expenses, is about £60 a year ; but it is stated that 

 a very considerable number of the students are able to support themselves by about 

 three hours' daily work, either in or outside the university, more especially those 

 who are bookbinders, printers, carpenters, or mechanics ; while many others, who 

 can perform any domestic or manual labour thoroughly, can do the same. There 

 are also several scholarships, which give free education and board. 



The university has been endowed by Senator and Mrs. Stanford with about 

 eighty thousand acres of land, besides the estate of Palo Alto in which it is situated 

 (about nine thousand acres) and the Stanford mansion in San Francisco, amount- 

 ing in all to about six millions sterling. It only remains to state the purpose for 

 which the university was established by its founders. 



**The object of the university is to qualify students for personal success and 

 direct usefulness in life ; it purposes to promote the public welfare by exercising 

 an influence in behalf of humanity and civilization, teaching the blessings of liberty 

 regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of 

 government as derived from the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty, and the 

 pursuit of happiness." 



It is to be hoped that this last clause will be taught in its spirit as well as in its 

 letter. Never, surely, has a grander memorial been raised by parents to a beloved 

 son. 



