第53章

thereforeabandonedbythepubliccare，asthatpartofthecountryitselfisinaconsiderabledegreebyit’sinhabitants。Wewishtoestablishintheupper&healthiercountry，&morecentrallyforthestate，anUniversityonaplansobroad&liberal&_modern_，astobeworthpatronizingwiththepublicsupport，andbeatemptationtotheyouthofotherstatestocomeanddrinkofthecupofknowledge&

fraternizewithus。Thefirststepistoobtainagoodplan；thatis，ajudiciousselectionofthesciences，&apracticablegroupingofsomeofthemtogether，&ramifyingofothers，soastoadapttheprofessorshipstoouruses&ourmeans。Inaninstitutionmeantchieflyforuse，somebranchesofscience，formerlyesteemed，maybenowomitted；somayothersnowvaluedinEurope，butuselesstousforagestocome。Asanexampleoftheformer，theorientallearning，andofthelatter，almostthewholeoftheinstitutionproposedtoCongressbytheSecretaryofwar’sreportofthe5thinst。Nowthereisnoonetowhomthissubjectissofamiliarasyourself。Thereisnooneintheworldwho，equallywithyourself，unitesthisfullpossessionofthesubjectwithsuchaknowledgeofthestateofourexistence，asenablesyoutofitthegarmenttohimwhoisto_pay_forit&to_wear_it。Toyouthereforeweaddressoursolicitations，andtolessentoyouasmuchaspossibletheambiguitiesofourobject，Iwillventureeventosketchthescienceswhichseemuseful&practicableforus，astheyoccurtomewhileholdingmypen。Botany，Chemistry，Zoology，Anatomy，Surgery，Medicine，NatlPhilosophy，Agriculture，Mathematics，Astronomy，Geology，Geography，Politics，Commerce，History，Ethics，Law，Arts，Finearts。ThislistisimperfectbecauseImakeithastily，andbecauseIamunequaltothesubject。Itisevidentthatsomeofthesearticlesaretoomuchforoneprofessor&mustthereforeberamified；othersmaybeascribedingroupstoasingleprofessor。

Thisisthedifficultpartofthework，&requiresaheadperfectlyknowingtheextentofeachbranch，&thelimitswithinwhichitmaybecircumscribed，soastobringthewholewithinthepowersofthefewestprofessorspossible，&consequentlywithinthedegreeofexpencepracticableforus。Weshouldproposethattheprofessorsfollownoothercalling，sothattheirwholetimemaybegiventotheiracademicalfunctions；andweshouldproposetodrawfromEuropethefirstcharactersinscience，byconsiderabletemptations，whichwouldnotneedtoberepeatedafterthefirstsetshouldhavepreparedfitsuccessors&givenreputationtotheinstitution。FromsomesplendidcharactersIhavereceivedoffersmostperfectlyreasonable&practicable。

Idonotproposetogiveyouallthistroublemerelyofmyownhead，thatwouldbearrogance。IthasbeenthesubjectofconsultationamongtheablestandhighestcharactersofourState，whoonlywaitforaplantomakeajoint&Ihopesuccessfulefforttogetthethingcarriedintoeffect。Theywillreceiveyourideaswiththegreatestdeference&thankfulness。Weshallbeherecertainlyfortwomonthstocome；butshouldyounothaveleisuretothinkofitbeforeCongressadjourns，itwillcomesafelytomeafterwardsbypost，thenearestpostofficebeingMilton。

WillnotthearrivalofDuponttemptyoutomakeavisittothisquarter?Ihavenodoubtthealarmistsarealreadywhettingtheirshaftsforhimalso，buttheirglassisnearlyrunout，andthedayIbelieveisapproachingwhenweshallbeasfreetopursuewhatistruewisdomastheeffectsoftheirfollieswillpermit；forsomeofthemweshallbeforcedtowadethroughbecauseweareemergedinthem。

Wishingyouthatpurehappinesswhichyourpursuitsandcircumstancesoffer，andwhichIamsureyouaretoowisetosufferadiminutionofbythepigmyassaultsmadeonyou，andwitheverysentimentofaffectionateesteem&respect，Iam，dearSir，yourmosthumble，andmostobedientservant。”ASUBLIMELUXURY”

_ToDr。JosephPriestley_

_Philadelphia，Jan。27，1800_

DEARSIR，——Inmyletterofthe18th，Iomittedtosayanythingofthelanguagesaspartofourproposeduniversity。ItwasnotthatIthink，assomedo，thattheyareuseless。Iamofaverydifferentopinion。Idonotthinkthemessentialtotheobtainingeminentdegreesofscience；butIthinkthemveryusefultowardsit。

Isupposethereisaportionoflifeduringwhichourfacultiesareripeenoughforthis，&fornothingmoreuseful。IthinktheGreeks&Romanshaveleftusthepresentmodelswhichexistoffinecomposition，whetherweexaminethemasworksofreason，orofstyle&fancy；andtothemweprobablyowethesecharacteristicsofmoderncomposition。Iknowofnocompositionofanyotherantientpeople，whichmeritstheleastregardasamodelforit’smatterorstyle。

ToallthisIadd，thattoreadtheLatin&Greekauthorsintheiror