STATE INSTITUTIONS.                          
     761


 fund for its support, and it was provided that no sectarian instruction
should
 be allowed in the institution. The University was incorporated by the act
of
 July 26, 1848,-and a board of regents, to be chosen by the legis:ature,
was made
 its governing body. At the first meeting of this board, October 7, 1848,
a pre-
 paratory department was established, to open in February, 1849, under the
 charge of John W. Sterling, a graduate of the University of New Jersey (PrInce-
 ton). The site for the University, on "College Hill," was selected,
and John H.
 Lathrop, a graduate, and afterwards tutor, of Yale college, was called from
the
 pres'd ncy of the University of Missouri to become Chancellor. He wos formally
 inangurated January 16, 1850. North Hall, the first building, was constructed
 in the same year, and opened September 17, 1851. The first class graduated
on
 July 26, 1854, consisting of Levi Booth and Charles T. Wakeley. At this
time
 the faculty consisted of Chancellor Lathrop, occupying the chair' of ethics,
civil
 polity, and political economy; Professor Sterling, who taught mathematics,
nat-
 ural philosophy, and astronomy; 0. 5I. Conover, proiessor of ancient langiuagnes
 and literature, and S. H. Carprnter, tutor. The attendance was forty-one,
ex-
 clusive of fifteen students in the preparatory course. Under Chancellor
Lethrop,
 the group of buildings was increased by South Hall, completpd in 1855, and
Uni-
 versty Hall, completed in 1859. Congress granted Wisconsin in 1815  a second
 two townships of land for the University, but this, as well as the first
grant,
 was sacrificed at low rates to ,attract immigration. Thus the income from
the
 University fund was very small.  Moreover, the State required the regents
to
 construct their buildings by loans drawn from the same land fund instead
of pro-
 viding them by state bounty. Until 1870, the University struggled along
on the
 meager income furnished by the lands donated by the federal government.
The
 State made its higher education subordinate to the demand of its citizens
for
 cheap lands.
   The University in these years was criticised because of its preparatory
depart-
ment, and because of the alleged narrowness of the curriculum; it was demanded
that "a more distinct bias should be given to its instructions in the
direction of
the several arts and avocations as they exist among men." In 1858, as
the out-
come of these demands, the preparatory department was restricted in its scope,
and the University was re-organized into a department of science, literature
and
the arts, consisting of six schools: philosophy, philology, natural science,
civil
and mechanical engineering, agriculture, and polity.
   Chancellor Lathrop was succeeded in 1859 by Henry Barnard, a graduate
of
Yale, prominent in the reorganization of the schools of Connecticut and Rhode
Island, founder of the American Journal of EJuhcation, and (1867)'first national
Commissioner of Education. His policy centered in elevating the public school
system of the state as a basis for university growth, but ill health caused
his
resignation in 1860.
  Under the ad intsorim direction of Professor Sterling, the University remained
without a chancellor until 1867. The Civil War took a large proportion of
the
students into the field, and no commencement was held in 1864, all but one
of
the senior class having joined the army.
  The close of the war brought a new inspiration and growth to the University.
The returning soldiers took up their studies, and by 1870 the University
had
nearly 500 students. A reorganization was affected in 1866, and Dr. Paul
A.
Chadbourne, a graduate of Williams College, was called to the presidency.
Among the important developments of this period was the founding of the Col-
lege of Law, the maturing of plans providing for co-education, and the institution
of the agricultural department as an integral part of the University. This
con-
stituted a radical departure from the policy of the other states of the middle
west. In many instances agricultural and engineering colleges have been founded
apart from the state university. The rapid growth of the University of Wiscon-
sin and its hold upon the people have been in a considerable measure due
to the
fact that it contains within its organization the colleges which appeal to
the
farmer and artisan, as well as to the business and professional classes of
the
state.
  It was through the efforts of President Chadbourne that an appropriation
of
$50,000 was secured from the legislature of 1870 for the erection of a separate