2 THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

versity of Missouri, entered upon his duties in the autumn of 1849. He was
a man whose plans were genuinely large and at the same time definite but
were in the main never realized because of the paucity of funds. He in-
sisted upon maintaining a solid classical course as the nucleus about which
all possible future developments were to be gathered but which was never
to be sacrificed to any other objects, however plausible they might seem
and however much he desired to meet them. Under his administration
(1849-1858) the faculty grew to seven members, and some systematic in-
struction was given in modern languages, English literature, the art of
teaching, and agriculture, as well as ancient languages, mathematics, and
philosophy. The college was bitterly criticized. There was a feeling abroad,
vague but insistent, that the University did not do for the community what
it should. A “practical” education was wanted, without any clear idea of
what a practical education might be, or how expensive the equipment for
it must be. Chancellor Lathrop resigned, and after a few months, during
which the well-known educational theorist, Henry Barnard, then in ill
health, held the title of chancellor, the administration lapsed into the hands
of the faculty, Professor Sterling presiding as vice-chancellor. The dark
days of the Civil War followed. The professors lived on half pay. Many
of the students took their places in the army, so that in 1864 no commence-
ment exercises were held, only one of the senior class being in residence.

The maintenance of the institution during these days of struggle had
its important effect—that a center and tradition were created. The mate-
rial beginning of the University may fairly be said to be the grant under
the Morrill Act (1862) for the support of a college of agriculture and
mechanic arts “without excluding other scientific and classical studies.”
This noble statute bears evidence of the influence of the Civil War in that
it made instruction in military tactics a condition of the continuance of the
grant. The very smallness of the literary college perhaps made it the more
natural to amalgamate the new institutions with the old, and thus give to
the University of Wisconsin its peculiar character. In the state all types
of highest instruction, whether libera!, professional, or technical are given
by the one institution. The University of Wisconsin has accordingly a
very great diversity of functions and a very complex organization. In
this way unseemly rivalries among institutions of higher learning con-
ducted by the state have been avoided and the conception of instruction
within the University has been in some departments liberalized and in
others elevated.

The reorganization of the institution after the acceptance of the Mor-
rill grant was carried out under the vigorous presidency of Dr. Paul A.
Chadbourne of Williams College (1867-1870). A department of agricul-
ture and a college of law were established in 1868; steps were taken
toward the acceptance of women students on an equality with men; and the
legislature began, first of all to appropriate moneys to compensate for the
impairment of the university fund, later resumed the responsibility of
providing necessary buildings, and finally took the step of voting direct
taxes for the support of the University. At the same time a system bring-
ing the University into close relations with high schools in the state was
organized. The presidency of Dr. John H. Twombly (1871-1874) followed
that of Dr. Chadbourne.

The foundation of the University had now been laid, and the policy
of including within it a group of technical and professional colleges, as well
as a strong college of liberal arts, had been determined upon. During the
presidency of Dr. John Bascom (1874-1887), the University was developed