Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/144

 n6 A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO This had been informally agreed upon by the Trustees. As soon as he reached Chautauqua he wrote to Mr. Gates: You will not misunderstand me when I tell you that when I found myself on the street car in Chicago yesterday, on my way downtown, after having said good-bye to you and Dr. Goodspeed I felt an awful relief. It seemed as if I had entered into a new atmosphere. The weight upon my shoulders while with you was enormous. I am afraid that my only hope for relief is to keep out of the way of you two men. To this Mr. Gates replied, I am afraid you are a Jonah. You can easily escape Goodspeed and me, but whether you will be able so easily to escape the voice of duty and of God of that I am not so sure. Although Dr. Harper had not been elected President at the first meeting of the Board, this was only because the Board was not then legally incorporated, and it had been made plain to him that as soon as the incorporation was effected the Trustees would elect him by a unanimous vote and fully expected him to become President of the University. This very quickly became common knowledge throughout the country, in New York and New Haven, as well as in Chicago. Naturally enough the first difficulty arose in New Haven. Dr. Harper lost no time in acquainting President Dwight with the condition of affairs, and, in the most honorable way, confessing that the pull of the Chicago opportunity and duty was felt by him very strongly. It seems that Dr. Dwight had been engaged in seeking an endowment for the chair of biblical literature in the college to which Dr. Harper had been appointed two years before. He had accomplished this in the summer of 1889 and had written to Dr. Harper at that time congratulating himself and Dr. Harper, and saying: And now all intending and approaching Baptists et id omne genus who from time to time are disposed to assail the tabernacles of the blessed saints, and run off with their professors, may have leave to withdraw. We do not wish any such people about Yale, looking after you; and if any such under- take to trespass on the sacred premises, I shall answer them and shall expect you to even as the Episcopal minister said John the Baptist answered the Pharisees, "short, concise, and appropriate" "He is not going to any of your fields," or if you are the speaker, " I am not going."