Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 8.djvu/569

Rh ordinance to the effect that any professor in the university could be called upon to teach any branch, upon penalty of dismissal if he refused. We were determined that our teachers should be men of broad general culture, and not mere narrow specialists. Of coarse, every one of them had studied a variety of branches at school or college, and surely any man ought to be able to teach any thing which he himself had ever learned. Brother A objected to our entire proceeding, but we paid no attention to him. Still, his remarks about "smatterers" and "educational fraud" could not but be somewhat offensive.

In the course of the year our university received a few minor gifts, and at commencement we found ourselves with the debt not very much increased. Our teachers were nearly paid, but the treasury was again empty. Two students graduated; and for them we had grand public exercises, which closed with an appeal to the people for support. This meant money, and brought in about $500. Upon such driblets our institution was obliged to run. We must evidently retrench, and we did so by reducing the number of professors and cutting down salaries. My own salary was untouched, however; but then, instruction in rhetoric and English literature was added to my former duties. The professors were to receive $1,000 per annum each, instead of the $1,800 paid hitherto, and were to be only three in number. These three were of course selected from among the unfortunate ex-clergymen who served in our original Faculty. One was to teach ancient languages and history; another modern languages and history; the third gave instruction in mathematics, political economy, and Oriental tongues. The latter item we thought would look well in our catalogue, and, as the professor had learned Turkish and Arabic when a missionary during his youth, we put it in. To be sure, he had about forgotten both languages, but, as he was never actually called upon to teach them, that made little difference. As for the "natural sciences," we decided to pass them around. For instance: I would teach chemistry the first year; then the professor of mathematics was to take it; and so on in order through the Faculty until it came my turn again. Thus we avoided the confusion and annoyance due to the presence of a scientific specialist upon our working staff.!Now and then, of course, trifling difficulties arose in consequence of our unfamiliarity with the minor details of science. For example: our classical professor undertook to teach botany the other day, and attempted to show his students how a flower might be analyzed. He selected a buttercup for purpose of illustration, went through his analysis, as he thought, according to the book, and made the flower out to be a water-lily. His students would have lost confidence in him had he not dexterously attributed his error to misprints in the botany! But what are such trivial matters in comparison with the great essentials of education?

This reorganization of the Faculty meant the reorganization of the