Page:The Galaxy, Volume 5.djvu/195

Rh relatives, "It is all for the best. Providence undoubtedly has some good reason for delaying my journey." The result certainly justified the remark, for the steamer in which he was to have embarked was none other than the "President," the fate of which is still unknown. He was the more convinced that he was, in truth, watched over in a special manner at this portion of his life, since, on his return trip in the "Great Western," when a week out, the ship encountered such a terrific gale that for several hours every one on board expected momentarily to be engulfed. Mrs. Sigourney, who was one of his fellow-passengers, and shared in the danger, has commemorated this circumstance in one of her most felicitous productions.

After experiences like these, we can well believe his biographers when they tell us, in describing his daily routine, that when the morning's work in the garden was over, he spent a little while in prayer in his chamber, "at which time he would lay before God any event affecting the household, any unusual care or embarrassment. If a servant were needed, he did not fail to tell Him who watches the fall of the sparrow, and he would say, 'We must wait and see what God will do for us.

Returning to this country, after an absence of a year, he published, in 1842, his "Thoughts on the Collegiate System of the United States," the fundamental principle of which was, that to the commercial, agricultural, and mechanical classes should be offered the advantages of such an education as should be best adapted to their wants—the study of the classics being made optional with those desiring an education other than for professional purposes. The present collegiate system, he argued, cannot maintain its place. All classes of the community are alike entitled to the benefits of high education; and if unable to find in the college the education they need, the productive classes will establish institutions for themselves, to which the body of the young will be attracted, and the colleges will become "very good foundations for the support of instructors, but few will avail themselves of their instruction." By unwearied, personal effort, he raised a large fund for placing Brown University upon this liberal and catholic basis. The new system went into operation in 1850, and with a result which justified the wisdom of the projecter. Before three years had elapsed, the number of students, which previously had averaged one hundred and fifty, averaged two hundred and sixty. Under the old regime the highest class that had ever entered was one hundred and ninety-six; under the new, two hundred and eighty-three. And of this number each student pursued the study of his own choice. Thus the instructor was not forced to cool the ardor of those who wished to learn, in order to accommodate the indolent and unfaithful. Upon the resignation of Dr. Wayland, in