Page:The History of the University of Pennsylvania, Wood.djvu/100

94 STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY IN THE YEAR 1827.

order to complete the view which it is the object of this essay to lay before the public, it will be necessary to give an account of the arrangement and condition of the several departments of the university, as they exist at the present time. If in the execution of this task, some facts which are already familiar should be again brought into notice, it is hoped that the advantages to be derived from the integrity of the picture, will overbalance the irksomeness of the repetition.

The institution is under the control of a board of trustees, composed of twenty-four citizens of Pennsylvania, together with the governor of the state, who is ex officio president. This board is perpetual; and, in the exercise of its authority, is subject to no other limitations than such as are fixed by the several charters under which it acts. For the transaction of business a stated meeting is held every month, and special meetings are occasionally called when any important matter demands immediate attention; but, as in the management of so extensive an establishment, there are many objects which require a constant and vigilant superintendence,