Page:The History of the University of Pennsylvania, Wood.djvu/110

104 good effects which may be ultimately expected from them; and the number of students, therefore, differs little from the average of the last ten or fifteen years, which may be stated at about fifty.

Of the academy, which is the second division of the department of arts, it is necessary to say but little. Under this title are included two grammar schools—one in the charge of the Rev. James Wiltbank, located in the old Fourth Street academy; the other, a seminary situated in the western part of the city, which has long been conducted by Messrs. Wiley and Engles, and has recently come into connexion with the university. Over these schools a general superintendence is exercised by the faculty of arts, assisted by a committee of the board; and a course of instruction is pursued calculated to prepare the scholars for admission into the collegiate classes. The teachers are compensated by the proceeds of tuition, and receive from the university no other advantage than the influence of its name, and, in the instance of the first mentioned school, the use of a suitable room free from rent. The price of tuition is twelve dollars a quarter; and the number of scholars generally exceeds one hundred.

The charity schools are a highly interesting branch of the seminary. The circumstances of their origin, and the