Page:The History of the University of Pennsylvania, Wood.djvu/24

18. From Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, it received much support; and even in the West Indies, many planters preferred it, for the education of their children, to the schools of England. Among the individuals who at various times received its honours, were many who afterwards attained great distinction in their professional, literary, or political career, and thus contributed to spread and exalt its reputation. Both in the advantages which it offered, and the actual support which it received, it was, perhaps, unrivalled, certainly not surpassed by any other seminary at that time existing in the provinces. Only two years after the charter was granted, the number of pupils in the institution amounted to about three hundred, one-third of whom were members of the collegiate department. In the year 1763, according to a statement made by the provost, nearly four hundred individuals were receiving their education in the various branches of the seminary. To appreciate fully the prosperity to be implied from this extensive support, we must take into consideration the limited population and wealth of the country at that period, and must recollect that the colonies had just emerged from a long and cruel war, which had ravaged their borders, exhausted their resources, and even threatened the subversion of their liberties.

The students who came from a distance were, at first, on the same footing with those who resided permanently in the city. Boarding separately, wherever their own inclination, or that of their friends might prompt, they attended the schools during the regular hours, but, in the intervals, had the complete control of their own time and conduct.