Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/186

 148 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS ling dream of his heart for forty years, he beheld in successful operation. His friend Cabell, with infinite difficulty, induced the legislature to expend $300,000 in the work of construction, and to ap propriate $15,000 a year toward the support of the institution. Jefferson personally superintended every detail of the construction. He engaged workmen, bought bricks, and selected the trees to be felled for timber. In March, 1825, the institu tion was opened with forty students, a number which was increased to 177 at the beginning of the second year. The institution has continued its beneficent work to the present day, and still bears the imprint of Jefferson s mind. It has no presi dent, except that one of the professors is elected chairman of the faculty. The university bestows no rewards and no honors, and attendance upon all religious services is voluntary. His intention was to hold every student to his responsibility as a man and a citizen, and to permit him to enjoy all the liberty of other citizens in the same community. Toward the close of his life Jefferson became distressingly embarrassed in his circumstances. In 1814 he sold his library to congress for $23,000 about one fourth of its value. A few years after ward he endorsed a twenty-thousand dollar note for a friend and neighbor whom he could not refuse, and who soon became bankrupt. This loss, which added $1,200 a year to his expenses, completed his