Page:The formative period in Colby's history.djvu/27

Rh Repeated attempts to secure further grants from the state were unsuccessful. The report of the committee to whom the last of these petitions was referred is interesting because it goes at length into the question and gives the reasons for declining. After stating that the Trustees are trying to set up a college, although the Legislature had not granted them a college charter, the committee state that in their opinion one college is enough for the District of Maine and that all state grants should go to the one already established.

In the meantime a plot of ground had been purchased in Waterville, and steps were taken toward erecting buildings thereon. In the records of the Trustees for their meeting in May, 1819, we find the following:

As the result of the above vote we have later in the session the following:

Here again we have evidence that the Trustees considered the Institution as a college, in spite of their failure to secure a college charter. Further evidence on this point is to be found in a pamphlet dated May 21, 1819, and entitled "Maine Literary and Theological Institution," in which we read:

How Stronger evidence of the collegiate character of the institution could be given, it is hard to see. On the same page we read: "The