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have thought of seeking a liberal education but for the proximity of this College, or would have been able to meet the expenses of education at the East. The institution should be sustained to the extent of its wants by contributions from the East; as by the efficient agency of Rev. S. Peet, it is likely to receive all possible encouragement from the churches and the citizens of Wisconsin.

I was gratified with the interest manifested in the College through all the neighboring region. A plain laboring man, in whose company I rode from Rockford to Beloit, called my attention to the belfry of the College as soon as we came in sight of it, and lamented with a sigh, that when he was a boy there was no such institution at hand to foster in him a taste for study. He spoke highly of the general influence of the College, and the personal influence of its Professors. The readiness with which the citizens of Beloit contribute to the support of indigent students, after having expended so much upon the College edifice, is another indication of the hold of the institution upon their affections. Such an institution must have a wide and permanent influence. I was struck with this by a collocation of incidents as I left the place. Soon after leaving Beloit at sunset, we came upon an encampment of emigrant wagons near some Indian mounds; there were the tombs of the old savage occupants of this rich soil, there were the eager travellers from the Old World coming to find a home in the New, there stretched the telegraph wire, the symbol of a far-reaching civilization, and yonder loomed the College, which should mould these raw materials, and shape them into a cultivated and religious society.

All which is respectfully submitted,

New-York, Oct., 1851.

JOSEPH P. THOMPSON.

APPLICATION FOR AID IN BEHALF OF IOWA COLLEGE.

Voted, That the Executive Committee be instructed to apply to the Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education at the West, for aid, to the amount of $1000, in sustaining the Institution under our care for the ensuing year.

The above is a true copy of a vote passed by the Trustees of Iowa College, during their session on the 21st ult.

Attest,

EPHRAIM ADAMS,

Clerk of the Trustees of Iowa College.

Davenport, Iowa, July 2nd, 1851.

To the Board of Directors of the Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education at the West.

GENTLEMEN:

In addressing you in obedience to the instructions of the Trustees of Iowa College, expressed in the vote of which the above is a copy, it is not necessary to dwell upon the importance of sustain

ing Colleges in the West. You regard them as essential to the highest advancement of this great Valley in intelligence and religion, and you would esteem the ministers in Iowa as unqualified to aid in laying the foundations of society, if in forming their plans for the advancement of the gospel in this new State, they had forgotten the education of the young.

Such have been the views of the Home Missionaries in Iowa, and they have supposed the views of the Eastern churches to be the same. They have accordingly from an early day made the founding of an institution where a thorough Collegiate education could be obtained, under the care of pious teachers, the subject of prayer and conference. Several meetings of the Congregational and N. S. Presbyterian ministers in the State, were held during the years 1844-7, which resulted in adopting articles of incorporation in accordance with the laws of the State, and in locating Iowa College at Davenport, without a dissenting voice.

The Preparatory Department was opened Nov. 1848, under the care of the Rev. E. Ripley, who had been elected Professor of Ancient Languages. A Freshman class of six was formed two years later, and the services of Rev. H. L. Bullen secured, who has since been elected Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy.

The Freshman class for next year, so far as we know, will not exceed two, and it may be thought best to form none, but there will be seven or eight others ready to enter the Freshman class a year hence. A principal of the Preparatory Department is to be employed at the commencement of the next year.

The requirement for admission, and the course of study adopted, agree substantially with those of the best institutions which are now aided by your Board. We purpose to give a thorough education to those who seek it at our hands.

We hope to receive from Mr. P. W. Carter, of Waterbury, Ct., during next year, several hundred dollars, perhaps two thousand. The interest on this, should any accrue during the year, will go to reduce this deficiency. We hope to realize from this source during the year $100, but we cannot depend upon realizing more.

The deficiency will not be less than $950, it probably will be $1050. We have the promise of Mr. Carter for $4500 in addition to the $500 which he has already given us. He intends paying this within two years.

The College property will then be worth $10,300, of which $5000 will be productive capital.

We have made little effort to procure funds. A few personal friends at a distance have remembered our enterprise, a small amount has been collected by individuals who have visited the East for other objects, and several donations have been secured by correspondence. Since the completion of the College building, our efforts to collect funds in Iowa, have had reference solely to our current expenses. We have not desired to enlarge our plans faster than the progress of the pupils and the wants of the community required: possibly we

have erred in the opposite direction. At all events, we are conscious that we have not been wasteful in the use of money which was not our own, and we have also avoided the contraction of debts. For this we are chiefly indebted to the early adoption of the rule to appoint no officer till his services were absolutely needed, and incur no expense till we saw how it could be met.

The total amount of all donations to the College is about $5400, of which about $3600 were contributed in Iowa. In consequence of the increased value of the land, the property of the College is worth more than the amount of donations by $400.

Hitherto all services rendered to the Institution, excepting in the department of instruction, have been gratuitous. The travelling expenses of our Agent, Rev. A. Turner, during a tour to the East in 1844, were defrayed by the ministers themselves. He made no charge for services.

We have now sent Rev. H. Adams to New England, with the hope that he will secure funds for the partial endowment of a Professorship, and collect something in aid of our Library, &c. We expect his labors will be chiefly in a private way. We have not heard from him since he commenced his work.

We have no dormitories for students, and intend to erect none, till satisfied by experience that it is expedient. We intend for the present to devote all our means, that are not absolutely required to meet current expenses, to the endowment of professorships, and the enlargement of library, &c.

In the Freshman class there are three pious stndents, two of whom are receiving aid from the American Education Society. In the Preparatory Department there are cleven pious students. During the winter of 1849 and 50, there was a very interesting revival of religion in the College and town, in which several students were hopefully converted, who still appear well. Since that time, there has been a strong religious influence in the College, and during the greater part of the time a daily prayer meeting has been well attended.

The number of students connected with the College during the year is seventy-six, of whom six were in the Freshman class.

It ought to be stated that the churches of Iowa are weak, compared even with those of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Five years ago the whole amount of property owned by the members of the Congregational and New School Presbyterian churches in Iowa, was thought not to exceed $250,000, and that half of this was in wild lands, and of course unproductive, leaving less than $500 of productive property to each family on an average. With this they had to build their houses, and improve if not buy their farms. They needed all their means to render themselves comfortable, in the sense in which that term is understood in new countries. Till recently, produce has been worth twenty per cent. less than on the Lakes, and the emigration from New England and New-York and Northern Ohio, for want of steam communication with the East, has stopped

chiefly near the Lakes. These disadvantages are disappearing and will soon cease: we now expect to be able within three years, to go in three days, just as far East as we may wish. Still the churches of Iowa are not behind their sister churches in Christian benevolence. The amount of contributions reported at the late meeting of the General Association, averaged about $1 25, for each member of the churches which sent up reports.

We have now laid before you our plans and our condition without reserve. We have hitherto studied economy and retrenchment, and have labored in a small, unpretending way; but we have now reached a point where we must enlarge our plans and increase our means of instruction, in order to keep pace with our students and the wants of the community. If we fail to do this, the result will be as disastrous as it would be if we were as far advanced as we hope to be ten years hence.

We feel that we need the $1000 which we are instructed to ask of you. The result of next year so far as our usual sources of income are concerned, we fear will be less favorable to our treasury than our estimates indicate; and should Mr. Adams secure any funds, or should we obtain any in other ways, they ought all to be applied to increasing our means of instruction.

We cannot employ persuasion, for we ought not to do it. You understand the whole subject well, and need, in our partiular case, only to be informed of the facts. These we have laid before you. We only add that we truly believe that aid, to be of material service to us, must virtually reach the amount which we have solicited. If it falls materially short of that amount, our wants and embarrassments will be essentially increased. We must not involve ourselves in debt, and if there is no other way to avoid it, we must fall back upon the Home Missionaries and their churches, a measure which nothing but absolute necessity will justify, as it will prevent our appealing to them for money for permanent investment.

Wishing you the favor of the churches, and especially the favor of the Great Head of the church, in your efforts to promote Christian education at the West, we subscribe ourselves,

Yours in the Gospel.

By order of the Executive Committee. Davenport, Iowa, July 3rd, 1851.

E. ADAMS, Chairman Pro Tem.
JULIUS A. REED, Clerk.

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