were well trained in the processes of mathematical reasoning, while some of the others had been carried so far beyond their capacity or diligence as to suggest the inquiry whether the same effort might not have been spent on less ground to better advantage. The examination of the Sophomore class in rhetoric showed that the students had been benefited by the study of that art by the rich and excellent instruction given them, but it occurred to me whether the very affluence of it had not in part defeated the end, by doing too much for the pupil. The Freshman class translated the 'Memorabilia' finely, showing good training and good results. I was particularly pleased with the exact rendering of the Greek into pure English, and with the attention that had been given to the etymology of English words derived from the Greek. The pronunciation and some other minor matters relating to the rudiments of the language had been too much neglected. The same class did well in French so far as I was able to witness the examination, but as I was present only a short time I cannot speak particularly about it. The Freshmen exhibited fair results in Horace, showing nice, exact, faithful teaching, yet in spite of that, a want of familiarity with the grammar and the principles of construction which indicated that the class had attempted to go over more than it could master, or that the class had not been sufficiently well grounded in the rudiments of the language at the time of entering College. The Sophomores seemed to enter into the spirit of Demosthenes' 'Oration on the Crown,' exhibiting enthusiasm, appreciation, and a lively sense of the claims of the English tongue, while bringing out the treasures of a dead one. The impression left on my mind on the whole is, that the instruction in the College has been decidedly thorough, stimulating, and suggestive, aiming rather to draw out the powers of the student than to crowd him with learning, and that most of the young men have met the effort of the professors with appreciation, zeal, and earnest endeavor. The most obvious criticism I have to make is that, in my judgment, most of the students were not sufficiently prepared for college, and have never yet overcome that want of preparation. It may well be a question also whether it would not be better not to attempt so much in the college course proper. If two of the modern languages were omitted and more time devoted to Latin and Greek and the remaining modern tongue in the course, the young men might enter more fully into the advan

tages of these studies, and be able to discover something more of the wealth of the literature revealed in them. As it is, they are occupied with the rudiments of several languages and enter into the spirit of none, nor do they acquire that facility of translation in any one which will be likely to lead them to continue to read it after the demands of the recitation room are met. Either the qualifications for entering College might be increased to advantage, or the ground gone over in the course be made less."

Rev. Mr. Pond added:

"My own views, after attending the examinations of the Freshman and Sophomore classes, correspond closely with those expressed by Dr. Dwinell. The classes are small, and on that account were examined more thoroughly, and criticized perhaps by examiners more closely than is usual where the number to be examined is larger. The proportion of those who did very well was fully equal to that which obtained in the only college which I have had opportunity to compare with this one. But the proportion should be, if possible, increased. But in Latin and Greek, it is my earnest conviction that the preparation should be more thorough and complete, and a familiarity with syntectical principles and with the modes of expressing shades of thought should be better maintained, and more successfully developed in the exercises of the College itself."

9

In reviewing the progress of the College of California, each College year appears to have had a history peculiar to itself. And so it was with 1865-66. The catalogue records the number of members of the College to have been twenty-five, and in the College School two hundred and forty-three. The first, or fall term, opened prosperously, and the year's work started vigorously in all the departments. But our financial outlook was not particularly animating. Our three-year

temporary endowment subscriptions were about to expire. In the confused and uncertain condition of public and private financial affairs at that time, it was quite impossible to renew those subscriptions at once from the same individuals, and to find others was out of the question. It was our belief all along that when it was made clear to the public that the institution was doing the genuine work of a college, there would come forward patrons to support it, as had been the case in other new States. To be sure money was very valuable at the time, and interest high. But there were many men who had taken advantage of the markets in war-time, and of the price of exchange between gold here and currency in the East, and had accumulated very largely. This was not so well known at the time, but it became known afterward. Nevertheless the College asked support from them in vain. Nobody came forward offering any endowments. Nobody proposed to give to the College in sums such as would enable it to meet its increasing expenses, and retain its real property. At that very time gifts were pouring into the treasuries of the colleges at the East, in unprecedented amounts. Just then it was re

ported that Amherst had received $100,000; Princeton, $130,000; Robert College, in Syria, $103,000; Hamilton College, $100,000; Rutgers College, $100,000; and Yale, $450,000! But none could come to us from that quarter, because California produced gold, and had plenty of rich men. But those rich men were making money too fast with their capital to feel ready to invest any adequate sums in endowing a college in California. It seems a little singular, even now, looking back upon it, after the lapse of twenty years, that this should have been so. But with a strong faith in a better time coming, we were of one mind still to push on.

It had become evident that to carry out the plans of the Trustees, in making the contemplated improvements at Berkeley, it would be necessary for the Vice-President to remove and live there. Consequently I purchased ground of the College and built the first dwelling-house in all that region. It is still standing at the corner of Audubon Street and Dwight Way, surrounded by the trees and shrubbery which I then planted. Mrs. Chamberlain, who has been its owner since I left, has carried out our plans of improvement, and has added greatly to its attractiveness as a home. We moved there from our residence in Oakland, which was at the northwest corner of Broadway and Eleventh Street, near the end of December, 1865. Some fencing was done, and the College land was rented for the year.

An earnest effort was made by some of the officers and friends of the College at this time to attract the attention of young men generally, to the importance of their acquiring a liberal education. As one way of doing this, I went to the High Schools in San Francisco, Stockton, Sacramento, Marysville, and elsewhere, making the acquaintance of the teachers and scholars, and talking to them of the importance of making the best of the only opportunity they would ever

1It happened that public duty called for this removal just at the wrong time for me financially. The half block which I owned and sold for $5,000, in a few weeks after brought $30,000 cash. It was the time of the great rise in real estate prices in Oakland.

have to get learning, which was in their youth. These visits were very pleasant to me, and were not without good results. Articles to the same effect were written and published in various newspapers, intended to stir up the young people and inspire them with an ambition to study. As specimens of these articles the following paragraphs are cited from the Pacific:

SEND THE BOYS TO COLLEGE-WHAT EDUCATED MEN CAN

DO TOWARD IT.

"It is obvious enough that something needs to be done. The boys of the State are not awake to their opportunity. Where it would be natural to find, according to Eastern standards of judging, ten of them fitting for college, we hardly find one. But the difference in their circumstances from what they would be at the East, and the very different influences surrounding them, are sufficient in a great measure to account for this. There the younger boys see many of their older associates entering, or passing through, college. Elder brothers are away at college, and the younger want to go. Fathers who have graduated wish to have their sons also, to be nursed at their Alma Mater. More than all, bright boys who thirst for knowledge, long for the opportunities of college life with intense desire. Many of them are poor, and can hardly see their way clear to pay college bills a single term, and yet with what little means they can get together, they set forward, determined to win, if industry and perseverance can do it. Academies and grammar schools abound in every principal neighborhood, and there the boys of resolution and aspiration are to be found preparing for college. The influences of the home circle are generally in their favor, and often the friendly advice or encouragement of some educated man-perhaps the village lawyer, the family physician, or the trusted pastor-decides a boy on his undertaking. Many a modest, self-distrustful youth has been brought forward in this manner, and made of inestimable value to his country and the world. Telling instances of this kind come to mind, and might be related here, but similar ones will probably occur to every reader. If any educated man should recall the influences and circumstances that determined him, in his boyhood, upon pursuing a course of liberal learning, he would find, upon reflection, that very few such circumstances and influences surround the boys of Califor