James Burrill Angell
The Michigan Alumnus 131-139

PRESIDENT ANGELL'S REMINISCENCES


Few books could be of more inter
est to Michigan graduates, especially 
to those who remember the University
 of past years, than Dr. Angell's recent
ly published "Reminiscences." In this 
little volume, Michigan's loved Presi
dent Emeritus has not attempted an
 exhaustive or critical memoir of his 
long and active years in the University 
and in public affairs. Rather, he has sat 
down in his easy chair, and with char
acteristic simplicity and grace, given
 certain memories of interesting phases 
of his varied career, just as those who 
know him best have been accustomed 
to hear him talk, in intimate conversa
tion, of his past life, drawing for illus
tration upon his vast fund of accumu
lated experiences.


Everyone who has known Dr. Angell either as student or as associate, 
 will find many things of great interest 
in this work, though almost of neces
sity in such a general work he has subordinated his connection with the Uni
versity to the wider range of his activi
ties in public life. Nevertheless, one 
is able to trace the development of the
 man and of his personality and to presage the scholar of later years in the 
earlier pictures of the New England
 schoolboy, and of the student in 
Europe almost sixty years ago, pre
paring for his first professorship. 
 Particularly interesting are the per
sonal anecdotes of commanding char
acters in public life with whom Dr.
 Angell has been thrown in contact and 
the "inside history" of many political 
questions with which he has been con
cerned. 


The history of his early life, which 
he gives in his first chapter, is of per
haps particular interest to Michigan
 readers. After chronicling his birth
 January 7, 1829, and giving some ac
count of his family, he says: 


"My immediate ancestors, like many 
of the farmers of former days who
 lived on some important thoroughfare 
combined the business of tavern-keep
ing with that of farming. At an early 
day the Providence and Norwich
 Turnpike Company, whose road pas
sed through our farm, was chartered. 
 The farmers of several towns in east
ern Connecticut then marketed their 
products in Providence, and so travel
led the turnpike road. During the 
War of 1812, much of the travel and
 transportation by land between Bos
ton and New York went by this route. 
 Good inns were therefore needed. 
Through the period of my boyhood the 
number of travellers who sought ac
commodations in the spacious house
, which my grandfather erected in 1810, 
was very considerable. In earlier 
days, the town meetings were held at 
the tavern. In my own time, the mili
tary gatherings—the 'General Train
ings"—were held in the intervals near by; political meetings, occasionally a
 justice's court, were held in a large
 hall which formed a part of the house. Compared with the seclusion of the
 ordinary farmer's boy's life, it will
 readily be seen that life here was very 
stirring. I have always felt that the
 knowledge of men I gained by the ob
servations and experiences of my boy 
hood in the country tavern has been of 
the greatest service. Human nature
 could be studied in every variety, from 
that of the common farm laborer to 
travellers of the highest breeding and
 refinement. The eminent political
 speakers were always entertained a t
our table, and some of them were very 
helpful friends in my later life. If, 
 as I have sometimes been assured, I 
have any power of adaptation to the 
society of different classes of men, I
 owe it in no small degree to these
 varied associations of my boyhood. (This and all the following excerpts from 
the 'book are copyright by Longmans, Green
& Co., and published by special permission
 of the publishers. THE ALUMNUS desires 
to acknowledge their kindness in giving
 this permission. —EDITOR. 
)

*********


"At a very early age (I know not how early), I was sent to the District
 School. I remember that I was so 
young that my father used frequently 
to take me to school on horseback in 
front of him on the saddle. A large 
boy of the neighborhood was hired to
 take charge of me on the road when 
I walked. The district school was then 
in a very primitive state. A sloping 
board attached to the wall quite around 
the room was the writing desk for all 
the larger pupils. They sat on benches
 with their backs towards the middle
 of the room. The small scholars sat 
on low benches in the centre of the 
room. Those who wrote made their 
own writing books. They purchased
 unruled paper, cut it into leaves, stitch
ed them together, put a rough brown 
paper cover on, and ruled the lines 
with a leaden plummet. The first duty 
in the morning was to mend the goose 
quill pens, and in the winter to thaw 
the ink on the stove. The highest 
branch was Daboll's Arithmetic, and
 the older pupils who had completed it 
one winter came back the next and
 ciphered through it again. Reading, 
 spelling, writing, a little grammar, elementary geography, and arithmetic, 
 furnished the whole curriculum. 


*********


"While during my fourteenth year
 I was at school at the Academy, Mr. 
O. S. Fowler, a somewhat noted phre
nologist of that day, gave some lectures
 in the village of North Scituate and 
made a professional 'examination' of 
my head. I still have his written report on me. It was ridiculous in its 
exaggerated estimate of my gifts, but 
it had one good result. He persuaded
 my relatives and friends that by study 
I was overtaxing my strength, and 
that I ought to leave school for a rime 
and lead a vigorous out-of-door life. 
While I was by no means ill, I have
 little doubt that I owe in some degree 
the physical vigour with which I have 
been blessed all my life to the fact that
 owing to his counsel I spent the next
 two seasons, from early spring till 
late autumn, at work upon my father's farm, side by side with his hired men, 
 hoeing my row and mowing my swath 
and learning all the details of farm 
work. Much of this I had previously
 learned in vacations; but I now learned 
thoroughly how much backache a dol
lar earned in the fields represented. I
 was also enabled to see how the world 
looks from the point of view of the
 laboring man. Often in later years, 
 when weary with study, I was inspired
 with new zeal by recalling how much 
severer were the fatigue and monotony
 of the work of the farmer's boy. It 
is a good fortune for a boy to have 
known by experience what hard and
 continuous manual labor means."


Interesting is his account of his boy-
hood life in the rural Rhode Island
 town, where the practice of the great
est economy was necessary to make a
 small farm support a family. He says 
that in 1840 the census taker permit
ted him to accompany him in his gig 
over the larger part of the town. As 
an evidence of the simplicity of those 
times, they entered only two or three
 houses which had any other carpets 
or rugs than those which the occupants 
had made from rags, and there were 
not more than two pianos in the town. 
 Although Scituate was only twelve 
miles from Brown University; he was 
the first boy from there to graduate
 from college. Of his college educa
tion he says: 


"Up to the time I left the Academy 
I had no fixed plan for life. My teach
ers had encouraged me to believe that 
I could succeed in college studies. But, 
 although at the age of fourteen I had 
covered more ground, especially in 
Latin and mathematics, than was required for admission to any of the
 New England colleges, I had no defi
nite purpose of going to college. Dur
ing the summers I was at home on the 
farm. I made some unsuccessful ef
forts to secure a clerkship in business 
establishments in Providence; but in 
my fifteenth year it was clear that I 
ought to decide what career I should
 endeavor to follow. My father in
formed me that he was able and willing
 to send me to college, but in that case
 would hardly be able, in justice to my 
five brothers and sisters, to aid me 
further. It was left to me to say 
whether I should go. I was certain 
that it would gratify both him and my
 mother if I chose to take the college 
life, and so the die was cast.


"Conscious that in my somewhat 
prolonged absence from school to knowledge of the classics had become
 rather rusty, and being still a year be
low the age set for entering Brown 
University, I spent the larger part of
 a school year in the University Grammar School in Providence. It was 
then conducted by Mr. Merrick Lyon 
and Mr. Henry S. Frieze; afterwards 
the distinguished Professor of Latin
 in the University of Michigan. My
 studies were mainly in the classes of 
the latter. Contact with this inspiring 
teacher formed an epoch in my intel
lectual life, as in that of so many other 
boys. He represented the best type 
of the modern teacher, at once critical 
as a grammarian and stimulating with 
the finest appreciation of whatever was 
choicest in the classic masterpieces. At first, as we were showered with
 questions such as I had never heard 
before, it seemed to me, although the
 reading of the Latin was mainly a re-
view to me, that I should never emerge 
from my state of ignorance. But there
 was such a glow of enthusiasm in the
 instructor and in the class, there was 
such a delight in the tension in which
 we were kept by the daily exercises, 
 that no task seemed too great to be
en countered. Though in conjunction
 with our reading we devoured the 
Latin grammar so that by the end of 
the year we could repeat almost the
 whole of it, paradigms, rules, and ex
ceptions without prompting, the work
 of mastering it did not seem dry and
 onerous, for we now felt how the in
creasing accuracy of our knowledge
 of the structure of the language en
hanced our enjoyment of the Virgil 
and the Cicero, whose subtle and less 
obvious charms we were aided by our
 teacher to appreciate. 


*********


"My college life covered the period
 from 1845 to 1849. In these days, 
 when the faculty numbers nearly a
 hundred, it is difficult to comprehend 
how a faculty of seven men carried on 
the institution with vigour and success. 
 I need hardly say that each one of the 
seven was a man of force and was ad
mirably qualified for his special work. 


"Professor Boise, who afterwards
 at the University of Michigan and the 
Chicago Theological Seminary won so
 high a reputation, had charge of the 
Greek. He manifested the same phil
ological acumen which always distin
guished him. But he seemed to us at 
that time to dwell too much on the 
minutiae of grammar, and not enough 
on the beauties of Greek literature. The current saying among us was that 
'he would die for an enclitic.' But it
 is impossible to overstate the influence
, which he and his colleague, Profes
sor Frieze, exerted in the West through 
their labors at the University of Michi
gan in diffusing love for the study of 
the ancient classics. 


Almost equally interesting are Dr.
 Angell's memories of his Southern, 
journey, —the record of seven months 
spent on horseback, touring the South 
with a classmate, Rowland Hazard. 
His memories of this trip give a very
 vivid and interesting picture of the
 South some ten years before the war. The succeeding chapters deal with his 
work in civil engineering in which he
 became so interested that when the 
professorship in Brown University 
was first offered him, it was a question 
whether he would return to a professorship in civil engineering or in mod
ern languages. He finally chose the
 latter, and after a year and a half study 
in Europe, he returned to Brown at 
the age of twenty-four as the youngest
 member of the faculty. His profes
sorship in Brown and editorship of the
 Providence Journal are the subject of 
the fourth chapter, while the next
 deals with his succeeding Presidency 
of the University of Vermont. Dr.
 Angell's diplomatic career is covered 
by chapters six, seven, eight and nine. 
His accounts of the mission to China; 
the Canadian Fisheries Commission
 and the Deep Waterways Commission; 
 his summer trips to Europe; and the 
mission to the Ottoman Empire, are 
all filled with shrewd and pertinent
 comments upon men and affairs and 
illuminated by vivid anecdotes drawn 
from personal experience. The final 
chapter is devoted to his work as
 President of the University of Michi
gan. In regard to his work at Ann
 Arbor, he says: 


"In 1869, to my surprise I was in
vited to visit the University of Michigan and decide whether I would ac
cept the presidency of the institution
 which Dr. Haven had resigned. My 
wife accompanied me, and we spent 
two or three days at Ann Arbor. We
 were much impressed with the vigour 
and the promise of the University. But on returning to Burlington, I 
found that the men who had rallied
 generously to the support of the col
lege would be sorely disappointed if 
I left them then. I decided that it was
 my duty to decline the invitation to
 Michigan. So I devoted myself with 
all my energy to the continuance of 
my work in Vermont. In 1871, the 
invitation to Michigan was renewed
 with much earnestness. I felt that I 
had discharged my duty to my Ver
mont friends and that the college
 could move on fairly without me. I 
had some hesitation about undertak
ing so large a responsibility as that at
 Michigan. One day when I men
tioned this to a friend who had very 
large business interests, he said, 'I
 have found if you have a long lever it
 is as easy to raise a large load as to 
lift a small weight with a short lever.'


"After careful consideration I de
cided to accept the invitation to Michi
gan. In compliance with the request of the Regents of the University, I attended the Commencement at Ann Arbor 
on June 28, 1871, and delivered my In
augural. I then returned to Burling-
ton and finished the academic year
, which terminated on August 3. I re-
moved to Ann Arbor with my family 
early in September."


His personal memories of his col
leagues upon that early Faculty will be 
particularly interesting:


"Dr. Henry S. Frieze, Professor of 
Latin for the two years prior to my 
coming Acting President, was a man 
of rare qualities, a passionate lover of
 art and of music, a scholar of large
 and varied attainments and of the finest
 literary taste, an inspiring teacher and
 a most winsome spirit. His influence
 on students and on his colleagues, in 
fostering the love of classical learning
 and in the diffusion of high and broad 
university ideals through all the West, 
causes his memory to be cherished with
 peculiar respect and affection.


"Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Cocker, Pro
fessor of Philosophy, had had a ro
mantic life. A Methodist circuit
 preacher in Yorkshire in early life, he
 lived for years among the miners in
 Australia. On his voyage from that
 country he was wrecked on an island 
in the Pacific, inhabited partly by 
savages. After a narrow escape with 
his family he arrived in this State in 
utter destitution. Assigned to the 
care of a small country church, his 
talent soon made him known and secured his call to important churches, 
 and finally to the chair in the Univer
sity. His opportunities for gaining an 
education had been slender, but by his 
marked ability and his great industry 
he had overcome in large degree the 
limitations of his earlier years, though 
he never ceased to lament them. Both 
as a preacher and a teacher he had 
a singular charm of voice and manner 
which, added to his clearness and sim
plicity in discussions of the problems
 of philosophy, made his instructions a
 delight to his pupils. He is remember
ed by them with abiding affection and
 gratitude.


"Edward Olney, Professor of 
Mathematics, also had a unique history. 
He was never in school but a few
 weeks. Of mathematics he seemed to 
have from childhood an intuitive com
prehension. His geometry he learned 
while following the plough. He drew 
the figures with chalk on the plough
 beam and mastered the demonstrations
 while travelling in the furrow. Though 
probably his attainments did not at 
last reach much beyond the range of 
the higher instruction in the under
graduate course, he had a most unusual
 gift as a teacher. He not only made 
his instruction simple and clear, but
 what is not common in colleges, he 
made the study of mathematics a fav
orite study of the great body of students. He had a manly frankness and 
honesty of character which often gave 
to his expressions the air of bluntness, 
but commanded the highest respect of 
his pupils and cultivated in them a
 spirit of manliness and honesty kindred
 to his own. He was a man of most
 earnest religious nature and was a
 power for righteousness both in college and in the community. 


"Charles Kendall Adams was Pro
fessor of History. He had acquired
 his enthusiasm for historical study un
der Andrew D. White, when he filled 
the Chair of History in this Univer
sity. Mr. Adams had recently return
ed from study in Germany where he 
had become familiar with the Seminar
 method, in introducing which he after
wards was the pioneer in American
 universities. Mr. Adams was even 
then greatly interested in university
 problems and was carefully studying 
all experiments in university adminis
tration, both in America and Europe. 
 He subsequently made good use of 
his knowledge of universities as Presi
dent of Cornell University and of the
 University of Wisconsin. 


"Moses Coit Tyler was Professor of
 Rhetoric and English Literature. He
 was already master of that attractive 
style which lent such a charm to every
thing that he wrote and inspired his 
classes with a love for the best in liter
ature and for purity and vivacity in 
their essays and speeches. In his private study he was already showing that 
deep interest in American History and 
the early American authors, which gave 
shape and color to his later works. He 
had a fine sense of humor, which enlivened his instruction and made him
 a most agreeable companion.


"Alexander Winchell, like Profes
sors of Science in most American col
leges at that time, was giving elemen
tary instruction in Geology, Zoology, 
 and Botany, but by his powerful imagination and brilliant eloquence was
 widely known as one of the most successful popular lecturers on science. 
 He was afterwards President of the 
Syracuse University.


"James C. Watson, Professor of
 Astronomy, was a man whose mathe
matical intuitions were near to genius. The son of an Irish carpenter, he was
 one of the finest products of the Michi
gan System of Public Education, for 
he received his entire training in the 
public schools of Ann Arbor and in
 the University. While he was yet a
 student he made a telescope and with 
it discovered a comet. While still a
 young man he discovered asteroids and
 wrote a textbook on Astronomy, 
which gave him an enviable reputa
tion among astronomers here and in 
Europe. His college teachers said that 
as a student he was almost as apt 
in languages as in mathematics, and
 if he had cultivated them as a profes
sion, might have won distinction in that
 field. He had unlimited capacity for
 work. It seemed as though he could 
observe all night and then study all
 day. In teaching he had none of the
 methods of the drillmaster. But his
 lecture or his talk was so stimulating 
that one could not but learn and love
 to learn by listening. I have heard his
 pupils say that sometimes while discus
sing an intricate problem he would have
 an entirely new demonstration sud
denly flash upon his mind as by in
spiration and then and there he would
 write it out upon the blackboard. 


"George S. Morris, a man of the 
widest reading, was the Professor of
 Modern Languages. He had already 
translated Ueberweg's History of 
Philosophy. He afterwards welcomed
 the opportunity to give his whole time 
to teaching philosophy here and in
 the Johns Hopkins University, leaving 
in both institutions a profound impression upon his classes. 


"Edward L. Walter was then giv
ing instruction in Latin. Later he
 had charge of the work in German and
 in the Romance Languages. He was
 a master alike of ancient and modern 
literatures. Gifted with remarkable 
powers of acquisition, he was one of
 the most successful of teachers. We
 were robbed of him while in the prime
 of his strength by the sinking of the
 steamship Bourgogne.


"M. L. D'Ooge, Professor of Greek, 
 was absent in Europe, but the depart
ment was in the hands of Elisha Jones
 and Albert H. Pattengill, than whom
 better class room teachers of the clas
sics were to be found in no American
 college. 


*********


"In the Law Department were the 
three great teachers, who had guided 
its fortunes from its foundation, 
 Thomas M. Cooley, James V. Camp
bell, and Charles I. Walker. Never
 was a law school so fortunate as this
 was in beginning its work and con
tinuing it for so many years under 
such gifted instructors. Charles A. 
 Kent, a worthy coadjutor, had recently 
joined them. It was not strange that 
the school attracted students from all 
parts of the land.


"Professors Cooley and Campbell
 were on the Supreme Bench of the
 State. The Court, by the wisdom of 
its decisions, had already won the 
highest respect of the legal profession 
throughout the country. Judge Cooley 
had also won renown by his great work on Constitutional Limitations. He
 seemed to have an intuitive perception
 of legal relations. He was a man of 
indefatigable industry. Beyond all 
men I have known, he possessed the
 power of writing rapidly and with
 such accuracy that no reader could
 misunderstand his meaning.


"Judge Campbell was a scholarly
 man of wide reading, and of a grace
ful style in writing or speaking. He
 was most familiar with the early his
tory of the State and especially with 
the customs and traditions of the
 French population of Detroit and 
the vicinity. His narrations of the de
tails of their life were as fascinating 
as those of the best French raconteurs. His lectures on law were dif
fuse, but so charming in manner, like 
his conversation, that they held the
 undivided attention of his students. 


"Professor Walker was so lucid and
 methodical in his instruction that his
 classes always testified to the great 
benefit they received from him.


*********


"I was also soon struck with the
 good results of the plan adopted the
 year before my arrival of bringing
 the High Schools into closer relations
 with the University, by receiving on 
diploma the. graduates of schools which
 had been approved by the Literary
 Faculty after inspection of them. This 
innovation on the practice of Ameri
can colleges was due to the fertile mind
 of Dr. Frieze, who took the idea from 
the usage of the German Universities 
in receiving the graduates of the Gym
nasia without examination of the stu
dents. In adapting the plan to our
 needs, the Faculty wisely made provision for a visit to the schools by some
 University Professors. I made many
 of these visits. The advantages both
 to the schools and the University were
 soon obvious. The methods of the
 school visited and the fitness of the 
teachers for their work were made
 known to the visitors. The oppor
tunity for suggesting improvements
 was furnished. Interviews with schol
ars were held. Frequently the visit 
was made the occasion for a public
 address on education to the citizens. Conferences were had with the school
board. An opinion could be formed
 concerning the willingness or unwil
lingness of the town to give the needed
 support to the school, for the mainte
nance of the proper standard of school
work. An impulse was given to the
 public to take a new interest in the 
school which the University thought
 worthy of a visit. Above all, an inti
mate and friendly relation between the
 school and the town on the one hand 
and the University on the other was
 established. The University was also 
enabled to see what was possible to 
the High School and was guarded 
against the danger of asking too much
 of the students as the condition of admission. 


*********


"Our friends in the East have al
ways expressed surprise that most of 
the colleges and the universities in the
 West have for the last thirty years 
educated the sexes together. They 
fail to see that co-education in those 
institutions was the natural development of the plan followed in the high
 schools of the West. Whereas in the 
high schools of the East the sexes were
 educated separately, in the West they
 were, as a rule, educated together. Having thus been instructed together
 up to the very door of the college, it
 was no violent or unnatural transition 
for them to enter the college together. As in fact no serious objections to 
their joint education have presented 
themselves, the usage bids fair to be 
continued at least in the West."

*********



"In 1873, largely through the in
fluence of Mr. Claudius B. Grant, at
 that time a Regent of the University 
and a member of the legislature, we
 persuaded the legislature to give us
 the proceeds of a twentieth-mill tax. This established a most useful prece
dent. In later years our twentieth-
mill tax was raised first to one-eighth, 
then to one-quarter, and then to three-eighths of a mill. This proved to be
 a far better plan than the voting of
 special appropriations for a number 
of objects. It spared the legislative
 committees and the whole Legislature 
the trouble of scrutinizing a large num
ber of specific requests. It also en
abled the University authorities to use
 the funds granted them more effectively and more economically. For 
frequently it happened that before the 
term of two years for which the ap
propriations were made had elapsed, 
 it became apparent that the money
 granted for some particular object
 could be more wisely devoted to some
 other purpose. Furthermore it is quite
 essential to wise administration that 
the authorities of a University should
 be able to lay plans for some years 
ahead; and resting on a tax bill which 
experience shows is not likely to be repealed, they can adopt wise policies 
for the future, when they might not 
be able to do so if they had to depend 
on some specific appropriations to be 
renewed at every session of the Legis
lature.


"I had occasion to visit the Legisla
ture at several sessions to make known 
to our Committees, and sometimes to 
the whole body, our needs, and several 
times the whole Legislature visited the
 University. I wish to bear witness to 
the courtesy with which I was always
 received at Lansing, and the hearty
 interest in the Institution which the
 members of the Legislature always 
evinced on their visits to us.


In concluding, President Angell tells
 of the pleasure he has received from 
the visits of the distinguished men and
 women who have come to address the
 University. He says: "It seems 
proper to give reminiscences of some 
of these visits."


"Matthew Arnold, in his last visit 
to America, accompanied by his wife
 and daughter, was our guest. It may be remembered that, when lecturing 
in the Eastern cities, he was criticized
 and even ridiculed for his manner of 
delivery. Being near-sighted, he had
 a reading stand as tall as he was, and
 to his annoyance his manner in dart
ing his head close to it at each sentence 
was compared to a bird pecking a t
his food. This fact led him, it was
 said, to take some lessons in elocution 
from a competent teacher. His ap
pearance on our stage was one of the
 first after this instruction. He was received by our audience with great
 favor, and his success was so marked
 that he spoke to me with much satis
faction of his reception. 


"Miss Edith Arnold, Mr. Arnold's 
niece, was my guest when she came to 
deliver a lecture on the Religious
 Novel. It was an address of high 
literary merit. She told me that a 
short time before his death Mr. Glad
stone had a prolonged interview with 
her sister, Mrs. Humphrey Ward, in
 which he discussed at length with the
 author the religious doctrines set forth 
in the novel 'Robert Elsmere.' As 
Miss Arnold is a pronounced advocate 
of woman suffrage and Mrs. Ward is 
a leader on the other side, I asked her 
how they got on together in their con
sideration of that subject. 'Oh, 'she 
said,' our difference does not in the
 least disturb our relations. For of
 course my sister does not understand 
the subject at all.'


"Our Law students have for many
 years celebrated Washington's birth
day by securing an address from some
 eminent man. The February before
 Mr. Cleveland's second election to the
 Presidency, he was the orator of the
 day. I invited a number of the promi
nent citizens of both political parties
 to meet him at my house at luncheon. An immense throng from various parts
 of the State came to hear his address, 
which was very felicitous. In the
 evening a public reception was held by 
him in the city, and on the next even
ing another was held in Detroit. The 
result was that the Democrat party in
 Michigan raised with much spirit the 
cry for his nomination to the Presi
dency. And they have always boasted 
that the impulse thus given led to his 
nomination and election. 


"However that may be, his visit to
 Ann Arbor certainly had one result
 of some consequence. Years after I 
asked him how it happened that he 
chose for his permanent residence
 Princeton rather than New York. He
 replied, 'When I visited Ann Arbor, 
 you remember that you drove with me 
through several of the streets of your
 city. And when I saw so many mode st
and pleasant homes, I said to myself 
it is in a college town with its simple
 life that I will try to find a home when 
I am through with public life. I never 
lost sight of that thought. Hence my 
decision to live in Princeton rather 
than in New York.'


In summing up his life work as
 President of the University of Michi
gan, Dr. Angell says: 


"In considering the relation of the
 University to the State, I have always 
had two great ends in view. 


"First: I have endeavored to induce 
every citizen to regard himself as a 
stockholder in the Institution, who had 
a real interest in helping make it of the
 greatest service to his children and
 those of his neighbors.


"Secondly: I have sought to make 
all the schools and teachers in the State 
understand that they and the Univer
sity are parts of one united system and 
that therefore the young pupil in the
 most secluded school house in the State
 should be encouraged to see that the
 path was open from his home up to 
and through the University.


"The prosperity and usefulness of 
the University are due to the fact that 
these objects have been in a fair de
gree accomplished. 


"Although some State Universities 
were founded before ours, owing to 
the fact that the University of Michi
gan at an earlier date than any of the 
others secured a very large attendance
 in all three of its departments, its in
fluence in the development of all the
 rest has been very great. No small 
portion of my correspondence has been 
devoted to explaining to other univer
sities our methods and the reasons of 
our comparative success. I have been 
called to expound the principles on
, which Michigan has preceded in 
building up its University to most of 
the States, which have established their
 universities.


"Far be it from me to claim undue 
credit for the success of the Institution. Rather do I desire to speak of it with
 gratitude that I have been permitted to 
be so long associated with it in its days
 of prosperity. It has been a singular
 good fortune to be allowed to work 
with so many excellent men in the
 Board of Regents and in the Faculties 
and to come in touch with so many
 students who have gone forth to 
careers of usefulness in all parts of the
 world.

"The life of the President of a col
lege or university is often spoken of as
 a hard and trying life. A laborious 
life with its anxieties it is. But I have 
found it a happy life. The satisfac
tions it has brought to me are quite 
beyond my deserts. The recognition
 of the value of my services that has 
come to me in these recent days from
 Regents, colleagues, graduates, and 
undergraduates humbles me while it
 gratifies me. 


"And one acknowledgment I desire
 above all to make. If I have had any 
success in my career, especially in the 
administration of the two universities, 
 it has been largely due to the social
 tact and wise and untiring co-operation
 of my dear wife.


Perfectly unaffected and simple as 
these Reminiscences are, those who 
read will feel that in their sincerity lies
 a charm which those who know him
 have always associated with the
 author's personality.

President Angell’s Reminiscenes
(Reminiscences of James Burrill Angell, 
 Longmans, Green & Co., London, Bombay, 
and Calcutta. Illustrated with photogravure 
portrait, 1911. Pp. viii + 258.)