of the most instructive and suggestive talk, illustrating his views by the paintings themselves. Mr. Beecher plied him with questions, and he answered with equal enthusiasm and with exhaustless learning. Did I tell you that we met Mr. Low and his family in Munich, and again in Dresden, and had the most charming time with them? His wife, two daughters, three sons, and a son of Mr. Pierrepont are with him. (All the boys have been Polytechnics, and have a delightful faith in "the Doctor.") They insisted on our changing our room to one adjoining them, and we made a common circle, visiting the lions and the opera together and having a delightful time generally. Mr. Low goes in the Scotia on the 10th of October, and is very earnest to have us join his party. In Dresden I also lighted upon another Polytechnic boy. His father, a Mr. Stallknecht, is a Dane by birth and practicing law in New York, and has brought his boy over to give him a thorough training in Germany at one of the gymnasiums there, of which he has a very exalted opinion. He rendered me very important service, delaying his departure for home a day that he might devote it to me. We spent as much of it as I could spare in first visiting one of the famous Kindergarten schools, where children of every age, from the tenderest, are received and taught on a perfectly natural plan, much of it in the open air, in a pleasant garden-spot, which is also in part cultivated by the pupils; and then visiting a very celebrated gymnasium. Mr. Stallknecht was well acquainted with the principals of both, and was exceedingly useful as a medium of communication between them and me, their English being much like my Germanvery valuable for its possessor's private uses, but of no great account to others. We were obliged to run away from Berlin between two days, making a hurried night-journey, by rail, across Germany to Heidelberg. We knew very well what a world of interest we thus sped by and left behind us a terra incognita. But our time was passing more rapidly than we, and this was the easiest way to accomplish the sacrifice that was inevitable. . . . Of Cologne cathedral, too, I am obliged to speak in comparatively moderate terms. A beautiful structure it unquestionably is, remarkable especially for the harmony of its proportions, the graceful upward flow of its vertical lines, and the delicacy of its carved decora tions; but the excessive laudations which give it pre-eminence over all other Gothic cathedrals in Europe found no response or confirmation in the impression it produced on my feelings, and Mr. Beecher expressed himself as even more disappointed than I was. I am not sure but the very perfection of its harmony may in part account for its want of immediate effect, that being a quality which is the very reverse of obtrusive, and requires time for the mind to apprehend and feel it. . . . In our minds, at least, Cologne must yield to Milan in exquisite beauty, and to the English cathedrals for dignity and a certain majestic simplicity, which places them foremost in my heart as temples of worship to the Christian's God. In Belgium the cathedrals are exceedingly noble, not having perhaps the exquisite proportions and the delicate decorations of Cologne and Milan, nor the majesty of York and Winchester, but equally far removed from the wretched classicism of St. Paul's and the whole Renaissance school, and the detestable extravagances of the later or Flamboyant Gothic, which is overabundant on the Continent. The applica tions of the Gothic style to civil and domestic uses are admirable and full of suggestions to our modern archi tects, if they had but the brains to take a hint. And here we are back again in mighty London, and at our comfortable old quarters at the Golden Cross, Charing Cross. You can't think how much it seems like getting back home, to be in a country where our own dear mother-tongue is spoken, not by here and there a man, but by everybody and on every side, and where we are at once brought into living contact and communion with our species through that wonderful, vital medium, speech. . . . It is now probable that Mr. Beecher will remain and speak in England, and he is very urgent to have me stay with him. I know there is something in what he says, and I feel the claims of the cause to be strong. But the trouble is that nothing can be done to advantage here until after the middle of October, and that is too late for me to be absent. at home by that time at furthest, and shall be. S. S. PERSIA, N. Y. BAY, I must be } 9 A. M., Wednesday Morning, Oct. 7, 1863. ( How do you do this bright and beautiful morning? Within two hours, my feet will again touch the dear native shore, and as soon thereafter as affairs will allow, I shall be on my way to the spot where my treasures are and my heart also. We have had a glorious passage-fine weather-pleasant companions-five meals every day, and a most magnificent termination this morning. I came alone, leaving H. W. B. in England, where he will be heard in due time. CHAPTER XII. VASSAR COLLEGE-PRELIMINARY. IN January, 1861, a letter had been received by Dr. Raymond, informing him of his appointment as a member of the first board of trustees of Vassar College. The story of the origin and growth of that institution will appear in the papers and correspondence below: JOHN H. RAYMOND, Esq. Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Jan. 24, 1861. DEAR SIR: You will perceive from a copy of the charter accompanying that you are appointed one of the corporators of "Vassar Female College." Permit me to express the earnest hope that you will accept the trust, and that you will not only give to the enterprise about to be inaugurated the sanction of your name and reputation, but also your best counsel and active support and co-operation. The first meeting of the Trustees will be held at the Gregory House in this city, on Tuesday, February 26th, at ten o'clock A.M. Immediately on the organization of the Board, I shall place in its hands the funds and securities which I have appropriated to the college. At this meeting measures must be adopted for the custody and management of the college funds, the erection of the buildings, and the improvement of the grounds. Needful preliminary and prospective arrangements will also be considered in regard to the organization of the college. With sentiments of high consideration, I am, Very truly and respectfully, Your obedient servant, He obeyed the summons, and was deeply impressed by the occurrences of this first meeting of the Board, where its formal organization took place. He always spoke of it as one of the most affecting scenes of his life, and declared that nothing could exceed the thrilling interest of the occasion, when the Founder of the College gave up forever into the hands of others a splendid fortune. We find an account of the transaction in his own language, occurring in a "Biographical Sketch of Matthew Vassar," read before the University Convocation held at Albany, N. Y., in August, 1868. In 1855 the beautiful cottage and grounds since known as the Cottage Hill Seminary, which were the property of Mr. Vassar, were purchased by Prof. M. P. Jewett, who had been for many years at the head of a flourishing female seminary in Alabama. Friendly relations were formed between him and Mr. Vassar; and, in the intercourse that followed, Mr. Vassar's interest developed into a settled purpose, and the purpose gradually ripened into a definite and noble plan. A COLLEGE, in the proper sense of the word-an institution which should be to young women what Yale and Harvard are to young men, receiving them after suitable preparation at the academies and seminaries, and furnishing them with the means of a true liberal education-this was the conception which he would attempt to realize. At least, he would make the beginning; he would plant the germ, and leave it to others of a kindred spirit, and to a favoring Providence, to foster and perfect it. It was unoccupied ground. Millions had been spent on colleges for young men, at home and abroad, while not a single endowed college for young women existed in all Christendom. He was satisfied that, in taking this step, he was not only justified by the most weighty intrinsic considerations, but was acting in harmony with a general movement in the public mind-was providing for a want which had already begun to be felt and would grow more urgent with every passing year. He believed that many would follow |