descendent and heir of Thomas Penn, a release of the condition annexed to the original grant was readily obtained; and in the year 1817 the whole estate was sold for the sum of sixty thousand five hundred dollars, a portion of which was paid in cash, and the remainder secured by bond and mortgage. It has been mentioned on a former occasion, that the purchasers were unable to meet their engagements; and that much of the property has in consequence reverted to the university.
Connected with the collegiate department of the university is a library, which, though not very extensive, contains many rare and highly valuable works. The donation of the king of France, and the bequest of Dr. McDowell have already been alluded to. Presents for the library have been received from other sources: among them may be mentioned a number of Bengalee books from the Rev. Wm. Carey, baptist missionary in India. Appropriations are occasionally made by the trustees for its increase; and a standing committee, in whose charge it has been placed, are directed to purchase, as occasion may offer, such works as they may think suitable, "particularly all publications connected with the past and present condition of the United States."
There is also connected with the same department a philosophical apparatus, which has been gradually increasing since the foundation of the school, and is at present one of the most valuable and extensive collections of this kind, existing in America.[1]
With all these recommendations, it might be reasonably expected that the college would be crowded with students; but the new regulations, by which it has been placed on its present footing, are too recent to have produced any of those
- ↑ The apparatus has been considerably augmented since the period alluded to in the text. I have been assured that it is now at least equal to that of any collegiate establishment in the United States.—January, 1834.
