Excerpt from Washington as a Center of Learning

On an October afternoon in the year 1775 a number of officers were gathered about General Washington in his camp at Cambridge. The subject under discussion related to the quartering of the militia in some of the college buildings, a measure which was causing much adverse criticism. General Greene, in particular, deplored the necessity for it and at this informal meeting with his fellow officers he called attention to the damage that had already resulted to certain seminary buildings as a consequence of their use for this purpose. Samuel Blodgett, the author of the first American book on political economy, happened to be present, and in answer to General Greene's complaint he remarked, "In order to make amends for these injuries, I hope that after our war we shall erect a noble national university, at which the youth of all the world may be proud to receive instruction."

Washington's face lighted up instantly, and, turning to Blodgett, he said with impressive earnestness: "Young man, you are a prophet, inspired to speak what I am confident will one day be realized."

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.