"It was the proud boast of Augustus, that he found Rome of brick and left it of marble. Might not President Lord, at the time of his resignation, have said without a shadow of boasting, I found the college, what its great counsel called it in that most touching and pathetic close of his great argument in the College Case before the Supreme Court at Washington: I found it truly 'a small college'; it was in an humble condition; its classes were small; its finances embarrassed; its buildings in a dilapidated and ruinous condition. I left it one of the leading institutions of the land!"
Fuller details on these points will be gathered from subsequent chapters.
CHAPTER XVII.
CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT LORD.
The period of President Tyler's resignation was a most critical one in the history of the college.
Its eminent founder passed away in the midst of the Revolutionary struggle, leaving the frail bark, in which were centered fond and long-cherished hopes, tossing upon uncertain and dangerous waters. A fearful storm was raging when his immediate successor put off the robes of office, and a little later went "to give account of his stewardship." Thirteen years had scarcely been sufficient fully to restore to a healthy condition the discipline of the college, which had been materially weakened by the lack of harmony between the second president and his associates in office.
Material aid was needed also to provide better accommodations for the students.
In common with other colleges, Dartmouth needed most of all, in those trying times, a president "rooted and grounded" in the truth.