titution containing
upwards of twenty acres. In consequence of the munificence of Mr. Tufts,
it was determined that the College should bear his name.

[Illustration: President Capen.][A]

The definite impulse which resulted in the establishment of Tufts
College may be traced to the sermon preached by Hosea Ballou, 2d., D.D.,
before the General Convention of Universalists, in the city of New York,
September 15, 1847. In this sermon Dr. Ballou urged the "duty of general
culture" and the importance that a denomination should have "at least
one college placed on a permanent basis," with such clearness and
emphasis that the movement at once took organic shape and went forward
without pause from that hour. Dr. Ballou declared that one hundred
thousand dollars was the least sum with which the work could begin and
have any prospect of success. The Rev. Otis A. Skinner was appointed to
obtain subscriptions to a fund to that amount. The sum was a large one
in the then condition of the Universalist body. But in an undertaking of
that kind, Mr. Skinner knew no such word as fail. It took years for the
accomplishment of his task; but in the summer of 1851 he was able to
announce that the subscription was completed. A meeting of the
subscribers was held in Boston on the sixteenth and seventeenth of
September of that year. A board of trustees was designated who
subsequently fixed upon the present site of the institution and
determined its name. Application was made to the Legislature for a
charter, which was granted April 21, 1852. The original charter
conferred the power to grant every kind of degree usually given by
colleges, "except medical degrees." This restriction was removed by act
of the Legislature, dated February 2, 1867.

[Illustration: COLLEGE CHAPEL.]

[Illustration]

In July, 1852, the Rev. Thomas J. Sawyer, D.D., was elected president of
the College. But he declined to accept the office on the terms
prescribed, and in May, 1853, the Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, D.D., was
chosen to the office, which he filled until his death in May, 1861. In
July following his election the corner-stone of the main College hall
was laid by Dr. Ballou. The event was one of great interest and
significance, and drew together a large company of people from different
sections of the country. A year was spent by the president in visiting
the most prominent institutions of learning at home and abroad,
preparatory to organizing the new College, an