Some of these candidates we shall certainly secure, and their names will
be one by one made known. But I must tell you, in domestic confidence,
that it is not an easy task to transplant a tree which is deeply
rooted. It is especially hard to do so in our soil and climate. Though
a migratory people, our college professors are fixtures. Such local
college attachments are not known in Germany; and the promotions which
are frequent in Germany are less thought of here. When we think of
calling foreign teachers, we encounter other difficulties. Many are
reluctant to cross the sea; and others are, by reason of their lack of
acquaintance with our language and ways, unavailable. Besides we may as
well admit that London, Paris, Leipsic, Berlin, and Vienna afford
facilities for literary and scientific growth and influence, far beyond
what our country affords. Hence, it is probable that among our own
countrymen, our faculty will be chiefly found.
I wrote, not long ago, to an eminent physicist, presenting this problem
in social mechanics, for which I asked his solution, "We cannot have a
great university without great professors; we cannot get great
professors till we have a great university: help us from the dilemma."
Let me tell his answer: "Your difficulty," he says, "applies only to old
men who are great; these you can rarely move; but the young men of
genius, talent, learning and promise, you can draw.
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