The Two Towers: Main

Fourteen years later, in April of 1882, Charles Thompson wrote a letter to the trustees of the Institute to tell them two things to which he characteristically gave equal emphasis. The first concerned the need for an instructor in chemistry; the second, his intention to resign. Actually the two were one and the same thing, for he himself had been the teacher of chemistry. The letter was nevertheless divided neatly into two parts as if he wished to postpone the real issue as long as possible. "I find myself at an age," he finally wrote with distaste, "when no man can safely defer longer some preparation for possible infirmity and for the comfort of his family."

For three years, he explained, his salary had not covered his expenses. The new position which he had accepted was the first presidency of Rose Polytechnic Institute in Indiana, where he had been offered considerably more salary, a house free from rent, and a bonus of ten thousand dollars for moving. There was also to be a ten-month trip to Europe.

It would never have occurred to Professor Thompson to ask the Institute to match this extravagant offer. He knew all too well "if there is an increase in the treasury, it will be met by a corresponding increase in the needs of the Institute." The school had attempted far more than that which would normally be expected from a school with such limited income. That it had done so well was accountable to the most stringent economy and sacrifice on the part of its teachers.

The first reaction to Professor Thompson's letter was shock. "We accept his resignation with anxiety and concern for this Institute," said Stephen Salisbury.

Then strangely the school on the hill stood straighter. Destiny had reached across the multitude to tap the shoulder of a favorite son; the whole community basked in the warm compliment.

In the first interview Charles Thompson had had with Emory Washburn and Seth Sweetser, long before the school was built, ten years had been set as the time allowed for the educational experiment. Now the decade had passed, and the flattering invitation to Professor Thompson was good proof that the experiment had been successful.

As John Woodman had prophesied at the dedication of Boynton Hall, the graduates of the school had made its reputation. Professor Thompson proudly reviewed the achievements of his boys. At least ninety-five per cent were engaged in the occupations for which the school had trained them. And, he added happily, "almost all are leading virtuous lives." He ought to know, because he

It is small consolation that if the Institute did not want money it would probably want something else.
      --Charles 0. Thompson, 1876

The whole scheme must be regarded as an experiment in American education, which, at the present stage, is sufficiently promising to warrant its further prosecution.
      --Catalog, 1871

This day closes the first decade in the history of the Free Institute. It has been a period of discovery, settlement, crowded with the perplexities and anxieties inseparable from new enterprises. We have done our best with what we have had during all these ten busy years of anxious study and experiment.
      --Charles 0. Thompson, 1878