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Show through coming arts of angels good or bad, that can be gleaned that is valuable, we venture to say, unhesitatingly, will be copiously poured into the lap of this institution. Religion, politics, literature, discrepant prejudices, private and public rights of individuals in large communities, all can here meet on this loftiest platform of nature's heights, and enjoy the highest order of freedom of individuality, and of community, that have been so long sought after by the great and good of all ages. The rim of this wonderful basin descends from the snowy heights of the clouds almost to the level of tropical heat in the time of summer. The composition of the soil surpasses that of the vale of the Nile. The elements need only to be modified and compounded by the hand of art, in order to become productive beyond the conception of the most credulous. Graduates of colleges and students of law, medicine, and theology may here receive weekly lectures gratis. No persons will be denied the benefits of the University for want of pecuniary means. Donations may be paid over to Orson Pratt, Liverpool, England; to John Taylor, Paris, France; to Lorenzo Snow, Rome, Italy; to Erastus Snow, Copenhagen, Denmark, and to Orson Hyde, United States. Done by order, and in behalf of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of Deseret. Great Salt Lake City, April 17th, 1850. ORSON SPENCER, Chancellor. THE PARENT SCHOOL. The University of Deseret or the "Parent School" as it was first called, was opened November 11, 1850, under the supervision of the Chancellor and the Board of Regents. The Deseret Evening News of November 16, says: "The Parent School began on Monday last at the home of John Pack in the Seventeenth Ward under the direction of Professor Orson Spencer. The Board of Regents has employed Dr. Cyrus W. Collins, M. A., who will teach all branches taught in the high schools. The prospect is favorable for a rapid advancement in the sciences." The old Pack home was located on the corner of West Temple and First North Streets, immediately east of the present Seventeenth Ward Chapel. Sessions of the school were held in the parlor, and immediately across the little hall was the first mercantile store in Utah, where the students were enabled to purchas copies of the Lindley Murray English Readers. The John Pack house was known far and wide by the merchants of the plains, and it was at his house that Livingston and Kinkead deposited their stock of goods in 1849, which had been hauled over the plains from Independence and which was valued at $20,000. There were boots and shoes, tobacco and grain; bacon and molasses, shirts, hats, caps, calicoes. This first mercantile firm of our State's history also advertised pencils, ink, and writing material. Orson Pratt, Cyrus W. Collins, Orson Spencer, and W. W. Phelps formed the first faculty. Forty students were enrolled the first year and each one was required to pay eight dollars every ten weeks of the annual session. The tuition was payable in advance, and in lieu of money, wheat, potatoes, flour, building rock, and lumber were taken. Some one has humorously, but truthfully remarked that in those days, "The teachers salaries instead of being drawn on the bank were drawn on the wheel barrows." While the students of that first University or "Parent School" were regularly assigned their lessons from the text books used, the instructors generally lectured to them, particularly in history, literature, and philosophy. The old record of the University particularly speaks of the wide interest taken in the evening lectures that were given during the winter of 1850-51. For a few weeks in the spring of 1851, classes were held in the Council House then called the State House, located on the present site of the Deseret News corner but in the Autumn owing to the meeting of the Territorial Legislation in the State House, the "Parent School" was moved to the Thirteenth Ward Hall, which had been erected for school purposes. The report of the Governor and Legislature, 1853, is not so encouraging, for the Secretary of the Board of Regents, Robt. L. Campbell, says: "During the past year, the Parent School has not been in so flourishing condition as heretofore arising partly from the inadequacy of means to sustain those who had charge of it; and partly for the want" of a suitable location for carrying on the education of the rising youth of our city in its higher branches. Its professors have sustained a considerable loss of time and means in consequence of a failure to collect terms allowed, and we would suggest to your honorable body, that a compensation be awarded them for services Page Twenty-nine |