This is a loaded statement that can be taken in a number of ways. This paragraph talks about the combination of sciences, the number of professors, and their salaries. However, it also leaves the future in the hands of "those who come after them." I feel like this engagements program is a great example of this. Mixing sciences and taking professors from their usual areas to do something new challenges the way the university was founded, but also gives it more depth. The writers were right when they said we would be more advanced than them, and something like the New College Curriculum may be something that "suits the circumstances of our day."

The assembly of the board and the writing of this document took place 199 years ago. The fact that the writers included the phrase "this present year" makes the reader go back and remember that 199 years ago to us was the present to them. We judge and evaluate everything in this document in retrospection through the eyes of the 21st century. This is not to say that some of the things that took place were justified because they didn't know better, but it highlights the fact that reality was vastly different during that time. Reading the rest of the text also points to the amount of change that has happened in society since the writing of this document.

This shows what the authors expected students to know and coming into the University so that it can be built upon in the earlier stated areas. It is only with this foundation that they can be brought to "the point at which we are to commence higher education." They were also expected to be "men and citizens" as women were not admitted to the University until the early 1900's

At this point, the standard of the university eduction had to be set. They had to determine what they would expect students to know coming in, and what they wanted the students to leave with.