Together with the many wise and tolerant measures included in the famous
Ordinance of 1787, and in the land Ordinance of 1785, there were one or
two which represented the feelings of the past, not the future. One of
them was a regulation which reserved a lot in every township to be given
for the purposes of religion. Nowadays, and rightfully, we regard as
peculiarly American the complete severance of Church and State, and
refuse to allow the State to contribute in any way towards the support
of any sect.
A regulation of a very different kind provided that two townships should
be set apart to endow a university. These two townships now endow the
University of Ohio, placed in a town which, with queer poverty of
imagination, and fatuous absence of humor, has been given the name of
Athens.
Organization of the Company.
The company was well organized, the founders showing the invaluable New
England aptitude for business, and there was no delay in getting the
settlement started. After some deliberation the lands lying along the
Ohio, on both sides of, but mainly below, the Muskingum, were chosen for
the site of the new colony. There was some delay in making the payments
subsequent to the first, and only a million and some odd acres were
patented.
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