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I
THE HISTORY OF
BROWN UNIVERSITY
THE HISTORY OF
BROWN UNIVERSITY
1764-1914
BY
WALTER C. BRONSON, Litt.D.
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
PROVIDENCE
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
1914
COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY BROWN UNIVERSITY
V^
^
&
'fy-Uj? s+4 ~UM-x. gLA ^^-n^. t-J f\h**~++^ .W^*
D. B. UPDIKE, THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS, BOSTON
PREFACE
THIS history of Brown University is intended
chiefly for its graduates, and some of the con-
tents will have little interest for other readers. The
effort has been to portray the university in all its
aspects — not merely as a gallery of academic wor-
thies, or an educational experiment station, or a stage
where men now grave and reverend disported them-
selves in thoughtless youth, or an athletic and social
club, but as all these and more. Even to graduates,
therefore, some parts of the narrative will appeal less
strongly than others ; but it seemed more essential to
give a just account of the university as a whole than
to rivet the attention of every reader on every page.
The book is based almost entirely on original
sources, a list of which will be found in the Appendix.
In quotations from these the spelling, capitalization,
punctuation, etc., have been reproduced as accurately
as possible: this method helps the reader to get the
flavor of times past, and is peculiarly worth while
in the history of an educational institution because it
illustrates the use of English by Corporation, Fac-
ulty, and students.
It is a pleasure to record my thanks for aid re-
ceived from graduates and friends of the university.
Professor William MacDonald, the Rev. Dr. Henry
M. King, and Professor Walter G. Everett, of the
Committee on the Academic Celebration , read the
manuscript and made helpful criticisms. Mr. Come-
[ v ]
294193
PREFACE
liusS.Sweetland, treasurer of Brown University, gave
certain information in advance of the publication of
his report for the last fiscal year. Professor Harry L.
Koopman, librarian of the university, Mr. George P.
Winship, librarian of the John Carter Brown Library,
Mr. Frederick T. Guild, university registrar, Mrs.
Louise P. Bates, university archivist, and Mr. How-
ard M. Chapin, librarian of the Rhode Island His-
torical Society, afforded every facility for consulting
the documents in their keeping. The librarians of the
Rhode Island State Library, the Newport Historical
Society, Princeton University, the University of Penn-
sylvania , the College of Charleston , and Crozer Theo-
logical Seminary, the secretaries of the Corporations
of Princeton University and Columbia University,
and Professor Weldon T. Myers, of the University
of Virginia, rendered aid in various ways. The Rev.
Arthur W. Smith, until recently librarian of the New
England Baptist Library in Boston, generously put
at my disposal the results of his own researches into
the early history of the university. Mr. Franklin B.
Dexter, librarian of Yale University, furnished a
transcript of the letter printed on page 14, which
settles a long disputed question about Ezra Stiles's
plan for a college in Rhode Island. Mrs. Sarah K.
Birckhead, of New York, contributed a transcript of
the important letter printed on page 23. Mr. Theo-
dore F. Green , of Providence, allowed me to examine
his large collection of leaflets, pamphlets, and books
connected with the history of the university. Mr.
C vi ]
PREFACE
Henry R. Chace, of Providence, presented a set of
his maps of Providence in 1770. Mr. George Hen-
derson, of Philadelphia, gave me the use of unpub-
lished letters by President Manning and Morgan
Edwards to his ancestor, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Jones.
Mr. H. T. Cook, of Greenville, South Carolina, sent
copies of letters by Presidents Manning and Maxcy
to Southern clergymen. The late Rev. James C. Sea-
grave, '45 , the Rev . Henry I . Coe, '46, President James
B. Angell, '49, Mr. Alexander J. Robert, '49, the Hon.
Richard Olney, '56, and the Rev. Dr. Henry S. Bur-
rage, '61 , supplied reminiscences of their undergrad-
uate days. Several of my colleagues on the Faculty
aided me: Professors John H. Appleton and William
C. Poland, by their intimate knowledge of the uni-
versity through many years; Professors Nathaniel
F. Davis, Albert G. Harkness, Walter G. Everett,
Francis G. Allinson, and Raymond C. Archibald, by
statements relating to the history of their depart-
ments; Professor Edmund B. Delabarre, by informa-
tion about the history of athletics at Brown ; and Pro-
fessor Albert K. Potter, by suggestions about matter
and style. The editors of Memories of Brown and The
Brown Alumni Monthly freely opened their pages
for pillage. My greatest obligation is to my wife, who
revised the whole manuscript with minutest care,
prepared the copy for the printer, gave invaluable
aid in proof-reading, and made the index.
W.C.B.
Cuttyhutik, Massachusetts
September 12, IQ14
This volume has been written to commemorate the cele-
bration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the
founding of Brown University, and is published under
the general supervision of the Committee in charge of the
Celebration. The Committee, however, assume no respon-
sibility for the statements of the text. The author is alone
responsible both for facts and for expressions of opinion
CONTENTS
PREFACE v-vii
I. THE FOUNDING 1-33
The Baptists and the College : Rhode Island and the College : the Struggle
over the Charter : Comparison with other College Charters
II. PRESIDENT MANNING'S ADMINISTRATION 34-75
Early Years at Warren : the First Commencement : Removal to Providence :
the College and the Revolution
III. PRESIDENT MANNING'S ADMINISTRATION
[Continued] 76-129
Financial Difficulties after the Revolution : Growth of the College : Com-
mencements : Personality and Work of Manning : Curriculum : Scholarship
and Success of the Early Graduates
IV. PRESIDENT MAXCY'S ADMINISTRATION 130-154
Oratory under Maxcy : Commencements : Growth of the College : Under-
graduate Life
V. PRESIDENT MESSER'S ADMINISTRATION 155-203
Rhode Island College becomes Brown University : the Medical School : Hope
College : Disorders in Later Years : the President's Theological Views and
his Resignation
VI. PRESIDENT WAYLAND'S ADMINISTRATION 204-257
Personality and Methods of the New President : End of the Medical School :
Changes in the Curriculum : the Library Fund : New Buildings : Student
Life : the Dorr War
VII. PRESIDENT WAYLAND'S ADMINISTRATION
[Continued] 258-316
The New System : Its Relations to Harvard University and the University of
Virginia : Its Results : President Way land's Last Years
VIII. PRESIDENT SEARS'S ADMINISTRATION 317-365
Modification of the New System : Scholarships and New Endowment : So-
cial Life and Athletics : the Civil War
IX. PRESIDENT CASWELL'S ADMINISTRATION 366-385
Professor Chace as Temporary President : Increase in Endowment : Alumni
Associations : Social Life of the Undergraduates : Baseball and Boating
CONTENTS
X. PRESIDENT ROBINSON'S ADMINISTRATION 386-426
New Buildings : Growth of the Funds : Enlargement of the Elective Sys-
tem : Graduate Study : the Problem of Athletics : the President as Discipli-
narian and Teacher
XI. PRESIDENT ANDREWS'S ADMINISTRATION 427-468
Personality of the President : Phenomenal Growth in Attendance, Faculty,
and Curriculum : the Women's College : Lack of Funds : the President's
Resignation
XII. PRESIDENT FAUNCE'S ADMINISTRATION 469-489
Increase of Endowment : New Buildings : Modifications of the Curriculum :
Cooperation with the Community and the Alumni : Undergraduate Life :
the Women's College : Conclusion
APPENDIX
A. The Charter 493-507
B. Early Laws of the College 508-519
C. The College Seals 520-521
D. Bibliography 522-534
INDEX 537-548
THE HISTORY OF
BROWN UNIVERSITY
CHAPTER I
THE FOUNDING
THE BAPTISTS AND THE COLLEGE : RHODE ISLAND AND THE
COLLEGE : THE STRUGGLE OVER THE CHARTER : COMPARISON
WITH OTHER COLLEGE CHARTERS
ONE hundred and fifty years ago Brown University was
founded by the Baptists of America, in the colony of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. For a century
and a half, while political, economic, and social conditions
in the New World have undergone many and sometimes
turbulent changes, it has continued its quiet work of edu-
cating American youth for private and public life. The
university has grown with the growth of the country. The
numbers of its Faculty and students have greatly increased,
its buildings and all its material resources have multiplied,
its courses of study have widened and deepened, its meth-
ods have changed with changing conditions; but through
all it has in the main held fast to the ideal expressed in these
words of its charter : ' ' Institutions for liberal Education are
highly beneficial to Society, by forming the rising Gener-
ation to Virtue Knowledge & useful Literature & thus pre-
serving in the Community a Succession of Men duly qual-
ify'd for discharging the Offices of Life with usefulness
& reputation. . . . Into this Liberal & Catholic Institution
shall never be admitted any Religious Tests but on the Con-
trary all the Members hereof shall for ever enjoy full free
Absolute and uninterrupted Liberty of Conscience."
As a result of faithful work done in this spirit, Brown
University, like its sister institutions, has from the first been
a powerful influence for good in church and state and home,
both in its own community and in distant parts. It has
c i n
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
supplied the denomination which founded it with leaders ;
it has sent missionaries to the far East and the far West ; it
has given to the nation and the world jurists, statesmen,
and diplomats; it has graduated a few men to win fame
in literature and art, and many to become eminent in edu-
cation, theology, medicine, law, and business; and it has
enriched the private lives of thousands who in turn have
been centers of higher life for thousands more.
The history of such an institution is inspiring, but it is
for the most part unpretentious, addressing the mind and
not the eye. The record must therefore be written quietly
if it is to be written truly, and it should be read in the same
spirit. From time to time, indeed, we shall be in touch with
stirring events in the life of the state and the nation ; but
these pages must be filled chiefly with other things : the
material growth of the college, the development of the cur-
riculum, the personality of members of the Corporation and
Faculty, the intellectual and social life of the students; in
brief, all the academic influences that go to the shaping of
men and their preparation for right living.
It was not an accident that Brown University was founded
when and where it was, and under the leadership of the
Baptists.
In the seventh decade of the eighteenth century the tide
of life in the English colonies of America was running strong
and steadily rising higher. Forest and field had been sub-
dued to the uses of man. Danger from the Indians, except
along the frontier, was a thing of the past. The recent
French and Indian War had freed the colonists from fear
of their northern neighbors and made them realize their
strength. Their numbers had increased to nearly three mil-
lions; and while the population was still mostly agricul-
[ » ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
tural, many towns and a few cities had grown up and become
centers of thought and action. Agriculture was profitable;
manufactures were yet in their infancy, but commerce was
extending on land and sea ; the wealth of the country was
considerable, and was well distributed. In short, a century
and a half had settled a hardy transplanted stock deep into
the soil ; its roots were spreading, its sap was rising, and
new shoots were springing forth in ever increasing numbers.
The great result of this expanding energy was to be the
political independence of the country : but in a land where
education had always been highly esteemed, it was inevitable
that the growing life should show itself partly in the found-
ing of colleges ; and at this period it was equally certain that
the new colleges would be established chiefly by religious
denominations and largely with a view to educating young ^
men for the ministry. In the first hundred years of English
colonization three colleges had been founded in America
— Harvard College in 1636, William and Mary College
in 1693, Yale College in 1701. During four decades of the
eighteenth century no fewer than twelve colleges were es-
tablished, including the College of New Jersey (now Prince- .
ton University) in 1746, King's College (now Columbia Uni-
versity) in 1754, the University of Pennsylvania in 1755,
Rutgers College in 1766, Dartmouth College in 1769, and
the College of Charleston in 1785. Midway in this period
of college-planting came Brown University, in 1764.
Most of these institutions were controlled by religious
bodies : Harvard and Yale by the Congregationalists ; the
College of New Jersey by the Presbyterians ; the University
of Pennsylvania, King's College, and William and Mary
College by the Episcopalians ; Rutgers College by the Re-
formed Dutch Church. It was natural that the Baptists also
should desire a college of their own. It does not appear,
C 3 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
however, as has often been alleged, that their need was
urgent because of religious tests at the existing colleges or
disabilities attaching to Baptist students. At Harvard no
religious tests for students had ever been countenanced ; and
some of the Hollis scholarships, in accordance with a pro-
vision of the donor, an English Baptist, were given by pref-
erence to Baptist students. At Yale the temper was more
severe, yet President Clap could say in print in 1766, "Per-
sons of all Denominations of Protestants are allowed the
Advantage of an Education here, and no Inquiry has been
made, at their Admission or afterwards, about their partic-
ular Sentiments in Religion." The charter of King's Col-
lege forbade the authorities to make any laws which should
exclude any Person of any religious Denomination what-
ever, from equal Liberty and Advantage of Education, or
from any of the Degrees, Liberties, Privileges, Benefits, or
Immunities of the said College, on Account of his particu-
lar Tenets in Matters of Religion." In the University of
Pennsylvania no religious tests were allowed. The second
charter of the College of New Jersey, granted in 1748, stip-
ulated that the laws of the college should not exclude ' ' any
Person of any religious Denomination, whatsoever from free
and equal Liberty and Advantage of Education, or from
any of the Liberties Privileges or Immunities of the said
College on Account of his or their being of a religious pro-
fession different from the said Trustees of the said College."
It is clear, therefore, that Baptist students could obtain a
good education without being made by college authorities
to suffer for their creed.
Why, then, should a religious body so small and poor
as were the Baptists undertake to found a college ? It may
be replied that prejudice against an unpopular sect doubt-
less made itself felt in college halls, in spite of charters and
C 4 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
rules, and rendered the life of Baptist students uncomfort-
able. But even if this be granted, it does not furnish a suf-
ficient motive. That must be sought deeper, in the condi-
tion of the Baptist denomination at this time.
During the first hundred years of its existence in the New
World the denomination spread slowly, but over a con-
siderable area. Beginning with churches in Providence and
Newport before the middle of the seventeenth century, it
soon took root in Boston and other parts of Massachusetts
(including what is now Maine), had planted churches in
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and South Carolina by 1700,
and early in the next century gained foothold in Connecti-
cut, New York, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina.
In the sectarian warfare then raging the Baptists thus had
a long firing-line, but it was very thin. In 1740 there were
but twenty-one Baptist churches in all New England, eleven
of them in Rhode Island ; the other strongest centers were
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, which had about a dozen
churches, made up in part of Baptist immigrants from
Wales. Then came the Great Awakening of 1740. The
Baptists held rather aloof from it. They shared, neverthe-
less, in the general quickening; and in subsequent years
they gained considerable numbers by the accession of
entire churches of the so-called "New Lights," who in
consequence of the revival had separated from the more
conservative Congregationalists. The denomination now en-
tered upon a period of rapid growth, although its numbers
were for many years relatively small. In 1768 the Baptist
churches in New England numbered sixty-nine, more than
treble the number in 1740 ; and by 1790 they had increased
fourfold, numbering two hundred and sixty-six and having
a membership of more than seventeen thousand ; while in all
North America their membership was sixty-five thousand .
[ 5 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
When a Baptist college was first talked of, in 1762, the
denomination was still in the earlier stages of this remark-
able growth. Dr. Ezra Stiles, a Congregationalist clergy-
man, estimated in 1760 that the total Baptist population
in New England was twenty-two thousand, which number
would be considerably increased by adding the Baptists in
the Middle and Southern States. At most, however, they
were one of the smaller sects ; but their leaders evidently
felt thus early the thrill of a larger life and had some sense
of a great future. This feeling was strongest in the Middle
States, where the Baptist churches had a fair degree of
union through the Philadelphia Association, which in 1762
embraced twenty-nine churches in Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
Among these leaders a great need had begun to make
itself felt, the need of an educated ministry. The mass of
the Baptist laymen were poor and ignorant, and most of
the pastors had little learning. Backus, the historian of the
Baptists, writing to an English friend in 1765 or 1766,
said : "One grand objection made use of against Believer's
Baptism, has been that none but ignorant and illiterate men
have embraced the Baptist sentiments. And there was so
much color for it as this, namely, that ten years ago there
were but two Baptist ministers in all New England who
had what is called a liberal education; and they were not
clear in the doctrines of grace." Again, writing in defence
of the Baptists in 1768, he said : "Several who have for-
merly sent their sons to college have been disappointed, as
the clergy have found means to draw them over to their
party; which has discouraged others from sending their
sons. And theBaptists in general have been somuch abused,
by those who boast of their Learning, that it is not strange
if many were prejudiced against such men." These condi-
C 6]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
tions must be changed if the Baptist denomination was to
work out its destiny under God ; and to get an educated min-
istry the Baptists must have schools and colleges of their
own : first, because Baptist youth, living for four years in
a college atmosphere strongly charged with influences hos-
tile to their faith, might cease to be Baptists or at least be-
come lukewarm ; and, secondly, because many Baptists were
indifferent or even averse to higher education, and could
best be won over by means of institutions controlled by
their own sect.
In the records of the Philadelphia Association is this
entry for October 5, 1756: "Concluded to Raise a sum of
Money towards the encouragement of a Latin Grammar
School for the promotion of learning amongst us under the
care of Brother Isaac Eaton and the inspection of our breth-
ren Abel Morgan, Isaac Stelle, Abel Griffith, and Peter
Peterson Vanhorn." Thus was founded the first Baptist
academy. It was opened in Hopewell, New Jersey, where
Mr. Eaton was pastor, and ran very successfully for eleven
years. Among its pupils were James Manning, first Presi-
dent of Brown University ; Samuel Jones, who gave the
college charter its final form, and who was invited to be
the second president; Hezekiah Smith and Samuel Still-
man, eloquent Baptist preachers; Isaac Skillman, member
of the Boston Committee on Grievances in pre-Revolution-
ary days ; and David Howell, the first professor in Brown
University.
The success of Hopewell Academy paved the way for
a greater enterprise, the establishment of a Baptist college.
Among some papers left by Howell is one containing this
statement: "Many of the Churches being supplied with
able Pastors from Mr Eatons Academy &. thus being con-
vinced by experience of the great usefullness of human
C 7']
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Literature to more thoroughly furnish the Man of God for
the most important work of the gospel ministry the hands
of the Philadelphian Association were strengthend & their
Hearts encouraged to extend their designs of promoting
literature in the Society by erecting on some suitable part
of this Continent a College or University which should be
principally under the Direction & Government of the Bap-
tists." There is no record in the minutes of the association
of any formal action looking to the founding of a college ; but
the tradition is that the matter was discussed at the an-
nual meeting in October, 1762, and some plan of procedure
agreed upon. Backus, in his second volume, published in
1784, says: "The Philadelphia Association obtained such
an acquaintance with our affairs, as to bring them to an ap-
prehension that it was practicable and expedient to erect a
college in the Colony of Rhode-Island, under the chief direc-
tion of the Baptists ; wherein education might be promoted,
and superior learning obtained, free of any sectarian reli-
gious tests. And Mr. James Manning, who took his first
degree in New -Jersey college in September, 1762, was
esteemed a suitable leader in this important work." The
historian does not say in what year the association arrived
at this " apprehension." But the Rev. Morgan Edwards,
who was moderator of the association in 1762, and ac-
cording to tradition "the first mover" in the project, made
a more explicit statement ; in his Materials for a History
of the Baptists in Rhode Island, he said, speaking of the
college: "The first mover for it in 1762 was laughed at
as a projector of a thing impracticable. Nay, many of the
Baptists themselves discouraged the design (prophesying
evil to the churches in case it should take place) from an
unhappy prejudice against learning; and threatened (not
only nonconcurrence but) opposition. Nevertheless a young
[ 8 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Jersey-man (who is now at the head of the institution) went
to Rhode-island government and made the design known."
Nearly a year elapsed, however, between the meeting of
the association and Manning's visit to Rhode Island. It was
not until July, 1763, when his vessel touched at Newport
on the way to Halifax, Nova Scotia, that the future presi-
dent "made the design known." The reasons for the delay
and for the final choice of this colony as the site of the col-
lege are given in the Howell paper already quoted, which
goes on to say : " At first Some of the Southern Colonies
seemed to bid fairest to answer their purpose there not
being so many Colleges in those Colonies as the northerly
but the [several words illegible] northerly Colonies hav-
ing been visited by some of the Association who informed
them of the great increase of the Baptist Societies of
late in those parts & that Rhode Island Government had
no publick School or College in it & was originally settled
by persons of the Baptist persuasion & a greater part of
the Government remaining so still: there was no longer
any doubt but that was the most suitable place to carry
the design into execution." Edwards emphasizes the legal
aspect of the case, saying, "The reason of his attempt
in this province was (as has been observed), That legisla-
ture is here chiefly in the hands of Baptists, and therefore
the likeliest place to have a baptist college established by
law."
In accordance with the clear evidence of contemporary
documents, stress has thus far been laid upon the part
which Baptists of the Middle States played in founding the
college. But Brown University is neither an exotic nor a de-
nominational preserve ; it has always been in a true sense
what it was first called, " Rhode Island College," owing its
legal existence to the colonial legislature, built up largely
[ 9 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
by the wealth and culture of the colony and state, and in
return giving much of its energy to educating the sons and
daughters of the community in which it is placed. We
shall see how well prepared that community was to receive
and to carry forward the Baptists' plan for a new college.
When the young graduate of New Jersey College set
foot on Rhode Island soil in the summer of 1763, he came
to a region already rich, for a new world, in human inter-
est and the elements of higher civilization. A century and
a quarter had passed since Roger Williams, fleeing from
the "unco guid," had paddled down the Seekonk to the
site of Providence, and William Coddington and John
Clarke had founded Newport. During that time there had
been many a tempest in the little teapot of Rhode Island
and Providence Plantations. The afflicted and the eccentric
from various quarters, Antinomians, Quakers, " Seekers,"
and Anabaptists of all stripes, had lived here together in
tumultuous amity, attacking one another's heresies but
steadily respecting everybody's right to preach heresy with-
out restraint from the civil power. At Portsmouth had re-
sided for a time that extreme individualist Samuel Gorton
— in comparison with whom Roger Williams was a con-
servative — and Anne Hutchinson, that "new woman"
born out of due time. A little later many Quakers, scourged
out of Boston, found safety in Newport and other parts of
the colony ; from which, however, they went forth again
and again to face "the enemies of the Lord" in Massa-
chusetts. The founder of the Quakers had himself been in
Newport in 1762, and Roger Williams rowed down from
Providence to refute his errors in the bloodless warfare of
debate; Fox had departed, but his associates fought for
him the battle of the Lord in the Quaker meeting-house.
Yet the principle of "soul libertv" had done more even
c 10 :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
than the presence of these strong characters to make the
colony famous and its soil almost sacred. "For the first
time in human history," writes the historian Richman,
' ' State had wholly been dissociated from Church in a com-
monwealth not Utopian but real."
To this age of small beginnings and great principles there
had succeeded, in the half-century before Manning's arrival,
a period of growing prosperity in material things ; and this
wealth had brought, especially to Newport, a considerable
degree of culture.
The wealth of Newport came from the sea. She and her
neighbor towns built staunch little craft and sent them forth ,
some to capture rich prizes from the enemies of Great Bri-
tain, others to carry on profitable trade. Vessels laden with
New England rum set sail for the coast of Guinea, exchanged
their cargo for slaves, sold them at Barbadoes, and brought
home molasses from which to make more rum. In addition
to this traffic over the "triangular course," there was a cer-
tain amount of general commerce with the Mediterranean
countries and the Levant. The great Newport merchants,
the sea lords of their day, were of various nations, thus
giving the little seaport town a cosmopolitan air. In addi-
tion to the Wantons, the Browns, the Hazards, the Whip-
pies, and others of Rhode Island stock, says Richman,
"the Redwoods were there from Antigua, the De Courcys
from Ireland, the Grants and Edward Scott (grand-uncle of
Sir Walter) from Scotland, and the Bretts from Germany,"
besides Huguenots from the Carolinas, and Jews from Spain
and Portugal. These sea-traders were characterized by large-
ness of view and generous tastes. They built themselves
spacious dwelling-houses and country villas, furnished with
comfort and some degree of elegance, and surrounded by
gardens. The social amenities among them and their fam-
c 11 i
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
ilies were cultivated by clubs of various sorts and by teas,
balls, and occasional plays. Love of good literature showed
itself in the growth of private libraries and in the opening
of the famous Redwood Library in 1750. Education in
Rhode Island as a whole was backward ; but Newport had
a schoolhouse by 1685, and in 1710 granted permission
for keeping a Latin school in a part of it. A printing-press
was set up in 1727 by James Franklin, who five years later
began to publish the Gazette, the first newspaper in Rhode
Island.
While these and other elements of culture in "the Golden
Age of Newport ' ' were due primarily to wealth and leisure
and to the temper of the leading men, the finer spirit of the
community had been quickened by the sojourn within it
of a distinguished visitor from England. In 1729 Dean Ber-
keley came to Newport on his way to found a college in
the Bermudas, and there awaited the arrival of the en-
dowment promised him by the English prime minister. He
waited nearly three years, and went away at last empty
handed ; but he left behind him a rich legacy of lofty
thought and generous culture. The accomplished European
gentleman and divine, the friend of Addison, Steele, Swift,
and Pope, the brilliant idealistic philosopher, entered sym-
pathetically into the life of the colonial town. He built a
country house near the sea, and composed there some of the
most charming of his philosophic dialogues ; he preached
occasionally in the Episcopal church ; and he became the
friend of all the leading men. They were not unworthy of
his friendship, including in their number William Wan-
ton, governor, Daniel Updike, attorney-general and student
of history, William Ellery, father of a signer of the Dec-
laration of Independence, Samuel Johnson, afterward presi-
dent of King's College, and Henry Collins, patron of art,
t 12 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
who has been called the Lorenzo de'Medici of Newport. It
was during Berkeley's stay, and very likely at his instance,
that these and other men with him formed the Philosophi-
cal Society, the "precursor of the Redwood Library."
After Berkeley went away the ideals which he repre-
sented were continued down to the time of the Revolution
by a group of talented men. Among them were several paint-
ers: Smibert, who had come with the dean, Feke, King,
and Alexander, the reputed teacher of Gilbert Stuart. Rich-
ard Munday and Peter Harrison were skillful architects :
the latter, trained under Vanbrugh, built the Redwood Li-
brary, the City Hall, and the impressive Jewish synagogue
(dedicated a few months after Manning's visit) ; the former
designed Newport Trinity Church and the colony capitol.
Redwood and Collins were munificent patrons of art. Science
was well represented by Dr. Thomas Brett, a graduate of the
University of Leyden, and Dr. William Hunter. Among the
clergymen were scholars of ability ; and one of them, Ezra
Stiles, subsequently became president of Yale College. The
Redwood Library and the excellent private libraries in New-
port and Narragansett — containing such works as The
Faerie Queene, Samson Agonistes, Jonson's plays, Moliere's
plays, Pope's Homer, and the writings of Addison, Steele,
and Swift, at a time when Harvard had none of them —
contributed much to the general culture of the southern part
of the colony.
It was, then, no illiterate or narrow-minded community
that James Manning entered in the summer of 1763 with L-^
the project of establishing a college. The Baptists of the
Philadelphia Association had chosen perhaps even better
than they knew. The soil was well prepared for the plant-
ing of an institution of liberal culture ; and the wonder is
not that the gentlemen to whom he presented the plan wel-
C '3 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
corned it at once, but rather that such a project had not
already been realized. That Ezra Stiles had been planning
a college for Rhode Island is clearly proved by the following
extracts from a letter written to him on January 20, 1762,
by Chauncy Whittelsey, pastor of the First Church in New
Haven: "The week before last I sent you the Copy of Yale
College Charter. . . . Should you make any Progress in the
Affair of a Colledge, I should be glad to hear of it ; I heart-
ily wish you Success therein. . . . Your Governmt. have as
good a right to a Seminary of Learning as any other, and
had you a Colledge of your own, Learning would undoubt-
edly be in Credit and prevail among you, much more than
it otherwise will." The Newport friends of Dr. Stiles prob-
ably shared his purpose. At any rate, the relation between
the culture of Newport and the founding of the college is
strikingly shown by the fact that of the first petitioners for
a charter, numbering sixty-two, twenty-one were share-
holders in the Redwood Library.
So immediate was the indorsement of Manning's plan
that a charter was framed and laid before the General As-
sembly at its August session in Newport in 1763 ; but ac-
tion on it was postponed . A somewhat different charter was
presented at sessions in October, 1763, and January, 1764,
and was finally granted at the session in East Greenwich
on March 2 and 3, 1764; it was signed and sealed by the
governor and secretary on October 24, 1765. Such are the
bare facts ; but among the chief movers in the affair a
famous struggle took place between the first drafting and
the final granting of the charter.
James Manning himself, quoted by Morgan Edwards in
his Materials for a History of the Baptists in Rhode Island,
compiled in 1771, gives the following account of the whole
matter :
C 14 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
In the month of July 1763 we arrived to Newport, and made a
motion to several gentlemen of the baptist denomination (whereof
col. Gardner the deputy governor was one) relative to a seminary of
polite literature subject to the government of the Baptists. The mo-
tion was properly attended to, which brought together about 15 gentle-
men of the same denomination at the deputy's house, who requested
that I would draw a sketch of the design against the day following.
That day came; and the said gentlemen, with other Baptists, met in
the same place when a rough draught was produced and read. The
tenor of which was that the institution was to be a baptist one; but
that as many of other denominations should be taken in as was con-
sistent with the said design. Accordingly the honourable Josias Lyn-
don and col. Job Bennet were appointed to draw a charter to be
laid before the next general assembly with a petition that they would
pass it into a law. But the said gentlemen pleading unskilfulness touch-
ing an affair of the kind requested that their trusty friend, Rev. Ezra
(now Dr.) Styles might be solicited to assist them. This was opposed
by me as unwilling to give the Dr. trouble about an affair of other
people; but they urged that his love of learning, and Catholicism, would
induce him readily to give his assistance. Accordingly their proposal
was consented to, and his assistance obtained ; or rather the draught- •■/
ing of the charter was left entirely to him, after being told that the
Baptists were to have the lead in the institution and the government
thereof forever; and that no more of other denominations were to be
admitted than would be consistent with that. The charter was drawn ;
and a time and place appointed for the parties concerned to meet and
hear it read. But the vessel in which I was to sail for Halifax going
off that day prevented my being present with them long enough to
see whether the original design was secured. And as the corporation
was made to consist of two branches, trustees and fellows; and those
branches to sit and act by distinct and separate powers it was not
easy to determine by a tra[n]sient hearing what those powers might
be. The trustees were presumed to be the principal branch of author-
ity; and as 19 out of 35 were to be baptists, the baptists were sat-
isfied without sufficient examination into the authority vested in the
fellowship (which afterwards appeared to be the soul of the institu-
tion while the trusteeship was only the body) , and placing an entire
confidence in Dr Styles, they agreed to join in a petition to the
C '5 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
assembly to have the charter confirmed by authority. The pe[ti]tion
was prefered and cheerfully received by the assembly, and the char-
ter read; after which a vote was called for and urged by some to pass
it into a law. But this was opposed by others, particularly by Daniel
Jenckes Esq. member for Providence, alledging that the assembly re-
quired more time to examine whether it was agreeable to the design
of the first movers for it; and therfore prayed the house to have the
perusal of it while they adjourned for dinner. This was granted with
some opposition; then he asked the governor (who was a baptist),
Whom they intended to invest with the governing power in said in-
stitution ? The governor answered, The baptists by all means. Then
Mr Jenckes showed him, that the charter was so artfully constructed
as to throw the power into the fellows' hands whereof 8 out of 12
were presbyterians (usually called Congregationalists) and that the
other four might be of the same denomination for ought that appeared
in the charter to the contrary. Convinced of this, governor Lyndon
immediately had an interview with Dr. Styles (the presbyterian min-
ister of Newport) and demanded, Why he had perverted the design
of the charter? the answer was, I gave you timely -warning to take
care of yourselves, for that xve had done so -with regard to our society;
and finally observed, the [ = that] he was not the rogue. When the
assembly was convened again, the said Jenckes moved that the affair
might be put off to the next session, adding, That the motion for a
college originated with the Baptists and was intended for their use,
but that the charter in question was not at all calculated to answer
their purpose; and since the committee (entrusted by the Baptists)
professed that they were misled, not to say imposed upon, that it was
necessary the Baptists in other parts of the colony should be consulted
previous to its passing into a law, especially as few (if any of them
except himself) had seen it; and prayd yt [ = that] he might have
a copy for the said purpose, — which he promised to return. All which
were granted. When the charter came to be narrowly inspected it was
found to be by no means answerable to the design of the agitators and
the instructions given the committee. Consequently application was
made to the philadelphia association (where the thing took its rise) to
have their mind on the subject, who immediately sent two gentlemen 1
1 The Rev. Samuel Jones was the only one sent, but Mr. R. S. Jones volunta-
rily came with him.
I »6]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
hither to join with the Baptists of this colony in making what alter-
ations and amendments that were to them specified before their de-
parture. When they arrived Dr. Ayeres of Newport was added to
the committee; and they happily draughted the present charter, and
lodged it, with a new petition, in proper hands. The most material
alterations were, Appointing the same number of baptists in the fellow-
ship that had been appointed (of presbyterians) by Dr. Styles; settling
the presidency in the baptist society; adding 5 baptists to the trustees,
and putting more episcopalians than presbyterians in the corporation.
Daniel Jenckes is next quoted by Edwards, presenting a
fuller narrative of proceedings in the legislature :
While I attended the business of the assembly (held Aug. 1763)
capt. William Rogers came to the council chamber & presented me
with a paper with a design I should sign it, adding, That as it was
a petition for a baptist college he knew I would not refuse. Business
not permiting me to attend to him immediatly I requested he would
leave with me the pe[ti]tion and charter; mean while the serjeant
made proclamation requiring the members to take their seats; in my
seat I began to read the papers, but had not done before the petition
and charter were called for, which I gave to the serjeant and he
to the speaker at the board. The petition being read a motion was
made to receive it and grant the charter. After some time I stood up
to oppose proceeding immediately on the petition, giving my rea-
son in words to this effect, / understood that the college in question
zvas sought for by the baptists; and that it xvas to be under their
government and direction, -with admition only of few of other reli-
gious denominations to share with them therein, that theij might
appear as catholic as could be, consistent rvith their main design;
but on the contrary I perceived by glancing over the charter, xvhile
I sat in my place just noxv, that the main poxver of government and
direction is vested in twelve fellows, and that 8 out of the 12 are to
be presbyterians; and that the other may or may not be of the same
denomination; but of necessity none of them is to be a baptist. If so,
there is treachery some -where, and a desingn of grossly imposing on
the honest people who first moved for the institution; I therefore desire
that the matter may lie by till the after noon. This was granted. In the
after noon the matter was resumed with a seeming resolution in some
[ 17 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
to push it through at all events; but I had influence enough to stop
proceeding then also. That evning and next morning I made it my
business to see governor Lyndon and col. Bennet and to inform them
of the construction of the charter. They could not believe me for
the confidence they had in Dr. Styles honour and integrity, untill see-
ing convinced them. What reflections followed may be better con-
cealed than published. However we all agreed to post[p]one passing
the charter into a law; and did effect our purpose for that session,
not withstanding the attempts of Mr Ellery and others of the pres-
byterians to the contrary. Before the breaking up of the assembly
the house at my request directed the speaker to deliver the charter
to me after I had made a promise it should be forth coming at the
next meeting of the assembly. I took the charter to Providence and
showed it to many who came to my house: others borrowed it to
peruse at home. Mean while the messengers from the Philadelphia
association arrived in Newport which occasioned the committee of
Newport to send to me for the charter. I asked for it of Dr Ephraim
Bowen who had borrowed it last. The Dr. said he lent it to Sam-
uel Nightingal Esq.; search was made for it there, but it could not
be found; neither do I know to this day what became of it. When
the next general assembly met (last Wednesday in Oct. 1763) the
second charter was presented ; which was much faulted and opposed
by the gentry who concerned themselves so warmly about the other.
And one in particular demanded yt [ = that] the first charter, which
had been entrusted with me, might be produceed. Then I related
(as above) that it was lost; and the manner how it was lost; but
the party, instead of believing this very rudely suggested that I had
secreted the charter, and in the face of the court, charged me with
a breach of trust; which brought on very disagreeable altercations
and bickerings, — till at last I was necessitated to say, that if there had
been any foul doing it was among them of their own denomination
at Providence. Their clamors continued; and we gave way to them
that session for peace sake. Meanwhile Dr Bowen, who is a man
of strict honour and integrity, used all means to recover the former
charter, posting an advertisement in the most public place in town,
and making diligent enquiry; but to no purpose. At the next assem-
bly (which met in Feb. 1764) the new charter was again brought on
the carpet; and the same clamour against it, and unjust reproaches
C '8 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
against me were repeated, It was said, that the new charter was not
like the old, and was constructed to deprive the presbyterians of the
benefit of the institution. To which it was replied, That it was agree-
able to the design of the first undertakers; £s? if calculated to deprive
the presbyterians of the power they -wanted it was no more than what
they themselves had attempted to do to the Baptists. After much and
warm debate the question was put, and carried in favour of the new
charter by a great majority.
The most obvious interpretation of these contemporary
statements is that Dr. Stiles played a trick upon the Bap-
tists, or allowed some one else to play it, abusing the trust
they had in him to thwart their purpose. This was the
view of Edwards, who says, "Thus the baptists narrowly
escaped being jockied out of their college by a set of men
in whom they reposed entire confidence." Such an expla-
nation is simple and intelligible, but there is an insuperable
objection to it — the character of the Rev. Ezra Stiles. All
else that we know of him makes it incredible that he should
have been thus false, not merely to the Baptists, but to his
personal friends in Newport, who, as Manning says, placed
"entire confidence" in him. Mr. Stiles, then thirty-six
years of age, a graduate of Yale and for six years a tutor
there, had been settled in the pastorate of the Second Con-
gregational Church in Newport since 1755. He was libra-
rian of the Redwood Library, a student of Hebrew, Arabic,
and astronomy, and a man of very liberal spirit, as is shown
by his warm friendship with the Newport rabbi, Dr. Touro,
and by his inviting Baptist ministers (including Mr. Eld-
wards himself) to preach in his pulpit. The University of
Edinburgh recognized his character and ability by giving
him the degree of D.D. in 1765 ; and in 1777 Yale College
called him to the presidency, an office which he filled with
great ability until his death in 1795. It is incredible that
I 19 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
a Christian scholar of high character and unblemished rep-
utation should in this instance have stooped to trickery that
would shame an unprincipled politician. President Man-
ning apparently did not think so meanly of Stiles, for he
remained his friend, as is shown by the following entry
in Stiles's diary for November 26, 1773 : "Last Evening
President Manning visited me and stayed from a little be-
fore Nine to within about a quarter of Twelve, discoursing
on sundry Things — he brought a Copy of a Diploma,
which he was sending to London to be cut on copper plate. ' '
The friends of the college, chiefly Baptists, did not lose
faith in him, for they tried to make him one of the original
fellows ; neither did the Corporation, a majority of whom
were Baptists, for in 1765 they elected him a fellow, an
honor which he again declined. Furthermore, Governor
Lyndon and Colonel Bennet were still on good terms with
him in later years, as various entries in his diary show.
Finally, the words of Stiles himself give the impression
that in this matter he acted openly and with a good con-
science. Instead of acknowledging that he employed under-
hand means, he asserts that there was an agreement as to
the charter, and reproaches the Baptists for having aban-
doned a liberal plan for a narrower one. "In an interleaved
Almanac for 1763, ... is this entry, in Dr. Stiles's hand,"
says the editor of his diary: " ' Sept. 20. The Baptists desert
their Junction with the Congregationalists, and engross all
the Power in the proposed Rh. Isl. College to themselves,
after they had agreed to share the Ballances with us."'
Again, according to his editor, this note, signed by Dr.
Stiles, is attached to a copy of The Providence Gazette for
April 28, 1764, which contains the newly granted charter :
"This charter draughted by Mr. William Ellery, Junr.
and myself before the Baptists deserted the Congregation-
I 20 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
alists." Finally, in a letter dated August 26, 1768, he
writes : ' ' We had lately a catholic plan for a College in
Rhode Island, but it turned out Supremacy & Monopoly in
the hands of the Baptists, whose Influence in our Assembly
was such that they obtained a most ample Charter to their
purpose. . . . However I heartily wish the College prosper-
ity, as it is the only Means of introducing Learning among
our protestant Brethren the Baptists, I mean among their
Ministers."
These do not sound like the words of a trickster caught
in his trickery ; they seem rather those of a broad-minded
man disappointed and somewhat indignant that a liberal
plan once assented to had been abandoned. We may grant
that his plan of dividing the power about equally between
Baptists and Congregationalists was not wise, and would
not have carried out the wishes of the majority of the Bap-
tists ; but must we not believe that he was perfectly frank
and honest in his method of promoting it? The charter was
not to go direct to the legislature from his hands : it was
to be read to a company of intelligent men especially as-
sembled to hear it. How could he hope to deceive them, if
he had wished to do so? How could he anticipate that the
main provisions of his charter would fail to become per-
fectly clear during this first reading and discussion? Presi-
dent Manning thought that there was a misunderstanding
due to the intricacy of the document. He himself, being
called away early, could not examine it then, and probably
never did so later, since it was soon lost. The ground for
misunderstanding lay, he thought, in the division of power
between the trustees and the fellows, the Newport Baptists
assuming that the former were "the principal branch of
authority," whereas the latter really proved to be "the soul
of the institution." Yet Mr. Jenckes grasped the facts by
c 21 :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
merely ' ' glancing over the charter ' ' while he sat in his place
in the Assembly. How could the original movers, among
whom were cultivated men of trained minds, have been
either deceived or blinded, unless by their own heedlessness
or indifference? They heard the charter and approved it,
and petitioned for its granting. There is no charge that it
was altered before it reached the legislature. There it was
that objections began, started by one who was not present
at the Newport conference. In the face of all later accusa-
tions stands the fact that those who asked Dr. Stiles to write
the draft heard and accepted it ; and it is wholly improbable
that he could or would have imposed upon them. Neither
could he or would he have allowed his friend William
Ellery to do it in his name, as some have said : that would
have been equally impossible, and doubly improbable, im-
plying weakness as well as treachery in a man incapable
of either.
Furthermore, a careful examination of the charter that
he drew (of which copies have survived) fails to reveal any
imposition. According to President Manning, Dr. Stiles was
told ' ' that the Baptists were to have the lead in the institu-
tion and the government thereof forever ; and that no more
of other denominations were to be admitted than would be
consistent with that." His instructions were, it will be ob-
served, very general. In the charter which he framed nine-
teen of the thirty-five trustees were to be Baptists, seven
Congregationalists or Presbyterians, five Friends, four Epis-
copalians. Of the twelve fellows eight were to be Congre-
gationalists or Presbyterians, and the rest of any denomina-
tions. The trustees were to elect the president (who might
be of any Protestant denomination), after consultation with
the fellows. The fellows (of whom the president was one)
were to confer degrees, nominate all officers except the
l 22 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
president, enact the laws, and have control of the instruc-
tion and immediate government; but the confirmation of
every nomination and enactment was to rest with the trus-
tees. This division of power between the two branches
was not very unequal, and, in spite of Manning's impres-
sion, what advantage there was belonged to the trustees.
Indeed, the only unfettered power of the fellows was that
of granting degrees ; and the one unfettered power of the
trustees, that of electing the president (after ' ' consultation ' '
with the fellows), far outweighed in its consequences the
fellows' independent power, for any man worthy of elec-
tion to the presidency would profoundly affect the whole
policy and character of the college. In all but the purely
academic matter of granting degrees the trustees had the
ultimate power, in the form of a veto, besides possessing
absolute control in the election of the head of the whole
institution. 1 Surely the document does not bear out Man-
That the Congregationalists understood the charter's provisions in this way,
and believed them to answer the condition " that the Baptists were to have
the lead in the institution and the government thereof forever," is a view
independently reached. When it had already been stated and explained, as
above, it received confirmation from a copy of a letter, apparently by Wil-
liam Ellery, found among the papers of the late Dr. David King, former
president of the Newport Historical Society ; the letter was written at the
request of Dr. Stiles in reply to certain objections "respecting the Charter
for a College in this Colony," and is in part as follows: "The design of the
College which was first started here, originated among the Baptist Denomi-
nation. They opened it to some Congregationalists, of whom I was one,
and requested us to join them in this laudable Undertaking. In consequence
hereof a Meeting was held, and the following Articles proposed and finally
agreed to, as the immutable Basis of the Constitution, First, that the Cor-
poration shall consist of two distinct Branches by the name of Trustees 8c
Fellows. 2d. That in the former the Baptists and in the latter, the Congre-
gationalists should forever have the Majority's specified in the Charter. 3d.
That the Election of President should always be in the Trustees and that
they should have the Negative and Controul upon all the Nomination of Of-
ficers and upon the Laws proposed by the Fellows and in short that they
should have a disallowance on every Proposal of every Kind made to them
C 23 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
ning's statement that the fellowship was ' ' the soul of the in-
stitution " and the trusteeship "only the body." The truth
may be expressed by saying that the fellows were the in-
tellect and the trustees the will ; but, even so, the will was
to elect the president, who would presumably be the most
powerful intellectual as well as volitional force. That the
intellect should have been placed under the control of the
Congregationalists is not hard to explain : they were the
most intellectual and best educated religious body in New
England, and could most easily furnish men qualified to be
fellows of a college. Even in this provision it is more than
credible that Dr. Stiles thought he was doing the best thing
for the projected institution — and that without "jockey-
ing" the Baptists out of their college.
The facts, taken all together, seem to warrant the fol-
lowing view : The leading Baptists in Newport, true to
the liberal atmosphere of the place, under the immediate
influence of Dr. Stiles, agreed to the charter which he
presented at their request, thinking that, while it granted
the Congregational body more power than the Philadelphia
Baptists had perhaps anticipated, it preserved the main
point of giving the Baptists ultimate control, and would at
the same time win more general support from the best edu-
cated men in the colony and neighboring colonies. This lib-
eral charter was presented to the Assembly by many peti-
tioners of various denominations; 1 but being held up by
a Providence Baptist who had not been present at the ori-
ginal conference, and who, although a most respected citi-
by the other Branch. . . . These articles were virtually agreed to as the
Foundation of the Charter which was draughted, conformably thereto, and
as the Cement of our Coalition."
l Of 44 whose religious affiliations have been ascertained by the Rev. A. W.
Smith, 20 were Baptists, 1 1 Congregationalists, 4 Quakers, and 9 Episco-
palians.
[ 24 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
zen, was more narrowly sectarian and perhaps somewhat
influenced by the bitter rivalry between Providence and
Newport, the document became the center of a heated de-
bate that stirred up sectarian prejudice on both sides. The
final result was a charter which, although still very liberal,
was more strongly Baptist than the first draft had been.
This view is plainly not altogether consistent with the
narratives by President Manning and Mr. Jenckes. But
these narratives — as has already been implied — are them-
selves not altogether consistent with the facts of the case as
a whole. Both bear marks of sectarian bias, natural enough
at a period when feeling between Baptists and Congre-
gationalists was running high, but not favorable to a just
statement or interpretation of facts. Manning's account of
the contest appears on its face to be wholly second-hand ;
it is quite unlikely that he was in Newport at the time, hav-
ing recently sailed for Nova Scotia. Mr. Jenckes narrates
transactions in which he was a prime agent, but appar-
ently he was writing eight years after the event, when he
might easily have over-colored some details. What he says
about the indignation of Governor Lyndon and Colonel
Bennet at Dr. Stiles's supposed trick is particularly hard
to reconcile with their subsequent friendship with Stiles
and the esteem of other Baptist leaders for him. But even
if they thought at first that he had deceived them, it does
not follow that their opinion was justified; it merely shows
that the charter which he had put into their hands to read
was not what they, through blindness or heedlessness,
thought it was. It is noteworthy that Mr. Jenckes's own
narrative does not ascribe to Dr. Stiles the remark about
his having given timely warning and not being the rogue.
But even if credence be given it, the case against Stiles is
rather weaker than stronger : the giving of timely warning
[ 25 D
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
acquits him of intentional deceit ; and therefore ' ' rogue ' '
cannot be a confession of trickery by himself or another,
but only an adoption — perhaps semi-jocose — of the ac-
cuser's point of view. The utmost that can be safely inferred
from the narratives of Manning and Jenckes, in modifica-
tion of the conclusion already reached, is that the Newport
Baptists assented to the first form of the charter, not be-
cause they were liberal minded, but because they were too
stupid or too careless to understand its provisions when it
was in their hands — a view which seems scarcely reason-
able. There is abundant proof, however, that when the
sectarian fight began, the Baptists in Newport vigorously
took sides for the charter in its later form, for of the 221
petitioners for it, 148 were residents of Newport; of the
62 petitioners for the first form, 25 also petitioned for the
second, and 22 of these lived in Newport.
Finally, it may be added that the narratives of Manning
and Jenckes did not escape contemporary criticism by one
who was himself a Baptist, though not a church mem-
ber, David Howell, the first professor in the college. In an
unpublished letter to Backus (now in the New England
Baptist Library, Boston), dated April 13, 1775, he says,
commenting on the manuscript of the second volume of
Backus's history of the Baptists: "I think what is taken
from Mr Edwards's Book about the Quarrel in geting the
Charter ought to be buried in oblivion if ever we wish to
engage the Presbyterians in the Interest of the College &
it it [^is] nothing to our honor or advantage but rather
disgracefull to Mr Manning, and altogether respects the
Conduct Surmises Suspicions, &c. of Individuals whom
it is not our Interest to offend for nothing. ... I would by
no means have Mr Mannings & Jenckes injudicious ill-
natured reflections in your History." While it is true that
C 26 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Howell's criticism is concerned chiefly with the imprudence
of publishing such statements then, there is also a plain im-
plication that they are far from being impartial and reliable
accounts.
Leaving the sectarian contest behind, we find the charter
that was granted for the new Rhode Island college an aca-
demic document so worthy of admiration that it compels
gratitude to the man who drew it. With the exception of the
changes in denominational representation, this final char-
ter, under which Brown University has lived and thrived
for a century and a half, is almost wholly the work of Ezra
Stiles, aided, as he said, by William Ellery; although it
should never be forgotten that Manning in his "rough
draught" laid the foundation for liberal representation of
"other denominations." Mr. Ellery, a practicing lawyer,
later a signer of the Declaration of Independence, probably
supervised the instrument chiefly on the legal side. The large
outlines and most of the phraseology are undoubtedly due
to Dr. Stiles, who was exceptionally fitted for the work by
reason of his law studies, his experience as a tutor in Yale,
and his broad scholarship. It is hardly possible, however,
that even a man so well qualified could have produced so
long, so detailed, and so wise a document in the short time
that seems to have elapsed between the application to him
and Manning's departure from Newport. As he actually had
been planning a college, it is likely that he had already given
thought to the charter, and had perhaps made a written
draft of it ; his friends Lyndon and Bennet may even have
known this when they suggested calling upon him for aid.
A man with so wide a knowledge and so keen an inter-
est in education must have been familiar with the charters
of the leading American colleges of his time ; and it is easy
to see that in shaping his charter he was influenced by
C 27]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
existing documents. In phrasing there is little similarity,
except in the conventional legal terms. The preamble, with
its broad view of the scope and purpose of collegiate edu-
cation, has a few points of likeness to the charters of Yale
and New Jersey College. The Yale charter of 1701 speaks
of the rearing of "a succession of Learned & Orthodox
men" as the main purpose of the college. Dr. Stiles had
in mind "a Succession of Men duly qualify 'd for discharg-
ing the Offices of Life with usefulness & reputation" — lan-
guage which seems to owe something to Milton's famous
sentence, "I call therefore a complete and generous edu-
cation that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully,
and magnanimously all the offices, both private and public,
of peace and war." The Yale charter, however, also has a
phrase about fitting youth ' ' for Publick employment both
in Church & Civil State." The clause in the New Jersey
College charter of 1 748 , ' ' wherein Youth may be instructed
in the learned Languages, and in the liberal Arts and Sci-
ences," appears in the Brown charter almost unchanged
except for the significant insertion of ' ' Vernacular ' ' before
Learned Languages. ' ' 1 But on the whole the language in
the preamble, and in the noble paragraph barring religious
tests, is not derived from any other source, and has a vigor
and largeness seldom found in legal documents of this class.
The main outlines of the charter have more in common
with other college charters than has usually been recognized.
The division of the Corporation into two bodies, fellows
and trustees, may have been suggested by the Harvard
charter of 1650, with its fellows and overseers, or perhaps
by the bicameral legislatures of colonial America. The legal
powers of the Corporation, the mode of electing presidents,
1 For a discussion of the clause, ' ' The Public teaching shall in general Re-
spect the Sciences," see page 497.
C 28 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
fellows, trustees, professors, and other officers, the provi-
sions about discipline, instruction, granting of degrees, etc. ,
are much like those in the charters of the other Ameri-
can colleges. The exemption of "the Estates Persons and
Families of the President and Professors," and "the Per-
sons of the Tutors and Students ' ' from ' ' all Taxes, serving
on Juries and Menial Services," is taken, with a few verbal
changes, from the Yale charter of 1745. The chief differ-
ences are in the provisions regarding denominational con-
trol and religious tests. But even in these things the Rhode
Island charter does not, as many have thought, stand in
complete isolation.
The facts about religious tests for students in other col-
leges have been stated in another connection. No college
charter in the country required students to subscribe to any
religious creed as a condition of becoming members of the
institution. Some charters, as those of Harvard and Yale,
were silent on the point. Others, as those of New Jersey
College and King's College, expressly forbade such tests.
The Brown charter, therefore, in its ringing declaration that
"into this Liberal & Catholic Institution shall never be
admitted any Religious Tests," but that "Youths of all
Religious Denominations shall and may be freely admitted
to the Equal Advantages Emoluments & Honors of the Col-
lege," was not establishing a precedent, but only support-
ing a practice already established.
The case is somewhat different as regards religious in-
struction. At Yale, although the charter did not require that
any particular creed be taught, the president and fellows
in 1753 passed a resolution of fidelity to the order of the
founders that "the Students should be established in the
Principles of Religion, and grounded in polemical Divinity,
according to the Assembly* s Catechism, . . . and that special
: 29 ]
N
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Care should be taken, in the Education of Students, not to suf-
fer them to be instructed in any different Principles or Doc-
trines. " The laws forbade students to attend religious meet-
ings other than Congregational without permission of the
president ; but ' ' the Sons of those, who profess themselves
to be Episcopalians," says President Clap, in his history of
the college in 1766, had "Liberty to go out on the Lord's-
Day, and at other Times, to attend on the Mode of Worship
in which they were educated, as often as will not be an In-
fraction on the general Rules of Order in the College." All
students were required to take a course in divinity, which
was taught by a professor of strict orthodoxy. At Harvard
all juniors and seniors were required to attend the lectures
on divinity ; and the professor of divinity was obliged be-
fore election to satisfy the Corporation of his orthodoxy. At
King's College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Col-
lege of New Jersey, there seems to have been no sectarian
instruction in the class-room. The liberal spirit which pre-
vailed in the last-named institution is well expressed in
the following words of President Witherspoon in 1772:
"It has been and shall be our care to use every means in
our power to make them [i.e., the students] good men and
good scholars; and if this be the case, I shall hear of their
future character and usefulness with unfeigned satisfaction,
under every name by which a real Protestant can be distin-
guished." It is thus apparent that no greater freedom was
established at Brown than actually prevailed in a few other
colleges ; but the Brown charter alone, in its provision that
"Sectarian differences of opinions, shall not make any Part
of the Public and Classical Instruction," grounded that
freedom in the fundamental law of the institution.
Brown University's charter was also more liberal than
others in rejecting religious tests for members of the Fac-
C so ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
ulty and providing definitely for broad representation on
the governing board. At Harvard, in 1738, the high-Cal-
vinistic members of the board of overseers who attempted
to examine into the theology of a candidate for the pro-
fessorship of mathematics and natural philosophy were
defeated; but in the following year the overseers refused
to approve the election of a tutor until satisfied of his or-
thodoxy, because he had to conduct religious services and
give religious instruction. These tests were not required by
the charter, nor forbidden by it; nor did the charter specify
the religious denominations of the president, fellows, and
overseers, except that "the teaching Elders of the six next
adjoining towns" should be among the overseers, but as
a matter of fact the power was in the hands of the Congre-
gationalists. The Yale charter made no express provision
for denominational control of the governing board or the
Faculty ; yet here, too, because of political and ecclesiasti-
cal conditions, the Congregationalists were in power. The
president and fellows were all Congregational clergymen ;
and the president was elected by the fellows, who were self-
perpetuating. Furthermore, at a meeting of the president
and fellows in 1753, it was voted, "That every Person who
shall hereafter be chosen a President, Fellow, Professor of
Divinity, or Tutor, in this College, shall before he enters
upon the Execution of his Office, publickly give his Con-
sent to the said Catechism and Confession of Faith, " i.e. , the
Westminster Assembly 's Catechism and an abridgment of the
Westminster Confession ; and this rule was strictly admin-
istered for many years, receiving some modification in 1778,
at Dr. Stiles's instance, when he became president.
In several other colleges, however, the conditions were
more liberal. The charter of King's College specified that
the president should be a member of the Church of Eng-
C si 2
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
land, and the governing board included the Archbishop of
Canterbury (empowered to act by proxy) and the rector of
Trinity Church; but the senior minister of the Reformed
Protestant Dutch Church, the ministers of the Ancient
Lutheran Church, of the French Church, and of the Pres-
byterian Congregation, in the city of New York, the lieuten-
ant-governor, the judges of the supreme court, and other
civil officers, were ex officio members of the board, besides
twenty-four leading men of the city. The University of
Pennsylvania was characterized by the same union of Epis-
copal control with a liberal spirit. The second charter of
New Jersey College, granted in 1748, imposed no denom-
inational restrictions in the choice of president or trustees.
Eleven of the original trustees under this charter were lay-
men, and twelve were Presbyterian ministers ; among the
laymen were members of the Presbyterian, Episcopal, and
Quaker denominations.
The charter of Brown University admitted no ex officio
v representatives of the civil power to its governing board ;
but in this respect it was not alone. It was like the charter
of King's College in providing for the representation of de-
nominations other than the dominant one, but exceeded that
in the relative strength allowed them. It differed from the
Harvard, Yale, and New Jersey College charters in expli-
citly recognizing denominations and openly securing the
control to one ; but in effect it was much broader than the
charter of Yale, in which only one denomination had power,
and also broader than that of Harvard, in which the power
was divided between one denomination and certain civil
officers, most of whom were of the same religious body. The
charter of New Jersey College allowed all the power to be
concentrated in one denomination, although others actually
shared it ; the Brown charter compelled a partition of power,
C 32 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
and on a more ample scale. The representatives of the vari-
ous denominations were to be chosen by the Corporation,
not by the denominations themselves, and might be either
clergymen or laymen. The outstanding fact is that the instru-
ment governing Brown University recognized more broadly
and fundamentally than any other the principle of denom-
inational cooperation. In so doing it was true to the best
traditions of the Baptist denomination and of the colony ;
and it was also wise after the manner of this world, by
thus securing broader support than an institution controlled
wholly by one sect could have won.
C 33 ]
CHAPTER II
PRESIDENT MANNING'S ADMINISTRATION
EARLY YEARS AT WARREN : THE FIRST COMMENCEMENT
REMOVAL TO PROVIDENCE : THE COLLEGE AND THE REVOLUTION
THE struggle over the charter being ended, the organ-
ization of the college proceeded with reasonable speed.
On the first Wednesday in September, 1764, the first meet-
ing of the Corporation was held at Newport, when twenty-
four of those named in the charter as original incorporators
took the oath of office. They were a distinguished company,
including some of the best known men of the colony. The
most eminent among them was Stephen Hopkins, several
times governor, afterwards chief justice of the superior court,
a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a signer of the
Declaration of Independence ; in November, 1764, he put
forth his famous pamphlet, ' ' The Rights of Colonies Ex-
amined, ' ' one of the ablest remonstrances against the Stamp
Act. Samuel Ward was Hopkins's rival for the governor-
ship during the years 1758 to 1768, being three times
victorious; he was governor in 1765, and signed the col-
lege charter, which for some reason had not been signed by
Hopkins in the year it was granted ; he also was a dele-
gate to the Continental Congress. Joseph Wanton and Jo-
sias Lyndon later served as governors. James Honyman
was attorney-general and king's advocate for the court of
vice-admiralty for the colony. Job Bennet was a judge of
the superior court. Joshua Babcock, a judge of the superior
court of judicature, in 1775 became major-general of the
Rhode Island militia. Daniel Jenckes was for many years
a member of the General Assembly, and chief justice of a
court of common pleas. Nicholas Brown was a prominent
Providence merchant, father of the Nicholas Brown from
t 34 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
whom the college later took its name. Edward Upham, a
Harvard graduate, was pastor of the First Baptist Church,
Newport. Jeremiah Condy, also a graduate of Harvard, was
a Baptist minister in Boston. Thomas Eyres was a gradu-
ate of Yale and an eminent physician in Newport.
Governor Hopkins was chosen chancellor ; John Tilling- J
hast, treasurer; and Dr. Eyres, secretary. 1 The first need
was to provide funds for the new institution ; accordingly a
subscription-form was adopted, and sixty-nine persons liv-
ing in dhTerent parts of the country (among them Benjamin
Franklin) were authorized to receive subscriptions. Before
adjourning, the Corporation appointed a committee, as was
often done thereafter, to transact necessary business between
meetings. No officers of instruction were elected at this first
session of the governing board ; that would hardly have been
prudent in the absence of funds and students.
The second meeting of the Corporation was held in New-
port on the first Wednesday in September, 1765 ; twenty-
five members were present, and much important business
was done. The following entries on the records have pe-
culiar interest : " A Seal for the College was ordered to be
procured immediately by the Reverend Samuel Stillman
with this Device ; Busts of the King and Queen in Profile,
Face to Face. Underneath George III. Charlotte. Round
the Border, The Seal of the College in the Colony of Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations in America." 2 "Revd:
1 From the beginning the fellows and the trustees sat and voted together, as
appears from minutes by "M. B." of a Corporation meeting on November
14, 1769 : " Mr : Henry Ward . . . urged it should be done in seperate de-
partments by the trustees & fellows agreably to charter, but it being answered
that upon that principal it never had been legally fixed, nor no other business
done from the first Authentic as the corporation had always acted as one body,
it was therefore given up."
1 See page 520 for an imprint of this seal.
[ 35 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
James Manning was appointed President of the College,
Professor of Languages and other Branches of Learning
with full Power to act in those Capacities at Warren or else-
where." It was high time to have a president and faculty,
for already a student body existed. On the day before,
William Rogers, a Newport lad of fourteen years, had ma-
triculated in Rhode Island College ; and for more than nine
months he was the only student.
The Rev. James Manning was a remarkable man, and
peculiarly fitted to be the first president of the college. He
was born October 22, 1738, in Piscataway, New Jersey,
originally a part of the Elizabethtown grant. His parents, of
the farming class, were descended from early settlers in the
region. After two years in Hopewell Academy, he entered
New Jersey College in 1758, and four years later graduated
second in a class of twenty-one. In 1763 he was ordained
as a Baptist minister; and in April, 1764, he settled in
the town of Warren, Rhode Island, some ten miles from
Providence, where he opened a Latin school and became
the first pastor of a Baptist church, organized in Novem-
ber, 1764, an offshoot from the venerable church in Swan-
sea. When the Baptists of the Middle States, in planning
for a college, chose Manning as leader in the enterprise, it
is probable that they were influenced in part by his person
as well as by his scholarship and character. In later life
weighing upwards of three hundred pounds, he must even
at twenty-four have had an impressive presence. "In his
Youth," wrote Howell, "he was remarkable for his Dex-
terity in athletic Exercises, for the Symmetry of his Body,
and Gracefulness of his Person." It is clear that he found
favor upon his first entry into the cultivated Newport circle,
stranger as he was ; and he seems to have had no rival for
the presidency.
I 36 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
The college was now launched, but for several years its
progress was slow. A "Matriculation Roll," in Manning's
hand, shows that in 1766 five new students were enrolled;
in 1767, four; in 1768, eight; and in 1769, eleven. Of the
twenty-nine enrolled from the beginning only eleven lived
in Rhode Island, two of them coming from Newport and
four from Providence ; the other eighteen lived in Connect-
icut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Penn-
sylvania. The second student, Richard Stites, who entered
June 20, 1766, was the President's brother-in-law. The
students of both Latin school and college met in the War-
ren parsonage, which was built in 1765-67 partly for their
use, as appears from the following item in The Newport
Mercury for September 28 to October 5, 1767:
SCHEME OF A LOTTERY, Granted by the General Assem-
bly of the Colony of Rhode- Island, £sfc. for raising £.150 Lawful
Money, 1 to be applied towards finishing the Parsonage House be-
longing to the Baptist Church in Warren, and rendering it commodi-
ous for the Reception of the Pupils, who are, or shall be, placed there
for a liberal Education. . . . It is hoped that the extraordinary Expence
of that infant Society, in building a new Meeting-House, and Parson-
age House, as far as the Building is advanced, together with the imme-
diate Necessity of Room for the Pupils under the Care of the Rev. Mr.
Manning, and the great Encouragement for the Adventurers, there
being but little better than two Blanks to a Prize, will induce those who
wish well to the Design, speedily to purchase the Tickets.
Further evidence is afforded by a bill, dated April 18, 1768,
for work done on "the Parsnig house," including "the
Colleg Chamber."
The growing number of pupils made an assistant teacher
necessary; and in the records of the Corporation's meet-
ing at Newport in September, 1767, is the entry, "The
1 A pound in "lawful money" was worth $3.33^-3.
L 37 ]
V"
V
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Reverend President Manning's Conduct for the Year past,
and his engaging Mr. David Howell a Tutor of the College
x is approved of." The next year Mr. Howell was formally
elected tutor at a Salary of Seventy two Pounds Lawful
Money, ' ' and was ' ' authorized to collect the Tuition Money
as it became due as part of his Salary " ; in 1 769 he was
appointed professor of natural philosophy. Mr. Howell was
born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1747; he graduated
from the College of New Jersey in 1766, and soon after
came to Warren at President Manning's suggestion. His
connection with the college was long and various. He was
professor of law from 1790 to 1824, but gave no instruc-
tion. In 1773, while holding a professorship, he was elected
N a fellow, and retained the position until his death, in 1824.
He was secretary of the Corporation from 1780 to 1806,
and president ad interim in 1791-92. He also received high
honors in civil life, being a member of Congress under
the Confederation, associate justice of the supreme court
of Rhode Island, attorney-general, United States district
judge, and by appointment of President Washington one
of the commissioners, under the Jay treaty of 1794, to de-
termine the true St. Croix River as a part of our north-
ern boundary. The college was fortunate in the intellectual
caliber of its first tutor and professor.
The expenses of the institution were as yet small, the
tutor receiving but $240 a year, and the president having
no salary at all. But continuance and future growth would
be impossible without an endowment. A beginning had been
made by the Corporation itself, at the meeting in 1765,
when $1992 was subscribed by the members present. At
a meeting on November 20, 1766, the Rev. Morgan Ed-
wards was "requested & duely authoriz'd to go to Europe
& solicit Benefactions for this Institution." Mr. Edwards
c 38 :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
spent about a year and a half in Great Britain, returning in
the latter part of 1768, and collected £888 10 s 2 d sterling
(or about $4300), of which nearly one-fourth came from
Ireland, where he had first been a pastor. His subscription
book, still in the archives of the university, is of singular
interest. Here may be seen the signatures of famous men
— Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Penn, Rev. Dr. Stennet,
and others, — who gave sums ranging from £10 to £20 ;
and on the same time-stained pages the names of obscure
men and women — Benjamin Boon, Sarah Burdock, John
Fury, Susanna Ferguson, and others — who out of their
poverty gave their one shilling or two shillings sixpence, to
aid the cause of education in a distant college from which
they could never expect to receive any personal benefit. It is
worthy of note, .too, that three Presbyterian churches in Bel-
fast and one in Ballymony contributed over £30 to ' ' this
Liberal & Catholic Institution. " An extract from Edwards's
letter to Manning, dated London, April 26, 1768, will give
some idea of the difficulty of his task and also of his ardent
and vigorous nature :
There have been no less than six cases of charity pushed about town
this winter. . . . The unwearied beneficence of the city of London is
amasing ! Your news papers, and letters from your government, pub-
lished in other papers, have hurt me much — You boast of the many
yards of cloth you manufacture &c. This raises the indignation of the
merchants and manufacturers — I have been not only denyed by
hundreds, but also absused on that score — My patience, my feet,
and my assurance are much impaired — I took a cold in November,
which stuck to me all winter, owing to my trampoosing the streets in
all weathers.
In 1769 and 1770 the Rev. Hezekiah Smith was sent on
a similar mission through the Southern States, and collected
sums amounting to about $1700.
[ 39 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Meanwhile, in the face of all difficulties, the work of
instruction went forward, and in the autumn of 1769 a
V class of seven was ready for graduation. At the meeting of
the Corporation held in Warren on Wednesday, September
6, it was voted, "That the Meeting-House in Warren be
fitted up at the charge of the Corporation, in the best man-
ner the shortness of time will admit, for the reception of the
people Tomorrow, the day of Commencement. ' ' The meet-
ing-house was the new Baptist church, a plain wooden
building, sixty-one feet by forty-four, with a hip-roof and
a tower, and furnished with galleries. Here was held the
first Commencement of Rhode Island College ; and in spite
of crude surroundings the occasion was a dignified and
memorable one. So far had interest spread in the Baptist
denomination that tradition says a company of Baptist
preachers from Georgia rode over a month on horseback
to be there. The events of the day were thus described in
The Newport Mercury of September 11, 1769 :
On Thursday the 7th Instant was celebrated, at Warren, the first
Commencement in the College of this Colony, when the following
young Gentlemen commenced Bachelors in the Arts; viz. Joseph
Belton, Joseph Eaton, William Rogers, Richard Stites,
Charles Thompson, James Mitchel Varnum, and William
Williams.
About 10 o'Clock A.M. the Gentlemen concerned in conducting
the Affairs of the College, together with the Candidates, went in
Procession to the Meeting-House.
After they had taken their Seats, and the Audience were com-
posed, the President introduced the Business of the Day with Prayer;
then followed a salutatory Oration in Latin, pronounced with much
Spirit, by Mr. Stites ; which procured him great Applause from the
learned Part of the Assembly. He spoke upon the Advantages of Lib-
erty and Learning, and their mutual Dependence upon each other,
concluding with proper Salutations to the Chancellor of the College,
and to the Governor of the Colony, &c. particularly expressing the
C 40 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Gratitude of all the Friends of the College to the Rev. Morgan Ed-
wards, who has encountered many Difficulties in going to Europe
to collect Donations for the Institution, and lately returned.
To which succeeded a forensic Dispute in English, on the fol-
lowing Thesis, viz. "The Americans, in their present Circumstances,
cannot, consistent with good Policy, affect to become an independent
State.'''' Mr. Varnum ingeniously defended it by cogent Arguments,
handsomely dressed, though he was subtilely, but delicately, opposed
by Mr. Williams; both of whom spoke with much Emphasis and
Propriety.
As a Conclusion to the Exercises of the Forenoon, the Audience
were agreeably entertained with an Oration on Benevolence, by Mr.
Rogers; in which, among many other pertinent Observations, he
particularly noticed how greatly that infant Seminary stands in Need
of the salutary Effects of that truly christian Virtue.
At 3 o'Clock, P.M. the Audience being again convened, a syllo-
gistic Dispute was introduced on this Thesis, " Materia cogitare non
potest.'''' Mr. Williams the Respondent, Messieurs Belton, Eaton,
Rogers and Varnum, the Opponents: In the course of which Dis-
pute the principal Arguments on both Sides were produced, towards
settling that critical Point.
After which the Degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred on the
Candidates.
Then the following Gentlemen, (graduated in other Colleges) at
their own Request, received the honorary Degree of Master in the
Arts, viz. Rev. Edward Upham, Rev. Morgan Edwards, Rev.
Samuel Stillman, Rev. Hezekiah Smith, Rev. Samuel Jones,
Rev. John Davis, Hon. Joseph Wanton, jun. Esq; Mr. Robert
Strettle Jones, Mr. Jabez Bowen, Mr. David Howell the Pro-
fessor of Philosophy in said College.
The following Gentlemen, being well recommended to the Fac-
ulty for literary Merit, had conferred on them the honorary Degree
of Master in the Arts, viz. Rev. Abel Morgan, Rev. Oliver Hart,
Rev. David Thomas, Mr. John Stites, Rev. James Bryson, Rev.
James Edwards, Rev. William Boulton, Rev. John Ryland, Rev.
William Clark, Rev. Joshua Toulmin, Rev. Caleb Evans.
A concise, pertinent and solemn Charge was then given to the
Bachelors, by the President, concluding with his last paternal Bene-
[ 41 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
diction; which naturally introduced the valedictory Orator, Mr.
Thompson ; who, after some Remarks on the Excellencies of the ora-
torial Art, and Expressions of Gratitude to the Patrons and Offi-
cers of the College, together with a Valediction to them and all pres-
ent, took a most affectionate Leave of his Classmates. — The Scene
was tender — the Subject felt — and the Audience affected.
The President concluded the Exercises with Prayer.
The whole was conducted with a Propriety and Solemnity suita-
ble to the Occasion : The Audience (consisting of most of the princi-
pal Gentlemen and Ladies of this Colony, and many from the neigh-
bouring Governments) tho' large and crouded, behaved with the
utmost Decorum.
In the Evening the Rev'd. Morgan Edwards, by particular Re-
quest, preached a Sermon, peculiarly addressed to the Graduates and
Students, from Philippians in, 8. "Tea doubtless, and 1 count all Tilings
but Loss, for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord:' 1 ' 1 In which, (after high Encomiums on the liberal Arts and
Sciences) the superior Excellence of the Knoivledge of Christ, or the
Christian Science, was clearly and fully illustrated in several striking
examples, and Similes; One of which follows: "When the Sun is
"below the Horizon, the Stars excel in Glory; but when his Orb irra-
"diates our Hemisphere, their Glory dwindles, fades away, and dis-
appears."
The President and all the Candidates were dressed in American
Manufactures.
Finally, be it observed, That this Class are the first Sons of that
College which has existed only four Years; during all which Time
it laboured under great Disadvantages, notwithstanding the warm
Patronage and Encouragement of many worthy Gentlemen of For-
tune and Benevolence: But it is hoped, from the Disposition which
many discovered on that Day, and other favourable Circumstances,
that these Disadvantages will soon be happily removed.
The close sympathy of the college with the political feel-
ing of the time is shown not only by the fact that "the
President and all the Candidates ' ' wore clothes of Amer-
ican manufacture (as the graduating class at Harvard had
done the year before), in protest against the unjust trade
C 4-2 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
laws of Great Britain, but still more by the discussion of
American independence, which was the principal feature
of the morning. This debate breathed the same spirit that
had stubbornly resisted the Stamp Act and was soon to burst
out in the Boston Tea Party and the burning of the Gas-
pee. Varnum, the "respondent," or speaker in the affirm-
ative, although he opposed the attempt to set up an inde-
pendent state, yet condemned unsparingly the course of
the British government. " Had British America," he said,
"been left to the peaceful enjoyment of those privileges,
which it could boast of in former reigns, the most romantic
genius, in its wildest excursions, had not dreamt of inde-
pendence. But the late alarming attacks of the parent state
upon American freedom, . . . has, with justice, roused the
advocates of American liberty to the most vigorous ex-
ertions, in defence of our rights." Williams, the "oppo-
nent," was yet bolder: "Let not the menaces of a British
Parliament, in the least affright, nor their fair promises de-
ceive you, into any base compliances. Latet unguis in herba.
Their evident design is to make us slaves. They are wrest-
ing our money from us without our consent. Do not be
charmed by the fascinating sounds, Parent-State, Mother-
Country, Indulgent-Parent, &c. . . . Their menaces might
terrify and Subjugate Servile timid Asiatics, who peace-
ably prostrate their necks to be trampled on by every bold
usurper. But my auditors, you have not so learned the prin-
ciples of liberty. . . . My point is gained; your counte-
nances indicate the patriotic feelings of your breasts, and
with one voice you declare, that America Shall be free."
On this Commencement Day, 1769, the Corporation at-
tempted to settle upon a permanent home for the college.
A meeting was held at seven in the morning, and a com-
mittee that had been appointed the year before reported in
C 43 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
favor of Bristol County, in which Warren is situated ; the
Corporation accepted the report, and appointed a new com-
mittee to select and buy a site, put up a building, and
solicit subscriptions. This vigorous action, aided no doubt
by the success of the first Commencement, woke up the col-
ony, and a very pretty fight ensued. Almost immediately a
voice was heard from the County of Kent, across the bay,
where a subscription for endowing the college had been
opened, asking that a special meeting of the Corporation
be called to reconsider the vote in favor of Bristol County.
This meeting was held in the court-house at Newport
during three days, November 14-16, and lively days they
proved, for Newport and Providence had now entered the
lists. It is not known what arguments were advanced on
behalf of Warren ; but the Baptist church there voted on
November 13 that "the Baptis meeting House in sd Town
be and is: for the Use of the Corporation & President at
commencement times : . . . Provided the College Edifice be
founded & Built in the County of Bristol , ' ' and that ' ' the Par-
sonage House ... be for the use of the President : So Long
as he the President be our Minister." The committee from
East Greenwich, in the County of Kent, urged its pleasant
site and central location, which would secure the support
of the whole colony ; they also argued that Providence was
too large, "As Institutions of this kind have been found by
Experience not to prosper in popular Towns, ' ' whereas East
Greenwich was ' ' Large enough to accomodate the Students
effectually, . . . There being likewise a post office in the
Town," besides a Quaker and a Baptist meeting-house,
and a Separatist church only three miles away, "upon a
Good road free from ferries." The memorial from New-
port has not been preserved, but an article in The New-
port Mercury of November 20 doubtless reproduces some
C 44 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of the main points. The writer speaks of "the Number of
Inhabitants in Newport, the Reputation of the Island for
Health and Pleasantness, the easy Communication we have
with all Parts of this Government, and with the Western
and Southern Colonies, and the Cheapness with which
Pupils may be boarded," and also of the scholarly Red-
wood Library, ' ' the Use of which may be allowed the Pupils
under the discreet Care of the President and Tutors." The
memorial from Providence, signed by John Cole, Moses
Brown, and Hay ward Smith, is a long document. The chief
reasons it adduces in favor of locating the college in Provi-
dence are these : a large sum of money has been subscribed,
nearly $9000; the situation is central, and communica-
tion easy ; living is cheap ; there are four schcolhouses, a
public library, and good libraries for the study of law and
medicine ; there are ' ' two printing offices which will much
cont[r]ibute to the emolument of the college, the [re] being
a weekly collection of the interesting inteligence published
which will not only assist in enlarging the mind of the youth
but give them early opportunity of displaying their genius
in all useful or speculative subject " ; and, finally, professors
and students of various faiths will readily attend college
in Providence, where there are ' ' places of public worship of
all the various denominations of Christians in America."
The Corporation, besieged in this fashion, on the second
day rescinded the vote in favor of Bristol County. On the
third day it passed the following vote :
Resolved. — That the place for erecting the College Edifice be now
fixed. — But that nevertheless the Committee who shall be appointed
to carry on the Building do not proceed to procure any other Ma-
terials for the same, excepting such as may be easily transported to
any other place, should another hereafter be thought better, untill
further Orders from this Corporation; if such Orders be given be-
[ 45 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
fore the first day of January next. — And that in case any Subscrip-
tion be raised in the County of Newport, or any other County, equal
or Superior to any now offered; or that shall then be offered, and
the Corporation be called in consequence thereof, that then the Vote
for fixing the Edifice shall not be esteemed binding ; but so that the
Corporation may fix the Edifice in another place in case they shall
think proper. — Voted — That the College- Edifice be at Providence.
Here, evidently, was not an ending of the struggle, but
rather a skillful incentive to fight longer and put up larger
stakes. The contest was now practically narrowed to Prov-
idence and Newport, and each side worked actively to in-
crease its subscriptions. At first the former was in the lead ;
but about the middle of January there appeared in the Provi-
dence and Newport newspapers a call for a meeting of the
Corporation at Warren on February 7, because ' ' the County
of Newport hath raised a larger Sum than any that hath yet
been offered to the Corporation of the College in this Col-
ony." The call was signed by three of the fellows ; Presi-
dent Manning refused to join in it, holding, with the others
who favored Providence, that the time for reconsidering the
vote had expired on January 1 . Failing in their attempt to
prevent the calling of a meeting, the Browns and other lead-
ers of the Providence party made one final effortto strengthen
their side. A handbill was spread through the town, con-
taining this notice:
Providence, Monday, February 5, 1770. THE Inhabitants of this
Town and County are desired to meet at the Court-House THIS
AFTERNOON, at Two o' Clock, to hear and consider of some
effectual Plan for establishing the COLLEGE here. As this is a
Matter of the greatest Consequence, and the Corporation is to meet on
WEDNESDAY next, a general Attendance is earnestly requested.
A large number attended the meeting ; Stephen Hopkins
presided ; and a committee consisting of Moses Brown and
C 46 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
several other prominent citizens was appointed to take charge
of the subscriptions and present them to the Corporation.
Two days later the various forces moved to Warren, and
the final contest began. The attendance was large for a spe-
cial meeting, seven fellows and twenty-eight trustees being
present, besides the representatives of the rival counties. It
was now generally understood that the choice lay between
Newport and Providence; but East Greenwich, hoping
that she might still be made happy in case of a deadlock,
presented a memorial, signed by James M. Varnum, of
the class just graduated, Nathanael Greene, Jr., soon to be
famous as the greatest general of the war next to Washing-
ton, and two others. The memorialists argue again "that
a Considerable Degree of Retirement is very Requisite in
Order to acquire any Great Proficiency in literary Pur-
suits, ' ' and inquire, ' ' Is there Sufficient Retirement in New-
port or Providence? " On the other hand they are sure that
there is more than sufficient politics in either place, for "It
is likewise well known that Newport & Providence have ever
been the Capital Sources of Party in this Colony, And Con-
sequently the Institution must Annually be Subject to the
Attacks of one party or the other if placed in either." The
Providence faction presented a memorial protesting that the
time-limit for reconsidering the vote had expired when the
meeting was called, and that even then Newport had not
raised so large a sum as Providence. There is no record of
what was said in behalf of Newport or Warren.
The battle raged for two days, from 10 a.m. Wednesday
till 10 p.m. Thursday, according to President Manning in
a letter of February 12; and he adds, "The matter was
debated with great Spirit, & before a Crouded Audience."
The maneuvering between the two leading contestants is
vividly described in a statement by Moses Brown dated the
C 47 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
day after adjournment; the latter part of it is here quoted,
partly as a picture of the methods of men in colonial days :
At length Henry Ward took me out towards the door and declared
there was all they had and that they had no Orders to go any higher
& proposed if we would not lodge any further subscriptions they
would lay down their papers & proceed to Trial accordingly, we
agreed Wm: Ellery then lodged the papers before held and would
not deliver to any body, being one bond for 150,£ L. Money &
one other for .£300, when we came to foot our sums, we had about
;£226 more then their's, ours being ,£4175. Here upon they delayed
by many evasions proceeding to business and insisted for adjourn-
ment, to dinner, after which the meeting met and after waiting Y\
an hour Samuel Ward, Doct. Babcock H. Ward &c. came in and
presented a security for their unconditional Subscription which they
said was £508 : 14 and a Bond for 500.£ more. All this time no sub-
scriptions was produced they alledging they had left them at home
and none was finally produced. By this last bond they exceeded our
subscriptions land and all about £385. Whereupon it was thought
advisable to lodge the last subscription we had to be made use of
upon this occasion amounting to .£226 not caring to Trust the Vote
they so much ahead aspecially as they insisted that our unconditional
subscriptions ought not to tell any thing, whereby they would be
about 1235;£ over us, this reduced it so that reckoning the whole of
their sum and the whole of ours they were 158;£ more than we. We
presented a calculation in the arguments of the amount of the build-
ing if at Newport more than Providence, amounting to .£574 L. M.
which we insisted should be added to ours which leaves a ballance
in our favour of £415.
These tactics won the day, the Corporation finally voting :
Whereas the Corporation have fully heard Committees from the
Counties of Newport, Kent and Bristol upon their application for
a repeal of the Vote of this Corporation on the Sixteenth day of
November last past for locateing the College Edifice in the Town of
Providence, & maturely considered the several Sums offered, and all
the Arguments used by all the parties concerned, and thereupon the
Vote being put, Recede, or Not, It passed in the Negative, Twenty-
C 48 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
one Votes to Fourteen: It is therefore Resolved that the said Edi-
fice be built in the Town of Providence, and there be continued for-
Contemporary financial statements are widely at variance,
President Manning and Chancellor Hopkins both saying
that Newport's subscription did not exceed that of Provi-
dence, while a writer in The Newport Mercury of Febru-
ary 12, 1770, who attended the meeting, says it was £600
or £700 larger. But the figures given by Moses Brown, who
was in the thick of the fight, agree in their totals with the
sums entered on the Corporation records, and make it clear
that Providence raised less money than her rival. Why,
then, was she given the prize? The Corporation were per-
haps affected by her association with the founder of the col-
ony, by the zeal she had shown in promptly raising so large
an unconditional subscription, and by the business energy
which was already so conspicuous among her leading men.
A stronger motive still was undoubtedly the religious at-
mosphere of the place, where the Baptists were more influ-
ential than in Newport. Manning, in the letter quoted above,
says it is reported that the eight ministers at the meeting
"were all for Providence," although three lived in New-
port, and he adds significantly, "I believe the Baptist So-
ciety in General are not displeased at ye Determination."
Leading men in Newport, however, were greatly dissat-
isfied with the result. Manning's letter further says : "You
asked me in your last whether it had not raised a Party in
the Govt. I answer no. but it warmed up ye old one some-
thing considerable." Some of this warmth broke out in a
communication to The Newport Mercury of February 12,
which accused Providence men of having "for 20 years
past, ... on every occasion, manifested the most inveterate
malice against this town and island," charged the Pro vi-
C 49 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
dence party in the Corporation meeting with bribery and
corruption, and called the President "a wolf in sheep's
clothing." A more dangerous consequence of this political,
commercial, and perhaps denominational rivalry was an
attempt to secure a charter for another college. Dr. Stiles
records in his diary on February 23, 1770, "Mr EUery
came to discourse about the Charter of another College, on
the plan of equal Liberty to Congregationalists, Baptists,
Episcopalians, Quakers." On April 5 he notes, "There is
now depending before the Gen. Assembly of Rhode Isld
a petition for a Charter for a College here in Newport, since
the first Rh. Isl'd College is fixed at Providence." The
charter passed the lower house, but in the upper house it
was referred to the next session. The situation was alarm-
ing. Rhode Island individualism seemed about to beget col-
leges as freely as churches. A special meeting of the Cor-
poration was therefore held at Warren, and a committee was
appointed to draft a remonstrance to the Assembly against
granting another college charter. A very able document was
drawn up and approved, and a committee of influential men
presented it to the legislature. Nothing more was heard of
the rival charter.
Newport, then as now, had many natural advantages as
the site of a college ; and at that time it also had superiority
in numbers, library facilities, and general culture. But the
seeds of a larger growth were already stirring in Provi-
dence soil, and Time at least has justified the choice of the
academic Fathers.
The Providence of that day was a town of some four
thousand inhabitants, containing about four hundred houses,
most of which stood near the water's edge on the east side
of the river, or rose along the hill to Benefit Street. Great
Bridge, eighteen feet wide, with a draw, connected the east
C 50 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
side with Weybosset Point, to the north and west of which
lay Great Salt Cove, while to the south ran the Provi-
dence River, then much wider than now, and fringed with
wharves. At the extremity of the Point stood a few houses,
reaching to the intersection of Weybosset Street and the
newly named Westminster Street. On the former were
some sixty-five houses ; on the latter only six. On the south
side of Weybosset Street, not far from where it joins West-
minster Street again, stood Elder Snow's "New Light"
Congregationalist meeting-house, on the site of the present
"Round-Top " church. On the east side of the river were
four meeting-houses — the Baptist, Episcopalian, Friends',
and Congregationalist, — and the principal shops and pub-
lic buildings. The narrow streets, with their swinging shop-
signs, must have had some of the picturesqueness which
we now associate with Old World towns. The newspapers
of the time abound in advertisements of things for sale
"next Door to the Sign of Shakespear's Head," "at the
Sign of the Black Boy," "opposite the Golden Eagle,"
"at the Sign of the Elephant," etc.; of especial interest
to the modern reader is the announcement, on July 30,
1763, of a "new Shop called the Sultan, at the Sign of
Mustapha, ... at the Corner near the East End of Wey-
bosset Great Bridge," for this was probably the famous
Turk's Head, later moved to the west end of the bridge.
Old World customs, too, still survived. The whipping-
post stood near the bridge, and was not a mere civic orna-
ment. There was still imprisonment for debt. Slavery was
accepted as a matter of course by the majority, in spite of
the protests of the Quakers and a few others. The Gazette
of May 5, 1764, has this business-like notice: "To be sold
for no Fault, and very cheap for Cash ; A Likely strong
healthy Negro Girl, about 14 Years of Age. — Inquire of
C si ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
the Printer." Obadiah Brown, uncle of the four Brown
brothers, at his death in 1762 left five slaves valued at
£5400. John Brown, for twenty-one years treasurer of the
college, engaged in the slave trade; and Stephen Hopkins,
the first chancellor, was a slave-owner.
The beginnings of intellectual culture existed. No free
school system had yet been established, but there were sev-
eral private schools, and the children of the well-to-do were
frequently sent away to famous "seminaries" elsewhere.
There were some good private libraries, distinguished for
solidity rather than size ; and a public subscription library,
founded in 1753, contained in 1768 more than nine hun-
dred works, the use of which was offered to the students
when the college came to Providence. Books were sold at
Jenckes's book-shop and elsewhere; those advertised tes-
tify to religious rather than to literary tastes, although such
works as The Spectator and Pamela occasionally appear in
the lists. The Providence Gazette, started by William God-
dard in 1762 and taken over in 1768 by John Carter, a
pupil of Benjamin Franklin, was one of the best of the colo-
nial newspapers. Even before the coming of the college
the town was not wholly destitute of lectures on learned
subjects, for the Gazette of March 3, 1764, announced
a series of lectures on "that instructive and entertaining
Branch of natural Philosophy, call'd Electricity " : the first
lecture was to prove ' ' that our Bodies contain enough of
it, at all Times, to set an House on Fire " ; and the lecturer
promised to show that ' ' the endeavouring to guard against
Lightning ' ' was not ' ' chargeable with Presumption, nor in-
consistent with any of the Principles of natural or revealed
Religion."
The energies of the citizens, however, were directed
chiefly to commerce on land and sea. By the middle of the
C 52 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
century the situation of Providence at the head of naviga-
tion had won it the trade of northern Rhode Island and ad-
jacent parts of Massachusetts, whence products were sent
to be exchanged for goods imported from abroad. The river
even above Weybosset Point was then deep enough to float
ocean-going vessels ; and barks lying off what is now Steeple
Street, and at other wharves along the water-front, took on
cargoes of lumber, horses, candles, and rum, set sail for the
West Indies or London, and returned laden with slaves,
sugar, molasses, and European wares of all sorts. Priva-
teering during the French and Indian War had also been
a great source of wealth. At the period when Rhode Island
College was founded, two great families, the Hopkinses and
the Browns, were leaders in these commercial enterprises,
and both were closely connected with the early fortunes of
the college. William Hopkins was a famous merchant; his
brother Esek, after years of service in command of mer-
chant vessels, became commander-in-chief of the first
American fleet ; and the third brother was Stephen, the first
chancellor. The four sons of James Brown — Nicholas, Jo-
seph, John, and Moses — were all eminent merchants ; "by
1760," says Richman, "the family were operating no less
than eighty-four sloops, schooners, and brigantines." They
were all men of broad outlook, and were deeply interested
in the college.
Into this community the president, the professor, and the
students of Rhode Island College came in May, 1770. "On
Dr. Manning's taking up his abode here, ' ' says John How-
land in his reminiscences, "he lived in the old house of
Benjamin Bowen, which stood on the lot at the foot of Bowen
street. . . . Mr. Howell was unmarried, and boarded. The
students boarded in private families, at one dollar and a
quarter per week. There they studied, and at certain hours
C 53 }
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
met in one of the chambers of the old brick school house,
with the officers, for recitation." The schoolhouse is still
standing, near the lower end of Meeting Street ; the college
exercises were held in the upper story. The change from
rural Warren to a bustling town seemed likely, at first, to
fulfill the forebodings of the memorialists in East Green-
wich, if we may judge by the following passage from a
letter written on July 9 by Theodore Foster, a member of
the senior class :
The greatest Degree of Steadiness and firmness of Mind is very
requisite in a Town no larger than this, to cause one as steadily to
persue his Studies as in a Place no larger than Warren. One used
to Noise and the Hurry of a Tradeing Town would not be much
desturbed thereat, but for my own Part I must confess, the jolts
of Waggons, the Ratlings of Coaches, the crying of Meat for the
Market, the Hollowing of Negros and the ten thousand jinggles
and Noises, that continually Surround us in every Part almost of the
Town, Confuse my thinking and leave me absorpt in a Maze of
eddying Fancy, which frequently overwhelmes me in the profound
Depths of Nonsense even while engaged in the Study of Moral
Philosophy which teaches the proper regulations of the Passions.
Meanwhile the committees of the Corporation had been
energetically at work to rescue the perturbed students by
lifting their abode as soon as possible ' ■ above the smoke and
stir of this dim spot ' ' into the ' ' regions calm of mild and
serene air " on College Hill. On February 17, only nine days
after the meeting at Warren adjourned, the Building Com-
mittee, headed by Stephen Hopkins, John Jenckes, and John
Brown, published a notice in The Providence Gazette urging
subscribers to arrange at once to furnish timber and other
materials, * ' as said Building will begin as soon as may be in
the Spring. " No time was lost indeed, for Solomon Drowne,
a freshman, recorded in his diary on March 26, "This day
the Committee for settling the spot for the College, met
C 54 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
at the New-Brick School House, when it was determined
it should be set on ye Hill opposite Mr. John Jenkes ; up
the Presbyterian Lane." The next day he wrote, "This
day they began to dig the Cellar for the College." The site
chosen embraced about eight acres. The southern half,
which was sold to the college by John and Moses Brown
for $330, had formed a part of the original home lots of
their ancestor, Chad Brown, and of George Rickard, who
bought them from the Indians. The northern half cost the
college $400 ; one-third of this had originally belonged to
Chad Brown, and the rest to Daniel Abbott, one of the first
settlers. The grounds were only three hundred feet wide,
and did not include the land on which Hope College and
Rhode Island Hall now stand . Presbyterian Lane (now Col-
lege Street) was so named because it ran by the Presby-
terian, or Congregational, church on Benefit Street, where
the court-house now is. The site of the college was described
by Morgan Edwards, in 1771, as "commanding a pros-
pect of the town of Providence below, of the Narraganset
bay and the islands and of an extensive country, variegated
with hills and dales, woods, and plains." "Surely," he
adds, "this spot was made for a seat of the Muses ! "
Here was soon rising the building known since 1823 as
University Hall, but before that called merely "the College
Edifice." It was modeled on Nassau Hall at the College of
New Jersey, although somewhat smaller and plainer. The
Corporation built for the future, raising a structure not only
noble in its proportions and massive simplicity, but for the
time even magnificent in its dimensions. Manning describes
the "Edifice," with pardonable pride, as "an elegant brick
Building, 4 Stories high, 150 by 46 feet besides a Projec-
tion on each side of 33 by 10 feet." An enemy had there-
fore some basis for his sneer, in The Boston Gazette of July
c 55 :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
27, 1772, that the Corporation had built " a College near as
large as Babel ; sufficient to contain ten Times the Number
of Students that ever have, or ever will, oblige the Tutors
of that popular University with Opportunity of educating,
or instructing them."
Credit for the rapid yet thorough execution of the work
belongs chiefly to the firm of Nicholas Brown and Company,
consisting of the four Brown brothers, who volunteered to
take entire charge of erecting the college building and the
president's house. Their final account, presented to the Cor-
poration in September, 1771, shows their minute care in
performing this labor of love, which they pushed forward
with characteristic energy and skill. On May 19, 1770,
The Providence Gazette published the following news item :
' ' Monday last [May 1 4] the first Foundation Stone of the
College about to be erected here was laid by Mr. John
Brown, of this Place, Merchant, in Presence of a Number
of Gentlemen, Friends to the Institution. — About twenty
Workmen have since been employed on the Foundation,
which Number will be increased, and the Building be com-
pleated with all possible Dispatch." There is a tradition
that Mr. Brown treated the crowd liberally to punch ; and
the accounts show that what was begun at the corner-stone
was continued, almost in arithmetical progression, as the
structure rose :
June 28 To 1 Gall, W I, Rum when Laying the
Fi[r]st Floor 3 s 6 d ...
Augt 8 To 2 Galls. W I. Rum 7 s . 2 lbs Sugar
I s . when Laying the 2d floor 8 s ...
Augt 25 To 4 Galls. W I, Rum (very
good & old) a 3 s 9 d is 15 s
1 lb Sugar 7}4 d . when raising
3d floor 7^ d 15 s 7 J A d . ..
C 56 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Sepr 14 To 4 Gallons W I Rum a 3 s 6 d 14 s
to 1 lb Sugar 7 d . when raising 4th Floor 7 d
Octob 9 To 7Ya Gallons Old W I
Rum a 3 s 6 d H 7 s 1}
2 lbs Sugar I s 2j^ d , when
raising 5th floor I s 2^ d £ 1 8 s 4 d ...
Octob 13 To 3 Gallons W I, Rum when raising
the Roof a 3 s 6 d 10 s 6 d
The above items, in addition to revealing the habits of our
forefathers, show how rapidly the walls went up, although
made of brick and very solidly built. The speed was due
partly to the disturbances following the Boston Massacre
of March 5, which made it easy to secure plenty of skilled
workmen from the neighboring city. The interior finishing
went more slowly ; Stiles records in his diary that on No-
vember 18, 1771, he "went to view the College where five
or six lower Rooms are finishg off: they have about twenty
Students, tho' none yet living in the College Edifice." The
two lower stories were ready for use in the winter of 1771-
72 ; the upper two were not finished on the inside until after
the Revolution — the third in 1785, the fourth in 1788.
The accounts show that up to March 11, 1771, the expense
had been £2844 5 s 3% d , or about $9480, including the
cost of the president's house, the frame of which was
raised on August 21, 1770; it was a plain two-and-a-half
story house, set a little to the northwest of the college build-
ing. How much the interior finishing of the two buildings
cost is not known . Money to ' ' defray the Expence of Slate-
ing the College Edifice" was still lacking in September,
1772, as a vote of the Corporation shows.
Now, at last, the affairs of the college and its officers
began to have a settled air. President Manning had left his
pastorate in Warren, rather abruptly and not without hard
C 57 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
feeling on the part of the church; but in 1771 he became
pastor of the Baptist church in Providence, at a salary of
£50; as president his salary was now £100, besides his
house; and he still had a Latin school, which in 1772 was
N removed to the college halls. 1 A deed now in the university
archives shows that in 1771 he bought for $464 about seven
acres of land adjoining the college grounds on the east,
which he doubtless cultivated very successfully, for the bio-
graphical sketch of him by Howland says that " as a practi-
cal farmer and husbandman, he had but few equals." Pro-
fessor Howell received a salary of £72, which was increased
to £90 in 1773, and to £100 a year later, to commence
upon his removal from his present dwelling to the neigh-
, bourhood of the College Edifice." In 1774 a third teacher
was appointed — John Dorrance, of the class of 1774, who
acted as tutor and librarian, being the first graduate of
Rhode Island College to give instruction in it.
The number of students steadily increased, rising from
twenty-one in 1770 to forty-one in 1775, according to a list
preserved among the Howell papers. 2 The income from their
1 The school continued to prosper until the Revolution. After the war it was
opened again in the college building ; but in 1 785 it was removed to the school-
house on Meeting Street, and lost its connection with the college for some
years. In 1794 the Corporation voted, "That the President use his influence
and endeavour to establish a grammar school in this Town as an appendage
to this College," and the school was accordingly resumed. In 1810 the col-
lege built for the school a brick building costing $1452, at the head of Col-
lege Street. The Corporation records show that in 1823 the school was still
under the direction of the college. Just when this supervision ceased is not
clear, but in 1852 a committee was appointed to sell the building and lease
the lot ; both land and building, however, remained the property of the col-
lege, which rented the latter for many years to principals of a private school
still called the University Grammar School. In 1900 the building was torn
down to make room for the Administration Building.
2 According to Stiles's diary of June 24, 1773, there were 180 students at
Harvard in 1773; at Yale there were 170 or 180 in 1777, according to the
[58 :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
tuition formed a considerable part of the college funds, and
the total amount of it, at $12 a year per student, increased
from £72 12 s in 1769 to £138 12 s in 1775; room rent at
$5 yearly brought in something more. Yet the entire income
was of course meager, and plans for enlarging the endow-
ment were often under consideration. "Our whole College
Fund consists of about £900 Sterl : , " wrote Manning to an
English friend on February 21, 1772, "being the whole
Sum collected abroad : For no Money collected without the
Colony is made use of in the Building : but solely applied
to endowing it, with the strictest regard to the Donor's
Intentions, the interest of which Sum is quite insufficient
to provide for Tuition as two of us are now employed, and
we stand in need of further help. May we not expect some
further Assistance from our Friends in Engla[n]d?" On
May 19 he asks of another English friend, "Wd : a well
concerted scheme of a Lottery to raise a 1000, or 2[000]£
Sterl : meet wt : Encouragmt : by ye Sale of Tickets in Eng-
land." The reply was : " We have our fill of these cursed
gambling Lotteries in London every Year they are big with
ten thousand Evils. Let the Devils Children have them all
to themselves: Let us not touch or taste." At the Corpo-
ration meeting in September, 1772, a committee was ap-
pointed ' ' to consider who may be a proper Person to Solicit
Donations in Europe, and if the Revd. President should
be thought most suitable for that purpose ; then to Consider
by whoom the place of President may be supplied dur-
ing his Absence." In 1773 and 1774 honorary degrees
were showered liberally on English clergymen of various
churches, and on other persons more or less distinguished,
in the hope of arousing their interest in the young institution.
diary of September 27, 1 777 , which also says that New Jersey College "used
to have," i.e., before the war, "70 or 80 ; Dartmouth] 60 or 70."
C 59]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
One of those recommended for the honor was suggestively
described as " an old rich Man & learned that can leave
£100 to ye Coll." But political events soon cut off all hope
of aid from the mother country by any means.
The first five Commencements in Providence were held
in Mr. Snow's meeting-house, the largest in town. Com-
mencement before the Revolution was not the general and
rather turbulent holiday which it was to become later, but
the contemporary notices show that it attracted large crowds
and excited much interest. The following description of the
first Commencement in Providence is taken from the Gazette
of September 1-8:
The Parties concerned met at the Court-HoUse about Ten o' Clock,
from whence they proceeded to the Reverend Joseph Snow's Meet-
ing-House, in the following Order; First, the Grammar Scholars,
then the under Classes, the Candidates for Degrees, the Bachelors,
the Trustees of the College, the Fellows, the Chancellor and Gov-
ernor of the Colony, and lastly the President. When they were seated,
the President introduced the Business of the Day by Prayer; then
followed the salutatory Oration, in Latin, by Mr. Dennis — and
a forensic Dispute; with which ended the Exercises of the Forenoon.
Those of the Afternoon began with an intermediate Oration on
Catholicism, pronounced by Mr. Foster; then followed a syllogis-
tic Disputation, in Latin, wherein Mr. Foster was Respondent, and
Messieurs Nash, Read and Dennis, Opponents. . . . The Business
of the Day being concluded, and before the Assembly broke up, a
Piece from Homer was pronounced by Master Billy Edwards [son
of Morgan Edwards], one of the Grammar School Boys, not nine
Years old. This, as well as the other Performances, gained Applause
from a polite and crowded Audience, and afforded Pleasure to the
Friends of the Institution.
In spite of the politeness of the audiences at these early Com-
mencements there seems to have been some disorder, at least
that of a pushing crowd. On the day after this Commence-
ment the Corporation expressed its thanks for the use of the
C 60 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
church, and also voted to "repair all damages that were
occasioned by the Throng." A similar vote was passed in
1773. From the accounts of Nicholas Brown and Company
are taken the following items: June 2, 1772, "for hinges
broke at Commencement, ' ' 3 shillings ; " for mending Pews
broke Commt Day," 1773, 8 shillings; "for Mending
Windows broke in Mr. Snows Meeting House at Com-
mencements 1773 & 74," 15 shillings.
The esteem in which the honors of a public Commence-
ment were held by the undergraduates in these early years
is amusingly shown by the following document :
Providence Febry 19th: : 1773 The remonstrance of the Senior Class
of Rhode Island College, to the respectable, the PRESIDENT and
PROFESSOR of the Same. Worthy Sirs, 'T is impossiblewe Should
remain Calm and unconcerned at the present alarming Aspect of our
affairs. Forgive us therefor if we express a Little Generous Warmth
at the Indignity we have had sufficient Reason to fear will be offered
us. Aroused by the too just Apprehension of the Ignominy and Dis-
grace that must unavoidably pursue us in future Life from the De-
privation of a public Commencement and collegial Honours, we are
reduced to the disagreeable Necessity of addressing you in this man-
ner. . . . The principal Objection is this, That we are not Orators.
Now our Opinion of an Orator is Something similar to Longinus's
of a poet, "That a Man must be born Such." . . . Since, then, it can-
not be expected that a mere College Education without the previous
Endowments of bounteous Nature can form the Orator, how Can
it appear just or reasonable to any that for this Cause we should
be deemed unfit to receive our Degrees in an honourable Manner.
Another and far more reasonable Objection, prehaps, is, That we
have not applied ourselves to our Studies with all that Dilligence and
Assiduity we ought to have done. We Confess there are some Arts
and Sciences for the Studying of which we had not a suitable turn of
Mind and therfore could not apply ourselves attentively to them.
... If we are Lacking in point of mental Faculties who is to be
blamed? If what little Proficiency we have made in Literature joined
with what through indefatigable Industry and unremitting Ardour
[ 61 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
we may make between this and Examination, will not entitle us to a
Degree, we despair of ever having the Honour to be ranked among
the Sons of this Seminary. . . . We shall add no more; but remain
with all due Deference and Esteem, your dutiful Pupils.
Thus early in the history of the college did the students
take the Faculty firmly in hand. The logic of the remon-
strants was irresistible ; the Commencement exercises were
held as usual and without perceptible ebb in eloquence, for
the Gazette remarked that "the young Gentlemen per-
formed their respective Parts with great Propriety, which
justly procured them the universal Applause of a judicious
and candid Audience."
The Commencement of 1774 was especially glorious,
for, says the Gazette, ' ' the Honourable Governor of the Col-
ony, escorted by the Company of Cadets, under the com-
mand of Col. Nightingale, preceded the usual Procession."
The governor was Joseph Wanton, who wore full court
dress. Howland's recollections of him at Commencements
are vivid : "The governor's wig, which had been made in
England, was of the pattern and size of that of the Speaker
of the House of Commons, and so large that the shallow
crowned hat could not be placed on his head without dis-
turbing the curls. He therefore placed it under his left arm,
and held his umbrella in his right hand. . . . The white
wig of President Manning was of the largest dimensions
usually worn in this country." Even the governor and his
wig, however, could not rob the cadets of their share of glory
on this occasion ; the Gazette says they ' ' made an elegant
and truly military Appearance, and both in the Procession
and Manoeuvres, which they performed on the College
Green, procured universal Approbation, and convinced the
Spectators, that Americans are no less capable of military
Discipline than Europeans." The next year, on account of
C 62 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
the outbreak of war, the public exercises of Commencement
were omitted, at the suggestion of the seniors themselves.
In 1776 Commencement was held for the first time in
the new Baptist church, now so familiar to all graduates
of Brown University. This noble example of colonial church
architecture was completed in 1775, at a cost of nearly
$21,000. The building is much larger than was needed
for the ordinary services of the church, and was erected,
in accordance with the vote of the society on February 1 1 ,
1 774, both "for the publick Worship of Almighty GOD ;
and also for holding Commencement in." Here the Com-
mencements, with two exceptions, 1 have been held ever
since, and the sons of the college have repaid in gratitude
and veneration the generosity of the builders.
The Commencement of 1776 was the last until after the
Revolution. The clouds of war had been gathering thicker
and darker over the whole country, and in the events lead-
ing up to the outbreak of hostilities Rhode Island had taken
a prominent part. In 1772 the king's schooner Gaspee, of
eight guns, which had been prowling up and down Narra-
gansett Bay to enforce the hated Sugar Act, was surprised
by a party led by John Brown and burned to the water's
edge. Two years later the colony was among the first to
choose delegates to the Continental Congress, sending the
old-time political foes, Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward.
On March 2, 1775, in accordance with the recommenda-
tion of Congress against the purchase or use of East India
tea, the people of Providence gathered in the Marketplace
and burned three hundred pounds of tea, along with Lord
North's speech and copies of Tory newspapers, while the
1 In 1804 and 1832 the First Congregational Church was used: in 1804 at
the request of the seniors, who wished to "have the benifit of the Organ" ;
in 1832 because the First Baptist Meeting-House was undergoing repairs.
c 6 3 n
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
church bells tolled. When news of the battle of Lexing-
ton reached Rhode Island, the little commonwealth rose in
open rebellion. The General Assembly created an "army of
observation " of fifteen hundred men. It also instructed the
colony's delegates in Congress to "use their whole influ-
ence ' ' toward the formation ' ' at the continental expense of
an American fleet ' ' ; and when the fleet was put in commis-
sion in the following spring, a Rhode Islander, Esek Hop-
kins, was appointed commander. "Ere this," says Rich-
man, "Rhode Island had discarded nearly every badge of
colonialism. It had issued bills of credit for local defense ;
had established a local postal system ; had erected fortifi-
cations ; had confiscated the estates of wealthy loyalists of
Newport and Narragansett ; had even at length deposed
Governor Wanton and chosen Nicholas Cooke — a Provi-
dence man — governor in his stead. Only one thing remained
to be done to make explicit the independence which by
these acts had been implied, and that was to pass a decla-
ration formally absolving the people of Rhode Island from
their allegiance to the British crown. Such a declaration
was passed on May 4, just two months before the signing
of the great Declaration at Philadelphia."
In such times, and in such a center of rebellion, the col-
lege could not remain unaffected or impassive. The Com-
mencement programs on the whole reflect the agitation of
the period less than might have been expected ; probably
the youthful orators were somewhat restrained by the Fac-
ulty. Yet in spite of the predominance of such themes as
"Solitude," "Agriculture, and the Pleasures of a Country
Life, " " Female Education, ' ' ' ' The Incomparable Advan-
tages of Religion," "Politeness," and "Theatrical Exhibi-
tions corrupt the Morals of Mankind," there appear on the
program from time to time topics of a more stirring nature.
c 64 :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
In 1770 the English dispute was on the thesis, "Stand-
ing Armies in a Time of Peace are detrimental to States."
In 1771 the "Necessity of perpetuating the Union betwixt
Great Britain and her Colonies" was made the subject of
a dialogue, and was followed by an oration on "The Ad-
vantages of Peace." In 1773, the year of the Boston Tea
Party, Theodore Foster, afterwards United States Senator
from Rhode Island, spoke on "The Discovery, progressive
Settlement, present State, and future Greatness, of the
American Colonies." In 1774 Samuel Ward, soon to be
lieutenant-colonel of the first Rhode Island regiment, took
"Patriotism" as the subject for his master's oration; and
the theme of the valedictorian in the year of the Declara-
tion of Independence was "Liberty, with some Anecdotes
from the present Times." The class of 1775, as we have
seen, denied themselves the pleasure of a public Commence-
ment, being, as they said in their petition to the Faculty
and Corporation on June 8, "deeply affected with the Dis-
tresses of our oppressed Country, which now most unjustly
feels the baneful Effects of arbitrary Power." President
Manning and Professor Howell, in granting the petition,
speak in a strain of ardent patriotism which proves that
the officers as well as the students of Rhode Island College
were worthy of its name: "And though the Din of Arms,
and the Horrors of a civil War, should invade our hitherto
peaceful Habitations; yet even these are preferable to a mean
and base Submission to arbitrary Power, and lawless Ra-
pine. Institutions of Learning will doubtless partake in the
common Calamities of our Country, as Arms have ever
proved unfriendly to the more refined and liberal Arts and
Sciences; yet we are resolved to continue College Orders
here as usual, excepting that the ensuing Commencement,
by the Advice of such of the Corporation as could be con-
C 6 5 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
veniently consulted, will not be public." The Corporation
at the annual meeting in 1776 showed their spirit by hon-
oring thus the man who had been put in command of the
forces of the state: "In consideration of the great Abilities,
literary merit and the many eminent services performed by
Major General Greene to this State in particular, and the
Continent in general — Voted, that the Honorary Degree
of Master in the Arts be conferred upon him."
The foreboding in the Faculty's reply to the seniors was
soon realized. The battle of Bunker Hill and the plunge of
the whole country into war made the closing of the college
only a matter of time. The next year conditions grew rap-
idly worse for academic life in Rhode Island. In April the
American fleet under Hopkins was worsted in a fight with
a British man-of-war off Point Judith ; and the enemy's
vessels patrolled the bay, greatly interfering with trade. In
September the situation was so threatening that the Cor-
poration, at the time of the annual meeting, waited upon the
General Assembly in a body and successfully petitioned
them ' ' to continue the College Funds in the Colony Treas-
ury, notwithstanding their Act of March 4th : last. ' ' By this
prudent policy the small but precious funds of the college
safely weathered the storm. At about the same time the col-
lege library was removed to the country for safe keeping.
On November 13, 1776, President Manning wrote to an
English friend: "May you newer be alarmed, as we have
been, with the horrid roar of Artilery, and the hostile
Flames, destroying your Neighbours Habitations! These
I have repeatedly seen and heard, sitting in my House &
lying in my Bed. . . . You will not think strange that the
Colleges have suffered greatly, by this tremendous Convul-
sion: though, I believe, we have not suffered more than
our Neighbours." Less than a month later, on December 7,
C 66 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
seven ships of the line and four frigates, commanded by
Sir Peter Parker, with seventy transports carrying six thou-
sand British and Hessian troops, sailed into Newport har-
bor. "The royal Army landed on Rhode Island," wrote
Manning in a letter after the war, " & took possession of
the same : This brought their Camp in plain View from the
College with the naked Eye ; upon which the Country flew
to Arms & marched for Providence, there, unprovided with
Barracks they marched into the College & dispossesed the
Students, about 40 in Number." On December 14 Man-
ning published the following notice in The Providence Ga-
zette :
THIS is to inform all the Students, that their Attendance on Col-
lege Orders is hereby dispensed with, until the End of the next Spring
Vacation; and that they are at Liberty to return Home, or prosecute
their Studies elsewhere, as they think proper: And that those who
pay as particular Attention to their Studies as these confused Times
will admit, shall then be considered in the same Light and Standing
as if they had given the usual Attendance here.
On May 17, 1777, he published another notice:
AS the Term of Vacation in the COLLEGE at Providence is now
expired, the Students are hereby informed, that, in the present State
of public Affairs, the Prosecution of Studies here is utterly impracti-
cable, especially while this continues a garrisoned Town : It is recom-
mended therefore to them, to prosecute their Studies elsewhere, for
the present, to the best Advantage in their Power. The senior Class
are desired to meet at the College, to pass their Examination, and
receive their Degrees, at the usual Time, being the Second Day of
September next, unless the College should be called together sooner.
In accordance with these announcements the Corporation
met on September 3, 1777, and granted seven bachelor's
degrees and four master's degrees. A meeting held the fol-
lowing day was adjourned to "next Wednesday Week."
The week proved to be a long one, lasting until May 5, 1780.
C 67 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
The story of the interval, so far as exercises at the college
are concerned, is told briefly in the following entry on the
Corporation records : "As the College Edefice was taken for
Barracks and an Hospital for the American Army, and con-
tinued to be so occupied by them & the Troops of France
from December 7th: 1776 until June 1782, the course of
Education in the College, and the regular meetings of the
Corporation, were in a great measure interrupted during
that period." 1
During the war twenty-three of the sixty-seven gradu-
ates of the college between the years 1769 and 1782 engaged
in active service on the American side, some as soldiers,
others as chaplains, surgeons, and members of military
committees. None of the officers of instruction, however,
took active part in the war. Professor Howell and Tutor
Dorrance both studied law, the former resigning his pro-
fessorship in 1779. President Manning's pastorate of the
Baptist church absorbed much of his energy, the more so
because of increasing destitution and distress among his
parishioners as the war went on. But there is evidence
that he found time for other good works. Howland, in a
biographical sketch of Manning, tells how he obtained from
General Sullivan, at the last moment, a reprieve for three
soldiers condemned by court-martial, and, by hard riding,
arrived in time to prevent their execution. Early in the year
1779 he gave proof of his powers as a persuasive diplomat
in an important mission for the commonwealth. By this
time the destitution in Rhode Island was very great. ' ' Two
thousand persons," says the historian Arnold, "driven
1 In the claim for damages presented by the Corporation to the United States
Government after the Revolution it is stated that the American troops used
it for barracks and hospital from December 10, 1776, to April 20, 1780, and
that the French troops used it for a hospital from June 26, 1780, to May 27,
1782.
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
from Rhode-island were scattered about, homeless and pen-
niless, through the State, but chiefly in Providence, depend-
ent upon public or private charity." The case was the more
desperate because several of the neighboring states had laws
forbidding the exportation of food stuffs. The service that
Manning did in this crisis is best told in the words of
Howland :
The Governour and Council of War of this State, wishing to give
their language of remonstrance, a power of impression which paper
could not be made to convey, commissioned Doctor Manning to
repair to Connecticut and represent personally to the government of
that State our peculiar situation, and to confer with, and propose to
them, a different mode of procedure. The Doctor in this embassy
obtained all that he desired, the restrictions were removed, and in
addition to this, on his representation of the circumstances of the
refugees from the Islands, contributions, in money or provisions,
were made in nearly all the parishes in the interiour of Connecticut,
and forwarded for their relief.
It should be added that Deputy-Governor Bowen was also
a commissioner. The following letter to Moses Brown com-
pletes the story:
Providence March 25 th: 1779
Respected friend
The Distress of the Poor in this Town for want of Bread is so great
that unless some speedy Provision can be made I fear many must suffer
extremely, if not perish. Upon looking into the Matter I can see but
one way to prevent it; and that is that those who have any more than
for a present Supply for their Families should lend it to Capt Peleg
Clarke, to be immediately distributed, & to repay it on the Arrival of
the Grain from Connecticut, which the depths of the Roads prevent
being brought, till better Weather — Clarke says he will do this, as
soon as in his Power : But all agree that unless 20 Bushels can be got,
such a Distribution will be impracticable, so great is the Number in
distress. I have got ready five Bushels of Indian Corn, & Arthur Fen-
ner 2 Bushels of Rye: and if you can do any thing in this Way shd.
be glad you would communicate it to Capt Clarke as soon as may be.
Z e<0
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
It would be best to have the whole ground, and distributed at the
Market House. I know I need use no Arguments, but only recite the
facts to a benevolent Mind.
I am &c
James Manning
On April 29, 1779, President and Mrs. Manning left Provi-
dence on a journey by horse and carriage to the Middle
States. They were gone five months; and the President's
journal 1 contains much interesting information about bad
roads, "tremendous mountains," the crops, distinguished
men, and the political and military situation. They visited
relatives in New York and New Jersey, and reached Phila-
delphia on July 2. The return itinerary included West Point,
where Manning dined at General Greene's quarters, and
met Washington, the French ambassador, and Baron von
Steuben.
In the midst of these varied experiences President Man-
ning did not forget the college nor lose heart over its pros-
pects. In a letter of November 17, 1778, to the Rev. Thomas
Ustick, of the class of 1771, he says, after urging him to
consider settling in Pomfret, Connecticut: "It would be
a good place for a Latin school, a nursery for the College,
which I wish you immediately to engage in, and endeavor
to influence as many as you can of our people to educate
their children. . . . I have written and am about writing to
all our ministers capable of teaching Latin, to immediately
engage in the business. I hope, from present appearances,
that college orders may be again revived next spring." It
was not, however, until the spring of 1780 that even an at-
tempt could be made to resume instruction at the college.
By a notice in The Providence Gazette of April 29 , the chan-
cellor, the president, and two fellows called a meeting of the
1 Published in Guild's Brown University and Manning.
t 70 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Corporation for May 5 " at the College-Hall ' ' ; the call is
dated April 28, only eight days after the troops left the build-
ing. At this meeting, say the records, "President Manning
presented a proposal for reviving the College containing the
terms on which he would begin to instruct the youth who
might apply for Education, which was approved; and, he
was accordingly ordered to begin." His salary was fixed
at £60. In the archives is the following notice, signed by
Manning and dated April 13, 1780, or a week before the
troops vacated the college building ; it was published in the
Gazette of April 29 :
NOTICE is hereby given, that on the 10th of May next the College in
this Town will be opened, to receive the Youth who desire to prose-
cute their Studies under my Direction : And that a Grammar School
will be opened, at the same Time and Place. The Terms of Tuition,
and Boarding, may be known by applying to the Subscriber; who will
pay particular Attention as well to the Morals as Instruction of those
committed to his Care.
This courageous beginning amidst the ruin left by war was
destined to a speedy interruption. On the fifth of the next
month Governor Greene wrote to Manning the following
note, which cannot look more somber now, on its paper
browned by age, than it did to the President when it came
fresh into his hands that day:
Sir,
Doctor Craick, who is directed by General Washington to apply to
this State to be furnished with some Convenient Building for a Hos-
pital for the Reception of the French Invalids, has represented to the
Council of War that the College Edifice is the most convenient in
Every Respect for the purpose. I am desired by the Council to acquaint
you with this matter & request your attendance to give them infor-
mation of the Use, which is now made of said Edifice.
According to Backus, the building was seized on Sunday,
June 25, "while Dr. Manning was gone to preach in town. ' '
C 7i D
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
For nearly two years the college was again homeless. But
the stout-hearted President was not discouraged, nor utterly
thwarted. In September, 1780, a meeting of the Corpora-
tion, attended by four fellows and four trustees, met at his
house and reelected Stephen Hopkins as chancellor and
John Brown as treasurer, and elected David Howell sec-
retary. They transacted no other business — indeed, what
could they have done? But it is probable that they informally
sanctioned Manning's purpose to continue the work of in-
struction as best he might. It is certain that he did con-
tinue it, perhaps in his own house, for two years later four
candidates for the bachelor's degree are spoken of, in the
Corporation records, as "having pursued their Studies
under President Manning."
Some time before this, however, the college building had
been restored to the uses for which it was designed, the last
of the French invalids having been removed on May 27,
1782. But it was in a dreadful condition. Manning, in an
unpublished letter of June 17, 1782, says, "The Corpora-
tion have ordered the augean Stable cleansed. ... It is left
in a most horrid dirty, Shattered Situation. " The first draft
ofanundated petition to the General Assembly, in Manning's
hand, praying that the building may be restored to the col-
lege, contains the following graphic details: "Great Injury
hath been done to every Part of it since taken out of the Hands
of the Corporation ; Especially by two bui [l] dings adjoining
it one an House of Office at the North End, with a Vault
15 Feet deep under it, having broken down the Wall of the
College to facilitate the Passage of the Invalids from the
Edifice into it; from which Addition, the intolerable Stench
renders all the northern Part uninhabitable ; and the other an
Horse Stable bui [l] t from the East Projection to ye North
End by which the House is greatly weakened many of the
C 72 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Windows are also taken entirely out of the House, & others
so broken as well as the Slate on the Roof that the Storms
continually beat into it."
The followed undated letters, hitherto unpublished, set
before us in realistic vividness the distressful state of things,
during the occupation of the building by the French troops
at least, and the helplessness of its would-be guardians.
The urgency of the situation and the haste with which the
notes were interchanged are shown by the fact that both are
written on a single sheet, the first on one side and the reply
on the back.
Gentn
I just now am informed, through a french Soldier, that speaks Eng-
lish, that they are about knocking down the Closets in the College, to
sell the Boards; and that they are going to sell all the College Win-
dows, at the Vandue to Morrow, & say that they put them all in,
and of Course they belong to the King — These Orders, he says come
from the Commissary at Boston — There is not one of the French
now here, who was at the Repairing the College — I think Mr Jo-
seph Brown, ast. [ = assisted by?] David Martin took an Acct: of the
Situation of the Building, after the Council Voted it away — I am
inclined to think this Information true from the Noise of Hammers
there for some Days past; & from some of the Windows being taken
out — I would have seen you both if I had not been lame — The
sale begins at ten O Clock to-morrow, it will be necessary to see to
this early — Yours,
Wednesday Evg. 10 OClocke Jas. Manning
Messrs Jos : & Nicho. Brown
Sr
I can only advise your sending an account of the within addresed
to such of the Corporation as are in this town as early as you can in
the morning Requesting a meeting of them at your Howse or if you
choose at my Howse Tho it may be best upon the spott & if they
will generally come together I beleve if nothing ells can be done they
may be prevented from selling the windows
C 73 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
you will appoint the time & p[l]ace & be sure to notify all the
members in town yours
Jos Brown
N Brown
The following Gentlemen, Members of the Corporation, agreeable to
the above Advice, are earnestly requested to meet at my House this
Morng at 9 O Clock,
Thursday Momg J. Manning
6 OClocke
[Fifteen names follow.]
It was natural that the Corporation should determine to
get compensation for the use of and injury to the college
property through so long a time. They set about it early,
and kept at it for years, until, at the end of the century, the
slow machinery of government ground out partial justice.
At a meeting of seven members of the Corporation on May
31, 1782, four days after the building was vacated by the
French, a committee was appointed to make a careful esti-
mate of the damage; and their report shows that doors,
hinges, locks, window frames, etc., were gone from every
room on the first and second floors, and that serious dam-
age had been done to the walls and roof. On the basis of
this report, made June 12, 1782, the following bill, splen-
didly engrossed in a bold hand, was presented to the cen-
tral government:
The United States of America To Rhode Island College Dr. To the
use of the College Edifice of 150 Feet Long & 4 Storeys high from
10 Decemr: 1776, to 20 Aprl: 1780: for Barracks & an Hospital for
the American Troops. @ £ 120.pr: Ann: 3 yrs. 4 mo: and 10 days
£403-6-8. To the use of the College from 26 June 1780 To May
27. 1782. for a Hospital for the Troops of his Most Christian Ma-
jesty, 1 Year & 11 Months, @ £120. pr Ann. £230. To damage . . .
£675-17. Total £1309-3-8.
C 74 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
This bill was presented in 1782, and persistent attempts
were made to get a settlement. On December 13, 1792,
an additional charge of £991 s 6 d for simple interest was
calmly added, making a total of £2300 4 s 2 d , or about
$7667. On May 27, 1800, as the manuscript accounts of
Nicholas Brown, treasurer, show, the sum of $2779.13 X/
was received by the college for the use of and damage to the
building by the American troops.
C 75 ]
CHAPTER III
PRESIDENT MANNING'S ADMINISTRATION
[CONTINUED]
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES AFTER THE REVOLUTION : GROWTH OF THE
COLLEGE : COMMENCEMENTS : PERSONALITY AND WORK OF MANNING I
CURRICULUM : SCHOLARSHIP AND SUCCESS OF THE EARLY GRADUATES
THE final evacuation of the college building by the
soldiers in 1782 left the way open for a complete re-
sumption of all college activities, but the difficulties were
very great and required energetic action. The President in a
notice dated August 16, 1782, and published in The Provi-
dence Gazette of August 31, asked for a full attendance
at the coming meeting of the Corporation : ' ' The present
deplorable Situation of the College loudly calls for every
possible Assistance from all its Friends, but more especially
for that of the Corporation." In response to this call, fif-
teen trustees and six fellows met at the college on Septem-
ber 4 and 5. They granted the bachelor's degree to seven
candidates, four who had been studying under President
Manning, and three who had been juniors in college at the
time of its breaking up. They voted to ask the legislature
to approve of sundry minor changes in the charter neces-
sitated by the severance of the colonies from Great Britain.
The vigorous and judicious measures by which they met
the immediate needs of the situation and planned for the
future are best shown by a few entries from the records :
The Chancellor, the President & Henry Ward Esqr: were ap-
pointed a committee to break the old Seal of the College, which con-
tains the Busts of the present King and Queen of Great Britain; and
to agree upon a new Seal with suitable devices, to be made of Sil-
ver, and to report their proceedings thereon to this Corporation. 1
1 For an imprint of the second seal, see page 520.
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Resolved that the President & Govr: Bowen be a Committee to
arrange all the College papers, which are now loose & in a scattered
condition; and to get the same as soon as possible recorded in the
book containing the College records.
Resolved that the College Library, which, owing to the public con-
fusions, has for several years been in the country, after being compared
& examined by the Catalogue, be immediately brought, with care into
Town, that the books may be made use of by the Students, as for-
merly. — President Manning & John Jenckes Esqr : are requested to
see this order, forthwith executed.
Resolved, that a Subscription be opened for raising, not exceeding
£300 for the sole purpose of repairing the College Edefice.
The President and Jabez Bowen were appointed a commit-
tee ' ' to procure a Tutor, as soon as possible on the best terms
they can"; they engaged Ashur Robbins, a graduate of
Yale in 1782, who later entered the law, becoming United
States district attorney in 1812, and representing the state
in the national Senate from 1825 to 1839.
The college now began anew to struggle upward, but the
path was rough and progress slow. For a while the state
of things was almost desperate, for both students and funds
were lacking. A public Commencement, at which six grad-
uated, was held in 1783; but the students in college at the
outbreak of the war and those who had recently been under
Manning's private instruction having nearly all taken their
degrees, the number in attendance was now very small,
only twelve in November, 1783, and no more Commence-
ments could be held until 1786. The productive funds at
that time yielded barely £60, and there was also a great
lack of books and apparatus.
Various methods of increasing the income were open
to the Corporation, and they tried them all. We have seen
how persistently, and how long in vain, they sought to re-
cover damages from the national government. At the meet-
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
ing in September, 1782, a committee was appointed to sell
the college lands in various parts of the state, the gifts of
Esek Hopkins and others; but this plan offered little pros-
pect of relief, for agriculture was still prostrate. Because of
the general impoverishment there was also small hope of
raising much money by subscription in this country, and it
was not a favorable time to ask Englishmen to aid an Amer-
ican college. Yet Manning laid before the Corporation on
January 27, 1783, a plan for soliciting funds abroad, offer-
ing to attempt the task in person. The Corporation agreed
to the proposal, provided some suitable person could be
found to preside over the college in his absence; but this was
not easily done, and the plan was never carried out. The
President tried instead the persuasive powers of his pen.
On November 8, 1783, he wrote to the Rev. John Ryland:
' ' Can you find no Gentleman of Fortune among you who
wishes to rear a lasting Monument to his Honour in Amar-
ica? If you can direct his attention to the Hill of Providence
in the State of Rhode Island, where are [= whereon] an
elegant Edifice is already erected, which waits for a Name
from Some distinguished Benefactor The Corporation are
determined to do this Honour to its greatest." On the same
day he wrote to Thomas Llewelyn, of London : ' ' Cambridge
College was so fortunate as to attract the Attention of an
Hollis; New Haven of a Yale & New Hampshire of a Dart-
mouth: who have given their Names to these Seats of Sci-
ence. We should think ourselves no less happy in the Pat-
ronage of a Llewelin. Llewelin College appears well when
written & sounds no less agreeably when spoken." But this
might-be benefactor had died three months before, and the
ears of others seemed equally deaf.
At a meeting of the Corporation on January 8, 1784, a
comprehensive scheme was adopted. Mr. Howell was ap-
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
pointed to go to Europe to solicit funds, being promised his
expenses ' ' exclusive of his Cloathing ' ' and seven and a half
per cent of all moneys he turned in. The President was "to
try his Hand in New England," being "esteemed a Poor
Beggar" as he humorously wrote to Howell the next day.
William Rogers, the first student matriculated, was asked
to solicit "to the Southard"; and the Rev. William Van
Horn, an honorary Master of Arts in 1774, was given an
opportunity to show his gratitude by collecting funds in the
Middle States. Manning might truthfully write to Rogers,
on January 9, "You see we are determined to sweep the
Board now." On the same day he wrote a persuasive let-
ter to Howell: "Mr. Mullet, an English Mercht: of great
Character, & a Baptist, . . . tells me he thinks our Pros-
pect is flattering, if there is no Time lost in the Applica-
tion, which should be made before the People are gulled out
by other Soliciters, who are flocking over in Crouds — Dr.
Witherspoon is, I am told, already gone. I fear we shall
again make it an Afternoon Business, if delayed beyond the
Spring." But Howell and Rogers both declined, and little
came of the attempt as a whole.
The Corporation tried yet another plan : they appealed to
the king of France. Fantastic as the scheme seems now,
there were facts which made it appear feasible then, even
to the hard-headed business men of the Corporation : the
French king had been our recent ally ; his invalid soldiers
and seamen had found a hospital in the college building ;
French officers, including some members of the nobility,
being quartered in Providence for a year or more, had be-
come the warm friends of leading members of the Corpora-
tion ; and it was reported that the king had made an offer
of aid to Yale College, which had been declined. A resolu-
tion was therefore passed, at the annual meeting in 1783,
C 7.9 ]
l^
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
"that an Application be made to his most Christian Ma-
jesty to patronize this College ; and that the President, Revd:
Mr Stillman & Doctr: Water house be a committee to draught
a Petition to him for that Purpose." At a meeting on Jan-
uary 7—8, 1784, the address to the king and an accom-
panying letter to Franklin, then our minister at the French
court, were read and approved ; and it was voted that a du-
plicate of each be sent to Howell, in Congress, " to be com-
municated to the French Minister at Philadelphia, soliciting
his influence in our favour." Manning wrote to Howell the
day after, ' ' The Idea is to feel the Minister to know whether
our Proposal will take, & not to let him know of the real
Application, unless he encourages it." Howell replied, on
February 20, that the minister received him courteously
and agreed to forward the letter and the address to Franklin
with his next dispatches. Nothing more was heard of either ;
it is probable that both were swallowed up in Franklin's
massive common sense. Undiscouraged, the Corporation re-
newed the attempt to catch the ear of his Most Christian
Majesty two years later, when President Manning was in
Congress ; he and his colleague were asked to forward the
address to our new minister in France, Thomas Jefferson,
with a request for his aid. Jefferson's reply, on July 22, 1787,
courteously pricked the bubble : " I thought it necessary to
sound, previously, those who were able to inform me what
would be the success of the application. I was assured^ so as
to leave no doubt, that it would not be complied with. . . .
Upon such information I was satisfied, that it was most pru-
dent not to deliver the letter, and to spare to both parties the
disagreeableness of giving and receiving a denial." Thus
ended the first and last attempt of Brown University to get
aid from the crowned heads of Europe.
While these various methods to increase the funds and
C 8° ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
improve the equipment of the college were being tried, the
income remained practically the same. But help was slowly
coming from a humbler but surer source, an increase in the
number of students, with a small advance in the price for
tuition. The growth was fundamentally due to the reviving
prosperity of the country, but a secondary cause was bet-
ter facilities for instruction. In the autumn of 1783 Mr. N
John Brown offered to pay half the sum necessary to buy
"a compleat Philosophical Apparatus & Library" if the
Corporation would raise the other half, and in a few days
about £700 was secured for this purpose. As a result of this
timely gift, some valuable instruments and about fourteen
hundred books were soon added to the equipment. /
The next year the Faculty was much strengthened by
the appointment of two professors, "both of whom, ' ' writes
Manning, "engaged to give Lectures in their respective
Branches, without any Expence to the College while des-
titute of an Endowment." They were Joseph Brown, one
of the Brown brothers, described by Manning as "a philo-
sophical Genius," who was appointed professor of experi-
mental philosophy ; and Benjamin Waterhouse, a doctor of
medicine of the University of Leyden and professor of the
theory and practice of physic in Harvard College. The Cor-
poration voted on September 2, 1784, "That this Corpora-
tion will proceed to establish Professorships in the various
branches of Learning, in this College, as fast as suitable
persons can be found to undertake them ; and that the Presi-
dent & Professors be requested to enquire after suitable Per-
sons for such places. ' ' Professor Waterhouse served through
Manning's administration. Professor Brown died in 1785,
and was succeeded the next year by Peres Fobes, a Con-
gregationalist clergyman, who had been acting president
earlier in the year during Manning's absence in Congress, r
I 81 j
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Benjamin West was appointed professor of mathematics
and astronomy in 1786. These professorships, although
they heightened the reputation and efficiency of the college,
were lectureships merely ; the daily recitations had to be
conducted by the president and tutors. For four months in
1785-86 the college had the services of a second tutor, Rob-
ert Scott, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, who
taught the languages, arts, and sciences. He was followed
in 1786 by Abel Flint, a graduate of Yale, who withdrew
in 1790 to enter the Congregationalist ministry, and was
succeeded by Josias L. Arnold, a graduate of Dartmouth.
Meanwhile, in 1787, a third tutor had been added to the
Faculty, Jonathan Maxcy, of the class of 1787, soon to
become president.
Tutors could not be had for nothing, although professors
might be ; and it was the increase in the number of students
that made possible as well as necessary this enlargement
of the teaching corps. Manning's letters during these years
show that the college was steadily growing. On July 3,
1784, he says there were twenty-three college students,
besides nearly twenty in the grammar school ; a year later,
thirty-seven; in April, 1786, about fifty; in September,
1787, sixty ; in June of the next year, "more Students than
ever it had"; and on Christmas Day, 1789, the number
lacked "but two of Seventy." The root out of dry ground
was proving that it had life in it, and would yet grow into
a great tree.
But the relief from increase in receipts for tuition and
room rent was slow at first, and often uncertain, particu-
larly when students could not, or would not, pay their bills
promptly. From these and other causes (chiefly the refusal
of the legislature to pay him in good money for his recent
services in Congress), the winter of 1786-87 was the most
t ^ ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
distressful in Manning's life. On January 18, 1787, he
writes thus to Hezekiah Smith :
Of all the Arreerages of Tuition for the last year, & the quarter ad-
vanced in this I have not reed, Ten Pounds. I was taken sick the day
after the second great Snow. With no provisions in the Cellar, except
100 Wt. Cheese, 2 Barrels of Cyder & some Potatoes, with not a
Load of Wood at my door : Nor could I command a single Dollar
to supply these Wants. The kindness of my Neighbours, however,
kept us from suffering. But when a man has hardly earned money to
be reduced to this abject state of Dependance, requires the exercise
of more grace than I can boast of. ... I have serious thought of
removing to the farm at the Jerseys, & undertake digging for my
support. Should things wear the same unfavourable aspect next year,
I believe I shall make the experiment if my Life is spared.
Unpublished, letters to the Rev. Samuel Jones, who was
establishing a school in Kentucky and perhaps planning for
a college there, and who wanted Manning's aid, show that
he was deeply dissatisfied with conditions in Providence dur-
ing the years 1785 to 1787, and that the college narrowly
escaped losing its president:
Providence Nov. 12th: 1785 ... I really wish, should my Life be
spared, that my connections here would any how admit of my going
out with you in the Spring. I feel my Spirit moved to it, but as yet
see no way open, but by disengaging myself at once from Providence
at all events; & I see not how I can consistently do this, at least, be-
fore the next commencmt : My feelings have long since prognosticated
that I shall not spend all the remnant of my days in Providence,
unless they are few indeed. . . . The labours of my present Situation,
are, I feel most sensibly, too great for me to support.
Providence Feby 27th: 1786. . . . My determination to accompany
you to Kentucky was so fixed, that I was making my arrangements
for it before your Letter arrived; but I find it totally impracticable
to procure money sufficient for my Journey & to supply my Family
during my Absence. And, of course I must give up the design for
this year. I had not communicated my intentions to the Corporation,
nor to the Church & Society; nor did I intend doing it till near the
c 8s n
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
time of my departure, as I did not intend to have been stopped by
any remonstrances from that quarter; but the want of the Unum ne-
cessarium is a knock me down Argument, the force of which I cannot
resist. . . . You cannot imagine how much I have been pleased with
the thoughts of being your companion in travel. But I must groan
it out at Providence, for ought I can see, for the present. My pros-
pects here are not more chearing than heretofore. I expect, with all
the O economy of which I am Master to sink money again this year,
unless the Corporation grants me relief, which I have not much reason
to expect.
Providence July 23d: 1787 .. . The College Horizen, to me, is
cloudy at Providence, but what will be the final result God only
knows. I expect some trying scenes between this & Commencement.
I have lately expelled two Students, for a flagrant violation of the
College Laws, one of them a senior, is of this Town has many con-
nections, and amongst them some of the most powerful families, of
these some by Mr. Howels means, who has seized this opportunity
to raise a clamour against me, & has advised them to appeal to the
Corporation for a reversal of our Judgment, are warm, this they are
now pursuing, under Howels advice & assistance. John Brown has
become interested for the young men, & though he wishes to do me
no Injury, I expect the spirited manner in which he has taken it up
will carry him great lengths. He has conferred with me several times
on the subject, & I have told him plainly that if I must be subject to
the pointed censure of David Howel, whether I execute, or dispense
with the Laws (which has been of late the case) ; & if he must lay
hold of every opportunity to injure the Authority of College, & be
supported in it by the influential men in the Corporation, they may
take the Presidential Chair that choses, for I will not hold it; — That
I will [not] be browbeaten by that mischief making man; & that I
do not care two pence for the consequences. What will be the issue
of this affair I am yet to learn, but, I am determined to resent any
affront offered me on this subject, by that assiduous Antagonist. It is
the opinion of many that he wishes to displace me from the College.
This I believe is the truth; but it is not so agreeable to be pushed out.
The situation soon after improved in every respect, and the
President regained his usual equanimity.
C 84 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Commencements were resumed in 1786, when a class of
fifteen took their degrees. This year the seniors first wore
academic costume, in accordance with the following vote of
the Corporation on March 13 : " Resolved that in future the
Candidates for Bachelor's Degrees, being Alumni of the Col-
lege, shall be clad at Commenct : in black, flowing robes. &
caps, similar to those used at other Universities. ' ' The larg-
est graduating class under President Manning was that of
1790, numbering twenty-two, a record not equaled for sev-
eral years. The total number of graduates from 1 786 to 1 79 1
was ninety-two, as against seventy-three for all the years up
to that time. The Commencement of 1786 is noteworthy for
the presence among the candidates of Nicholas Brown, Jr.,
the future benefactor of the college, who appropriately took
for the subject of his oration, "The Advantages of Com-
merce." The contact of these early Commencements with
contemporary events was illustrated in this year by the
forensic dispute on the question, "Whether it would not
have been better for America to have remained dependent
on Great-Britain ' ' and by a " Tribute to the Memory of our
late departed Friend General Greene." The procession was
made splendid by the presence of ' ' the United Company
of the Train of Artillery, under Arms, in complete Uni-
form ' ' ; and the catholicity of the college was symbolized by
"a Choir of Singers, from all the Societies in Town," who
"performed" an anthem. The attendance of a military
company and of singers continued to be features of Com-
mencement for several years. In 1787 two innovations ap-
peared on the program, an oration in Greek and a poem.
The latter, "The Prospects of America," with the vale-
dictory addresses (also in verse), was by Jonathan Maxcy;
he ' ' was induced with reluctance to consent to its publica-
tion," says his editor, who adds that at Commencement it
C 85 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
"gained the universal Applause of a large, crouded and po-
lite Assembly. ' ' The urgent political problem of the day was
discussed by one of the orators, who spoke ' ' An Oration on
the present Appearance of public Affairs in the United States
of America," advocating "the great foederal Measures"
then being so hotly debated in the Constitutional Conven-
tion, urging ' ' the Disuse of foreign Goods, ' ' and ' ' soliciting
the fair Daughters of America to set the patriotic Example
... by banishing from their Dress the costly Gewgaws and
Articles of foreign Production." The following year all the
members of the Corporation were provided with seats on
the stage. This change threatened to crowd the graduat-
ing class off, and they petitioned to be allowed to sit on the
stage, like former classes ; adding that they hoped for a fa-
vorable answer, " knowing that you, as well as themselves,
are interested in the eclat of that day. ' ' There is no evidence
whether the request was granted or not ; but in 1790 a com-
mittee was appointed to erect a stage ' ' for the accommoda-
tion of the Corporation & Candidates at the next Commence-
ment."
The interest of the students in "the eclat of that day"
sprang in part from the fact that Commencement was to
them Class Day as well. This aspect of the occasion was
recognized by the Corporation, who voted on September 6,
1787, " that in future the Salutatory Oration at public Com-
mencements, be assigned by the President; that the Valedic-
tory and intermediate Orations, be assigned by the Classes ;
— And that the Syllogistic and Forensic Disputes, and such
other Exercises as they may judge necessary, be assigned
by the President and Tutors." The program of 1788 may
fairly be called polyglot, containing orations in Hebrew,
Greek ? Latin, French, and English. It had variety in other
ways, for it comprised a ' ' Poem on Liberty, " a " Burlesque
C 86 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Poem, on Political Projectors," a "Tribute to the Memory
of our departed Heroes," "A Dialogue in blank Verse, on
the Situation and Prospects of America," a "Comic Dia-
. logue, — to ridicule false Learning," and "A Sketch on Cre-
ation." After this display of versatility it is not surprising
that the Corporation voted, the next day," that the Gradu-
ates of this College write, or procure to be written fair copies
of their Commencement Exercises, and have them bound
in an handsome volume, annually, at their expence, to be
deposited in the College Library."
The Providence Gazette in speaking of this Commence-
ment noted that "as the Day was fine, so the Concourse
of People was prodigious." The disorder may in conse-
quence have been greater than usual ; at any rate the Cor-
poration saw fit on the day before the next Commencement
to take extra precautions for the maintenance of order, vot-
ing ' ' that James Arnold Esquire be requested to take charge
of the Baptist Meeting House to morrow, & that Major
Allen, & Mr: Martin, the Deputy Sheriffs together with
the Town Seargeant be requested to assist him, with such
others as they may employ." Even these formidable safe-
guards proved not enough, and in 1790 a committee was
appointed to "apply to the General Assembly, to authorize
and direct the Sheriff of the County of Providence to attend
on this Corporation, on Commencement days, in future, and,
by himself or deputies, to preserve the peace, good order,
and decorum, on Commencement days, in, and about the
Meeting house, in which the Public Commencement may
be celebrated." At the same meeting the Corporation tried
to strike at the underlying cause of much of the disorder
by a resolution "That it be recommended to the Baptist
Society, in future, to take effectual measures to prevent
the erection of Booths, or receptacles for liquors, or other
: 87 j
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
things for sale, and other disorderly practices on the Bap-
tist Meeting-House lot, on Commencement days."
The Commencement of 1790 was notable for several
things. The size of the class has already been mentioned ; .
the program was naturally longer than any before it, con-
sisting of thirteen numbers, and the subjects were curiously
varied. Moses Brown, Jr., true to the traditions of his
family, spoke an oration "On the History of Commerce
and Navigation " ; Asa Messer, later to be president, grap-
pled with Job Nelson in a dispute on the question, "Would
Mankind have been more happy than they now are, had
the Earth spontaneously yielded her Fruits necessary for the
Support of Man" ; one oration consisted of "Reflections
on Happiness"; Franklin, who had recently died, was
made the subject of a "Panegyric" ; a candidate for the
master's degree spoke on "The Expediency of establish-
ing a Federal University in America ' ' ; the salutatorian
followed up his Latin address by an English oration ' ' con-
gratulating the State of Rhode Island upon their Acces-
sion to the federal Government ' ' ; and the Greek oration
was on "The Slave Trade."
The event referred to by the salutatorian had brought
a distinguished visitor to Rhode Island a few weeks before,
in the person of George Washington, who came to Provi-
dence on August 18, accompanied by Jefferson, his Secre-
tary of State, and other public men. It was a holiday through-
out the town ; and in the evening, according to the Gazette,
' ' the President and many others took a Walk on the Col-
lege Green, to view the Illumination of that Eldifice, which
was done by the Students, and made a most splendid Ap-
pearance." The next day the students escorted him to the
college, where President Manning made him an address
of welcome, to which he replied, expressing his "ardent
C 88 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
wishes that Heaven may prosper the literary Institution
under your care." At Commencement, a fortnight later,
Washington was given the degree of LL.D.
The Commencement of 1 790 was the last presided over
by President Manning. For some time before his death he
seems to have had intimations that his work was almost
done, and at their meeting in September, 1790, according
to Howell, he requested the Corporation to make arrange-
ments to fill his place; but the end came suddenly at
last. On July 24, 1791, while at family prayers, he was
stricken with apoplexy, and died five days later. The Cor-
poration met at once and arranged for the funeral service,
which occurred the following day at the college. A great num-
ber of the Corporation members, graduates, students, and
citizens attended the body to the North Burying Ground,
where it was laid beside that of Nicholas Brown, Sr., who
had died a few months before. Howell wrote of the funeral,
"It was the largest & most solemn that I have ever seen
in this place."
A sketch of President Manning, published in The Provi-
dence Gazette of August 6, and attributed to Judge Howell,
said:
His Countenance was stately and majestic, full of Dignity, Goodness
and Gravity; and the Temper of his Mind was a Counterpart to it.
— He was formed for Enterprize — his Address was pleasing, his
Manners enchanting, his Voice harmonious, and his Eloquence almost
irresistible. . . . The good Order, Learning and Respectability, of
the Baptist Churches in the Eastern States, are much owing to his
assiduous Attention to their Welfare. — The Credit of his Name,
and his personal Influence among them, perhaps have never been ex-
ceeded by any other Character. ... In State Affairs he discovered
an uncommon Degree of Sagacity, and might have made a Fig-
ure as a Politician. In classical Learning he was fully competent to
the Business of Teaching, although he devoted less Time than some
C 89 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
others in his Station to the Study of the more abstruse Sciences : In
short, Nature seemed to have furnished him so completely, that little
remained for Art to accomplish. The Resources of his Genius were
great. In Conversation he was at all Times pleasant and entertain-
ing. He had as many Friends as Acquaintance, and took no less
Pains to serve his Friends than acquire them. . . . Few Persons ever
enjoyed a more excellent Constitution, or better Health. Increasing
Corpulence, occasioned chiefly by his Confinement to the Labours
of his Station (for he was temperate in his Diet) gave him some
Complaints of ill Health, of late Years.
This sketch may be confirmed and amplified from other
sources.
President Manning's countenance is well known from
the portrait in Sayles Hall, which was bequeathed to the
college by Mrs. Manning at her death in 1815. 1 "Doctor
Manning was 32 years old when his picture was done,"
wrote Solomon Drowne, his pupil and close friend. "You
will see it was not the production of an eminent artist,
though deemed a pretty good likeness at that time. He wore
his own graceful hair, and there was a dignity in his port
and countenance which that picture by no means reaches. "
The suggestion of robust vigor in the portrait is confirmed
by tradition. Professor Goddard says, ' ' He sometimes made
his own stone wall ; and in the use of the scythe, he ac-
knowledged no superior among the best trained laborers
in the meadow." His prowess as a maker of stone walls is
attested by this entry on the Corporation records of Sep-
tember 3, 1777 : "President Manning laid before the Cor-
poration an Accompt for making thirty two Rods of Stone
wall on the College Land." Even in his later years, accord-
ing to one of his pupils, "his motions and gestures were so
Manning's portrait, and that of Mrs. Manning which hangs beside it, were
painted, according to Dr. Guild, by Cosmo Alexander, Gilbert Stuart's first
teacher.
C 9° 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
easy and graceful, that ordinary observers thought not of his
immense volume of flesh, and those who criticised, admired
the manner in which it was spontaneously wielded.' 7 His
mingled grace and dignity when presiding at Commence-
ment are said to have called forth an admiring "Natalis
praesidere " from a French gentleman who was once present.
He was of the most happy disposition and temperament
— always cheerful — much inclined to society and conver-
sation," wrote Ashur Robbins, Manning's first colleague
after the Revolution ; "in conversation more disposed to
pleasantry than seriousness; fond of anecdote, especially
if illustrative of character, of which he had a store." The
cheerfulness and animation of his mind in lighter moods are
well illustrated by a letter of May 5, 1773, to his old col-
lege friend, Hezekiah Smith : "Now therefor, as I am tied
to College, pray take Mrs. Smith, the Heir Apparent & the
new Chaise and come and take your Station for a Week or
two, on the Hill of Providence, where I will ensure you ex-
cellent good Water ; the best my House affords & our good
Company — Pray what more would you have? If any thing,
in my Power, to render the visit still more agreeable, depend
on it, you shan't be wanting it — I have made a Tour into
ye hither Parts of Connecticut this Vacation, & preached
15 times, in 14 Days. 7 of them in Presbyterian Meeting
Houses. What do you think of that? See what it is to be
catholic like me ; while you with brandishing Weapons take
the field of Mars, like an old Veteran that scorns to let his
Sword rust — Good Success to you if you must draw."
The tolerant breadth of mind and temper which Dr.
Manning here playfully claims showed itself in many ways.
In his charge to the graduating class of 1773 he said,
Challenge the glorious prerogative of thinking for your-
selves in religious matters, and generously grant to others
C 91 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
without a grudge what you yourselves deem the dearest
of all blessings." What he preached he himself practiced,
within the limitations of his day and place. At the end of
a controversial letter on baptism he writes thus : ' ' You may
probably esteem me rigid from this Specimen, & greatly
attached to Externals : but I think otherwise of myself ;
I think I love the followers of the Lamb, under whatever
Denomination they pass amongst Men. I esteem them my
Brethren ; and feel disposed to make all proper Allowances
for the Prejudices of Institution, and ye Weaknesses of hu-
man Nature, knowing that I myself also am in the Body;
and peculiarly need the Candour of my Xtn. [= Christian]
friends." It was consistent with this spirit that, in a time
marked by ardor in sectarian theology, Manning's sermons
were practical rather than doctrinal. Mr. Robbins said, ' ' He
occasionally touched and dwelt upon some doctrinal point ;
but it was incidentally, as it were, and subordinate to some
practical view, the scope of his discourse."
It must not be inferred, however, that Manning was out
of sympathy with his sect. On the contrary he agreed with
it in all essentials, and stoutly stood up for its rights. "Dr.
Manning, ' ' wrote Robbins, ' ' was the acknowledged head of
the Baptist clergy of his time. He was so considered in Eng-
land as well as in this country." It was doubtless in rec-
ognition of his leadership that the University of Pennsyl-
vania gave him the degree of D.D. in 1785. This preem-
inence was of course due in part to his position as president
of the only college connected with the denomination ; but
it was fundamentally the result of his personal gifts — his
genuine goodness, his breadth of mind, his administra-
tive ability, his knowledge of human nature, and his power
as a writer and speaker. Even President Ezra Stiles, in the
midst of a prejudiced estimate of Manning in his diary,
C 92 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
admits that he was " somthg in Oratory & belles Lettres,"
and "a popular Preacher." Of his fluency and power as a
speaker there is no question. President Maxcy said : "His
eloquence was forcible and spontaneous. To every one
who heard him, ... it was evident that the resources of his
mind were exceedingly great." Robbins said: "His pul-
pit discourses were all ex tempore. . . . His manner was
earnest, but never vehement. He made no effort at oratory,
or at display of learning." On the last day of the Massa-
chusetts constitutional convention, when President Man-
ning was invited by Governor Hancock to offer a closing
prayer, he poured out "a strain of exalted patriotism and
fervid devotion, which awakened in the assembly a mingled
sentiment of admiration and awe." Professor Waterhouse,
who tells the incident, adds that "the praise of Rev. Dr.
Manning was in every mouth," and that " nothing but the
popularity of Dr. Stillman prevented the rich men of Boston
from building a church for Dr. Manning's acceptance."
David Howell, himself a member of Congress and a
judge, speaks of President Manning's capacity for public
affairs. His fellow citizens recognized this ability by thrice
intrusting him with political duties. The first occasion, dur-
ing the war, has already been described. His election to the
federal Congress in March, 1786, is said by Robbins to
have come about because he chanced to "look in upon the
Assembly ' ' one afternoon when there was a vacancy in the
delegation, and Commodore Hopkins, suddenly struck with
his fitness for the place, nominated him then and there.
He attended to his political duties with able and consci-
entious thoroughness, but was so deeply incensed at the
conduct of the state in neglecting to support him, either
with money, colleague, or instructions, that a congressional
career of seven months was more than enough for him. He
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
resigned his seat on October 25, but was still boiling in
January, when he wrote to Hezekiah Smith : ' ' The Paper
Money of this State has run down to 6 for one, notwith-
standing which the Legislature continue it as a tender. . . .
At the last Session I petitioned them to pay my Advances,
& the remainder of my Salary as Delegate, amounting to
upwards of 400 Dollars, this they offered to do in their
paper, but no other way. . . . A more infamous set of men,
under the Character of a Legislature, never, I beleve, dis-
graced the Annals of the World." Yet when Rhode Island,
having delayed ratification of the Constitution, found its
exports to other states subject to a tariff, and the seaport
towns had to petition Congress for exemption, President
Manning was chairman of the committee that drafted the
petition from Providence, and was one of the delegates ap-
pointed to present the document. In this mission, again,
most of the work fell upon him, and his zeal and shrewd-
ness carried it through.
Manning's interest in public affairs was so deep, and his
desire for a stronger national government so great, that he
worked with voice and pen for the ratification of the new
Constitution. Hewrote to Isaac Backus on October 3 1 , 1787,
requesting him to use his influence to have the minutes of
the Baptist Association of Philadelphia ' ' read publickly in
all the Congregations" in order that "by the notice taken
of the new form of the federal Governmt : recommended
by the Convention, our friends in New England may see
the remarkable Unanimity of our western Brethren in the
adoption of it." On February 11, 1788, he wrote to Heze-
kiah Smith : " I felt so deeply interested in the adoption of
the new federal constitution by your State, that I attended
the Debates in Convention more than a fortnight, & ex-
pected to have seen you at Boston on that Occasion. Icon-
[ 94- ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
sidered Massachusetts the hinge on which the whole must
turn." He was not merely a spectator: most of the Baptist
clerical delegates were opposed to the Constitution, and he
labored to bring them over to the federalist side.
President Manning also did public service in connec-
tion with the schools of Providence. When the college was
founded there was still no system of free public schools
in any part of Rhode Island. In 1768 a plan for the estab-
lishment of four free schools in Providence was defeated by
popular vote, and for many years longer the town had none.
Some of the private schools, however, received aid from the
public funds and some oversight from a school committee ;
and Manning served on this committee for many years,
much of the time as chairman. In June, 1791, a petition
was presented in town meeting for the establishment of
free schools ; it was referred to the school committee, who
made a favorable report on August 1 , two days after Man-
ning was buried. The report, which was signed by him and
was doubtless largely or wholly his work as chairman, may
be considered his final word in behalf of the cause of edu-
cation to which he had devoted his life ; and although free
schools were not established in Providence until nine years
later, this report of Manning's must have helped to prepare
the way.
As administrator of the college, President Manning's suc-
cess was freely recognized by his contemporaries. Howell,
in a letter of August 3, 1791, speaks of his being "cele-
brated for many shining abilities which peculiarly qualified
him to preside," and says, "We are apprehensive that
the Institution may suffer a temporary relapse unless some
known &, established Character can be induced to supply
the Vacancy soon." Isaac Backus wrote to an English
friend on August 19, 1791, "We have no idea of obtain-
t 95 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
ing any man who will equal President Manning in all re-
spects, at least soon," and specifies his "gift of governing
so as to be both feared and beloved by all ' ' as one of the
things which "rendered him the most accomplished man
for that station of any one that I ever saw." President
Maxcy said, "In the College over which he presided, his
government was mild and peaceful ; conducted by that per-
suasive authority, which secures obedience while it concil-
iates esteem."
In scholarship Manning was not great : he was too busy
for that. 1 His own description of his manner of life, as re-
ported by Dr. Waterhouse, helps one to realize how crowded
his days were:
I shall never forget what Dr. Manning, in great good humor, told
me were among his trying "experiences." He told me that ... he
performed all the duties of President of the College; heard two classes
recite, every day; listened to complaints, foreign and domestic, from
undergraduates and their parents of both sexes, and answered them,
now and then, by letter; waited, generally, on all transient visiters
into college, &c. &c. Nor was this all. * I made," said Dr. Manning,
"my own garden and took care of it; repaired my dilapidated walls;
went nearly every day to market; preached twice a week, and some-
times oftener; attended, by solicitation, the funeral of every baby that
died in Providence; visited the sick of my own Society, and, not un-
frequently, the sick of other Societies; made numerous parochial visits,
the poorest people exacting the longest, and, in case of any seeming
neglect, finding fault the most."
But although not a profound student of any one subject, he
was a good all-round scholar, as his standing in New Jer-
sey College showed, with special gifts in the languages and,
as we have seen, in oratory. Dr. Stiles admitted that "He
was a pretty good Linguist," praise which meant much,
1 The inventory of his effects after his death estimates his books and maps
at £15 11 s 6 d , or less than $52.
C 96 2
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
coming from so learned a man. Robbins gave this interest-
ing reminiscence of him as a teacher : " I well recollect to
have heard the students of the classes whom he chose to
take through Longinus particularly, often speak with admi-
ration of his comments upon that author, and of the happy
and copious illustrations he gave of the principles from
which Longinus deduces the sublime. I could readily be-
lieve the admiration was merited; for I know he had paid
great attention to the general principles of oratory, and par-
ticularly to those of elocution, of which he was an admir-
able preceptor." An example of his thought and style in
his lectures on philosophy, taken from Solomon Drowne's
note-book (copied from Theodore Foster's) of the year 1772,
may aid us in estimating Manning's power as a teacher :
If we take a short Survey of the World we live on; What a glorious
Proof of the divine Existence is the Air ? That soft, thin and yeild-
ing Body, so fit for vital Motion, that it seems the very Nourishment
of Life, and so transparent that the Rays of the Sun pass thro' it with-
out any Difficulty; tho' placed at an immense Distance ? What Wisdom
tempered it so nicely, as at once to be a proper Vehicle for Light, and
Nutriment for Life ? What Power has made it so thin and fluid an
Element, the safe Repository of Thunder and Lightning, Winds and
Tempests ? By what skilful Hand is the Water, which is drawn from
the Sea, curiously distilled, and bottled up in the Clouds, to be sent
on the Wings of the Wind, and scattered over the Face of the Earth
in gentle Showers? . . . Who painted and perfumed the Flowers?
How comes it that the same Water or Air, dies them with different
Colours, the scarlet, the purple, the carnation, and whence have they
those sweet Odours which they breath with insensible subtlety, and
diffuse into the Air for our Delight?
It is probable that, whatever the subject, his deepest interest,
even in the class-room, was not intellectual but ethical and
religious. Simeon Doggett,in his "Oration, on the Death
of the Rev. President Manning" at the Commencement of
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
1791, said : "How naturally at our College exercises would
a very slight connection lead his discourse to moral and reli-
gious subjects! Upon these subjects, with what additional
ardor would he discourse ! These occasions seemed to add
new life to his faculties. They would add warmth to his
heart, brightness to his understanding, and eloquence to his
tongue."
It remains to sketch the inner life of the college during the
administration of President Manning. The Laws of 1783,
printed in the Appendix, give a comprehensive view, and
may serve as a background to the sketch.
The spirit in which the institution was administered by
the Corporation deserves mention at the outset. The work
that the first fellows and trustees did, with small means and
in the face of great difficulties, must forever claim admira-
tion and gratitude ; and in particular they deserve praise for
standing so consistently by the principle of religious free-
dom laid down in the charter. At the first annual meeting
in the city of Roger Williams, on September 6, 1770, they
voted ' ' That the Children of Jews may be admitted into
this Institution and intirely enjoy the freedom of their own
Religion, without any Constraint or Imposition whatever."
In candor it should be added that the vote was called forth
by an inquiry from a Jewish merchant in South Carolina,
who sent a small gift, and said that if the rumored catholi-
city of the new college was a fact, his liberality should ' ' ex-
ceed beyond ye : bounds of yr : Imagination. ' ' The Corpora-
tion must have known, however, that catholicity might repel
as well as attract gifts. At all events they stood loyally by
the charter; and although nothing more was heard from the
prospective benefactor, they took care to guard jealously the
religious scruples of Jews, Quakers, and members of other
sects, as the following extracts from the Laws of 1774 prove :
C 98 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
That every Student attend publick Worship every first Day of the
Week steadily at such Places as he, his Parents or Guardians shall
think proper; provided that any who do not attend with any Officers
of Instruction, produce Vouchers when Demanded of his steady &
orderly Attendance.
N . . B . . Such as regularly & statedly keep the Seventh Day, as a
Sabbath, are excepted from this Law ; & are only required to abstain
from Secular Concerns which would interupt their fellow Students.
That, no Student wear his hat within the College Walls; excepting
those who steadily attend the F[r]iends Meeting.
That if any Student of this College shall deny the being of a God,
the Existence of Virtue and Vice ; or that the Books of the old and
new Testament are of divine Authority, or Suggest any Scruples of
that Nature or circulate Books of such pernicious Tendency, or fre-
quent the Company of those who are known to favour such fatal
Errors, He shall for the second Offence be absolutely and forever
expelld from this College. Young gentlemen of the Hebrew nation
are to be excepted from this Law.
From the last law it is manifest that the Corporation's lib-
erality did not extend to deists and atheists, who must sup-
press their opinions or leave the college. Herein they fell short
of the spirit of Roger Williams, with his magnificent dec-
laration that " It is the will and command of God, that . . .
a permission of the most Paganish, Jewish, Turkish or Anti-
christian consciences and worships, bee granted to all men in
all Nations and Countries.'''' They were, however, within the
letter of the charter, since atheists and deists do not belong
to any "Religious Denominations' ' ; and the preamble to the
law shows that they based their action on the broad ground
that infidelity was a moral pest, which it was their duty to
keep out of the college.
In another important respect the Corporation and the Pres-
ident acted in absolute harmony with the unsectarian provi-
sions of the charter. No sectarian instruction in the class-
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U^
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
room was allowed or attempted. The college was assailed
from time to time as narrow, as wholly under the control of
the Baptists, as building with public funds a parsonage for
a Baptist minister, etc. ; but no enemy, so far as is known,
ever accused it of making sectarian principles a part of the
course of study. Solomon Drowne's note-book affords direct
proof that President Manning, in his lectures on natural
theology and the credibility of miracles, avoided the least
reference to the distinctive tenets of the Baptists.
As interpreters and administrators of the charter in its
relation to the officers of government and instruction, the
Corporation evinced a broad spirit. When electing members
and officers of their own body, they interpreted generously
the terms describing the different religious denominations,
making no distinction between the various stripes of Bap-
tists, not inquiring into the orthodoxy of Congregationalists,
and putting into the chancellorship a man whose stand-
ing in his own sect, the Quakers, was at least doubtful. In
the clause of the charter declaring that places on the Fac-
ulty, that of the president excepted, shall be "open for all
Denominations of Protestants," they interpreted "Protes-
tants ' ' to include Jews ; for in a letter drafted by Manning
at the direction of the Corporation, in 1770, replying to the
inquiry of the Jewish merchant, the committee express will-
ingness to appoint a Jew as professor of Hebrew. Twelve
years later, in a rough draft of a letter to a French noble-
man, Manning asks him to assure the French king that
the charter's discrimination against Roman Catholics on the
Faculty was adopted in ' ' the Times of our Ignorance, ' ' and
that if the state constitution were amended so as to remove
all disabilities from Roman Catholics, as then seemed prob-
able, he had small doubt that the college charter would be
amended also. This passage in the letter was finally can-
C 100 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
celed, but at least it showed the spirit of the head of the
Corporation. In the appointments which were actually made
to the Faculty no sectarian narrowness appears. Of the seven
tutors in Manning's time, four were not Baptists; and when
it was necessary to choose a vice-president during Man-
ning's absence in Congress, the Corporation selected a Con-
gregationalist clergyman, whom they soon after made pro-
fessor of natural philosophy. In bestowing honorary degrees,
also, they showed the same liberality; although a decided
majority went to leading Baptist clergymen at home and
abroad, as was natural enough when they were trying to
arouse interest in the college throughout the denomina-
tion, yet thirteen were given to clergymen of other folds,
including three of the English Church — Henry Foster of
Oxford University, John Newton, Cowper's friend, and
Augustus Toplady, the hymn-writer — and one Unitarian,
the pastor of King's Chapel, Boston.
The personnel of the Corporation changed greatly during
Manning's administration, twelve fellows and thirty-six
trustees resigning or dying. At the death of Stephen Hop-
kins in 1785, Jabez Bo wen, a graduate of Yale and a for-
mer chief justice of the Rhode Island supreme court, was
chosen chancellor. Dr. Eyres resigned the secretaryship in
1776, and was succeeded by Thomas Arnold, who served
until 1780, when David Howell was elected. The first treas-
urer held office only three years ; Job Bennet served until
1775, and was succeeded by John Brown.
No record exists of the requirements for admission to
Rhode Island College before the Revolution, but it is safe
to assume that they were similar to those in New Jersey
College at the time Manning was a student there. The re-
quirements at the latter in 1764, at least, were almost iden-
tical with the following at Providence in 1783 : " No person
C 1Q i ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
may expect to be admitted into this College, unless, upon
examination by the President and Tutors, he shall be found
able to read accurately construe and parse Tully and the
Greek Testament, and Virgil; and shall be able to write
true Latin in prose, and hath learned the rules of Prosody
and Vulgar Arithmatic ; and shall bring suitable Testimony
of a blameless life & conversation." The requirements at
King's College in 1755 and at Yale in 1759 were similar.
It will be noted that the work for admission, although of
very limited range, was definite, and the examination tested
power rather than memory ; if the conditions were enforced,
the freshmen of those days must have had a real command
of the Latin language. How much of each Latin author was
read cannot be determined ; at King's College three orations
of Cicero and the first three books of the Aeneid were spe-
cified, and that may have been the usual amount.
The curriculum also was restricted in range. Our know-
ledge of it in the early years of Manning's administration
is derived almost entirely from the following memoranda
collected by a descendant from the papers of Solomon
Drowne, of the class of 1773 ; it should be observed that he
was in college only a little more than three years, and that
the record of his last year is incomplete :
' 1770. After examination in June, by the Rev. James Manning and
Prof. David Howell, entered Rhode Island College July 2d. Began
Horace, Longinus & Lucian in October, and French in December.
1771. . . . Commenced Geography in January; Xenephon in Feb-
ruary; Watts Logic in May; Ward's Oratory in June; Homer's
Iliad in July; Duncan's Logic in August; Longinus in October;
Hill's Arithmetic same month; Hammond's Algebra and British
Grammar in December.
1772. Began Ethics, January; Euclid's Elements, February, also
Metaphysicks, Trigonometry, Cicero de Oratore; Martin's Philoso-
[ 102 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
phy in May; Martin's Use of the Globes, August; Hebrew Gram-
mar, December. •
The Laws of 1 783 give the whole course of study at that
time as follows :
The President and Tutors, according to their judments, shall teach
and instruct the several Classes in the learned Languages and in the
liberal Arts and Sciences, together with the vernacular Tongus —
The following are the clasics appointed for the first year, in Latin,
Virgil, Cicero's Orations and Horace, all in usum Delphini. In Greek,
the new Testament, Lucians Dialogues & Zenophon's Cyropaedia; —
For the second year, in Latin, Cicero de Oratore & Caesars Com-
mentaries; — In Greek Homer's Iliad & Longinus on the sublime, to-
gether with Lowth's vernacular Grammar, Rhetoric, Wards Oratory,
Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution, Guthrie's Geography, Kaims Ele-
ments of Criticism, Watts's and Duncan's Logic. — For the third
year, Hutchinsons moral Philosophy, Dodridges Lectures, Fennings
Arithmatic, Hammonds Algebra, Stones Euclid, Martins Trigonom-
etry, Loves Surveying, Wilsons Navigation, Martins Philosophia Bri-
tannica, & Ferguson's Astronomy, with Martin on the Globes. — In
the last year, Locke on the Understanding, Kennedy's Chronology
and Bollingbroke on History; and the Languages, Arts & Sciences,
studied in the foregoing years, to be accurately reveiwed.
/
Oral examinations were held quarterly.
An extract from a letter of the President on March 18,
1784, gives a more intimate idea of the teaching of these
subjects :
If Mr Wood means to enter the Sophimore Class next Fall I advise
him to read with great Attention Cicero & the Greek Testat: and make
himself Master of the Grammar of each Language; also to study with
great Attention Lowth's English Grammar, & Sterling's, or Turner's
Rhetoric, as preparatory to Wards Oratory. — To read Horace, &
Zenophon's Cyropedia, & accustom himself to compose in English.
We use Guthrie's Geography & Watts & Duncan's Logic : But we
don't commonly study those before the 2d Year, as we wish to have
their Knowledge in the Languages well advanced in the first Year.
C 103 1
u-
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Should the Class advance faster, I will let you know. I think a further
Attention, at present, to mathematical Studies, may not be advan-
tageous.
What strikes the modern reader most forcibly on a first
view of this course of study is its meagerness. English liter-
>s/ ature, other modern languages and literatures, most of the
natural sciences, and all the social sciences are absent, and
slight attention is given to history and metaphysics. But on
further inspection it seems even more singular that relatively
so little time, after all, is allotted to Greek and Latin. They
do not appear in the last two years, except by way of review
in the senior year; and in the first two years, although they
receive the greater share of the time, only four Latin and
four Greek authors are studied, the dramatists, historians,
and philosophers being totally untouched. Another surprise
is that mathematics is taken up so late in the course, and
carried such a little way, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and
their applications all being crowded into the junior year.
In the curriculum, as in the entrance requirements, the ex-
ample of New Jersey College was followed; but the studies
in the other Amercian colleges were substantially similar,
although at Harvard arid King's College there was a some-
what wider range in the classics.
One important feature of the curriculum, the training in
English composition and public speaking, is not adequately
shown by the preceding statements. John Brown, in resign-
ing from the Corporation in 1 803 , wrote, ' ' The most beauti-
ful and handsome mode of speaking was a principal Object,
to my certain knowledge, of the first Friends to this Col-
lege." His statement is borne out by these provisions in the
Laws of 1774: "That, every evening two shall pronounce
on the Stage, begining with the Senior Class and proceeding
Alphabitecaly down through all the Classes. . . . That, on
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
the first Wednesday of every Month each Student shall pub-
lickly pronounce an Oration, which he shall have previously
Committed to Memory. . . . The Senior & Junior Classes
shall each of them write a Dispute every Week, & read the
same, upon such Subjects as shall be appointed them." In
the Laws of 1783 it is specified that at the monthly speaking
the two upper classes shall make use of their own composi-
tions"; and it is added that "all the members of the College
shall meet every Wednesday afternoon in the Hall, at the
ringing of the Bell at 2 OClock, to pronounce before the
President & Tutors, pieces well committed to memory, that
they may receive such corrections in their manner, as shall
be judged necessary." This emphasis upon public speaking
was then common in American colleges, which were educat-
ing men chiefly for the ministry and the law, in times that put
a high value upon skill in the use of voice or pen. The train-
ing was not wholly in English, for in addition to translation
from the classic languages there were frequent "disputes "
in Latin. One of the Laws of 1774 says that "Latin Syllo-
gistic disputes are to be kept up & duly cultivated." How
often they occurred is not certain, but there must have
been a good deal of practice if the students were to acquit
themselves well in the Latin dispute which before the Revo-
lution formed a part of every Commencement program. 1
1 It was " omitted for want of time " in 1 78 6 , and then dropped altogether. But
the custom of printing on a " broadside ' ' a formidable list of Latin theses, which
the candidates for degrees were supposed to be ready to defend against all
comers — a curious survival from the Middle Ages — lasted well into the next
century. In pre-Revolutionary days one of these theses was the subject of the
Latin disputation at Commencement; and another, turned into English for
the benefit of the unlearned, was debated in the vernacular. On the broadside
the two theses which were to be discussed were printed in italics or large type ;
in 1769 the subject for the debate about American independence was thus
phrased : Americanos in rerum statu praesenti res novas moliri, Reipublicae
administrandae solertiae male convenit." The theses were grouped under
many heads — ' ' Grammatica, " " Rhetorica, " " Logica, " " Mathesis, ' *
[ 105 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
The method of instruction in all subjects was chiefly
by recitations from textbooks, but in philosophy and logic,
at any rate, the President supplemented the textbook by
lectures of his own ; and the professors appointed after the
Revolution gave lectures only. The President's lectures in
philosophy, so far as Drowne's note-book reproduces them,
contained a compact and clear, though rather superficial,
resume of the more important doctrines of psychology, in-
tellectual and moral philosophy, ontology, and natural the-
ology. The shortness of the course is shown by Drowne's
memorandum on the front cover : ' ' Began to write it Feb-
uary ye: 1st: Began to Study it Feby. ye: 26th: : Anno
Domini 1772 — Finish studying it. March ye: 6th. 1772."
On the back cover is the entry, "Our Class say the last
Recitation in this Book. March ye: 6th. Domini 1772."
' The sciences, so far as they were taken up at all, must
have been studied mainly from textbooks, for laboratory
work was impossible; but Corporation, Faculty, and stu-
dents early realized the need of apparatus for the perform-
ance of illustrative experiments. The Corporation in 1768
requested the President to write to Morgan Edwards, then
collecting funds in Great Britain, and ask him to "pur-
chase an Air-Pump a Telescope and a Microscope out of
the Monies at any Time in his Hands by the Consent of
the Donors," the money to be replaced by funds raised
in America. The next year the students showed scientific
ardor and business enterprise by circulating a subscription
paper with the following preamble:
Phy sica, " " Theologia, " " Politia, ' ' etc. , — and included all sorts of topics,
from favorite problems of the schoolmen to burning contemporary questions,
such as the lawfulness of the slave trade ("Africanorum invectio coloniis hisce
nostris incommoda est et illicita ") , or the tyranny of taxation without repre-
sentation ( ' ' Senatui populis vectigalia imponendi, qui in illo senatu non reprae-
sentantur, jus non est")-
[ 106 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Whereas there are a Number of Students in Rhode Island College,
engaged in the Study of natural Philosophy, & desirous of pursuing
the same to the greatest Advantage; and Sd: College, by Reason of
it's present infant State, is destitute of some Conveniences, which others
on the Continent enjoy —
These are therefore to Solicit all Gentlemen, who are well- Wishers
to the Design, to Contribute towards purchasing an Electrical Appa-
ratus, which would be of immediate Utility to the Students, & Curi-
osity to such transient Gentlemen, as have turn'd their Attention to the
popular Subject of Electricity.
N.B. An Account of the Subscribers, will be enter'd upon the Gen-
eral List of Donors, to Sd: College.
Warren, 19th. of August, 1769.
Nine students subscribed £2 11 s , and two "Gentlemen of
Newport" and seven of Warren £5 14 s , making a total
of £8 5 s , or $27.50. Some if not all of these instruments
were secured, for in a letter of February 21, 1772, Presi-^
dent Manning wrote : ' ' Our Apparatus consists of a pair of
Globes, two Microscopes and an Electrical Machine : to this
we are desirous of making the Addition of an Air Pump, if
one reputable can be purchased for £22.10 Sterl:; a Sum
which two young Gentleme [n] informed me they intended
to give towards an Apparatus, or Library." The college
owned a telescope in 1782, as appears in a letter of July 13
from Joseph Brown to David Howell : "I dont know whether >
I ever told you of the Ingury our Tellescope has receved in
attempting to have the tarnish or rust taken off the mettal
Speculums . . . When I come to putt them to tryal I could
see through the Tellescope scarcely at all but only jest bearly
to descearn a large object very indistinctly and so thisEx-
elent instrument has been rendered totally usless for about
a year."
It may have been the condition of the telescope which
incited John Brown and other members of the Corporation
[ 107 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
to raise a sum for the purchase of the "compleat Philo-
sophical Apparatus " in 1783. By Manning's letters in the
following year we learn some particulars about these new
instruments. On March 18 he writes: "The Air-Pump
with its Apparatus complete is arrived. It cost £50 Sterlg:
in London, & is, perhaps, the completest in America, made
on the New Construction. Mr Joseph Brown has not yet
compleated his List of the Apparatus, for want of some
Information, on that Subject, which he has not yet been
able to obtain. ' ' On September 13 he writes : ' ' The amount
of upwards of £200 Sterl : was also ordered in a necessary
philosophical Apparatus, in Addition to what we already
have — Consisting chiefly of a Telescope, an Air Pump &
N its Apparatus, Globes, & a Thermometer."
For many years the college was almost as destitute of
books as of scientific apparatus. In 1768 Morgan Edwards
V was authorized to buy in Great Britain ' ' such Books as he
shall think necessary at this Time not exceeding Twenty
Pounds value." No other appropriation for books was made
until 1784, and the collection grew very slowly. In 1772
Manning wrote that the library consisted of about two
hundred and fifty volumes, "and those not well chosen,
being such as our friends could best spare. " Small and poor
as the library was, it was carefully guarded during the Rev-
olution, as we have seen, and at the end of the war was
brought back to town. The new tutor, Mr. Robbins, wrote
years afterwards: " At the reorganization of the College, in
the autumn of 1782, I was appointed to the office of tutor,
and took charge of the Library as librarian. It was then
kept in the east chamber on the second floor of the central
building; the volumes it contained were quite limited in
number — these mostly the primary editions of the works
in folio and quarto. The precise number I am not able to
c i°8 :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
recollect ; my impression is that it did not exceed two or
three hundred." His memory was at fault as to the num-
ber, for Manning says, in a letter of November 8, 1783,
' ' Our Library consists of about 500 Volumes most of which
are both very antient & very useless, as well as very ragged
& unsightly." In the archives is a catalogue of books, in
Manning's hand, which appears to have been made at this
time. It shows that there were then 607 volumes, most of
them theological, these being the works which the friends
of learning even in those days "could best spare" ; but the
Greek and Latin classics were well represented, especially
Ovid ; Moliere and Pascal were included ; while Hooker,
Hobbes, Jeremy Taylor, Bunyan, Milton, and The Spectator
were the only English classics.
With the raising of £700 for the purchase of philosophi-
cal apparatus and books, in 1783, came a great change for
the better. About fourteen hundred volumes, selected chiefly
by the President and the Chancellor, were ordered from Lon-
don in 1784; they covered a wide range, and must have
come like showers on a thirsty land to the Faculty and stu-
dents of Rhode Island College. A few titles, taken almost at
random, will illustrate the variety and richness of the ad-
ditions: Ossian, Addison, Anson's Voyages, Burke on the
Sublime and Beautiful, Life of Clarendon, Montesquieu,
Robertson's Charles V, Rousseau's Inequality of Mankind,
Winckelmann on Painting, Gay's Fables and Poems, Black-
stone's Commentaries, Young, Thomson, The Turkish Spy,
Robinson Crusoe, Pope's Complete Works, Colley Cib-
ber's Works, Congreve's Works, The Chinese Spy, The
Jewish Spy, The Idler and Rambler, Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu's Letters, Otway's Works, Hume, Swift, Gold-
smith, Junius, Dryden,Hudibras.In the same year Moses
Brown gave some forty-six volumes, including the works
r 109 3
/
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of Fox, Barclay, Penn, Woolman, and other Quakers; and
John Tanner, of Newport, gave a hundred and thirty-five
volumes of miscellaneous works, some of them especially
valuable for the study of New England church history.
In 1785 a hundred and forty-nine volumes, including sev-
eral of the church fathers, Sale's translation of the Koran,
Bayle's Dictionary, Chambers's Cyclopaedia, and the Bio-
graphia Britannica, were received from the Education So-
ciety of Bristol, England.
I The college now having a valuable library of two thou-
sand volumes or more — and Harvard at this time had only
twelve thousand — the Corporation passed special votes re-
garding the arrangement and care of it. In November, 1784,
they voted and resolved, "That the old books which stand
on the right hand, as we enter the Library room, be, & they
are hereby ordered to be taken down by the Librarian, &
the new Books set up in their place, that the Students may
have immediate access to them." The following year they
adopted new by-laws for the library, including these :
Voted & resolved, that (that in Addition to the former regulations
for the College Library) the Librarian keep the Library room neat &
clean; and, in delivering out Books, he shall suffer none of the Stu-
dents to derange or handle them on the Shelves; nor shall the Students
pass into the Library room beyond the Table at which the Librarian
sits.
He shall demand & receive a fine of six pence for every time it shall
come to his knowledge, that any Student hath suffered a Library book,
by him taken out, to be uncovered in his possession.
No student or Graduate, shall presume to lend to any person a book
belonging to the Library, on penalty of forfeiting the value thereof,
and the priviledge of the Library till such forfeiture be paid.
He shall open the Library room on such day of the week, as the Presi-
dent shall from time to time direct; and shall keep it open from one
to three O Clock in the Afternoon.
C no 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
The charge to students for the use of the library was raised
in 1788 from six shillings a year to twelve. Whether any
part of the money thus obtained was used for the purchase
of new books cannot be determined; but there was no great
increase in the library during the rest of Manning's admin-
istration.
Undergraduate life in these early years was regulated by
the English idea of a college as a large family, sleeping, eat-
ing, studying, and worshiping together under one roof; the
undergraduates were the children, the President was the fa-
ther, and the tutors were the stern and learned elder brothers.
At the beginning a handful of students recited to the Presi-
dent in his own house, the parsonage in Warren. When the
academic family moved to Providence the President's house
was on the " home lot " and close to the students' hall. The
professor was encouraged to reside in the hall, and the tutors
andthestewardwererequiredtodoso. The college set a table,
the so-called ' ' Commons, ' ' where most of the students took
their meals ; the steward was expected to eat with them and
to ' ' exercise the same Authority as is customary & needful
for the Head of a Family at his Table." Every student was
required to come to family prayers, or "chapel," morning
and evening. During the day they all, whether sleeping in
the college edifice or at home, had to pass study hours at col-
lege, and were charged with room rent. They were expected
to keep steadily at work, as the following Laws of 1774
show:
That the Hours of Study, between the Fall & Spring Vacation, shall be
from morning Prayers, one hour before Breakfast : from Nine oClock
A.M. until 12 oClock; from 2 oClock P.M. until Sunset, & from
7 until 9 oClock in Evening; & between the Spring & Fall Vaca-
tion, one Hour after morning Prayers; from 8 oClock A.M. until 12
oClock; from 2 P.M. until 6: & none Shall be out of his Chamber
after 9 oClock in the Evening.
C in 3
V
v
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
That no Student read any Book in Study Hours excepting the Classics
[i.e., textbooks used in the classes], or those which tend to illustrate
the subject Matter of his Recitations, for the time being.
That, each one Continue in his Room in the hours of Study, unless to
do an Errand, in which he Shall be speedy; or to attend Recitations.
That, each one attend Recitation twice in a Day at such Time & Place
as shall be appointed.
That, no one be absent from any Collegiate exercise without first
rendering his excuse to his Instructor, or go out of the College Yard,
without Liberty, in the time of Study.
In means for carrying out this conception of a college as an
academic family, the American colleges fell far behind their
English models in two respects : the officers of instruction did
not usually dine in hall with the students ; and the college
buildings did not form a quadrangle, with only one exit
guarded by an argus-eyed porter. An attempt was made to
remedy the latter defect by requiring the tutors to visit the
students' rooms at frequent and irregular intervals. Hence
the following rule of Rhode Island College in 1774, based
upon one at New Jersey College :
That, no Student refuse to open his Door when he shall hear the stamp
of the Foot or Staff at his Door in the Entry, which shall be a Token
that Some Officer of Instruction desires admission, which Token every
Student is forbid to Counterfit, or imitate under any Pretence what-
ever.
While the means for enforcing obedience were inferior, the
rules were in some respects more strict and Puritanic. In the
English universities wine parties were allowed or at least
winked at if not too noisy. At New Jersey College in 1764 a
student was not allowed ' ' to make any treat or entertainment
in his chamber, on any account." The Yale Statuta of 1759
even forbade the student to drink tea in any company out
of his own chamber, on penalty of one shilling : " Et si quis,
[ "2 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
in aliquo Coetu extra Cubiculum suum, Theam potaverit,
mulctetur uno Solido. ' ' Harvard was more lax, the Corpora-
tion voting in 1759 that ' ' it shall be no offence if any scholar
shall, at Commencement, make and entertain guests at his
chamber with punch ' ' ; and even the restriction as to the sea-
son was removed two years later, on the ground that punch,
"as it is now usually made, is no intoxicating liquor."
Rhode Island College again followed the lead of New Jersey
College, enacting in 1774, "That no one practice attending
Company in his Room in Study hours : or keep Spirituous
Liquors in his Room without Liberty obtained of the Presi-
dent."
In spite of paternal discipline and strict rules, youth would
have its fling even in the earlier years of Manning's admin-
istration, when most of the students were supposed to be
sober-minded youth preparing for the ministry. 1 In a letter
of December 12, 1770, the President wrote:
One Scott, a youth under my tuition, some time ago riding through
Smithfield, . . . rode up to, and, in a most audaciously wicked man-
ner, broke the windows of the Friends' meeting house in said town, of
which meeting I understand you are clerk. . . . You will be so good as
to let me know when the first meeting of business is held, that I may
send him up to appear before them, and make not only reparation, but
such a confession before the Meeting as shall be fully satisfactory. . . .
When this is settled, we shall discipline him with the highest punish-
ment we inflict, next to banishment from the society; and with that, if he
does not comply with the above. ... I am sorry for his friends, and that
it happened to fall to my lot to have such a thoughtless, vicious pupil.
In the archives is a paper which the President read in pub-
lic to five culprits in 1774 :
When every method for the Reformation of Delinquents, in a pri-
vate way, has been used to no Purpose the Good of Society and the
The average age of the students at graduation was somewhat less then than
now, being 20.43 years before the Revolution, and 21 years after it.
[ us ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Honor of Government, as well as the Interest of the Delinquents,
require those more public and mortifying Exertions of Authority
which must either reclaim, or prove, that obstinate Offenders must
be cut off as Pests to the Body — John Hart, Daniel Gano, William
Edwards, Walter Wigneron and Pardon Bowen, walk forward into
the Ally — Whereas you have persisted for a long time notoriously
to violate the Laws of this College in sundry Instances as follow —
John Hart, for habitually neglecting your Studies, being out of
College in the Evening in Town beyond the Time specified in the
Laws and absent from his Room in Study Hours and making Dis-
turbance by Noise or otherwise, and suffering others to spend their
Time idly in his Room at Entertainments or otherwise
Daniel Gano for habitually neglecting his Studies, being absent
from his Room in Study Hours, making a Noise after 9 O Clock at
Night in the College; by assisting others to hoist a Carpenters Bench
in the Entry, & breaking a Window from without
Walter Wigneron for habitually neglecting his Studies, being ab-
sent from his Room in study Hours ; making a Noise in College ;
by assisting others in hoisting a Carpenters Bench in the Entry after
9 OC at Night and suffering others to spend their time idly in his
Room at Entertainments and otherwise
William Edwards, for habitually neglecting his Studies and being
absent from his Room in Study Hours,
These crimes being made to appear against you severally upon
Examination, & all private Admonitions proving ineffectual; at a
Meeting of the President & Professor on the second Day of March
AD. 1774 ; Resolved, That the aforesaid, John Hart, Daniel Gano
Walter Wigneron & William Edwards for the Crimes aforesaid
be publicly admonished in the Hall; and that this Admonition and
an Innumeration of the said Crimes be registered in the Black
Book.
We may smile at the Puritanic solemnity of the college au-
thorities in this piece of discipline, but we must admire their
impartiality. One of the students thus publicly disgraced
was the son of Morgan Edwards, so prominent in the found-
ing of the institution. John Hart was the son of an eminent
Baptist clergyman, Manning's close friend, who in a letter
L* 114 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
four months before had thanked the President for the pains
he had taken with his son, including "Trial of the Dis-
cipline of the Rod" — doubtless one of the "private ways"
of reform that had proved inadequate. Daniel Gano was the
son of Manning's own brother-in-law. These three were still
further punished by the withholding of their degrees for one
year. Of the students as a whole, however, Manning wrote
in 1773 that they were, "take them together, a Sett of well
behaved Boys."
For a few years after the Revolution there was no marked
change in the order of the college. In March, 1785, Man-
ning wrote, "I believe our students are as orderly, indus-
trious, and as good scholars as at any one period of the In-
stitution." But in September of that year the Corporation
saw cause to pass the following vote : ' ' Voted & resolved,
that the Steward to be appointed shall have the supervisal
& direction of the College Edefice, to prevent any damage
being done thereto; & for this purpose shall cause hinges &
a Lock to be put on the Scuttle on the Roof; & that he take
care of the Key." And in 1788 the President wrote, "As the
number increases my difficulties increase, especially in the
Government of ye College, and collecting Tuition, &c."
The year before he had had a serious case of discipline,
referred to in the letter quoted on page 84 ; in the archives is
a memorandum that these offenders were expelled for "hav-
ing offered an Insult and Abuse to one of the Tutors."
The members of the Corporation who intervened did not,
at least openly, question the justice of the punishment, but
asked for mercy because of the students' previous good
record; both finally received their degrees. In the last year
of Manning's administration there seems to have been a
growing tendency to violate the laws of the college, a tend-
ency due, no doubt, to the growth in numbers and perhaps
C »5 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
to some change in the character of the students. At a meet-
ing of the Faculty on April 4, 1791, it was ordered that five
students be fined one shilling each for ' ' attending a Treat
in Leonard 2dus: & tertius' room last Saturday Night, in
direct violation of the laws of College." The record con-
tinues :
Fairbanks is fined also 6/ for permitting, some time since, liquor to be
brought into, and to be drunk in his room. . . . That Howell be fined
6/ for . . . beingguilty ... at late Hoursin thenight of running through
the College, beating against the doors, hallooing and using prophane
language. . . . Admonish all the College for irregularities, in being out
of College in the Hours of Study; making unnecessary noise in the Col-
lege Edifice; neglecting prayers & Recitations; — And especially asso-
ciating together in each others rooms in study Hours; and for a grow-
ing neglect of public Worship — Also for making no distinctions, in
their intercourse, between the higher & lower Classes.
On April 2, probably in the same year, three students were
fined fourpence each for "misbehaviour at prayers." An-
other memorandum of about the same time reads :
Hunter King & Hazard primus, for riding out on Sunday fined three
shillings each. — Baileys & Ellis, for allowing a combination in their
room fined two shillings each. — Reprimand the three under Classes
for insulting the Seniors, & the Junior Class in particular for entering
into a Combination to transgress the regulations of College. Repri-
mand the whole for profane language.
The last item of the program seems perilously like the pro-
cess which Burke condemned, of bringing an indictment
against a whole nation, and was a strange necessity in a col-
lege founded chiefly to educate young men foi the ministry.
A stray ' ' Recitation Bill ' ' of this period shows that in one
class during one week there were fifty-six absences out of
a possible one hundred and sixty-five, a very high rate.
The system of ' ' Commons ' ' was a wretchedly inadequate
substitute for the English system. Instead of a large and
C "°1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
venerable dining-hall, beautiful in architecture and rich
with the associations of centuries, the place of meeting was
a small, bare room, still fresh from the hands of mason and
carpenter. 1 Instead of dining with the officers and guests of
the college, the students usually ate alone except for the pres-
ence of the steward, for whom they had no reverence, and
whom they often disliked. In a round-robin, dated December
31, 1773, a committee representing all the classes protested
to the Corporation that the steward was not furnishing the
food prescribed. Another petition, apparently some years
later, complains that "the Steward is a person difficult to deal
with, . . . frequently insulting us by his reflections — fre-
quently injuring us by his complaints. ' ' The steward, on the
other hand, often reported that the students did not pay their
board bills. In such conditions the amenities of the table were
not likely to be observed. For many years things seem to have
been doubly cheerless in cold weather, the Corporation vot-
ing in 1789 that "in future, during the cold season," the
commons room should be " suitably warmed." The food
was plain and lacked variety, and, if the student petitions say
true, it was not always well cooked or well served. In short,
college commons were merely a cheap boarding club for stu-
dents, with the bad manners and boisterousness usually
characteristic of such places. The Corporation recognized
the evil and tried to lessen it by rules, the very need for which
betrays the conditions. The following regulations were in-
cluded in the Laws of 1774:
That the Steward call on whome he thinks proper to ask a Blessing,
and return thanks at Table, during which no Studant shall meddle
with any of the Provisions or Table Furniture, but behave with De-
cency and Sobriety.
Commons room was what is now 6 University Hall, but only one story high
and without galleries.
C «7 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
That the Senior Class be divided and some sit at one part of the
Table and others at another Part; and that they, or such others as
shall be appointed, only, shall call for what may be wanting at Table;
and all others are forbid either calling or using any other signs of
calling, except Decantly mentioning it to the above named, what is
wanting: and provided any Person or Persons shall use indecent
Gestures at Table; or in any wise transgress the orders of the Table,
the Senior siting at the Head of the Table shall immediately order him
to sit next to him, that he may observe his, or their future conduct
and behavior.
That the whole Body be so divided as that a determinate Number
only, in succession through the whole, shall carve; this being done
in Alphabitical order, the next to him shall distribute the Meat, &
Sauce; no one else being allowed to take them him-self; and the same
Person, for the Day, shall pour out Coffee, Tea, &c and put in a proper
Quantity of Sugar.
In spite of the minuteness and legal precision of these reg-
ulations, they evidently failed of their end; and in 1789 the
Corporation voted that the tutors must sit at table in com-
mons ' ; and preserve order and Decorum, ' ' and also that stu-
dents might be allowed by the president and tutors to board
in town if they wished.
The expenses of students, especially if they boarded in
commons, were low, even when allowance is made for the
high purchasing power of the dollar in those days. In 1773
tuition was $12 a year ; room rent in the college edifice, $5
a year; board in commons, $1 a week: a total, exclusive
of books, firewood, and incidentals, of about $56 for a
year of nearly thirty-nine weeks. After the Revolution tui-
tion went up to $16 ; room rent went down to $4, but there
was a charge for the care of rooms. The total expense for
the college year is thus stated by President Manning in a
letter of February 11, 1 788 : " The Expence of boarding in
Commons, Tuition, Room Rent & Library & Apparatus
C 118 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Privileges, deducting 1/4 of a Year for the Vacations, 1
amounts to just £20-5-9 Lawful Money at present, but
I expect the Commons will be lowered as soon as stability
in Government takes place — A Period, I now hope, not very
distant — Wood is about 12/ pr Cord; and, other inciden-
tal Expences as moderate here, or more so than at Dart-
mouth. ' ' The cost of firewood is mentioned because the stu-
dents had to supply their own, as is shown by the follow-
ing vote of the Corporation on December 12, 1786, which
also gives a glimpse into the conditions of student life then :
1 'From a representation made to this Corporation, by the of-
ficers of instruction, that the Students are absolutely unable
to pursue their respective s [t] udies on account of the scar-
city of firewood at this very inclement season, the Corpora-
tion . . . Resolved that four cords be immediately brought
from Mr Waterman's lot, to be distributed by the Steward
as may be necessary ; and be, by him, charged to those who
may receive it in their next Quarter bills." In a letter of
December 8, 1790, Manning writes, "Our Vacation com-
mences a fortnight sooner than usual on Acct : of the Ex-
tremity of the season, & scarcity of wood, wch : is now at
10/ & 12/ pr. load."
It is evident that in the youth of the college its charges for
tuition were relatively low, being about one-third of the price
of board. Rhode Island College, as was natural in a young
institution connected with a poor religious denomination,
sought to provide an education at the lowest possible price,
its charges being about the same after the war as those of
1 The vacations specified in the Laws of 1783 amount to fourteen weeks and
four days: "The times of Vacation shall be from Septr: 6th: to October
20th ; — From December 24th : to January 10th ; — and from April 21st : to
June 1st." In 1786 the winter vacation was lengthened to six weeks, but it
was changed back to a month the next year, the spring vacation being two
weeks in 1787 and three weeks in 1788.
[ »9 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
New Jersey College were ten years before it. In a letter of
February 15, 1791, to the Rev. Dr. Richard Furman, of
South Carolina, Manning says, "I have taken pains to pro-
cure certain information of the expences in all the colleges
from Philadelphia eastward and am convinced, that the
whole expence usual [for] a public education is much less
with us than in [them] . ' '
Of the life of the students in their relations with one
another very little is known. The only undergraduate society
of which there is evidence was the ' ' Pronouncing Society, ' '
for mutual improvement in the art of speaking ; it is referred
to in the papers of Solomon Drowne, who was chosen pres-
ident of it in 1771. Athletic, musical, and dramatic clubs
were undreamed of, and indeed there would have been little
leisure for them with the prescribed routine. One feature of
undergraduate life — the relations of the classes to one an-
other — which is now left wholly to student control except
when restraint becomes necessary, was in these early years
made the subject of academic regulation : the college laws
taught the freshman his place. One of the Laws of 1774
reads, ' ' That, the freshmen Class in alphabetical order kindle
a fireseasonably beforemorning Prayers, in the Room where
they are attended During the Winter Season ' ' ; and in 1 783
the ringing of the college bell was added to the duties of the
freshmen. By the Supplement to the Laws of 1793 fresh-
men were required to carry the disciplinary billets sent by
seniors and juniors to lower classmen ; " to wait on the Cor-
poration when they meet ' ' ; and ' ' to attend the Librarian on
the days on which the library shall be opened." The gra-
dations between the other classes likewise were recognized
and enforced by the following Laws of 1774:
That, due respect be paid to those of a Superior standing, by Inferiors,
by giveing them the Precidence & Choice of Seats.
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Ordered that the Senior Class have authority to detain in the Hall
after Evening Prayers such of the under Classes as they shall observe
in breaking any of the Laws of College, and there admonish them
of such Offences, as well as correct and instruct them in their general
Deportment, correcting their Manners in such minute particulars of
a genteel Carriage & good breeding, as does not come within any
express written Law of the College, which Admonitions Corrections
& Instructions the Delinquents are to receive with Modesty & Sub-
mission, & punctualy observe.
That the under Classes always wait for those of the Superior Classes
to go in first [i.e., into the dining-room], provided any of them be
in sight when at the Door: and that they observe the same Decorum
in returning.
The proof of a college is in its graduates. What kind of schol-
ars came out of Brown University during its first quarter
century ? what training for their work in life did they get in
the college? what work did they do in the world? To these
questions some answers can be given, though partial and
imperfect.
The training in Latin and Greek seems to have been thor-
ough as far as it went. The entrance work laid a good foun-
dation, and on this the college built a solid though not lofty
superstructure. Great emphasis was laid upon the actual
use of Latin as a language to be written or spoken ; and
there is no reason to suppose that the law was a dead letter
which said, in 1774 and again in 1783, "That, in the Hours
of Study no one speak to another except in Latin in the Col-
lege or College- Yard . ' ' An interesting bit of evidence on this
point is found in the note-book of Solomon Drowne, copied
from that of a former student, which has a Latin as well as
an English title : ' ' Compendium Metaphysicorum et On-
tologiae, Manuscriptum Solomonis Drown, Junioris, primo
Die Februarii, Anno Domini 1772do." His admonitions to
himself, at the bottoms of the pages, when he fears he is not
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
copying fast enough, afford amusing proof that he is accus-
tomed to express himself and perhaps to think in Latin. Thus
on February 5 he writes, "Perge, perge, Solomon, et scribe
occjus,vel non finias hac hebdomade." On finishing the Sec-
ond Part he scribbles in the margin, "Fessus Sum. Sic finit
Ontologia, et maximeGaudeo octavanocte Februarii." At
the conclusion of the whole he writes, "Hoc Compendium
Metaphysicorum et Ontologiae, cum Perfectionibus et At-
tributis DEI, Proprium est, Solomonis Drown Junioris ; qui
Membrum est Collegii, Providentiae, intra Col. Ins. Rhod.
et Prov. Plant. Nov. Anglorum. Manuscripta sua, ab Ex-
emplare Theodori Foster, Artium Baccalaureus. ' 'And in the
margin he heaves a Latin sigh of relief: ' ' Tandem finivi, et
Occasio est Mihi maximi Gaudii." All this is no proof, of
course, that the early graduates of the college were finished
classical scholars having the culture of European univer-
sities; but it is evidence that one of the world's great tongues
was something more real and vital to them than a mere set
of printed characters in books, and that in the study of it
they must have received considerable discipline in thought
and expression. The same in less degree may be said of their
training in Greek and Hebrew.
In English composition and public speaking, also, the
pupils of President Manning had much practice, under the
guidance of an expert ; and there has survived ample mate-
rial forjudging of their proficiency in the use of their mother
tongue. When we examine their spelling, grammar, and
other beggarly elements, it is something of a shock to find
that these students, of native American stock and of clas-
sical nurture, are far from impeccable. After due allowance
is made for difference in usage then and now, the number
of errors is surprisingly great. A member of the first grad-
uating class, in a letter to his professor shortly after Com-
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
mencement, runs from one sentence into another without a
capital and with only a comma between, and uses "who"
for' 'whom ' ' in so simple a phrase as ' 'whol expect Daily. ' '
In a letter to Manning, fifteen years later, a letter carefully
written, with corrections, he commits a double negative —
"to neither of which I have not Reed, any Reply." The
valedictorian of the same class, in his Commencement ad-
dress, constantly misspells common words, as in the follow-
ing extract from the original manuscript:
Oh ! could you but for a moment, transport yourselves to Athens,
& immagin you there behold that Oracal of Greece; that prince of
Orators ascend the Rostrum, Surrounded by the gaping multitude;
could you here the terrific thunder of his Voice; and See the light
flash from either Eye; while all the members of his Agitated body,
proclame the huge immotions of his Mind — Could you here him dis-
charge those thundering Vollies of Execrations on the devouted head
of an usurping philip, that Invader of Greecien Liberty: . . . you
would cease to wonder at the prodigious Influence of that renowned
Patriot, over his fellow Citizens.
It is surprising that this classical scholar and admirer of
the Greek orator never once spells his hero's name correctly,
always writing it " Demosthines." The habit of misspelling
words derived from the classic languages also appears in
a letter by Theodore Foster, in 1770, where occur "Collo-
nies", "Lattin", "Derector", "Desturbed", "Des-
pute", " insensable " , and "juvinile". In Drowne's note-
book there may be found, in addition to an individual
stroke of genius — ' ' grocer ' ' for ' ' grosser " , — many of
the misspellings so familiar to every teacher nowadays:
concious " , " Peice " , " seperated " , " opperation " , " im-
mitation ' ' and ' ' imatation " , " cheifly " , " belei ve " , " exist-
ance", "dispise", "emminent", "enimies", "sensa-
tive", "Cataline". Here, too, quite in the modern style,
"effect" is misused for "affect" and "lays" for "lies",
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
and singular verbs are unequally yoked together with plural
subjects. After the Revolution things were no better. In
1786, when Manning had been elected to Congress, some
of the students respectfully urged him not to accept, on the
ground that the college needed him, and their very spelling
added strength to their plea, with such errors as "under-
writen ' ' , " percieved " , " preperation ' ' , and ' ' oppertu-
nity". The valedictorian of the class of 1787, Jonathan
Maxcy, in resigning his tutorship in 1791, could write,
"Under which your kindness has already lain me." His
successor in the presidency, Asa Messer, of the class of
1790, had not mastered the art of spelling in college, and
to the end of his days, in private and official letters, com-
mitted such mistakes as "shepard", and "birth" for
berth ' ' . But Rhode Island College was not alone in fail-
ing to secure accuracy in all the fundamentals of English
scholarship ; there is abundant evidence in the Corporation
records, and elsewhere in its archives, that the graduates
of other colleges were in the same case. Modern teachers
of English, when weary with cropping the hydra heads of
bad spelling and bad grammar, may at least comfort them-
selves with the thought that their dragon foe is of ancient
lineage.
In the style of these early graduates there is much that is
sophomoric, the natural tendency of youth toward the florid
arid bombastic being then reinforced by popular taste in
a new country, at a time of strong political excitement. A
few specimens may be interesting.
The valedictorian at the first Commencement talked in
the learned Latinized style:
For tho'ugh Logic, Mathamatics, Metaphysics and philosophy, fur-
nish knowledge for, & add Strength to the Mind, yet, these are rather
calculated for entertainment in Solitude; and Seperate from a proper
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Method of Communicating our Ideas, would be as Superfluous to
Society, as elaborate volumes on those different Subjects in a language
perfectly unintelligible.
Barnabas Binney, who became a surgeon in the Continental
army, when he delivered his valedictory in 1774 had not yet
learned to use the knife on his style, which is infested with
swelling tumors like the following (on the preservation of
religious liberty): " Hear it! O Americans ! Hear it ! O ye
unborn millions ; and hearing, feel ; and feeling, swear by
heaven's great fire, that what he gave you'll still preserve. ' '
In his wrath against oppression he passed the bounds of
nature, and represented a patient animal, that has long borne
the tyranny of man, as doing something quite beyond its
powers : ' ' To sit sucking our fingers, 'till our burdens press
so hard that we can neither support them, nor throw them
off, is characteristic rather of asses than of men." The
windy style reached almost cyclonic proportions in an ora-
tion by a member of the junior class, in 1788, full of empty
commonplaces on death and high-flown expressions of grief
over the loss of a classmate drowned at Fox Point.
But there is much that is admirable, even to a modern
reader, in these youthful productions. The thought, while
neither original nor profound, is usually sensible and vigor-
ous ; and there is on the whole a rather surprising gift of
expression — a fluency, an amplitude, a force, a general ma-
turity — hardly to be expected in writers so young. One can
easily credit President Manning when he says, writing in
1782 about the college just before the Revolution, "The
Reputation it had acquired, for producing good Speakers,
promised in the Course of a few Years, to render it equal
in Numbers, and the Rival of American Colleges founded
long before it"; or when he says to the Rev. Dr. Furman,
in a letter of February 15, 1791, "If I am not deceived
C 12 5 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
in point of public speaking, the palm is almost universally
yielded to us, even by the alumni of other Colleges."
In versifying, too, the students had some knack. Barna-
bas Binney's valedictory address to his classmates draws a
rather pretty picture of student life ' ' on the hill ' ' :
No more! — at ease reclin'd on yonder hill,
Where verdent grass perfum'd with sweetest flowers,
By faithful nature's provident command
Prepares a couch unknown to rankling care;
While o'er contented heads, those shady trees,
Seem pleas'd to spread their num'rous waving bows,
Or sweetly blushing in their vernal bloom,
Or gently bending, with their ripen'd fruit!
Alas! no more, in those fair, fertile fields,
Where zephyrs gently fan the sultry heat,
Shall we in harmless jolity and mirth,
And converse free, of all the mighty minds
Of ancient times, talk down the summer's sun !
In wint'ry storms, by gen'rous fires, no more
Together turn the grave historian's page!
Nor search the greek and roman classics more!
Nor swell with rapture at the poet's song!
Jonathan Maxcy, in his valedictory poem of 1787, "On
the Prospects of America," attempts a loftier note. In coup-
lets having much of the smooth eloquence characteristic
of the school of Pope, he sketches the great future which
awaits the New World, including this picture of the college
at Providence :
There shall bright learning fix her last retreat,
Her joyous sons, a num'rous concourse meet;
Each art shall there to full perfection grow,
And all be known that man shall ever know;
There shall religion pure from heav'n descend,
Her influence mild thro' all degrees extend;
c is6 :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Each different sect shall then consenting join,
Walk in her domes, and bend before her shrine;
Virtue shall reign, each heart expand with praise,
And hail the prospect of celestial days.
The most convincing test of the quality of a college's
product is the work which its graduates do in the world.
Judged by this standard, Brown University has no reason
to be ashamed of its beginnings. So far as the records show,
very few of its early sons were idle or inept ; nearly all found
honorable places in the professions or in trade, while a rela-
tively large number attained more or less distinction. The
first student, William Rogers, after being pastor of the First
Baptist Church in Philadelphia and chaplain in the Con-
tinental army, held for twenty-two years the professorship
of oratory and belles-lettres in the University of Pennsyl-
vania ; he also served in the Pennsylvania house of repre-
sentatives, and was vice-president of societies for the aboli-
tion of slavery and for prison-reform. Theodore Foster,
1770, represented Rhode Island in the United States Sen-
ate for thirteen years. Solomon Drowne, 1773, a surgeon
in the Continental army, a student of medicine in Europe
for several years, a vice-president of the Rhode Island Med-
ical Society, and a member of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, served his Alma Mater as professor of
materia medica and botany for twenty-three years and as
fellow for half a century. Dwight Foster, of the next class,
represented Massachusetts in the national House and Sen-
ate. Pardon Bowen, 1775, was an eminent physician in
Providence for some forty years, and president of the Rhode
Island Medical Society. Samuel Snow, 1782, was United
States consul in Canton, China. Levi Wheaton, of the same
class, was professor of medicine in Brown University for
thirteen years and a trustee for fifty-three years. Nicholas
[ 12 7 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Brown, 1786, presidential elector, a founder of the Provi-
dence Athenaeum and the Butler Hospital, was the muni-
ficent patron of the college, which takes its name from him.
Samuel Eddy, of the next class, long a trustee and fellow of
the college, represented Rhode Island in Congress for three
terms, was its secretary of state for twenty- two years, and
chief justice for eight years. Jonathan Maxcy, his classmate,
was president of Rhode Island College, Union College, and
South Carolina College. Jabez Bowen, 1788, was chief jus-
tice of the supreme court of Georgia. James Burrill, of the
same class, was chief justice of the Rhode Island supreme
court and a United States senator. James Fenner, 1789, was
United States senator, governor of Rhode Island for thirteen
years, presidential elector twice, and president of the Rhode
Island constitutional convention in 1842. His classmate, Jer-
emiah B. Howell, was brigadier-general of the Rhode Island
militia, and United States senator. Asa Messer, of the fol-
lowing class, was president of Brown University for twenty-
four years. The last class under Manning included William
Hunter, United States senator and minister to Brazil, James
B. Mason, member of Congress, and Jonathan Russell, com-
missioner to negotiate the treaty of Ghent in 1814, member
of Congress, and minister to Norway and Sweden.
These are the more prominent names, surely a distin-
guished list when we consider that there were but one
hundred and sixty-five graduates in all during this period,
and that most of them had neither wealth nor family station
to give them a start in life. But this roll by no means tells the
whole story, which is better given by the following statistics
showing the occupations of all these alumni so far as known.
It should be premised that, since the main purpose of the
figures is to indicate the work which these men did in the
world, some are counted more than once, being entered under
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
all the occupations in which they engaged. Clergymen, 43 :
Congregationalist, 26; Baptist, 12; Episcopal, 1 ; Unitarian,
1 ; of unknown denomination, 3. Lawyers, 29. Physicians,
19. Teachers, 19. State legislators, 18. Members of the col-
lege Corporation, 17. Judges, 12: United States judges, 2;
state supreme court judges, 4; judges of lower courts, 6.
Business men, 12. College professors, 6. United States sen-
ators, 6. Congressmen, 6: in Continental Congress, 1; in
United States House of Representatives, 5. United States
ministers, 2. College presidents, 2. General state officers,
2. Governor, 1. United States consul, 1. Librarian, 1. Cer-
tainly the college under its first president fulfilled its purpose
of " preserving in the Community a Succession of Men duly
qualify'd for discharging the Offices of Life with usefulness
and reputation."
C 12 9 H
CHAPTER IV
PRESIDENT MAXCY'S ADMINISTRATION
ORATORY UNDER MAXCY : COMMENCEMENTS : GROWTH OF THE COLLEGE:
UNDERGRADUATE LIFE
UPON the death of President Manning the thoughts of
the Corporation turned at once to the Rev. Dr. Sam-
uel Jones, of Pennsylvania, as a fitting successor. Dr. Jones
had already served the college by remodeling its charter,
and would have made a very able college president. He was
a man of imposing presence ; he had guided young men for
years in their theological studies ; he was a powerful preacher
and a wise administrator. It is interesting to surmise what
the development of the college might have been under the
guidance of so vigorous and mature a man. But it was not
to be. Dr. Jones declined, chiefly on the ground that his
age made it imprudent for him "to enter on a new Scene
of Life." The Corporation then deferred the election of
a president, making temporary arrangements meanwhile.
On August 2, 1791, they voted that the Rev. Peres Fobes,
professor of natural philosophy, who had acted as vice-pres-
ident in 1786, "be requested to attend the College from this
time 'till Commencement to supervise the Instruction of the
Students & perform prayers &c."
David Howell, secretary to the Corporation, and professor
of law since 1790, was appointed to officiate at Commence-
ment. He made an address to the graduating class, full of
kindly, pointed wisdom, bespeaking the scholar and man
of affairs. A few sentences from it will supplement what has
already been said about the character and ability of the
college's first professor:
Be cautious of bandying into parties ; they regard neither the abilities
nor virtues of men, but only their subservency to present purposes;
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
they are a snare to virtue and a mischief to society. With this caution
on your mind, you will never revile or speak evil of whole sects, classes,
or societies of men. . . . Never aim to rise in life by depressing oth-
ers; it is more manly to rely on the strength of ones own abilities and
merit. Avoid publishing, or even listening to scandal. To mention,
with pleasure, the virtues even of a rival, denotes a great mind. . . .
It is a mark of vanity to speak lightly of revelation. Not to admire
those ancient and sublime books shews a want of taste in fine writ-
ing, as well of real judgment in discerning the truth. And here let me
caution you never to ridicule whatever may be held sacred by any
devout and judicious man. If you cannot join with him, at least do
not disturb him by your irreverence.
During most of the next year the college had no formal head.
Jonathan Maxcy, who had served as tutor since his grad-
uation four years before and had just been appointed pro-
fessor of divinity, was requested, by a vote of the Corpo-
ration on September 8, "as often as he conveniently can
without interfering with his duties as Pastor of the Church
he serves to attend & accasionly Lecture on Sundays Morn-
ing & Eveng. prayers in the College Hall in Compensation
for which services he be allowed the occupation of half the
Presidents house & half of the College Lands." On June
6, 1792, Mr. Howell was "appointed to superintend the
Government &. Instruction of the Institution from this period
untill Commencement day ' ' and also ' ' to officiate as Presi-
dent from [=for?] the ensuing Commencement." At the
annual meeting in September, 1792, Jonathan Maxcy was
elected president pro tempore; he served as such until Sep-
tember 7, 1797, when he was chosen president. On Sep-
tember 2, 1802, he resigned, to become the head of Union
College in Schenectady, New York. After two years in this
position, he was chosen the first president of South Caro-
lina College, which he served with great success until his
death on June 4, 1820.
C ] 3l ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
At the time of his election Maxcy was probably the young-
est college president in the country. "At the Commence-
ment succeeding his inauguration," says his biographer
and editor, Professor Elton, "the College was illuminated,
and a transparency was placed in the attic story displaying
his name, with — 'President 24 years old.' " He was born in
Attleboro, Massachusetts, September 2, 1768. His grand-
father was greatly respected in the community, for many
years representing the town in the colonial legislature ; his
parents were of strong character and intellect, and his father
had some literary talent. Jonathan showed precocity as a
scholar and orator, and was therefore put into the academy
at Wrentham. Although only fifteen years old when he en-
tered college, he stood high in scholarship, being noted for
his versatility and his excellence in English composition ; at
graduation he delivered the valedictory addresses. He was
at once appointed tutor, and in this office was the intimate
and favorite of President Manning. His position as Man-
ning's successor in the pastorate of the Baptist church, and
his union of scholarship with eloquence, naturally pointed
him out for the presidency ; but his youth gave pause, and
was doubtless the reason for his being president pro tempore
until after five years of trial.
President Maxcy's chief service to Rhode Island College
was his teaching of oratory and belles-lettres and widen-
ing the fame of the institution by his personal reputation
as an orator and divine. One of his colleagues in South
Carolina College said in a memorial sketch : " As a teacher,
Dr. Maxcy enjoyed a reputation higher, perhaps, than that
of any other president of a college in the United States. His
pupils all dwelt with admiration, on the clearness and com-
prehension of his ideas ; on the precision and aptness of his
expressions." The testimonies to his eloquence are numer-
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
ous and all of the same tenor. Tristam Burges, himself
famous as an orator, spoke thus of his former teacher in
an oration before the Federal Adelphi in 1831 :
There is an eloquence altogether corporeal: It belongs to the voice
and to the stature. The tongue seems to form the thunderbolt and the
hand to -wield it. The eloquence of Maxcy was not of this character.
. . . He was little of stature. His voice seemed not to have reached
the deep tone of full age. . . . The eloquence of Maxcy was mental:
You seemed to hear the soul of the man ; and each one of the largest
assembly, in the most extended place of worship, received the slightest
impulse of his silver voice as if he stood at his very ear. So intensely
would he enchain attention, that in the most thronged audience, you
heard nothing but him, and the pulsations of your own heart. His
utterance was not more perfect, than his whole discourse was instruc-
tive and enchanting.
The following letter, written on July 9, 1819, by a South-
ern gentleman, and published in the Charleston City Ga-
zette of July 15, shows that in the last years of his life Presi-
dent Maxcy had still his early power :
Last Sunday we went to hear Dr. Maxcy. It being the 4th of July,
it was a discourse appropriate to that eventful period. I had always
been led to believe the Doctor an eloquent and impressive preacher;
but had no idea, till now, that he possessed such transcendant powers.
I never heard such a stream of eloquence — It flowed from his lips,
even like the oil from Aaron's beard. Every ear was delighted, every
heart elated, every bosom throbbed with gratitude. ... I was some-
times in pain, lest this good old man should outdo himself and become
exhausted; but as he advanced in his discourse, he rose in animation,
till at length he reached flights the most sublime, and again descended
with the same facility with which he soared. ... In short, I never
heard anything to compare to Dr. Maxcy's sermon in the course
of all my life; and old as I am, I would now walk even twenty miles
through the hottest sands to listen to such another discourse. I am per-
suaded, I shall never hear such another in this life.
The Southern colleague already quoted said :
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Maxcy was a remarkably powerful and fascinating Preacher.
Few men have ever equalled him in the impressive solemnity, and
awful fervour of his manner. There was nothing turgid, or affected,
or fanatical. . . . But though the general manner of Dr. Maxcy was
rather mild than vehement, and rather solemn than impetuous, yet
there have been occasions upon which he exhibited an eloquence ani-
mated and impassioned in the last degree, and which carried with it,
as with the force and rapidity of a torrent, the hearts and feelings of
his audience.
The following extract from a sermon on the existence of
God, delivered in 1795, is a fair example of President
Maxcy 's more poetical style :
All parts of creation are equally under his inspection. Though he
warms the breast of the highest angel in heaven, yet he breathes life
into the meanest insect on earth. He lives through all his works, sup-
porting all by the word of his power. He shines in the verdure that
cloathes the plains, in the lily that delights the vale, and in the forest
that waves on the mountain. He supports the slender reed that trem-
bles in the breeze, and the sturdy oak that defies the tempest. His
presence cheers the inanimate creation. Far in the wilderness, where
human eye never saw, where the savage foot never trod, there he bids
the blooming forest smile, and the blushing rose open its leaves to the
morning sun. There he causes the feathered inhabitants to whistle their
wild notes to the listening trees and echoing mountains. There nature
lives in all her wanton wildness. There the ravished eye, hurrying
from scene to scene, is lost in one vast blush of beauty. From the dark
stream that rolls through the forest, the silver scaled fish leap up,
and dumbly mean the praise of God. Though man remains silent,
yet God will have praise. He regards, observes, upholds, connects and
equals all.
His more intellectual style, together with his theory of gov-
ernment (in which he seems to have been a disciple of Burke),
is well illustrated in this passage from an oration on July 4,
1799:
In governments where there is but one branch of power, there is
no security for liberty. Simple democracies, whether managed by the
t !34 j
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
whole people assembled, or by their representatives, have always proved
as tyrannical as the most despotic monarchies, and vastly more mis-
chievous. It is in vain to substitute theoretical speculations in the place
of facts. The modern zealots of revolutionary reform may tell us
that the science of government is of all others the most simple; that
a nation, in order to be free, needs only an exertion of will; but the
experience of ancient and modern times will tell us that the science of
government is of all others the most intricate ; because it is to be de-
duced from principles which nothing but experiment can developer and
that a nation, in order to be free, needs some wisdom as well as will.
The superior of Manning in fancy, elegance, and intensity,
though hardly his equal in virile force, Maxcy was broader
of outlook and more liberal in thought. In his address to the
seniors at Commencement in 1794 he said:
Should any of you assume the character of a minister of the gospel,
let me advise you to form your faith immediately from the sacred
scriptures. Emancipate your souls from the force of prejudice, anni-
hilate all attachment to particular systems, exalt yourselves to a noble
independency of thought. . . . Let not the peculiarities of your reli-
gious faith confine your benevolent affections and exertions within
the narrow limits of a party. Neither let a cynical moroseness, nor a
fanatical zeal, impoverish your hearts, and rob you of the elegant com-
merce and rational enjoyments of human life. The sour scowl of a
hypocrite is as offensive to heaven as the open profanity of an infidel.
In defending certain of his views that had incurred dis-
pleasure, he must have horrified most of his brethren still
more by recognizing Priestley and other Unitarians as fel-
low Christians. He said :
All men have full liberty of opinion, and ought to enjoy it without
subjecting themselves to the imputation of heresy. For my own part,
I can safely say, that I have never been disposed to confine myself
to the peculiar tenets of any sect of religionists whatever. . . . An
entire coincidence in sentiment, even in important doctrines, is by
no means essential to christian society, or the attainment of eternal
felicity. How many are there who appear to have been subjects of
C *35 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
regeneration, who have scarcely an entire, comprehensive view of one
doctrine in the Bible ? Will the gates of Paradise be barred against
these, because they did not possess the penetrating sagacity of an Ed-
wards, or Hopkins ? Or shall these great theological champions engross
heaven, and shout hallelujahs from its walls, while a Priestly, a Price,
and a Winchester, merely for difference in opinion, though pre-emi-
nent in virtue, must sink into the regions of darkness and pain ?
It speaks well for the liberality of the Corporation that the
next year they elected Maxcy to the full presidency.
" As a scholar, ' ' says Professor Elton, ' ' Dr. Maxcy was
one of the most learned men which our country has pro-
duced. Criticism, metaphysics, politics, morals, and theol-
ogy all occupied his attention. His stores of knowledge were
immense, and he had at all times the command over them. ' '
This statement must have been more true of him in his
later years than during his presidency of Rhode Island
College; it is noteworthy, however, that Harvard College
conferred on him the degree of S.T.D. in 1801, when he
was only thirty-three years of age.
"In his person," Elton says, "Dr. Maxcy was rather
small of stature, of a fine form and well proportioned. All
his movements were graceful and dignified. His features
were regular and manly, indicating intelligence and be-
nevolence ; and, especially, when exercised in conversation
or public speaking, they were strongly expressive, and ex-
hibited the energy of the soul that animated them." No
likeness of him exists except a silhouette, which shows a
rounded head, rather full lips, and a somewhat prominent
nose, slightly aquiline.
Under such a president the study of rhetoric and oratory
would naturally be given great prominence and be taught
with much success. The fact that more than half the grad-
uates of Maxcy 's time entered the law or the ministry af-
[ 136 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
fords striking proof that this was the case. His most dis-
tinguished pupil in the oratorical art, Tristam Burges, the
man who as Congressman from Rhode Island successfully
stemmed the tide of John Randolph's sarcastic eloquence,
spoke thus of the instruction in public speaking under Man-
ning and Maxcy :
It was not the Philosophy of Rhetoric, (falsely so called,) which in
their time, gave lustre to instructions; it was Rhetoric itself; the di-
vine art of persuasion, which, on their tongues, inspired their disciples
with the desire to imitate, and the hope to resemble them. . . . You
all remember the elevated advanced stage where the speaker took his
stand, when, under supervision of the whole authority, surrounded by
the entire collegiate assembly, awed by the continued and pervad-
ing spirit of the hour and the occasion, he gave utterance to his own,
as soon as the last echo of the voice of devotion had ceased to whis-
per in the ear of the listening audience. It was not to all the assem-
bled Greeks, it was not at the Olympic Games that he spoke; but the
pupil, who passed through this ordeal, under the eye of Manning
or Maxcy, has never since that time, with more anxiety prepared
himself for any other; or gone through it with more fear and trem-
bling. ... In belles lettres and eloquence, where was the institution
in our country, the character of which stood more permanently distin-
guished.
The same comfortable opinion of the excellence of the ora-
tory in Rhode Island College is found in a letter of James
Tallmadge, Jr., who wrote to a classmate in 1798 : "I at-
tended the Commencement at New haven and find it though
much celebrated, not equal to ours. The students speak for-
mally and likewise theatrically. Their compositions were
very poor, scarcely' equal to our Sophomore productions.' '
This is at least proof that the ideals of speaking, under
Maxcy, included simplicity and naturalness.
It must be admitted, however, that the subjects of the
Commencement speeches at this time grew more and more
t *S7 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
general: "Mental Improvement" was treated in 1792,
1795, 1797, and 1800, andsuch topics as "War," "Edu-
cation," "Enthusiasm of Opinion," occurred frequently.
But the programs still had subjects of a more definite and
local nature, as ' ' An Oration recommending Rhode Island
College to the Patronage of the State," and "An Oration,
on the Indignities offered America by France." The exer-
cises also retained their old-time variety, English, Latin,
and Greek jostling one another, while orations and disser-
tations were intermingled with disputes, conferences, dia-
logues, and poems. The Latin dispute had been given up;
but in English the young disputants attempted such ques-
tions as "Is it for the Interest of the United States to assist
the French Revolution against its Enemies in the present
War?" "Whether the Use of Spirituous Liquors is ad-
vantageous to Mankind ? ' ' and ' ' Is Marriage conducive to
Happiness?" The dialogues often introduced a humorous
element, as in a " Dialogue, designed to ridicule Quack-
ery in Professions, ' ' ' ' The Bachelors, ' ' and ' ' The Fall of
Fashion." Even the conferences were sometimes facetious,
as in "Astronomy burlesqued." Humor must have been a
welcome relief in a program of twenty or more numbers ;
and it was allowed even in the poems, some of which would
now be considered too undignified for the occasion.
Several of the speeches of this period have survived, be-
ing "published by request," and enable us to form an esti-
mate of college rhetoric under Maxcy. Modern judgment on
them cannot be wholly favorable. They seem inflated, occu-
pied more with words than with thoughts, and the words
are commonly too long and too learned. The imagery is often
profuse and occasionally ridiculous. The sequence of thoughts
is sometimes confused; the thoughts themselves are usually
commonplace; there is no close grapple with facts, and the
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
reasoning is generally loose. Yet fluency and a kind of power
there certainly are in these productions, while the defects
are chiefly those of youthful exuberance. Some specimens
are moderate and sensible throughout ; and occasionally the
floridity itself held a promise realized in later years, as in
these sentences from the Commencement oration of Tris-
tam Burges in 1796:
By imagination, man seems to verge towards creative power. Aided
by this, he can perform all the wonders of sculpture and painting. He
can almost make the marble speak. He can almost make the brook
murmur down the painted landscape. Often, on the pinions of imagi-
nation, he soars aloft where the eye has never travelled; where other
stars glitter on the mantle of night, and a more effulgent sun lights
up the blushes of morning. Flying from world to world, he gazes on
all the glories of creation : or, lighting on the distant margin of the
universe, darts the eye of fancy over the mighty void, where power
creative never yet has energized, where existence still sleeps in the wide
abyss of possibility.
Whatever the present judgment on Commencement oratory
of that time, the Commencements were increasingly popu-
lar, forming a conspicuous feature in the life of the college
and the town. The following extracts from reminiscences of
them near the end of Maxcy's administration, written by
' ' Old Citizen ' ' and first published in The Providence Journal,
July 2, 1851, give vivid pictures of these vanished scenes:
Commencement formerly was the Festival of Providence. . . . The
town was filled with strangers. . . . The principal mode of convey-
ance was the square top chaise, long since discarded for the bellows
top chaise and other carriages. They would begin to arrive on Mon-
day, but on Tuesday toward sunset every avenue to the town was
filled with them. In the stable yards of the " Golden Ball Inn," "The
Montgomery Tavern," and other public houses on Wednesday morn-
ing, you could see hundreds of them, each numbered by the hostlers
on the dashers with chalk, to prevent mistakes. . . .
How long the twilight of Tuesday used to appear. . . . Before it
[ 139 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
is fairly dark the College yard is filled with ladies and gentlemen of
all ages and sizes. Not a light is to be seen at the College windows.
Anon the College bell rings, and eight tallow candles at each window
shed their rich luxuriant yellow light on the crowd below. The cur-
tain rises from the box at the pediment, and there emblazoned in light
is our national emblem, the spread eagle, talking Latin to this same
crowd. In later times, the eagle gave place to "the temple of science."
Loud was the cheering and long did it continue, even until several
taps on a bass drum intimated the presence of the band of music which
the graduating class had hired to discourse music on Commencement
day. The band arrange themselves on the front steps of the old chapel,
and make the welkin ring again, with Washington's March, Hail Co-
lumbia, and other appropriate tunes. At a given signal from the Col-
lege bell, the music ceases, the lights are simultaneously extinguished,
and the spectators and auditors left in darkness that could almost be
felt to find their homes. . . .
Day breaks at last and the rising sun is saluted by two of the brass
field pieces which Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga. An old revo-
lutionary drummer and fifer are playing the reveille through the
principal streets of the town. . . . The boys can scarcely be stayed
for their breakfasts. Their imaginations are too much excited to leave
any appetite for ordinary food. Before nine o'clock Commencement
morning the current is again setting towards the College. The great
gate has been thrown wide open, the turn-stile would not afford space
enough for those who are now going to pay their morning devoirs
to Alma Mater. . . . The military escort has halted without the gate.
The procession is formed now as it was in former times, excepting
only the escort. They proceed down College street, up Main street and
President street, and enter the Old Baptist at the South door. The
Trustees and Fellows, that " learned faculty," occupy a stage on the
North side of the pulpit, the graduating class one on the South side,
while in front is that on which the speakers are to appear. The band
of music are in the West gallery where the Organ now is.
After describing the morning speeches and the return of
the procession to the college, "Old Citizen " goes on :
They changed front at the dining-hall door. — From this the under-
graduates were excluded. The hall was generally well filled in a very
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
short space of time, each old graduate well prepared to keep down the
interest on the four dollars he invested in the commencement dinner
fund when he was in college. There used to be wine, too, on the tables,
and doctors in divinity, after the unusual labors of the morning, deemed
it not improper to indulge in one glass, and in at least one more, to
enable them to undergo the fatigues and pleasures of the afternoon. We
generally had "short commons" on this occasion, not in food, quan-
tity or quality, but in time, as the undergraduates were waiting to take
our places. Not a word is uttered at the table, except "the grace," and
"the thanks;" each seems ambitious to show forth his faith by his
works. The graduates, trustees, &c, wait in the chapel while the un-
dergraduates swallow what they have left on the dinner tables, then
the procession is again formed as before, and again to the meeting
house. The rest of the class now speak "their pieces," occupying two
or three hours. . . . Again the procession is formed and proceeds to
the College, and thus ends commencement proper. . . .
Many an aching head longs for its pillow commencement night. . . .
We arose on Thursday morning resolved to be cured by a repetition
of a similar round of literary excess. At ten o'clock, "The Federal
Adelphi" met at College to elect their officers, and then to go in pro-
cession to some meeting house, and hear an oration from some old
graduate. This society was supposed to consist of the most talented, as
well as the most wealthy children of Alma Mater. Associated under
their half English name, decorated with blue ribbons, and no silver
medals, professing mysterious rites of initiation and advantages unut-
terable to the initiated, and always meeting the day after commence-
ment and having a good dinner, if not a good oration, and good
wine in plenty, the society was a very popular one. . . . Thus closed the
literary exercises of commencement.
Such was Commencement week under President Maxcy.
That the growth of the college, and the growing interest in
it on at least one day in the year, brought new difficulties
both within and without the meeting-house is shown by
votes of the Corporation in 1791 and 1795:
Voted. That in future, all the exercises of the Commencement, be
previously exhibited to the faculty of the College for correction &
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
approved of by them & that they do not in the whole exceed two
hours in the forenoon & the same time in the afternoon.
Voted, That the Town Council of the Town, be requested to prevent
any Booths, or other recepticles for persons or vendible articles from
being erected in the public Streets, North and South of the Baptist
Meeting-house, or in the main street or back street East and West of
said Meeting-house, and between the extremities of the aforesaid cross
streets, or in the gang-way leading to the river between the house's of
Messrs. Nathan Angell and Jonathan Tillinghast.
The increase in number of students was fairly steady, so
far as can be told by means of stray references which have
escaped the burying hand of Time. In 1793-94 the num-
ber was 83, as shown by Maxcy's college account-book;
in 1798 it was about 100, according to Peres Fobes, in a
letter to the Corporation of later date; in October, 1800,
when the first catalogue of undergraduates was published,
in "broadside" form, it was 107; and in a financial esti-
mate for the next year it is set at 1 12. This growth was not
due wholly to the reputation of President Maxcy and the
Faculty : for several years Professor Fobes was employed to
turn students toward the college, a work which his posi-
tion as head of a school in Massachusetts enabled him to
do with advantage. The catalogue of 1800 affords proof
that the college was not yet drawing students from a very
wide area : 93 per cent came from New England ; of these
all but four came from Rhode Island and Massachusetts,
and the four were from nearby Connecticut. It is rather
surprising to find that Massachusetts supplied 74 students,
and Rhode Island only 22. One student came from New
York State, 2 students from Virginia, and 4 from South
Carolina.
The increase in income from growing numbers is clearly
shown by two contemporary statements. One, in the Cor-
t 142 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
poration records for October 8, 1793, gives the income for
the preceding year thus : tuition, $1088 ; library fees, $204 ;
interest of fund, $366.67 ; a total of $1658.67. The other,
preserved among some miscellaneous papers, is indorsed,
"Estimate of The Funds of the College Septr 1801":
"Tuition Room Rent & Library of 112 Schollers " are en-
tered as $2688 (tuition at $16, room rent at $4, and li-
brary fees at $4) ; ' ' Product of Permanent funds, ' ' $500 ;
total, $3188. This gain in resources, modest as they still
were, enabled the Corporation to raise salaries. President
Maxcy's salary in 1792 was £100, or $333.33; in 1795
it was $600; in 1801, $1000; in each case the fees from
the graduating class, and the use of the president's house
and the adjoining land, were added. The resident professor
received £90, or $300, in 1792, $357 in 1795, and $600
in 1801. The salary of a tutor rose from £65, or $217, in
1792, to $287 in 1795, and $350 in 1801.
These salaries were still low compared with those in other
professions and even in some of the other colleges. The Fac-
ulty could not be much enlarged, and there was little left
for other needs : in 1 800 the appropriation for the library
was $200 ; the next year it was $100, "for New Books &
Repairing h Binding Books." In these circumstances it is
not strange that the old device of a lottery was thought of.
On December 23, 1795, a committee was appointed to pray
the General Assembly for ' ' the grant of a Lottery to raise
the sum not exceeding 25,000 Dollars, to be applied to the
use of this institution. ' ' The plan matured slowly, for it was
September 5, 1798, when the Corporation voted, "That
the College Lottery shall Commence drawing the second
Wednesday of October next, and continue till the same be
completed." President Maxcy took 303 tickets to sell, at
six dollars apiece, and sold 168 of them. The final account
t 143.]
\
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of the managers, rendered on November 8, 1800, showed
a total business of $33,548.50, with a "Neat drawback "
of $8000.
The hope for a generous benefactor also lingered still in
the minds of the Corporation. On September 3, 1795, they
voted ' ' That any person giving to this Corporation the sum
of Six thousand dollars, or good security therefor, before
the next annual Commencement, shall have the honour of
naming this university." How much effort was made to
find a patron is unknown ; but on October 26, 1795, Presi-
dent Maxcy wrote thus to the Rev. Dr. Richard Furman,
a prominent man among the South Carolina Baptists :
Our College flourishes as to numbers, but is very barren as to funds.
A lottery has been suggested as a sure method of increasing them.
Do you think it would meet with encouragement in your part of
the Country ? We extremely need funds for the establishment of 2 or
3 professorships. This I conceive the only way in which education
can be carried on as it ought to be. Nothing injures an institution
more than a perpetual change of instructors. This will always be the
case, unless friends can be procured to afford sufficient encourage-
ment to men of capacity. This College is still without a name. No bene-
factor has appeared. The corporation at their last meeting past a
resolution that if any person would previous to the next Commence-
ment, give to the College $6,000, he should have the right to name
it. Have you no eminent rich man among you, who might be dis-
posed ?
The great benefactor was to arise nearer home, but not for
some years. Meanwhile there were various small gifts for
special purposes. In 1792 Nicholas Brown gave the college
a law library, comprising some three hundred and fifty vol-
umes, which he imported from England at a cost of £138
sterling, or nearly $700. The college, however, did not get
the benefit of the books at once, for they were placed by
the donor "for a term of time" in Mr. Howell's office ; but
C .144 j ,^
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
in 1804 they were delivered up, whereupon the Corpora-
tion advised that "a conspicuous alcove" be prepared for
them in the "Library-Room," and voted that no part of
the collection should be taken out ' ' by any person whom-
soever." In 1793 a catalogue of the whole college library
was published, which showed a total number of 2173 vol-
umes. Little money could be spared for its increase and
upkeep during Maxcy's presidency, and there seems to have
been some laxity in the care of it. A report of the library
committee on September 4, 1797, complains that books
have been kept out for ' ' several years past, ' ' although the
persons keeping them had been notified ; the chief offenders
were a professor and a fellow. Another report at about the
same time urges the enforcement of the legal penalty for
failure to return books ; and says that ' ' some of the books
particularly a Number of old folio Volumes are injur 'd by
the Worms which they Conceive may be prevented in fu-
ture by having the books together with the shelves Carefully
brush'd at Certain Periods." The freshmen, meanwhile,
were granted new privileges by a vote of the Corporation
on September 6, 1796, " That the Freshman Class be in
future admitted to the use of the College Library on the
same terms as the other Students."
The scientific apparatus and collections fared somewhat
better, although an entry in the Corporation records of 1795
reveals a pitiful gratitude for small favors : " Voted, That
the thanks of this Corporation be presented to Mr. Jones
Welch of Boston, Merchant, for his present to this Cor-
poration of a preserved bird called the Curlieu of Cayenne,
and a Calabash curiously wrought by the Natives of Cay-
enne, to be deposited in the Museum." On such casual
windfalls did the illustration of the truths of natural his-
tory then depend. Natural philosophy received more ample
C 145 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
support. When Professor Fobes resigned his chair in 1798,
and was succeeded by Professor Messer, he left his appara-
tus at the college, receiving $50 a year for the use of it. In
1799 Mr. Samuel Elam, of Newport, gave $500 for the pur-
chase of apparatus, and $300 more the next year. The
.... Corporation authorized the President to get the aid of the
Rev. John Prince, of Salem, in buying the instruments,
and to ' ' have conspicuously engraven thereon the name of
the Donor." They also requested Dr. Prince to have "the
Air pump and telescope, now belonging to this College, re-
paired and fitted for use," and appointed a committee "to
procure a room in the College to be suitably repaired and
fitted for the Philosophical apparatus, and for the exhi-
bition of Lectures, &c." The original list of articles bought
with Mr. Elam's donation, still on file in the archives, in-
cludes these items and prices, some of the latter scrupu-
lously carried out to mills : An electrical machine, with
ten-inch cylinders, $37.33.3; "inflammable air pistol,"
$2.16.7; " mounted flask for Aurora Borealis," $1.87.5;
"An artificial Eye," $9.10; "An improved wind mill for
airpump," $10.40; "An hydrostatic machine for shew-
ing the spouting of fluids in parabola & semiparabola,"
$30.00; "an orrery on brass stand," $202.33.
The curriculum and methods of instruction under Maxcy
seem to have been substantially the same as under Man-
ning. But some new light is thrown on the intellectual life
of the undergraduates by the records of the library, which
begin at about this time, and show that a great deal of solid
reading was done. David R. Williams, governor of South
Carolina in 1814-16, who was a student in Providence for
two years, took out books nearly every week, and came
back for the successive volumes of works in sets ; before
vacations he laid in a stock for the weeks when the library
[ 146 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
would be closed. The quality of his reading may be seen
by the following list, which is complete :
1793. Nov. 16: Robertson's Charles V., vol. 4. Nov. 23: Female
Ruin, vol. 1. Nov. 25: Gibbon, vol. 2. Dec. 5, 12, 21 : Shakespeare,
vols. 2, 3, 5. — 1794. Jan. 4: Shakespeare, vols. 7, 10; Pope's Odys-
sey, vols. 1, 2; Robertson's America, vol. 3; Vertot's Revolution
in Sweden; Marshall's Travels, vol. 1. Feb. 8: Marshall's Travels,
vol. 2; De Witt's Political Maxims. Feb. 18: Anderson's History of
France, vol. 2. Mar. 2, 8: Robertson's Scotland, vols. 1, 2. Mar. 15,
22: Moore's Travels in France, vols. 1, 2. Mar. 29: Rousseau's
Inequality. April 1, 5: Moore's Travels in Italy, vols. 1, 2. April 12,
19, 26, May 2: Addison, vols. 1-4. May 8: Vaillant's Travels, vol.
2; Rollin's Roman History, vols. 1, 2. June 7: Vertot's Revolution
in Portugal; Vertot's Revolution in Rome, vol. 2. June 21: Mon-
tagu's Letters ; Life of Queen Anne, vol. 1 . July 3 : Thomson's Poems,
vols. 2, 3. July 9, 16: Young's Poems, vols. 3-6. July 25: Congreve's
Plays, Otway's Plays. Oct. 31, Nov. 8: Rollin's Roman History,
vols. 5, 6. Nov. 15, 22 : Rollin's Belles Lettres, vols. 1-4. Nov. 29,
Dec. 6: European Settlements, vols. 1, 2. Dec. 13, 20, 27: Kaimes's
Sketches of the History of Man, vols. 1, 3, 4. Dec. 27: The Specta-
tor, vols. 1, 2.
Two undergraduate societies were formed during Maxcy's
administration. The Misokosmian Society, founded in 1794,
was remodeled in 1798, and changed its name to the Phi-
lermenian Society. It held fortnightly meetings, for debates,
speeches, and declamations, and the reading of essays and
poems, and began in 1798 to collect a library. On the day
before Commencement occurred its anniversary meeting,
at this time held in the chapel, when an oration and a poem
were delivered by undergraduate members. Membership
was limited to forty-five, and the society was practically
secret, with certificates of membership drawn up in sono-
rous Latin. In 1799 a branch of the Philandrian Society
was established in the college. This made more of the social
life, but also gave much attention to speaking : it held four
[ 147 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
quarterly meetings, at which there were always a lecture
on politeness and a debate ; at the anniversary meeting,
which was not usually held in Providence, there were as a
rule an oration and poem, and might be debates, dialogues,
and such exercises.
The first organization of graduates also had its beginning
in this decade. Certain of the younger alumni, including
Samuel Eddy, William Hunter, Paul Allen, and Tristam
Burges, with Professors Howell and West and the former
tutor, Ashur Robbins, formed the society of the Federal
Adelphi in November, 1797. The purpose of the society,
according to its charter, was "Improvement in the Arts
and Sciences" ; Tristam Burges, in his oration before it in
1831, said the society was founded to give a higher degree
of perfection to studies begun in college, and the context
shows that he referred chiefly to the study of oratory. Mem-
bership was limited to holders of college degrees, members
of the learned professions, and seniors and juniors in Rhode
Island College. Professor Howell was the first president,
serving from 1797 to 1802. The society took itself seriously,
and for many years its meeting formed an attractive adden-
dum to Commencement. In the archives is a letter from
the society to the Corporation, inviting them to attend the
meeting in 1799, when Tristam Burges gave the oration;
so far as is known, this is the first communication to the
Corporation from an organized body of alumni.
The growing sense of solidarity which led to these stu-
dent organizations might easily lead also to growing resist-
ance, more or less organized, against college authority and
laws. President Maxcy's government, according to Elton,
" was reasonable, firm and uniform, and marked in its ad-
ministration by kindness, frankness and dignity. He did
not attempt to support his authoritv, as is sometimes done,
[ 148 ]"
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
by distance, austerity and menace, but his pupils were ad-
dressed and treated as young gentlemen. " The pupils, how-
ever, did not always choose to be " young gentlemen, " k and
there was undoubtedly some relaxation of the bonds of dis-
cipline and some lowering of moral tone among the under-
graduates as a whole. In the laws themselves there was no
relaxation. The Supplement to the Laws of 1793, extracts
from which may be found in the Appendix, fastens the fet-
ters more firmly upon the freshmen, and seeks to strengthen
the distinctions between all the classes. It is likely that the
need for such legislation sprang from a tendency on the part
of the students to disregard what was then considered due
deference to superior station.
The rules forbidding students to leave the college yard
in study hours seem to have been well obeyed by the better
men, if we may judge by the case of Tristam Burges, 1796,
who, in a letter to John Howland in 1849, said that he knew
little of Providence until after his graduation: "For," he
wrote, ' ' though I had resided in the town more than three
years at that time, yet my residence was at the college ; nor
was I in the street more than once a week, and then on the
Sabbath." On the other hand, a student writing in 1799
says of two of his fellows : ' ' Old Die Shins around among
the girls with the utmost freedom. Young Daniel throws
Glass bottles, & is raking about every night." It was pos-
sible, too, to defy authority and follow nature while staying
within the college walls. Tristam Burges' s biographer thus
describes a ' ' merry meeting ' ' and its interruption : * ' The
first night after the class met, in the first term, there was
a grand festival (as it was then represented) of the whole
class. . . . In the midst of their jollity, as the table was cov-
ered with decanters, pitchers, glasses, wine and all kinds of
fragments, the tutor's cane was heard, at the door, and in
[ 149 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
a moment Mr. Messer stood before them." In connection
with this anecdote the following vote of the Corporation a
year before has greater significance : ' ' Voted That the Stew-
ard shall not be permitted on any pretence to sell any Spir-
ituous Liquors to the Students except Cyder." But all pre-
cautions failed to keep some students from intemperance,
although there is no evidence that the vice was common. ' ' I
am sorry to inform you," writes a student in 1798, "that
Corporal Trim has drowned his grief with liquor so often
this quarter that Maxcy has had him at the tribunal bar,
and last night admonished him and fined him 6 shillings."
Another extract from the same letter illustrates the under-
graduate attitude toward dishonesty in academic work,
and the spirit of the students in general :
Anxious for advancement our class appear like a drove of deacons.
All are attentive to their books, all are anxious to gain favour. If one
of the authority walk in the odoriferous Grubstreet, the seniours all
prepare to meet them that they may shew respect by bowing with pro-
found adoration. No art remains untryed to obtain favour — enough
— Webb's exhibition piece is proved to be stollen from St. Pierres
Studies of Nature and Cary's Poem on chance consisting of 150 lines
is found in Blackmore on Creation 90 lines verbatim, Thomson is so
proud that he did not steal his that by the request of the Freshmen and
Sophomores it is put to the press and will be out tomorrow, Mr. Carter
offers them at 2 cents each. I hope therefore there will not be so much
grass pulled up this summer for — fodder. ... It was diverting the
other day to hear Cary and Webb dispute. They twited each other of
appearing in borrowed feathers at exhibition &c . . . and came nigh
to fighting.
The government seems to have viewed the offense lightly,
too, for there is no record of the offenders' being punished,
and both got their degrees with their class, one receiving
the valedictory honor.
The following extracts from letters written in the spring
[ 150 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of 1798 show how seriously the undergraduates took the
assignment of Commencement parts, and how disrespect-
ful they could be to college officials. Incidentally the letters
prove that the class no longer was allowed to choose the vale-
dictorian.
After prayers they all looked with anxious expectation. If you have
ever seen the sable cat from under the barn floor glare with her flam-
ing eyeballs, imagine if you can endure the thought, 27 of them in
one row with eyes if possible more terrible than usual looking you full
in the face, and you will have a good representation of our class and
the deplorable situation of little Jock. He at length summoned a suf-
ficiency of mind to proclaim the following arrangements. . . . Maxwell
is high, talked with Maxcy and at length told him it was a damned
partial distribution.
The irreverent spirit of youth ! To the undergraduate the
President of the college, the eloquent Jonathan Maxcy, was
no more but ' ' little Jock ' ' ! Another senior writes to the
same correspondent:
As Mr. Tallmadge has given you a catalogue of the parts I shall not
trouble you with another but will recite some of the transactions since.
The next night after; the locks that are on the doors that lead to the
bell were filled with lead so that we had a long morning before the
ringing of the bell, the entries nightly resound with crashing of bottles
and the hoarse rumbling of wood and stones. We have found out
that Father Messer was the principal man in giving out the parts and
for that reason he is treated with contempt by the students. Mr. Maxcy
has been unwell the last week so that he did not attend prayers and
Messer officiated and he has both been hissed and clapt.
If a professor in chapel was treated thus, what might a
young tutor expect? A partial answer is found in a letter
of 1799, in which both the college building and the tutor
receive expressive nicknames:
The Old Brick resounds very frequently with the breaking of glass
bottles against Tutor T's door, If he can be called a Tutor. We have
[ 151 J
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
given him the epithet of Weazle. He is frequently peaking through
the knot holes & cracks to watch his prey. The cat that crafty animal
gives him a douse in the chops not infrequently. She has not yet been
able to be in full possession of him. But if Mr. Weazle is not more
careful his destruction is certain.
Student rowdyism did not confine itself to the college walls.
The minutes of the Corporation for April 16, 1798, record
that a committee from several churches reported, "That a
number of the Students are not only remiss in a punctual at-
tendance on Public Worship, . . . but that they frequently
behave during Divine Service, with great indecency." On
April 6, 1801, the Corporation appointed a committee to re-
quest at least one of the tutors to ' ' take the seat that is as-
signed them in the Gallery of the Benevolent Congregational
meeting house every Sunday," and aid in " keeping order
in the time of public Worship." On September 6, 1804, the
Corporation voted," That the Treasurer be directed to pay
a bill brought against the Benevolent Congregational Soci-
ety by Grinnell and Taylor for repairing damages done by
the Students of the College in said Society's meeting-House,
for eight Dollars, nineteen cents ; and that the President col-
lect as much of the money as he can from the Students who
attend that Meeting."
The college commons continued to be a source of com-
plaint and disorder. The unfriendly attitude of the students
toward the steward is reflected in a vote of the Corporation,
in 1 797, that students living in college ' ' be liable and charge-
able for all damages done to the Stewards furniture or prop-
erty within the College Walls." The rise in the price of
board frequently caused discontent. Itwas at $1.75 per week
in the autumn of 1795, and rose to $1.92 the next spring.
It fell and rose several times after that, the students demand-
ing a reduction, and the steward maintaining that he could
[ 152 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
not furnish board for less without loss. In 1798 the chronic
irritation became acute. The students rebelled and forsook
commons in a body, despite threats of expulsion. The Presi-
dent finally concluded a "Treaty of Amity & Intercourse,"
whereby the students agreed to return to the board of Alma
Mater, and the President promised to do his best to improve
conditions. A worse situation arose two years later, as we
learn from a letter written March 21, 1800 :
We have had shocking times such as the Old Brick never experienced
before. . . . No study! No prayers! Nothing but riot and confusion!
No regard paid to Superiors. Indeed, Sir, the spirit of '75 was dis-
played in its brightest colors. . . . The Steward's inattention to his duty
and the long enmity that has existed between him and the students
became intolerable. ... At length 13 of March, the memorable 13
of March — we inconsiderately carried headlong by passion framed
an instrument which contained all the names of those who boarded
in Commons With This Declaration. We Solemnly Swear that we
will not attend to any duties of the said College till the Steward is
removed from his Office !!!!... They were in the Chapel when he
[the President] came to beseech the Lord ! They began to retire. He
found it in vain to command. He requested them to stop. He addressed
us in as mild language as he could possibly considering the causes of
provocation. He told us we were trampling upon all law. He pledged
his fidelity, that our grievances should be removed, as far as it was in
his power to remove them, if we would return to duty.
The students stood out stoutly; one was expelled, and five
were rusticated. The senior class thereupon decided to leave
college unless these were restored, but one of the trustees in-
duced the seceding rebels to remain until the next meeting of
the Corporation. Some modusvivendi was evidently reached,
for all the students disciplined got their degrees, except one
who died, and the writer of the letter became a tutor im-
mediately after graduation, the next autumn.
Perhaps all these ebullitions were due to the powerful
C 153 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
individualities of the students. At any rate, the record of
their later achievements shows that they must have been
all the while preparing themselves with some earnestness for
the work of life. Of the 227 graduates from 1792 to 1802
the great majority entered professional or public life, as fol-
lows : Lawyers, 66. Clergymen, 56 : Congregationalist, 34 ;
Baptist, 11; Episcopal, 1; Unitarian, 1; of unknown de-
nomination, 9. Teachers, 32. State legislators, 31. Physi-
cians, 23. Judges, 17: United States judge, 1; state su-
preme court judges, 4 ; judges of lower courts, 12. United
States representatives, 11. College professors, 4. Editors, 3.
College presidents, 2. Authors, 2. United States senators, 2.
Army officers, 2. Naval officers, 2. General state officers, 2.
Lieutenant-Governors, 2. Governor, 1. United States min-
ister, 1. United States consul, 1. Mayor, 1. Librarian, 1.
Sixteen served on college governing boards, 11 for Brown
University and 5 for other institutions. Twenty-two were
merchants or business men. A few of these alumni deserve
separate mention. Paul Allen, of the class of 1793, became
an author of some note, publishing Original Poems, a His-
tory of the Expedition under Lewis and Clark, a History oj*
the American Revolution, etc. The fame of Tristam Burges
as Congressman and orator has already been mentioned.
Jeremiah Chaplin, 1799, became the first president of Wa-
terville (now Colby) College. In the last class that graduated
under Maxcy was a youth who received at Commencement
only the honor of an intermediate oration, but who later de-
veloped into one of the profoundest thinkers of his generation
— Henry Wheaton, minister to Prussia, and an authority
of world-wide fame in international law. If Rhode Island
College during the decade of President Maxcy 's administra-
tion had done nothing else but give this intellect a collegiate
training, its existence would be amply justified.
C 154 ]
CHAPTER V
PRESIDENT MESSER'S ADMINISTRATION
RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE BECOMES BROWN UNIVERSITY: THE MEDICAL
SCHOOL : HOPE COLLEGE : DISORDERS IN LATER YEARS : THE PRESIDENT'S
THEOLOGICAL VIEWS AND HIS RESIGNATION
ON the same day that President Maxcy's resignation
was received, the Corporation elected Asa Messer
president pro tempore, and two years later made him presi-
dent. President Messer was born in Methuen, Massachu-
setts, in 1769, the son of a farmer. His preparation for
college was acquired under the Rev. Hezekiah Smith, of
Haverhill, and in an academy at Windham, New Hamp-
shire ; he entered Rhode Island College as a sophomore,
and graduated in 1790. He was licensed to preach by the
First Baptist Church in Providence, in 1792, and was or-
dained in 1801, but never had the care of a church. At the
time of his election to the presidency he had already served
the college eleven years — as tutor from 1791 to 1796, as
professor of the learned languages from 1796 to 1799, and
as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy since
1799, also acting as librarian from 1792 to 1799.
The conspicuous facts of the new administration are that
near its beginning Rhode Island College became Brown
University, and near its end the second college building was
erected : the institution had at last found its patron, and
was by his help led on to larger things. On September 8,
1803, the Corporation passed the following vote : "That the
donation of $5000 Dollars, if made to this College within
one Year from the late Commencement, shall entitle the
donor to name the College. " One year later, on September 6,
the day after Commencement, the following letter was read
in the Corporation meeting :
C 155 2
J
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Providence Sept. 6: 1804
Gentlemen —
It is not unknown to you that I have long had an attachment to this
Institution as the place where my deceased Brother Moses and my-
self received our Education — This attachment derives additional
strength from the recollection that my late Hond. Father was among
the earliest & most zealous patrons of the College: & is confirmed
by my regard to the Cause of Literature in general — Under these
impressions I hereby make a Donation of Five Thousand Dollars
to Rhode Island College to remain to perpetuity as a fund for the
establishment of a Professorship of Oratory & Belles Letters — The
Money will be paid next Commencement, and is to be vested in such
funds as the Corporation shall direct for its Augmentation to a suffi-
ciency in your judgment to produce a competent annual Salary for
the within mentioned Professorship —
I am very respectfully Gentlemen with my best wishes for the pros-
perity of the College
Your obedt: friend
Honbl. Corporation Nicho Brown
of Rhode Island College
In selecting oratory as the chair to be endowed, Mr. Brown
was doubtless influenced by the wish of his uncle, John
Brown, expressed the previous year in a letter to the Cor-
poration written only a few days before his death, in which
he said, "And as the most beautiful and handsome mode
of speaking was a principal Object, to my certain know-
ledge, of the first Friends to this College, I do wish that
the Honorable the Corporation may find means during their
deliberations of this week, to establish a Professorship of
English Oratory." The fund was put at interest for several
years until the income from it was judged sufficient for the
purpose specified by the donor.
In fulfillment of their previous vote, and in gratitude to
Mr. Brown, the Corporation at the same meeting voted,
"That this College be called and known in all future time
l 156 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
by the Name of Brown University in Providence in the State
of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations." If it seem
to any modern reader that the sum given was too small for
so great an honor, it should be remembered that $5000
was worth far more then than now, that the day of very large
gifts to colleges was not yet, and that Mr. Brown continued
his benefactions through many years, until their total was
in the neighborhood of $160,000. The new name had, fur-
thermore, a peculiar propriety. Mr. Brown was a devout
man, although he never joined any church : he believed
in the distinctive doctrines of the Baptists, and constandy
attended their places of worship ; but "no sectarian attach-
ments," says his friend, Professor Goddard, " were suffered
to fetter the exercise of his truly liberal and catholic spirit."
The name "Brown University," therefore, carries in it a
reminder of the religious and denominational origin of the
college, and of its catholic spirit as well. Mr. Brown was
also a Rhode Islander through and through. He came of
an old Rhode Island family, bone and sinew of the colony
and state ; and he himself, for fifty years a great merchant,
whose ships were seen in all the waters of the globe, a man
of strictest probity, an educated gentleman and a philan-
thropist of wide interests, stands out with modest dignity
as a foremost representative of the qualities of head and
heart which have made the smallest state in the Union
one of the richest, most powerful, and most honorable. In
becoming "Brown University," therefore, the institution
did not cease to be "Rhode Island College."
The Corporation in President Messer's administration
was for the most part less active than in the stirring earlier
days. The annual meetings were occupied chiefly with mat-
ters of routine, and the meetings of ' ' minor quorums ' ' almost
wholly ceased. The personnel of both branches had largely
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
changed : of those who took office under President Manning,
only eight fellows and ten trustees held over into President
Messer's administration, and many of these soon fell out
because of old ageor death. The second chancellor, theHon.
Jabez Bo wen, died in 1815, and was succeeded by Bishop
Alexander V. Griswold, of the Episcopal Church. There
was also a change in the secretaryship, Judge Howell giving
way in 1806 to the Hon. Samuel Eddy. Nicholas Brown
continued to serve as treasurer until 1825, when he was
succeeded by Moses B. Ives. The new members and officers
proved themselves worthy successors of the old by continu-
ing the administration along essentially the same liberal
lines. At the annual meeting in 1826 the Corporation, for
some unknown reason, departed from the uniform practice
of previous years in the mode of conducting business. The
two branches met in separate rooms of University Hall. The
trustees sent one of their number to inform the fellows that
they were duly organized and had elected a clerk. Several
votes were then passed by both branches, each branch vot-
ing separately : the votes when passed by the trustees were
signed by their clerk ; when passed by the fellows they were
signed by the secretary of the Corporation. This dual meet-
ing occurred on September 7, and seems to have been an
experiment, for on the day before both branches had met
in joint session as usual. The experiment evidently proved
unsatisfactory, and was never repeated.
For several years after Messer's accession to the presi-
dency there was no great change in the affairs of the col-
lege. The number of students slowly increased ; the aver-
age number of graduates during the first nine years was
twenty-five, while under Maxcy it had been twenty -one.
The Faculty was no larger : it consisted of the President ;
the professor of jurisprudence, David Howell, who gave no
C 158 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
lectures, although several times requested by the Corporation
to do so ; the professor of the learned languages, Calvin Park,
who served as such from 1804 to 1811 ; two tutors ; and the
steward, who after 1803 was also called register.
In 1811 came an innovation. A Medical School was es-
tablished, by the appointment of three professors : Solomon
Drowne, professor of materia medica and botany ; William
Ingalls, professor of anatomy and surgery ; and William
C. Bow en, professor of chemistry. There had been no con-
siderable increase in the available funds or in the amount
received from tuition, and the yearly income barely sufficed
to pay the salaries of the former members of the Faculty.
How, then, it will be asked, was this enlargement possible?
Could a medical school in those days be founded on noth-
ing? Apparently this one was founded on nothing but good-
will and student fees. There is no record that the Corpo-
ration even considered salaries for the medical professors
before 1815, and in 1816 Professor Drowne received but
$200; in 1823 he was allowed $100 and fees; in 1825,
$250. The truth is that these medical professors were lec-
turers only, and their duties at the college did not interfere
seriously with their practice, while the distinction of hold-
ing professorships was doubtless of some pecuniary value
to them as physicians.
The standard of medical education in this country was
then low, or a medical school so scantily equipped would
not have been tolerated in a reputable institution of learn-
ing. At the time of its founding, in 1811, there were only
two medical schools in New England — one at Harvard,
founded in 1782, and one at Dartmouth, founded in 1798.
Many practitioners had no medical degree, but were merely
licensed, after an apprenticeship of three or four years to
some physician of established reputation. Yet even by con-
C !59 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
temporary standards the Brown University Medical School
was open to criticism ; and its inadequacy was the first point
of attack in a friendly but severe ' ' Letter to the Corporation ' '
from an ' ' Alumnus Brunensis " in 1815, two years after
Professor Bowen had resigned the chair of chemistry. At
this time only two medical students had as yet completed
the course and taken their degrees ; and the critic finds good
reason why other schools are preferred : ' ' Ours is incom-
plete. The departments of Chemistry, and of the Theory
and Practice of Medicine, remain to be filled. . . . Two able
Professors fill the other departments. But will medical stu-
dents extensively resort to a school ' but half made up ' ? . . .
Not a moment ought to be lost in completing the estab-
lishment; especially since not a single serious obstacle
appears to oppose its completion." He proposes that the
professors receive salaries, instead of being humiliated by
precarious dependence upon fees, and that their lectures
be free to juniors and seniors in the college. He realizes that
lectures by non-resident professors ought to be supple-
mented by a study of textbooks and a drilling by tutors ; but
laboratory work and clinics are not so much as hinted at.
Whether or not the Corporation had needed this prod-
ding, they did, a few weeks after the ' ' Letter ' ' came out, ap-
point Dr. Levi Wheaton as professor of the theory and prac-
tice of "physick," and Dr. John M. Eddy as "adjunct"
professor of anatomy and surgery. The chair of chemistry,
for which a committee of the Corporation had been seeking
a professor since 1813, was filled in 1817 by the selec-
tion of John D'Wolf, of Bristol. The Medical School, thus
strengthened, continued through President Messer's ad-
ministration and into the second year of President Way-
land's. Its professors were able men of excellent training.
Professor Drowne was a graduate of the University of Penn-
[ i6o ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
sylvania Medical School, served as a surgeon in the Conti-
nental army, and studied under eminent physicians in Europe
for four years ; he was also a famous botanist, having a re-
markable botanical garden at his home on Mount Hygeia,
in Foster. Professor Ingalls, who took the degrees of A.B.,
M.B., and M.D. at Harvard, was a prominent Boston
physician, especially skillful in surgery, and one of the earli-
est opponents of the practice of bleeding. Professor Bowen,
who came of a family of eminent Providence physicians,
was educated in Rhode Island College and Union College,
studied and practiced in Providence, and then went to Eu-
rope, where he took a medical degree in the University of
Edinburgh, studied in Paris, and was a private pupil of
the great London surgeon, Astley Cooper ; Dr. Usher Par-
sons wrote of him, ' ' In the death of Dr. William C. Bowen,
Rhode Island lost its brightest ornament of the medical
profession." His successor, Professor D'Wolf, studied in
Brown University, but did not take a degree ; his know-
ledge of chemistry was acquired chiefly under Dr. Robert
Hare, of Philadelphia, a celebrated chemist, later professor
of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. D'Wolf
was a brilliant lecturer. ' ' He always had a full attendance, ' '
wrote a member of the class of 1826. "He opened to the
eyes of the student, in his peculiarly attractive manner, the
wonders of a new and brilliant science. . . . Sometimes
in drawing practical deductions from the science he was
teaching, he would suddenly electrify the class by illustrat-
ing its truths in glowing and eloquent words, so impressive
and graphic as not to be easily forgotten." He also gave
popular courses of lectures, which drew large audiences,
in Providence, New Bedford, and Savannah. After leaving
Brown he held the chair of chemistry in medical schools
in Vermont and St. Louis. Professor Wheaton, of the class
C l6l ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of 1782, studied medicine with a Rhode Island physician
during the Revolution, and acquired valuable experience
in a military hospital and as surgeon on a privateer and a
prison-ship ; hecontributed many articles to the Boston Med-
ical and SurgicalJ ournal and other professional periodicals.
Professor Eddy, who died in the second year after his ap-
pointment, was a man of high promise, and one of the origi-
nal fellows of the Rhode Island Medical Society. Professor
Parsons, Eddy's successor, after studying medicine in Bos-
ton under Dr. John Warren, a professor in the Harvard
Medical School, served with distinction as surgeon in the
War of 1812 ; he received the degree of M.D. at Harvard
in 1818, walked the hospitals in Paris and London, and
in 1821 became professor of anatomy and surgery at Dart-
mouth, whence he removed to Brown University the next
year as adjunct professor of those subjects, becoming full
professor in 1 823 . " If we may accept the testimony of two
surviving pupils of the school," modestly writes his son,
Professor C. W. Parsons, "the opening of courses by Dr.
Parsons gave new life to the institution. He made arrange-
ments, through channels over which a veil of secrecy had
to be thrown, for a supply of anatomical material." Dr.
Parsons became eminent as a surgeon and consulting physi-
cian, and his prize medical essays made his name widely
known; in 1853 he was chosen first vice-president of the
American Medical Association.
This was surely a brilliant Faculty for a medical school
without endowment ; and it is not surprising that the school
had a considerable measure of success. The following
extracts from a circular recently given to the university
library show the methods and ideals of the professors ; the
circular is undated, but belongs to the years 1822-25:
C l62 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
THE Medical Lectures in Brown University will commence in the
Anatomical Building, in Providence, on the first Thursday in Febru-
ary, and be continued daily for nearly three months.
Theory and Practice of Physic and Obstetrics, by
Dr. Wheaton, $10 00
Chemistry and Pharmacy, by Professor D'Wolf, 10 00
Anatomy, Physiology and Surgery, by Dr. Parsons, 15 00
$35 00
. . . The Anatomical Museum has recently received very important
additions from various parts of Europe, and now contains every prep-
aration, plate and instrument necessary to a teacher of anatomy. Stu-
dents will be accommodated with separate sets of bones, and allowed
ample opportunities in Practical Anatomy. . . .
The lectures on Surgery will comprise about one fourth part of
the course, and nearly every instrument now in use will be exhibited
and described. When practicable, students will be allowed to attend
surgical operations, and cases of sickness. . . .
The conditions on which Medical Degrees are conferred are the
following :
1st. That the candidate sustain a good moral character.
2. That he furnish the Professors with satisfactory evidence of his
possessing a competent knowledge of the Latin language and Natural
Philosophy.
3. That he shall have attended two full courses of lectures on Anat-
omy and Surgery, Chemistry and the Theory and Practice of Physic.
4. That he shall have studied three years (including the time of
lectures) with physicians of approved reputation.
5. That he shall have submitted to a private examination held by
the Professors during the last week of the lectures, or on the Monday
and Tuesday preceding Commencement — and received their recom-
mendation.
6. That he shall have written a dissertation on some medical sub-
ject and read and defended it in the College Chapel before the Presi-
dent, or such College officer as he may appoint, and the Medical Pro-
fessors and such other professional or literary gentlemen as choose to
attend.
A Brown University Medical Association, consisting of pro-
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
fessors, students attending the medical lectures, and resi-
dent physicians, was formed in 1811 and lived until 1825.
It held weekly meetings during the lecture season, and had
a library from which books were lent.
The graduates of the Brown University Medical School
numbered eighty-seven, not counting the recipients of hon-
orary medical degrees, of whom there were thirty-one dur-
ing the years 1804-28. Most of the graduates became use-
ful members of their profession, and several attained to
eminence. Jerome V. C. Smith was professor in the Berk-
shire Medical Institution, port physician of Boston for
twenty- three years, editor of the Boston Medical and Swgi-
cal Journal for twenty-eight years, and the author of many
medical works. Alden March was a founder of the Albany
Medical College and professor of surgery in it for thirty
years, president of the American Medical Association, and
originator of various surgical appliances. Lewis L. Miller
was an eminent physician in Providence for forty years,
and president of the Rhode Island Medical Society. George
Capron practiced in Rhode Island for half a century; he
was physician in the United States Marine Hospital at
Providence, president of the Rhode Island Medical Soci-
ety, and author of numerous medical publications. Johnson
Gardner was a Rhode Island physician for forty years,
and examining surgeon for the state recruits during the
Civil War. Francis L. Wheaton was appointed surgeon-
general of Rhode Island during the Mexican War, and was
a surgeon in the United States military service throughout
the Civil War. The most famous of all was Elisha Bartlett,
of the last class under President Messer ; he held professor-
ships in several medical schools, including Dartmouth, the
University of New York, and the College of Physicians and
Surgeons in New York City; he was also prominent as an
[ 16 4 H
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
author, producing, says Dr. Parsons, "two works of great
importance and permanent value," one on the "Fevers of
the United States," which established the distinction be-
tween typhus and typhoid, and the other an " Essay on the
Philosophy of Medical Science. ' '
The Medical School was not the only department of the
University for which the vigorous "Alumnus Brunensis "
of 1815 had pointed suggestions to make. Turning to the
college as a whole, he urges that a non-resident professor
of rhetoric and oratory be appointed at once ; advises that
' ' a concise course of Lectures on Law ' ' be given, and hopes
that "it would be the commencement of a Law School,
which is much needed ' ' ; thinks that ' ' probably no imme-
diate alteration is expedient" in the department of mathe-
matics and natural philosophy, of which President Messer
had charge, but "in almost every college, it has a professor
specially devoted to its interests . ' ' He would also have ' ' sum-
mary and concise ' ' courses of lectures on mineralogy and
zoology given by the professors of chemistry and botany.
The professor of moral philosophy and metaphysics, Cal-
vin Park, seems to have confined the course to recitations
from a textbook ; for " Alumnus ' ' says he has ' ' only to re-
mark, that a course of lectures on this subject, should the
worthy professor of it be inclined to engage, would be a val-
uable addition to the circle of discipline. ' ' He has just views
of the function and needs of a college library : " A Library,
not to be retrograde, must keep pace with the progress of
science and of other similar institutions. The college Library
ought therefore to have an annual appropriation for its
regular increase." He has other ambitions for the college,
but does not expect to see them realized at present — a cabi-
net of minerals, a botanic garden, and an additional college
building. The most modern suggestion is that about ' ' Mis-
I 165 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
cellaneous Lectures," which incidentally shows that the
relations between officers and students were then less inti-
mate and friendly than now:
Persons generally enter a college young and comparatively inexperi-
enced. In the choice of books, in the direction of their studies, in their
attention to diet and exercise, in the selection of companions, in their
judgment of mankind, and in the formation of their social and moral
habits, how much assistance might be given by one whose experience
has instructed him on these points, and whose affectionate solicitude
for the welfare of his pupils would call forth all his abilities and all his
experience in their behalf. . . . Such a course of lectures would espe-
cially have one good effect. It would tend to narrow the distance be-
tween the instructor and instructed. It is an unfortunate fact, that these
two stations are viewed by many as two hostile camps. An entrance
into college is thought almost a declaration of war : letters of marque
and reprisal certainly scarcely come up to their ideas of the state of
their relations. Perpetual hostilities must be kept up.
All these thoughtful and progressive recommendations
doubtless had a stimulating effect. Plans had already been
made to meet some of the needs, however, and others were
met as they became more apparent. When the two new med-
ical professors were appointed, Tristam Burges was also
selected for the chair of oratory and belles-lettres. In 1819
Jasper Adams was made professor of mathematics and nat-
ural philosophy. The botanic garden had been under con-
sideration by a committee since 1813, and a plot near the
southeast corner of the campus was later devoted to it. Even
the cabinet of minerals was assigned a room in the new
college building in 1823.
The entrance requirements under President Messer re-
mained the same as under Presidents Manning and Maxcy.
The curriculum prescribed by the Laws of 1803 differed
from that of 1783 chiefly in the omission of Lucian, Caesar,
and Homer ; the Greek prescribed was the New Testament,
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Xenophon's Cyropaedia, and Longinus. By 1823, however,
the course of study was considerably enriched, the laws then
enacted specifying the following works, some of which had
already had a place in the curriculum for several years :
The Freshman Class, after revising a part of Virgil, Cicero and the
Greek Testament, shall study Graeca Minora, Xenophon's Cyropoe-
dia, Sallust, Cicero de Amicitia and de Senectute, Horace, Roman An-
tiquities, Sheridan's Lectures, Arithmetic and English Grammar.
The Sophomore Class shall study Morse's Universal Geography,
Blair's Lectures, Cicero de Oratore, Homer, Algebra, Euclid, Kaim's
Criticism and Hedge's Logic.
The Junior Class shall study Paley's Moral Philosophy and Nat-
ural Theology, Enfield's Natural Philosophy, Campbell's Philosophy
of Rhetoric, Steward's Philosophy of Mind, Chemistry, Trigonome-
try, Surveying and Navigation.
The Senior Class shall study Butler's Analogy, Burlamaqui on the
Law of Nature, The Federalist, Paley's Evidences, and Vattel. They
shall also revise their preceding studies.
Noteworthy points about this curriculum are the addition
or restoration of several classical works, the inclusion of a
study of government and international law, and the strong
emphasis still laid on elocution and rhetoric, the laws pre-
scribing weekly declamations by all the classes, weekly
exercises in English composition by the three older classes,
and weekly practice in "making Latin" by the freshmen.
As to methods of instruction, we have this vivid state-
ment by Barnas Sears, of the class of 1825: "Our pro-
fessors were more portly men, going on to sixty. Sitting
cross-legged in an arm-chair, against which a silver-headed
cane leaned, they would insist on your giving them the
exact words of Blair (false English and all), or of Karnes,
and of Stewart and Hedge. Our president, who heard us in
Enfield's philosophy, was more communicative and even
facetious. ... In languages, beyond making Latin, after
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Clarke's Introduction b there was nothing, if we except scan-
ning, but translating and parsing ; no true philology, noth-
ing of the necessary meaning of words from derivation and
usage, or of the force of grammatical forms and construc-
tion. Every thing depended on translation, generally guessed
out, often stolen." The courses referred to were those con-
ducted by the resident teachers, in which the students were
treated like school-boys, with set tasks and set times for
doing them each day. But the instruction by the non-resi-
dent professors in the Medical School was given by lectures,
to which the academic students were admitted. In 1821 the
professor of oratory and belles-lettres, Tristam Burges, also
a non-resident, began a course of lectures ; and a letter from
him to the Corporation on November 19, 1826, referring
to his work of that year and protesting against a proposal
to deprive him of the professorship, gives interesting facts
about his methods and ideals :
I commenced the instruction, by a course of Lectures on Rhetorick.
I still continued to hear their declamations; & to declaim before them,
as I had done; & to hear their weekly compositions read in the Chapel,
& to correct them. ... I am . . . solicitous, that the instruction, from
the Rhetorical Professor, in the University, should be confined to a
certain part only of the year; & not be extended over the whole of
every collegiate term. It might embrace a course of Lectures; & the
hearing of declamations, of such original compositions, as might, under
the instruction of the Professer, be, during that time, prepared by the
pupils, for that purpose. The weekly compositions, & declamations,
may be continued. These may, as was the case before 1821, be heard,
& examined, by the other officers of instruction. This labour will then
be divided. At present, it is all thrown on my shoulders; & I have,
not unfrequently, gone from the Chapel, with thirty sheets of paper
in my pockets, to read correct, & criticise, in the course of the next
week. The young men are, some times, considerate ; & do not all write ;
& the two present Classes relieve me, in a more creditable manner;
that is by writing very correctly. ... I must be permitted to say, that
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
no practical man, either in the desk, or at the bar, could have done
what I have done, unless he, as I have, give up his practice. You may
obtain a mere theorist, who will undertake to do it; but a theoreti-
cal orator will succeed no better, if as well, in teaching eloquence, as a
theoretical anatomist will, in teaching surgery.
How heavy was the labor of correcting compositions,
which before 1821 fell wholly on instructors teaching other
subjects, including the president himself, is shown by this
extract from a letter of 1815 by President Messer, who
seems to have been imposed upon by some waggish stu-
dent : " I should also be glad to know the Reporter of the
story of blank Composition. The year before last I received
on each week of term-time, 49 pieces of composition ; and
hence, during the year, more than 1400 pieces. Since an
Officer of the Institution, I have received nearly twenty
thousand Pieces. Now, though it is possible that I may
have neglected 50, or 100, or 500 of these Pieces, I should
still be glad to know the reporter of this one of them, though,
as the story says, a blank!"
By the Laws of 1803 there was a vacation of four weeks
beginning with Commencement day, which came always
on the first Wednesday in September ; a second vacation,
beginning on the last Wednesday in December and con-
tinuing six weeks ; and a third of three weeks, beginning
on the first Wednesday in May. By a vote of the Corpo-
ration in 1807, the winter vacation was lengthened to eight
weeks, while the spring one was shortened to two weeks
and began on the third Wednesday of May. The exami-
nations came at times determined by the vacations. The sen-
iors were examined in the languages on the Wednesday
preceding the spring vacation, and in the liberal arts and
sciences on the second Wednesday in July ; the rest of the
time before Commencement they were supposed to be busy
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
preparing their Commencement parts. The three under
classes were examined on the Monday preceding the spring
vacation, and on the Monday (after 1823 the Friday) pre-
ceding Commencement.
The library grew considerably during President Messer's
administration. In 1805 Nicholas Brown gave $500 for the
purchase of books, and the Corporation voted as much more.
In 1812 $400 was appropriated for new books, and three
years later $500 ; in 1820 $100 annually was voted "par-
ticularly to subscribe for . . . the best scientific periodical
works now publishing." In 1824 a decided improvement
was made in the care of the library. The librarians hereto-
fore had been college tutors or preceptors in the grammar
school, usually serving only a year or two ; but now Hora-
tio G. Bowen, just appointed professor of natural history,
became librarian, and he held the office for sixteen years.
He at once set to raising a fund, and in a few months had
secured subscriptions of $840. The library was also en-
riched by various bequests of books. The Rev. Isaac Backus
left a part of his library to the college, including a copy
of Roger Williams's Bloody Tenent yet More Bloody with
this inscription in Williams's hand: "For his honoured &
beloved Mr John Clarke an eminent Witnes of Christ Jesus
agst ye bloodie Doctrine of Persecution &c." In 1818 the
valuable library of the Rev. William Richards of England
was received. Dr. Richards was a broad-minded Baptist
and an ardent advocate of religious freedom, whose corre-
spondence with President Manning had predisposed him
in favor of the young college, and as his end drew near he
made inquiry whether the institution still maintained its
liberal principles. President Messer replied vigorously in the
affirmative, and the library was accordingly bequeathed to
the university. It consisted of thirteen hundred volumes, and
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
contained, said Librarian Jewett, "a considerable number
of Welsh books, a large collection of valuable works, illus-
trating the history and antiquities of England and Wales ;
besides two or three hundred bound volumes of pamphlets,
some of them very ancient, rare and curious." In the last
years of President Messer's administration some two hun-
dred costly volumes on anatomy, biology, mathematics, and
theology were given to the library by John Carter Brown,
Robert H. Ives, the Rev. Thomas Carlile, and Messrs.
Brown and Ives. The second printed catalogue appeared in
1826, and showed that the library then consisted of about
five thousand volumes. In 1825, after the appointment of the
new librarian, the Corporation made a few changes in the
rules for the use of the library : it was to be opened on three
days a week (instead of two) in term-time, and on Satur-
day in vacation ; and members of the Corporation and Fac-
ulty might take out ten volumes at a time, and renew them.
The number of students in the college continued to grow.
The catalogue of 1821-22 shows an attendance of 152,
not counting medical students ; of the 152, furthermore, 49
were freshmen. An additional college building was now
much needed, and on September 6, 1821, the Corporation
appointed a committee, including the President, Nicholas
Brown, and Thomas P. Ives, "to consider on the propri-
ety of erecting another College edifice." At an adjourned
meeting a few weeks later, the committee were authorized
"to select and if necessary to purchase a suitable site for
another College edifice," "to erect the edifice on such plan
and of such dimensions as they may think proper, ' ' and ' ' to
solicit donations and draw on the Treasury for the above
purpose." The result showed the wisdom of leaving so
much latitude to a committee of which Mr. Brown was
a member. On January 13, 1823, the committee reported
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
that a lot had been purchased of Nathan Waterman, and
that on it had been erected, "by Nicholas Brown Esq. the
distinguished patron of the University, ' ' " an elegant brick
building, . . . length 120 feet Width 40 feet four stories
high and containing 48 rooms." At the same meeting the
following letter from Mr. Brown was read:
To the Corporation of Brown University.
It affords me great pleasure, at this adjourned meeting of the Cor-
poration to state, that the College Edifice, erected last season, and lo-
cated on the land purchased by the Corporation of Mr. Nathan Wa-
terman, is completed, being warmly attached to the Institution where
I received my education, among whose founders and benefactors was
my honoured Father deceased, and believing that the dissemination
of letters and knowledge is the great means of social happiness —
I have caused this Edifice to be erected wholly at my expense, and
now present it to the Corporation of Brown University to be held with
the other Corporate property according to their Charter. As it may be
proper to give a name to this new Edifice, I take leave to suggest to
the Corporation that of " Hope College."
I avail myself of this occasion to express a hope, that Heaven will
bless and make it useful in the promotion of Virtue, Science, and
Literature, to those of the present and future generations, who may
resort to this University for education. — With respectful and affec-
tionate regards to the individual members of the Corporation,
I am their friend,
Brown University Nicholas Brown.
January 13. 1823.
The Corporation at once passed a resolution, "That the
members of this Corporation, entertain a very high sense
of the liberality of this Patron of Science, in the gift of this
new building, in addition to his former large donations to
this University." A committee appointed to devise a means
of manifesting the Corporation's gratitude to Mr. Brown re-
ported in favor of having his portrait painted and ' ' placed
in an apartment of one of the Colleges," and also recom-
C *7» ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
mended ' ' That a monumental marble be placed in the front
of Hope College with a suitable inscription." Mr. Brown's
modesty defeated the second plan, and delayed the execution
of the first for some years.
The new building took its name from Mrs. Hope Ives,
wife of Thomas P. Ives, the only surviving sister of Mr.
Brown. It is reputed to be one of the purest specimens of
colonial architecture in New England, less massive than
University Hall, but light and graceful in its lines. It was
designed as a dormitory ; for many years, however, its rooms
were not all needed for lodgings, and some served other
purposes, the Philermenian and United Brothers Societies
having quarters on the top floor of the north division. The
building cost about $20,000; the lot, $5189.
At the same meeting at which Hope College was received
and named, the Corporation voted "That the old College
Edifice be named ' University Hall ' . ' ' Since the completion
of its inside finishing in 1788, a bell had been placed in the
old building, and necessary repairs had been made from
time to time. The early laws imply that the college had a
bell ; but either it had been broken or was deemed too small,
for in 1790 a committee was appointed "to procure a Bell
for the College, as soon as may be." The next year they
were instructed to get a bell of ' ' the weight heretofore or-
dered (about 300 lbs.) as soon as may be." Just when this
essential to college life arrived and was hung in its place,
does not appear ; but on September 8, 1791, the committee
was authorized to "complete the Copola," no doubt to fit
it for its guest; and on December 6, 1792, the Corporation
voted ' ' that the President employ one of the Students to
ring the College Bell, & that such Student be allowed his
Tuition &Room rent for that Service. "In September, 1795,
a committee was appointed to report what repairs to the
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
roof were needed, and to ' ' cause necessary repairs to be im-
mediately made on the roof over the Library." A year later
the treasurer was authorized to hire a sum not exceeding
$1500 for the repair of the building, which was leaking
badly, and he was instructed to "sell on the best terms
he can, the slate now on the roof of the College"; he and
another were made a committee to repair the edifice and the
president's house "without delay."
A painting formerly in the family of President Messer
gives a view of the college grounds as they were about the
year 1800. 1 The campus is little more than a field, roughly
graded, with very few shade trees ; it is inclosed by a fence
on the west, and by walls elsewhere — doubtless the same
that President Manning made ; and College Street is still
only a lane. A well that is represented at the southeast
corner of University Hall was as old as the building, the
accounts of Nicholas Brown and Company showing that
it was dug in 1770. In 1803 it was planned to put the well
to a new use, the treasurer being instructed to apply to the
town ' ' to take measures for establishing a pump in the Col-
lege Well for the use of the College and the neighbouring
buildings in case of fire."
The first addition to the grounds was made in 1815,
when the Corporation bought for $600 a lot about 50 feet
wide and extending north from George Street about 130
feet to the college lands ; it is the land lying just behind
Rhode Island Hall. In the same year, on October 24, occurs
the first reference in the Corporation records to trees on the
campus: " Voted, That the Committee appointed to keep
the College Edifice in repair cause such of the trees in the
College Yard to be cut down as they may think expedient. ' '
1 A reproduction of the painting is given in Guild's Brown University and
Manning, page 157, and in Memories of Brown, page 15.
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
The lot for Hope College was a large addition to the grounds,
being 123 feet wide and extending east from Prospect Street
400 feet; and on September 5, 1822, while the new build-
ing was nearing completion, a committee was appointed
"to cause the College yard, to be enclosed with a suitable
fence and planted with trees at their discretion." Another
important change made in this year was the continuation of
Prospect Street from Meeting Street (where it had stopped
in 1785) to College Street ; and on September 5 it was voted,
' ' That this Corporation confirm the doings of the Town
Council of the Town of Providence in continuing prospect
Street through the College lands, westward of the Presi-
dents House, and that they release all claim to damages
for the lands belonging to them through which said Street
passes." The appearance of the college neighborhood a few
years earlier is clearly described by Samuel B. Shaw, of the
class of 1819 : "No other street but Angell then led directly
to the river. What is now Waterman street was chiefly a
pasture for horses. 1 . . . The only houses on Prospect street
were those of Colonel Thomas Halsey and his son-in-law,
Captain Creighton. From George street to Power, through
Brown, the brick house then occupied by Mr. Moses Eddy
was the only one then erected on the latter, and on College
street as far as Benefit the only house was that occupied
by a Mr. Jenckes."
The finances of the college during President Messer's
administration were still straitened. Mr. Brown's fund for
a professorship of oratory lay dormant for many years, and
the new building yielded income only in the form of room
rents, which were very low. Tuition, also, remained at the
old figure of $16 a year until 1822, when it was raised to
1 Waterman Street was opened from Benefit Street to Prospect Street in
1833, from Prospect Street to Hope Street in 1841.
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
$20. Furthermore, the payments for tuition and room rent
often came in slowly. In 1821 there was due the college
from undergraduates and graduates $2783.84, of which
about $600 was considered bad debts ; and $3126 was due
the steward for board, of which nearly $400, it was thought,
could not be collected. Hence there was often a lack of ready
money. The following letter to Nicholas Brown as treasurer
pictures the state of things :
c- June 11th. —
Our quarter day has returned, & I have not money enough to meet
the demands of the officers. Notwithstanding I have actually advanced
of my own Money from four to five Hundred dollars, there is still a
balance due of nearly three Hundred dollars. I suppose, however, that
with $200, I might give a general satisfaction. If you will direct the
course to be taken in the case, you will oblige your friend & Servant.
Nicholas Brown Esqr.
Another undated letter of like import ends with the pointed
query, "Will you send it up, or shall I call and take it
myself ? ' '
The productive funds were still small, and they increased
slowly. In 1809 they were $14,086, exclusive of the fund to
endow the chair of oratory. In 1824 they were only $15, 5 78,
yielding but $936 a year. There seems to have been no
serious attempt to secure a larger endowment; in 1811 a
lottery was again proposed, but nothing came of it. The
reliance upon tuition and room rents for increase of income
was to some extent justified : the attendance kept on grow-
ing for several years, reaching 162 in 1823-24, besides 38
medical students j 1 the next year the graduating class num-
bered 60, of whom 48 took the degree of Bachelor of Arts
— the largest class until 1870. These numbers, with tui-
1 At Harvard College the number of students in 1825-26 was only 234.
[ '76 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
tion at $20, brought in a respectable income when the bills
were all paid. Hence the salaries of the officers rose grad-
ually under President Messer. In 1823-24 the president's
salary remained at $1000, with the usual perquisites, but
the two resident professors, Park and Adams, now received
$840 each ; four of the non-resident professors received
little or nothing, but Tristam Burges, professor of oratory
and belles-lettres, was paid $600, and Professor D' Wolf, of
the chair of chemistry, the same; the tutors received about
$500 each, which was the salary of the masters of the Provi-
dence public schools.
The public days of the institution continued to be as pop-
ular as ever. The processions at Commencement were still
enlivened by the escorting bodies of militia, although after
1803, by a vote of the Corporation, the senior class had to
get the consent of the Corporation before inviting these glit-
tering warriors to attend. The following newspaper notices
and vote of the Corporation give glimpses of Commence-
ment at various times :
Voted, That at the next Commencement the doors of the Meeting
House be open from 9, oclock in the morning for the admission of
Ladies but that the Pews to the eastward of the middle aisle be re-
served for the Gentlemen composing the Procession. (Corporation
Records, September 5, 1816.)
We have on no similar occasion welcomed so great a concourse of
strangers. The procession was escorted to the first Baptist Meeting-
House by the new company of Light Infantry. ... In the evening,
the receipts at the Theatre exceeded five hundred dollars. (Providence
Patriot and Columbian Phenix, September 5, 1818.)
At no time within our recollection has there been a greater number of
strangers in town attracted by the exercises of commencement. Yes-
terday the spacious house in which the performances took place was
crowded even with more than its usual excess. Among the auditors
there were several strangers of distinction from abroad. — In point of
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
elocution we have never seen a class graduating on the stage, who gave
better specimens of correct taste, and energy in delivery. . . . The in-
teresting little youth who pronounced the Greek oration, but 15 years
of age, attracted much interest; there was a musick in his delivery
which gave a charm to that beautiful language even to the ear totally
incapable of receiving a particle of its meaning. {Manufacturers and
Farmers Journal, September 8, 1825.)
In spite of contemporary praise, there was a change for the
worse, according to modern ideas, in the subjects of the
Commencement speeches. Few were taken from current
life, and nearly all were too broad for brief treatment. The
War of 1812 inspired none of the orators, debaters, or es-
sayists ; only a poem in 1816, "The American dead," may
have dealt with those who fell in the war. Most of the dis-
putes were upon questions which admit of no definite solu-
tion, such as "Which is the most injurious, Hypocrisy or
Pride ? " or " Is Sensibility the source of excellence? ' ' Some
of the debaters, however, took more concrete questions : "Are
Factories beneficial to the United States?" "Has the reign
of Napoleon been advantageous to Europe?" "Are Capi-
tal Punishments useful? ' ' In the orations there was for sev-
eral years a curious fondness for dealing with "abuses"
— of religion, of merit, of genius, of liberty, of reason. Some
topics were almost incredibly general, as "Man," "Juris-
prudence, " " The Fine Arts, ' ' ' ' Thinking. ' ' A new tend-
ency, especially noticeable after the establishment of the
Medical School, was the choice of topics relating to modern
science: "Influence of Science on Liberty," was a subject
in 1815, " Science of geology " in 1817, " Are the Induce-
ments for cultivating Science in the United States equal to
those in Great Britain?" in 1819, "Do Meteorites origi-
nate from sources connected with the earth ? " in 1 82 1 . Much
of the variety in forms of discourse and in languages was
Z 178 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
preserved. The orations in Hebrew and French had been
discontinued under President Maxcy, and the semi-dra-
matic and often humorous dialogues disappeared after 1805 ;
but orations, dissertations, essays, disputes, conferences, and
poems still diversified the exercises, and orations or essays
in Latin and Greek were pronounced or read nearly every
year. 1
If the Commencement programs show some decline,
those of another occasion improved. The ' ' Exhibitions ' ' by
seniors, and by juniors and sophomores together, which
began in President Maxcy's time, grew more and more
popular, and called out a livelier display of talent than the
more staid Commencement exercises. The sophomore-
junior exhibitions occurred in April and August : the sopho-
mores recited selected pieces ; the juniors delivered original
orations and poems, engaged in disputes and dialogues, and
even acted scenes from plays. After the spring of 1820 the
sophomores no longer took part. The senior exhibition came
in December. The place was at first the college chapel, but
after 1806 often the town-house. The titles of some of the
pieces presented show how much freedom was allowed the
students on these occasions. At the sophomore-junior exhibi-
tion in the spring of 1 803 four poems were read , and a dispute
was held on the question, ' ' Ought those, who are old Bach-
elors from Choice, to support those, who are old Maids from
Necessity?" At the August performance four juniors had
a "conference" on "The Comparative Disadvantages of
Although the Latin theses had disappeared from the programs after the
Revolution, the seniors were required even in the Laws of 1803 to "collect,
prepare, and publish " them, delivering two each week (on penalty of a fine
of eight cents for every omission) to students appointed to receive them. How
long the hunt for these academic flora and fauna was compulsory is not cer-
tain, but they were printed until 1817; in the Laws of 1823 the collection
of them was made conditional — "if the President shall direct."
t J 79 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
personal Beauty, Wit, Coquetry and early Marriage " ; and
there was "A Colloquial Discussion, in Latin, on the Policy
of carrying on a War with Tripoli. ' ' In the senior exhibition
of 1804 "An Oration on religious Persecution" came be-
tween a conference on ' ' The comparative Demerit of Quack
Legislation, Quack Divines, Quack Physicians and Quack
Lawyers" and a dialogue, "The young Man of Sixty."
It is evident that the lighter parts of the programs sup-
plied to college life some of the elements which now appear
in the events of Class Day and Junior Week. This impres-
sion is confirmed by the following reminiscences of ' ' Old
Citizen," published in The Providence Journal on July 1,
1851:
Many a time have I attended "exhibitions" of the undergraduates, in
the old town house. On these occasions, a temporary stage was erected
in front of the pulpit, and some neighbor was called upon for the loan
of a carpet, to cover the naked boards. In the South East corner under
the gallery, was the dressing room, screened from vulgar eyes, by a fair
chintz curtain. From behind this came forth the youthful orators,
who have since edified churches and charmed senates and courts, trem-
bling like aspen leaves and blushing like young maidens. . . . At the
close, a select number from each [class] M acted a play" or "spoke a
dialogue," dressed in character. There in the pulpit sat the President
and the Professors and the Tutors. . . . Over the dressing room, in the
gallery, usually sat the musicians, as many in number as the exhibit-
ors could afford to hire, who would occasionally discourse such music
as is now seldom heard. I have seen that old town house crowded as
full of ladies, bright eyed ladies too, and gentlemen as the " Old Bap-
tist" used to be on the afternoon of Commencement day; not a va-
cant seat in those old square pews, nor a place to stand in those broad
aisles.
In the undergraduate life of the period the most conspicu-
ous new feature was the growth of societies. The Philerme-
nian Society, founded under President Maxcy, continued to
thrive. Its library gradually increased, until in 1821 it con-
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
tained 1594 volumes, including such works as Tom Jones,
Tristram Shandy, and Byron's poems ; the books were kept
in the college library-room until 1823, when they were re-
moved to the society's quarters in Hope College. The fort-
nightly debates and other literary exercises aroused great
interest, and were believed to afford valuable discipline.
Membership in this society was limited to forty-five; and
as there were more undergraduates whose thirst for public
speech was not slaked by the required exercises at chapel,
exhibitions, and Commencement, another society, the United
Brothers, was formed in 1806. These two great rivals di-
vided the student body between them for many years,
surviving into the days of President Sears. A tincture of
political controversy sharpened their rivalry, the older soci-
ety inclining to the aristocratic Federals, the younger to the
Republicans, the democrats of that day. Both organizations
had anniversary meetings on the day before Commence-
ment; after 1810 these were held in the Congregational
church on Benevolent Street, and the orators and poets
were more or less distinguished alumni or other persons.
The societies took themselves very seriously, as indeed they
had a right to do in that oratorical age, and invited eminent
persons to come and speak before them and be made hon-
orary members. Among the Philermenian documents pre-
served in the college library is a bundle of faded letters con-
taining polite declinations from Henry Clay and other busy
dignitaries, but acceptances, also, from many lesser lights.
The students continuing to increase in number, they out-
ran the constitutional limits of both societies, and a third,
the Franklin Society, was established in 1824 ; it never had
the vitality of the other two, however, and died after ten
years. A Philophusion Society, for research in science, ex-
isted from 1818 to 1827. One of the minor suggestions of
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
"Alumnus," in his "Letter to the Corporation" in 1815,
was that an association be formed to aid poor students,
particularly by lending them textbooks. The seed fell into
fertile soil, for a few weeks later was held the first meet-
ing of such an organization, called the Philendean Society.
Well-known names appear among the autographs of the
early members — Robert H. Ives, John Carter Brown, Sam-
uel G. Howe, Edwards A. Park, and others. The dues
were only a dollar a year ; but a goodly number of textbooks
were gradually collected, and many poor students were glad
to use them — Barnas Sears for one. The records of the
society show that it lent books until 1848. In the early years
it, too, had its anniversary meeting for oratorical delight,
when a senior delivered a "lecture." The religious life of
the students also took organic form at this time : a Praying
Society was formed in 1802, which had prayer-meetings
twice a week, and exchanged letters with similar societies
in other colleges ; in 1821 it was succeeded by a Religious
Society.
The college rules for the conduct of students remained
much as before. "To encourage and assist the students in
their literary pursuits, to promote in them a regular con-
duct and diligent use of time, ' ' ran one of the Laws of 1 803 ,
"the officers shall, as often as they judge necessary, visit
their chambers, as well in study hours as at other times."
Absence from rooms, recitations, and chapel, tardiness,
neglect to "exhibit composition" or attend disputations,
were punished by fines ranging from three cents to $1.50,
followed in obstinate cases by admonition, rustication, or
"degradation." If a student should "presume" to exhibit
anything on the stage which had not been approved, he
was "liable to a fine not less than fifty cents, and to be pub-
licly admonished before the audience" ; and he incurred the
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
same punishment if he used ' ' any profane or indecent lan-
guage on the stage." For declamations in chapel no piece
likely to excite laughter was to be chosen, on penalty of six-
teen cents. The chapter of the laws entitled "Of Criminal
Offences " invented several new crimes ; and in addition to
the fundamentals of right living the undergraduates were
instructed in some of the refinements of the academic life :
No student shall keep any kind of fire-arms or gunpowder in his room,
nor fire gunpowder in or near the College, in any manner whatever.
Ir any scholar shall wilfully insult any of the officers of government
or instruction, if he shall strike them, or break their windows, he shall
be immediately expelled.
No student shall play on any musical instrument in the hours allotted
for study, on the penalty of eight cents for every offence.
All students are strictly forbidden to make indecent, unnecessary noises
in the College at any time, either by running violently, hallooing, or
rolling things in the entries or down the stairs.
Every student is strictly forbidden to throw any thing against the Col-
lege edifice, to attempt throwing any thing over it, or to throw water
or any thing else from the College windows, or in the College entries.
All students are forbidden to enter the chapel, except at the times of
devotional and collegiate exercises, or without permission to enter the
Library, Musaeum or Philosophical Chamber.
Rules unfortunately do not enforce themselves ; and in spite
of this formidable array of prohibitions and penalties, there
were many infractions of discipline under President Mes-
ser, especially in his later years. His letter-books are full of
notices of rustication, which was then carried out with lit-
eral accuracy, quite in the fine old English style, the pur-
pose being to send the offender away from distracting and too
stimulating influences, and to allow him to regain his equi-
poise of soul in rural seclusion and pursue his studies aided
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
by some scholarly clergyman. Some of the disorder was in-
nocent enough. A guileless farmer, unacquainted with the
ways of the learned world, found his ox-sled and load of
wood transported to the roof of University Hall. The Presi-
dent's horse was led to the top story of the building and
left there over night : its guide on this perilous journey was
Samuel G. Howe, who was soon after doing heroic service
in the Greek war of independence and was later the teacher
of Laura Bridgman ; but even in mature life, says his daugh-
ter, "there was no keeping the twinkle out of his eye, as he
told how funny the old horse looked, stretching his meek
head out of the fourth-story window, and whinnying mourn-
fully to his amazed master passing below."
But sometimes there was vandalism, rowdyism, or riot.
Soon after the completion of Hope College, a committee
of the Corporation reported that ' ' the outside doors in the
New College have been injured in a shameful manner & the
Committee are sorry to remark, there appears a disposition
to cut waste & distroy the Buildings." "Your son, since
his return," writes Messer in 1819, "has thrown a stone
through the window of one of the Tutors, and has put into
his bed a shovel of ashes ; though the Tutor had given him
no Provocation ; nor did even know him." In the same year
he writes to a clergyman : "Some time since a large num-
ber of our Students combined together for the Purpose of
subverting a regular recitation ; and from them we selected
twelve supposed to be prominent, and fined them each four
dollars. Your Son is one of the twelve." The lot of the col-
lege tutor had not improved when Williams Latham, of
the class of 1827, was an undergraduate, for in his diary
he remarks of one of the tutors, "His talents and good
deportment gained for him a respect which in a measure
compensated his want of bodily strength — having a white
C 184 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
swelling on his ankle which unfit him for resisting the vio-
lence of our College bullies."
In December, 1817, there occurred a disturbance which
aroused the citizens as well as the college officers. The de-
tails are best given in a letter by President Messer to the
father of one of the students implicated: "The building
which was burnt, and which you call a nuisance stood adja-
cent to the stewards barn, and between it and his hog-pen.
From thence it was carried into the middle of the college-
yard; and then, having been filled with hay & corn-stocks,
it was consumed by fire. The blaze, it is said, rose as high
as the college edefice ; and, if the wind had favored it, it might
have endangered ei [ther] that, or the adjacent barns ; and
it is here thought to be not a small thing to alarm in the
night, and by the cry of fire 10 or 12 thousand People." In
a postscript to a statement read in chapel he says, "Being
at Midnight the burning excited in the Town such indig-
nation, that two of the Persons suspected, were arraigned
before the civil tribunal." The college expelled one student,
rusticated four others, and fined three.
In the spring of 1819 there was another and worse out-
break. The President's letter to the parent of one of the cul-
prits describes the affair thus: "I hasten to state, That,
some weeks since, our chapel and dining-hall doors were,
during the darkness of night, burst in, and carried off; that
the furniture was carried from the latter, and some of the
seats, and even the Pulpit, from the former ; that the gates
and bars of the college yard, and the blinds of the college-
house were carried off. The day after this had occurred, a
notification, probably stuck up the day before, was found in
the college-entry ; and the features of it maybe collected from
the consideration that it was a notification of a meeting of
' Hell fire rummaging club at half past twelve this night.'
C 185 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
It was for this notification that your son was sent away; and
it was the unanimous opinion of the government that he
wrote it."
These disturbances, however objectionable, had in them
nothing of bitterness or deliberate hostility. But in 1824
there broke out an ugly quarrel in the academic family,
which lasted for months and finally led to the President's
resignation. The quarrel seems to have been aggravated
by antagonism to Messer's theological opinions, which for
several years had been deemed heretical. In 1818 the Hon.
Samuel Eddy, secretary of the Corporation, reputed author
of an heretical pamphlet on the divinity of Christ, was given
"liberty to withdraw " from the First Baptist Church, and
did withdraw. Suspicion then attached to the views of his
close friend, President Messer, who for some time had been
in the habit of making prayers in the First Congregational
Church, which since 1815, at least, had been openly Uni-
tarian. In 1819 the First Baptist Church passed a vote dis-
avowing fellowship with those who ' ' openly and avowedly
deny the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, ' ' and he supposed
that the vote referred to himself; but he was not named in
it, and actually remained a member of the church until his
death.
President Messer's position is best stated in a postscript
to a letter of December 10, 1818 : "The difference between
me and others respecting the character of Christ would be
settled by a settlement of the question, not whether he pos-
sesses the divinity, for I hold that in him dwelt all the ful-
ness of the godhead, or divinity bodily, but whether he pos-
sesses it by his Father, or by himself? whether he proceeded
forth and came from God, or, whether, not like God, but
God himself, he exists per se? Following the former, I have
the satisfaction to know that I follow John, Paul, Peter,
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
and Jesus; and, what some perhaps, may though wickedly
think is more, that great leader of the Baptists, Dr. John
Gill." In brief, he held that Christ was not God, but in a
preeminent sense the Son of God, a position very like that
of Channing and other Unitarians of his day, if not iden-
tical with it. "He then is a *Sbw," he writes in a letter of
March 20, 1819 ; "and, as God has given him ; so I would
give him a name, which is above every name. ' ' On Decem-
ber 23, 1820, he writes, "Unless you should suppose me
idiotic, you surely will not now inquire, whether I believe
that that Son of the living God, is the living God him-
self, the great Father of all, the self-existent, almighty, inde-
pendent, underived, most holy, only wise God?"
Such opinions naturally alarmed many, who became un-
willing that the holder of them should remain at the head
of Brown University, particularly at a time when Unitarian-
ism was rapidly spreading in New England. The President,
on the other hand, stood up stoutly for liberty of thought.
The following extract from a letter of December 16, 1818,
to William Hunter, United States senator and a trustee,
presents the case as he saw it: "Will you, on that occa-
sion [the next Commencement] , again favor us with your
company? ... A storm of bigotry, you must be sensible,
is now raging around us; and, unless prevented by the
energies of men of liberal minds, it may tear up by the root
the best tree ever planted by our Fathers. God forbid that
a Spanish Inquisition should ever stand on a soil sanctified
by the bones of Roger Williams." On November 17, 1819,
he writes thus to the Rev. John Evans, of England: "A
violent contention respecting the Trinity has been raging
among us ; and it has not yet wholly subsided. . . . Notwith-
stand [ing] the charter of our University forbids all religious
Tests i some, zealous for what they call the word of God, had
C W3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
determined that, unless willing to change my creed, which
yet is that very, unadulterated word, I should be compelled
to leave that Institution. I, however, though daring to main-
tain that 'Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living GOD,'
still remain in statu quo. " It was indeed not easy to dislodge
him. The college charter merely provides that the president
shall be a Baptist ; and Messer still adhered firmly to the dis-
tinctive tenets of the denomination, holding that a personal
profession of belief should precede baptism and that the
scriptural mode of baptism was immersion . He was there-
fore strongly intrenched, and open opposition after a while
died down ; but the fire still smouldered, and the President's
receipt in 1820 of the degree of S.T.D. from Harvard Col-
lege, now controlled by the Unitarians, must have tended to
keep the embers warm.
What connection, it will be asked, had this theological
quarrel with the undergraduate disturbances of 1824? It
may be that it really had none ; but President Messer thought
otherwise. The disorders themselves differed from those that
had preceded in being deliberate, organized, and protracted.
Messer gives a brief account of them in a letter of October
29, 1824, to the presidents of Williams College and Union
College : ' ' During our last spring and summer Terms un-
usual disorder prevailed among our students. They broke
open the Library: they beat down the Pulpit: they pre-
vented or disturbed for several weeks a regular recitation :
they even assailed our house, in the night, and broke the
windows. Severe punishments were, therefore, inflicted ;
and order was restored. — Many, however, formed combi-
nations for the redress of what they called grievances ; and,
failing in this, some, it is reported, are now making appli-
cation for admittance into other institutions. " The students'
side is given in an anonymous pamphlet, "A True and
[ 188 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Candid Statement of Facts," published in January, 1826,
in New Haven. It asserts that the instruction given to the
junior class in the spring of 1824 was inadequate because
of the resignation or absence of certain professors, and that
a petition to the Corporation on the subject, lodged with
Judge Howell, resulted in the rustication or suspension
of several of the petitioners by the ' ' tyrannical ' ' Presi-
dent. The concluding sentence, with a punning allusion to
the recent retirement of Professor Calvin Park, glances at
Messer's theological views : "Though we would rather see
the Rev. President calvinistic in his religion, than in the
abdication of his office ; yet we hope, that, for the honor of
human nature, literature and religion, it may please Heaven,
so to overrule events, that soon the tyrant may be shaken
from his throne."
The pamphlet contains no explanation whyitwas brought
out a year or more after the events it describes ; but it was
doubtless called forth by certain communications which had
appeared in Providence newspapers during the year 1825.
One, by ' ' Vindex, ' ' in The Independent Inquirer of May 5 ,
asserts that a small party in the Corporation, chiefly from
' ' a particular class of a particular denomination of Chris-
tians," have "for long time" constituted a "determined
and untiring opposition" to the President. ' ' In proof of this,
let the history of last year be referred to. During that time,
were not certain students, or persons who were then students,
again and again closeted with certain members of the Cor-
poration? Were they not frequently taking sweet counsel at
the fountains of legal science, or theological mystery? Were
they not told, that the Corporation were ready and anxious
to remove the faculty, and were only waiting for a suitable
occasion, and that a certain famous wonder-working peti-
tion, would be just the thing?" "Alumnus," in the same
C 189 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
paper, on August 18, says : " It is well known to the friends
of Brown University, that, for several years past, there has
been a division of sentiment in the corporation with respect
to its executive Governor. . . . But what is the cause of
this opposition ? . . . It is simply, because these gentlemen
imagine that he differs from them in matters of Religion.
This is the foundation upon which their opposition is built,
and from this has arisen a course of conduct that any party
might well blush to avow."
How much truth, if any, there was in these charges, it
is now impossible to determine. It is certain that President
Messer himself believed that his theological opponents had
deliberately hindered the growth of the college, for in a let-
ter of October 10, 1825, addressed to a Baptist clergyman
in England, he said : "Brown University continues in statu
quo. Its progress has been retarded by orthodox exertions
for exterminating heresy. O when will popery entirely leave
the earth. . . .What the future effect of those exertions will
be on the University I cannot say ; but I can say that, for
myself, I fear none of them ; determined, as you quote from
Milton, to 'proceed right onward,' maugre all the dangers
which may be threatened." This does not specify what
form these ' ' exertions "took — it might or might not refer to
such acts as " Vindex " alleges. But in another anonymous
pamphlet, "An Exposition of Certain Newspaper Publica-
tions," appearing in August, 1826, the assertion is boldly
made that "Vindex" and "Alumnus" were tutors in
Brown University, and that President Messer had approved
of and even revised their articles. While this is hardly cred-
ible, and the pamphlet itself says the President denied it
to a member of the Corporation, the fact that his defenders
connected the student disorders with the theological oppo-
sition to the President is significant. And finally, Messer's
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
first letter of resignation, quoted below, seems to imply belief
in such a connection. In any case, the charges and counter-
charges made a very disagreeable situation for the man at
the center of the storm. The second anonymous pamphlet
attacked him openly and with venom, and called for deci-
sive, action at the approaching Commencement. " It is need-
less to recapitulate all the grievances which exist. — They
are generally but too well known, and their effects too deeply
felt. They can be all comprised in these few words : The
incumbency of the present President. ' The head is sick and
the whole heart' fainteth."
Here was a coil to weary and disgust the most patient
man. The last straw was laid on the President's broad
back at the Corporation meeting in September, 1826, when
a Baptist trustee asserted that the charges against him in
the pamphlet could be proved. On September 20 Messer
wrote to this trustee : "Having just read the annonymous
Pamphlet concerning which you volunteered your testi-
mony at the late meeting of the Trustees of Brown Univer-
sity, I hasten to state to you, the reputed author of it, that
that Pamphlet contains respecting me infamous falsehoods ;
and that I am preparing to institute such Process in the
case as may seem due to truth, as well as to self." But he
was evidently weary of the whole affair ; and on September
23 he wrote two letters to the secretary of the Corporation,
resigning the presidency. The first, which he did not send,
contains these sentences : ' ' The pungency of the reflection
that I am leaving an office which I have held 24 years, and
a College of which I have been either an officer or a pupil
39 years is, I can assure you, greatly increased by the belief
that the perplexities which induce me to leave them grow
out of the consideration that I can not allow that there [are]
more Gods than one ; or deny that Jesus Christ is the son
r. ^91 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of God. ... I would not do either for all the offices in the
world. ... I wish to live where I may, without molesta-
tion, serve the living and true GOD, and wait for his son
from heaven." The letter sent is as follows:
Providence Sept. 23d. 1826
To the Hon. Saml. Eddy,
Secretary of Brown University
dear Sir.
I take the liberty to request you to inform the Hon. Corporation of
Brown University that I resign my office in that Institution. On leav-
ing an office which I have held 24 years, and an institution of which
I have been either an officer, or a pupil 39 years, I, though inclined
to make many reflections, shall now make but this one; that probably
I feel somewhat like one who is breaking up long, dear friendships,
and bidding the world farewell. I pray that, when the time for my
doing this shall actually arrive, and it may arrive in a day, or an hour,
I may be enabled to think that I have served my GOD as faithfully
as I have served Brown University; and I also pray that He, who
was the GOD of Abraham, and, if I may be allowed to utter a little
heresy, the God of Jesus, may have that seat of literature and all its
Patrons, as well as you and me, in his holy keeping.
Asa Messer
The resignation was not formally acted upon until Decem-
ber 13, when, at a meeting of the Corporation in the Presi-
dent's house, he being absent, it was accepted without com-
ment. Alva Woods, professor of mathematics and natural
philosophy since 1824, had already been made president
ad interim, and served until the accession of a new president
early in the next year.
Of Dr. Messer as a man and a college president it is pos-
sible to form a picture from his letters and from descriptions
of him by his pupils. The portrait of him in the possession
of the university, painted by James L. Lincoln from minia-
tures, gives the impression of homely strength rather than
of finish or grace ; and this is confirmed by all that is known
t a 9 2 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of him. Professor Edwards A. Park, his pupil, says of his ap-
pearance : ' ' No one who has ever seen him can ever forget
him. His individuality was made unmistakable by his phys-
ical frame. This, while it was above the average height,
was also in breadth an emblem of the expansiveness of his
mental capacity. A ''long head' was vulgarly ascribed to
him, but it was breadth that marked his forehead ; there
was an expressive breadth in his maxillary bones; his
broad shoulders were a sign of the weight which he was able
to bear; his manner of walking was a noticeable symbol
of the reach of his mind ; he swung his cane far and wide
as he walked, and no observer would doubt that he was
an independent man." "He had some marked peculiarities
of manner," says President Sears, "such as . . . a swelling
of the cheeks when displeased, accompanied with a quick,
gruff utterance. "
Intellectually he was characterized by native vigor and
masculine sense, not by suppleness, imagination, or culture.
He was a man of practical wisdom — a judicious farmer, a
shrewd man of business ; and by these qualities, combined
with thrift and economy, he got together a snug fortune.
He owned a farm or two and shares in a cotton factory, and
his letters show that he looked after his material interests
very keenly. To his nephew, the lessee of one of his farms,
who had made a proposal about stocking it, he wrote in
1816 : " You must not think that your uncle Asa, though
he is growing old, has yet become either so old or so silly,
that he will buy cows, and put them on a farm of his own,
in the expectation of receiving for each only two dollars,
and an half pr. year." On the management of the factory
he wrote thus, in 1815, to a fellow -owner : "On acct. of
our debts our agent is generally obliged to make his pur-
chases and his sales very much like a man on the verge of
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Bankrupcy; and can any man prosper, who is obliged to pur-
sue a course like this ? . . . This consideration alone compels
me to fear, that, in the present state of the cotton business,
every turn of our wheel turns us farther into the mud. . . .
I wish to inquire, whether we ought not to ascertain with
certainty whether the mill is swimming, or sinking ? and if
she should be sinking, whether we had not better put under
her some buoys, or bladders, or bank-bills, or something, or
other, and prevent her going to the botom."
In his public addresses Messer never attempted flights
of imagination or poetical fancies ; but his thought was ju-
dicious, his reasoning solid, and his style plain and strong.
These qualities may be illustrated by a passage from his
oration, in 1803, before the Providence Association of Me-
chanics and Manufacturers :
Are we willing to live in a state of dependence on other nations ? No.
We abhor, we despise the suggestion. We glory in our independence,
as well national as individual; and we are determined to defend it
even at the hazard of our lives. But can we be independent of other
nations, while we depend on them for almost all the clothing of our
bodies, and for almost all the furniture of our houses ? Can we be in-
dependent of other nations, while we cannot print a book without their
types, nor make a pen without their penknife, nor a shirt without their
needle, nor even a shoe without their awl? No. While we depend on
them for any article of necessity, our independence is defective.
His delivery fitted his thought and style. "He gesticulated
broadly as he preached , ' ' writes Professor Park ; ' ' his enun-
ciation was forcible, now and then overwhelming, sometimes
shrill, but was characterized by a breadth of tone and a pro-
longed emphasis which added to its momentum, and made
an indelible impression on the memory." "In earnest pub-
lic discourse," says President Sears, he had "a muscular
force and over-strained emphasis, with a peculiar gesture,
[ 194 j
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
as if he would grasp his subject in the extended downward
curvature of his right hand and arm."
He was not a profound scholar, but had a firm grasp upon
a wide range of subjects. He received the degree of D.D.
from Brown University in 1806, of LL.D. from the Uni-
versity of Vermont in 1812, and of S.T.D. from Harvard
University in 1820. "For what is termed polite literature,"
writes Professor William G. Goddard, his pupil and col-
league, "he had no particular fondness, but he was a good
classical scholar, and was well versed in the Mathematics,
and the several branches of Natural Philosophy. In moral
science, also, we have known few better reasoners or more
successful teachers. ' ' ' ' He was a powerful and sound moral
reasoner, ' ' says President Sears, ' ' and no thoughtful young
man, who listened to his Sunday evening discourses, could
fail to carry away impressions not easily removed." He
seems to have been lacking in subtlety of mind and the
higher philosophical faculties, but within his limits he was
an acute reasoner, as is shown by his articles in The Provi-
dence Patriot and Columbian Phe?iix, in 1818, on mysteries
in religion, which he deemed absurdities. In science, also,
his gift was practical rather than theoretical. In 1817 he
was consulted about the proper height for the lighthouse
at Jamestown, and in several letters expounded the physi-
cal laws governing the case. He made some inventions,
including a ' ' Messer's Pneumatic Engine, or Philosophical
bellows, ' ' and ' ' a new & useful improvement in the mode of
using water wheels & furnishing them with water," and
was granted a patent for the latter.
Of President Messer as a teacher not much is known.
Governor William L. Marcy, one of his earlier pupils, says:
He always met his class . . . with a kindly spirit and man-
ner, and never assumed any offensive official airs, or did any
C 195 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
thing that seemed designed to impress us with a sense of his
superiority. He was often very familiar in our recitations,
and sometimes introduced anecdotes, by way of illustra-
tion, that we thought more remarkable for good-humour and
appropriateness than for the highest literary refinement."
The Rev. Dr. James W.Thompson, of the class of 1827,
said of him at Commencement in 1877 : "I assure you he
was . . . every inch a man,' of learning ample for his day
and place, of logical power all compact, a model, in fact,
of clear, close reasoning in his lectures to the students."
President Sears, who also came under him in his later years,
calls him "a genial, pleasant teacher," and adds what is
really high praise : " As he was independent himself, so he
wished his pupils to be. He had no imitators, he wished to
have none. The many eminent men educated under him had
no other resemblance to each other, than freedom from au-
thority. There is among them no uniform style of thought,
resulting from its being run in the same mould. Even among
the undergraduates, there was a personal independence of
character and thought, and a manliness of deportment and
self-respect that gave a certain air of dignity to the two upper
classes."
The same shrewd common sense which President Mes-
ser showed in business characterized him as a college disci-
plinarian and administrator. President Sears writes:
In discipline, in his best days, he was adroit, having a keen insight into
human nature, and touching at will, skillfully, all the chords of the stu-
dent's heart. Rarely was he mistaken in the character of a young man,
or in the motive to which he appealed, in order to influence him. Foi-
bles and weaknesses, he treated with some degree of indulgence; but
vice and willful wrong, he treated with unsparing severity. In govern-
ment he followed no abstract principles, — which so often mislead the
theorist, — but depended on his good sense in each case, giving con-
siderable scope to views of expediency. The student who attempted to
[ 196 n
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
circumvent him, was sure to be outwitted in the end. On account of
his great shrewdness, he was sometimes called ' the cunning President.'
One of the many anecdotes related of him is, that he kept in his room
a bottle of picra for sick students; and that every one who came to him
to be excused from duty on account of headaches, found it necessary
to swallow a dose before leaving the room.
In spite of his severity he was popular with the great major-
ity of the undergraduates. Governor Marcy says: "Dr.
Messer sustained his position as President of the College in
a highly creditable manner, and was generally esteemed and
beloved by the students. He was regarded as a man of even
temper, honest in his purposes, free from prejudice, and well
adapted to exercise that kind of authority which pertained
to his office." Professor Edwards A. Park, one of his latest
pupils, speaks much to the same effect: "I have seldom
known a veteran in the government of a College, who was
so strict a disciplinarian, so clear-headed a diplomatist, and
at the same time so apt in uttering kindly words to the boys
whom he met in the street, so ready with a cheering proverb
or a sprightly turn with the care-worn and down-hearted."
It may be that he grew somewhat capricious and arbitrary
toward the end, although the charges of tyranny and double-
dealing are probably the exaggerations of enemies in the
heat of a quarrel.
His letter-books afford pleasing evidence that in the first
half of his presidency, at least, he felt a fatherly interest in
the students and watched over their physical and moral
welfare with tender care. A few selections will show this
gentler side of his nature. To an anxious mother he writes
thus, in 1812:
To your favor of the 9th. inst. I hasten to reply, That, though I have
examined the case, I cannot find that Henry is addicted to Gambling.
I hope, therefore, that this charge is without foundation. . . . Though
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
the Progress of Henry is not such as we wish it to be, I still do not
know that any reasons of dissatisfaction exist at present greater than
actually existed when I sent you my last letter. I, at any rate, feel as
willing noxu, as I felt then, to give him a further trial. Whether this
will be best for him, I cannot determine. If I must err at all, I had
rather err in the way of tenderness, than in the way of severity.
The following was written to the father of a Virginian lad,
in 1813:
On the morning after I wrote my letter of 25th. ult. which I suppose
you have received before now, I visited your son, and found him in
a very unpleasant condition. I, indeed, was alarmed. And fearing that
he might not, at his room, obtain the best accommodations, I invited
him to come to my house, and to remain in my family until his in-
disposition should be removed. After expressing much thankfulness
for the invi[t]ation, he observed that Mr. Lippitt had just before
given him an invitation to go to his house, and that he had accepted it,
though unable to go that day. Being the next day a little more com-
fortable, he was bro't from his room, put into my carriage, and car-
ried to Mr. Lippitts.
Several weeks later, when the young man was able to go
home, although still weak, the President and his wife ' ' rode
twelve, or fourteen miles to the Tavern where he expected to
breakfast, with the view both of showing him respect, & and
of seeing the manner in which traveling might affect him. "
The following extracts from letters of 1811-13 illustrate
at once Messer's patient attention to troublesome details and
the extravagance of a young Southern blood in a Northern
college :
I have requested your son to give me an estimate of the money he will
need the ensuing year. This he has actually given, and it amounts to
$550. In this estimate he has placed $150 for pocket-money, and $50,
for boots and shoes. One dollar a week, however, for pocket-money
is better than a larger sum ; and twenty dollars a year I should think
would answer for boots and shoes. Be this as it may, I am still con-
fident that no Principles either of Interest or honor, would require him
I 19 8 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
to expend more than $450. I do not, indeed, know a single scholar
among us, who expends a sum so large as this; and were your son,
mine, I would rather you would give him, in this view, $300, than
$450.
I have requested your son not to contract any other debts without
my knowledge; for I find that the value of Money has not yet engaged
his attention.
Since my last, several applications have been made similar to that of
Mr. Braman. The amount of them all would much surpass the amount
of money remaining in my hands. Your son, indeed, says that he owes
in Boston about $600. In my opinion, this sum is at least as small as
the reality.
Your son, in general, enjoys good health, and a good flow of spirits.
. . . Though on the score of expense, I cannot bring him within the
limits I could wish, I cannot persuade him to think that he is inclined
to extravagance. He seems actually to think himself economical.
A boot and shoe Maker's bill, amounting to $116, (to what use so
many boots and shoes could have been applied I do not know) on
which, however, $40, had been paid, has actually been lodged with
an Attorney in this Town for collection. . . . From information lately
handed me, I am induced to believe that your sons debts in Provi-
dence are greater than I had anticipated. Since the Commencement of
our vacation he has, I am told, gone on a visit to New- York; and I
am also told that, for this visit, and for expenses incurred at other times,
he has borrowed of one man nearly $200 in cash. . . . He does not
seem sufficiently to feel the value either of money, or of time. ... I
am often exhorting him on the subject; and he is always ready to con-
fess, and to promise; but. .
President Messer showed his common sense in the large lines
of his academic policy, which was that of an intelligent con-
servatism, attempting no impracticable innovations, but
seeking to build on the old foundations as solidly and as
high as the available means allowed. His wisdom and suc-
cess in this are ably set forth in the following extract from
an anonymous pamphlet, "Brown University under the
C 199 1
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Presidency of Asa Messer, S.T.D., L.L.D.," published in
1867, and attributed to the Rev. Silas A. Crane, of the class
of 1823, who was a tutor from 1824 to 1828 :
His policy was that of demand and supply. He offered the country such
a college education as it could pay for; and such, too, as the necessities
of its condition then compelled it gladly to accept. Here we have the
rule by which he fixed the requirements for matriculation, and the whole
subsequent course of undergraduate studies. Here, too, we see the rea-
son for that system of rigid economy, which under his management per-
vaded every department of the institution. 1 . . . Hence, too, the dispo-
sition of the vacations, assigning the long one to the winter, that the
students might help out their scanty means by teaching the common
schools of the country, then taught almost only in that season of the
year. ... It is not easy for us now to feel the full force of the reasons
which led to this policy, nor to picture to our minds the full extent and
magnitude of the happy results that then followed it. Under its benign
influence, hundreds of young men who had otherwise been doomed
to a life of comparative ignorance and inefficiency were able to lay the
foundation of intellectual culture and future usefulness; and the whole
country, not less than themselves, shared in the wide-spread and lasting
benefits.
Upon his resignation of the presidency Dr. Messer removed
to the western part of the town, where he bought a small
farm with a fine colonial mansion on it, near the street which
now bears his name. Here he lived quietly, occupied with
his business affairs, and for many years serving as alder-
man. While he was still president, in 1818, he had been
appointed chief justice of the supreme court of the state,
but had declined the office, partly because it was incompat-
ible with his " collegial functions." In 1830 he ran for gov-
ernor on the "National Republican & Landholders Prox,"
and was defeated. In the last year of his life he was again
offered the nomination, but declined. He died on October 11,
1 In the catalogue of 1825-26 is the statement, "Tuition, Library, Room
Rent, and Board, less than $100 per annum."
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
1836, after a short illness, and was buried in the North
Burial Ground. At a special meeting on October 14, 1836,
the Faculty passed the following resolution: "That the
Faculty of Brown University learn, with deep regret, that
the Rev. Dr. Messer, an eminent son of this University, and
for a long course of years its presiding officer, is no more ;
that we are impressed with a strong conviction of his ac-
knowledged merits as an Instructor, of his vigorous intel-
lect, and of his solid learning ; and that we gratefully rec-
ognize his title to the best distinctions of the Citizen, the
Man, and the Christian."
In the twenty-four years of President Messer 's adminis-
tration 693 men graduated in the regular course, 301 more
than during the twenty-eight years in which degrees were
granted under Presidents Manning and Maxcy. Those who
reached distinction were fewer in proportion to the whole
number than in the early years of the college, but the list
is nevertheless honorable. It includes six college presidents :
Barnas Sears and Alexis Caswell presided over their Alma
Mater ; Jasper Adams, after resigning his professorship in
Brown University, was president of the College of Charles-
ton, South Carolina, and of Geneva (now Hobart) College ;
Wilbur Fisk became president of Wesley an University,
Rufus Babcock of Waterville (now Colby) College, and Hor-
ace Mann of Antioch College. The last named, however, did
his greatest work as secretary of the Massachusetts Board of
Education from 1837 to 1848, remodeling the school sys-
tem of that state and thereby profoundly affecting public-
school education throughout the nation. Seven men attained
to more or less eminence as professors in colleges and semi-
naries: William G.Goddard and Romeo Elton served Brown
University for many years under President Wayland, the
latter as professor of Greek and Latin, the former as pro-
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
fessor of moral philosophy, metaphysics, and belles-lettres;
Solomon Peck became professor of Latin and Hebrew in
Amherst College ; William Ruggles taught in Columbian
College, Washington, for fifty-two years as tutor and pro-
fessor of various subjects, besides performing the duties of
acting president at three different periods ; George W. Keely
held the chair of mathematics and natural philosophy in
Waterville College for twenty-three years ; Enoch Pond was
professor in Bangor Theological Seminary for thirty-eight
years and president for fourteen ; Edwards A. Park, a giant
in body and mind, was professor in Andover Theological
Seminary for forty-five years. Authors and editors of some
note were not lacking : David Benedict published A Gen-
eral History of the Baptist Denomination (1813), besides sev-
eral other historical works ; William R. Staples brought out
his Annals of the T own of Providence \n 1843, and performed
other valuable historical labor ; Albert G. Greene published
various poems, including " Old Grimes," and began the
Harris Collection of American Poetry ; David Reed was for
forty-five years editor of The Christian Register, the leading
Unitarian newspaper; George D. Prentice, by his brilliant
conduct of the Louisville (Kentucky) Journal for forty years,
exerted a far-reaching influence through the Southwest,
besides writing a life of Henry Clay, and delivering orations
which every school-boy was declaiming a generation or two
ago. In educating Benjamin B. Smith and George Burgess
the college was helping to prepare two Episcopal bishops
for their life-work, the latter as bishop of Maine for nearly
twenty years, the former as bishop of Kentucky for over
half a century. In Messer's administration, too, graduated
the brilliant and heroic missionary to Burmah, Adoniram
Judson. Samuel G. Howe had hardly left his mischievous
boyhood behind when he plunged into the Greek war for in-
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
dependence, later serving as surgeon-in-chief to the Greek
fleet ; he came home to do a great humanitarian work in his
native city, as superintendent for forty-four years of the
Perkins Institution for the Blind. Into the business world,
too, the college sent its representatives of distinction in the
persons of such men as Moses Brown Ives, John Carter
Brown, and Robert H. Ives, all liberal-minded merchants
and public-spirited citizens of Providence, and Isaac Davis of
Worcester, mayor, legislator, railroad director, bank presi-
dent, college trustee, and much else besides. Public life was
enriched by many graduates of these days : among the more
notable were Theron Metcalf, on the bench of the Massa-
chusetts supreme court, and Job Durfee and Samuel Ames,
both chief justices of the Rhode Island supreme court; in
Marcus Morton the college furnished Massachusetts with
a Congressman, a justice of its supreme court, and a gov-
ernor ; Jared W. Williams served the state of New Hamp-
shire as governor, Congressman, and United States senator ;
Rhode Island had a governor and a United States senator
in John B. Francis ; William L. Marcy held the same offices
in New York, and was also Secretary of War to President
Polk and Secretary of State to President Pierce.
C 203 ]
CHAPTER VI
PRESIDENT WAYLAND'S ADMINISTRATION
PERSONALITY AND METHODS OF THE NEW PRESIDENT : END OF THE
MEDICAL SCHOOL : CHANGES IN THE CURRICULUM : THE LIBRARY FUND :
NEW BUILDINGS : STUDENT LIFE : THE DORR WAR
IN the diary of Williams Latham, a senior in Brown Uni-
versity, occurs this entry under date of March 1, 1827:
"Francis Wayland has taken the presidential chair — and
seems to be well qualified for his station, He has made
great alterations in the course of studies, in the regula-
tions of College and in the manner of reciteing — He car-
ries no book into the recitation room nor suffers any of the
students to do it — We are obliged to keep in our rooms
all study hours, they being visited as often as twice a day
by some officer. " Six days later he records this experience :
"Since 9 Oclock I have been into Peter Minard's room and
have had a little singing with him — But we were inter-
rupted by the President who thought we could not be per-
mitted to sing between nine and ten Oclock in the even-
ing — Thus he has deprived us of a privilege which we
esteemed very valuable." May 9 he sums up thus : "This
term has been the most profitable one, since I have been in
College — not only on account of the great improvement
that has been made in the various studies here attended to
But good habits of study have been formed, We have laid
a good foundation for prosecuting our future studies with
advantage."
These entries give evidence that a powerful driving force
had come to Brown University in the personality of Fran-
cis Wayland, one of the greatest college presidents of his
century. The new president was still young, only thirty-one
years of age ; but he had had a varied training which, added
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
to his natural gifts, peculiarly fitted him for the work that
lay before him. He was born on March 11, 1796, in New
York City, of English parents who had come to the United
States three years before. They were of the middle class, and
belonged to the Baptist denomination; the father, for many
years a currier, became a Baptist minister in 1807. Presi-
dent Wayland got his early training chiefly from his mother,
an intellectual and devout woman. A few years in school
fitted him to enter Union College as a sophomore in the
spring of 1811, and he graduated in 1813 in his eighteenth
year. He next studied medicine under two physicians in
Troy, and in the winter of 1814—15 attended medical lec-
tures in New York City ; but he had hardly begun the prac-
tice of his profession when an awakening of his religious
nature led him to abandon medicine and prepare himself for
the Christian ministry. He entered Andover Seminary in the
autumn of 1816, and spent one year in rigorous and enthu-
siastic labor under that profound scholar and master teacher,
Moses Stuart, devoting himself to the study of the Old and
New Testaments in the original. Poverty compelled him,
at the end of this year, to leave the seminary and become
a tutor in his Alma Mater, where he served for four years,
teaching a wide range of subjects and learning much from
intimacy with the rugged and sagacious President Nott. In
1821 he accepted a call to the First Baptist Church, Boston.
Here he struggled for two years against many obstacles,
without much apparent success ; but the hard work made
him grow, and the solid intellect and masculine strength
of the man slowly gained him recognition among the dis-
cerning few. One stormy evening in the autumn of 1823
he preached the annual sermon before the Baptist Foreign
Missionary Society of Boston. No great effect was produced
at the time ; but when ' ' The Moral Dignity of the Mis-
t 205 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
sionary Enterprize" was published, its strength of style,
breadth of view, and heroic note soon made it famous. Fol-
lowed as it was, a year and a half later, by two powerful dis-
courses on "The Duties of an American Citizen," it gave
its author a commanding position in the Baptist denomi-
nation and considerable reputation in a wider field. In Sep-
tember, 1825, he was made a fellow of Brown University ;
and when President Messer resigned, the minds of many
naturally turned to Francis Wayland as his successor. He
had just left his pastorate and returned to Union College as
professor of mathematics and natural philosophy; but being
elected head of Brown University on December 13, 1826,
he accepted, and assumed his new duties at the beginning
of the next term, in February, 1827.
President Wayland 's first work was to tighten the reins
of moral and mental discipline, which in the last few years
had been somewhat relaxed. The old rule requiring the
officers of instruction to visit the students' rooms, which
had been omitted in the Laws of 1823, was revived and
made more strict in the Laws of 1827, and the officers were
required to ' ' occupy rooms in College, during the hours ap-
propriated to study." The President himself set the exam-
ple, and could regularly be found hard at work in his room
in Hope College. The officers were required to make daily
reports to the President of all absences and other violations
of the laws which came to their knowledge. If a student's
general conduct was unsatisfactory, the laws authorized the
President to inform his parents and ' 'dismiss him without
public censure or disgrace."
But the soul of the new moral regimen was not a code but
a man — intense, fearless, strong in intellect and will. The
influence of Wayland upon the individual student and upon
groups of students was tremendous. He had a vast amount
t 2 ° 6 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of primitive power in him, made more effective by passion,
wit, and a gift of trenchant speech. All who knew him agree
that his books give no adequate idea of his immense per-
sonal force ; but Professor George I. Chace, his pupil in the
first three years of his administration, conveys some sense
of it in the following description :
Another means employed by President Wayland for awakening im-
pulse, and correcting, guiding, and elevating public sentiment in college,
was addresses from the platform in the chapel. These were most fre-
quent and most characteristic, in the earlier days of his presidency. . . .
President Wayland was at that time at the very culmination of his
powers, both physical and intellectual. His massive and stalwart frame,
not yet filled and rounded by the accretions of later years, his strongly
marked features, having still the sharp outlines and severe grace of their
first chiselling, his peerless eye, sending from beneath that olympian
brow its lordly or its penetrating glances, he seemed, as he stood on
the stage in that old chapel, the incarnation of majesty and power. He
was raised a few feet above his audience, and so near to them that those
most remote could see the play of every feature. He commenced speak-
ing. It was not instruction; it was not argument; it was not exhorta-
tion. It was a mixture of wit and humor, of ridicule, sarcasm, pathos
and fun, of passionate remonstrance, earnest appeal and solemn warn-
ing, poured forth not at random, but with a knowledge of the laws of
emotion to which Lord Karnes himself could have added nothing. The
effect was indescribable. No Athenian audience ever hung more tumult-
uously on the lips of the divine Demosthenes. That litde chapel heaved
and swelled with the intensity of its pent-up forces. The billows of pas-
sion rose and fell like the waves of a tempestuous sea. . . . At length
the storm spent itself. The sky cleared, and the sun shone out with in-
creased brightness. The ground had been softened and fertilized, and
the whole air purified.
The intellectual tonic which the new president administered
was equally powerful. The laws of 1803 and 1823 held the
juniors to only two recitations a day after the spring vaca-
tion ; the seniors to only two a day until April, and but one
a day thereafter. The new laws declared, "There shall be
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
three recitations in every Class in the University through-
out the year." Instructors and pupils both had come to
depend unduly upon the textbook. "No text book shall
ever be brought into the recitation room," said a new law,
"except at the recitation of the Learned Languages." This
Spartan rule put teacher and taught upon their mettle to
master the substance of the lesson, and encouraged origi-
nal phrasing and free discussion. President Wayland's own
statement of his method deserves quoting :
Our practice was, in all recitations from text-books, to accustom the
student to make out the analysis, skeleton, or plan of the lesson to be
recited. He was expected to commence, and, without question or assist-
ance, to proceed in his recitation as long as might be required. The next
who was called upon took up the passage where his predecessor left it;
and thus it continued (except as there was interruption by inquiry or
explanation) until the close. ... It was also customary to commence
the recitation by calling on some one to give the entire analysis of the
lesson. . . .Accompanying the habit of analyzing every lesson, and mak-
ing this analysis a distinct feature of the recitation, was that of frequent
review. It was my custom in the class-room to require, first of all, the
lesson of the previous day, whether that consisted of a lecture or a por-
tion of a text-book. This fixed every lesson in the mind of the pupil.
As we advanced, I would begin the book, and call for the analysis of
several portions of what we had gone over. When we had overtaken
our advance, we commenced anew from the beginning. In this man-
ner we were enabled to review the whole book frequently during the
course of a single term, thus strengthening materially the habit of
generalization.
To-day we should think that most of the time thus spent
in reviewing and re-reviewing one textbook might more
profitably have been given to wide reading or to special re-
search. The famous ' ' analysis, ' ' furthermore, was but mak-
ing an outline of matter already arranged, and demanded far
less mental effort than organizing crude material for argu-
ment or debate ; but at that time, in comparison with com-
c s ° 8 n
HISTORY OF" BROWN UNIVERSITY
mon methods, it doubtless had great merit. Still more valu-
able, however, was the President's habit of encouraging free
discussion : " I also caused it to be understood that our sub-
ject was one in which they and I were equally interested.
Therefore I not only allowed, but encouraged, my pupils
to ask questions with reference to any portion of the lesson
recited, or of the lecture delivered." Wayland was too
experienced a teacher not to know that the method might
be abused. "This, however," he writes, "may be easily pre-
vented by an instructor. It is only necessary to answer a
fool according to his folly, in order to make the experiment
too dangerous to be repeated." A sample of this kind of an-
swer is given by his biographers : " At another time he was
lecturing on the weight of evidence furnished by human
testimony. He was illustrating its authority and sufficiency
even for the establishment of miracles. A member of the
class, not entirely satisfied of the correctness of the teach-
ing, suggested a practical application of the doctrine : ' What
would you say, Dr. Wayland, if I stated, that, as I was
coming up College Street, I saw the lamp-post at the corner
dance? ' ' I should ask you where you had been, my son,'
was the quiet reply in the instructor's gravest manner. ' ' But
sensible and honest discussion he always welcomed. "I
rarely passed through such a discussion," he says," with-
out great advantage. Sometimes I was convinced that I had
been in error. ... It not unfrequently happened that when
the subject under consideration was especially interesting or
important, two or three days were consumed upon a single
lesson."
But Wayland's stimulating effect upon his pupils came
primarily , not from any particular method in the class-room,
but from his personal resources. From the first he supple-
mented the textbooks by extempore talks ; and he soon be-
C 209 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
gan to elaborate some points by formal lectures, which finally
grew into the books that made him famous. The Hon. John
H. Clifford, a member of the first class that Way land in-
structed, says: "It was quickly perceived by us that he
was, in truth, the ' master, ' and far in advance of the books
from which he taught. This was one great source of the new
spirit with which he inspired his pupils, namely, that he
was thoroughly the master of his subject, and not a mere con-
duit of another man's thoughts." His method as a lecturer
and his effect on the students, a few years later, are vividly
described by Professor Silas Bailey, of the class of 1834:
At the time to which I refer, his recitation-room was on the first floor
of the middle hall of Hope College, and in the rear of his own study.
It had been a dormitory, but was afterwards furnished with benches,
and what served for writing-desks — narrow pine boards upheld by
pine uprights. . . . The entire furniture of the room did not exceed
ten dollars in value. Entering by a door connecting the recitation-room
with his study, he was in his chair at the moment, and he required the
same promptness of each pupil. . . . All being present, and subsiding
instantly into silence, the work began. He had no table, but sat with his
manuscript for the lecture of the hour resting upon his knee. At this
period none of his text-books had been published. The members of the
class, in succession, recited the lecture of the preceding day, or perhaps
one still farther back in the series. . . . This exercise concluded, there
was a rustling all around the room; papers were adjusted, and prepara-
tion made for writing. The president's manuscript was opened, and the
well-known a-hem was the signal for all to be ready, and for the work
of the hour to begin. . . . These lectures seemed to us more wonderful
than anything we had ever heard. They carried all the conviction of a
demonstration. To have believed otherwise would have seemed absurd.
Some of us at a later day found reason to modify the views then re-
ceived and accepted. But at the time the conviction was complete. His
definitions were clear, simple, and easily remembered. His analysis of
any obscure but important part was exhaustive, omitting no essential
element. His progress through either of his favorite sciences was that
of a prince through his own dominions. At intervals, not regular in
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
their occurrence, yet sure to occur somewhere, he suspended his read-
ing for a few minutes, and, waiting for a short time, until each member
of the class could complete his notes and give his attention, he would
relate some incident or anecdote strikingly illustrating the point last
made. In this department he was always most happy. The confirma-
tion imparted to the argument was often unexpected, and even irresist-
ible. These anecdotes were drawn from any source that offered the rich-
est supply; from history, from romance, from poetry, from common,
unrecorded, every-day life. Often they were mirthful, sometimes ludi-
crous. Frequently statistics would be given, conclusively verifying the
position which had been assumed. . . . Whether in these exercises
Dr. Wayland stirred up the intellect of his pupils, it was not difficult
even for a stranger to determine. As they issued from the lecture-room,
and went by twos and threes to their own apartments, the subjects
which had just been discussed became the theme of most earnest con-
versation. . . . His manner was simple and childlike. There was no
indication of special concern that others should assent to his views.
Yet the mind that was not quickened by contact with his, that did not
gird itself for more strenuous and elevated endeavors under the inspi-
ration of his presence and teachings, must have been hopelessly dull.
The recitation-room was his empire, and he reigned with imperial
dignity.
The ideal which the President so rigorously followed him-
self he expected his colleagues to follow with equal rigor.
His conception of college life was that of the academic fam-
ily. He wished to establish close personal relations beween
officers and students and thereby secure strict though kindly
supervision over the latter 's mental and moral life. What,
then, should be done with the non-resident professors in the
Medical School and in the departments of oratory and nat-
ural history? One plan might have been to let them remain,
and rely on the rest of the Faculty to do the work of super-
vision. The advantages of such a plan, combining academic
drill with invigorating breezes from the outside world of
public and professional life, were possibly not appreciated
Z 211 2
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
by President Wayland ; it probably seemed to him that the
non-resident professors were a part, if not a cause, of the
lax discipline which he sought to cure. Another reason for
dismissing them is given in his ' ' Reminiscences " : The
regular officers were competent to perform all the required
duties, and by thus dispensing with outside services, they
found their means of subsistence materially increased."
Accordingly, on March 15, 1827, the Corporation passed
the following vote :
Whereas it is deemed essential to an efficient course of instruction,
and to the administration of discipline, in this University, that all its
officers be actual residents within the walls of the Colleges, therefore
Resolved, That no salary or other compensation be paid to any Pro-
fessor, Tutor, or other Officer, who shall not, during the whole of each
and every term, occupy a room in one of the Colleges (to be designated
by the President) and assiduously devote himself to the preservation
of order, and the instruction of the students, or the performance of such
other duty as may belong to his station.
Copies of this vote were sent to the non-resident professors.
Their names stood in the catalogue of the next year without
change, but in 1828-29 were starred, and a foot-note said,
"The gentlemen to whose names the asterisk is prefixed,
are not of the immediate government ; and do not, at pres-
ent, give any instruction in the University." This prema-
ture promotion to the ranks of the stelligeri was doubtless
annoying, and doubtless was meant to be. Dr. Wheaton
withdrew before the next catalogue appeared, Dr. Parsons
the year after ; and in 1832-33, by vote of the Faculty, all
the names were dropped except that of Professor Bowen,
who was librarian. Thus was the Medical School in Brown
University killed by a president who had been trained for
the profession of medicine.
Radical changes like these could not be made abruptly
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
without arousing opposition. Professor Chace, of the class
of 1830, gives some amusing details of undergraduate dis-
approval :
Indignant protests were made against the innovations. . . . One of the
mildest of these modes of expressing public sentiment, was delinea-
tion on the walls of the halls, and the lecture rooms when these could be
entered. I recall a spirited sketch executed by a class-mate, which rep-
resented very well the prevailing current of opinion and criticism. It
comprised two figures. Dr. Messer, seated in his old chaise, with reins
fallen, and whip lost, was jogging leisurely on. Directly before him and
in clear view, lay the gulf of perdition. Near by was Dr. Way land, in
a buggy of the newest fashion, harnessed to an animal on whose build
and muscle two-forty was plainly written. He was headed in the same
direction, and with taut rein and knitted brow and kindling eye, was
pressing with all his might forward. But the students soon learned
with whom they had to deal. . . . The greater number presently became
reconciled to the new order of things, and forgot their angry feel-
ings in the general enthusiasm for study, which already began to be
awakened.
The opposition outside the college walls, which focused upon
the policy of cutting off the non-resident professors, lasted
longer. At first it expressed itself chiefly in fears that the stu-
dents were not getting proper instruction in oratory, being
no longer taught by the favorite Rhode Island orator, Tris-
tamBurges. But in the Commencement week of 1830, when
it seemed likely that the newly established chapter of Phi
Beta Kappa would kill the local society of Federal Adel-
phi, of which Burges was a conspicuous member, the pack
broke out in full cry. The new president's personal peculiar-
ities were attacked in a communication in the Rhode Island
American, Statesman & Providence Gazette of September 7:
Some carped at his Oxonion Cap, others insisted that his
side pockets were not the proper place for his hands when
engaged in the public services, and that his morsel of nar-
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
cotic, that mark which distinguishes man from all other ani-
mals, should not have been ruminated at such a time. " Most
of the attacks, however, were directed against the new pol-
icy of the college. The Providence Journal of September 10,
1830, said: "We have understood that Mr. Burges ten-
dered his services to President Wayland, after his salary
and compensation had been stopped by the Corporation, and
that he was told, the institution did not require them. Of
that fact certainly the President ought to have been best qual-
ified to judge; the public, however, entertained a different
opinion. . . . The vote of the Corporation, together with
Dr. Wayland's answer to Mr. Burges, have deprived the
University of the services of one of its best and ablest pro-
fessors." The Daily Advertiser of the same date, regretting
the lost lecturers, said: "In these classes were not unfre-
quently mingled citizens of the town ; an arrangement cer-
tainly not calculated to injure the popularity of the College
beyond its walls, or to limit the extension of knowledge.
When President Wayland took the chair, Messrs. Burges
and D' Wolf were probably the most popular persons, con-
nected with the institution." In the same issue is a long
anonymous communication urging that another university
be set up in the state, to furnish a broader and more prac-
tical education ; the plan curiously anticipates most of the
ideas which Dr. Wayland advocated and partly put into
effect twenty years later. A beginning should be made by
the establishment of classical, medical, and chemical lec-
tures, a workshop and farm, and by the application of
chemical and mathematical science to mechanics and agri-
culture. "We have at hand the very persons, required for
such an undertaking, in the learned and worthy professors
who have been reformed out of their academic employment
by the new rules of the College." In the Daily Advertiser of
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
September 20, ' ' E Pluribus Unum ' ' complains that ' ' young x
men, instead of being taught eloquence, (that sourceof power
and influence in this Republic) and induced to become am-
bitious of emulating the excellence of ancient and modern
orators, have been kept down to the cool calculations of Eu-
clid, the demonstrations of conic sections, and the differen-
tial and integral Calculus ! ' ' Finally, "A True Friend to the ..-
College," in an issue of the same paper five days later, lets
a political cat out of the bag ; after describing various evils
in the present regime, he continues : ' ' Some of the friends
of the College ... see all this, and yet it all does not affect
them so painfully as one other fact which can no longer
be kept in the dark — viz : that the College is becoming a
nursery of anti-American doctrines ', a mill for the manufac-
ture of young theorists, ready to meet the world in arms,
and fight for the principles of free trade ! ' '
But the President held to his course in silence, effecting
various changes besides those already mentioned. The en- N
trance requirements were somewhat increased: in 1827
Jacob's Greek Header and Caesar were added, and in both
Latin and Greek emphasis was laid upon a knowledge of
the grammar ; ancient and modern geography and English
grammar were also mentioned as supplementary subjects ;
in 1828 algebra to quadratics was added. After this there y
was no material change, except that in 1843 the New Tes-
tament (or the option in Xenophon which had been allowed
for some years) was struck out and nothing put in its place.
Several changes were made in the curriculum in 1827. The
review of the Latin and Greek required for admission was
omitted. Algebra was put into the first year, and studied
three terms instead of one ; trigonometry, conic sections, and
calculus were added. A term in astronomy was introduced.
The range in the classics was widened by the introduction
C 21 ^ ]
v v>
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of Xenophon's Anabasis, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato,
Aristotle, Euripides, Tacitus, Juvenal, and Perseus. Two
terms of French were offered, with an option of calculus in
one term and Hebrew in the other ; but French was dropped
from 1831 to 1842, and Hebrew after 1834. A two-term
course in political economy, taught by the President, was
added in 1828. In the catalogue of 1827-28 is the signifi-
cant statement, ' ' Lectures are delivered upon the various
branches of study, in connexion with the regular Recita-
tions.' ' Three years later this is expanded into an announce-
ment that ' ' Lectures are delivered, during the Course of In-
struction, on the following branches, viz. Intellectual and
Moral Philosophy ; Political Economy ; Rhetoric ; Roman
Antiquities — Greek and Roman Literature; Natural Phi-
losophy ; Chemistry ; Physiology. ' '
/ The curriculum as announced in the catalogue of 1842-
43 is fairly representative of the whole period from 1827 to
1850:
Freshman Year
First Term. Plane geometry; Livy; Latin grammar reviewed; ab-
stract of Roman history; Xenophon's Cyropaedia ; Greek grammar
reviewed.
Second Term. Solid geometry; algebra; Livy; abstract of Roman
history; exercises in writing Latin; Xenophon's Memorabilia; exer-
cises in writing Greek.
Tfiird Term. Algebra; Tacitus; exercises in writing Latin; the
Odyssey; exercises in writing Greek.
Sophomore Year
First Term. Algebra; plane and spherical trigonometry; Horace;
exercises in writing Latin; the Iliad; exercises in writing Greek.
Second Term. Mensuration, surveying, navigation, nautical astron-
omy; the Iliad; exercises in writing Greek; Horace; rhetoric.
Third Term. Analytical geometry; de Amicitia and de Senectute;
exercises in writing Latin; rhetoric; Euripides.
C 216 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Junior Year
First Term. Mechanics; animal physiology; logic; modern languages.
Second Term. Pneumatics and hydrostatics; chemistry; Sophocles
or iEschylus; modern languages.
Third Term. Optics; chemistry; vegetable physiology; Juvenal;
modern languages.
Senior Year
First Term. Intellectual philosophy; astronomy; ./Eschines or De-
mosthenes; modern languages.
Second Term. Moral philosophy; Butler's Analogy and Paley's
Evidences; rhetoric; modern languages.
Third Term. Political economy; evidences of Christianity; geol-
ogy; American constitution; modern languages. /
The quality of work done by those who went through this
course of study cannot be determined with much precision,
but there are fragmentary data which throw some light upon
it. In the first place, proficiency in college studies could hardly
have been expected of young men so ill prepared for them
as were some of those admitted to the university. President
Wayland, in a special report to the fellows in 1841, said
of the study of rhetoric : ' ' This branch of learning would
be materially improved if the requirements for entrance . . .
were more rigidly enforced. Students frequently enter col-
lege almost wholly unacquainted with English grammar
and unable to write a tolerably legible hand." A committee
appointed by the fellows, in 1842, to consider changes in the
conduct of the institution, reported that "students are fre-
quently admitted very ignorant of the grammars and are
able in general to read but a very small portion of Latin &
Greek at a lesson . " " The writing of Latin , ' ' they add , " is
not required at all of the candidate for entrance. . . . In-
struction in the University is too much confined to the mere
rendering of the ancient languages into English and . . .
I 21 7 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
not sufficient attention is paid to elegance of rendering, and
to the cultivation of the taste of the pupil." That laxity in
entrance examinations was rather general among the New
Englandcolleges appears from a communication sent to them
by a committee representing a meeting of classical teachers
held in Boston on May 28, 1844 ; this calls for more uniform
and rigid requirements, saying : ' 'All the colleges, at times,
receive Students with much less than the required amount
of preparation ; in some cases even less than half the usual
preparatory course is admitted as sufficient, while in others
nearly the whole is required."
Dr. Way land was strongly impressed, on a visit to Eng-
land in 1840-41, with the enormous stimulus applied to
school and university students by means of prizes, scholar-
ships, fellowships, and other rewards for high attainments;
and on his return he devised a system of prizes for under-
graduates in Brown University. In the catalogue of 1842-
43 premiums to the total value of $250 were announced ;
and the next year the system was extended. President Way-
land had founded the President's Premiums for excellence
in preparatory studies, by the gift of $1000, which pro-
vided prizes of $15 and $10, to be awarded after a special
examination, in both Latin and Greek. University Premi-
ums, derived from one of Nicholas Brown's bequests, were
offered as follows: freshman premiums of $15 and $10, in
Greek, Latin, and mathematics; sophomore premiums of like
amounts in the same subjects, and a premium of $15 for
English composition; junior premiums of $17 and $15 in
mechanics, physical science, and English composition, and
a premium of $17 in either Greek or Latin ; senior premiums
of $20 each in astronomy, history, physical science, and in
either Greek or Latin. The awards in astronomy, mathe-
matics, and mechanics were to be determined by exami-
C 2.8 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
nation ; in the other subjects, by essays. Two premiums of
$25 each, established the year before by the Rev. Henry
Jackson, were also offered to seniors for essays in philosophy
and political economy. The total value of these prizes was
$458.
The results did not speak very well for the intellectual
ambition of the students, however thoroughly they may have
done their routine work for the class-room. Very few entered
the contests, especially after the freshman year ; two or three
was the usual number, and sometimes there were fewer com-
petitors than prizes. The competition for the Jackson pre-
miums was so slight that the donor became dissatisfied and
discontinued them after 1850. The quality of the work done
by the prize men was not remarkably good according to mod-
ern standards. The essays on literary, historical, economic,
and philosophical subjects show industry and considerable
maturity of style, but little originality or independent re-
search. The essays in Latin, according to the present pro-
fessor of that subject, are full of English idioms set over into
Latin words, and are on the whole inferior to what would
now be expected in a prize contest. ' ' The essays in Greek, ' '
writes a professor in the Greek department, ' ' are not start-
lingly original, and there are a good many cases of the trans-
fer of English locutions to a foreign style ; but there are few
things wrong, and the physical perfection of the Greek hand-
writing itself reflects a careful, scholarly attitude that is not
unimportant." Of the examination papers in mathematical
subjects a member of that department says : ' ' The dexterity
required in the handling of algebraic and trigonometric ex-
pressions is very slight. In all the papers, solution of prob-
lems rather than development of theory is called for. The
questions seem to indicate a good grounding in fundamen-
tal principles of that day, but a decidedly moderate standard
[ 219 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
as to the amount of work covered in a given year. The stand-
ards in pure mathematics are far higher now ; many of the
premium questions of the 40 's could now be answered by
matriculants."
Brown University owes a great debt to President Way-
land for his wise and energetic eiforts to build up the library.
It had grown to considerable size by occasional gifts of
books and money; but it had no permanent fund or regu-
lar income, and there was no settled policy regarding it. In
the President's report to the Corporation "in behalf of the
Faculty," on September 2, 1829, the inadequacy of such a
' ' miscellaneous collection ' ' was pointed out, and two sources
of income for the purchase of books were suggested — the
students' library fees, and the interest of a permanent library
fund, to be raised by subscription. The Corporation at once
voted that $200 of the money received from library fees be
appropriated annually for buying books ; and at a meeting
of the Standing Committee of the Corporation on January
10, 1831, it was resolved, "That immediate measures be
taken to raise by subscription, the sum of twenty-Jive thou-
sand dollars, to be appropriated to the purchase of books for
the Library and apparatus for the philosophical and chemi-
cal departments of Brown University. " President Wayland
and Thomas P. Ives were made a committee to carry the
resolution into effect. The proposal was magnificent, almost
to audacity, for no such sum had ever been raised by sub-
scription in the interests of education in Rhode Island. But a
new day was dawning. Nicholas Brown promptly subscribed
$10,000 ; Thomas P. Ives and John Bowen gave $1000
each ; and many other subscriptions, varying from $300
to $10, were secured, chiefly by the exertions of President
Wayland and Professor Caswell. The sum of $19,437.50
was raised; it was put at interest until it had grown to
[ 220 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
$25,000, when it was invested as a permanent fund, the
income from which, beginning in 1839, was devoted to the
purchase of books and apparatus. Provision had already been
made to secure a consistent policy in directing the growth
of the library. At the September meeting of the Corporation
in 1834, the committee on the library, anticipating the time
when ' ' large additions will be made every year to the num-
ber of Books, ' ' urged that it was ' ' of great importance that
these books should be selected in conformity with some
approved plan, so that the Library may present a view of
the progress & attainments of the human mind." The re-
port continues : ' ' The number of visitors which may here-
after be attracted to the Library, as well as the convenience
of the officers of instruction suggests the importance of have-
ing the Library at all times accessible to the faculty & to
strangers. They therefore recommend that the Librarian be
required to occupy a room in the College buildings." The
Corporation appointed a committee, including the Presi-
ident, to carry out these recommendations ; and voted that,
after the library had been removed to the new building,
the librarian must attend in the library room from 10 to 12
o'clock every week day in term time. In 1837 it was voted
that $500 from the income of the library fund be spent an-
nually for books, under the direction of a joint committee of
the Corporation and Faculty. Mr. Charles C. Jewett, of the
class of 1835, was appointed librarian in 1842, also holding
the professorship of modern languages after the first year. A
catalogue prepared by him was published in 1843 ; it showed
that the library contained 10,235 volumes. Mr. Jewett be-
came the librarian of the Smithsonian Institution in 1848,
and from 1858 till his death in 1868 was librarian of the
Boston Public Library. He was succeeded at Brown Uni-
versity by Reuben A. Guild, of the class of 1847.
[ 221 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
The new building referred to above was Manning Hall.
The time had come when it was imperative that the library
should have better quarters, for its room in University Hall
was, in President Wayland's words, "crowded to excess,
unsightly and inconvenient, and wholly unsuited for the
purpose to which, from necessity, it was devoted. ' ' A chapel
was also much needed. Nicholas Brown met both needs by
erecting Manning Hall, at a cost of $18,500. The build-
ing, somewhat in the style of a Greek temple, was named at
Mr. Brown's request after the first president, and was dedi-
cated on February 4, 1835. It was built of stone and covered
with cement. The lower room, sixty-eight feet in length
and thirty-eight in width, was designed for the library ; the
upper room was the chapel.
It was doubtless because the new building had a cement
covering that University Hall, standing next to it, received
a similar covering at this time. The report of a committee,
on June 14, 1834, says: "The Building seems to have ar-
rived at that State of decay that very considerable repair is
necessary to prevent it from going to entire destruction —
the window frames must be taken out, in order to prevent
the water from getting in, over them, the bricks should be
painted or covered with cement — the mortar has come out
from between the bricks, & many of the bricks are much
decayed." A bill of March 3, 1835, shows that the repairs
cost $4684.
President Way land, because of his training, was deeply
/ interested in the teaching of natural science. His influence
doubtless appears in the vote of the Corporation on Sep-
tember 6, 1827, when a committee was appointed to expend
$500 in instruments and apparatus such as the committee
might "judge necessary for the immediate wants of the Uni-
. versity." Soon afterwards a set of apparatus costing about
[ 222 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
$3000 was presented to the college by Nicholas Brown and N
Thomas P. Ives ; and in consequence the catalogue of 1828-
29 contained the following statement: "The Philosophi-
cal Apparatus is extensive and complete. A large number
of Instruments, constructed on the most approved plans, by
distinguished artists in London and Paris, has been recently
imported at individual expense, and presented to the Uni-
versity. The advantages of instruction in Natural Philoso-
phy, thus presented, it is believed, are equal to those pos-
sessed by any similar institution in this country." Another
need of the scientific departments became acute in 1836,
when Professor Chace brought back from a tour through
the West a valuable collection of fossils and found no suit-
able room for them. "The University was almost destitute
of a Chemical laboratory," wrote Wayland in 1841, "and
the lecture rooms for the Professors of Chemistry and Ex-
perimental Science were small and inconvenient. " In Sep-
tember, 1836, a committee of the Corporation was appointed
' ' to devise means for erecting a building for Lecture rooms,
and rooms for the reception of Geological and Physiologi-
cal specimens. "By 1838 about $2500 had been raised, but
there the movement stayed. Once more the patron of the uni-
versity came forward with a generous and stimulating offer,
contained in the following letter :
Providence, March 18. 1839
Moses Brown Ives, Esq
Treasurer of Brown University
Dear sir,
In Common with a number of the friends
of Brown University, I desire the Erection of a suitable Mansion
House for the President, and likewise of another College Edifice for
the accomodation of the Department of Natural Philosophy, Chem-
istry, Mineralogy, Geology and Natural History.
As it is highly important that these Buildings, so necessary to the
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
welfare of the Institution, should be Erected without delay, I hereby
tender to the acceptance of the Corporation Two Lots of Land on
Waterman Street, as a Site for the Presidents House, and the Lot of
Land, called the Hopkins Estate on George Street, as a Site for the
College Edifice, — and I moreover pledge myself for the sum of Ten
Thousand Dollars, viz Seven Thousand Dollars for the Presidents
House, & Three Thousand Dollars towards the Erection of the Col-
lege Edifice, the suitable improvement of the adjacent grounds, and
the increase of the permanent Means of Instruction in the Departments
of Chemistry, Mineralogy &c, provided an equal amount be subscribed
by other friends of the University before the 1st: day of May next.
I am with affectionate Regards
and great personal Respect to all the
friends & patrons of the University,
Respectfully
Nicho Brown
The response was prompt. Before the date set more than
the needed amount had been subscribed ; and ' ' the whole
sum," according to Dr. Way land, "with the exception of
about six hundred dollars, was contributed by the citizens
of Providence and its vicinity. "The appropriate name of
' ' Rhode Island Hall ' ' was given to the new building, which
was dedicated on September 4, 1840; it was made of stone,
covered with cement, and cost $11,250. The president's
house, standing on the northwest corner of Prospect and
College Streets, cost $7000 ; it was finished in season for the
President to hold his reception in it on the evening of Com-
mencement in 1840. The old president's house, according
to tradition, was moved down College Street, where some still
identify it as the third house below the corner of Benefit
Street, on the north side.
At this time also "the grounds were graded and adorned , ' '
to quote the President speaking in 1841, "and the surround-
ing premises placed in the condition in which we now behold
them. "The "adornment" consisted partly in the building
[ 224 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
of a new fence around the grounds and in the planting of
the elms that are now one of the chief glories of the campus.
The gifts in connection with Rhode Island Hall and the
president's house, and the gift of another valuable lot on
George Street, in 1840, were Mr. Brown's last donations to
the college during his lifetime ; he died on September 27,
in the following year. Nicholas Brown was born in Provi-
dence, April 4, 1769, the son of Nicholas Brown, Senior. At
his graduation from Rhode Island College in 1786, he was
less than eighteen years old ; and when he was chosen a trus-
tee of the college, in 1791, he was only twenty-two. He served
as trustee until 1825, and as fellow from then till his death ;
from 1 796 to 1825 he was also treasurer. After the death of his
father, in 1791, he and his brother-in-law, Thomas P. Ives,
formed a partnership in what grew to be one of the largest
mercantile houses in New England. "Up to the year 1836,"
wrote Professor. Goddard, "when he withdrew almost en-
tirely from all concern in foreign commerce, no man, it is
believed, possessed so extensive and accurate a knowledge
of the commercial marine of the whole country." The firm
was one of the pioneers in developing an American trade
with China and India, and after the beginning of the cen-
tury became more and more deeply engaged in cotton manu-
factures in Rhode Island. Of Mr. Brown as a merchant Dr.
Wayland said : ' ' His disposition was ardent, and his plans
frequently adventurous. Yet the success of his diversified
operations sufficiently testified that boldness of enterprise may
be harmoniously united with vigorous and deliberate judg-
ment. He was endowed in an unusual degree with that qual-
ity , which I know not how better to express than by the term,
largeness of mind. Apian or an enterprise was attractive
to him, other things being equal, in proportion to its ex-
tensiveness." Professor Goddard gives this discriminating
[ 225 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
account of his mental habits, which were clearly those of
a man of action : "He had no relish for general reading, or
for prolonged conversation, or for mixed society. On paper,
he expressed himself, always with freedom and clearness,
and sometimes with force. His power of observation was
singularly quick and searching ; and he seemed to reach
his conclusions, generally sagacious, without the aid of in-
termediate processes, or without being able to communicate
such intermediate processes to others."
Mr. Brown took a broad interest in life outside the world
of business. In politics he was first a staunch Federalist and
then a Whig, and for many years he served as a member
of the state legislature ; his last political act was to cast
his vote, as presidential elector, for President Harrison. He
was a deeply religious man, although he never joined any
church "in consequence," says Professor Gammell, "of
certain peculiar views which lingered in his mind." "I do
not think," says President Way land, "that there was any
branch of human knowledge with which he was so well
acquainted as theology." "His heart," Wayland writes,
' ' was the abode of active sympathy for every form of human
suffering. He not unfrequently visited the sick in their own
dwellings, while his door was frequently thronged, and his
steps waylaid, by the poor and unfortunate of every age.
I think I do not at all overstate the fact, when I assert, that
for the last twenty-five years, whenever any person among
us, in almost any rank of society, was in pecuniary distress,
the first person to whom he would spontaneously apply for
relief was Nicholas Brown. . . . His benevolence was fre-
quently requited by ingratitude ; yet, under the most irritat-
ing provocations, he was never known to indulge in the lan-
guage either of harshness or reproach. He seemed always
disposed to look upon human nature in its most favorable
r 22 6 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
aspects, and when no favorable aspect could be discovered,
to contemplate the spectacle in silence. ' '
Mr. Brown's public benefactions were by no means lim-
ited to the institution which bears his name. He contrib-
uted to the endowment of Columbian College, Waterville
College, and Newton Theological Institution. When the
Providence Athenaeum received its charter, in 1836, he
united with Moses B. Ives and Robert H. Ives, the sons
of his deceased partner, in offering to the library its present
site and $10,000 toward the erection of a building and the
purchase of books. In his will, besides many bequests for
religious and educational purposes, he left $30,000 toward
the endowment of an insane asylum, and was thus the ori-
ginator of a movement which resulted three years later in
the foundation of Butler Hospital. Brown University was
also remembered in his will, receiving $10,000 in money,
payable in ten years, the income for ten years from certain
estates worth about the same sum, and land lying between
Thayer and Hope Streets and valued at $42,500. These be-
quests brought up his total gifts to the university to nearly
$159,000, and Professor Gammell estimated that his entire
benefactions to public institutions and objects amounted to
not less than $211,500. Even more significant is the wis-
dom shown in bestowing his gifts. "He seemed habitually
to look at results," writes President Wayland, "and fre-
quently at results long distant. ... He sought not so much
to build up, as to lay the foundations."
The university is fortunate in having a good likeness of
its benefactor. After the erection of Manning Hall the Cor-
poration renewed their request to Mr. Brown to sit for his pic-
ture. He consented ; and the familiar portrait now hanging
in Sayles Hall was painted in 1836, by Chester Harding,
one of the best American artists of the day, and placed
[ 227 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
in the library. What President Wayland said of the living
face may be applied to the pictured one : ' ' The leading traits
of Mr. Brown's character were, I think, distinctly revealed
in his countenance. In his ample brow and well-developed
forehead, you could not but observe the marks of a vigorous
and expansive intellect ; while his mouth indicated a spirit
tenderly alive to human suffering, and habitually occupied
in the contemplation of deeds of compassion."
When Mr. Brown resigned the treasurership, in 1825,
he was succeeded by Moses B. Ives, who retained the office
throughout President Wayland' s term. Chancellor Gris-
wold, however, retired in 1828, and three other chancellors
served during this administration — the Hon. Samuel W.
Bridgham, of the class of 1794, who died in office in 1840 ;
the Hon. John B. Francis, of the class of 1808, who acted
from 1841 to 1854 ; and Dr. Samuel B. Tobey, who took the
chancellorship in President Wayland's last year, and held
it through the administration of his successor. The secre-
taries of the Corporation under Dr. Wayland were yet more
numerous, including Judge Samuel Eddy, who resigned in
1829, the Rev. Dr. Nathan B. Crocker, who served from
1829 to 1837 and from 1846 to 1853, Judge Theron Met-
calf, who served from 1837 to 1843, Professor William G.
Goddard, whose term was still shorter (1843-46), and John
Kingsbury, who, beginning in 1853, held the secretaryship
under four presidents until his death in 1874. Until 1844
professors of the college were eligible for membership in
the Corporation, and several actually served as fellows ; in
that year the Corporation voted that no professor of the
university should thereafter hold a seat in the Corporation,
the two offices being deemed ' ' from their very nature " to be
"incompatible."
What of the Faculty and students in these years during
[ 228 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
which the material equipment of the institution, under the
hand of its patron, was growing so fast?
We have seen what happened to the non-resident pro-
fessors. Of the three resident professors when President
Wayland came, one, Alva Woods, of the chair of mathe-
matics and natural philosophy since 1824, resigned in 1828,
to take the presidency of Transylvania University ; he was
succeeded by Alexis Caswell, who became one of Dr. Way-
land's staunchest supporters and intimate friends. Professor /
Goddard, of the department of moral philosophy and meta-
physics from 1825 to 1834, when he became professor of
belles-lettres, resigned in 1842 because of his health; his
relations with the President were peculiarly close. The third
professor, Romeo Elton, a scholarly man but not a power-
ful teacher, served as professor of Greek and Latin from
1825 to 1843. For a few years the Faculty consisted of the
President, three professors, two tutors, the librarian Mr.
Bowen, and the register and steward Lemuel H. Elliott,
who served from 1826 to 1864. A fourth professor, Solo-
mon Peck, who taught Latin, and a third tutor were added
in 1832. The next year Professor Peck retired ; and George
I. Chace, who had been tutor since 1831, became adjunct
professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. In 1834
the President was formally made professor of moral and in-
tellectual philosophy ; Professor Goddard assumed his new
title; and Professor Chace took the chair of chemistry. The
next year the classical department was much strengthened
by the appointment of the brilliant Horatio B. Hackett as ad-
junct professor of Latin and Greek, who became professor
of Hebrew and classical literature for the years 1837-39;
and William Gammell, tutor since 1832, was made assist-
ant professor of belles-lettres. The Faculty now consisted
of ten officers of instruction — the President, six professors,
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
and three tutors, — five of whom were recent graduates
of Brown University, trained by the methods of the new
regime. This was about its numerical strength until 1842,
when it began to decline, chiefly by a reduction in the
number of tutors.
Three of the young men whom President Wayland gath-
ered around him in the first half of his administration —
Chace, Gammell, and John L. Lincoln, who became a tutor
in 1839 — were to fill large places in the history of the uni-
versity ; from the first they brought in fresh life, and did
much to win support for the new order of things. Dr. Way-
land, like all natural leaders, knew how to pick his aides
and how to value them. Masterful as he was, he did not
commit the folly of supposing that one man could make a
college, and he gave his colleagues due honor and influ-
ence. 1 Professor Gammell, writing in 1867, speaks thus of
the official relations of the President and the Faculty :
It was the habit of Dr. Wayland to consult very freely with members
of the Faculty respecting every measure of importance relating either
to the internal or the external affairs of the institution. . . . Until that
time [1850] I do not recall a single instance in which the nomination
of an officer, whether professor or tutor, was made to the corporation
without the advice of the Faculty, or in which any measure of impor-
tance that concerned the interests of the college was decided upon
without their sanction and cooperation. . . . He encouraged no appeals
from professors or tutors to the president. No fear was felt, on the part
of either, that he would ever seek to promote his own popularity or
comfort at the expense of that of his associates. . . . Whenever it be-
came necessary, he bore unflinchingly and magnanimously the odium
of every measure, no matter what was its origin, which the good of
the college seemed to require.
1 It is under Wayland that the records of the Faculty meetings begin, with
a meeting on May 7, 1829, for the assignment of Commencement parts; but
for years the meetings occurred at very irregular intervals.
C 2 30 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Professor Gammell also gives an interesting account of the
social relations between the President and the members of
the Faculty :
To them all, I may say, his house was a place of frequent and familiar
resort, although his relations to them differed with different persons in
their degrees of intimacy. To the younger members of the Faculty, I
remember, he was particularly attentive, and ever mindful of the soli-
tary life they led, residing, as they did at that time, within the walls of
the college. In those earlier days we dined with him almost always on
Saturdays. Very often, after evening meetings of the Faculty, ... he
would invite us to remain at his house, and share in some extemporized
entertainment, as an offset to the weary routine of college affairs. . . .
His familiar friends, and especially members of the Faculty, were in the
habit of visiting his garden very frequently ; and he was never happier
or more genial than when narrating passages of his horticultural ex-
perience. . . . At other seasons of the year he was exceedingly fond of
walking in the country, always seeking companionship on such occa-
sions. The evening prayers of the college, until they were abolished in
1850, were invariablyat fiveo'clock. On thedismissal of the students, he
would very commonly summon some of us to join him in the walk to
the Seekonk River, going by one road and returning by the other. . . .
This ancient road, five and twenty or thirty years ago, was rural and
secluded, full of attractive scenery of meadow and grotto, of wooded
hill and flowing river, and pervaded throughout its whole extent with
the tranquillity always so grateful to reflective and studious minds.
In these walks, which were continued through many years, he would
often do all the talking himself, especially when accompanied only by
his juniors. . . . Grave as were his daily studies, and serious as was his
habitual tone of thought, those who mingled thus freely in his society
amidst the scenes to which I have alluded, knew him to be exceedinglv
fond of both humor and of wit, and to be capable of a mirthfulness
that was in singular contrast with other moods of his mind.
Salaries were somewhat higher from the first under the new
administration. The President received $1500, besides the
graduation fees and the use of the presidential house and
garden. In 1827-28 the stopping of the salaries of non-
C 231 ]
/
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
' resident professors, and an increase in the price of tuition to
$36 a year, enabled the Corporation to raise the salaries of
the resident professors to $1000 each. But the next year,
because of a deficit of $900 partly due to decrease in receipts
from tuition, these salaries were lowered to $1400 and $900,
and the new professor received but $800 ; other economies
\ were also effected. That year the number of students sank
to 98; then it began slowly to rise until 1836-37, when it
reached 196; afterwards it declined for some years, with
/ consequences to be recounted later. By 1833-34 the Presi-
dent again received $1500, and the three senior professors
$1000; the ' ' adjunct professor' ' in that year was paid $600,
the two tutors $400 each, and the librarian $175. About
this scale was maintained for many years. It was impos-
sible to pay out much more in salaries without a large in-
crease in productive endowment, and of that there had been
x almost none. President Wayland stated, in a special report
of 1841, that the entire property of the university was then
worth more than $150,000, a great gain since ten years
before ; but the productive funds, amounting to $32,300,
had increased only $1000 in the same time. Here was a
situation sure to become increasingly distressful as the cost
of living rose.
Intellectually and morally the college community seems to
have had a healthy hardihood, but perhaps it had too little
play. The tallow-candle illumination on the night before
Commencement, which had apparently been for some time
a source of anxiety to the authorities, was stopped at once
by Wayland. The other features of the gala week remained
almost unchanged, except that the President made an effort
to give the exercises of Commencement day more dignity
and decorum. The Rhode Island American £s? Providence
Gazette, in the issue before his first Commencement, said :
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
1 'It is earnestly hoped that those who attend the Com-
mencement will go there for the purpose of hearing, and not
merely to display fine clothes, fine faces, and fine chat."
After Commencement it said: "Though it was difficult,
and in most cases impossible for the speakers to be heard
beyond their immediate circle, an attentiveness and decorum
were preserved by the whole assembly. . . . The barbarous
mode of expressing applause, by stamping and clapping,
was, at the special request of the President, wholly dispensed
with."
The diary of Williams Latham gives a complete picture
of this Commencement week as seen by a member of the
graduating class :
Sept. 1, 1827, Started from home this morning at40clock and reached
Providence at half past 9, Just time to rehearse my piece in the Chapel
with most of my classmates. . . .
On Sunday sept. 2 went to meeting Mr. Edes with friend Minard
and sung a little — in the afternoon went to Mr. Pickerings and heard
a fine sermon about the love and benevolence of God — This day has
passed off rather heavily On Monday rehearsed our pieces in the Bap-
tist meeting house Philips being absent after his intended wife. . . .
Tuesday — This morning the students were dismissed and many
of them have gone home, violating a particular law of the old system
so much deprecated — There are three Literary Societies in College,
Viz. Philermenian, United Brothers, and Franklin, The two first cel-
ebrate this day, the other being disappointed in the Orator — The
Philermenians this forenoon Professor Burgess being the Orator, He
diliverd a fine oration on the history and power of eloquence — The
Brothers had a Mr. Burton of Oxford on the progress of intellectual
improvement —
S[t] rangers and Alumni have been numerous, this evening They
flocked into the College yard thinking there would be an illumination
as usual but were disappointed, yet they kept up an old custom by
burning a tar barrel which induced the President to come out into the
yard and try to drive them out but without success —
C 233 3
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Wednesday Sept. 5, 1827. The long wished day has arrived and
almost past — The day is pleasant — at ten a procession was formed
and some with gowns and some without them, marched to the Baptist
meeting house es[c]orted by music — and there heard the President
make a solemn prayer — 9 spoke in the forenoon of which number I
was one — at noon My class were all seated at one table on the lower
floor south end of the Old College — Grace was said by Thresher and
the table was dismissed by Bishop — A sumptuous table without strong
drink, excepting good cider — but this was not sufficent and of course
wine was called for and producd — a few songs were sung and much
noise made — Mr [a member of the class, a theologue] made
a communication to the Class in which he expressed his thanks and best
wishes for the favour they had confered upon him Viz a suit of black
clothes — he being indigent This afternoon the house was uncommonly
crouded, every inch of ground was occupied — This evening My Class
were invited to the Presidents levee or party and accordingly went
and were treated in the best style —
Thursday every thing was still and all were preparing to take a mel-
oncholly departure — This day Thresher started for N. Y. where he
is to marry a lady of respectability — This evening Weeded [= Wee-
den], Putnam, Minard, and myself went to Mr Burrows and bid
farewell by taking a glass of wine —
The absence of Class Day festivities in this account is no-
ticeable. But the class had appointed an orator and a poet in
the autumn of 1826, for a celebration at Bristol some time
in the spring ; and had recently had a meeting and a supper
before separating for the summer, as appears from the fol-
lowing entries in the diary :
Thursday May 10th. 1827 —
This morning was held a meeting of the Senior Class at the Pump,
at which it was resolved, that this class choose a corresponding com-
mittee consisting of two persons, Viz. John H. C[l]ifford Esq. chair-
man John H Weeden deputy to perform the duty of the committee
in the absence of the chairman
Resolved, that each individual of the class, anually, address a line to
the chairman on the first day of January stating his prospects in life —
[ 234 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Resolved, that the committee answer all the letters he receives, on
the first day of February — . . .
After the [ Commencement] parts were given out, the class were
invited down to Mr. C[l]ifford's where they went and partook of
cold ham and stimulus of the first rate — The following toast was
given by Gilman who was very much dissatisfied with his part, " Those
who wished to abolish the old system and prayed for the new one
have jumped out of the frying-pan into the fire" —
As the years went on, certain changes were made in the
Commencement program. In 1829, since the class was
small, all the speeches were delivered at one session ; and this
became the custom, the number of speeches delivered being
limited to fifteen or sixteen. In 1835 there were but five ora-
tions, including two for the master's degree, for the sen-
iors, with three exceptions, declined their degrees because
the competitive system of Commencement parts impressed
them as appealing to ' ' the unworthy passions of the heart ' ' ;
all were finally awarded degrees — some, at the request of
friends, after they had graduated from this world. The
Classical Oration was introduced in 1838, the Philosophical
the next year. The variety in form was much less than
in the earlier administrations: conferences appeared for the
last time in 1839, disputes were now wholly a thing of the
past except for a solitary revival in that year, and poems
became rare ; essays and dissertations were common for a
while, but after 1850 all the speakers delivered "orations."
In subjects, however, the range grew wider and wider, and
the topics were also more specific and modern. Philosophy,
ethics, politics, history, and the fine arts all received atten-
tion, and much more often than before the themes were
drawn from literature.
Although the popular interest in Commencement week
gradually declined, its social attractiveness increased for
[ Z35 2
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
those in the academic circle. The Providence Journal said of
the Commencement of 1841: "The meeting house was as
crowded as ever. The speakers did their best to make them-
selves heard above the noise from the movements of the
crowd and the talking of the ladies, who would chat with
thegallants circulating about the house in spite of Marshals,
Sheriffs, and Constables. The meeting house is a fine place
to receive yearly calls from their old admirers among the
graduates, and this to them is full as important a matter as
the speaking. "The programs from 1847 to 1850 had this
request, or its equivalent, printed on the first page : ' ' Persons
occupying pews in the church are requested not to stand
upon the seats, or to converse aloud, during the exercises."
The Commencement dinner gained yearly in numbers and
in social features . The records of the class of 1 8 4 1 say : ' ' The
eating was despatched in y& an hour or so & then all joined
in singing the 100th. psalm as printed & distributed to
each person. After this was sung & an abortive attempt at
Auld Lang Syne the dinner broke up." In 1847 about one
hundred and sixty persons attended the dinner, and there
were speeches, one by Charles Sumner. Two years later the
dinner was in Rhode Island Hall, which was completely
filled, and there were six speeches and a poem, followed by
an alumni meeting in Manning Hall ; in the evening came
the President's reception in his ' ' hospitable mansion . ' ' This
Commencement was attended by two alumni of President
Manning's day, William Wilkinson, of the class of 1783,
and Simeon Doggett, of the class of 1788. In this year the
election of the Phi Beta Kappa Society came in the morn-
ing of the day before Commencement, and was followed by
an oration in the First Congregational Church. In the same
place, in the afternoon, an oration was spoken before the
Philermenian Society and the United Brothers, and a mis-
[ 236 J
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
sionary sermon was preached in the First Baptist Church in
the evening.
Thus the exercises of Commencement week were grad-
ually approaching the form which they were long to hold.
The chief difference still was the absence of Class Day; but
the records of the class of 1841 show that one of the main
features, the class supper — or dinner — had already become
a well-established custom, for the dinner is there called "a
venerable relic of the past." It was held in the City Hotel,
on the day after Commencement, and lasted from 3 to 6
p.m. Toasts were drunk, and songs sung — "Fill, fill the
sparkling brimmer," "Oft in the stilly night," "Auld
Lang Syne," and the class ode. "As the last two verses
were being sung all walked around the table Sc each gave
his hand to all the others." Class officers were chosen — a
president, five vice-presidents, and a secretary — and the
meeting adjourned for three years.
At this period, also, the first alumni association was
formed. Several years before, it is true, the alumni had taken
concerted action to establish prizes for declamation and com-
position. The Corporation records of September 2, 1824,
say that " At a numerous meeting of Alumni of Brown Uni-
versity, holden in the Philosophical Lecture room of the
University on the third day of September A. D. 1823. The
Reverend William Rogers a graduate of the first commence-
ment of the University, Chairman," a committee was ap-
pointed to raise a fund of $1000, the income of which should
be used for the purchase of medals to be awarded to the
winners of contests in declamation and composition. The
contests were to be held on the day after Commencement; the
committee of award were to be the professor of oratory and
belles-lettres and four graduates not connected with the gov-
ernment of the college ; on the medals was to be engraved,
C 2 37 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
"Alumni fund of Brown University." The Corporation
approved, and the movement went forward. On October
26, 1824, the Corporation voted, "That the Alumni Fund
Society be permitted to occupy the College Chapel on the
Tuesday Evening previous to the next commencement."
And on September 8, 1825, the fellows appointed a com-
mittee to award the medals "at the anniversary exercises
of the Alumni Society." There is no record of a contest
that year; but one occurred in 1826, as appears from the
following entry in Williams Latham's diary, under date
of November, 1826: "A great discovery, one of the prize
pieces of composition found to be a plagiarism. This piece
of composition was taken from an english magazine and pre-
sented to the Committee of the Alumni as original by
of the Sophomore Class — Strange to relate, this learned
Committee for awarding medals did not discover the impo-
sition — The other medal was awarded to Mr. Phillips of
the Junior Class. Among those who competed for the prize
in declamation G. Green and T. Hunter bore the palm —
and all acquitted themselves with honour." A program in
the archives shows that the contest occurred on Septem-
ber 5, in the chapel, and that four sophomores and four
juniors competed.
But this organized action of the alumni aimed at only
one specific object, and was short-lived, for after the advent
of President Wayland nothing more is heard of the soci-
ety or the contests. During Commencement week of 1842,
however, an association of alumni for general purposes
was formed; and on Tuesday, September 5, 1843, its first
anniversary meeting was held. The members met in Man-
ning Hall, in the morning, and marched to the First Baptist
Church, where John Pitman, of the class of 1799, deliv-
ered an oration on the history of the college. A dinner was
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
then served in commons hall, at which addresses were made
by President Wayland, Ashur Robbins (tutor under Presi-
dent Manning), William Wilkinson, the mayor of Provi-
dence, and others. ' ' Alma Mater ' ' was not yet written, but
* ' a spirited song, " by a member of the class of 1832, ' ' em-
bodying various reminiscences of college life," was sung.
A similar meeting and dinner occurred the following year ;
but from 1845 to 1852 only business meetings for elec-
tion of officers were held, with reading of the report of the
committee on necrology. The association was well officered,
in 1847 electing a president, three vice-presidents, a secre-
tary, and eight "councillors." Early in 1853 some of the
alumni met in Manning Hall, "with the view of making ar-
rangements for an Alumni Festival ' ' at the next Commence-
ment, and a committee of distinguished alumni was ap-
pointed to take charge of the matter. The committee met at
the office of The Providence Journal, on January 15, 1853,
and ' ' decided that there should be an Oration and Poem on
the occasion of the proposed festival." At the "festival,"
on September 6, there was no poem, but the Hon. Benja-
min F. Thurston gave an oration ; and the committee was
reappointed to "devise plans &c for a continued celebra-
tion by the Alumni from year to year. ' ' Soon after, however,
the association and the Phi Beta Kappa Society agreed to
hold literary exercises in alternate years, beginning with the
latter in 1854.
The senior and junior exhibitions were continued, though
there was now but one a year of the latter, and interest in
them declined. The literary societies, on the other hand,
were at the height of their prosperity during the greater
part of Wayland's administration. The Franklin Society,
it is true, died in 1 834, after a life of only ten years ; but the
two older ones, the Philermenian and the United Brothers,
C 239 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
were centers of keen intellectual life, their debates and other
exercises arousing much interest. President EzekielG. Rob-
inson, of the class of 1838, in an article in The Forum,
December, 1886, said:
The most intimate of my friends, though pure in their lives and mor-
ally wholesome as associates, were low in their aims as scholars, satis-
fied with very little and very superficial work. They had been sent to
college to prepare for the ministry. . . . They . . . dropped into the
wretched cant of " laying aside ambition as unworthy the servants of
the Lord." But ... it was my good-fortune to be a member of a de-
bating society composed of a very different sort of men from those
who were my most intimate friends. In direct education for the real
work of life, no influences of my college-days were equal to those of
this society. . . . Nothing yet devised has filled, or can fill, as a means
of education, the place of the great debating societies, composed of
representatives from every class in college, at once imposing and in-
spiring from their numbers, which were so marked a feature of the
college of forty or fifty years ago.
These societies also did much to cultivate a taste for read-
ing. The Philermenians' library, of which a printed cata-
logue was issued in 1849, had then 3224 volumes, and
was a good general collection of history, biography, poetry,
essays, and novels, a valuable supplement to the college
library. The United Brothers' library was similar. The an-
niversary meetings, furthermore, stimulated oratorical and
literary ambition by bringing to the college such men as
President Mark Hopkins, in 1835, John Neal, in 1838,
Edwin P.Whipple, in 1846, and Charles Sumner, in 1847;
N. P.Willis came as poet in 1831.
Not content with the existing opportunities for debate,
James B. Angell, Lloyd Morton, and other freshmen formed
a class debating society on October 2, 1845, which sur-
vived until January 9, 1847. It met Saturday mornings
and thrashed out such questions as ' ' Should the American
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Indian claim more of our Sympathy than the Slave of the
South? " or " Do the plays of Shakspeare, on the Stage exert
a good influence on a nation ? ' '
A chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society was organized in
Brown University on July 21, 1830. The new society not
only stimulated scholarship among the undergraduates by
the annual election of juniors and seniors to membership,
but it added to the brilliancy of Commencement week by
securing as orators and poets men of wider fame than had
usually spoken before the Federal Adelphi, which it soon
supplanted. Oliver Wendell Holmes, George S. Hillard,
Caleb dishing, Henry Wheaton, Professor Edwards A.
Park, and George William Curtis were among the Phi Beta
Kappa orators and poets.
Undergraduate Greek-letter fraternities took root in the
college in Wayland's presidency. Alpha Delta Phi estab-
lished a chapter in 1836, Delta Phi in 1838, Psi Upsilon
in 1840, Beta Theta Pi in 1847, Delta Kappa Epsilon in
1850, Zeta Psi in 1852, Theta Delta Chi in 1853. This
new feature of student life evidently excited some alarm.
Dr. Wayland wrote letters to the presidents of various uni-
versities, in 1836, asking if they allowed secret societies,
and what they thought of them. The replies were of varied
tenor, and no adverse action was taken at that time. In 1844,
however, the Corporation voted, "That this Corporation
disapproves of the establishment of Secret Societies by the
Undergraduates of this University or of their participation
therein and that the Faculty of the University be requested
to adopt such measures as they may deem advisable for
the suppression of said secret societies." The Faculty seem
to have found suppression impracticable or inadvisable ; for
two years later the Corporation adopted the policy of regu-
lation, instead, passing rules for the government of the so-
[ 2 4l ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
cieties, and empowering the President to visit their meet-
ings at any time.
The intellectual life of the undergraduates found expres-
sion in still another way under President Wayland. In July,
1829, was published the first number of a college magazine,
The Bninonian, ' ' edited by Students of Brown University. ' '
It ran through twelve numbers, which came out monthly at
first and then at longer intervals, the last number appear-
ing in March, 1831. The purpose of the publication was
"to secure to the Students, the facility of appearing before
their friends, through the medium of the press, and to place
within their reach, what, in subsequent life, may prove an
interesting memento of early attachments." The price was
$3 a year. The neat brown covers inclosed twenty-eight
or more pages, some of them closely printed, and affording
a wide variety of material. A few of the articles are recent
Commencement orations, one, on "Southern Slavery,"
being a defense of the institution by a student from South
Carolina. There are long and rather heavy essays on "The
Druids,"" EfFectsof Intellectual Culture," "The American
System " (an argument for free trade), and the like. Poems
on "Mount Hope," " Narragansett Bay," "Twilight,"
' ' The Dying Maiden's Lament, " etc. , relieve the youthful
bosom of perilous stuff. Critiques on Burns, Lytton, American
literature, etc. , show reading and some sense for style. Light
sketches and tales of a melodramatic cast — ' ' The Pirate, ' '
"The Suicide," "The Anchorite" — supply more read-
able matter. College news and comments on college life are
almost wholly absent ; but during the newspaper attacks on
the new administration the editors say that the criticisms
show spleen, and that "never before has such universal
satisfaction been felt by the students respecting the affairs
of the College." The most entertaining page is the last of
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
all, on which the editors, ' ' Viator ' ' and ' ' Philander, ' ' take
farewell of the public : " If our efforts have relaxed for a
moment the stern visage of Gravity, or prompted a readier
smile on the countenance of Gaiety, if fair bosoms have
throbbed over our pages and soft sighs been breathed over
our Tales, we have not labored in vain. . . . Our patrons
will accept our warmest gratitude; our subscribers are
entitled to the same — when they shall have paid their bills ;
our fellow-students who have assisted our efforts, receive
our thanks ; to our friends, we proffer our regards, to our
foes our indifference ; to all, we, as editors, with unmingled
joy bid an eternal Farewell."
A reading-room association was formed in 1840 by a
meeting of students in the chapel, when a committee was
appointed to procure and fit up a room ; what room was
secured does not appear, but it was supplied with eleven
periodicals and twelve newspapers. In 1841, it was voted to
discontinue the periodicals because of the "abstraction " of
them by unprincipled members ; a year later the admission
fee was changed ' ' by graduating the price to the several
classes" ; in 1843 resident graduates were given the privi-
leges of undergraduates. At that time it was also voted to
establish a ' ' Record of College news &c and place the same
under the sole care of an Editor" ; and from this have been
gleaned the foregoing facts about the association. The ' ' Rec-
ord "also shows, by its "Definitions, not found in Web-
ster," how ancient are some still extant college terms and
habits: " Flunck — a forced confession of an empty head.
Pony — a small steed for cripples, — unsafe, obsolete. Study-
hours — intervals of time between the ringings of the college
bell." The record seems to have been discontinued after a
few months; how long the association lived is not known.
The Society of Missionary Inquiry was organized inl834
C 243 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
and lived until 1891. Musical organizations were formed
from time to time. Williams Latham notes in his diary, on
November 24, 1826, "Harmonic Society got excused from
singing in the Chapel any more this term " ; on March 25,
1827," At 11 O, clock the Harmonic Society to Mr Edes's
Meeting house, where with the use of the Organ we sung
many tunes out of Bridgewater Collection to the gratifica-
tion of Rev. Mr. Edes and some others " ; and on Sunday,
April 15, " To day non [= noon] the Harmonic Society met
in the projection room old College." At the Commence-
ment of 1828 the music was furnished by a student band.
At the junior and senior exhibitions in Manning Hall, in
1837, there was music by "The Brunonian Band." Dra-
matic clubs would probably not have been tolerated ; but
Latham's diary contains this record of a moot court in
1826: "College Court instituted and holden at No 56 U. H.
on the 5 day of Nov. Commonwealth versus Charles Gil-
man for an assault and battery upon the person of Wms:
H. Spear and thereby endangering his life. This case was
conducted by Weeden Attor. Gen. and Lovering Solic. on
the part of Commonwealth and Colby and myself for the
defendant. After having a fair and impartial trial he was
found guilty of two of the three charges set forth in the
indictment — The sentence of Court was, to treat the whole
College and the high sheriff was ordered to see that it
was performed in all its parts. Joseph Phillips chief-Justice
C. Carpenter H. Sheriff."
" Junior Burials " had not yet been devised, but what
seems to be their historic forerunner was already in existence.
"This forenoon," writes Latham on May 5, 1827, "we
burnt our compositions which afforded much light and heat
to warm and enliven this garden of science Parker was the
high priest, Putnam the marshal and Thurber the Poet."
t 2 44 ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
The granddaughter of a former steward of the college, Jo-
seph Cady, witnessed a similar ceremony, and described
it thus :
The first thing I remember about college affairs was the burning of the
essays by the students when I was about seven years old. It was prob-
ably at the end of the spring term of 1831. . . . One morning I noticed
two tall poles standing on the east side of Hope College with bundles
of white paper tied on them. Soon I heard music, and running up the
garden promptly climbed the fence to investigate. A procession of
students, dressed in fantastic costumes, came around University Hall,
not a lengthy procession like those of the present day, but quite as
enthusiastic, and the music (probably Washington's March, as that
was always played on great occasions) was very inspiriting. They went
by the old well up the back campus and halted ; probably there were
speeches. Then the papers were lighted, and made a very pretty bon-
fire. I was told afterwards that the bundles contained the essays that the
students had written during the year. I do not remember ever seeing
such a procession afterwards.
Sports were still unorganized. Latham records on March
22, 1827, "We had a great play at ball to day noon." On
Monday, April 9, he says: "We this morning . . . have
been playing ball, But I never have received so much pleas-
ure from it here as I have in Bridgewater They do not have
more than 6 or 7 on a side, so that a great deal of time is
spent in runing after the ball, Neither do they throw so fair
ball, They are affraid the fellow in the middle will hit it with
his bat-stick." On April 25 he writes: "Yesterday five or
six of us went down to the Observatory to roll nine pins —
This is a very good exercise and not very expensive."
President Wayland, because of his medical training,
might be expected to realize the value of systematic physi-
cal exercise, and he clearly had ideas ahead of his time
in this regard; for he had hardly been inducted into office
when the Corporation voted, on March 15, 1827, ' ' That the
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
President, Treasurer and Mr. Dorr, be a Committee, with
authority to establish a Gymnasium in this Institution."
In a circular of information for 1827-28 is the statement,
* ' A very complete Gymnasium, with every variety of appa-
ratus for exercise, has lately been erected on the College
grounds." This was evidently an announcement before the
fact, for in the next catalogue there is no reference to the
matter, and in 1830 a communication in the Daily Ad-
vertiser of September 25 speaks of " an idle waste of money
on gymnastic projects that were no sooner conceived than
abandoned." There was no college gymnasium, nor any
arrangement with gymnasiums in the town, for many years
to come ; and athletic sports in the modern sense were al-
most as long delayed. The Rev. James C. Seagrave, of the
class of 1845, in memoranda made shortly before his death
in 1913, wrote, "We had games of foot ball organized in
two minutes, engaged in by most of the students residing
in the College Halls, and when the game was over, every
man was ready to take up any work on hand." The Rev.
Henry I. Coe, valedictorian of the class of 1846, in a recent
letter says, "I never heard of athletics while in the Univer-
sity; my exercise was walking." Alexander J. Robert, of
the class of 1849, makes the following statement: "Foot-
ball was the only sport engaged in : sophomores vs. fresh-
men. No ground was appropriated for the game. The rear
of Hope College & the college fence on the east were utilized
as the bounds. No one was ever invited, & no one ever came
to witness the game. There was no gymnasium. In the
spring of '48 a club of young men in Bristol wanted to sell
their boat as they had all married & wished to retire to busi-
ness life. Twelve of us formed a club & purchased the boat.
This was the first boat ever owned by the students of Brown.
It was a daily custom of the students & many of the citizens
C 246' ]
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
to promenade on the north side of Westminster St. after
5 p.m. This was our principal exercise."
In spite of limited outlet for youthful spirits in the way of
sports, there was little disorder during the greater part of
Way land's presidency. In general the students were busy
and well-behaved, for fear of the majestic Head intimidated
would-be evil-doers. " He was disobeyed with fear and trem-
bling," writes Charles T. Congdon, of the class of 1841,
in his Reminiscences , * ' and the boldest did not care to en-
counter his frown. . . . He had a heavy foot for a student's
door when it was not promptly opened after his official knock.
Once, when we were bent upon illuminating the college in
honor of some festive occasion, and contrary to his express
injunctions, he exhibited his abilities in this way most effect-
ually. ' 'Aequo pulsat pede^ we quoted from Horace as we fled
from his wrath, and saw one row of lights extinguished
after another." Mr. Seagrave says of Wayland as a dis-
ciplinarian : ' ' To us watching him it seemed perfectly easy
to administer the affairs of a college. To know him well was
to recognize a man most forbearing toward the weak and
erring. Look at him — you would not wish to encounter his
rebuke or his frown. But go to his study, state your per-
plexity, — not another man of all your acquaintance would
listen more attentively or help you more truly and kindly.
How he dealt with unruly or dissolute students was another
thing, but the other fellows were not expected or likely to
know much about it, for discipline was an unseen element
in our college life."
In his last years, nevertheless, Wayland seems to have
grown somewhat autocratic and arbitrary. President James
B. Angell, who was his pupil in the late forties and his col-
league soon after, in a recent interview said that he was
imperious and often rough, sometimes unreasonable and
C 2 47 H
HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
unjust ; especially was he jealous of his authority — question
that, and he swelled with anger. Weariness with routine
made him more and more brusque toward the end. The
journal of William G. Dearth, of the class of 1855, pictures
him thus in the year 1854: "Went up to Dr. W. after
recitation to explain the cause of my absence. ' The rever-
end and respected Sir' was surrounded by several of the
rest of the class, wishing to propound various question [s]
for his consideration; but after answering a few, he began
to walk off into his office, with the greatest coolness and dis-
regard for us undergraduates. I tried to stop him; but had
to follow him into the room to say my couple of words ; —
for he wouldn't be stopped. Characteristic."
The social station of the undergraduates as a whole must
have risen somewhat under Wayland ; but few of them had
intercourse except with their fellows. President Angell says :
" Students rarely went into society in the city before their
senior year, and not many even then. We found our social
delights in our college intimacies." The close personal re-
lations between professors and students, of which so much
is often made in speaking of college life half a century
ago, seem to have been confined chiefly to the class-room.
Mr. Seagrave, in his memoranda, says: "Our social life
was largely confined to ourselves. We did not often visit the
professors in their homes." Mr. Coe, in the letter already
quoted, writes, ' ' I never while in the University entered the
home of the President or any Professor. ' ' The experience of
Mr. Robert, a Southerner, was somewhat different: "It
was my good fortune to visit in some families of the best
society. Wherever I met some of the professors at their
parties, they would ask me to join them in a glass of wine.
There was never a dance & but one social event in the col-
lege during my college course. The Registrar, Mr. Elliott,
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
who with his family occupied the lower east rooms of Uni-
versity Hall, held a reception on Christmas eve in honor
of his niece, to which we, who occupied our rooms during
the short vacation, were invited."
In Messer's day the expenses were kept down to the low-
est possible limit. The long vacation, of eight weeks, was
put in the winter, expressly that poor students might teach
school ; how generally they availed themselves of the oppor-
tunity appears from Latham's diary, in which occurs the
entry in December, 1826: "It is rather lonesome here in
College, Most of the students have gone out to keep school. ' '
One of President Wayland's first acts was to shorten this
vacation to six weeks ; and in his report to the Corporation,
in 1829, he argues in favor of shortening it still more: "If
it be said that the indigent students will lose more time by
such an arrangement, we grant it ; but we answer that those
who are not indigent, will lose less time. And it deserves to
be considered, whether the rights of one party are not as
worthy your attention as those of the other." By 1834 the
vacation had been shortened to three weeks. At the same
time the expenses of the student had been increased to $120
or more, besides a matriculation fee of $5. In 1832-33, per-
haps because of public clamor that the college was now too
costly for the poor man's son, two tables were set in com-
mons, one at $1 a week, and one at from $1.50 to $1.61.
The cheaper rate brought the total annual cost of the intel-
lectual life down to $103.50, while the young plutocrats at
the better table paid $122.50 to $128. This system was
retained for several years, in spite of the criticism that it
violated academic democracy. " Most of us took our meals
in Commons Hall, ' ' writes President Angell, ' ' the room now
used as a classroom on the first floor in the middle of the
east side of University Hall. Each class had its own table.
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
If the fare was not very sumptuous, it was not costly, and
the conversation was lively. Occasionally it became so bois-
terous as to stir the amiable steward, Mr. Elliott, known
familiarly to us as ' Pluto, ' to bring down his big bread-knife
with a loud resounding whack on his table, and to shout
with his husky voice, 'Order, order. 'I cannot say that the
usages in Commons Hall were conducive to elegant man-
ners. But the plain meals were spiced with the flavor of ex-
cellent companionship. ' ' Commons were abolished in 1850.
President Wayland has already been described as an ad-
ministrator and teacher ; something should be added about
his personal life at this time and his books and addresses.
His life was one of almost incessant toil. He wrote to his
sister in 1832 : "I am, my dear A., a perfect dray-horse. I
am in harness from morning to night, and from one year to
another. I am never turned out for recreation. ' ' He did, how-
ever, take daily exercise. ' ' For many years, ' ' write his biog-
raphers, "this was his sole relief from study. Indeed, his
only idea of relaxation was exercise in the open air. ... If
the weather was unfavorable for gardening, he resorted to
sawing and splitting wood." He not only worked his brain
many hours daily, but he held doggedly to the task set for
each hour and concentrated all his energy upon it. By this
rigorous method he did a large amount of work. In addi-
tion to performing the regular duties of a college president
and professor, he brought out The Elements of Moral Sci-
ence in 1835, The Elements of Political Economy in 1837,
The Limitations of Human Responsibility in 1838, Thoughts
on the Present Collegiate System in the United States in 1842,
and Domestic Slavery, a series of letters between himself and
a Southern clergyman, in 1845. He was also called upon
for many sermons and addresses, most of which he pre-
pared for publication. Among these may be mentioned an
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HISTORY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
address before the American Institute of Instruction in 1830;
a discourse o 
