X'f )7loH-n7Q 029 919 127 8 HoUinger Corp. pH8.5 The Early Years of Brown University 1 764-1770 William Williams Keen, M.D., LL.D. The Early Years of Brown University 1764-1770^ By William Williams Keen, M.D., LL.D. of Philadelphia (Class of 1859) INFANCY always appeals to us. The confiding help- lessness of a young life arouses our chivalry. The many and constant perils besetting especially its early years excite our sympathy. The splendid possibilities enwrapped in it kindle our imagination. If we live long enough to see its weakness change to strength ; its abili- ties develop ; its character unfold, and its influence grow so that it becomes a power in the land, well may we rejoice over the strong man that he is, and review with absorbing interest the early days of the child that he was. This is my pleasant task to-day — to recount the history of the first six years in the life of Brown Uni- versity. It is peculiarly congenial to me, for in 1 762 the " first mover " in the enterprise, as he rightly calls himself, was Morgan Edwards, the pastor of my own church, * Address delivered in the Baptist Church at Warren, October 13, 1914. Rhode Island College was incorporated in 1764, and located at Warren. The Baptist Church in Warren, of which James Manning, the first President of the college, was also minister, was founded at the same time. The college was re- moved to Providence in 1770. In 1804 the name was changed to Brown Uni- versity. In my references I have often quoted Mr. Guild's volumes because they are widely accessible, instead of the University archives, which can only be consulted in Providence. Mr. Guild's Brmvn Uni-uersity and Manning must not be con- founded with his Manning and Brmvn Uni-uersity. When I was preparing this address Professor Bronson's History of Brmvn Uni- ■versity had not been published. By his kindness I saw and profited greatly by the manuscript of the early part relating to the history of the University while in Warren. Since the celebration I have had the great pleasure of reading the entire book since published, and have added a few footnotes referring to his text. C 1 ] The Early Years of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia. The first stu- dent of the University, William Rogers, became pas- tor of my own church, and married my grandpar- ents in 1 788. In 1 790 Thomas Ustick, of the third class (1771), while our pastor, baptized my grandfather. Henry Holcombe, of the class of 1800 (hon.), while pastor of our church, married my parents in 1823. Wil- liam T. Brantly, of the class of 1831 (hon.), another pastor of our church, baptized my parents in that same year. George Dana Boardman,of the class of 1852, and George Hooper Ferris, of the class of 1891 , have been my pastors and warm personal friends. In Brown University I obtained my own education and inspiration, for which I owe a debt of gratitude that I can never repay. Up College Hill fifty-five years ago proudly marched my classmates and I singing our "Song of Degrees." Forty-one years ago I was hon- ored by an election to the Corporation of the University. Since then I have taken part in the election of one hun- dred members of the Corporation, including all (forty- six ) of the present members of the Corporation, except- ing myself and one other, and fifty-four others who have all passed away save one, who resigned. I have known all its presidents save the first three. Is it any wonder that I feel so deeply an hereditary and personal interest in this ancient University .f* In view of the fact that Professor Bron son's new His- tory of the University deals at length with the Charter, the removal to Providence, and other questions which aroused much controversy in their day, and as our dis- tinguished alumnus, Mr. Justice Hughes, is to give the principal Historical Address, I shall only make allusions to these other well-known historical events. My chief C ^ ] Bj transfer Brown University endeavor will be to set forth the local conditions, man- ners, and customs existing in Warren and Providence from the beginning of the University, including 1770, the date of the second commencement. I include this second commencement, although it was held in Provi- dence, because practically all the work of that class was done in Warren. I must disarm criticism, and especially from a War- ren audience, by disclaiming in advance any desire to expose and emphasize the faults and foibles of our pre- decessors. But conditions one hundred and fifty years ago were very different from those of to-day, and they are a necessary frame for the picture. I have drawn a similar picture in the Bicentenary History of my own Philadelphia church ^ without offense, and I feel sure that here, too, I shall find the same friendly forbear- ance. The failings which I mention were the faults of the times. The individuals were only a few examples out of many. I have ventured to introduce an occasional touch of humor to lighten what would otherwise be a dull recital of mere historical facts. The nascent years of the University were filled with the increasing mutterings of political discontent which soon found expression in the Revolutionary War, and each recurring semi-centenary, strange to say, has been similarly marked by war. Our first, in 1814, occurred before the end of the War of 1812; in 1864, our full century arrived during the bloody crisis of the Civil War. In both these emergencies Brown loyally bore its part. In 1 914, at our third half-century, peace in Mexico ' Vide, e.g., Letters of John Gano and Others, pp. 34, 58, 62, 66 ; Manners and Customs, pp. 149, 180, in the Bicentennial Celebration of the Founding of the First Bafitist Church of Philadelphia, 1898, edited by W. W. Keen. C 3 ] The Early Years of is still trembling in the balance, and war has " raised its horrid front" in Europe in more terrible form than ever before in history. Thank God that the healing wounds of my own guild are for the saving of human hves and not for their destruction. Chronologically Brown ranks the seventh of the nine colleges established prior to the Revolution, viz. : 1. Harvard University 1636 Congregational 2. College of William and Mary 1692 Episcopalian 3. Yale University 4. University of Pennsylvania 5. Princeton University 6. Columbia University 7. Brovi^n University 8. Rutgers College 9. Dartmouth College Morgan Edwards, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, the '* first mover" in the matter, was born in Wales in 1722. He was "bred a Churchman," but became a Baptist in 1 738. He reached Philadelphia May 23, 1 761 .^ He was one of those men whose arrival anywhere meant that the "wheels began to go round," and things began to be done. In our own church he started the "Minute Book" in his copperplate hand- writing, and also our " Marriage Book," which contains a complete record of all the marriages by our ministers for one hundred and fifty-three years.^ He was very influential in the Philadelphia Baptist Association and other church activities. When moderator of the Associa- 1701 Congregational 1740 Episcopalian 1746 Presbyterian 1754 Episcopalian 1764 Chiefly Baptist 1766 Dutch Reformed 1769^ Episcopalian ' The Seal of Dartmouth is dated 1770. ^ Fide his Autobiography, in his Materials for a History of the Bafitists in Penn- sylvania, 1770, vol. i, pp. 47-49. ^ For these and other details, see my Bicentenary History of the First Baptist Church. C 4 ] Brown University tion he was not only the first to propose, in 1762, the founding of a college, but later was active in obtaining the charter; procured more funds for the college when it sorely needed them than any one else; served on the original Board of Fellows for twenty-five years; and preached at the first commencement ( 1769). He published " Materials towards a History of the Ameri- can Baptists/'^four volumes of a series of twelve, which he projected but never completed. Most fitting is it, therefore, that our Philadelphia alumni will honor his name by establishing the " Mor- gan Edwards Fellowship" by a gift of over 1 10,000 on this the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the University which owes its birth to him. Like all the early American colleges. Brown arose especially from the need and the desire for an educated ministry. In England, out of two hundred Baptist min- isters only thirty or forty could read the Greek Tes- tament, and only seven or eight in America were lib- erally educated.^ Among those were Morgan Edwards and James Manning. The mass of the Baptists were in- different or hostile to ministerial education. "The Bap- tists of the Philadelphia Association had long since taken the lead in all that pertained to the elevation of the character and dignity of the denomination, and their in- fluence had been profoundly felt in New England and the South. "^ As earlyasi722 Rev. Abel Morgan, in that Association, was the leader in a movement for an acad- ' Vol. i, Philadelphia, 1770; vol. ii, Philadelphia, 1792; vol. iii, "Delaware," in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biografihy, vol. ix, pp. 45 and 197, reprinted also by Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, 1885 ; vol. iv, " Rhode Island," in the Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, vol. vi. Sears, Centennial Discourse, 1864, p. 8. ' Newman, History of Ba/itist Churches in the United States, p. 380. c 5 : The Early Years of emy — a proposal that failed owing to Morgan's death. In 1756 the Association founded the academy at Hope- well, New Jersey. James Manning, Hezekiah Smith, Samuel Stillm an, Samuel Jones, and John Gano, all so actively identified with the founding of Brown ; David Howell, the second professor at Brown ; and Charles Thompson and William Williams, of the first graduat- ing class, were all educated at Hopewell Academy. In 1762 there were but sixty Baptist churches and only five thousand members in all the colonies. In 1 770, in Rhode Island, the books used in the schools were the Bible, the spelling book, and the primer. "When one had learned to read, write, and do a sum in the rule of three he was fit for business.''^ So vague and naive was the knowledge of geography that Rhode Island was once described as located "in the West Indies in America."^ The minister especially needed to be edu- cated, for he was by far the foremost man in the com- munity ; the doctor and the lawyer, his near neighbors, yielding him the pas.^ The meticulous exactness of theological 6^//^ which was then deemed a test of orthodoxy is shown, for ex- ample, in a circular letter preserved among the archives of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, which be- gins thus: " The Church of Christ meeting in Upperfreehold, in the County of Monmouth, New Jersey. Holding Eter- nal Election, perticular Redemption, Irresistable grace ^ Reminiscences of Samuel Thurber, in Staples's Annals of Providence, pp. 600- 607. ° Tolman, " History of Higher Education in Rhode Island," in United States Bu- reau of Education, Circular JVo. 1, 1893, p. 24. ' For a graphic account of the minister, see McMaster, History of the People of the United States, vol. i, pp. 31 et seqq. C 6 ] Brown University in Effectual Calling, and final perseverance in grace, ( also the Baptism of professing Believers only, by Im- mersion only,)" etc. It is curious that ''the baptism of professing be- lievers only" and the method "by immersion only" seem, by their parenthetical position, to be quite sub- ordinate to the other theological dogmas announced in this paragraph.^ On the other hand, orthodox conduct was less common. Tustin ^ notes the painful fact that in the first eighty years of the life of the Warren church ten per cent of the whole membership had been per- manently excluded. In the History of my own church ( 1698-1898 ) I also noted the large number of exclu- sions of both men and women for drunkenness, pro- fanity , and immorality . In Warren, in 1 769, to curb pro- fanity and other evil practices, the town ordered two pil- lories, one of which at least was set up on the sidewalk, so that no one could miss seeing it and its occupant.^ Conditions were very primitive. In 1 775 there were only thirty-seven newspapers in the whole country: fourteen in New England, four in New York, nine in Pennsylvania, leaving only ten for all the other colo- nies.* Women still rode on pillions. Letters were often sent by hand even after the post-office passed into Franklin's charge; they were "to be left at Mr. West- cott's," or " care of John Holmes at the Sign of George Washington," a tavern, for the recipient. It was so well * Keen, Bicentenary History, p. 34. ^ Discourse at the Dedication of the J^ew Church Edifice of the Bafitist Church and Society, Warren, by Josiah P. Tustin, Pastor, Providence, 1845, pp. 140, 141. ' Fessenden, History of Warren, Rhode Island, p. 89, in the Supplement to Tus- tin 's Dscourse. * McMaster, o/i. cit., vol. i, p. 27. C 7 : The Early Years of known that the post-riders read the letters that, for a long time after the Revolution, letters were often writ- ten in cipher.^ When Morgan Edwards first proposed a college he was laughed at as a visionary, but after the college was actually started, the Philadelphia Association, in 1764, 1774, and 1782 ^ warmly recommended it to the sup- port of the Baptist churches. They appealed not only to Baptists, but " to all the friends of literature in every denomination." Moreover, the Association aided early Philadelphia students. In 1 767 a Mrs. Hobbs left a legacy of £350 to the Association, and immediately the Association directed that ^14 should be paid toward the educa- tion of Charles Thompson, of the class of 1 769, the sec- ond pastor of the Warren church. Usually ( 1 767, 1 769, 1771, 1773) the grant was made on condition that the beneficiary give what seems now a frank, but un- usual, bond *'to return the money in case the Asso- ciation should be disappointed in him!" In 1769 the sum of ^14 was voted for Thomas Ustick, of the class of 1771. The next year application was made by both Ustick and Vanhorn, but Vanhorn was preferred. After carefully weighing the desirability of various colonies, especially South Carolina and Rhode Island, as a location for the proposed college, the latter was se- lected on account of the absolute liberty of conscience which obtained there, and of the large proportion of Baptists in the colony and in its government. The charter was not obtained " in February, 1 764," as is often stated. The General Assembly, it is true, met McMaster, o/i. cit., vol. i, p. 40. ^ Gillette, Minutes of the Philadelfihia Bafitist Association, pp. 91, 135, andlSl. C 8 ] Brown University by adjournment in East Greenwich upon **the last Monday of February, 1 764," but the charter passed the lower house on March 2, the upper house on March 3, 1764, and was ordered to be signed, sealed, and registered. The governor did not actually sign it until October 24, 1765.^ Meantime, however, the Corpora- tion met in Newport on September 5, 1764, and again on September 4, 1765. On this date (before the gov- ernor had actually signed the charter ) the President was elected, and a Faculty, consisting solely of the Presi- dent, was chosen to guide the student body which had already existed for twenty-four hours in the person of William Rogers, a boy fourteen years of age. The President was James Manning, who had graduated at Princeton three years before ( 1 762 ) , and was not yet twenty-seven years of age. The fundamental liberality of the charter, which, though written in the middle of the eighteenth century, breathes the spirit of the twentieth, is shown in a num- ber of its provisions: ( 1 ) The inclusion of four denomi- nations, instead of making the Corporation consist only of Baptists. The prescribing of the exact number allotted to each denomination was evidently intended not only to prevent the non-Baptists from ousting the Baptists, but also to prevent any effort of the Baptists to oust the non-Baptists, either of which might easily have been feared in that age of bitter sectarianism. ( 2 ) By what is quite as striking, the opening of the positions of all grades of teachers, with the sole exception of the Presi- dent, to all denominations, and the absolute and total exclusion of any religious test. (3) By what, as Pro- fessor Bronson has pointed out, is an especially marked ' Charter of Brmvn University, with Index, p. 12. C 9 ] The Early Years of peculiarity of Brown, the exclusion from the courses of public instruction of all teaching of "sectarian dif- ferences of opinion," and that "youth of all religious denominations" shall be on an equal footing in every respect.^ ^ This fundamental difference in the studies at Brown and at Yale (an excellent type of the early colleges) is well shown by the following extracts from Dexter's Yale Biografihies and Annals, the I'eference to which was kindly furnished me by Dr. Anson Phelps Stokes. (See also his just -pvihWsh^tA. Memorials of Eminent Yale Men.) The study of Divinity, of Hebrew, the "repeating of sermons" (let us hope that ' ' repeating ' ' indicates that the sermons were not their own) , the recit- ing of Wolebius's and Ames's Theology and the shorter catechism, etc., show that the teaching of ' ' sectarian differences of opinion, ' ' which was absolutely ban- ished from the class-rooms at Brown, was then required at Yale — a condition long since abolished. The stress laid upon Hebrew, as well as Latin and Greek, may explain the fact that President Stiles at Yale once delivered an oration in Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Arabic (Sears, loc. cit., p. 27) . Undoubtedly it was a rather start- ling exhibition of learning. Whether it profited the audience Dr. Sears does not venture to state. The following is the course of study at Yale in 1 71 4, as given by Benjamin Lord : ' ' Books of the Languages and Sciences recited in my Day were TuUy and VirgU, but without any notes: Burgersdicius and Ramus's Logick, also Heere- bord's set Logic, &c. ; Pierson's manuscript of Physicks, &c., I have no copy of. We recited the Greek Testament ; knew not Homer, &c. ; recited the Psalms in Hebrew : . . . We recited Ames' Medulla on Saturdays, and also his cases of Conscience sometimes ; the two upper classes used to dispute syllogistically twice or thrice a week. ... As for the Mathematicks, we recited and studied but little more than the rudiments of it, some of y*^ plainest things in it." [This included surveying.] Dexter, Yale Biographies and Annals, vol. i, pp. 115, 116. The course of study as copied from the [Yale] College Rules by a Freshman in November, 1726, is as follows: "All undergraduates except freshmen, who shall Read english into Greek, shall Read some part of y*^ old testament out of Hebrew into Greek In y* morn- ing, and shall turn some part of y*^ new testament out of y^ english or lattin into y^ Greek att evening att y*^ time of Recitation before tiiey begin to Recite y* original tongues. ' ' All undergraduates shall publickly Repeat sermons in y'= hall in tlieir Course, and also batchellors, and be Constantly examined on sabbaths at evening prayer. ' ' All students shall after they have Done resciting Rhetorick and ethicks on fridays recite Wolebius' theology and on Saturday morning they shall Rescite Ames theologie thesis in his Medulla, and on Saturday evening y*= Assemblies shorter Chatechism in Lattin and on Sabbath Day attend y*^ explication of Ames's Cases of Conscience. "In y^ first year after admission on y*^ four first days of y*^ week aU students shall be exercised in y*^ Greek and Hebrew tongues, onely b^inning logick in y'^ morning att y'' latter end of y*^ year unless their tutors see cause by Reason of their Ripeness in y^ tongues to Read logick to them sooner ; they shall spend y^ second year in logick with y*^ exercise of themselves in y*^ tongues ; y^ third Brown University Specific instances showing how Brown lived up to these fine promises are most instructive. September 6, 1 770, the Corporation voted " that the children of Jews may be admitted into this Institution and entirely enjoy the freedom of their religion without any constraint or imposition whatever." In 1774 the Seventh Day Bap- tists were exempted from the law requiring attendance at church on Sunday. The Quakers were also exempted from the law which prohibited the students from wear- ing their hats within the college walls. ^ In 1769 the Faculty was enlarged by the addition of David Howell (already for three years a tutor) as "Professor of Natural Philosophy." He taught until year principally in phisicks : and y^ fourth year in metaphisicks and mathemat- icks still Carrying on y" former studies : but in all Classes y" last Days of y* week are allowed perpetually for Rhetorick, oratory and Divinity and in teach- ing of both tongues, and Arts, and such authors are to be used as shall be ap- proved of by y*^ Rector and tutors. . . . "No scholar shall use y'^ enghsh tongue in y'' CoUedge with his fellow schol- ars unless he be called to publick exercise proper to be attended in y^ English tongue but schoUars in their Chambers and when they are togetlier shall talk Lattin." Dexter, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 348. [The 36th law of Rhode Island College in 1774 reads : " In the hours of study [i.e. nearly all day] no one shall speak to another in the College or the College yard except in Latin." Guild, Brown University and Manning, p. 270.] Entrance Examinations and Course of Study at Yale in 1745 : " In the first Year They Shall principally Study the Tongues & Logic, and Shall in Some measure pursue the Study of the Tongues the Two next Years. In the Second Year They Shall Recite Rhetoric, Geometry and Geography. In the Third Year Natural Philosophy, Astronomy and Other Parts of the Mathematicks. In the Fourth Year Metaphysics and Etliics, but every Saturday shall Espe- cially be aUoted to the Study of Divinity, and the Classes Shall dureing the whole Term recite the Westminster Confession of Faith . . . and on Friday Each Undergraduate in his Order about Six at a Time Shall Declaim in the Hall in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew." Dexter, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 5. At the College of William and Mary the ecclesiastical influence was still more marked. The President was a salaried "Commissary of the Bishop of London," and most of the early professors were "incumbents of neighboring churches." One decree even so late as 1769 was almost monastic. "The privi- leges of a wife and family were accorded to the President alone. . . . Filtering into marriage . . . ipso facto vacated the office of any Professor." Address of President Lyon G. Tyler, December 5, 1 904, before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at William and Mary College. ' Guild, Brown University and Manning, pp. 265-267. c 11 n The Early Years of the war closed the college.^ The third member of the Faculty was Joseph Brown, Howell's successor, who resumed the teaching of Natural Philosophy in 1 784, shortly after the war ended. The fourth was the cele- brated Benjamin Waterhouse, M.D., who taught Nat- ural History from 1781 to 1791. Waterhouse was a Newport boy, a nephew of Dr. John Fothergill, of London, who, as will soon be seen, was an early benefactor of the college through Mor- gan Edwards. Waterhouse was perhaps the most highly educated physician of his day in this country. With John Warren and Aaron Dexter he founded the Har- vard Medical School in 1 782-83,^ and was noted as the first to introduce vaccination into America. He served on the Board of Fellows of Brown for thirteen years (1782-95).^ This insistence on Science was in accordance with the charter, which decreed that " the public teaching shall in general respect the sciences. "The scientific sub- jects actually taught are not exactly known, but proba- bly they differed somewhat, by subtraction, from those ^ Professor Goddard in hi^ Memoir of President Manning (p. 6) says of Howell : "Except however as a tutor we have never heard that he participated in the ordinary duties of academical instruction." That Howell never delivered any lectures on law during the thirty- four years he held that professorship (1790- 1824) is generally admitted, but in his letter of resignation, dated March 11, 1779 (Guild, Brown University and Manning, p. oil), he says: "Although experimental philosophy was the direct object of my profession, yet "other branches of learning were devolved upon me." Guild (p. 68) says that these "other Branches" were French, German, and Hebrew. Moreover, in his letter of resignation, he declares that he is unwilling to receive " the emoluments of office without discharging its duties, "and the records of the Corporation show (pp. 57, 60, 62, 66) that he received a salary when tutor of from £.25 to £,72, which was increased to £90, and later (l 774) to£lOO (all lawful money) , during his professorship. ' See Oliver Wendell Holmes's delightful Address at the Centenary of the Har- vard Medical School. ' In the John Carter Brown Library is an undated broadside of a syllabus of his lectures at Brown and Harvard. C 12 3 Brown University taught in 1783 (when '* science" included geography, arithmetic, algebra, Euclid, trigonometry, surveying, navigation, and astronomy ), and by addition also, under Waterhouse at least. At that time the college spent about =£700 "lawful money "on the philosophical appa- ratus and the library, one-half of which was given by John Brown.^ Even with this addition, however, the phi- losophical and astronomical apparatus could hardly have been compared with the fine collections at Har- vard ( destroyed by fire in 1 764 ), Yale, and especially at William and Mary.^ The first meeting of the Corporation was held on Wednesday, September 5, 1764, in Newport. Of the forty-seven members of the Corporation named in the charter (one place was purposely left vacant for the future President), only twenty-eight had qualified.^ Of the twenty-eight, twenty-four were present ; certainly a very good attendance, especially in view of the then diflficulties of travel. They were a distinguished com- pany,* headed by the Chancellor, Hon. Stephen Hop- kins, chief justice, governor, member of the Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independ- Guild, Brown University and Manning, p. 347. I had collected considerable material towards a comparison of the teaching of science in the nine American colleges founded before the Revolution, but greatly to my regret I am obliged to omit it on account of the great length of time and space required for even a partially adequate treatment of tlie subject. Those inter- ested will find in the histories of the individual colleges a great deal of informa- tion. To these I would add the valuable series of Circulars of Information on Higher Education, issued by the United States Bureau of Education under the editorship of Herbert B. Adams. ELach State is considered by itself, and each col- lege individually. Also, much information is included in Cahori's Teaching and History of Mathematics in the United States, and other similar publications of the Bureau of Education. Three qualified the next year, and to three of those who never qualified, hon- orary degrees were generously given in later years. * Cf. Newman, loc. cit., p. 263. C 13 -\ The Early Years of ence. One-fourth were university men: from Harvard four, from Yale two, from Princeton one. The most urgent need was money to meet immediate expenses. Accordingly sixty-nine gentlemen were ap- pointed to receive subscriptions, not only in the New England colonies, but " in the Western part of this Con- tinent." It is curious at this day to find that the "wild and woolly West'' of 1764 included Baltimore, Phila- delphia, and New York. Twenty-three other places were specified by name. With prophetic vision. Oyster Bay was one. Rev. Hezekiah Smith, of Haverhill, collected in 1 769 about $2500 in the southern colonies, but the largest amount was obtained by Morgan Edwards. On February 2, 1767, I find the following note in the records of our Philadelphia church: *' Mr. Edwards applied to the Church for leave to go to Europe to exe- cute a commission he hath received from the College in Rhode Island; he also informed the Church that he had wrote to twelve ministers to supply his place in his absence, ten of whom had agreed to his proposal; each to officiate a month in his turn, and to be allowed each five pounds a month out of Mr. Edwards's salary. The Church granted Mr. Edwards leave to go to Europe and wish him all success." He carried with him a let- ter, undated, but evidently written early in 1767, signed by the President and the Chancellor. The signature of Stephen Hopkins at this date was quite firm. Two years later the lines began to waver, and in 1 776, nine years before his death, his well-known signature of the Decla- ration was extremely tremulous. Edwards, as was his wont, lost no time. '^Detto, Jatto" was his motto. Two weeks after this vote he c 14 ] Brown University sailed, and in less than two years had collected =^888 10.V. ^d. sterling. As he says, he *' succeeded pretty well considering how angry the Mother country then was with the Colonies for opposing the Stamp Act." The manuscript list of the subscribers is in our ar- chives. The largest subscribers were the First and Sec- ond Presbyterian Churches in Belfast {£is 9s. od. and £\^ 15s. 4e the monetary conditions as follows : "The Spanish milled dollar prior to 1640 was rated at four shillings and six pence sterling. Later different colonies rated it variously from six shillings to eight shillings, so that while in New ELngland the 'pound' was worth $3.33, in some of the other colonies it was Avorth as little as $2.50. In 1704 Queen Anne issued a proclamation fixing the value of the Spanish milled dollar at six shillings. This was 'Proclamation Money' or 'Lawful Money.' Between 1710 and 1740 Rhode Island issued paper money to be received and paid as of tlie same value as current coin. This was ' Old tenor' money. In 1740 ' New tenor' bills were issued at six shillings and six pence, and were made equivalent to twenty-seven shillings in ' Old tenor.' " : 25 : The Early Years of should not be debarred "from being recompensed in a more ample manner whenever it should be in the power of the Corporation to do the same/' Fortunately the church and the Latin school eked out his living ex- penses. In 1772, in a letter to Rev. John Ryland, Man- ning states that his salary was ^67 13s. ^d. sterling, or about I338. So scrupulous was he that he had always in- cluded as a part of this meager salary the five guineas sent to him annually by Ryland from England.^ The first mention of any library was at the meeting of the Corporation in 1 768, when the President was re- quested to write to Morgan Edwards, then in London, to bring " such books as he shall think necessary at this time, not exceeding ^20 value.'' ^ Several of the sub- scribers secured by Edwards gave some books. The University still has the pine table of WiUiam Williams, the drawers of which held the entire library while the college was in Warren. In 1 769 the first commencement was held in War- ren. On August 10, 1769, doubtless in preparation for this notable event, a subscription list, headed by Manning with twelve shillings, was circulated for re- painting the meeting-house " both outside and inside," "provided the business be immediately prosecuted." On the day before this commencement the Corpora- tion voted "That the Meeting House in Warren be fitted up at the charge of the Corporation in the best manner the shortness of time will permit." It was a great day. "Tradition says that a Company of Baptist preachers from Georgia rode over a month ' Guild, Brown University and Manning, p. 192. ^ Seal's, be. cit., p. 94. 1 26 : Brown University on horseback to be there !"^ Apparently the governor did not attend this, the only commencement held in Warren. John Ho wland Ogives a very vivid account of the state- hness of the first five commencements in Providence: "The Commencements in Providence for the first five years were held in Mr. Snow's meeting house, that be- ing then the largest in town. Governor Wanton always attended from Newport. . . . Escorted by the Company of Cadets in showy uniforms, he headed the procession with the President. The Governor's wig, which had been made in England, was of the size and pattern 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 disturbing the curls. He therefore placed it under his left arm, and held his umbrella in his right hand. This was the first umbrella ever seen carried by a gentleman in Providence, though they had been some time in use by Ladies on a sunny day. Gov- ernor Wanton was the most dignified and respectable looking man we had ever seen. The white wig of Presi- ident Manning was of the largest dimensions usually worn in this country." For sixty years to my own knowledge the sheriff' of the county of Providence, with his cockade, his broad blue sash, and his sword of state, without any deputies, has been amply sufficient to preserve " civil peace, good order and decorum at Commencement."^ Bronson, History of Brcnvn UnwersHy, p. 40. ° Life and Recollections of John Hmvland, class of 1 835 (hon. ) , who died in 1 854, aet. 97, by E. M. Stone, Providence, 1857, p. 159, quoted by Guild, Brcnvri Uni- versity and Manning, p. 143. ^ I inquired of Mr. Stephen O. Edwards as to whether die attendance of tlie sheriflF was directed by statute or only resulted from custom. His reply is as follows : C 27 ] The Early Years of The first commencement foreshadowed 1775, only six years away, for " not only the Candidates but even the President was dressed in American manufactures/' There were both a morning and an afternoon session, and all the seven in the graduating class pronounced orations. Such was the avidity for oratory that Mor- gan Edwards also preached them a sermon in the even- ing. Two of the class debated the question whether the Americans could "affect to become an independent State." In this " Disputatio forensica " Varnum was a warm advocate of American freedom. " Doubtless," he says, " we should long since have obtained redress had we not been tormented by Worms in our own Bowels," z.^. ," Tory s ." ^ Though warmly in favor of our independ- ence, his conclusion was that Great Britain could over- " I find in the laws of 1798 the following provision: ' And be it further enacted that it shall be the duty of the Sheriff of the County of Providence to attend the celebration of the Commencement of the University or College in this state annually, and to preserve the civil peace, good order and decorum, during the same.' "In the laws of 1882 this provision reads as follows : ' It shall be the duty of the Sheriff of the County of Providence, with so many of his deputies as may be necessary (at least four) , to attend the celebration of the annual commencement of Brown University in this State and to preserve peace and good order and decorum during the same.' "The provision stands as foUows in our present laws: 'The sheriff of the county of Providence, with as many of his deputies as he may deem necessary, shall attend the celebration of the annual commencement of Brown University and shall preserve peace and good order and decorum during the same.' " Since my text and Mr. Edwards's letter were written I have had the pleasure of reading Professor Bronson's History of Brown University. On pages 87 and 139- 142 will be found interesting details of the disorders at commencement between 1788 and 1798, owing chiefly to the booths, etc., set up on the grounds of the Baptist Meeting-House for the sale of intoxicants, etc. The votes of the Corpo- i-ation found expression in the laws above cited. Guild, Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, vol. vii, pp. 267-298. We hardly appreciate how many ' ' Tories ' ' there were. On page 280 Guild states that over 1100 Loyalists, or, as they were commonly called, " Torys," left Bos- ton with the British army ; and in 1783, when the British army left New York, over 30,000 accompanied them. On the other hand, of the 3200 biographies of Baptists in Cathcart's Ba/itist Encyclofiaedia, all save one were patriots, and this one recanted at a later date (Guild, Brown Uni~uersity and Manning, p. 16). c 28 : Brown University whelm us, and that the attempt to form an independent state would end in disaster. William Williams, however, believed that we could successfully resist Great Britain, and ended his speech with the words, in capital letters, "AMERICA SHALL BE FREE."^ The Salutatory and the " Syllogistic Disputation" were in Latin. (In 1776 one oration was in Hebrew. ) Charles Thompson, the vale- dictorian, "took a most affectionate leave of his class- mates," and the reporter adds," the Scene was tender, the Subject felt and the Audience affected." Of these first seven graduates, one died in 1 775. Four entered the patriot army. Richard Stites was a captain and died of wounds in 1 776. James M. Varnum became distinguished as a major-general in the army, and later at the bar and as a member of Congress. He was able to converse in Latin with Blanchard,the quartermaster- general of the French forces in Providence. Charles Thompson was Manning's successor in the Warren church. In 1 778, while on leave from the army, he was captured by the British in their raid upon Warren and held a prisoner for some weeks. William Rogers had a noteworthy career. He was pastor of my own church 1772-75, chaplain and later brigade chaplain in the army 1776-81, professor of oratory and belles-lettres in the University of Penn- sylvania for twenty-two years, and a laureate of the University of Pennsylvania, of Yale, and of Prince- ton. In this same History (page 58 ) I note that among his publications is "The Prayer delivered on Saturday the 22nd of February, 1800, in the German Reformed Quoted by Guild, Brown University and Manning, pp. 83-85. See also a most interesting account, with a reproduction of the broadside of 1769, by Winship, Brmvn Alumni Monthly, May, 1913. [ 29 ] The Early Years of Church, Philadelphia, before the Pennsylvania Soci- ety of the Cincinnate, published by particular request, 8vo. pp. 12/' I must confess that the patience of the " Cincinnate" may well have been exhausted by twelve pages of prayer. One probably unique incident in his life is thus re- corded.^ It is an extract from the records of King's Church (now St. John's), Providence, and relates to Sunday, June 19, 1782: "At the request of the war- dens, the Rev. Mr. William Rogers, a Baptist clergy- man, preached in the Church this and the following Sunday, and on the 30th of the same month he again preached, and the wardens were requested to wait upon and thank him for this day's service, and present him with the contribution, and ask him to officiate in Church next Sunday in his way, provided he cannot conform to our liturgy, but if he will conform, the congregation invite him further to serve them." The italics are in the original. Of the other two members of this first class, one was a fellow of the University for twenty-nine years, a teacher, and a pastor. The seventh died about 1785. But if the graduating class was small, the number of honorary degrees — twenty-two — was large , over three times the number of degrees in course. Of these, seven are curiously stated to have received their degree " at their own request." They were all college men, three from Harvard, two from Princeton, and one each from Yale and the University of Pennsylvania. Fourteen were " well recommended by the Faculty for literary merit;" four of these were college men. One of the ' Updike, History of the Efiiscofial Church in JVarragansett, Rhode Island, etc., 1st ed., 1847, 2d ed., 1907, vol. ii, pp. 188, 189. C 30 ] Brown University twenty-two, Henry Ward, was accidentally omitted from both lists by the reporter. Six of the twenty-two were clergymen in Great Britain. Among the Ameri- cans were David Howell, the second member of the Faculty, Joseph Wanton, the deputy governor, and four clergymen, staunch early friends of the college, Morgan Edwards, Samuel Jones, Hezekiah Smith, and Samuel Stillman. Master of Arts was the only honorary degree con- ferred until 1 784, when Stephen Hopkins was given an LL.D. In 1 786 Granville Sharp, the philanthropist and founder of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery, was similarly honored. The next year the same degree was given to Jefferson; in 1790, to Washington; in 1792, to Hamilton; and in 1797, to John Adams. In 1840 Benjamin Franklin — not the original philosopher but an Episcopal clergyman — was graduated with an A.B. In the broadside or programme of the first commence- ment one very significant sentence appears, but in small type: "Nomina alphabetice disposita sunt." In the older colleges a different practice had prevailed. '* In all the Harvard College catalogs previous to 1773," says Sib- ley, *' the graduates . . . are arranged not in alphabeti- cal order, but according to their social position or fam- ily rank.^ Judge Wingate, writing to Librarian Peirce ' See W. C. Lane, The Rebellion of 1766, in Harvard College, p. 41, footnote; Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1906, vol. x. Kingsley, in his History of Yale College, vol. i, pp. 95, 96, says, "In 1768 the names were for the first time arranged in alphabetical order. Before this the names had been arranged according to the rank in society which it was supposed their fathers held; and according to Dr. Woolsey, one of the most severe punishments con- sisted in placing a student on the list, in consequence of some offence, below the rank to which his father's condition would assign him, thus declaring that he had disgraced his family. Dr. Woolsey tells the story of a shoemaker's son who, when questioned as to the quality of his father, replied tliat he was 'upon the bench,' which gave him of course a high place." C 31 ] The Early Years of respecting the excitement which was generally called up when a class in college was * placed,' says 'the schol- ars were often enraged beyond bounds for their disap- pointment, and it was some time before a class could be settled down to an acquiescence in the allotment/ The higher part of the class, those whose names came first in the earlier catalogs, generally had the most in- fluential friends ; and they commonly had the best cham- bers in college assigned them. They also had a right to help themselves first at the table in commons. 'I think,* Judge Wingate concludes, 'that the government of the college, in my day, was a complete aristocracy/"^ A practice similar to this prevailed when families were seated in church. In the list of scholars at Harrow in the eighteenth century, "Mister" always signified the son of a peer.^ Democratic, liberty-loving Rhode Island in this simple and inconspicuous word,"alphabetice," re- echoed the new note for democracy and liberty sounded by Yale a year earlier. But we took this stand at our very first possible opportunity, that is, at the very first commencement. The date of the annual meeting of the Corporation was fixed by the charter on the first Wednesday in September, " at which or at any other time the Public Commencement may be held and celebrated." Com- mencement from the beginning until 1870, eleven years after I graduated, was always held on the first Wednesday in September. This was most inconvenient for the students, and a severe tax on the resources of not a few. The college work ended in June, and to com- ^ Guild, Brown University and Manning pp. 89, 90. ' Bruce, William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, April, 1914, p. 249. C 32 ] Brown University pel men to come back three months later simply to re- ceive their "sheepskins'' was a hardship. Moreover, it was equally inconvenient for the people of Providence, especially as the summer vacations grew longer and longer and people returned to the city later and later. Finally, in 1870, the date of commencement was changed to the third Wednesday in June.^ At the second meeting of the Corporation ( 1 765 ) it was directed that a seal be prepared, but a copperplate for diplomas was not ordered until September, 1773. Possibly this was partly due to the odious Stamp Act, for, said Senator La Fayette S. Foster, speaking at the centennial dinner: "Lord Grenville, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in March, i 764, . . . gave notice in Parliament that he would apply the stamp act to the colonies, and that stamp act imposed a tax even upon college diplomas."^ Meantime the diplomas were evi- dently written, for Manning, in a letter to Rev. John Ryland on November 12, 1772, says that the college had conferred an A.M. on Ryland's son, "but through my hurry and absence from home since Commence- ment I have not got his diploma written."^ * In 1851 commencement was held in July, but after two years' trial was again held in September until 1870, when it was permanently changed to June. (GuUd, Brmun University and Manning, p. 347.) At Harvard the first commencement was held on October 22, 1642, the second in September, 1 643 . During the rest of the seventeenth and most of the eighteenth centuries it was held on the second Saturday in August. For the first half of the nineteenth century the date was the last Wednesday in August. In 1849 it was changed to July, and in 1869 to the fourth Wednesday in June. At Yale the date was the second or third Wednesday in September down to 1831; from 1832 to 1850 in August, usually the third Wednesday orlTiursday; from 1851 to 1872 in July; from 1873 to 1880 on the Thursday after the last W^ednesday in June; from 1880 to 1908 on the last W^ednesday in June. In 1909 the date was fixed on the next to the last Wednesday in June. Centennial Celebration, p. 168. GuUd, Brown University and Manning, p. 191. The Early Years of When the college was moved to Providence, Man- ning reopened his Latin school, which later became the University Grammar School. He was immediately invited to preach for the First Baptist Church and soon after became its pastor. The second commencement ( 1 770 ) was held in Mr. Snow's meeting-house, and notwithstanding the reported "decorum'' that prevailed, the Corporation were obliged to pay for breakages of windows, etc., owing to the throng. "The members of the Grammar School joined in the procession. Before the assembly broke up a piece from Homer was pronounced by Mas- ter Billy Edwards [[son of Morgan Edwards], one of the Grammar School boys not nine years old."^ Poor Billy Edwards ! ^ Four students only were graduated, one of whom, Theodore Foster, attained prominence as a United States senator, judge, and antiquary. But the Fellows kept up the pace set the year before in the matter of honorary degrees. This ratio in 1 769 was three for one, and in 1 770, with four graduates, they gave the honor- ary A.M. to twelve men, of whom seven were English- men. Only one of the twelve ( Benjamin West ) achieved any distinction. In the bill of Nicholas Brown &Co.^ for the expenses incurred in building University Hall and the President's house in 1770, several items are of interest. ^ Guild, Brown University and Manning, pp. 164, 165. "^ Ryland (Guild, Brmvn University and Manning, p. 173) states that his son "rendered his Greek Testament into English all through before he was nine years old and at nineteen is very ready at Hebrew, Latin and French." What cruel drudgery for children ! It may weU have disgusted them with the Bible. ' Guild, Brown University and Manning, pp. 153-155, quotes a number of items from this bill. C 34 ] Brown University At the meeting of the Corporation (held, be it ob- served, at 7 a.m.), at the time of the very successful first commencement in September, 1769, a committee was appointed to buy a site in Bristol county ( in which Warren was situated) and erect a building. This aroused a lively opposition in other counties against Warren as the permanent location. A special meeting of the Corporation was held at Newport, November 14 to 16. Professor Bronson's History gives the details. Suffice it to say that the Corporation rescinded the vote in favor of Warren, and directed that the building committee " do not proceed to procure any other ma- terials . . . excepting such as may easily be transported to any other place," if such place be selected before January 1 , 1 770. It was then explicitly voted " that the College edifice be at Providence," upon the condition that the subscription of Providence be larger than that of Newport or of any other county. Another special meeting for final action was called in Warren for February 7, 1770. The debate on the location was evidently conducted in public, for it was before "a crowded audience." It was also very long and very heated. The discussion lasted from ten o'clock Wednesday morning until ten o'clock Thursday night, when finally Providence won over Newport by twenty- one to fourteen votes. The decision turned upon the amount of the respective subscriptions. Moses Brown ^ confesses that, as at first computed, Newport exceeded the subscriptions of Providence "land and all." The word "land " throws light on certain items in the bill of Nicholas Brown & Co., for on January 1 , 1 770 ( over a month before the final vote in favor of Providence Guild, Brown University and Manning, p. 123. c 35 : The Early Years of was taken ) ,are the following items : ( i ) Three persons (only one of whom, Joseph Brown, was a member of the Corporation ) were sent to Cambridge " to view the Colleges." Their total expenses were £^ 3s. 8^d. ( 2 ) Five shillings and three pence were voted for the hire of horses to go seven miles " to purchase the lot for the College; "and ( 3 ) three shillings and seven pence were paid for a horse and ferriage in going to Rehoboth " to contract for brick. "While the entries are all dated Janu- ary 1 , 1 779, they were clearly for services rendered at various times before that date. Evidently, therefore, the Providence people had faith that the ultimate decision would be in their favor. As an illustration of the habits of the time, some other items also in this bill are of interest. On June 19, 1770, an entry reads one shilling and six pence "for one pail to carry water to drink in." This pail, how- ever, I fear did not suffer from over-use, for from that same date, June 19, to July 18, just twenty-six days ex- cluding Sundays, thirty-six^ items appear for "West India rum," "good rum," "very good rum," or "old rum." When the president's house was "raised" the rum was sweetened with sugar. The laying of each floor of University Hall and the raising of the roof were rewarded by sweetened rum. The well-diggers were especially favored, for twenty-four of the thirty- six items were for them, and when they actually " found the spring" the Chancellor, Stephen Hopkins, himself ordered an extra half gallon. But I have lingered too long over the details of this interesting though brief period of our history. Looking ^ See original bill in the University archives. C 36 ] Brown University back over all these six years of almost disheartening struggle, what lesson should we learn? The honored, yea, revered founders of this Univer- sity were men of heroic mold. Undaunted by the many obstacles blocking their pathway, they fearlessly grap- pled with them all and overcame them all. They builded into meeting-house and parsonage, and Latin school and college, their own rugged character and determination to succeed, and what is more they did succeed. They have been splendidly seconded by their successors. Witness the fair "College sur la Colline," and witness its worthy fruitage in private culture and character, in public service to church and state, to industry and invention, to literature, education, theology, medicine, and law, and to honorable commercial life. The little seed planted by Morgan Edwards, watered and watched over by James Manning, has grown to be a stately tree, whose branches have sheltered every creed, whose fruit has nourished six generations of brave men and women who have helped to build, to preserve, to instruct, and to develop this nation; who have carried the Gospel to the ends of the earth ; who have taught us to live not by bread alone, but by the things of the spirit. These are the things that elevate and ennoble character, and Brown University has ever set on high these real and eternal verities of God. 029 919 Hollinger pHe LIBRARY OF CONGRESS^ 029 919 1271 HoUinger Corp. pH 8.5