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YASSA COLLEGE
AND ITS
FOUNDER
BY BENSON J
NEW YORK
C A ALVORD PRINTER
1867
LOSSI1N-G 
I 
PR EFACE.
T-E correspondence on another page answers all proper
inquiries concerning the origin and meaning of this volume.   It is right  to  say here, that  to the generous
liberality of Mr. Vassar, who gladly co-operated with the
Executive Committee, the Author is indebted for the
means necessary to make this work an example of great
excellence in the wedded arts of Engraving and Printing.
Nearly all of the illustrations were drawn on the wood
by JOHN F. RUNGE-a greater number of them from his
original sketches  made for the work.   The Engravings,
excepting the  portrait  of  the Founder, from the burin
of J. C. BUTTRE, are  by  LOSSING &  BARRITT, and  the
printing by  C. A. ALVORD.
The Author here records his grateful acknowledgments
to  the  Founder,  the  Officers  and  Trustees,  and  the 
PREFACE.
Faculty and Teachers of Vassar College, for their  kind
and cheerful  assistance in furnishing  information for his
use in the preparation of this Memoir.
POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y.
June, 1867.
iv 
CORRESPOSNDENCE.
VAsSAR COTLEGE,
POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y., Jarch 15, 1867.
Mr. BENSON J. LossING:
DEAK  SiR:-At  a recent meeting of the  Executive Committee of this
College, the consideration of the propriety and importance of collecting and
embodying the main facts in the life of Mr. Matthew Vassar, especially  as
connected with the foundation and establishment of this College,  led to the
unanimous adoption of the following preamble and resolution, which I have
great pleasure in officially communicating to you:
" tWhereas, It is desirable that the College should possess, as a matter of
public interest, and as a record to be perpetually preserved, a Memoir of its
Founder, Matthew Vassar, and a succinct history of the inception and final
establishment of this College;
"And whereas, Benson  J. Lossing is one of  its trustees,  and eminently
qualified for such a labor; therefore,
" Pesolved, That Mr. Lossing be requested to prepare, in such form and
style  as  his  judgment, experience,  and  taste,  and  the greatness  of the
enterprise may suggest, a History of the College, and of its Founder; and
that the Founder,  and all officers of the College,  be requested to place  at
his disposal all facts and documents he may desire." 
CORRESP()NDENCE.
It is earnestly hoped you may be able to take the work  in hand  at
once, and while Mr. Vassar's powers of mind and body remain so remarkably
unimpaired.
Very respectfully and truly yonrs,
(1. SWAN,,ieretary.J
POTUCIKEPSIE,  N.  Y., i(treh 16, 1 S867.
DEAR STn':
Yonr note  conveving  thle resolution of the  Executive  Cominittee of tlhe
Board of Trustees of Vassar Co]llege  inviting mie to )prepare a Memoir of its
Founder, and abrief history of its inception and final establishmnent, is received.
I  accept  the  invitation  with  satisfaction,  and  with  thl-anks  for  tile
expression of confidence of the Execitive Committee.
I will endeavor to  have  the task  completed  before  the close of the
current collegiate year.
I am, very respectfully,
Your friend and coworker,
BENSON J. LoSSING.
MR. C. SWAN,
Secret(ary?f tle Board oqf Trustees of Va;tssar College.
vi 
? l.       y 1I 1
y~~~~~ ____- -,_               ~'
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1. POPTPRAIT OF MATTHEW VASS.it.
2. MONOGPAM    -..
3. ILLUSTPATIONS.. 
4. BIPTHPLACE
5. INITIAL LETTEPR-MINERVA
6.VASSAR COLLEGE.....
7. FIPST JIESIDENCE IN POUGHKEEPSIE
8. THE WAPPENGI'S CREEK
9. STONE LINTEL.
10. SOFA.......
11. VAN KLEECK IIOUS.....
12. ANN VASSAR.~~
13. JAMES VASSAR..............
14. TIIOMAS VASSAE.
15. TIE COUJIT-HOUSE
16. BPEWERY ON VASSAL STREET.......
17. BPEWERY ON THE PIVEL..........
18. GUY'S HOSPITAL....
19. ME. VASSAP'S RESIDEN(CE......
20. SPEINGSIDE IN 151........
21. MAP AND VIEW IN SPRINGSID]....
22. ENTRANCE TO SPRINGSIDE.........
23. THE COTTAGE................                        
24. COTTAGE AVENUE GATE.........
25.-VIEW FROM POPLAP SUMMIT DP.IVE~3
26. THE CONSERVATOERY AND GAlDENEE'S COTTAGE.
27. THE PAGODA........
28. WILLOW SPRING............
29. JET VALE FOUNTAIN.........
o ~        1
...                 *.      
.                                      o.,        9
o ~.                                10
~     17
,          15
.....
21
22
25
25
26
32
85
42
55
61
63
65
68
69
73
75
76
78
79 
ILLUSTRATIONS.
80. FAC-SIMILE OF MR. VASSAR'S WRITING AT THE AGE OF SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS
31. VASSAR COLLEGE SEAL...
32-46. SIGNATURES OF TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE
47-59. SIGNATURES OF TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE.
60. MAP OF THE COLLEGE FARM.......
61. CELLAR OR GROUND PLAN OF THE COLLEGE
62. GATEWAY AND PORTERP'S LODGE....
63. THE GYMNASIUM........
64. PLAN OF THE FIRST STORY..........
65. PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR, OR SECOND STORY...
66. THE CENTRAL DOUBLE STAIRWAY.......
6T. PLAN OF SECOND FLOOR, OR THIRD STORY......
68. TIIE CHIAPEL, FROM THE GALLERY.....
69. ARABESQUE SCROLL........
70. PLAN OF TIIIRD FLOOR, ORP FOURTH STORY..
71. TIHE ART GALLERY.....
72. MATTHEW VASSAR......
73. BATTLE OF THE AMAZONS..............1
74. PLAN OF ATTIC FLOOR..........
75. CABINET OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY.....
76. THE OBSERVATORY............
77. MERIDIAN SECTION. AND GROUND PLAN OF THE OBSERVATOPRY..
78. FIRST ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION AT VASSAR COLLEGE
79. THE RIDING-SCHOOL....
80. THE CALISTHENIC HALL..
81. COSTUME OF THE FIRST STUDENTS OF VASSAR COLLEGE......
82. MILL COVE LAKE IN SUMMER........
83. THE PUITMP-HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS......
84. SCENE IN THE VALLEY OF MILL COVE BROOK..........
85. GROVE OF ANCIENT WILLOWS...........
86. THE MEETING OF TIIE WATERS......... *1
87. HEAD OF THE GLEN.......
viii
85
86
$9
90
99
lot
109
ill
116
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125
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182
139
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144
146
148
1151
153
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162 
BIRTH-PLACE.
<::/~~   N  a pleasant rural city on the eastern bank of
-,   the Hudson River lives a man, while this sen             tence is flowing from the pen, who has passed,
by the space of five years, the Scripture limit
of active human life.  In person he is a little
less than medium height, well proportioned, and
compactly built.  He has  a fair complexion,
with lingerings of the ruddiness of good health upon his
cheeks. The brown hair of his earlier days is much outmeasured by the whiter crown of age. His dark gray eyes
beam with the luster of vigorous middle life and the radiance
of inextinguishable good-humor.  His nose is of the Roman
2 
VASSAR COLLEGE
type and firmly set, and the general expression of his face is
pleasant to fiiends and strangers; for upon his countenance,
whether  in action or in repose, is seen the perpetual sunshine
o f a     gentle, cheerful nature; while his voice, low and flexible,
is always musical with kindly cadences. Like Rowe's ideal
Age sits withi decent grace upon his visage,
And worthily becomes his silver locks."
On the walls of his modest dwelling hang pictures of
existing buildings which are a part of his personal history.
One is clustered with associations of his infancy and earliest
childhood; the other is hallowed as the noble offspring of
his generous liberality in his serene old age. One is in the
Eastern hemisphere, and the other in the Western, and are
three thousand miles apart. One is a humble farm-house,
nriot more than ten paces in length, and a single story in
height, with pantiled roof and whitewashed walls, all
fashioned after the model of the common dwelling of the
English husbandman eighty years ago; the other is a palace
of brick and freestone, five hundred feet in length, whose
model was the Tuileries, the metropolitan residence of the
French monarchs.   One is in the rich maritime and  agricultural County of Norfolk, in far eastern England, on
the borders of the North Sea, and a small distance from
the sweet little River Ouse; the other is in the wealthy
agricultural County of Duchess, in the State of New York,
near the pleasant City of Poughkeepsie, and not far from the
majestic Hudson River.   One is the humnible birth-place
and the other the stately memorial of MATTHEW VTASSAR,
the founder of VASSAR COLLEGE, for the education of Young
Women.
In the farm-house alluded  to, and delineated on the
preceding page, then occupied by his parents while a
10 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
family mansion was a-building, Matthlew Vass-ar was born,
on  the 29th of April,    9.   That  M)irth-place is in a
beautiful section of Norfolk County, in a settlement known as
East Dereham, parish of Tuddenhlam, and an easy day's
journey from the ancient city of Norwich, where the first seed
VASSA R COLLI,EGE.
of Englanld's immense manufacturing interest was planted
by some Flemings in the time of Henry the First, more
than seven hundred years ago. One of the earliest records
on Mr. Vassar's memory is the impression made by the
sight of the grand old cathedral in that city, built almost
eight centuries  ago by the  followers  of  the conquering
William of Normandy.   Coeval  and equally ineffaceable
records were made by his three escapes from violent death
I)efore he was four years of age-one by tumbling over the
head of one of his father's horses into a pebbly pond,
in the rear of the cottage; another by a bull, made furious
by the scarlet mantle worn by his sister while she was leading him across a field; and a third by a lunatic, who seized
him  by the haili and  beat his tiny body cruelly with a
cudgel.  These incidents, and the impressions made  by the
soft voice of the cuckoo in the morning, the song of the
1-1 
VASSAR COLLEGE
nightingale in the evening, the pale light of the glow-worm
in the grass, the beauty of the primrose and other flowers,
are the pictures of his short English life that are still vivid
in his memory.
Mr. Vassar's ancestors were from France, where the
name, which is distinguished in French history, is spelled
Vasseur or Le Vasseur. Such was the name of the private
secretary of Lafayette, who accompanied him to this country
more than forty years ago. The great-grandfather of Mr.
Vassar crossed the channel that separates France and England early in the last century, and settled in Norfolk, where he
engaged in tillage, and in wool culture, for which that county
has always been famous. His posterity occupied the homestead, and followed the same pursuit. His grandson James
married Anne Bennett, the excellent daughter of a neighboring farmer, and these were  the parents of him  whose
history we are tracing, and who was the youngest of their
four children who were born in England, and named  respectively Sophia, Maria, John Guy, and Matthew.
James Vassar and his wife were Dissenters of the Baptist
order, and, in common with other non-conformists, felt the
oppressions of the wedded Church and State. At the time
of their younger son's birth, the French Revolution was
upheaving all Europe with its volcanic fires, and shaking
England, politically and socially, to its deepest foundations.
It vivified in the hearts of the Dissenters the spirit of Liberty,
such as Milton and Sidney had cherished, and a cry fbor
justice was heard throughout the realm.   While Burke,
with strange inconsistency, thundered against the French
Revolution and the Reform Associations of Great Britain,
making his former political friends tremble lest he should
reveal their secrets, and denounce their designs, Doc
12 
A-1) IT'S FO UNDER.
tors Price and Priestley, Lords  Stanhope and Lauderdale,
Horne Tooke, Thelwall, and others, gave the citadel  of
Privilege such heavy blows with the weapons of Reason,
strong ill Christian ethics, that even the Throne was made
to tremble.  Then  the Church  and State, made  cruel by
fear, resolved to stamp into the earth the vigorous plant of
Democracy, that threatened to overrun their domain. With
their enormous wealth and influence, and long retinue of
ret,ainers, they put forth their strength in the form of Law,
and violated justice by prosecutions  for political (e7(&q%.~
rather than for political offensle8, and in transporting men
to a penal colony for seven and fourteen years, whose crimes
consisted chiefly in having read Paine's -Riy//t6 of' J[ait and
expressed partial approbation of its doctrines!
The Crown and the Mitre were too strong for the Tribune
and the Conventicle, and their threatenings, as in the days
of the First Charles, drove many of the best subjects of the
Empire across the Atlantic, iii search of that civil and religious liberty which their unnatural Mother denied them.
On the tombs of many of those emigrants might have been
justly written words similar to those sent over by William
Roscoe, the English  poet, to be inscribed  on the whiite
marble slab that now stands at the grave of his fi'iend Jolhn
Taylor (one of the emigrants), in Christ Church  Cemetery
in Poughkeepsie.  Roscoe wrote
.Far from his country and his native skies,
Ilere, mouldering in the dust, poor TAYLOR  lies.
Firm was his mind, and fraught with  various lore;
And his warm heart was never cold before.
lie loved his country-loved that spot of earth
Which gave a MILTOX, IHAMNIPDEN, BIADSIlAW  birth;
But when that country, dead to all but gain,
Bowed its base neck and hugged tli' Oppressor's chain,
Loathing thie abject scene, he drooped, le sighed,
1 3 
VASSAR COLLEGE
Crossed thie wild wave, anld here untimely died.
Stranger, wbate'er thy country's Creed, or Hue,
Go, and like hini  the mioral path pursue;
Go, and for Freedom every peril brave,
And nobly scorn to be or hold a slave."
It was in that exodus, and in the year 1796, that James
Vassar and his wife and children, with his bachelor brother,
Thomas, came to the United States in search of liberty of
conscience. They were the first of their name on this side
of the Atlantic.   With many sighs they left their birth-land
they loved so well.  An Englishman's loyalty may seldom
be justly questioned, for Home is his ideal of Heaven, and
his heart always turns lovingly toward his native land, as
the blossom of the heliotrope turns toward the sun.
It was in the ship Criterion, Captain Samuel Avery, that
the Vassar family left the port of London, and, after a boisterous voyage, arrived in the harbor of New York on a
beautiful day in October, in good health and spirits.  A
wave that broke over the vessel during a gale, had swept
Matthew from the cabin gangway across the deck, and he
was saved from the sea only by the net-work of the taffrail.
But the perils of the Atlantic were passed in safety by the
whole family, and they found comfortable quarters in New
York in the house of an Englishman named Withington,
the owner of an extensive brewery in the suburl)s of the
(ity.
New York had then a population of about fifty thousand
souls. The people were agitated by great political excitemrnent, the leaven of French democracy being the chief cause.
It was on the eve of a Presidential Election. Washington's
second administration was drawing to a close. His Farewell
Address to his countrymen, warning them against the dangers
of foreign influence, had just been scattered broadcast through
14 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
the public press.  The nation was called upon to choose a
new Executive head.   Adams and Jefferson were the opposing aspirants for that lofty position. The ardent friends of
Jefferson were seen in the streets with the flaunting tricolored cockade of the French Revolution on their hats, while
those of Adams wore the modest black cockade of the American
Revolution.  The fierce struggle of the FIed(1'a  and  Demnoecrtic parties for supremacy was at its height; and, to the
apprehension of the newly arrived Englishmen, a terrible
revolution was at hand.  They heard the Government openly
denounced and menaced, yet its strong arm was still, and it
seemed powerless to save itself. And their hearts were
troubled when they beard ribald voices chanting the National
air of England burdened with these terrible wiords:
"God save the Guillotine!
Till England's King and Queen
Its power shall prove;
Till each anointed knob
Affords a clipping job,
Let no rude halter rob
The Guillotine!"
But that election left society quiet and the government
secure at its close; and satisfied the immigrants that they
were in a land of liberty indeed; that freedom of thought,
and speech, and action, was not only their privilege but their
right; and that there was absolute safety where Conscience
was untrammeled, and Reason was left free to combat Error.
With this conviction, they sought a permanent home in the
proposed land of their adoption.
At that time the fertile Mohawk Valley, in the State of
New York, was a point of great attraction to agriculturists,
and it was rapidly filling up with settlers. General Schuyler,
Elkanab  Watson, Christopher  Colles, and other far-seeing
15 
VASSAR COLLEGE
men, had projected a canal that should traverse that Valley,
and connect the waters of Lake Erie with those of the Hudson
River. That project, if carried out, promised great advantages
to the settlers.  Thither the Vassar brothers went, on a tour
of observation, at the beginning of December; and traveled
as far wvestward as Utica, the site of old Fort Schuyler, then a
flourishing village of about one thousand souls.  They had
fiequently diverged from the Mohawk Valley turnpike, the
main line of travel, to examine the country.  Much of it was
just emerging from  the wilderness state, and presented a
positive contrast to the beauty, order, and cultivation of their
beloved England(.  It was covered with snow, and was most
dreary in every aspect; and the brothers returned to New
York late in January, so dissatisfied that they felt inclined to
go back to their native land. That inclination was almost a
fixed purpose, when the fertility and pleasant features of
Duchess County, in the same State, were brought to their
notice by one or two English families who were about to settle
there, and early in the Spring of 17 97 the brothers went with
them to Poughkeepsie, then an unincoipoiated village of a
few hundred souls.
This was more than ten years before Fulton achieved his
triumph in navigation, in the crude steamer Clermno)t, and the
Vassar brothers made the voyage in a packet sloop, then the
only mode of travel on the river.  They explored the country
about Poughkeepsie, and finally purchased a farm, containing
about one hundred and fifty acres, in the rich and beautiful
valley of the Wappengi's Creek, about three miles eastward of
the village, on the verge of which a cotton-factory (now a
paperi-mill), and hamlet of workmen, named Manchester, were
afterwards built by the late Samuel Slee, who was also an
Englishman.
16 
A-ND ITS FOtINDER.
Soon after their purchase, James took his family to Poughkeepsie, and while he was preparing a dwelling on the farm,
they occupied a brick house about a miile east of the village,
on the Filkintown road, at what is now the junction of Main
and Church Streets.   That was Matthew Vassar's first place
of residence in Poughkeepsie. It fell into ruins a few years
MR. VASSAIt'S FIRST RESIDENCE IN POUGEKEEPSIE.
ago, and when in that state it was painted for Mr. Vassar by F. Rondel, from whose picture the annexed sketch is
made.
At the close of thie summer the falrmi- ouse was finished,
and the whole family were in it, happy in finding rest after a
year of wandering.  That broad valley reminded them of the
fields they had left in Norfolk. The stream that washed its
borders seemed like the little rivers of their native land; and
when, in the Autunn, the fertile soil gave back to them a
bountiful return for labor, they were contented.
The creek that bears the name of the Wappengi tribe
of Mohegan Indians, who dwelt at its falls near the Iludson
two hundred years ago, and traverses Duchess County from
3
17 
VASSAR COLLEGE
northeast to southwest, about forty mniles, is everywhere a
picturesque stream; but at no point was it more lovely than
al ong the  pla   i    n of Manchester, at the time we are considering,
wh     en    stately syc amores with their huge and ghostly stems
s t o od by i          ts margin, their majesty disputing for the prize of
admiration with the beauty of the elms that spread high in
ai      r their graceful tops, while the modest willow hung lovingly
ov    er the nou   rishing waters.   More modest still, the dog
TIilE WAPPENGI'S CREEK.
wood, with its white blossoms in early Spring; the alder with
its dull purple catkins, and the w-itch-hazel and the elder, made
up the more humble curtains of stein and leaf that everywhere
half concealed the stream.  But to the eyes of the English
settlers nothing was more pleasing than a score of saplings
along the borders of their farm, draped with the spiral vines
of the wild hop (5,urnubu, lup?b7tt,), from whose  clustering
blossoms they mighlt distill the lupl)uline for hlome-brewedcl ale,
without which an English family would experience a real privation.  But barley for the malt was lacking.  It was not long
18 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
awant; for when the farim-work was over in the Autumn,
Thomas went to England for a supply of that grain and other
cereals, and of good sheep. He brought back with him some
fine seed rath, the most profitable kind of barley for brewing;
and in the Summer of 1798, the first field of that grain ever
seen in Duchess County ripened and yielded bountifully on
the Vassar farm, in the valley of the Wappengi.  There it
was that the mournful drama of John Barley-corn and the
three kings, so sadly told )by young Burns, was first performed
within the bounds of the ancient shire, when
They laid him down upon his back
And cudgeled him full sore;
They hung him up before the storm,
And turned him o'er and o'er.
They fill6d up a darksomine l)it
With water to the brim;
They heaved in John Barley-corn There let him sink or swinm.
They laid him out upon the floor
To  work him  farther woe;
And still, as signs of life appeared,
They tossed himn to an(l fro.
They wasted o'er a scorching flanme
The marrow of his bones;
But a miller used him worst of all,
For he crushed him'tween two stones.
But the woe of John wrought joy in the family of Jamles,
for when apples were ripening in September, there was homebrewed ale in his house.  The fame of it was soon spread
abroad among the thirsty neighbors.   The thrifty family
made it for sale; and it was not long before little Matthew
and his mother might occasionally be seen on the road to
Poughkeepsie, in the farm wagon, with a barrel of home-brewed
19 
VASSAR COLLEGE
ale, the freshest eggs, and the yellowest butter, for all of
which an ever-ready market was found.
So general became the demand for Vassar's ale, that in the
year 1801 the brothers sold their farm, and James began the
business of brewing in Poughkeepsie, which was incorporated
a village that year.  He purchased a lot of land of the heirs
of Baltus Van Kleeck, lying between the Upper Landing
road (now Mill Street) and the new road then just opened
to the river, in continuation of what is now Main Street, west
from Washington Street. On that lot he built a brewery,
and in a part of it his family dwelt while he was erecting the
house in which the founder of Vassar College now resides.
Adjoining the Vassar lot on the Upper Landing road,
and a few rods east of the present Vassar Street, stood the
venerable homestead of the Van Kleeck family. It was
built of rough stone, in the year 1702, by Baltus Van Kleeck,
one of the earlier of the immigrants from Holland who
settled in Duchess County toward the close of the seventeenth
century. It was the first substantial house built on, the site of
Poughkeepsie. In its gables, and just under its eaves, the
walls were pierced with loop-holes for musketry, for at that
time the Indians were numerous in the county, and were
feared by the settlers.   Van Kleeck's house was a sort of
citadel for the hamlet of Poughkeepsie, in which the score or
two of its inhabitants might take refuge. The lintel of the
main door was a rough-hewn stone
from the fields, on which were cut the
O,     ~g,r,;   date of erection, and the initials of
-  the name of the owner, in duplicate.
:-'_ 5=at.... That lintel is now a corner-stone,
STONE LINTEL.     close to the pavement, of the dwelling
of Matthew Vassar, Jr., who is a lineal descendant of Van
20 
A-ND ITS FOU/NDER.
Kleeck, his father, John Guy, the elder brother of the
Founder, having married Margaret, a daughter of Baltus
Van Kleeck,-and a great-granddaughter of the first-named
Baltus.
That old  mansion was well filled with good furniture
brought from I-Iolland, some of which is in the possession
of M. Vassar, Jr.  An immense round table of mahogany,
a high-backed sofa and  chairs, are among the  remnants
of it, and afford good specimens of the
equipment —liHy/,-,caedt-of a Hollandsche family of the better sort, for house-    -
keeping.  But more precious things than               i 
the most costly furniture were seen in
that old manision.  These were Patriots         SOFA.
men such as Sir William Jones made Alc~us of Mlityleue
declare were the constituents of a State
"AMen, who their duties know,
But know  their rights, and(l knowing (dare mraintain;
Prevent the long-aimed blow,
And erusl  the tyrant while they rend the chain."
That house, then a public inn, was a place of resort for
the Patriots of the neighbl)orhloodl for many miles around,
during the whole period of the old War for Independence.
There they met for consultation after the Boston Port Bill
had blasted all hope of reconciliation between the colonists
and the British Ministry on a basis of justice. There the
Committee of Correspondence for Duchess County, with Egbert
Benson at its head, held meetings.  There, in June and July,
1775 the Whigs of "Poughkeepsie Precinct" signed a pledge,
"under all the ties of religion, honor, and love of country,"
to sustain whatever measures the Continental Congress and
the Provincial Convention of New York should resolve upon
21 
VASSAR COLLEGE
for preserving the liberties of the people. There the Legislature of the State of New York assemible(l, early in 1778
(the Court-house being  in ruins), after  liaving fled from
Kingston on the approach of the British incendiaries under
~>~;~~jjjjjjj\               _                                                           j~~\~;;~jjj ffl;~~
~\?2\\\ 
~~ji>\~ 
T VAN KLEE_    K II_ousE.
THEl VAN KLEECK iSOUSE.
General Vaughan, who burned( that village  at tile middle
of the preceding Autunrn; atid there, a little more than ten
years later, Hamiilton, Jay, Hobart, Duane, Yates, Clinton,
Livingston, Bancker, Van Coi-tlandt, and other distinguished
men, may have found lodgings  (it being the only inn in
the village), while sojourning more than a month in Poughkeepsie, in the Summer of 178((, as nmembers of the State
Convention that sat in the new Court-house to consider the
ratification of the National Constitution.
That old "Val  Kleeck House" was thus made famous
by the presence of famous men.  It was strong enough to
resist the busy fingers of decay for centuries; but, like many
another building in our changeful land, hallowed by events
that touch the sympathies of our higher nature, it was compelled to give place to more modern structures. It came into
22 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
the possession of the Vassar family by inhlieritance, and so it
remained until 1835, when it was pu]led down, but not until
its features had been preserved by the pencil of the writer of
this Memoir.
James Vassar was successful as a brewer, and he contemplated making his two sons his assistants.  John Guy was
between two and three years the senior of Matthew, and was
useful to his father from  the beginning.  But, when his
younger brother was old enough to take a part in the businiess, the latter evinced so great an aversion to it, that his
father made an arrangement to apprentice him for seven years
to a tanner in Poughkeepsie.  This was a business still more
distasteful to the boy than  )i-ewillng.  He vehemently protested, but in vain.  Articles of indenture were drawn;  and
on a specified morning he was to enter the service of a legal
master.  When that time arrived, the lad was not to b)e found.
He had appealed to his mother, and excited her active syimpathy in his distress.  He had begcged to be allowed to go out into
the world to  seek his fortune," as the phriase is, alone, and she
resolved that he should do so.  With a change of East India
muslin shirts and a pair of stockings tied up in a cotton bandanna handkerchief (which, with a homespun suit, woolen
stockings, stout shoes, and a cap, in which he was clad, composed
his entire wardrobe), lie left his home on a pleasant morning
in the Spring of 1806, accompanied by his mother.  They
walked to the New Hamburg ferry, eight miles below Poughkeepsie, and there they parted.  After giving him her blessing, and a cash capital of seventy-five cents, the mothelr
lingered in tears on the bank of the stream, until she saw her
child in safety on the opposite shore, and a river half a mile
wide between the tanner and( the boy.
Young  Vassar  was  now  fairly out upon  a  business
93 
V.A2,q A R CO,T,TEE
journey on his own account.  IIe walked on toward Newburgh in search of employment, when, toward evening, his
weariness emboldened him to ask a farmieri, who wvas passing
by in his wagon, to allow  him  to ride.   The  manl was
somewhat iough in speech, and accused himn of being a runaway.  The lad gave him his name and a truthful account of
what had  happened, when the farmer, who was  a kindhearted Englishman named Butterworth, told the boy that
he knew his father, and then invited the wanderer to lodge
at his house that night. It was near a little settlement two
miles north of Newburgh, called Balm Town, where Butterwortlh's son had a country store.
On the following morning, young Vassalr made a bargain
with the merchant to perform the drudgery  iii his store.
His diligence, integrity, and intelligence soon caused his
promotion. On the basis of a very limited education, he
there laid the foundations of a business ability excelled in
efficiency by few men.   He remained with Butterworth
about three years, and then  entered  the store of Daniel
Smith, another merchant, as first cleik, at the then considerable salary of three hundred dollars annually. There he
served faithfully about twelve months, when  he returned
home, after an absence of foui years, with one hundred and
fifty dollars saved from his earnings in "foreign service," as
he teirimed  it.  Then he entered  his father's flourishing
establishment as book-keeper and collector.
A  year later the elder Vassar was smitten by heavy
misfortunes.  On the 10th of May, 1811, while he wvas going
up the Hudson on a sloop, he sawv flames and a heavy smoke
at Pouglhkeepsie that told of a conflagration.  He felt a
presentiment that it was his own property; and it was.  His
brewery, on which he had no insurance, was in flames, and
24 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
it was utterly consinme(d.  That " isfortunes  seldom  coime
single," is a popular saying and1 belief.   It was verified in
Mtr. Vassar's experience.  Two days tafter his property was
destroyed, his son John Guy, then twenity-two years of age,
lost his life by desceneding into a recently eimptied  b)eei.vat
amidst the ruins, in wThich were some hops that might be
saved.  It was charged with carbonic acid gas, and  he was
ANNE VASSAIt.
suffocated. Other losses of property followed; and whlen
they were past fifty years of age, James Vassar and his wife
found themselves with a large family of children, reduced to
compalative poverty.  Business efforts failed; and the future
appeared  gloomy and utterly  unpromising to the almost
disheartened man.  Finally, he leased and closely tilled fourteen acres of land on the New York and Albany post-road, a
little north of the Fall Kil, in the suburbs of Poughkeepsie;
and there, in a quaint old house, on the site of the present
residence of Stephen M.  Buckingham, he  and  his  wife
passed a greater  part of the evening  of their  lives  in
comfort and  serenity.   Mrs. Vassar died in March,  1837,
and her husband survived her only three years.
4
25
JAMIES VASSARl. 
VASSAIh COLLEGE
James Vassar's biothler Thom as, who  camie with him to
America, and was his partner in the farm  on the Wappengi's
Creek, established himself in thle business of b)rick-making,
two  miles east of Pouglhkeepsie, sooni  after  he left the
valley of the Wappengi, and continued it until within a
few years of his death, which occurred in October,  1849,
when he was almost ninety-three years of age.  Ilis wife,
Joanna  Ellison, who  was  twenty years his junior, lived
three years longer.  The re,~i m-nains of these worthy people
'-: -X,::-the ancestors of the Va                               sar family in this country —
who left their birthland for
the sake of liberty of con,:.;_:,, science, were all laid in the
~);i'-   ~t~~';'~'i   Baptist  Cemetery near the
~~    ~ /      bank~ilcs of  thie F~all  i,o
.... -.'i/  the Winnakee, as the Indians
more sweetly named it. This
TH-omA             lSA.is a small stream  that flows
through Poughkeepsie, and falls in a series of cascades into
what was once a sheltered cove of the Hudson, which the
aborigines called Apokeepsing, or Safe Harbor, fromn which
the beautiful rural city on its borders derives its name.
The  misfortunes of his family made  Matthew Vassar
miore thoughtful and diligent than ever.  He considered how
he should employ his limited experience in brewing so as to
make it profitable to himself and a comfort to his parents.
Small means were at hand, and he used themi with success.
In a dye-house belonging to George  Boothl, the husband
of his sister Maria, who was engaged in the manufacture
of woolen cloth in Poughkeepsie, he began the business of
96 
AND ITS FOUND)ER.
ale-nilaking  on  a  scale  almiost  as  humble  as did( "Willie,"7
who only
-"biee(w       a peclk   o' inaut."
Withl  a few kettles ali(l tubes he miade ale at the rate of
three barrels at a time, whichi he sold to the citizens in small
TIE COUI  T-IUtoSE.
quantities, and delivered it witih his own hands; and in the
Spring of 1812 he hired a basement  roomi in the County
Court-house, which was  "' an elegant and substantial edifice of
stone," erected in 1809, on  the corner of Main and Maraket
Streets, in which he opened a shop for the sale of Ale and
Oysters.  This was the first "oyster saloon'" established in
the town.  All day long Mr. Vassar might have been seen
brewing at the dye-house, or going about the village with his
ale, or disposing of his " grains," as the barley was populalrly
called after it had -erved the purpose of brewing; while his
evenings, tuntil mhidnight, were devoted to his customers in
his " saloon."
'27 
VASSAI COLLEGE
Mr. Vassar had faith in the assertion of the Sacred Provelrbialist, that he who is " diligent in his business shall stand
before kings; he shall not stand befo)re menian men;" and  ie
showed his faith by his worls.  Thrift rewarded his laborious
industry.  He felt a laudable desire for vea —ltih,
'Not for to  ii(le it in a lje(ge,
No'  for a train -,ttedliidit,
BI'ut for thle gloliouls privilege
Of being in&dependent."
His field of effoirt vwas daily widening.   The village whichl
wvas to be his life-long lhome was glowing rapidly.  It then
had a population of about three thousand souls, and containedalmost five hundred  dwelling(s and buildings foir business.
Eighlt sloop)s wele continually employed, vwhile the river was
free of ice, in fireighting  foi'ou its four  wharves.  To  the
Refornied Dutch Church edifice, on the East Lane or Filkintown RPoad (now Main Street), that stood on the lot No. 957,
now owned by Henry Myers, and that of Christ Chlurch, on
Main (now Market) Street, when the village was incorporated,
eleven years  before, three other chlurcli edifices had been
addedl.  An  Acadenmy  had recently been  built on Cannon
Street, near its intersection by the present Acadeniy Street.
Two  newspaper           s (Potk      ie eoct,v   and  P(-.)ttb hc~ t
iec)QWa) were well sustained; and the book-store of Paraclete
Pottei (inowV Archibald  Wilson's) was  a favoiite place of
resort of the educated nien an(l worlmen of the village and its
vicinity, and  of the leading politicians of the old(I Federal
school.   " rThe Hotel" (now  RnItser's) had lately been  built,
and( was  descril)ed  as  " elegant and  spacious;" iand  "five
serpentine roads" conniected( the village on the high plain with
the river, half a nile distant.
Such wvas Pouglhkeepsie when, ii; the year lS12, Mr. Vzassai
28 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
co-mmenced in it that business in which he was engaged for
more than half a century, and earned the large fortune, onehalf of which he dedicated to the vitally important work
of thoroughly educating Woman. 
So promising of success was Mr. Vassar's Ale and Oyster
business, that he ventured to set up a domestic establishment
early in the Spring of 1813, when he was not quite twentyone years of age.  On the 7th of March he and Miss Catharine Valentine were united in Imarriage; and in that state
they lived together a few weeks less than fifty years. He
hired part of a dwelling at the rate of forty dollars a year,
payable ill advance, which his prudent father thought was a
very extravagant beginning; and the whole outfit of the
young couple for housekeeping did not exceed, in cost, one
hundred and fifty dollars.  Yet it was a genteel display of
home comforts, for the time.  Neatness  and industry chairacterized his chosen helpmate, and their humble dwellingplace had  an air of elegance whic(h moire spacious mansions
and more costly furnishings do not always present.  With
mutual interests they worked lovingly together; and, with
the heritage of an Englisihman's delight in domestic com —
forts,         his heart was often full of that sweet content shadowed       in BenJamin's words
' O, the atmnosph ere of Hoie! li)ov brliglht
It floats ariound  us wleri we  sit togetheri  iUnder a bower of vinie in Sumiier  w\NeatlIer,
Or round  the heaitl —stoniie 01on a winter's n,iglit!"
The land was now full of trouble.  There was war between the country of Mr. Vassar's nativity and that of his
adoption.  A long-gathering storm was in full career, and its
disturbing energies were felt in every part of the Republic.
The fife and drumi were heard in every hamlet; and the flag
2',) 
VASSAR COLLEGE
of the recruiting sergeant was everywhere flaunted before
the  eyes of the abettors of "Madison's wicked war" and the
opposing "blue-light and bl)ack-cockade Federalists," to the
infinite delight of the one, and the insufferable disgust of the
other.  Everybody was a p)olitician with decided views, and
everybody indulged in decided expressions of them. There
was a  perpetual war of opinion in families, and in communities; and at places of public resort battles  of tongues
often waxed hot, and sometimes alarming to good order and
propriety.   Mr. Vassar's saloon was  one of  these arenas
wherein the wordy gladiators wrestled. It had grown fiom
a         plain "oyster  cellar"  into quite  a respectable  " clubhouse;" and occupied three rooms in the basement of the
Court-house and one on the floor above. There judges and
jurors, lawyers and clients, dined and supped  during the
sessions of the courts. These supper parties indulged in
intellectual exchange  and convivial pleasures; and during
the War it was often resonant with the appropriate songs
of the day, when some enthusiastic vocalist, inspired by the
public turmoil or the blood of John Barley-corn, could not
keep his patriotism silent.  So it was that after the village
had        been illuminated because of Perry's victory on Lake
Erie, the ear was greeted with the stirring words
"Let each man round the board bid his children remnember,
With a generous expansion of soll,
The glory that plays round the Tenth of September,
And crown the return with a bowl.
Then the goblet shall foam, blow the wind high or low,
And the heart be it mournful or merry;
And the purest of wine to the Ineln'ry shall flow
Of the virtues and valor of Perry."
And when, a year later, the victory of Macomb and Macdonough over the forces of Governor Prevost of Canada, at
30 
AND) ITS FOIUNDER.
Plattsburg, made  the inhabitants of  menaced New  York
gratefill for deliverance, Michael Hawkins' imncitation of
Negro  iinstrelsy-the flrst on  record-descriptive of  the
event, and sullig to the air of "Boyne Water," provoked unbounded merrinment.   To those familiar with the boastful
spirit of Prevost on his invading march, and the ridiculous
spectacle exhibited by his hasty retreat, especially funny
seemed the concluding verse:
"Prevost scare so, he lef all behline,
Powder, ball, cannon, tea-pot, andl kittle;
Sonme say he eoteli a cold-trouble in he milne,
'Cause he eat so mnnch raw and cole vittle.
Uncle Sam berry sorry
To be sure for hlie pain;
Wish he nuss lieself up well an' hearty,
For General Macomb
An' 3Iassa'Donoeugh lomne
When lie notion for anudder tea-party."
Mr. Vassar came near being a soldier in arms. He had
joined a volunteer company of Fusileers in time of peace,
and was a member of the staff of the late Major-General
John  Brush at the period we are considering.   At  the
time of the British invasion from Canada, which ended  at
Plattsburg, a land and naval force was menacing the city
of New York, the project of the British ministry in 1777,
for separating New England from the other States by
seizing and holding the line of the Hudson Rivei, having
been revived   There was  wide-spread alarm.   Governor
Tompkins ordered the militia and drafted men of the
State, who  had not yet taken the field, to hasten to the
menaced metropolis, where citizens of every calling
"Plumbers, founders, dyers;  tinners, turners, shavers;
Sweepers, clerks, and criers;  jewelers, engravers;
Clothiers, drapers, players;  cartinen, hatters, tailors;
Gaugers, sealers, weighers;  carpenters and sailors,"
31 
VASSAR COLLEGE
were engaged night and (lay in castin cg lip intrenchinents on
the heights of Broolyni and( Harlem, many of them singing
the stirring words of Woodworth, inspired l)y the scene
"Jolinv Bill, i)eware! keep att 1          proIpO)er (list,tiCe,
Else  we'll make  you stare at our fiim  resistance.
Let alone  tlle la(s who l eo  freedom  tasting,;
Recollect,  outr (lads gave  youi olce a b)asting'.
Pickaxe,  shlovel, spa(le, cr()w  ar,  tloe, an( )1 bro;\
1Setter not inva(le;  Yanklees  lia\e  tlie ilatrrovw.'
The mnilitia and levies of Duchess weie sumumoned  awa-y,
but Mr. Vassar, claiming the right to wvithhold services when
privileges are denied, did not go.   At a previous election lhe
had been challenged when lihe offered his vote, and its riecel)tion had been denied on the plea that hle was a native of
England, and therefore an alien.  Believing the same plea to
be valid in his own favor  vhen  called upon to do military
duty, he successfully interposed it; and he was spared the
BREWERY ON VASSAR STREET.
fatigue and losses of an inglorious campaign  at Harlemn, an(d
the time so itmportant to himn in his business, for he was then
engaged in the erection of the extensive brewery, the main
building'of which is yet standing on Vassar Street.  Yet he did
32 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
not withhold all service, for, with hundreds of other citizens
of Poughkeepsie and vicinity, he went to the neighboring
woods and swamps to collect materials for fascines, which
were sent down the river in sloop-loads, to be used for gabions and other basket-work in the erection of fortifications at
Brooklyn and Harlenm.
Mr. Vassar had now struggled on in business about two
years, alone, unaided by influential or wealthy friends, and
relying solely upon his own resources, under Providence, for
final success.  It had often been a most severe struggle, in
which he was several times nearly vanquished.  Ambitious
of excelling in Whatever he undertook, he spared no pains
or expense in the manufacture of his ale, but for want of
capital to enlarge his facilities, it was made in quantity
too limited to give him much profit.  Capital was his great
need, and in due time it came to help him.
In the Spring of 1814, Thomas Purse', an Englishman of
considerable fortune, and also of some experience in brewing,
who had quaffed many a mug of ale at Vassar's rooms withl
great satisfaction, offered himself as a partner, and also the
requisite capital for carrying on the business on an extensive
scale.  The offer was accepted.  The partnership was formed
with the name of M. Vassar &  Co., and the brewing and
malting buildings, which extended from Vassar to Bridge
Streets, were erected during the ensuing Sunmmer. The business at the club-rooms in the Court-house was abandoned by
its founder, and his whole time and attention were given to
the manufacture of ale. That vocation was successful; but,
owing to the failing health of Mr. Purser, the partnership
lasted only about two years, when he withdrew.
Mr. Purser's place was supplied by Nathan and Mulford
Conklin, then carrying on an extensive mercantile business
33 
VASSAPR  COLLEGE
in Poughkeepsie, and they remained in partnership with
Mr. Vassar until 1829, when he purchased  their interest.
During that period, and a little beyond, Mr. Vassar experienced many vicissitudes in business, and, on two or three
occasions, losses by fire and flood brought him to the verge
of bankruptcy. But perseverance was one of the cardinal
virtues of his character, and hie always kept it vigorous
by judicious use.   With it he overcame all obstacles; and
at length, when he had been engaged in brewing for about
twenty years, a tide of uninterrupted prosperity bore him
on to the possession of a large fortune. His business
became too large to allow him to manage it well alone,
and in 1832 he took in his nephews, Matthew Vassar, Jr.,
and John Guy Vassar, sons of his deceased brother John
Guy. They were energetic, industrious, and faithful young
men, and  materially assisted  their uncle in the enlargement of the business and profits of the establishment.
The brewery on Vassar Street soon became too limited in
capacity for the increasing operations of the firm, and in 1836
a more extensive establishment, built of brick, was erected
on the bank of the river, just above the Main Street Landing,
where the manufacture of ale is still carried on under the
original name  of M.  Vassar &  Co.   At various periods
Mr. Vassar brought into the business, as partners, his brother
James, James V. Harbottle, Alfred IR. Booth, John Guy
Vassar, 2d, Ei-astus Reeve, J. L. D. Lyon, and Oliver H.
Booth. In May, 1866, the latter, who is one of Mr. Vassar's
nephews, purchased the interest of his uncle, when the business connection of the founder of the establishment ended.
After managing his affairs diligently for more than thirty
years, and becoming the possessor of a large fortune, Mr.
Vassar determined to gratify a long-cherished desire by
34 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
visiting Great Britain and the continent of Europe. He
wished to engage less closely in business thereafter, and he
resolved to make that the occasion for casting the burdens
of its cares upon the younger mend his kinsmen, who were
his partners. He accordingly made arrangements for himself and wife to go abroad and be absent from the country
about three years. They were childless; and nothing ill their
domestic alirangements made it necessary for them to hasten
back.
BREWERY ON THE RIVER.
The classic prescription for the number of a dinner-party
was, Not less than the Graces, nor mnore than the Muses.
The  minimunm  is the best numniber for a traveling party in
civilized lands, and to that Mr. Vassar made his own conform
by inviting Cyrus Swan to become the traveling coinpanion
of himself and wife.  Mr. Swan was a young man of taste
and observation, well informed and  cultivated, genial and
sympathetic.   He  had  lately  completed  his  preparatory
studies for entering upon  the  practice of the  Law as  a
35 
VASSAR COLLEGE
vocation.  In that profession, and while he was yet a student,
he had rendered services which won for him the cordial
esteem and confidence of Mr. Vassar; and the friendship
then formed has remained unbroken.
Mr. Swan gladly accepted Mr. Vassar's generous invitation,
and at the close of April, 1845, the little traveling party
sailed fiom New York in the packet-ship Yorthrumnberla,d,
Captain Griswold, bound for England. She had less than
twenty passengers, among whom were the late Judge
William  Kent  and his wife.   The ship was stanch and
well appointed, and was one of the largest of the sailing
packets of that time.  The day was bright and serene when
they passed the Narrows, whose shores are guarded by great
guns within strong walls, and went out upon the ocean.
Every thing promised delight to the novices in marine experience; but, before the sun disappeared behind the dim
purple outlines of the  Navisink Hills, the  never-ceasing
motion of the bosom of the sea made them doubters. The
inevitable sea-sickness followed; and during a voyage of
twenty days they had the usual experience of
"the mnlonotony
Of an Atlantic tripSometimes you shlip a sea,
And sometimes see a ship!"
The passengers first saw land again one bright morning
late in May, when The Needles, sculptured by the waves at
the westernmost extremity of the Isle of WTight, were seen
glittering in the sun-light.   On  the same day the Yortht~nberlandt was anchored in the fine harbor of Portsmouth,
under the guns of the vast fortifications of that seaport.
There the travelers landed, and passed a few days in visiting
the wonders of that greatest of England's naval stations.
3 o 
ANDI) ITS FOUNDER.
Among these, which none but the eyes of Englishmen are
supposed to be permitted to see, was the immense Naval
Bakery. To this Mr. Vassar and his party gained admission
by his acting in strict conformity to the maxim of the British
Crown concerning its subjects, namely, Ouice,an ~Engliy,mai,
alwtays  an Eyi      an.  In accordance with the spirit of
this maxim, British cruisers impressed Anglo-American seamen into the Royal naval service; and chiefly on that account
the two nations went to war, more than fifty years ago, and,
after gallant fighting on both sides for thirty months, Great
Britain still adhered to the maxim, and has never abandoned
it. So, honestly abiding by her rule, and registering his
name, -"M. Vassar, East Derehani, Tuddenhan, Norfolk
County,"-the place of his biith  the Once an Eni7,sliman
ala,wyss an Entishmain, and his family, peered with their
American eyes into all the secrets of England's great Naval
Bakery.
From Portsmnouth Mr. Vassar and his companions passed
over to the Isle of Wight-the "divorced land" of the ancient
Britons-which Cedric the Saxon colonized with Jutes and
his own countrymen almost a thousand years before Columbus
discovered America. Our travelers landed at Ryde. It was
now the beginning of June, and that island(-the loveliest
of England's possessions-was glorying in the wealth of its
verdure and blossoms. There every sense was regaled with
the realities of all that painter and poet have delineated in
pictures of English rural scenery and rural life, even to the
gipsies, who in a popular ditty have been made to sing
"All day we round the country tramp;
The birds bear not a lighter heart;
And then at night we pitch our camnp,
Or soundly sleep beneath the cart.
37 
VASSAR COLLEGE
Whlat care we for the niighlt-dew danp!
We pay no rent when we depart;
And like thie lark we early rise               OLr clock's a Gipsy's opening eyes!"
After visiting every part-of that charming island, enjoying
the delights of its present beauties, and the contemplation of
its feudal remains, Mr. Vassar proposed to tarry a little in
Southampton before going up to London. They had been
impressed with the realities of the past in visiting Carisbrooke Castle, near Newport, which is supposed to have been
founded before the Roman invasion, but which  was  not
completed until the time of Elizabeth. It is chiefly famous
as the place of confinement of Charles the First, after his
removal from Hampton  Court;  and the attention of our
triavelers was directed to a window,  out of which, it is
said, the king attempted to escape.
Leaving these remains of a darker age and a ruder
civilization behind  them, with  a desire to commune more
particularly with the  present, Mr. Vassar and  his  companions crossed over to Southampton, one of the most bustling and important of the maritime towns of England.
There they passed several days in visiting objects of
special interest, such as the Free Grammar School founded
by Edward the Sixth, and the Hospital established in the
reign of Henry the Third.   They  also visited interesting
places in the vicinity of the city, among which were the
ruins of Calshot  Castle, and  Netley Abbey,  situated on
opposite shores of the beautiful Southampton Water.
From the busy city on the seaboard the travelers went up
to London  by railway, where they remained about three
weeks. Mr. Vassar was then fifty-three years of age, and in
the full vigor of the most robust health.  He was the impersonation of perpetual activity. From early morning until late
38 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
in the evening he was busy in observations of men and things.
No place of note in that great city escaped his vision, and no
details of institutions and business establishments that he
visited were free from his scrutiny.  "No  man," says Mr.
Swan, in a note to the author. "ever saw more and absorbed
more in the same space of time. Always an early riser,
always in motion, and always inquisitive; challenging every
thing for its reason for being at all, and especially for being
as he found it, he satisfied himself concerning the why and
the wherefore of a multitude of objects and interests which the
superficial observer would neither perceive nor understand."
Every thing interested him; but most of all was he impressed
by the great Hospital on St. Thomas Street, erected and
endowed by Thomas  Guy, whose family and Vassar's are
connected by ties of consanguinity. That noble fruit of his
kinsman's liberality is one of the most useful of England's
monuments which  perpetuate the memory  of  her distingullished men; and in the contemplation of it, the thought
conceived by his visit to the Free Grammar School and
the Hospital  at Southampton developed in the mind  of
Mir. Vassar a fixed resolution to devote a large portion of his
own fortune to the welfare of his fellow-men.
Thomas  Guy was a native of London, where hle was
born about the year 1643. At the age of seventeen years
he was apprenticed to a bookseller in his native city, and
when he attained to his majority he began the same business
on his own account, upon a capital of one thousand dollars.
He established a lucrative business in the importation of
Bibles from Holland, and afterwards made a profitable
contract for the sale of those printed at the Oxford University in England. Very parsimonious in his habits, he soon
accumulated a large fortune. He had a favorite servant
39 
VASSAR COLLEGE
girl, who was sensible and comely, and he offered her his
hand in marriage.   It was  accepted; but, because of some
trifling offense, he broke his engagement, dismissed her from
his service, and lived a celibate, devoting nearly his whole
time to  the business of accumulating  wvealth, with  the
intention of finally using it foi some benevolent ol)ject.
During the wars in Queen Anne's reign, Guy made large
suIms by the purchase of government securities from individuLals at a depreciated rate, especially seamen's piize-tickets.
He was also a fortunate dealer in stocks of the companies
which were organized by speculators, without real foundations, from the years 1710 to 1719, inclusive, and especially
of that known as the South Sea (~on)~)(y, incorporated in
1716, in whose bonds almost every wealthy person in England
became a dealer. The shares going rapidly from the par value
of one hundred pounds sterling to one thousand pounds, made
many  apparently  very rich; and  the  most  extravagant
displays of equipages, and other evidences of wtealth, were
indulged in by those who, but a few months before, were
poor and obscure. Guy might have been seen almost daily
among the infatuated crowd of both sexes, in Exchange Alley,
buying and selling those bonds.  He knew their real worthlessness, and was one of a few wise ones who said, in effect,
" Five hundred millions, notes and bonds,
Our stocks are worthl in value;
But neither lie in goods or lands
Or money, let mie tell you.
Yet tliougl- our foreign trade is lost,
Of mighty wealth we vapor,
When all the riches that we boast
Consist of scraps of paper."
Guy operated shrewdly, and when the "South Sea Bubble,"
as it was called, burst, in 17"0, and thousands of families in
40 
AND ITS FOUNDER,.
England were impoverished, he was without the worthless
bonds, and the possessor of immense wealth.  He was then
nearly seventy-seven years of age, and felt that it was high
time for him to set about the final disposition of his entire
estate. ile had no near kinsfolk, and it was to be mostly
devoted to some public object. He had already been a liberal
contributor to the funds of St. Thomas's Hospital, situated
within the area of the old manor of Southwark, and which
was founded in 1213.  In 1707, he caused one of its buildings
to be erected at his sole expense; and he was one of its governors for many years.   He was disposed to give all of his
property to that institution, for the enlargement of its means
for usefulness, but his friends persuaded him to found a new
hospital.  He purchased from the governors of St. Thomas's
the lease of a lot for nine hundred and ninety-nine years; and
in 1721 he caused the old buildings that occupied a portion
of it to be removed.  In the following spring the foundations
for a hospital were laid; and at the time of his death, at the
middle of December, 1724, the building was roofed.  It was
soon afterward completed, and the entire cost of erection was
ninety-four thousand dollars of our decimal currency. By his
will he left, as anl endowment for it, almost one million one
hundred thousand dollars, making  his whole gift for that
institution almost twelve hundred thousand  dollars.  He
also built an alms-house at Tamworth, in Staffordshire, for
fourteen men and women; and he bequeathed to it a little
over six hundred dollars a year. He also left an annuity
of two thousand dollars to Christ's Hospital in London.
Thomas Guy gave for charitable purposes more money
than any private individual in the kingdom had ever done
before; and he left to his few and remote relatives four
hundred thousand dollars.
6
4'1 
VASSAR COLLEGE
Our picture represents the entrance  to  Guy's Hospital
fromn the quadrangle  on its front, in the  center of which
GUY' S HOSPITAL.
is a bronze statue of its Founder, by Scheemaker.   The
front panel of the pedestal bears the following inscription:
THOMAS GUY,
SOLE FOUNDER OF TiS HOSPITAL
IN HIS LIFETIME.
A. D. M DCC XXI.
On the west side of the pedestal is a representation, in low
relief, of the scene of the Good Samaritan. On the south
side is another, of Guy's arms; and on the east side is still
another, representing our Saviour healing the impotent man.
From the time of his visit to the Hospital founded by
his kinsman, Mr. Vassar dates his resolution to devote a large
portion of his own fortune, "in his lifetime," to some benevolent purpose; and that of an asylum for the sick, to be
established in the village in which he had accumulated his
wealth, at once assumed a definite shape.  He visited Guy's
42 
AND  ITS FOUNDDER.
Hospital frequently while he remained in London.  He made
himself familiar with its history, construction, equipment, and
operations; and brought home with him much information, ill
the form of drawings and notes, for-his guidance in his own
plan of benevolence. And when he left his wife and Mr.
Swan in London and traveled alone into Norfolk, to visit his
birthplace, his thoughts were much occupied in the conteinplation of the noble idea of becoming a benefactor of his race.
That visit to his birthplace was a most interesting circumstance in the life of Mr. Vassar.  He traveled from London to
Norwich by railway, and from that old city to East Derehatm
in a private carriage.   The Homestead had often been  a
subject of his day-dreams when  memory  transported hinm
back to childhood.   The cottage, the pebbly pond, the gate,
the stately trees, the meadows, the cultivated fields, and the
gentle hills, were in those visions; and when he returned,
after an absence of fifty years, they were all there! The
pond seemed less, and the hills not so lofty, nor the
cottage so high and long, as each appeared to his young
eyes, and in the "pictures on memory's wall;" but a grand
old hollow tree-hollow and dying when he left —was still
there, and seeming as huge and grand as in his childhood.
But it was now without leaf or acorn, and was clad only
in the verdure of a luxuriant parasite. It seemed as if it
might have been the study of Spenser when he wrote,
"A  huge oak, dry and dead,
Still clad with reliques of its trophies old,
Lifting to heaven its aged, hloary head;
VWhose foot on earth bathl got but feeble hold,
And, half disboweled, stands above the ground
With wreathed roots and naked arns.'"
It was at the beginning of July, and scenes of the haymaking season, about which Herrick and others of the elder
43 
VASSAR COLLEGE
poets of England delighted to write, and which had been
deeply impressed upon  the pilgrim's young mind, were now
reproduced and gave him great delight.  "At that season,"
says Thomas Miller the Basket Maker, in one of his exquisite
sketches of rural life in England, "silence reigns in the villages. If you knock at fifty doors you are likely to receive no
answer, for old and young are in the fields; even the'wee
things' toddle along the smooth-shaven green, or roll hap)pily
among the windrows. First is the stout mower; he r-ises
early in the morning, and long before the heat of the day
comes on, he has leveled many a beautiful flower and healing
herb to the earth.  You heari him sharpening his scythe long
before you can see himn-the clear'last), -asp,' rings far and
wide over the valleys.  Then you catch a glimpse of his white
shiut-sleeves through some vista in the hedge, moving like the
pendulum of a clock or the wings of a bird-you cannot distinguish clearly for the mrists.  At length  you near him.
What havoc has he made! what fair daughters of the field
has he prostrated! what hidden homes has he laid bare!
haunts of the bird and  field-mouse-unroofing the snug
dwelling, and leaving their little ones exposed to the covetous
glances-of the nesting boys...   Where will you
find happier faces than in the hay-field  The farmer is there,
moving like a father amongst his children, smniling occasionally at the innocent jest, or prophesying the wedding-day
between Jane and John, who are following each other with
the rake and fork.  Then there is all the village gossip-what
hours it takes telling! And there is the blushing damsel
with her gown thrown off, and stripped to the stays, showing
all the symmetry of her fine figure while raking round the
haycock which her lovei has reared, forgetful of the heat and
labor in the enjoyment of his conversation.  How proud he
44 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
also seems who is mounted on the top of the wagon to arrange
the load!-but still prouder he who forms the hay-stack in
the farmyard!  I-le will boast of its ro()undness, firmness, and
regularity for many a night over his ale, and appeal to the
old men, who, instead of answering him, will enter into a
long narrative of the large stacks which they hadl formed
when young  men...               There  is a charm in
scenes like these-a something that rushes upon the heart
like the joyousness of boyhood happiness felt, not seen."
London is less populous in July than in any other
month, for its denizens have then fled from its heat to the
cooler air of the mountains or the seashore.   When  Mr.
Vassar returned from his little excursion, he and his companions followed the universal example, and departed for
the coast  of the Irish  Sea.    They passed by  iailway
through  the  rich  midland  counties  of England, to the
immense manufacturing and commercial city of Manchester,
on the Irwell, where they remained a few days, and then
journeyed to Liverpool, on the Mersey, the chief sea-port
of Engl(and.  In each of these immense marts of business
they spent time in observation most pleasantly and profitably.   The great cotton manufactories of the former city,
with their forty thousand operatives; and the magnificent
(locks of the latter, whose  commercial marine is inferior
only to that of New York, are among the wonders of the
modern world.
When these, and scores of other objects of interest, had
been seen in Liverpool, and in the ship-building borough
of Birkenhead opposite, and there were no more novelties
to excite our travelers, they crossed St. George's Channel
in a steamer to Dublin-the Eblama of Ptolemy —the Ballyath-Cliath of the ancient Celts and Milesians.  There they
45 
VASSAR COLLEGE
remained several days, occupying every hour of daylight
in seeing all that was attractive to the eye, and hearing
all that was agreeable to the ear, in that fine city-looking
upon its Castle on the hill; its institutions of learning;
its public squares, with their columns and statues; its fine
churches, with their paintings and decorations; its convents,
asylums, hospitals, and zoological garden; its nine superb
bridges that span the estuary on which the town is built,
and the beautiful environs of that oldest city in Ireland.
They extended one of their rides to Maynooth, on the
Royal Canal, fifteen miles from Dublin, which is the seat
of the College of St. Patrick, founded by act of Parliament
for the education  of Roman Catholics for the priesthood,
and about which, concerning a repeal of the grant or the
annual appropriations for its support, there were warm
debates in the National Legislature for many years.
When Dublin was well studied, our travelers journeyed
northward to Belfast, in the picturesque county of Antrinm,
where a little time was pleasantly spent;  and then they
crossed that interesting shire to the sea-coast, on the northern
extremity of Ireland, to view the Giants' Causeway, that great
basaltic wonder, that stretches along the borders of the ocean
for eight miles, between the promontories of Bengore and
Fairhead.  They passed several days in that vicinity, and then
crossing the North Channel in a steam-packet, voyaged up
the Frith of Clyde to the City of Glasgow, whose foundations
were laid seven centuries before. They went into its principal
manufactories, ship-yards, and public buildings; its Green;
its Kelvin Grove, which the pen of Burns immortalized; saw
its monuments and statues; explored the University (with
its thousand students  and  its forty thousand  volumes)
founded by Pope Nicholas the Fifth, four hundred years ago,
46 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
and above whose turrets rises the lightning-rod placed there
by Dr. Franklin, 1772; and they listened to the solemn
pealing of the organ in the Cathedral of St. Mungo, whose
foundation-stones were laid when good David the First was
king of Scotland. Out in the suburbs and the surrounding country they wandered, and rested in their weariness
upon the gray stones of the famous wall built by the Romans, from the Frith of Clyde to the Frith of Forth, when
they were vainly attempting to subjugate the naked Caledonians. Then the travelers went down to Ayr
" Auld Ayr, whamn ne'er a town  surpasses
In honest men  and bonnie lasses;"
and strolled along the
-"banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,"
not far distant, and around
'"By Alloway's auld haunted ki-k,"
standing stark and roofless by the road-side between Ayr
and Maybole, where Tam O' Shanter,
"A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum,"
had the strange vision of
"Warlocks and witches in a dance."
But most interesting of all was their visit to the birthplace
of Burns, a long, low, and neat thatched cottage, with two
windows and four doors in its front, situated on a pretty spot
about two miles from Ayr. Near there, Burns's sister Isabella
(Mrs. Beggs), who was one of a merry dancing-party on a
July race-night, in 1782, was yet living, with her daughter.
She was a kind-hearted, cheerful old lady, with whom our
4' t' 
VASSAR COLLEGE
travelers spent several hours.   They  went to her house, as
other strangers had done, without even a letter of introduction; but the genial sunshine of Mr. Vassai's nature was so
sympathetic  with her own that one would have supposed
that they were old  firiends, they were  so  chatty.    The
party left the venerable sister of the poet laden with flowers
and delighted with cheerful good-bys; and Mr. Vassar brought
home with him, as a choice memento of his visit, a facsimile
of the manuscript  of Burns's " Cotter's Saturday Night,"
presented to him by Mrs. Beggs.
After spending some time among  the Lakes  and Highlands of Scotland, Mr. Vassar and his little party made
their way across the country to Stirling, where they
visited the old castle in which the ancient Scotch kings
dwelt and held high court. There they saw other remains
of the Roman  wall;  and they visited  the field of the
famous battle of Bannockburn near by. Then they went
down the Frith of Forth to Edinburglh, and in that city
and its vicinity they tarried a week in visiting  historical
places, and literary and benevolent institutions.
Grandly picturesque is that old city of Edinburgh among
the hills, and rich in incidents of Scottish history. Not one
of its interesting localities escaped the eyes of our travelers,
from the quaint dwelling of John Knox  the Reformer, on
High Street, or the tnial-room of Jeanie Deans, to the lofty
eminences  that overlook  the town.   They  climbed three
hundred feet above the Forth to the Castle on a rock, and
were rewarded by the sight of its vast armory;" Mons Meg,"
the huge Flemish cannon, wrought of bars and hoops of iron;
and the regalia of the kings of Scotland crown, scepter,
sword, and wand. They climbed more than eight hundred
feet above the Forth to Arthur's Seat, and were rewarded by
48 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
the sight of one of the most charming and picturesque panoramas in the world.  They visited Holyrood Palace, wherein
the monarchs of Scotland held Court when it was a king dom, and which was made famous by the deeds and misdeeds within its walls of the beautiful Queen Mary.
From  Edinburgh Mr. Vassar and his companions  traveled in a coach to Abbottsford on the Tweed,  the very
name of which awakens a sense of all that is romantic in
Scottish history, tradition, and song; for it was there that
Walter Scott, the "Wizard of the North," for a long time
waved his pen-wand and summoned legions of characters,
strange and familiar, noble and ignoble,  ugly  and beautiful, from all the past of his beloved Scotia, to charm the
world of his own time and of all the future.
After visiting the abbeys of Dryburgh, Melrose, and
Jedburgh, in the neighborhood of Abbottsford, the travelers
crossed the Cheviot Hills on the border and were again in
England.   They  journeyed  leisurely  to  Newcastle-uponTyne,  and  after  exploring  the vast  coal-mines  in its
vicinity, sometimes more than a thousand feet from the
daylight, and visiting the finest Norman castle in all
England, built there by Robert, son of William the Conqueror, they went to London, where they remained about
three weeks. There they engaged an accomplished courier
for a tour on the Continent, and  crossed  the southern
borders of the North Sea to Antwerp, on the Scheldt, in
Belgium,  once  the  commercial  center of Europe.   Its
citadel, built by the Duke of Alva three hundred years
ago, summons to the student of history the terrible picture
of that great siege, which the pen of Motley has described
so picturesquely. Its immense fortifications, its superb
cathedral, its greatc docks at which a thousand ships may
7
49 
VASSAR COLLEGE
be moored its gallery of paintiyngs, its botanical garden, and
its manufactories, detained our travelers a few days.  They
made a short day's journey to Brussels, the beautifill capital of Belgium, so remarkable for the nunmber  and architecture of its ancient b)uildings, among which is the palace
of the Prince of Orange.   A  ride of ten miles southward
took  them  to  the village  of Waterloo, near which was
fought the decisive battle which crushed  the power and
overthrew the young dynasty of Napoleon the First.
Returning  to Brussels, Mr. Vassar and  his companions
traveled eastward to the old walled town of Cologne, on
the Rhine, the capital of Rhenish Prussia, and remarkable
as containing the finest  cathedral in  the worl(l.   From
that  city they went  up that famous  river, stopping  at
many  places by the way.   They  were charmed, at first,
by the sweet rural  beauties  along  its borders, and the
vineyards that clothed the gentle hills; and then by the
grand and picturesque scenery among the mountains, firom
Bonn to Bingen, where castles in luins and castles
restored, as well as great vineyards,  are most abundant.
They spent a few days at the celebrated watering-places
of Weisbladen and Baden-Baden; and a longer time at the
free German  city of Frankfort-on-the-Main,  whose  public
squares, and promenades, and suburbs are not surpassed
in beauty by any city in Europe.
From  Frankfort our little party journeyed southward
to Basle, on the upper Rhine, just within the borders
of  Switzerland;  a  picturesque  and  interesting  town,
founded in the fourth century, and famous, at one time,
as the most powerful city in IHelvetia. Around it cluster many historic associations, ancient and modern;
and it is sanctified in the estimation of scholars by the
50 
AND ITS FOUJNDER.
tonlb  of Erasmus,  who  died  there  in  15 36, and  was
buried in the old Romnan Fort Basilia.
A short journey fi-om Basle placed the travelers in
Lucerne, on the Reuss, a highly picturesque town, inclosed
by walls and watch-towers, and lying close by the beantiful cruciform lake of the same name.  Upon the wateis
of that lake they made delightful excursions; and at
Kiissnacbt, on its northern border, they sat in the chapel
of William  Tell, that stands  near the spot where  that
glorious Swiss patriot, as tradition tells  us, leaped  firon
his boat and ended the career of Gessler, the oppressor of
his country.  Bryant has said:
" Chains may subdue the feeble spirit, but tlee,
TELL, of thie iron heart, they could(  not tame!
For thou vwet of the tmountains: they pr(oclaim
The everlasting Creed  of Liberty."
When they departed from Lucerne they still kept a
southward course, for it was Autumn,  and  the air was
becoming cold among the mountains.   They  crossed  the
Lepontine AlI)s, at the St. Gothardl Pass, nearly seven
thousand feet above the Gulf of Venice, and descended
into warm and beautifill Lombardy, to Milan, passing on
the way  the colossal statue of  St. Bori-omeo, at Arona,
on the borders of the beautiful  Lake Maggiore.    They
had seen the spires of the magnificent cathedral while far
away, rising from the center of the great city, which was
famous as the chief town of Cisalpine Gaul centuries
before the birth of Christ.   The travelers spent several
days among its wonders: the grand cathedral, with its
four thousand four hundred statues; the immense hospital,
founded by Sforza; Da Vinci's Lest Supper, which he
fiescoed in the refectory of the old Dominican Convent;
151 
VASSAR COLLEGE
the public library, with its one hundred and ninety thousand volumes; and a hundred other objects, ancient and
modern, which there delight the eye and elevate the taste.
From Milan the party traveled by post to Genoa, a
city so full of magnificence, bright and faded, that it is
called "the superb."  Its legendary history is older than
the foundations of Rome; and its true story, running
through long centuries, is almost as interesting as that of
the capital of the Cesars.  Standing in the midst of its
splendid  architecture  and  its wealth  of  statuary;  or
looking up from its harbor, and seeing the city with its
palaces and churches, and gardens and promenades  rising
like an amphitheater, with the bald summits of the Apennines and the icy peaks of the Alps towering grandly
behind it, the beholder sympathizes with the Italian when
he speaks of it as la Stpe~)a.  Its attractive objects were
diligently sought for by the travelers, and the most interesting of them  all for intelligent  Amnericans-the  birthplace of Columbus-was visited with the greatest satisfaction.
After tarrying a few days in Genoa, the travelers went
by steamer to Leghorn, the principal seaport of Tuscany,
on the Mediterranean, which had long been famous for its
manufactoiies of silk and straw. They journeyed into the
interior to the walled town of Pisa, on the Arno.  There
they remained long enough to visit its attractions, such as
the Campanile and the Leaning Tower; the Cemetery, with
its huge mound of earth from Palestine; the Cathedral, built
of pule marble, with magnificent doors of bronze and
elegant columns from Greece; the richly adorned churches;
the Ducal Palace  and  other  public  buildings; and  its
numerous works by the hands of painters and sculptors.
52 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
From Pisa they went up the Arno to Florence, at the
foot of the Apennine mountains, which for generations has
been the Mecca of the artist and scholar of all lands. It
is peerless in its nativity record of really great men.
There some of the brightest orbs in the galaxy of human
genius arose upon the world. The poets Dante, Petrarch,
Boccaccio, and Filicaja; the sculptor and painter Michael
Angelo; the medalist, engraver, sculptor, musician, and
soldier, Benvenuto Cellini;  the statesmen and historians,
Macchiavelli  and  Guicciardini;  the astronomer  Galileo;
the painter Leonardo da Vinci; the discoverer of our own
continent, Americus Vespucius; the great merchant, statesman, and benefactor, Cosmo de Medici, on whose tomb are
the words applied to our beloved Washington:  "Father
of his Country "-and his greater grandson, Lorenzo the
Magnificent, were all born there. The tombs of most of
them the travelers saw in the Church of Sante Croce —tihe
Valhalla or the Westminster Abbey of Tuscany; and
their statues and monuments are everywhere in Florence.
"You  cannot  stroll fifty  yards,"  says   D'Israeli-" you
cannot enter a church or a palace,without being favorably
reminded of the power of human thought. In Florence,
the monuments are not only of great men, but of the
greatest. You do not gaze upon the tomb of an author
who is merely a great master of composition, but of one
who formed the language. The illustrious astronomer is
not the discoverer of a planet, but the revealer of the
whole celestial machinery. The artists and the politicians
are not merely the first sculptors and statesmen of their
time, but the inventors of the very art and the very craft
in which they excelled."
A simple catalogue of objects of interest in Florence
53 
VASSAR COLLEGE
would fill many pages.  The  travelers  looked  upon  all
that were  most renmarkable, and then, returning to Leghorn, they went  down  the coast to Civita Vecchia, the
chief sea-port of the Papal States.  From  that city they
journeyed toward Riome, and on a beautiful afternoon they
crossed the solitary Campagna, a great plain around it,
strewn with the sad evidences of ancient splendor:
"The Champaign, with its endless fleece
Of feathery grasses everywhvlere!
Silence and passion, joy and peace   An everlasting washI of air Romle's ghost since her decease."
Rome! The greatest wonder in man's temporal history!
No matter whether it is Truth or Fiction that tells you
that a she-wolf gave sustenance to its founders. There it
was, a thriving village, seven centuries before the Incarnation; there it was, the magnificient capital of the known
world, at the Advent; there it is, a mighty ruin —a
shriveled  empire, just  now  fading  out  of sight as  a
sovereignty. It is yet filled with wonders; and what all
travelers see in Rome  our travelers saw, for they were
diligent through  every  waking  hour  in  exploring  the
present possessions of that once Mistress of the World,
now seated among the nations in comparative squalor, with
aspect  sad  and  desolate.   Her gorgeous  decorations  of
modern churches and palaces seem unhecoming, for they
make her real wretchedness appear more forbidding. And
yet the CuRious and the learned sit with delight in her
lap, admiring even her scars and wrinkles, because of the
glorious associations which cluster around them; and they
listen with enchanted ears to her marvelous stories of
buried centuries with which her long and eventful life
54 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
has  been  familiar.    It  was  with  reluctance  that  our
travelers turned away fiomn her, after lingering in her
presence for weeks, for they had  not yet felt the  least
satiety.
An  incident illustrative of Mr.  Vassar's indisposition
for mlere display occurred just before they left Rome. He
purchased  firomi  different  artists  several  statuettes,  of
various sizes, that gratified his taste.  They were paid  for
and  prepared  for shlipment,  lwhen he  reflected that  his
modest  horne  in  Poughkeepsie  was  not  an appropriate
place  for  such   works  of art, and  that they  might  be
regarded   by  his  fellow-townsitnen  as   an  ostentatious
display of his wealth. There was no public place in the
village  in  which  they  might have  been   appropriately
.A'l.  VASSAlt'S  RESI)ENC-(E.
placed; so he left them in Italy, content to bring home
some  plain  curiosities  as rmementoes  of his  visit to  the
crumbling  Coliseunm, or some  other relic of  the  ancient
city.
From Romle the travelers went to Naples-the Parthenope
of the Greeks, who founded it.  Sweetly it reposes in the
55 
VASSAR COLLEGE
most delicious climate, and on the borders of a b-)ay that has
no peer in extent and beauty. It has a stirring history since
Virgil studied there and was buried in its suburbs;  for the
Emperors Adrian and Constantine made it their occasional
residence; and Belisarius sacked it; and emperors of Germany
and of Spain trod its streets as its masters by the fortunes
of war; and earthquakes and its restless neighbor Vesuvius
have rent and scarred it.  How marvelous its neighborhood, where Pompeii and Herculaneum were for centuries
hidden from the knowledge of mcan by the ashes that fell
and the lava that flowed from lofty Vesuvius, before the
wondering  eyes of Pliny.   That volcano was moderately
active when our travelers were there, and climbed its
black slopes.  Before the writer is a piece of lava which
Mr. Vassar drew from the fiery stream with a rude staff,
and in it embedded an Italian copper coin.
When Naples and its near and remote environs had been
explored, the travelers went to the Neapolitan island of
Capri-delightful Capri-where Augustus sought health, and
Tiberius, with his dozen villas and convivial friends, passed the
evening of his days. They also went to Ischia, and enjoyed
the luxury of the Sulphur Springs of Cassamneccia, and the
wines made from the delicious grapes of the island. Then
they voyaged back to Genoa, and journeyed westward along
the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, through Nice and Toulon
to Marseilles, which Phoenician navigators founded almost
as early as the beginning of Rome. There they remained a
week, and then went northward to Lyons, on the Rhone, the
second city in France in population and commercial imnportance.  History has much to say about it. It was the capital
of Celtic Gaul before the Christian era; kings of Burgundy
dwelt there; and within its borders three Roman emperors
o- 6 
AND ITS FOUNDEFR.
were  born.   The  fame of its  silk mianufactories is unli versal:  and among its looms and other industrial imiplements of the great city our travelers spent a week.
From Lyons they went up  to Geneva, in Switzerland,
the "nursery of heresy," as Charles the Ninth  called it,
where Rousseau the free-thinker was born, and has been
honored with a statue; and where Calvin thundered his
anathemas alike against free-thinkers, the Papal hierarchy,
and Servetus the Unitarian. They einjoyed the invigorating
air and ennobling scenery in that delightful region, and
wondered how, in such an atmosphere, Calvin could have
consented  to  the slaughter of Servetus  for "blasphemy
and heresy," or founded the famous school of  terrifyiiing
theologians.   Calvin  said,  "Time is, for man, the  antechamber of hell or heaven; mark it well."  From Geneva
where he uttered the thought, a hundred thousand timemarkers are sent out to the world every year in the form
of exq(uisitely wrought watches, that men may obey the
solemn injunction of the great Reformer.
Still northward our travelers journeyed when they left
Geneva, and again crossing the border into France, they
made their way to Chalons, famous as the place where the
bulls of excommunication,  hurled  by the Popes  against
Henry the Fourth of France, were publicly burnt.  Thence
they traveled by diligence to Paris, which some sagacious
Englishman has declared  to be the American's ideal of
heaven.  There they remained about three weeks, seeing
all that was most remarkable, and hearing all that  was
most delightful.   Then  they traveled by post to Havre,
crossed the channel to Dover, and at near midwinter found
themselves again iiin London.  Although  not  a third  of
the period allotted fto] their absence had expired, arrange
8
57 
VASSAR COLLEGE
ments  were now  made for a speedy return to  America.
Mrs. Vassar, who was very domestic in her tastes and
habits, was yearning for the quiet  and rest of her own
homne, for she was thoroughly weary of travel, and satiated
by  sight-seeing.  So, after tarrying about three weeks in
London, industriously seeking and obtaining knowledge of
much that is profitable to be known, they went to Liverpool and  embarked  for New York,  where they  arrived
late in February.
During his travels abroad, Mr. Vassar had talked
much about the disposition of a large part of his fortune
in a way that should best promote the general welfare
of society, especially the community in which he had lived
for more than half a century.  HIe and his companions
had frequent discussions as to the best method of accomplishing the desired result.   An  asylum for the afflicted;
a school for the free academic education of the worthy
poor; and an institution devoted exclusively to the
education of girls, were objects which then and at different
times afterward presented themselves for his consideration.
The founding of a hospital after the plan of Guy's was a
favorite desire of his heart, but circumstances caused
another object not less important to engage his attention,
and, for a time, to weaken his determination to establish
in Poughkeepsie an asylum for the sick and  infirm.   A
daughter of his sister Maria, Miss Lydia Booth, had for
some years held a prominent place among the thorough
educators of girls in the village, and her school was always
filled with the children of the best known  citizens.  Her
apartments  became  too  limited  for herself  and  pupils,
and  Mr. Vassar  purchased  foir her use a  dwellillg  on
Garden Street, on the northern verge of the town.  It was
58 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
quite a spacious building, with ample grounds around it.
It had once belonged to one of the Livingston famlily,
and its roof had acquired a little local fame as the shelter
of the exiled Bourbon of the Orleans line, Louis Philippe,
afterward king of France, who was accompanied by Prince
Talleyrand, the peerless diplomat, and political Vicar of
Bray.  It was situated upon an elevated knoll, overlook img much of the village and the surrounding country; and
there M-iss Booth established the Cottc(ge Htil Seminay,
which is now,  with  the same  title, the more  extensive
Church school for young women, of which the Rev. George
T. Rider is Rector and proprietor.
Mr. Vassar took a lively interest in his niece's seminary.  He visited it frequently, and listened with satisfaction
to Miss Booth's suggestions, that he might be a substantial
benefactor by appropriating a part of his wealth for the
founding of an institution for the education of her sex,
which should be of a higher order than any then existing.
The suggestion made a deep impression on his mind, and
lwhen, a few years afterward, it was again presented to him
for consideration by another, supported by cogent reasons,
his judgment readily yielded, and a most salutary result
followed.
It was several years after  Mr. Vassar's return  fi-om
Europe before he decided upon the object of his intended
benevolent action.  Business again occupied much  of his
thoughts and time, and the revolving wheels of his daily
life were soon running in their accustomed ruts of routine.
Matters of public concern to the community of which lihe
was a part, claimed his attention and active co-operation.
He was called to the presidency of the Board of Trustees
of the village; and at length, when it was determined by
59 
VASSAR COLLEG E
some of the citizens to establish a public cemetery near
the town,  Mr. Vassar was one of the most zealous promoters of the enterprise.   He was chairman of a committee  appointed  at a  public  meeting  to  select  suitable
grounds for that purpose.   Many places were examined,
and  the Committee  finally reported  in  favor  of a picturesquie portion of a farm, of about fifty acres in extent,
lying three-fourths of a mile south friom the Court-House.
Much of it was in a state of natural rudeness. Wooded
knolls arose above tangled hollows. Springs gushed out
from oozy little hill-sides, and formed rivulets that,
"Wanton and wild, lthrough many a greeiin ravine
Beneath the forest flowed."
A  quaint old farm-house stood near a fine spring, and
close by it was a Dutch barn.  The aspect of these was
consonant with the rude surroundings; and to utilitarians,
who measure value by the scale of pecuniary profit, the
domain was an unattractive, idle wild   But the Committee
saw in that topographical rudeness the substantial elements out of which a most beautiful landscape might be
fashioned by the hand of Taste a place for the repose of
mortality that might so charm the senses of the living
that the aspect of the Angel of Death would not disturb
the soul of the contemplative Christian within its borders,
but lead him to feel, with Young, that
"Death is the crown of life.
Were deatl denied, poor mani would live in vain.
Death wounds to cure: we fall; we rise; we reign!
Spring from our fetters; fasten in the skies;
Where blooming Eden withers in our sight.
Death gives us more than was in Eden lost.
This King of Terrors is the Prince of Peace"
60 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
The   Commtittee  urgedc  the  citizens  to purchase   the
groullnds  thley  had  selected.   13ut  there  was  hesitation.
There  was delay ill thle organizatioli  of a Celiietery  Associationi.    Other parties  were  J)argainiInig  for the  grloull(l.
It might be sold, all(i the only spot that tlheii seeme(d to
be  a  suitalble oile for a  cemeteery  wvouldl b)e lost to  tlhe
citizens.  To  secure it for that purp)ose, Ir. TVassar, acting
u-poni the iimptulses of his owvi ju dgmient, a(nd at thle solicitation  of his  associates  (Janiies  Bowne  and   Eg4 ert B.
Killey), purchased  the property  for  thle  sunI  of  eight
thousand  dollars.  He  held it for several monlths, waiting
for thle  citizens to  decide  whether it shiould  )e used  for
a cemetery.   He  offered to sell it for that purp)ose  at the
price he had paid for it, aind to take shares in the stock
of the proposed association to the amount  of one thousand
dollars.
SPRINGSIDE IN 1851.
In the mnean time, Mr. Vassar had commenced  improvemerits of the property in a manner suitable for a cemetery
or the pleasure-grounids of a private residencee. Because
of the numerous fountainls that were bubbling  up  here
and there, he named the place SPPRINGSIDE.  The late A. J.
61 
VASSAR COLLEGE
-  -       ~
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LL
j   i~~j; M ~ A ~,                         0Q       3
We  -I
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ACADEM Y                   o    STT,'
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62
l I
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.,i
I
I  
AND ITS FOUNDER.
D)owning, the  eminent  rural architect  and landscape-gar dener, was called to explore  it, suggest a plan of avenues
for walks and drives, and a design for a portal and
porter's lodge.  William C. J        ones, an  Engineer of the Hud son River Railroad Company, made  a correct topograph ical  uap of it for Mr. Vassar.   Laborers were employed
in the ruder task of preparin        g  t he grounds for the more
skillful                  workmen  who,  in time,  wrought  out that beau tiful creation of Nature and Art, the Springside of to-day.
The   Cemeterly  Association   was   formed,  but  other
grounds, not far distant, lying on the bank of the Hludson
River, were purchased for its use, and  Mr. Vassar  determifned to make Springside a place of delight for himself,
his friends, and his fellow-citizens.   From  the designs of
Mr. Downing, a porter's lodge, a cottage,  barn, carriagehouse, ice-house and dairy-rooin, granary, an aviary for
wild and  domestic fo-wls, an apiary, a spacious  conservatory and neat gardener's cottage, and  a log cablin on the
more prosaic portions of the domain, where meadows  and
fields of grain may be seen, were erected.  The primitive
forest-trees on the knolls were left to grow  on, untouched;
the hollows and ravines were transformed into  beautiful
narrow paths  or broad  road-ways;  a  deer-park was  laid
out and peopled with tenants from the woods; jets'eat
and little hollows filled with sparkling waters were
formed; and in the course of years more than one hundred
thousand dollars were added to the first cost of the then
almost profitless acres. Visitors agree that those acres,
beautified and cultivated, are not surpassed by any spot
in our country, of equal area, in variety of surface, pleasant
views and vistas, near and remote, and picturesq(ue effects
everywhere.
63 
VASSAR COLLEGE
Let us go in and look at the pictures firom every point
of vision. Suppose it to be a bright day in blossoming
May, or leafy June, or when the ripening warmth of the
months of the Lion or the Virgin prevails, or one of the
delicious Ember-days, before the herald hoar-frosts have
announced the near approach of Winter.    Suppose it to
be at the "Artists' hour" of the day, when every object
casts a long shadow in the level rays of the declining sun,
and the forms and lines of nature- appear most distinct
and beautiful.  And let us take with us the topographical
map on page 62, whose reference figures are indices
to the  names and places of objects to be seen within
the donmain.
We are now on a p)ublic avenue leading south fi'om
the city, and on the summit of the hill that overlooks the
outward portions of Springside.   On our right, nestled at
the foot of the sunny slope of that hill, is "Woodside,"?
the residence of G. C. Burnap, with its fine stone malision,
and fruitful vineyard, and  elegant  lawn of richest  and
softest verdure; and a little beyond are the meadows and
groves of a portion of Linlithgow, the estate of the late
Colonel Henry A. Livingston.   On our left and opposite
is a grassy bank supported by a cut-stone wall, fringed
along  its top  with  a trimmed  hedge  of  Arb)or Vito
(fT/Ija occi&denta7is), or Flat Cedar  shrub)s.  These  mark
the line of Springside along the public highway.  Twenty
nmiles before us we see the blue lines of the Hudson
Highlands and the Fish Kil Mountains, with a rich faring
country in the fore and middle grounds;  and  a little to
the right we  have  glimpses of the river, and  the picturesque country on its western borders.    Nearer rise the
rugged crags of Mine Point, covered with the dark spruce,
64 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
the lighter cedar, and deciduous trees of great variety, at
the                   foot of         which Rob ert Juet, the journalist of some of
Hudson's   voyages, says the            navigator landed, and  communled  by  signs with  the  awved  Indians.   And  nearer
still are seen the grounds, in sweet repose, and the monumnents and shrubbery, of the Rural Cemetery
ENTRANCE TO SPRINGSIDE.
We are now at the foot of the hill, and here  is the
south entrance to Springside (1), with the  Porter's Lodge
on the right.   Howv pleasant is this broad, gravelly road,
leading to the right into the most welcome shades!   Let
us turn from  it for a few minutes  and follow this little
path to the left, up to the head of the gourd-shaped lake
65 
VASSAR  COLLEGE
let near the  Lodge, in  the  mniddle of which  you see, embowered  in  evergreens, the  breedilig-house of the waterfowl that inhal)it it.  This is a cool retreat at the foot of
Maple Hiill (2), fromnt which  we may observe  the visitors
that  ride  or  stroll  in  at this hour,  from  the  highway.
What a delicious T)reeze!
"' All the green herbs
Are stirring in its breath; a thousand flowers,
By the roadsides and borders of the brook,
Nod gayly to each other; glossy leaves
Are twinkling in the sun, as if the dew
Were on them  yet; and silver waters break
Into small waves, and sparkle as it comes."
Let us go out again into the broad  South  Avenue.
If we  keep)  continually  to  the  right,  we  shall pass
every  spot  and  object  of interest, and  return without
difficulty to our  place of departure. On  our right, as
we leave the foot of MIaple Hill, a conical knoll, covered
mostly with  sugar-trees  intermingled with  tihe  chestnut, 
beech, and  a  few  oaks, is the  Deer-l)aik  (3), through
which  runs a  clear brook  fringed with long grass and
wild flowers.   It is, as you see, partly a little savanna,
with  a  solitary Norway  spruce  tree in  its  center.   If
we follow this brook,  we shall  soon reach Stock RIoost
(6), a rough  mass  of slate-rock  twenty  or  thirty  feet
in  height,  with  a  dip  of  forty-five  degrees,  covered
chiefly with  oaks, and  crownved  by  a single  cedar tree.
This  path that  leads around  its  base  diverges here  to
the right and crosses the brook, over a rustic bridge
at  the  head  of  a  pebbly  dLuck-poind,  to  an  equally
rustic cabin roofed with pantiles. This forms a covering
for the  deer, in  inclement weather,  which  are kept  in
66 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
the wire-girt close a(djoilliing.   The  caln)i  is overshadowe(l
by  a large tree, ali(l forms  a            p)itures(ue  featiure  in  the
lan4d4scape.
We  will  retuirni   to  Pooek  PRoost, cross  the  savanna,
ma(de  pleasant  l)y  the  sweet  ()(i(or  of the  mowii  grass,
anlld  re-eter  Souith  Avenutie  at its jutictioit wvith  Locust
(}rove  Drive  al(l  North  Aveiote.    Here is a  I)eauLtiful
I ittle ponid, reflecting the deep b)uie of the sky a)ove, and(l
glovwing with gold fishles.   Look  uLp  to  the  left among
the  trunks  and(  braniches  of  tall  trees  al(nd the  uIt&)e
mo(lest evergreen shrubls, andl see, oi the summiiit of this
high  knoll, how weird appear  those huge  Luprlight  stoies,
standing here like palisades, andll(  there like solitary seientinels guar(illng somie mysterious spot.  This is called Stonehenge  (4),  )ecause of its suggestiveness of those  strange
remains of  the Drui(ds  foui(l at  a  place  of  that name
in En,,land.  These  hints serve  to  make Tus  speculate  a
little onl that ancient priesthood that came firom the far
East, and hel(  supreme  sway over the minds of millions
of the  Pagan worl(d.   Who  knows, fiiend,  whether they
were  not  of  the  Zoroastrian  Magi    the "Wise  men  of
the  East'- who  went wondering  and(   adoring  to  the
Manger in Bethlehem  in which  lay the infant Iledeemer?
These Drui(s  (liscoursed of the hi(ldden nature of things;
of the extent of the Universe;  of the f(ormns and(l  motions
of the stars; of the virtues of plants, and of the essence,
power,  an(d mod(e  of  action  of  the gods.   Under huge
oaks  they  b-)uilt  their  colossal  altars,  an(l )I-t    come,
fiend, if we linger here  the  sut  will leave  us  in darkliess as profoun(d as that of the theology of the Druids;
so let us   ass  on from  this  tiny  " Stonehenige" and see
what is here on the right of the Avenue. It is a gentler
67 
VAS.SAR COLLEGE
knoll, covered with the forest trees; and between it and
Rock Roost is a wild,  shaded hollow  (5), called  Group
Gap.   A   path  through  it will  lead  us  back  to  the
brook, so  we will pass  on  along  the  Avenue  to the
Cottage, a part of which appears al)ove the tops of the
little trees that surround it.
THE COTTAGE.
But what is this on our right? It is a charming
grassy hollow,  only  a  little  below  the  level of  the
Avenue, open to the sun, and surrounding another shady
knoll, thickly covered with deciduous and evergreen trees,
with groups of loose stones, over which  vines creep and
blossom.  This open girt of meadow  (7) is called Little
Belt.
Here  is a gate  at the  entrance  to a  shladed  lane
that leads up to the rear of the Cottage in which Mr.
Vassar  has  resided' several  summers.   How  thick  the
evergreens  are,  and  how  odorous  their  out-breathings!
68 
AND ITS FOUNDEPi.
On  each  stone  gate-post  sits a greyhound(l  of irl,? liarimless in  aspect  and  natuie': Jlit a little  iay l- J) thle  patli
is a bl)ack-anid-tan sentinel,  givii g most veliemi-ent Avarn is
to the inmates of the castle of the a)pproach  of strangers.
Let him  bark to his  heart's content.  We  lave  ito (-esire
to go up that private way; so   e  will p)ass al(ong Cottag(e
Avemue  (9) to  the  grouncds  in fiont.  Listen  a miomient
to  the  pleasant  voices  on  the  left.   They  come  fitoin
the sunmmit of this shade(d little hill,  covered  wvith large
trees,  hemflock   salplings,  and   gi-ouls  of  stones,  among,
which are  rustic seats.  This  is Knitting  i-Knoll (S), close
by  the  Cottage, wvhei eoni  it is ])leasant  to  sit ani (lhat
COTTAGE AYvELNUE GATE.
at this delighttifl hour, wvhile  thle  busy fingers  make  the
worsted  meshes griow into bT)eauiteous forms an(i tints.
The  Cottage  Avenue  h,gate  is  like  the heait  of  tlhe
owner- wide  ol)en  w-ithl  welcome  to  all  fi'iend(s.   The
surnounntings  of  its  stone  posts  appeai-  a  little  1more
69 
VASSAR COLLEGE
formidable than  those of  tlie other  gate.  On  one is  a
wild b(oar couchant, remuin(linig  us  of fierceness; on  the
other a  fox  ill similar  attit(le,-the accepte(l  tokeit of
cunning.  These  are the antitheses of thle character of the
Master of Springsid(le.
We  will  not visit  the  cottage  yet, for  wve  have  a
long way  to travel })efore  we  muay rest;  so  let us turn
a little b)ack  and follow thie iaili  Avenue to that  arclway yonder, that connects a range  of edifices on opp)osite
sides of the road. Hiere w-e are in the midst of buildings
of pleasing p)atterns.  On  ()ite  hand  are the coach-house
(1o), the farll stables and( o()ffice  (2(i), the  ice-house andl(
dlairy-rooms, and fancy b)ird-houses ()8) with glass fionts;
and  on  the other  side  are  the  granary  (3;) and  the
aviary for wild fowls (27), covered with an open( ceiling
of wire to  prevent  the  escaple  of  the  Mir is.  Here, at
one  time,  miight  have  b)een  found  a  most  interesting
chapter in  the histoi  of animated nature.  IHere flashe(l
a golden  )pheasant  in the siLll; there a white heron  pelformed  amusing  gambols; y)onder, b)eautiful  gazelles  were
skipping; wvood-ducks were sporting in tiny lakes; a great
variety of hares  and rabbits were  lurro-winig;   peacocks
were  strutting in the pride  of their iridescent  )lumlage;
a white  cockatoo  was  talking  egotistically of itself  as
"Pretty  Poll;"  a  social-)le  Mlexicaiin p)heasant,  with eyes
charmed  b)y glittering  things, follow-ed  you everywhere;
and  the whole  air was  vocal with  the  love-songs of  a
hundred  doves  of  the  rarest  kind.  These  have  given
place to  those  sob)er  house-keepers,  the  domestic  fowl,
b)ut  of  the  most  aristocratic  families, firom  the  plump
Bantamo of Java to the tall gawky of Shanghai.
Leaving this group of buildings, we enter Dale Ave
70 
AND ITS FOUJNDER.
iiue (29), with  Meadow  (GiIt (5)) (1) our  right, which is
irrigated by the  samie brook that flows through  thle  Deei park.   Across it ale lying the long shadows of trees that
(leepen the tints of green covei-ng its J)()so1i.  O0i  the left,
at the p)arting of  the ways, that  tall  laech  stanuds  like  a
sentinel,  its  grace  foirinig  a   )()sitive   c()ntlrast  to  tlhe
covering of that  hligli  rcky  hill, w-ithi its i,,,couth  coiti m-iniglilig of  e]lL:  alid  lllal)le, hicekory  ail(l  J)irch, ehestittt
and  ashl  trees, amM  tangled  shlrti)s, and  interlacing vines
and  1)bra' i)les-a rude  spot, wAhichI  the ownei' has  ai))ro priately ealle(d  Scraggy  Knoll (("I1).   Ahl()lg  the base of
this wild hill,  ]:-ld  all around to the p)laiin tfarI-l)arln and
o)ut-l)uild(ings  on  the  eastern  verge  of  Mleadowa  (Tirt, is
Chestnut  Drive (:3'7), a roadway  lined (o)  the  right with
a  row of the most vigo(orous  of those oriental trees  known
as the h];pocastanumTi, or horse-chestnnut.
At  the  barn  we will pass  through  a gate, (alnd take
the winding road  ul) to the summiiiit of the lofty eminence
onl our right, to Hill (GTirt (4(1').   Now  look  around  y)oli
all  of  Sp-ringside  is  at  youir  feet,  aind  the  view  opens
broadly  ill  every  directioi.   A   few  r'esidences  in   the
subl)urbs of the city are seen here; there yolu have  glimin)ses
of the iHudson, and  the white  sails upl)on  its  )oso()n;  and
yonder  (how  p)nr -)le  they  are!)  rise  the Fish  Kil  an(i
Canterbury Mo-untains, on  whose  smtinits the  T)eacon-fires
of patriots blazed in the time  of the old War  fi)r Indepeendence.
The  sunl  is mi-uch  neai'er  the  horizon  tlhaii when  we
started, and  we  must  p)ass onl: let us go  down niear the
bairn, a(nd  out  into  D)ale  Avenue,  by  these  clump)s of
cedars and chestnuts on the left of South Pass  T)rive (38)
and  that  magnificent  hemlock  that  stands  o(  the  stee1
71 
amt})ong gIen tle hills this is!  It is watere(l  1),y  thle same
br ooT that  we have  met  several  tiIes  ill  oU1' rame.
Y)ondler, to the  iight, is ant open   ok  gl'0ve, shading  the
smioot(h-shaven  sward  on the sh1(e.  Jliee, olL the left, is
a wild regiont called4 Woo(dy  G1en  (43)j) i' whiclh art has
refiained( from interi4ring with nature.   Every  thing is left
as the  owvner founc  it. Am()ong the  trees  thlat shoot up
fi'om  a thick unfder1growth  of shrubs, witch1-azel, ali(d low
creepinyg vinles, in which wild  raMl):its fin(l hoes, squi~rrels
ab)ounld'; and(i there the dlumni of the partri(lge an(d the (uail's
call for " Bob) White" may be heard.  It forms a run(e  coI1trast to Glen Vale, and   a p)icturesqiue lackgroun(l for Uncle
Totm1's Cabin (44), picturecl on the niap of Si)ringsid1e
that  you  carry  in  yonr halnd.   It is  a comfiortajble log
house: covered1 with tiles, in which live the family of  the
teamtster of  the  domain.   It stands  at  the  e(ige of the
wood;  an(d   near  it  a  private  farm-roa(d  (46)  passes
through Mr Vassar's outer grounds to the public highway,
south-eastward1 of the city
FIere we will turn back  an(d retrace  our steps  as far
as  Scraggyr Knoll.   As  we  leave AWoodTy  Glen  and  the
Perch  Pond(, the  gentle elinences o  on         r' right  are  the
Ecen Hills (34), without trees or shrubs, and(  enlivened  by 
to  J)()J)J  tmiiit  t)]1 e () ))  )n  a   11111(   of )()t
Vuw F1(f POPLAR SUMMIT DRIVE.
S}1 aJtitft(Jc as PI1)Yc ilill. J)() y()lt  t11()s tall
ail4[ sliicli L11IJ)a14yt 1)()1)Jars, ()()tii1 ill) ()14 olli left
a1fl()ft the 1)illeS aJi([ flat ee4a]s jtit a})()Ye tfie orc4iard,
ait(l witli fliem f()riJi a 1 )ealltifill tliickt oil tlie sl()l)e?
rfbese suggeste4 the iiaiiie fol tliis (;14Ve.  little below
fiS we see the heavy wall of the Flower aii(i Kitcheli Garden
that bacs the col4 ral)ery thcrc; ('u1(1 a little lower
10 
VASSAR COLLEGE
still is the groul) of b-)uildings collnnecte(d with the archway
already mentione(d.   How pleasing is this view also, overlooking  as it does  much  of  Si)ringsi(le, an(d some  fine
estates south of it, and terminating in the  range of maountaills twenty  miles (listant, of w+ich Beaconl Hill is the
most lofty.
We  will pass down  b)y this evergreen  hedgerow, and(
then between the  orcliard  and(  the Flower  and Kitchen
Garden to Lack Lawn Knoll (30()), near the Carriage-house.
It is  a pretty spot, coveired with grass and shaded by
larches and pines.  The curious little b-)uil(ding onl the right,
at the corner of the  garden, is the Apiary, wTl(ose valne,
an  enormuous golden  honey-bee swinging over  a hive,  denotes its use.   We will pass around this  to the cottage.
Ilow  pleasant  is this carriage-way, of oval forme, in front
of the house.  It is hemmed ini b-)y lofty ever-green trees,
and  its  margin  is  ornamented  with  a series  of  comllic
statuettes, exquisitely wrought  from  light  gray  stone, to
illustrate phases of character in social  life in Italy, where
they  were  made.   At  the  pretty  Cottage  (11) we  are
sure of a cordial welcome.
Not  at holie?  Allthioughi it is near the close of this
long afternoon, the Founder of Vassar College,  wlio  has
been rewarded for his fidelity in his stewardship of w\ealthl
by  length  of  days  and  the  fall  consulmmation of  his
designs and wishes, has not yet returned from  his accustomed visit to the stately memorial of his beneficence, in
the work  of w\hich his heart  is so  warmily sympathetic.
So we will pass on to the Grapery and Greenhouse grounds
(22), and the Gardenrer's cottage  (23), either by Cottage
Avenue  around  Stoneheige, or 1by this  beautiful  winding path to the right, so closely fiinged on one side with
74 
ANDL) ITS FOUNDER.
a dark hemlock hedge, and on the other by  pine, larch,
and cedar trees.
We will follow the path.  How pleasantly the grounds
open before us on that gentle slope on which  the Con
servatory  stands with its cry.
tal roofs~-, covering in Winter
clusters ot luscious grap~es,irman-y
rare exotics, and domestic flow- 
ering  shrubs  and  plants  in.
great  abundance.   Now, these            OSERVATORY ANT) GAENES
are all out upon the grounds
around,  beautifying  a hundred  places, and  loading  this
evening air       with fragrance.   Delicately  Barry  Cornwall
says
"Like sweet thoughts that come
Winged firom the maiden fancy, and fly off
In music to the skies, and there are lost,
These ever-steamning odors seek the sun,
And fade in the light he scatters."
Here is a narrow lane with a wall of neatly trimmed
75 
VA S  AR COLLTFGEF
ce(lar shruil)s oni each side, higher tlian our hea(ds.   Let us
see where and( to what surprise it will lea(T uis. Have  the
almllon(d-eyed  Celestials  b)een  here?   Have  the (degellerate
disciples of Coifuciutis  )eein plant,iig a little  see(i of i)aganlisli il
Sprin-gsigde,   This little PQagod)a
::; ~,]~~ ~~ 1(24)  imakes lls thlinkl of the far
Orient, where  in seclud(ed places
__   I        like this, little templles are sacred
shrines.  Bnt where  is the idol?
As k   the lovers who hav e strolled
through  these  beantiful grounds
and(  reste(d  b)eneath  thlis  little
roof.  They  have seen and  wor         THE PAGODA.
shiped  it  here in huiman  form
and substance, though it may b-)e invisibl)le to us.
Still farther  on  this secluded  pathway  leads us.   It
wind(s  gently  upward,  and  leaves  us  among  the rlde
rocks  of Stonehenge.   Here, on this inmense  benchl  of
graywacke, we  may rest a  few  muinites, for  the  suni yet
lingers  abl)ove  the horizon,  and  our p)leasant  rambl)e  is
nearly ended.  So-unds  of mirth  come  ut) fipom  the  Deerp)arlk below, where a bevy of gias are gathering, wild  flowers.  Did  Francis Sachetti  have  a scene  like  tl-is for hi,s
inspirations when he said in rhyime
' Walking and musing in a wood, I saw
Some ladies gathering flowers-now this, now  t'other,And crying in delight to one another,
Look here, look ]icre! w-lat's this? a fleuir-.e-lis,
Oh I! get some violets there;No, no,-so-)e roses farthler onward there
Ilow  )eantifil tl-ey are!
Oh  me! those thorns do prick so —only see!
Not tl-at the otber-reech it mie.
76, 
AND ITS FOUT\DFR.
ITallo, Ilallo! what is it lea,iping so?
A- grasshopper! a grasshopper!'"
This ruide wood-path leads  us down  to the little pond
already mnentioned, where the gold fishes live, and we find
a  beautiful  open  hollow before us, called Center Circle
(21), around( which lpasses a fine avenue.  From  this road
the eye is continually charnmed( by pleasant surprises.  The
Circle is henmmed in J)y rows and groups of evergreen and(
decid(luous trees, and ablove these tower loftily a large oak
and two huge black-walnut trees.   Yonder is seen'a heap
of stones almost hidden  b)y running roses;  and all about
us are sweet flowering shrubs.   In the  center is a jet of
water, falling into two  basins and  a pool, one above the
other, in sparkling cascades.  Around these are vases fille(l
with flowers; and between  them  and  the road is a lawn
covered Mwith soft grass.
On  completing the Circle, we  come  to  the Villa Site
(1({), and Lawn  Terrace (17), on the right.  Let us climbi
this bank of greensward.   How pretty is this semicircular
lawn, ten feet above the carriage-way,  and  fringed with
young p)ine and spruce trees.  Twenty or thirty feet higher
is the Villa Site, on which Mr. Vassar contemplated build -
ing a residence for himself and family.  It is dotted withl
ancient alpple-trees, and  commands  some  p)leasant distant
views of the river, and the country on its borders, and of
Springside near. From this hill we may go down a steep,
rough  bank, through  a grove of locusts,  to Walnut  Rlow
(14), where  another beautiful  lawn  lies  b)asking in the
evening sun, on the outer b)order of the domain.
Turn now  a little to the left, l)y these ancient  cherrytrees, and  see how  grandly this giant sycamnore  one of
the primitive sons of the forest-rises ab)ove the surround 
VASSAR COLIiLEGE
ing  trees, and  spreads  its sheltering  b)ranches over  the
spring at its foot.  In this overshadowing it is assisted by
an ancient willow, on the other sid(e of the spring that
bubbles up in copious measure beneath that arch  of masonry, on the top of which reposes the iron image of a
watch-clog.   Delicious  is the draught of water from its
cool reservoir; and we turn away refreslhed as we follow
Willow Spring Walk (15 ) out to Locust Grove Drive
(18), that comes up between the EIver-greeI1  Parks (19-20).
WILLOW SPRING.
This walk is shaded by the Salix _Baby7onica, or Weeping
Willow, and leads out by a flower-vase to the head of Jet
Vale Path (13), by which  we will go down to one of the
most secluded and beautiful places in Spriigside.  Hiere,
between the Ever-green Parks and Maple Hill, the water
78 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
that fl(ows down from  Willowv  Sprilg  leaps   up from  the
mouth  of aft im-age  of  a  flutterinlg  swali,  alcid, falling  ill
drops and spray, forms  a  slparklling pool  arounlldl  it.  HIow
truly  chlarming  is  this cool  place  at  the  eveninig hour!
Every thiinZ aroundL us is in shla(low, ail(id the exhlialations of
JET VALE I'OU\TAIN.
flowers burdeil  the air -vitlh fracr, aice.   Thliougtil  tlhe initerlacing  branches  where  the goldcen  sulili,ght is playing, vwe
have glimipses of the Sriiner-lioutse  (12) oni the little Jill
by  the  highiway  aroiund  -whicli  Summit  Aveiue  passes,
79 
VASSAR C(,OLLE(GE
and this is all we miay see of tlhe world without, excepting
the sky above us and the illuminiated tops of distant trees.
There is here a repose and an asp)ect that may remind( us
of the poet's description of the place
"Where our primneval'Paients found sweet rest."
Miltoit says,
";*    * * *  It was  a )lace
Chosen by thle Sovereign  Plattei, Mwei  lie fi'amied
All things to man's delightful use: tle roof
Of  thickest covert was  inwo;ven sl4ade,
Laurel and  myrtle, and(  wliat liiglier gre\V
Of firm,rnd fragrant leaf; on eit-ier side
Acantlhus, and( ea,cl  odorous bushly  slirul)
Fenced up) the verdant wall; each beaulteous flower,
Iris all lues, roses, and jessamine,
Reared liiglh witli fiolirislied lheads betweel, a(lld wrotliIlt
Mosaic; underi foot tl-he violet,
Crocus,  mnd hyacinthl, witlh  ricli inlay
BIroidered( the ground, more colored tlia.i witli stoile
Of costliest emb)leiu."
This little patl  to thle left will lead us down to tli(e
PIorter's  Lod(e,  and this  one  up) to the  Sutnmer-house,
wvhere we may watch thle sun as it goes down b)ehind the
westerni hills.  Is it a famiiliar sight?  Very  wvell;  then
we will walk along this winding path to  Southl  Avenue
and  the portal, and go out into the highlway homewar(d
)ounllld, with the treasures of the delightful experience of  t
suImmer evening ramble in SPRIlNGSIDE.
During the years while  cares of b-)usiness, and public
duties, and  the  delights of  Springside, as  it developed
into greater perfection, were  occup)ying  much of Mlr. Vassar's thoughts ancd  time, hle had  not been ulnmindful of
his  generous  resolutiolns  concernling the  disposition of a
large  portion of his fbrtune. His  )proi)ject  of  benevolent
80 
AND ITS FOUNDE1I.
action, though niot yet possessing  (definite shape, remaiiied
a fixed p)urpose, and wtas the  siiublject of frequent coniversation with his most illtimate friendcls, for he had determinied
to  execute  it during his lifetime.  At  lenigth his  iniece,
who had  planted aud  fostered  ill his iuind the  idea of
tfouding a model School for younig womien, died suddenly.
Cottage  Hill Seminary was closed;  atd for a while  thle
subject of the education of wo'iian was less ill Mllr. Vassar's
thoughts as a p)ractical matter than  the foui'diing of a bos})ital.  The latter object commuianded( his most serious atteittioi, and  he  had  taken  important steps  preliiminiary  to
the establishmeut, in Poughkeepsie, of ain  extensive asylum
for the comfort and cure of the  sick, wvhen  circumstances
turned  the tide  of  his  thoughts  and  desires  again  in
a  strong curlent toward the  great work proposed  })y his
niec.
Ill the Spring of 10S5, Cottage Hill Seciuiary was i)urchased aud reopened I)by  Professo   MA. P. Jewvett, vwho had
)eeCII for several yealrs  at the head of a large school  foi
youlng wxoillIell in Alalbamia, knowit  as the  "Judson Femiale
Institute."   Ie uLnited himself ill fellowship) with the coilgi-egation  of the  Central Bap)tist  Church, of  which  Ali-.
Vassar was all active memberi-)e, and betweei  theili the itiost
fitiendly  aiid  confidential  i-elations  w-ere  sooli  tfolied.
Wheii the  topic that  occuj)ied( so much  of  aMr. Vassar's
thoughts becamle a subject of conlversation between  them,
D1-. Jewett  suggested  that he  miight  becomie  a grleater
I)beiefactor to his race l-)y erecting and endowing a college
tfolr   oung woimen —au  institution  that should 1)e to theiiex  vwhat  Yale  an(l Hai\val.d  aie  to o1r  ows1 thlan  )by
ally othei act.   Herie  was  the  llo},le i(lea (of Miss  Booth
all)lified.  rThe project  at oi)cc(      m C(lllll-llld(le] itself to Mri.
11
81 
VASSAR COLLEGE
Vassar's judgment, andc  awakened a desire to  calrry it out
on a scale coimmensurate witlh ihis generous impulses.
Millions of  dollars had been spent  in founding  and
building up the numerous  colleges for young men in thle
United States, while not a single college for young women
had been  established.  The  need of such institutions was
felt by  many of the best educators  ill the country, and
had  begun  to occupy  thle serious attention of statesmen
and philanthropists.  The importance of the thoroucgh  editcation of  women in  every  delpartment of learning  is t
manifest necessity in our land, wvhose free institutions rest,
or should rest, on the solid foundations of the virtue and
intelligence of the peop)le.  Lord Broughami mad(le the wvise
and indisputable assertion, that'the character and destiny
of hulman beings  are generally fixed before the child is
ten years of age."  That  character andl destiny are almost
always miolded, in  the largest  degree, b)y the mother, foir
she is the "prop)het, i)riest, and king" of the household to
the trustingl little child, and commands its faitlh, reverence,
and obedience.  Pressing, then, is the need of her thorough
preparation  for  the triple  duty, by  the acquirement of
that  power which  comes  firom  the  most  comp)rehensive
knowledge of "things temploral  and things spiritual."
Already, in response to the  mute })ut p)otelltial appeals
of that need, the " American Womiian's Educational  Association" had been formed in the City of New York, whose
avowed  object  -was  to  secure  to  American  wvomen  a
liberal  education,  by  the  establishment  of  lpermanent
endowed  institutions  for  the  young  of  their sex  that
shiould embrace the leadingr features of colleges for young
men.   Already schools had  been  1)ut in successful operation  }-,'y that society,  The Baptist, of Massachusetts ha(d
82 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
also practically acknowledged the need, by establishing the
Ladies' Collegiate Institute,'?" at Worcester, in that State,
with  an  endowmnent of two hundred  thousand  dollars:
and  other denominations were  considering not only  the
propriety, bI)ut the necessity, of  founding  and  endowing
similar institutions.
Mr. Vassar clearly perceived that the time was auspicious  for him  to  act.  He was offered the opportunity
of leading in a cause of enlightened benevolence of the
most profound interest to  his country  and  niankild, in
which nunl-bers might follow, but none  might  go  )efore.
To him  were proffered the high privilege and the peculiar
honor of actually establishing and putting illto operation
the first  grand, permanent, endowed  college  for Young
Women ever projected, and he gladly accepted  the boon,
with a sincere desire to b)ecome  a real public benefactor.
While considerations of personal honor to be gained  by
the  act  could  not  alone  have  excited  his  anmbition
with a craving appetite for such aliment, he would have
been less or more than human if the expectation of such
honor had not been a stimulant to action; for, as Young
says
"The love of praise, howe'er concealed by art,
Reigns more or less in every lhuman heart.
The p)roud, to gain it, toils on toils endure'
The modest shun it but to make it sure."
Andi  Slpenser,  the   polished(  liiner   of   himnan  nature,
significantly  inquires
"Who would ever care to (lo brave deed,
Or strive in virtue others to excel,
If none sho)uld yield him hIis deserved meed,
Due praise, that is the spur of doing well?
For if good were not praised more than ill,
None would chloose goodness of Ihis own  firee will.'
83 
VA SS.AR  COLTLEGF
Mr.  Vassar  was  alvays ain  eminlently practical man,
and his wisdom and prudence were never more  conspicuous than in his slow and cautious approach to a conclusion upon  a  subject  of such  vast  importance  as  that
which now occupied his most anxious thoughts.  Satisfied
of that importance  in a moral, social, and political point
of view, he  brought  the whole matter to  the test of
practical business calculations; for every human enterprise
needs human sustenance, and upon that sustenance, formed
after the fashion of the laws of trade, its life depends.
A  correspondence, oral and  epistolary, was  opened  with
some of the  leading educators of  the land, and almong
them  Professor Jewett was one of his most frequent and(
confidential  advisers.   To  the  eminent  school  architect,
the late  Thomas  A.  Tefft, then residing  in Providence,
Rthode Island, Dr. Jewett submitted in writing a general
description of a building or buildings that might  accommodate four hundred pupils, with  a ftill complement of
Professors and Tutors; and from him he procured designs,
and  estimates  of cost.  These  were  submitted  to  Mr.
Vassar's rigid scrutiny, and  the result was  a determination on his part to erect and endow, during his lifetime, a  college  for  Young Women,  on  a magnificent
scale, in the most perfect manner, and upon the most
liberal   basis, in whichl neither sect nor creed should have
a controlling influence, as such. He was warnmly attached
to the Baptists by life-long associations, and a greater
number of educated men and educators whom he consulted about his projected enterprise were of that denomination; but when  it was proposed  to  have the college
placed under the general control of Baptists, Mr. Vassar's
more  catholic spirit instantly  and emphatically dissented.
84 
AND) ITS FOUND)ER.
And  in  his address to  the Trustees of  the College,  at
the organization of the Board, five years later, he expressed
his wishes on that point decidedly, in the following brief
sentence, which is here given in a fac-simile of his handwriting when he was seventy-five years of age.
eM// iei eA"-, Iv I I/  ~? e  J// c.IfIle (cec,~t f
,   cJ7 cd 0 -1   I    e (,c)d  i   /  le-r JeI   le   l(e~
J)oI(~)'ie?/ (1 Ad  ) 9   c   /r  e wy(~{, /M
Time passed on.  Mr. Vassar  wished to have his two
nephews  (Mlatthew and John Guy Vassar, who were yet
his business partners, and each, like himself, childless and
the possessor of a large fortune) associated with him in
the enterprise, that they might share with him  the delightful task and the deserved honors incident to the execution
of his beneficent design;  for,  if it should  be successful,
it would be an everlasting memorial of the Vassar name.
That earnest  desire of his heart was  not gratified; and
he proceeded to plant the seed, and reap the bountiful
harvest of blessings which springs from well-doing, without their co-operation.
This  conclusion was reached  in the Spring of 1860,
and   Mr. Vassar,  then  nearly  seventy  years  of  age,
determined to carry out his long-cherished plan at once.
DI)r. Jewett was chosen to be his chief co-worker in the
great labor.  That  he might  devote  his whole  time  to
the task, he sold the Cottage Hill Seminary property,
and relinquished the school at the close of the Slmmer
85 
VASSAR COLLEGE
terin.  An  extensive correspondence  on the sulnject of the
college,  personal  andl  bTy  writing, was  kept  u-   dnuring
the Alutunm,  and prelparations  were  made for procuring
a eliarter for tlhe projectecd College firom thle Legislature
of  the  State  of  NeAw  York.   The  elcarters of  a  large
nunmber  of institutions of learning  in  the  Utnited States,
for b)oth  sexes, were  carefully examine(l; and these lal)ors
resulted in the draft of a  )ill b)y  Mr. Swan,  who, during
all the years  of  inqu(-iry  and  discussion  of tle  subject
of Mr. Vassar's b-)eneficent lprojects, had b)een one of his
most  friendly  counselors.   It  was  a  mo(lel  of  )brevity
and  coiprchenlsiveness.   In  it  tlhe  name  of  "Vassar
Female  College"  was  given  to  thle  i)rojected institution.
That  name  was elianged  by  an  act  of  thle Legislature
on the flrst day of Febriary, 1867, at  thle re(quest of the
VASSAR COLLEGE SEAL.
Board of Trustees, b-y the omission of the word "Female."
The corporate title is now VASSAIn COLLCEGE.
Wheni the Bill was introduced in thle Legislature, and
the greatness of Mr. Vassar's l)ans was made  aplparent, the
liveliest interest. amounting to enthusiasm, was manifested.
86
I 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
Leading  men-i)ers  of  both Houses paid  elo(luent tributes
of praise to the projector, and warmly eulogized  this exhi
b)ition of a noble spirit  and  alniost princely  mnnificence.
The  reporters of  the principal  daily newspapers of the
State sent  ab )road  from  the Capitol  the  most  glowing
details of the novel and  mnagnificent  enterprise; and the
attention  of the  whole  country  was  soon directed to
Poughkeepsie and the Founnder of Vassar College.   The
act for its incorporation passed on the 18th of January,
1861,  having  been  pressed  through   both  louses  in
advance of all other bills.  It was the first or second bill
of that session of the Legislature that received the signiature of the Goverinor, Edwin D. Morgan, and becamle  a
law.
The following is a col)py of the Charter: —
AN ACT
TO INCOITPORATE VASSAR FE-EMALE COLLEGE.
Passed  January  18th,  1861.
7'lthe ]'eople of  the  State  of  3-ew  J-ork,  8'e]liesented in Sercate afid -Assw6bly,
(do  enact cas follo is:
SECTION 1. A{'tttliew Vassar, Ira Harris, WVilliaan JKelly, Janes Hlurper, Martin
B. And(lersou, Jolin Thompsoni, Edward Lathrop, Charles W. Swift, 1E. L. MTagoon,
S. M. Buekiughamint, Milo P. Jewett, Natliaan Bishop, -Aattliew Vassar, Jr., Benso1
J. Lossing,  E. G.  Robinson,  Sal,liel F. B. Morse,  S.  S.  Constant,  Jolltil Guy
Vassar, William    I lague, Rufus  B3abcoelk, Cornelius  Dubois, John  II. Raymond,
MIorgaln  L. Smiith-, Cyrus  Swan,  George  W. Sterling, George  T. Pierce, Smllith
Sllel(don, Josephl-  C. Douglhty, and  A. L. Allen,  are  lierceby  constituted  a body
corp)orate, by tlhe iname  of'"Vassar Femiale College," to be located ina D)ueliess
county,  near  the city of  Pouglkleep)sie.   lvy that  name  tlhe said corporation
slt-all have p)erpetual succession, with l)ower to fill vacancies as they mlay occur
from  timie to tithe-  n their board, to sue and be suled, to contract  ald be contracted withl, to make and use't cominlnon seal and to alter tlhe same at pleasure,
to  )iurchliase, take, and  hlol(ld, by gift, grant, or devise, subject to'I.ni  Act  relating to wvills," pIassed Ap)ril 13thl, 1860, except in  thle case  of Mattlhew Vassar,
liereiu  namied, and to disi)ose  of, ally real  tand  personal  p)roperty,  thle yearly
inlcome or revenue  of whicli shall not exceed tlhe value of forty tllousand dollars.
f. The ol)ject'iud purpose of said corporlation are llereby declared to be,
to  I)iiimote the education of young, woiueni iu literature, science, and the arts.
87 
VASSAR  COLLEGE
~. Thle college may  grant  to students under its charge diplomas or ltoiiorariy testimonials, in such  form  as it mlay designate.   It may also grant  and
confer such  honors,  degrees, and diplomas  as  are  granted by  any university,
college, or seminary of learning in the United States.
~ 4. Diplomnas  granted  by  the college  slhall entitle  the  I)ossessors to the
immunities and privileges allowed by usage or statute to the )possessos of  like
diplomas from any university, college, or seminary of learnling in thlis State.
5. The persons named in the first section of thlis act shlall be the first truslees
of the said  corporation.   The president of the college   while hlolding  office,
slhall be a member of the board of trustees.
~ 6. Nine trustees  shall be a quorum  fbor the t1ransaction of business;  but
no real estate shlall be bouglht or sold, and no president or professor of the college
shlall be  appointed or removed, except  by tl-he affirmative vote of  a majority
of all the trustees.
7. The  corporation  slall hlave  all such  powers,  al1 be  subject to  such
duties and liabilities as are applicable to colleges, and'cle speicied( or contailied
iii the second and fifth articles of the first title of  the fifteenth chapter of  the
first part of the revised statutes,  and in title third,  clhapter  eighteen of the
same  part of the revised statutes, exceplt  so  far Las the same  are inconsistent
with the provisions of this act.
a 8. Mattlhew Vassar, of Pouglikeepl)sie, is hereby autihorized aind eipl)owerei(
to give, grant, devise, and  be(llleath- to the aforesaid corporation, by  his  lalt
will  and testament. or otlherwise,  any such  portioln of  his estate  -is he ilav
choose so to give, grant, devise, or be(queath, any  existing act or statute  to the
contrary notwithstandinig.
~ 9. This aclet sl]all take effect imimedia-tely.
The twenty-eight persons chosen  -)y Mil. Vassar to constitute the "body corporate" of the  College, alnd to b)e its
first Trustees  and  his  co —workeis  iii the  enteiplrise,  were
all his personal friends.   Oine-half of them  were his fellow
townisinmen; and  it so haipl)eLed that  a niajority of themi
\vere Baptists, solite of whoIn werie leading clergyiiieii and
pl)ubic edLcatoirs of that  deinoinimation.   This was  ani aecidental result of his choice, o(ccuirriilg b)ecause  Mr'.  Vassali's
I)piicil)al associates  antionig imen  of learninig  vwele  of that
branchl of the Chistian Chulrch, and was not a sign that the
College  would  b)e, in any dLegree, sl)ecially inifuenlced  y
iieu of any particular ieligious sect.  iAnd it is just praise
of the institution  to record, at the close of its second Collec
giate y-eai, that iii tlhe  -)iactical +woikings of its systeml  of
88 
AND ITS FOUNDEI~.         89
~
M,Th~K##~~~M
~.
12 
9()            ~ASSAP COLL~~F
~  ~` #
~         i~~ (
~#~ ~~~y
~`~~~ ~~ 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
education  and  moral  and  religious  training,  the   pupils
might  never  know,  from  their  teachings   alone,  to  what
denomination  of  the  Christian  Church  the Professors  and
Tutors belong.
Imimediately  after  the  act  of  incorporation  became  a
law, Mr. Vassar, over his own signature, informed the
several persons named  in  the Charter  of  the fact,  and  of
their  appointment;  and they  were  requested  to  meet  for
the purpose of organizing a Board of Trustees, and adopt ing  measures  for  carrying  forward   the  great   enterprise.
They  assembled,  pursuant,to  public  notice, in  the  parlor
of the Gregory (now Morgan) House, in the city of Poughkeepsie, on  the  26th  of  February,  1861.   After  a prayer
by the  Reverend  Edward  Lathrop,  D. D., of  New  York
City, a Board of Trustees was organized, by the election
of  the  Honorable   William   Kelly,  Chairmnan,  and  Cyrus
Swan,   Secretary.         Wheni  this   result   was   announced,
Matthew  Vassar,  the  Founder  of  the  College, arose  and
read  to  the Trustees  the following  statement  of his views
and wishes:
"GENTLEMEN:-As my long-cheiisl'ed purpose-to apply a large portion of
my estate to some benevolent object-is now about to be accomplishle(l, it seems
propelr that I should submit to you a statement of my motives, views, and wishes.
" It having pleased God that I should have no descendants to inherit my
property, it has long been miy desire, after suitably providingr for tlhose of nmy
kindred who have claims on me, to make such a disposition of my means as
should best honor God and benefit my fellow-mnen.  At different periods I lhave
]regarded various plans with favor, but these hlave all been dismissed one after
anotlher, until the SUBJECT OF ERECTING AND ENDOWING  A COLLEGE  FOR THE
EDUCATION OF YOUNG WOMEN was presented for miy consideration.  The novelty, grandeur, and benignity of the idea arrested my attention.  The more
carefully I examined it, the ncore strongly it conmmended itself to mnay judginent and interested my feelings.
"It occurred to mie, that womanr, having received fiBom her Creator the sa.me
intellectual constitution as man, has  the same right as inan to intellectual
culture and development.
"I considered  that the MOTHERS of a country mold the character of its
citizens, determine its institutions, and shape its destiny.
19 1 
VASSAR COLLEGE
"Next to the influence of the mother, is that of the FEMALE TEACHER, who
is employed to train young children at a period  when impressions  are  most
vivid and lasting.
"It also seemed to me, that if woman  were properly educated, some new
avenues to useful and honorable employment, in entire harmony with the gentleness and modesty of her sex, might be opened to her.
"It further appeared, there is not in our country, there is not in the world,
so far as is known, a single fully endowed institution for the education of women.
"It was also in evidence that, for the last thirty years, the standard of
education for the sex has been constantly rising in the United States; and the
great, felt, pressing want has been  ample  endowments., to secure to  Femnale
Seminaries the elevated character, thie stability and permanency of our  best
Colleges.
"And  now,  gentlemen,  influenced  by these  and  similar  considerations,
after devoting miy best powers to the study of the subject for a number of years
past; after duly weighing  the objections against it, and the arguments thait
preponderate in its favor;  and the project having received the warmest  coinmendations of many prominent  literary men and practical educators, as well
as tlie universal approval of the public press, I hlave comne to the conclusion,
that the establishment and endowment of a College for the education of young
women  is a work which will satisfy my  highest aspirations, and will be, under
God, a rich blessing to this city and State, to our country and the world.
"It is my hope to be the instrument, in the ]lands of Providence, of founding and perpetuating an Institution which shall accomplish for young women
what our colleges are accomplishing for young men.
"In pursuance of this design, I have obtained from  the Legislature an act
of incorporation, conferring on the proposed  Seminary  thle corporate title of
'Vassar Female College,' and  naming  you,  gentlemen, as  the first Trustees.
Under the provisions of this charter you are invested with  all the  powers,
privileges,  and immunities which appertain to any  College or University in
this State.
"To  be somewhat more specific in the statement of my  views  as to the
character and aims of the College:
"I wish that the course  of study should  embrace  at least the following
particulars: The English Language  and  its Literature;  other Modern  Languages;  the Ancient Classics, so far  as may  be demanded by the spirit of the
times; the MAIatiemratics, to such an extent as may be deemed advisable;  all the
branches of Natural Science, with full apparatus, cabinets, collections, and conservatories for visible illustration; Anatomy,  Plvhysiology, and Hygiene, with
practical reference to thie laws of  the  health of the sex;  Intellectual  Philosophly; the elements of Political Economy; some knowledge of the Federal
and State Constitutions and Laws; Moral Science, particularly as bearing on
the filial, conjugal, and  parental  relations;   sth]etics,  as  treating of  the
beautiful in Nature and Art, and to be illustrated by an extensive Gallery of
Art; Domestic Economy, practically tatught, so far as is possible, in order to
prepare the graduates readily to become skillful housekeepers;  last, anrd most
important of all, the daily, systematic Pleading and Study of the Holy Scriptures, as the only and all-sufficient PRule of Christian faith and practice.
92 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
"All sectarian influences should be carefully excluded;  but the training of
our students should never be intrusted  to the skeptical, the irreligious, or the
immoral.
"In fi)rming the first Board of Trustees, I have selected representatives
fronm  the principal Christian denominations among us; and in filling thle vacancies wliicl- may  occur in this  body,  as also hi appointing  the  Professors,
Teachers, and( other Officers of the College, I trust a like catholic spirit will
always govern the Trustees.
"It is not my  purpose to snake VASSAR FEMALE COLLE(GE a charity school,
whose advantages shall be fiee to all without charge; for benefits so cheaply
obtained are chl-eaply held; but it is believed the funds of the  Institution will
enable it to offer to all the highest educational facilities at a moderate expense,
as compared  with  the cost of instruction in existing seminaries.  I earnestly
hope the funds will also prove sufficient to warrant the gratuitous admission of
a considerable ntumber of indigent students,  annually-at  least, by  regarding
the amount remitted, in most cases, as a loan, to be subsequentlv repaid from
thie a-vails of teacel-ling, or otherwise.  Preference should be given to beneficiaries  of decided promise-such  as are likely to distinguish themselves in some
particular department or pursuit-and,  especially, to  those  who  propose to
engage in the teaching of the young as a profession.
I desire that the College  may  be provided with commodious  buildings,
containing ample  apartments for public instruction,  and  at  the same time
affording to the inuiates the safety, quiet, privacy, and purity of the family.
"And now, gentlemen of the Board of Trustees, I transfer to your possession and ownerslhip  the real and personal property which  I have set apart
for the accomplishment of my designs."
While Mr. Vassar was reading this statement, he stood
at the end of a table at which sat the Chairman and Secretary of the Board of Trustees. Near him, on the table, was
a small tin box, which contained the funds appropriated
for the founding of the College, represented by bonds and
mortgages, certificates of stock, and  a deed of conveyance
of two hundred acres of land for a College site and farm.
When he pronounced the last sentence above quoted, the
Trustees arose.  Mr. Vassar had placed his left hand on
the precious casket, and, with its key in the open palm
of his right hand, he then formally transferred from his
own custody to that of the Trustees, more than four hundred thousand dollars of his wealth.
Who  shall estimate  the importance  or  measure  the
93 
VASSAR COLLEGE
significance of that act    Considered  in its relations  to
society and to human selfishness, it was a moral spectacle
of uncommon grandeur.   Few  men have lived who, after
toiling half a century under the burden of great cares in
gathering a large fortune, have dared to be so disloyal to
ever-getting Hulman Nature  as to lay down one-half of it
on the altar of Benevolence, as a sacrifice for the sake of
human needs. It was a revolutionary manifesto, declaring
that the unrighteousness of  the Paganism  which has so
long kept woman in bonds should yield to the justice of
Christianity, whose  Golden ilule  makes  her  "free  and
equal" with Mlan.
Having performed that great act, Mr. Vassalr said:
I beg permission to add a brief and general expression of my  views in regard
to the most judicious use and management of the funds.  After the College edifice
has been erected, and furnislhed with all needful aids aind appliances for imnparting
the most perfect education of body, miind(l, and heart, it is my judgment and wish
that the amount remaining in hand slhould be safely invested-to remain as a principal, only the annual income of whichl  should be expende(d in the preservation
of tile buildings and grounds; the support of tlie faculty; the replenislhing and
enla,rging of the library, cabinet, art gallery, etc., and in addilng to the capital on
hand; so that the college, instead of being impoverished, and tending to decay
from year to year, shall always contain within itself the elements of growth and
expansion, of increasing power, prosperity, and usefulness.
' In conclusion, gentlemen, thlis enterprise, whichl I regard as the last great
work of my life, I commit to you as a sacred trust, which I feel assured yout will
discharge with fidelity and uprightness, with wisdom and  prudence, with  ability
and energy.
"It is my  fervent desire that I may live to see tlhe Institution in successful
operation; and, if God shall give me life and strength, I shall gladly emnploy my
best faculties in co operating with you to secure the full and perfect consummration
of tlhe work before us."
When Mr. Vassar and the Trustees resumed their seats,
the Rev. Dr. Ilague offered the following resolutions:- 
" Resolved, Tha.t we, as Trustees, accept the munificent donation  now presented by Matthlew Vassar, Esq., for the purpose of founding and endowing
VASSA^P FEMIALE COLLEGE;
' That we highly app)reciatte tlte practical wisdom, the patriotic forecast, as well
94 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
as the unparalleled liberality, which prompt him  to devote so large a portion
of his fortune to this noble work while hlie yet lives;
" That we pledge ourselves to use our  best endeavors so to guard, foster,
and apply these funds intrusted to us, as to fulfill his instructions and to realize
his beneficent design;
"That the statement of AiMr. Vassar's views just submitted  be placed on the
records of this Board;  and( also be engrossed on parchment, and preserved
among the archives of the College forever."
Dr. Hague then said:
"In offering these resolutions to the acceptance of this 13Board of Trustees,
it may be proper for me to say a few words, expressive of my convictions  as
to the nature, the dignity, and( the scope of the great trust that is now
comlnmitted to our hands.
"The statements that have just been read  by Mr.  Vassar,  unfolding  his
cherished aims in relation to the establishment of a Female College in  this
city, the munificence of his provisions, and the breadth of his plan, signalize
an  important  step of progress  in the advancement  of intellectual  culture
throughout this country.  It is adapted to call forth the sympathetic regards
of the whole people in this sisterhood of States; for if there be any one
feature that particularly distinguishes  our American  civilization  in the view
of the world, it is the influence of cultivated  womanhood  in the formation
and development of American character.
"The power of this influence has been recognized by all careful observers,
both  at  home  and  abroad.  It  has  attracted  the  attention  of  tourists,
philosoplhers,  historians,  and  writers  of  every  class.  Tile  most  truthful,
touching, and sincere eulogium  that was ever uttered  by an English  author,
as a tribute of honor  to this  country,  came  fi'om the pen of  an  eminent
prelate, Bishop Wilson  (the successor  of the celebrated  Ileber at Calcutta),
when he declared that the American women, the wives of missionaries, whom
hlie had had  occasion to observe  in Asia for a course of years, realized his
best  conceptions  of cultivated  Christian womanllood, of gentleness  and  refinemnent of manners, combined with the highlest qualities of heroic excellence.
"This spontaneous tribute to the character of American women in our own
age  is in  happy keeping with the  most trusted  testimonies of  the  past, in
regard to  the influence  of  that array of noble-m-inded women  whlo  had a
conspicuous  part  to  act  in  the training of  this nation during  the stormy
days  of its infancy, and  thus in  shaping our  national  destiny:  a mighty
moral force, that was pithily expressed  by one of the officers of the French
army at the close of the Revolutionary War,  when, as Mr.  Custis says, at a
farewell entertainment given to  them  in  Virginia,  after having  paid  their
respects to the mother of Washington, he exclaimed  as she retired from  tihe
assembly-room, leaning on the arm  of  her son:'No  wonder that America
has had such a leader, since hlie has had such at mother!'
"Those  were times,  Mr.  Chairman, that subjected womanly  character to
the most searching ordeals, and developed all its latent energies. The men
who were engrossed by the demands of public affairs were obliged to leave
11)5 
VASSAR COLLEGE
the education of their sons almost entirely to the mother  at home.   A  fine
exemplification of this is furnished in the letters of President Adams to his
wife in regard to their domestic concerns, and especially the education of their
son, John Quincy Adams, whose  ntine now shines  as a brilliant star in tlhe
firmament of American history.  The letters of Mlrs. Adams to her son prove
her leigh qualifications for the dischlarge of her sacred trust; and  the long,
arduous lifework of that emninent man is to be regarded, in part, as her own
cherished legacy to the land that she loved, anid to the generation vwhich is
now in tile prime of its manly power, as well  as to that wlhiclh has  already
passed away.
"And here I am  naturally led to remark that the sentiment whichl  has just
now been expressed, in the written statement that Mr. Vassar has presented to
us, is fuilly verified by all the teachings of our national history.  Iie speaks of
the necessity of providing such an education for the females of this country  as
shall be adequate to give tlhem  a position of intellectual  equality with  men,
in domestic and social life.  The thought looms up with new aspects of dignity,
the more closely it is considered.  In olden times, this equality was a marked
feature of American life, manners, and habits.  The wife was  not merely the
superintendent of a household: she was  the hlonored friend, comnp-anion, and
counselor.   In the settlement of these colonies, more  than  two centuries ago,
she was the sharer not only of domestic joys and sorrows, but of all the
cares pertaining to the establishment of the Church, the State, and the nation.
Then the sons and daughters of America were educated together, and their
attainments were so nearly alike as to constitute a social equipoise, that for
a long period continued firm and undisturbed.  But of late years, the wealth
and energies of the people  have been lavished upon colleges  and universities
for  young  men to  suchl  an  extent in this  one line of direction, that the
balance is no longer even, and the former adjustment of the social forces has
become somewhat deranged.  This derangement must be remedied, the balance
must be restored, or our national  character cannot hold its place of eminence,
but  must  gravitate  toward  an  abyss.  If the time shall  come  when  the
educated young  men  of  Amierica shall cease  to look  up to  their  mothers
with the sentiments of respect that were cherished  by  our fathers in their
young days, if our sons shall cease to find in their sisters companions suited
to their mental needs, home-life must lose its former attractions;  the moral
atmosphere that has surrounded the liousehlold will be no lon,ger genial; and
the most fearful organic evils that have been inherent in the social structure
of many nations in the  Old World will  be reproduced  on  our soil in rank
luxuriance, and with consequences that enfold a vast and irremediable ruin.
" It was not without good reason that  a distinguished Amnerican traveler
in  Turkey said, that he despaired of any valid reformation  of that once
strong but  now decaying nation, until woman   should  be restored to  that
position of social equality that God  had  originally assigned  to  her; and it
was with equal reason that a French statesman declared, many years ago, that
'the chief want of France is mothers!'  So, too, we  may rest assured that
the great work  to which  American patriotism  is now  called to task itself,
is that of sustaining and extending the influence of a well-cultivated Christian
womanhood throughout the length and breadth of these United States, which
96 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
mwe all love to call'our country,' and whose  citizenship has so long been the
shield of our safety, honor, and prosperity.
' With these views, Mr. Chairman, I submnit the resolutions now before you."
The resolutions  offered by Dr.  Hague  were  adopted
by the unanimous  vote of the Trustees.  Then Matthew
Vassar, Jr., a nephew of the Founder, was chlosen to be
the Treasurer of the Board, and the title-deeds and assignments,  duly  executed,  which  had  been  absolutely  alnd
unconditionally given to Vassar College,  were   placed  in
his custody.
The choice  of President of the College followed  this
provision for the administration  of its funds;  and Pro
fessor  Milo  P.  Jewett,  who  had  rendered  such  signal
service in the inception and growth of the enterprise, was
by  unanimous vote chosen to fill that important station.
The chairman then proceeded to  nominate the following
Standing Committees for the ensuing year:
Executive Committee.
MATTHEW  VASSAR, JR.,
CYRUJS SWAN,
CH, ARLES W.                     SWIFT,
MATTHEW  VASSALS,
CORNELIUIS  I)UBOIS.
the Faculty (and Studies.
MJoiLN H. EI IAYMOND,
MARTI   B.NEDWARD  G. ROBINSON,
RIJFUS BABCOCK.
On the Librcary.
RUFUS BABCOCK,
IRA HARRIS,
EDWARD LATIIROP,
n Cabinets and Apparatus.
GEOlRGE T. PIERCE,
STEPIIEN M.  BUIJCKINGIIAM,
EDWAII) (w. ROBINSO,N.
13
97
MIILO P. JEWETT,
MAIlTIN B. ANDERSON,
NATETAN B ISI-Op,
JAMES I IAIm.ER,
WILL1AM HAGUE,
SMITH S.IELDON.
07
MARTIN B. ANDEITSON,
MorRGAN L. SMITII, 
VASSAR COLLEGE
On the Art Gallery.
ELIAS L. MAAGOoN,
SAMUEL F. B. MORSE,
JoIIN Gry  VASSAr.
On  Puildiig a(n(i Grou,?nds8.
JoSEPt (C. DOUGITII'Y,
CAUGUI-3STUIS L,. ALLEN,
S.S. CONSTANT.
On  Cor)por(ttio(b Setel.
BENSON J. LOSSING,       GEOIGE W.  STERLING.
0Ot  y-B w.
(CIIARILES W.  SWIFT,      CYR US  SWAN-.
hinimCediately  after  the  ol(gallizatioll  of  the  B1oacd of
Trustees,  measures  were adoptedC   for electilng  the College
b)uilding, without delay.   Tlhe   )lalls of Mrl.  Tefft were  not
used1.   He  went  to   Eulrop)e  soon0011  after  co1ipleti11g  thiei,
for  the purpose of increasillg his  professional  ]knoAvledCge.
HIe had proplosed   that  liotliniig  sIo' -uld  b)e  d-:)11e  towar(1
thlie  erectioln  of  a college  )luil(linig  uitil  atfter his ietmii.,
as  he  ho)ped(   to   br ing  with  himn imlil)ortalit  inforiiatioll
that  mtight  enia4)le h-im  to  Iiiake  essential  inlliproveellets
iin  his  plan.   Mri.  Vassar's  ac(utiesceIIce was rea(dily given,
ad  presen1ted(l  anlother  instance  of  the great  deli-)eration
with  which  the FouLi(der actedC   at that tifme, anid  to  whiech
allusion has J)eeii imla(de.
Mi. Tefft  (died  at  Florence, in  Ital y, and Jates  Renlwick, Jr., the  architect  of  the  e(lifice  of  the  Smithsoniani
Inistitutite,  iin  Washingtoni   Cityv,  was   emii)loyed to  miake
planis  aud  specifications  foir  a  college   b)uilding  coiluimelsurate  wvitl   the  Founder's  li})eral  (lesignts.  These  vweie
lai(d  i)efoie the Boa(rd at thle time  of its organiizatioti7 and
were  aeccepte(d.   The   Executive  Committee  of  the  Board
98
B ExSON  J.  LossING,
JoItIN  TIIO31PSo)N,
M[ATTIIEW VASSAR,
CORNELIUTS DIUBOIS,
MIILO P. JEWETT,
GEORGE  T.  PIEIICE, 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
soon afterwarld made,     a  conttract  with- M i. PR eniwick for tihe
erectiont of ani  edifice   ill  accordanlce  Avitli tlose p)lalls, ail(l
with William  Halloe as the  )luilder.
The  college  site  an(d  far        C conveyed(   to  the  TTrustees
by  the  Fo()un(ler  lies  lnearly  two  miles  eastwar(d  of  the
ifi
~~
~s~~ \\;   mm
C
~;~                ~~G~i
~
Poughkeepsie,  anll(
the  Hudsoni                tR-iver.
are irregular,  as tlhe
at a little greater
Its bsounidarsy aindI
acc(o)miipany-ing   miap)'
* This  map is firom  surveys  Illmade li)y  the first cltass in  Trigoonoieti-r tllat
was formed  in Vassar College.  Th-e  localities  are indicated as follows:
A. College.                    F. Play-grou-ids.               L. Ice-house.
B. Observatory.                G. Sunset l4ill.                M. Barn and Stable.
C. Gymnasium.                  H. Casper's Kill.               N. Farnm-house.
DI). Gas arnd Boiler ITouse.    I. Gate and Porter's Lo(dIge. O. Mill-cove Lake.
E. Gasometer.                  K. Pump-house.                  P. Tenant-loiise.
R. Garden Store-house.
*. -':!:
1}9 9
Couirt-House  indistance   fromt
suiperficial linies 
VASSAR COLFEGE
shows, and pJresents at  many points  -)eauttiful land(scape
effects, near aftd telr()te.   Not  far firom its eastern border,
and   )etween it  alnd  the village  of  Matechester,  rises  a
lofty hill, to the top) of  wlhich  Mr.  Tassar's elder sister
sometimes  toolk him, wlhen lhe was a child six  or eight
years of  age, that  he might  l)e gratified with  a  sight
of tlie two  chliirich steeples  in  Poughkeepsie.  And(  over
tlhe little stream  that crosses the higlhway  near i)y, and
flowNs through the eastern p)ortionls of the college  grounlds,
he had  often  passed with his miotheli, on  a rude  bridge
half hidclden by the luxuriant calamLus or sweet-flag.  Had
some venerlate(d  seer then pre(lictedl that in the morning
shaldowas of  that  hill  the little English  b)oy wouldl one
dclay build  a  magnificent  palace of  learning,  and  along
that little stream would  be seen groups of young -women,
gathered from  every  part of thle Great  PRepuib)lic of  the
West, enjoying the blessings of his munificence, the most
credlulous  adnfirer  of  the  prop)het  would  have  refuised(
belief in the prophecy.
iA  site  fo)r  the  college  edifice  on the  b)ank of  the
river seemed  more  desirable  than  one  so  inland;  but,
when   both  were  carefully  considclered,  the  advantages
offered  )y the  one  chlosen  were manifestly greater  than
anv to  b)e  found  -)on  the  Hudson,  near  Pougbhkeep)sie.
It was far enoughl away from  those great lines  of travel,
thle  river  and  the  railway,  which  afford facilities for a
multitude of intrusions and aulfoyavafces, to avoid the latter
altogether, and  was  sufficiently near  the  city to makle its
markets  and merchandise  easily availalble.    It was  in  a
healthful p)lace, in  the midst  of beautiful  rural  scenery,
with  much of the ho(-)izon bounded by  distant mountains.
More  desirable than  anly thing else, for the health  and
1 ()0
'-.':I...-.  
~'                    )Th
c( 
VASSAR COLLEGE
comfort of  the ianmates of  the projected  college,  w\as  a
large ponid  of pure spring  water on the grounds, whiose
fountains had never failed in their abundance, and  whose
outlet, that had for years turned a  miill-whleel, presented
an assurance that an all-bountifil supp)ly wolllul  )e given.
The  site on the farm- seleeted for the College b)uildiig
was a little plain, bounided on the wAest l)y the highway,
andl  on the east and south  -)y a ravine and gentle hollowvs.
It was once  the Duchess  County  Race-Conrse, and   wAas
without tree or shrul).  There  the outlines of the e(difice
w\ere  marked  out b-)y the archlitect and  b-uildler; anid on
Tuesday, the 4th day of June, 1861(l, Mri.  Vassa'   " )Ioke
grounld" there with his own strength.   Only two  of the
Trustees  (Messrs.  )Du Bois  and(  Sw\an),  the  Reveren-d
Howard  Malcom,  D). D)., of Philadelphia, Mr.  Sipher  tlhe
farmer, and( one or two others, were present  on that b)eautiftil  Sumnnimer  morning,  as  witnesses  of the  interesting
ceremonial.  At the req(uest of the Fouinder, Dr.  Malcom,
in a brief supplication, aske(d Go(i's blessing on thle enterprise.  Then Mr. Vassar, thrusting a spade into the ground,
lifted almost  a culbic foot  of earth  fiom  its bed, at tlhe
point where the trench that was to receive the found(lation
stones of the  building was to  b-)egin.  The  farmer then
p)laced his p)low there, with which he was to  flrrow  the
outline of the trench, and this Ml.  Vassar held for some
distance on its prescribed course.  The form  of that outline may b)e seen b)y reference to the ground-plan  of the
College building  on the preceding page, which shows  the
relative position of all the foundation walls onl  which the
superstructure is b)uilt, from  the ground  to  the roof.  A
more particular reference to this cellar-plan will be  made
hereafter.
102 
AND ITS FOUNDElI.
So it  was, wholly without  ostentatious  display, ('H1(
with the simple religious ceremony of prayer to  G-o(l, il
the  presence  of  a  few of  his  fellowA-citizeii,  that  the
Founder of Vassar College,  with his ovwn hands, l)egan the
material labor of the enterprise.   That  sl)ade(lfill  of earth
was placed in a jar, andl, with the implement with  -vliich
it was raised, it is preserved, as a precious  iiemorial, in
the Geological Cab)inet of the College.
The  late Civil War was kindling  when  the  Board of
Trustees of Vassar College was organized.   Already, State
Conventions  in  seven of the  ColmmonwAealths  of the PRe pul)lic had  declared the withdrawal of those States fiomn
thle Union;  anid representatives from these  iii conveiitiol
at  Montgomery,  iii Alabl)ama,  had formed  a provisional
constitution for a League knownl as the Confederate States
(of America.  To the  apprehension of the wisest and most
hopefill, the  immediate future  of  the  country appl)eared
exceedingly gloomy.    Civil War, with  all its calamities,
seemed iiievitable.   Thle shlocks of the political eart(hquake
thei rocking the nation to its center  were  rapidly iunsettlihg all values, and some of the securities which formed
a part of the College  fund  seemed  worthless.   But the
Founder  and the Trustees  wenet steadily forward  iii the
great work, at that time a(nd during the entire period of
thle terrille wvar that ensued; amid  iii the  lmonthl  succeedimg  the cessation of hostilities, the Board, at its ainnual
meeting, (June, 1(S)i), found thle College edifice so nearly
comi-l)leted and e(-luil)lpped, its systeni of inlstructioil so well
plainned, and thle appointi:lents to the  lchaiirs of i)rofessorships  so  satisfactorily miade, that  it  was  determined  to
announce that  the  Institution would l)e opened  for the
reception of students early in the ensuing  Autumn.   The
1()3 
VASSAR COLLE(E
College fundi had been so wAell mlanage(l b)y thle Treasurer
of the Board that it had not been diminisihede, excepting
by the necessary expenditures.
At the first annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, on
the  25,th of February, 18~2, the President  of the College
asked leave of absence, for the p)urpose  of studying  the
systems of education  p)revailing in  the miost  enlightened
countries  of Europe,  and  especially those  for the instruction of young women, vitlh  the viewv of advancing the interests of the Institution over w-hich he was to preside.  That
leave was given; and the President was re(tuested to i)repare, while abroad, a general and statistical report (o1  tlhe
subl)ject, in which he shiould compare the systems in Europe
with those in use in  our country,  and to  makle to  the
Board  such suggestions as should seem  to him w-orthy of
its attention.
President Jewett embarked foi England o(-)  thle )th of
April, 1869, and arrived in London on  the  19)th  of the
same  month.   Througlh  the agency of the United States
Minister at the Court of St. James, many facilities for the
prosecution  of his errand were afforded him.   Hle spent
several weeks in London, visiting its educational establishments  for  both  sexes; scientific and  other institutions;
galleries  of  art;  mnanufactories  of  ihiloso)hical  instruments;  libraries,  and  other  helps  to knowledge;   and
in  every  way  seekinig  useful  hints  f()r  the  benefit of
Vassar  College.   He was  treated withl respect  and  courtesy, for the novel enterprise  w-hich he  represented  conimanided  the  miost  I)rofoIund(  attention  wherever it  was
made  knowni; and it was  firequently  nientioned in colnnection  with  thle  then  recent  gift  of a  lalge  sumn of
money  to  the citv of London,  by  the eminent  Ameri
104 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
can banker, George Peabodyv, foi the benefit of the poor
of that metropolis.
After  visiting  the  Universities of Oxford and Cam bridge, and( schools for girls in other parts of Great Britain,
the President crossed the Channel and spent three weeks
in Paris, in the  -)business of the same errand.  Mlost of the
schools for young women in that city were conventual Semi naries, in which religious instruction and duties were promi nent  features, and  could  afford but few  valuable  hints
to an American  educator.   Through the  kiindness of the
Emblassador  of the PReptublic at the Court of St. Cloud,
he obtained an audience with the French MinVister of Publ) lic Instruction, who gave him many facilities for the prose cution of his inquiries.  From  Paris he went  to Berlin,
Vienna, Dresden, Muuich, anid  other European  capitals;
and, after visiting  Rome  and  other cities  in  Italy,  he
returned home.
In a Report to the Board of Trustees, at their next
annual mieeting' (June, 1863), the President gave an account
of his journey abroad, and a summary  of his observations
concerning  the  education  of  girls and  young  women.
Hie observed that great prominence was given to religious
instruction, especially in the  schools  in  Germany:  that
the pupils were almost universally taught orally, especially
in Prussia, by which they obtained ideas inistead of words
only:  that  domestic  economy  received  much  attention,
especially in the schools connected with the nunneries on
the  ContinenLt, and  in  the  training  schools  for young
women in Great Britain:  that special attention was given
to the bodily health of the pupils, by systematic exercise
in the  open  air, and  by  calisthenics, dancing, and other
healthful in-door movements, which promote physical vigor,
14
105 
VASSAR COLLEGE
and  ease and  graee  in nmoti(on: that ext.reme  plainness
annd l,ipliicity of diet, and( also of dress waas a general rule
ini Great Britain anid (n the Continent  alnt that in manyinstitutions there was a  uniformity in dress, the garments
being made of sul)(ldued colors, while laces and( jewels were
entirely discarded: that the cultivation  of  vocal and instrnmental nmusic was  a lprominent  object of instruction:
that  dancing and  p)ainting also  occupied  a consl)icuous
place in all the schools;  and( that  the  study  of modern
languages was almost universal in them.
These  special features of  instruction, noticed  })y  the
President, appeared to him  more  perfect  than  the same
in the schools of this country; yet he came  to the conclusionl that there could he but little learned, for use in
Anierican schools, from  the 8ystem,. abroad   There  is, in
mnany particulars, but a remote resemblance between those
of our PRepublic and( of Europe,  for the obvious  reason
that each is fashioned  in accordance  with  the (ldeian(lds
of the political and social  organizations  )by  whichl it is
fostered, and to which it is expected to conform.  If the
President  did  not  bring  back  with  him  any- positive
wealth of knowledge to enrich the inchoate Selminary, he
had  observed the defects in foreign schools with sufficient
distinctness and care  to prevent their finding a place in
the organization of the niew Instituti(on.
Leaving  out  of sight the  peculiar systems  of education  in Europe, as  such, and carefully considering  those
special features of training  and  instruction  which  they
presented that  seemed  essentially usefuil, the  Committee
on Faculty and Studies proceeded to prepare a plan of
organization, discipline, aind course of teaching for the College, in accordance with  the  principles and re(quirements
106 
AND ITS FOUJNDER.
of ourI Ilepublican  institutions, the  demlands of our  cor relative  social  system,  and  the  imip)ortance,  iuaniifest  to
every   enlightened   mindi,  of  thoroughly  educating  the
future mothers  of this nation.   They  ma(le anl elaborate
report of their labors  to  the Boar(d  of  Trustees,  at its
annual  meetinlg  at the  close of  Junle, 1863, which  was
printed and distributed among the membnl)ers of thle Board,
and  educators  throughout  the  country, that  the  College
might have the benefit of their fiiendly criticisms.
The final organization of the  College in all its departmnenits  foi  its great  work  will  be  described  p)resently.
Throughl  all the years  of prel)aration  for that  work, the
Founder was not only a deeply interested spectator, but a
most zealous co-wAorkei-.    At every  annual  meeting of the
Board, he opened its proceedings  )by reading  a statement
of his views  and  wishes,  which  were  always  listened to
with  the  mnost profound attention; and  these  suggestions
were   acted  upon  as  fai  as  practicable.  He   especially
desired  the  full  co-operation  of  wonilien  il the  lal)bor  of
instruction  a(nd  discipline  in  the  Co]lege;  and  he  was
anxious that  professors  of her sex, if  conmpl)etent persons
miight be found, should  foirmi a part of the Faculty.   So
dleeply was he  imp)ressed  with  the justice and  policy- of
such an arlanrgemnent, that at the  meeting inl  Julie, 1   s(4,
when the  question  of the  appointment  of professors  was
to be  considered, he  made  the  subject  the topic  of his
regular discourse, inii the course of which he said:
"It is miy 11ho)e-it was mny onlly hlope and desire-inl(eed, it has been the
main incenitive to all I hlave already done or nlay lhereafter do, or lHol)e to
do, to inatugli'ate a new era in tlhe history ard life of woman. rThe attemllt
you are to aid Ime iin iliakiijg fails whiolly of its point if it be rliot anl atlvanlce,
and a decided advitance. rI wisli to give onre sex ill tile advaritagt,es too li,In
inonopolized by the otlher.  ()ars is, an(d is to he..tz institution fior women~ 
not men.  In all its labor s, positions, rewar(is, and hopes, the idea is the
I (-, i 
VASSAR COLLEGE
development and exposition, and thle marshaling to the front  and  thle  prefermlent  of  Awoinen-of  their  powers  on  every  si(le,  demonstrative  of  tlheir
equality  with  inen-(deimonstrative, indeed, of  such  capacities  as  in  certain
fixed directions surpass tlhose of men.   This, I conceive. miay  be fully  accolmp)lished witlhin  the  rational  lim-its  of true   woinanliness,  and  without  tlhe
slightest lhazard to the attractiveness of her character. We are ind(eed( already
defeated before we  coinmence, if such (ldevelopment  be in  tlhe least dangerous
to the dearest attril)butes of her sex.   AVe are  not  the  less defeated, if it be
hazardous for her to avail lherself of lher lighlest educated  p)()wers when that
point is gained.   We  are defeated if we start upon the assmiipl)tion that  sle
has no powers save thlose slhe may derive, or init-te, fi'onm tlhe other sex.  Ae
are defeated if we  recognize the idea tl-hat slie may not, with every )propriety,
contribute  to tlhe world  thle benefits of  niatiured  ftclties  which education
evokes.   NWe are especially defeated if we fail to express, by  our  acts, our
practical belief in her pre-eminent powers as an instructor of her own sex."
We  have now observedcl the growth of one of the most
remarkable  and  important  of the world's seminaries  of
learning,  ifrom  the  germ  of  a  suggestion, vivified  by
benevolent action, to almost maturity of form and capacity
for bearing fruit.  At the beginning of the year  1865, on
that little plain where  Mr. Vassar, less than four years
earlier, east -p a spadeful of earth  and plowed  a simple
furrow, the Vassar College building stood in all its grand
proportions, external  and  internal.   Near  it had  arisen,
over the immovable foundation of a great rock, the walls
and  dome  of an  Astronomical  Observatory,  which  had
been erected under  the skillful directions  of  Charles S.
Farrar, A. M., who  afterwardl became  a member of the
College Faculty, as Professor of Mathematics, Natural
Philosophy, and Chemistry.  In another direction, at the
main  entrance  to  the  grounds, a stately  Gateway  and
Porter's Lodge was a-building; and everywhere the sounds
of industry were heard.   When April came, the planting
of trees and the forming of graveled wvalks  and drives
began to develop grace and symmetry here and there, that
prophesied of the ultimate beauty of the domain in form
108 
AND ITS FOUNDEP.
and feature.  When  the Board  of Trustees assemb)led, in
June, thle College building was almnost ready for its equipment  of  furniture  anid  apparatus.   Then,  as we  have
observed, it was determline(d to open it for thle recelption
of pupils  in  the  ensuing inutumnin.   The  Sumnmer  was
GATEWAY ANI) PORTER'S LODGE.
spent in  J)reparations for tliat  event; adii(i on  the  20th
dcay of Septenbel,  1865), the first collegiate year of Vassar
College was b)egun.
So  early as  the  Spring  of  1864, circnmstances  hlad
causedt D)r. Jewett  to  offer  his  resignationl of  the  Presi(lency of thle College, an(1 of trnsteeslilp.  It was accepte(d,
and   he was  succeeclecd  in the forminer office  J)y John II.
Raymondi, LL. D)., whlo was one  of the Trustees, ar active
meiil-)er of thle Committee on  Facutilty an(d  Stu(lies, anl(l a
successftil eclucator, of lonig exlperience.  I)r. Jewett's p)lace
in the  Boar(d  of Trustees was filled b-)y PReveren4d  Heinry
Warcd  Beecher.   With  this exception, the meml)ers of the
Board, an(d  also its officers, are the same  as when  it was
organizecl, nmore than six years ago.
The  wNork of the College was  commiience(l  by the  following officers of government and instruction:
109 
VASSARn COLLEGE
JonIN H. RAYMOND, LL. D., President, and  Professor of
Mlental and Moral Philosoplvy.
HiANNA  W. LY~ILN, Lady Princip)al.
WILLIAM I. KNAPP, A. M., Professoi of AAncient  aIl(I
Modern Languages.
CIAnLES  S. FAmIRAr, A. M., Professor of Mlathematics,
Natural Philosophy, and Chenistry.
SANBOuN TENNEY, A. M., Professor of Natural Hlistory,
including Geology  and  Mineralogy, Botany, Zoo6logy, and
Physical Geogral)hy.
MAiIA MITCuELL, Professor of Astronomly, and Directo'
of the Observatory.
ALII)A  C. AVERY, M. D., Professor of Physiology an(d
Hygiene, and Resident Physician.
H:ENRY  B.  BUCKuAM, A. MA.,  Professo]  of  Rhetoric,
Belles-lettres, and the English Language.
EDWARD WIEBE', Professor of Vocal and Instruimental
Music.
HENRY VoN  INGEN, Professor  of D)rawing  and  Paint
irg.
Louis F. RONDEL, Instructor in the French Language.
DELIA  F. WooDs7  Instructor in the  Departmnent  of
Physical Traiuing.
JEssIE USHER, Teacher of the Latin Languag,e.
LuciA M. GILBERT, Teaclher of the Greek Language.
PRIISCILLA H. BRAISLIN, Teacher of Mathemnatics.
ELIZA, M. WILEY, Teacher of Music.
E-I$MA SAYLES, Teacher of Chemistry, Mathematics, and
the English Language.
SAnAIi L. WYMAN, Teache' of the Latin  LaingLuage.
CAROLIN-E  H. METCALF', Teacher of the Firenci  and(1
English LalngLuages.
110 
k()4iA b TI5, I CftI ot tU5T(;.
. A[iLtA 41TJ)I) Tci  Milsic'.
tAxNY J. S[ALL, Tc'Tii'  Music'.
THE G
ift th yTr, aI}(J ~fi #b tci()tls (Tii
li()W s#u4s () q ]Vi'1  of' tli iu
ws Qi(c't(4,  fol liysic'T #min( ti(4 beau
()raIiiz(1 u(i ilisrtiLe(i ill tTi c'()Irid()i's  #li C()Q
huiJ4i 1))[ LiZFTT M. P()WLLL (Miss f()()45 b(T Jft
cf ill Tia1fJij) Mbo eou#iuus #0 Si(i 0vi' tt
most iftii)0Ittit biancli of Q(4ftc'atioli; a14(i at tb op'iing
Of   c'olliatQ yai MTb(il tb (nasiuin  as
c'oni})Jt4, its t'i(;1ill scliool Tas t)1ac'(1 in c'Tiai of
h                                       h
LFoPoJD Vo SVLDFNFCK o was tot' a 1o]1( time a (a 
VASSAIR  COLLEGE
alry  officer  inii the  Prussian  arlmiy, aln(I  serve(d iiin tlfat
capacity  iii our National army  during the Civil War.
The  auspicious  b)eginniiig of  Vassar  College  gave  the
FIouncler thle most perfect  satisfaction.  Thle (desire to have
this  result  reacled(  (Turilln  his  lifetime  was  gratifie(d.
With  faith  ai}in hop)e, an(d  yet  vithl iintenise  anxiety),  he
had  lal-)ored1 with  thle Trustees  (first  as  Chlairmual  of the
Commiuittee  o0i  Building  adcl  Grouunds, adcl  thleu  as  preisiclingii  officer of thle Executive Committee) uLtil thle Institutiou  was ready  to b)egin  its wTork, wTilein, as  thle follovwiu(
correspoundeiice  shows, he  witl-hdre fi o   fulth(-r  parti.(-,patiou ill the task of mallagement:
4' PILN'NGSIDE, POUGIIIrEEPSIE, $?trlc 17, 1(),.
"NATIIAN BIS-sOP, LL. D.:
"MY DEAR  SIp: —The first stage in the development of that great enterprise to whlich I have devoted a large portionI of  imy fortune and tile latest
labors of my life, is now  drawing to a close.   Th-e erection of the Colleg,e edifice,
and its equipment with thie material apparatus of instruction, will soon be  com)pleted; and.  withl the coming Autumn, its interior life  as a great  educational
establish-ment will begin.
"Thus far the great work of the Executive Cominittee  has been, in a great
measure, tlhat of a building committee, and I lhave cheerfully shared its perplexities and toils, from a conviction that my long experience in the management of
material affairs would enable rme to give th-eni important aid.
"4 Althloughl  a kind Providence has blessed me with more  than ordinary health
and vigor for nmy years, yet I begin to feel sensibly thre wear and tear of these
numerous and ever-multiplying details; and( since the business of thle Executive
Coinmrittee miust hlereafter pertain more than heretofore to the internal reLgulation
of  tl-e College, I lhave felt a strong desire to be relieve(  b)y some gentlecman,
whlo, in addition to the general qualities of business capacity, ]figlt probity, and
public spirit, possesses a special experience and practical knowledge in the managemeinet of an institution of learning.
"With this vieow, I lhave not only looked carefully over the list of our Trustees,
but extended imy view tllrotugh thle entire range of my  acquaintance, an(, among
all w-ithin my  reacl, or be//oi(d  ny reach, I find no one  vlwho possesses  tlhose
qualifications so eminently  ai-d  so enltirely  as  yourself.    It  is  my  desire,
thieref(ie,,It the ap)l)roac]ling inectiiig of the   oard(l of Trustees, to resign lly
present place as chlairmant of the Executive CoTimittee;  and miy earnest  hope
is that you will consent to accept and discharge tlhis honorable trust.
"I have req(uested President Raymond, and  our imutualfriend, Mr. Stephlen
M. Buckinglinnm, to be thle bearers of this communication, and to give any firther
112 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
explanation  of my  views (of  which they  are fully informed), that you  may
desire.
"Meanwhile, believe me, dear Sir,
" Yours very respectfully, &C.,
" M. VASSAP. "
"NEw YORK, June 23, 186.5.
"MATTHEW VASSARP, ESQ.:
"MY DEA]r  SIR:-Yesterday President Paymrond and  S. M. Buckinghain,
Esq., presented me your kind letter of the 21st inlst.
"After a somewhat full conversation with them, I consented to comply with
your request.  In taking this step I have yielded ily  own preferences to your
wislhes, for I assure you that it has lon,  been a source of pleasure to mie to
co-operate  with you  in establishing  Vassar  Feimale  College-au institution
whichl will become a perpetual -iblessing to tihe country, and place you among
the great beneftctors of mankind.
"With best regards,
" I remain, dear Sir,
"Very truly yours,
"NATIIAN  BISHOP."
Let us now  consi(der the College buildings, and  their
equipment and uses, which in their present complete state
have cost a little more than half a million of dollars.
The mnain edifice, whose outward appearance is seen on
page 11, and its ground-plan on page 101, is almost five
hundred feet in length, with a breadth through the center
of about two hundred feet, and  at the transverse wings
of one hundred  and sixty-four feet.  It is constructed of
dull  red  brick, the joints  pointed  with  black  mortar.
The  water-tables, and trimmings of  the doors and  wvindows, are made  of blue free-stone.  The  center building
and the wings are five stories in height, and the connecting portions are four stories in height.  Within the edifice
are five independent dwellings for resident officers; accommodations for about four hundred students; ap)artments
for a full  complement  of managers  and  servants;  suits
of roomnis for class recitations, lectures, and instruction
in music and painting;  a chapel;  dining hall;  parlors;
!5
11.3 
VASSAR COLLEGE
suitable apartments for a library and art gallery, philosophical apparatus, laboratories, cabinets of Natural History, and  all other appurtenances  of  a first-class college.
Also ample arrangements for a kitchen, bakery, and laundry.
The height of the center building, from the foundation
to the top of the dome, is ninety-two feet.  All of the
partition walls are of brick, and are carried up from
the ground to the roof. There is a corridor in each
story, twelve  feet in width  and five hundred and eightyfive feet in length, affording room  for exercise  in inclement weather. These corridors may be instantly divided
into five separate parts, by iron doors connected with
eight fire-proof walls. The latter are in pairs, standing
ten feet apart, and cut the building into five divisions.
These pairs of walls are connected only at the corridors,
where  the floor is brick and  stone,  over which  the iron
doors may slide and be closed, so that, should a conflagration occur in one portion of the building, the other parts
would  be perfectly secure from harm.  These divisions of
iron and masonry extend from the foundation to the
roof.
For further security against accident by fire, iron
pipes, from water-tanks on the attic floor, pass down
through the different stories. To these hose is attached
on  each  floor,  and  conveys  water  with  great  force.
A   steam  or  water  pump  may  be  instantly  brought
into use, if needed. There are but two fires kept in
the College building; one for cooking, and one for heating flat-irons. A watchman traverses the building all
night, and the engineer or his assistant is always on
duty.  There  are  nine  stair-wvays from  the top  to  the
bottom of the building (two of them fire-proof), and
114 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
eight passages for egress. These several provisions seem
to make the students absolutely secure from accidents
by fire.
Over the entire building six thousand feet of lightning rods are spread, after the most approved and scientific methods used for defense against thunder-bolts, as
the  common  phrase  is; and running  through  it in all
directions, and connecting with external points, are pipes
for conveying gas, heat, water, and waste, about twentyfive miles in aggregate length.
Now  let us go through the building, from the bottom
to the top, and observe the arrangement, equipment, and
uses of each floor.
Here is the cellar (see plan on page 101), traversed
by the lower sections of all the pipes. In the eastern
portion of the center are cisterns e e e e, and at its
end are the  refrigerator, store-room,  bakery,  and  boiler.
Little  else  is  to  be  seen  excepting   the  foundation
walls; so  we wTill  go  up  from  this  gloomy  place  to
the first story (whose plan is on the following page),
where  there  is  more  light,  air,  and   interest.    The
entrance is in the center building. On the right of the
passage are rooms for the transaction of the general
business of the  College.  The  first is occupied  by the
RPegistrar and Clerk, and the adjoining one is the Trustees'
PRoom, in which  the  Executive  Committee  meets,  and
the Treasurer and Secretary keep their books and papers.
Adjoining this is the kitchen of the President's house (H).
On the left of the passage are three connecting rooms
devoted  to  practical  instruction  in  Chemistry.    G   is
the Laboratory; C, a recitation-room; and A, a comniodious lecture-room, twenty-five by thirty feet in area, and
115 
(1)  -v\  4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ —----
>
IT-,'-'T'OD'ITYqqVA                                        9
911 
AND ITS FOUNIDER.
fifteen feet in height.  It is seated in gallery style, and
its walls are hung with portraits  of  Chenists  most distinguished in the development of the science.  These are
made  useful  by  familiarizing  the  students  with  their
features  and  biography, and  thus  teaching  the history
of  chemistry, and increasing  the learners' interest in the
study.  The Laboratory  and  Lecture-roonis were  planned
and furnished with apparatus  and materials with special
reference to practice by the students in the elements of
the science.  Most of the apparatus was imported directly
for the College, and is of the niost perfect  kind.  Here
is a hooded sink and a hooded table; there, in the center,
is a testing-table; yonder in a corner is  a furnace  and
spacious hearth;  and at proper places are gas  and water
conveniences.   Here  the  student  not  only  learns,  but
investigates, and  so her information becomes knowledge.
She may here  demonstrate  the fact that in a drop  of
water there is sufficient latent electricity, as the philosophers express it, to  give  the phenomena  of a thunderstorm;  and  so she  may explain  the  nioral potency of
woman's tears, that has been felt ever  since our commion
Mother  regained the paradise of her husband's affections
by  the key that opened  the celestial  gate  to the Peri,
when the penitent Wife,
"withl tears that ceased not flowing,
A'nd tresses all disordered, at his feet
Fell humble, and in Adam wrought
Commiseration."
Let  us  cross  the corridor  and  pass  into  the  lectureroom   of the Natural Philosophy Department  (B), wherein  the  student  is taughit  how to  explore  the mysteries
of nature  in broader  fields.   This  roomn  is of  the sanme
dimensions as that of the Chemistry Department, is seated
117 
VASSAR COLLEGE
in the same way, and furnished with conveniences  for the
uses of instruction. On its walls are portraits of eminent
Philosophers;  and in a smaller  room  adjoining (F) are
the phiilosophical instruments of the C6ollege.  Tile supply
of apparatus  is not  large, but  well  selected,  and each
perfect of its kind.  The  plan of  the Professor of this
Department  is not to have instruments  for mtere illustration, for which  the Black-bloard is better adapted, b)ut to
have them  all such as may serve the purposes of investigation as well as illustration, believing that a little actual
research is more valuable training in science  than mere
learning.  This age of experiments and wholoesolme  infidelity to theories continually demands new  modifications and
new  varieties of instruments;  and  sucl  are  constantly
added to the collection in Vassar College.  Ilere in this
little  room  may  be  seen some  of  the most  interesting
implements used in scientific investigations l)y modern
explorers.  Amnong  these  is the  apparatus  of  pendulum
and  indicator, by  which  Faucoult  has recently  demonstrated the fact of the rotary motion of the earth, and
by  which  his experiments  were successfully repeated  at
Vassar College, on the night of the 18thi of March, 1867,
by  Professor  Farrar  and  his class.  The  peindulum  ball
then used was a sphere of lead, weighing forty-six pounds.
It was suspended firom the roof of the College building,
by  a wire sixty-four  feet in length, over  the open space
within  the  north  central  stairway,  and  was  made  to
vibrate  over  a  carefully  graduated  circle  of three feet
in  diameter.    Problems  of  the  pendulum   had  been
previously worked out })y the class, and the experiment
verified  the  correctness  of their  calculations.  The plane
of oscillation was found  to rotate nearly  at the rate of
118 
AND  ITS FOUNDEI'.
ten  degrees  an  hour, which  is  the  rate demanded for
the latitude of the College (41~ 40' 50"), on the hypothesis of the daily rotation of the earth on its axis. This
incident is mentioned  as an illustration of the fact that
every new  experiment  and  demonstration  in  science  is
brought to the practical notice of the students of Vassar
College.
Pages might be filled with a catalogue and description
of the philosophical instruments, but we may notice only
one or two more, aind then pass on to other apartments.
Look at that modest little mahogany box, with a row of
small discs on the top, like the finger-keys of an accordion.
Here is a little crank.  Howv easily it turns! Put your
finger on that button.  You  are startled!  And well you
inay be, for there is a giant in that box, terrible in  its
anger, but harmless  when  unprovoked.   It is of a race
once employed to strike mortal blows at the life of the
Republic;  now  it is occasionally engaged  in  the more
peaceful labor of decomposiung water.  It is one of Wheatstone's improved Magueto-Electric Machines, that was used
in  Charleston Hiarbor,  during  the  late  Civil  War,  for
exploding floating mines  of gunpowder, called torpedoes,
under National vessels.
Here are some beautiful instruments, used by Tyndall
in his recent delicate experiments and demonstrations concerfting  the  nature  of  heat,  light,  and  motion,  which
threaten to greatly modify all previous theories on those
subjects.  These  seem to open to the human  understandiug deeper knowledge of the Universe,
"Whose body Nature is, arid God the soul;"
and  lead  us  to  a more  comprehensive  idea of that
119 
VASSAR COLLEGE
subtle, all-pervading, and  mysterious  eanaation  firom the
Omnipotent,  which,  as Pope  said,  more  than a  century
ago,
"Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Gloews in the stars, and blossoms in tle trees;
Lives thiroutgh l  ll life, extends througlh tll extent
Spreads Lund(livided, oi)erates unspent."
It would  be  delightful to linger  here  aimong  these
revelators of the mysteries of the Universe; but we must
pass on to places and things of more personal importance
to tutors and students.  Before doing  so, let us spend a
few minutes in the Natural Hiistory Laboratory (D)), and
Recitation-roomi  (E), in which may b)e found specimens in
abundance of the products of the three kiingdoms whose
history and character are here  studied;  also illustrative
maps, diagrams, and  drawings.   In  connection with  the
studies in this department, whichl include the subjects
of Geology, Physical Geography, Botany, Mineralogy, and
Zoology, the cabinets belonging to the College, and situated upon other floors, are freely used.   Much study  is
also performed in the woods and fields, when the weather
permits.
There is a syllogism as old as the creation, that  may
run  thus:  All  mortal  creatures  must  eat  and  sleep;
bunluman beings are mortal; therefore, human beings, like
gazelles and birds of paradise, must  eat and sleep.  In
compliance with this truth, ample  provision is mlade  in
Vassar  College for the sustenance and repose of its inmates.   Look  along  this  corridor, on  the floor we  are
exploring, and you will find a large numnber of students'
parlors  and  bedl-rooms, the  former  indicated by Arabic
numerals, from 1 to 22  and the latter by the letters a, b,
120 
AND IT''S FOUNDER.
and c, often repl)eated.  The general arrangement is to lTave
one parlor for the common   tuse of the occupan)lts of three
lodging-rooms  connecting  with it.   These, you  will per ceive, are  situated  alollg  thle whole  outward side of thle
building, ffrom  the center  ilto the wings, and end at the
Professors' houses  (T  T), ill the  extremiity  of each wing.
The latter occupy those portions of the building firotom  the
first to the fourth  story.  The  total number of students'
parlors is one  hundred, and  of  bed-rooms, two  hundred
and forty-two.
Passing into the eastern lpart  of the center building,
we comlle  to  the servants' dining hall (iM), at the end of
.which, and separated from  it by a small corridor, are the
Steward's  a}partments   (1I), the  Kitchen  (L), and Storeroomi (K).    Adljoining  the  sides  of  the Hall may  be
found  the Laundry (N),  \Iangle  (O),  Laundresses' Office
(Q),  )rying-rlo)om   (S),  Ironiiig-rooms  (P), and  Serlvants'
Bed-rooims (P).   The Kitchen  an(l Laundry are perfectly
e(4-uitipl)ed with  the most recent muaterials and inmplements.
In  the Wash-roomi  is a five horse-povwer steamn  engine, foi
working the washing maclhines  and manigle.   Beneath it
is the boiler, in  which water,  that  flows  to  every part
of the  building, is heated  by  a coil of ironT pipe, three
hundred  feet in  length, filled withl steam.   In  the  oven
of  the  bakery, near the boiler, which is nine  b)y twelve
feet in size, all the bread and lpastry  are baked.
Now  let us go  Tlp  to  the second  story, or p)rincipal
floor.   Here  is a vestibule  (V)  at  the  main entrance,
twelve  1t)y thirty  feet in area;  and op)enling into  thle corrid(or (U),  in  firont  of  a spacious  donuble  stairway  and
)latform, which occu)y an area twenty-eight feet in depth
and  thirty-eight feet in  wi(lth.   Rsefer  to  the  p)lan of
16
121 
VASSAl COLLEGE
o-vh i'  I  <   ii                ~
-r _ z   4 ] F
0
L:
i-r;
~ T~  Dt 
. 1, — OT
I
122 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
this floor on  the opp0 osite  page as we go  along, and you
will have  a clear idea of its  occupation  and uses.    On
both  sides of the vestil)ule  are  two parlors, each  twentyfour  by  forty-six  feet in area, Avithl sl(liding  (loors opposite
each  other.   When  all of these  are throw-n  b)ack  at one
THE CENTRAL DOUBLE STAIRWAY.
time, there is presented ani op)en space twentty-four feet ill
widthl, and more than one hundred( feet in length.  Those
on the right of the VTestil)ule (M, M'),  are the President's
Parlors;  and  those on  the  left  (L, L) are  the College
Parlors.   The Presi(dent's house (N, N)  adjoins his p)arlors,
and extends from the first to the third story, inclusive.
Adjoining  the College Parlors  is the  Mledical Lectureroom  (J), which is equipped for instruction with skeletons
of both sexes; a manikin, cal)abl)e of complete  dissection;
dissectible p er 9let   cI( mio(dels of tlhe eye, ear, ai d other
organs; excellent d(Iried preparations, showing  the d(listri1)ution of nerves  and  blood-vessels;  and  a good  collection
123 
VASSAR COLLEGE
of microscopic ol)jects, to illustrate the miitiute anatomy of
various  structures.
Crossing  the  corrid(or, we fin(  four  Reecitatiou-rooms
(I, H, G, F), two  on  each si(de of the central stairway.
Passing through the  (door seen in the  )iciture, l)eueath the
landcing (of the stairrway, we enter the.great  I)inin-ig Hall
(0), the area of  which is forty-five 1y )       inuetv-four i  et.
The  ceiling, like-the  rest of this and(l the next  story, is
thirteen feet above the floor, a(nd is sup))orted ly coluhms.
On the right of the entrance  is the Messeunger's room
in which is thie only elock in the College, au(1d i)y which
all its prescribe(d internal miovemients are (direceted.  Inl it
is  also  an  annunciator, connected with  various  (o)ffieial
ap)artments, by wvhich rig(ht direetion is  given  to  auswer
a sumionos.   In various parts of the i-)uildiung, such as at
each  end of the four corridors, are  electro-imagnetie bells,
eonneeted with a powerful battery in the Chemical La)oratory.   The  Messeinger  has  an instrument in her room,
b)y which  she  can  at any momient  cause  the ringing of
one or all of these bells.  Governe(i )y the prescriptions  of
a time table, she announces by a touch of the key of this
instrument  causing the bells to rinig,  the time  for rising;
for service in the  Chapel;  for breakfast; for the assemI)ling of classes for iustructiou, and for the performance of
all other prescribed duties at fixed periods of the day.
In the DI)ining Hall four hundred persons may be seated
at table.   Back of it is the Carving-room  (P), admiirably
equipped with steam apparatus for keeping every thing  for
the table warm.   Next to it is the Dish-pantry (Q).   On
the opposite  side of  a back  stairway is  the silver  and
china room (R), with refrigerators in which, and for other
purposes, five hundred tons of ice were consumed during
14 
A-ND ITS FOUNDER.
F   ~~~~II Li~:h
F,~~~~~~~~~~,i L,"
4;~~~~~~~~~~L~~~~~~~i   _ _ ~~~~~~~~71~7
L~~~r
~$L~~(J~((~LL-iLiZJr7 
~~~~~                   I~~~~~~
I
1 2,5
----— "I
I. 
VASSAP COLLEGE
the first  Collegiate  year.   The  rooms   S  S  are for  the
Steward's use.   Oni this floor, also,  are  stuclents' parlors
anld bed-rooms, the former indicated 1 y nnumerals, from  23
to 44, and  the latter by  the letters a, b, and c, repeated.
T T denote Professors' houses.
We  will go up the great  stairway to the second floor,
'~;~~.=~
THE CHAPEL, FROM THE GALLERY.
or third story, the lplan of which is on the preceding page,
and  enter  the Chapel  (R),  vlwhieli  is directly  over  the
Dining Hall.  It is the same in width as the latter, and is
ninety-one feet in lengthl, with a gallery.   At its entrance
are two  cloak-rooms  (S  S),  and  at the  rear is  a selicircular vaulted recess, inf whlich are placed the organ, and
seats in gallery form.  Ill fi'ont of these is a l)latform for
literary  and  musical  exercises,  and  exhibitions  by  the
126 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
students.   The Chapel is nea,tly furnished, with cushioned
seats, and carpeted  aisle and platform; and six hundred
persons may be comfortably seated in it.  Its gallery is
supported by brackets  b)elowv it, and  iron rods  reachiing
down from  the  arched  ceiling.    At four points  of the
cornice, as ii similar positions
in other rooms in the building,    -
the initial of Mr. Vassar's nan,e    i
(V.) is seen inclosed in an ara-           __       T:
besque  scroll.  In the rear of
the  Chapel,  and  inclosing  the  semi-circular recess,  are
Music-roomls, numbered from  1 to I 5.
In front of the Organ, and covering it, is a copy of
Paphael's celebrated picture, entitled La Vierge de Foligno,
made  with  great  care  by  Miss   Chlurch,  an  American
woman, who  has bIeen for several years  in Ronme.  The
original was painted by command of Sigismund Conti of
Foligno, who  was Secretary to Pope  Julius  the Second.
The  story is, that having  been, as he supposed, mniraculously  saved  from  a thunder-bolt,  Sigismund  vowed  to
consecrate  a picture upon  the altar of the Virgin Mary,
to whose protecting care he attributed his salvation.  In
the upper part of the picture is seen the Virgin in glory,
holding the infant Jesus, and surrounded b)y clouds and
angels. On the earth, in the foreground, is a portrait of
Sigismund,  who is introduced  to the Virgin  b)y Jerome,
arrayed in the dress of a Cardinal.  A figure in the attitude  of prayer is intended  for St. Francis, near whom
stands St. John  the Baptist, who points to the Virgin.
In the center is a little boy with wings, holding a tablet,
on which  might be properly inscribed the words of St.
Paul to the Athenians~" I perceive that in all things ye
127 
VASSAR COLLEGE
are too superstitious."  This is olne (o)f the miost cele}rated
of Raphael's  comnpositions, and all engravilng  of it fornms
the first illustration in the Muse'e Poyale.  The (lonor put
it in  a church  in Rome, fiomn  whlich  it  was  afterward
conveyed I)by his niiece, Anina Conti, to thle Chapel of the
Nunnery of St. Aiina, at Foligno, foun(le(d  J- )y  the Conti
family.   It was  among  thle  pictures  sent  to Paris  when
Napoleon  the First despoiled  Italy of its wvorks  of  art.
In  1815 it was  sent b)ack  to  Ilonte, alnd  placed in  thle
gallery  of  thle  Vatican, where  Miss  Chlurch  cop)ied  it.
That  copy,  oirdered  )by President  Jewett  wheen  le, was  in
Rome,  in 186(1, has b)eei l)aced( temporarily iii the Chapel
of Vassar College.
On one side of the central stairway, on the floor we are
now  exploring, is the  roomn  of the  Lady  Principal  (56),
and on the  other side, the apartment of the Matron (57).
In the same relative position as on thle floors below we find
thie students' parlors and be(l-roo()us, the former numblering
froin  44  to  (8, and thle latter indicated b)y thle three  letters a7, 4, and c.  The Professors' houses are also indicated
-by  thie  letter T.   Directly  opposite  the  Chapel  is  the
Library (P), thirty,)y thirty-five feet in area, and containing  at  thle  present  time  a  little  over  three  thotisani(d
volumtes.   To  thiese large  add(litions will  b)e made,  until
this  portion  of  the  working  im1)lements  of  the  College
shall be as perfect as any other.
Adjoining the Library, on olne side, is thle Lady  Principal's office (O), aind  next  to it is her  parlor.  On  thle
other side  are thie President's apartments  (Q  Q  Q), and
across the corrid(or, opp)osite, is his office (N).  Adjoining
the  Lady  Principals  Pa1lor is the  Cabinet  of Natural
History (L),  an(d  on  the opposite  side  of  the  corridor
128
.',..'.'  
AND ITS FOUNDER.
is a Recitation-roomn (K).  The former, under the superin tendence of the Professor of Natural History, has become
one of  the most interesting  apartments  in the  College.
It contains a large and rapidly increasing collection among
which are now several thousand specimens illustrating mam mals, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, crustacea, shells, echino derms, acalephs, corals, and sea-anemones.  This Cabinet has
been enriched, while these pages have been in preparation,
by the enlightened generosity of J. P. Giraud, of Pough keepsie, an amateur Ornithologist, who has presented his
entire collection  of North American  )irds to Vassar Col lege, together  with  rare  and  valuable  works  on  Orni thology. This collection of birds of North America is said
to be equal to any in the world.  It contains many  specimens of which  Audubon  made  drawings  for his magnificent work entitled " Birds of America." Among these is
the Great Auk, an aquatic bird now  supposed to  be extinct.   Vassar  College will  doubtless  soon  possess  the
most extensive and valuable  museum  of Natural History
in the country.
Let us now  go still  higher, to  the  Third Floor, or
Fourth Story.   Turning  as  before  at  the  platform, we
enter the gallery of the Chapel (R), at the end of which
are   music-rooms,  numbering  from  16  to  a 1.   At  the
entrance to the gallery are two  cloak-rooms (S S); and
on         each side of the great stairway  is a  recitation-rooni
(O   and P).  Extending along the corridor each way, we
see  stu dents' parlors, numbering firom 69 to 95, with bedrooms a, b, and c.   At  the southleastern angle of  this
floor are the  Physician's roomn  (U),  the Infirmary  (Q),
and Convalescents' room (V). These are delightfully situated, more than fifty feet from the ground, and over      17
129 
130            Y~~~~ASSAR COTJLFGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ oo
14~~
-                            e~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1
130 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
look  the  most  pleasing  rural  scenery.  The  view  on
the east is terminated  by high cultivated hills,  and  on
the  south by  the blue line of the Fish  Kil mountains,
twenty miles distant.  These rooms  are well lighted and(
ventilated, and present in their internal aspect, and scenes
from  the windows, innch to please the eye and cheer the
spirits of  an invalid.  On  this floor, also, the Professors'
houses are indicated T)v the letters T T.
Opposite  the galleiv  of the  Chalel  is the  entrance
TLTE ART GALLERY.
to  the  Art  (Galler -.  T'hs  ad(mits  us  to a  room  thirty
feet in widtli and ninety-six feet ill lengthl, lighted( firoml  a
dome in the center that rises ab)out  forty feet above  the
floor, a sky-liht  in each  wing,  anfd windows  along  the
western  front  of  the  College.   ii a greater  portion of
the  apartment, the walls, from  thie floor well ul) toward
the cornice, are hung with pictures, all adapted l)y their size
and  character to the purposes of instruction.   This room
is in charge of thie Professor of l)rawing and Painting.
131 
VASSAR COLLEGE
The first prominent object that mieets the eye on  entering this fine gallery is a ftll-lenilth portrait of the Founder,
painted by Charles Elliott, b1)y ord(er of tlhe Trustees. Imme(liately below and in front of the portrait miay J)e seen a
mnarble bust of  the Found(er, life size, 1)y  Mirs. Laura S.
Hofmann,  of Poughkeep)sie, who   fo'rie(e  thle lnodel  fromn
life, while  the early lpages of tlis Me-oir  were  passing
MATTHEW VASSARI.
through  the  press.  On  the walls o()  each side  of  the
portrait  are groups  of ancient armor, of  mucl  historical
interest.   That  helmet  covered  Avitl   foiled(  gold  came
from Sp)ain; and the othier, cr-ested( by a bird, surmounted
the tomb  of  a  family in England(l, now   extinct.  That
halberd belonged to the French  King Francis tle F'irst,
and hlis arms  are etched on the spear-lpoint.   Look  into
thlis cuirass, and you wvill see the names of several of
132 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
Cromwell's most noted battles. In those, this shield for
the  breast  and  back  was used.  Here  are swords,  and
gauntlets, and  spurs, worn  by  ancient knights;  but we
may  not  stop  to  consider  in  detail  all  that  we  see in
this  room.   As  we  enter, we  observe on  ouir  right  a
large number  of oil paintings, and on our left, a greater
number  made  with  water-colors  and  black-lead  pencils;
and here and there about the room are students copying
pictures, under the direction of the Art Professor. Let
us sit down and learn the names of the pictures, and
of the artists who  made them, from this
CATALOGUE OF THE ART GALLERY OF VASSAR COLLEGE.
OIL PAINTINGS.
1 The Wreck Ashore.  If Baicon.
2 A Western Hunter.  J. Cra?o/fort  771om.
3 Landscape.  W. 1v  Oddie.
4 The UTpper Meadows, North Conway.  Iu7)a(rd.
5 "Behold the Man."
6 A Lesson for the Lazy.  ETV. L. Beard.
7 Meadows and  Mountains at Bethel.   T              3
Grigys.
8 The Duck Shooter.  Wv. Ranney.
9 Sunset at Lancaster, N. II. A. D. Shat,uck.
10 Ticonderoga in Winter.  T L. Smsith.
11 Sunrise on the Bernese Alps.  S. R. Giffors.
12 Nantasket Beach.  W. IIL Gauy.
13 Don Quixote's Attack on the Windmills.,7.
Crauwford Tho4lz.
14 Assumption of the Virgin.
15 Summer in South America.  F. E. Church.
16 Afternoon near Lake George.   J. TV Casilear.
17 Chocorua Lake aind Mountain.   A. D. Sha(ttuck.
1S Morning over New York.  C 1. I   foore.
19 Glamis Castle.  IWillitiu Ilart.
20 Dessert Delicacies.  R?. Collins.
21 Interior of St. Germain des PrIs, Paris.  Pseral. 
22 Caught in the Act.  T It 11 atteson.
23 M. Angelo and his Master-pieces.  J. IrT FhI }ain-|
ger.
24 Through the Woods.  A. B. Durand.
25 "Where the streamlet sings il rural joy."  A.
B. Dura5d.
26 Down the Hudson to West Point.  (. ]L A[isore.
2T The Culprit Fay.  George Botfyh7to7n.
28 Turkish Interior.  Diazs.
29 The Baron's Tomb.  JIlller.
80 Sacred S ong.  Lonnis Lan     d.
81 Evening at Paestum. J. F. Uroipsey.
32 The Wild New England Shore.   William  Irafrt.
33 The Wreath of Nature. W. F. -Riclhairds.
34 Natur-e's Nook.   Jagnes Itrt.
S5 Ihome again fi'om a Foreign Shore.  G;ignou x,,.
36 Berkley Pock at Newport.  J. F.  A-e~?,ett.
3T Autumn in North America. -P. E. Church.
3S Birds in the Bushes. A. F. T(,tit.
39 Tuckerman's Ravine.  S. Co lman.
40 Morning, on the Coast of Sicily. J. F. Crop.,ey.
41 Evening in Vermont. F. E. Chuitrch7.
42 Robinson praying, for  the Pilgrims about  to
embark for Holland.  Edi?vn  White.
43 Iipley Falls.  B.  Chiagnpotey.
44 Cellini in his Studio. A1ritier.
45 Deer in a Dell. A. F. T(ait.
46 View from Lead Mine Bri(ldgc. Wllia?)?, I1a(rt.
47 The Old Elm by the liver Side. A. at Bellow&.
4S Sunset in Italy, with Vesper  Processioni.  D.
Johnson.
49'RPoslyn"-Bryant's Pesilence.  T. Addison
.Richards.
,50 "Sunnyside"-Irvin.g's  Home.   T. Addison
R~ichardis.
51 Sketch of Madonnat   and Chih.   P2emnlbrandt
Lock?.ood.
.52 The Irish Shepherd.  Geo7ee AglTrelan(.
53 The Miser.  NRernorani dt Lock-oo(d,.
M Group fiom the Village Festival.   Sir Da(ivid
TWilkie.
55 Near Swallow's Cave, Nahant.  S. TV G(;rig.s.
56 Chief Justice Marshall. B. Jfartin.
133 
VASSAR  COLLEGE
57 Thetis bringing, Armor to Achilles.  Ben-4ui iin  92 The Summer Rose.  C,. A. B,tlrer.
Wf'~~~~~est.                      1 93 The Adventure.   V  S.  Jfouiit.
5S Rainy Day near West Point.   George Bro,uyl-1  94 Falstaff.   (. L. Elliott.
ton.                                              95 The Sybil.  D. Ifituitinigtoii.
59 Interior of a Barn.  Jftircos iitterc,a(JN.         96 "The moonshine stealing o'e r the scene
60 Afternoon on  the Androscoggini.    fe?ry/ A4.            Ilath blended with thelightofeve;
Ferg'yusoi.                                            And she was there, my hope, nmy joy,
61 The Upper Connecticut.  A. D. SlafttteZ.                     My own dear Genevieve." J. F.  Cop.se.
62 Crystal Cascade.  lieo2er Af~atiji.                 97 Dead Christ.  -J. Alolhe.
63 Cherry Mountain and Franconia  ange.  S. L.    93 Beggar Girl in RIomie.  Edecitn Whife.
Gerry.                                            99 Night over New York.                      4.exa?der  i.t.
64 Glen Ellis Fall.  Jfoener Jfartiii.                 100 Lesson of Prayer.  IIeitr?y Peters Grety.
65) The Lover of Pictures.  J.  7rasi,forci Thogi.     101 Market Scene in New York.  R.  Giqgioev.
66 Autumnal Eve at Yalombrosa.    Tliom(s (ole.  102 Noon in Midsummer.  J. JAfElttee.
67 Count Ugolino and Family in the Dungeon of  103 The Coming Snow.  J. -ifcE?tee.
Starvation.  -4lonzo Chauppe.                    104 Artist Brookl, North (,onw-ay.  S,. Col,itvii.
68 Mts. Madison and Adamns, fiom  Milan    Alex-  105 The Shrine of Shakspeare.  S. P. Giffor.
ander Tiist.                                     106 Old Guard.  JI-s. Lily S>eieer.
69 The Upper Palisade.  ( IIJ. JAfore.                107T Warwickl Castle and Piver Avon. E. It 2Aico1ol..
TO The Visitation (Luke i1..!6      After Pt,ti,t7tel  10S Sybil.  After  Doineicieliio.
and Del Pioe7bo.                                 109 Spring at Great Barringtoin.  I. A. AEsrl.ois.
71 Amiens Cathedral.  Geniiissoni.                     110 Summer in North Conway.  1  A. A     e. ce?tyils,on.
72 Edward Everett.  J. IJ. Loung.                      111 Autumn at Lalke George. IIA. Fereusoti.
73 Lake Winnipiseogee.  Alexwtnlder }]ist.            112 Wintler near Albany. I  A. I.    Ferulsitoi.
74 The Catskills in Spring.  (..IA Afoore.            113 Lamientation over Jerusaleii.  -Beygts.
75 Meditation.  P. Tl' lfeimi.                         114 The Spanish Devotee.  Greete.
76 Don Quixote in his Std(lv.  F. A-. Johi7soi,.       115 The Jewess.   -  Doilde.
T77 The White Mountains, from  Shelburne.  S.L.  116 Narraganset Coast.  J~(Trc rs Vliterms,)?.
Gerry.                                           117 Flower Gil at the Church Door.    chesibce/.
.8 Sunset on Mole Mountain.  A. D. Sh(tttuc,.         11S Thle Old Man's Lesson.  Tluoigts Hihek..
79 Autumnal Snow on Mount Washington.  A4. 1).  119 Talk Beach. near Cohasset.  TV. Guy.
Shaltttuck.                                      120 Lake Maggiore.  S. I,. Gifforl.
80 Winter  lingering in the Lap  of Slprini.   P.  121 Old Cottage nearShalsle are's Bilth- phlee., A!
CUhctipiney.                                           IEalcos ei-.
81 The Saco at North Conway, and Mt. Kearsarge.  122 The lionian Campagna. PS. Gie iorl.
WVillgiuia  larl.                                123 Sunset at Bethel, Mie  A. D.  Sultfek.
82 The Upper Hudson.   Thon(ls Doug7tty.               124 Down the Willey Pass   S. Colcia.
83 A Winter View from Newburgh. L. P. Afigyiot.  125 The  Franconia Notch, and Mt.  Lafayette.  A.
84 Scenery in Savoy.  TISftelet.                            J. Bellow,.
85 Washington at Mt. Vernon.  Aloczo Claupl)pel.    126 Sunset in Western Virginia.  TV. L. Sosftag.
S6 Death of Copernicus.  G. IL Iluff.                  127 The American Monlk. Renbranidt LoAckwiood.
T87 Exceeding Pich and Precious Promises.  (;. If  128 Noon near the Lake.  George Inness.
Ilal.                                            129 Summer  Twilight on the Catskills.   Jtu,i ie30 Meadows and Wild  Flowers at Conway.  S.                  so0.
Colincai.                                        180 Cape Blow-me-down, Canada.  Le Gruczd.
89 Dolly Neglected.   TV J  Ilenuessy.                 131 Evening in the Meadows.  George hesss.
90 The Young Devotee.  L'Ecfnft (e etz.               132 Hlead of the Piver.  A lexai(7er BTsit.
91 Tit for Tat.  l)t,erge3: 133 Eveningf on the Mysti(.  Jl Ifeir?/ Hill.
PICTURES IN WATER C01,0R, AND PENCILJ DRAWINGS.
134 On the Seine.  Ghirurf7i.
135 The Upper Ihine.  Louisi Tl,,o2),.ts.
136 French Cavalry. T/tos. Fort.
137 The Diligence.   Thos. Fort.
138 Bridge over the Phone.  Petfi?use.
139 La Grandmire.
140 York Cathedral. TV. P2 ic/,acrd,soi.
141 Flamboyant Church. Croyclo7i.
142 Manor IIlouse, o)rk. Y   icla.rdsoi.
143 The Truant.  Ttylor.
144 The Observatory, Oxford.   Williamc  Tlestfl.         1
145 Trinity Library, Camlbri(dge.  lkstall.
146 Tesuis Colle ge, (Yambridge.   TVes.t(tl7.
14 71 Marine. 1-Uiic7,tho7it.
148 Kitchen, Christ Ch. College, Oxford. A.  Pitegii.
149 Chapel of Magdalen College, Caimibride.   Puffin.
150 Caius College, Cambridge.  P        iug?i.
151 The Sinner and The Saviour.   Ti'est.
152 Cryp)t of St. Peter's, Oxford. TF. 3~ackenzie.
1M  Court of Emanuel College, Cambridge.  Piisiii.
154 St. Peter Fs College, Cambridge.    TV  W~estafll.
155 Emanuel College, Cambridge. TV. TIlestatNl.
156 St. Paul's School, London. J[aclke ziee.
157 Cains Colle_~e, Cambridlg-e.  Putin.
115S Chapel of Emanuel College. Cambridge.  P?tisi,.
1.459 W'orcester College. Oxfoid.  Johni If. AT Itemi'.
1,P,4 
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VASSAR COLLEGE
K33  Botanic Garden. Oxf(l,d.  De7imnotte.
o334 St. John's College, Oxfi,(rd.  ])eton,otte.
335 Poui-eredo, Italy.  J. Fde7?.
8336 University Boat Lace on the Isis, Oxford.   De      lam otte.
337 Nashl's (C astle, Isle of Wight.  V.  Daniels.
338  Walraken C                      Chuch. Nofol.  Ctterivnole.
339 Cloisters,at Townloins.  Btir.lter.
O40 Conway Castle.  P!7J,e.
341  Butst of IIenry Clay.  I/errt.
342 St. Mar-y's, C~tribridlge. -Jf:l[ckenzie.
343 Depedene, Surry. ~Bartlett.
344 Library of Mertoi College, Oxfiord.  Pug,in.
345 PRugbb        y  Sclo ol   lr. Puglii.
346 Wiinclhester School.  PIugtyi.
347 Pembroke College, Oxford.  Le ]teuw.
34S Cloisters, Eton College.   Pugin?.
849 Dirning, Hall, Trinity College, Cambridge.  Aiac      kenzie.
278 Hall at Knbwle, Kent.  J 2tsh.
279 Holy Family. Johnit Absolon.
280 Aspiration.  Gacvarni.
2S1 Old Greenw-ich. J. Salnon.
2S82 Norman Tower and Mill, Oxford.  Le 
283 Eto)n College. Le ]etux.
2S4 Chivwlry.  Louis Davi<ld.
285 Classic Riin by Moonlight. F. 0. Fii9
286 Nestley Abbey by Torchlight.  JE. Z.
287 Fortitude.  Euqe?ie Delacroix.
28  Deer in Devonshire Park.  C. Pears,on
289 Sea Shore and Monastic Puins.  S o3l4r                                     or
290 Sterlingz Castle, and the fichl of Bann
Ifo u s ton.
291 The Church at Stoke, near Windsor. 
292 Berne, Switzerland.  f if  JW.V Turner.
293 Bacharach, on the Phine.   Turner.
294 Pass of St. Bernard. Turnier.
295 Sandy Knowe and Smailhoim Tower.   Turner.
296 Tomb  of  tIenry lII.,  Westminster   Abbey.
Scatndrett.
297 Reading the Legend.  -arl IIrtfwann.
298 Cadir Iris nid Snowdon, North Wales.  (o,pley
Fielding.
299 Ruined Castle above Baden-Baden.   T3yll.
800 Caesar's Tower, Essex.  George Tripp.
801 Interior of St. Marlk's, Venice.  Lake Pr,i.ce.
802 Sketch of Church and Bay at Naples.   JohPn
303 Lucerne, Switzerland,  T  icha rdcsos.
304 Tower Hill, London.  Le  etaux-.
305 Bay Win(ldow.  Prout.
306 St. Stephen's Church, London.  Puqin.
307 Coronation  of  William  IV., ii  Westminster
Abbey.  David Roberts.
308 Christmas.  Joihn Jfarftit.
809 Joan of Arc in Prison at Poisen., E. F  -Btcl       ley.
810 The End.  Iferring.
811 Ducks and Flowers.  TlViegal.
812 Game Fowls.  ITViegel.
313 Italian Landscape.  Leitcl.
314 Loch Katrine.  lowebothaim.
315 The Village Aristocrat.   Tig(tl.
316 St. Martin dividing his Cloak with the Beggars.
After Riebenis and TVand.?yke, by W~est.
317 Saumnr, on the Loire.  Eugene Soulez.
318 Exeter Cathedral. J Buckler.
319 An Old Buck and Companion.  T S. Cooper.
320 Merton College, Oxford.  A  A. Del,huotte.
321 St. Mary's Abbey, York.  lichardsois.
322 King's College, Cambridge.  Jiackenzi,e.
323 Therborne, Dorset.  Lie  retto.
324 Exeter College, Oxford.  Deleamotte.
825 Belenzona, Italy.  J.. Eder.
326 Melrose Cross.  Turner.
327 Inter ior of Oxfordl Cathed(iral.  Delamotte.
328 Kenilworth Castle.  Arches.
829 Depedene Park, Strry.  Ba2etlett.
330 Crylpt of Holy Trinity, Caen.  eJ S. Cotmin.
331 Merton Library, Oxford.  Deleynotte.
832 George IV. Dining  hIis Court in the Chinese
P.avilion at Brighton.
850 St. Jo,hn's College, Cambridge.  Jfackenzie.
s51 Interior  of St. Mary's.  Camlridge.   -([cke       zie.
85-,2 Westminster School.   Pu?gin,.
353 Baiiol College ChaIel, Oxfolrd.  Lie A?/.
354 Canons        As hby.   G. Slehectre.
355 Cloister of Chester (cathedral. Le         i Tet so.
3A56 Twilight o n  Lale and  llrin.  Robert,son,.
357 St. Pauil's, Lond(oi.   Tlzo)~9,o,
3.58 Chepsto)w Castle.   Webbter.
359 Druidical Remains.  Bairtlett.
360 Bust of Daniel Webster. Clevangtqer.
361 Corsham House.  Protut and Rep ton.
862 Trafalgar Monument, London.  J. R. Thomp       son.
363 Winchester Cathedral.  Jltlc/enzie.
364 Sir Walter Scott's Monument.  OUhercher.
365 Capitals in Salisbury Cathedral.  J3aclenzie.
366 Norman Church Architecture.  -Loutis Th,,oqaR.
367 Norman  Donmestic Architecture.   Lou,i.s  Tho
368 Abbey on the Loire.  Goeaud,.
369 Battle of Mai-eng!-.  Fosbry.
870 French Landscape.  Gobeau&bd.
871 The Model Asleep.   Wllillaiis.
372 Itead of Maclise.  Ifenniesay.
373 White Mountain  PRange fiom   Jefferson  Hill.
WFitliam Ilarst.
374 Moonlight on Mount Carter, G(orham.   l(irt.
875 Cartoon for a Votive Picture.  Victor OrseL,.
876 Winged Head.  Orse7.
877 Peace. WTilliam,tg Etty
37S War. Ettu.
379 View down  the  Androscoggin, from  Milan
Bridge. ]tltrt.
8SO Lower Berlin Falls.  I1art.
8Sl White Mountains fi'om Shelburne. []art.
3S2 View from Milhn, above the Bridge.   Hart.
833 Turner's Autog,raplh.
3S t Deatlh of Abel.
3S5 The Battle of the Amazons. Bronze.
3S6 Ancient Arms,an(I Armnor.
I 3 C)
332 Geo,-e IV. I)inin,,,, ]is C,,iirt!,, t,,, Chin,se 8ST W,!Ish W)meii rettirnin:-, from Market. David
P,tvilion at Bi-i hton. Cox. 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
I E S.
3  406 Interior of Milan Cathedral.  After Prout.
40?t Exterior  of  Milan Cathedral.  TC o spi ed
40S Midnight Mass.         After 1 Dotgie.
409 View fiom St. Elrno Castle, Nail)les.
410 Interior of the Triblune, Florence.
411 Salisbury Cathe dral.
412 Durham Cathedral.
413 The Meeting of Raphael  anid Mficha-,el Angelo.
After Ilorace Terniet.
414 Winchester  Cathe(ldal.
415 Incredulity  of St. Thomas.   Copie(d by  Jli,s.s
Clt~ty-ch from G)en civo.
416 The Blessed Mother. After Dolce, by fthe,~ame
417 La Vierge de Foligno41S Ancien-t Stained Glass.
419 Bust of Scott.
420 Bust of Byron.
421 Bust of Milton.
422 Bust of Shakspeare.
3SS St. Peter's and the Vatican.
3S9 The Pantheon at omne.
890 Niagara.
891 Cologne fiom the Rhine.
392 Edge of the Wolod.
893 English Land(scal)e.  After Mi;l//er.
394 The MounIItain Str-eam.
395 Eton College. After LiZdlov.
,'96 Court of Eton College.   T/Ae, scme.
8397 Windsor  Castle  from the Great Park.   After
Pyn e.
398 Windsor Castle.  7The sa2?oe.
89,9 Saplpho.
400 St. Peter's and Vatican.  PAotoyr(-tp/.
401 The Colosseum, liome.  Pl4otogrAtpd.
402 The Roman Foruin.  Pllotogr-a)h.
4083 Fine Line Engraving of Oxford.  After Turnere,.
404 The Goo(l and the Bad.  After Orsel.
40.5 G(lasgow Cathedral.  After Dl(vid Robert,4,.
This  catalogue reveals, in  a  degree, the treasures of
the Art Gallery  of Vassar College.  These  may  only be
estimated  atfter  considering  the  fiirthler  record, that  the
pictures are accompanied  by almost  a thousand  volume,s
illustrative of the Fine Arts, some of them the most
rare and valuable ever published.  Scattered through this
library, in bound  folios,  are thousands of original water
color sketches, pencil drawings, and  engravings, firom  the
hands  of some  of the most eminent modern artists.  The
collection  is particeflarly rich  in  architectural  drawings,
especially such  as illustrate  ecclesiology, in  all its forms
of  church  and  cathedral  structure  and  decoration,  in
Great  Britain  and  on  the  Continent.  A   large portion
of these drawings are from  the immense treasure of this
kind that belonged  to the late venerable  antiquary, and
author   of  more  than  eighty  illustrated  works,  John
Britton, who  permitted  the collector of  the books  and
lpictures in the Art  Gallery of Vassar  College  to draw
from them without stint.  Jolhn  Le Keux, many of whose
works  are in this collection, led him  to rich stores;  and
other friendCls  abroad,  like Samuel  Rogers,  the poet,  Sir
i8
1l37 
VASSAR COLLEGE
Charles  Barry, John Rtuskin, Baring Brothers, andl(l others,
kindly gave him their efficient assistance.
The collection of water-color pictures is, without doubt,
superior to any other in this country. In a note to the
author of this Memoir, the collector says: "Almost every
great hand that built the finest school of water-color on
earth is represented in the Vassar College collection;
many  of  the  present  age  by  works  ordered for it."
Among  these  water-color pictures  are four sketches  by
Turner, one of which has a peculiar value, because it contains  the work  of  three  eminent  contemporary  artists
on one small piece of paper.  It is a sketch of the Pass
of St. Bernard (294), which is engraved in Rogers's Italy.
The landscape is by Turner; a dead body in the snow
is by Charles Stothard; and the two dogs, which appear
a little outside of the picture, are from pencil sketches by
Sir Edwin Landseer.
It would be a delight to go through this library
and about the gallery, and  examine in detail the most
celebrated  of the works  before  us.  But this we  may
not do, and we must be contented with stopping a few
minutes  to  enjoy  the  most  remarkable.   Among  the
"elephant  folios," elegantly bound,  we  find  the  Mus6e'e
PRoyale and the Muse'e Franqaise; engravings a(nd descriptions of the pictures, statues, bas-reliefs, and cameos in the
gallery  of  the  Pitti  Palace, in  Florence;  illuminated
books of the middle ages; Carter's Ancient Sculpture
and Painting in England;  Coltman's  Architectural  Antiquities  of  Normandy;   Britton's  Exeter  Cathedral,  in
which  are  bound  up  the  original  drawings  })y Wyatt,
from  which all the engravings of the work were made;
Knight's Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy; PRoyal Gallery
138 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
of Britishl  Art;  Gallery of Vienna;  Gallery of the Duke
of Orleans, and many others of great value and rarity.
Among  the works  of  art is a perfect  copy,  by  the
electrotype process, of the celebrated  silver dish  nlow in
possession of the King of Prussia, on which is delineated,
BATTLE OF TEE AMAZONS.
B LF,i
BATTLE OF THE AMAZON~S.
by a wonderful grouping of figures in low relief; the
story of the  Battle  of thie Amazons, which  employed
the  genius  of PRubens  and  other  masters.   The early
history  of this dish  is unknown.   More  than  twenty
years ago, it was  found  in the hands of an anti(quary
139 
VASSAR COLLEGE
in Cologne, and was purchased b)y the Prussian monarch
for  about  twelve  thousand  dollars.   It  bears internal
evidence of having been made  full three hundred  years
ago, by Benvenuto Cellini, who  was a favorite  of  Cosmo
de  Medici, the (Grand  Duke of Tuscaity, ailtd ranks  high
as a sculp)tor, and  as  the  greatest  llmedalist  the world
has  ever  seen.   None  but  an  artist possessed  of  his
genius could have  wrought the dish whose  ornamentation
is given in outline in the sketch on the iforegoing page.
That  story of  the Battle of the Amnazons  is found
among the imiost ancient of the classic fictions.  It riepresents a  communiity  or  nation  of women,  athletic, fully
developed, and warlike, giving offeinsive, or defensive battle
to men  wlhenever  occasion re(quired.   Like  all others of
those  old  fictions, it was  intended  to  illustrate  some
physical or m-oral p)ower, aid, like  them, it has greatly
taxed the ingenuity of antiquaries  to  exp)laiii its hidden
meaning.  None believe it to })e an historical  fact.  Some
suppose  it  to represent  the  conq(luest  of one  form  of
religion  over  another, and  especially the spread  ()f the
worship  of thle  Ephesiaii  Diana  over the  thenr known
world; while others  believe that it I)ersonated the right
of woman to contend for equality with  mian, and typified
her final victory.  We  will accep)t  the latter  interli)retation, and  regard  the  great  nietal  p)late  hlaiginig in its
Art  Gallery  as the typical  shield of Vassar College, the
first  fully ar'ried championi of the right of womano to all
the knowledge that man imay lpossess.
Amirong the pictures arounid us are maniiy Ahiose history
is  exceedingly interesting.  If you  Aishl to learn it, look
into that black-covered  Maiuscript Catalogue lying there,
prepared  })y  the  collector  of  the  pictures  and  books.
140 
ArN0D ITS FO'UNDER.
Who   is  he  you  imay  inquire.   He  is  the  R,everend
Elias  L.  Mlagoon, D). D.,  a  clergyman  ill l,)ally,  New
York, of the  Bap)tist (denomination, and one of ther Trus tees (f this  College.   Fior  nearly  a dozen years he was
assiduous at home  and abroald, as nieaits  andl  o)pportunity
offered,  ill  makiig  this  collectioll.    Wheii the  gallery
was  finished, the  I)roper conmmittee  vwoi(ldere(l  h(ow  they
should  C(over its b-are walls withi a)l)prol)riate  i1le)lments
o)f education  in  art.  Their  desires were  niore than satis fied wheli  the generous Foundeir gave Dr.  Magool twenty
thousanid dollars for his treasuries,  and presented themi  to
the Trustees  of the Institution.  Thus  mnuniifieence, acting
ill tuliison with  the previous lao)()rs of taste,  has given  to
Vassar College the  ueans foil  instructi()on in  art possessed
by no otlher seminariy (of learniing in this counltry.
We  have lingered long in the Art (Gallery; let us now
go up to the attic i( )or, and searchl for oj)j ects of interest
there.  Around this openl court are only b)aggag(e-rooms (C);
and  a little to the westwar(l are students' l)arlors, nuiiil)ering firom',)  t() 1)00, with two  bed-rooms each.   At the
extremnity o)f the long passage I'er the Chapel, on the rght,
are Vocal Music  o()oms (E E), and ol the left are Drawviing
Studios (D D), where the elements of art  are taught, and
for which purpose (drawinIgs an(d  )laster casts are furnished
in abundance.   In each (f the  towers (F F), at the inne]
angle  iforleId  I)y the  center  I)uilding and  the wvings, and
over this floor, is an i IIIlelnse water-tailk, and(  three others
are nearer  the  center.  F&'oin themi, in a niannier that will
be mentioned  priesently, about  twenty thousand  gallons
of pure  water  are distribiuted(  thro()ughl  the  buildiing, each
day.   Inl the extremities of the -willgs ol this floor ale the
servants' rooms (G G).
141 
142            ~~~~VASSAR COLLEGE
m
I
ML
II  
...
I
I
i
i
142
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I 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
Looking around this floor, you would little suspect the
treasures of science it contains, in the two rooms marked
A and B on the plan. These are the Cabinets of Geology,
Mineralogy, and Lithology, and present one of the most
complete and best arranged collections of specimens of
rocks, minerals, and fossils, in  the country.   The  Lithological  Cabinet is nineteen by  twenty-one feet  in  area;
that  of  Geology  and   Mineralogy  is  twenty-four  by
seventy-five feet.  The latter is a most attractive place for
the general observer as well as the philosopher. The first
object that meets the eye as you enter, is the model of
an immense fossil Armadillo (Sc,iAto-p7eurum), found near
Buenos Ayres, whose length, including the head and tail,
is eight feet six inches, and its height nearly five feet.  It
is seen in the center of the room  in the accompanying
picture.  The body and tail of the original are at Dijon,
in France, and the head is in the Garden of Plants, in
Paris.  This division of the treasure is the result of a compromise between two claimants to the possession of the
whole fossil.  The  model of the head was procured  for
Vassar College only one year ago.
The arrangement of the specimens in these cabinets
has been made with special reference to instruction.
The  Cabinet  of Mineralogy is so compiled  as to first
illustrate all the elementary questions of the science, such
as relate to the structure, growth, form, and external
features of minerals; and thus presents, in a systematic
collection,  all  the  well-known  and  important  mineral
species which are met with in nature in all parts of the
world.   The  prominent  features of  this cabinet appear
under four sections: the first illustrating Crystallography;
the second, the Physical Properties of Minerals; the third,
143 
VASSAP COLLEGE
a Working  Collectioll; ad(T the fo'tlh,,a  ystematic  Collection.    The  first  section  slho-ws  several  series  of  natural
ancd artificial crystals.    The  eo( seco   ( setio  is (ivi(e(l into
ninie           the first g\iving- examples,f 1kinl(l  ad(I d(egrees
of  the  lIuster  of  minerals;  the  secon(l, their colors   and
shab(es of col(); the  third(, their (liap)haneity or (degree  of
otra nsmlission   r interLuption of light;  the  foirtll illustrates
\~ jij~mffl~r~ffi      jj~~jf
CABINET OF GEOLOGY AND ~ININERALOGY.
the reft'action andl polarization of light ii i('i(ms minerals;
the fifthl, their  l)-()sphoresceiic(-; tlhe sixth, tleir electrical
and  niagietical l).()pertie,s; the  setven tl, thei- (legrees  of
specific gravity\;  thle eightlh, -   scle  o)f tleir ]I-'11hnes;  an
thle ninth,l  the vA-aiety- of their taste  mul (()or.
The thir(l, ()I  Wo)rkii-g  Section,  contains  al-)()nut  fifteen
hunnlred(l  s)cilmlels of niinerals, inte(lndedl for close  exaninatio)i  J-)v the stti(leents in every variety of experinienit.   The
fotiurthli sectiot,  or Syvstematic Collectioln  consists O f  about
two  thlousand( sI )ecimens, classified  accor (ding  to   Dana's
systemi  of  Mineralogyvo    It  incltid(les  albout  six  hiundred
144
I/ i 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
varieties, represented  by  several speci1nens, including  the
crystallized and  amiorphous condition.   Eachi specimen is
neatly arranged upon a block and labeled.   The detachied
crystals are in part muounted  on upright brass hlolders, tihe
name, fOrl, &C., being inscribed on the pedestal beneath.
The Cabinet of Geology consists of about four thousand
specimens of rocks, fossils, &c., arranged  in several distinct
sections.  The first section is a Lithological collection, in
wvhich are represented  about  five hundred  specimens of
all the  known  varieties of rocks, arranged  in  complete
illustration of the science of Lithology, and representative
of the mineral masses whlichl constitute the ernst of our
globe.  These are arranged  in twelve distinct series.  The
second section is a Paleontological collection, in which  are
over three hundred  specimens  of fossils, showing  all the
important types of animal life, as recorded in " God's elder
Scriptures," written on the crust of the earth.  These are
arranged on  blocks of wood and  labeled.   The fossils
of each  Geological  epoch  are carefully grouped  withl  a
determinate Zoological order, and show the types and species of animal  life which  characterized  each  epoch.   In
this manner, assisted by plaster casts of the larger and rarer
fossils, a comprehlensive view is given of the features of
each period.
For the purpose of furthler illustrating the whole science
of Geology, the Cabinet contains about fifty Geological
charts and landscapes, intended to show the succession of
strata and thie groups of animal and vegetable life in each
of  the periods.  Some of these pictures show the forms of
such strange animals, that it is no wonder Lucretius wrote,
withi excited imagination, after seeing (as we may fairly
believe be did) the skeleton of one of them
19
145 
VASSAR COLLEGE
" Hence, doubtless, earth prodigious forms at first
Gendered, of face and imembers imost grotesque;
Mlonsters-i,ilf man, half woman-slapes unsound,
Footless and landless, void of montlhs or eye,
Or, from misjunetioi, maimed of limb witlh limb."
This  Cabiinet is also furllished with mno(dels, in  relief,
of noted  volcalloes,  and woode n models  illustrating the
various lphenomena of stratification, faults, &c.  These cabinets, which  so completely  illustrate  the  vwhlole  science of
Geology, were  collected  ad(l  thus  admnirably arrange(d by
Professor  H.  A.  Warl,  of  PRochester, New\  York,  and
were purchased of him  for Vassar College.
We have 10ow visited every part of the  College edifice,
from the cellar to the attic;  let us see whliat we mray fiid
of interest outside of it.
THIE OBSERVATORY.
Yonder,  about  eight  hunidred  feet northeast of  the
College building, is the Observatory,  already  mentioned,
standing on  the summit of a rocky knoll, at the eastern
verge of the Campus of seventy acres.  Its foundations are
146 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
about ten feet above the general level of the plain, which
is two hunudred feet higher than the Hudson River.  Come!
we may explore it with a certainty of being well rewarded.
Follow  into this crypt-like entrance, and up this narrow   stairway.  This is the room in which are the Astronomical  Clock, and the Chronograph  connected  with it, for
recordin g        observations.  How pleasantly  we  are greeted
by this venerable man, the father of the Professor of
Astrono my in  Vassar College, who first taught her young
eyes how to explore the heavens —
" Far as the Solar Walk or Milky Way,"
and  her young  mind  to  grasp the idea that startled the
poet when he said:
" How  distant some of those nocturnal suns!
So distant, says the sage,'t were not absurd
To doubt, if beamns set out at Nature's birth
Are yet arrived at this so foreign world;
Though nothing half so rapid as their flight!"
We are fortunate in having a friend so kind and
competent to show us the instruments and  explain their
uses. With the descriptions given us by Professor Farrar,
under whose direction the Observatory was built and
equipped, this visit may be  made  very interesting  and
instructive. The accompanying diagram, kindly furnished
by him, illustrates the meridian section and the groundplan of the Observatory. The building consists, in altitude, of a basement, principal story, and  dome;  and in
area, of an  octagonal  center  and  three  wings.  In  the
diagram of the meridian section, A  A  indicate the terrace; B, the native rock; and C, the surface of the
plain   In the ground plan, D  indicates  a stairway leading up  to a flat roof; E, the Transit room; F, the Prime
147 
VASSAPR COLLEGE
Vertical room;  G, the Clock  and Chronograph room; H
and K, the Clock and Chlronograph piers;  M, the Equatorial  room;   N,  an  open  stone  p)latformi,  and  0,  a
covered stone platform.  The  scale is forty-eight feet to
an  inch.   The  octagon  is twenty-six feet  fromn face to
fI.
I4_  Id ~.._x- -— "~-~~~~ —'~-....
L,  a -.-L ~x-% —~ — 1.:....~ -3I X I                                  r                                   R 
MERIDIAN SECTION.
face, and is surmounted by a dome  twenty-five feet seven
inches in extreme diameter.  The wings are all of one size
and  form, being each twenty-one by twenty-eighlt feet in
extreme  dimensions,  making  the  entire  length  of  the
building eighty-two feet.
The  basement  of the wings is nine  feet in height,
but  the  floor  of the  octagon  (whicli  is of the  same
external height) is four and a half feet above the
corresponding  floors  of the  wings.  The  vertex  of  the
dome  is thirty-eight feet above the foundation.  Its form
is a hemisphere, upon  a  cylinder  of two  feet altitude.
All  the walls  of the  building  are  of brick,  and  the
piers for instruments, of stone.  The platforms  are made
of large flag-stone, and the railings and stairways, of
iron.   The  walls  of  the octagon are  solid, varying  in
thickness, and afford a cylinder of great stability. Those
of the wings are hollow. The dome is constructed of
ribs of pine, resting on a circular plate of the same
148
GROUND PLAN. 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
material,  and  is  covered  with  heavy  sheet-tin.   Upon
another circular wooden plate, bolted to the top of the
cylindrical wall, it is  made  to  revolve  very  easily by
an arrangement of sixteen cast-iron pulleys,  nine  inches
in diameter running on a  circular  track of iron. Hlalf
of them  are grooved, and the remainder are only friction
rollers. There is a contrivance of wheels and crank, by
which a force of only ten pounds is required to move
the great dome, that weighs a ton and a half.  The opening in the dome for the Equatorial is twenty inches.
The east or Transit wing, and north or Prime Vertical
wing, have each  a slit in  the  walls and  roof, twenty
inches wide, for instrumental observations. The south or
Clock and  Chronograph wing is furnished with apparatus
to keep those  instruments  in a proper  temperature  in
winter.
There  are five  stone piers, built up  from the native
rock  to  the  principal floors, onl which  the instruments
rest.  These  piers  are  all disconnected  at every point
from the walls and floors of the building, so that they are
as immovable by wind  or any mechanical  force  as  the
rock on which they stand.  The  most massive of these
is the EIquatorial pier, which  tapers upward.  The base
is eight and a half  by nine  and a half  feet  in  area,
and it is thirteen and a half feet in height.  Upon  this
rests a granite shaft that holds the great instrument.
The two shafts for the Transit and Meridian Circle are
of Onondaga  limestone; those for the Prime Vertical are
of white Westchester marble; and the bases of the Clock
and  Chronograph are mottled Dover marble.  The roofs
of the wings, on  to which the students go for observations, are surrounded by substantial iron railings.
149 
VASSAR COLLEGE
Such is the Observatory building.  Now  let us look
at the instruments, and  learn  their structure  and uses.
This Astronomical  Clock and the Chronograph  connected
with it are very perfect instrumenets, manufactured  in the
establishment of William Bond  &  Sons, in Boston.  The
clock dial warns us not to linger too long here; so
pass up the short flight of steps to the floor under the
great revolving dome, which the strength of a little child
may  move.    Here  is  the  great Equatorial Refractor,
second only, when it was mounted, to three in the United
States in the size of its o0)ject-glass, which was thoroughly
tested and highly approved by Professor Rutherford.  The
exceptions- were  the great  telescopes  at Cambridge,  at
Hamilton College, and  at the Dudley Observatory.  This
is the  last  large  instrument  of  the kind   made   by
the  late Henry Fitz.   The diameter  of  the  obl)ject-glass
is twelve inches and three-eighths, clear aperture; and
its focal length  sixteen  and  a  half feet.   The  hourcircle is eighteen inches in diameter, and  reads  by  verniers  to  four  seconds  of time.   The  declination-circle
is twenty inches in diameter, and reads by verniers to
thirty  seconds of arc.   The instrument  has  nine  negative  eye-pieces, of powers  ranging  from fifty to  fifteen
hundred, for direct  observation;  also a superior  finding
telescope, whose obl)ject-glass is three inches in diameter.
A driving clock, by which the oblject is kept constantly
in the field of view of the telescope, is attached to the
mounting.    Other  valuable  appurtenances  are  a  Ring
Micrometer, of diameter appropriate to the  field  of  the
instrument; a large position Filar Micrometer, provided
with eight  positive  eye-pieces, and  so constructed  that
either the field or the wires may be illuminated at
150 
AND  ITS FOUNDER.
pleasure,  and  a Spectroscope, for  thle examination  of the
various  slpectra  from  celestial  o!)jects.  In the  aljoininig
room,  at  the  east,  which  is  reache(ld  by  a descent  of
a few  steps,  is  thle  Transit  and Meridian Circle,  wvithi
a telescope  of sucil power that  it hlas revealed  to  tlle
eye  of the observer  thle time-star  delta Ursa Minoris, of
thie fifthl  magnitude, at ten  o'clock  ill tlhe morliiing.  The
FIRST ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION AT VASSARI COLLEGE.
first observation  withl tlhis instruienft made  by students
of Vassar  College, under  the directions of Miss  Mitchell,
was  the  meridian  passage  of  Aldebaran, on   a  bright
autumnal  day,  as a part of a class exercise.  Oine of the
students  knelt, with  her eye  to  the glass, watcling  the
star as it passed  belhind  the threads in  the focus of the
instrument, while her conmlpanion noted the timne by a clhronometer oli which she was looking, when thle star seemed
to touclh those threads.  So  interesting was the scene, that
a  few  weeks  later, when  a  photographer  was  at  thle
151 
VASSAR COLLEGE
College, a sun-picture of the two pupils and the instrunent, in the same positioln, was mla(de at the request of
the Professor of Astronomy.
The Transit and Meridian Circle is of the same size,
pattern,  and  adjustments  as  that  imade  by  the  same
manufacturers  (Williami J. Young  &   Sons, of Phlilaclelphia) for the National Observatory at Washington City.
The telescope is five feet six inches in leniigth, and has
an object-glass four inches  in  diameter.  The two circles
are  eachl  thirty  inches  in  diameter.   That used  as  a
finder  for  the   Transit  reads  with  vernier  to  mfiiiutes.  - The  Meridian  Circle reads with four microscopes
to two  seconds of arc.  It is furnished with a Collimiation Micrometer,  measuring  to  within  six-tenthls  of  a
second of arc7 and by  estimation  to  six-hundredthls  of a
second; with a level showing  a change  so small as  to
seven seconds of  arc.   An  iron reversing  stand serves
not  only  for  adjusting  the  instrument, but  also  as  a
safe  carriage, to  transfer  it to the  piers in the Prime
Vertical room, in the  North wing,  where  are duplicates
of all the  fixed  mounltings, the  same  instrument  being
used for both kinds of observations.
We  have  now considered all of the instruments, and
their  special  uses.  Let us  ascend  this short flight  of
steps from the Equatorial Roomn to the wvell-guarded flat
roof, on which  the students make  wide  observations of
the heavens with unaided vision. To us, without teacher
or instrument,  and  standing  in  this bright sunlight, we
see  nothing  more  interesting  from  this  elevated  point
than a serene sky, a pleasant panorama of rural beauty,
and the great College b)uilding and its dependencies.
Soutliward of us rises the Gymnasium,  to which  we
152 
its  cellars   tile  st}       l;l   c, mVy(T   ill  flttc(l   {)if)i S  M)flg
the   CorriC1d()S  otf te  first  f]()o)r?'S)]l   w~i(ll  ((rO                rlanch(es
to   every    1part  Of  thle  1)l1(i1dit.    1i   a  slni1lr1  1I4(ller a1'            s
is Conveye(   to  an1d1  (distri1mt         e'1  t111'ug11  thTe  b)Uilding'.
-~~~~~~ \.
T1l IPRIDING SCI1OOL.
Thie   Gymnasi unl  is 1 a st aci{)lLs ed ificet n               a  g'enle
eminilence,  anill  (-()ntain:~ ro(,0ln1  ti~' a, R~idling, Sch,osl,   Calisthenits,  aln(J  Bow\linAll e 11\;  a  Mic Hall,   Sta!)1s, (lap)atmnents  fbr  five  fahiliies,  antid  1,()(ls fib fl   +a1 a'icty, of (other
20 
VASSAI COLLEGE
purposes not collnnected with the  main  use of thle buildi'ig.  It is irregular ill form.  Its greatest  iidtlh  is olle
hundred and thirty feet, and its entire de1ptli one hundred
and  forty-five feet.  The Riding School  room is sixty by
one hundred  and twenty feet ill area and  forty-six feet
in  height, and is well  lilghted  and ventilated. Hereili
the  pupils  are  taughlit  how  to  elijoy  the p)leasure  and
benlefits of one of  thie most  exhilarating iiodes of  outof-door exercise, whiclh is  too  little practiced by  wonmen
in all  lands, and  especially in  our own.  It is a new
thing under  thle sun  to  have  a riding-school  a part of
the  instrumentalities of  a  seminary for the e(ducation of
Young Women.   In  tlis, as  in  other things, Vassar College is a pioneer in a good  work.  It has b)een from  the
beginning  an  earnest  desire  of  the  FIounlder  to  have
phiysical training a  prominent feature of  the institution,
and  every  necessary provision  has been  made  for  that
object.
The  hall  for  the  practice  of  Calisthenics  is  thirty
feet in width and eighty feet in length, and is thoroughly
equipped  with every implement  used  in  the system  of
D)r.  Dio  Lewis. HIere, in  appropriate  and  convenient
costume, the  pupils  are instructed  in  thie scientific use
of their whole  physical  frame, in  a lnianner  that  gives
pleasure  and  tends  to impart  healthl  and vig,or to  thle
system, and  grace  and  case to  motion.  Wre  may  not
over-estimate  the  importance  of this  part of  education,
whicl is now  being introduced into thle best  schools of
our country.  It is a hopetifl revival of that ancient  wisdom  that gave  to Phidias  and  Apelles models for thleir
exquisite delineation,s- (one in marble, thle other on canvas)
of the mother of Love of the old Greek mythology.
1,,54 
AND ITS FOUNDFEP.
Gymnnastic exercises  seein  to  have  been  as  old as  the
Greek  nation  itself, an(l  they  gave  to  the  body  that
healthy and b)eautifil (levelopieint. )y which they excelled
all  other  nations,  and(l  iparte(l       t their iiminds  that
power  and  elasticity  wvlich  wAill ever bie a(lmired  in  all
THE CALISTHENIC HALL.
TilE CALISTI-IENIj HJALL.
their productions.  In the rapidly growving popularity of
physical training  of both  sexes  in  this  country, is  a
I)right promise for the future strength of our people.
Physical exercise at VTassar College  is not confined  to
in-door movements.   There  are opportunities  for gardening  on the broad  donaiam.   During hours of  relaxation
from  study, knots of croquet-players may be seen  at accustomed places.  Jiorseback riding on the road is practiced;
and  strolls over the ad(jacent country, under  the lead of
155 
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44 -
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~/;y4<$M,q        ~                ~'
MILL COVE LAKE IN SUMMEE.
tTi Co11 roITft(JS Mitli()l4{ 'ii;t ill1(;t, I()r it i Ti(i J )
its             uai tli &)a(i, (U S()l Yra})1 aii {)i(tlUs(j i11() hs s(T(1 J)y ah~Y (i
tl})sts. (t  si(1  {li  is a  tiy4 at
tli  (1( itit  i(1 qisiis id oil tb
()t)})()t si(4 s a }ai(  wits  (l 4i
(iliolt  Tli  ot' tJ  Ja ()~t1 'sits
scenes ()f i'at anirnatioft at 1 scas'is. t tTi Sftm1Iil
it is (i()tt(1 witli boats  wliic'li stl1(ints ai  
tlie licaitliful xiise Of TWiU, 44iJ at tli 1ittJ \vlials
of  iout)s of (}Ctai'ts ai' waitiu tliCii tuni to
ioy tli p1asui'. JII tli Wiuter wli, as Job says,, "tli 
VASSAR COLLEGE
waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep
is fi-ozen," the same students cover it with skaters.  The
water is always pellucid; always ilflowingg an(di outflowilg; and never presents ally evidence of stagnation.
On the opposite side of the road is the Pump-house
(once a mill), the machilery iln whichl seinds twenty thousand gallons of p)ure water every day to the great  tanks
in the attic of the College ed(lifice, and a sufficiency  for use
in the other buildings on the grounds.  The water passes
fromn the lake along an iron pipe into two immense filters,
through which it percolates rapidly into a receiver.  From
this reservoir it is pumped through pil)pes, 1)y either steam
or water power, in a continually ascending stream, about
THE PUiMP-HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.
twenty-three hundred feet, and then  into the tanks at the
top of the College building, whvlich have each a capacity of
eight thousand gallons.  Near the Prinmp-hlouse is the Icehouse, whose  treasures are gathered  firom  the  lake.   A
little distance from it are the farm stables and the farmer's
158 
AND ITS FOUNDEIl.
dwelling-llouse, all of wAvllich  are ill(licated(  of  tlhe  iiap of
page  99.  We  will go throiughli this gate  of the left, alid
followv tlhe path  dowln  the hill to  Mill Cove Brook, cross
tle ]bridge, anid the b)ottom  of  tlhe little grassy  valley, to
thlose doub)le  trees  Oft tlhe slop)e, whlere we  shall  hlave  au
iftterestiftg view of thlis group  of buildin gs, aid a glimpse
of thie lake beyTon(d.
Turfn now, and  followv this pathway alonig  the  mliarginl
of the  sweet  little vale  of  Mill  Cove  Brook,  Alwhicb  is
traversed  by  thle clear  stream  that might  well  be  called
Mitiftehaha  or laulghiig  water.   Hovw  )eauitifil  are those
green slopes, dotted  with  sturidy oaks,  aifd lhere  and there
SCENE IN TIIE VALLEY OF MILL COVE BROOK.
a maple  or  an  eliti!  In  the shadows  of these  trees, if
warm  June days, studelfts may be seen  wallLiig, or stutdy
ing, or  sittillg  il   groups,  ift  pleasant  interchaftge  of
thoughts  of home  alid  friends as  the  College  year draws
to a close, presefttinlg aii Arcadiani scefte in aspect; oi at
159 
GROVE OF ANCiENT WILLOWS.
FartbGr  tbe v4e,   (1Gll, iu4{('tYd  (q ittlG
})1Q(i ()tlt 'ftto  1()MT, 4()it rn(J()w, may })
SGll a c4iaimin; su})JGt  tb J)aili{t ()f ruTal 
It is a r()v ot  i14()s,  roots aYG J)(Gll
sTay(1 ill tb( OOZY Qa1lt I y tb( tYT11})cst 11OU( tli
Jraiicbs iti} tb bt(f( tluT tI(t 1(al11T{ iji j)ictTl]Gsq11e cOiifijsion of ()Tl.  t}is y Mill Covy
crook iim chil\ bv au4 at tbQ xtimity of th
College giotm(1s, i'll this 4irctioii, omiinle's with all 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
otiher  stream,  that  eoines (lowln  fi'om  1)elilnd tile Observatory  ancl  the  foot  of  Suniset   Hill.    Where  tliey meet,
ancl form  Caspar's  Kil, is one  of  the  miost clarming  of
the  quiet  places  oft the  (lomaini.  There  the  1ialf-woodecl
little hills approach each other,  atdcl the  iniwoveni  ranclies
of the trees, with their covering  of verclure, form  a sheltering  canopy  for the  be(  of the  wecl(le( b)rooks.  It is a
spot beautifiu as tlhe Vale of Avoca; and( in thle hearts of
many of the stld(lelnts of Vassar College whlio slall learn  to
THE MEETING OF THE WATERS.
love each  otlier, ai(l sh4all " ihol(i sweet  counsel  together"
at  this meeti(ng  of thle  waters,  Memory   will  (lout)tless
often, in after years, awaken the sentiment of Moore
" There is inot iii the wide wor ld a valley so sweet,
As that vale in whiose bosomt  tlhe bright w.ters meet:
21
161i 
VASSAR COLLEGE
()]Io  the  last  raysv  of feeling,aid life  mnst dep)airt
Ere tlte ])looln  of tlat  valley  sllaill fade  f-om]  tlte  heart."
Now  let us climb this sloI)e  of  Suirset Hill  to the
sulmnit.   From  this point we ov-ellool  the whole domain
of the College possessions, ant(l far airound(l it.  Yonider are
IIEAD OF TIIE GLEN.
the spires of Poughikeepsie; but thle beautiful city is almlost
liddleu  by  iutervening ri(dges.   Lookin~: in  that geferal
dlirection, you  discern  the pale  b)lue line  of the (listant
Shawaun,unlk mouutains, int whlich  the b)ear,  the (leer, au(d
the  catamount  ab)ouu-d.   Ini  the  farthler north,  full  forty
162 
AND ITS FOUNIDER.
miles distant, you see the lofty range of the Katsbergs
(Catskill  Mountains) melting into the rolling  farm-lands
of Albany  County.   As we turn slowly, the eye colmprehends many  a charming picture among  the rugged hills
and cultivated fields of Ulster and Orange Counties, along
the line of the Hudson PRiver, all the way to the Iighlands, the unity broken only once or twice by  hill-top)s
near.   Here  the students take delight in the visions of
glowing sunsets;  and  in the early twilight they follow
this broad path, that leads down to a bridge and up  the
hill by the Gymnasium to the College building.
We  will turn to  the right at  the  bridge,  and  go
up  the stream to the head of the Glen, where we shall
be rewarded with a picture of wild beauty  at a group
of aged hemlocks, which stalnd by  the side of the pathway that comes down to the brook from the ridge near
the  Observatory.   Places  like these  the Poets people
with Fairies at the twilight hour; but here the Prosaist
discovers something better
"A Creature not too brighlt or good
For human nature's daily food;
A  Being breathing thoughtful breathA traveler between life and death;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of an Angel light."
Our ramble is ended.  We  will re-enter the College
building, and observe the forces in operation  under  its
roof
The  College work was  commenced, as we  have  ol)served, on the  20th  day of Septemnber, 18(;5, by a President,  a  Lady  Principal, eight  Professors, and  twenty
163 
VASSAR COLLEGE
Instructors and Teachers.  These composed  the force  for
government  and  instruction.  The  duties of  the general
management of the affairs of the institutition were assigned
to an Executive  Coimmittee,' composed  of seven members
of the Board of Trustees; a Treasurer; a Secretary, who
is also a general Superintendent; and a PRegistrar.
The  special  duties  of  Treasurer  and  Secretary  are
implied by their titles.  In addition to the usual labors
of a Secretary, that officer is required to  superintend the
general  Business  Department of the College,  under  the
direction  of the Executive  Comimittee.  Hie  has charge
of the farm, garden, grounds, boats, and all other property
of the Institution; of all purchases, construction, repairs,
and iimprovements;  of the Steward, Matron, Janitor, Enigineer, Farmner, and Gardener's D)epartmenets; and exercises
a supervision over all the material and ecoinomic interests
of the College, in these various (lepartiments.  His duties
are wide and various;  and  he  is  the  chief  organ  of
communication  between  the Executive  Committee  and
those employed  in  the several  departments  of physical
labor, who number about a hundred persons.
The Registrar  is the  accountant  and  general  Cle-lrk
of the  President, whose  duty is to keep a register of
all  students  admitted  to  the  College;  their  places  of
residence, the names of their  parents or guardians, and
their post-office addresses.  He has  charge of the Depository of books and stationery; and he attends to receiving,
forwarding, and delivering  all mnail  matter  and  express
packages, at the College.  The officers  of the Board of
Trustees first appointed, aind yet continued, are WIL.LI:A
KELLY, Ch(ci''rlflft; MATTIiEW VASSAn, J])t., Tqeas,uer; and
CYnus SwAN, Se&retay.  JAMEs N. Scuou is Regietrar.
164 
AND ITS F'OUNDER.
The  duties of the several officers  are strictly defined.
The President is the chief executive officer of the College,
whose business is to  execute  all laws  and  regulations
adopted  by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  or  the Executive
Committee, for  the  internal  control  of  the  Institution,
and is responsible for his official acts to those two
bodies only.  This  broad  definition  implies various  and
important  special  duties,  all of which  are  enuniierated
and prescribed  in a code of  "Laws  and Regulations of
Vassar College."
The  Lady  Principal  is  the  Chief Executive  aid of
the  President  in the  direction  of the teachers  and  in
the government  of  the  students.  Her duties are many,
delicate, and  very important, and, under  the established
laws  and  rules  of  the Institution,  she  is immediately
responsible to the President in the performance of them.
To  her is assigned  the task  of executing all the laws
and  regulations of the College  relating  to  the conduct
of the students when out of the class and lecture rooms.
She  exercises over them  a maternal  supervision in their
private apartments (which she has the right of access to
at all times), in the dining hall, in the corridors, in the
public rooms  and  grounds of  the College,  and  in their
intercourse with the neighboring community.   She is also
required to use her best efforts to improve the personal
habits, social training, and moral and religious culture
of the students.  As  in the  case of  the President, this
broad  definition of her duties implies many special labors
which the laws and regulations of the College  prescribe.
In like mannrer, the duties, privileges, and  power~ of the
Professors are defined.
The Faculty consists of the President, Lady Principal,
165 
VASSAR COLLEGE
and the Professors in the regular collegiate course, whose
duty is to hold meetings at least once a week, at a
time and place alppointed by the President.  The transactions at these meetings are both administrative and
legislative, and pertain wholly to the business of government and instruction.
The Faculty are required, at the commencement of each
year, to choose a Secretary to keep a record of all their
official transactions, which shall be at all times open for
the  inspection  of any member  of  the  Faculty, of  the
Executive Committee, or of the Board of Trustees.   Their
transactions are all subtject to the scrutiny and supervision
of the Executive Committee, which meets regularly once
in a fortnight, at the College office.  Such is the administrative force of Vassar College.
While  amp)le provision  is  made  for the  moral and
intellectual culture of the students, equally ample provision is made for their bodily health and comfort.   Their
parlors and bedrooms, as we have observed, are in groups.
Some of the chambers contain single, and others double
beds, to suit the taste and circumstances of occupants.
They are all airy and cheerful, opening on one side upon
the College grounds, and on the other into the spacious
corridors.   The rooms are neatly carpeted and  furnished,
and are kept in order by the Matron. On each dfloor, at
the center of the building, are bathing-rooms and waterclosets, denoted  on the plans by Roman  numerals.    A
resident  physician,  in  the person  of  the Professor  of
Physiology  and Hlygiene, and  a well-equipped  Infirmrary,
are provided  for them in sickness;  and in health they
have the ample  Gymnasium and  the College grounds for
in-door and out-of-door exercises of various kinds, for the
166 
AND ITS FOUNDFER.
promotion of physical vigor and  mental strength.   There
are walks  and  drives  on  the  College  grounds, already
completed, full three miles in extent, and  the distance  is
continually increasing by laying out  new  courses.   The
purest spring water, filtered, is used for every purpose in
the College, and the table is abundantly provid(led with
a variety of the most wholesome food.
Applicants for a(dmission to the College  are required
to be at least fifteen years of age, and to furnish satisfac tory testimonials of character. Most of the students are
received  for  the  regular  College  course,  but many  are
admitted to pursue special studies, selected Iby)v the -advice
and  with the approval of the President.  All must ecter
for the whole, or what remains, of the College year, an(d
must   pass  a  satisfactory  examination  in  the  ordinary
English  branches.    Candidates for the first year of the
regular course are examined to a certain extent in Latin,
French, and Algebra.   Those foir an ad(lvanced standing in
the  regular  course  are  examined(  in  all  the preceding
studies; and special students, who desire to enter advance(d
classes in any D)epartment, must  be prepared in the preliminary branches of that Department.
The special classes are not open to all, indiscriminately,
or at the mere option of the student or her friends; but
only to those who can enter them consistently with sound
principles of education.   The regular  course is designed
for those who seek a thorough and liberal education, and
extends through four  years.   Each department of instruction is placed under the responsible  direction of a Professor, aided by the requisite number of teachers.  More
particular information concerning the Collegiate DI)epartments, the subjects for instruction in each, and the text
167 
VASSAR COLLEGE
books an(d books of reference use(d, may J)e founl(d in the
Annual Catalogue of the College.
In the extra Collegiate Department  there is a School
of Vocal and Instrunental'Music, and a School of Design.
In tile former, instruction is given partly in separate lessons
to indivi(lduals, and partly to classes. The aim of all
musical instruction in Vassar College is, as ill other departments, in keeping with the expressed desire of its Found(ler,
which is rather to create and develop a genuine love fol
all that is good  and  great  ill kuowledge, and  thlereb)y
cultivate the heart and discipline the mind of the student,
than to spend precious time in the ac(quirement of expertness in mere recitation, performance, and execution.  For
the use of this School there  are thirty music-rooms,  and
an  equal numnber of pianos.   The  rudiments  of musical
theory are taught, and  chorus-singing practiced  in vocal
classes, arranged accoriding to proficiency,, to which all tihe
menbers of the College are admitted.  Solo-singiiig, Organplaying, and  the  higher  branches  of theory, Thoroughbass  and   Composition,  are taught  in  private  lessons
exclusively.
Instructions in the School of Design  cover the whole
ground of Elementary  Drawing and Painting, for which
purpose the contents of the Art Gallery are freely use(d.
The discipline and culture in this department, as of that
of music, is most thorough.  The student is carried through
a carefully arranged  progressive course, to wilichi she is
strictly confined;  and in a large degree Nature furnishes
her with models.  She is educated in the essential principles  of art, while training  her  eye and  hand  to its
successful practice.
The testimony of competent observers now, at the close
168 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
of the second collegiate year,  is, that in every D)epartment  of Vassar College there is evidence  of  the  most
faithful, enlightened, and efficient workl; and that positive
results are sufficiently manifest to entitle  the institution
to rank with the best seminaries of learning in the world.
The College is empowered by its charter to confer all the
usual and honorary academic degrees; and there seem to
be, in the early achievements of the institution, promises
that the time is not far distant when an honor conferred
by Vassar College for Young Women will be as acceptable
as that given by the older Colleges and Universities for
Young Men.
The first collegiate year of Vassar College was an inportant one, for it was its formative period.   Three  hundred students were there at the beginning, and the number
soon increased to over three hundred and fifty, of whom
one hundred and fifteen of the younger were from fifteen
to sixteen years of age, and fifty-four of the more mature
were  from  twenty to twenty-four years of age.   Every
necessary article of equipment was ready for their service; and it seemed, to the superficial observer, that an
easy task lay before the Faculty. Not so. They had to
encounter a most difficult and laborious one. The perfect
machinery was all there, but it needed the most careful
adjustment and lubrication before it could be put into
harmonious action; and wise, thoughtful, and assiduous
efforts were  required  to make  that  adjustment.   With
surprising facility and success the Faculty proceeded in
their  delicate work, and  it was  not long before  each
instructor and student was laboring in proper order,
and the friction of the great machine, considering its complexity, was very little.
22
169 
VASSAR COLLEGE
The most difficult portion of the labor of organization
necessarily devolved  upon the President and Lady  Principal.   They were  often compelled  to  plan  without  a
precedent, in conformity to the law of circumstances; and
most anxiously did they labor.  In that work thie duties
of the Lady  Principal were  specially delicate and importaut, for she was  to be the official Mother of the  great
Family so suddenly gathered, and  comiposed of the most
diverse elements, of the nature of whicli every thing had
to be learned. UpJon her devolved the duty of receiving
students on their first arrival;  of assigning them rooms
anid roommates, and of providing the means of healthfiul
social excitement.  Upon  her devolved the task of establishing a system, conforming as nearly as possible  to the
most perfect family plan, for the domestic  and social life
of the College, that should allow the greatest possible individual action  and  development, and(l at the same  tilme
exercise all needful control. The great question presented
itself:  How  shall we  individualize  the students  so  as
to guard against the evils incident to so large an asselmblage of inmmature young people, and to impress upon the
mind of each, without a galling espionage, the conviction
that she is thoroughly known and hourly cared for?
This important  question  was  promptly  met  with  a
practical solution, the wisdom of which is confirmed by
all subsequent  experience.   When  the  Spring of  1866
came, and  six months  of  labor and  trial  had  passed,
Vassar  College, in  its  material,  intellectual, social, and
religious aspect, presented  the most  gratifying assurance
of  its abundant  success.   Flourishing Literary  Societies
had been formed among the students for their mutual improvement, and the pursuit of knowledge was, to most of
170 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
them, a pleasure and not a task-a privilege and not a
duty.
The  value of Vassar College was  now appreciated by
the students, and they felt a strong desire to manifest, col lectively, their gratitude  to  the Founder, whose  munifi cence had offered to their sex so many  blessings.  The
opportunity was  nigh.  The  College Faculty  had  just
resolved," That the 29th of April, the anniversary of the
birthday of Matthew Vassar, Founder of this College, be,
and hereby is, entered on its Calendar as a holiday, to be
annually observed by coimmemorative  exercises; and that
this  anniversary  be  designated' The  Founlde-'s  Day."'
This resolution offered the coveted opportunity, and the
students were permitted to make their desired demonstration on "The Founder's Day."
It was resolved by the students  to give the Founder
a public reception at the College on  thlat, his seventyfourth birthday, in the presence of friends, and with appropriate literary exercises.  Every heart was interested, and
every finger was made busy in the work of love.  All was
in readiness at the appointed time.   The day was perfect
in serenity and  temperature.   The  invited  guests were
assembled in the College parlors  at five o'clock in the
evening.  At that hour there  was no outward  token of
any thing unusual, excepting a beautiful triumphal arch,
covered with evergreens, which had been raised over the
broad avenue leading from the Porter's Lodge to the College. On it were the words, "WELco)A  TO TILE FOUNDE-P."
In the center was his monogram, gracefully arranged.   Oil
one side was the date of his birth, "APRiL 29, 1 792;"
and on the other side the date of the celebration "APIIL
29, 1866(."  Over all fluttered gay flags and banners.
171 
VASSAR COLLEGE
The Founder had received no intimation of the intended honor. The President called at his house in the
city that afternoon, invited him to ride out to the College
at about six o'clock in the evening, and offered to accompany him.   In this  act  there was  nothing remarkable.
The time of the short journey was spent ill ordinary conversation, and the Founder had no suspicions of what he
was to experience when  his carriage  should  reach  the
Porter's Lodge.   There  he  beheld  a  sighlt sufficiently
strange and beautiful  to make  him  doubt  the testimony
of his own eyes.
One  of the  students, acting as Marshal, and  accompanied by two aids, had led her fellow-students  in two
columns toward the Porter's Lodge, and halted in a position to form a continuous line on each side of the avenue,
from  the gateway to the circle in front of the main entrance  to  the  College.   They  were  neatly  arrayed  in
garments of almost every variety of color, and presented a
spectacle of rare beauty and interest.   When the carriage
of the Founder, in which were only himself and the President, passed  into the avenue, he was greeted  with the
waving of white handkerchiefs  and  the smiles of a host
of delighted students. The heads of the two columns then
turned, and, countermarching, formed a flanking escort for
the  carriage  and  a  long  procession.   Meanwhile  the
Faculty  and  Teachers  were  waiting  near  the  entrance
to  the  College;  and,  when  the  venerable  and  venerated man  alighted  from  his  carriage,  a glad  song of
welcome burst from  the lips of a selected choir on  the
portico, standing under flags and evergreens that decorated the front of the building.   Tears  were  the only
expression of gratitude which the Founder could then
172 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
give in response, for deep emotion had sealed his
lips.
Supported by the President, Mr. Vassar now  entered
the College vestibule, and was conducted by the Marshal
and  her  aids to a private parlor,  where he was introduced to the President of the day, and by her presented
to others.   The company  then  repaired  to  the Chapel,
which was tastefully decorated with evergreens and flowers. Over the portrait of the Founder were the words, in
illuminated letters on a white ground, TnE  DEsInPE AccoMPLISHED IS SWEET TO THE SOUL.  When the Trustees of the
College and the students and guests were seated, Mr. Vassar, surrounded by the Faculty and his feminine escort,
entered the door.   Then the organ pealed forth a stirring
voluntary, and  the whole  audience  arose and  remained
standing until the Chief Guest was seated.   The President of the College then offered a prayer.   It was followed by music from a piano by one of the students, and
the  literary exercises  proper began  by  a Salutatory, in
whiclh, in chaste and glowing language, all the guests were
welcomed.
An essay on "The World's Advance" was now read.
This was followed by music  and  recitations, concerning
Woman's social position in different periods of the world.
The  students  engaged  in this well-arranged performance
appeared in appropriate costume  one as Deborah, another
as Xantippe, a third as Joan of Arc, and  so on.  After
this came music, and  then  the reading of  a delightful
poem, entitled  "Ililltop  Idyl."   This,  like  every other
composition on the occasion, was an original production of
the student by whom  it was  read  or recited.  It was
followed by a "Floral Tribute," which  presented  a beau
173 
VASSAR COLLEGE
tifill spectacle. Then one, in the character of a " Representative  Student," read the following  "Address  to the
Founder: "
L Beloved and honored sire!
We come with flowers,
To speak for us words passing our weakl speech.
List! low their fragrant hearts breathe redolent
Our grateful wishes for thy natal day.
They are Spring's firstlings-rich in promises
So greeteth thee to-day the first glad springing
Of what thine hands have planted
Long Summer years shall come with bloom  and fruitage.
This crown of flowers
We give thee in the name of wvomanhlood,
Whom thou hast crowned;
These flowers are earthly-fadingMlay Hie, who smiles even here on high emnprise,
And noble deed, wrought humbly in His name,
Place on thy brow at last the unfading crown
Of imnmortelles that angels gather."
A  large choir, accompanied  by the organ, closed  the
exercises in the Chapel by singing an original song, entitled " Our Father and Friend," when  the whole audience
arose and joined in chanting  the D)oxology.   Then all
repaired  to  the  Dining  Hall, where  the  students  had
provided a bountiful collation;  and the remainder  of the
evening  was  spent  in  the  parlors  and  corridors,  in
pleasant social intercourse.
Here we will leave Vassar College and its Founder to
the tender consideration of Posterity, for whose good they
exist.   In all future ages, the name  of Matthew Vassar
will be found conspicuous among  those of the benefactors
of his race.   The heralds  of that glorious  fame  came
thickly when intelligence of his great act went abroad, all
speaking in language similar to one whose whole communication was-" In Heaven Angels sing  God's praise  on
l4 
AND ITS FOUNDER.
Earth Women and all good Men sing yours. Long may
you live to hear it, is the prayer of a Stranger."
That "prayer of a Stranger" has been answered.  Mr.
Vassar has lived to hear thie just plaudits of his fellowmen.  He  has lived to see his great work accomplished.
He has lived to participate in the second celebration of
"The Founder's Day," crowned with the blessings of good
health and cheerfulness of spirit. He has lived to  einjoy
the fruition of his labors in a great work of benevolence.
With his own hiand he planted, in generous soil, the seed
of a tree whose fruit shall be for the moral hiealing  of
the nations.   With his own hand he fostered the tender
germ,  and cultivated the growing sapling, until now  he
sees it in maturity of form  and strength, and  laden with
abundant blossoms, that prophecy of rich harvests of blessings throughout many generations.
175