LIBRARY UNIVERSITY Of CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA 153 HISTORY Amlierst College DUKING ITS FIRST HALF CENTURY. 1821-1871. BY W. S. TYLER, OF THE CLASS OF 1830, Williston Professor of the Greek Language and Literature. SPRINGFIELD, MASS.: CLARK W. BRYAN AND COMPANY. 1873. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by CLARK W. BRYAN & COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. CLARK W. BRYAN AND COMPANY, PRINTERS AND ELECTROTTPEBS, SPBINGFIELD, MASS. TO THE Jtlumm af J-mberst AT WHOSE INSTANCE THIS WORK WAS UNDERTAKEN, AND WHO MUST ALWAYS CHIEFLY MAKE THE HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE, THIS HISTORY OF ITS FIRST HALF CENTURY IS AFFECTIONATELY BY THEIR FRIEND AND BROTHER, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. THIS History was a part of the plan for the Semi-Centennial Celebration, and was at first intended to be in readiness for that occasion. The action of the Alumni and of the Trustees on the subject is narrated at the opening of the chapter touch- ing the Jubilee, and may be found at page 595. The failure of the author's health rendered it necessary for him to defer the work for some time, and seek recuperation ; and although by rest, with change of scene, this object was at length suc- cessfully accomplished, yet between the necessity of carefully guarding what was thus gained, and the daily occupation of College duties, he has been able to devote only a short time, two or three hours a day at most, to this extra labor. After the work of preparation was substantially done, unexpected delays, which need not be detailed, arose in regard to the pub- lication. Prepared at the request of the Alumni and dedicated to them, the History has been written with constant reference to them as its most sympathizing and probably most numerous readers. Some of the best parts of it have been contributed by the Alumni themselves. A circular was sent to each Alumnus, at the outset, requesting him to " photograph for the author's use the College as it was in his day, his own class, any indi- vidual whether officer or student, any scene or event as it ap- peared to his eye." In response to this invitation, numerous PREFACE. letters were received, especially from the Alumni of the earlier classes, and the contents have been freely used, in whole or in part, in form or in substance, as seemed best. The unity and perchance the dignity of history may thus have been somewhat sacrificed. But more than was thus lost, has been gained in variety and life-like reality, in anecdote and dramatic interest, in the twofold and so more impartial and complete view of College life thus presented from the standing point of the stu- dent as well as the professor. All who sent such responses will please accept my thanks, and if any of them wonder why I have not made more direct or more extended use of their contribu- tions, the dimensions to which the History has already grown, may suggest a sufficient explanation. It is doubtless generally understood, although a few of my correspondents seem to have been mistaken on this point, that this is a History of the College and not of its graduates. At my instance and the request of the Faculty, Prof. Crowell and Prof. Montague have just commenced the collection of materials for the latter, which will be published as soon as the work can be prepared and a sufficient number of subscribers has been ob- tained. In writing the History of the College, I have thought it proper to relate the early periods with especial fullness, and also to dwell upon the lives of the founders, the fathers and the benefactors of the Institution, for the obvious reason that the actors and witnesses of these events are fast passing away and the sources of information will soon be dried up. The death, since I began to write, of two or three persons to whom I have been indebted for facts of great interest and importance, of which they were the sole repositories, has demonstrated the wisdom of this course. I set out with the purpose of writing biographical sketches only of the deceased. But as I advanced, I found it impossible to adhere to this purpose without doing injustice, relatively at least, both to the living and the dead. This change PREFACE. Vll of plan will doubtless be observed by my readers, and the rea- son, not to say necessity for it, will justify, I hope, the liberty which I have taken in writing so fully and so freely of living Trustees, living officers and living benefactors. The illustrations are more numerous than were originally contemplated, and are a clear addition to what was promised in the prospectus. They have been prepared with great care and expense, and will, we are sure, add 'much to the value and in- terest of the volume. We only regret that likenesses of many other officers and benefactors could not be included. The en- graving of President Moore is taken from a portrait in the Col- lege Library; that of President Humphrey from a portrait in the possession of Mrs. James Humphrey of Brooklyn. The others are all taken from photographs of the originals. For the biographical sketch beginning on page 575 and the accompanying portrait, I disclaim all responsibility. I found in the letters of loving and grateful pupils not a few intima- tions that the author would hold no unimportant place in the History, if it were impartially written. But I gave no heed nor credence to these suggestions. At length, however, as I was drawing near to the close of the work, the Alumni Committee having previously spied out the land, a surprise party took pos- session of my house and filled those pages with such matter as they saw fit. While the book is a History of Amherst College, written at the request of the Alumni and particularly for their reading, it is, at the same time, naturally and almost necessarily, more or less, a history also of Amherst and the neighboring towns, of Hampshire County and the Valley of the Connecticut, espe- cially as they were in those early times when Amherst College was the spontaneous outgrowth of such a soil and such a people, and it is hoped that such a history will be read with interest and profit by many who are not the graduates of this Institution. PREFACE. In conclusion my thanks are due, and are most cordially given, to the Alumni who first opened to me this grateful opportunity of identifying myself with the history of Alma Mater, to their Committee who have rendered me every assistance in their power, to the Trustees and Faculty who have aided and encour- aged me at every stage of the work, to the publishers who have spared neither pains nor expense to bring out the book and the illustrations in a style worthy of the College and creditable to Western Massachusetts, and above all to the kind Providence that has preserved my life and enabled me to complete a work which others who might have done it better, began but did not live to finish. AMHEEST COLLEGE, December 26, 1872. P. S. Just as the work of electrotyping this History was almost finished and that of printing was about to begin, the plates were destroyed in the great Springfield fire. They have been re-cast with all possible despatch, and now the book goes forth to its readers unchanged yet renewed, to be prized none the less, I trust, because risen like the fabled Phrenix from its own ashes. If the faith and patience of subscribers have been sorely taxed, those of the author have been more severely tried by this delay. But the publishers have been the chief sufferers. And they deserve, what I hope they will receive, not only the sym- pathy but the substantial support and remuneration of the alumni and friends of the College for the indomitable energy and perseverance with which they have done over again their entire work and reproduced the History in all its original beauty of form. AMHEBST COLLEGE, May 1, 1873. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Pge. QUEEN'S COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIA- TIONS OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY, 13 CHAPTER II. AMHERST FIRST NAMED AS THE BEST SITE FOR A COLLEGE AM- HERST AS IT THEN WAS, 24 CHAPTER HI. AMHERST ACADEMY, 34 CHAPTER IV. CONSTITUTION OF THE CHARITY FUND THE CONVENTION AT AM- HERST IN 1818, 40 CHAPTER V. EFFORTS TO UNITE WILLIAMS COLLEGE AND THE INSTITUTION AT AMHERST, 51 CHAPTER VI. ERECTION OF THE FIRST COLLEGE EDIFICE INAUGURATION OF THE PRESIDENT AND PROFESSORS, AND OPENING OF THE COLLEGE, . 62 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Page. THE FIRST PRESIDENCY AND OTHER FIRST THINGS DURING THE FIRST Two YEARS, 73 CHAPTER VIII. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PRESIDENT MOORE AND His COL- LEAGUES IN THE FACULTY, 91 CHAPTER IX. LIVES OF SOME OF THE FOUNDERS, 104 CHAPTER X. PRESIDENT HUMPHREY'S ADMINISTRATION FROM 1823 TO 1825 STRUGGLE FOR THE CHARTER, 127 CHAPTER XL THE PERIOD OF RAPID GROWTH, 1825-36, 160 f CHAPTER XII. RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE PERIOD, 1825-36, 192 CHAPTER XIII. TRUSTEES AND OTHER OFFICERS WHOSE CONNECTION WITH THE COLLEGE CEASED DURING THIS PERIOD, 1825-36, 215 CHAPTER XIV. PERIOD OF REACTION AND DECLINE RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT HUMPHREY, 242 CHAPTER XV. THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THIS PERIOD, 1836-45, ..... 272 CONTENTS. Xi CHAPTER XVI. Re. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PRESIDENT HUMPHREY AND SOME OF His ASSOCIATES, ................ 280 CHAPTER PRESIDENCY OF DR. HITCHCOCK, ............. 313 CHAPTER XVIII. RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THIS PERIOD, 1845-54, ....... 344 CHAPTER XIX. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF DR. HITCHCOCK AND SOME OF His ASSOCIATES, .................... 355 CHAPTER XX. THE PRESIDENCY OF DR. STEARNS, ............ 388 CHAPTER XXI. RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE DURING THIS PERIOD, . . 442 CHAPTER XXII. TRUSTEES AND OTHER OFFICERS DECEASED OR RESIGNED UNDER THE PRESIDENCY OF DR. STEARNS, ........... 473 CHAPTER XXIH. THE PRESENT TRUSTEES, ................ 501 CHAPTER XXIV. OVERSEERS OF THE CHARITY FUND, COMMISSIONERS AND TREAS- URERS, ...................... 518 CHAPTER XXV. BENEFACTORS OF THE COLLEGE, ............. 541 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVI. rage. THE WAR, ...................... 579 CHAPTER XXVII. THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBKATION, ........... 595 CHAPTER XXVIII. THEN AND Now PANORAMIC REVIEW OF CHANGE AND PROG- RESS, ....................... 603 APPENDIX. SUBSCRIBERS TO THE CHARITY FUND THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLAR SUBSCRIPTION CHARTER, ETC., ............. 649 CHAPTER I. QUEEN'S COLLEGE CHAEACTERISTICS AND HISTORICAL ASSO- CIATIONS OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY. THE want of a College in the valley of the Connecticut was felt previous to the Revolution, and sixty years before the establishment of the Collegiate Institution at Amherst, thirty years before the incorporation of Williams College, measures were taken for the founding of such an Institution in Hamp- shire County. Some of the inhabitants of that County pre- sented to the General Court, January 20, 1762, a memorial showing that " there are a great number of people in this County of Hampshire, and places adjacent, disposed to promote learn- ing, and by reason of their great distance from the Colleges and the great expense of their education there, many of good natural genius are prevented a liberal education, and a large country filling up at the north-west of them which will send a great number of men of letters." " They therefore pray for an act of the government constituting a Corporation with power to receive moneys and improve them for setting up a Seminary for learning, and that a charter may be granted to the Corpora- tion for the said Seminary endowing it with power to manage all the affairs relative to the same, and confer the honors of learn- ing upon the students of the same when qualified therefor." A bill was accordingly brought in for establishing "an Acad- emy in the western parts of this Province," which passed to be engrossed but was finally lost. But Francis Bernard, "Governor of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay," made out a charter incorporating Israel Williams and eleven others " a body politic by the name of the President and Fellows of Queen's College." This charter bears the date of February 14 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. 27, 1762. The proposed College was to be in Northampton, Hatfield or Hadley. It was to be on a footing with Harvard College in regard to means of instruction, though some of its officers were to have different names, and it was proposed to withhold from it the power of conferring degrees. It met with opposition from the eastern part of the Province, scarcely less strenuous than that which Amherst College encountered half a century later. The Board of Overseers of Harvard College, as soon as they heard of it, appointed a committee to wait imme- diately on the Governor and request him not to grant the said charter, another committee to draw up and present a " fuller statement of reasons against founding a College or Collegiate School in Hampshire County," l and a third " to guard against the influence of any application at home [that is, in England,] by the Hampshire petitioners, for a charter from home or else- where." Such a pressure was brought to bear upon the Gov- ernor that he promised not to give out the charter until the next session of the Legislature. He desired the corporators, however, to take a copy of the charter, and organize the body so far as to be in readiness to act as soon as the charter should receive the necessary confirmation. Accordingly the Corporation met March 17, 1762, at the house of Rev. John Hooker, in Northampton, and adjourned to meet again on the 18th of May, in Hadley, at the house of Rev. Samuel Hopkins. 2 But two causes seem to have operated effectually to prevent further action. Sympathy for Harvard College, much increased by a fire which consumed its library and philosophical apparatus, withstood the establishment of another College in the Province. And the excitement which preceded the American Revolution 1 This remonstrance and statement of reasons occupies eleven pages in the Ap- pendix of Pierce's History of Harvard College. Many of the reasons are the same which were urged against the establishment of Amherst College. Religious preju- dices were also enlisted, for Governor Bernard was suspected of a design to favor Episcopacy in the proposed Institution. See Pierce's History of Harvard College. p. 281. 2 The project seems to have proceeded so far that in Hatfield a building was erected or designated as " Queen's College," and students were in preparation for entering the College. This old gambrel-roofed school-house has been seen by persons now living who have heard it called " Queen's College " by Dr. Lyman himself. QUEEN'S COLLEGE. 15 soon absorbed the public attention. Thus it is that "coming events cast their shadows before," and history repeats itself in the origin of institutions as well as in the rise of states and the progress of nations. For who can fail to see in the incor- poration of this Institution so early in the centre of Hampshire County and in the arguments and influences that were brought to bear against it, a foreshadowing of the origin and early history of Amherst College. In their strong desire thus early to have a College of their own, the good people of old Hampshire, or which was then the same thing, of Western Massachusetts, showed themselves to be the genuine offspring of the first settlers on the Massachu- setts Bay, who founded Harvard College in the wilderness less than twenty years after the first landing on these shores. Edu- cated for the most part in old Cambridge, and deeply impressed with the inseparable connection between sound learning and pure religion, the early colonists of New England could not rest till they could see the walls and breathe the atmosphere of a Cambridge here. Animated by strong Christian faith and hope, and excited by the experience of persecution in the Old World, they were further quickened by the invigorating and stimulating atmosphere of New England. " For here," so Rev. John Hig- ginson, the first minister of Salem, wrote home to his friends after he had been a few months in this country, " here is an extraordinary cleer and dry aire that is of a most healing nature to all such as are of a cold, melancholy, flegmatick, rheumatick temper of body. . . . And therefore I think it a wise course for all cold complections to come to take physick in New Eng- land, for a sup of New England aire is better than a whole draught of Old England's ale." The air of Western Massachusetts is even more dry and stim- ulating than that of the sea-shore, and the people have always been even more remarkable for their mental activity, and their universal thirst for education, than their fellow-citizens in the eastern part of the Commonwealth. " Old Hampshire County, extending originally from the uncertain eastern line of New York, on the west, into the present territory of Worcester County, on the east, and occupying throughout that distance IS HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. the entire width of the Massachusetts patent, was, at first, in almost everything but the name, a colony of itself. The settle- ments were planted in the wilderness, and the waste of woods that lay between them and the seat of authority of the Massa- chusetts Bay was hardly less to be dreaded or easier of passage, than the waste of waters that interposed between the Bay and the Mother Country. Its interests have been developed by themselves. Its institutions, habits, and customs, have sprung out of its own peculiar wants, circumstances and spirit, and the history of Western Massachusetts is but the history of the old Mother Country and her children." l " No county in the State," says Dr. Dwight, " has uniformly discovered so firm an adherence to good order and good govern- ment, or a higher regard to learning, morals, and religion. As a body, the inhabitants possess that middle state of property, which so long and so often has been termed golden ; few are poor, and few are rich. They are almost independent in this high sense, that they live in houses and on lands which are their own, and which they hold in fee simple. The number of persons in a family in the County of Hampshire, exceeds that in the eastern counties, and marriages are more universal. Since these jour- neys were made, this noble county, after having existed as a fine doric column of industry, good order, morals, learning, and re- ligion, in Massachusetts, for more than a century, was by an unwise Legislature, broken into three parts." 2 The valley of the Connecticut, from the time of its first settle- ment by the whites, has had a population and a history as pe- culiar as its soil, climate, surface, and natural scenery. Dear to the natives as the " Quonecticut," or " Long River," in whose waters they delighted to ply their light bark canoes, and to fish for the bass, salmon, and- shad, and on whose banks they built their most beautiful villages, and raised their richest fields of corn, this "famous river," or "little Nilus," as Cotton Mather quaintly calls it, began to attract settlers almost immediately after the first towns were planted about Massachusetts Bay. 1 Holland's History of Western Massachusetts. 2 Dr. Dwight's Travels in New England and New York, Vol. II., pp. 269-273. I have taken the liberty to abridge somewhat, the language of Dr. Dwight. THE QUONECTICUT. 17 And this beautiful river is interwoven with the whole character, history, and associations of the people whom it has attracted, and whose character it has formed, even as it wanders to and fro through the broad valley, shaping the picturesque outlines, forming the intervales, and enriching the meadows by its annual overflow. President Dwight in those travels to which we have already alluded, lingers in the valley of the Connecticut, devot- ing several letters to a description of its physical features, and the characteristics of its inhabitants, and dwells with peculiar fondness on the variety and richness of the landscape, the rare beauty of the villages, and the remarkable industry, intelligence, virtue, and piety of the people. The breadth of the " inter- vales," the meandering of the stream, the graceful curving of the banks fringed with shrubs and trees, the terraced outlines and gentle undulations of the meadows, " interspersed in par- allelograms," and " not divided by enclosures," making them to appear not as artificially fruitful, but as a field of nature, origi- nally furnished by the hand of the Creator, with all its beauties, with large and thrifty orchards in many places, and everywhere forest trees standing singly, of great height and graceful figure ; all these characteristic features which have been so enthusiastic- ally admired by residents and visitors from foreign lands at the present day, are noted and appreciated by this distinguished traveler, scholar, and divine of a former generation. Perhaps, then, the writer will not be charged with partiality or extrava- gance when he says, that although he has seen the Old World pretty thoroughly, from Windsor Park and Richmond Hill to the plain of Damascus, he has nowhere found such wide and varied fields of vegetable mosaic as stretch out, for instance, from the base of Mount Holyoke, nor anywhere shade trees of any kind that can be compared for mingled gracefulness and magnifi- cence with the elms that adorn the streets in either of the towns that were contemplated as the possible site of " Queen's College." The beauty of New England villages is universally recognized, whether by visitors from other sections, or travelers from foreign lands. Dr. Dwight finds this beauty in its highest perfection in the towns on or near the Connecticut River, and expatiates with much satisfaction on the plan of the villages, as it is there car- 2 18 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. ried out, and the excellence of the social, intellectual, and moral results as they are there realized. The selection of the site, not like a village or large town in the Middle States, where trade, commerce or manufactures demand, but wherever beauty or con- venience, pleasure or moral uses may invite the bringing of the whole farming population into the village, to live side by side with the merchants, mechanics, and professional men, clustering around the church or churches, and the school-houses, as a nu- cleus and common centre, the distribution of the town plat into lots containing from two to ten acres, and the erection of the house, usually of wood painted white, and of ample dimensions, " at the bottom of the court-yard," with the singularly broad street in front, and the out buildings, the garden, orchard, and home-lot succeeding each other at convenient distances in the rear ; these are the characteristic features which have made the rural villages of the Connecticut famous the world over, for beauty and convenience. And these are partly the cause and partly the effect of the industry, thrift, intelligence, good order, good morals and religion, which are remarked by Dr. D wight and observed by so many other travelers, as characteristic of the peo- ple in the valley of the Connecticut. Such villages with such schools and churches, and such society, would naturally and inevitably blossom out into a College in due season, and isolated as they were in their early history, would surely seek a College in their neighborhood, that their schools and churches might find a sure supply of well educated teachers and preachers, and their children might grow up under its elevating and inspiring influence. The historical associations of this portion of the Connecticut Valley, here deserve a passing notice. There is scarcely a town in the valley whose soil was not sprinkled with blood in the early wars with the Indians. In King Philip's War, Hadley was the head-quarters of the English troops in the river cam- paign. Detachments were also stationed in garrisons at North- ampton, Hatfield, Deerfield, and Northfield. A hot engagement took place near the base of Sugar-loaf Mountain, in which the Indians lost twenty-six killed, and the English ten. A company sent to convoy provisions from Hadley to the garrison at North- HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 19 field, fell into an ambuscade within two miles of their destination, and of thirty-seven men who engaged in the expedition, only sixteen returned to tell of the disaster. Hatfield \vas attacked by seven or eight hundred savages and bravely and successfully defended. Springfield was invaded by Philip's warriors when its garrison had been chiefly drawn off to the defence of other towns, and burned to the ground ; and its inhabitants, left house- less and penniless, were so disheartened that they came near abandoning the settlement. And South Deerfield is memorable as the scene of the most terrible massacre of the whites by the Indians, recorded in the annals of New England. Capt. La- throp was detached from Hadley with eighty young men, " the very flower of the County of Essex," and a large number of teams, to bring off the grain which was stacked in large quanti- ties on the Deerfield meadows. They had threshed and loaded the grain, and had advanced on their return, as they thought, beyond the reach of danger, when, as they were crossing a sluggish stream which flowed through a swamp, and the team- sters, if not some of the soldiers, also, were eagerly plucking the grapes which hung in ripe and tempting clusters from the overhanging trees, the savage foe discharged a murderous fire upon them from behind every bush and tree, and then bursting from their hiding places, pursued the work of destruction, slaughtering the fleeing, and butchering the wounded, until ninety men, soldiers arid teamsters, lay weltering in their own blood. But while they were still engaged in massacring the living . and stripping the dead, they, in turn, were suddenly attacked by Capt. Moseley with his little band of heroes from the garrison at Deerfield, and ninety-six of them were slain in swift retaliation for the dreadful massacre which has conferred on its scene the befitting name of " Bloody Brook." A suita- ble monument, erected in 1835, marks the spot, and the oration then and there pronounced by the prince of our American pane- gyrical orators and listened to with so much interest by so many of the officers and students of Amherst College, will probably live as long as the monument itself will last, to commemorate the sufferings and sacrifices by which our fathers won this valley to civilization, learning and religion. 20 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. The next campaign of King Philip's War, that of 1766, was remarkable for the great slaughter of the Indians by Capt. Turner, near the Falls in the Connecticut, which have ever since borne his name, and the subsequent disastrous retreat of his men, and the fall of their commander. In the same year occur- red also that attack upon Hadley, in which seven hundred Indians came upon the town early in the morning, and had already broken through the palisades and were spreading alarm and terror among the whole population, when suddenly a mysterious stranger, of remarkable form, and long flowing hair and beard, appeared among the affrighted villagers, rallied the soldiers, routed the enemy and put them to flight, and then disappeared as mysteri- ously as he had manifested himself unto them. The people then regarded him as an angel of God sent for their deliverance. They afterwards learned that their guardian angel was Goffe, " the regicide," and that Whalley, his father-in-law and fellow exile, resided at the same time in the family of the minister, Mr. Russell, and, with Goffe, had been there for nearly twelve years. In the wars which bear the names of King William and Queen Anne, Old Deerfield became famous for those sieges and cap- tivities which have ever since been as familiar to New England children as nursery tales ; almost as familiar as the catechism, and the New England Primer. The story of the captive, Eunice Williams, who became a savage and refused to return to civilized life, is quite a romance, and the question, " Have we a Bourbon among us," which has excited such a romantic interest in our own day, and which seemed likely enough at one time to grow into historical importance, is connected with a descendant of this " Deerfield Captive." There are comparatively few monuments of the " Revolution- ary War " in the valley of the Connecticut. The scene of that conflict lay chiefly on the sea-coast. Yet the people of .Western Massachusetts were not a whit behind their fellow-citizens in Boston and vicinity in offering first unarmed and then armed resistance to the encroachments of the Mother Country. There is scarcely a town in old Hampshire County whose records do not contain strong resolutions of sympathy and succor for their suffering brethren who had to bear the brunt of the struggle, REVOLUTIONARY AVAR. 21 or record the appointment of Committees of Vigilance and Public Safety, and the choice of delegates to act in concert with those of other towns in a Congress of the County, the Province, or the United Colonies. And when the war opened and as it progressed, we find them sending out men, arms and supplies year after year, with a liberality altogether beyond their wealth and population, till their resources were exhausted, and pouring out their treasure and their blood like water, for the common cause. A Congress of Committees from the several towns in the old County of Hampshire met in Northampton on the 22d and 23d of September, 1774, and passed with great unanimity resolutions that had in them the ring of resistance to the Stamp Act and to Taxation without Representation, and helped ' to prepare the way for the Declaration of Independence. When the news of the battle of Lexington reached Greenfield, the people of the town assembled " instanter," and the next morn- ing a volunteer company was on the march for the scene of action. Springfield, at first a' recruiting post and rendezvous for soldiers, was afterwards fixed upon as a depot for military stores and a place for repairing arms, manufacturing cartridges, and at length casting a few cannon, and in the " barn " which was used for these purposes in the war of the Revolution, we see the germ of the National Armory which during our late war fur- nished arms on so magnificent a scale for an army of a million of men and thereby saved " the Great Republic." " The late Gen. Mattoon of Amherst, one of Hampshire's bravest and most energetic spirits in the Revolution, used to tell of an order that he received from Gen. Gates to proceed to Springfield, and convey a number of cannon from that point to the field of operations in New York. The General rode from Amherst to Springfield on Sunday, and with a small body of men accom- plished the task, and ' these cannon told at Saratoga.' " 1 In the lectures which Prof. Fiske used to deliver on American his- tory, when he came to the lecture on the battle of Saratoga, he sometimes sent for the then aged and blind General to illustrate the lecture, which he did, both by lively anecdotes and by his living presence. 1 Holland's History of Western Massachusetts, Vol. I, p. 227. 22 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Accident has attached to this section more than its due share of credit in another and less honorable history, viz., that of " the Shays Rebellion." Shays who happened to give his name to a movement which he did not originate and was incapable of lead- ing, chanced to be a resident of Pelham when the discontent arising from a depreciated currency and the partly real and partly fancied sufferings of the people, together with the demoralization consequent upon the Revolutionary War, broke out into insur- rection against the government. To prevent the collection of debts and then to screen themselves from deserved punishment, the rebels who were only the offscouring of the army and never represented the real sentiments of the people, interrupted the sessions of the Courts repeatedly in Worcester and Berkshire, as well as Hampshire County. But gathering courage at length to attack the arsenal at Springfield, they were routed, and the division under Shays fled through Hadley and Amherst to Pelham where they soon scattered, the followers seeking their homes, and the leaders taking refuge in the neighboring States till, through the clemency of the government, they were all allowed to return under a general amnesty. Overruled for good, the Shays Rebellion strengthened the State government which it threatened to subvert, and was one of the causes or occasions that led to our present federal constitution. Among the great and good men who have shed lustre on the old County of Hampshire, one name towers above all others not only in influence and reputation at home, but ranks among the brightest ornaments of mankind. Jonathan Edwards wrote most of those great works which have perpetuated his fame and influence at Stockbridge, and his body rests at Princeton, N. J., where he died in the prime of life as he was just entering upon the presidency of Nassau Hall College. But before he left Northampton h3 had already stamped his impress upon that 'and the neighboring towns, changed the religious character and history of New England, and originated influences without which Amherst College would have been quite another institution from what it now is. His name, once cast out as evil, is now honored above all others at Northampton, and strangers who visit the place, are pointed to the church which bears his name, admire DISTINGUISHED MEN. 23 the magnificent elms which he is said to have planted, and even seek out the spot in the cemetery where a slab, inscribed to his memory, stands by the side of those which mark the graves of his daughter Jerusha, and David Brainerd to whom she was betrothed. Among many other illustrious names which have adorned the history of this section, it will not be deemed invidious to men- tion those of Col. John Stoddard, Maj. Joseph Hawley, and Gov. Caleb Strong, of Northampton, Dr. Joseph Lyman, of Hatfield, and Judge Simeon Strong, and Gen. Ebenezer Mat- toon, of Amherst. But there were foundations for a College in the Connecticut Valley laid earlier than its earliest wars, and deeper than any events that were transacted on its surface. Long before the valley had any human inhabitants, there were " foot-prints on the sands of time," not so easily effaced as those of heroes, statesmen or divines, which hardened into stone, were to consti- tute the ichnological cabinets at Amherst ; there were antiqui- ties, histories, literatures, sciences, in comparison with which those of Greece and Rome are recent, written in the solid rocks in characters which a Hitchcock would begin to decipher, and other geologists would continue to read, which would make the Connecticut Valley beyond any portion of the Old World, a classic, almost a holy land to savans of every country through succeeding generations. For these foot-prints exist at Turner's Falls, at the base of Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke, in the Portland quarries and in the sandstone all through this valley, in unrivaled perfection and in such inexhaustible supplies as are found nowhere else. Such are some of the characteristics of the soil out of which Amherst College sprung, and into which it has struck its roots ; such some of the surroundings that impress themselves on the mind and character of its students ; and such the associations clustering about it, which, even to casual visitors and strangers, constitute some of its incidental attractions. CHAPTER II. AMHERST FIRST NAMED AS THE BEST SITE FOR A COLLEGE AMHERST AS IT THEN WAS. THE first associated action on record, looking towards the establishment of a College at Amherst, was at a meeting of the Franklin County Association of ministers, held in Shelburne, in 1815. This was six years before the College came into exist- ence, and was prior even to the incorporation of Amherst Academy, out of which the College grew. The record reads as follows: "Shelburne, May 10, 1815. At a meeting of the Franklin Association, holden at the house of Rev. Theophilus Packard, were present Revs. Messrs. Samuel Taggart, Josiah Spaulding, Jonathan Grout, Joseph Field, Theophilus Packard, Thomas A. Wood, Moses Miller, Alvan Sanderson, Josiah W. Cannon. The following questions were proposed by Brother Packard for the opinion of this body, viz. : 1. Whether a Col- lege would be likely to flourish in some central town of Old Hampshire County, and be promotive of knowledge and virtue in the State. 2. What town thus centrally situated, all circum- stances considered, appeared to them most eligible for such an institution? The body, on mature deliberation, were of the opinion that knowledge and virtue might be greatly subserved by a literary institution .situated in that important section of the Commonwealth. They were also unanimously agreed that, all things considered, the town of Amherst appeared to them the most eligible place for locating it." 1 Several things are particularly worthy of notice in this trans- action. In the first place, the first associated action, and, so far 1 See Historical Discourse of Rev. Theophilus Packard, at the Centennial of Shelburne. FRA]S 7 KLIN ASSOCIATION. 25 as appears, the first impulse and movement towards the estab- lishment of a College in Amherst, was not in Amherst nor even in Hampshire County, but in Franklin, and that not at a meeting in the valley of the Connecticut, but among the mountains west of the valley, where so many great and good men and measures have had their origin. This fact effectually disposes of the charges so often reiterated by the enemies of the College in former years, that it had its origin in sectional prejudices and local interests. In the second place we see clearly and positively what were the considerations which influenced the first movers in the enter- prise. Overlooking all local preferences and all personal inter- ests they inquire only whether a College in some central part of old Hampshire County would be likely to flourish and to promote knowledge and virtue, and then what town, all things considered, would be the most eligible situation. And in answer to these questions, they fix unanimously upon a town which was in another county and in no way represented in the Franklin Association. In the third place, the "Brother" who proposed the questions was a Trustee of Williams College. The brethren who were so *' unanimously agreed " in the result of their deliberations, were its friends, and the place in which they held their meeting, and the towns and churches which they represented, were all, so far as mere local and personal considerations were concerned, in sympathy with it, so that there is no room for a suspicion even that they were influenced by hostility to that Institution. Indeed the most remarkable aspect of the whole transaction is that they were able to rise so far above all local and personal considera- tions, and consider the question solely in its bearing on the advancement of learning and religion in the community. Besides Rev. Theophilus Packard who was the prime mover in this first associated action, several other of the earliest and most efficient friends of Amherst College were residents of Franklin County. Rev. James Taylor of Sunderland was a member of the Corporation as it was first chosen and organized, a constant attendant of all its meetings so long as he lived, a wise counsellor and a firm supporter of the College in all the trials of the first eleven years of its existence. Col. Rufus 26 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. Graves, its indefatigable agent, and Nathaniel Smith, its most liberal' donor in those early days, were both members of Mr. Taylor's church, born in Sunderlaiid and residing there when the establishment of such an Institution first began to be agitated. Dea. Elisha Billings of Conway, an educated man of great zeal, wisdom and influence, threw them all into this enterprise, and contributed largely to its success. These three laymen who were all connected by blood or marriage, as well as kindred spirits in religious faith and zeal, often visited at each other's houses, particularly at the house of Dea. Billings in Conway, and Rev. Mr. Taylor and Rev. Mr. Packard not un- frequently visited with them. And " The College," at first strongly desired and then more distinctly contemplated and planned for, was the principal topic of their conversations and the object of their most fervent prayers for years before it came into actual existence. As foreign missions in America had their origin in the prayers of a few students at " the hay- stack " near Williams College, so Amherst College perhaps origi- nated in the prayers of this little circle of intelligent and de- voted Christians in Franklin County; and if the whole secret were known, cultivated, earnest, praying women would perhaps be found to have had quite as much to do with cherishing it in its germ as praying men. Mrs. Smith, who was a sister of Col. Graves, was like him in religious zeal, and faith, and prayer ; and Mrs. Billings, who was a daughter of Rev. John Storrs, of Mansfield, Conn., was so captivated with the history of the Francke Institution, at Halle, which was founded wholly in faith and prayer, 1 that she circulated among her friends, a little book containing that history, until it was entirely worn out. 1 Like George Miiller's Orphan School, at Bristol, England, which was suggested by that at Halle; for George Miiller came from that part of Germany, and was early familiar with Francke's Institution. More's Charity School, at Mansfield, Conn., which afterwards grew into Dartmouth College, may also have exerted some influence on the origin of Amherst College, for Mrs. Billings was from Mansfield ; her mother was a More, and she is remembered to have spoken often with great interest of the More Charity School, together with Francke's Institution. I have these facts from Mrs. Russell, wife of Rev. E. Russell, D. D., of Randolph, and daughter of Dea. Billings. See also Dr. Hitchcock's Reminiscences of Araherst College, p. 7. HAMPSHIRE COUNTY. 27 Here the question naturally arises, why these friends of learn- ing and religion in Franklin County, should have preferred Hampshire County to their own, and why they should have selected Amherst rather than other towns in Hampshire County, as the site of such an Institution. In answer to these questions it should be observed in the first place, that Hampshire is the central county in Western Massachusetts, and in that part of the valley of the Connecticut which belongs to Massachusetts, and Ainherst is one of the most central towns in Hampshire County. Northampton was the shire town of the old county of Hampshire, when it comprehended the whole of Western Massachusetts, and, together with the neighboring towns, took a leading part in the early civil, political, and religious history of this part of the Commonwealth. The distinguished men who have given character and reputation to Western Massachusetts, and some of whose names have been recorded in the last chap- ter, were in large proportion residents of the central towns in Hampshire County. Hampshire County has long been the ban- ner county of the State in its educational and religious history ; statistics show that it exceeds any other county in the propor- tion, both of its College students and church members ; l and whether as cause or effect, or more likely both cause and effect of this, it is now equally distinguished for the number and char- acter of its higher educational Institutions. Amherst Academy, although it was not incorporated until 1816, commenced operations in 1814, and was formally dedi- cated in 1815, the same year in which the Franklin Association so unanimously recommended Amherst as the most favorable situation for a College ; and the enterprise of the citizens of Amherst in raising the funds, the enthusiastic interest in its in- auguration manifested in bonfires, ringing of bells and a general illumination, and the eclat and success with which it went into operation, doubtless excited the attention if not the admiration 1 In 1832, old Hampshire County with a population of sixty thousand had one hundred and twenty students in College, which was twice as many in proportion as the average of the State. It was then computed that if the whole State sent young men to College in the same proportion, she would have twelve hundred students instead of six hundred, and the United States one hundred thousand instead of six thousand. 28 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. of neighboring towns. Previous to the existence of the Acad- emy, also, Amherst had been distinguished by the superiority of its public and private schools. Such men as Judge Strong, Gen. Mattoon, Dr. Parsons, Dr. Coleman, Dr. Cutler, Noah Webster and Samuel Fowler Dickinson formed society and elevated the tone of public sentiment. In 1798, there were eleven students from Amherst at one time in College eight in Williams and three in other Colleges. In eleven years from 1792, Amherst furnished twelve graduates of Williams and Dartmouth, six from each ; and in the twelve years preceding the charter of the College, eighteen young men from this town were graduated at Williams, Dartmouth, Yale and Midcllebury. Even before the establishment of the College, Amherst, considering its compar- ative newness and small population, might well claim to be the banner town of the banner county in education. Dr. Dwight visited Amherst in 1803, ascended the tower of the church then standing on the site of the Woods Cabinet and Observatory, and was greatly struck with the beauty and pic- turesqueness of the scenery which have been admired and loved by so many generations of College students. " The position," he says, " is a very eligible one, commanding a great multitude of the fine objects which are visible from the summit of Mount Holyoke. This amphitheatre is about twenty-four miles in length and about fifteen in breadth. The mountains by which it is en- circled and the varieties of scenery with which its area is filled up, form one of the most impressive and delightful objects which can be seen in this country A handsomer piece of ground "[than the township of Amherst,] composed of hills and valleys, is rarely seen, more elegant slopes never. The lines by which they are limited, are formed by an exquisite hand, and with an ease and grace which art can not surpass." l Yet Amherst was undervalued and neglected by the earlier settlers, who settled all around it, and even took possession of the surrounding hills in preference to its rich alluvial bottoms. Ihose lands which are now among our choicest meadows and best farms, were then considered as marsh, unreclaimed and irre- claimable^The east part of the town was for many years 1 D wight's Travels, Vol. II., p. 360. AMHEEST IN 1800. 29 kno\vn as "Foote-Folly-Swamp," and Hadley Swamp was a not imfrequent designation for the whole territory. All the neigh- boring towns Hadley, Sunderland, South Hadley, Granby, Pel- ham and Shutesbury had been incorporated while Amherst still remained a precinct, or at most a district. Amherst was origi- nally a part of Hadley. It was called " the third precinct " of Hadley till 1754, the " second precinct " till 1759, and was not incorporated as a town till 1775. In 1810, the population waa 1,469; in 1820, it was 1,917. At the center, the two principal streets, running the one north and south l and the other east and west, were both originally laid out, as in Hadley, forty rods wide, that is, more than twice the width of the present West street in Hadley, and afterwards re- duced to less than twenty rods at the widest. Thus the houses at the center were all originally built fronting on a wide common which \vas subsequently enclosed and became a part of the front yards of some of the ancient houses, though as new houses were built, they were usually built nearer the narrowed street. The lawn in front of the old Strong house in Amity street, for example, was once a part of the broad street or common, and shows the width of the original street. The old Dr. Cowles house represents in like manner the change in Pleasant street. At the commencement of the present century, Judge Strong owned all the land at and near the north-west and north-east corners of the two main streets, as far north as the Dr. Cowles house and the Dr. Coleman house 2 which then stood near the cemetery, and as far east as the Dr. Cutler house which then, stood on the brow of Sunset Hill, now Mrs. Jones'. Gen. Ze- bina Montague owned the south-east corner, and Dr. Parsons the whole south-west angle except the corner which was occu- pied then as it has been ever since by the hotel. In 1815, when 1 As far south as Mill Valley. 2 So called from Dr. Seth Coleman, a distinguished physician, who died Septem- ber 9, 1815, aged seventy-six. See funeral sermon preached by Rev. Nathan Per- kins of East Amherst, and published by request. Dr. Seth Coleman was the father of Rev. Lyman Coleman, D. D., some time principal of Amherst Academy and In- structor in Amherst College, the author of the well-known works on the Constitu- tion and History of the Early Christian Church, and now Professor in Lafayette College. 30 the College began to be talked of there were still not more than twenty-five houses in the entire village. Three of these were gambrel-roofed houses the then aristocratic style viz., those of Judge Strong and Dr. Parsons, and the hotel, the last, how- ever, only one story, and then kept by Elijah Boltwood. Of these the Judge Strong house, now Mrs. Emerson's, is the only remaining specimen. Between the hotel and the Parsons house, 1 there was no building except a school-house near the site of the present tin-shop, which was used sometimes for a dis- trict school, and sometimes for a select school. There was no sidewalk, and the road (for a street it could hardly be called, although it was the main road leading to " the meeting-house,") was often so muddy as to be impassable. Prof. Snell remem- bers being obliged more than once, by reason of the mud, to betake himself to the Virginia fence that run its zigzags along- side this road, which was then nearly as crooked as the fence itself. The common was partly swamp and partly pasture ground, grown up to white birch, on which each family was allowed by annual vote of the town to pasture a cow so many weeks every season. On the east side there was a goose-pond, skirted with alders, and alive and vocal with large flocks of geese. The corner diagonal to the hotel, now the site of Phenix Row, was then occupied by the house and store of H. Wright Strong. Till about this time this was the only store in town, and there was no such thing as a drug store, or carpenter's or blacksmith's shop in existence. At the east end of what is now Phenix Row was the house which was owned and occupied by Noah Webster for ten years from 1812 till 1822. This house was destroyed by fire in 1838. The orchard which Mr. Webster planted and cherished (now Foster Cook's,) is still perhaps the best orchard in town. Samuel Fowler Dickinson had recently erected the house now owned by his son, the first brick house in the vil- lage. The road between Mr. Webster's and Mr. Dickinson's then took a zigzag course towards the present residence of Mr. Sweetser, to avoid a marsh in which in old times cattle were not unfrequently mired. The causeway of Main street now 1 Then situated where the Library now is. HATED MONEY. 31 crosses the center of that swamp, and the village church is built on its margin. A boy was sent one morning on an errand from Dr. Parsons' to Esq. Dickinson's. As soon as he came upon the road lead- ing from Pelham to Northampton, he began to pick up silver dollars. On his return he went on down the same road, as far, as Dr. Cutler's, still picking up silver dollars. When he reached home, he counted out sixty silver dollars. At evening, Dea. Rankin of Pelham came in and claimed the money. He had set out in the morning, with the hard money in his saddle-bags, to pay for a yoke of oxen in Northampton. The saddle-bags, worn through, began to leak at Esq. Dickinson's, and by the time he reached Dr. Cutler's they were emptied of their con- tents, so that the deacon arrived at Northampton without any means of paying for his oxen. The boy passed over the road some hours later and picked up almost every dollar of the money. He is still living, and bears the name of David Par- sons. The story illustrates two characteristics of the good old times in Amherst first, how little passing there was in the streets, and secondly, the possession and common use of silver money. It was an intermediate period between the age of mod- ern " greenbacks " and the old " Continental currency." There was at this time only a weekly stage to Boston. It was not till some time after the College was established, that this was ex- changed for a tri-weekly, which was then counted a great advance. 1 When Esq. Dickinson erected his brick house, he removed the wood house which he had previously occupied on the same site, to Pleasant street where it still stands, a small old-fashioned two-story house, a little north of the blacksmith shop. The old Whiting house, between Pleasant street and North street, now owned by Mr. Ayers, is also one of the antiquities of Am- herst. And the grand old elm which overshadows it like a protecting forest, if it were only gifted with speech like some 1 A lady to whom I am much indebted for this sketch of Amherst as it was, remem- bers that the first ice-house, and also the first bathing apartment in Amherst, was built in 1816 ; the first Congress water was brought here in 1817, and the first cook- ing stove in 1819. As late as 1824, there was not an organ or piano in Amherst. 32 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. trees of the mythical ages, could tell tales older and more im- pressive than all the history that has been gathered from the oldest inhabitants. There is no finer specimen of " the Amer- ican tree" "the tree of liberty" in the valley of the Con- necticut, and of course none anywhere else in the country or the world. There are two houses on the east side of the common which existed at the time of which we are speaking, and still remain quite unchanged the Warner house and the Merrill house. And we must not forget to mention an institution, quite charac- teristic of the good old times, which once stood on the back side of the Merrill lot, but which has passed from the knowledge of the present generation though some traces of it have been brought to light in recent excavations. We refer to a distillery the first, though by no means the last, in this region which used up some three thousand barrels of cider every year, turning it into cider-brandy, and used up as effectually some of the old settlers. Their children, who are still on the stage, recount some first lessons learned there, which, with the help of later lessons of a counter tendency, have made them ever since the sturdy friends of temperance. In the construction of Prof. Seelye's fish-pond lately, the aqueduct of logs which brought water into the distillery was discovered, and found to be still, after three- quarters of a century, in a state of perfect preservation. College street now runs along near the brow of this distillery ravine, and several of the Professors' houses occupy the very ground which used to be covered with barrels of cider and cider-brandy. Fact significant not only of change but of improvement ! The world does move ; and it moves in the right direction towards temperance, intelligence, virtue and piety. A majority of the people of Amherst were in favor of the Revolution, chose a Committee of Correspondence in 1774 who wrote a spirited and outspoken letter of encouragement to the people of Boston, and a few days before the Declaration of In- dependence, voted to support Congress in such a declaration, pledging to that support their lives and fortunes. In 1777 they censured Rev. Mr. Parsons for lukewarmness in the cause. In common with the majority of the neighboring towns, Amherst NATIVES OF AMHERST. 33 was strongly opposed to the war of 1812, and made a public declaration of its opposition. Araherst was the birthplace of Silas Wright, Governor of New York and a prominent candidate for the Presidency at the time of his death. Gideon Lee, the wealthy and noble Mayor of New York city, and Chester Ashley, United States Senator from Arkansas, were also born here. Besides Simeon Strong, usually known as " Judge Strong," Judge of the Su- preme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, who died in office in 1805, Amherst has given to the bench his son Solomon Strong, State Senator in Massachusetts four years, Member of Congress two terms, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and Daniel Kellogg, Judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont. Among its lawyers Osrnyn Baker, Edward Dickinson and Charles Delano have been members of Congress. Of the min- isters born here, we may mention Dr. David Parsons, thirty- seven years pastor of the First Church in Amherst, Dr. Daniel Kellogg, almost fifty years pastor of the Congregational Church in Framingham, Austin Dickinson, editor of The National Preacher ^ and originator of several philanthropic and Christian enterprises, and Rev. Dr. Nelson, lately of St. Louis, now of Lane Theolog- ical Seminary. The father of Henry Lyman, " the Martyr of Sumatra," removed here for the education of his son, and con- tinued to live here until his death, and the family made this their home till the children were educated and settled else- where. The house at the foot of Mount Pleasant, now Mr. Fearing's, was long known as " the Lyman house." It may also be associated with Gov. Wright, for it was built by his maternal grandfather. Mount Pleasant itself, where, in 1830, were gath- ered more than a hundred boys in that " Classical Institution," which, founded by a graduate of the Class of '26, fitted for Col- lege Mr. Beecher, and some other distinguished pupils, and which Mr. Choate, in arguing here a famous reference in regard to it, so fitly styled " the jewel on the brow of Amherst," was then an unbroken forest famous only for the chestnuts which attracted the boys and the squirrels in flocks to the harvest. 3 ; .~ CHAPTER III. AMHERST ACADEMY. AMHERST ACADEMY was the mother of Amherst College. The Trustees of the Academy were also Trustees of the Col- lege, and the records of the Academy were the records of the College during the first four years of its existence. Some ac- count of the Academy must, therefore, precede the history of the College. The founding and erecting of Amherst Academy, kept pace with the origin and progress of the last war with Great Britain. The subscription was started in 1812, when that war was declared ; the Academy went into operation in December, 1814, the same year and the same month in which the peace was signed ; and it was fully dedicated with illumina- tions and public rejoicings in 1815, when the return of peace was known and hailed with joy in this country, especially in New England. This synchronism is worthy of note, not as a mere accidental coincidence, but as illustrating the energy, reso- lution, and self-sacrificing spirit of the men who could raise such a sum of money and found such an Institution at the very time when the industry and enterprise of New England were oppressed as never before nor since, by a war which was pecu- liarly hostile to their industrial interests. The charter was not obtained, however, till 1816, having been delayed by opposition in Amherst, and in the neighboring towns, of the same kind and partly from the very same sources as that which the College encountered in later years. The subscription was started by Samuel Fowler Dickinson, and Hezekiah Wright Strong, Esquires, the same men to whom, beyond any other citizens of Amherst, the College afterwards owed its origin. Calvin Merrill of the village, and Justus Wil- TRUSTEES AND TEACHERS. 35 liams of South Amherst, were also quite active in raising funds and rearing the building. Dr. Parsons gave the land on which the building was erected, lent all his influence to the raising of the money, and was the first, and, until the establishment of the College, the only President of its Board of Trustees, and, to say the least, one of its principal fathers and founders. The Trustees named in the act of incorporation were David Parsons, Na- than Perkins, Samuel F. Dickinson, Hezekiah W. Strong, Noah Webster, John Woodbridge, James Taylor, Nathaniel Smith, Josiah Dwight, Rufus Graves, Winthrop Bailey, Expe- rience Porter, and Elijah Gridley. In common with other incorporated institutions of the kind, the Academy received from the Legislature of the State, the grant of half a town- ship of land in the district of Maine, on condition that the in- habitants of the town should raise a sum of money which was deemed its equivalent, viz : three thousand dollars. During the first ten or twelve years or more of its existence the Academy was open to both sexes. The principal male teachers during this period, in their chronological order, were Francis Bascom, Joseph Estabrook, John L. Parkhurst, Gerard Hallock, Zenas Clapp, David Green, and Ebenezer S. Snell. Three of these were afterwards connected with the College as tutors or professors, one became the well-known editor and pro- prietor of The Journal of Commerce, and another an honored secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The lady teachers were Lucy Douglas, afterwards Mrs. James Fowler of Westfield, Orra White, afterwards Mrs. Dr. Hitchcock, Mary Ann Field, afterwards Mrs. Henry Mer- rill, Sarah S. Strong, 1 daughter of H. W. Strong, now Mrs. McConihe of Troy, and Hannah Shepard, sister of Prof. Shep- ard, afterwards Mrs. Judge Terry of Hartford. " Under the government and instruction of such superior teachers," I quote the language of a competent eye-witness, " the Academy obtained a reputation second to none in the 1 To this lady who became a teacher in the Academy at the age of sixteen, and a teacher of remarkable brilliancy, I am indebted for many facts in the early his> tory of Amherst Academy, which but for her extraordinary memory must have perished with the fire that consumed the Records in 1838. 36 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. State, and indeed the ladies' department was in advance of the same department in other institutions, as might be shown by a simple comparison of the studies pursued and text-books in use by the young ladies. Among these may be specified Chem- istry, which was then just beginning to be studied in schools outside of Colleges, but was taught in Amherst Academy with lectures and experiments by Prof. Graves who had been lec- turer on Chemistry in Dartmouth College, Rhetoric, Logic, History, Paley's Moral Philosophy, Play fair's Euclid, Stewart's Philosophy, Enfield's Natural Philosophy, Herschell's Astron- omy with the calculation and projection of eclipses, Latin, French, etc. On Wednesday afternoons all the scholars were assembled in the upper hall for reviews, declamations, composi- tions and exercises in reading in which both gentlemen and ladies participated. Spectators were admitted and were often present in large numbers, among whom Dr. Parsons and Mr. Webster, President and Vice-Presideiit of the Board of Trust- ees, might usually be seen, and often the lawyers, physicians, and other educated men of the place. Not unfrequently gen- tlemen from out of town were present, as for instance, Dr. Pack- ard, who early became a Trustee, and was much interested in the prosperity of the Institution. Once a year, at the close of the fall term in October, the old meeting-house was fitted up with a stage and strange to tell in the staid town of Amherst where dancing was tabooed and cards never dared show them- selves, reverend divines went with lawyers and doctors, and all classes of their people to the house of God to witness a theatri- cal exhibition ! " The following sketch by one who was an Alumnus both of the Academy and the College, (Rev. Nahum Gould of the Class of '25) while affording a glimpse of the former, reveals one secret, perhaps more than one, of the origin and prosperity of the latter : " I came to Amherst in the spring of 1819 and studied in preparation for College under the direction of Joseph Esta- brook and Gerard Hallock. The principal's salary was $800 per annum, and Miss Sarah Strong's $20 a month. I found the piety of the students far in advance of my own. Perhaps AMHERST ACADEMY IN 1819. 37 there never was a people that took such deep interest in the welfare of students. None need leave on account of pecuniary embarrassments. Tuition was free to any pious student who was preparing for the gospel ministry. Board was one dollar a week, and if this could not be afforded, there were families ready to take students for little services which they might ren- der in their leisure hours. Their liberality was spoken of through the land, and it was an inducement to persons of lim- ited means, preparing for the ministry, to come to Amherst. To such the church prayer meeting in the village was a school as well as a place for devotion. Daniel A. Clark, the pastor, was greatly beloved by the students. Noah Webster resided here preparing his dictionary. He took an interest in the Academy and opened his doors for an occasional reception, which we prized very highly. Col. Graves was a successful agent for the Academy and a help to the students. Mr. Esta- brook was well qualified for his station. Mr. Hallock was a scholar and a gentleman. It was a pleasant task to manage a school where there were so many pious students seeking qualifi- cations for usefulness, who felt that they were in the right place and were establishing a Christian character of high standing." It is not surprising that such a school, under such auspices and influences, with such a standard of scholarship and Christian culture, flourished. It opened with more students than any other Academy in Western Massachusetts. It soon attracted pupils from every part of New England. It had at one time ninety pupils in the ladies' department, and quite as many, usually more, in the gentlemen's. It was the Williston Seminary and the Mount Holyoke of that day united. The founder of Mount Holyoke Seminary was a member of Amherst Academy in 1821. Her teacher, the lady principal, thus describes her : " The number of young ladies that term was ninety-two. Some had been teachers. They were of all ages, from nine to thirty-two, and from all parts of Massachusetts and the adjoining States. Among these pupils was one whose name is now famous in history. Then uncultivated in mind and manners, of large physique, twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, and receiv- ing her first impulse in education. She commenced with gram- 38 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. mar and geography, and soon advanced to rhetoric and logic. Having a comprehensive mind and being very assiduous in her studies, she improved rapidly. Her name was Mary Lyon." The number of useful men whose names are " written in heaven," and not unknown on earth, who fitted for College and for business during this period in the history of Arnherst, was very great. And the reputation and success of the classical department became so remarkable, that partly to give fuller scope and perfection to this department, and partly to avoid some difficulties and some scandals which at length arose from educating the two sexes together, the female department was abolished, and the Academy, thus entered on the second period, and in some respects a new one in its history, in which it was mainly distinguished as a school, preparatory for College. During this second period, Elijah Paine, Solomon Maxwell, Story Hebard, Robert E. Pattisou, William P. Paine, William Thompson, Simeon Colton, William S. Tyler, Evangelinus Soph- ocles, Ebenezer Burgess, George C. Partridge, Nahum Gale, and Lyman Coleman, were among the principal or assistant teachers. At this time, there were usually from seventy-five to one hundred students in the classical department, and in the first year of Mr. Colton's administration, the writer, who was his assistant, well remembers that we sent about thirty to College, the larger part of whom entered at Amherst. Prior to the existence of Williston Seminary, and during the depression of Phillips Academy at Andover, in the declining years of Principal Adams, if not still earlier, Amherst Academy, without dispute, held the first position among the Academies of Massa- chusetts. But the subsequent prosperity of Phillips Academy, the es- tablishment of Williston Seminary and the rise of Normal schools and High schools in all the large towns gradually drew off their students and thus their support from Amherst, and other comparatively unendowed Academies, till one after an- other of them became extinct. And although the Academy at Amherst sustained itself longer and better than many others, although it returned to the admission of both sexes in order to increase the number of students, and although it was under the THE ACADEMY BUILDING. 39 government and instruction of some quite superior teachers who have since become distinguished educators, yet it became more and more a merely local institution for the children of the town, and was at length superseded by our excellent High school. The building which was a large three story edifice of brick occupying one of the most beautiful sites in the centre of the village, and which was hallowed in the memory of so many hundreds and thou- sands, as not only the place where they received their education, but also as the place where the first meetings for prayer and conference in the village, and all the social religious meetings of the village church, were held for many years, this venerable and sacred edifice was taken down in the summer of 1868, to make way for the Grammar school, west of the hotel, which now occupies the site. Amherst Academy did a great and good work in and of itself for which many who were educated there and not a few who were spiritually "born there," will bless God forever. But the best work which it did and which, it is believed, will perpetuate its memory and its influence, was the founding of Amherst College. CHAPTER IV. CONSTITUTION OF THE CHAEITY FUND THE CONVENTION AT AMHERST IN 1818. IN view of the elevated literary and Christian character of Amherst Academy, and its extraordinary success as described in the foregoing chapter, it is not surprising that its founders soon felt themselves called upon to make higher and larger provision for educational purposes. At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, on the 18th of November, 1817, a project formed by Rufus Graves, Esq., was adopted for increasing the useful- ness of the Academy, by raising a fund for the gratuitous in- struction of "indigent young men of promising talents and hopeful piety, who shall manifest a desire to obtain a liberal education with a sole view to the Christian ministry." " Taking into consideration the local situation of this Acad- emy, its growing success and flattering prospects, the following resolution with preamble, was unanimously adopted." The preamble recites at considerable length, the high moral and Christian, as well as literary and scientific purposes, for which the Academy was founded, and the success, beyond the most sanguine expectation, which, in pursuance of these objects, and under the guidance of a propitious Providence, it had already achieved. It insists also, in detail, upon the advan- tages of the location, "in an elevated and healthy situation, in the centre of an extensive and wealthy population of good moral habits, where the means of living are as cheap and as easily obtained as in any part of this Commonwealth, and com- pletely insulated from any institution embracing similar prin- 1 95 ciples. Influenced by such considerations, " encouraged by the past THE CHARITY FUND. 41 and animated by the prospects of the future, humbly and devot- edly "relying on the Divine assistance in all their 'endeavors to promote the cause of truth, and train up the rising generation in science and virtue," the Trustees " do humbly resolve as an important object of this Board, to establish in this Institution for the principles aforesaid, a professorship of languages with a permanent salary equal to the importance and dignity of such an office, and that Rufus Graves, Joshua Crosby, John Fiske, Nathaniel Smith and Samuel F. Dickinson, be a committee to solicit donations, contributions, grants and bequests, to establish a fund for that and other benevolent objects of the Institution." The committee entered with zeal and alacrity upon the effort to raise money for the endowment of such a professorship, and prosecuted it for several months. Their ardent and indefatiga- ble chairman, Col. Graves, went to Boston and other large towns, and labored day and night to accomplish the object. But " they found," in the language of Mr. Webster's narrative of the proceedings, "that the establishment of a single profess- orship was too limited an object to induce men to subscribe. To engage public patronage, it was found necessary to form a plan for the education of young men for the ministry on a more extensive scale." These considerations determined the committee to enlarge their plan, and to aim not merely at the endowment of a pro- fessorship in the Academy, but at the raising of a fund which should be the basis of a separate Institution of a higher grade. They accordingly framed and reported a " constitution and sys- tem of by-laws for raising and managing a permanent Charity Fund as the basis of an Institution in Amherst, in the county of Hampshire, for the classical education of indigent young men of piety and talents, for the Christian ministry." The Board of Trustees at their meeting on the 18th of August, 1818, unanimously accepted this report, approved the doings of the committee, and authorized them to take such measures and com- municate with such persons and corporations as they might judge expedient. The fund which was thus inaugurated, became the corner- stone of the Charity Institution and " the sheet-anchor " of 42 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. the College so it was often called by the Professors and friends of the College amid the storms which it afterwards encountered. And no document sheds so much light on the motives of the founders of the Institution as this constitution of the Charity Fund. It therefore merits careful consideration. The instrument was drawn by " Rufus Graves, Esq.," as Mr. Webster habitually styles him better known to the pub- lic as " Col. Graves." The preamble is as follows : " Taking into consideration the deplorable condition of a large portion of our race who are enveloped in the most profound ignorance, and superstition and gross idolatry ; and many of them in a savage state without a written language ; together with vast multitudes in Christian countries of which our own affords a lamentable specimen, who are dispersed over extensive territo- ries, as sheep without a shepherd ; impressed with a most fer- vent commiseration for our destitute brethren, and urged by the command of our Divine Saviour to preach the gospel to every creature ; we have resolved to consecrate to the Author of all good, for the honor of his name and the benefit of our race, a portion of the treasure or inheritance which he has been pleased to entrust to our stewardship, in the firm belief that ' it is more blessed to give than to receive.' " " Under the conviction that the education of pious young men of the finest talents in the community is the most sure method of relieving our brethren by civilizing and evangelizing the world, and that a classical institution judiciously located and richly endowed with a large and increasing charitable fund, in co-operation with theological seminaries and education societies, will be the most eligible way of effecting it Therefore " etc. Then follows the making and ratifying of the constitution and system of by-laws for the raising and managing of the fund. The constitution is drawn up in due form as a legal document, 1 with much minuteness of detail, and with every possible safe- guard against the loss or perversion of the fund, or the neglect' 1 Col. Graves consulted Jeremiah Mason and Daniel Webster as to the legal char- acter of the constitution, and they both said it was a legal instrument, binding in law on the subscribers; and so it was decided by the Supreme Court, when, for the sake of testing it, one of the subscribers refused to pay. CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. 43 of duty on the part of those who are charged with the care and management of it. The first article fixes the location of the In- stitution at Amherst, and provides for the incorporation of Wil- liams College with it, should it continue to be thought expe- dient, to remove that Institution to the county of Hampshire, and to locate it in the town of Amherst. The second article contains a promise of the subscribers to pay the sums annexed to their names for the purpose of raising a permanent fund, to the amount of at least fifty thousand dollars, as the basis of a fund for the proposed Institution, provided that, in case the sums subscribed in the course of one year shall not amount to the full sum of fifty thousand dollars, then the whole, or any part, shall be void according to the will of any subscriber on giving three months' notice. The third provides that five-sixths of the inter- est of the fund shall be forever appropriated to the classical ed- ucation in the Institution of indigent pious young men for the ministry, and the other sixth shall be added to the principal for its perpetual increase, while the principal itself shall be secured intangible and perpetually augmenting. Article fourth directs that the property of the fund shall be secured by real estate or invested in funds of Massachusetts, or the United States, or some other safe public stocks. Article fifth vests the management and appropriation of the fund, according to the provisions of the constitution and by-laws, in the Trustees of Amherst Academy, until the contemplated classical Institution is established and incorporated, and then in the Board of Trustees of said Institu- tion and their successors forever. Article sixth provides for the appointment of a Board of Overseers of the fund, a skillful Financier and an Auditor. Article seventh requires the Trustees to appoint a Financier who shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duty, under sufficient bonds, and subject to be removed at their discretion. This Financier, however, shall not be their own Treasurer, that is, the Treasurer of the Institution, who shall be ineligible to that office. This article also prescribes the duties of the Trustees in regard to the fund, such as examining candidates for its charities, keeping a correct record of the amount of the fund, the manner in which it is invested and se- cured, their receipts and disbursements from it, and all their 44 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. proceedings in reference to it. Article eighth prescribes mi- nutely the duties of the Financier in receiving and investing moneys, managing and guarding the fund, paying over the inter- est, as provided in article third, into the treasury of the Institu- tion, taking triplicate receipts, one to keep for his own security, one to deposit with the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, and the third with the Auditor ; keeping an accurate account of the whole fund and every part of it, and reporting the same annu- ally to the Board of Trustees. The ninth article provides that the Financier shall be paid from the avails of the fund a rea- sonable sum for his services and responsibility. The tenth pre- scribes the manner in which the Overseers of the Fund shall be appointed and perpetuated, viz.: the four highest subscribers to the fund shall appoint each of them one, and the other three shall be elected by a majority of the votes of the other sub- scribers who may assemble for that purpose. Then the Board shall perpetuate their existence as such by filling their own va- cancies. In case the Board shall at any future time become extinct, the Governor and Council of this Commonwealth are expressly authorized to appoint a new Board. Article eleventh provides for the appointment of an Auditor by the Board of Overseers, and prescribes at great length the duties of that Board. They are required to visit the Institution at its annual Commencement, to receive and examine the reports of the Trust- ees and the Auditor, and to inspect the records, files and vouch- ers of the Trustees and the Financier, and in view of all the facts, to decide whether the fund has been skillfully managed, and its avails faithfully applied according to the will of the do- nors. "The sacred nature of the trust reposed in the said Board of Overseers, as the representatives of the rights of the dead as well as the living, urges upon them the imperious duty of investigating every subject relative to their important trust." In case of any alleged breach of trust or questions of rights and powers that may arise between the Board of Trustees and the Board of Overseers, it is provided that the question shall be sub- mitted to the Honorable Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, whose decision shall be final, and shall be entered on the records of both Boards. The Board of Over- CHARACTER OF THE FOUNDERS. 45 seers are required to keep a record of all their proceedings, and also to receive and preserve manuscript copies of the records and copies of the files of the Board of Trustees, that the whole of the records of the Institution may be safely preserved in the archives of both Boards. Article twelfth prescribes the duties of the Auditor. Article thirteenth provides for the amendment of the constitution and system of b}*-laws by the concurrent action of the Board of Trustees and the Board of Overseers, " so, however, as not to deviate from the original object of civil- izing and evangelizing the world by the classical education of indigent young men of piety and talents," "nor without the majority of two-thirds of the members of the said Board of Trustees, and five-sevenths of the said Board of Overseers." Article fourteenth reads as follows : " In order to prevent the loss or destruction of this constitution by any wicked design, by 1 fire, or by the ravages of time, it shall be the duty of the Trust- ees of said Institution, as soon as the aforesaid sum of fifty thousand dollars shall be hereunto subscribed, to cause triplicate copies of the same, together with the names of the subscribers and the sum subscribed annexed to each name, to be taken fairly written on vellum, one of which to be preserved in the archives of said Institution, one in the archives of said Board of Over- seers, and the other in the archives of this Commonwealth. And in case of the loss or destruction of either of said copies, its deficiency shall be immediately supplied by an attested copy from one of the others." In reviewing this important document, we can not but be im- pressed with the conviction that its authors were men not only of warm hearts and high religious aims, but of large views, en- lightened minds, far-seeing intellects and conscientious purposes, capable of adapting means to ends, and expecting to accomplish the grandest results only by wise plans and corresponding exer- tions men who felt that they were laying foundations for the glory of God and the good of mankind in future ages, and re- solved to prevent, so far as human foresight could, the removal of a single stone from those foundations, intent especially on guarding the corner-stone against the possibility of disturbance. That they were also men of fervid zeal, strong faith, moral 46 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. courage and holy boldness, no one has ever denied. If any proof were necessary, it would be found even to demonstration in the very fact that they dared to undertake such an enterprise in that age, and not only undertook, but achieved it. It was another thing to raise a permanent fund of fifty thousand dol- lars for a literary institution in that day from what it is in our day. It would be easier to raise half a million or a million now. It is a common affair now. Then, nothing of the kind had ever been attempted. It was an original idea, and a grand one, and a bold one. It seemed like audacity and presumption. But its grandeur and boldness were among the chief secrets of success. The professorship in an Academy failed because it was too small to attract and inspire. The Charity Fund and the College were born of the boldness which, in brave and believing souls, sprung from that failure, and which knew no such word as fail. In order to secure the approval and co-operation of the Christian community to an extent commensurate with the mag- nitude of the undertaking, the Trustees of Amherst Academy, at a meeting held on the 10th of September, 1818, resolved to call a Convention of " the Congregational and Presbyterian clergy of the several parishes in the counties of Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden and the western section of the county of Worcester, with their delegates, together with one delegate from each vacant parish, and the subscribers to the fund." In the circular calling the Convention, the committee, consisting of Noah Webster, John Fiske and Rufus Graves, speak of the magnitude of the object, viz. : the establishment of a charitable institution for the purpose of educating pious, indigent young men for the gospel ministry in all the branches of literature and science usually taught in Colleges, and the importance of the union of all good men in combined and vigorous exertions to mul- tiply the number of well-educated ministers, to supply mission- aries, and to furnish with pastors destitute churches and people in our own extended republic. With this end in view, they say, the Trustees have formed a constitution for a Charitable Fund to be the basis of such an Institution in the town of Amherst, and have already made such progress in procuring donations as to afford most animating encouragement of success. THE CONVENTION OF 1818. 47 On the 29th of September, 1818, in accordance with this invitation, the Convention met in the church in the west parish of Amherst. Thirty-seven towns 1 were represented, sixteen in Hampshire County, thirteen in Franklin, four in Hampden and four in Worcester. Most of the parishes were repre- sented by both a pastor and a lay delegate. Thirty-six clergy- men and thirty-two laymen composed the Convention. Among them were Rev. David Parsons, D. D., Rev. Payson Williston, Rev. Joshua Crosby, Rev. John Woodbridge, Rev. Joseph Ly- man, D. D., Rev. Vinson Gould, Rev. Dan Huntington, Rev. James Taylor, Rev. Theophilus Packard, Rev. John Keep, 2 Rev. T. M. Cooley, Rev. Simeon Colton, Rev. John Fiske, Rev. Thomas Snell, H. Wright Strong, Esq., Col. Henry Dwight, Col. Joseph Billings, Dr. William Hooker, Hon. Joseph Lyman, George Grennell, Jr., Esq., and Roger Leavitt, Esq. Rev. Joseph Lyman, D. D., of Hatfield, was chosen Pres- ident, and Col. Joseph Billings, of Hatfield, and George Gren- nell, Jr., Esq., of Greenfield, Secretaries. The constitution and by-laws of the proposed Institution were read, and, after some discussion, the whole subject was referred to a committee of twelve. In the afternoon, a sermon was delivered before the Convention by Dr. Lyman. The next morning, September 30th, the committee presented their report. They express in strong language their approval of the constitution, as the fruit of much judicious reflection, and guarding as a legal instrument in the most satisfactory and effectual manner, the faithful and appro- priate application of the property consecrated by the donors. They have no hesitation in recommending Hampshire County as one of the most eligible situations for such an Institution, being in the central part of Massachusetts, in the heart of New Eng- land, and almost equally distant from six other Colleges, in an extensive section of country, salubrious, fertile and populous, where industry and moral order, together with a disposition to cultivate science and literature, habitually prevail ; where mim's- 1 Forty parishes, two parishes being represented in each of the following towns : Amherst in Hampshire, Greenfield in Franklin, and Granville in Hampden County. ; 2 Afterwards one of the founders and fathers of Oberlin College. 48 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. ters and churches are generally united and harmonious, and where the numerous streams of charity and benevolence afford ample assurance that an Institution of this description would be cordially embraced, extensively patronized and liberally sup- ported. In regard to the particular town in Hampshire County, while they thought favorably of Amherst, the committee were of the opinion that it would be expedient to leave that question to the decision of a disinterested committee appointed by the Convention. Accordingly they reported a series of resolutions, cordially approving the object of a religious and classical Insti- tution on a charitable foundation ; recommending also in con- nection with it, the establishment of a College possessing all the advantages of other Colleges in the Commonwealth, and that such preparations and arrangements be made as will accommo- date students at the Institution as soon as possible ; but leaving the location to be determined by a committee, only adding, that in whatever place it may be established, it is expected that the people of that place will show themselves worthy of such a privilege by affording liberal aid towards the erection of College buildings. The preamble of the report, expressing the general views of the committee, was promptly accepted by the Convention. But on those points in the resolutions which touched the location of the Institution, an animated debate arose and continued through the morning and afternoon sessions. Able arguments and eloquent appeals were made for and against fixing the site definitely at Amherst. Local feelings and interests doubtless influenced the speakers more or less on both sides of the ques- tion. The most violent opposition came from some of the churches and parishes in the immediate vicinity of Amherst. Several delegates from the west side of the river, including those from Northampton, contended ably and earnestly in favor of locating the Institution at Northampton. The discussion was carried from the Convention to the families where the members were entertained, and there are still living those who well re- member that the excitement ran so high as to disturb their sleep long after the hour of midnight. The people of Amherst were deeply moved. The house was filled with anxious spectators. DEBATE ON THE LOCATION. 49 Business was almost suspended. The Academy 'took a recess, and teachers and pupils hung with breathless interest on the de- bate. " Until noon of the second day of the Convention," I use the language of one who was then a student in the Academy and an eye-witness, 1 " the weight of argument was in favor of Northampton, and things looked blue for a location in Amherst. The Trustees watched the progress of the debate with great anxiety, and were doubtful of the result of the vote, which was to be taken in the afternoon. Capt. Calvin Merrill, one of the Trustees, a man of clear and discerning mind and good judg- ment, but of few words, said to me at noon of that day, that he feared the result of the vote about to be taken, but, says he, ' I have just seen Esq. Dickinson,' (who had up to this time re- mained silent,) ' and he has promised to come in this afternoon, and make one of his best arguments in favor of locating in Am- herst.' Esq. Dickinson fulfilled his promise, taking his position in the aisle of the old church, and truly and faithfully laid him- self out, in one of the most powerful and telling speeches which were made on this occasion, gaining the full attention of the whole Convention, and no doubt greatly influencing many in their vote. After which, George Grennell, Esq., who was Secre- tary of the Convention, left his seat, taking his place in the aisle, and also delivered a very powerful and effective speech, still keeping the full attention of the Convention. These two speeches produced a new and different feeling throughout the house : and the result, when the vote was taken, was in favor of Amherst as a location for the College." The argument of Mr. Grennell, delegate from the " Poll Parish in Greenfield," was particularly convincing, and is said not only to have carried the suffrages of the Convention, but to have brought him before the public in so favorable a light as to have had not a little influence in preparing the way for his election to Congress. Rev. Timothy M. Cooley of Granville, in Hampden County, afterwards so famous as a teacher of rusticated students, is said to have spoken ably and earnestly in favor of a Collegiate Institution at Amherst. The delegations from a distance, and those who were least in- fluenced by local considerations, generally adopted this view. It i D. W. Norton, Esq., of Suffield, Conn. 50 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. received the sanction of by far the greater part of the Conven- tion. The resolutions were so amended as to fix the location at Amherst, and then were passed by a large majority of votes. The enterprise was now fairly launched, and the raising of money was prosecuted with such zeal and success, that at the annual meeting of the Trustees of Amherst Academy, November 17, 1818, the Secretary, Col. Graves, reported that the subscrip- tion to the Charitable Fund, together with the value of the six acres of land given by Col. Elijah Dickinson for the site of the buildings, amounted to twenty-five thousand and five hundred dollars. And at a special meeting in July, 1818, a committee appointed to examine the subscription, reported that the money and other property amounted, at a fair estimate, to fifty-one thousand four hundred and four dollars, thus making more than the sum proposed in less than the time allowed by the consti- tution. CHAPTER V. EFFORTS TO UNITE WILLIAMS COLLEGE AND THE INSTITUTION AT AMHERST. As early as 1815, six years before the opening of Amherst College, the question of removing Williams College to some more central part of Massachusetts was agitated among its friends and in its Board of Trustees. At that time Williams College had two buildings and fifty-eight students, with two professors and two tutors. The library contained fourteen hundred volumes. The funds were reduced and the income fell short of the expenditures. Many of the friends and supporters of the College were fully persuaded that it could not be sus- tained in its present location. The chief ground of this per- suasion was the extreme difficulty of access to it. " It is difficult at this day," says the late Governor Emory Washburn, who entered in 1815, " to make one understand the perfect isolation of the spot during my residence in College. Nothing in the form of a stage-coach or vehicle for public communication ever entered the town. Once a week a soli- tary messenger, generally on horseback, came over the Florida Mountain, bringing our newspapers and letters from Boston and the eastern part of the State. Once a week a Mr. Green came up from the south, generally in a one-horse wagon, bringing the county newspapers printed at Stockbridge and Pittsfield. And by similar modes, and at like intervals, we heard from Troy and Albany." .... "It was scarcely less difficult to reach the place by private than by public conveyance, except by one's own means of transit. My home was near the center of the State, 1 1 Leicester. 52 and, as iny resources were too limited to make use of a private conveyance, I was compelled to rely -upon stage and chance. My route was by stage to Pittsfield, and thence by a providen- tial team or carriage the remainder of my journey. I have often smiled as I have recalled with what persevering assiduity I way- laid every man who passed by the hotel, in order to find some one who would consent to take as a passenger a luckless wight in pursuit of an education under such difficulties. I think I am warranted in saying that I made that passage in every form and shape of team and vehicle, generally a loaded one, which the ingenuity of man had, up to that time, ever constructed. My bones ache at the mere recollection. " Those who came from ' Parson Hallock's ' and other localities upon and over the mountain, between there and the Connecticut River, were generally fortunate enough to find their way singly by means of one-horse wagons, or in larger groups in some capa- cious farm- wagon fitted and furnished for the occasion." l After reading this graphic description by a distinguished alumnus, given for the express purpose of enabling the readers of the History of the College " to understand the question of its removal in its true light," no one will be surprised that the ques- tion of removal to some more accessible part of the State was agitated among its Trustees, Faculty and students, as well as among its patrons and friends. At the same meeting of the Board of Trustees at which Prof. Moore was elected President of Williams' College, May 2, 1815, Dr. Packard of Shelburne introduced the following motion : " That a committee of six persons be appointed to take into consideration the removal of the College to some other part of the Commonwealth, to make all necessary inquiries which have a bearing on the subject, and report at the next meeting." The motion was adopted, and at the next meeting of the Board in 1 See GOT. Emory Washburn's Introduction to the History of Williams College. Prof. Snell gave a similar account of his experience in going to and from Wil- liamstown. Ordinarily his father, who was one of the Trustees, carried him over in his chaise. But he never thought of going home to North Brookfield oftener than once a year. And then the way in which the students piled their baggage, into some huge lumber-wagon and then " footed it " themselves over the mountains to Cummington, Pittsfield, or some other place on a stage-route, was vastly amusing. THE TRUSTEES OF WILLIAMS. 53 September, the committee reported, that " a removal of Williams College from Williamstown is inexpedient at the present time, and under existing circumstances." But the question of removal thus raised in the Board of Trustees and thus negatived only "at the present time and under existing circumstances," continued to be agitated. The Frank- lin County Association of Congregational ministers had already become impressed with the conviction that " a College in some central town in old Hampshire County would be likely to flour- ish and would be promotive of knowledge and virtue in the State," and at their meeting in Shelburne, May 10, 1815, they voted unanimously that the town of Amherst appeared to them to be the most eligible place for locating such an Institution. 1 President Moore was from the first decidedly and avowedly in favor of the removal. When he was invited to the presidency, " it was represented to him by one who spoke in behalf of the Trustees, that it would without doubt be removed ; and that the only question was in which of several towns named the Institu- tion should be located." 2 The College did indeed prosper under his personal popularity and his wise administration, notwithstand- ing all its external disadvantages. Students accompanied him from Dartmouth and from Worcester County where he had been settled in the ministry ; in three years from 1815 to 1818, the number increased from fifty-eight to ninety-one ; and this in- crease, which was chiefly if not wholly, due to his personal influ- ence, has been unjustly and ungenerously used as an argument against him. But it only suggested to him how much greater and better a work he might hope to do for education and relig- ion, under more advantageous circumstances. In September, 1818, the Convention of delegates from the central counties of Massachusetts of which we have narrated the history in the previous chapter, met in Amherst, and recom- mended " the establishment of a College in connection with the Charitable Institution there," and " that such preparations and arrangements be made as will accommodate students at the In- stitution as soon as possible." At a special meeting of the Board ' l See Chapter II. 2 See Gov. Washburn's Introduction to the History of Williams College. 54 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. of Trustees of Amherst Academy, October 26, 1818, the Rev. John Fiske, Noah Webster, Esq., and Nathaniel Smith, Esq., were appointed a committee to confer with the Board of Trustees of Williams College at their session to be held in Williamstown on the second Tuesday of November, to com- municate to them the result of that Convention, and to make suitable statements and explanations respecting it. In pursu- ance of this appointment the committee repaired to Williams- town and presented to the Board of Trustees of Williams Col- lege, at their meeting on the 10th of November, a copy of the proceedings and resolutions of the Convention, and also made such verbal communications as they supposed to be useful and proper. To these communications no answer was given. But at this meeting, the Board of Trustees resolved that it was ex- pedient to remove the College on certain conditions. President Moore advocated the removal, and even expressed his purpose to resign the office of President unless it could be effected, inas- much as when he accepted the presidency, he had no idea that the College was to remain at Williamstown, but was authorized to expect that it would be removed to Hampshire County. Nine out of twelve of the Trustees voted for the resolutions, which were as follows : " Resolved, that it is expedient to remove Williams College to some more central part of the State whenever sufficient funds can be obtained to defray the necessary expenses incurred and the losses sustained by removal, and to secure the prosperity of the College, and when a fair prospect shall be presented of ob- taining for the Institution the united support and patronage of the friends of literature and religion in the western part of the Commonwealth, and when the General Court shall give their assent to the measure, " Resolved, that in order to guide the Trustees in determining to which place the College shall be removed and to produce harmony and union, the following gentlemen, viz. : Hon. James Kent, Chancellor of the State of New York, Hon. Nathaniel Smith, Judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and the Rev. Seth Payson, D. D., of Rindge, N. H., be a committee to visit the towns in Hampshire County and determine the place ARGUMENTS FOR AMHERST. 55 to which the . College shall be removed ; the Trustees pledging themselves to abide by their decision, provided the requisite sum be raised." In view of these resolutions, the Trustees of Amherst Acad- emy, at their annual meeting, November 17, 1818, appointed Noah Webster, Esq., the Rev. John Fiske, the Rev. Edwards Whipple, the Rev. Joshua Crosby, and Nathaniel Smith, Esq., to be a committee, to wait upon the committee appointed to locate Williams College, to represent to them the claims of the town of Amherst to be the seat of the College. In May, 1819, the locating committee visited several towns in Franklin and Hamp- shire Counties, and among others the town of Amherst. And the committee of the Trustees of Amherst Academy waited upon them at their meeting in Northampton, and laid before them a carefully prepared written statement of the claims and advantages of Amherst. In regard to the point to which para- mount importance had all along been attached, viz., a central and accessible situation for the College, the committee say: " The territory to be particularly accommodated by this College comprehends the counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin and Worcester. Many persons in Middlesex and Nor- folk Counties also take a particular interest in this Institution. The hill in the center of the west road in Amherst on which the church stands, is within about two miles of the geographical cen- ter of this territory, taking Pittsfield on the west and Worcester on the east as the two extremes. It is equally central between the limits of the Commonwealth on the north and south. In addition to this fact, it may be observed that it is almost equally distant from the University of Cambridge, the College in Provi- dence and the College in New Haven, the distance from each being about eighty-five miles. It is a hundred miles from Union College in Schenectady, and from Dartmouth College in Han- over, and a greater distance from Middlebury College." They also add that " the roads leading to and from this town are as good as any roads in the country." They further insist on the elevation, salubrity and beauty of the site, comprehending " thirty towns in three counties within a single view, from twenty-seven of which it is said that the church in the first par- 66 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. ish in Amherst may be seen." Much stress is laid on the fact that Amherst is likely always to remain chiefly an agricultural town of limited population, where students will be remote from the corrupting influences of great manufacturing and commer- cial cities, where habits of economy and simplicity will prevail, and where the expenses of education will be comparatively small ; and it is instructive to observe the standard of expense implied in the following argument : " Great numbers of men can afford two hundred or two hundred and fifty dollars a year, who can not afford four or five hundred." The committee conclude their argument by a resume of the advantages which would result from uniting the Charitable Fund of fifty thousand dollars with Williams College. " The foregoing," says Mr. Webster, " were the most material arguments and statements presented to the locating committee in favor of removing the College to Amherst. The commit- tee, however," he candidly and calmly adds, " were unanimous in naming Northampton as the most suitable place for the In- stitution." At their annual meeting in November, 1818, the Trustees of Arnherst Academy had appointed a committee to solicit sub- scriptions to the Charity Fund, and also for the, foundation and support of a College, to be connected with the same as recom- mended by the Convention. But in consequence of the proceed- ings of the corporation of Williams College in resolving to re- move that Institution, the Trustees of Amherst Academy sus- pended further measures in relation to the foundation of the College till the result of those proceedings should be known. In June, 1819, the Trustees of Williams College published a printed address to the public, assigning their reasons for propo- sing to remove that Institution, and soliciting donations to increase the funds and promote its prosperity in the proposed location at Northampton. In this address they say, that since its establish- ment in 1793 other Colleges have sprung up about it and almost wholly withdrawn the patronage it formerly received from the North and the West, and that owing to the want of support, the funds have become so reduced that the income falls short of the expenditures. They also express their high approval of the PETITION TO THE LEGISLATURE. 57 object of the Charitable Institution at Amherst and their partic- ular desire that it should be united with the College at North- ampton. A copy of this address was sent to the Trustees of Amherst Academy enclosed in a letter from President Moore, dated July 6, 1819. Under date of August 18, 1819, the Trus- tees of Amherst Academy returned an answer in which they say, that " in their opinion a union between the College and the Char- itable Institution would be conducive to the interests of litera- ture, science and religion in the western section of Massachu- setts," that " the constitution of the Charity Fund opened the door for that union," and " if a plan of union could be devised not incompatible with that constitution, it would meet their most cordial approbation." In November, 1819, the Trustees of Williams College voted to petition the Legislature for permission to remove the College to Northampton. To this application, Mr. Webster says, " the Trustees of Amherst Academy made no opposition and took no measures to defeat it." In February, 1820, the petition was laid before the Legislature. The committee from both Houses, to whom it was referred, after a careful examination of the whole subject, reported that it was neither lawful nor expedient to re- move the College, and the Legislature, taking the same view, re- jected the petition. The Trustees of Amherst Academy, who had been quietly awaiting the issue of the application, judged that the way was now open for them to proceed with their orig- inal design according to the advice of the Convention, and at their meeting in March, 1820, they took measures for collecting the subscriptions to the Charity Fund, raising additional subscrip- tions, erecting a suitable building, and opening the Institution as soon as possible for the reception of students. Thus the long and exciting discussion touching the removal of Williams College and the location of a College in some more central town of old Hampshire County, at length came to an end, and the contend- ing parties now directed all their energies to building up the In- stitutions of their choice. Few questions have agitated the good people of Western Massachusetts more generally or more deeply than this ; and it sheds light and lustre on the character of the people that for '58 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. many generations it was such questions the locating and build- ing of colleges, school-houses, and churches questions pertain- ing to education and religion, that always stirred them to the lowest depths. It is amusing and instructive to look over the files of newspapers of that day. They are full of this contro- versy. During the five years through which the war lasted, the local newspapers at Pittsfield, Northampton and Greenfield, kept up a running fire continually, communication answering commu- nication, and editorial meeting editorial, and scarcely a number appearing without something on this engrossing subject. The city press, particularly the religious papers in Boston and New York, entered warmly into the discussion, and as if there was not room in the periodical press, pamphlet after pamphlet was circulated through the community. In the characteristic man- ner and spirit of New England, the warfare was carried into the pulpit, churches took sides in the controversy, associations of ministers recorded their sentiments, and conventions 1 gave forth utterances for or against the removal, for or against each partic- ular location. At length the question entered the arena of poli- tics, and candidates for the Legislature were asked how they would vote in regard to the site of the College. 2 At Williamstown, of course, the excitement ran high. The people of the town sent in a spirited remonstrance against the re- moval of the College, and certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, holding President Moore largely responsible, vented their resent- ment against him by shaving and cutting off the tail of his horse. And the good President drove his horse down to Amherst in that condition, saying he did not see why the folly of a few rowdies should deprive him of the use of the animal, and it did not hurt his feelings any more than it hurt the feelings of the 1 At a Convention held in Northampton, July 28, 1819, to further the removal of Williams College to that place, Dr. Moore presided, and Dr. Nelson was the Secre- tary; and Dr. Snell, Dr. Humphrey, Dr. Woodbridge, Mr. Gould, Mr. Thomas Shepard and Mr. John Keep were appointed members of a committee to raise funds for this purpose all afterwards among the Trustees, Faculty or zealous friends of Amherst College. 2 In their candidacy for the Senate, Gen. Knox was understood to be in favor of the removal of Williams College, and Mr. D wight opposed to it. See Hampshire Gazette, January 5, 1819. DR. PACKARD AND PRESIDENT MOORE. 59 horse. An alumnus of Williams who was a member of the Col- lege at the time, remembers seeing on a wall devoted to carica- tures in one of the College halls, a picture of the College on wheels, with a large number of students harnessed to it, and Dr. Packard's well-known form and features, mounted on his old horse, inspiring and leading them as they set off shouting and hurrahing with their face towards the mountains. 1 These little incidents show that Dr. Packard and President Moore were regarded as especially active and influential in the effort for the union of Williams College with the Institution at Amherst. Doubtless they were so. They never sought to con- ceal the fact, nor to shift the responsibility. Fully persuaded in their own minds, that the interests of education and true religion demanded the establishment of a College in some central town of old Hampshire County, they labored openly and earnestly to persuade others. They were equally sincere and undisguised in their conviction that there could not be two colleges in Western Massachusetts, and that Williams College could not prosper in its present location. Facts have since shown that they were mistaken in this conviction. But no one who looks at the facts as they then were, will wonder that they cherished it, and cher- ishing it they could not be true to themselves or to the cause which lay nearest their hearts, without acting as they did. At the most they can only be charged with an error in judgment. The warmest friends and supporters of Williams College who knew the man, acquit Dr. Moore so far at least as his motives were concerned. Gov. Washburn, an alumnus and a Trustee, says : " Conflicting opinions have been entertained respecting his efforts to have the College removed ; and though it was an un- fortunate measure both for the College and himself, I am unwill- ing to ascribe his conduct to any improper motives." 2 Rev. Dr. Brigham, Secretary of the American Bible Society, in whose Senior year the removal of Williams College was the absorbing theme, says : " The President and the students who resided east 1 Mr. Durfee in his History of Williams College says : " Only a few of the stu- dents were in favor of retaining it in Williamstown." The facts narrated in the text indicate at least strong party feeling against removal. 2 History of Williams College, p. 19. 60 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. of the mountains, were for removal. I, as a Berkshire man, was of course, averse to the measure. But while many censured the President for the leading part which he took, I was never in- clined to question the goodness of his intentions." ] Neither Dr. Moore nor the Trustees of Amherst Academy can be charged with the responsibility of originating the movement for the removal of Williams College. Thus much is demon- strated by the simple fact that the movement originated among the Trustees of Williams College themselves before Dr. Moore was appointed President of that College, and before the Trust- ees of Amherst Academy had made them any proposition or com- munication on the subject. " No proposal of the kind ever went from Amherst or was even thought of, till after the Trustees of that College were so effectually convinced of the importance of having it removed to a more favorable situation as to appoint a respectable committee out of their own number to make the necessary inquiries on the subject. The subject of removal, as was proper, originated with them, and their committee was ap- pointed, before the person (Dr. Moore) who has since thought it his duty to accept the presidency of this Institution (Amherst), was made President of that College" (Williams). Sucji is President Moore's own vindication of himself and the Trustees of Amherst, in an " Appeal to the Public " written in March, 1823, only about three months before his death. And so far as he is concerned, certainly the vindication is complete. The Joint Committee of the Legislature say in their report : " In conclusion, the committee pray leave to state that they do most highly appreciate and most profoundly respect the motives of the petitioners ; these are unquestionably founded in a truly honorable and elevated desire to extend the usefulness of this respectable College in promoting learning, virtue, piety and re- ligion." "Father Hallock"of Plainfield, an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile, whose family school was the chief feeder of Williams College, who sent twelve out of thirteen students admitted at one Commencement and had forty of his pupils there at one time, one in almost every room, and about half of the entire number of students, never withdrew his con- 1 History of Williams College, p. 143. FATHER HALLOCK. 61 fidence, intimacy and affection from President Moore or Dr. Packard, but, though residing on the mountains, co-operated with them in their efforts to establish a College in the Connecticut Valley, and in his poverty subscribed to the Charity Fund and other contributions in aid of Amherst College. Whether one College would have been better than two for Western Massachusetts, and if there was to be but one, whether that one should have been at Williamstown, Northampton or Amherst,' are questions which we are not now called to answer. But that these good men had the best interests of learning and religion at heart and were foreseeing and far-seeing beyond most men in their generation w,e have no doubt. They certainly did not overestimate the importance of a College in Hampshire County, and their wise plans and persevering efforts have re- sulted, under the overruling providence of God, in the upbuild- ing of two Colleges, each of which has far exceeded not only the one which then existed, but the most sanguine hopes of the founders of either, in its prosperity and usefulness. CHAPTER VI. ERECTION OF THE FIRST COLLEGE EDIFICE INAUGURATION OF THE PRESIDENT AND PROFESSORS AND OPENING OF THE COLLEGE. No sooner was it settled by the action of the Legislature, that Williams College would not be removed to Northampton, than the Trustees of Amherst Academy entered in earnest upon the work which had now clearly devolved upon them. Accordingly on the 15th of March, 1820, they resolved, " That this Board con- sider it their duty to proceed directly to carry into effect the provisions of the constitution for the classical education of indi- gent and pious young men, and the Financier is hereby directed to proceed with as little delay as possible to effect a settlement with subscribers, to procure notes and obligations for the whole amount of the subscriptions, and also to solicit further subscrip- tions from benevolent persons in aid of this great charity, and for erecting the necessary buildings." At a meeting of the Board of Trustees, May 10, 1820, it was voted, " that Samuel F. Dickinson, H. W. Strong, and Nathaniel Smith, Esquires, Dr. Rufus Cowles and Lieut. Enos Baker be a committee to secure a good and sufficient title to the ten acres of land conditionally conveyed to the Trustees of this Academy as the site of said Institution by the late Col. Elijah Dickinson, and for the special benefit of the Charity Fund ; to digest a plan of a suitable building for said Institution ; to procure subscrip- tions, donations or contributions for defraying the expense thereof ; to prepare the ground and erect the same, as soon as the necessary means can be furnished, the location to be made with the advice and consent of the Prudential Committee." At this meeting it was further resolved, " that great and combined AMHERST COLLEGE IN 1821. THE FIRST BUILDING. 63 exertions of the Christian public are necessary to give due effect to the Charitable Institution ; " and Rev. Joshua Crosby, Jona- than Grout, James Taj^lor, Edwards Whipple, John Fiske and Joseph Vaill were appointed agents to make application for additional funds, and for contributions to aid in erecting suita- ble buildings for the accommodation of students. The committee proceeded at once to execute the trust com- mitted to them, secured a title to the land, marked out the ground for the site of a building one hundred feet long, thirty feet wide and four stories high, and invited the inhabitants of Amherst friendly to the object to contribute labor and materials with provisions for the workmen. With this request, the inhab- itants of Amherst friendly to the Institution, together with some from Pelham and Leverett and a few from Belchertown and Hadley, cheerfully complied. Occasional contributions were also received from more distant towns, even on the mountains. The stone for the foundation was brought chiefly from Pelham by gratuitous labor, and provisions for the workmen were fur- nished by voluntary contributions. Donations of lime, sand, lumber, materials of all kinds, flowed in from every quarter. Teams for hauling and men for handling, and tending, and unskilled labor of every sort, were provided in abundance. Whatever could be contributed gratuitously, was furnished with- out money and without price. The people not only contributed in kind but turned out in person and sometimes camped on the ground and labored day and night, for they had a mind to work like the Jews in building their temple, and they felt that they too were building the Lord's house. The horse-sheds which run along the whole line, east of the church, and west of the land devoted to the College, were removed. The old Virginia fence disappeared. Plow and scraper, pick-axe, hoe and shovel, were all put in requisition together to level the ground for the building, and dig the trenches for the walls. It was a busy 1 The same gentleman, a native of Pelham, who has recently endowed the scholarship of the first class the Class of 1822, more than fifty years ago brought the first load of stone upon the ground, as a free-will offering. " That gentleman was x Wells Southworth. Esq., of New Haven, Conn. Those granite blocks are now in the foundations of the old South College." Prof. SnelFs address at the semi- centennial. 64 HISTOKY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. and stirring scene such as the quiet town of Amherst had never before witnessed, and which the old men and aged women of the town who participated in it when they were boys and girls, were never weary of relating. The foundations were speedily laid. On the 9th of August they were nearly completed and ready for the laying of the corner-stone. The walls went up, if possible, still more rapidly. We doubt if there has been anything like it in modern times. Certainly we have never seen nor read of a parallel. The story, as told by eye- witnesses and actors, is almost incredible. " Notwithstanding," says Mr. Webster, a man who was not given to exaggeration, "notwithstanding the building committee had no funds for erecting the building, not even a cent, except what were to be derived from gratuities in labor, materials and provisions, yet they prosecuted the work with untiring diligence. Repeatedly during the progress of the work, their means were exhausted, and they were obliged to notify the President of the Board 1 that they could proceed no further. On these occasions the Presi- dent called together the Trustees, or a number of them, who, by subscriptions of their own, and by renewed solicitation for voluntary contributions, enabled the committee to prosecute the work. And such were the exertions of the Board, the committee and the friends of the Institution that on the nine- tieth day from the laying of the corner-stone, the roof timbers were erected on the building." " I heard it stated by several individuals," says Rev. E. A. Beach of the Class of '24, " that there was seldom a greater amount of material on hand than would last the workmen a week, sometimes not even so much as that. On one occasion, in the afternoon the last hod of mortar was deposited on the scaffold, and there was not a peck of lime with which to make more. The workmen were about to pack up their tools to go to another job, when Col. Graves came upon the ground, and entreated and finally persuaded them to wait till morning. As they were returning to their quarters for the night, a strange team was seen coming through the village from the north. It proved to be a wagon loaded 1 Immediately after the laying of the corner-stone, Rev. Dr. Parsons resigned the presidency, and Noah Webster, Esq., was elected in his place. PROVIDENTIAL INTERPOSITIONS. 65 with lime sent some twenty-five miles by a man not a sub- scriber, but a friend to the cause, who having lime to spare, and believing that it would be acceptable to those who had charge of the building, had, unsolicited and uninformed of their necessities, despatched a load from such a distance to meet such an emergency ! This is only one among many in- stances in which Providence seemed to interpose to remove obstacles to the progress of the work." " It seemed," exclaims President Humphrey, "it seemed more like magic than the work of the craftsmen ! Only a few weeks ago, the timber was in the forest, the brick in the clay, and the stone in the quarry ! " The College well was dug at the same time and in very much the same way that well from which so many generations of students have since drank health and refreshment, and which is usually one of the first things that an Amherst alumnus seeks when he revisits his Alma Mater. And " when the roof and chimneys were completed, the bills unpaid and unprovided for were less than thirteen hundred dollars." Here the work was suspended for the winter. But it was re- sumed in the spring, and then the interior of the building was finished by similar means, and with almost equal dispatch. In order to procure additional means for this and other purposes, at a meeting of the Trustees in February, 1821, a committee of four persons, Rev. Messrs. Porter, Clark, Whipple and Vaill were appointed as agents " to make application to evangelical associations to combine their efforts to carry into effect the designs of this Institution, to form societies and to invite the aid of societies already formed for charitable purposes, and in short to procure donations for enlarging the funds and maintaining the professorships." By the middle of June the building was so nearly completed that the Trustees made ar- rangements for its dedication in connection with the inaugu- ration of the President and Professors, and the opening of the College in September. And before the end of Septem- ber, not only was the edifice finished, but about half of the room's were furnished for the reception of students, through the agency of churches and benevolent individuals, especially 5 66 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. of the ladies in different towns in Hampshire and the adjoining counties. We must now go back to give some account of the exercises at the laying of the corner-stone, the appointment of officers of the College, and other measures preliminary to the dedication and the opening. The "following is the order of exercises at the laying of the corner-stone substantially as it was given to the public shortly after the occasion : " On the 9th of August, 1820, the Board of Trustees of Amherst Academy, together with the subscribers to the fund then present, a number of the neighboring clergy and the preceptors and students of the Academy, preceded by the building committee and the workmen, moved in procession from the Academy to the ground of the Charity Institution. The Throne of Grace was then addressed by Rev. Mr. Crosby of Enfield, and the ceremony of laying the corner-stone was performed by the Rev. Dr. Parsons, President of the Board, in presence of a numerous concourse of spectators ; after which an address was delivered by Noah Webster, Esq., Vice-President of the Board. The assembly then proceeded to the church where an appropriate introductory prayer was made by the Rev. Mr. Porter of Belchertown, a sermon delivered by the Rev. Daniel A. Clark of Amherst, and the exercises concluded with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Grout of Hawley. The performances of the day were interesting, and graced with excellent music. On the same day, at a meeting of the subscribers to the fund, having been duly notified, the Rev. Nathaniel Howe of Hopkin- ton being chosen Moderator, and the Rev. Moses Miller of Heath, Secretary, the meeting was opened with prayer by the Modera- tor, and the following gentlemen were then elected Overseers of the Fund, namely : Henry Gray, Esq., of Boston, Gen. Salem Towne, Jr., of Charlton, Rev. Theophilus Packard of Shelburne, Rev. Thomas Snell of North Brookfield, Rev. Luther Sheldon of Easton, Rev. Heman Humphrey of Pittsfield, and H. Wright Strong, Esq. of Amherst. The Board of Trustees of Amherst Academy at this time, who acted as Trustees of the Charity Fund, was composed of the following members : Rev. David Parsons, President ; Noah MISSIONARY SPIRIT OF THE FOUNDERS. 67 Webster, Esq , Vice-President ; Rev. James Taylor, Rev. Joshua Crosby, Rev. Daniel A. Clark, Nathaniel Smith, Esq., Samuel F. Dickinson, Esq., and Rufus Graves, Esq. After the public exercises of this occasion, Dr. Parsons resigned his seat in the Board, and Noah Webster, Esq., was elected President of the Board. By request of the Trustees the address of Mr. Webster and the sermon of Mr. Clark were both printed and published. In reading them, no thought strikes us so forcibly as the philan- thropic, Christian and missionary spirit of the founders. "Too long," says Mr. Webster, " have men been engaged in the bar- barous work of multiplying the miseries of human life. Too long have their exertions and resources been devoted to war and plunder, to the destruction of lives and property, to the ravage of cities, to the unnatural, the monstrous employment of en- slaving and degrading their own species. Blessed be our lot ! We live to see a new era in the history of man an era when reason and religion begin to resume their sway, and to impress the heavenly truth that the appropriate business of men is to imitate the Saviour, to serve their God and bless their fellow- men With what satisfaction will the sons of its bene- factors hereafter hear it related, that a missionary educated by their father's charity, has planted a church on the burning sands of Africa or in the cheerless wilds of Siberia that he has been the instrument of converting a family, a province, perhaps a kingdom of Pagans and bringing them within the pale of the Christian church ! " " It is an Institution," says Mr. Clark, " in some respects like no other that ever rose ; designed to bestow gratis a liberal edu- cation upon those who will enter the gospel ministry, but who are too indigent to defray the expense of their own induction. It has been founded and must rise by charity. And any man who shall bring a beam or a rock, who shall lay a stone or drive a nail, from love to the kingdom of Christ, shall not fail of his reward. I believe this Institution will collect about it the friends of the Lord Jesus, will be fed by their philanthropy and watered by their prayers, and will yet become a fountain pouring forth its streams to fertilize the boundless wastes of a miserable world. 68 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. In vision I see it among the first Institutions of our land, the younger sister and the best friend of our theological seminaries, the center of our education societies, the solace of poverty, the joy of the destitute, and the hope and the salvation of perishing millions." . The very title of this sermon, viz : "A Plea for a Miserable World," strikes the key-note of this charitable enterprise, and history herself, looking back after the lapse of half a century, can hardly describe the actual result more exactly than in those very words of faith and hope and almost prophetic vision which Rev. Daniel A. Clark uttered at the laying of the corner-stone. The connection between the Charitable Institution at Amherst, and those education societies which had sprung up a little earlier and were born of the same missionary spirit, could not but be very intimate and productive of most important results. As early as September, 1820, a committee of the Trustees were directed to correspond with the American Education Society on the subject of the terms on which the Board might co-operate with that society in the education of their beneficiaries. At a meeting of the Board in November, 1820, the Trustees passed a vote authorizing the Prudential Committee to receive into the Academy as beneficiaries from education societies or else- where, charity students, not exceeding twenty. In June, 1821, they voted that persons wishing to avail themselves of the Charity Fund as beneficiaries, should be under the patronage of some education society or other respectable association which should furnish to each beneficiary a part of his support, amount- ing at least, to one dollar a week, for which he was to be furnished with board and tuition. They required also, that every applicant should produce to the examining committee, satisfactory evi- dence of his indigence, piety and promising talents. As the constitution required that the Charity Fund should forever be kept separate from the other funds of the Institution, and under another financier, at a meeting November 8, 1820, the Trustees appointed Jonn Leland, Esq., as their agent to receive all donations made for the benefit of the Charity Institu- tion, other than those made to the permanent fund. For this office which he held fourteen years, Mr. Leland never received TEMPERANCE. 69 a salary of more than three hundred dollars. At the same time the commissioner of the Charity Fund received only two hun- dred dollars per annum, for his services. It will be seen that the Institution commenced on a basis of economy, in reference both to its officers and its students, which corresponded with its charitable object. At a meeting of the Trustees of Amherst Academy on the 8th of May, 1821, it was " Voted unanimously that the Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore be, and he is hereby elected President of the Charity Institution in this town. " Voted that the permanent salary of the President of this Institution for his services as President and Professor of Theol- ogy and Moral Philosophy be* twelve hundred dollars, and that he is entitled to the usual perquisites." At the same time the Trustees resolved to build a house for the President, provided they could procure sufficient donations of money, materials and labor. They also decided that the first term of study in the Institution should commence on the third Wednesday of September. It is worthy of record that at this meeting they passed a vote prohibiting the students from drink- ing ardent spirits or wine, or any liquor of which ardent spirits or wine should be the principal ingredient, at any inn, tavern or shop, or keeping ardent spirits or wine in their rooms, or at any time indulging in the use of them. Thus early was temperance as well as economy established as one of the characteristic and fundamental principles of the Institution. It is an interesting coincidence, that at this meeting in May when President Moore was elected to the presidency, the Rev. Heman Humphrey of Pittsfield, who was destined to succeed him in the office, preached in accordance with a previous appointment, " a very appropriate and useful sermon," for which he received "an ad- dress of thanks " by vote of the Trustees. In his letter of acceptance, dated Williamstown, June 12, 1821, President Moore says : " Previous to receiving any notice of your appointment I had made up my mind to resign my office in this College next Commencement. Providence had clearly made it consistent with my duty to leave then, if not sooner. I have ascertained, so far as I have had opportunity, the opinion of 70 HISTORY OP AMHERST COLLEGE. those who are the friends of evangelical truth with respect to the necessity, prospects and usefulness of such an Institution as that contemplated at Amherst. I have much reason to be- lieve there is extensively an agreement on this subject. In my own opinion, no subject has higher claims on the charity and be- nevolent efforts of the Christian community than the education of pious young men for the gospel ministry. Their classical ed- ucation should be thorough, and I should be wholly averse to becoming united with any institution which proposes to give a classical education inferior to that given in any of the Colleges in New England. On this subject I am assured your opinion l is the same as my own, and that you are determined that the course of study in the Institution to which you have invited me shall not be inferior to that in the Colleges in New England. I am also assured that you will make provision for the admission of those who are not indigent, and who may wish to obtain a classical education in the Institution." That the Trustees were in perfect unison with the President in regard to these vital points to which he attached so much im- portance, they showed by voting in their meeting on the thir- teenth day of June that the preparatory studies or qualifica- tions of candidates for admission to the Collegiate Institution and the course of studies to be pursued during the four years of membership, should be the same as those established in Yale College. And that the public might not be left in doubt on these points, the President of the Board soon after gave public notice in the newspapers, that " Young men who expect to de- fray the expenses of their education, will be admitted into the Collegiate Institution on terms essentially the same as those pre- scribed for admission into other Colleges in New England." 2 At the same session, the Trustees elected the Rev. Gamaliel S. Olds to be Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the Collegiate Charity Institution, and Joseph Estabrook to be Professor of the Greek and Latin Languages, and voted that the President and Professors elect should be inaugurated and the College edifice dedicated with suitable religious services on the 1 The letter is addressed to the President and Trustees of Amherst Academy. 2 In Boston Recorder, July 21, 1821. DEDICATION AND INAUGUEATION. 71 Tuesday next preceding the third Wednesday of September, and that Prof. Stuart of Audover be invited to preach the dedi- cation sermon. On the 6th of August, 1821, the Rev. Jonas King was elected to be Professor of Oriental Languages in the Collegiate Institu- tion. Mr. King soon after went to Greece, and never accepted the appointment. His name, however, appeared on the cata- logue through the greater part of the first decade in the history of the College. At the time appointed, viz., on the 18th of September, 1821, the exercises of dedication and of inauguration were held in the parish church. After introductory remarks by Noah Web- ster, Esq., President of the Board, in which he recognized the peculiar propriety " that an undertaking having for its special object the promotion of the religion of Christ, should be com- mended to the favor and protection of the great Head of the Church," and its buildings and funds solemnly dedicated to his service, a dedicatory prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Crosby of Enfield, and a sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Leland of Charleston, S. C., 1 from the text: "On this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." President Moore and Prof. Estabrook, 2 having publicly sig- nified their acceptance and their assent to the Confession of Faith 3 which had been prepared for the occasion, were then solemnly inducted into their respective offices by the President of the Board, with promises of hearty co-operation and support by the Trustees, and earnest prayers for ' ; the guidance and pro- tection of the great Head of the Church, to whose service this Institution is consecrated." A brief address was then delivered by each of them, and the concluding prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Snell of North Brookfield. At the close of the exer- 1 " For special reasons, Prof. Stuart declined to preach on the occasion." Dr. Leland " was on a visit to his father, then resident in Amherst." Dr. Webster's Manuscript. 2 Prof.Olds had signified his acceptance, but was not present at the inauguration. 8 Of this Confession of Faith I find no record, except that it was reported to the Trustees by a committee appointed for the purpose immediately previous to the exercises of inauguration. The committee consisted of the Rev. Zephaniah S. Moore, the Rev. Thomas Snell, and the Rev. Daniel A. Clark. 72 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. cises a collection was made for the benefit of the Institution ; and the corner-stone of the President's house was laid with the usual ceremonies. The next day, September 19, the College was opened and organized, by the examination and admission of forty-seven students, some into each of the four regular classes l " a larger number, I believe," says Dr. Humphrey, " than ever had been matriculated on the first day of opening any new College. It was a day of great rejoicings. What had God wrought ! " 1 Of this number fifteen followed Dr. Moore from Williams College, a little less than one-third of the whole number at Amherst, and a little less than one-fifth of the whole number in the three classes to which they belonged in Williams College. CHAPTER VII. THE FIRST PRESIDENCY AND OTHER FIRST THINGS DURING THE FIRST TWO YEARS. FIRST things, whether they are the first in the history of the world, or only the first in a country, or a town, or an institution, besides their intrinsic value, have a relative interest and impor- tance, which justify, and perhaps require the historian to dwell upon them at greater length. The first College edifice, as we have seen in the foregoing chapter, was the present South College. Although it was erected so rapidly and finished and furnished to so great an extent by voluntary contributions of labor and material, it was one of the best built, and is to this day one of the best preserved and most substantial of all the buildings on the grounds. The rooms were originally large, square, single rooms, without any bed- rooms, and served the double purpose of a dormitory and a study. A full quarter of a century elapsed before bed-rooms were placed in the South College. Some of these rooms, be- sides serving as sleeping-rooms and studies for their, occupants, were also of necessity, used for a time as recitation-rooms for the classes. Thus the room of Field and Snell, the two Seniors who for some time constituted the Senior class it was the room in the south-west corner of the fourth story was the Senior recitation-room, and there President Moore daily met and in- structed his first Senior class. Four chairs constituted the whole furniture and apparatus of this first recitation-room. The Col- lege library, which at this time was all contained in a single case scarcely six feet wide, was at first placed in the north entry of the same building the old South College. Morning and evening prayers were at first attended in the 74 HISTOKY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. old village " ineeting-house " which then occupied the site of the Observatory and Octagonal Cabinet, and was considered one of the best church edifices in Hampshire County. In the same venerable sanctuary, sitting for the most part in the broad gal- leries, the Faculty and students worshipped on the Sabbath with the people of the parish, and often admired and rejoiced, but oftener feared and trembled under the powerful preaching of the pastor, Rev. Daniel A. Clark. Pindar Field, a member of the first College class, was the founder and first superintendent of the first Sabbath-school in Amherst. And it may not be amiss to add here, although it is in anticipation of its proper place in pur history, that during the first ten or fifteen years, tutors in Col- lege were most frequently superintendents of the village Sab- bath-schools, and many of the teachers were College students. Tutors Burt, Worcester, Clark (Joseph S ,) Perkins, Tyler (W. S.,) and Burgess were all superintendents before 1835. Edwards A. Beach, of the Class of '24, was for a year or two, leader of the choir and teacher of music in the village church, and he tells us, that he " boarded round " among the good peo- ple for a part of his pay. The relations between the students and the families in the village were in the highest degree confi- dential and affectionate, and the letters which the author has received from the alumni of those halcyon days, although the writers have already reached their threescore years and ten, still read very much like love-letters. The bell of the old parish meeting-house continued to sum- mon the students to all their exercises till ere long one was pre- sented to the College. A coarse, clumsy, wooden tower or frame was erected between the College and the meeting-house to re- ceive this first College bell. This tower, then one of the most remarkable objects on College hill, became the butt of ridicule and was at length capsized by the students, and the bell was finally transferred to the new chapel. The growing popularity and prosperity of the Institution soon made it manifest that it would require more ample accommoda- tions. In the summer of 1822, the President's house l was com- pleted. About the same time a second College edifice was com- 1 The house now owned by Mr. M. B. Allen. THE FIRST CHAPEL AND LECTURE-ROOM. 75 menced, and a subscription of thirty thousand dollars was opened to pay debts already contracted, to finish the new building and to defray other necessary expenses. At the opening of the second term of the second collegiate year hi the winter of 1822-3, this edifice, the present North College, was already completed and occupied for the first time. The rooms were not all filled, however, and, for some time, unoccupied rooms were rented to students of the Academy. Still " no room was fur- nished with a carpet, only one with blinds, and not half a dozen were painted." Such is the testimony of an eye-witness, l who joined the College at this time. The two corner rooms in the south entry and fourth story of this new building, being left without any partition between themselves or between them and the adjoining entry, were now converted into a hall which served at once for a chapel and a lecture-room, where lectures on the physical sciences fol- lowed the morning and evening devotions, thus uniting learning and religion according to the original design of the Institution, but where the worship was sometimes disturbed by too free a mixture of acids and gases. The two middle rooms adjoin- ing this hall were also appropriated to public uses, one of them becoming the place where the library was now deposited, and the other the first cabinet for chemical and philosophical apparatus. A semi-official notice in The Boston Recorder, dated October 1, 1821, announces that "a College Library is begun, and now contains nearly seven hundred volumes. A philosophical appa- ratus is provided for, and it is expected will be procured the coming winter." The first lectures in chemistry were given by Col. Graves (who had been a lecturer in the same department previously, at Dartmouth College). These lectures were delivered in a pri- vate room used as a lecture-room in the old South College. It was quite an enlargement and sign of progress when Prof. Eaton began to lecture to all the classes together in the new hall in the new North College. An incident, related by Rev. Nahum Gould of the Class of 1 Dr. A. Chapin, now of Winchester, Mass. 76 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. 1825, occurred at this time, and well illustrates the character of the officers and students, and their relations to one another. "Never could there be greater confidence between teacher and student. At the close of Prof. Eaton's first lecture, he said to President Moore, ' I must gather up my apparatus and tests, as you have no lock on the door to secure them.' ' Oh, no,' replied the President, ' no one will meddle with anything, I will be responsible.' The next morning the Doctor called on the President, exclaiming almost with an air of triumph, ' Well, Mr. President, your honest boys turn out as I expected.' ' Why, Prof. Eaton, have you lost anything from the table ? ' ' Yes, my phosphorus is gone. You put too much confidence in your boys. I never before left my apparatus so exposed.' At even- ing prayers, the President said, ' Young gentlemen, you. may be seated.' He then related what had passed between Prof. Eaton and himself, and declared his great disappointment at the result. ' And now,' he said, ' we must put a lock upon that door, and every time you see that lock, you will be reminded of your poor depraved human nature.' " When we were dismissed, one of the students, drawing a bow at a venture, said to , ' Why did you take that phos- phorus ? ' ' Well, I wanted to experiment,' was the reluctant reply. ' But how do you know I took it ? it was but a little piece. But what would you do?' 'Do! I would go to the President's room and confess, immediately.' The young man was at the President's door almost as soon as he arrived there himself, suitable reparation was made, and the circumstance in the end only strengthened the bond of mutual confidence which united the Faculty and the students to one another." ' The first " Catalogue of the Faculty and Students of the Col- legiate Institution, Amherst, Mass.," was issued in March, 1822, that is, about six months after the opening. It was a single sheet, about twelve by fourteen inches in size, and printed only on one side, like a hand-bill. In this, as in many other things, Amherst followed the example of Williams College, whose cata- logue, issued in 1795, according to Dr. Robbins, the antiquarian, was the first catalogue of the members of a College published in this country. The Faculty, as their names and titles were THE FIRST CATALOGUE. 77 printed on this catalogue, consisted of Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore, D. D., President and Professor of Divinity; Rev. Gama- liel S. Olds, A. M., Professor of Mathematics and Natural Phi- losophy ; Joseph Estabrook, A. M., Professor of Languages and Librarian ; Rev. Jonas King, A. M., Professor of Oriental Liter- ature ; and Lucius Field, A. B., Tutor. But the Professor of Oriental Languages was never installed, and the instruction was all given by the President with two Professors and one Tutor. The President was not only the sole teacher of the Senior class, but gave instruction also to the Sophomores. The number of students had now increased from forty -seven to fifty-nine, viz. : three Seniors, six Juniors, nineteen Sophomores and thirty-one Freshmen. But dissatisfied with this hand-bill, they issued in the same month of the same year (March, 1822,) the same cat- alogue of names, in the form of a pamphlet of eight pages, which contained, besides the names of the Faculty and students, the re- quirements for admission to the Freshman class, an outline of the course of study, and a statement of the number of volumes in the libraries of the Institution and of the literary societies. This form was adopted by Williams College in October, 1822, for their catalogue of 1822-3, and has since been the standard form in both Institutions. The requisites for admission into the Freshman class are ability to construe and parse Virgil, Cicero's Select Orations, Sallust, the Greek Testament, Dalzel's Collectanea Graeca Minora, a knowl- edge of the Latin and Greek Grammars, and Vulgar Arithmetic. COUKSE OF STUDY. First Year. Livy, five books, Adams' Roman Antiquities, Arithmetic, Webster's Philosophical and Practical Grammar, Graeca Majora, the historical parts, Day's Algebra, Morse's Geography, large abridgment, and Erving on Composition. Second Year. Playfair's Euclid, Horace, expurgated edition, Day's Mathematics, Parts II., III. and IV., Conic Sections and Spheric Geometry, Cicero de Officiis, de Senectute and de Amicitia, Graeca Majora, Jamieson's Rhetoric, and Hedge's Logic. Third Year. Spheric Trigonometry, Graeca Majora finished, 78 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Enfield's Philosophy, Cicero de Oratore, Tacitus, five books, Tytler's History, Paley's Evidences, Fluxions and Chemistry. Fourth Year. Stewart's Philosophy of Mind, Blair's Rhet- oric, Locke Abridged, Paley's Natural Theology, Anatomy, But- ler's Analogy, Paley's Moral Philosophy, Edwards on the Will, Vattel's Law of Nations, and Vincent on the Catechism. Each of the classes has once a week, for a part of the year, a critical recitation in the Greek Testament. All the classes have weekly exercises in speaking and composition. Library belong- ing to the Institution, nine hundred volumes. Society libraries, about four hundred volumes. This catalogue was printed by Thomas W. Shepard & Co., Northampton. The annual catalogue for the second year, printed by Denio & Phelps, at Greenfield, in October, 1822, was a pamphlet of twelve pages, and in addition to the matter contained in that of the previous year, comprised the names of the Overseers of the Fund, a brief calendar and a statement of the term bills and other necessary expenses. The Overseers of the Fund, whose names appear on the catalogue, are Henry Gray, Esq., of Boston, Hon. Salem Towne, Jr., of Charleton, H. Wright Strong, Esq., of Amherst, Rev. Samuel Osgood of Springfield, Rev. Theophi- lus Packard of Shelburne, Rev. Thomas Snell of Brookfield, and Rev. Luther Sheldon of Easton. The Faculty is the same as in the previous catalogue, except that the names of William S. Burt, A. B., and Elijah L. Coe, A. B., appear as Tutors. They were both graduates of Union College. The number of students had now increased to ninety-eight, viz : " Senior Soph- isters," five ; " Junior Sophisters," twenty-one ; Sophomores, thirty-two ; and Freshmen, forty. The students' rooms are also registered, N. standing for North College, and S.-for South Col- lege on the catalogue. The term bills, comprising tuition, room-rent, etc., are from ten to eleven dollars a term. Beneficiaries do not pay any term bills. Board is from one dollar to one dollar twenty-five cents a week. Wood is from one dollar fifty cents to two dollars a cord. Washing, from tw r elve to twenty cents a week. "Mo- tives of economy and of convenience," writes Dr. Chapin of the Class of '25, " influenced the first classes of students, very largely, THE COLLEGE GROUNDS. 79 in coming to Amherst. We all made our own fires and took the entire care of our rooms ; most of us sawed our own wood. My College course cost me eight hundred dollars, which was a me- dium average, I should think. The College grounds were rough and unadorned, and during all of my course had little done to im- prove them. Each spring we had our " chip day," when the students in mass turned out to scrape and clear up the grounds near the buildings." " The grounds," says another alumnus who entered the first Freshman class, 1 " were then in their natural state, without walks, or trees, or shrubbery. Of libraries, cabinets, etc., we had little but the name, and, in fact, hardly that. There were a few articles of philosophical and chemical apparatus, and only a few. 2 We had a regular course of lectures on Botany, and one on Chemistry. There were, I think, some lectures on Nat- ural Philosophy, and a few occasional lectures on other sub- jects." The two literary societies, the Alexandrian and the Athenian, were organized soon after the opening of the Institution. The members of College were all allotted to the two societies in alphabetical order, the two Seniors, Pindar Field and Ebenezer S. Snell, placing themselves or being placed at the head, the former of the Athenian and the latter of the Alexandrian So- ciety, and then reading off the names of the members of the lower classes alternately to the one or the other in the order of the catalogue. Mr. Field was chosen the first President of the Athenian Society, and Mr. Snell the first President of the Alex- andrian. The first meetings of the societies were held in No. 3 and No. 6 in the north entry of South College. In April, 1822, the students in their poverty raised a small contribution, and sent Mr. Field to Hartford to purchase a few books which were the beginning of a library for the two societies, for they were then not rival but affiliated societies and had their library in *R. A. Coffin, Class of 25. 2 " A thermometer and a barometer, donated by the manufacturer, Mr. Thomas Kendall of New Lebanon, N. Y., were nil that I saw for several weeks. I was my- self the bearer of those articles, and delivered them to Dr. Moore." Rev. E. A. Beach, Class of '24. 80 HISTOKY OF AMHEBST COLLEGE. common. "We felt proud of our library," writes Mr. Field, " when its books were duly arranged for the first time on the new shelves ; and it had cost less than a hundred dollars." " As my only classmate at this time was not a professor of religion," says Mr. Field, " the responsibility of forming a Theo- logical Society 1 was thrown upon me. In all our infant meas- ures, we mainly followed the example we had in Williams Col- lege, as a great portion of the then upper classes were from that College." Prof. Charles U. Shepard of the Class of '25 has contributed the following graphic sketch of men and things at Amherst in those early days : " I remember that I was the youngest of my class. Most of my fellows were mature youths who did not appear to me youths at all, seniors in character and manlike in purpose, with an air which seemed to tell of years of yearning for the ministry, and of a brave struggle with the poverty which had kept them from their goal. They seized their late oppor- tunity with eagerness, they were in general patient, painstaking and earnest students. " The Institution was formed for just such pupils. Its primary object was to fit young men for a clerical career ; and one of its foremost recommendations was the cheapness of education and of living. For a dollar and a half a week we obtained fare, which, if I remember right, was substantial and wholesome. The farmers were glad of a home market for their productions, and their families made small charge for the preparation of our food, the Collegian then being a novelty in the village, and his society considered a pleasure. The orchards were far better than now ; the finest of peaches grew in abundance. The Col- lege grounds gave us all the chestnuts we wanted, and the hickory groves furnished boundless supplies of walnuts. If we craved other drink than that afforded by the unrivaled College well, we could go to the cider mills and fill our buckets. In the winter, too, there was shooting or other hunting, witness the hound of one of our early students, a grandson of Gen. Greene of Rhode Island. This animal, when game was scarce, ran wild himself, and was chased by his master, who on one such 1 Afterwards called the Society of Inquiry. THE FOKESTS AROUND THE COLLEGE. 81 occasion, in pursuing him from house to house through the East street, bolted unceremoniously into the presence of the ven- erable Gen. Mattoon, with a breathless, ' Have you seen my dog ? ' In reply to which the stone-blind veteran thundered a military, ' No ! ' "Amherst as it was then, would be a strange place to the residents in Amherst of nowadays. The good clergymen who petitioned for its prosperity in ' College prayers,' delighted to call it ' a city set upon a hill ; ' but they would have described its fashion with -quite as much exactness, had they put forward its claims to celestial notice as ' a village in the woods.' Some- thing more than a score of houses, widely separated from each other by prosperous farms, constituted Amherst centre. Along two roads running north and south, were scattered small farm- houses with here and there a cross-road, blacksmith's shop or school-house by way of suburb. The East street, however, formed even then a pretty cluster of houses, and had its meeting- house with a far comelier tower than it boasts at the present day. " But the fine dwellings, public or private, of that early time had their features, whether tasteful or the reverse, greatly con- cealed by the wide prevalence of trees. Primal forests touched the rear of the College buildings ; they filled up with a sea of waving branches, the great interval between the village and Hadley ; towards the south, they prevailed gloriously, send- ing their green Avaves around the base and up the sides of Mt. Holyoke ; to the east, they overspread the Pelham slope ; and they fairly inundated vast tracts northward clear away to the lofty hills of Sunderland and Deerfield. It was a sublime deluge, which, alas ! has only too much subsided in our day. " With such surroundings, what now were our interior ad- vantages? Whatever we may have represented them to out- siders, whatever we may have persuaded ourselves concerning them, they were, in my day, extremely meagre. The teachers were few, and, in general, were not distinguished in their de- partments. Our library did not surpass the scholarly range of a country clergyman in fair circumstances. Apparatus and col- lections were unknown in our first year, and they had made but feeble beginnings before our graduation. The only lectures 6 82 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. which I remember were the two annual courses of Prof. Amos Eaton, in his day a distinguished botanist and geologist. " In Dr. Moore, a gentleman of suave manners, of true Chris- tian dignity and of singular judgment in managing youth, we had an admirable President. I venture to suspect that he was the only College President in the United States, who, from the beginning, personally subscribed for the somewhat expensive numbers of the Journal of the Royal Institution, of London. From this source and others similar, he appears to have gained a prevision of the importance of the modern sciences in educa- tion ; and to him mainly, are we indebted for the early foothold which they gained in the Institution ; to him, at all events, we owed the presence of Prof. Eaton. Rarely has College lecturer been more faithfully and enthusiastically listened to than Prof. Eaton, in his courses on Chemistry and Botany, together with his abridged course on Zoology. To supply the place of a text- book on the last mentioned branch, he furnished us a highly useful printed syllabus, drawn mainly from the great work of Cuvier, then wholly inaccessible to us. Prof. Eaton was such an educator as even now can seldom be found in Colleges. Full of information, acquainted with the broader generalizations of science, distinguished by a commanding and a fluent, clear, vig- orous diction, devoid of the impertinences of egotism and van- ity, his utterances were like the voice of nature." After some appreciative notice of the instructions, character and influence of President Humphrey towards the close of his College course, Prof. Shepard concludes : " Such were our chief advantages as I now recollect them. At the time we rated them highly ; few left Amherst for other Colleges. Nor do I know that any have since regretted connecting themselves with the infant Institution. There were doubtless deficiencies to be regretted. In the larger and older universities, we might have found better teachers and richer stores of libraries and collec- tions, but in some unknown way, perhaps in the enthusiasm of comparatively solitary effort, compensation was made ; and on the whole, we may doubt whether higher life success would have attended us, had we launched from other ports." The students of Amherst in those early days, were compara- THE FIRST COMMENCEMENT. 83 tively free from exciting and distracting circumstances. There were then here no cattle-shows or horse-races, no menageries, circuses, or even concerts of music. They had no " Greek Let- ter " societies, no class day, and no class elections, and class pol- itics to divide and distract them. They came here to study, and they had nothing else to do. They felt that their advan- tages were inferior to those of older and richer Institutions, but for that very reason, they felt that they must make themselves. The " Exercises at the first Anniversary of the Collegiate Charity Institution at Amherst," were held in the old " Meet- ing-house " on the 28th of August, 1822. After sacred music and prayer by the President, a salutatory in Latin was pro- nounced by Ebenezer S. Snell. His classmate, Pindar Field, delivered the concluding oration in English. There was no valedictory. The members of the Junior class, then six in number, helped them to fill up the program with a colloquy, two dialogues, and several orations. A poem was also deliv- ered by Mr. Gerard H. Hallock who was then Principal of Am- herst Academy. As the Institution had no charter, and no au- thority to confer degrees, testimonials in Latin that they had honorably completed the usual College course, were given to two members of the Senior class. 1 The exercises were then closed with sacred music and prayer. The subjects of the two dia- logues were " Turkish Oppression," and " The Gospel carried to India." The last which was written by Pindar Field and acted by the two Seniors with the help of one of the Juniors, was an intentional argument and appeal in favor of Foreign and Domestic Missions. The first revival of religion occurred in the spring term of 1823, about a year and a half after the opening of the Institu- tion. The number of students was now over a hundred. The President's house was completed. Two College edifices crowned the "Consecrated Eminence." And a subscription of thirty thousand dollars was being successfully and rapidly raised to de- fray the expenses. The external prosperity of the Institution exceeded the most sanguine hopes of its founders. But this was 1 The third Senior, Ezra Fairchild, left before the close of the year in conse- quence of sickness in his family, and did not receive his Bachelor's degree till 1852. 84 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. not enough. It was not for this purpose that they founded it. Material and even literary prosperity was in their estimation of little worth in comparison with religious growth and spiritual prog- ress. It was not enough that the students of the new Institution should be scholars. They desired also and above all things that they should be true Christians. In order to this they must, in the view of the founders, experience the regenerating and sanc- tifying influences of the Holy Spirit. And these they expected to see manifested ordinarily and chiefly in seasons of unusual re- ligious interest, which their fathers had called awakenings, and which they usually denominated revivals. Thus believing in revivals of religion as the gift of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, though not without the co-operation of human agency, the Faculty and Christian students of the Amherst Collegiate Institution, in common with the Trustees and other holy men who founded it, longed and labored and prayed from the begin- ning above all things else for the special presence of the Holy Spirit with convincing, converting and sanctifying power. And when in the spring of the second collegiate year personal relig- ion became the all-engrossing interest of nearly all the students, and before the close of the term the greater part of those who had hitherto lived without prayer and without God, began a new life, they rejoiced in it as the consummation of their hopes and the crowning benediction of Heaven on their plans and labors. The whole year and a half preceding had been a gradual preparation for this revival. " In our first year of College life," says Mr. Field, " the pious members of the different classes en- joyed great familiarity with each other, and shared largely each other's confidence. We spent whole days in fasting and prayer frequently." Some of the students passed the winter vacation in towns in the vicinity where there was unusual religious inter- est and returned to College to breathe their own spirit of zeal and earnestness into their classmates and fellow -students. The annual concert of prayer for Colleges was held for the first time in February, 1823. This was observed in the Institution and was a day of deep and solemn interest. " President Moore's address to the students on this occasion was peculiarly appro- priate and useful. His affectionate appeal to those who thought THE FIRST REVIVAL. 85 religion unmanly and prayer degrading, was like a nail driven by the Master of assemblies. ' Was Daniel ever more noble than when he prayed in defiance of King Darius' threats ? ' The pious students were among the most important instruments in carrying forward the work. During a part of the time the President was in feeble health, and one of the few other in- structors was laid aside by sickness. In these circumstances one of the students with the permission of the Faculty, went to Connecticut to obtain the assistance of Rev. Dr. Beecher in promoting the revival. But being absent for similar service in Boston, his inability to come was turned to account by leading the pious students to a more full and prayerful reliance upon God. Abundant prayer was offered in College in various cir- cles, and also by many earnest friends of the College, and par- ents of unconverted students in many places. Several minis- ters from abroad came and held meetings in College, among whom were Rev. Experience Porter, Rev. Alexander Phenix, Rev. Joshua N. Danforth and Rev. Theophilus Packard. So extensive was the religious influence at the time that on one occasion all the impenitent students attended a meeting of in- quiry." * " They held early morning prayer-meetings, and would some- times even in study hours, go into each others' rooms and spend a few moments in prayer, often for an unconverted room-mate. At no time in the day perhaps could a person go into an entry and pass up to the fourth story without hearing the voice of prayer from some room. The work of God's grace seemed to go right through the College. Every mind seemed solemnized; none were careless. The results have appeared in the churches and the missionary field, foreign and domestic, ever since." 2 " The seriousness was somewhat sudden in its commencement, and it extended rapidly. It soon became so pervading that all the irreligious, except one, were said to be under conviction. Prayer-meetings were held at nine o'clock in the evening in each entry, also at other times and in other places. Inquiry meetings were held by the officers of the College, in which Tutors Burt 1 Manuscript Letter of Rev. Theophilus Packard, Class of '23. 2 Rev. Justin Marsh, Class of '24. Manuscript letter. 86 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. and Coe were especially interested. Prof. Olds was sick, and Prof. King was in Greece. As a result of the revival twenty- three conversions were counted, leaving only thirteen without a personal faith and hope in Christ. During the revival we found the sympathy, kindness, advice and active service of President Moore of inestimable value, and, I think, he must have had his faith in the wisdom of his removal to Amherst strengthened by this early manifested blessing. I have a catalogue in which the names of the converts are marked as follows : Seniors, David O. Allen, Theophilus Packard ; Juniors, Bela B. Edwards, Austin Richards; Sophomores, J. M. C. Bartley, George Burt, John Kelley, A. J. Leavenworth, William Parsons, D. H. Stark- weather, Elijah D. Strong, Horatio Waldo, Joel Wyman ; Fresh- men, Fred. Bridgman, A. Chapin, Enoch Colby, Joseph Goff, C. P. Grosvenor, Levi Pomeroy, Levi Pratt, Charles L. Strong, and H. C. Towner. " Rev. Edward Hitchcock, then pastor in Conway, preached a sermon at the close of the term and of the revival. Oh, how we wept as we listened ! " l This sermon, founded on Prov. 5 : 12, 13, and entitled " Retrospection," was published at the re- quest of the students, with the following prefatory note : " The existence of a powerful and interesting revival of religion in Amherst Collegiate Institution gave occasion for the following sermon. It is yielded to the request of the members of that Institution for its publication, not on account of its literature or its theology, but in the humble hope that, by the blessing of God, it may subserve the cause of experimental piety, by promoting the important work of Retrospection." The results of this revival will be fully revealed only in the light of another world. But some of them are sufficiently mani- fest. Besides the conversion of the larger part of the uncon- verted and nearly one-quarter of all the members of the Insti- tution, and the increased sanctification, Christian activity and usefulness of those who were before church members, it con- firmed the faith, hope and courage of the founders, and gave the Institution a direction and a character, which it has never lost. Frequent revivals of religion have ever since been a character- 1 Manuscript letter of Dr. A. Chapin, Class of '26. DEATH OF PRESIDENT MOOKE. 87 istic of Amherst College. Such young men of superior talents and elevated scholarship as David O. Allen 1 and Bela B. Ed- wards were brought not only into the church and the ministry, but into the missionary work and the chair of theological instruc- tion, to both of which Amherst has ever since contributed an unusually large proportion of her sons. The influence extended to those who were not reckoned as converts. Thus Edward Jones, the colored student of the Class of '26, who was counted among the unconverted at the close of the revival, soon after his graduation went out as a missionary to Sierra Leone, and became one of the leading educators of that African State. A powerful revival existed in the Academy and the village church simultaneously with that in the College, whether as effect or cause, I do not know; probably it was in part both effect and cause of the religious interest in the Collegiate Institution. Finally this revival encouraged the hearts and strengthened the hands of the teachers and pupils and friends of the Institution, and thus prepared them to endure with more Christian fortitude, patience and faith the severe trial which was soon to come upon them, like an eclipse, nay, it seemed like a setting, of the sun at noonday. We have seen that President Moore was suffering from ill- health more or less of the time during the revival in the spring term. The amount of labor which he had been performing for nearly two years, together with the responsibility and anxiety that pressed upon him, was enough to break down the most vig- orous constitution. In addition to his appropriate duties as President and as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, he heard all the recitations of the Senior, and in part those of the Sophomore class, performed several journeys to Boston to promote the in- terests of the Institution, and solicited in a number of places pecuniary aid in its behalf. The revival, while it gladdened his heart beyond measure, greatly added to his labors and responsi- bilities. His constitution, naturally strong, was overtaxed by such accumulated labors and anxieties, and had begun to give 1 Author of "India, Ancient and Modern." He was the first missionary among the graduates of Amherst College, and it is a suggestive fact, that he was a convert in the first revival. 88 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. way perceptibly, before the attack of disease which terminated his life. On Wednesday, the 25th of June, he was seized with a bilious colic. From the first, the attack was violent, and excited fears of a fatal termination. "During his short sickness," we quote the language of a loving and beloved pupil, one of the converts in the recent revival, 1 "the College was literally a place of tears. Prayer was offered unto God unceasingly for him. We have never seen more heartfelt sorrow, than was depicted in the countenances of nearly a hundred young men, all of whom loved him as their own father. But while they were filled with anx- iety and grief, Dr. Moore was looking with calmness and joy upon the prospects which were opening before him. While flesh and heart were failing him, Christ was the strength of his heart arid the anchor of his soul. And when his voice failed and his eyes were closing in death, he could still whisper, 'GoD is my hope, my shield, and my exceeding great reward.' " He died on Monday, the 29th of June, 1823, in the fifty- third year of his age. The funeral solemnities were attended on the Wednesday following, in the presence of a great concourse of people from Amherst and the surrounding region. An appro- priate sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Snell, of North Brook- field. As they returned from committing his remains to the ground, in the cemetery where they now rest beneath a monu- ment erected by the Trustees, the guardians and teachers, the students and friends of the Institution all felt for the moment that its hopes were buried in the grave of its first President ; for who could take his place arid carry on the work which he had so well begun, but which had proved too heavy a burden even for him to bear. So profound was the sympathy of the Senior class with their beloved President, that they were reluc- tant to take any part in Commencement Exercises at which he could not preside. And so dark, in their view, was the cloud which rested on the infant seminary, that, reduced almost to despair, they were on the point of closing their connection with it and graduating at some other Institution. Accordingly at the close of the funeral services, the class appeared before the Board 1 Prof. Bela B. Edwards in the Quarterly Register, Vol. V., p. 183. THE SECOND COMMENCEMENT. 89 of Trustees, and asked to be released from all participation in any Commencement Exercises, and from all further connection with the College. 1 But at the urgent solicitation of the Board, they consented to stand in their lot. Theophilus Packard deliv- ered the Salutatory Oration, David O. Allen the Philosophical, Hiram Smith a Greek Oration, and Elijah Paine the Valedictory. 2 The Junior class supplemented their performances with a Dis- putation, a Poem, three Dialogues, and twelve Orations, as they when Juniors, had supplemented the Commencement Exercises of their predecessors the previous year. The exercises occupied the whole day, with a morning and an evening session. They received the usual Latin "Testimonial" from the Vice-President of the Board of Trustees, Rev. Joshua Crosby, who presided, no President having yet been appointed, and whom they honored for his services as Chaplain in the Revolutionary War, though they complained that " he had never studied Latin." They have never since regretted their perseverance in spite of all un- toward circumstances, even to the end, in consequence of which they have not only been reckoned as Alumni of Amherst Col- lege, but counted among its heroes who stood by it in the day of adversity, and constituted its second class. David O. Allen of this class, claimed to be the oldest graduate of Amherst, hav- ing received the degree of A. B. the first of any one, on this wise. While teaching school in Leominster, in the winter vaca- tion of his Senior year, he applied for the situation of Principal of Groton Academy, then a flourishing Institution and got the appointment. But after obtaining it, he found that a by-law of the Academy required the Principal to be a graduate of a College. Amherst, having no charter, could, at this time, confer no degrees. What was to be done ! He went to President Moore with his trouble. After much consultation, President Moore gave him testimonials to the President of Union College. Mr. Allen went there privately, joined the Senior class, passed the Senior examination, and returned with a diploma in his pocket, while 1 Manuscript letter of Rev. Theophilus Packard. 2 David Howard whose name appears on the Triennial, spent his Senior year chiefly at Yale College, and was not present to be graduated with his class. He received his degree of A. B. in 1854. .90 HISTORY OP AMHEEST COLLEGE. as yet, his classmates were scarcely aware of his absence. After completing his course at Amherst, he taught the Academy at Groton, paid up his debts, earned money in advance for his theological education at Andover, and afterwards became one of the most honored of our American missionaries, and the author of the well-known work on " Ancient and Modern India." CHAPTER VIII. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PRESIDENT MOORE AND HIS COLLEAGUES IN THE FACULTY. ZEPHANIAH SWIFT MOORE was born November 20, 1770, at Palmer, then a comparatively small and obscure town in old Hampshire County. His parents, Judah and Mary Moore, were in the middle walks of life, and much esteemed for their integ- rity and piety. When he was seven or eight years of age, he removed with his father to Wilmington, Vt., where he worked on a farm till he was about eighteen. His early advantages, even for a common school education, were quite limited. But he early manifested an inquisitive mind and a great thirst for knowledge ; and his parents, humble as their circumstances were, were induced to help him in obtaining a College educa- tion. Having pursued his preparatory studies at Bennington, Vt., he entered Dartmouth College in his nineteenth year, and graduated in 1793, delivering for his part at the Commencement a philosophical oration on " The Causes and General Phenomena of Earthquakes," which was received with great approbation, and thus showing in his choice of a subject that taste for the natural sciences which, as we have seen, he cherished in the early students of Amherst College. The late Col. Thompson of Amherst, who then resided in Wilmington, Vt, claimed some credit for Dr. Moore's being "lib- erally educated," and used to tell how " Leftenant Moore" con- sulted him what he should do with his son. The son was very earnest to go to College, but the father thought it scarcely pos- sible to send him. " Let him go if he wants to," said Col. Thompson, "you'll get along with it and find no trouble." Four years later, meeting the father as he was going to Hanover 92 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. to see his son graduate, the Colonel said to him : " Well, how do you come out?- as well as I said you would?" "Oh," he replied, " when I've sold my old oxen, I guess I shall be able to pay all the bills." The self-denial and sacrifices with which his own education was secured were preparing the young man to sympathize with other young men in similar struggles, and thus qualifying him to become the President of an Institution where so many of that class were to be educated. On leaving College, he took charge of an Academy at Lon- donderry, N. H., and discharged the duties of the office for one year with universal acceptance. He then repaired to Somers, Conn., and commenced the study of theology under the direc- tion of the Rev. Dr. Backus, and having gone through the usual course of preparation for the ministry, was licensed to preach by a committee of the Association of Tolland County, February 3, 1796. After preaching to rare acceptance in various places, and having received several invitations to a permanent settle- ment, he accepted a call from the church and congregation in Leicester, Mass. Here his labors were highly acceptable and useful. Very considerable additions were made to the church, about thirty at one time near the close of his ministry, and the spirit and power of religion became increasingly visible. His influence upon the schools, and upon the people generally, was salutary. He was an active Trustee, and for some time Princi- pal of Leicester Academy. At the same time he was greatly esteemed as a man and a preacher by all the -neighboring churches. Having been pastor of the church in Leicester eleven years, in October, 1811, he accepted the appointment of Professor of Languages in Dartmouth College, where he remained four years, sustaining the administration of the government at a period of difficulty 'and embarrassment in the history of the College, en- joying the reputation of a philologist and philosopher, perhaps, rather than an exact and elegant scholar in his department, and making his influence felt in favor of order, good morals, and religion in the Institution and in the community. The Trustees showed the estimation in which he was held, by conferring on him, soon after he left, the degree of Doctor of Divinity. PRESIDENT MOOKE. 93 In 1815 he was elected to the Presidency of Williams Col- lege, then vacant by the resignation of Dr. Fitch. He accepted the appointment and was inducted into office at the Commence- ment in September of that year. He had now found a congenial element and his appropriate sphere. His bland manners set the trembling candidate for admission to the Freshman class in- stantly at ease in his presence. 1 His kind and sympathizing heart made every student feel that he had in the President a personal friend. At the same time, his firmness in the adminis- tration of the government convinced even the Sophomores that they had found their master and must obey the laws. 2 The effect was soon seen in the good order, the gentlemanly deport- ment and the studious habits of the young men, a gradual though not rapid increase of numbers, and the growing pros- perity of the College. u His connection with the College was attended by some circumstances of peculiar embarrassment in consequence of an effort on the part of the Trustees to remove the College to Northampton or some other town in Hampshire County. The measure failed in consequence of the refusal of the Legislature to notice it. Dr. Moore, however, decidedly favored it from the beginning, but in a manner that reflected not in the least upon his Christian integrity and honor." 3 His too brief connection with the Collegiate Institution at Amherst and his too early death are already familiar to our readers. Of his importance to this Institution and the invalu- able services which he rendered to it in its early struggles for existence, none was more competent to testify, and no one has done it with more truth and eloquence than Ins successor in the Presidency. " If we estimate the length of life by what a man actually accomplishes for the best good of his kind," says Dr. Humphrey in his Inaugural Address, " we shall see that Dr. Moore, though taken away in the high meridian of his useful- ness, was 'old and full of days.' To say nothing here of the 1 See the letter of Dr. Emerson Davis, in Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, Vol. IL p. 393. 2 See in Sprague's Annals Dr. Emmons' graphic account of the interviews be- tween the President and his first Sophomore class, who attempted to break down the new regulations, Vol. II., p. 394. 8 Sprague's Annals, Vol. IL, p. 393. 94 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. ability with which he filled other important stations, and of the good which he did in them all, the services rendered by him to this Institution, within less than the short space of two years, were sufficient to entitle him to the gratitude of thousands now living, and of far greater numbers who are yet to be born. Broad and deep are the foundations which he assisted in laying upon this consecrated hill. Strong was his own arm, freely was it offered for the great work, and powerful was the impulse which his presence and ever-cheering voice gave to the waken- ing energies of benevolence around him. But highly as his various plans and counsels and labors are now appreciated, fu- ture generations in walking over this ground, with the early history of the College before them, will, there is little reason to doubt, place him still higher among its distinguished benefactors. It will then appear, what and how much he did to give shape and character to an Institution which, we believe, is destined to live and bless the church in all coming ages." " By nature a great man, by grace a good man, and in the providence of God a useful man, a correct thinker and a lucid writer, a sound theologian, instructive preacher and greatly beloved pastor, a wise counselor and sympathizing friend, a friend and father especially to all the young men of the infant College in which he was at the same time a winning teacher and a firm presiding officer, Dr. Moore filled every station he occupied with propriety and raised the reputation of every lit- erary institution with which he became connected." Such, in brief, is the character sketched of him by one who knew him intimately both in the pastorate and in the presidency, and who was incapable of exaggeration. 1 Dr. Moore was a man of medium stature, but commanding presence, weighing some two hundred and forty pounds, yet without any appearance of obesity, neat in his dress, retaining the use of short breeches and long hose which were particu- larly becoming to his person ; and in his manners there was a union of suavity with dignity, rare anywhere, especially in per- sons bred in the country, which marked him as a gentleman of the old school, one of nature's noblemen, and which, while 1 Dr. Thomas Snell of North Brookfield in his funeral sermon. HIS SUAVITY. 95 it attracted the love of his pupils, invariably commanded also their respect. His corpulence gave additional pertinence and force to a story which the early students were fond of telling, illustrative of the quiet dignity and felicity with which he administered re- proof. T., a wild, frolicsome and noisy student one day came jumping and hallooing through the halls and down the stair- ways just as Dr. Moore was entering the outer door, and was very near running over the Doctor. " T.," said the President with perfect self-possession and serenity, " you should remem- ber that two bodies can not occupy the same space at one and the same time." He reposed great confidence in the honesty and good inten- tions of the students and was especially slow to impeach their veracity. The same student of whom the above anecdote is related, tried the President's patience in a great many ways, among others by going out of town without leave. Once, when the President charged him with this offence, he denied it. There was scarcely room for a doubt that he was guilty of falsehood. But taking him at his word, the President said : " I am glad to find that you did not go ; I could not believe that you would do such a thing." The student went away ashamed of his false- hood, and declared to his fellows that he would never lie again to Dr. Moore. A vein of pleasantry ran through Dr. Moore's dignity, and his habitual serenity was often suffused with smiles. When he arrived at Amherst with his shaved and shorn horse, and some of the good people expressed their indignation at the outrage, he said: " I have nothing to^say about the treatment I have re- ceived at Williamstown, but my horse can tell his own tale.'''' Habitually courteous himself, he expected and received cour- tesy from every student. " No student could pass him without lifting his hat with a smile. The Doctor would always set the example, and if the first lifting of his own hat did not lead the student to raise his hat, the President would raise his the second time. I never saw the man who so commanded my love and, veneration. If I wanted a school for the vacation, I had only to notify him of my need, and the application was answered. 96 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. He was sure always to know how we succeeded in teaching and what reputation we earned." l Letters from those who graduated under him abound in illus- trations of his personal kindness to them, sympathizing with them, counseling them, loaning them money and otherwise re- lieving their wants ; and he always did these acts of kindness in so kind and winning a way as to double their value. The writers all seem to feel that no other President ever was so courteous and kind none so highly honored and beloved. And " when it was told in College that Dr. Moore could not live " we borrow the language of one of these letters "a deep electrical throb of anguish ran through all the classes. How can he be spared was the agonizing cry of every one we met. Who can fill his place ? Who can do as he has done ? Who can have the confidence of the community and the love of the students as he had ? " Dr. Moore was 'too constantly occupied with the immediate duties of active life to write very much for the public. A few discourses delivered on special occasions, and published by re- quest, remain to attest his style of thinking and writing. Among these are an oration at Worcester on the 5th of July, 1802 ; a sermon at the ordination of Rev. Simeon Colton in 1811 ; the Massachusetts Election Sermon in 1818; an address to the pub- lic in regard to Ainherst College in 1823 ; and a sermon deliv- ered at several ordinations, and printed after the ordination of Rev. Dorus Clark, in 1823. These discourses show a logical and reflective cast of mind, methodical arrangement, clearness of style and illustration free from any attempt at artificial embellishment. The sermons indicate a marked fondness for exegetical inquiries and philosophical investigations combined with profound rever- ence for the Scriptures and a hearty reception of the character- istic doctrines of evangelical religion. In a long note attached to his latest ordination sermon, he discusses Dr. Thomas Brown's doctrine of Cause and Effect, with an independence, clearness and justness which prove him to have been no mean metaphysi- cian. " In preaching he had very little action ; and yet there was an impressiveness in his manner that fixed the attention of 1 Manuscript letter of Rev. Nahum Gould, Class of '26. MOOEE SCHOLARSHIPS. 97 his hearers. In the more animated parts of his discourse, his utterance became more rapid, and the sound of his voice shrill and tremulous, showing that he felt deeply the force of the sentiments he uttered." Shortly after his settlement at Leicester, he was married to a daughter of Thomas Drury of Auburn, (then Ward,) Mass. A detention by the accidental lameness of his horse, while on a visit to his sister at Sutton, led to his acquaintance with his wife and his settlement in Leicester. His friendship with Mr. Adams, Principal of Leicester Academy, and afterwards Professor in Dartmouth College, prepared the way for his professorship in Dartmouth. His success in that office elevated him to the presi- dency of Williams College. And from the presidency at Wil- liamstown he passed naturally, almost in spite of himself, to be the first President and so one of the founders of the Institution at Amherst. " All this, as he used playfully to contend, was to be traced to what he regarded at the time as anything but a fortunate accident." ! Dr. Moore left no children. He bequeathed his property, val- ued at some six thousand dollars, to his wife for her use while she lived, and after her death three-fifths of it to the Institution for the foundation of scholarships, three of which, bearing his name and worth about one hundred and forty dollars a year each, now help to support three students nominated by the Brookfield Association of Congregational Ministers. According to the pro- visions of his will, two-sixths of the annual interest of his legacy are to be added to the principal, so as to make it, like the Charity Fund, an increasing fund forever. As the fund accumulates, the number of beneficiaries is to be /increased from time to time. 2 Mrs. Moore long survived him, living to advanced years, and 1 Gov. Washburn in Sprague's Annals, Vol. V., p. 897. 2 If the Institution should not be incorporated, the principal of Dr. Moore's leg- acy was to be held by the Brookfield Association, and the interest to be applied as above. If the Institution should ever become extinct, or should not give a thorough course of classical education like the other colleges of New England, the fund was to be given to the Brookfield Association for a library for the use of that Association forever. These provisions phow two things : the value which Pr Moore set upon classical education, and his uncertainty whether the Institution would be incorpo- rated or even perpetuated. 7 98 HISTORY OF AMHKRST COLLEGE. through all those years nursing his estate with the most scrupu- lous assiduity for the benefit of the College, which she loved for its own sake as well as for the memory of her husband. She died November 5, 1857, aged eighty-six years. Her remains lie beside those of her husband beneath an appropriate marble monument erected to his memory by the Trustees. The Latin inscription on this monument is a just and discriminating tribute to the character of .the first President of Amherst College. HIC JACET CORPUS SKPULTUM REVERENDI ZEPHANLE SWIFT MOORE, S. T. D., COLLEGII AMHERSTIAE PR^ESIDIS. Ille homo Ingenioque scientia atque pietate sincera praeclarus ac merito ; Gravitate quoque insigni quura se demittens; Ammo et consilio certus sed tamen mitissiinus Semperque facilitate permagna ; Modestus, placabilis, Misericordia et fructibus bonis plenus, Non dijudicans, non siniulatus ; Discipulis suis Veneratus quasi illis pater dilectusque ; Maximo omnium desiderio MORTEM OBIIT DIE XXX. JUN. ANNO DOMINI MDCCCXX III. Aetatis Suae LIII. As the two Professors, Olds and Estabrook, came into the Faculty with Dr. Moore, and left it as soon as the College was fully organized under the charter in the administration of his suc- cessor, this is the place for some brief biographical notice of them. Gamaliel Smith Olds was born February 11, 1777, in that part of Granville, Mass., which is now Tolland. He was grad- uated at Williams College in 1801, Tutor there for several years, and Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy from 1806 to 1808. Having studied theology, partly with Dr. West at Stockbridge, and partly in the Theological Seminary at Andover, he was ordained colleague pastor with Dr. Newton at Green- field, where he remained three years. From 1819 to 1821, he PROFESSOR OLDS. 99 was Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 'the University of Vermont. From 1821 to 1825 he was Professor of the same branches in Amherst College, and during several years subsequently he held the same office in the University of Georgia. Returning to the North, he resided for some time at Saratoga Springs, at Onondaga, and other places in the State of New York, and in the autumn of 1841, removed to Circleville, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days. His death was the result of a distressing casualty. He had just started on his return from Bloomfield, a town about twelve miles from Circleville, whither he went to supply two vacant churches, when his horse took fright and threw him down a precipitous bank ; and he was so injured by the fall, that, after lingering eleven days in great pain, he died June 13, 1848, at the age of seventy-one. He was a man of strong mind, a good classical scholar, and master of the whole field of Mathematics, rapid in his reason- ings, concise in his expressions, and expecting his pupil to see clearly what he comprehended at a glance, he had the habit of saying, perhaps when the pupil had scarcely caught a glimpse of the idea, "see it?" "see it?" It is not strange, it was almost a matter of course, that these words should be caught up by the students as a kind of by-word and applied as a character- istic name to their popular Professor. He was an able teacher and an impressive preacher. But during his connection with Amherst College, his health was often such that he was laid aside from his duties. He was also sensitive to the extreme, and in the opinion of some naturally ambitious. These traits of character brought his connection with one College after another to a sudden close, and embittered the latter years of his life. He was once appointed to a Professorship in Mid- dlebury College, but in consequence of some disagreement between himself and some of the officers of the College, he never entered upon the duties of the office. He wrote, and by advice of the Franklin Association, published a " Statement of Facts " in the case. This was in 1818. During the absence of President Moore in Boston and also in his last sickness, Prof. Olds had instructed the Senior class and performed some other 100 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. duties usually discharged by the President, and on the death of the latter, being the oldest Professor and in the actual perform- ance of his duties, very naturally took his place, and perhaps as- pired and expected to succeed to his office. This awakened jeal- ousy and excited opposition which led to a decision of the Trust- ees that the Vice-President of the Corporation, Rev. Mr. Crosb}^, should be the acting President of the College, till the vacancy should be filled by the election of a successor. This in turn made sport among the students, particularly as the Vice-Presi- dent " had never received a public education, nor spent an hour as a student in any College. Thus things jumbled along till Commencement, the Vice-President attending chapel exercises and sitting in Dr. Moore's study, and part of the time having one of the members of the Faculty present to tell him what to do when a student called on him with a question or request. He also presided at Commencement and made many blunders, miscalling the names of the performers, etc. He miscalled my name, and I waited to have it corrected before I took the plat- form. Prof. Olds bore all this with a Christian spirit, doing what he could to make the occasion go off respectably for the sake of the students and the Institution. This done he demanded an investigation before the Board of Trustees. This was granted, and the meeting was held in the hall of Boltwood's Hotel. . The result was a triumphant vindication of the Professor from the accusations brought against him." l But things did not go smoothly under the administration of Dr. Humphrey, and at the reorganization of the Faculty under the charter, Professors Fiske and Peck took the place of Prof. Olds in the Faculty. Besides his Inaugural Oration at Williams College, 1806, Prof. Olds published the substance of eight sermons on Episco- pacy and Presbyterian Parity, 1815. " His last years were years of active and earnest service in the ministry of the gospel, and when he died, the public papers in the region in which he had resided, bore honorable testimony to his character, his usefulness and fidelity." 2 J Rev. Edwards A. Beach, Class of '24. 3 Prof. Chester Dewey, in Sprague's Annals, Vol. II., p. 688. PROFESSOR ESTABROOK. 101 Joseph Estabrook was born in Lebanon, N. H., December 8, 1792. He was graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1815, and took his second degree both at Dartmouth and Williams in 1818. He first intended to be a minister, and commenced the study of Theology at Princeton. But owing to a bronchial affection, he soon left the Seminary, and turned his attention to teaching. From 1817 to 1820, he was Principal of Amherst Acadera}-, and from 1821 to 1824 Professor of the Latin and Greek Lan- guages and Librarian in Amherst College. He is said to have been one of the most popular and successful of all the Princi- pals of Amherst Academy. In the College he does not seem to have been so acceptable. Judging from the letters of alumni who were under his instructions, we should infer, that he made no very deep or strong impression on his pupils either as a man, a scholar or a teacher, for. they make little or no allusion to him. He is remembered in town for his elegant ruffle shirt, his fine suwarrow boots, and the great quantities of snuff which, tradition says, he carried in his coat pocket. He was a good shot as was demonstrated by the fact preserved by the memory of some of the older inhabitants that on his way to "meeting" one Fast day, seeing a flock of pigeons flying high overhead, he snatched a gun from the hand of a fowler, and brought down a bird from his flight. A far more marvelous yet well authenti- cated story is told of him, which not only illustrates his own life and times, but bears on the great principles of Psychology and Theology. There was a lottery to aid in the building of the Northampton bridge. The young men of Amherst were eagerly rushing in for a chance at the prizes. But Mr. Estabrook had little money to spare and' none to waste on uncertainties. As his mind dwelt on the subject by day, however, he dreamed one night that he had bought a ticket of a certain number and drawn a prize of five thousand dollars. He went over to North- ampton, found that ticket unsold, bought it, and actually drew a prize of five thousand dollars, one thousand of which he gave to Amherst College. Compelled to seek a southern climate on account of his throat, he left Amherst in 1824, and became the successful proprietor and the popular principal of a school for young ladies, first in 102 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. Staunton, Va., and then in Knoxville, -Tenn. His success in the latter, led to his appointment to the presidency of the Uni- versity of East Tennessee, which he organized anew and con- ducted for several years with several Professors, educated at Amherst, and which under his administration enjoyed a degree of prosperity, such as it never before nor since experienced. He resigned this position at the close of the summer term in 1847, having been thirteen years at the head of the University, and for about thirty years engaged in teaching. On his retirement from the University, he removed to Ander- son County, Tenn., about twenty-five miles from Knoxville, and engaged in the difficult and hazardous enterprise of boring for salt water and manufacturing salt. After a large outlay of capital, the conquest of many obstacles and the devotion of some seven years' time, when his plans were apparently just on the eve of a successful realization, he was prostrated by an attack of disease and in a few days removed from among the living. He died on Friday, May 18, 1855, having completed the sixty-second year of his age. Prof. Amos Eaton, who lectured on Chemistry and some branches of Natural History, and helped to give a scientific bent to some of the early graduates and to the College itself, was a remarkable character, and led an eventful life. Born in 1776, an apprenticed blacksmith in 1791; in 1799 a graduate of Wil- liams College, afterwards a student of law, and admitted to the bar under Alexander Hamilton ; imprisoned a little while for an act which, it is generally conceded, involved no moral obliquity, and soon released by act of the Governor; a student of the Natural Sciences at Yale College, and a lecturer on the same in Williams College, and in Albany by invitation of De Witt Clin- ton; Geological Surveyor of the country adjacent to the Erie Canal, from 1820 to 1826 ; Professor of Botany, Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in the medical school at Castleton, Vt., and subsequently, for many years, Principal of the Rensselaer Insti- tute at Troy, N. Y., thus emerging from obscurity and reproach and passing through a singular variety of occupations and vicissi- tudes of life, he rose to a distinguished rank and reputation, scarcely second to any at that early period, as an educator, a EARLY TUTORS. 103 lecturer and a pioneer in the natural sciences. His geological survey was far in advance of anything of the kind which pre- ceded it. His manual of botany passed through many editions, taking the title of American Botany in the eighth, and was for years the standard work in that science. He also published an Index to the Geology of the Northern States, and contributed numerous papers for Silliman's Journal. He died at Troy, N. Y., May 10, 1842, at the age of sixty-five. The Tutors under the presidency of Dr. Moore, Lucius Field, William S. Burt, Elijah L. Coe and Zenas Clapp, are mentioned with respect in letters of the early alumni, particularly for their Christian character and influence. Lucius Field was born in Northfield, August 21, 1796 ; grad- uated at Williams in 1821, and at Andover in 1825 ; settled pastor at Tyringham, Mass., in 1833, and after supplying several other churches at different times, died at Northfield, June 1, 1839, aged forty-two. He came to Amherst with President Moore directly after his graduation, and was Tutor only the first year. William Skinner Burt was a native of South Wilbraham ; grad- uated at Union College in 1818, and spent the remainder of his life in teaching at Belchertown, Amherst, Monson, Newburg, N. Y., and Ithaca, N. Y., where he died in 1855. He was an able and popular teacher, and fitted many for College, among whom were Dr. Bridgman of the Class of '26, and Dr. Russell of the Class of '29. He was a teacher and a superintendent of the Sabbath-school in Amherst, and some of the good people of the village remember him as the, instrument of the conversion of every member of his class. Elijah Lansing Coe graduated at Union College in 1822, and came immediately to Amherst ; was Tutor here from 1822 till 1823. His active usefulness in the first revival is gratefully re- corded by some of the early alumni. Zenas Clapp was born at Deerfield, January 30, 1796; grad- uated at Dartmouth in 1821 ; was Tutor in Amherst, 1823-4 ; studied theology at Auburn; taught in several Academies in Massachusetts and New York, and died in Florida, January 29, 1837, aged forty-one. CHAPTER IX. LIVES OF SOME OF THE FOUNDERS. AT the laying of the corner-stone of the first College edifice, the Rev. Dr. Parsons presided as President of the Trustees of Amherst Academy. At the close of the exercises he resigned, and Noah Webster, Esq., was chosen President in his place. He was already more than seventy-one, and had resigned his pastorate about a year previous. He gave the land on which Amherst Academy was built, procured also a bell for its use at his own expense, was President of its Board of Trustees from its foundation till the laying of the corner-stone of South Col- lege, and contributed to its prosperity by his property, his time and presence, and his personal service in all ways that lay within his power. He was a liberal subscriber to the Charity Fund, 1 and when extraordinary exertions were necessary to complete the sum of fifty thousand dollars within the time, he and a few other citizens of Amherst signed an obligation making themselves lia- ble to the amount of fifteen thousand dollars. In the same spirit, even after he had resigned both the pastorate and the presidency of the Board of Trustees, so long as he lived he lived for the College, and was ready to put his shoulders to the wheel in every emergency. The counsels and contributions of Dr. Parsons worked in beautiful harmony with the prayers and active agency of Col. Graves ; and the study of the former, hot less than the closet of the latter, was one of the deep and hid- den sources from which the College sprung. The prime movers of the enterprise Graves, Dickinson, Strong, Smith came often to that study, especially when days were dark and friends seemed few, and they always went away enlightened, encouraged, 1 His subscription was six hundred dollars. EEV. DR. PARSONS. 105 strengthened in the work of building a College, a whole College, and nothing less than a College A COLLEGE FOB CHRIST. David Parsons was born at Amherst, January 28, 1749 ; gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1771 ; was licensed to preach about the year 1775, and after having preached with much acceptance in several places, but in consequence of feeble health having concluded to relinquish the ministry and engage in mercantile business, in 1782 he was induced, by much urgency of the peo- ple, to accept the pastoral office in his native place as his fa- ther's successor. 1 In 1788 he preached the annual election ser- mon before the Legislature of Massachusetts. In 1795 he was elected Professor of Divinity in Yale College, but declined the appointment. In 1800 he received the degree of Doctor of Di- vinity from Brown University. During the latter part of his ministry there were several revivals of religion in his parish especially one in 1816, which resulted in an addition to his church of more than a hundred members, and probably had no unim- portant bearing on the founding and the character of Amherst College. After a ministry of nearly thirty-seven years, he was dismissed, at his own request, on the let of September, 1819. He died suddenly while on a visit to his friends at Wethersfield, Conn., May 18, 1823, a little more than a mouth previous to the death of President Moore. Both of these able and excellent men longed to see the College chartered, and then they would have been ready to say, " Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ; " but they died almost two years before the consum- mation which they so devoutly wished. Both of them, shortly before their death, visited Gol. Graves on what they supposed to be his dying bed, but in the mj'sterious providence of God they were appointed to a speedy death, while he recovered and lived to see his beloved College in the spring-tide of its early prosperity. The widow of Dr. Parsons, Mrs. Harriet Parsons, a daughter of Ezekiel Williams, of Wethersfield, lived known and highly esteemed by many students of Amherst College, for more than a quarter of a century, and died June 5, 1850, aged eighty-six. 1 Rev. David Parsons, the father of Dr. Parsons, was the first pastor of the church. He preached five years as a candidate, and was pastor forty years. 106 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Two of Dr. Parsons' sermons were published, the election ser- mon in 1788, and a sermon at the ordination of J. L. Pomeroy in 1795. Being a good scholar, he was in the habit of receiving into his family, students who were suspended from Harvard College, and his instruction and discipline proved highly satisfactory to the College authorities. When Amherst College came into ex- istence, he still continued to receive into his family, students as boarders for a small compensation, or none at all if they were too poor to pay for their board ; and they were charmed by his instructive and entertaining conversation and the cultivation of his wife and children. "Most .of the time," says an alumnus of the first class, " I boarded in the family of Dr. Parsons. The father and mother were both then alive and the children all at home. It was a good, intelligent, cultivated family. The Doc- tor had many peculiarities and was unique in his expressions. Not unfrequently he would keep the whole table, family and boarders in a roar of laughter." Dr. Parsons' facetious turn and social attractions were famous in his dajr, and not a few of his witticisms still linger in the memory of those who knew him. Wit and drollery seem to have been spontaneous and quite beyond his control, never dis- turbing, it is said, the due solemnity of the pulpit, but often flashing out irresistibly in such close connection with serious things that the wit was enhanced by the incongruity. As he was returning once in a mood of unusual tenderness from the funeral of a near and dear friend, a brother in the ministry seized the occasion to remonstrate with him on his .want of the seriousness becoming his sacred profession. "I know it all, brother," was the immediate response, " and it has been my bur- den through life ; but I suppose after all, that grace does not cure squint eyes." It was customary in the good old times at the meetings of the Hampshire Association, as at other ministerial meetings, to fur- nish spirituous liquors for the entertainment of the ministers. Soon after the commencement of the temperance reformation, this practice was discontinued. The Association met at the house of Dr. Parsons in Amherst when the change was intro- DR. NOAH WEBSTER. 107 duced. The motion was made by the Doctor himself. He was as ready for the reform as any of them. But he loved a joke as well as he loved the cause of temperance, so he moved that they have one more good drink, and then banish the article forever from their meetings. The resolution was adopted, they had a merry time over the last drink such at least is the tradition and thus they inaugurated the reign of total abstinence. Some of our readers may be surprised to find such a specimen of min- isterial character among the founders of Amherst College. But this genial man and genuine humorist was the first President of the Board of Trustees, and was among the most zealous and earnest advocates of the union of a high standard of scholarship with the highest type of evangelical religion. Dr. Noah Webster was President of the Board of Trustees after the laying of the first corner-stone till after the inaugura- tion of Dr. Moore, when he resigned and Dr. Moore was chosen President of the Board in his stead. Mr. Webster's wisdom and prudence were of great service in guiding the early steps of the infant Institution, while, at the same time, his reputation for learning and integrity contributed not a little to give it char- acter before the public. The name of Noah Webster is known wherever the English language is spoken, and we need not dwell upon the events of his life. A native of West Hartford ; an alumnus of Yale Col- lege of the Class of '78; admitted to the bar in 1781; engaged in teaching, compiling school-books, writing essays on political and literary subjects, and delivering lectures and publishing dis- sertations on the English language till 1789 ; then a lawyer in Hartford till 1793 ; editor of a daily and semi-weekly paper, afterwards the Commercial Advertiser and the New York Specta- tor, till 1798, about the beginning of the present century, he be- gan to devote himself entirely to literary and philological pursuits in New Haven, Conn. In 1812, finding his resources inadequate to the support of his family, he removed to Amherst, where he spent ten of the most laborious and fruitful years of his life* on his great life-work, the American Dictionary. His spelling- book had been published long before, having first appeared in 1783, and so great was the success of this, the first book of the 108 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. kind published in the United States, that during the twenty years in which he was employed on the Dictionary, the entire support of his family was derived from the profits of this work at a premium for copyright of less than one cent per copy. Student and scholar as he was, Mr. Webster was still, as he always had been, deeply interested in popular education and public affairs, and was highly esteemed by the people of Am- herst. He was often moderator at town meetings. In 1814 he was chosen a member of the Legislature, receiving ninety-nine out of a hundred votes, and he was the Representative of Am- herst in the General Court three years out of six between 1814 and 1819. In 1816 he received a large majority of the votes of Amherst as candidate for Representative to Congress. In 1818, he delivered in Northampton the first address before the Hamp- shire, Hampden and Franklin Agricultural Society of which he was at the same time the Vice-President. In 1819, ''Samuel F. Dickinson, Esq., Noah Webster, Esq., and Lieut, Enos Dickin- son were chosen a committee to confer with the Rev. Daniel A. Clark, on settling in the ministry." l Mr. Webster was a favorite with the intelligent farmers of Amherst and the vicinity, with whom he conversed familiarly on subjects pertaining to their occupation ; and in haying time, he might be seen himself spreading and raking the hay, while not unfrequently his daughters, who afterwards married kings and became queens in cultivated society, shared with him this rural exercise and recreation. His wife and daughters also often joined him in his walks, which were his usual exercise. History or poetry presents few more beautiful scenes than this scholar and sage in the domestic circle. He opened his house often every term, it is said to students as well as residents of the town. The influence of so genial and so accomplished a family was as great as it was happy in the Academy, in the College, and in the community. As, in his writings, Mr. Webster in- structed all and corrupted none, so his personal influence per- vaded all classes of society only to purify and exalt. He gave much of his time, which was more valuable than money, to the 1 Church Eecords. Most of the foregoing facts are taken from the records of the town. CHARACTER OF MR. WEBSTER. 109 Academy and the College. He wrote many of the early docu- ments pertaining to both these Institutions ; and while they show the pure taste, good sense and well-balanced mind of Mr. Web- ster, it is interesting to observe how fully this distinguished philologist sympathized with the most puritanical of the found- ers in their religious faith and the fervor of their Christian spirit. Webster's Spelling Book is probably the most powerful educator of the masses that America has ever produced. His Dictionar3 r is, perhaps, beyond any other uninspired book, the constant companion, friend and counselor of the educated and educating classes. Add to these the. College of which he was one of the founders, and which is likely to outlive both the oth- ers, and he may well be envied who was able to open so many and such fountains of good influence. A conservative in poli- tics, a progressive in education, a radical reformer in language, and a Puritan in religion, he was a power in his age and country, making himself felt as an original and independent thinker, in almost every sphere of human thought, and adorning what- ever he touched by the purity of his taste, the grace of his man- ners and the elevation of his character. The evening of his days was serene and tranquil, and his death befitting the close of such a life. He died at New Haven on the 28th of May, 1843, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, leaving as his dying testimony, " I know in whom I have believed, and that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him till that day." Among those early friends of Amherst College whose connec- tion with the Board of Trustees ceased not long after the death of President Moore, and whose biography should, therefore, be sketched with that of the first President, we may name Rev. Daniel A. Clark, Dr. Rufus Cowles, and Dea. Elisha Billings. Daniel A. Clark was born in Rahway, N. J., March 1, 1779. Wild and wayard in his youth, a sermon of Rev. David Austin was the means of his conversion and the commencement of a radical change in his life. In 1808 he graduated at Princeton, with a high reputation for scholarship. He studied theology at Andover whither he went from Newark with Rev. Dr. Griffin, and joined the third class formed in the Institution. He was settled in the ministry several times at Weymouth, Mass., 110 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Southbury, Conn., Amherst, Mass , Bennington, Vt., and Adams, N. Y., and preached with great effect in several cities, as at Portland, Me., Utica and Troy, N. Y., and Charleston, S. C. His pastorates were all of short duration. That at Amherst lasted about six years, and this was two years longer than any of his other settlements. In the fourth year of his settlement in Amherst, charges of various kinds were made against him, some of them seriously affecting not only his ministerial but his Christian character, and in February, 1824, a council was con- vened to consider and decide upon them. The church stood by the pastor and remonstrated against his dismission. " The coun- cil was one of the ablest and most imposing we have ever wit- nessed. There were thronged assemblies and eloquent advo- cates and venerable judges." 1 The result was that the pastor was acquitted of the several charges, and cordially recommended to the churches as an able and faithful minister. Mr. Clark re- mained at Amherst some two years after the council, still sus- taining the relation of pastor and continuing in the discharge of his ministerial duties. But his situation was in many respects an undesirable one, and he was quite willing to avail himself of the first opportunity which occurred for leaving it. Accordingly, in the spring of 1826, he asked a dismission from the church in Amherst, and accepted a call from the Congregational Church in Bennington, Vt. The brief continuance of all his pastorates seems to prove some want of fitness for the pastoral relation. Wicked men were doubtless offended by the boldness, pungency and power with which he preached the doctrines of the cross. But he gave offence also by his rough and careless manners, and his unmin- isterial deportment out of the pulpit. One of his good deacons who loved and admired his preaching, used long after to say in his homespun style of illustration, that Mr. Clark reminded him of one of his cows, the best cow in many respects that he ever had, which gave a large pailful of excellent milk, but not un- frequently kicked it all over before she had done. Shortly before his departure from Amherst, Mr. Clark prepared and published his first volume of sermons " Conference Ser- 1 Rev. George Shepard, D. D., of the Class of '26. REV. DANIEL A. CLARK. Ill mons," " to be used in religious meetings, where there is not present a gospel minister." This was in 1826. It was the first volume that ever issued from the Amherst press. It had a w r ide circulation, and exerted a prodigious power. The writer well remembers, how it was welcomed by the deacons of the church in his native place in north-eastern Pennsylvania, how the sermons were read in " deacons' meetings," and how even under such dis- advantages they stirred the people like the voice of a trumpet. While residing with his children in the city of New York, he prepared for the press three volumes of sermons which were published in 1835 and 1836. In 1846, the " complete works " of Mr. Clark were published in two volumes, together with a biographical sketch and an estimate of his powers as a preacher, by Rev. George Shepard, D. D., Professor of Sacred Rhetoric in Bangor Theological Seminary. Prof. Shepard estimates his power as a preacher very high. " Mr. Clark's person, voice and entire manner were in perfect keeping with his style ; a large masculine frame, a voice harsh, strong, capable of great volume, though not very flexible, an action for the most part ungraceful but significant and natural, a countenance bearing bold, strongly- marked features at every opening of which the waked and work- ing passions looked intensely out ; then thoughts and sentences such as we find in these volumes coming forth, all together gave the idea of huge, gigantic power. We were reminded often of some great ordnance, throwing terribly its heavy shots." Prof. Shepard had the advantage of hearing the sermons from the lips of the preacher himself. But no one can read his "Church Safe," 1 preached before the Consociation at Water- town, or his " Plea for a Miserable World," delivered at the lay- ing of the corner-stone at Amherst, or any of several sermons printed in the National Preacher, or indeed any one of the ser- mons in his complete works, without admitting the essential justice of this estimate, without feeling not only that Mr. Clark was one of the most powerful preachers, but that his sermons are among the most remarkable sermons that our country has produced. 1 It was the reading of this sermon at an evening meeting, that led to his call by the church in Amherst. 112 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Mr. Clark entered with characteristic zeal and earnestness into the work of laying the foundations of Amherst College, pleaded its cause in the pulpit and with his pen, and spent some time in traveling and collecting funds for its permanent estab- lishment. He died in great tranquillity March 3, 1840, of an ossification of the arteries of the brain. Rufus Cowles was born in Amherst, December 16, 1767 ; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1792 ; practiced medicine in New Salem and Amherst for several years, and then was en- gaged in mercantile business in the latter place till the time of his death which occurred November 22, 1837, at the age of sev- enty. He had a large landed property in Amherst, and sub- scribed to the Charity Fund a tract of land in Maine which was .estimated at three thousand dollars. Some of the early alumni remember him as among the first to meet students on their ar- rival in town and give them a cordial welcome, assuring them that Amherst was a remarkably healthy place, as was demon- strated by the fact that he had not lost a patient for so many years ! His connection with the Board of Trustees ceased with the obtaining of the charter in 1825. Elisha Billings was born in Sunderland, October 1, 1749. He held a high rank as a scholar in Yale College where he was graduated in 1772, and delivered the valedictory oration at Com- mencement. After suitable preparatory studies he was licensed to preach the gospel in 1775. But soon after he commenced preaching, his health failed, and he spent the remainder of his life as a highly respected farmer in Conway, at the same time taking a leading part in the church of which he was a member and an officer, and making his influence felt in the educational and religious institutions of the county. He was a Director of the Hampshire Education and Missionary Societies, and a Trustee of Sanderson Academy and Amherst College. Dr. Hitchcock who was for some years his pastor, says : " His clear views of religious doctrines and inflexible adherence to the faith of the Puritans made him the steadfast friend of every effort to defend and propagate the gospel of Christ. His support of the new Institution was no halting, lukewarm advocacy. Rarely was his seat vacant at the meetings of the Board and his fervent DEACON BILLINGS. 113 prayers and wise and encouraging counsels were most efficient elements of final success. He had not abundant means, but did what he could as to pecuniary aid. Indeed so liberal were his benefactions as exceedingly to embarrass his widow and children. But they, too, endowed with the same spirit, strug- gled through their pecuniary embarrassments. When the effort was being made to raise fifty thousand dollars to start the Col- lege, Mrs. Billings circulated the life of Franke so widely that the copy was worn out. She believed and so did all the men and women who founded Amherst College, that the principles adopted and acted upon by Franke as to trust in God and the power of prayer, were scriptural ; and such essentially, let it always be remembered, were the principles on which Amherst College was founded. The type of the piety of its originators was that of Spener and Franke in early times and of Muller in our own times." l Deacon Billings died at Conway, August 9, 1825, about two weeks before the first annual meeting of the Trustees under the charter. He lived to see the College in which he felt so much interest incorporated, but never attended a meeting after the incorporation. His excellent wife, Mary (Storrs) Billings, daughter of Rev. John Storrs of Southold, Long Island, sister of Rev. Richard Storrs, of Longmeadow, and aunt of Rev. Richard Salter Storrs of Braintree, survived him many years and died in Conway, July 4, 1856, aged eighty-six years. The three working men above all others among the founders of Amherst College, were Col. Rufus Graves, Hon. Samuel Fowler Dickinson and Hezekiah Wright Strong, Esq. And of these, Col. Graves was emphatically the agent of the Institution in its early years. Rufus Graves was born in Sunderland, September 27, 1758. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College of the Class of '91. Under the administration of John Adams (1797-1801) he re- ceived a commission as Colonel of a regiment which was raised in this section when fears were entertained of a French war, and thus obtained the military title by which he has ever since been usually known. In 1812 he was lecturer on chemistry in 1 Reminiscences of Amherst College, p. 7. 8 114 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. the College where he was graduated. But experiments in chem- istry were not his only nor his most brilliant experiments. For several years of his life, during which he lived for the most part in Leverett, he was chiefly remarkable for bold and grand schemes of business, which were too large for his resources, and so turned out failures. He tried his hand at sheep-farming, at fruit-growing, at a tannery in Leverett, and a tide-mill in Bos- ton, with the same result. He planted the best orchard in Frank- lin County, but it did not pay the expense. He had the best flock of fine-wool Merino sheep, the best herd of cows, and the best stock of the best breed of pigs in this part of the Connec- ticut Valley. But his experiments all cost more than they came to, and pecuniarily the result was a failure. The writer has been unable to ascertain just when he came to Amherst. The church records under date of November 14, 1817, contain this entry : " Received Rufus Graves and wife to communion by letter." He was for some years a deacon in the village church. His first residence in Amherst was in the second story of the Academy building, where he boarded a large num- ber of the students, while at the same time he lectured to them on chemistry in an extemporized laboratory in the basement. Subsequently he built the house near by, now owned by Mr. J. S. Adams. Col. Graves was the first lecturer on chemistry in the Amherst Collegiate Institution. This was in the first year of its existence. His lectures were delivered in a private room in the old South College, which was not only an earlier but a humbler and ruder laboratory than even the upper room or hall in the North College that was afterwards used in rotation for morning and evening prayers and for lectures on the physical sciences. And from anecdotes which have been transmitted, we infer that the lectures were as homely and primitive as the ap- paratus and the laboratory. He was deeply interested in the religious welfare of the students, and took an active and leading part in the prayer-meetings of the Academy and the village church, which were all then held in the lower room of the Acad- emy building. He often opened his own house for private and special meetings for prayer. The writer attended one or two meetings of this sort when he was a member of College, and he COLONEL GRAVES. 115 well remembers the faith and fervor with which he prayed. He always prayed many who knew him have remarked it as if he were talking with God face to face. None doubted that he daily walked with God. Faith and works, prayer to God and impor- tunity with men, went hand in hand in his labors for the estab- lishment of the College. He entered into this work with all his heart and labored in it for years with all his might ; for now he had found an object great enough for his enterprise, and at the same time good enough for his benevolence, and the fervor of his piety now con- spired with the ardor of his temperament and the hopefulness of his natural disposition to set him all on fire in the under- taking. It will be remembered that the first project was merely an en- largement of Amherst Academy by the endowment of a profess- orship of languages. This plan was projected by Col. Graves. The resolutions were drawn up by him, and, at his motion, unan- imously adopted by the Trustees of the Academy, and he was ap- pointed their agent to carry them into execution. He spent many months, chiefly in Boston and vicinity, in soliciting donations for this object, but with little success. Returning home at length, discouraged though not in despair, he was convinced by Esq. Dickinson that his object was too small to awaken public inter- est, and that if he would succeed, he must found a College. Col. Graves was not slow to entertain an idea so suited to his own cast of mind. He embraced it eagerly. He drew up the constitution and by-laws as the basis not only of a Charity Fund, but of a charitable Collegiate Institution. This plan was adop- ted by the Trustees with equal unanimity and still greater en- thusiasm. Committees were appointed to guide and aid in so- liciting donations. Indeed it was understood that they were to be a committee of the whole for the purpose of raising money. But Col. Graves was still the principal agent. He devoted his whole time and strength to the work. He went to every part of the State, buttonholing wealthy and benevolent individuals, and not a few who were not wealthy nor benevolent, inviting, entreating, and if necessary almost commanding and constraining them to subscribe sums varying from ten to a thousand dollars ; 116 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. arid in about a year from the commencement the subscription of fifty thousand dollars was completed. The subscription of thirty thousand dollars, which soon followed, was.a work of still greater difficulty, because the ground had already been pretty thoroughly burnt over, and it was necessary to raise it in smaller sums. Subscriptions were taken from mite societies and chil- dren's societies, and many of these did not exceed five cents, while very few of them exceeded five dollars. In this subscrip- tion, too, Col. Graves was still an everywhere-present and uni- formly successful agent. When the subscriptions were filled, there still remained the scarcely less laborious task of collecting them. This also devolved more or less on the same indefatiga- ble agent. Col. Graves was also eminently active and success- ful in soliciting donations in money and in kind for erecting all the early buildings. Regarding the silver and the gold, the stone and the brick, the corn and the provisions as the Lord's, and Amherst College as unquestionably the Lord's Insti- tution, he was often in the habit of going to good people every- where and saying, the Lord hath need of this or that, and usually it was forthcoming immediately. Thus he traversed the State from year to year, visiting many portions of it repeat- edly, till he became as well known to ministers and Christians generally as any veteran agent or district secretary of our own day ; * and twenty-five years ago there was scarcely a town in which racy anecdotes were not told of his sayings and doings, seasoned with lively descriptions of his peculiar person and man- ners. Sometimes he would return from these excursions with very little money for the College and none for himself, with worn-out shoes and coat out at the elbows, to find his family suffering for the conveniences if not the necessaries of life, but with inexhaustible faith and hope and patience, after patching up himself and the homestead, and having refreshed his own spirit and all around him by prayer, he would start out again on another expedition. In short, he had Amherst College on the 1 Col. Graves' horse was almost as well known in this vicinity as the Colonel himself, and even after he had passed into the hands of another owner, he was as persistent in calling at every door as his old master was in levying a contribution on every individual. PICTURE OF COLONEL GRAVES. 117 brain, and some of his cooler neighbors really believed he was beside himself. Calling one day on Simeon Strong, Esq., son of Judge Strong, who was thought to be going down to the grave with an incurable disease, he found him in what appeared to him a state of morbid, almost preternatural cheerfulness ; and meeting Dr. Cutler shortly after, he asked him if Esq. Strong was not deranged, or at least losing the balance of his faculties. The Doctor went almost immediately to call on his patient ; and scarcely had he passed the ordinary compliments of the sick room, when Esq. Strong said : " I have just received a visit from Col. Graves ; and Doctor, don't you think he is losing his balance ? It seems to me he is deranged he talks and thinks of nothing but Amherst College." Though near neighbors, their temperaments were so diametrically opposite, that each pronounced the other crazy. There is much more than a picture of the imagination in the following lively sketch by an early graduate. 1 "I see an old man, poor and humble, but yet a kind of ironsides who consid- ered that in the midst of wide-spread defection from the faith of the fathers, there should be a College erected to the Lord a kind of Puritan, Calvanistic College for the education of the Lord's anointed and the upholding of His kingdom, and that this should be done in the heart of Massachusetts ; I see him on a sort of crusade among the faithful, homely clergy and laymen of the Connecticut Valley, urging upon them to build a College to the Lord, and that Amherst must be the place for its erection. I see the foundations of the College laid amid the prayers and tears and praises and contributions of the poor and humble who felt that it was the Lord's work. > I see the relays of men coming in from the towns about to work up by their daily labor the con- tributions of materials which other towns had made to the com- mon cause. I see the loads of provisions sent in by the pious farmers and inhabitants, far and near, for the support of the bands of workmen, who, in giving the labor of their hands, gave their all. I see old Dea. Graves Prof. Graves traveling about in Hadley and Hatfield and Sunderland and Whately, and Belchertown and Enfield and other towns, and telling the i Hon. A. B. Ely, Class of '36. 118 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. people that the Lord is in want of supplies, and asking if they could not spare a barrel of beef or a barrel of pork for those who were building a College for the Lord. And then, when money was wanted, Dea. Graves was the man tq scour the coun- try and replenish the treasury of the Lord. Then comes that most characteristic and most remarkable scene, when upon a re- turn of the good Deacon from an unsuccessful begging excur- sion, a meeting is called to hear his report. A chairman is chosen and the question is put, " Well, Dea. Graves, what suc- cess ? How much money have you raised ? the Deacon rising solemnly says, 'Not one cent. Brethren, let us pray.' This last exclamation should be the motto of the College forever. It is, in itself, an epitome of the whole early history and mission of Amherst College. Poverty and prayer ! Labor and faith ! The mission of the College is to educate for the Lord the poor and the pious, and to vindicate and champion the honest old New England Primer faith of our fathers." Mrs. Graves, a daughter of Dea. Graves of Leverett, was a woman of rare excellence, who heartily sympathized with her husband in his religious faith and co-operated with him in his self-denying work, while she did what she could to check his tendency to extremes. His children too, labored with their own hands to meet the necessities of the family while at the same time they availed themselves of the opportunities which Amherst afforded for education. His oldest son is a Christian physician in Northern New York. Another son, Rev. F. W. Graves of the Class of '25, was an able and eloquent preacher, especially in revivals, and died in 1864, after having turned many to right- eousness. His daughters married ministers, home missionaries, pioneers, like their father, in the work of education and religion. Following his children in their westward course, Col. Graves left Amherst in 1834, and took up his residence in Portsmouth, Ohio, where he died February 12, 1845, after an illness of a few da,ys at the age of eighty-six. He had been married fifty years. Next to the Bible, the favorite reading of his old age was the Missionary Herald which he read through every month as long as he was able to read at all. Samuel Fowler Dickinson was born in Amherst, October 9, SAMUEL FOWLER DICKINSON. 119 1775. His father Nathan Dickinson, was a farmer in East Amherst. His mother, Esther Fowler, was from Westchester, Conn. Samuel Fowler was the youngest son. He fitted for College with Judge Strong of Amherst, entered Dartmouth Col- lege at sixteen, and graduated in 1795 at the age o'f twenty. Though the youngest of his class he received the second ap- pointment the Salutatory Oration in Latin. After leaving College he taught one year in the Academy at New Salem. About this time he had a severe sickness, which was the means of his conversion. He soon united with the West Parish Church and at twenty-one he was chosen one of its deacons an office which he held nearly forty years. Think- ing to enter the ministry he began the study of theology with an older brother, Rev. Timothy Dickinson of Holliston, Mass. But finding that he needed a more active life, he turned his attention to the legal profession. Returning to Araherst, he completed the usual term of study in the office of Judge Strong, and afterwards established a law office of his own in his native place. For fifteen years, from 1804 to 1818 inclusive, he was town clerk of Amherst. He was frequently employed as the agent and advocate of the town in litigated questions. In 1827, he was chosen Representative of the town in the General Court. He was subsequently a member of the Massachusetts Senate. Being an educated man and an officer in the church, he was of course a leader in religious movements and ecclesiastical affairs. He was ranked among the best lawyers perhaps he was the very best lawyer in Hampshire" County, and might doubtless have had a seat on the bench, if he had continued in the prac- tice of his profession. But he was gradually drawn off into business for which he had a natural fondness ; and he was still more deeply enlisted in the educational enterprises, to which he was strongly impelled at once by his cultivated mind, his rare public spirit, and his high moral and religious earnestness. Having a large family of his own to educate and at the same time having at heart the general welfare, he, with a few others, established the Academy at Amherst, erected the building, fur- 120 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. nished it with apparatus and other endowments, liberal for those times, sought far and near the ablest teachers that could be found, and spared neither time nor money to make it the best institution of the kind in the Commonwealth. Young men also who were in straitened circumstances and making earnest effort to get an education, were sure to receive from him en- couragement and assistance. When the removal of Williams College began to be talked of, he at once entered into the plan with all the energy of his nature. Among the Trustees of that Institution who felt the necessity of its removal were his class- mate, Dr. Snell, and his college friend, Dr. Packard. He agreed with them and many others that an Institution more central than Harvard or Williams was needed, where the sons of evan- gelical Christians could be educated in good learning and at the same time in the faith of their fathers, and where those whose means were limited, might be educated at less expense, and, if necessary, be aided in their preparation for the gospel ministry. The conversion of the world often pressed heavily on his mind. He saw in the Institution contemplated at Am- herst, one of the agencies that would surely hasten that prom- ised event, and he felt that in rearing and sustaining it, he was as certainly fulfilling the command to "preach the gospel to every creature," as if he had himself gone in person to the heathen. The enlargement of the plan from a mere Professorship in Amherst Academy into a separate Collegiate Institution was expressly owing to Mr. Dickinson's suggestion and influence. Nor was the successful execution of the plan less dependent on his steadfastness and perseverance, on the self-sacrificing devo- tion of his time, property and personal service. If Col. Graves was the locomotive, Esq. Dickinson was the engineer of the train. If Col. Graves was the hand, Esq. Dickinson was the head in the founding and rearing of Amherst College. It is doubtful if the College would ever have been built without them both. It is -quite certain that Esq. Dickinson could LO more have been spared than Col. Graves. " A few will still remember how a few ministers l came 1 The passage in the text is quoted from one of these ministers. SACRIFICES FOR THE COLLEGE. 121 together often for prayer and consultation as to how the object could be accomplished. Nearly a whole week sometimes, would be thus spent. When it was decided to go forward and there were funds enough collected to begin the foundations of the first building, and the corner-stone was laid, the effort was only begun As the work proceeded and they had used up all their available means, then he (Mr. Dickinson,) would pledge his pri- vate property to the bank to obtain money that the work might go on. And when there was no money to pay for the teams to draw the brick or men to drive them, his own horses were sent for days and weeks till in one season two or three of them fell by the wayside. Sometimes his own laborers were sent to drive his horses, and in an emergency he went himself, rather than that the work should cease." At the same time, he boarded more or less of the workmen, and sometimes paid their wages out of his own pocket, while his wife and daughters toiled to board them With all the zeal and efforts of numerous friends and benefactors, the work would often have stopped, had he not pledged his property till the money could be raised. His own means at last began to fail. His business which was so large as to require all his time and care, suffered from his devo- tion to the public. He became embarrassed and at length actu- ally poor. And in his poverty he had the additional grief of feeling that his services were forgotten, like the poor wise man in the proverb who " by his wisdom delivered the city, yet no man remembered that same poor man." When Lane Seminary went into operation he was offered a situation as Steward, with the oversight and general manage- ment of the grounds. He accepted it, and remained at Cincin- nati endeavoring to bring order out of confusion and impart something of New England comfort and thrift to what was then western life. Having received the offer of a similar situation in connection with the Western Reserve College with the promise of a better support, he removed to Hudson, Ohio. After a year of great labor and many discouragements, he died at Hudson, April 22, 1838, at the age of sixty-two, in the full possession of his faculties and in the precious hope of rest and reward in heaven. His body was removed by the filial piety of one of his 122 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. sons and buried in the cemetery at Amherst, where he now lies by the side of the wife of his youth, amid the graves of his relatives and friends, and within sight of the College which he so loved and cherished and to which he devoted so many years of his life. Hezekiah Wright Strong continued to hold the office of Over- seer of the Charity Fund until 1846, and according to the usual plan of this work, the sketch of his life belongs properly to a later period in the history. But he was so intimately associated with Col. Graves and Esq. Dickinson, and so manifestly de- serves to rank with them among " the first three " working founders of Amherst College, that I shall anticipate and briefly sketch his life here. He was the son of Hon. Simeon Strong, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts, and was born in Amherst, December 24, 1768. He studied law in his father's office, and commenced the practice of his profession in Deerfield. But he returned to Amherst in season to be one of the founders of Amherst Academy, of which he sometimes playfully remarks that he was the father, and thus the grandfather if he was not also the father of Amherst College. When the removal of Williams College began to be agitated, he made up his mind, in common with others here and elsewhere, that it must come to Amherst. And with an ardor and promptness in carrying his thoughts into execution which was characteristic of the man, he went up to " the meeting- house hill," examined the ground and selected that place for the site of the College. He then called on Col. Graves and re- quested him to look it over with him, and there, one moonlight night, those two men measured the ground and marked the spot for the first building. Thus Amherst College had " a local hab- itation," for the first time, perhaps, in the mind of Mr. Strong, and he and Col. Graves set the first stake for " the School of the Prophets." And then those three zealous, earnest, enthusiastic, not to say visionary Christian men, Mr. Strong, Col. Graves arid Esq. Dickinson, went to their pastor and other ministers, to their brethren in the church and their neighbors generally, saying in the language of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, let us go unto that sacred hill, and let us take every man a HEZEKIAH WRIGHT STRONG. 123 beam and let us make there a place for the sons of the prophets where they may dwell. And they did so. And thus that sub- stantial building of brick and mortar went up very much in the same way and almost as rapidly as that rude and primitive dwell- ing for Elisha and his pupils went up on the banks of the Jor- dan. 1 Which of these three men originated the idea of vol- untary contributions of labor and material for the erection of this building, or whether it sprung up simultaneously in the minds of many, and which of the three labored the most assid- uously in raising the Charity Fund and made the greatest sacri- fices in the early establishment of the College, is a question which has been much discussed but need not be answered. They all did what they could. They all devoted their time, sacrificed their property, and impoverished their families, not perhaps directly, but indirectly in their zeal and enthusiasm for the College. Mr. Strong had a natural fondness for new schemes. The first ice-house and the first bathing-house in Amherst were built by him. The first Congress water that was brought to Amherst was introduced by him. A two-horse team, with empty barrels, was sent to Ballston and Saratoga, the barrels were filled from the springs and the water brought to Amherst where it was bot- tled for sale. But the demand was far from being equal to the supply. He was in advance of his age. This may be said of not a few of the founders of Amherst College. Mr. Webster ad- vocated many a political and social reform or new measures in anticipation of his contemporaries. And Rev. Daniel A. Clark, Hon. S. F. Dickinson, Col. Rufus Graves and H. Wright Strong, Esq., were all similarly constituted were all full of new ideas and enterprises were all men of ardent temperament and strong faith, and thus fitted to be pioneers of reform and progress. Otherwise they never would have founded Amherst College. Mr. Strong cultivated the primitive grace of hospitality, and opened his house most freely for the entertainment of strangers as well as for the reception of neighbors and friends. Two of his sons were educated in Amherst College in the Class of '25. HI. Kings 6 : 1-8. This passage was the text of Rev. Daniel A. Clark's ser- mon at the laying of the corner-stone. 124 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. One of these, Henry Wright Strong, entered when he was only ten years and eight months old, and graduated when he was fourteen. He was afterwards one of the brightest ornaments of the bar at Troy, N. Y., and a member of the New York Sen- ate. Through the influence of Hon. Samuel C. Allen, Mr. Strong obtained the appointment of Postmaster in Amherst, and with the support of his son-in-law, Mr. McConihe of Troy, held it through several successive administrations. We can scarcely refrain from noticing how many of the founders of the College received their reward for their services to the cause of education in the prosperity and filial piety of their well-educated children. Mr. Strong died at Troy, N. Y., October 7, 1848, at the age of eighty. There is a rugged romance in the lives of some of these early founders of Amherst College, which, if drawn out into particu- lars, would form an instructive and moving tale. Or rather here is an unwritten history of toils and sufferings, self-denials and sacrifices for the public good which is worthy of a place in the Book of Heroes and Martyrs. Nay, their lives, if written, would read not a little like the lives of those Old Testament saints whom the apostle enrolls as examples of faith in the eleventh chapter of his epistle to the Hebrews not perfect any more than they were, unsymmetrical perhaps and unfinished as they were, rugged and rough, it may be, like some of the old prophets and judges, but, like them, strong in faith and therefore valiant in fight, mighty in endurance, heroic in good deeds, almost prophetic in their confident anticipation of a triumphant issue to their apparently hopeless undertaking. Nor was this spirit confined to the leaders. It pervaded the rank and file. It in- spired the men, women and children of Amherst. Not that we suppose they were all influenced solely by Christian motives; perhaps none of them were free from the influence of local con- siderations and personal interests. But they were all ready to deny themselves and sacrifice the present for the future, the lower for the higher good. And very many of all ages and both sexes, we doubt not, devoted their time and toil and property and reputation to the work in the very spirit of missionaries, for the defence of the truth, for the propagation of a pure faith, OTHER FOUNDERS. 125 for the conversion of the world, and for the honor of their Divine Redeemer. Time would fail me to enumerate those who were never Trustees or Overseers of the Fund, and who never re- ceived any public recognition of their services. There was Col. Elijah Dickinson, who gave the land on which the earliest Col- lege buildings were all erected, but who died before the corner- stone of one was laid. There was John Eastman, 1 who gave a thousand dollars to the Charity Fund, and five hundred to the thirty thousand dollars subscription, when his whole estate did not exceed ten or twelve thousand dollars. There were John Leland, Calvin Merrill, Jarib White, 2 and Joseph Church, Jr., who joined with Dr. Parsons, H. Wright Strong and Samuel F. Dickinson in signing the subsidiary bond and thus made them- selves responsible jointly and severally for the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. We give these only as specimens. From these learn the rest. Their names are all written in heaven. " Before a stroke was struck which led to the founding and establishment of Amherst College," says President Humphrey 3 " God had been raising up and qualifying agents altogether unconsciously to themselves, to take the lead in the enterprise. And in looking over the whole ground I have no hesitation in putting the name of Rufus Graves first. He was an educated man of a remarkably sanguine temperament. He poured his whole soul into whatever he undertook, and made light of ob- stacles which in the very beginning would have discouraged any other man. As he proceeded in circulating the subscription, it absorbed his whole mind. It became a perfect passion with him. It may almost be said that he thought and talked of nothing else. So entirely was he devoted to this one object, that for weeks, when he was abroad, he forgot that he had a family at home to care for. In this arduous service, he spent , 4 and 1 Father of Rev. O. Eastman, Secretary of American Tract Society, of Rev. John Eastman, and of Rev. David Eastman of the Class of '35. 2 Father of Mrs. President Hitchcock. 8 In a manuscript which he prepared at the request of the Trustees to aid in furnishing materials for a history. 4 The amount of time is left blank in the manuscript. It was a little less than a year after the adoption of the constitution, that this subscription was completed. It was a year and eight months, however, which Col. Graves had devoted to the effort of raising funds, from the first. 126 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. succeeded at last in raising the subscription with a responsible guarantee to fifty thousand dollars. This, it was believed, no other man could have done. And without this fund Amherst College never could have been built or got a charter. " But he never could have originated and successfully prose- cuted the enterprise without the checks and balances of cooler heads. Such men also God had raised up to carry forward the undertaking. They were men of faith and prayer. They were such men as Noah Webster, Samuel F. Dickinson, Nathaniel Smith, Rev John Fiske, Rev. Thomas Snell, Rev. Joshua Crosby, Rev. Theophilus Packard, John Leland all good men and true with others of like precious faith. 1 I have (with common consent I believe) placed Col. Graves at the head of the list. And from all the information I can get, Mr. Dickinson is enti- tled to stand next as his intimate adviser and helper. Although ardent, enterprising and hopeful himself in an eminent degree, he was such a cool and reliable adviser as Col. Graves needed, and he was untiring in his personal services as well as liberal in his contributions." 1 We shall pay our tribute to these men each in due season. CHAPTER X. PRESIDENT HUMPHREY'S ADMINISTRATION FROM 1823 TO 1825 STRUGGLE FOR THE CHARTER. PRESIDENT MOORE died in June, 1823. In July of the same year, Rev. Heraan Humphrey was chosen to the presidency. His ministry of ten years in Fairfield, Conn., had been eminently useful and successful. He had now been nearly six years pas- tor of the church in Pittsfield, Mass. His labors in both these places had been blessed with revivals of religion of great power. He was already recognized as a pioneer and leader in the cause of temperance. He was a zealous champion of orthodoxy, evan- gelical religion, Christian missions, and of all the distinctive principles of the founders of Amherst College. In recognition of his high standing as an able divine and an efficient pastor, he had just received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Middlebury College. Although a Berkshire pastor, and a Trustee of Williams College, he felt the force of the rea- sons for its removal, 1 and when that plan was defeated by the action of the Legislature, he could not but sympathize with the high purpose and auspicious beginning of the Institution at Am- herst. There were ample reasons for his appointment. What were the arguments for or against his acceptance ? He speaks of this as " the most trying crisis of his pastoral life." He was ardently attached to his people. They were equally attached to him. To go, was to leave the pastoral office in one of the largest and most desirable congregations in the State. 1 In the convention at Northampton, of which Dr. Moore was President, and Dr. Nelson, Secretary, Dr. Humphrey was appointed the member for Berkshire, of a committee to raise funds for the removal of Williams College and its establishment at Northampton. 128 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. As pastor, he was eminently successful ; could he hope to be equally successful as President ? The Institution to which he was united, had no permanent foundation, except in the hearts and the prayers of its friends. Yet he could not look with in- difference on their efforts and sacrifices to promote a cause which lay so near his own heart. His parishioners smiled when they first heard of his invitation to Amherst ; when they learned that he was considering it, they remonstrated ; when he proposed a council of his brethren to aid him in deciding the question of duty, they declined to unite with him in calling it. He was obliged to call it without their co-operation or consent. The council advised him to accept the presidency. The congregation reluctantly consented, and the pastoral bond was dissolved. " Nothing now remained but to make arrangements for my re- moval, and to take those sad farewells which cost me more anguish of soul than anything in my long life, except the loss of children." 1 On the 15th of October, 1823, Dr. Humphrey was inducted into the presidency. It marks a characteristic of the Institution, perhaps also of the age, that a sermon was preached on the oc- casion. The preacher was Rev. Richard Salter Storrs, of Brain- tree, Mass. " It was a discourse of scope, adaptation, eloquence and power ; in all respects of such engrossing interest, as to make it no easy task for the speaker who should come after him. The wise Sophomores entertained serious doubts whether the Presi- dent could sustain himself in his inaugural. But this feeling soon subsided, and we were relieved of all our sophomoric fears and anxieties, as the President elect with a master's hand, opened the great subject of education education physical, mental, and moral, holding his audience in unbroken stillness for per- haps an hour and a half. If we were captivated by the eloquent preacher, we were not less impressed with the teachings and philosophy of the man who was to guide our feet in the paths of literature, science, and heavenly wisdom. That discourse established in our minds, his fitness for the position ; at once he seized upon our confidence and esteem." 2 1 See Memorial Sketches of Heman Humphrey and Sophia Porter Humphrey. 2 Manuscript letter of Hon. Lincoln Clark, of the Class of '25. PRESIDENT HUMPHREY'S INAUGURAL. 129 Cool and impartial criticism, after the lapse of almost half a century, can not but justify the admiration which President Humphrey's inaugural inspired in the minds of those who heard it. Perhaps nothing has ever proceeded from his pen which illustrates more perfectly, the strong common sense, the prac- tical wisdom, the sharp and clear Saxon style, the vigor of thought, fervor of passion and boldness, coupled sometimes with marvelous felicity of expression, and the healthy, hearty, robust tone of body, soul and spirit, which the Christian public for so many years admired and loved in Dr. Humphrey. 1 The self-distrust and anxiety with which he entered this un- tried and difficult field of labor are well drawn in the opening sentences. " It is a deeply afflictive and mysterious dispensa- tion of Providence which has so lately bereaved this infant Seminary of its head, and by which I am now brought with inexperienced and trembling steps to its threshold. If prayer offered to God without ceasing for Dr. Moore on his sick bed could have prolonged his invaluable life ; if professional assiduity could have warded off the fatal stroke ; or if agonized affection could have shielded him in her embrace, he had not died and left this favorite child of his adoption, to an early and perilous orphanage." The following lively paragraph will show the drift of his ideas on physical education. " If you would see the son of your prayers and hopes blooming with health and rejoicing daily in the full and sparkling tide of youthful buoyancy, if you wish him to be strong and athletic, careless of fatigue ; if you would fit him for hard labor and safe exposure to winter and summer ; or if you would prepare him to sit down twelve hours in a day with Euclid, Enfield and Newton, and still preserve his health, you must lay the foundation accordingly, you must begin with him early, must teach him self-denial and gradually subject him to such hardships as will help to consolidate his frame and give increasing energ}*- to all his physical powers. His diet must be simple, his apparel must not be too warm, nor his bed too soft. 1 The writer will be pardoned for adding, that he has a special and personal rea- son for an affectionate remembrance of this inaugural, since it was the reading of it in a distant State, that brought him to Amherst College. 9 130 HISTOEY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. As good soil is commonly so much cheaper and better for chil- dren than medicine, beware of too much restriction in the man- agement of your darling boy. Let him in choosing his play, follow the suggestions of nature. Be not discomposed at the sight of his sand hills in the road, his snow forts in February and his mud dams in April, nor when you chance to look out in the midst of an August shower and see him wading and sailing arid sporting along with the water-fowl. If you would make him hardy and fearless, let him go abroad as often as he pleases in his early boyhood and amuse himself by the hour together in smoothing and twirling the hoary locks of winter. Instead of keeping him shut up all day with a stove and graduating his sleeping room by Fahrenheit, let him face the keen edge of the nortli wind when the mercury is below cypher, and instead of minding a little shivering and complaining when he returns, cheer up his spirits and send him out again." There is nothing more robust and racy than that in Mr. Beecher or any of the apostles of muscular Christianity in our day. On the second division of his discourse, Mental Education, he says : " That then must obviously be the best system of mental education which does most to develop and strengthen the intel- lectual powers, and which pours into the mind the richest streams of science and literature. The object of teaching should never be to excuse the student from thinking and reasoning, but to learn him how to think and reason. You can never make your son or your pupil a scholar by drawing his diagrams, measuring his angles, finding out his equations and translating his Majora. No, he must do all these things for himself. It is his own appli- cation that is to give him distinction. It is climbing the hill of science by dint of effort and perseverance, and not being carried up on other men's shoulders." In this view, he proceeds to make some very judicious re- marks upon the possibility of excessive simplification of text- books, abridgment of processes, teaching by lectures, itinerant lecturing and other labor-saving expedients, while at the same time he justly appreciates and describes with glowing eloquence the rapid and splendid conquests of general science, which shed such a glory upon the age. MORAL EDUCATION. 131 We can not withhold a sentence or two on the last division, Moral Education. " I do not merely say that this branch is in- dispensable, for in a sense it is everything. . . . Without the fear of God nothing can be secure for one moment. Without the control of moral and religious principles, education is a drawn and polished sword in the hands of a gigantic maniac. In his madness he may fall upon its point or bathe it in the blood of the innocent. . . . Every system of education should have reference to two worlds, but chiefly to the future, because the present is only the infancy of being, and the longest life bears no propor- tion to endless duration. . . . May a worm like one of us then aspire to the honor and happiness of guiding immortals to heaven? Who would exchange such a privilege for the dia- dems of all the Csesars?" The number of students at the time of Dr. Humphrey's ac- cession to the presidency was nineteen Seniors, twenty-nine Juniors, forty-one Sophomores, and thirty-seven Freshmen total, one hundred and twenty-six, of whom, we learn from the cover of the inaugural address, ninety-eight were hopefully pious. The Faculty, at the commencement of the new admin- istration, consisted of the same persons who were thus associated with President Moore, with the addition of Samuel M. Worces- ter as Tutor. On the catalogue of the next year, published in November, 1824, we find the name of Rev. Nathan W. Fiske in place of Joseph Estabrook, as Professor of the Latin and Greek Languages ; Samuel M. Worcester, Teacher of Languages and Librarian; and Jacob Abbott, Tutor all names familiar after- wards as Professors under the charter. The new President seems to have made no change in the studies of the Senior class, except that Locke disappears from the list and Vincent's Catechism is definitely announced for every Saturday a place which it continued to occupy through Dr. Humphrey's entire presidency. Instruction is also offered in the Hebrew, French and German Languages, to such as wish it, for a reasonable com- pensation. The President is still the sole teacher of the Senior class. He instructed them in Rhetoric, Logic, Natural Theology, the Evidences of Christianity, Intellectual and Moral Philoso- phy and Political Economy. He also presided at the weekly 132 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. declamations in the chapel, and criticised the compositions of one or more of the classes. He preached on the Sabbath, occa- sionally, in the village church, so long as the students worshiped there ; and when a separate organization was deemed advisable, he became the pastor of the College church and preached every Sabbath to the congregation. He also sustained (from the first, I believe,) a weekly religious lecture, on Thursday evening. He early drew up the first code of written and printed "Laws of the Collegiate Charity Institution," the original of which is still preserved in his own handwriting, and labored to introduce more perfect order and system into the still imperfectly organ- ized seminary. At the same time, he was compelled to take the lead in a perpetual struggle for raising funds and obtaining a charter. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that Dr. Hum- phrey did not at once command the highest respect and venera- tion of the students in the chair of instruction. Accustomed to love and almost worship his predecessor, they very naturally drew comparisons to his disadvantage. Dr. Moore had been a teacher for the larger part of his life. Dr. Humphrey had no experience in the government or the instruction of a College. His strength at this time was in the pulpit and the pastoral office. The students also contrasted his plain manners, his distance and reserve, with the courtly air and winning address of his prede- cessor. Hence, while he enjoyed their respect as a man, their confidence as a Christian, and their admiration as an eloquent preacher ; as a teacher and a president he was not popular with his earlier classes. " We received some remarkable instruction," writes a member of the first class that was taught by him and graduated under him ; " mainly concerning ethics and the eveiy- day aff.iirs of life, from President Humphrey. We were, how- ever, much less benefitted by his teachings than succeeding classes, for the reasons that he was not yet .experienced as a College lecturer, and that he was obliged to be often absent in soliciting aid for the Institution, and in struggling to extort a charter from a recusant Legislature. As a preacher and pastor we were well pleased with him. His character and deportment harmonized with the doctrines he inculcated. His fairness, THE GOOSE STORY. 133 charity and sincerity were beautiful. His pulpit ministrations were, of course, specially valuable for those who subsequently became clergymen. Upon these young men he impressed the stamp of his own ministerial style so distinctly, that it was rarely obliterated by any succeeding influence of theological seminaries. Thus Dr. Humphrey has shone with a reflected light through an entire generation of zealous pastors and able preachers." l Influenced by the religious character and reputation of the College, pious parents who had wild and wayward sons, were already beginning to send them in considerable numbers to Am- herst, in the hope of their reformation. These young men, like the youthful Saul of Tarsus, very naturally felt themselves in duty bound, to recalcitrate against these very moral and Chris- tian influences, and were, perhaps, peculiarly ready to practice on the Faculty such pranks and jokes as are the especial delight of Sophomores in College. A joke of this kind perpetrated about this time upon Dr. Humphrey, has already taken its place as a classic among the most famous of College stories, and de- serves to be narrated here, not only as illustrative of his character and administration, but because it proved a turning-point in his reputation. Perhaps it should be told for another reason, also, viz : that it may be told correctly ; for I have before me, at least, half a dozen versions of the story, all from eye-witnesses, yet, like the testimony of the eye-witnesses to the event seen by Sir Walter Raleigh, from the window of his prison, no two of them alike in their details. The Doctor's recollection is more likely to be correct, than that of the students, and the story can not be better told than in his own words : " Two rooms in the old College had been thrown together for a temporary chapel, with a small, rough desk at one end, in which it was thought a good joke, I suppose, only to try ones metal, and see whether it would ring or not. Accordingly one morning as I came into prayers, I found the chair preoccupied by a goose. She looked rather shabby to be sure, nevertheless it was a veritable goose. Strange as it may seem, she did not salute me with so much as a hiss for my unceremonious intru- i Prof. C. U. Shepard, Class of '24. 134 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. sion. It might be because I did not offer to take the chair. As anybody might venture to stand a few moments, even in such a presence, I carefully drew the chair up behind me as close as I safely could, went through the exercises, and the stu- dents retired in the usual orderly manner ; not more than two or three, I believe, having noticed anything uncommon. In the course of the day it was reported that as soon as they found out what had happened, they were highly excited and proposed calling a College meeting, to express their indignation that such an insult had been offered by one of their number. The hour of evening prayers came, and at the close of the usual exer- cises, I asked the young gentlemen to be seated a moment. I then stated what I had heard, and thanked them for the kind interest they had taken in the matter, told them it was just what I should expect from gentlemen of such high and honor- able feelings, but begged them not to give themselves the least trouble in the premises. ' You know,' I said, ' that the Trus- tees have just been here to organize a College Faculty. Their intention was to provide competent instructors in all the depart- ments, so as to meet the capacity of every student. But it seems that one student was overlooked, and I am sure they will be glad to learn that he has promptly supplied the deficiency, by choosing a goose for his tutor. Par noUle fratrum.' ' The effect may well be imagined. It is thus told by one of the students : " As the boys went down the stairs after morning prayers, there was first the whisper, then the mirthful interro- gation, and then the loud shout. * Did you see the gander, the gander in the Old Prex's chair ? ' ' Hurrah for the gander ! ' 4 A gander for President ! ' Presidential stock which was not above par before, went down that morning to a very low figure. " But at evening prayers the tables were turned. The Presi- dent's 'Par nobile fratrum,' with its accompanying bow of dismissal, was instantly followed by a -round of applause. And such shouts of derision as the boys raised while they went down those three flights of stairs, crying, ' Who is brother to the goose ? ' ' Who is brother to the goose ? ' The question was never answered. But from that hour presidential stock went PETITION FOR A CHARTER. 135 up to a high figure, and never descended while I had any per- sonal acquaintance with Amherst College." l " As the students passed out of the chapel," writes another student, "there was a general inspection of outer garments, especially among a certain class of the students who were pre- disposed to fun and mischief, to see if feathers or at least down, might not betray the unlucky wight who had inducted the new tutor into office and who had now found his proper place as brother to the goose." 2 But while the President was thus working his way into the respect and affections of the students, the necessity for a charter was growing more and more imperative, for one class after an- other was advancing towards the close of their curriculum, and finding that there was no prospect of their receiving a diploma, they grew dissatisfied, and it was with increasing difficulty that they were persuaded to continue and complete their course when there was so little chance that they would ever be able to receive a diploma. "We must now go back a little, and trace the efforts to obtain a charter from their beginning. The first application to the Legislature of Massachusetts for a charter was made in the winter session of 1823. The peti- tion of President Moore that the " Institution in Amherst for giving a classical education to pious young men, may be incor- porated," 3 was referred to a Joint Committee of the two Houses on the 17th and 18th of January. The friends of the College, including President Moore, appeared before the committee, and after presenting their claims for a charter, modestly asked or proposed that the question be referred to the next General Court, and the committee having 'agreed to report according to this request, they returned to Amherst not doubting that such a reference, almost always granted as a matter of cour- tesy, would as usual be granted to them. On the 25th of Jan- uary, the committee reported according to expectation, that the petition be referred to the next General Court. But so far from being treated with the usual courtesy, the report was not 1 Rev. T. R. Cressey, Class of '28. 2 Rev. Asa Billiard, Class of '28. 8 Such is the language of the journal of the Legislature. I have been unable to find a copy of the petition either printed or writteu. 136 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. accepted, and the petition was unceremoniously rejected by both Houses, nearly all the members voting against it, including the representative from Amherst. 1 Such uncourteous and unreasonable opposition only increased the number and zeal of the friends of the College. Nothing daunted, they resolved to renew their application for a charter at the very next session. Accordingly in June, 1823, a petition was presented by Rev. Dr. Moore, Hon. John Hooker and others of the Trustees of Amherst Academy, representing that the said Trustees had been intrusted with the funds of the Collegiate In- stitution at Amherst, stating the character and progress of the In- stitution, and requesting that they might be invested with such corporate powers as are usually given to the Trustees of Colleges. At the same session of the Legislature a memorial was pre- sented from the subscribers of the Charity Fund, representing that they had associated together for the purpose of founding an Institution on principles of charity and benevolence for the instruction of youth in all the branches of literature and science usually taught in Colleges, stating that they had committed the management of their fund to the Trustees of Amherst Acad- emy under whose direction the Institution had prospered beyond their most sanguine expectations, and praying that the request of said Trustees to be invested with corporate powers, might be granted. The petition and memorial were referred to a Joint Committee from both Houses of the Legislature. Of this com- mittee consisting of seven members, six agreed in a report in favor of the petitioners having leave to bring in a bill. In the remarks of Hon. Sherman Leland, chairman of this committee, in presenting this report to the Senate, it is stated, that the allegations of the petitioners have been substantially supported, that the Trustees of Amherst College have indeed received in trust, a subscription of a permanent fund of fifty 1 An old feud between the East and West Parishes, originating in party politics and personal animosities, extended its influence to the College. The Amlierst representative in the winter session of 1823 was a member of the East Parish, and a "Democrat." The next two years the town was represented by a member of the West Parish, who voted for the charter. In this quarrel which has long since ceased, the East street was familiarly called Sodom, and the West, Mount Zion. REMARKS OF HON. MR. LELAND. 137 thousand dollars of which forty-four thousand dollars has al- ready been secured by actual payment or by notes or bonds to the satisfaction of the Overseers ; that a new subscription has been commenced, payable on condition that thirty thousand dol- lars shall be subscribed, by the 28th of June, which, judging from the advanced state of the subscription, will unquestionably be done ; that after deducting a debt of about fifteen thousand dollars incurred for buildings, library and apparatus, the monied funds may be estimated at about sixty-five thousand dollars, and the buildings and other property at thirty thousand dollars, making the whole amount of property belonging to the Institu- tion ninety-five thousand dollars ; and that the income of these monied funds will pay the bills of a large number of pious and indigent young men, which income, together with the College' bills of others who are not charity students, and whose whole expense at Amherst need not exceed one hundred dollars a year, will be sufficient to support a competent number of able in- structors. On such a showing, the Trustees and donors and the friends of the Institution demand an act of incorporation not merely as a favor but as their right. In answer to the objection that if this College is chartered, its prosperity may injure the other Colleges of the State, Mr. Leland argues that there will always be a sufficient number of gentlemen of opulence who will choose to send their sons to Cambridge, while if students from the middling walks of life can be educated at Amherst at one-third the expense of an education at Cambridge, it will be so much clear gain to the Commonwealth ; and in regard to Williams College, it is sufficient to say that its numbers are not yet diminished, while the two Institutions now contain more than double the number that were in the habit of going to Wil- liamstown before the Institution at Amherst was established. After listening to these remarks of the chairman of the Joint Committee, without further discussion, the Senate voted on Monday, June 9th, to refer the consideration of the report to the next session of the same General Court, 1 and on Tuesday the 10th, the House of Representatives concurred with the 1 At this time, the Massachusetts Legislature held two annual sessions, the sura- mer session commencing in Maj, and the winter session commencing in January. 138 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Senate in so referring it. Just fifteen days after, President Moore sickened, and, after an illness of only four days, died, his death being hastened, no doubt, if not caused by repeated disappointments and delays in the incorporation of the College, and his toils and cares now devolved on his successor. Both parties now made good use of the intervening time to prepare for the approaching conflict. The Trustees of Williams College prepared and presented a remonstrance against the in- corporation of Amherst as an encroachment on the territory, an invasion of the rights and injurious to the prosperity of the In- stitution under their care. No remonstrance came from Harvard, and the newspapers of that day remark upon the contrast to the disadvantage of Williams ; but the friends and supporters of. Harvard were for the most part unfriendly to the chartering of another College in the State, and used their influence against it as zealously, and for a time as effectually, as they had opposed the chartering of Queen's College in the same section in 1760. Brown University at this time had nearly a hundred students from Massachusetts ; and its patrons very naturally looked with a jealous eye upon the growth and prosperity of Amherst as prejudicial to their favorite Institution. l Local feeling carried not a few of the neighboring towns, and no small portion of the inhabitants of Amherst itself, in opposition to the College in the days of its early weakness. 2 And to complete the catalogue of opposing powers, last not least, the same theological prejudice and passion which opposed and for some time defeated the incorpora- tion of the Theological Seminary at Andover and of the Amer- ican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions were now arrayed against Amherst College, and with the same result. To counteract so far as possible all these opposing influences, a committee of the Trustees prepared a statement which was 1 " One of the most severe and satirical speeches against Amherst in the Legisla- ture, was spoken as a declamation at Brown, and heard with shouts of laughter by the students, to the no small amusement and gratification of the President and Professors." One of these Professors afterwards sent his son to Amherst, who, in the language of that son, " would as soon have cut off his right hand as to have sent a son to Amherst a few years previous." 2 "During the year in which the first building was erected, I was fitting for Col- lege at the Academy in Hadley, and there I heard good people speak of it as a ' Monument of Amherst Folly.' " Hon. Lincoln Clark, Class of '25. PETITION RENEWED. 189 widely circulated, both in the form of a pamphlet and through the newspaper press. It contains, among other documents, a cer- tificate of the Treasurer, John Leland, Jr., that (in addition to the sum of fifty thousand dollars previously subscribed for a permanent fund, and in addition to many generous donations in materials, work and money towards the erection of College buildings and a President's house) the proposed subscription of thirty thousand dollars, which was commenced the 28th of June, 1822, was actually completed, according to the conditions, in one year from that date. It announces also, that since the last session of the Legislature, the venerable Dr. Moore has left to the Institution a residuary legacy which is valued at about five thousand dollars, and Mr. Adam Johnson has also bequeathed to it about five thousand dollars. It gives a table showing the distance of Amherst from other Colleges, and its central situa- tion in regard to Western Massachusetts, and especially in the old County of Hampshire, " which, according to the catalogues of 1823, furnishes one hundred and twenty-nine College stu- dents, only eight of whom are at Harvard, and nineteen at Wil- liams/' It also states that a mail-stage, running between Hart- ford, and Hanover, N. H., passes by the College every day of the week except Sunday, and another running between Boston and Albany, passes by the College four times a week, which regula- tion commenced the first of January instant, (1824.) From an examination of the catalogues for 1823 of Colleges in which New England students are educated, it is shown that out of five hundred and sixty-nine students furnished by Massachusetts, three hundred and six (a considerable majority) choose to go to other Institutions rather than Harvard or Williams, and that fifty-eight more go out of the State than come into it for an education, whereas one hundred and forty-eight more go into the State of Connecticut than go out of it, and while Rhode Island furnishes only forty-two students to other Colleges, Brown University in that State contains one hundred and fifty- four students, ninety-four of whom are from Massachusetts all of which, in the opinion of the committee, is a plain demon- stration that the honor, the interest and the public opinion of the State call for another incorporated College. 140 HISTORY OF AMHEBST COLLEGE. On Wednesday, the 21st of January, 1824, according to the vote of reference passed at the summer session, the report of the Joint Committee in favor of granting a charter, came up in the Senate, and it was debated during the greater part of three days by twelve of the ablest members. The first day the char- ter was earnestly advocated by five senators, and as earnestly opposed by three. The second day, the friends of the charter had the field all to themselves, and three senators occupied with their arguments nearly the whole time usually given to debate. On the third day, the oppcsers rallied, and two senators spoke in opposition, and Hon. Mr. Leland, the chairman of the com- mittee, who had spoken also on each of the two preceding days, now concluded the argument in favor of an act of incorporation. The longest and one of the ablest speeches in behalf of the College, was made by Hon. Samuel Hubbard, 1 of Boston. He says that the objections against the charter, so far as he has learned, are four, all founded on local or petty considerations. 1, That another College is not needed. 2, That Williams Col- lege will be injured. 3, That it is inexpedient to multiply Col- leges. 4, That the petitioners will ask for money. In answer to the first objection, he argues that there is a great want of men of education and piety and morals ; and that this want is felt by the good people of the Commonwealth, is proved by their voluntary contributions to the Institution at Amherst. " There is seldom an instance of a College being founded like this, by the voluntary contributions of thousands. Out of the fifty Colleges in England, there is not one but what was founded by an individual, except Christ College, in Oxford." In answer to the second objection, he points to the fact that the number of students at Williams College has increased from an average of sixty or seventy, to one hundred and eighteen, and that of Am- herst being one hundred and twenty-six, the two Institutions contain more than three times the previous average at Williams. In reply to the third objection, he insists, as many other sena- tors did, that small Colleges are better than large ones, and two hundred students can be governed and instructed much better than four hundred. In answer to the fourth objection, several 1 Afterwards Judge Hubbard of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. SPEECH OF HON. SAMUEL HUBBARD. 141 preceding speakers had argued that granting the charter did not involve the necessity or the duty of giving money ; but Mr. Hubbard said, " What if it does ? Such grants do not impov- erish the State. The liberal grants which have been made to Harvard and Williams, are the highest honor of the State, and have redounded to the good of the people." Meeting boldly and on high ground the prejudice against Am- herst as an Orthodox Institution, Mr. Hubbard declares, that " all that is great and good in our land, sprung from Orthodoxy. The spirit of Orthodoxy animated the Pilgrims whom we de- light to honor as our forefathers. It has founded all our Col- leges and is founded on a Rock." More than one of the speakers reminded the Senate that Am- herst represented not only the Orthodoxy, but the yeomanry of Massachusetts, and they must be prepared to give an account of their votes to the mass of the people. " If we refuse a char- ter," said Hon. Mr. Fiske, " how are we when we leave this hall, how are we to face the mass of population who are interested in this College ? They will say, ' you incorporate theatres, you incorporate hotels, you have incorporated a riding school. Are you more accommodating to such institutions than to those which are designed to promote the great interests of literature, science, and religion ? ' ' " By refusing a charter," says Hon. Mr. Leland, " the great body of country citizens are wantonly deprived of the privilege of a College. Something more than the feelings of Orthodoxy will be awakened. The people will feel that there is a disposi- tion on the part of Government to maintain an aristocratic mo- nopoly. And rely upon it, your next election will bring persons here who will acknowledge the rights of the people." The vote was at length taken, on Friday, January 23d, and the question being on the acceptance of the report, giving leave to bring in a bill, twenty -two out of thirty-seven voted in the affirmative. On Tuesday, January 27th, the subject was taken up in the House of Representatives, and debated with much earnestness on that and the three following days, and then postponed till the next week. On Tuesday, February 3d, it was resumed, and 142 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. further discussed, and the question being taken, on concurring with the Senate, it was decided in the negative by a majority of nineteen votes out of one hundred and ninety-nine. " So," says the editor of the Boston Telegraph, (Gerard Hal- lock,) "the House declined to incorporate the College. Al- though the result is not such as the numerous friends of the College could have wished, it is certainly no discouraging cir- cumstance that so great a change has taken place in the views of the Legislature on the subject, and especially in the views of the community. Let the same spirit go on for a few months longer, and the Institution at Amherst will be, what it doubtless ought to be, a chartered College." Grieved, but not disheartened by this result, the guardians and friends of the College resolved to renew the application and began at once the preparations for a third campaign. The first campaign document was an announcement of their intention to apply again to the Legislature for a charter, together with a concise statement of the reasons why such a petition ought to be granted. This document, signed by President Humphrey and bearing date, March 12, 1824, was published in more than thirty newspapers in all parts of the Commonwealth. And such was the sympathy manifested by the press, and such also, the increase in the number of students, that a conundrum, started by the G-reenfield Gazette, went the rounds of the newspapers : " Why are the friends of Amherst College, like the Hebrews in Egypt ? Because the more they are oppressed, the more they multiply and prosper." The petition of the Trustees was backed by a petition of the founders and proprietors which was signed by about four-fifths of the subscribers to the Chanty Fund. And these were further supported by more than thirty petitions from as many different towns, and signed by more than five hundred subscribers to other funds. In the Senate, the petition was promptly referred to a committee of three, to be joined by the House. In the House an attempt was made to prevent even a reference. But after considerable discussion, this was almost unanimously voted down, and a committee of four members was joined to that already ap- pointed by the Senate, and all the petitions, together with a re- PRESIDENT HUMPHREY BEFORE THE COMMITTEE. 143 monstrance from Williams College, were referred to this Joint Committee. On Monday, May 31st, President Humphrey appeared before the Joint Committee, and, in the presence of a crowd of specta- tors, pleaded the cause of the petitioners in a speech which was as entertaining as it was unanswerable, and which Hon. Lewis Strong of Northampton, a competent and impartial judge, pro- nounced to be probably the ablest speech which was made in the State House during that session of that Legislature. On the following day, after an examination of witnesses, Homer Bartlett, Esq., of Williamstown, appeared on the part of the opposition and spoke against the incorporation, and was followed by Hon. Mr. Davis, Solicitor-General of the State, in an able and eloquent plea in favor of granting the charter. On Thurs- day, the committee reported that the petitioners have leave to bring in a bill. This report was brought before the Senate the same day, and accepted without any opposition. On Friday, the subject was taken up in the House, and after considerable debate, assigned to eleven o'clock on Tuesday of the ensuing week. Thus the consideration of the matter was put off to within five days of the close of the session. When it came up again on Tuesday, a desperate effort was made to secure first an indefinite postponement, and then a reference to the next session. Both these motions having been negatived by a large majority, the House adjourned to four o'clock P. M., when an animated and earnest discussion ensued, which continued till a late hour in the evening, and was resumed at nine o'clock the next morning. 1 " It was strenuously argued in opposi- tion, chiefly by members from Berkshire and our own neigh- borhood, that a third College was not wanted in Massachusetts; that according to our own showing, we had not funds to sustain a College ; that nothing like the amount presented on paper would ever be realized ; and that there was reason to believe 1 One of the ablest advocates of the claims of the College, in this debate, was Bradford Sumner, Esq., of Boston, who was, I believe, a partner of Judge Hub- bard, in the law. On the other side, Rev. Mr. Mason, of Northfield, a rum-selling and pugnacious Unitarian minister, read a speech an hour long, which was full of scorn about "Orthodoxy," "hopeful piety," "evangelizing the world," etc., etc. 144 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. that many of the subscriptions had been obtained by false rep- resentations." 1 Under the influence of such suggestions a resolution was brought forward to refer the report of the Joint Committee, and all the papers relating to the subject, to a committee of five members with power to send for persons and papers, to sit at such time and place as they should deem expedient, and to in- quire in substance, 1st, what reliable funds the Institution had ; 2d, what means had been resorted to by the petitioners, or by persons acting in their behalf, to procure subscriptions, and 3d, what methods had been adopted to obtain students ; this com- mittee to report to the House at its next session. After a warm discussion which lasted for three days, and when nearly sixty of the members had already gone to their homes, on the 10th of June, 1824, this resolution was adopted by a vote of 109 to 89, and the Committee of Investigation was appointed. The committee, nominated by the chair, " were all intelligent, fair-minded men, but not one of them sympathized with us in our well-known Orthodox religious opinions. This, we thought, might unintentionally on their part, operate against us. But in the end it proved for our advantage." 2 It was confidently predicted by many that " this search-war- rant would settle the question against the College by showing that the pecuniary basis on which it rested was fictitious." But its friends kept up good courage. " The tide of public opinion," they said 3 "has already begun to set strongly in our favor, and ere long, we venture to say, it will not be in power of mounds and dikes to withstand it. Per varies casus, per tot discrimina rerum Tendiinus in Latium : Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis." The Investigating Committee having given notice that they would meet at Boltwood's Hotel in Amherst on Monday the 4th of October, that was to be the scene of the next act in the drama, and this part of the story can not be better told than in the language of Dr. Humphrey, who was the chief actor in it. 1 Dr. Humphrey's Historical Sketches. 2 Ibid. 8 Boston Telegraph, June 17, 1824. THE INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE. 145 "Our next business was to prepare for the investigation. We never claimed to have any endowment, except a subscription of fifty thousand dollars as a permanent fund to help educate pious young men for the ministry ; and although this was a bona fide subscription, a large part of which had been paid, it was not in the best condition to abide the searching inquisition of the Leg- islative Committee. As none of the subscribers were holden unless the sum was made up to fifty thousand dollars, several individuals were obliged, after all the papers were returned, to guarantee the deficiency, which amounted to about fifteen thou- sand dollars. This guarantee they made in good faith, but as they had already subscribed very liberally it was understood that they must be relieved as soon as other subscriptions could be obtained. Besides this it was known that some of the sub- scribers to the fund refused to pay, alleging that they were de- ceived by the agents who circulated the papers. It was deemed essential by the Trustees that the fifteen thousand dollars should be lifted from the shoulders of the warrantors before the com- mittee came upon the ground, and this was no easy task. The question was, where, after having turned every stone, we could look for so much money and in so short a time. At the request of the Trustees I went to Boston, laid the case before a select meeting of our friends, and in a few days obtained about half the sum which was needed. The rest was made up by the Trustees, Faculty and other friends in Amherst and vicinity. 1 " The Investigating Committee notified us of the time when we might expect them. Two or three weeks before the time, an agent from Williams College called upon our Treasurer with an order from the chairman of the Investigating Committee to submit our subscription list to his inspection, and thus vir- tually to aid him in preparing for the prosecution ! The de- mand was referred by the Treasurer to our Prudential Commit- tee. Upon consultation they could not see by what right or authority our papers were thus prematurely demanded. They accordingly directed me to return substantially this answer : that we had been notified of the appointment of the Legislative 1 Some of the old subscribers took pretty large shares in this new stock : Dr. Humphrey himself subscribed five hundred dollars. 10 146 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Committee and their intention to come to Amherst and look into our condition, that we believed the committee had not au- thorized their chairman to demand any of our papers in advance of their meeting for any purpose, least of all for the purpose of inspection by one who was not a member of the committee, and that at the proper time and place all should be put into the committee's hands. Baffled in this application for the means of looking up our subscribers to testify against us, the agent was left to find them as best he could, and to do him justice, he was very successful, as appeared when he brought them personally, and by their affidavits, before the committee. The investiga- tion commenced on the 4th of October, 1824, and continued till the 19th. In their report the committee say that the Trustees appeared before them with counsel, and afforded every facility in investigating the affairs of the Institution, and discovered the utmost readiness to lay before them all the transactions of the Board and its agents ; and that three distinguished gentle- men appeared as counsel for the remonstrants against the peti- tion for a charter, and gave great aid to the committee in con- ducting the investigation. 1 " Rarely has there been a more thorough and searching in- vestigation. All our books and papers were brought out and laid upon the table. Nothing was withheld. Every subscrip- tion, note and obligation was carefully examined, and hardly anything passed without being protested by the able counsel against us. Our principal agent in obtaining the subscriptions (Col. Graves) was present and closely questioned. A lawyer who had been employed to look up testimony against us, was there with the affidavits which he had industriously collected, and, at his request, a large number of subpoenas were sent out to bring in dissatisfied subscribers. The trial lasted a fortnight. The room was crowded from day to day with anxious listeners. 1 Hon. W. W. Ellsworth, son-in-law of Noah Webster, afterwards Governor and then Chief Justice of Connecticut, aided by Messrs. Billings of Hatfield and Bolt- wood of Amherst, was the counsel for the Trustees. On the part of the remon- strants appeared Messrs. Dewey (afterwards Judge Dewey of Northampton,) Bartlett of Williamstown, Willard of Springfield, and Conkey of Amherst. The Investi- gating Committee consisted of Messrs. Phelps of Hadley, Sprague of Salem, Lin- coln of "Worcester, Webster of Boston and Smith of Milton. AMUSING INCIDENTS. 147 Were we to live or die ? Were we to have a charter, or to be forever shut out from the sisterhood of Colleges? That was the question, and it caused many sleepless nights in Amherst. Whatever might be the result, we cheerfully acknowledged that the committee had conducted the investigation with exemplary patience and perfect fairness. When the papers were all dis- posed of, the case was ably summed up by the counsel, and the committee adjourned. " Many incidents occurred in the progress of the investigation which kept up the interest, and some of which were very amus- ing, but I have room for only two. Among our subscriptions there was a very long list, amounting to several hundred dollars, of sums under one dollar, and not a few of these by females and children under age. On these, it was obvious at a glance, there might be very considerable loss. This advantage against us could not escape gentlemen so astute as our learned opponents. It was reported, and I believe it was true, that they sat up nearly all night drawing off names and figuring, so as to be ready for the morning. Getting an inkling of what they were about, three of our Trustees drew up an obligation, assuming the whole amount, whatever it might be, and had it in readiness to meet the expected report. 1 The morning came ; the session was opened ; the parties were present ; the gentlemen who had taken so much pains to astound the committee by their discov- ery were just about laying it on the table, when the obligation assuming the whole amount was laid on the table by one of the subscribers. I leave the reader to imagine the scene of disap- pointment on the one side and of suppressed cheering on the other. It turned out to be a fair money operation in our favor. " The other incident was still more amusing. When the notes came up to pass the ordeal of inquiry and protest, one of a hundred dollars was produced from a gentleman in Danvers. ' Who is this Mr. P. ? ' demanded one of the lawyers. * Who knows anything about his responsibility.' ' Will you let me look at that note, sir?' said Mr. S. V. S. Wilder, one of our Trust- tees. After looking at it for a moment, taking a package of 1 A copy of this obligation is still preserved. The names of the Trustees affixed are J. E. Trask, Nathaniel Smith and John Fiske. 148 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. bank-bills from his pocket he said: 'Mr. Chairman, I will cash that note,' and laid down the money. It was not long before another note was protested in the same way. ' Let me look at it,' said Mr. Wilder. ' I will cash it sir,' and he laid another bank-bill upon the table. By-and-by a third note was objected to. ' I will cash it, sir,' said Mr. Wilder, and was handing over the money when the chairman interposed : ' Sir, we did not come here to raise money for Amherst College,' and declined receiving it. How long Mr. Wilder's package would have held out I do not know, but the scene produced a lively sensation all around the board, and very few protests were offered after- wards. " The appointment of this commission proved a real windfall to the Institution. It gave the Trustees opportunity publicly to vindicate themselves against the aspersions which had been in- dustriously cast upon them, and it constrained them to place the Charity Fund on a sure foundation. The investigation to be sure, cost us some time and trouble ; but it was worth more to us than a new subscription of ten thousand dollars." l In the progress of the investigation, the committee, at the re- quest of the opposing counsel, summoned a number of sub- scribers who refused to pay, to appear and give their reasons. Their excuse was that when they subscribed, they were assured by the agents that there was no doubt Williams College would be removed to Amherst, and as it was not removed, they did not consider themselves bound to pay. Affidavits to the same effect were also presented. The object of all this was to prove that subscriptions were obtained by false pretenses. To make the most of this argument, a pamphlet was immediately pre- pared and brought out for circulation, containing the testimony and affidavits before the committee, together with a number of letters from other subscribers who declined payment for the same or similar reasons. When the General Court met in Jan- uary, the Representatives found this pamphlet in all their seats, forestalling, as it were, the report of the Investigating Commit- 1 In these quotations from Dr. Humphrey, I have followed indiscriminately his Historical Sketches and his address in 1853, according as the one or the other was the more full and graphic. BEPOBT. 149 tee. How it came there, every man was left to judge for him- self, in view of all the circumstances. It was never denied that it proceeded from the same source as the opposition before the committee. l On the 8th of January, 1825, the question was called up in the House, and the report of the Investigating Committee was presented and read. On the first subject referred to them, viz., the amount of funds and the security on which they rest, the committee state that the funds of the Institution consist of vol- untary subscriptions and donations, principally for the fifty thou- sand dollar Charity Fund, and the thirty thousand dollar fund. Of the fifty thousand dollar subscription, they found about forty thousand dollars cash in hand, loans and notes well secured, some six or seven thousand dollars in College grounds or lands unsold, and nearly six thousand dollars still resting on the original sub- scriptions, most of which the subscribers are unable or refuse to pay. Of the thirty thousand dollar subscription they report over sixteen thousand dollars unpaid. But " this fund was payable in five equal annual installments, only two of which have yet fallen due. The amount of the liquidated debt of the Institution is seventeen thousand eight hundred and eighty-five dollars. The unliquidated debt is estimated at one thousand dollars." On the second point, viz., the means resorted to for obtaining subscriptions, the committee exonerate the Trustees and their agents of the charge of misrepresentation in regard to the re- moval of Williams College, and say: "There appears to have been nothing to show that the Trustees or persons employed in the government of the Institution have resorted to any improper or unusual means in obtaining subscriptions." On the third point, the committee are equally explicit in say- ing that they do not find that any unusual or improper measures have been adopted for obtaining students. 2 1 This pamphlet is still in existence. It is lively and piquant reading, especially that part of it which relates to the subscriptions of women and children : " Two hundred and six females ! Mostly married women and infants. Many infants not females. Many of twelve and a-half cents, some ten cents ! one of two cents, all payable annually for five years ! " 2 The enemies of President Moore charged him with exerting an undue and even an underhanded influence in drawing students from Williams to Amherst. In a 150 HISTOBY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. In conclusion, the committee say : " The refusal of the Leg- islature to grant a College charter to Amherst will not, it is believed, prevent its progress. Whenever there is an opinion in the community that any portion of citizens are persecuted (whether this opinion is well or ill-grounded) the public sym- pathies are directed to them ; and instead of sinking under op- position they almost invariably flourish and gain new strength from opposition. Your committee are therefore of opinion that any further delay to the incorporation of Amherst Institution would very much increase the excitement which exists in the community on this subject, and have a tendency to interrupt those harmonious feelings which now prevail and prevent that union of action so essential to the just influence of the State." Precisely what the committee meant by these last words may perhaps admit of some doubt. Probably, however, it is a euphe- mistic way of saying that they feared the effect of further delay on party politics it might, perhaps, turn the scale against the party now with difficulty maintaining the ascendency therefore they recommended the incorporation of the Institution at Am- herst ! Not a very elevated reason for a simple act of justice to the College and the increasing number of intelligent and worthy citizens who were its friends ! But it was better to do it for a poor reason than not to do it at all, just as it was better to do it late than never. And it was high time for them to do it on political grounds if they would not for better reasons ; for it was fast becoming a political question and threatened to revolution- ize the politics of the State. Some of the friends of Amherst, after the refusal of their charter in the winter session of 1823, ignoring party distinctions, had voted for candidates known to be friendly to the College, and the balance being nearly even be- tween the Federal and the Republican parties, they turned the testimony which was laid before the Committee of Investigation, signed by all the members of the Senior class who came from Williams, they resent this charge against their lamented President with great indignation, and declare that " if he ever expressed apparently sincere regret for anything, it was when we asked dis- missions from that College. He remonstrated on the ground of injury to that Insti- tution, till we were half dissuaded from our purpose." The original of this petition is preserved and deserves to be framed and perpetuated, not so much in vindication of Amherst College as for the lustre it reflects on the character of the first President. CHARTER GRANTED. 151 scale against Harrison Gray Otis, the candidate of the former, and in favor of William T. Eustis, the candidate of the lat- ter for Governor. 1 On the same principle they secured the re- election of Gov. Eustis in 1824. The same process might ere long have changed the political complexion of the Legislature. After repeated consideration and adjournment, with protracted and earnest debate day after day in the House, the question of accepting the report of the committee and giving leave to bring in a bill was at length brought to a vote on the 28th of January, and the yeas and nays being ordered, it was decided in the affirm- ative by a vote of one hundred and fourteen to ninety-five. The next day, January 29th, the Senate concurred with the House. And on the 21st of February, 1825, the bill, having been variously amended, passed to be enacted in both branches of the Legislature, and having received the signature of the Lieutenant Governor, Marcus Morton, 2 on the same day, became a law. Thus, after a delay of three years and a half from the opening, and a struggle of more than two years from the time of the first petition, the Institution at Amherst received a charter and was admitted to a name as well as a place among the Col- leges of Massachusetts. The charter confers upon the corporation, the rights and priv- ileges usually granted to the Trustees of such Institutions. Two or three provisions only are peculiar, and as such worthy of no- tice. The charter provides that the number of Trustees shall never be greater than seventeen, and that the five vacancies which shall first happen in the Board, shall be filled as they occur by the joint ballots of the Legislature in convention of both Houses ; and whenever any person so chosen by the Leg- islature shall cease to be a member of the corporation, his place shall be filled in like manner and so on forever. This provision, 1 In 1822, Mr. Eustis, the candidate of the Republican party was. defeated by a majority of 7,125 votes ; in 1823 he was elected by a majority of 4,232 votes. Mr. Otii is said to have met Mr. Eustis soon after the election and remarked to him : " They say, Mr. Eustis, that you are becoming Orthodox lately." " I do not know how that is, your Excellency," replied Mr. Eustis, " at any rate, I believe in the doctrine of Election." 2 Gov. Eustis died in office about two weeks previous. Lieutenant Governor Morton was one of the Trustees named in the charter which it thus devolved on him to sign. 152 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. quite unprecedented in the history of Massachusetts charters, was not in the bill, as first reported, but was introduced as an amendment in the course of the discussion. It was as illiberal as it was unprecedented. It should be remembered, however, to the credit of subsequent Legislatures, that they have usually appointed to such vacancies according to the nomination or the known wishes of the corporation, and in no instance filled them with persons obnoxious to the Faculty and friends of the Insti- tution. It is expressly provided in the last section of the charter, that the granting of it shall never be considered as any pledge on the part of government, that pecuniary aid shall hereafter be granted to the College. This provision was accepted by the friends of the College, perhaps suggested by them, in the hope of dis- arming or diminishing the opposition, knowing as they did, that whatever might be the provisions of the charter, each subse- quent Legislature would be governed by its own judgment on the question of granting pecuniary aid. The same section provides also, especially, that the Legislature of the Commonwealth may appoint and establish Overseers or Visitors of the College with all necessary powers for the better aid, preservation and government of it. This reserved right the Legislature has never yet seen fit to exercise. The seventh section reserves to the Legislature full power to unite Williams and Amherst Colleges into one University at Amherst, in case it should hereafter appear to the Legislature needful and expedient, provided also, that the President and Trustees of Williams College should agree so to do. This sec- tion of the charter was passed with considerable amendments and additions, as compared with the original bill. 1 The petition for a charter was signed by the President and Secretary as directed at a meeting of the Trustees of Amherst Academy, and asked that they, the said Trustees, without nam- ing them, might be incorporated as Trustees of Amherst Col- lege. And the original bill, as reported in 1823 and summarily rejected by both Houses, granted incorporation to the Trustees 1 The amendments and additions may be seen by comparing the two forms re- printed in the Appendix. NEW TRUSTEES. 153 of the Academy according to the petition. A printed copy of a bill reported at some later stage of the proceedings (which has come into my hands,) omits three of these original Trustees, viz : Rufus Graves, Esq., Rufus Cowles, M. D., and Rev. Daniel A. Clark. The act of incorporation, as passed in 1825, strikes out the names of three more of the old Trustees, viz : Nathaniel Smith, Esq., Rev. Experience Porter, and Rev. John Fiske, and includes the names of eight new men, viz : Hon. William Gray, Hon. Marcus Morton, Rev. Joseph Lyman, D. D., Hon. Jonathan Leavitt, Rev. Alfred Ely, Hon. Lewis Strong, Rev. Francis Way- land, and Hon. Elihu Lyman. The reasons for all these changes are not definitely known to the writer, nor has he been able to ascertain from documents or from the Journals of the Legisla- ture, the precise time or manner in which it was effected. It will not be difficult, however, for the reader to divine the motive for the exclusion of the old Trustees when he observes that the persons excluded were among the active agents in the founding of the College, and as such, particularly obnoxious to its ene- mies. Those sections of the bill above mentioned, which differ from the charter, may be seen and compared with the charter itself, in the Appendix. The Trustees named in the charter, although they were not all of them the men who would have been chosen by the friends of the College as most deserving of the honor, were doubtless the best they could get from the Legislature, and were, on the whole, quite satisfactory to the Institution. Nine of the seven- teen had been Trustees of Amherst Academy, and so had had the management of the affairs of the Charity Institution pre- vious to the act of incorporation. The majority of the new Trustees continued to be members of the Board only a short time, and by their resignation gradually opened the way for the re-instating of some of the original members. One of them, and only one, Rev. Alfred Ely, stood by the College through its sub- sequent trials and struggles, and became indissolubly associated with- its history. It was a glad day for Amherst when the charter was secured. President Humphrey and his associates, who had remained in Boston watching with intense anxiety the progress of the bill, 154 HISTORY OP AMHERST COLLEGE. returned home with light hearts. The messenger who first brought the news, was taken from the stage and carried to the hotel by the citizens. The hotel, the College buildings and the houses of the citizens were illuminated ; and the village and the College alike were a scene of universal rejoicing. On the 13th of April, the Trustees under the charter held their first meeting in Amherst, organized the Board and ap- pointed the Faculty. The first annual meeting of the Board under the charter was held on the 22d of August, 1825, which was the Monday preceding Commencement. At this meeting a code of laws was established for the government of the Col- lege, 1 a system of by-laws adopted to regulate the proceedings of the Trustees and their officers, and the organization of the Faculty was changed by the establishment of new professor- ships and completed by the choice of additional Professors. The salary of the President was fixed at twelve hundred dol- lars with the usual perquisites. The salaries of the Professors as they were voted at the first meeting of the Board, varied from eight hundred dollars to six hundred dollars. At the annual meeting, those which had been voted at six hundred dollars were raised to seven hundred dollars. 2 Rev. Edward Hitchcock was chosen Professor of Chemistry and Natural History, with a salary of seven hundred dollars and the privilege of being ex- cused for one year from performing such duties of a Professor as he might be unable to perform " on account of his want of full health." Mr. Jacob Abbott was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, with a salary of eight hundred dollars, " one hundred of which, however, are to be ap- propriated by him annually, with the advice of the other mem- bers of the Faculty, towards making repairs and additions to the philosophical apparatus." Mr. Ebenezer S. Snell was chosen Tutor in Mathematics with a salary of four hundred dollars. It was now voted to confer the degree of Bachelor of Arts 1 These laws w-ere essentially the same which had been previously established for the government of the Charity Institution. They seem to have been drawn up by Dr. Humphrey, in whose handwriting the original copy still exists. 2 At the annual meeting in 1827, it was voted that the Professors receive each a salary of eight hundred dollars : and the Professors have ever since all received the same salary. THE COLLEGE SEAL. 155 on " any young gentlemen who have previously received testi- monials of their College course in this College." The same degree was then voted to be conferred on twenty-two 1 young gentlemen of the Senior class who had been recommended by the Faculty. This class the Class of '25 was the first class that entered Freshmen and completed the course, and being the first to receive the degree of A. B., under the charter, were con- gratulated by the President on being " the first legitimate sons of the College." This raised in their minds the natural but rather funny question, " What was the legal status of preced- ing classes." They were, however, generous enough to allow that no stain rested on their predecessors. 2 But they were well come up with in this bantering. Some members of the previous classes, being present, said, "At the conclusion of our curric- ulum we all received testimonials that we were worthy of a di- ploma, which is more than ever was or ever can be said of some of you." The seal which was affixed to these diplomas, was procured by the President and Professors to whom that duty was assigned by the Trustees at their first meeting, and being approved and adopted by them at their first annual meeting, it has remained ever since the corporate seal of the College. The device is a sun and a Bible illuminating a globe by their united radiance, with the motto underneath : Terras Irradient. Around the whole run the words: SIGILL. COLL. AMHEEST. MASS. Nov. ANG. MDCCCXXV. This chapter containing the public history of the struggle for the charter, long as it is, would still be incomplete without an additional section, bringing to light some hidden and secret springs of action and influence. I have endeavored to do jus- tice in the foregoing pages to the Presidents who so nobly rep- resented the Institution in this trying emergency, to the Trust- ees and other friends, who, with their money, influence or per- sonal service, bravely defended it whenever and wherever it 1 In 1850, the Trustees conferred the degree of A. B., on three others who had been members of this class through the greater part of the course without com- pleting it, thus making twenty -five as the sum total on the Triennial Catalogue. 2 Letter of Hon. Lincoln Clark. 156 HISTORY OP AMHERST COLLEGE. was assailed, and to the wise and good men, friends of justice, learning and religion, who in the face of opposition and obloquy eloquently advocated its cause before the committee and the two Houses of the Legislature. But honor to whom honor is due requires me to perpetuate the memory of one whose name does not appear either on the journals of the Legislature, or in the records of the College, of whom I find no mention in any printed or written document pertaining to the history of Am- herst during this period, who yet bore a part in these proceed- ings scarcely second to any other, who sat behind the scenes touching the springs of action and guiding the affairs to a suc- cessful issue during these three eventful years, and then went away to inaugurate other enterprises of a similar kind without waiting for any reward or any public appreciation of his ser- vices. I refer to Rev. Austin Dickinson. Born in Amherst, February 15, 1791, graduated with honor at Dartmouth in 1813, studying law for a time in the office of Samuel Fowler Dickinson, Esq., and then studying Theology at Princeton, and with Dr. Perkins of West Hartford, Conn., li- censed to preach by the North Association of Hartford County in 1819, traveling two or three years for his health in the south- western States, and, while thus traveling and recruiting, found- ing a Theological Seminary in Tennessee and a religious news- paper in Richmond, Va., Mr. Dickinson returned to his native place in June, 1822, just in season to start the subscription for thirty thousand dollars. He had been a boarder in the fam- ily of Prof. Moore, when he was a student of Dartmouth Col- lege. Now in the library of President Moore, he drew up the subscription paper which was to relieve the embarrassments of Amherst. With the help of his brother, Rev. Baxter Dickinson, and others, he soon raised three tnousand dollars in the town which had already contributed apparently to the full extent of its ability, and then took a leading part in obtaining subscriptions abroad, till, at the end of the year, in June, 1823, the subscrip- tion was completed. When it became necessary to raise another subscription of fifteen thousand dollars in order to relieve the guarantors and put the Charity Fund in such a condition that it would bear the scrutiny of the Committee of Investigation, next EEV. AUSTIN DICKINSON. 157 to President Humphrey, Mr. Dickinson was still the principal agent. In short, for two or three years he was a beggar for the College, scarcely less persistent and indefatigable than Col. Graves had been before him. " When it became clear," I here use the words of Rev. Oman Eastman, secretary of the Ameri- can Tract Society, who was his townsman, kinsman and intimate friend, " When it became clear that the Federal party to which most of the best friends of Amherst College were allied, would never give the College a charter, he agitated the plan of chang- ing their votes to the Repiiblican party, and was the master spirit in the campaign which defeated the election of Harrison Gray Otis and secured the election of William T. Eustis for Governor, and Levi Lincoln for Lieutenant Governor in 1823. After their nomination, he visited Mr. Eustis and Mr. Lincoln, and was as- sured by them that if elected, they would give their influence in favor of the charter. He visited the Professors at Andover, and prominent ministers and influential laymen in different parts of the State to secure their co-operation. He wrote many let- ters to individuals and many stirring articles for the press ; in short, he was the efficient agent in touching the chords that vi- brated through the State and secured the desired result. "After the death of Dr. Moore, the most important thing for the College was to secure the right man for his successor. Mr. Dickinson's mind was fixed upon Dr. Humphrey. But there were great obstacles in the way of obtaining him. He was at Pittsfield, in the center of Berkshire County from which the strongest opposition to the College came. He was the pastor of a large and united church who were much attached to him. The prejudice against Amherst College was intense in many quarters. As an indication of public feeling, when the announcement of President Moore's death came to Andover, the late Rev. Prof. Gibbs said in the hearing of the writer, ' The question is whether they can get a successor ? ' Dr. Bacon re- sponded, ' The question is whether they ought to have a suc- cessor ? ' The writer replied with some warmth : ' Neither of these is any question at all there is no doubt that they can get a good man, and they ought to have the best man that can be found.' 158 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. " Mr. Dickinson went to Pittsfield and laid the matter before Dr. Humphrey, and probably had more influence than all other men in securing his acceptance of the presidency. Mr. Dickin- son was also instrumental in securing for the College, the ser- vices of Professors Fiske, Worcester and Abbott. " In the final appeal for the charter, Mr. Dickinson was ex- ceedingly useful in obtaining the right men for the committee, in securing the efficient advocacy of Judge Hubbard in the Senate and John Davis before the committee of the House, and in bringing a strong expression of public sentiment through the press to bear upon the final vote in the Legislature. He was, in the best sense of that now well-understood term, a ' lobby member ' of the Legislature, at the same time that he was the anonymous correspondent of not a few especially of the country newspapers." No sooner was the charter secured, than Mr. Dickinson disap- peared or rather withdrew from behind the scenes, and devoted himself first to the founding and publishing of the National Preacher, which for forty years placed the printed sermons of the ablest preachers in the United States within the reach of destitute churches and brought their influence to bear upon the Christian public, and subsequently inducing the secular news- papers, which were then closed against religious matter, to open their columns to religious intelligence, thus inaugurating one of the most remarkable and one of the most beneficent revolutions in the history of our newspaper press. Mr. Dickinson died in New York, on the 14th of August, 1849, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. His body was brought to Amherst for interment ; and a monument erected to his mem- ory by his friends and the friends of the College, stands not far from that of President Moore in the cemetery. He was one of those rare men who love to do their work out of sight, but who there, far from the public gaze, lay broad and deep " the foun- dations of many generations." In further illustration and confirmation of what we have said of Mr. Dickinson, we subjoin the following letter of Prof. Ab- bott, who was a member of the Faculty when the charter was obtained. It was written November 2, 1871, and addressed to TESTIMONY OF PROF. ABBOTT. 159 Rev. O. Eastman : " I remember Mr. Dickinson as in personal appearance the most grave and austere man I ever knew, with no thought and no word of interest for anything light or trifling, but wholly engrossed at all times in his deep-laid plans and schemes for the advancement of the College and to bring public opinion in Massachusetts up to the point of authorizing the Leg- islature to grant a charter. I think it was generally understood at Amherst, during the time that I was connected with the Col- lege and while the question of its legal establishment was pend- ing, that he was the main and indeed almost the sole reliance of its friends for all the plans formed and measures adopted to pro- mote the success of this undertaking. It was supposed, and I have no doubt, with truth, that the Trustees, who were generally men engaged in the active pursuits of life and consequently much occupied with their own affairs, were accustomed to look to him and to be guided by his judgment in respect to all the measures that were adopted, whether for raising funds, procur- ing officers of instruction, or for enlightening the public senti- ments of the State with reference to obtaining a charter. " He had, however, so far as I know, no formal or official con- nection of any kind with the College, and so quiet and unosten- tatious was his action in all these proceedings, and so entirely was his interest in the work confined to a desire to have it ac- complish, without any wish to secure to himself the honor or the consideration due to him who was the means of accomplish- ing it, that I am not at all surprised to learn that his name does not appear upon the College records of those days. And yet, I believe that every one who was conversant with the proceedings through which the College was established, would agree with me in saying, if some future generation should ever conceive the idea of erecting a statue to commemorate the founder of the College, the man most deserving the honor would be Austin Dickinson." l 1 Since the text was written, Mr. Eastman has contributed a very interesting ar- ticle on the " Services of Rev. Austin Dickinson to Amherst College," to the col- umns of the Congregational Quarterly, April, 1872. CHAPTER XL THE PERIOD OF RAPID GROWTH, 1825-36. THE year which began in September, 1825, was the first en- tire collegiate year of Amherst College. With this year our History enters on a new epoch. The new organization of the Faculty dates from this time, since not only the new officers now commenced the duties of their office, but those who had been members of the Faculty before had hitherto served the College for their old salaries and in their old departments. The Faculty at this time was constituted as follows: Rev. Heman Humphrey, D. D., President, Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Professor of Divinity; Rev. Edward Hitchcock, A. M., Professor of Chemistry and Natural History ; Rev. Jonas King, A. M., Professor of Oriental Literature ; Rev. Nathan W. Fiske, A. M., Professor of the Greek Language and Literature, and Professor of Belles-Lettres ; Rev. Solomon Peck, A. M., Professor of the Hebrew and Latin Languages and Literature ; Samuel M. Worcester, A. M., Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory ; Jacob Abbott, A. M., Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy ; Ebenezer S. Snell, A. M., Tutor of Mathematics. 1 The first catalogue which bears the names of this Faculty, was printed in October, 1825, by Carter & Adams names now as familiar to almost all the graduates of Amherst College as any 1 This is the Faculty as constituted at the first annual meeting of the Trustees. It appears from the records that at the meeting for organization in April previous, Rev. Jasper Adams was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and Mr. Jacob Abbott, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Professor of Chem- istry. Mr. Adams seems not to have accepted, and at the annual meeting Mr. Ab- bott was appointed in his place. At the same time a Professorship of Chemistry and Natural History and a Tutorship of Mathematics were established and filled by the choice of Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Snell. FLOURISHING UNDER PERSECUTION. 161 of the Presidents or Professors. They established the first press in the town in 1825, and the catalogues which had hitherto been printed abroad were henceforth printed in Amherst. On the catalogue for 1825, John Leland, Esq., appears as Treasurer, and Rufus Graves as Financier. In 1826 the consti- tution of the Charity Fund was so altered by the concurrent action of the Board of Trustees and the Board of Overseers in the manner provided for in Article 13, that the office of Finan- cier of that fund and that of Treasurer of the College, could be united in one person ; and from 1826 John Leland was both Treasurer and Financier till 1833, when Lucius Boltwood was appointed Financier and John Leland retained the office of Treasurer. Rev. Joshua Crosby was chosen Vice-President of the Corpo- ration at the same time that Dr. Humphrey was chosen Presi- dent, viz., at the first organization of the Board, and he contin- ued to hold that office till his decease in 1838. The office seems gradually to have gone into disuse, and Mr. Crosby was the last incumbent. He had held the same office in the Board of Trust- ees of Amherst Academy. From one hundred and twenty-six, in 1823, the number of students increased, the next year, to one hundred and thirty-six ; in 1825 it rose to one hundred and fifty-two, and from that time it went on increasing pretty regularly, with a slight ebb in 1830 and 1831, for a period of eleven years, till rising to its spring- tide in 1836, it reached an aggregate of two hundred and fifty- nine. For two years Amherst ranked above Harvard in the number of students, and was second only to Yale. Thus was the sentiment of the Committee of Investigation confirmed, that Institutions almost always flourish under persecution whether apparent or real, and gain new strength from opposition. If we inquire into the causes of this rapid and extraordinary growth of the College, the most obvious, and, for a time, the most powerful, was unquestionably the violent opposition which it encountered. This brought it into immediate notice in Massa- chusetts. This soon made it known and conspicuous through the whole country. This enlisted the sympathy and support not only of those who held the same religious faith, but of all 11 162 HISTOKY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. who love fair play and hate even the appearance of persecu- tion. Local feeling, sectional jealousy, the envy of neighboring towns and of parishes in the same town, the interest of rival Institutions, sectarian zeal and party spirit, hostility to Ortho- doxy and hatred of evangelical religion, all united to oppose the founding, the incorporation and the endowment of the College ; and the result was only to multiply its friends, increase the num- ber of students, and swell the tide which bore it on to victory and prosperity. This period of rapid growth to the College was also the period when the reaction against Unitarianism was at its height, when zeal for Orthodoxy and evangelical piety was fresh and strong, when revivals of religion were bringing } 7 oung men in great numbers into the churches, Colleges and theological seminaries, when home and foreign missions were calling for an extraordi- nary increase in the number of ministers, and education societies were furnishing new facilities for the education of poor and pious young men for the ministry, and the recently established concert of prayer for Colleges was directing the attention of the churches in an unprecedented degree to these Institutions when, in short, evangelical Christians of all denominations, were awakened as they never had been before to prayer and effort for the salvation of lost men and the conversion of a perishing world. As the latest and fullest representative of this movement, Amherst Col- lege was borne on the hearts of ministers and Christians with extraordinary zeal and earnestness, and that more in proportion as they were more zealous and active in their sympathy with the cause which it represented. The College was still more deeply rooted in the sympathies and the confidence of the Christian community by reason of its marked religious character and positive religious influence. The President, Professors and Tutors, were all men of strong reli- gious faith, hope and zeal, experimental and real Christians, who felt, as Dr. Humphrey insisted in his inaugural, that education should have reference to two worlds, but chiefly to the future, and that moral education, spiritual training, Christian character and influence in such an Institution, is not only indispensable it is everything. A large majority of the students from the first EARLY LITERARY ADVANTAGES. 163 were in full sympathy with their teachers in this view, and ready to co-operate heartily with them in securing this end. And the greater part of those students who entered without a personal hope in Christ, were converted in the frequent and powerful re- vivals of religion with which the College was blessed from the beginning, and which reached every class, sometimes almost every member of the class, with their salutary influence. Before the close of the period now under our riotice, missionaries edu- cated in Amherst, were laboring in most of the new States and Territories, and in every quarter of the globe, and one of these had fallen a martyr on the Island of Sumatra. Very many par- ents who were not themselves church members, chose to send their sons to such an Institution. At the same time it must be confessed, or rather gratefully acknowledged, that the Charity Fund, by the ample pecuniary aid which it afforded to indigent and pious young men, drew a large number of students, and those of the very best sort, many of whom were alike distinguished for character and scholarship. The literary advantages, though of course inferior in many respects to those of the older and richer colleges, were not with- out their attractive features. In 1825, the library was small and far from select, and the apparatus for the illustration of the Sciences was still more rudimentary and imperfect. But through the zeal and enterprise of the Professors, they were constantly increasing, and thus becoming relatively large. And in 1831, Prof. Hovey purchased in London and Paris philo- sophical and chemical apparatus and books to the amount of eight thousand dollars, the books consisting mostly of standard works in the various departments of literature, those works which are most valuable and indispensable in a college library, and the apparatus for the illustration of the Physical Sciences and for accurate observations in Astronomy, being so superior to any that could then be found in other American colleges as to attract the visits of their Professors and the admiration of scientific men. The Professors were young, inexperienced and comparatively unknown in the world of letters. But they were growing older, gaining wisdom and experience, and acquiring a reputation as 164 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. savans and scholars. And their very youth, with the enterprise and progressive spirit for which they were remarkable, was at- tractive to young men. It was among the arguments which drew the writer, who was then a young man, and several of his classmates and fellow-students from Hamilton College to Am- herst. In short, it must be admitted that " Young America," so far as there was any in those comparatively staid and stable times, was drawn to Amherst, somewhat as it is now to Cornell University, although there was no lowering of the standard of admission and scholarship, still less any relaxation of moral re- straints and religious influences. It was regarded as pre-emi- nently the live College and the progressive Institution of New England. President Humphrey had now risen above the acci- dental unpopularity of his first years and reigned in the confi- dence and affections of all the students. Prof. Hitchcock was already known through the State which he had explored geo- logically to a great extent while a pastor in Conway, and whether in or out of College, he was known only to be loved. Prof. Fiske was not long in developing those characteristics and habits of mind which made him later so accurate a scholar, so acute a metaphysician and so distinguished a teacher. Prof. Peck was admired for his polished translation of the Latin clas- sics, and esteemed as a gentleman and a Christian. Prof. Wor- cester was a fluent speaker, a faithful critic and an interesting lecturer, especially on the history of English and American or- ators. Prof. Abbott made science easy, clear and attractive in the lecture room, as he afterwards did morals and religion in his books, and was quite popular till his thoughts and studies be- gan to be divided between teaching and writing for the people. Prof. Hovey, who succeeded -Prof. Abbott, was the best scholar in his class at Yale, and a man of broad and high culture. But ill-health prevented him from making his mark upon the Col- lege, and led to an early resignation. Tutor Snell was esteemed a good mathematician and an excellent teacher, although his ex- cessive modesty hindered a just appreciation of his worth, and too long delayed his appointment to the Professorship of Natu- ral Philosophy. These general views, derived from the author's own recollec- RECOLLECTIONS OF REV. DR. RIGGS. 165 tions of the College in the period under review, he is happy to corroborate by the following just and genial sketch furnished by a contemporary whose praise for learning and missionary service is in all the churches : l " Ours was the first class which en- tered after the College charter was granted. The Institution was pervaded by the principles and aims of its pious founders. I think a considerable majority of my class were hopefully pious when we entered, and others were led to Christ during our Col- lege course, so that at the close there were only four out of forty who were not hopefulty pious. I have never ceased to regard it as one of the kind and gracious dispensations of Providence towards me that at the early age of fifteen I was thrown among classmates and fellow-students who were so generally serious and earnest men. "One result of such men being gathered to pursue their studies there, was the entire absence of that abuse of new comers which has so often disgraced our Colleges. I do not remember that a single member of my class was insulted or maltreated during our first year. " I have not at hand a Triennial Catalogue, but a glance at one would show that a large proportion of my fellow-students were preparing for the gospel ministry. Bridgman, one of the first missionaries to China, was still a member of College when I entered. So were Boggs, Tucker and Hebard, and perhaps others. Also of those who have been highly useful laborers in the ministry in our own land, R. E. Pattison, Artemas and Asa Bullard, Edward P. Humphrey, and others. Of my own class, Bliss, Lyman, Parker, Perkins and myself, have been permitted to engage in the foreign missionary service, and all but Lyman, (whose untimely death, perhaps, did as much for the cause as would a long and active life,) are still, I believe, in active ser- vice. Of the class which next succeeded us, five engaged in missionary service, two of whom are still among our esteemed fellow-laborers in Turkey, B. Schneider and P. O. Powers. " Dr. Humphrey, our President, was a plain man, very practi- cal, with good common sense, and exemplary piety. He had the unvarying respect and confidence of my class, and I think of all 1 Rev. Elias Riggs, D. D., of the Class of '29. 166 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. my contemporaries. So bad all our teachers, Hitchcock, Fiske, Peck, Worcester, Abbott, Edwards and Snell. " We had several Greeks pursuing their studies there in our time. One of them, my classmate, Petrokokino, was for several years a translator for our mission. Karavelles taught for a time in one of our schools, and was subsequently a judge in Athens. Paspati is one of the best physicians now practicing in this city (Constantinople.) The two Rallis are merchants, one, I believe, in Odessa, the other in England. 1 "My own missionary life has been largely devoted to the translation of the Scriptures. While in Greece, I had the priv- ilege of aiding for a short season in the Modern-Greek transla- tion. While at Smyrna, I prepared and edited, with aid from competent Armenians, the entire Bible in their language, and I am now permitted to do the same for the Bulgarians in their language, which is a dialect of the Slavic." The Tutors of this period doubtless contributed their full share towards the popularity and growth of the Institution for many of them were men of rare talents and attainments, and not a 'few of them have risen to eminence in subsequent life. After Ebenezer S. Snell and Bela B. Edwards, whose names have already been mentioned, came in order Joseph S. Clark, William P. Paine, Story Hebard, Ezekiel Russell, H. B. Hack- ett, Justin Perkins, W. S. Tyler, Timothy Dwight, Edward P. Humphrey, Ebenezer Burgess, Elbridge Bradbury, Thatcher Thayer, W. H. Tyler, Charles Clapp, S. B. Ingram, Calvin E. Park, Amos Bullard, George C. Partridge and Charles B. Ad- ams. Of these twenty-one tutors, seventeen became ordained ministers, nine doctors of divinity, three doctors of law, three professors in college, three professors in theological seminaries, 1 Paspati has contributed to philology some valuable papers on the language of the Gypsies. Karavelles and another Greek, educated at Mount Pleasant, were the first to greet the writer of this History on his landing at the Island of Syra, where the former now has charge of the telegraphic office. Some of these Greeks were aided in obtaining their education by Arthur Tappan, under the influence of Dr. King. " On one of our visits to Northampton," says his daughter, " father took grandfather, mother and myself in his carriage to Amherst College, to call on Pres- ident Humphrey. During the call, Dr. Humphrey sent for a number of Greek stu- dents to come to the parlor to speak with father who had helped them in getting an education." Memoir of Arthur Tappan. TUTORS OF THIS PERIOD. 167 four foreign missionaries, one secretary of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, and one the founder of one of the leading female seminaries of New England. Several of them are well-known as editors and authors of books in literature, science or theology. Three of them have been honored, faith- ful and useful Trustees of Amherst College. Eleven of the twenty-one are still living. They are all either teachers or preachers, and as equally divided as an odd number can be, between the two professions all respected and beloved by pupils and people now as when they were Tutors, and some occupying high places of honor and influence. Of the ten who have finished their course, Bela B. Edwards had left the tutorship before I entered College. But the savor of his learning and piety still lingered in the Institution ; offi- cers and students still spoke of him with affection, almost with veneration. Joseph S. Clark was Tutor when I was a Junior in College. Of course I never met him in the recitation room, but I have a fresh and pleasant recollection of his constant attend- ance at the Sabbath morning prayer-meetings of the students, of the uniform fervor of his piety, and the attractiveness of his consistent, steadfast Christian life. Story Hebard was teaching French and Latin in College while I was teaching Mathematics and English branches in Am- herst Academy. Then we went to Andover together, riding in the same stage-coach, and roomed together on the lower floor of Bartlett Hall, till I returned to a tutorship in Amherst, and he went on with his theological studies. Respected as a Tutor, beloved by classmates and friends, he was dear to me as a brother. Never was there a more unselfish person, rarely a more faultless character or a more blameless life. Almost literally he never said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own ; if ever man did, he loved his neighbor as himself. His spirit was too gentle and good for earth ; his body was too frail and delicate for the hardships of missionary life. He died in 1841, at the age of thirty-nine, in the Turkish Mission. Justin Perkins, Ebenezer Burgess and Timothy Dwight'Were my fellow-tutors and fellow-boarders at Prof. Hitchcock's, whose family for several years furnished a delightful home for almost 168 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. all the Tutors. There we discussed literature, science and re- ligion with each other and the Professor. There, at one time, we canvassed principles, plans and methods of education with Miss Lyon when she was laying the foundations of Mount Holyoke Seminary. There, at another, we sat at the feet of Dr. Eli Smith as he discoursed of the Holy Land and the Turk- ish Mission. Perkins taught Rhetoric, Logic and Languages with indefatigable industry, exemplary faithfulness and perfect propriety ; already we could see in him (such was the gravity of his deportment, such the maturity and balance of his judg- ment,) the founder and father of the mission among the Nesto- rians, and (such was his linguistic lore) the future translator of the Scriptures into modern Syriac. Burgess came after him, but was almost totally unlike him. An inquirer into all that was new and a worshiper of all that was true, eagerly seeking for discoveries in the material and the spiritual universe, and fully believing that there were more things in heaven and earth than any existing science or philosophy ever dreamed of, he knew well how to awaken thought and inquiry in the minds of his pu- pils, but he was not master of the art of expression or commu- nication. We could hardly expect that such a man would spend all his days in the missionary field the seeds of the " Lowell Lectures " and the " Antiquity of Man " were already planted in him, and they could not fail to germinate. D wight, with a marvelous gift of expression, had also a genius for Mathematics, and laid the students and teachers of that day under everlasting obligations by his simplification and abbreviation of those end- less algebraic formulas in Button's Conic Sections. He too had devoted himself to the work of missions; but he died within two or three years after the expiration of his tutorship, with- out setting foot on missionary ground. Perkins and Burgess both died in 1869. I had fondly hoped to enjoy much more of their society. It would have been a melancholy satisfaction at least to have seen them in their last hours and followed them to their graves. But I was then a traveler in foreign lands ; " auget maestitiam quod satiari vultu, complexu non contigit ; pauciori- bus lacrimis compositus es, et novissima in luce desideravere aliquid oculi tui." DECEASED TUTORS. 169 "W. H. Tyler, Charles Clapp and S. B. Ingram filled up the interval between my tutorship and my professorship. Of the first, a brother may be pardoned for recording the verdict of all who ever enjoyed his instructions, that he was for two years in Amherst College what he was for eleven years in the Institution founded by him in Pittsfield, " a model teacher." The second left behind him in College the reputation of a fine scholar (he was the valedictorian of the Class of '32,) and the third, of a thoughtful, truthful man, and an earnest Christian. On my return as a permanent oflBcer in 1836, Prof. Snell's house succeeded to Prof. Hitchcock's as the home of the Tutors and the bachelor Professor. A rare group of choice and con- genial spirits it was that gathered around that table, and, having satisfied their bodily wants, remained almost daily after dinner or supper for " the feast of reason and the flow of soul." Two Professors and three Tutors, as unlike in our tastes as we were in the branches which we taught, we ate and drank, we talked and read, we disputed and bantered and laughed and sung ; and thin and sober as some of us naturally were, we all grew hale and hearty in the process. Of that charming "symposium," whether reason or humor, science or song ruled the hour, were we asked to name him who was the center and the soul, before all others, scarcely excepting our 'genial host himself, with one consent we should speak the name of Amos Bullard. The ripest scholar, the rarest thinker, the keenest wit and the sincerest Christian of the whole circle ! And is it for this reason that he is the only one of the five whom the Heavenly Father has taken to himself? " The good die first." He died in 1850, at the age of forty-four, heaven having begun in his soul before he closed his eyes on earthly scenes. In 1835, two years before the close of our period, Jonathan B. Condit and Edwards A. Park became Professors, both of whom are now widely known and highly honored Professors in theological seminaries. The former was connected with the College only three years, and the latter rendered the service of only one year and one term. At the resignation of Prof. Park, in 1836, Prof. Fiske was transferred from the Latin and Greek chair to that of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, and W. S. 170 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. Tyler was chosen Professor of the Latin, Greek and Hebrew Languages and Literature. The number of students was increased for a year or two by the introduction of a new course of study running parallel to the old. "At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, August 21, 1826, the Faculty presented a detailed report of the state of the Seminary and the course of instruction, together with some general remarks upon the inadequacy of the prevail- ing systems of classical education in this country to meet the wants and demands of an enlightened public. The Trustees were so much interested in this report, particularly that part which touches upon the subject of modifications and improve- ments, that they appointed a committee consisting of the Presi- dent, the Hon. Lewis Strong and the Hon. Samuel Howe, to publish extracts from it at such time and in such a way as they might think best calculated to elicit inquiry, to subserve the great interests of the College, and to promote the general cause of education. At the same meeting the Trustees passed a re- solve, requesting the Faculty to draw up a specific plan of im- provement upon the basis of their report, and present it for con- sideration at a future meeting of the Board." At a special meeting of the Board, December 6, 1826, called for this express purpose, the* Faculty reported their " specific plan " and after much discussion and some amendment the re- port was ordered to be printed, and was unanimously adopted by the Board so far forth as " to express their cordial approba- tion of the general plan, and their design of incorporating the new course substantially, as drawn out by the Faculty with the existing four years' system." This " parallel or equivalent course " as recommended by the Faculty in their second report was to differ from the old 1, In the prominence which will be given to English literature. 2, In the substitution of the modern for the ancient languages, par- ticularly the French and Spanish, and should room be found hereafter, German or Italian, or both, with particular attention to the literature in these rich and popular languages. 3, In Me- chanical Philosophy, by multiplying and varjdng the experiments so as to render the science more familiar and attractive. 4, In THE "PARALLEL COURSE." 171 Chemistry and other kindred branches of Physical Science, by showing their application' to the more useful arts and trades, to the cultivation of the soil, and to domestic economy. 5, In a course of familiar lectures upon curious and labor-saving ma- chines, upon bridges, locks and aqueducts, and upon the differ- ent orders of Architecture with models for illustration. 6, In Natural History, by devoting more time to those branches which are now taught, and introducing others into the course. 7, In Modern History, especially the history of the Puritans, in con- nection with the civil and ecclesiastical history of our own coun- try. 8, In the elements of Civil and Political Law, embracing the careful study of the American Constitutions, to which may be added Drawing and Civil Engineering. Ancient History, Geography, Grammar, Rhetoric and Oratory, Mathematics, Natural, Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Anat- omy, Political Economy and Theology, according to the plan, were to be common to both courses. The requirements for ad- mission were also to be the same for both courses, not excepting the present amount of Latin and Greek. And the Faculty stren- uously insisted that the new course should be fully " equivalent " to the old, that it should fill up as many years, should be carried on by as able instructors, should take as wide and elevated a range, should require as great an amount of hard study or mental discipline, and should be rewarded by the same academic honors. Besides the new parallel or equivalent course, the Faculty earnestly recommend a new department for systematic instruc- tion in the science of education, and they further suggest a de- partment of theoretical and practical mechanics. While the Trustees unanimously approve of the general plan, and declare their purpose to incorporate the new course with the old system, they also express their intention "to add the department of education as soon as they can obtain the neces- sary means. The mechanic department they deem of less imme- diate consequence, but as worthy of a fair trial whenever the funds of the College will permit." 1 1 See a pamphlet issued by the Committee of the Trustees, entitled " The sub- stance of two reports of the Faculty of Amherst College to the Board of Trustees, with the doings of the Board thereon. Carter and Adams, 1827." 172 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. Not long after the meeting of the Board in December, 1826, the Faculty drew up a plan of the studies, arranged in parallel columns wherever the two courses differed, and published it, to- gether with other matter usually contained in the annual cata- logue, under the title, " Outline' of the System of Instruction recently adopted in the College at Amherst, Mass., 1827." In this paper, they say : " In consequence of the demand which is at the present time made by a large portion of the public for the means of an elevated and liberal education without the necessity of devoting so much time to the study of the Ancient Languages, the Trustees have authorized the establishment of two parallel courses of study, in one of which Ancient, and in the other, Modern Languages and Literature receive particular attention. In other respects, the courses coincide, correspond- ing with the system generally adopted in the colleges of New England. In studies in which they coincide, both divisions will receive instruction in company, and they will graduate together at the termination of the four years' course. This system is ex- pected to go into operation at the commencement of the ensu- ing collegiate year." 1 At the commencement of the ensuing year, (1827-8) the whole number of students rose from one hundred and seveniy 2 to two hundred and nine, and the Freshman class, which the previous year contained fifty-one, now numbered sixty-seven, of whom eighteen are set down on the catalogue as students " in Modern Languages." So far forth the experiment promised well. In regard to the number of students, it was at least a fair begin- ning. But now commenced the difficulties in the execution of the plan. These were found to be far greater than the Trustees or the Faculty had anticipated. The teacher of Modern Lan- guages, a native of France, was not very successful in teaching, and was quite incapable of maintaining order in his class, so that the Faculty were compelled to appoint one of the Profess- ors to preside at his recitations. The Professors and Tutors on 1 1 find in the records of the Faculty at this time, [1827-8] a plan for a fifth year of study to be added to the curriculum. It never appears to have gone beyond the records, and is mentioned here only to illustrate the large plans and enterprising spirit of the Faculty at this period. 2 On the catalogue of the preceding year. ITS FAILURE. 173 whom it devolved to give the additional instruction, although willing, as they declared in their report, " to take upon them- selves additional burdens," had their hands full already with other duties, and found unexpected difficulties in organizing and conducting the new course of studios. The College was not sufficiently manned for the work it had undertaken, and was too poor to furnish an adequate Faculty. Truth also probably re- quires the statement that the new course, which was the favorite scheme of one of the Professors, was never very heartily adopted by the rest of the Faculty who, therefore, worked in and for it with far less courage and enthusiasm than they did in the studies of the old curriculum. Moreover they discovered as the year advanced, that the new plan was not received by the public with so much favor as had been expected, that they had proba- bly overestimated the popular demand for the Modern Lan- guages and the Physical Sciences in collegiate education. The students of the new course were not slow to perceive all these facts. They soon discovered the fact, whatever might be the cause, that they were not obtaining an education which was in reality equivalent to that obtained by other students. The next year, 1828, the Freshman class fell back to fifty- two, just about the number of two years before ; and of these so few wished, or particularly cared to join the new course, that there was no division organized in the Modern Languages. Those who had entered the previous year, gradually fell back into the regular course. The catalogue for the 3 r ear 1828-9, retains no trace of the new plan, except the parallel columns, of the old and new courses of studies. At their annual meet- ing in 1829, the Trustees voted to dispense with the parallel course in admitting students hereafter, and made French one of the regular studies. At the same meeting, the Professor who was the father of the scheme, resigned his professorship. Thus not a vestige of the experiment remained, except that the class with which it was introduced, graduated in 1831 the largest class (with one exception) that has ever left the Institution. Thus ended the first attempt to introduce the Modern Languages and the Physical Sciences as an equivalent for the time-honored system of classical culture in our American colleges. The plan 174 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. as it was presented in the reports of the Faculty, was exceed- ingly attractive and promising, quite as much so as any of the numerous similar schemes by which it has been succeeded, and it was recommended by quite as convincing and indeed, to a great extent, the very same arguments. It is no discredit to the men who devised it, and, under such unfavorable circumstances, ex- ecuted it to the best of their ability. Essentially the same ex- periment, intensified by the omission of the Mathematics as well as the Ancient Classics, is now being tried in older and younger, and far richer institutions, with men and means in abundance, with what result, time must determine. With so large a number of students, and that number con- stantly and rapidly increasing, the officers of the College soon found the place too strait for them, and began very naturally to look about for more ample accommodations. The most imme- diate and pressing want was felt to be that of a more convenient and suitable place of worship. " When I entered upon my office, in 1823," says President Humphrey, " the students worshiped on the Sabbath in the old parish meeting-house on the hill. I soon found that the young men of the society felt themselves crowded by the students, and there were increasing symptoms from Sab- bath to Sabbath qf collision and disturbance. I accordingly told the Trustees that I thought it would be safest and best for us to withdraw and worship by ourselves in one of the College build- ings till a chapel could be built for permanent occupancy. They authorized us to do so, and I have never doubted the expediency of the change oh this and even more important grounds." l The chief reason which the venerable ex-President in his His- torical Sketches proceeds to urge in favor of a separate congre- gation and place of worship for students, is the greater appro- priateness, directness and impressiveness of the preaching which can thus be addressed to them. On this subject there has been and is, so far as I know, but one opinion in the Faculty of Am- herst College. The experience of half a century has only con- firmed and established the views expressed by Dr. Humphrey, that it is a great loss of moral power to preach to students scat- tered among a large mixed congregation. 1 Historical Sketches in Manuscript. THE CHAPEL BUILDING. 175 But the old chapel, laboratory and lecture room, and room for every other 1 use, in the upper story of North College, could not long accommodate the growing number of students, even for morning and evening prayers, still less the congregation for Sabbath worship. The subject of a new chapel came before the Board of Trustees at their first meeting under the charter. They were encouraged to consider the subject and form some plans in respect to it, by a legacy of some four thousand dollars or more which Adam Johnson of Pelham had left to the College for the express purpose of erecting such a building. But his will had been disallowed -by the Judge of Probate, and an ap- peal from his decision was now pending in the Supreme Court. At this time, therefore, they only voted, that in case the will should be established, the Prudential Committee be instructed to proceed with all convenient despatch in the erection of a chapel building. They furthermore authorized that committee to bor- row any further sum of money which they might deem requisite for that purpose, not exceeding six thousand dollars. " At the annual meeting in August, 1825, the call for a chapel and other public accommodations had become too urgent to be postponed without sacrificing the interests of the College. In this emer- gency, the Trustees could not hesitate. They saw but one course, and they promptly empowered the Prudential Com- mittee to contract for the erection of a chapel building," 1 and also a third College edifice, if they deemed it expedient ; at the same time authorizing them to borrow such sums of money, as might be necessary therefor, of the Charity Fund, of banks, or of individuals. The work on the chapel was commenced early in the spring of 1826, and so far completed in the course of the season that on the 28th of February, 1827, it was dedicated. Dr. Humphrey preached the dedication sermon. His text was : " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." " Five years ago," he says, " there was one building for the accommodation of between fifty and sixty students ; four years ago there were between ninety and a hun- dred young men here ; one year ago, there were a hundred and fifty ; and now there are a hundred and seventy. It is scarcely 1 Dr. Humphrey's dedication sermon. 176 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. two years since the Seminary was chartered, and yet I believe that in the number of under-graduates it now holds the third or fourth rank in the long list of American Colleges ! God forbid that this statement should excite any but grateful emotions. It is meet that we should carefully look over this ground to-da} r , that the inscription may be indelibly engraved on our hearts ' Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' ' Meanwhile the decision of the Judge of Probate had been reversed, and the will of Adam Johnson l established by the Supreme Court. At the annual meeting of the Board in August, 1828, it was voted that in testimony of their grateful remembrance of his mu- nificent donation, the apartment occupied as a chapel should for- ever be called Johnson Chapel, and that the President be re- quested to have the words, " Johnson Chapel," inserted in large arid distinct characters over the middle door or principal en- trance of the apartment. This inscription placed over the door of the chapel proper, in 1829, disappeared after a time, being car- ried off by students in some of their pranks, and was replaced at the instance of the writer shortly before the semi-centennial. It now stands over the arch near the foot of the stairs in the lower hall. In 1846 a suitable monument was erected over the grave of Mr. Johnson by direction of the Trustees and at the expense of the College. Besides the chapel proper, which has ever since been used for morning and evening prayers, as well as for the worship of the Sabbath, the chapel building contained originally four recitation rooms, a room for philosophical apparatus, and a cabinet for minerals on the lower floor, two recitation rooms on the second floor, a library room on the third floor, and a laboratory in the 1 Much handle was made of this will in the speeches of the opposition in the Leg- islature. And I have before me a pamphlet written in the same spirit by a brother of the testator, entitled, " The Last Will and Testament of Thomas Johnson, of Greenfield, County of Franklin, in favor of the Trustees of Amherst College," in which he (the brother) bequeathes to the said Trustees nothing but woes and male- dictions. It must be admitted that Adam Johnson was not such a man as would have been likely to be among the founders of Amherst College. The desire of a childless old man to perpetuate his name seems to have been his chief inducement to make the bequest, and his motive was doubtless skillfully pressed by Col. Graves and Esq. Dickinson. But the verdict of the Supreme Court exculpates them from the charge of any improper or undue influence. NORTH COLLEGE. 177 basement. These recitation rooms were named after the depart- ments to which they were appropriated, for example, the Greek, Latin, Mathematical and Tablet rooms l on the first floor, and the Rhetorical and Theological rooms on the second, and they were far in advance of the recitation rooms of the older col- leges in size, beauty, and convenience. The College library was soon removed from the fourth story of North College to the room intended for it in the third story of the chapel, and the room not being half filled by it, the remaining half, viz., the shelves on either side of the door, were for some time set apart respectively for the libraries of the Alexandrian and Athenian societies. When better accommodations were fur- nished many years later for the Mineral Cabinet, the recitation rooms of Prof. Mather and Prof. Seelye took the place of the Tablet room, the old Cabinet, and a part of the adjoining entry, and the Rhetorical and Theological rooms gave place to the small chapel. And when Williston Hall provided ample apart- ments for the Chemical department, the old Laboratory, so long the scene of Prof. Hitchcock's brilliant experiments and corus- cations of genius, was given up to storage and other necessary but comparatively ignoble uses. At the annual meeting of the Trustees in August, 1827, it was voted that the Prudential Committee be directed to take imme- diate measures for erecting another College building for the ac- commodation of the students, similar to those already erected, and cause the same to be completed as soon as may be, provided that in their judgment a suitable site for such building can be obtained. The site was soon selected, and before the commencement of another collegiate year, the building was completed so as to be occupied by students for the year 1828-9. This new dormitory was better adapted to promote the health, comfort and conven- ience of students, especially in its well-lighted and ventilated bed-rooms, and its ample closets, than either of the older build- ings, and was perhaps a better dormitory, as being built on a better plan, than any that then existed in any other college. It had, however, the disadvantage of running east and west, in- 1 So called because the walls were covered with blackboards. 12 178 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. stead of north and south, so that the rooms on the north side were never visited by the sun, and no such rooms are fit to be inhabited. Still it was for many years the favorite dormitory, and its rooms were the first choice of members of the upper classes, not a few of whom, on their return to Amherst, will look in vain for the North College of their day 1 as the center of some of their most sacred associations. In the winter of 1857, it was destroyed by fire, and its site is now occupied by Willis- ton Hall. It was in connection with the site of North College, that the process of grading the College grounds began, which, during so many years in the poverty of the College, was carried forward by the hands of the students, sometimes by individuals work- ing out of study hours, and sometimes by a whole class volun- teering to devote a half-day or a whole day to the work. . Or if the process began earlier, we now find it receiving a special and grateful recognition on the records of the Trustees, who, at their annual meeting in August, 1827, "having noticed with much satisfaction the improvements made in the College grounds* and hearing that these were effected principally by the volun- tary labors of the students," passed a vote expressing the "pleasure they felt in view of these self-denying and benev- olent exertions to add to the beauty and convenience of the Institution." The same enterprise and public spirit also gave birth soon after to the gymnasium in the grove, the bathing es- tablishment at the well, and the College band, which, for many years, furnished music at exhibitions, Commencements and other public occasions. During the summer term of 1828, the students with the ap- probation of the Faculty, organized a sort of interior govern- ment, supplementary to that of the Faculty, and designed to se- cure more perfect order and quietness in the Institution. A legislative body, called the House of Students, enacted laws for the protection of the buildings, for the security of the grounds, for the better observance of study hours, etc., etc. Then a court, with a regularly organized bench, bar, and constabulary, iFrom 1828 to 1857, this was called North College, and the present North was called Middle College during the same period. THE HOUSE OF STUDENTS. 179 enforced the execution of the laws, tried offenders in due form and process, and inflicted the penalties affixed to their violation. The plan worked smoothly and usefully for about two years, but at length a certain class of students grew restive under the re- straints and penalties which were imposed ; for None e'er felt the halter draw, With good opinion of the law. And in 1830, after a most animated, and on one side quite im- passioned discussion in the whole body of the students, a small majority of votes was obtained against it, and the system was abolished. When the Chapel and North College were finished, the Trust- ees found themselves deeply in debt. Indeed the College came into existence as a chartered Institution with a debt of eight- een thousand dollars, the greater part of which, however, was " liquidated " by the thirty thousand dollar subscription. The erection of the Chapel added some eleven thousand dollars to the burden. 1 North College cost ten thousand dollars more. The purchase of the lot of land belonging to the estate of Dr. Parsons, on which the President's house, and the library now stand, and the share taken in the new village church that the College might have a place to hold its Commencements, swelled the sum still higher. An effort was made to meet this indebtedness at the time by private subscriptions and donations. 2 But the amount raised in this way, was not even sufficient to pay the bills for North College. For the remaining and now constantly increasing in- debtedness, no resource seemed to be left but an appeal to the Legislature. The first application to the Legislature for pecun- iary aid was made in the winter session of 1827. The peti- tion signed by President Humphrey, in behalf of the Trustees, sets forth the pressing necessities of the Institution, and how they have arisen, asks nothing more than the means of defray- 1 The building cost fifteen thousand dollars, four thousand of which was contrib- uted by the Johnson legacy. 2 It was in this effort that Eev. Mr. Vaill was first appointed agent of the Col- lege with a salary of eight hundred dollars, viz., at the annual meeting of the Trustees in August, 1829. 180 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. ing the expenses already incurred for the accommodation of its increasing number of pupils, and such further aids and facilities for the communication of knowledge as are indispensable to its continued prosperity, and urges no claim except the unparal- leled private munificence and individual efforts by which it has been sustained, and the duty devolved upon the Legislature by the constitution, and cheerfully discharged by them in reference to the other Colleges of the State, to foster institutions of learn- ing established by their authority, and governed in no small measure by Trustees of their own choice. This petition was referred to a Committee of both Houses, who gave the petition- ers a patient hearing, and manifested a willingness on their part to aid the College, but " they found the state of the public finances incompatible with such aid," and hence felt constrained to make an unfavorable report. This report was accepted by both Houses, and there the matter rested for four years. In the winter session of 1831, the Trustees came before the General Court again with substantially the same petition, made more urgent by increasing necessities, but only to meet with substantially the same result. The committee, consisting of Messrs. Gray and Lincoln of Worcester, from' the Senate, and Messrs. Baylie of Taunton, Marston of Newburyport, and Wil- liams of Northampton, from the House, recognize the necessities of the Institution, as also its merits and success. Indeed they make an admirable argument in favor of a grant, but with a non sequitur, which surprises the reader, they concluded with a rec- ommendation that for the present, at least, the grant shall be withheld. The last two sentences of their report, read as fol- lows : " The degree of public estimation which the College en- joys is evidenced by the unexampled success which has attended the exertions of its officers, and which has placed it, as regards the number of its pupils, in the third rank among the Colleges of the United States. Your committee are not unmindful of the obligation which the constitution imposes on the Legislature to cherish and foster seminaries of learning, and if the present state of the treasury would justify it, they would not hesitate to rec- ommend that a liberal endowment should be granted to Am- herst ; but under existing circumstances it is their opinion that PETITIONS FOR STATE AID. 181 the further consideration of the petition of Amherst College for pecuniary aid, be referred to the first session of the next Gen- eral Court." This report met the prompt acceptance of the Senate, and, on the same day, the concurrence of the House. At the first session of the next General Court, which com- menced in May, 1841, the petition of the Trustees, and the re- port of the committee of the last Legislature were referred to a Joint Committee, consisting of Messrs. Lincoln and Brooks of the Senate, and Messrs. Huntington of Salem, Bowman of New Braintree and Hayes of South Hadley of the House, who were unanimously of the opinion that the public interest requires that pecuniary aid be afforded to Amherst College, and submitted a resolve for that purpose. The resolve gives the College fifty thousand dollars in semi-annual installments of two thousand five hundred dollars each. But owing to the shortness of the summer session, the subject was again postponed. The State being now in funds, it was not doubted that a grant would be obtained as soon as the General Court could have time to act deliberately upon the subject. Accordingly a new peti- tion was drawn up by authority of the Trustees and presented in January, 1832. It was referred to a highly respectable com- mittee, who adopted substantially the favorable report of pre- vious committees, and unanimously submitted the same resolve. When their report came before the House for discussion in Committee of the Whole, the College was attacked with great acrimony on the one hand, and defended with distinguished mag- nanimity and ability on the other. Mr. Brooks of Bernards- ton and Mr. Fuller of Boston, were particularly violent and bitter in their opposition. Mr. Foster of Brimfield, Mr. Buck- ingham of Boston, Mr. Bliss of Springfield, and Mr. Calhoun of Springfield, who was a Trustee and who was then Speaker of the House, spoke ably and eloquently in the defence. Mr. Fuller re- newed his assault, and continued his slander and vituperation till after the usual hour of adjournment. Mr. Calhoun rose again and in a brief reply repeUed the charges, and re-asserted the strong claims of the College to public patronage. Mr. Bliss moved that the committee rise, as he wished to answer the member from Boston. Mr. Phillips of Salem hoped the indul- 182 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. gence would be granted, and intimated that he also should be glad to address the committee. But the majority were deter- mined to take the question on the spot. They did take it. It went against the College with " fearful odds," and on motion of Mr. Sturgis of Boston the whole subject was indefinitely post- poned. Thus, after a suspense of five years, during which they had obtained the favorable reports of four successive commit- tees of the Legislature, were the hopes of the Trustees blasted in a moment, and the debts of the College returned upon them with a weight which it was impossible any longer to sustain. After this result no time was lost in calling a special meeting of the Trustees, to consider what was to be done in this critical emergency. The Board met on the 6th of March. It was an anxious day, and direction was sought of Him who had hitherto succored the College in all its perils. Letters full of hope and encouragement were read from influential friends in different parts of the State, urging them without delay to appeal to the public for the aid which the Legislature had so ungraciously re- fused. They accordingly resolved to make an immediate appeal to the friends of the College, asking for fifty thousand dollars as the least sum which would relieve it from debt and future em- barrassment. A committee of their own body, consisting of the President, Hon. Samuel Lathrop and Hon. William B. Banister, was appointed to publish the appeal, and President Humphrey, Prof. Fiske, Rev. Mr. Vaill, Rev. Sylvester Holmes of New Bedford, Rev. Mr. Hitchcock of Randolph, and Rev. Richard S. Storrs of Braintree, were appointed agents to solicit sub- scriptions. In their appeal to the public, the committee say to the friends and patrons of the College : " It rests with you to decide whether it shall live or die. With an empty treasury, exhausted credit, a debt of more than thirty-five thousand dollars, and no means of paying a dollar of the interest as it accrues at the rate of more than forty dollars a month, it can not long survive." The whole history of the efforts to obtain pecuniary aid from the Legislature with their results was also related in this pamphlet, and it was calculated to make a strong impression. But the most effective part of the whole appeal was the extracts which were quoted OPPOSITION SPEECHES. 183 from the speeches of Mr. Brooks and Mr. Fuller in opposition to the bill. The following gems ought to be preserved as speci- mens : " Mr. Brooks of Bernardston said he did not think Col- leges were needed. There were more lawyers than could get a living honestly ; and they had to get a living somehow or other. There were doctors to be found in every street of every village, with their little saddle-bags ; and they must have a living out of the public. There were too many clergymen who, finding no places where they could be settled, went about the country begging for funds and getting up rag-bag and tag-rag societies. He did. not wish to see any more sent about the country, like a roaring lion, seeking whom they may devour." l " Mr. Fuller of Boston said : I hope, sir, these pious pillars of Amherst College have not been guilty of what is technically called suppressio veri a suppression of the truth. I hope they have not reached that degree of piety which leads its possessors to practice pious fraud to accomplish a good end. " Mr. Speaker, I hold in my hand a sermon purporting to have been preached by Heman Humphrey, President of Amherst College. It was published soon after the incorporation of the College, and contains at the close, a list of the students in the classes. The whole number is one hundred and twenty-six ; and at the bottom are written these significant words, ' hopefully pious, ninety-eight.' Of the balance, twenty-eight, nothing is said no designation is given to them. It needs no inspiration in these days of sectarian watchfulness, to understand that those unfortunate twenty-eight are among the ' hopelessly damnable.' Sir, has it come to this ? Shall the government of a College, professing to rest upon the broad basis of the public good, intro- duce such distinctions within their walls, and divide their stu- dents into two classes, the one 'hopeful' and the other ' hopeless ' as to their spiritual concerns ? How must they feel who are not among the elect? Such a College must be a school of rank hypocrisy rather than a place of liberal science and good learn- ing.^ 1 " Mr. Brooks is a doctor, a Universalist preacher and so forth." Note in the Pamphlet. 2 This Mr. Fuller seems to have been an active opposer of the charter in the Leg- 184 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. The appeal met with a prompt and hearty response. The people of Amherst put their shoulders again to the wheel and raised three thousand dollars they had given little short of twenty thousand dollars in money before. President Humphrey visited Boston the first week in April, and in a few days had raised a subscription of seven thousand dollars there. A sub- scription was started spontaneously among the Amherst Alumni at Andover fifty-seven out of one hundred and fifty-three stu- dents at Andover at this time were alumni of Amherst and they in their poverty subscribed from ten to twenty-five dollars apiece. No agent was necessary. Mr. Fuller, as the writer well remembers, was agent enough, and his speech was better than any that President Humphrey himself could have made in behalf of the College. The Boston Recorder, in whose columns we find no mention of Amherst College during the three years previous, has an edi- torial or a communication in behalf of the College in almost every issue for several months in 1832, publishing it as a settled point that Amherst will receive no aid from the State for one genera- tion, declaring the chief reason for the refusal of aid by the Legislature to be the avowedly orthodox and religious character of the Institution, and calling upon the friends of evangelical religion to come to its relief and support it as a strictly religious object, and urging in proof that it is so, the facts that all the permanent officers but one had from the first been licensed preachers, that of two hundred and seventy graduates two hun- dred and seven were pious, and that more than one-third of the theological students at Andover Seminary were from Amherst College. Under the influence of such arguments and appeals, evangelical Christians through the State rallied to its support with such cordial good will that we find them congratulating each other and the College on the rejection of its petition by the Legislature. At the Commencement in August it was announced that thirty thousand dollars had been subscribed. It was feared islature of that day. In replying to his speech at this time, Mr. Thayer of Brain- tree says, that under the influence of Mr. Fuller, years ago, he had voted against the charter ; but he had visited Amherst since, and had been led to change his mind by what he had seeft with his own eyes. THE SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETED. 185 that the remaining twenty thousand dollars would come with great difficulty. But the work went bravely on to its comple- tion. And on the last day of the year, December 31, 1832, the news being received that the whole sum was made up and the subscription was complete, the students expressed their joy in the evening by ringing the bells and an illumination of the Col- lege buildings, thus celebrating with the beginning of a new year, what they believed to be a new era in the history of the College. u The labor of procuring funds was greater than that of pro- curing a charter. It was especially an irksome work, and one for which Dr. Humphrey thought himself poorly fitted. One of the family traditions, however, shows that he had some of the requisites of a solicitor. On one of his journeys to Boston in the stage-coach of the day, the vehicle stopped at a village to take up a lady. The rain was falling, the coach was filled. The driver, opening the door, asked if any passenger would re- sign his seat for one ' on the deck,' in favor of the lady. No one moved for a moment. The next instant, Dr. Humphrey was on the ground, and the lady in his place. Some time after- wards when this village was canvassed for subscriptions to the College, the husband of the lady was called upon. He looked at the subscription list, subscribed a handsome sum, and re- turned it saying, ' I do not know much about Amherst College, but I know its President is a gentleman.' " " The incessant toil which marked these years, told severely even upon his robust constitution. His health was nearly broken, when, in the winter of 1834-5, some friends of the Col- lege proposed to defray the expenses of a few months' travel in Europe for the restoration of his flagging energies." 1 The Trustees cheerfully voted him leave of absence. He sailed for Liverpool in the spring of 1835, and was absent over Commence- ment. Rev. Dr. Packard instructed the Senior Class in Moral Philosophy, and aided the Faculty in the preaching and the re- ligious services of the Chapel during the summer term. Prof. Hitchcock acted as Vice-President and Chairman of the Faculty, preached the Baccalaureate sermon, and presided at the Com- 1 Memorial Sketches of Dr. and Mrs. Humphrey, by his son. 186 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. mencement exercises. A series of letters, written by Dr. Hum- phrey during this journey, and running over with his character- istic humor and good sense, was printed in the New York Ob- server, and had a wide circulation. He returned late in the autumn with recuperated health and enlarged resources to re- sume his College duties, and to make his influence felt more widely than ever in the community. But he ceased from this time to instruct the Senior class in Intellectual and Moral Philos- ophy. A Professorship in this department had been instituted for the purpose of relieving the President from those excessive labors, which, together with the unavoidable responsibilities of his office, and the peculiar anxieties growing out of the pecu- niary condition of the College, were manifestly undermining his health. The Professor entered on his duties during the ab- sence of Dr. Humphrey in Europe. And since his inaugura- tion, the Professorship of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy has ceased to be connected with the Presidency. It was an important, it may almost be called a radical change. So far as that most important department is concerned, it was undoubt- edly an advance. Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, not less than Mathematics, or Physics, is quite enough to task the en- ergies and occupy the time of any Professor. Perhaps the change was indispensable, being at once the unavoidable effect of the growth of the College, and the necessary condition of its continued progress. But it contained the seeds of a revolution quite unforeseen by the actors in it. And like other revolu- tions, it involved incidental dangers, evils and sacrifices. The President, who would be all that Dr. D wight was in Yale Col- lege, or all that Dr. Humphrey was in the first twelve years of his connection with Amherst College, must be the principal teacher of the Senior class. The President, who would com- mand the highest veneration and affection of the students, must be more than a police officer, or administrator of the govern- ment and discipline of the College he must be the acknowl- edged intellectual, moral and spiritual, as well as official head of the Institution. During the presidency of Dr. Moore, and the first ten years of Dr. Humphrey's administration, the old-fashioned system STUDY HOURS. 187 continued unchanged, according to which morning prayers and the morning recitation were not only held before breakfast, but were held at hours varying from month to month, sometimes changing almost from week to week, according to the season of the year, so as to bring the recitation at the earliest hour at which it could well be heard by daylight. The breakfast hour was thus very late in midwinter, and yet the light in cloudy weather was often very imperfect for the morning recitation. In 1833, by vote of the Faculty, the bell for morning prayers was fixed at a quarter before five in summer and a quarter before six in winter. And this was done at the request of the students, a large majority of whom petitioned for the change. This fact is worthy of note, as illustrating the character and spirit of the students at the time. And the arrangement of recitations and study hours, which was thus introduced, and which continued for many years, was, in some respects, preferable to either that which preceded, or any which has followed it. The student's working day was thus divided into three nearly equal parts, in each of which two or three hours were set apart for study, and each period of study-hours was followed immediately by a recitation. Recitations at intervening and irregular hours were carefully avoided, and in order to avoid them, the Tutors, and to some extent the Professors did not confine themselves to one depart- ment, but heard different divisions of the same class at the same hour, in the morning, perhaps in Greek, at noon in Latin, and in the afternoon in Mathematics. The standard of instruction and of scholarship has doubtless been elevated by the present system, which assigns to every instructor his special department. But it is attended with the incidental disadvantage of necessitat- ing recitations at almost every hour of the day, and thus break- ing up the regular succession of study-hours and recitations, des- troying, in fact, the very existence of uniform study-hours for all Colleges. One who has seen and experienced the advantages of both, while on the whole he prefers the new, may be par- doned for casting back a look of regret on some of the conven- iences and felicities of the old arrangement. The observance of study-hours was enforced with much strict- ness by College pains and penalties, among which fines were 188 HISTOEY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. perhaps the most frequent. This was the day when fines were in vogue in all the Colleges, and when in Amherst College the system rose to its highest, (or sunk to its lowest,) pitch of per- fection. Fines were imposed for exercise or bathing in study- hours, for playing on a musical instrument, for firing a gun near the College buildings, for attending the village church without permission. In short, fines seem to have been the sovereign remedy for all the ills that College was heir to. The records of the Faculty in these days preserve the memory of fines im- posed on students who now adorn some of the highest places at the bar, on the bench, and in the pulpit, to say nothing of the medical profession. This much at least may be said to the credit of the Faculty, that they were impartial in their administration ; for we find a vote recorded imposing a fine of fifty cents a week on any member of the Faculty who should fail to visit every week the rooms of the students assigned him for such parochial visitation ! But Prof. Fiske entered his protest, and the vote was soon rescinded. 1 At the annual meeting of the Trustees in 1832, a change in the vacations, which had been discussed at the two preceding annual meetings, was adopted, and went into effect the next collegiate year. The vacations had hitherto been four weeks from the fourth Wednesday of August, (Commencement,) six weeks from the fourth Wednesday of December, and three weeks from the second Wednesday of May. They were now changed to six weeks from the fourth Wednesday of August, two weeks from the second Wednesday of January, and four weeks from the first Wednesday of May. . The most important feature of the change was that the long vacation which had hitherto been in the winter, was henceforth to be in the autumn. The new arrangement was ideally better, perhaps, both for offi- cers and students, inasmuch as the autumn is the pleasanter season for recreation, and the winter more suitable and conven- ient for study. But it was quite unsuitable and inconvenient for that large class of students who had been accustomed to help themselves by teaching in the winter. The Trustees pro- vided that they might still be allowed to teach twelve weeks of i Faculty record, third term, 1829-30. CHANGE OF VACATIONS. 189 each College year, including either of the three vacations, and it was hoped that they might find select schools in the fall as re- munerative as common schools in the winter. But the experi- ment proved unsuccessful, and after a trial of eight years, in 1840 the College returned to a modified and improved plan, of which, however, the essential principle was a long winter vacation. At their annual meeting in 1833, the Trustees voted to relin- quish the old practice of having a forenoon and afternoon ses- sion at Commencement, separated by the corporation dinner; and at the Commencement in 1834 the new system of one ses- sion was introduced, which has ever since continued, to the en- tire satisfaction of all concerned. In consequence of some sickness in the President's family, the impression prevailed that the President's house, which was built for Dr. Moore in 1821, was damp and unhealthy. At a special meeting of the Board in October, 1833, the Trustees re- quested the Prudential Committee to ascertain how much of the recent fifty thousand dollar subscription would remain after the payment of the College debts, and in case there should prove to be a sufficient balance, they authorized the committee to make immediate arrangements for the erection of a new house, at an expense not exceeding five thousand dollars. On investi- gation, the Prudential Committee estimated that after discharg- ing all debts there would be a balance in the treasury of about four thousand dollars, which, with the sum realized by the sale of the old house, would be sufficient to cover the expense of the new. They accordingly sold the old house for two thousand five hundred dollars, and commenced the erection of a new one on land recently purchased of the Parsons' estate directly oppo- site the College edifices ; and "during 1834 and 1835 the house was built, not by contract, but by days' works, and the conse- quence was that when the bills were all in, they amounted to about nine thousand dollars." l At the annual meeting of the Trustees in 1834, they voted to 1 Reminiscences of Amherst College, pp. 68-9. Dr. Hitchcock not only com- plains of the amount of the bills for which, during Dr. Humphrey's absence in Europe, no one was willing to be responsible ; but he declares his preference for the old house, especially in regard to its location. 190 HISTORY OP AMHERST COLLEGE. appoint a special agent for the immediate collection of the bal- ance of the fifty thousand dollar subscription, and directed the Prudential Committee " to proceed with all convenient dispatch to erect an additional College hall, provided they can procure funds for the purpose by donation, or by loan upon the security of a pledge of the building to be erected and its income, for the repayment." During the years 1835 and 1836, the process of grading the grounds in front of the existing edifices and prepar- ing a site for a new hall at the south end of the row, was com- menced and carried forward at an expense of two or three thou- sand dollars. But the hall was not erected, doubtless for the very good reason that the funds could not be obtained ; and the site was reserved for the erection of the Appleton Cabinet under more auspicious circumstances. At the same meeting of the Board (1834), the tuition was raised one dollar a term. At the annual meeting in 1836, there was a further addition of one dollar a term, thus making the tuition at this time eleven dollars a term and thirty-three dol- lars a year. At the same time the salaries of the Professors were increased from eight hundred dollars to one thousand and a corresponding increase was made in the salary of the Presi- dent. The Tutors' salaries remained as they had been for a few years previous, viz., four hundred and fifty dollars. The last votes at this meeting, one or two of mere form excepted, were as follows : " Voted that the Prudential Committee be directed, in view of the urgent necessities of the College, to apply to the Legislature of this Commonwealth at their next session for pe- cuniary aid. " Voted that should the application to the Legislature fail of success, or should it be deemed by the committee inexpedient to make such application, the Prudential Committee be further au- thorized to adopt any such measures as may by them be deemed expedient for procuring aid from such other sources as may seem to promise the desired relief." The number of students at the close of the period now under review, that is, in 1836, was large nearly as large as it has been at any time since, and the College was in a highly prosperous state. Yet the discerning reader can hardly fail to have discov- PROF. FISKE AS AN AGENT. 191 ered in our narrative of this very period seeds of trouble which will be seen springing up and bearing fruit in our subsequent history. The following picture of Prof. Fiske in the character of a so- liciting agent belongs to this period, and will be read with inter- est : " My father was in the field ' over the hill,' ' the six acre lot,' plowing with one yoke of oxen and 'old Sorrel.' Two gen- tlemen in dark broadcloth come in sight on the brow of the field. They meet the very reverent farmer. It was his pastor, ' Mr. Snell,' and an extremely gentle man in air and manner. That trim, blue surtout and spectacles, and that polished accent, were Prof. N. W. Fiske's. Amherst College was in distress. This gentleman had come to solicit aid for it ; and the minister left his study to guide and help him. Well do I remember the mes- sage to my mother in the house, ' Tell her it is in the big pocket- book, and she'll know the bill, for it's the largest one in the pocket-book.' The boy that was driving the oxen then first be- gan to think about ' going to College,' if such men came from College, and father cares so much as that for it. The next Sab- bath Prof. Fiske preached from ' O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself.' He had one watchful hearer. Such nicety of word and manner held fast the plow-boy who had seen him from hat to boots in our field two days before." That North Brookfield plow-boy entered College in 1835, and is now a Doctor of Divinity and a stirring preacher in the great West. Among the many distinguished visitors, who were at this time attracted to Amherst by the rare beauty of the situation and the singular prosperity of the College, Daniel Webster visited the Institution. I was then a student ; and I shall never forget, nor will any one who was then a member of College ever forget the brief address which he made to the officers and students who gathered in the Library to see him and do him honor. His felici- tous allusion to the bow of Ulysses, especially, sent an arrow into more than one youthful bosom, and gave a new charm to the study of the classics. CHAPTER XII. RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE PERIOD. 1825-36. IT was in 1825, shortly after the grant of the charter, that the first measures were taken for the establishment of a separate College church. The origin of this movement and the motives of the original members are thus stated in the church records : " It having appeared to many of the pious friends of Amherst College, that the existence of a church in that Seminary would tend in a high degree to promote the great object which its founders and benefactors had chiefly in view, viz., to advance the kingdom of Christ the Redeemer, by training many pious youth for the gospel ministry, several of the students also hav- ing expressed their desire to be formed into a church specially connected with the College, and the officers of the Faculty hav- ing signified their approbation of such a measure, the subject of founding a church was laid before the Trustees at their special meeting in April, 1825, by the President. The Trustees, there- fore, passed the following resolution, viz., that Rev. Heman Humphrey, D. D., Rev. Joshua Crosby, and Rev. James Taylor, be a committee to consider the expediency of establishing a College Church in this Institution, and to proceed to form one should they deem it expedient. " The above named committee assembled at Amherst on the 7th of March, 1826, and after deliberation on the subject re- ferred to their wisdom and discretion, they resolved themselves into an Ecclesiastical Council. " The council then voted to proceed to form a church in Am- herst College on the principles of the Congregational platform, of such persons desiring it as should upon examination be judged by them to be entitled to the privileges of church mem- THE CONFESSION AND COVENANT. 193 bership and should be able heartily to assent to the following articles of faith and covenant: " We believe " That there is but one living and true God, and that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were written under his infallible guidance, and constitute the only perfect rule of faith and practice. " That the one God exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. " That God created all things for his own holy pleasure and honor, and directs all events according to Jhis own benevolent, eternal and immutable purposes. " That the first man was formed upright and holy, but by dis- obedience involved both himself and his whole posterity in the entire loss of the Divine image and the Divine favor. " That the atonement by Jesus Christ, who was the Son man- ifest in the flesh, has opened a way for the restoration and sal- vation of all men on the condition of repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. " That genuine repentance and sincere faith and all right af- fections proceed from the Holy Ghost, who, through the re- vealed word, and according to the gracious pleasure of God, renews the heart in righteousness and true holiness. "That all who thus repent and believe, being justified by faith, will be saved only on account of Christ the Mediator and Redeemer, and will continue in holiness and enjoy the blessed- ness of heaven forever. "While all who die without repentance, will at the day of judgment be condemned for their own sins, and will remain in impenitence and justly suffer everlasting punishment. " We enter into solemn covenant with Jehovah and with this church. " To God our Creator, Redeemer and Sacrificer, we sacredly devote ourselves and ours without reserve and forever. " And we solemnly engage as partakers of the same hope and joy, to maintain the discipline and observe the ordinances of Christ, promising to seek always the peace and purity of this church, that all its members in holy love and harmony may 13 194 HISTOKY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. enjoy the fellowship of the Lord Jesus, watching, reproving, exhorting and comforting each other for mutual edification, and looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto him- self, a peculiar people, zealous of good works." l Thirty-one persons, all students, and members of each of the four classes, were then " examined by the council, and having publicly assented to the preceding articles and covenant, after an appropriate address by Dr. Humphrey, were solemnly consti- tuted the ' Church of Christ in Amherst College.' The church was then commended in prayer to the covenanted blessings of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost." The style of the church is worthy of notice. Although formed on the principles of the Congregational platform, it has never assumed any denominational name, but has always been styled " the Church of Christ in Amherst College." A sentence or two from the address of Dr. Humphrey will show the high hopes and the deep interest with which he con- templated the establishment of the College church. " You will permit me to congratulate the friends of the Re- deemer and of the College upon the transactions of this solemn and interesting occasion. The Institution is now at length fully organized. The church is established, which, we trust, will never be moved, on whose ample records the names of unborn thou- sands will be enrolled, in answer to whose prayers, tens of thou- sands will be brought into the kingdom of Christ, and by the instrumentality of whose sons the gospel will be carried to the ends of the earth." At a meeting of the church, May 7, 1826, Rev. Heman Hum- phrey, D. D., was chosen Moderator, and Reuben Tinker, Scribe, and at a meeting, July 7, regulations were adopted for the ad- mission of members, according to which all candidates, includ- ing such as shall bring letters from other churches, shall be ex- amined by a committee consisting of the Moderator and such 1 It has always been understood that the confession and covenant were drawn up by Prof. Fiske. The clearness, conciseness, comprehensiveness, and consistency of the articles, certainly correspond with this traditional authorship. INSTALLATION AND DEDICATION. 195 number of the brethren as the church may determine, and all such examinations of candidates shall be in a meeting of the church, so that any member of the church may also have the op- portunity to propose any inquiry, and that the candidate may then and there give his assent to the confession of faith and covenant. It was not till the 26th of October, that any mem- bers other than students were admitted to the College church, when Mrs. Humphrey was received by letter from the church at Pittsfield, Professor and Mrs. Hitchcock from the church in Con- way, Prof. Fiske from Dartmouth College, and Professors Wor- cester and Abbott from the church in the Theological Seminary at Andover. At a meeting in November, the church resolved to meet for religious exercises once in two weeks, on Saturday even- ing, and that at each meeting some subject or question, selected by the Moderator, and announced at the previous meeting, should be discussed. How long this arrangement continued, does not appear from the records. As early as 1829, such meetings had ceased to be held regularly, although Saturday evening long continued to be the evening for special meetings of the College church, and of professors of religion in seasons of religious in- terest. And no member of the church, or professor of religion who ever attended one of these meetings, will ever forget the wise fatherly counsels and the tender brotherly expostulations and entreaties of Dr. Humphrey on such occasions. The church remained almost a year without a pastor, Dr. Humphrey acting meanwhile as permanent Moderator. In Feb- ruary, 1827, after careful consideration and conference with the Trustees by committees, the church, with the full approval of the Trustees and the Faculty, resolved that it was expedient to complete its organization by the election and installation of a pastor, and by a unanimous vote they chose Dr. Humphrey for their first pastor. The installation took place on the 28th of February, 1827, in connection with the dedication of the new- College chapel. The churches represented in the Council were the First, Second and Third churches in Amherst, and the churches in Hadley, Northampton, Sunderland, Enfield, New Braintree, Shelburne, North Brookfield and Springfield. In the order of exercises, portions of the Scripture were read by Mr. 196 HISTORY OP AMHEEST COLLEGE. Washburn of Ainherst ; the introductory prayer was offered by Dr. Woodbridge of Hadley ; the sermon, having particular refer- ence to the dedication of the chapel, was preached by Dr. Humphrey; the installing prayer was offered by Mr. Crosby of Enfield ; the charge to the pastor was given by Mr. Fiske of New Braintree; the fellowship of the churches was expressed by Mr. Snell of North Brookfield ; and the concluding prayer was offered by Mr. Chapin of South Amherst. The pulpit of the new chapel was occupied by the pastor every other Sabbath, and by the other clerical members of the Faculty in rotation on each alternate Sabbath ; and at their first meeting after the opening of the chapel, the Trustees appropri- ated two hundred dollars, that is, five dollars a Sabbath, as the compensation for this service. This appropriation was renewed at each annual meeting for fifteen or twenty years. The sum was at length doubled, and since that time ten dollars a Sabbath has been the remuneration for the supply of the College pulpit, or, as the Trustees would perhaps prefer to put it, their recog- nition of the service. The usual religious meetings of the week at this time, besides the public services of the Sabbath, were the religious lecture on Thursday evening, conducted by the President and the preach- ing Professors in rotation, the meetings of the several classes by themselves on Friday evening, the meetings of the church, and sometimes of all the professors of religion on Saturday evening, and the prayer -meeting for all the students, during the hour immediately preceding public worship Sabbath morning. It should also be noticed that it was in 1827 that the plan was introduced of a weekly Bible exercise in each of the classes. The historical parts of the Bible were assigned to the Fresh- man class, the prophetical parts to the Sophomores, the doc- trinal parts to the Juniors, and the Seniors studied the As- sembly's Catechism with the President. The instruction of the lower classes was so apportioned among the Professors and Tutors that the whole Faculty, with rare exceptions, took more or less part in these biblical exercises. And the Bible lesson, instead of being put on Monday morning as it often is in schools, was assigned to Thursday afternoon, for the express purpose of THE REVIVAL OP 1827. 197 bringing it alongside of the Thursday evening lecture, and thus breaking up, if possible, the current of secular labors and worldly thoughts by the introduction of sacred studies and re- ligious influences into the very middle of the week. In his letter accepting the invitation of the church to become their pastor, Dr Humphrey said : " Let it be our united and fervent prayer to God, brethren, that he will prepare us all for the contemplated solemnities, that he will enable me to be faith- ful as a spiritual guide and overseer, that he will pour out his Spirit upon the church so recently established in this Seminary, and make it the pillar and ground of the truth here, that its light may be seen and its example be felt by every member of College, that great additions may be made to it from every suc- cessive class of such as shall be saved, and that it may shine brighter and brighter upon this consecrated eminence from gen- eration to generation." Scarcely had all these arrangements for a thoroughly Christian teaching and influence been consummated, when, doubtless in answer to prayer asked by the pastor and offered not only in the church and the College but by pious parents and the friends of sanctified learning in every part of the country, the Spirit was poured out in copious effusions, and the new pastor, the new church and the new chapel all received a fresh consecration ; scarcely were these various, ample and appropriate channels for the truth and the Spirit of God opened, when they were filled with Divine influences ; scarcely had they brought all their tithes into the storehouse when the windows of heaven were opened, and a blessing was poured down that there was scarcely room enough to receive it. The following narrative of this first revival under the pastor- ate and presidency of Dr. Humphrey, was communicated by him to the Christian public under date of May 15, 1827 : " As our spring term has just closed under circumstances of peculiar interest, we feel constrained by a sense of gratitude to declare what God has done for us and to acquaint the friends of Zion with the present religious state of this College. Four years ago, and less than two years after its first organization, the In- stitution was favored with a remarkable season of ' refreshing 198 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. from the presence of the Lord.' Since that time, although a majority of the students have always been professedly pious, there have been but few conversions till within the last few weeks. " A year ago the church was partially revived and a little cloud seemed for a few days to be hovering over the Seminary ; but it soon disappeared. This year the last Thursday of February was observed in the usual manner as a day of fasting and prayer for the outpouring of God's Spirit upon Colleges. The follow- ing week our new chapel was dedicated, and a pastor was set over our infant church. Both these occasions were marked with uncommon interest and solemnity, and our hopes were a little revived, but they were not sustained by any apparent increase of right feeling. As the term advanced, some few, I believe, went up more than ' seven times' to look for the harbinger of a spiritual shower, before they could discover anything. At length, when many thought it too late for a revival, as vacation was so near, by the blessing of God upon some special efforts to rouse professors from their slumbers, they began to open their eyes and to tremble. This was not far from the middle of April. Searchings of heart soon became deep and distressing. Mairy were ready to give up hopes which they had cherished for years, and it was impossible for us long to doubt that a revival was be- gun in the church. " In the meantime, there was a noise and shaking among the dry bones. The impenitent began to be serious, to be alarmed, to ask, ' What shall we do to be saved ? ' and then to rejoice in hope. By the 20th of April, five or six in the Freshman class appeared to have a new song put into their mouths, and from that time the work advanced with surprising rapidity and power. Convictions were in general short, and, in many cases, extremely pungent. Of the thirty in College who perhaps gave some evi- dence of faith and repentance, and who are beginning to cherish hope, twenty at least are supposed to have experienced relief in the space of a single week. ' It is the Lord's doings, and mar- velous in our eyes.' "As this gracious visitation seemed to demand a public ac- knowledgment to the great Head of the Church, before we sep- RECOLLECTIONS OF ALUMNI. 199 arated at the close of the term, a religious service was appointed as the last exercise, and a very appropriate and impressive dis- course was delivered in the chapel by the Rev. Dr. Woodbridge of Hadley." To this narrative written at the time by the pastor, we sub- join recollections by several who were students at the time that it may be seen also from their point of view. " The most remarkable and important event of our College course, was the revival of 1827. I was away from College on account of ill-health at the time it commenced. In my absence of three weeks, not out of town, I was visited by two of my classmates who came to talk with me in relation to my duty to be- come a Christian. And when I returned to College, the still- ness and seriousness pervading the whole Institution made every day seem like the Sabbath in its most strict observance. The meetings for prayer among the students, held by classes, or the occupants of entries, or other divisions, and the more general meetings conducted by the Faculty, were so frequent, solemn, earnest, and pervaded by the evident presence of God, that I could not but be strongly impressed. Two or three, or it may be four, of the forty in the class, (1828) did not seem to be much moved, all the rest were manifestly. I think it was not more than three weeks after my return to the class, before the close of the term. But the whole College was so influenced in that time that through the rest of the year it had an entirely different aspect from any time before. Our class, then Juniors, was very essen- tially changed in character. Two who had been decidedly skep- tical, Kidder and Winn, became decided and earnest Christians. Humphrey, the President's oldest son, had been altogether irre- ligious, wild and negligent of all study except in the rhetorical department and general literature. He became, for the rest of his College course, correct in his conduct, serious and earnest as a Christian, diligent and faithful as a student. The change as to interest in religious things, was also marked in other cases, such as Fuller, Hunt, 1 Lothrop 2 and Spotswood. 3 I think eleven 1 Rev. Daniel Hunt of Pomfret, Conn. 2 Hon. E. H. Lothrop of Michigan. 3 Rev. J. B. Spotswood, D. D. of Virginia. 200 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. of the class united with the College church or other churches as the result of this revival. Among them were some of the foremost men of the class. " Of the class before us, (1827) I suppose McClure * was the most remarkable instance of conversion, I mean publicly the most remarkable. Perhaps the conversion of Timothy D wight, 2 really the first scholar of the class, may have been as interest- ing to those who knew him well. In the class after us, (1829) the most marked and externally wonderful change was in Henry Lyman who was afterwards the martyr missionary with Muuson killed by the Battas of Sumatra. Lyman had been one of the worst, of the boldest in wickedness, apparently defying the authority of God ; but when he came under the power of God's truth and Spirit, he became as ardent and bold for Christ as before he had been in opposition to all good." 3 " An incident illustrative of strong faith in prayer, was this : In the south entry of South College there were a number of our most godly young men, while the majority were impeni- tent. After mature deliberation, the former resolved to hold a daily prayer-meeting of one hour for the conversion of the un- converted in that entry. The meetings were sustained with vigor and strong faith, the Holy Spirit wrought powerfully in their midst, and only a few weeks passed away before every student in the south entry of the old South College was con- verted to Christ." 4 " The students made frequent calls on each other to converse upon the greatest of all subjects, the welfare of souls, and usu- ally joined in prayer before they separated. The meetings of literary societies were turned to prayer-meetings, and frequently the instructors united with their classes in prayer in their reci- tation rooms. Meetings were well attended and very solemn, particularly those which were held Sabbath mornings at half 1 Rev. A. W. McClure, D. D., late Secretary of American and Foreign Christian Union. 2 Tutor and Missionary. 8 Letter of Rev. A. Tobey, D. D., Class of '28. For Mr. Lyman's account of his own conversion and other incidents of this revival, see his journal and letters in the memoir by his sister, Miss Hannah Lyman, Principal of Vassar College. 4 Rev. T. R. Cressey, Class of '28. INCIDENTS OF THE KEVIVAL. 201 past nine o'clock. At these meetings, as well as others, the im- penitent were warned and urged to accept the Savior by those who had formerly been their companions in sin. It was a deeply affecting scene to witness the love of Christ proclaimed from lips so lately addicted to profanity. Anxious meetings were held two evenings in a week, and there are few of the impeni- tent that have not attended them. Many of the subjects of this work have been those who were farthest from God and all good, not only unbelieving, but wild and reckless. " About nine-tenths of the Senior and Sophomore classes are now the hopeful subjects of renewing grace. The probable number of those who have indulged hopes, is about forty, in- cluding six or eight who had formerly professed religion but who now felt that they had been deceived. The most promi- nent characteristics of this revival have been great heart-search- ings among professing Christians, deep and frequent convictions of sin, and trembling hopes." * A very full and interesting narrative of this revival forms the principal part of one of the chapters in Prof. Abbott's " Corner- Stone." 2 From this and indeed from the recollections of other eye-witnesses, it appears that before the revival, irreligion, skep- ticism, open infidelity, blasphemy even, and ridicule of sacred things had become exceedingly bold. The year previous, some six or eight of the most bold, hardened and notorious enemies of religion, after trying in vain to break up meetings of the pious students by banded and brow-beating intrusions, resolved to have a meeting of their own from which every friend of reli- gion should be excluded. One of the officers was invited to conduct the meeting. " The officer addressed them faithfully and plainly, urging their duty and their sins upon their consideration, while they sat still, in respectful but heartless silence ; looking intently upon him with an expression of countenance which seemed to say, ' Here we all are, move us if you can.' And they con- 1 Rev. William A. Hyde, Class of '29, from a narrative contributed by him at the time to the Religious Intelligencer at New Haven. 2 Corner-Stone, p. 364. The letters of Mr. McClure, printed by Prof. Abbott, and indeed the whole narrative, should be read by those who would gain an adequate conception of the miracles of grace in this revival. 202 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. quered. They went home unmoved. They continued to as- semble for several weeks, inviting the officers in succession to be present, and at last the few who remained conducted the meetings themselves, with burlesque sermons and mock prayers, and closed the series at last, as I have been informed, by bring- ing in an ignorant black man whose presence and assistance completed the victory they had gained over influences from above. " This year, (1827,) an attempt was made to repeat those transactions, but with a very different result. A Tutor l was invited to hold the meeting. A Hebrew Bible was waggishly placed on the stand. After opening the meeting with prayer, he entered into a defence of the Holy Scriptures from external and internal evidence which he maintained in the most convin- cing manner, and then on the strength of this authority, he urged its promises and denunciations upon them as sinners. The effect was very powerful. Several retired deeply impressed, and all were made more serious and better prepared to be influ- enced by the truth." After several days of anxious inquiry, under the wise guidance of the pastor the young man at whose room and by whose invitation the meeting was held, was led to the Savior and sat clothed and in his right mind at his feet. That young man was afterwards Rev. A. W. McClure, D. D., the eloquent and able preacher, author, editor and secretary. The leader of the banded opposition the previous year also now became as bold and zealous in the advocacy of truth and piety as he had been of irreligion. This was Henry Lyman, the mis- sionary and martyr of Sumatra. " There were many other cases as marked and striking as these. Out of the whole number of those who had been irreligious at its commencement, about one-half professed to have given themselves up to God, but as to the talent and power of opposition, and open enmity the vice, the profaneness, the dissipation the revival took the whole, with one or tyvo exceptions, it took the whole. And when, a few weeks afterwards, the time arrived for those thus changed to make a public profession of religion, it was a striking specta- cle to see them standing in a crowd in the broad aisle of the 1 Tutor B. B. Edwards. ADMISSION TO THE CHURCH. 203 College chapel, purified, sanctified, and in the presence of all their fellow-students renouncing sin and solemnly consecrating themselves to God. Some years have since elapsed, and they are in his service now. I have their names before me, and I do not know of one who does not continue faithful to his Master still." With the caution and prudence which Dr. Humphrey always carefully observed in such matters, the converts of this revival were not received immediately into the church, but were in- structed by the pastor somewhat like the catechumens in the early Christian church, and edified in the faith, hope and love of the gospel for several months before they made a public profes- sion of their attachment to the Lord Jesus. Hitherto the Fac- ulty and pious students of the College had united with the vil- lage church in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. On the 19th of August, 1827, this sacrament was administered for the first time in the College chapel, and it was a eucharist indeed, a festival of thanksgiving and praise, made doubly joyful by the number and character of those who now for the first time par- ticipated in the feast. Twenty students, converts of the revival, from all the different classes, joined themselves to the church at this communion. One or two had joined earlier and others united with the church in College or elsewhere at subsequent communions. We have not space for the names, and some of them would be unknown to most of our readers. But to one who knows their subsequent history, it is delightful to look over the list and see, how all without exception have adorned their profession, how nearly all have been able and faithful min- isters of the gospel, while not a few have been distinguished as preachers, teachers and missionaries at home or in foreign lands. If the tree is known by its fruit, certainly this revival (and the same is true of many others that have succeeded it), was a good tree whose fruit enriched the College, refreshed the churches and was for the healing of the nations. The following extract illustrates how the converts began at once to co-operate with those who had prayed and labored for their conversion, in missionary efforts for the instruction of the ignorant, the care of the neglected and the salvation of the lost. 204 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. " Soon after I entered College, in 1825, I was walking on the road to Pelham, and on the plain east of East street, I saw a number of families of colored people. I inquired if they would like a meeting at one of their houses Sabbath afternoon. The proposal was welcomed, the meeting was holden, and from that time a meeting, with a Sabbath-school, was sustained during my College course. Henry Lyman, after his conversion, assisted me in these meetings. Sometimes there were as many as seventy or more colored people at those meetings. How much good was accomplished or what has become of the meetings or the colored people, I do not know." J That was the beginning of a mission- ary enterprise which, with occasional interruptions, has been ever since sustained by the students of Amherst College, and which under the fostering care chiefly of the ladies of the Col- lege church, has grown into the church and congregation that now worship in Zion chapel on the west side of the College grounds. The next year, viz., during the latter part of the spring term of 1828, another season of revival was enjoyed, " highly inter- esting," (in the language of the church record, which is in the handwriting of Prof. Fiske,) " although not so rapid or power- ful as that of 1827. There seemed to be less of self-scrutiny in the members of the church and professors of religion, and less of importunity in prayer. But the Holy Spirit manifestly descended, and it was supposed that about fourteen members of College experienced his regenerating influences." " There were two revivals during my College course " writes Rev. Asa Bullard " in 1827 and 1828. I think it was the lat- ter, and only a few weeks before the close of the term, that Dr. Humphrey was all ready one Saturday to start for his former home in Pittsfield, when some students called on him and told him there were signs of seriousness in the College. Dr. Hum- phrey turned out his horse and gave up his visit. At evening prayers he stopped the pious students and gave them a most solemn exhortation to earnest prayer and faithful labor for a re- vival. The Holy Spirit was evidently present. Sabbath day several were hopefully converted, and for a day or two conver- 1 Rev. E. D. Eldredge, Class of '29. REVIVAL OF 1828. 205 sions were constantly occurring; when all at once the work seemed to stop. Monday morning the President again stopped the pious students at prayers, and in the most solemn and deeply anxious manner, said : ' Something is wrong.' Never shall I forget that day, and many will probably remember while they live that ' Judgment-like Monday.' The students were gathered everywhere in little clusters, as solemn as if some great calamity had just fallen upon us. Soon the College was one great house of prayer. In every entry and from many a room could be heard the voice of the most earnest, agonizing supplication. From that hour the work went on. Those who were bowed down under conviction of sin found relief, and there were conversions almost every day till the close of the term." At a meeting of the church on Saturday evening, July 5, 1828, " in preparation for the Lord's Supper to be .kept on the approaching Sabbath, July 6," " the pastor stated to the church that the furniture for the ordinance of the supper was a joint present from the pastor and Professors Hitchcock, Fiske, Wor- cester and Abbott." The next Saturday evening, July 12, the first case of disci- pline was brought before the church by the pastor at the in- stance of members of the church who "declared themselves much grieved by the deportment of brother , particu- larly his indulgence of anger and use of profane language." The discipline was conducted according to the method and spirit of the gospel, with faithful admonitions and much for- bearance on the part of the pastor and the church, to a success- ful issue. The offending brother made a written acknowledg- ment, expressing his sorrow and asking forgiveness, and "it being read in his presence, the church voted their acceptance of the same and their continuance of Christian charity and fellowship." On Sunday, July 13, " the first baptism in the church occur- red (in the case of the children of members) in the baptism of the infant son of Prof. Hitchcock, named Edward." At the celebration of the Lord's Supper, November 2, 1828, Mrs. Harriet V. Abbott and Horatio B. Hackett, with others, made a public profession of their faith in Christ; and March 1, 206 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. 1829, " Mr. Ebenezer Strong Snell and Mrs. Sabra C. Snell were admitted by profession." In the course of the same year, we find records of the earli- est appointments of delegates to attend ecclesiastical councils with the pastor, viz., April 14, of Prof. Worcester for the dis- mission of Rev. Mr. Chapin at South Amherst ; in June, of Prof. Hitchcock, for his installation at Westhampton ; and October 4, of Prof. Hitchcock, for the ordaining of Mr. Elijah C. Bridg- man, missionary to China, at Belchertown. The ordination of Mr. Bridgman took place on the 6th of October, and President Humphrey preached the sermon. In the spring term of 1830, a friend of temperance, (after- wards ascertained to be Mr. John Tappan of Boston,) offered a premium of four hundred dollars for the best essays on the sub- ject of temperance to be delivered at the four ensuing Commence- ments, and to be awarded one hundred dollars each year by the then Senior, Junior, Sophomore and Freshman classes, on the condition of there being a universal agreement of the students to abstain from the use of wine, spirits and tobacco for the whole College course. The condition was not fully accepted by the students, that was more than could be expected of any Col- lege ; but the proposal led to the formation of the Antivenenian Society in August, 1830, on the basis of a pledge of total absti- nence from ardent spirits, wine, opium and tobacco, as articles of luxury or diet, which pledge was signed by all the officers and a large majority of the students. Essays were written and read, and liberal premiums were given, the first of which was awarded to Lewis Sabin of the Class of '31. So far from with- holding or reducing the sum originally offered, Mr. Tappan gave five hundred dollars to the College, which was made the occasion of collecting the three or four thousand dollars expended by Prof. Hovey in the purchase of books, the most important early addition to the College library. Thus originated the College Temperance Society, which still lives and embraces the larger part of the offi- cers and students in its membership, of which the President of the College has always been the President, and Professors Hitch- cock the elder, Tyler and Hitchcock the younger, the succes- sive Secretaries, and whose roll of heroes and martyrs, now long ANTIVENENIAN SOCIETY. 207 enough to reach across a good-sized lecture room, and growing larger every year, has been exhibited by the President, or the Secretary, or both together, to each successive class of Fresh- men soon after their entrance, and has received the signature of a majority, usually a large majority, of every class for more than forty years. We are not so credulous as to believe that this pledge has been faithfully kept by all the signers. But the greater part have kept it, and it has been a safeguard to many students, and a blessing to the College. 1 This temperance movement, thus early originated, was a con- necting link chronologically, doubtless also in the chain of cause and effect, between the revivals of 1827 and 1828, and that of 1831. Without the revivals of 1827 and 1828, the students certainly could not have been brought up to a stand in the cause of temperance so far in advance of the age. 2 And without the temperance reform in 1830, the revival in 1831 would probably have been less powerful than it was, perhaps would not have existed. The revival of 1831 occurred in the spring term, like all those which had preceded it, but it began earlier in the term than those of 1827 and 1828. The concert of prayer for Colleges, the last Thursday of February prepared the way for it. The sickness and sudden death of a member of the Senior class produced a deep and solemn impression. The seriousness be- gan in that class, and among its leading scholars, not a few of whom were then without hope in Christ. Deeply convinced of the vanity of the highest worldly good, and of the folly and criminality of an irreligious life, these leading men, one after another, renounced the world and consecrated themselves to the service of their Redeemer. Thus the influence spread silently and gradually through the class, and from the Senior class, by a law as natural as that by which water runs down hill, it flowed through the College. At the communion in 1 The pledge to total abstinence from intoxicating drinks is now separate from the others, and is taken by many who do not pledge themselves to abstain from tobacco. 2 Total abstinence from ardent spirits was then the advanced position assumed by the friends of temperance. The inclusion of wine, opium and tobacco in the pledge was a radical innovation. 208 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. May, seven, l and at that in August, nineteen members of Col- lege, twenty five in all, were gathered into the College church as the fruits of this rich harvest season. How many joined other churches, I do not know ; but according to the best of my recollection, between thirty and forty were reckoned as con- verts. Among those who joined the College church and began a new life at this time from the two upper classes, it may be proper to name, as known to the public, Jonathan Brace, Eben- ezer Burgess, Orlow M. Dorman, James Garvin, Chester Lord, Thatcher Thayer, Wellington H. Tyler and George Waters of the Class of '31, and Samuel Hopkins and Henry Morris of the Class of '32. The reader will pardon a personal allusion to the beloved brother whose name occurs in the above list. His work as an educator of young ladies was done, and well done, in less than a dozen years, and he is now, I trust, in heaven. He owed to Araherst College not only his education and his power to teach, but his new birth and Christian life. Early one morning he came to my room in the Academy where I was then teaching, full of sorrow for sin and anxiety for his soul. I con- versed and prayed with him, giving him the best counsel I could from my limited experience, and at the same time advising him to call on Dr. Humphrey and take counsel with him. But without waiting for him to do so, I went immediately to Dr. Humphrey and acquainted him with the facts. It was the first case of anxious inquiry, and the President was taken a little by surprise. It was, however, a glad surprise. He started up as if he had received some good news, which at the same time called for immediate action : he said, we must be up and doing. He sought an interview with the first inquirer, and my brother was soon rejoicing in hope, cheerful and joyful as a little child. The President, whose ear was always open to the first sound of " a going in the tops of the mulberry trees," now girded himself instantly for the battle, and summoned his colleagues also, and his younger brethren to buckle on their armor. Among the special means which were used for the furtherance of this good work, my mind dwells with chief interest on the services which were held on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the preaching of 1 Including Story Hebard, Tutor, afterwards missionary. REVIVAL OF 1831. 209 the word of God and the way of salvation. Dr. Humphrey preached more frequently than any one else. The sinfulness of man and the sovereignty of God, the deceitfulness of the human heart, and the subtle devices of Satan, were among his favorite topics. And the word of God in his hands was quick and pow- erful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. Prof. Hitchcock came next with his awakening, alarming and convincing " revival sermons " which he began to preach in revivals in Conway, and which he preached with increasing power to so many successive genera- tions of College students. Prof. Fiske preached less frequently, but with a clearness of statement, a discrimination of character and doctrine, and a cogency of argument which left no ground for the unbeliever or disbeliever to stand upon, for the impeni- tent sinner no place to hide his head. Never before, perhaps never since, have I heard preaching which made God appear so great and good, man so insignificant, so criminal, so inexcusable in his disobedience and neglect of so great salvation. Night after night the old " Rhetorical Room " was crowded with young men of all classes and characters, in every stage of religious and irreligious thought and feeling, listening with all the acute- ness of their cultivated minds, and all the warmth of their quickened emotions, listening, not a few of them, as for their lives to the preaching of the law of God, and the gospel of Christ. And morning after morning the hearts of the preach- ers and pious hearers were rejoiced by the good tidings of class- mates and friends that were singing the new song, that were entering upon the new life. " I presume I utter a sentiment very generally entertained " so writes a member of the Class of '31, who has been greatly useful both as a pastor and as a teacher, " when I say that during my ministry I have esteemed the revivals in which I have been allowed to take part, as pure and truly beneficial very much in proportion to their likeness to those which I witnessed in College, and if I have ever succeeded in conducting a revival so as to have any good results, I trace the fact to what I learned in College." With good reason did Prof. Fiske, after recording the names 14 210 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. of those who joined the church by profession in the summer term of 1831, close the record by speaking of them as " the fruits of the revival by which the church and College was blessed the last term, and for which it is hoped, that many churches will have occasion to be thankful." The village church was blessed with a revival of great power and interest the same year. Four members of the church, 1 most of them officers had been praying for it many months previous, holding meetings for this express purpose at their houses in rotation attended by themselves alone till at length at their instance the pastor, Rev. Mr. Washburn, appointed an inquiry meeting, and to his surprise found it full of anxious inquirers. The pastor entered into the work with all his might, and there was a great ingathering. It was the last work the good man did ; when it was done, he was ripe for heaven and ready to depart. College students who were teachers in the village Sabbath-school, were greatly useful in promoting it, if not the means of its commencement, and among them Moody Harrington of the Class of '31 did a work which if he had never done anything else, would entitle him to a place among those who are wise and turn many to righteousness. None who heard him can forget the power and pathos with which he spoke once at the Sabbath-school concert, and how the whole crowded as- sembly were stirred to feeling and action as he pressed home upon them the question, " Why do we sit still ?" And he spoke often with scarcely less power in the religious meetings of the students. 2 The year 1831 was a year of revivals in the churches. And wherever the students of Amherst College went wherever the alumni of Amherst were settled in the ministry, they labored to promote those revivals in the spirit which they had imbibed in similar scenes in their Alma and with the wisdom which they had learned from the instructions and example of their beloved teachers. " I have enjoyed nine or ten precious revivals in my 1 Dea. Leland, Dea. Mack, Dea. Flagg and Mr. Lyman (father of Henry). Miss Hannah Lyman, of Vassar College, was one of the converts. 2 Mr. Beecher is accustomed to speak of Mr. Harrington as almost his spiritual father to whom he owed more religiously, than to any other man in College. Mr. Harrington afterwards married the daughter of Gen. Mack. REVIVAL OF 1835. 211 ministry, and they are the very brightest spots in my life." Thus writes an alumnus to whom I am indebted for some of the most valuable materials of the foregoing history. Scores, prob- ably hundreds of the alumni, could bear similar testimony. They learned to believe in revivals, to love them and to labor successfully in them, while they were members of College. In the five years beginning with 1827 and ending with 1831, there were three revivals. Three years now succeeded without what is technically called a revival, although more than once during the interval the church was revived, and during each of these years there were occasional conversions, and additions to the church by profession at almost every communion. At length in 1835 when no class remaining in College had wit- nessed one of these favored seasons, the Institution was again blessed by a special outpouring of the Spirit. An account of it was given to the public through the Boston Recorder by Prof. Hitchcock, the pastor, Dr. Humphrey, being absent in Europe for the benefit of his health. From this account we give some extracts. " At the commencement of the spring teem, it was evident that some Christians had begun to set their faces unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting and sack- cloth and ashes for a revival of religion. God had been rebuk- ing us repeatedly by removing on account of ill health and for other causes, one and another of the permanent officers of the Institution, and it became necessary for the President also to leave for a season on a voyage to Europe for the recovery of his exhausted energies. And Satan too seized upon this time of trial and violently attempted to revive his work. But although he adopted measures which, in this community, were emphatically new, such as disturbing religious meetings by fire- works, 1 he succeeded in enlisting but very few on his side ; and when the faithfnl execution of the laws had removed these from the Institution, the power of God's Spirit became decidedly man- 1 Sometimes called the Gunpowder Plot. A train of powder laid under the back seat from door to door of the old Mathematical Room was exploded during a re- ligious meeting. The author of the plot was immediately detected and expelled. The meeting adjourned to another room, and was finished with increased solemnity. 212 HISTOEY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. ifest, and the work went steadily forward to the very last day of the term, a period of six or eight weeks. The number of those who were destitute of a hope at the commencement, did not exceed fifty. Not less than one third of these professed to have yielded their hearts to God. But it was clear that the work was the most thorough among professed Christians, several of whom were brought under deep convictions, and yielded at length their hearts anew (some of them probably for the first time) to the Savior. " We have made it a rule not to interfere at such a season with the regular College exercises, except in an extreme case. We adhered to this rule in this instance, except some seasons devoted to fasting and prayer." Among other special means of which Prof. Hitchcock speaks as having proved useful, were " meetings of ten or twelve professing Christians, in which every individual was urged to express his feelings ;" " a number of individuals on a certain day visiting all the professors of religion, with the resolution not to leave them till they had solemnly promised to renew their consecration ;" or " for an officer during the day to visit all the members of a class, converse with them on the subject of personal religion, and affectionately invite them to a meeting which he would conduct in the evening." In conformity with their former practice, the Faculty, at the close of the term, entered the following resolve upon their records : " Whereas it has pleased God to visit us during the past term with a precious revival of religion, whereby many have been quickened and some hopefully converted, therefore resolved, that we desire to leave this record of the fact as a testimony of their deep indebtedness to that sovereign mercy of a covenant-keeping God, and of their obligation to labor with new courage and zeal in his service." A few extracts from the recollections of those who were students at the time, contain some additional details of much interest : " I have ever loved to recall the incidents of the revival of 1835. It was a precious season. To a certain little band of students, whose names I could perhaps give, it was especially welcome. Day after day and night after night, they had been RECOLLECTIONS OF GRADUATES. 213 praying, both together and apart, in secret places, for just such a blessing. In some instances they spent, perhaps unwisely, but with the best intentions, a large part of the night together in wrestling with God, and sometimes even weeping together, lest something should be in the way of the descent of the Spirit during that season. On one occasion, when the result seemed to human view in considerable doubt, they joined hands, and, upon their knees, at dead of night, in a room in the old North College, entered into a solemn covenant with God and with one another, each praying in his turn, that they would not, God helping them, give it up, but would plead and labor till the blessing came. And when the blessing came, and they found such men as Clark, 1 Peabody, Humphrey and Smith of my own class, and others in other classes, anxious and inquiring or re- joicing in new found hope, they felt like mounting on wings and praising God DAY AND NIGHT forever." 2 The record of the church reads thus: "Clinton Clark, J. B. Greenough, John Humphrey, William A. Peabody, G. P. Smith, Lycortas L. Brewer, Alexander H. Bullock, Thomas P. Green, L. A. Hayward, David S. Oliphant, Isaac Titcomb, Frederic Dickinson, and Daniel W. Poor, were received by profession. These are among the fruits of a most interesting revival of religion during the closing six weeks of the term." The following extract from a letter of Rev. W. H. Beaman of the Class of '37, will illustrate the feeling with which this and other similar seasons of religious interest are remembered to this day by great numbers of the alumni : " The mention of these seasons calls up many precious memories. That of 1835, was deep and pervading. The truth fell from the lips of Humphrey, Hitchcock and Fiske, with great power, searching the 1 Rev. Clinton Clark, Valedictorian of the Class of '35 of which Peabody was the Salutatorian, and Tutor from '37 to '41. I have before me very interesting and instructing narratives of the conversion of Peabody and Humphrey, the former by Rev. Leander Thompson of the Class of '35, the latter by Rev. William Hunt- ting of the same class. The former was printed in the Boston Recorder soon after the death of Prof. Puabody in 1850. But I have not room for the narratives. In the Humphrey here mentioned, the reader will recognize Rev. John Humphrey, son of President Humphrey, pastor of the churches in Charlestown and Binghamton, and Professor elect of Moral Philosophy and Theology in Hamilton College. 2 Rev. Leander Thompson. 214 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. hearts of Christians as well as others. Some who had been ex- emplary professors of religion gave up their hopes, and for days were in despair then the light entered, and they were advanced to a higher standard of living. How vividly I recall as if it were yesterday, the sound of prayer in the dormitories, recitation rooms and groves, the walks and talks of fellow-Christians, of Christians with their unconverted classmates and other fellow- students ! With what fresh interest were the Bible, Bunyan, Baxter and J. B. Taylor perused ! How sacred was the very air of College, and all its surroundings ! How we inhaled the very atmosphere of heaven and had foretastes of its blessedness ! " The reader can not but have remarked the difference between the converts in the different revivals of this period. Many of the converts in each and all of them were the most gifted and influential men in College. But in 1827, these gifted and influ- ential men, previous to their conversion, were, most of them, wild, wayward, negligent of study, some of them dissipated and violently opposed to religion. In 1835, on the contrary, and to a great extent in 1831, the prominent converts had pre- viously been studious, amiable, faithful, leading scholars and exemplary in their whole deportment. Yet all alike felt their need of a new heart and a new spirit. All alike believed that when they were converted, they began a higher and better life. They not only believed this at the time in the flush of excite- ment, but they continued to cherish the conviction ever after,, And they proved not only the sincerity of their conviction, but the reality of the change by their pure, holy, godly lives. Now is not the united testimony of such witnesses so various, so intelligent, so honest and capable is it not sufficient of itself to vindicate revivals and conversions from the contempt which many cast upon them who know nothing of them by their own observation and experience ? Does it not go far to demonstrate the doctrine which has always been held by the Faculty and the great majority of the students of Amherst College, that such revivals are the work of God and are among the richest blessings which the Institution has ever experienced ? CHAPTER XIII. TRUSTEES AND OTHER OFFICERS WHOSE CONNECTION WITH THE COLLEGE CEASED DURING THIS PERIOD, 1825-36. BEFORE we proceed to complete the history of President Humphrey's administration, we must pause a little to notice some of the Trustees and friends of the College whose connec- tion with it ceased during the period which we have been pass- ing in review. Six of these, Rev. Joshua Crosby, Rev. James Taylor, Nathaniel Smith, Esq., Rev. Experience Porter, Israel E. Trask, Esq., and Hon. John Hooker, were Trustees of Am- herst Academy, and so Trustees of the Collegiate Institution from its beginning in 1821. Rev. Joshua Crosby was born in Harwich, Mass., in April, 1761. Left in straitened circumstances by the loss of his father at sea when he was quite young, Joshua lived with different relatives, till, at length, to escape the tyranny of an uncle, at the age of fifteen he enlisted in the Revolutionary army in June, 1776, and continued in active service about five and a half years, till near the close of 1781. For a few months he was on board of a privateer. Some time after leaving the army, while learning the blacksmith's trade in Hardwick, he became a sub- ject of a powerful revival of religion, and manifested so much zeal, and excelled so much in speaking that he was soon called upon to take a leading part in the meetings. A strong desire to preach the gospel now took possession of him, and notwith- standing obstacles that seemed almost insurmountable, in 1785 he commenced fitting for College. After two or three years of preparatory study, partly in school and* partly under private tuition, he entered Brown University and remained there two 216 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. years, 1 when under the pressure of pecuniary embarrassment, at the recommendation of the President, he left, and after a brief period of theological study, commenced preaching. On the 2d of December, 1789, he was ordained pastor of the church in South Greenwich, (now Enfield,) which office he continued to hold, (the latter part of the time with a colleague,) for al- most fifty years. He died, still senior pastor at Enfield, Sep- tember 24, 1838, at the age of seventy-seven. He was consid- ered remarkable for his gifts in prayer, and in extemporaneous speaking he probably had no equal in the Association. He was an active and faithful pastor, and was always much interested in the schools of Enfield and Greenwich. His zeal for maintaining and defending the faith of the Pil- grim Fathers moved him to take a deep and active interest in the establishment of Amherst College. He was a member of the Board of Trustees from the opening in 1821 till his death in 1838. For many years, perhaps until his death, he held the office of Vice-President of the Corporation, and subsequent to the death of President Moore, he was, for a while, acting Presi- dent of the Institution. The records of the Trustees show that he was often placed on committees of great responsibility and importance. His wisdom and firmness were relied on in difficult emergencies, and he expended much time and toil in raising money to supply the necessities of the College. Mr. Crosby's political convictions were very decided, and during the administrations of Jefferson and Madison, his ser- mons on the state of the country were sometimes so severe on the national government as to drive some of his Democratic parishioners from the meeting-house. He had a marked predi- lection for military affairs, and held a chaplaincy in the militia during a large part of his ministerial life. When the militia were called out in 1814 for the defence of Boston, he accom- panied the Hampshire County troops, and such was the impres- sion made on officers and soldiers by his person and military knowledge, that on the resignation of Gen. Mattoon, (in conse- 1 It will be seen from this that the students in 1823 were mistaken when they objected to Mr. Crosby that he was ignorant of Latin, and had never been to Col- lege. REV. JAMES TAYLOR. 217 quence of the loss of his eye-sight) there was considerable talk of raising the chaplain to the rank of adjutant-general of the Massachusetts militia. In person, he was remarkably well- formed, having great muscular power, with a fine countenance and commanding presence ; and in his gait and bearing, he car- ried through life unmistakable evidence of his early military training. Tradition says that in the army, and for some time subsequent, he was a champion wrestler. After the settlement of a colleague, he represented the town one year in the Massa- chusetts Legislature. He was well fitted by his character and antecedents to fight the battles in the early history of Amherst College, of which he deserves to be ranked as one of the founders. l Rev. James Taylor, son of Col. James Taylor, was born in Westfield in 1783. He graduated at Williams College in 1804 ; studied theology with Rev. John Taylor of Deerfield, whose eldest daughter he married, and was settled in Sunderland, July 22, 1807, where after a ministry of nearly twenty-five years he died, still pastor of the church, October 11, 1831, aged 48. The church prospered greatly under his ministry, and enjoyed several powerful revivals of religion. That of 1816 is particu- larly memorable, and it was in the midst of the great revival of 1831 in which large numbers were added to the church, that he ceased from his earthly labors. He was a zealous advocate of the temperance reformation from its commencement, and carried the principle and practice of total abstinence from intoxicating drinks so far that he re- fused to take them as a medicine in his last sickness. A warm friend of missions, he preached a sermon before the Hampshire Missionary Society in 1818, which was published. As a member of the Franklin Association, and from his ac- quaintance and intimacy with Col. Graves, he became early and deeply interested in the founding of Amherst College. He and Col. Graves, and Esq. Smith had doubtless often prayed and ta- ken counsel together ori the subject, before a stone was laid. And his prayers and labor for it, ceased only with his life. He was a Trustee during a little more than the first decade, and 1 1 am indebted to Hon. J. B. Woods of Enfield for the materials of this sketch. 218 HISTORY OP AMHEEST COLLEGE. lived to see the Seminary grow from a feeble Institution of charity into one of the largest Colleges in the land. The last year of his life was a year of the right hand of the Most High in the College, as well as in his own church, and he rejoiced in the spiritual prosperity of the former scarcely less than of the latter. Mrs. Taylor died on the day of her husband's 1 burial, leaving a large family of children. With great decision of character and firmness of purpose, Mr. Taylor united a remarkably genial and joyful spirit. Hu- morous himself, " he laughed all over," (so an aged parishioner described it) at the pleasantries of others. " His preaching was clear, forcible and instructive. In person he was of middling hight and rather corpulent, with a full countenance, indicative both of kindness and a prompt, active and decided spirit." 2 Nathaniel Smith, Esq., was born in Sunderland, August 4, 1759. His early education was only such as could be obtained in the public schools of a country town in those days. An enterprising but prudent and successful business man, he was the founder of the Sunderland Bank, and its President for some time after it was removed to Amherst. He was for forty-six years an active and exemplary member of the church in his native place, and " soon after the death of Rev. Mr. Taylor, and in view of the feeble and desponding state of his bereaved peo- ple, Mr. Smith gave the society three thousand dollars to help constitute a permanent fund for the support of the gospel in Sunderland." 3 He made himself and wife life-members of most of the charitable societies which sprung up so rapidly in the lat- ter part of his life, contributed largely to their support as long as he lived, and left liberal bequests to the National Bible, Tract, Foreign and Home Missionary Societies. He was, by far, the largest pecuniary benefactor of Amherst College during the first decennary of its existence. And as Dr. Humphrey re- marks, considering that he belonged to a former age and was not himself a liberally educated man, this was very remarkable. " As nearly as can be ascertained, Mr. Smith whose property, 1 A malignant typhoid fever was widely prevalent and very fatal in Sunderland in the fall of 1831. 2 Packard's History of Churches and Ministers in Franklin County. 8 Dr. Humphrey's sermon at Mr. Smith's funeral. NATHANIEL SMITH. 219 it is presumed, never exceeded thirty thousand dollars, had con- tributed about eight thousand dollars to the College before his death, and his will contained a legacy of four thousand dollars more. But it is not these princely donations (and more than princely they were, considering his circumstances,) it is not these merely, or chiefly, which will endear his memory to the wise and good. It is the evidence that his whole soul was embarked in the enterprise of building up a new College as a Christian enter- prise, and that he was actuated by a supreme regard to the glory of God in the salvation of a dying world. Never shall I for- get how, from time to time, when all hearts were faint I was prompted almost instinctively to look to him as under Provi- dence the father of the Institution how affectionately he always received me how patiently he listened to my state- ments how unshaken was his confidence that 'the Lord would provide,' and how much encouraged and refreshed I returned to my work, after uniting with him and his eminently pious wife in commending all the great interests of education and re- ligion to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." l Mr. Smith's wife, it will be remembered was a sister of Col. Graves, and his mother was a Billings of Conway, and natives of Conway are still living who well remember how Col. Graves and Esq. Smith used to bring up sometimes their wives and sometimes their minister, Rev. Mr. Taylor, to talk over and pray over the interests of the College with Deacon and Mrs. Billings of Conway, and perhaps Dr. Packard of Shelburne. " Who," says Dr. Humphrey, " was the largest contributor to that Charity Fund which was the soul of the infant Institution ? Who gave his most anxious thoughts, his time, his prayers to the Seminary when it was weak and ready to die ? Whose name stands first on that subscription, which when this child was scourged and driven away by its mother for daring to ask for bread whose name, I say, stands on that subscription which was to settle the question of life or death in a few months ? To whom, in one word, is Amherst College so much indebted for pecuniary aid as to Nathaniel Smith ? " !Note to Dr. Humphrey's sermon. 220 HISTORY OP AMHERST COLLEGE. Nor did lie rob or wrong other objects in order to give to the church in Sunderland, to benevolent societies, and to Amherst College. He is still remembered in Sunderland as " the poor man's treasurer, the widow's friend and a father to the father- less." And some of the good old people there can still see him in memory and imagination, tall, portly, (for he was over six feet high and weighed more than two hundred pounds,) tower- ing above all the people, the most conspicuous person, as he was also the most constant attendant, in the church and the prayer- meeting, and " that noble and venerable form all radiant with a warm heart and a great soul." Esq. Smith held many public trusts, in the gift of the town, in the magistracy of the county, and in the General Court of the Commonwealth, and discharged them with enlightened practi- cal wisdom and unbending integrity. Yet this amiable and ex- cellent man, so loved and honored at home and abroad, so trusted in the church and the State, the largest pecuniary benefactor of the College and one of its wisest counselors, was abused by the tongues and the pens of its enemies in the Leg- islature, and with two others, (Rev. Messrs. Fiske of New Braintree, and Porter of Belchertown) excluded by the ac- tion of the Legislature itself from a place in the corporation ! After an exclusion of three years, however, the Legislature of 1828 did what they could to make reparation for this egre- gious wrong by re-electing him to fill a vacancy. 1 Thus it happened, that in the annual and triennial catalogues of the College, the name of Nathaniel Smith disappears in 1825 and re-appears in 1828. Mr. Smith and his pastor, Mr. Taylor, were both among the original corporators named in the charter of Amherst Academy. And the name of the former is entered on the records as present at the opening of every meeting of the Board until his death. During all this time he was a member of the Prudential Committee, and acted a prominent part, especially in all the financial and business affairs of the College. Mr. Smith died February 25, 1833 in the seventy-fourth year of his age. On the 28th, President Humphrey preached his 1 In place of Dr. Lyman, of Hatfield. REV. EXPERIENCE POUTER. 221 funeral sermon entitled " the Good Arirnathean," from Luke 23:50. On the 19th of March, Mrs. Smith, "not less vener- ated and beloved by all who knew her, as a mother in Israel," followed him to the grave. Their tombstones are among the plainest and most unpretending in the cemetery at Sunderland. Their memorial is on high. And they will not soon be forgotten by the friends of learning and religion and the friends of Am- herst College. Self-distrustful, "he was found oftener in the valley of humiliation than on the mount." Her Christian life was all sunshine and her death triumphant. They had no children. But they have left a name better than of sons and daughters. Rev. Experience Porter was a native of Lebanon, N. H., and the son of Dea. Nathaniel Porter of that place. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1803, and on leaving Colleg'e was ap- pointed Tutor in Middlebury College, where he remained one year. Having studied " Divinity " with Rev. Asahel Hooker of Goshen, Conn., he was ordained pastor of the church in Win- chester, N. H., November 12, 1807. On the llth of March, 1812, he was installed pastor of the church in Belchertown. On account of ill-health he was dismissed by a mutual council March 9, 1825, and died at Lebanon, N. H., August 25, 1828, at the age of forty-six. " During Mr. Porter's connection with this people, there were two revivals of religion. The first com- menced in 1812 and continued about one year. During the year 1813, there were one hundred and seven persons united with the church upon a public profession of their faith. The next commenced in the fall of 1818 and continued about the same length of time. Before the close of 1819, there were two hundred and eight persons added to the church as the fruit of this revival " l The additions to the church by this one revival amounted to more than one-twelfth of the entire population of the town. " The church was greatly increased, strengthened and refreshed," says the judicious historian of the town, " the friends of Zion will ever rejoice in the blessed fruits of that religious revival." Such revivals were among the causes to which Amherst College owes its origin and inspiration to such 1 Hon. Mark Doolittle, History of Belchertown, p. 57. 222 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. revivals it was largely indebted for its early Trustees, Faculty and students. Mr. Porter was one of the original Trustees named in the charter of Amherst Acadenry. He was among the most active, zealous and faithful members of the Board in all those trying times which preceded the obtaining of the College charter. He was not among the members named in that charter, and it is generally understood that in common with Col. Graves, Esq. Smith and Dr. Fiske he had, by his energy and boldness in the service of the College, rendered himself obnoxious to some of the leading members of the Legislature. And he did not live long enough to be elected as Esq. Smith and Dr. Fiske were, to fill the earliest vacancies in the gift of the corporation. Mr. Porter possessed strong powers of mind, wrote with great rapidity, spoke with ease, boldness and strength, and forcibly impressed upon the hearts of others the great truths of the gospel which were deeply impressed on his own. He died in faith, with an unshaken trust of a blessed immortality. 1 Israel Elliot Trask was the eldest son of Dr. Israel and Sarah (Lawrence) Trask, and was born at Brimfield, Mass., March 18, 1773. While engaged in the study of law at Richmond, Va., during the spring of 1794, the insurrection in Western Pennsyl- vania took place ; occasioned by the unpopularity of the excise laws passed by Congress. When the militia of Virginia and the neighboring States were ordered out by the President, and under Gen. Lee marched to the insurgent district, Mr. Trask volun- teered, and when at the close of the expedition the troops were disbanded, he returned to New England and finished his law studies in the office of Judge Jacobs of Windsor, Vt. He then entered the United States Army with the rank of Captain. He resigned his commission in 1801, and was about sailing for France in company with some College friends, to enlist in the French army; but while in New York, Gen. Alexander Hamilton, to whom he had letters, strongly advised him to give up his project and go to Natchez, in the then Territory of Mississippi, and com- mence the practice of law. In pursuance of this advice he went to Natchez in the year 1801, and entered into partnership with 1 History of Belchertowii. COL. ISRAEL E. TRASK. 223 Harding, the Attorney-General. About two years after his arrival at Natchez he was married to Elizabeth Carter, daughter of Jesse Carter, a planter at Second Creek, near Natchez, and settled on a plantation in that neighborhood. At the time that Louisiana was purchased from France, in 1803, by the United States, he .was sent by the Governor of the Territory (Claiborne) to attend to the negotiations with the French authorities, for the trans- fer of the new Territory. And when Gov. Claiborne went on with the United States troops to take possession, Col. Trask ac- companied him as his Aid. He opened a law office in New Or- leans (the first by an American), but after a short residence his health failed and he returned to plantation life. About 1812 he disposed of his plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana and re- turned to Brimfield, Mass. During his residence in Brimfield he interested himself in the manufacture of cotton cloth, and built one of the first factories for that purpose in "Western Massa- chusetts. He was elected for several successive years to the State Legislature, and was a member of the convention for revising the State Constitution in 1820; serving on the Judi- ciary Committee. In the spring of 1821 he removed to Spring- field, Mass. After his removal to Springfield, the state of his health and his business affairs requiring him to pass his winters at the South, prevented him from taking any part in public affairs. His death took place at the plantation of his brother, near Woodville, Miss., November 25, 1835, in the sixty-third year of his age. He became a member of the Congregational church in Brim- field, of which Rev. Mr. Vaill was pastor. At the time of his death he was a member of the First Church in Springfield, then under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Osgood. He took an active in- terest in the benevolent and religious enterprises of the day to which he was a liberal contributor. The records show his presence and active participation in busi- ness, as a member of important committees, especially on finan- cial matters, at all the meetings of the Corporation from the organization in 1825 till his death in 1835, with a single excep- tion. In 1831 he wrote a letter tendering his resignation. But instead of accepting the resignation, the Trustees requested 224 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. President Humphrey to confer with him on the subject and urge his continuance in office ; and at the next annual meeting in 1832, we find him present, and elected a member of the Pru- dential Committee in the place of Nathaniel Smith, deceased. The amount of Mr. Trask's donations to the College is un- known. We find his name on the first subscription paper, that to the Charity Fund, for five hundred dollars, and " it is known that there was an outstanding subscription of three hundred dollars to the College, which matured after his death in Novem- ber and was paid by his executors." Doubtless he was a liberal donor to the College in all its great emergencies during the first fifteen years of its history. Hon. John Hooker was the son of Rev. John Hooker of North- ampton, the immediate successor of Jonathan Edwards in the pastorate of the church in that town. He was born in 1761, graduated at Yale College in 1782, and studied law in the office of Col. John Worthington of Springfield, who was his uncle, and one of the most eminent lawyers in this part of the State. After his admission to the bar, he settled in the practice of his profession in Springfield. He was for a time Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, then a court whose jurisdiction was limited to the county or judicial district. Upon the di- vision of the old County of Hampshire in 1812, he was ap- pointed Judge of Probate in the new County of Hampden, and held that office tiU his death in 1829. He was for many years one of the deacons of the First Church in Springfield, and bore a very prominent and influential part in all religious and benevolent movements of the town, the county and the commonwealth. l He was one of the founders, or original corporators of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. " He O was a man of excellent sense and great practical wisdom. His judgment was greatly confided in by men of different creeds and different political parties. He possessed the most unyield- ing integrity, and no one ever thought to move him a hair's breadth from the line of his honest convictions." 2 Such members of the corporation as Mr. Hooker, illustrate 1 Hon. Henry Morris. 2 Memorial Volume of A. B. C. F. M., p. 124. NEW TRUSTEES APPOINTED BY THE LEGISLATURE. 225 one of the many ways in which Amherst College was linked in its origin to the cause of foreign missions. He was a constant attendant of the meetings of the Board, and his wisdom, integrity and weight of character contributed an element of great value to the infant College. Rev. Jonathan Going, D. D., of Worcester, appears on the catalogue of the College as Trustee from 1823 to 1831. But I find no trace of his presence at the meetings of the corporation, except at the annual meeting in 1826. And at the annual meet- ing in 1832, he resigned his seat in the* Board. His biography is given in the sixth volume of Dr. Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit. Rev. Francis Wayland, D. D., of Providence is named among the corporators in the charter, being one of the new members introduced by the Legislature. He was present at the' organi- zation and first meeting of the Board under the charter in April, 1825, but does not appear to have attended any subsequent meeting of the corporation, and at the annual meeting in 1829 he resigned his trust. His life and labors hold a conspicuous place in the history of education and religion during the greater part of the last half century. The appointment of Dr. Going a.nd Dr. Wayland seems to have been accorded to the Baptists, in return for their sympathy and support in obtaining the charter, and together with the ap- pointment of a Baptist Professor about the same time, was doubtless expected to draw students from that denomination. The plan, however, was not very successful, and it was soon re- linquished. The new Trustees introduced in the Board by the Legisla- ture in the act of incorporation, were Hon. William Gray, Hon. Marcus Morton, Rev. Joseph Lyman, D. D., Hon. Jonathan Leavitt, Rev. Alfred Ely, Hon. Lewis Strong, Rev. Francis Way- land, Jr., and Elihu Lyman, Esq. 1 Rev. Alfred Ely continued a member of the corporation till 1854, and his life will be sketched at a later period in this History. We have already re- ferred to Rev. Francis Wayland in connection with Dr. Going. 1 The order of the names and titles are here given as they are recorded in the charter. 15 226 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Hon. William Gray of Boston, Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth in 1810 and 1811, whose name appears next after that of President Humphrey in the act of incorporation, died November 3, 1825, and never took his seat in the Board. He was the only Unitarian among the new members of the Board. Although he had never manifested much interest in the College, his appointment, probably, was not obnoxious to its friends, for it is a well-known tradition among the elderly peo- ple of Amherst that Col. Graves early cherished the hope not only of liberal donation's from him, but also of his conversion, and employed for some weeks, if not months, the means which he deemed suitable to both these ends with characteristic zeal and perseverance, but without any success. Six or eight years later, S. V. S. Wilder, Esq., whose connection with him as his business agent in Europe gave him access to Gov. Gray, made another attempt to enlist his wealth in behalf of the College with the same result. There were some rather striking inci- dental circumstances connected with this last effort, and the story as told in Mr. Wilder's slightly grandiloquent language is .too good to be lost. 1 " Being appointed one of the Trustees of Amherst College, President Humphrey and the Trustees knowing my intimacy with the rich merchant, Mr. , and a new College being wanted with a chapel, the expense of erecting which would amount to some thirty thousand dollars, and after in vain en- deavoring to obtain a grant from the State Legislature of Mas- sachusetts, I was deputied by the Faculty and Trustees to wait on Mr. , and inform him that on condition that he would make a grant to the College of thirty thousand dollars, I was authorized to assure him that Amherst College should assume his name, and that in the contemplated new College, two rooms should be appropriated in one of the best halls of said building, and being completely furnished, would be set apart for the ex- clusive accommodation of one of his descendants, who was to be furnished with board, fuel, lights, tuition and clothing from year to year gratuitously to the end of time. Thus authorized, 1 See Records from the Life of S. V. S. Wilder, published by the American Tract Society. A STKIKIXG INCIDENT. 227 I went to Boston, and, as it happened in the providence of God, I met Mr. on the Exchange, and was invited by him, with Peter C. Brooks, to dinner the same day. After dinner, when Mr. Brooks had left, finding myself alone with Mr. , I unfolded to him the object of my mission, and expatiated on *the advantages which, in this changing world, his descendants might derive from this precautionary investment, whether they should ever become beneficiaries or not. " ' Your descendants, sir,' said I, ' hundreds of years after you shall be sleeping in the dust, will have the proud satisfaction of casting their eyes from time to time on an Institution bearing the endeared name of their munificent ancestor ; and it may perhaps exert a salutary influence on their character and con- duct through each succeeding generation.' " ' Ah,' said Mr. , * a little vanity in all this, Mr. Wilder ; and I believe my property must take its legitimate course, con- scious that I shall leave property sufficient to save my descend- ants, for at least two or three succeeding generations, from be- ing under the necessity of having recourse to beneficiary aid to obtain an education.' " I replied, ' I hoped his calculations and predictions might prove correct ; but that such had been, so far as my experience extended, the unforeseen mutations of this sublunary world, that, without distrusting the goodness of a benign Providence, I considered a prudent foresight in providing against future con- tingencies as regards the welfare of those whom he had been instrumental of introducing into this wilderness world, as not only commendable, but highly judicious ; and I hoped that he might find grace to take this important matter under wise con- sideration that in pleading this cause of Amherst College, I felt that I was pleading to a more powerful degree, the present, future and eternal interests of his yet unborn posterity.' "'Mr. Wilder,' said he, 'my mind is made up. It needs no further consideration. My property must take its legitimate course.' " 'This, sir,' I replied, ' being your final decision, I bid you a final farewell.' " Thus ended my last interview with Mr. , to whose 228 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. property I had been instrumental, during my commercial rela- tionship with him, of adding upwards of one hundred thousand dollars. Years rolled on. Only seven years had elapsed after the tomb had closed on the mortal remains of that man, whose mountain, in his own estimation, seemed to stand so strong at my last interview, when two gentlemen entered my office in Wall street, and addressing me said : ' Sir, we believe you are a Trustee of Amherst College, and we have called to solicit your aid and to enlist your influence in admitting as a beneficiary to that Institution a grandson of j^our late friend, Mr. of Boston.' Judge of my amazement and of the conflicting emo- tions which agitated me on hearing this announcement. I re- quested the gentlemen to repeat their declaration, in order that I might give credence to the hearing of my ears. They then stated that the young man in question was the son of , who, by his extravagance and irregularities, spent all the patri- mony left him by his wealthy father ; that his mother had died of a broken heart, leaving eleven or twelve children, among whom was the young man in whose behalf they now sought my patronage, and whose miserable father was a mere wreck. " I was reluctantly compelled to say to said gentlemen, that none were admitted to Amherst College as beneficiaries on the income of fifty thousand dollars, except pious young men pre- paring for the gospel ministry ; and as this young man had not this in view, my intervention arid influence in his behalf could be of no avail. " On these gentlemen retiring from my office, I was left with a sorrowful heart, reflecting on the mutability of all earthly cal- culations, yet consoled with the cheering thought that the wise designs of God will, through all, be accomplished. " Little did my venerable friend or myself, at the time of our last interview, foresee that ere ten short years should have elapsed my own personal influence would be solicited to obtain the admission of one of his grandsons into that very Institution whose interests I was then advocating by endeavoring, though in vain, to induce this man of wealth to aid in its endowment, and, at the same time, secure to one of his descendants a colle- giate education down to the end of time." GOVERNOR MORTON. 229 Hon. Marcus Morton of Tauntou, whose name immediately follows that of Hon. William Gray in the charter, and whose signature is attached to the charter as acting Governor, is continued on the catalogue till 1837, when his name is dropped, and the following note is found on the records of the corpo- * ration : " Voted, that Hon. Marcus Morton, having never at- tended a meeting of this Board and having never rendered any excuse therefor, has by such absence vacated his seat at this Board, and the same is hereby declared to be vacated." Mr. Morton had the reputation of being one of the best Judges of the Supreme Court ; and the fact that he was for many years the only Orthodox judge on that bench, together with the fact that he was the only Democratic Governor that the old Bay State has had for almost half a century, and that he was elected to this office by a majority of one vote, these facts have given him a rare notoriety in the civil and religious history of Massa- chusetts. Rev. Joseph Lyman, D. D., of Hatfield, was made a member of the Board of Trustees by the Legislature in the act of in- corporation, and his name appears on the catalogue from that time till the date of his death, that is, from 1825 to 1828. But he seems never to have attended the meetings of the Board, nor to have taken an active part in promoting the prosperity of the College. This is sufficiently explained, however, by the fact, that he was laid aside from all active effort for the last two years of his life by the cancerous humor which caused his death. It will be remembered that Dr. Lyman was the President of the Convention in 1818, which ratified the establishment of the Collegiate Institution at Amherst, although he was himself in favor of its location at Northampton. Born in Lebanon, Conn., in 1749, graduated at Yale College in 1767, Tutor there in 1770-71, ordained and installed pastor of the church in Hat- field in 1772, and continuing in that relation, (with a colleague during his last two years) until his death in 1828, Dr. Lyman was a leader in the ecclesiastical, and scarcely less in the politi- cal affairs of Massachusetts. He was an original member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and in 1823, and several subsequent years, he was its President. " He 230 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. had qualities that would have graced the head of a nation, and especially the head of an army." 1 Hon. Jonathan Leavitt was a native of "Walpole, N. H. He was born February 27, 1764. He was a graduate of Yale Col- lege in the Class of 1785. Having studied law with Judge Chauncy of New Haven, and then with Judge -Ellsworth of Windsor, Conn., to whom he was related, he commenced the practice of his profession in Greenfield, where he spent the re- mainder of his life. He was an active member of the Congrega- tional church in Greenfield, and a zealous defender of the evan- gelical faith with his pen as well as by his tongue and his per- sonal influence. His " Letter from a Trinitarian to a Unitarian," and his " Gospel Message," were circulated as tracts through the community. Prevented by feeble health from attending many meetings of the Board of Trustees, he resigned his trust in 1829, and died on the 1st of May, 1830. Hon. Lewis Strong was the son of Caleb Strong of North- ampton, who was Governor of Massachusetts from 1800 to 1807, and again from 1812 to 1815. His mother was the daughter of Rev. John Hooker of Northampton, and sister of Hon. John Hooker of Springfield. He was born in Northampton June 9, 1785, and graduated at Harvard College in 1803, in the same class with Prof. Farrar, Dr. Payson of Portland, and Dr. "Wil- lard of Deerfield. He studied law with his uncle, Judge Hooker of Springfield, and continued the practice of his pro- fession in Northampton for some thirty years, but relinquished it about twenty-five years before his death on account of severe suffering from asthma. Chief Justice Parsons said of him," he is the strongest lawyer in all the western counties," and Hon. Isaac C. Bates remarked that he " wished he had Mr. Strong's head on his shoulders." In 1812, Mr. Strong became a member of the church in Northampton, of which, in 1661, his ancestor, Elder John Strong, was one of the seven founders. He was elected deacon of the First Church in 1831, and resigned the office in 1858, when he removed his connection to the Edwards Church. He was a member of the church for more than half a century. 1 Memorial Volume of A. B. C. F. M. See also Sprague's Annals. HON. LEWIS STRONG. 231 Though one of the most able and influential men of the county in all public affairs, he shrunk from official position. Once only did he represent his county in the Senate of Massa- chusetts ; once he delivered an oration in Northampton on the anniversary of the nation's independence. Present at the organization of the Trustees of Amherst Col- lege in 1825, he attended every meeting of the Board, annual or special, till his resignation in 1833. During all this period he was also a member of the Prudential Committee, whose duties must have occupied much of his time, and he was con- tinually placed on the most responsible committees that were raised from year to year, such as those on by-laws for the gov- ernment of the College, rules for the action of the Board, re- vising the College laws, providing additional edifices, petition- ing the Legislature for pecuniary aid, etc. After eight years of arduous and faithful service he resigned his trust, and the fol- lowing vote of thanks was entered on the records: " Resolved that the thanks of this Board be presented to the Hon. Lewis Strong for his long and faithful services in behalf of the Col- lege, and for the efficient aid he has rendered it in times of its embarrassment and distress." Few have realized more fully the ideal of an upright, accom- plished, Christian gentleman, lawyer, trustee, citizen, neighbor, and friend, than Hon. Lewis Strong of Northampton. He died on Saturday, October 25, 1863, at the age of seventy-eight, universally honored and lamented. Hon. Elihu Lyman of Enfield, was born at Northfield, Sep- tember 25, 1782, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1803, com- menced the practice of law in Greenfield in 1807, was High Sheriff of Franklin County from 1811 to 1815, and in 1826 a member of the Massachusetts Senate. He died in Boston while the Legislature was in session, February 11, 1826, aged forty- three. He was present at the organization of the Board, and at its first annual meeting, at both which sessions he was placed on important committees. He died before the second annual meet- ing. A gentleman of high standing, fine person, courtly man- ner, and varied experience in public affairs, he was much la- 232 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. mented by the friends of the College and by the community. He was a member of Rev. Mr. Crosby's church in Enfield at the time of his death. According to the charter the first five vacancies that should occur in the Board of Trustees, were to be filled by the Legis- lature. The first five appointments under the charter were Hon. Samuel C. Allen, Hon. James Fowler, Hon. Samuel Howe, Hon. Levi Lincoln, and Nathaniel Smith, Esq. With the ex- ception of Esq. Smith, they were all Unitarians. The name of Mr. Lincoln appears on the catalogue only one year, 18289, and the only reference to him on the records of the corporation is a letter of apology for not attending the an- nual meeting of the Board at the Commencement in 1828. He was, however, a friend of the College, and when he was Gov- ernor of the Commonwealth in 1830, he gave Prof. Hitchcock the appointment of State Geologist of Massachusetts. Hon. Samuel Howe was present at the annual meeting of the Board at the Commencement of 1826, and also at the special meeting in December of the same year, and at the former he was chosen a member of the Prudential Committee for the year, and also placed on several special committees, to whom some of the most important matters were referred ; among the rest, that of the Parallel Course of Study recommended by the Fac- ulty. After 1826, his name disappears from the records. Judge Howe was born in Belchertown, June 20, 1785, and gradu- ated at Williams College in 1804. In 1822 he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which office he held till his death. He died in Boston in 1828, at the age of forty-two. During his trusteeship and the greater part of his judgeship, he was also Professor or teacher in the Law School at North- ampton. Hon. James Fowler was a member of the corporation twelve years, being chosen by the Legislature in 1826, and resigning his trust in 1838. He was born January 4, 1789 ; was a grad- uate of Yale College in the Class of 1807 ; studied law under Judge Reeves at Litchfield one year, and was admitted to the bar in 1810, but never practiced the profession, having devoted himself from choice rather to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Fowler HON. SAMUEL C. ALLEN. 233 served the Commonwealth for many years in both branches of the Legislature and in the Governor's Council, being a member of one or the other of these bodies eveiy year from 1820 to 1830. At the age of more than fourscore years, he is still liv- ing at Westfield, and enjoying in a high degree the respect of the community as a man of honor, integrity, public spirit and "philanthropy. His relations to the Trustees were always mutu- ally pleasant, and he doubtless contributed by his practical wis- dom and weight of character to the strength and efficiency of the Board. Hon. Samuel C. Allen of Northfield, was born in 1772, and a graduate of Dartmouth College in the Class of 1794. He com - menced his public life as a minister in Northfield in 1795, but soon withdrew from that profession and engaged in the study and then in the pratice of law. He was a member of Con- gress twelve years, from 1817 to 1829. On the 7th of February, 1826, he was chosen a Trustee of Amherst College by the Leg- islature to fill one of the first vacancies that occurred in the corporation and continued a member until his death. He died at Northfield, February 8, 1842, at the age of seventy. In 1833 he delivered a course of lectures on Political Econ- omy to the Senior class for which he received the thanks of the Board. He manifested a good degree of interest in the College and rendered faithful and valuable service to it for sixteen years. The contrast between his feelings and relation to the Institution and those of the representative of Northfield in the General Court who was one of the most violent opponents of the charter in 1825, 1 marks the change in public sentiment, especially in the denomination to which both of them belonged. Hon. Samuel Lathrop of West Springfield was a member of the Board of Trustees eleven years, having been chosen by the Legislature in 1829, and resigned his trust in 1840. He was born in West Springfield on the 1st of May, 1772, and was a graduate of Yale College in the Class of 1792. For eight years following December, 1819, he was a member of Congress. He was subsequently a member of the Massachusetts Senate. Dur- ing several of his last years, he was afflicted with bodily infirm- 1 Rev. Mr. Mason, see p. 143. 234 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. ity which obliged him to withdraw altogether from public life and from professional service. He had a large frame, command- ing appearance and dignified manners, and was highly esteemed in all his public and private relations. He was for many years a member of the church in West Springfield of which his highly- honored father, the venerable Dr. Joseph Lathrop, and his son- in-law, Rev. Dr. Sprague now of Albany, were pastors, and exerted a controlling influence in the parish. He died on the llth of July, 1846, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. 1 During the period now under review, (the first half of Presi- dent Humphrey's administration,) four Professors, viz., Messrs. Worcester, Hovey, Peck and Park, terminated their connection with the College, and all by resignation, for the purpose of en- tering other spheres of usefulness. Samuel Melancthon Worcester was the son of Rev. Dr. Samuel Worcester, the first Secretary of the American Board. He was born in Fitchburg, September 4, 1801, but while yet an infant removed to Salem with his father who was settled there as pas- tor of the Tabernacle Church, April 20, 1803. He was a mem- ber of Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1818, and a graduate of Harvard College in the Class of '22, delivering an English oration at Commencement. In the autumn of 1822 he became a member of the Theological Seminary at Andover and there first made a public profession of religion. In September, 1823, he entered upon the duties of an assistant teacher in Phillips Academy, but after two weeks' service received and accepted the appointment to a tutorship in the Collegiate Institution at Amherst. In August, 1824, he was appointed teacher of Lan- guages and Librarian, and in the spring of 1825, at the organiza- tion under the charter, he was chosen Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory in Amherst College. In August of the same year, he was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association. In De- cember, 1827, in company with Tutor Bela B. Edwards, he undertook the editorial charge of the New England Enquirer a newspaper enterprise in Amherst which sprung up about the 1 Mr. Lathrop is put down on the Triennial as retiring from his trust in 1834. He seems never to have been present after that date. But he did not resign his trust till 1840. PROFESSOR WORCESTER. 235 same time with " the Parallel Course," and even more short-lived than that experiment. " In May following," says Mr. Worces- ter, " the whole burden came upon me, and was sustained until December, 1828, when the paper expired, much to my sat- isfaction. During most of my editorship I preached regularly every Sabbath, at Granby." A law having passed the Legislature subjecting students to taxation, in the spring of 1829 the members of College saw fit to use the co-ordinate right of suffrage, and with the help of the better part of the citizens, elected Prof. Worcester a mem- ber of the House of Representatives. Those who were stu- dents at that time can not but remember Avith lively interest, the exciting scenes of this and a few subsequent elections, especially those held in East street, in which they marched to the polls in battle array, and holding the balance of power, chose whom they would for town officers. But the excitement and strife of such elections, together with the difficulty of collect- ing taxes of the students who came off victorious in many a ludicrous skirmish with the tax-gatherer, soon led to a repeal of the law. While a member of the Legislature, our Professor of Rhetoric found a congenial and worthy theme for his eloquence in defending with his tongue and his pen the cause of the Chero- kees against the Georgians. In the spring of 1831, the officers and students were called to s} r mpathize with the Professor in the loss of his only son, a child of rare promise, bearing his own name and then almost five years of age, whose remains they followed as sincere mourners to the grave. On the 4th of January, 1832, Prof. Worcester was ordained as an Evangelist, with particular reference to the wants of the people at Hadley Mills, (now North Hadley,) where he preached regularly from April, 1830, to March, 1833, and where his labors were blessed with a revival of religion and considerable addi- tions to that then infant church. Mr. Worcester was Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory in Am- herst College nine years from 1825 to 1834, and pastor of the Tabernacle Church in Salem from 1834 to 1860, thus occupying the pulpit of his honored father for more than a quarter of a 236 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. century. Dismissed from his pastoral charge in January, 1860, in consequence of ill health, but recovering his health by rest, he continued to preach most of the time in different places, and the last two years of his life he was a member of the Legisla- ture, first a member of the Senate from Essex County, and then of the House of Representatives, from the cit}^ of Salem. He died in Salem, August 16, 1866, aged sixty-five. Prof. Worcester was a man of indefatigable industry, un- wearied patience and conscientious devotion to his calling. He spared no pains in the improvement of his own mind and resour- ces, none in guiding and assisting the students, whether in gen- eral culture or in the studies of his department. A remarkably retentive memory, and pretty extensive reading, made him a full man. Nature and art conspired to make him a ready and fluent man. By precept and by example, in the lecture-room and in the pulpit, and, as occasion offered, on the platform, he magnified his office as Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory. He criticised wisely, patiently and faithfully the compositions and declamations of us students, and we students, in turn, criticised his public performances and laughed at, perhaps- mimicked his personal peculiarities. He had a habit of twisting his whiskers between his fingers and at the same time exhaling his breath in a kind of explosive puff which none of his pupils will ever for- get. But deeper far in the memory of their hearts they can not but cherish the remembrance of his kindness and faithfulness as an instructor, the wisdom and eloquence of his lectures, espe- cially those on English and American Orators, and the sin- cerity and earnestness of his discourses from the pulpit and of his exhortations as one of their religious teachers. Mr. Worcester was a learned and able Professor, but he was still better adapted and qualified for the work to which his heart also inclined, that of the ministry. And in that work while he was always an acceptable and edifying, and sometimes an inspir- ing preacher, yet his great strength lay, perhaps, in his charac- ter and influence, his life and labors as a pastor, by which he left his impress broad and deep and luminous on every family and every individual in his great congregation. At the time of his death, he was in the public service as a member of the Mas- PROFESSOR HOVEY. 237 sachusetts Legislature, of which he was the oldest member; and the freshest recollection, as well as one of the most sacred which he left upon the hearts of his acquaintances and friends, was that of his wise, firm, patriotic and Christian devotion to the country during those last five or six years of his life, in which Tier life was in imminent peril. Sylvester Hovey was the son of Sylvester Hovey, Esq., of Mansfield, Conn. His mother was the daughter of Rev. John Storrs of Southold, L. I., and after the death of her first hus- band, became the wife of Dea. Elisha Billings of Conway. Mr. Hovey was born at Mansfield, June 17, 1797. He was a grad- uate of Yale College of the Class of '19, and a Tutor there for four years. On the expiration of his tutorship, he took charge of the department of Rhetoric and Oratory another year dur- ing the absence of Prof. Goodrich in Europe. From- 1827 to 1829, he was Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Williams College, and held the same office in Amherst Col- lege from 1829 to 1833. In 1831, he left his department in the hands of Prof. Snell, and for the purpose of health and general improvement made the tour of Europe. He spent a year and a half abroad, passing portions of the time in Italy, Germany, England, and the last half year in Paris, where he listened to the courses of lectures on Natural Philosophy and Astronomy by M. Arago, in the Royal Observatory of France. Con- strained by feeble health to relinquish his professorship, he re- tired to Hartford, Conn., where he died, May 6, 1840. " Prof. Hovey was marked for the symmetry and beauty of his mental development and culture. As a scholar he was accurate and profound. He received the first appointment on his graduation at Yale, and never ceased to cultivate and enrich his own mind while in subsequent years he devoted himself to the education of others. His attainments were varied, but peculiarly extensive in the departments of Natural Philosophy and Mathematical Science. At the same time, his mind was highly enriched and polished by the pursuits of elegant literature. In his rambles for health he became also a student of nature. The number and beauty of the specimens in his private cabinet of shells which he col- lected during a two winters' residence in the West India Islands, 238 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. in search of health, and which he bequeathed to the College, bear ample testimony to the industry, zeal and success with which he devoted himself to such pursuits." l With more physical stamina, Prof. Hovey would have adorned almost any professor- ship. Before leaving Williams, he was invited to the presi- dency of Western Reserve College ; as he tendered his resigna- tion, President Griffin and some of the Trustees, with tears, assured him that if he had remained, it was their intention that he should be President of Williams College. But feeble health compelled him to be absent much of the time while he was nom- inally connected with Amherst; and the most vivid remembrance which his pupils associate with him, is his suffering and theirs, while, with trembling hands and throbbing nerves, he attempted an unsuccessful experiment with some delicate piece of appa- ratus. Curiously enough during all this time, and for a year or two after Prof. Hovey's resignation, the Trustees were afraid to commit the department to one who has proved on trial the most successful experimenter and the most lucid and methodical teacher in that department that Amherst or perhaps any other College ever had. While traveling and resting in Europe for his health, in 1832, Prof. Hovey rendered a valuable incidental service to the College by his judicious purchase of some eight thousand dollars' worth of books and philosophical and chemical apparatus, which quite dazzled the eyes of officers and students, and almost constituted a new era in the history of the Institu- tion. The collections of shells and minerals which he made in the West Indies, and which he 'bequeathed to the College, con- stituted a scarcely less important addition to the Cabinets of Mineralogy and Conchology. Professors Peck and Park are still living, and others must write their history. Rev. Solomon Peck was Professor of Latin and Hebrew from the reorganization of the Faculty in 1825 till 1832. The writer well remembers his tall and erect form, his dignified and cour- teous manner, his half-hour recitations and elegant translations of passages in the Latin Classics, and the chaste, classical style of his sermons as he took his turn with the President and the other i Rev. E. Russell, D. D. PEOFESSOR PARK. 239 Professors in the College pulpit. Others will remember, per- haps, still more vividly the nice balance of duty to his Congre- gational wife and his Baptist conscience with which he waited without to accompany her home after the communion, and the zeal and success with which he labored to build up the Baptist %church in Amherst, of which he was the founder. After leav- ing Amherst, he was, for a short time, Professor in Brown Uni- versity, and then for many years the able and faithful Secretary of the American Baptist Missionary Union. Rev. Edwards A. Park, then colleague pastor with Rev. Dr. Storrs in Braintree, was elected " Professor of Moral Philosophy and Hebrew Literature, with a salary of eight hundred dollars," at an adjourned meeting of the corporation, " convened at the house of Elijah Boltwood in Amherst, on Tuesday, the loth of October, A. D. 1833." The state of his eyes, however, forbade his entering upon the duties of the office for nearly two years. In the summer of 1835, in the absence of President Humphrey on a foreign tour, he commenced^ his labor, as Professor of In- tellectual and Moral Philosophy, the title and the work of his professorship having been changed to suit the Professor and at the same time to meet the existing wants of the College. In the summer of 1836 he accepted a professorship in the Theolog- ical Seminary at Andover, and at the commencement of that year he terminated his connection with the College, after a service of one year and one term. During this period he in- structed the Senior class in Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Butler's Analogy and Political Economy, and the Junior class once a week in the Biblical Exercise. He also taught the Seniors Rhetoric until Prof. Condit entered upon the duties of his office in the fall of 1835. Readers of this History need not be told that during this brief period the students of Amherst were charmed by the same genius and eloquence which have since made Prof. Park the most inspiring and fascinating of teachers to so many classes at Andover, and "the Judas sermon" and "the Peter sermon" were then heard in the College chapel and the neighboring churches with perhaps even greater wonder and delight than have been excited by the ordination, convention, and other occasional ser- 240 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. mons which have since been delivered from so many of the pulpits of New England. The year 1835 was marked by the resignation and retirement from the active service of the College of one who had been its Treasurer and to a great extent its Collector from the beginning, and whom all the students of this first decade and a half will associate with the thrice-yearly payment of their College bills, l Hon. John Leland, who was at the same time one of the most faithful friends and benefactors of the Institution. He was born in Peru, Mass., in 1807, and was the son of Rev. John Leland of that place, one of those wise, devoted and useful ministers so common then in country parishes, and especially in our hill towns, who were passing rich on two hundred dollars a year, and who enriched their parishes and their families temporally and spiritually by their wisdom, virtue and piety. In 1820 Mr. Leland removed from Peru to Amherst, and at their meeting in November of that year the Trustees of Amherst Academy ap- pointed him " their agent to receive all donations made for the benefit of the Charity Institution other than those made to the permanent fund." From that time till 1826 he was the Treas- urer of the Institution, while Col. Graves was the Financier, as he was then called, who had the charge of the Charity Fund. From 1826 till 1833 he was both Treasurer and Financier. In 1833 the Trustees separated the two offices, and chose Lucius Boltwood Financier, while they re-elected John Leland Treas- urer. This place he continued to hold till the Commencement of 1835, when he resigned his office. On accepting the resigna- tion the Trustees voted "that the thanks of the Board be pre- sented to the Hon. John Leland for his long and faithful service as Treasurer, and for the lively interest which he has ever taken in the prosperity of this Institution." Soon after his resignation Mr. Leland removed to Roxbury. He remained there, however, only a few years, and then returned to spend the remainder of his days under the shadow of the College, to the planting and nourishing of which he had devoted the better portion of his active life. He early became a mem- ber of the church, and was a deacon of the village church in 1 Hence familiarly known among the students as " Deacon Term-bill." HON. JOHN LELAND. 241 Amherst fifteen years before his removal to Roxbury, 'and fifteen 3 r ears after his return. 1 He was a Senator from the county of Hampshire in the Legislature of Massachusetts for the years 1833 and 1834, and a Representative from the town of Amherst in 1847. : Chosen Treasurer at the first meeting of the Trustees for or- ganization under the charter, he was at the same time chosen agent to collect the thirty thousand dollar subscription. How much labor and vexation this must have cost him", the reader can form some conception by inspecting any page of his books, a specimen of which may be seen in the Appendix. The small sums of which much of it was made up by contributions from cent and mite societies of women and children, was a fruitful theme of ridicule in the Legislature. Till 1829 he was not only Treasurer and Financier but also a member of the Prudential Committee, inspector of buildings, grounds and repairs, the working member of building committees, and in fact, general agent in all the fiscal and out-door concerns of the College. His salary as Treasurer was never more than three hundred dol- lars. As Financier he received an addition of only two hundred dollars. At the same time he was continually making himself personally responsible for borrowed money to large amounts. "I am assured," says Dr. Hitchcock, "that during most of his term of office he was holden to creditors for College debts to an amount sometimes nearly equal to his whole property." 2 Be- sides thus almost giving his time, toil and credit to the College for fifteen years, he gave it more money than has been given by any other person resident in Amherst. 3 Dea. Leland deserves a high place among the faithful servants and generous benefactors of Amherst College. He died in Amherst, February 18, 1864, at the age of seventy-one. 1 Chosen May 5, 1820 ; re-elected June 29, 1838, and resigned on account of old age, May 24, 1853. 2 Reminiscences of Amherst College, p. 8. 8 He was one of the seven signers of the bond for fifteen thousand dollars, to make up the deficit of the charity fund, and he subscribed one thousand dollars on the paper which completed the fund and released the bond-holders. 16 CHAPTER XIV. PERIOD OF 'REACTION AND DECLINE RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT HUMPHREY. THE largest aggregate number of students that Amherst Col- lege enrolled on its catalogue at any time previous to 1870-71, was in the collegiate year 1836-7, when the number was two hundred and fifty-nine. The next year, 1837-8, it had fallen to two hundred and six, and it continued to decrease regularly till in 1845-6, it was reduced to one hundred and eighteen, less than half the number nine years before. The number entering College began to diminish some three years earlier. The largest number of students ever admitted to the College was in 1833-4, when there were eighty-five Fresh- men, and the whole number of admissions was one hundred and six. The next year, 1834-5, there were seventy Freshmen, and the whole number of admissions was ninety-nine. From this time, the number entering College continued to decrease, till in 1843-4, the Freshmen numbered only thirty-two, and the whole number of new members was only forty-two. Some of the causes which produced this remarkable decline, are sufficiently obvious. In the first place it was doubtless to some extent a natural reaction from the equally remarkable and almost equally rapid increase of numbers in the previous his- tory of the College. As the tide of prosperity had risen very fast and high, so it sank with corresponding rapidity to a pro- portionally low ebb. The growth had been unprecedented, abnormal and not altogether healthy. The causes which pro- duced it, were in part temporary, and so far forth the effect could not be enduring. These causes had not indeed ceased to operate, but they had lost in a measure their pristine power. CAUSES OF DECLINE. 243 The first alarm, excited by the defection of Harvard College, and the churches in that section, had in a measure subsided. Zeal for Orthodoxy and evangelical piety was no longer at a white heat. The passion for missions and the education of min- isters had somewhat cooled. Revivals were less frequent in the churches. The revivals which marked the twenty years be- tween 1815 and 1835, had given birth to the College, and nour- ished it with a copious supply of young men recently converted and full of zeal for the work of the ministry and of missions. As revivals grew less frequent and powerful, one of the prin- cipal sources of the prosperity of Amherst College began to fail. The growth of the Institution had unavoidably changed some- what its relations to the community around it. The people of the village were still friendly to the College, but they had ceased to regard it as their own offspring or foster-child they could no longer welcome and cherish its two hundred and fifty stu- dents as pets or wards in their own families ; the halcyon days of primitive and almost pastoral simplicity when their apple- orchards and walnut-groves, their parlors and firesides, their homes and hearts were open to the members of the College gen- erally, almost as if they were their own sons, had gone never to return. Board was perhaps fifty per cent, higher than it was at the opening of the College. The influx of wealthy students by changing the tastes and habits of the community, had in- creased in a still greater percentage the incidental and unneces- sary expenses. The term-bills, including tuition and room-rent, which, at the first, were only ten or eleven dollars per term, had now risen to seventeen dollars, and the maximum of neces- sary College expenses, including board, fuel and lights, which in 1834 was stated in the , catalogue at ninety-six dollars a year, was estimated in 1837 at one hundred and fifty dollars. This was still considerably less than at Harvard or Yale, but the dif- ference was less than it formerly was, and the expenses at Am- herst were now greater than they were at some of the other New England Colleges. Relatively the economy of an educa- tion at Amherst was considerably less than it had been, and economy is no small argument, especially with the class of stu- 244 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. dents who flocked to Amherst in crowds in the earlier years of its history. A still more important change had gradually come over the relations between the students and the Faculty. The circum- stances under which the College originated, made its officers and students more like one great family, than they were in the older and larger Institutions, more so probably than they were in any other College. The government was truly a paternal government, and the students cherished a remarkably filial spirit towards the President and Professors. But when Amherst came soon to be the largest College in New England, with a single exception, when it contained more than two hundred and fifty students of all characters and habits, from all ranks and classes of the community, and from all parts of the United States, it was no longer practicable to maintain so familiar and confiden- tial a relation, it was no longer possible to administer the government in the same paternal way, it was no longer pos- sible that the students should cherish just the same filial feel- ing and spirit towards the Faculty. The men who composed the Faculty might be the same, it was the same President and the same leading older Professors, under whose auspices the College had attained so soon to so large a growth, that were now administering the government and giving the instruction ; yet they could not but draw the reins a little tighter, they could not exercise the same personal supervision, the same fatherly watch and care over two hundred students which they had extended to one hundred. It was not the same students, they were not of the same age, class and condition in life ; upon an average they were younger and richer and less.religious when they entered now than they were ten or fifteen years earlier in the history of the College ; but even if they had been the very same individual students, they could not come so near to their officers, or stand in the same. near and confidential relations, or cherish quite the same feelings of personal regard and aifec- tion, as when they were fewer in number and were in some sense joint-founders of the Institution. There are evils, diffi- culties and dangers inevitably connected with a large College as there are with a large boarding school, which almost pre- THE ANTI-SLAVERY EXCITEMENT. 245 elude the possibility of its realizing the idea of a College, or doing in the best way its whole and proper work ; and among these the wall of separation which rises up between the Faculty and the students is not the least. Accidental circumstances about this time contributed to widen the breach. One of these was the anti-slavery excitement. This affected Amherst more than it did most of the Eastern Colleges ; for while it had an unusual number of Southern students be- tween 1830 and 1840, 1 it had also a larger proportion than most of the colleges, of that class of students who were strongly, and some of them violently opposed to slavery. It was during this decennary, as our readers will remember that the anti- slavery excitement, which temporarily subsided after the Mis- souri compromise, broke out with fresh violence and agitated the whole country. The Liberator, started in Boston by Wil- liam Lloyd Garrison for the express purpose of agitating this question, was established in 1831, the New England Anti- Slavery Society (afterwards the Massachusetts) in 1832, the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. In 1834, George Thompson came over from England and his clarion-like voice rung through the land, and in 1835 Mr. Garrison was dragged through the streets of Boston by an infuriated mob and saved from a violent death only by incarceration in the city jail. Such exciting scenes could not but deeply move the feelings of young men in our Colleges and professional schools. When news- papers, tracts and books, lectures, public meetings, and organ- ized societies were doing their utmost to agitate the public mind, it would be strange if young men in college did not discuss the subject, debate it in their classes and literary societies, take sides on it, and, if permitted, form societies for the express pur- pose of influencing public sentiment. The Theological Semi- nary at Andover was much agitated at this time, and the excite- ment was greatly increased by the vehement denunciations and impassioned eloquence of George Thompson. It was in 1834, 1 Among these were Benjamin M. Palmer of South Carolina and Stewart Robin- son of Virginia, who became so conspicuous in the history of the late war. Mr. Palmer was a member of the Class of '35, but graduated prematurely in his Junior year. Mr. Robinson graduated with honor in the Class of '36. 246 HISTOEY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. that Lane Seminary was convulsed by " the Anti-Slavery Im- broglio," as Dr. Beecher called it, to such a degree that the students went off almost in a body and built up a Theological Department at Oberlin. It was under such circumstances that a Colonization Society and an Anti Slavery Society were formed among the students at Amherst, the latter in the summer of 1833, and the former a short time previous, perhaps not more than two or three weeks. Thus the College was divided as it were into two hostile camps, and the war raged as fiercely be- tween these opposing forces in their classic halls as that between the Greeks and Trojans of which the young men read in the Iliad, and it lasted quite as long before it fully came to an end. The Faculty seeing that fellow-students, and even Christian brethren were thus set in hostile array against each other, feel- ing that the College was not founded to be a school of moral or political reform, and fearing that its reputation, as well as its peace and prosperity might thus be endangered, at length interposed, and endeavored to persuade the members of both societies to dissolve their organizations. The members of the Colonization Society complied with this request. The members of the Anti-Slavery Society returned answer that they could not conscientiously dissolve the Society by their own act, begged the privilege of at least holding the monthly concert of prayer for the slave, and if they must needs disband, prayed the Fac- ulty to do the work themselves. This Society had now grown in a little more than a year from the original eight members to a membership of seventy-eight, nearly one-third of the whole number of students in College. " Of this number," I quote from a history of these transactions in manuscript prepared at my request by a leading member, 1 " all but six were professors of religion. Thirty of the number had consecrated themselves to the missionary work in foreign lands, and twenty to the work of home missions in the West. The first recognized agency that led several of these young men to decide upon the missionary service, were these investigations and discussions in reference to the condition of the two mil- lions or more of slaves in the United States. Their discussions 1 Kev. Leander Thompson. THE ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 247 and other exercises of their regular meetings were in the main dignified and eminently Christian, though always earnest 'and animated. Their concerts of prayer were among the tenderest and most useful seasons of religious devotion they had during their connection with College. " In October, 1834, the Society were summoned to meet Dr. Humphrey in a body in the Theological room. Very fully and kindly the President then stated his feelings, assuring the ' young gentlemen' to their amazement, that the Society was alienating Christian brethren, retarding and otherwise injuring the cause of religion in College, and threatening in many ways the pros- perity of the Institution. In view of these considerations pre- sented with evident honesty, he called upon the Society at once and entirely to disband, hold no more meetings, have no more discussions and, if possible, keep peace with all on this exciting subject. "As soon as possible the Society was called together for prayer and deliberation. Again and again and with a calmness .which astonished themselves, they discussed the propriety of acceding to the President's demand; but the more they dis- cussed and prayed and thought, the more fixed were they all in the conviction that they could not, as Christians and as men, take upon themselves the responsibility of disbanding their Society and ignoring the great question of the times, touching a subject of such vital importance both to the slave and to the country, to the progress and the triumphs of the gospel of love in our land. " Accordingly a committee was appointed to prepare a memo- rial on the subject as a reply to Dr. Humphrey's appeal. The memorial was prepared, read in a very full meeting, and, with- out a dissenting voice, adopted and sent to the Faculty." This memorial, of which the original draft is preserved, speaks with the greatest respect and even tenderness of the Faculty, acknowledging the purity of their motives and the love of their hearts, and saying, " we would gladly comply with your request if we could do it consistently with the dictates of our con- sciences and the wants and woes of perishing millions," but at the same time adding the unanimous resolution of the Society, "that we can not conscientiously disband and relinauish the 248 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. right of inquiring into, discussing and praying over the suffer- ings and woes of more than two millions of our population." They conclude with begging the privilege at least of being permitted to hold as a Society their usual monthly concert of prayer, and praying that if they must be disbanded, the Faculty would do the work themselves by a direct and positive com- mand, which they pledge themselves not to resist. Feeling that this " very respectful memorial " was " entitled to serious and deliberate consideration," and reluctant to resort to extreme measures if they could possibly avoid it, the Faculty, after some weeks' delay, made another communication to the Society, in which they consent to " let the Association remain for the present under the following regulations : 1. To meet as a Society, if you see fit, once a month as you have been accus- tomed to, chiefly for prayer, and to hold no other meetings. " 2. To receive such new members at your option as may wish to join you without solicitation. " 3. It is understood that discussions and formal addresses before the Society will hereafter be entirely discontinued. " 4. It is understood that neither the Society nor individual members of it will correspond with editors of newspapers or other persons, so as to bring it in any way before the public." At the same time the Faculty disclaim any intention to inter- fere in any degree with the private opinions of the members of the Society on the subject of slavery, or with the avowal of them as individuals as freely as on any other subject, nor with the bringing of the great question of slavery forward for de- bate in the regular order of College exercises by either party, provided it can be discussed with that perfect good feeling which is essential in such a community. This communication seems to have been received by the mem- bers of the Society with mingled emotions of surprise and dis- pleasure " too deep for appropriate outward expression. A few of the more ardent and impulsive spirits soon gave vent to their indignation and declared themselves ready to leave the College. But they were held in check by the large and more prudent majority, who strongly advised the Society to yield a passive sub- mission and leave the result to the developments of the future." THE SOCIETY SUPPRESSED. 249 The excitement extended also beyond the ranks of the So- ciety, and so strongly roused the minds of many without that they besieged the door of the Secretary's room in his absence and bursting it open found the constitution and subscribed their names to the list of members. In the same spirit of resistance to what they deemed an exercise of undue and arbitrary author- ity, " some person or persons unknown to the Society and its officers," purloined from the Secretary's room a copy of the me- morial to the Faculty, and sent it for publication to the editors of one or more anti-slavery papers, thus extending the arena of discussion, criticism and excitement from the College through the community. After discussing the subject at two meetings, the Society re- turned a written response to the communication of the Faculty, in which, while they gratefully acknowledge the high tone of Christian feeling and affectionate interest in their welfare evinced throughout that document, they yet declare their unanimous conviction that their duty as men and as Christians forbids their compliance with the conditions of existence submitted in it. This communication was laid before the Faculty at their meet- ing, February 16, 1835. They voted that they could not con- sistently alter or annul the conditions, and the next day Presi- dent Humphrey communicated the result in writing to the So- ciety. "We fully accord," he says, "with the opinion recently expressed by the whole body of students in the Andover Theo- logical Seminary, that in the present agitated state of the public mind, it is inexpedient to keep up any organization under the name of anti-slavery, colonization or the like, in our literary and theological institutions. This, we believe, is coming to be more and more the settled judgment of the enlightened and pious friends of these Institutions throughout the country. Indeed, we are not aware that any such Society as yours now exists in any respectable College but our own in the land. " You inform us that ' on due and careful deliberation,' you can not comply with 'the conditions of existence' specified in our last communication. Now, as we, on our part, can not con- sistently with our sense of duty, modify or annul those condi- tions, the case is perfectly plain. You would not ask us to vio- -250 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. late our trust or our consciences. As you can not comply, your Society must cease to exist, just as the Colonization Society has done already." After receiving this communication, the Society held one long, spirited and somewhat excited meeting, and then bowing in silence and sorrow to the authority of the government, the So- ciety ceased to exist. During that same term, the spring term of 1835, the Faculty and students labored together and rejoiced together in the religious revival whose history we have narrated in a previous chapter ; and none labored more faithfully to pro- mote it, none rejoiced more heartily in its blessed fruits (so all will agree, even those who differed most from them in this ex- citing controversy,) than many of the young men who had been members of this Anti-Slavery Society. After such stringent and decisive action in suppressing the Society, we should hardly expect to see it revived and reorgan- ized with substantially the same constitution and with the ex- press permission of the Faculty. Yet such was the fact. In less than two years from the suppression, viz., November 23, 1836, we find them granting permission to the anti-slavery men to hold a monthly concert. And in less than three years, that is, in December, 1837, we read on the records votes granting 4 " the request of the petitioners for an Anti-Slavery Society in College," and approving the constitution as presented by the petitioners. This change of policy was doubtless the result partly of a change of circumstances and partly of a change of feelings in the minds of the Faculty. The first outburst of pas- sion and excitement in the community had in a measure sub- sided, and the subject might now be discussed, it was thought, with less danger to the peace and the prosperity of the Institu- tion. Moreover, an event had occurred meanwhile in College, which turned the tide of sympathy and feeling strongly in favor of the anti-slavery cause. Ever since the Society had been in existence, students from the South, " the chivalry," as they were quite willing to be called, had from time to time shaken their fists and canes in the faces of the members and threatened them with personal violence. At length, on the morning of Com- mencement, the fourth Wednesday of August, 1835, as the stu- EXPULSION OF McNAIRY. 251 dents were going out from prayers in the chapel, a scene took place which was the antecedent and anticipation of that which was afterwards enacted in the Capitol at Washington in the person of Senator Sumner, and with similar results on a smaller scale. Robert C. McNairy of Nashville, Tenn., who had just at- tained to the dignity of a Sophomore, celebrated his elevation to that exalted dignity by severely beating a member of the class above him, John L. Ashley, of Bradford, N. H., with a heavy cane. The offender was speedily arraigned before a mag- istrate in the village. His fellow-students from the same sec- tion, and others who sympathized with them, thronged the room and overawed the Justice, and the offender was let off with a fine of five dollars. The next term the Faculty investigated the case and expelled him from the College. The following record will show the light in which they viewed the affair : " Whereas Robert McNairy, then a member of the Sophomore class, in this College, did on the morning of last Commence- ment and immediately after prayers in the chapel, violently at- tack and cruelly beat a fellow-student, with a heavy cane, thus maiming his person, if not putting his life in jeopardy, and whereas this gross violation of the laws was aggravated by the time when and the place where the assault was made, therefore, " Voted 1, That our duty to the College as a public Insti- tution and to the members of it entitled to our protection, as far as it is in our power to give it, require in this case the highest College penalty. " Voted 2, That the aforesaid Robert McNairy be, and he is hereby expelled" It can not be doubted that the anti-slavery excitement im- paired somewhat the confidence and' affection of a large portion of the students, (and those the most ardent and earnest students of the College) for the Faculty, and especially alienated some of the most zealous of them from the President, who was the organ of communication, and was regarded as the author of the policy that was pursued. 1 1 The anti-slavery men of this period were under the impression, right or wrong, that the sympathies, of Prof. Hitchcock were with them, although the act of sup- pression was communicated expressly as " the unanimous vote of the Faculty." 252 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. But the opposition to the system of distinctive and honorary appointments in College, which sprung up about the same time, lasted longer and was still more unfortunate in its influence. As early as 1834, the Junior class, under the influence of the dissatisfaction attendant as usual on the appointments for the Junior Exhibition, petitioned the Trustees at their annual meet- ing to abolish the system. Upon this petition, the Trustees voted, " That we think it inexpedient to make any alteration at present on the subject of said communication, but we recommend that the Faculty correspond with the other Colleges on this subject and obtain such information as may be communicated for such improvement hereafter as occasion may require." At their an- nual meeting in 1836, a petition was again presented, signed by nearly, if not quite, all the members of the three upper classes, asking for the abolition " of the present system of appoint- ments in this Institution," and suggesting instead, that "such a division and arrangement be made that all may have parts as- signed them, and alike enjoy the benefits arising from such per- formances," or that " each of the three Literary Societies in College should be permitted to have an annual exhibition." ! The action of the Trustees upon this petition is thus entered on their records : " A petition having been presented to this Board signed by numerous members of Amherst College, praying for the abolition of the system of appointments adopted in this College, Voted, that this Board deem it inexpedient to make any change at present in the system provided for by the College laws on this subject." Meanwhile the Faculty began to be besieged by petitions from individual students asking to be excused from performing the parts assigned them on the ground of conscientious opposi- tion to the system of honorary distinctions. And for a time the Faculty granted these requests. At length it became ap- parent that there was, if not a conspiracy, a set purpose on the part of many students, some of them perhaps really conscien- 1 This petition is preserved in the College Library. It is an immense document some five feet long and a foot and a half wide, bearing in bold and large hand the autograph signatures of men now distinguished in every walk of life, and remind- ii;g the reader in more ways than one of the original Declaration of Independence. THE GORHAM EXCITEMENT. 253 tious, but others manifestly only disappointed in their own ap- pointments, or otherwise disaffected, to break down the system, and that if they would have any exhibitions or Commence- ments, they must insist upon the performance of the parts as- signed for public occasions with the same firmness and on the same principles as they required the recitation of lessons or the performance of any other assigned duty. They therefore de- clined to excuse appointees simply on the ground of conscien- tious scruples without the assignment of some other reasons. Among those who were excused in the summer of 1835 was William O. Gorham of Enfield, who had been appointed one of the Prize Speakers 1 from the Freshmen, and having requested to be excused " on grounds of conscience," his request was granted. Two years later, the same student received an appointment for the Junior Exhibition. Instead of performing the part assigned him, he sent in the following paper to the Faculty : " To the Faculty of Amherst College, Sirs : I entered College with feelings and views utterly opposed to the present system of appointments in this Institution. I have ever heartily des- pised and contemned the principle, and a more intimate ac- quaintance with it since I have been here, has rendered its ef- fects more odious to my sense of justice. With either I can and do have no sympathy. As I can not give countenance to this system in heart nor in tongue, I certainly will not in deed. I beg, therefore, to be freed from my appointment at the coming Exhibition and all further annoyance from this source. W. O. GOKHAM." This paper came before the Faculty at their meeting June 16, 1837, and it was " Voted, that Gorham's case be referred to the President." The President had an interview with him and dealt very faithfully, perhaps somewhat severely with him, 2 1 There had been considerable trouble and excitement for some time in regard to the manner of appointing Prize Speakers, as well as in regard to the persons ap- pointed. 2 If the President's language was severe, ("and he said he excoriated him,) the language of the young man, as he reported it to his classmates and friends, was " abusive." 254 HISTORY OF AMHEBST COLLEGE. setting before him the sentiments, the spirit and the language of the paper, in the clear light of that strong common sense and in the strenuous use of that plain Saxon English of which he was the perfect master. But the only result was to widen the breach, to exasperate the feelings of the young man, and to rouse and perhaps ruffle a little the spirit of the President. This result was reported to the Faculty at their weekly meeting June 23d, and they voted to require of him a written acknowl- edgment under penalty, if he refused, of being removed from College. The acknowledgment which he was required to sign, was in the following language : " In presenting this paper (his previous communication) to the Faculty, I did not intend any disrespect to them or resist- ance to the laws of College, but on serious reflection I am con- vinced that the language was highly improper and not only so, but expressed my determination to disobey the laws of College. This I believe was wrong, and I do hereby declare my deep regret for so doing." Gorham refusing to sign this acknowledgment, some of his classmates attempted to mediate between him and the Faculty and obtain some modification of the language of the confession. The Faculty voted that he " have liberty to present an acknowl- edgment in different language, provided it should be essentially equivalent to that written by the Faculty." Accordingly he presented a paper, prepared by his classmates and signed by himself, as follows : " In presenting the above paper to the Faculty I did not intend any disrespect or resistance to the laws of College. I supposed I had a perfect right to accept or decline the honor conferred on me. I have since learned that they regard the appointments as obligatory upon those who receive them, and a refusal as an infringement upon the laws. So construed the language was disrespectful to the Faculty and expressed a de- termination to disobey one of the laws of College. Had such been my intention, I confess, it would have been utterly wrong, and it is with deep regret I find my language capable of so odious a construction." This paper was not satisfactory to the Faculty, chiefly because DISCIPLINE OF THE CLASS. 255 in view of their action in repeated instances during the previous year it must have been generally known in College that they regarded the appointments as obligatory and not to be accepted or declined at the option of the student, and, therefore, they could not regard the confession offered by Gorham as in his case either truthful or ingenuous, and he was accordingly re- moved from College. The entire class, with a single excep- tion, 1 now rallied to the support of their classmate and joined issue with the Faculty by passing the following resolution and sending to Gorham's friends a letter to the same effect. " Resolved by the Junior class, June 24, 1837, that in our opinion William O. Gorham has made every concession which duty and justice require, and in refusing to concede more, we heartily approve of his principles." The next morning this resolution was found written or 'painted on the wall in front of the chapel, where it was read by all the students as they went in to morning prayers. The Faculty were soon called together to consult in this emergency. They felt deeply that it was a solemn crisis for themselves and for the College. They began their consultation by asking counsel of God in prayer. After much anxious deliberation they came to the conclusion that such action by a class in College was sub- versive of all government, and that the}' must meet the issue with firmness or resign the helm into the hands of students. They therefore " voted to require a confession of all the mem- bers of the Junior class who have taken measures inconsistent with their obligations to obey the laws of College, in the case of William O. Gorham." The confession is in the following words : " It being an acknowledged principle that no student who is permitted to enjoy the privileges of a public literary Institu- tion, and who has promised obedience to its laws, has a right to do any thing to weaken the hands of its Faculty or in any way to nullify any of their disciplinary acts, I deeply regret 1 David N. Coburn of Thompson, Ct., now Rev. Mr. Coburn of Monson, Mass. At least one other member of the Class, I believe, was not at College at the time and took no part in these transactions, viz., Edward Blodgett of Amherst, now Rev. Mr. Blodgett of Greenwich. 256 HISTORY OF AMHEBST COLLEGE. that in reference to the late case of William O. Gorham, I did without due consideration, vote for a resolution and sign a paper which tended to both these results ; and I hereby prom- ise to abstain from all similar interference in the government of Amherst College." The class hesitated and delayed, and it seemed for a time, as if the whole class would refuse to sign the paper and be sent away. But by the interposition of friends of Gorham who were also friends of the College, 1 he was induced to sign the confes- sion required of him with a trifling verbal alteration, and then his classmates promptly followed suit and signed the acknowl- edgment and promise required of them. Thus have I endeavored to give a full, fair and unvarnished statement of the facts in this unhappy affair. I have made it almost without note or comment, believing that my readers will prefer to make their own comments and draw their own conclu- sions. It would be easy, perhaps, for any of us to say what we would do now in such a case as this, or that of the Anti-Slavery excitement. Doubtless we should open the doors wide to the discussion of slavery or any similar question, and let the wind How through. Probably we should let a class not only have their own opinions in regard to a case of discipline, but express them, if they choose, to the friends of the person disciplined. But it is not so easy to say what we would have done, or what the Faculty would or should have done under all the circum- stances as they existed then. In the state of the public mind as it then was, and with the views of College government which then prevailed, probably almost any Faculty would have taken the course that was taken at Amherst. 2 On the other hand justice requires the additional remark, that under the same cir- 1 Dr. Timothy J. Gridley of Amherst, and Mr. Leonard Woods of Enfield. The latter had aided Gorham previously in his education. Gorham received aid also from the charity fund of the College. 2 The writer can speak the more frankly and impartially on the subject, because he was not here at the time of the Anti-Slavery excitement, and at the time of the Gorham excitement, having just entered upon his professorship, he did not feel competent or called to take a leading part. He was only able, as lie remembers with satisfaction, to render some service in the way of removing Rome mutual mis- understandings, and thus prevent the whole class from going off in a body. EFFECT ON THE CLASS. 257 cumstauces, almost any class would probably have acted in es- sentially the same way as the Class of '38. Certainly no class ever had a better reputation for good order, obedience to law, and faithfulness in study, than they had prior to this excite- ment. Indeed they suspected the Faculty, unjustly of course, of presuming upon this very characteristic to treat them with more severity and trample them under foot. Doubtless there were errors and mistakes on both sides, and it was an unfor- tunate affair for all concerned. The young man has gone wan- dering and flaming like a comet through the world, pretty much as he did through College. The members of the class felt the sting through the remainder of their course, and wear the scar to this day. They are loyal sons of their mother, but many of them have never ceased to feel that they were treated unjustly and unwisely by the government. The class above them sym- pathized and suffered more or less with them, and the most bril- liant man and scholar in it, who fanned the flame of prejudice and passion, not to say of insubordination and rebellion by his eloquence in the debates of the class-room, and was censured for it, never recovered from the twist which he then received, 1 and even in the pulpit ran a career as melancholy in its issue as it was brilliant in its beginning. A member of that class thus graphically describes the excite- ment and lays bare some of its secret springs : " The vexed question of College appointments, a complaint which seems to have become periodically chronic, took an epidemic form in the years 1835-6-7. A society was organized in College, pledged not to perform parts assigned them at Junior Exhibitions and Commencements, on the ground that the system being morally wrong, they could not conscientiously do so As the prov- ince of conscience has different limits in different minds, the circumstances attending the urging of this plea, became some- times somewhat amusing. I once asked a classmate whether he should accept an appointment at the coming Commencement. He said he was undecided. If he had an oration, he thought 1 How far the twist may have been in the grain, and how far owing to circum- stances in both these cases, the writer can not say. Probably there was something of both. 17 258 H1STOKY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. he should ; otherwise not. I do not suppose that all consciences were equally elastic, but the cause of conscientious scruples was losing ground, and the leaders of the movement seemed to feel that unless Sumter were bombarded, the ardor of coadjutors would cool. Accordingly an appointment for Junior Exhibition was declined by one, who if he has not by his act rendered his name immortal, has at least given it ' a bad pre-eminence,' who, in a note couched in terms at least unnecessarily offensive, and in an interview with the President, used language which I have elsewhere characterized as abusive. 1 I so characterize it, having heard him relate to classmates what he had just said to the President, and witnessed the animus with which the 'Good! good ! ' was uttered as the most offensive expressions were re- peated, his auditors, with the exception of myself, being in sympathy with the before-mentioned organization I have never witnessed so intense excitement. It seemed as though Alecto and her imps were almost visibly present. Many of the class above them were infected, and received the same prescrip- tion, (an apology.) Some of them yielded as soon as they had time for cool reflection. One classmate, after signing the re- quired apology, said to me, ' I do not see how I could ever have regarded the requirement as unreasonable. Not half enough has been required. I have done wrong and shall never feel at ease until I have made a fuller confession.' He accordingly sought an interview with the President to make such a confession as would relieve him of his burden. . . . Returning to their friends, they (the disaffected students,) infused into the whole commu- nity something of their own bitterness of feeling towards a College, which up to that time, had been steadily strengthening its hold upon the public confidence and steadily gaining in num- bers. It was the severest blow the College has ever received, a blow from whose effects she can not be said even now to have fully recovered." 2 1 In another part of his letter, the writer mentions this incident to illustrate the magnanimity of President Humphrey who insisted that the language addressed to him should not be taken into consideration in the discipline, because it was ad- dressed to him not officially, but as an individual. 2 Prof. C. C. Bayley, Class of '37. EFFECT ON THE COLLEGE. 259 The effect on the College was immediately disastrous. From this time class after class went out with more or less of the spirit of disaffection, and spread it through the community. Year after year too many of the graduates went forth not to in- vite and attract students, but to turn them away by reporting that the government was arbitrary, the President stern, severe, unsympathizing, unprogressive, and even in his dotage, (though as Dr. Hitchcock remarks, 1 his subsequent history shows that he was as well qualified, physically, intellectually and spiritually as he had ever been for the place,) and the Professors, some of them at least, incapable, unpopular and unfit for the office, (although the work of instruction was never more ably or faithfully, never 80 assiduously and laboriously performed as at this very time.) The President was the self-same man under whose wise and able administration the College had risen to such unexampled prosperity. The Professors were, for the most part, the same men under whose government and instruction the Institution had pre- viously prospered, who, when the tide turned afterwards, were as popular as it often falls to the lot of faithful Professors to be, and whose lives have become identified with the history of the Col- lege. It is not necessary to mention their names. The Tutors of this period were some of the best scholars that have ever been graduated here. Not a few of them have since become distinguished as educators, authors, men of science, eloquent preachers and able jurists. Six of them have been Professors in this and other Institutions, viz., Charles B. Adams, Thomas P. Field, John Humphrey, William A. Peabody, Roswell D. Hitchcock and George B. Jewett. It was during this period that the Graeca Majora was dropped from the curriculum, and Homer, Demosthenes, and the Tragic poets began to be read continuously as entire books instead of extracts, and the Greek and Latin languages were for the first time taught analytically in their relation to each other and their cognate tongues and in the light of comparative philology. At this time, to wit, in 1837-8, the whole system of monitorial duties, excuses for ab- sence, marks for merit and demerit, the merit roll, reports to parents, punishment of delinquents and honorary appointments, 1 Reminiscences of Amherst College, p. 124. 260 HISTORY OF AMHERST. COLLEGE. was revised, reformed, methodized, made at once more just and more efficient, and those principles and rules established which, not without amendment of course, but substantially, have regu- lated the practice of the College in this important matter ever since. A circular letter was also prepared and sent to the parents of Freshmen and other new students, which explained the temptations and dangers of College life, invited the co-oper- ation of parents and friends, and thus contributed much towards a better understanding among all the parties concerned in the education and training of the College. Such a letter continued to be sent with good effect for many years after the emergency out of which it sprung had passed away. About the same time, a course of general lectures in the chapel on study, read- ing, literature and College life, was inaugurated, in which all the Faculty in rotation bore a part, and which proved highly ac- ceptable as well as useful to the students. In short, necessity proved the mother of invention and sharpened the wits of the Faculty to discover and apply many new ways and means of promoting the welfare of the students, and, if possible, the prosperity of the College. These efforts, it is believed, were appreciated by the under-graduates, and they were quite con- tented and satisfied with the government and instruction of the College. But the spirit of disaffection was still spreading among the alumni, infecting some of the older as well as the younger graduates, and extending through the community; and the number of students still continued to decrease. A more thorough system of term and annual examinations was introduced, which were attended by distinguished scholars, friends and patrons from abroad, at the invitation of the Faculty ; and these examining committees often published most flattering re- ports of the internal condition of the College. But they were sometimes overdone, and it may be doubted whether they did not do more harm than good. The number of students still continued to diminish. At the call of a committee appointed by the Amherst alumni at Andover, in 1841, a large number of graduates convened at Amherst at the Commencement in 1842 and formed a Society of the Alumni, which still exists and has rendered invaluable DISSATISFACTION OF THE ALUMNI. 261 service to the College. Measures were taken at this first meet- ing for establishing and helping to raise an endowment for an alumni professorship, and resolutions were passed expressing " sympathy with the founders and friends of Amherst College in the present embarrassed state of its affairs," " confidence in the wisdom and energy of the Board of Trustees," and " pledging earnest co-operation in all appropriate ways for its relief." But it was rather a stormy meeting a squally and threatening one, at least painful in many of its aspects to the Trustees and Faculty, the general agent and the best friends of the Institu- tion, and boding ill quite as much as good in its future history. At length the feeling of discontent and dissatisfaction began to find expression through the press. The causes of the decline of the College were discussed in newspapers and pamphlets, and writers who were confessedly graduates and professedly friends of the Institution, published to the world that the alumni were dissatisfied with the management of the College, and it never would prosper without a thorough reform, not to say a complete revolution. Those were dark days for Amherst College days of cruel trial and suffering for its officers. The trial of living on a half-salary a few years later was nothing in comparison. Some of them carried the sting of it to their dying day, and it still lingers in the memory of the survivors. If the College had been rich and independent, it might have borne this trial. Indeed if the College had been independent, it would have been saved the greater part of the trial, for com- plaints would then have been in a great measure silenced, and disaffection nipped in the bud. But " the destruction of the poor is their poverty." Poverty increased the disaffection itself as well as sharpened the sting of it, and the disaffection, by diminishing the number of students, increased the poverty of the College. For it had not at this time a single dollar of endowment, 1 and no College, however large or prosperous, re- ceives for tuition one-half of what it costs. The two subscrip- tions which had already been raised, the one of thirty thousand and the other of fifty thousand dollars, were immediately exhausted in the payment of debts and other unavoidable 1 The Charity Fund went wholly for the support of beneficiaries. 262 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. expenses. The College was, therefore, actually running in debt at the time of its largest prosperity, and the debt went on in- creasing as the number of students continued to diminish, till the outgoes exceeded the income by fully four thousand dollars a year. Application was made to the Legislature for pecuniary .aid in three successive years, viz., 1837, 1838 and 1839. In each in- stance, a Joint Committee of both Houses reported strongly in favor of the College, and recommended in 1837 a grant of twenty- five thousand dollars in ten annual installments, in 1838 a grant of fifty thousand dollars, and in 1839 a reference to the next Legislature on the ground that there were then no funds in the treasury. The report in 1837, by Hon. Myron Lawrence of Belchertown, then a member of the Senate and the next year President of the same body, was particularly able and cordial. The following passages are worthy of notice and record : "Their present buildings will accommodate one hundred and eighty stu- dents, and they are in want of another building to accommodate sixty more. It is indispensable to the best good of the students as well as to the reputation of the College and the correct ad- ministration of its affairs, that all its inmates should reside un- der the immediate care and oversight of the Faculty. " Before the establishment of this Institution, great numbers of young men went out of the Commonwealth for education. In 1824 there were in the several New England Colleges, out of this State, two hundred and twenty-seven scholars belonging to Massachusetts. In 1830, the number was reduced to one hundred and thirty-five. At the former period there were fifty- eight more went out of the State than came into it, and at the latter, fourteen more came in than went out. This Institution has been the chief instrument in producing these results. " Massachusetts is pre-eminent among her sister States for her munificent bequests to literary institutions. To Harvard Uni- versity she has given three hundred thousand dollars ; to Wil- liams College, fifty-six thousand dollars ; to Bowdoin College, seventy thousand dollars ; to Academies six hundred and thirty thousand dollars ; to other institutions, twelve thousand dollars ; to common schools one million dollars, making in all the gener- REPORT OF HON. MYRON LAWRENCE. 263 ous sum of two million and seventy thousand dollars. Amherst College, with its high claims to legislative bounty and its abun- dant evidence of eminent usefulness, stands alone in solitary destitution. " This College is of great service to the surrounding country inasmuch as it furnished from one hundred to one hundred and fifty teachers of common schools during the winter. " In its act of incorporation, the Legislature reserve the right to control it, and also to choose five out of seventeen Trustees and supply the vacancies of these five as often as they shall oc- cur forever." In the report of 1837, the debt of the College is estimated at ten thousand dollars ; in that of 1838 at fifteen thou- sand dollars ; and in that of 1839 at twelve thousand dollars ! In 1837 and 1838 the bill failed, both years in the House, be- ing rejected in the latter year by a vote of 154 nays to 132 ayes. It is worthy of note as illustrating the change of public senti- ment in Hampshire County in comparison with former Legisla- tures, that only one negative vote was now cast in the whole county. In 1839 the petition was referred to the next Legis- lature as recommended by the committee. Despairing of aid from the State, the Trustees soon conceived the project of raising one hundred thousand dollars by private subscription. This was thought to be the smallest sum that would relieve the College of existing embarrassments and leave a balance for endowments sufficient to make the income equal to expenditures. Rev. William Tyler, of South Hadley Falls, was first appointed an agent for obtaining subscriptions, and by his labors at different times during the years 1839 and 1840, some four or five thousand dollars were raised, chiefly in Am- herst. At the annual meeting of the Trustees in the latter year, it being thought that the shortening of the winter vacation had operated unfavorably by keeping away that class of students who were necessitated to help themselves by teaching, the va- cations were changed back again to six weeks in the winter, two in the spring, and four in the summer, the Commencement, however, being placed on the fourth Thursday of July instead of the fourth Wednesday of August. But the number of stu- dents still continued to diminish. 264 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. In 1841 the eyes of all turned to Rev. Joseph Vaill, who had already proved himself a firm support and a successful agent of the College in more than one emergency, as the only person who could successfully perform the herculean labor of raising the money which was indispensable to its very existence. The debts of the College had now reached an aggregate of fifteen thousand dollars, and were increasing at the rate of three or four thousand dollars every year. Mr. Vaill well knew, although not so well as he did afterwards, the disaffection that was spreading among the alumni, the complaints that were circulating through the community, and the almost insurmountable obstacles that stood in the way of the success of the enterprise. He had just returned from Portland to his former people in Brimfield with the pur- pose of spending the remainder of his da}"s where he was first settled in the ministry. But he could not hesitate when the very existence of the College of which he had been a Trustee from the beginning, was trembling in the balance. He accepted the ofrbe of general agent to which he had been invited by the Trustees at their annual meeting in 1841, with the same salary as the Professors, was dismissed from his pastoral charge, re- moved to Amherst, and for nearly four years devoted himself to unwearied labors and plans for the external affairs and especially the pecuniary interests of the College. In August, 1845, he was able to report subscriptions, conditional and unconditional, to the amount of sixty-seven thousand dollars, of which over fifty-one thousand dollars had been collected by himself and paid into the treasury. 1 By reckoning in ten thousand dollars, given during this time by David Sears, eleven thousand dollars known by him to have been bequeathed by will to the College during the same time, and fifteen thousand dollars which he had the written assurance of an individual's "full intention " to pay for the founding of a professorship, the sum of one hundred 1 Three years after the close of his agency, in August, 1848, Dr. Vaill reported four thousand four hundred and thirty-three dollars more as collected by himself, (making an aggregate of nearly fifty l six thousand dollars collected by himself,) three thousand seven hundred and seventy-six dollars besides the principal of the Sears' fund as having come directly into the treasury meanwhile, and two thousand three hundred and forty-nine dollars of the balance as probably good and collectible thereafter. DK. VAILL'S AGENCY. 265 thousand dollars was made up, and this statement was so far satisfactory to the subscribers that the majority of those whose subscriptions had been conditioned on the raising of the entire sum of one hundred thousand dollars, now made them uncon- ditional. But deduct from the fifty-one thousand dollars which had been actually paid into the treasury by Mr. Vaill at the close of his agency in 1845, the debt which was reported to the Legisla- ture as fifteen thousand dollars in 1838, 1 the excess of the outgoes above the income in the interval of seven years at the rate of three or four thousand dollars a year, and the salary and ex- penses of the agent, which exceeded four thousand dollars, and it will be seen that very little remained for endowments or even to counterbalance a future excess of expenses. And yet the annual expenses far exceeded the annual income, and the num- ber of students still continued to diminish. Things could not long go on in this way. To raise money by subscription was only to throw it into a bottomless morass which must after all before long swallow up the Institution. This was palpable to all eyes, and was uttered from the lips of many. The Trustees felt it. They chose a Standing Committee of Retrenchment. They reduced the number of Tutors, formerly four, to one. With their consent, they deducted one hundred dollars each from the salary of the President and the general agent, and two hundred from that of each of the Professors. But all this was quite inadequate. The College still continued to flounder and sink deeper in the mire. The general agent at length saw that the only adequate remedy was to bring the expenses within the revenue ; and he laid before the Faculty the suggestion with an outline of the plan, which was adopted by them and ere long turned the tide in the opposite direction. But before this remedy was tried or, perhaps, thought of, the clamor had become loud and distinct among the alumni and in the community for changes in the Faculty and a change of ad- ministration. The first officer who was sacrificed was Prof. Fowler, a gentleman of much learning and many accomplish- 1 Twelve thousand dollars in 1839, No one seems to have known just what it was. 266 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. merts, but "unpopular" and, as the students said who certainly had the means of testing his capacity in this respect, unable to maintain order in his lectures, recitations and rhetorical exercises. Under the double pressure of the clamor of graduates and the complaints of under-graduates, he resigned his professorship to the Trustees at a special meeting in December, 1842. l But this did not appease the clamor or meet the emergency. A more shining mark was aimed at. A more costly sacrifice was demanded. And at a special meeting of the corporation in Worcester, in January, 1844, with the Trustees all present, under the pressure of the emergency, and doubtless in anticipation of the event, President Humphrey tendered his resignation, to take effect whenever his successor should be ready to enter upon the office. The magnanimity of the spirit in which Dr. Humphrey met this trying emergency will be seen from the letter in which he tendered his resignation, which was entered upon the records of the meeting, and which we here copy entire. " To the Reverend and Honorable Board of Trustees of Amherst College, Gentlemen : I avail myself of the opportunity which your special meeting affords, to resign the office of President which I have so long held, into your hands, the resignation to take effect as soon as a successor can be brought in to fill my place. " It is now almost twenty-one years since, in compliance with your call, I tore myself away from a beloved pastoral charge and assumed the labors and responsibilities of the office, which, though often invited to relinquish for other fields of labor, I have not felt at liberty to resign till now. " Permit me, gentlemen, in closing this brief communieation, to tender you my sincere thanks for the generous partiality with which you have looked upon my imperfect endeavors to ad- vance the literary and religious interests of the College, and for the unwavering confidence with which you have always sus- 1 The resignation to take effect at the end of the collegiate year. The Trustees accepted the resignation on these terms, passed a vote of " entire confidence in his fidelity, assiduity and urbanity in the discharge of his duties," and voted to allow him the half of a year's salary in addition to the stated annual salary. PRESIDENT HUMPHREY'S RESIGNATION. 267 tained me in the discharge of my duties. This confidence, let me assure you, has, on my part, been warmly reciprocated and will be gratefully remembered. " We have consulted, and toiled, and prayed together for its prosperity under the smiles of heaven, though often brought to a stand by its pecuniary embarrassments ; and I can not allow myself to doubt that, under your wise and energetic administra- tion, it will rise from its present depression, and, in generations to come, more than realize to the church, to the commonwealth, and to the perishing heathen, the richest benedictions so fer- vently supplicated by its pious founders. It was a noble enter- prise. It has been eminently blessed, and it will be blessed, provided the Divine favor is not forfeited by the unbelief and abandonment of its friends ; ' Unto the upright there ariseth light in darkness.' " Allow me in conclusion to assure you, gentlemen, that wherever my lot may be cast during the short remnant of my life, you will have my sympathies and best wishes in the guard- ianship of the beloved Institution with which I have been so long connected, and whose prosperity lies nearer my heart than I can find language to express. " With high considerations of esteem and affection, I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, HEMAN HUMPHREY." The Trustees, constrained by a felt necessity and doubtless with sorrowing hearts, accepted the resignation, and through a committee consisting of Mr. Calhoun, Dr. Nelson and Dr. Alden, returned the following answer: " Resolved, as the unanimous sense of this Board that Dr. Humphrey retires from the Presidency of the College with our sincere respect and affection which have been steadily increas- ing from the commencement of our mutual intercourse ; that we express to him our gratitude for his invaluable services as the head of this Institution, our highest regard for his character as a successful teacher, a faithful pastor and a single-hearted Chris- tian ; that our prayers will accompany him, that his rich intel- lectual resources and his humble piety may still be devoted for years to come, as they have been for years past, to the welfare 268 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. of his fellow-men ; and that we invoke upon him the continued favor and blessing of heaven. " Resolved, that one thousand dollars be presented to Dr. Humphrey on his retirement in addition to -his regular salary." The first gleam of sunshine from without which had rested upon the College for several years, dawned upon it in the dark- ness and sorrow of this meeting at Worcester in the donation of ten thousand dollars by Hon. David Sears of Boston, which was the beginning of his munificent " Foundation of Literature and Benevolence," and not only the largest donation, but the first donation of any considerable magnitude that had ever been given at once by a single individual. But the College was not yet lifted out of the mire. That was to be the result of many years- of wise and patient self-denial and labor. Two vacancies in the Faculty had at length been created. Now began the more difficult task of filling them. At the same meeting in Worcester at which they had accepted the resignation of Dr. Humphrey, the Trustees chose Prof. E. A. Park of Andover, President, and re-appointed Rev. J. B. Condit of Portland, Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, together with the pastoral charge 6f the College church. But both of these gentlemen declined their appointments. At the next annual meeting in August, 1844, the Trustees chose Rev. Prof. George Shepard of Bangor, President, and Rev. Jonathan Leavitt of Providence, Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, together with the pastoral charge of the College church. Prof. Shepard de- clined the presidency. Rev. Mr. Leavitt so far accepted the Professorship as to call a council to consider the question of his dismission ; but the council declined to dismiss him simply be- cause he did not press it, and it was generally understood that he did not press it because on visiting Amherst his heart failed him in view of the difficulties which beset the College. At this meeting, Hon. William B. Banister and Hon. Alfred D. Foster resigned their places as members of the Board. Henry Edwards, Esq., of Boston was elected in the place of Mr. Ban- ister. At the urgent request of the Board, Mr. Foster con- sented to withdraw his resignation. But a correspondence with Rev. Mr. Vaill about this time, and his conversations at INDUCTION OF PRESIDENT HITCHCOCK. 269 a later day with Prof. Hitchcock show that he had little hope that the College could be maintained as anything more than an Academy. At a special meeting of the corporation in Amherst in No- vember, Rev. Aaron Warner was elected Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, with a salary of one thousand dollars. At another special meeting at Amherst in December, the Pro- fessors laid before the Trustees the proposition, suggested prob- ably by Mr. Vaill, that they would accept the income of the Col- lege, be the same more or less, in place of their salaries, and pay out of it also all the necessary running expenses of the College, on condition that they be allowed to regulate these expenses and run the College, and with the understanding that the agency for the solicitation of funds should cease, and with the expecta- tion that Prof. Hitchcock would be appointed President.' The Trustees accepted the proposition of the Faculty as modified and set forth by themselves, and on this basis, they elected Rev. Edward Hitchcock, LL.D., President and Professor of Natural Theology and Geology. In order to provide for the partial va- cancy thus created in Prof. Hitchcock's department, they at the same time elected Prof. Charles U. Shepard of New Haven, Professor of Chemistry and Natural History, " to take effect provided Prof. Hitchcock accepts the Presidency." These appointments were all accepted, and on the 14th of April, 1845, the President elect was inducted into his office, the retiring President, at the request of the Trustees, performing the ceremony of induction and in due form handing over the keys to his successor, the former having previously delivered a farewell address, and the latter following with his inaugural. It would have been the personal preference of Dr. Humphrey to continue in office till Commencement, and thus at the close of the year and amid the concourse of alumni and friends usu- ally convened on that occasion, to take leave of his " beloved College" and her sons, so many of whom loved and honored him as a father. But it was thought by friends of the "new departure" that the delay might embarrass the financial ar- rangement, and perhaps affect unfavorably the incoming class. And with characteristic magnanimity and self-abnegation, he 270 HISTOKY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. hastened to put off the robes of office and with his own hands to put them upon his successor. In his farewell address he says : " The period having arrived, when, by the conditions of my resignation, I am to retire from the responsible post which I have occupied for twenty-two years, it was my wish silently to withdraw with many thanksgivings to God for his smiles upon the Institution, with which I have been so long connected, and fervent supplications for its future prosperity. But having been kindly and somewhat earnestly requested by the Standing Com- mittee of the Board, to prepare an address for the present oc- casion, I have allowed myself to be overruled, I hope not for the first time, by a sense of public duty. It has been a maxim with me, for more than forty years, that every man is bound to avail himself of all such opportunities for doing good as Provi- dence may afford him, with but a subordinate regard to his own personal feelings or convenience." He then proceeds to narrate concisely the history of the College from the beginning, espe- cially its religious history, insisting with great earnestness and eloquence as he did in his inaugural, on a truly Christian edu- cation in truly Christian Colleges as the hope of the country, the church and the world, and closes with devout aspirations, with almost apostolic benedictions on the College and its be- loved church, its honored Trustees and guardians, his respected and beloved associates in the immediate government and in- struction, the beloved youth over whose morals, health and education it had been his endeavor to watch with paternal so- licitude, and the esteemed friend and brother to whom he re- signed the chair, and with whom he had been so long and so happily associated. There is an almost tragic pathos and sub- limity in these valedictory words and last acts in the public life of this great and good man. Few scenes in history, or the drama even, have in them more of the moral sublime. The sympa- thizing spectators hardly knew whether to weep over the sad necessities which environed the close of his administration or to admire and rejoice in the moral grandeur and Christian her- oism of the man. And the feelings of the writer in narrating these events have been somewhat the same as those with which the disciples of Socrates listened to his last conversations, as DR. HUMPHREY'S FAREWELL. 271 Plato describes them, in the Phaedon, " feelings not of pity, for they thought him more to be envied than pitied, nor yet of pleasure, such as they usually experienced when listening to his philosophical discourses, but a wonderful sort of emotion, a strange mixture of pleasure and grief, and a singular union and succession of smiles and tears." CHAPTER XV. THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THIS PERIOD, 1836-45. IN his farewell address which is largely taken up with the religious history of the College, President Humphrey says : " About the last of March, 1827, the chapel was opened for public worship which has been regularly attended in term time on the Sabbath ever since. The sacrament of the Lord's sup- per has also been steadily administered once in two months. Soon after we became a separate congregation the following ar- rangement was made for the supply of the pulpit. It was agreed that the pastor should preach half of the time, and that the al- ternate Sabbaths should be taken by the Professors, all of whom were then preachers, in turn. It is now eighteen years since this plan was adopted, and there has been no change. The Professors, during all this time, have, with a single exception, been preachers as well as scientific and literary instructors. They have, I am happy to say, cheerfully fallen into the ar- rangement, which I consider a very desirable one, both as it re- spects themselves and their influence upon the College. Two sermons on the Sabbath were all that the Trustees required ; but as the Faculty Avere soon convinced that the religious inter- ests of the College demanded something more, they established a weekly lecture, which has been about as regularly kept up on Thursday evening as the public exercises on the Sabbath. For several years I preached every alternate Thursday evening. But as this, added to my other labors, was too much for my health, my brethren of the Faculty very kindly came in and relieved me by taking their turns in regular rotation. The Faculty them- selves have always felt it to be no less their duty than their privilege to attend the stated evening lecture, and after its close RELIGIOUS STATISTICS. 273 have made it their practice to retire immediately to one of their rooms and spend an hour together in prayer and consultation upon the religious state and interests of the College. The classes have also been assigned by agreement to different members of the Faculty who have been charged with the duty of exercising ^a sort of pastoral care over their respective divisions. The monthly concert of prayer for the conversion of the world is regularly attended, and professors of religion are often called together for exhortation and prayer." In answer to the question, what has been the success of these endeavors ? the President says : " The whole number of gradu- ates is seven hundred and sixty-five, a much larger number than the triennial catalogue of any other New England College shows within the first quarter of a century. The whole num- ber of beneficiaries who have been aided from the Charity Fund up to this time including those who from sickness and other causes, have not graduated, is five hundred and one. The amount of interest paid into the College treasury by the com- missioner of this fund is thirty-nine thousand eight hundred and ninety-six dollars and sixty-one cents. " Amherst College has been blessed with seven special reviv- als of religion. The first of these times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, began in February, 1823, and continued nearly up to the time of Dr. Moore's death. The second re- vival took place in the spring of 1827. the third about the mid- dle of spring term in 1828, the fourth in the spring of 1831, the fifth in the months of March and April, 1835, the sixth in the spring term of 1839, the seventh and last in the summer of 1842. By comparing these dates it will be seen that no class has ever yet graduated without passing through at least one season of spiritual refreshing. All these revivals might be called general, as they changed the whole face of things throughout the College, though some were more powerful than others- Never can any of these be forgotten by those who witnessed them. Many devoted servants of Christ who are now preach- ing the gospel, scattered over this broad land and upon foreign shores will, I doubt not, look back from a happy eternity to this Institution as their spiritual birthplace." 18 274 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. In the spring of 1837-8, one of those revivals in the church occurred which have been even more frequent than what Dr. Humphrey calls " general revivals," and which have sometimes been quite as efficacious in renewing the joy and the strength of Christians, and increasing their subsequent usefulness. Of this season, one who was then a member of the Senior class l writes : " I remember it well, and must say that rarely have I known a time when I felt as if heaven came so near to my soul. God be praised for that season ! I have not the statistics, but I carry the impressions, and hope never to lose them until they give place to the raptures of a brighter day." The following account of the revival in 1839 is condensed from a narrative communi- cated by Dr. Humphrey to the Boston Recorder : " At the opening of the collegiate year, one hundred and eleven of the one hundred and eighty students on the cata- logue were professors of religion. The concert of prayer on the last Thursday of February was a solemn day, especially in the church. We met and spent an hour and a half in prayer and exhortation in the forenoon, and in the afternoon had a very impressive sermon upon the worth of the soul, from the Rev. J. Mitchell of Northampton. After that the interest seemed rather to decline than increase for two or three weeks. At length two individuals very unexpectedly came out on the same day and expressed their solemn deter- mination as well to their careless companions as to their Chris- tian classmates not to neglect their souls any longer. This pro- duced a general and powerful sensation throughout College. Our meetings began to be crowded, and within one week eleven or twelve were found to be indulging some hope that they had ' passed from death unto life.' This was the first week in April, after which the work advanced, though not so rapidly, till the end of the term. The whole number of hopeful conversions is twenty, or, perhaps, a little over just about one-fourth part of all who were living ' without hope and without God ' when the revival began. " This is the fifth revival which has been enjoyed here since the winter of 1829. Its blessings to the hundred young men 1 Rev. J. A. McKinstry, Class of '38. REVIVAL OF 1839. 275 who are looking forward to the ministry are incalculable. Dur- ing the progress of the work, the pious students have devoted as much of several days as their studies would permit to private fasting and prayer. Not a single recitation has been omitted. Besides the regular ministrations of the Sabbath, we have had 'preaching three evenings in a week." The following entry appears in the church records for August 25, 1839: " Received J. H. Bancroft, Joseph A. Rosseel, James D. Trask, David R. Arnell, Daniel T. Fiske and Francis J. Morse by profession. These were part of the fruits of an inter- esting although not very general revival in College at the close of the last spring term." The first name in this list is that of a young man whose superior talents and scholarship united with rare personal and social qualities and remarkable refinement, made him a great favorite in the class (1839) and the College. The writer will never forget the thrill with which he heard one evening that this young man and another member of the Senior class were " sitting at the feet of Jesus." This was the begin- ning of the revival, and the antecedent if not the instrumental cause of a score of other conversions. And when he was cut off by an early death just as he was beginning to preach the gospel with rare promise of great usefulness, his friends could not but rejoice the more heartily that his example in College had won so many to Christ. A College friend l writes : "Of the Senior class at that time, Bancroft especially seemed to me to receive the kingdom of God like a little child. I shall never forget how he wept on the bosom of a seatmate at evening prayers, nor how his countenance soon brightened like sunshine after rain." This unusual religious interest was followed, as usual, by an increase of interest in the cause of missions, which was also promoted by the ordination of Mr. H. J. Van Lennep of the Class of '37 as an evangelist and missionary at Amherst soon after. The council was called by the College church. The or- dination took place on the day before Commencement (August 27, 1839). The sermon was delivered by Rev. Dr. Hawes of Hartford, and the charge by Rev. Thatcher Thayer then of 1 Rev. C. G. Goddard, Class of '41. 276 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. South Dennis ; and " the exercises were highly interesting to a large assembly." 1 The following communication from an alumnus, 2 contains some facts in the history of missionary organizations in Am- herst College, which were new to the writer of these pages and may be curious and perhaps instructive to the reader. " I have authentic information in regard to a secret missionary society, organized the 14th of July, 1828, and holding its last meeting, without any design as to the coincidence, the 14th of July, 1841, just thirteen years from its organization. William Arms and Elias Riggs were the committee who drafted the constitution. Justin Perkins was the first President, and Elias Riggs the first Secretary. It took the name of * Friends.' Its object was to excite and perpetuate a missionary spirit in the hearts of its members and their associates, and to become acquainted with the wants of the world and their duty personally in reference to those wants. Its meetings held privately, were sometimes Saturday night, sometimes Sabbath morning immediately after prayers, and sometimes Sabbath evening one hour before prayers. Some correspondence was had with similar societies in other in- stitutions and with missionaries, in the field. A concert of prayer was agreed upon by its members in connection with other asso- ciations between the hours of nine and ten o'clock Sabbath eve- ning. This was in November, 1834. " On the roll of its members appear the names of Justin Per- kins, Elias Riggs, William Arms, James L Merrick, Benjamin Schneider, Oliver P. Powers, Henry Lyman, Benjamin W. Par- ker, Ebenezer Burgess, Leander Thompson, George B. Rowell, Henry J. Van Lennep, William Walker, Samuel A. Taylor, Ed- win E. Bliss, Joel S. Everett, James G. Bridgeman. All of these names are now familiar in the annals of missions. "After an existence of thirteen years the organization of 4 Friends ' ceased to exist, because of doubts as to the propriety of an early decision and a pledge to be a missionary. During the thirteen years of its existence, the names of twenty-nine graduates are marked as foreign missionaries on the triennial, 1 Church records in the handwriting of Prof. Fiske, Scribe. 2 Rev. R. P. Wells, Class of '42. MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 277 and but seventeen of these were members of the Society, and these seventeen are the only persons out of ninety members who carried out into action the resolution formed in the ardor of youth and under the impulse of zealous young associates. One of the pillars of the Society having thus failed, the whole ^superstructure fell with it." - " The Missionary Band," so called, was organized a few years later, and continues to the present time. It has done good in the way of exciting an intelligent interest in the cause of mis- sions, and has doubtless been the means of making some good missionaries. But facts similar to' those mentioned above have raised in many minds the same question as to the duty and expe- diency of a decision in College. " There was a society in Col- lege," writes Rev. George Washburn of the Class of '55, "called the Missionary Band, I think, made up of those who had de- termined to go out as foreign missionaries. I was again and again urged to join it, but refused on the ground that the time had not come when I could fairly decide the question of my field of labor. I think there were five members of my class in this Missionary Band. Not one of them became a foreign mission- ary. I am the only representative of my class abroad. 1 So far the result certainly seems to prove the truth of my conclusion." The general revivals in Amherst College have all occurred in the spring term, with the single exception of that of 1842, which occurred in the summer term, the season of the year which, for obvious reasons, is the most unfavorable to religious interest in College. Under date of November 6, 1842, the church records contain the following entry : " The Lord's Supper celebrated. Richard S. S. Dickinson was received by letter ; and Lucius M. Boltwood, Zephaniah M. Humphrey, Thaddeus Wilson, Edward W. Osgood, George H. Newhall, Charles Temple, Josiah Tyler, Ann Eliza- beth Vaill, Mary Hitchcock, Catherine Hitchcock, Emily E. Fowler and Mary Humphrey, by profession : most of these be- ing the fruits of a deeply interesting revival with which it pleased God to visit the College during the last summer." 1 Mr. Washburn went out as a missionary of the A. B. C. F. M., though he is now a Professor in Robert College, and in the absence of Dr. Hamlin acting President. 278 HISTORY OP AMHERST COLLEGE. The following recollections of this event will be read with in- terest: "It was a season of marked power in the hold it gained upon the whole body of students. It resulted in the apparent conversion of many hard subjects. But none of these endured, and the only fruits of the work which proved abiding, were among the children of pious parents." l " It was in the summer of '42, I think, that a great revival occurred in College, where many of the ' hardest cases ' were converted, some of them relapsing in the vacation that immedi- ately followed. I well recollect a hardened blasphemer so changed as to read the penitential Psalms with tears, confessing that he never before knew the joy of sorrow, of humility and self-denial." ' " The interest in religion, always lively at Amherst, culmi- nated every few years in a revival. We had one our Freshman year, the great event of that year, and of life to many. It brought out new powers in our preachers and in our associates. Newhall was the most deeply affected of any of us by this mode of religious fervor. It lasted through his life. He always after- wards talked straight at every one about his soul, and was not to be put off. He could not spare time to eat. He was one of our most elegant scholars in languages, no mathematician, a co- pious and graceful writer and pleader. He kept a journal and wrote many letters. After he graduated, he made a revival wherever he went, and worked himself out at last. His me- moirs would be an interesting religious biography." 3 The change in some of the members of the church was scarcely less marked than in those who were converted. And the genu- ineness and thoroughness of this change have been attested in not a few instances by their greater Christian activity and use- fulness not only in College but in their subsequent lives. Dr. Humphrey was as usual in the liveliest sympathy with this revival. Indeed he seemed to have renewed his youth, as he saw one after another of his beloved pupils beginning a new spiritual life, and he labored and prayed, exhorted and preached 1 Rev. D. H. Temple, Class of '43. 2 Prof. H. W. Parker, Class of '43. 8 Prof. F. A. March, Class of '45. Mr. Newhall died in 1853 at the age of 27. REVIVAL OF 1842. 279 in season and out of season as if he foresaw and felt that it might be his last opportunity of engaging in such labors of love and joy in College. I shall never forget how as we drew near the 4th of July and feared that it might interrupt and possibly terminate the good work, he invited all who wanted to meet him in the " Rhetorical Room," (then our "small chapel ") for a ,, religious" service before morning prayers, which then, at that season of the year, were at five o'clock, and then and there he preached the way of life and salvation to us, " as never sure to preach again, And as a dying man to dying men." CHAPTER XVI. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PRESIDENT HUMPHREY AND SOME OF HIS ASSOCIATES. HEMAN HUMPHREY was born in "West Simsbury, now Can- ton, Hartford County, Conn., March 26, 1779. His father was a farmer in humble circumstances, but a man of good sense, un- blemished moral character and more than ordinary taste for read- ing. His mother, Hannah (Brown) Humphrey, was a woman of uncommon mental capacity and exemplary piety, and did what she could for the education of her children, fourteen in number, in the spelling-book, the Bible and the catechism of other books, the worthy couple " had not half a dozen on the shelf." The first seminary into which Heman was introduced was a barn, where he had a dim recollection of acting in an in- fant dialogue for the entertainment of visitors. His subsequent school-houses were little better than a barn, and his teachers were as rude and imperfect as the places in which he was taught. Thus going to school in the winter, if perchance there was any school, and working on his father's farm the rest of the year, he " finished " his education at the age of seventeen. The best part of his education, however, he got for himself from a small parish library, many of whose volumes, chiefly histories, he read in the long winter evenings by the light of pine torches or of the kitchen fire. From his seventeenth year he " worked out " on the farms of wealthier neighbors every summer and taught school every winter till he was twenty-five. Meanwhile, how- ever, he was converted, and encouraged by his pastor to study for the ministry. Of his conversion, he says : " If I was then born again, I was born a Calvinist, not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of men, but of God who hath mercy on whom / SETTLEMENT JN FAIEFIELD. 281 he will have mercy. I then fully embraced the doctrines of the Shorter Catechism, and from this platform I have never swerved." After only six months of uninterrupted study, dur- ing which he made all his preparation in Greek and much of his preparation in Latin and Mathematics, he entered the Junior class in Yale College, where he graduated in 1805, receiving an oration for his appointment, and having " paid all the expenses of his own education except that some of his clothes were fur- nished by his mother." Thus was he fitted to preside over a College so many of whose students were to go through a simi- lar experience. Having studied divinity six months with Rev. Mr. Hooker of Goshen, Conn., and having been licensed in October, 1806, by the Litchfield North Association, after preaching three months as a candidate, he received a unanimous call from the church and society at Fairfield to become their pastor. Before accept- ing the call, to avoid occasions of future discord, he persuaded the church to adopt a fuller and more orthodox confession of faith, and to terminate in a satisfactory manner the half-way covenant system of membership. He was ordained March 16, 1807, and his ministry in Fairfield continued about ten years. After two or three years of wise and faithful preparatory work, his labors were blessed with a revival of religion of great power, which " was a new thing in Fairfield and marvelous in their eyes, which greatly strengthened the church and changed the face of things in many of the leading families." Here also he took the lead in the temperance reformation, not only in the town but in the county, preaching sermons on the principle of total absti- nence in advance of other ministers, helping to banish the use of ardent spirits from meetings of the Association, and, as chairman of a committee, preparing an address to the churches which was full of the arguments and appeals that had been urged upon his own people from the pulpit in Fairfield. In September, 1817, he received a call from the Congrega- tional church in Pittsfield, Mass., to become their pastor ; and the society having concurred in the invitation and agreed " to grant him the sum of nine hundred dollars as his stated salary so long as he should continue to be their minister," he accepted 282 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. the call and was installed in November. His first work here was the reuniting into one of two Congregational churches which had separated in a political quarrel. Under his wise and winning influence the reunion was entirely successful and the harmony complete. " Many anecdotes of his skill and prudence in winning the disaffected or the indifferent are still related Jjy his parishioners. One of those oftenest repeated is that of his conquering the heart of a farmer who had steadily refused to attend the Sabbath services, by visiting him in his harvest-field, and, without a word of professional exhortation, engaging him in conversation upon farming and then taking his ' cradle ' and cutting a swath of grain as if he had been used only to a farm- er's life all his days." l The most remarkable event of his. ministry in Pittsfield was the great revival in 1820 and 1821, rendered more remarkable by the fact that up to that time no general revival of religion had ever been known in the town. The awakening began in the spring of 1820, continued through the summer, and in the autumn about forty were gathered into the church as the spirit- ual harvest. In May of the following year, (1821,) Rev. Asahel Nettleton, the evangelist, came to visit Mr. Humphrey for the purpose of rest from his exhausting labors. But being persuaded to deliver an evening lecture, he saw such signs of encouragement that his rest was at an end. This was the beginning of a renewed awakening which continued all summer, pervaded all classes, extended to every part of the town, and changed the face of the whole community. " On the first Sabbath of November the harvest was gathered in, and a glorious harvest it was. Be- tween eighty and ninety, the rich and the poor, the high and the low, stood up together in the long broad aisle and before angels and men avouched the Lord to be their God and were received into the church." An attempt on the part of some young men to break up a religious service on the 4th of July by firing 1 1 am indebted for this anecdote and many of the materials of this biographical sketch to " Memorial Sketches of Heman and Sophia Humphrey," by Rev. Drs. Z. M. Humphrey and Henry Neill, for the use of the family. I have also appro- priated freely the language of this book, especially in its citations from the letters and journals of Dr. Humphrey. DR. HUMPHREY AT 1'ITTSFIELD. 283 crackers at the door of the church, marching with fife and drum under the windows, and at length a regular cannonade on the common, was turned with great skill by the preacher (Mr. Humphrey himself), to the illustration- and enforcement of the theme of his discourse, greatly increased the solemnity of the meeting and added not a little to the depth and power of the revival. These experiences together with the example and influence of Mr. Nettleton were fast preparing Mr. Humphrey for his work as a preacher and leader in revivals in Amherst College. Dr. Humphrey's presidency of which we have written the his- tory in the foregoing pages, beginning in the autumn of 1823, and ending in the spring of 1845, extended over almost a quar- ter of a century, almost one-half of the entire existence of the Institution. He found it the Charitable Collegiate Institution at Amherst ; he made it Amherst College. He found it the youngest and smallest of the New England Colleges ; he made it second only to Yale in numbers, and foremost of all in the work for which it was founded, that of educating young men to be ministers and missionaries. He lived to see four hundred and thirty of those who had graduated under his eye, ministers of the gospel, more than one hundred, pastors in Massachu- setts, and thirty-nine missionaries in foreign lands. It was un- der his presidency that the church was organized, separate wor- ship instituted, the chapel built, the pulpit made a power, and no inconsiderable power, in the work of education, temperance, revivals and missions established as characteristic features of the College ; and the religion of Christ recognized as the fun- damental law of its being and the supreme rule of its every- day life. Dr. Humphrey also left the stamp of his character and influence scarcely less visible, scarcely less permanent on the intellectual training of the College, not so much indeed in the curriculum and College laws, the rules of discipline and means of study and methods of teaching which have been greatly modi- fied, but in the manner of thinking and reasoning, the style of writing and speaking, the tone of morals and manners and if I may so speak the domestic, social and civil life of the Institution, which bear the unmistakable seal of Dr. Humphrey's healthy, 284 HISTOKY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. hearty, robust, common sense and practical wisdom, united with high moral and Christian principle. The administration of Pres- ident Humphrey, scarcely less than that of his predecessor, was our book of Genesis in which many of our organizations, usages and characteristic traits had their origin, and at the same time our Exodus when we went up out of Egypt and obtained oju* charter and laws when precedents were established, principles settled, habits formed, and that character fixed, which our Col- lege still retains and doubtless will retain more or less in all coming time when in the favorite language of the President whom we so much honored and loved, our Zion not only "length- ened her cords and / strengthened her stakes," but laid the foun- dations, to some extent the literary and still more the moral and religious " foundations of many generations." The first year after his resignation of the presidency, Dr. Humphrey fixed his residence with his son-in-law, Rev. Henry Neill at Hatfield, and occupied his time largely in revival labors and in the supply of vacant congregations in the neighborhood. But hallowed memories and beloved friends not a few of them his own spiritual children soon drew him to Pittsfield where he spent the remainder of his days, still ministering in innumer- able ways to the people of his former charge, still supplying vacant pulpits and assisting his brethren in extraordinary labors, still by sermons and lectures stirring up the churches to renewed efforts in the cause of temperance, philanthropy and Christian missions, still guiding by his wisdom and gracing by his presence the anniversaries of the great benevolent societies, still instruct- ing and delighting the religious public, now and then with a new book, but much more frequently with articles just as fresh and fascinating as ever in the newspapers. He never relinquished his regular habits, never forsook his study. There from nine o'clock in the morning till the bell struck for dinner he spent the hours in writing sometimes a chapter of a book, sometimes a communication from " The Old Man of the Mountains," some- times a letter to a friend, or a few pages of a sermon or auto- biographical reminiscence. He never ceased to love Amherst College. Again and again he was present at Commencement ; and the alumni will never forget the addresses, full of wise pa- THE EVENING OF HIS DAYS. 285 ternal counsels as well as instructive and delightful recollections of College life which he gave them at their annual reunions. The evening of his life was as tranquil and sunny as its mid-day was rough and stormy. His last public effort was a sermon which, at the request of the clergymen of Pittsfield, he deliv- ered at a Union Meeting on the day of National Fasting and Prayer, January 4, 1861. The occasion the outbreak of the Southern rebellion roused him like an old war-horse who snuffs the battle from afar. He wrote with a force of argument, with a fervor of eloquence, with a religious and patriotic fire not in- ferior to that which great occasions called forth from him in his best days. He spoke in clarion notes that thrilled and astonished the whole assembly. The discourse was published by request of Gov. Briggs and other leading citizens of Pittsfield, and must strike every one who reads it as it did all who heard it, as a most " remarkable discourse to have been prepared and delivered by a man standing on the edge of his eighty-third year." J As he drew consciously near to death, he was at first, as might have been expected from his temperament aud his religious views, solemn, then peaceful, and at length joyful, at times even full of triumph as if he already heard the music and saw the glories of the upper world. He died at Pittsfield, April 3, 1861, in the eighty-third year of his age. An immense congre- gation crowded the church at his funeral. Rev. Dr. Todd preached a highly appreciative funeral sermon. As the people, mourners all, passed around through the aisles to take a last look of their friend and father, Gov. Briggs came and stood by the representatives of the College, Prof. Snell and myself, and talked long, lovingly and reverently of "the great and good man," for he insisted that Dr. Humphrey was not only good but great, asking with an earnestness approaching to indigna- tion, " Who is entitled to that epithet if not a man of so much magnanimity, and so much wisdom." His body rests in one of the most beautiful spots in the Pittsfield cemetery beneath a broad, square and massive monument of granite, than which nothing more appropriate could have been selected to express his character. 1 An article in The Independent as cited in " Memorial Sketches." 286 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Of medium height, well-developed frame and strong constitu- tion, with black hair, dark, mild eye and a well-balanced bilious temperament, he was a healthy, robust, well-proportioned man in body, mind and heart. There was nothing morbid about him, in his physical, mental or moral constitution. His strength lay very much in the symmetry of his character and the perfect balance of all his powers and faculties. This made him a man of practical wisdom and judgment. Dr. Todd says of him : " A rare thing it is to find a man who has lived more than fourscore years always in action who has said and done so few unwise things as President Humphrey. It is an original gift. Those who have gone to him for counsel, those who have acted with him on committees or in ecclesiastical councils, those who have wrestled with him in deep discussions in ministerial meetings, those who have sat under him as an instructor or pastor, have all, without dissent, accorded to him the appellation of ' a wise man.' On all moral questions his instincts were quick and unerring." He had a lively fancy, enjoyed a joke, indulged in genial and playful conversation, and a vein of humor and pleasantry often illumines his writings. But strong common sense and deep moral earnestness are his most marked and unfailing character- istics. His integrity and honesty in business transactions was proverbial. He once purchased a horse of a man who, while accepting the price offered, told him that the horse was worth ten dollars more. After trying the animal, Dr. Humphrey was satisfied that the dealer was right in his estimate, and returning, insisted upon his accepting the extra sum. Few men have lived so nearly up to the standard of the golden rule. His unselfish- ness was conspicuous in all his private and public relations. At the same time his humility and meekness were equaled only by his magnanimity. This last word has been used repeatedly of Dr. Humphrey. No other word expresses so fully his character. I have never heard the epithet applied so often or so justly to any other man. Always magnanimous, in his later years, es- pecially in his frequent visits to Amherst, he was pronounced by all who saw him as magnanimity impersonated. That Dr. Humphrey was a wise pastor and a powerful preacher, HIS CHARACTER. 287 need not be said to any one who is acquainted either with his history or his writings. His ordinary sermons were plain, simple, direct, searching, applying the word of God, especially his law, directly to the hearts and consciences of his hearers. His occa- sional discourses rose with the occasion, often to the highest pitch of argumentative and impassioned eloquence. His style, robust, manly and bold, was chiefly marked by its fitness and transparent clearness. His well-chosen words and compact sen- tences, cut like a Damascus blade, and not unfrequently from hilt to point, the sword was flashing with diamonds. Dr. Humphrey wrote much for the press. From the time when he went abroad and ceased to teach the Senior class Men- tal and Moral Philosophy, he was in almost constant communi- cation with the religious newspapers, especially the New York Observer. He wrote also for the religious reviews and monthly periodicals. His earlier papers of this kind appeared in The Panoplist and The Christian Spectator. He gave to the public some twenty-five or thirty sermons and addresses on various special occasions, and left, besides, published works to the amount of eleven volumes. Among the former, the most cele- brated was his " Parallel Between Intemperance and the Slave Trade," which although leveled directly at intemperance, was a scarcely less formidable indictment of slavery. Of the latter, the " Tour in France, Great Britain and Belgium," in two volumes, has had the widest circulation. Dr. Humphrey's accurate ob- servation, practical wisdom and racy style all appear to advan- tage in his published travels. Dr. Humphrey was not an acute metaphysician nor learned in the History of Philosophy. Hence he was not distinguished as a teacher of Mental Science. But his strong common sense and his right moral feeling saw right through the sophistries of Paley's Moral Philosophy, and his classes enjoyed a rare treat in seeing him demolish the whole fabric and build up a better system on the ruins. His talks on the Catechism every Saturday were also interesting and instructive. Nowhere, however, did his wis- dom and moral greatness shine so brightly as in his counsels to young men ; and, with the exception perhaps of some of his ser- mons and addresses, his familiar conversations with the Freshmen 288 HISTORY OF AMHEBST COLLEGE. at the beginning of their course and his truly parental advice to the Seniors just before their graduation, will linger the longest in the memories of his admiring and loving pupils. His warn- ings and admonitions to professors of religion at the opening of a revival, his advice to anxious inquirers, and his instruction to young converts were also marked by the same excellences. J little less distance, reserve and apparent coldness of manner, a little more of sympathy and personal magnetism would have added greatly to Dr. Humphrey's popularity and enthroned him in the affections of all his pupils. But his wisdom and weight of character greatly overbalanced all defects; and the earlier graduates after the first year or two of his presidency, and all his later pupils who knew him and saw him without prejudice, will never cease to venerate him as a father and a sage and to rank him among the wisest and best of men. The portrait of Dr. Humphrey which hangs in the College Library, was placed there by the alumni shortly after his resig- nation. It was voted at the annual meeting of the Society of Alumni, and the expense was paid by the spontaneous contri- butions of nearly two hundred graduates, none of whom was allowed to give more than one dollar. Numerous letters from alumni which lie before me furnish ample proof of what has just been said of Dr. Humphrey. They abound also in anecdotes illustrative of his wa}^ of dealing with students. I can not withhold an extract or two. " President Humphrey's Freshman Lectures were a great treat. It had been the fashion in the classes just before us l to abuse the Doctor. That was not our fashion. We liked him and admired him. He was ageing a little ; his fingers were un- steady in picking up the lots. But for talks like these Fresh- man Lectures, he must have been just perfectly ripe and mellow. It was delightful to hear him preach. The peculiar shrewdness of his remarks on character and the wisdom of his maxims of conduct were so set off by perfect Socratic, or Baconian, or Solomonian illustrations that they produced the effect of strokes of wit. I remember well how his reproving eye one Sabbath morning brought me to the consciousness that I had been 1 The writer, Prof. F. A. March, was of the Class of '45, his last Senior class. HIS LECTURES. 289 smiling out in meeting. I suppose they were unch archly smiles, but he hit things so pat. In the Freshman Lectures, he had free scope for his wit and wisdom. He described and advised about habits of eating, drinking, sleeping, bathing, care of rooms, dress, hats, canes, he didn't like canes, nor wearing hats in his study, nor dogs, nor horses for students. He advised us about methods of study, and methods of meeting Sophomores and Pro- fessors and the like. We were called up to these lectures from the games of the campus, and the time was taken from our hours of exercise. We often left with regret our foot-ball com- bat with the Sophomores. But we liked the lectures and the Doctor notwithstanding. We had little intercourse with him out of the lecture-room. He was always busy, and looked on his visitors as I have since seen Wall street lawyers in full practice. His look meant business ; kindly but a little frosty. He grew on us, however, and his lectures afterwards on Moral Philosophy and the Bible completed the impression of our ear- lier years. We were the last class to hear his course and we all felt when we parted with him on his retirement, that he carried full sheaves with him." Apropos of Prof. March's remark above about canes, the fol- lowing story is told of the Class of '42 who carried extravagantly large canes and bore them to the recitation-room sometimes creating much disturbance by their clatter and occasional fall. The class finally adopted the method of stacking the canes dur- ing the hour in one corner of the room. It happened once that a single cane fell down. The President eyed it sharply for a time as if it were a war-club portending blood, and then and there deputed one of the gravest and most muscular men in the class to carry it and put it in position with the rest. This done, "there is one more," said the President, pointing to a huge poker well blackened by the fire, which stood near the stove, " put that with its fellows." When that also was done, he said, " there now the circle is complete," and then commenced the recitation. The canes never made their appearance again in the President's recitation-room. A truly Socratic homeliness and shrewdness often gave point to his reproofs. At the same time there was a commanding dignity and decision with which no student ever 19 290 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. dared to trifle. I well remember once seeing him come suddenly upon a cluster of noisy and rowdy students, seizing one of the stoutest of them by the shoulder and shaking him thoroughly with the significant hint, " Here ! we must have less noise, or we will have fewer students." One day when the excitement of " the rebellion " was at its highest pitch, he went into a meeting of one of the classes, put aside the chairman, (now a distinguished judge on the bench,) took the chair himself, gave them some wholesome parental ad- vice, and then sent them to their rooms, very much as Oliver Cromwell dismissed his parliament. His wit and wisdom often took the form of apophthegms. More wise and pithy sayings of Dr. Humphrey are probably remembered by the alumni to-day than of any other man who has ever been President or Professor in Amherst College. And no wonder, for he used to read the Proverbs of Solo- mon every year to the students, and he advised his pupils to read the Sermon on the Mount every month. " It has some- how happened," says an alumnus, 1 " that I have had occasion to refer to the opinions of Dr. Humphrey in matters of Natu- ral Science and the sayings of Dr. Humphrey in matters of common sense oftener than to the instructions of all my other teachers." "When I recall the image of Prof. Fiske," says the same alumnus, " the cheerful, kindly feeling apparent in his counte- nance seems to be especially associated with his lips ; that of Prof. Hitchcock with his eyes ; but that of Dr. Humphrey, while it illumines the whole countenance, finds its chief expres- sion in that tooth which is so eager to perform its service that it can not stand back with the rest, but leans forward, and, when- ever the lips move, peeps out and delivers its message. Could I obtain a likeness of Dr. Humphrey which did full justice to that tooth, I should esteem it a treasure. . . . The general senti- ment in regard to him found expression in the words of Dr. Huntington, then a student : ' That good man whose instruc- tions are most highly valued by the Seniors who share them oftenest and are most capable of appreciating them.'" 2 i Prof. C. C. Bayley, Class of '37. 2 Ibid. PEN AND INK SKETCHES. 291 After somewhat copious descriptions of the Professors named above, some of which may perhaps find place elsewhere, the same alumnus proceeds to photograph some of the other Col- lege officers of his day, thus : " Tutor Burgess as good in intel- lect and heart as ungainly in appearance ; Tutor Perkins whose polished scholarship gave promise of what he has since become ; Tutor Dwight, abusing his fine mental acumen by trying to say things smart and witty ; Tutors Humphrey, 1 ' chips of the old block,' but hardly giving promise of ever equalling the block ; Tutor Tyler inparting such an interest to our recitations in mathematics that it seemed to us that he never could succeed in anything else ; Prof. Worcester, kind, courteous, faithful, Avith an inexhaustible fund of illustration and of anecdote, but not exactly filling a chair than which there is not another in Col- lege so hard to fill ; Prof. Condit, who and Prof. Worcester were nearly the complements of each other ; Prof. Snell, in his time without a rival each of these would furnish material for a chapter." Shall I add pen and ink sketches of President Humphrey and his colleagues of the Faculty, by a graduate of a class half a dozen years later: 2 "Of our teachers I can say, that we were all impressed by the stealing good sense and the courtesy of President Humphrey, the quiet character and exact knowledge of Prof. Snell, the penetrating mind of Prof. Fiske, and his searching sermons, at times awful in power, the great good- ness and simplicity, and enthusiasm of Professor, afterwards President Hitchcock, the (excuse me) geniality and learning of Prof. Tyler and his rich copiousness of discourse, the courtly manners and rotund utterances of Prof. Fowler, the scholar- ship of the Tutors, and especially the moral worth of Messrs. Stearns and Clinton Clark and the (then) mysterious tran- scendentalism as well as literary refinement of Tutor R. D. Hitchcock." Prof. Fiske was a Professor under President Hitchcock, and continued to give instruction for a year and one term after Dr. Humphrey retired from the presidency. But his work was done under the presidency of Dr. Humphrey, and was so im- i Edward and John. 2 Prof. H. W. Parker, Class of '43. 292 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. portant an element in its history that a brief sketch of his life must here be given. Nathan W. Fiske was born in Weston, Mass., April 17, 1798. Up to the age of nine, he showed more of mechanical taste and genius than fondness for books. In September, 1813, at the age of fifteen, he entered Dartmouth College. In a powerful revival in his Sophomore year, after a severe struggle which ended in his full submission, not only to the law and govern- ment of God, but also to the Orthodox faith, he began a Chris- tian life and at the same time entered upon a new era of dili- gence and success in study. In 1817, he graduated with high rank in the same class with President Marsh, and the mission- aries Goodell and Temple. In 1818 he returned to a tutorship in his Alma, in which he was associated with Rufus Choate. In 1820, he entered the Theological Seminary at Andover, where he remained three years, and " distinguished himself by his in- dustry, by his success in the department of sacred exegesis, by his thoroughness in the study of didactic theology, and by his exemplary Christian deportment." 1 On the 25th of September, 1823, Messrs. Fiske and Warner, afterwards associates in the Faculty of Amherst College, were ordained together as evangel- ists at the Tabernacle Church in Salem, and both of them labored for a season as home missionaries, at the South. Before leaving Savannah, Mr. Fiske was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Middlebury. Soon after, he was in- vited to supply the pulpit in Concord, N. H., during the session of the Legislature, and about the same time asked by letter if he would not become a missionary of the American Board to China or Palestine. He declined both these calls the profes- sorship because he doubted the propriety of turning aside from the ministry, and the missionary appointment because he seemed to himself wholly unsuited to the work of a foreign missionary. In the summer of 1824, he was elected Professor of Languages and Rhetoric in Amherst College. After much hesitation in regard to his duty, he accepted the Professorship of Languages, declining that of Rhetoric, because, besides his " utter dislike of the duties of instruction in Rhetoric, it would be utterly im- 1 Dr. Humphrey's Life and Writings of Prof. Fiske. PROFESSOR FISKE. 293 possible for any man to fill both departments." From 1825 to 1833, he was Professor of the Greek Language and Literature and of Belles-Lettres ; from 1833 to 1836 Professor again of Greek and Latin; and from 1836 to 1847 Professor of Intel- lectual and Moral Philosophy. He taught History also for some years, in connection with Belles-Lettres. His lectures on the battles of the American Revolution, illustrated by large and ex- cellent drawings on canvas, and exhibiting an accurate knowl- edge of their minutest details, were heard with great interest by the students, and repeated with moderate success as popular lectures in a few of the neighboring towns. Prof. Fiske's chief literary labor for the public was his edition of Eschenburg's Manual of Classical Literature. This book was commenced in the fall of 1834, and first published in April, 1836, carefully revised and reprinted in a second and third edition, and in 1843 it was stereotyped with such revision and additions as to make it substantially a new book, like the golden branch of Aeneas, adorning the tree with treasures not its own : " Fronde virere nova quod non sua seminat arbor." Few classical text-books in this country have been so generally adopted as this manual, or retained their place so long in the College curriculum. Scarcely had he finished this work, when his house which had been early visited with repeated afflictions in the loss of young children, was quite darkened by the death of his beloved wife. Soon it was found that his own lungs were suffering from sym- pathy with the disease which had carried her off, and this "dis- ease of the lungs, greatly aggravated by the sorrow of his heart and the loneliness of his home, ere long necessitated the use of decided measures to save his life. In the midsummer of 1846, the physician advised a release from all College labors, and a voyage. Fearing the effect of his absence on the College in its present critical state, he felt it his duty to remain with the hope of being able to carry on his department, at least through the first term of the next year. " But the very first week of labor," we quote from his journal, " demonstrated the necessity of immediate suspension. I yes- 294 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. terday (September 26) held my last exercise with ray class. I have a strong impression that it is the last exercise I shall ever hold in this College. Twenty-two years have elapsed since I entered upon the duties of Professor, twenty-two classes of young men have, during this time, been more or less under my instruction, including over seven hundred that have actually graduated here, besides a large number that were here only a part of the course. Most gracious Redeemer, may thy atoning blood be applied, and all my sins of omis- sion and commission in relatipn to these numerous pupils be pardoned." On the 5th of November, 1846, he sailed from New York with Rev. Eli Smith for a companion and Beirut for his destina- tion. His journal and letters to his colleagues and other friends show that he enjoyed with the keen relish of a classical scholar and a cultivated taste every step of his voyage up the Mediterra- nean, stopping two or three days at Gibraltar, spending a week at Malta, rising at the earliest dawn and driving furiously to catch a glimpse of the ruins of Athens while the steamer lay three hours at the Piraeus ; touching at Rhodes, landing at Smyrna, coasting along the shores of Troy, seeing the sun rise and disclose a sight of unimagined splendor as he rounded Seraglio Point and entered the Golden Horn at Constanti- nople. On the 12th of January, 1847, he arrived at Beirut, where he remained about three months observing the customs and character of the people, collecting geological and botanical specimens for the College and greatly enjoying the society of the missionary brethren on that interesting field. The journey which he took with Mr. Whiting from Abeih by way of Sidon and Jaffa to Jerusalem, delighted Prof. Fiske beyond even his visits to classic scenes, and this sacred interest culminated in the enthusiasm with which he saw everything in and around the Holy City. But he was now to go up higher and behold the brighter glories of the New Jerusalem. His disease never re- laxed its hold on his vital organs. It was aggravated by an attack of ague and fever at Beirut, and perhaps hastened by over-exertion in his travels through Palestine, and his sight- seeing at Jerusalem. He set out at the appointed time on his HIS DEATH AT JERUSALEM. 295 return to Beirut, but at the end of one day's journey was obliged to go back to Jerusalem where, in spite of the wise and kind ministries of Dr. and Mrs. McGowan and other English missionaries, he died on Thursday, the 27th of May, 1847, just as the day was dawning upon the sacred city, and uttering as his last words, " Yes I joy in the Lord of my salvation." His body was laid to rest on Mount Zion beside two lamented mis~ sionaries and within a few yards of the sepulchre of David. A solitary olive tree grows within the little walled enclosure, and the spot is marked by a simple slab with a Latin inscription, fur- nished by the College, which attests the merit of him who sleeps beneath it and the affection of those far away who erected the monument. The death of Prof. Fiske was deeply lamented by the Faculty, students and alumni of the College, and their sorrow at their own loss was enhanced by the regret in regard to him that he could not have lived enough longer at least to share in the pros- perity that was now beginning to flow into the Institution which he so loved and for which he had so toiled and prayed. A let- ter was written by one of his colleagues informing him of the grant by the Legislature and the large donations of Mr. Willis- ton the latter was just what he predicted but the intelligence did not reach him on earth; perhaps it was among the good news that greeted him on his arrival in the better land. A narrative of his journey up to Jerusalem and his death there, written by his fellow-traveler, Mr. Whiting, was read by Prof. Tyler in the College chapel, Commencement morning, to a large assembly of alumni and other friends, mourners all for their own loss and the loss to the College which it was little able to bear. The Society of Alumni, at their meeting, put on record a just and feeling testimony to his character, scholar- ship and devotion to Alma Mater in her seasons of depres- sion and trial, voted to procure a portrait for the College library, which, like President Humphrey's, was paid for chiefly in subscriptions not exceeding one dollar each, and expressed a " desire that in due time some worthy tribute to his memory might be given to the world with a judicious selection from his excellent writings." The Trustees and the Faculty united 296 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. in requesting Dr. Humphrey to prepare and deliver an eulogy. It was delivered before the Faculty and the students and other friends in February, 1848, on the day previous to the College Fast. And in 1850 a volume was published by J. S. & C. Adams, containing a fuller memoir by Dr. Humphrey, thirteen selected sermons, an address at the Theological Sem- inary in East Windsor and a lecture on the " Unity of History and Providence." Prof. Fiske was an accurate and refined scholar, a deep thinker, a clear reasoner, a powerful preacher, a patient and thorough teacher, an acute metaphysician and a profound theologian whom God did and man did not make a Doctor of Divinity. He was not a popular preacher. But no man has ever preached to the understanding, the conscience or the hearts of students in Am- herst College with such overwhelming power as Prof. Fiske, especially in times of unusual seriousness and deep religious interest. As a teacher, he was generally liked by the better sort of students and very much disliked by those who cared more for their ease and pleasure than they did for their lessons. Rogues and rowdies counted him their worst enemy. As a general fact, he was liked by Juniors more than by Sopho- mores, and by Seniors better than either ; and individual stu- dents, not exactly loved, perhaps, but honored and valued him just about in proportion to their love of learning, truth and holiness. The learning of Prof. Fiske was exact rather than compre- hensive. He was too clear, discriminating and positive in his opinions both in theology and philosophy, to be a uni- versal reader or even a patient and impartial student of either of these departments. But what he did know he knew thor- oughly what he believed he believed with all his mind and might what he loved he loved with all his heart, and there- fore could teach with rare skill and power. Faith in the providence of God and in the gospel of Christ was the con- trolling principle of his life. To please and honor God, his Maker, Redeemer and Sanctifier, was the chief end of every labor; and when the work was done, he ascribed to him all HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS. 297 the wisdom of the process and all the success of the result. " I desire to express my gratitude to God," says this truly Christian scholar in his reflections on completing the final revision of his Manual of Classical Literature, " for his kind providence in preserving my life and enabling me to get this work into a shape more satisfactory than it before had. I pray him to forgive every sinful thought and feeling he has seen in me in connection with this work, as well as my other numerous offenses. I thank him for often, disposing me to seek his blessing during my labors upon it, and I humbly implore his future blessing upon it that it may be made an instrument and help in promoting useful knowledge, and that it may never in a single instance be the occasion of error or sin to one of my fellow-creatures." The posthumous volume, edited and prepared with a memoir by Dr. Humphrey, and entitled " The Life and Writings of Prof. Fiske," is a book of no ordinary worth which ought to, and in an age less prolific of ephemeral productions would, perpetuate not only the mem- ory but the influence of this truly extraordinary man. The memoir is appreciative, instructive, inspiring. The discourses, chiefly sermons, are clear, strong, analytical, logical and at the same time "terribly earnest" like those of President Edwards, flashing conviction upon the conscience like the Mosaic law, threatening retribution like the old prophets, radiant also with Christian truth and the doctrines of the gospel, but somewhat deficient in the mellow light of the Christian graces, faith, hope, love and joy. Reminiscences of the wit and wisdom of Prof. Fiske and of his adventures with mischievous students abound in the memory of his colleagues and in the letters of alumni which lie before me. With all his affection and reverence for his colleague, Prof. Hitchcock, he often indulged in pleasantries at the expense of his dietetic notions and his geological theories. Some patches O O of plaster, put upon the walls of his recitation room, having frozen one night, exhibited in the morning a kind of frost-work forms and figures which bore a striking resemblance to the foot- marks recently placed in the geological cabinet. " Behold," said Prof. Fiske to his class, " Prof. Hitchcock's bird-tracks." 298 HISTORY OP AMHERST COLLEGE. " Prof. Fiske once asked me," writes an alumnus of the class of '37, 1 " what sent me from the shadow of his Alma Mater in New Hampshire down to Amherst. I told him that as potent an influence as any was Prof. Hitchcock's ' Dyspepsy Fore- stalled and Resisted.' He laughed and said, ' I will tell Prof. Hitchcock, for it is the only good I have ever known result from that production.' " Prof. Fiske heard our class in Greek during the first part of Freshman year. At one of our first recitations to him, a class- mate had translated a passage as I thought very creditably. Prof. Fiske asked him, ' How did you translate &/?' He replied promptly, ' That can not be translated.' ' Ah ! well, how did you translate ys r ? ' ' The same is true of that,' and so on, with, I think, five particles in the same sentence, which the student at length justified himself in not translating by referring to the authority of his teacher in the Academy. ' So then,' said the Professor, ' you find the Greek language lumbered down with a large amount of useless matter, do you ? ' Prof. Fiske then re- ferred to a sentence in a past lesson in which the same particle occurred, and then another ; and so on until we were all made to feel the force of the particle if it was not to be translated. He was, I think, the best teacher of Languages, without excep- tion, from whom I ever received instruction." It was this nice analysis and discrimination of the Greek par- ticles that gave Prof. Fiske the sobriquet of Kai-yaQ by which he was familiarly known among the students. He was also not unfrequently called by the name by which Aristotle was known in the school of Plato, viz., Intellect or Nov$, and for the same double reason, viz., the smallness of his bodily frame and the acuteness and vigor of his mind. " I shall never forget his preaching," continues Prof. Bayley, "nor the distinctness with which that feeble voice, but just above a whisper, was heard in the remotest corner of the chapel, while the most verdant Freshman would almost suppress his breath lest his breathing should become audible in the general stillness ; and I remember how the clock, which ordinarily kept quiet, occasioning no disturbance, would take advantage of i Prof. C. C. Bayley. HIS PREACHING. 299 such times and repeat its ' Forever, never, never, forever ' with an energy which seemed to indicate that it never expected another so favorable an opportunity." His kindness, as well as faithfulness, in administering reproof to individual students is illustrated by the following instance : " I had been seen looking on when a student who had been sus- pended for a season, was cheered as the stage drove off with him. Prof. Fiske was appointed to ask me if I cheered with the rest. I said I had not, and he at once replied that as a Col- lege officer he was satisfied. ' But,' said he, ' I was your father's friend, and I think I am your friend. I owe your father a debt of gratitude I can never repay, for to his kind and faithful words while I was in College, I owe under God my having been brought to Christ. And now let me, as your friend and your father's friend ask, would it not have been better if you had not been seen even as a looker-on ? Did not your presence give countenance to the unlawful proceedings ? ' I was won by his frank kindness, and acknowledged that it would have been bet- ter had I kept entirely away from the scene. With deep grati- tude do I recall the incident and thank God for the lesson then impressed on me to avoid the very appearance of evil." 1 The History of Amherst College can not be truly and faith- fully written without some mention of Mrs. Humphrey, Mrs. Hitchcock, Mrs. Fiske, and other noble women who were not only helpmeets of the officers, but mothers to the students, especially students in indigent circumstances, and foster-mothers of the Institution. Nor ought we to pass over in silence Mrs. Dickinson, Mrs. Montague, Mrs. Merrill, Mrs. Strong, and others in the very beginning of our history who ministered to the men that laid the foundations and erected the first building, and then joined with the forementioned ladies in ministering to the necessities of the poor young men who were preparing to preach the gospel. These, and other ladies of Amherst, early organized a Sewing Society for the express purpose of sewing, knitting and mending for this class of students. In an age 1 Kev. Daniel H. Temple, Class of '43. There is a biography of Prof. Fiske in Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, to which President Hitchcock and Rev. A. A. Wood of the Class of '31 have contributed their recollections. 300 HISTORY OF AMH'EEST COLLEGE. when students were not too proud to wear mended and home- made garments, they made not a few articles of wearing ap- parel, and very often mended garments when it would have been easier to make new ones. An Amherst lady now living remembers hearing Mrs. Humphrey say of a coat which she had in hand for repairs : "I have already given this coat new lining, new facing and new sleeves', and now it has come back again to have all the rest of it made new." Whether the ladies discussed the question of identity over this old coat, as the Athenians did over the sacred ship which for so many ages went to Delos, we have not learned. Not unfrequently in such cases the more practical question, " What is to be done with the old coat," was solved by giving the poor student a coat that had been some- what worn by the President or one of the Professors. Mrs. Fiske was for several years the ruling spirit of these cir- cles. With all her delicacy of health and refinement of taste, there was no garment so poor or so filthy, that she would not put it through. Or if perchance the clothes that came in, were past mending or cleansing, she knew how to give the students the hint without giving offense. When other ladies were per- plexed with such cases and perchance quite reduced to despair, Mrs. Humphrey would say, "Mrs. Fiske can manage it." The latter had made herself so much the mistress of all the mys- teries of mending and making, that she was once asked if she had not learned the tailor's trade in her youth. In tell- ing this story to one of the ladies of the present Faculty long after, Mrs. Fiske said, " she was never so proud in her life." Yet she had been brought up in luxury and refine- ment, was accustomed to the best society in Boston, could tell a story as well as Miss Edgeworth or Mrs. Hannah More, and left behind her volumes of notes and letters to her friends that would hnve done honor to the pen of Lady Mary Wortley Montague. Mrs. Humphrey was a model housekeeper and, with a large family to be supported on a small salary, must have been often severely tasked to make both ends meet. But her ministries to the poor and the sick, the dying and the dead, were unceasing. At the same time, she was every inch a queen in every sphere, domestic, social, secular or religious, in which MRS. HUMPHREY AND OTHER LADIES. she mcrved. The Martha and Mary of the Gospels were harmo- niously united in her. Mrs. Humphrey survived her husband several years, and died at Pittsfield, December 13, 1868, in her eighty-fourth year. Mrs. Fiske died in middle age, February 21, 1844, passing over the river by so quick and easy a step, and preceding him by so brief an interval, that she seemed to be all the while standing on the other bank, waiting to welcome him to their heavenly home. Scarcely had she left us for the better land, when she was followed by another lady of similar accom- plishments, Mrs. Fowler, the daughter of Noah Webster, who in her youth had adorned the society of Amherst and who, returning in middle life and with delicate health, remained with us only long enough to win the admiration and love of all by her rare virtues and graces. " Amherst was fortunate," writes an alumnus from whom we have already quoted, "in its instructors and not less in the five Faculty matrons whose intelligence, sweet dignity and even motherly influence were felt by all who were in College long enough to come under that influence. My personal relations brought me more into the society of that rare and saintly woman, Mrs. Fowler. The occasional tea-drinkings at the Pro- fessors' houses were always pleasant, free, improving to us and evinced, as I now understand, a painstaking interest in the stu- dents even to the degree of much self-denial." There is still another class of women who are cherished in affectionate remembrance by the alumni and who ought not to be overlooked in this History. Lest there should not be a more convenient opportunity I advert to them here. I refer to those whose occupation and whose delight also it has been to make a home for successive generations of students. There are those who have taken boarders only as a means of making-money or gaining a subsistence. But there have always been others, most of them widows, many of them " widows indeed," who have cared for their boarders as if they were their own sons, and whom their boarders, in turn, will always remember with not a little of the honor, affection and esteem which they bear to their own mothers. Some of these, like Mrs. Montague and Mrs. 1 Prof. H. W. Parker. 302 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. Merrill, whom we have already mentioned, were here when the College was founded, and having boarded successive classes of the earlier students in whose persons they ever after felt that they had " entertained angels unawares," have long since de- parted to their reward. Others, like Mrs. Ferry l and Mrs. Lin- nell not to name any who are still engaged in this good work have continued almost to the present day, and the Christian homes which they have furnished to scores and hundreds of students are still remembered, by them at least, among the institutions of Amherst. 'Owing to the peculiar difficulty of the place or to the pecu- liar mobility and sensitiveness of the incumbents (for Professors of Rhetoric and Oratory, like poets and musicians, have gener- ally been an irritabile genus^), the tenure of office has upon an average been shorter in this department than in any other. It had four incumbents during the administration of President Humphrey. Prof. Worcester held it nine years ; Prof. Condit, three ; Prof. Fowler five ; and Prof. Warner, nine. The last entered upon the office only a short time before Dr. Humphrey left the presidency, and his term of office falls for the most part under the administration of President Hitchcock. Of the first, we have given a biographical sketch in a former chapter. The other two still live to fill and adorn other stations, and their biography must be written by those who come after us. A few words only can here be said of them in their connection with Amherst College. Rev. Jonathan B. Coudit was chosen Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at the annual meeting of the corporation in August, 1835, and entered upon the duties of the office at the beginning of the next collegiate year while Dr. Humphrey was traveling in Europe. He brought with him a high reputation for scholarship in the College of New Jersey at Princeton, and for pulpit elo- quence from his pastorate at Longmeadow, Mass. Perhaps the remembrance of his preaching is more vivid than that of his teaching, in the minds of those whom he taught in College. Perhaps he was made for a pastor or a professor in a Theologi- 1 Mrs. Ferry kept College boarders thirty-six years and boarded nearly two hun- dred of our graduates. PROFESSOR CONDIT. 303 cal Seminary rather than a Professor in College. And it was, in part at least, his preference of another sphere of labor, that brought his connection with the College to so early a termina- tion. Still he was highly esteemed by the students as a gentle- man of cultivated manners and refined taste. He left his im- press pretty distinctly on the elocution of the classes that came under his training. He was himself a good model in public speak- ing, and as such was always heard with interest in the pulpit, and on special occasions. With better health and more physical courage to encounter difficulties, he might perhaps have remained many years and rendered lasting service in one of its most im- portant departments. But the growing pecuniary embarrass- ments and disciplinary troubles of the College, conspiring with the preference of a first love for the pulpit, inclined him to listen to an invitation from one of the churches in Portland, Me., to become its pastor. His labors in College ceased with the winter term of 1837-8, and that accomplished gentleman, writer and speaker, afterwards one of the brightest ornaments of the bar and of Congress, James Humphrey, son of the President, supplied the vacancy temporarily till the appointment of Prof. Fowler. Rev. William C. Fowler was the head of this department from 1838 till 1843. He was appointed Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, like his predecessor. But in the annual catalogue for 1839-40, his name appears, (without any corresponding vote to authorize it on the records of the corporation) as Pro- fessor of Rhetoric and Oratory and English Literature. At Middlebury College, from which he came to Amherst, he was Professor of Chemistry and Natural History. A graduate of Yale, where he was Tutor for four years, and a man of wide and varied learning, he was perhaps almost equally fitted for any of the departments of College instruction. It was easy and natural for him to superadd English Literature to Rhetoric and Oratory ; and in fact he magnified this new sphere of labor in which he has since won reputation as an author. At the same time, he gave more thorough and analytic instruction than had been previously given in the elements of Vocal Utterance, Or- thoepy and Elocution. Indeed he carried his drill in the ex- plosive system so far that it came near exploding the College 304 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. and the Professor himself. Some of the classes were particularly fond of applauding his own rehearsals, and more than one grad- uate has recorded his recollections of one occasion when finding it difficult to repress this vociferous applause, he told them they might applaud once more to their heart's content, and then it must cease forever. The students improved their last opportu- nity till it seemed as if they would raise the roof with their cheers, and stamp out the floor beneath their heels. President Humphrey, who was hearing a recitation in the next room, en- dured this as long as he could, and then set out to stop it, taking it for granted that the students were having a good time in one of their own class-meetings. On opening the door, what was his surprise to find the Professor in his chair, calm and smiling amid the commotion, like Neptune amid the war and uproar of the elements, though not equally potent to allay the storm. Fortunately the appearance of the President was enough to arrest the proceeding, and he retired without saying a word. It was not long after this that a note was sent in to the President at a Faculty meeting announcing that the students were circu- lating and signing a petition for the removal of Prof. Fowler. The business before the Faculty was perplexing and troublesome enough, and they were quite astounded as well as surprised when the President read the note aloud, remarking that the ele- ments were all in commotion within the College, as well as round about it. Prof. Fowler fell on evil times, and it certainly was not all his fault that he was not equal to the emergency. In many things he rendered valuable service to the College. He superintended some of the most important improvements on the College grounds. He wrote the circular letter to parents which was sent to them for so many years with good results, and intro- duced some of the best features of a new merit roll and system of discipline. He inaugurated a more systematic study of Eng- lish Literature and encouraged general reading, particularly the reading of history. But he had too exalted notions of the dignity and authority of a College officer. And he was never quite in sympathy with the rest of the Faculty in regard to temperance, never quite up to their standard in some other things that were deemed characteristic of the Institution. Perhaps, like the phi- PROFESSOR FOWLER. 305 losophers of Athens, he leaned generally to the opposition. While he was in Amherst he was known as a "Whig in politics, and as such was sent as a Representative to the General Court. Proba- bly he would say he has remained a Whig, an old Whig, ever since. But the Democratic party chose him a member of the Senate in Connecticut, and during and since the war both his votes and his writings have shown decided Southern proclivities, and an ultra-conservative steadfastness in maintaining " the con- stitution as it is." Prof. Fowler's book entitled " The English language in its Elements and Forms," written in Amherst, although chiefly af- ter his resignation, and published by Harper & Brothers, is a work of much research which is well adapted for a text-book, has been widely used in Colleges and schools, and has contrib- uted much to the study of the mother tongue in our country. Common fame ascribes to him also the authorship of a pamphlet entitled "Causes of the Growth and Decline of Amherst Col- lege," which like Gibbon's famous chapter on the growth of Christianity, while it assigns true causes so far as they go, yet so exaggerates those which he assigns, and suppresses others that it leaves the impression of falsehood. The Tutors of this period, as we have said in a previous chap- ter, were some of the ablest men and best scholars that have ever sustained this relation to Amherst College. The entire list as it appears on the last triennial, is as follows : Rev. Thomas Power Field, D. D., Professor Rhetoric, Oratory and English Literature ; Rev. Clinton Clark ; Rev. John Humphrey, Pro- fessor Moral Philosophy arid Theology, Hamilton College ; Rev. William Augustus Peabody, Professor Latin and Modern Lan- guages and Literature ; Rev. Jesse George Davis Stearns ; Rev. Roswell Dwight Hitchcock, D. D., Professor Natural and Re- vealed Religion, Bowdoin College, and Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Union Theological Seminary ; Charles Ellery Wash- burn, M. D. ; Thomas Spencer Miller ; Rev. George Baker Jew- ett, D. D., Professor Latin and Modern Languages and Litera- ture ; Hon. Henry Martyn Spofford, Judge Supreme Court, Louisiana ; Rev. Rowland Ayres, Overseer of Charity Fund. One characteristic feature of this list will strike every reader : 20 306 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. they are all ministers but three, the great majority of our Tu- tors have become ministers, and of those three, one would have been a minister had he lived to accomplish his purpose. Of the remaining two, one became a lawyer and the other a physician. Five of the eleven have deceased. Clinton Clark, Tutor from 1837 to 1844 the longest tutorship in the history of the College was the valedictorian of his class, and began his Christian life the same year in which he closed his College course, in the revival of 1835. Without any of those qualities which dazzle the public eye, he had those substantial excel- lences of mind and heart, together with the accurate scholar- ship and indefatigable industry, which made him a highly re- spected and useful teacher of four successive classes. The re- mainder of his life -he spent in preaching the gospel. He died suddenly of heart disease, at Middlebury, Conn., September 23, 1871, aged fifty-nine. His classmate and fellow-tutor for two years, John Humphrey, was well fitted to be associated with him, for he had the com- pensating qualities in which Clark did not excel. He indulged in reverie, and saw by intuition rather than mastered by toil and study, and shone in the tutorship with the same graces of taste and imagination fascinated students with the same per- sonal attractions and the same magnetic influence by which he afterwards won the heart of every man, woman and child in his large parishes in Charlestown and Binghamton. He died in 1854, in his thirty-eighth year, in the very prime of his life and usefulness, just as he was about to enter upon a professorship which he was peculiarly fitted to adorn in Hamilton College; and the' volume of his " Sermons with a Memoir," edited and published by his Brother, Hon. James Humphrey, of Brook- lyn, N. Y., is a beautiful memorial of those two noble sons both, alas ! too short-lived of an illustrious father. William A. Peabody died in 1850 a Professor in Amherst College, and a biographical sketch of him will be given in the history of that period. He was Tutor from 1838 to 1840, and brought to the tutorship more enthusiasm for classical studies and more of that analytic method of studying and teach- ing the languages which distinguishes modern philology, than TUTORS OF THE PERIOD. 307 perhaps any Tutor that had gone before him, wherein, how- ever, he was well followed and sustained by those who came after him. The three Tutors to whom we have alluded were all from one class the Class of '35; In Charles E. Washburn, the Class of '37 gave to the College a Tutor as genial and popular as he was scholarly and faithful, to the medical and surgical pro- fession a distinguished ornament, and to the country a loyal and patriotic defender who sacrificed his life in her service. Thomas Spencer Miller, his colleague in the tutorship, was born a mathematician as Washburn was born a linguist; and like his younger brother, the late lamented Prof. Miller of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, he inspired his pu- pils with his own earnestness alike, whether he taught them on the blackboard, surveyed the fields and roads with them, or pointed them to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. But like that young Liverpool preacher whose name would almost seem to have been given him in some mysterious anticipation of his brief career, and whose footsteps he would fain have followed in the ministry, he was suddenly removed in the morning of life, when he had scarcely yet begun his life-work. Three or four Trustees whose connection with the College terminated in the latter part of Dr. Humphrey's presidency, must here receive some notice. One of these, Mr. Wilder, was a remarkable man in his day, and lived quite an eventful life. Born in Lancaster, Mass., May 20, 1780, and passing his boyhood and early youth as a clerk in a store first in his native town, then in Gardner, and finally in Charlestown, and at length going into mercantile business for himself in Boston, he gained such a reputation for integrity, capacity and manly independence that William Gray, the mer- chant prince of Salem, afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of Mas- sachusetts, made him the principal agent for the transaction of his business in Europe. The story of his introduction to Mr. Gray and the brilliant operation by which he carried him cap- tive, is nearly as romantic and imposing as that which we have narrated in a former chapter of his triumph over the Legislative 308 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. Committee at Amherst. The story which Mr. Sidney E. Morse of the New York Observer gave to the public a few years since of Mr. Wilder's being " the first healthy patient " who ever re- ceived vaccination for the small-pox in this country, is also equally characteristic. When the operation was generally re- garded as so doubtful and dangerous to health and life that no patients were found willing to submit to it, Mr. Wilder, then a clerk at Charlestown, about twenty years old, relying on the evidence received from Europe, promptly stripped up his sleeve and received vaccination. In the twenty years which intervened between 1803 and 1823, Mr. Wilder crossed the ocean sixteen times, residing most of the time in Paris, making immense pur- chases of silks and other French goods on most advantageous terms for different American and English houses, and finally carrying on a successful business for a firm in which he was himself a partner. During this time he was eye-witness to many stirring and strange scenes in Paris, in some of which he bore a conspicuous part. He represented the United States at the marriage of the Emperor Napoleon, the Embassador being sick and unable to be present. He has given a graphic sketch of what he saw when the Allies entered Paris with their victori- ous armies. He even formed a plan for the escape of the Em- peror on one of his (Mr. W's) vessels to America, offering him a shelter at his own residence in Bolton. But Mr. Wilder was more deeply interested in other transactions which attracted comparatively little public attention. His apartments in the Rue de Petit Carreau were the birthplace of the Paris Bible, Tract and Missionary Societies. " There young Prof. Jonas King often came while pursuing the study of Arabic with the Baron de Sacy, the celebrated linguist. . . . There was often heard the voice of prayer and praise accompanying this blessed gospel by many a faithful servant of Christ from America, England, Switzerland or France itself." 1 Returning to his native land in 1823, he became the first Presi- dent of the American Tract Society at its organization in 1825. He sustained also the most intimate and responsible relations to the American Bible Society, the American Board of Foreign 1 Memoir of S. V. S. Wilder, published by the American Tract Society. S. V. S. WILDER, ESQ. 309 Missions, the American Home Missionary Society, the American Education Society and the American and Foreign Christian Union, to all of whose funds he was a liberal contributor and sometimes a speaker at their anniversaries. Elected a Trustee of Amherst College in 1823, Mr. Wilder rendered most effective service by his personal influence and indirectly by his purse in obtaining the charter. A constant at- tendant of the meetings of the Board for almost twenty years, he spared neither time nor money in serving the College. In many instances when the Institution was embarrassed for want of funds, he became personally responsible for large sums for its relief. Meeting at length with reverses in business which stripped him of the larger part of his property, he resigned his place as a member of the corporation, saying that he could not continue to hold the position when he was no longer able to contribute as he had been wont to the pecuniary necessities of the Institution. 1 For the same reason he resigned about the same time the presidency of the Tract Society, and more than twenty other offices in various kindred institutions. He died at Elizabeth, N. J., March 3, 1865, at the age of nearly eighty-five. Mr. Wilder was imposing in person and manners. He knew how to do acts of almost royal munificence in a royal way. Perhaps he sometimes overacted so as to border on theatrical display. But few men have made their influence felt so powerfully in promoting temperance, truth and evangeli- cal religion as Mr. Wilder did in private, not less than public life, at home as well as abroad, at Ware, at Bolton, in New York and in Elizabeth, and wherever his lot was cast. Several tracts and books perpetuate the history of his successful and almost romantic labors of love in various spheres of action. Hon. Samuel C. Allen was elected a member of the Corpora- tion by the Legislature, February 21, 1826, and continued to hold the office till his death in 1842. He was born in Bernards- ton, January 5, 1772, graduated at Dartmouth in 1794, and 1 Dr. Humphrey's letter in response to Mr. Wilder's letter of resignation is a touching expression of the extreme regret of the Trustees to part with one who had been with them " in six troubles, yea in seven," and grateful " acknowledgments for all he had done to build up and sustain this struggling Institution." See Memoir of Mr. Wilder, p. 286. 310 HISTORY OF AMHEKST COLLEGE. was s'ettled as the third pastor of the First Congregational Church in Northfield, November 25, 1795. After a ministry of about two years, he was dismissed January 30, 1798, relinquished the ministry and practiced law in Greenfield and Northfield. He was a representative in Congress twelve years, and held va- rious other civil offices. In 1832-3, he volunteered to give a short course of lectures on Political Economy to the Senior class, for which he received the thanks of the Trustees, and which were heard with interest by some of the Faculty as well as by the students. He was a warm advocate of Free Trade, which was the doctrine of the text-book then used in College, as well as of the Democratic party to which Mr. Allen belonged. " At the time of Mr. Allen's ministry in Northfield, the Con- gregational denomination had not been divided into Orthodox and Unitarians, and he was then considered Orthodox, though he afterwards became a Unitarian." 1 He died in Northfield, February 8, 1842, aged seventyr The American Almanac for 1843, says of him : " Mr. Allen was a man of active habits and vigorous intellect, and his opinions had great weight in the part of the country to which he belonged." Hon. William B. Banister was elected a member of the Corpo- ration, at the annual meeting of the Board in 1830, in place of Hon. Eliphalet Williams, who declined the appointment. He was born at Brookfield, November 8, 1773, fitted for College at Westfield Academy, was one term a member of Harvard Col- lege, but then transferred his relation to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1797. He began the practice of law in Newbury, Vt., in 1800, removed to Newburyport, Mass., in 1807, and shortly after relinquished his profession and went into mercan- tile business. In 1810, he was elected a member of the Massa- chusetts Legislature, and from 1810 to 1819 was several times a member of the House, and several times a member of the Sen- ate. He was for thirty-three years a member, and for twenty years a deacon of the church in Newburyport, of which Dr. Spring was formerly pastor; and during most of these years either a teacher or superintendent of the Sabbath School. 1 History of Churches and Ministers in Franklin County, by Rev. Theophilus Packard. HON. WILLIAM B. BANISTER. 311 A warm friend of Christian education, Mr. Banister was for many years a member of the School Committee and a Trustee of the Putnam Free School in Newburyport, a member of the Board of Trustees and of the Board of Visitors of the Theo- logical Seminary at Andover from 1827 till 1843, when he went out of office by age, and a Trustee of Amherst College from 1830 to 1844. He was a wise counselor and efficient helper of the College in the period of its greatest pecuniary embarrass- ment. In 1839, he was a member of the Committee in whose name the circular was sent out which proved so effective, in con- nection with other agencies, in obtaining funds from the public when repeated applications to the Legislature had proved ut- terly unavailing. Like Mr. Wilder, Mr. Banister was a warm friend and patron of all the leading benevolent societies, and in his will made large bequests to such institutions. He died at Newburyport, July 1, 1853, aged seventy-nine. He married for his second wife a daughter of Moses Brown, one of the principal founders of Andover Seminary. His third wife, Miss Zilpah P. Grant, the distinguished Principal of the Seminary at Ipswich, still lives at the old family mansion in Newburyport. Rev. John Brown, D. D., was a Trustee from 1833 till his death in 1839, and during most of this period was a member of the Prudential Committee and one of the most active and use- ful members of .the Board. He was born in Brooklyn, Conn., on the 4th of July, 1786, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1809, studied theology the next two years at Andover Semi- nary then in its infancy, and was Tutor the next two years in the College where he was educated. On the 8th of December, 1813, he was ordained and installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Cazenovia, where he labored with great fidelity and success about fifteen years. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by Union College in 1827. In 1829, he succeeded the Rev. Dr. Skinner in the pastorate of the Pine Street Church, Boston, but finding himself not at home and not adapted to a city charge, he accepted a call from the church in Hadley, where he was installed on the 2d of March, 1831, and where he spent the remainder of his days, greatly esteemed for 312 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. his solid and enduring qualities as a minister and as a man, much beloved by those especially who knew him at home in the bosom of his beautiful and lovely family. After a ministry of eight years at Hadley, he died there of consumption, March 22, 1839, aged fifty-three. The disease which terminated his own life had carried off a large number of brothers in their prime, and now, within a short period, it swept away almost his entire family of accomplished daughters. Eight at least of his family, including himself and wife, lie side by side in the Had- ley cemetery, and most of them died in the course of two or three years. Dr. Humphrey, who preached his funeral sermon and fur- nished a sketch of him for Sprague's Annals, says of him: " Dr. Brown was one of that class of ministers who had more talent and merit than some others of higher attractions and wider celebrity. He was one of those whom God has generally most highly honored by multiplying the seals of their ministry, and who will shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever." We can not review the history of Amherst College at this period without a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for those members, whether of the Corporation or of the Faculty, whose connection with the Institution came to a close while it was in a state of so much embarrassment and depression, just as we can not but sympathize with Moses in sacred history in that he came to the very borders of Canaan, but was not permitted to enter. Some of them had glimpses and visions of the land of promise. Dr. Humphrey never doubted that the College would see better days. Prof. Fiske prophesied not only the coming relief, but the source from which it was to come. His last words to his friend and colleague, President Hitchcock, were : " Amherst College will be relieved ; Mr. Williston will give it fifty thousand dollars, and you will put his name upon it." But even he came only to the borders, without being per- mitted to enter the promised land. CHAPTER XVII. PRESIDENCY OF DR. HITCHCOCK. THE presidency of Dr. Hitchcock opened with auspicious omens. The donation of Hon. David Sears, made the previous year (1844), was now just beginning to manifest its benignant influence, and being the first large gift by an individual donor for the purpose of an endowment, gave promise of other dona- tions for like purposes. On the very day of the new President's inauguration, Hon. Samuel Williston of Easthampton, by a do- nation of twenty thousand dollars, founded the Williston Pro- fessorship of Rhetoric and Oratory. The plan for preventing any further increase of the debt which was formed before the retirement of President Humphrey, but was conditioned on the election of Dr. Hitchcock to the presidency, having received the sanction of the Trustees and the written assent and co-op- eration of all the Professors, went into effect at the commence- ment of the new administration. According to this plan, the income of the College, administered and appropriated by the permanent officers themselves with all the wisdom and economy of which they were masters, after deducting all the necessary current expenses, was divided among them as their salary and means of support. This, while it ensured economy and inspired courage at home, enlisted sympathy and restored confidence abroad ; and a series of measures followed which, during the less than ten years of Dr. Hitchcock's presidency, extinguished the debt, added an Astronomical Observatory, a Library and two Cabinets of Natural History to the public buildings, secured the permanent endowment of four professorships, together with valuable books and immense scientific collections, and doubled the number of under-graduates. 314 HISTORY OF AMHERST COLLEGE. These remarkable results, however, were not to be reached at once, nor without a previous season of trial and struggle, of disappointment and discouragement. The immediate increase of numbers which was anticipated from a change of administra- tion and in the hope of which Dr. Humphrey was rather pressed to retire one term earlier than was agreeable to himself, was not realized. On the contrary, the year 1845-6, which was the first collegiate year of the new presidency, opened with the same number of Freshmen as the previous year, and with an aggre- gate of one hundred and eighteen students instead of one hun- dred and twenty-one. In 1846-7, the aggregate was only one hundred and twenty, and there was an increase of only one in the Freshman class. Meanwhile there was no further addition to the funds, and the President was receiving for his salary at the rate of five hundred and fifty dollars, and each Professor at the rate of four hundred and forty dollars a year. One at least of the Trustees (one of the wisest and most honored, though not the most hopeful and courageous) was still doubtful whether it would not be wiser to turn the College into an Academy (for a good Academy was better than a poor College); and what was still more discouraging and even alarming, some of the most in- fluential students were so doubtful of the perpetuity of the In- stitution that nothing but the personal solicitation of the Presi- dent induced them to stay and graduate. No wonder, if under such circumstances, the President and Professors were some- times desponding, and the very lights sometimes seemed to burn blue at our Faculty meetings ! It was during this period of discouragement and depression that the three Literary Societies were dissolved, and two new ones organized in their stead. While there were from two hundred to two hundred and fifty students in College, and while there was a lively interest felt in the Literary Societies, three Societies could be well sustained. But the Literary So- cieties had long been altogether secondary in interest to the " Greek Letter Fraternities," which had in fact drawn their very life-blood out of them. And now when the number of students had fallen off one-half, the alternative seemed to be a less number of Societies, or the extinction of them altogether. REORGANIZATION OF THE LITERARY SOCIETIES. 315 There was also doubtless, a conviction, of long standing and widely prevalent among the students, that two Societies in Col- lege, like two parties in the State, were the natural order, and the current of Society feeling and interest would flow smoothly in Amherst, only when as in most other Colleges, there were but two Literary Societies. The question of having two Societies instead of three, began to be discussed in the Societies as early as the spring of 1843, but the majority were then decidedly against the change. In April, 1846, the sentiment had so far changed with changing circumstances, that committees were ap- pointed by all the Societies, to consider the expediency of a re- organization, and the best method of consummating it. The Alexandrian and Athenian Societies were in favor of the plan and took immediate measures for carrying it into execution. It was not till June that the Social Union, and then perhaps under the pressure of circumstances that seemed to render it neces- sary, voted to come into the arrangement. After paying their debts by a sale of furniture and books, the Societies brought the remainder of their property into a common stock, " each contributing an amount equal to that of the poorest Society," and early in July they were dissolved. The common stock of books and other property, was then divided into two equal portions. The students of the College were also divided, by an impartial allotment, into two equal bodies which were or- ganized into two new Societies. For several years the two new organizations bore the names of Academic and Eclectic. But in the spring of 1853, for the convenience of associated action in the choice of the annual orator, in occasional pub- lic debates and some other matters of common interest, they united in a third organization comprising the members of both, which they called the Social Union; and then the two Societies resumed the names Alexandrian and Athenian, by which the two primitive Societies of the College had been dis- tinguished. I find on the records no traces of any action of the Trustees or the Faculty for or against these changes in the Societies. I do not think the question was referred to either of these bodies for advice or sanction. Doubtless, however, the members of 316 HISTORY OF AMHEEST COLLEGE. the Faculty and more or less of the Corporation also, were consulted as individuals, and doubtless, they general!}' con- curred in the same opinion with the members of the Socie- ties, that under the circumstances, the organization was ex- pedient and necessary. And, even now, with the maximum number of two hundred and fifty students again, probably there is not an officer or student in the College who would vote for a return to the old system of three instead of two Literary Societies. The breaking up of those old associations which are among the most cherished and sacred memories of the older Alumni, is a great trial to them, and thus a serious loss and misfortune to the College. But they would have been scarcely less mor- tified and afflicted if they had come back here to find the old Alexandrian, Athenian or Social Union existing indeed in name, and in uninterrupted succession, but no longer the same Society which stirred their blood and commanded their sac- rifices. A radical change has come over the old Literary Socie- ties in all the Colleges, leaving them little else than a name. Revolution or extinction seemed to be the alternative before the Literary Societies of Amherst at this critical period in their history. We now resume the general history of the College. Being in Cambridge at the inauguration of President Everett in January, 1846, Dr. Hitchcock improved the opportunity to call on Mr. Sears, in the hope of inducing him to erect a build- ing for scientific purposes, which was greatly needed. But he met with so little encouragement, that he told Hon. Josiah B. Woods of Enfield, with whom he fell in on his return, that he had made up his mind to two things : 1, To go back to Amherst and labor on fqr the College, as long as he could keep soul and body together ; and 2, Never to ask anybody for another dollar ! Mr. Woods told him that he was quite too much disheartened, arid that he thought he could raise the whole or a part of the money needed for the erection of such a building. Thus did hope and relief spring from the very bosom of despair ; for this was the beginning of the effort which resulted in the rearing on "Meet- ing-house Hill," of the Woods Cabinet and Lawrence Observa- LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS. 317 tory. And the scientific reputation of Dr. Hitchcock, together with his self-sacrificing labors, and the self-denial of his col- leagues, was the very fulcrum and standing-place (the nov ar