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THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

A HISTORY

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

FROM ITS FOUNDATION TO
A. D. 1770

INCLUDING

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

OF THE

TRUSTEES, FACULTY, THE FIRST ALUMNI
AND OTHERS

THOMAS HARRISON MONTGOMERY

MEMBER OF THE

Historical Society of Pennsylvania, New York Historical Society,

Chester County Historical Society, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania,

Etc. Etc. Etc.

I think, moreover, that Talents for the Education of Youth are the Gift of God ; and
that He on Whom they are bestowed, whenever a Way is opened for the Use of Them,,
is as strongly Called as if He heard a Voice from Heaven ; Nothing more surely
Pointing out Duty in a Public Service than Ability and Opportunity of Performing it.

Dr. Franklin to Dr. Johnson, 23 August, 1750.

PHILADELPHIA

GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO

103-105 SOUTH 5TH STREET
A. I). 1900

The edition of this book is limited to 730 copies,
of which this is No.-S-L

ERRATA.

Page 9, line 6

118

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Life of, by,

and not

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Lawrence

Laurence

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Education
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PREFACE.

Some years ago the late Provost, Dr. Pepper, sought my
interest in writing a History of the University of Pennsylvania
from its beginning to the present generation, and asked me to
undertake it. The honor of his urgency in the matter was so
flattering that I eventually agreed to respond to his call, and
soon made preparations for the work, which was to be carried
on within my own time and opportunities. The progress of
this was a great pleasure to me, and its course proved both
entertaining and instructive as the material for its compilation
was both rich and ample.

My labors had to be carried on in the interval hours of a
busy life, but in a year or two its claims seemed to press ; and
finally, even after some weeks respite abroad, I found myself
unable to proceed beyond the year 1769, when health dictated
my arresting the work there.

Complete as it is to this point I now submit it to the friends
of the University. These early years of its operations here set
forth in full illustrate its formative period, which is the most
instructive in its life. The detail, it is hoped, truly portrays the
Men and Movements of the ante-Revolutionary period in the
Province of Pennsylvania : and as the Movements of that colonial
period, all in some degree, shed their light on the colony's great-
est educational undertaking ; so the Men concerned in it were
the representatives of the contemporary thought, and moved
with influence in those circles which shaped the destinies of the
Province, as well also those of the Nation that was then approach-
ing its adult years.

If this picture of those times (for the University was neces-
sarily a part of them) will serve to enlighten and interest its
Alumni, and form any inspiration to its Matriculates, in the

988196

4 PREFACE.

personal portrayals of the men who built the foundations upon
which the present great superstructure rests, the writer will be
gratified.

Having been himself at one time a pupil in the old Academy
building, his interest has been enhanced in the course of the
present work by the memory of his attendance on tuition in the
venerable birthplace, now no more, of the great educational
institution whose continuing years have left a record of such
great interest, and which to-day holds out such enlarging prom-
ises, the fruitage of the seed laid there in 1749 by the "vol-
untary society of founders," as the Trustees were termed by
the first Provost.

THOS. H. MONTGOMERY.

Ardrossan,
23 February, /poo.

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1814.

Allen, Ethan. Historical Notices of St. Anne's Parish, Annapolis
Baltimore, 1857.

Allibone, S. Austin. A Critical Dictionary of English Literature.
Philadelphia, 1858.

Allison & Penrose. Philadelphia, a History of Municipal Develop-
ment Philadelphia, 1887.

"American Magazine or Monthly Chronicle for the British Colonies."

1757- .

Arnold, Matthew. Address on Foreign Education, read in University
Chapel, 1886.

Ayres, Anne. Life and Work of William Augustus Muhlenberg,
D. D. New York, 1881.

Bancroft, George. History of the United States. I3th ed. Boston, 1846.

Barton, Thomas. Sermon on Unanimity and Publick Spirit. 1755.

Beardsley, E. Edwards. Life and Correspondence of Samuel Johnson,
D. D. 1874.

Life and Correspondence of Samuel Seabury, D. D. 1881.

Bigelow, John. The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin. New
York and London, 1887.

Bowring, John. Compendious System of Natural Philosophy. Lon-
don, 1744.

Brown, John. Sermon, on publication of the Brief. 6 March 1763.

Brown, David Paul. The Forum. Philadelphia, 1886.

Buchanan, Edward Y. Early History of Trinity Church, Oxford.
Two Discourses. Philadelphia, 1885.

Burnaby, Andrew. Travels through the Middle Settlements in North
America, in the Years 1759 and 1760. London, 1798.

Burd Papers, the. Extracts from Chief Justice William Allen's Letter
Book, by Lewis Burd Walker. 1 897.

Burnet, Gilbert. History of my own Times. 1734.

Carson, Joseph. History of the Medical Department of the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania. 1869.

Coates, Mary. Family Memorials, Philadelphia, 1885.

Collections of the Protestant Episcopal Historical Society. New York,
1851.

Delaware County Historical Society, Proceedings.

6 WORKS REFERRED To.

Dexter, Franklin B. Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale
College with Annals of the College History. 1885.

Duyckinck, Evart A. & George L. Cyclopaedia of American Litera-
ture. New York, 1856.

Fisher, J. Francis. Sketch of James Logan. In Sparks' Works of
Benjamin Franklin, 1840.

Fisher, Sidney G. Church Colleges, their History, Position and
Importance. Philadelphia, 1895.

Ford, Paul Leicester. Bibliography of Benjamin Franklin. Brook-
lyn, 1889.

Forster, J. Montgomery. Memoir of Rev. Joseph Montgomery. 1879.

Franklin, Benjamin. Proposals relating to the Education of Youth in
Pennsylvania. 1 749 .

Cool Thoughts on the Present Situation of our Public Affairs.

1764.

Narrative of the late Massacres in Lancaster County of a

Number of Indians, friends of the Province. 1764.

Remarks on a late protest against the appointment of Mr.

Franklin as Agent for the Province of Pennsylvania. 1764.

Observations relative to the intentions of the original founders

of the Academy in Philadelphia. 1789.

Franklin, William Temple. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of
Benjamin Franklin. London, 1818.

"Gentlemen's Magazine," the.

Gledstone, James P. Life and Travels of George Whitefield. Lon-
don, 1871.

Gordon, Thomas F. History of Pennsylvania. 1829.

Graydon, Alexander. Memoirs of a Life chiefly passed in Pennsyl-
vania. 1811.

Hildeburn, Charles R. Issues of the Press in Pennsylvania. 1886.

Hopkinson, Francis. Errata on the Art of Printing incorrectly . . .
Examples taken from a Latin Grammar lately printed, etc. Philadelphia,
1763.

The Psalms of David, etc., etc. For the use of the Reformed
Protestant Dutch Church in the City of New York. New York, 1766.

Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings. Philadelphia,

1793-

Hosack, David. Inaugural Discourse delivered at the opening of
Rutgers Medical School in the City of New York, 1826.

Hunt, Isaac. Letters from Transylvania. 1764.

Jay, Sir James. Letter to the Governors of the College of New York
respecting the Collection for the Colleges of Philadelphia and New York.
London, 1771.

Jenkins, Howard M. Family of William Penn. 1899.

WORKS REFERRED To. 7

Johnson, Samuel. Elementa Philosophica, containing chiefly Noetica
or Things Relating to the Mind or Understanding, etc. Philadelphia,

1752.

American Annotations on Bishop Berkeley's Treatise on the

Principles of Human Knowledge.

Keith, Charles P. The Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania. 1883.

Kingsley, William L. Yale College ; a Sketch of Its History. 1879.

Krauth, Charles V. Treatise, etc., with Prolegomena and Annota-
tions. Philadelphia, 1886.

Lewis, William. Commercium Philosophico-technicum. London,
1 736-' 66.

Logan, Deborah. Penn and Logan Correspondence. 1870.

Martin, John Hill. Bench and Bar of Philadelphia. 1883.

' ' Maryland Gazette. ' ' The.

McMaster, John B. & Stone, Frederick D. Pennsylvania and the
Federal Constitution. Philadelphia, 1888.

Mears, Anne deB. Old York Road and Its Early Associations.
Philadelphia, 1890.

Mifflin, John. History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of
the American War. London, 1 794.

Morgan, John. A Discourse upon the Institution of Medical Schools
in America. Delivered at the Public Anniversary Commencement held in
the College of Philadelphia, May 30 and 31, 1765. Philadelphia, 1765.

Morton, Thomas G. The History of the Pennsylvania Hospital,
1751-1895. Philadelphia, 1895.

Newman, F. W. The English Universities, from the German of V. A.
Huber. London, 1843.

Newman, John Henry. Office and Work of Universities. London,
1856.

' New York Gazette, " The.

New York Historical Society, Collections of.

"New York Mercury," The.

Overseers of the Public School of Friends, Mss. and Minutes.

Palfrey, John G. A History of New England during the Stuart
Dynasty. 1859-1864.

Parton, James. Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. New York,
1864.

"Pennsylvania Gazette, The."

" Pennsylvania Journal, The."

" Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography," the

Perry, William Stevens. Historical Collections of the American
Colonial Church. 1871.

History of the American Episcopal Church. 1885.

Philipps, Thomas. Way of Teaching Languages. 1723.

8 WORKS REFERRED To.

Porter, Noah. American Colleges and the American Public. 1878.

Proud, Robert. History of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1797.

' ' Quarterly Theological Magazine, " Philadelphia. 1814.

Quincy, Josiah. History of Harvard University. Cambridge, 1849.

Reed, William B. Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed. Phila-
delphia, 1847.

Ridgely, H. W. Old Brick Churches of Maryland. New York, 1894.

"Royal Gazette, The."

Sargent, John. The Mine and other Poems. 1784.

Scharf & Westcott. History of Philadelphia. 1884.

Smith, Horace W. Life and Correspondence of the Rev. William
Smith, D. D., etc. Philadelphia, 1880.

Smith, Rev. William. Some thoughts on Education with Reasons
for Erecting a College in this Province, and fixing the same at the City of
New York. 1752.

A General Idea of the College of Mirania. 1753.

A Poem on visiting the Academy of Philadelphia, June, 1753.

Personal Affliction and frequent Reflection upon human Life,

of great use to lead man to the Remembrance of God. Philadelphia, 1754.

Discourses on Several Public occasions during the War in

America. London, 1759. 2n< ^ e ^-> 1762.

An Historical Account of the Expedition against the Ohio

Indians in the year 1764. 1765.

Works. 1 803.

Sparks, Jared. The Works of Benjamin Franklin. 1840.

Sprague, William B. Annals of the American Episcopal Pulpit.
New York, 1859.

Stewart, Andrew. Short Introduction to Grammar for the use of the
College and Academy in Philadelphia, etc. 1762.

Stiles, Ezra. In Gratulatione Nobilissimi et Amplissimi viri B.
Franklinii, &c., &c. 1818.

Mss. Diary.

Stille, Charles J. Life and Times of John Dickinson. 1891.
A Memoir of the Rev. William Smith, D. D. 1869.

Thacher, James. American Medical Biography. 1828.

Thorn, Walter. History of Aberdeen. Aberdeen, 1811.

Tyerman. Life of Rev. George Whitefield. 1876.

University of Pennsylvania. Biographical Catalogue of the Matricu-
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Mss. Minutes of the Academy and College.

Watson, John F. Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. 1870.

Westcott, Thompson. Historic Mansions of Philadelphia. Revised
ed. Philadelphia, 1895.

WORKS REFERRED To. 9

White, Andrew. History of the Warfare of Science and Theology.
1896.

White, William. Commentaries suited to occasions of Ordination.
New York, 1833.

Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church. New York, 1836.

Memoir of the Life of Dr. Bird Wilson. 1839.

Whitehead, William. A Charge to the Poets. 1762.

Wickersham, James P. History of Education in Pennsylvania. 1886.

William and Mary College, Historical Sketch of. Baltimore, 1870.

Williamson, Hugh. History of North Carolina. Philadelphia, 1812.

Wister, Charles J., Jr. Memoir of Charles J. Wister, 1866.

Wood, George B. History of the University of Pennsylvania. 1827.
Also edited in 1896 by Frederick D. Stone.

Wordsworth, Christopher. Social Life at the English Universities.
London, 1874.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN laid the first stone of an institution
which was destined to outgrow in usefulness and in influence
any other of the creations of his fertile brain, when he announced
in a communication to the printers of his Pennsylvania Gazette
which appeared on 24 August, 1749, the prospectus of his
scheme for the higher education of youth in his adopted city
in the following sentences :

In the settling of new countries, the first care of the planters must
be to provide and secure the necessaries of life; this engrosses their
attention, and affords them little time to think of any thing farther. We
may therefore excuse our ancestors, that they established no ACADEMY
or college in this province, wherein their youth might receive a polite
and learned education. Agriculture and mechanic arts, were of the
most immediate importance ; the culture of minds by the finer arts and
sciences, was necessarily postpon'd to times of more wealth and leisure.

Since those times are come, and numbers of our inhabitants are
both able and willing to give their sons a good education, if it might be
had at home, free from the extraordinary expence and hazard in send-
ing them abroad for that purpose ; and since a proportion of men of
learning is useful in every country, and those who of late years come to
settle among us, are chiefly foreigners, unacquainted with our language,
laws and customs; it is thought a proposal for establishing an ACADEMY
in this province, will not now be deemed unseasonable. Such a pro-
posal the publick may therefore shortly expect. In the meantime, please
to give the following letter of the younger Pliny to Cornelius Tacitus,* a
place in your paper, as it seems apropos to the design above mentioned .

PLINY junior to CORNELIUS TACITUS.

I Rejoice that you are safely arrived in Rome ; for tho' I am always
desirous to see you, I am more particularly so now. I purpose to continue
a few days longer at my house in Jusculum, in order to finish a work
which I have upon my hands: For I am afraid, should I put a stop to this
design, now that it is so nearly compleated, I shall find it difficult to resume
it In the meanwhile, that I may lose no time, I send this letter before
me, to request a favour of you, which I hope shortly to ask in person. But
before I inform you what my request is, I must let you into the occasion of

1 See Melmoth's Letters of Pliny the Consul, Book IV. Letter 13. Franklin's
Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania are repeated in full
in Appendix I.

12 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

it. Being lately in Comum, the place of my nativity, a young lad, son to
one of my neighbors, made me a visit. I asked him whether he studied
oratory and where? He told me he did, and at Medolianum. 2 And why
not here ? Because (said his father, who came with him) we have no mas-
ters. ' ' No ! said I, surely it nearly concerns you, who are fathers (and
very opportunely several of the company were so) that your sons should
receive their education here, rather than anywhere else: For where can
they be placed more agreeably than in their own country, or instructed with
more safety, and less expence, than at home, and under the eye of their
parents ? Upon what very easy terms might you, by a general contribu-
tion, procure proper masters, if you would only apply towards the raising a
salary for them, the extraordinary expence it costs you for your sons'
journies, lodgings, and whatsoever else you pay for upon account of their
being abroad ; as pay indeed you must in such a case for every thing ?
Tho' I have no children myself, yet I shall willingly contribute to a design
so beneficial to (what I look upon as a child, or a parent) my country ; and
therefore I will advance a third part of any sum you shall think proper to
raise for this purpose. I would take upon myself the whole expence, were
I not apprehensive that my benefaction might hereafter be abused, and
perverted to private ends; as I have observed to be the case in several
places where publick foundations of this nature have been established.
The single means to prevent this mischief is, to have the choice of the
masters entirely in the breast of the parents, who will be so much the more
careful to determine properly, as they shall be obliged to share the expence
of maintaining them. For tho' they may be careless in disposing of
another' s bounty, they will certainly be cautious how they apply their own ;
and will see that none but those who deserve it shall receive my money,
when they must at the same time receive theirs too. Let my example
then encourage you to unite heartily in this useful design, and be assured,
the greater the sum my share shall amount to, the more agreeable it will be
to me. You can undertake nothing that will be more advantageous to
your children, nor more acceptable to your country. They will, by this
means, receive their education where they receive their birth, and be
accustomed, from their infancy, to inhabit and affect their native soil.
May you be able to procure professors of such distinguished abilities, that
the neighboring towns shall be glad to draw their learning from hence ; and
as you now send your children to foreigners for education, may foreigners
in their turn flock hither for their instruction." I thought proper thus to
lay open to you the rise of this affair, that you might be the more sensible
how agreeable it will be to me, if you undertake the office I request. I
entreat you, therefore, with all the earnestness a matter of so much
importance deserves, to look out, amongst the great numbers of men of

2 Milan.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 13

letters, which the reputation of your genius brings to you, proper persons
to whom we may apply for this purpose ; but without entering into any
agreement with them on my part. For I would leave it entirely free to the
parents to judge and choose as they shall see proper: All the share I pre-
tend to claim is, that of contributing my care and my money. If, there-
fore, any one shall be found, who thinks himself qualified for the under-
taking, he may repair thither ; but without relying upon anything but his
merit Farewell.

II.

These proposals were the consummation of many years'
reflection over the wants of the Province, which he had made
his home, in the matter of better and larger educational facilities,
for the growing generations. The early settlers of Pennsylvania
had brought with them the culture of their home training, but
as Franklin expresses it, the demands of the urgent present for-
bade them laying preparations for a like training to their children.
His own native city had as its immediate neighbor the town of
Cambridge, where Harvard College had already existed for one
hundred and twelve years. In its training and its influence he
had no share ; " his father, burdened with a numerous family,
was unable without inconvenience to support the expense of a
college education," he records in his autobiography. 1

I was put to the grammar school at eight years of age ; my father
intending to devote me, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of the
church. My early readiness in learning to read [he continues], (which
must have been very early, as I do not remember when I could not read,)
and the opinion of all his friends, that I should certainly make a good
scholar, encouraged him in this purpose of his. My uncle Benjamin, too,
approved of it, and proposed to give me all his short-hand volumes of
sermons, I suppose as a stock to set up with, if I would learn his charac-
ter. I continued, however, at the grammar school not quite one year,
though in that time I had risen gradually from the middle of the class of

1 Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin. John Higelow, iSSy. i 38.

14 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

that year to be the head of it, and farther was removed into the next class
above it in order to go with that into the third at the end of the year. But
my father, in the meantime, from a view of the expense of a college edu-
cation, which having so large a family he could not well afford, and the
mean living many so educated were afterwards able to obtain reasons
that he gave to his friends in my hearing altered his first intention, took
me from the grammar-school, and sent me to a school for writing and
arithmetic, kept by a then famous man, Mr. George Brown ell, very suc-
cessful in his profession, generally, and that by mild, encouraging methods.
Under him. I acquired fair writing pretty soon ; but I failed in the arith-
metic, and made no progress in it. At ten years old I was taken home to
assist my father in his business, which was that of a tallow chandler and
sope-boiler.

This is the brief but expressive story of Franklin's own
education, and how Harvard came to lose another matriculant
and an alumnus whose name would have adorned its long roll
However, in 1753, it conferred on him the honor of Magis-
ter Artium, as had Yale in the same year, 2 and William and
Mary in 1756. To these degrees higher collegiate honors were
bestowed on the man who though not a collegian was the
creator of a university, as St. Andrews in 1759 made him Juris
Utriusque Doctor, and Oxford in 1762 enrolled him as Juris
Civilis Doctor. 3 And yet the child of his own creation never
enrolled his name as the possessor of one of its Degrees.

For two years he continued thus employed in his father's

2 " The College of Cambridge of their own motion, presented me with the
degree of Master of Arts. Yale College in Connecticut, had before made me a sim-
ilar compliment. Thus without studying in any college, I came to partake of their
honours. They were conferred in consideration of my improvements and discoveries
in the electric branch of natural philosophy." Bigelow, i, 242.

"Whereas Benjamin Franklin Esquire, by his ingenious Experiments and
Theory of Electrical Fire has greatly merited of the Learned World : it is therefore
considered that the said Benjamin Franklin shall receive the Honour of a Degree of
Master of Arts," at Yale College Commencement, 12 September 1753. v. Dex-
ter's Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the Col-
lege History, p. 304.

3 Oxford at the same time conferred M. A. on his son William. Sparks, i, 250,
267. In the same month that his St. Andrews degree was conferred, the City of
Edinburgh presented him with the freedom of the city in the following record :
" Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia is hereby admitted a burgess and guild-brother
of this city, as a mark of the affectionate respect which the Magistrates and Council
have for a gentleman, whose amiable character, greatly distinguished for usefulness
to the society which he belongs to, and love to all mankind, had long ago reached
them across the Atlantic Ocean." i, 251.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 15

business ; but his " bookish inclination at length determined his
father to make him a printer " though he had already one son
(James) of that profession.

I liked it much better than that of my father, but still had a hanker-
ing for the sea. To prevent the apprehended effect of such an inclination,
my father was impatient to have me bound to my brother. I stood out
some time, but at last was persuaded, and signed the indenture, when I was
but twelve years old. His father's little library consisted chiefly of books
in polemic divinity, most of which I read. * * * Plutarch's Lives
there was, in which I read abundantly, and I still think that time spent to
great advantage. I now had access to better books. An acquaintance
with the apprentices of booksellers enabled me sometimes to borrow a small
one, which I was careful to return soon, and clean. Often I sat up in my
room reading the greatest part of the night, when the book was borrowed
in the evening and to be returned early in the morning, lest it should be
missed or wanting. [He became intimately acquainted with] another book-
ish lad in the town, John Collins by name, with whom I was intimately
acquainted. * * * About this time I met with an odd volume of the
Spectator. It was the third. I had never before seen any of them . I
bought it, read it over and over, and was much delighted with it I
thought the writing 4 excellent, and wished if possible to imitate it

But his apprenticeship to his brother, notwithstanding all
these waysides of literary pleasure and self education was made
irksome to him ; either his brother's tyranny or jealousy, per-
haps both, oppressed his ingenious energy, and he sought means
to leave him and he says :

I was sensible that if I attempted to go openly, means would be used
to prevent me. My friend Collins therefore undertook to manage a little
for me. He agreed with the Captain of a New York sloop for my passage
* * * So I sold some of my books to raise a little money, was taken on
board privately, and as we had a fair wind, in three days I found myself in
New York, near 300 miles from home, a boy of but 17, without the least
recommendation to or knowledge of, any person in 5 the place, and with
very little money in my pocket. Here, [he says,] I offered my service to
the printer in that place old Mr. William Bradford, who had been the first
printer in Pennsylvania, removed from thence upon the quarrel of George
Keith. He could give me no employment, having little to do, and help
enough already, but says he : My son at Philadelphia has lately lost his
principal hand, Aquila Rose, by death ; if you go thither I believe he may
employ you. 6

4 Bigelow, i. 45, 47. Ibid, i. 57. 6 Ibid, i. 58.

1 6 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

And the young Bostonian at once set out on his way to
the city where he made his home the remainder of his long and
eventful life, and which in its oldest institutions, whether of phil-
anthropy, of benevolence, of education, of science, or of busi-
ness, testifies to his genius of organization and his fertility of
resources.

III.

The story of Franklin's landing in Philadelphia on that
October Sunday morning in 1723, the same day in the week
when in 1706 he first drew breath in Boston, is well known but
always interesting. His walk up Market Street, with his three
penny worth of rolls, " with a roll under each arm and eating
the other," and back by Chestnut and Walnut Streets to the
place of the landing, "to which I went for a draught of the
river water, where being filled with one of my rolls, gave the
other two to a woman and her child that came down the river
with us, and were waiting to go farther."

Thus refreshed, I walked ngain up the street which by this time had
many clean-dressed people in it, who were all walking the same way. I joined
them, and thereby was led into the great meeting of the Quakers near the
market I sat down among them, and after looking round awhile and
hearing nothing said, being very drowsy thro" labor and want of rest the
preceding night, I fell fast asleep, and continued so till the meeting broke
up, when one was kind enough to rouse me. This was therefore, the first
house I was in, or slept in, in Philadelphia. 1

It was a notable day in the annals of our city in which
Franklin was introduced to it, and the simple story in his own
inimitable phrases seems ever to renew an interest in its perusal.
He wrote this narrative nearly half a century afterwards, but the
vividness of his memory brought up to his mind the quaint

1 Bigelow, i. 63.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 17

scenes of that day, and the tale is told us as freshly as if written
at the time.

On Monday morning he reported bright and early at
Andrew Bradford's, and he tells us he there " found in the shop
the old man, his father, whom I had seen at New York, and
who, traveling on horseback, had got to Philadelphia before me.
He introduced me to his son, who received me civilly, gave
me a breakfast, but told me he did not at present want a hand."
William Bradford undertook to introduce him to the " new
printer, lately set up, one Keimer " who " not discovering that he
was the other printer's father," babbled about his plans and said
" he expected soon to get the greatest part of the business into
his own hands," whereat Bradford "drew him on by artful
questions and starting little doubts " to tell more of his
plans, and Franklin "who stood by and heard all, saw im-
mediately that one of them was a crafty old sophister, and the
other a mere novice." 2 He lodged at Bradford's the while
helping Keimer and doing small jobs for the former. But this
first interview laid the seeds of the distrust between him and
that family which was fostered in subsequent years by his suc-
cessful opposition and intensified by later political controversies.

By promises from Sir William Keith, whose duplicit
character he had yet to find out, he engaged to go to England
to purchase printing apparatus wherewith to furnish a great
establishment in Philadelphia; and in November 1724 he sailed
thither, only to find the Governor's promises utterly worthless ;
he remained in London, working as best he might at his trade,
and by October 1726 he was again in Philadelphia. For a
young man who had not yet attained his majority, this was an
education which not alone developed his self reliance but also
added knowledge as well as experience to his stock of weapons
wherewith to continue his battle with life.

In the year following he tells us he " form'd most of my
ingenious acquaintances into a club of mutual improvement,
which we called the JUNTO." 3 These were Joseph Brientnal,

2 Bigelow, i. 64. 3 Ibid, i. 141.

1 8 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

a scrivener ; Thomas Godfrey, the mathematician ; Nicholas
Scull, a surveyor ; William Parsons, afterwards surveyor general ;
William Maugridge, 4 "joiner, but a most exquisite mechanic;"
Hugh Meredith, 5 "a Welsh Pennsylvanian, thirty years of age,
bred to country work," and afterwards his partner for twelve years
in the Pennsylvania Gazette ; Stephen Potts, " a young country-
man of full age, of uncommon natural parts, and great wit and
humor, but a little idle ; " George Webb, "an Oxford scholar ; "
Robert Grace, " a young gentleman of some fortune, generous,
lively and witty; " and lastly, <l William Coleman, then a mer-
chant's clerk, about my age, who had the coolest, clearest head,
the best heart, and the exactest morals, of almost any man I
ever met with. He became afterwards a merchant of great note,
and one of our provincial judges," who also became one of the
original trustees of the Academy and College in 1749, and
remained Franklin's most faithful coadjutor in this work until
his death in 1769.

The Club continued almost as long, and was the best school of
philosophy, morality, and politics, that then existed in the province ; for
our queries, which were read the week preceding their discussion, put us
upon reading with attention upon the several subjects, that we might speak
more to the purpose ; and here, too, we acquired better habits of conver-
sation, everything being studied in our rules, which might prevent us
disgusting each other. 6

From this quiet but influential centre grew in 1743 the
institution of the first American Philosophical Society of which
Thomas Hopkinson was the first President, which had not long
existence, but was revived again by the greater organization of
1769, with Benjamin Franklin as its first President, though he
was at the time absent in London representing his adopted
province. Thus early did this young man display and exercise
his rare leadership, and attract to his side men of thought and
ideas ; for one but twenty-two years of age to secure the
attention of men, mostly his seniors, to weekly meetings for the
discussion of useful and informing topics, indicates as great an
instance as any displayed by him in later years of his strong

4 A Vestryman of Christ Church in 1742 and again in 1744.
5 Bigelow, i. 131. 6 Ibid, i. 143.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 19

executive ability, and his wonderful powers of attraction among
all with whom he was associated in any enterprise. We dwell
upon the great affairs of those later years in which he had such
a directing hand, but these peculiar characteristics of his were
being developed and matured a half century before the historian
of his country devotes his pages to his later works. Franklin's
accounts of all these matters is as engaging as it is frank ; and
it is this same frankness which also gives us that other and
more human side of his early life in which occur those youthful
follies and misdoings which seemed to have furnished his
enemies with their most pointed weapons.

In 1728 he made a partnership with his friend Meredith for
the extension of his printing business, and soon thought of
establishing a paper.

My hopes of success, as I told him, [his narrative proceeds], were
founded on this : that the then only newspaper, printed by Bradford, was
a paltry thing, wretchedly managed, no way entertaining, and yet was
profitable to him ; I therefore thought a good paper would scarcely fail of
good encouragement. 1 [But his scheme getting to the ears of his old
employer, Keimer, the latter began a paper] ; and, after carrying it on three
quarters of a year, with at most only ninety subscribers, he offered it me
for a trifle ; and I, having been ready some time to go on with it, took it in
hand directly, and it proved in a few years extremely profitable to me.

He now called the paper the Pennsylvania Gazette, and his
first number was issued 2 October, 1729. He says :

Our first papers made quite a different appearance from any before
in the province ; a better type, and better printed. * * * Our number
[of subscribers] went on growing continually. This was one of the first
good effects of my having learned a little to scribble ; another was that the
leading men, seeing a newspaper now in the hands of one who could also

'Higelow, i. 145.

2O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

handle a pen, thought it convenient to oblige and encourage me * * * *
Bradford had printed an address of the House to the Governor, in a coarse,
blundering manner ; we reprinted it elegantly and correctly, and sent one
to every member. They were sensible of the difference ; it strengthened
the hands of our friends in the House, and they voted us their printers for
the year ensuing. 3

And this was the work of a young Printer who was his own
Editor and only twenty-three years of age. Modern times
record no instances of greater ingenuity and industry.

The Junto in 1731 afforded Franklin thoughts of another
scheme ; he says 3

By clubbing our} books to a common library, we should, while we
lik' d to keep them ^together, have each of us the advantage of using the
books of all the other members, which would be nearly as beneficial as if
each owned the whole : * * * yet some inconveniences occurring for want
of due care of them, the collection after about a year was separated ; and each
took his books home again. And now I set on foot my first project of a
public nature, that for a subscription library. I drew up the proposals, got
them put into form by our great scrivener, Brockden, and by the help of
my friends in the Junto, procured fifty subscribers of forty shillings each to
begin with, and ten shillings a year for fifty years, the term our company
was to continue. * * this was the mother of all the North American sub-
scription libraries, now so numerous. These libraries have improved the
general conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and
farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps
have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout
the colonies in defence of their privileges.

He writes this in 1771 in the dawn of our great struggle, of
his co-directors in the institution of the Library Company of
Philadelphia on I July 1731. Thomas Hopkinson, Philip Syng,
arid Thomas Cadwalader, became also his co-trustees eighteen
years later in the Academy and College, and his faithful friend
William Coleman was elected Treasurer. This Company attracted
to itself in later years the testamentary gift to the public of the fine
private library of James Logan whose knowledge and judgment
had been consulted by Franklin in the first selection of books
for their shelves. The oldest public library in the country owes
its inception and planting to a young man but twenty-five years

5 Bigelow, i. 149. 3 ibid, i. 159.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 21

of age. In 1784 Franklin records, 4 "this library afforded me
the means of improvement by constant study, for which I set
apart an hour or two each day ; and thus repaired in some
degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended
for me." He was looking backward nigh fourscore years to his
native city, and the "learned education " he might have attained
to on the banks of the Charles River. With what great satisfac-
tion he must have contemplated the great institution for learning
he had launched eighteen years after his Library scheme had
been consummated.

It was in 1731 that he took part in the formation of St.
John's Lodge in Philadelphia, so far as known, the earliest estab-
lished Masonic Lodge in America. In this interesting associa-
tion he had the fellowship of his co-trustees William Allen,
Thomas Hopkinson, James Hamilton, Dr. Thomas Bond, Will-
iam Plumsted, Philip Syng and Dr. Cadwalader. 5 Franklin was
on a Committee appointed "to consider of the present State of
the Lodge and of the properest Methods to improve it," and
the Committee's report of 5 June, 1732, is in his handwriting.
He was Junior Grand Warden of Pennsylvania that year, was
Grand Master in 1734 and again in 1749, and Deputy Grand
Master from 175010 1755.

At the close of the year following Franklin first published
his Poor Richard 's Almanac, which was continued about twenty-
five years. This, he tells us, he "endeavoured to make both
entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such
demand, that I reaped considerable profit from it ; vending
annually near ten thousand." 6 It was announced in the Penn-
sylvania Gazette of 19 December, 1732, and such was the eager-

4 Bigelow, i. 170

5 It was in the latter's letter to Henry Bell of Lancaster of 17 November, 1754,
we find him saying: "As you well know I was one of the originators of the first
Masonic Lodge in Philadelphia. A party of us used to meet at the Tree Tavern in
Water Street, and sometimes opened a Lodge there. Once, in the fall of 1750, we
formed a design of obtaining a Charter for a regular Lodge, and made application to
the Grand Lodge of England for one, but before receiving it, we heard that Daniel
Coxe, of New Jersey, had been appointed by that Grand Lodge as Provincial Master
of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We, therefore, made application to
him, and our request was granted:" vide The Keystone, 15 October, 1887.

'Bigelow, i. 192

22 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ness with which it was sought that three editions were printed
before the end of January.

But his prosperous business did not keep pace with his in-
satiate desire for knowledge, and to open new channels he " had
begun," he says,

in 1732 to study languages ; I soon made myself so much a master of the
French, as to be able to read the books with ease. I then undertook the
Italian. An acquaintance, who was also learning it, us'd often to tempt
me to play chess with him. Finding this took up too much of the time I
had to spare for study, I at length refused to play any more unless on this
condition, that the victor in every game should have a right to impose a
task, either in parts of the grammar to be got by heart, or in translations,
etc, which tasks the vanquish'd was to perform 4 upon honour before our
next meeting. As we play'd pretty equally, we thus beat one another into
that language. I afterwards, with a little pains-taking, acquired as much
of the Spanish as to read their books also. I have already mention' d that
I had only one year' s instruction in a Latin school, and that when very
young, after which I neglected that language entirely. But, when I had
attained an acquaintance with the French, Italian, and Spanish, I was sur-
pris'd to find, in looking over a Latin Testament, that I understood so
much more of that language than I had imagined, which encouraged me to
apply myself again to the study of it, and I met with more success, as those
preceding languages had greatly smooth' d my way. 7

His ambition ever to learn was well sustained by his incom-
parable energy and self-denial.

7 Bigelow, i. 198

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 23

In 1736 he sought entrance into public life, the better to
further his favoring fortunes, and he was chosen clerk of the
General Assembly in October of that year, 1 " for which office
he petitioned the House in succession to Joseph Growden."
Governor Gordon had died in the summer, and James Logan as
President of the Council became the head of the Provincial gov-
ernment until the arrival of Governor Thomas two years later.
This doubtless was the influence that secured what Franklin
terms " my first promotion." He, as usual, makes no secret of
the reasons for his wishing the office :

besides the pay for the immediate service as clerk, the place gave me a
better opportunity of keeping up an interest among the members, which
secured to me the business of printing the votes, laws, paper money, and
other occasional jobbs for the public, that, on the whole were very profitable.

He was annually chosen to this office for fourteen years,
and herein he trained himself for his later political life. It was
but at thirty years of age this native of a northern province
attained to this important position, and without contradiction ;
but his second term was not reached without opposition, which
arose

from a new member in order to favor some other candidate. * * * He
was a gentleman of fortune and education, with talents that were likely to
give him in time great influence in the House which indeed afterwards
happened.

But Franklin won in the contest and later placated this
member by one of those clever strokes of ingenuity which he
often exercised successfully to divert enmities ; and when record-
ing the story concludes by saying this "shows how much more
profitable it is prudently to remove, than to resent, return, and
continue inimical proceedings : he ever after manifested a readi-
ness to serve me on all occasions, so that we became great friends,
and our friendship continued to his death." 2

In October of the following year, 1737, he was appointed

1 Bigelow, i. 201. Proud, ii. 215, note. 2 Bigelow, i. 202.

24 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

postmaster by Colonel Spotswood, formerly governor of Vir-
ginia and now postmaster general, succeeding his competitor in
business, Andrew Bradford, who had been postmaster since
1725 and who was now removed for reasons affecting his lack
of care and exactness in framing and rendering his accounts.
He tells us,

I accepted it readily, and found it of great advantage ; for, though the
salary was small, it facilitated the correspondence that improv'd my news-
paper, increas'd the number demanded, as well as the advertisements to
be inserted, so that it came to afford me a considerable income. But, [he
adds,] my old competitor's newspaper declined proportionably, and I was
satisfy' d without retaliating his refusal, while postmaster, to permit my
papers being carried by the riders.

This appointment was unwelcome to Bradford and his
friends and warmed into life animosities which bore fruit in later
years.

With these two public offices in hand, Franklin tells us, 3 " I
began now to turn my thoughts a little to public affairs, begin-
ning however with small matters." The city watch was reformed
by the suggestions he made and the measures he succeeded in
consummating aided by the influence of his friends of the Junto.
Fire prevention as well exercised his thoughts, and he wrote a
paper, first read in the junto and afterwards published,
on the different accidents and carelessnesses by which houses were set on
fire. This gave rise to a project, which soon followed it, of forming a com-
pany for the more ready extinguishing of fires, and mutual assistance in
removing and securing of goods when in danger. Associates in this scheme
were presently found, amounting to thirty.

Such was the origin of the Union Fire Company, established
7 December, 1736, the first fire company in Philadelphia. 4

The utility of this institution soon appeared, and many more desiring
to be admitted than we thought convenient for one company, they were
advised to form another, which was accordingly done ; and this went on,
one new company being formed after another, till they became so numer-
ous as to include most of the inhabitants who were men of property.
The author of these practical reforms had not passed beyond
his thirty-first year, yet he exhibited the skill and experience,
and exerted the influence on his fellow citizens, of a man of three-
score.

3 Bigelow, i. 203. 4 Ibid, i. 205

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 25

At the close of the year 1739 there arrived in Philadelphia,
on his way to his Parish and Orphanage at Savannah, the Rev.
George Whitefield, a presbyter of the Church of England, the
fame of whose extraordinary pulpit powers had preceded him,
though he was a young man but twenty-four years of age. 1
Two days after his arrival, on Sunday 4th November he preached
in Christ Church, and read prayers there and preached daily for
a week. Departing for New York on the I2th, where he was
not allowed to preach in Trinity Church, though he attended
both the Sunday services ; he returned to Philadelphia on the
23d and departed thence on the 29th for the South, having
preached daily in Christ Church, though on his return in the
April following he was inhibited from holding any service or
preaching there. Franklin in common with every citizen was
attracted by his eloquence, and he formed a friendship for the
young divine, who was eight years his junior, which continued
until his death, when he wrote to a friend " I knew him inti-
mately upwards of thirty years. His integrity, disinterested-
ness, and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting every good work, I
have never seen equalled, and shall never see excelled." 2
Doubtless Franklin was present at that remarkable scene in
Christ Church on Sunday the 25th November when his friend
the Rev. Richard Peters stood up and controverted some of
Whitefield's new doctrines, which the latter manfully answered,
though his Journal records he " had been somewhat alarmed "
at the disturbance which this public contradiction threatened.
Before the month was out Whitefield gave Franklin copies of
his Journals and sermons with leave to print the same. Andrew

1 He was ordained in Gloucester Cathedral 13 June 1736, and first preached on
the Sunday following. " A complaint was made to the Bishop that fifteen persons
had been driven mad by his sermon. The bishop only replied that he hoped the
madness might not be forgotten before another Sunday. * * * * How his one
sermon grew till he had preached eighteen thousand times, or ten times a week for
four and thirty years, and fed multitudes beyond computation." Gledstone's Life
and Travels of George WhitcfielJ, M.A., p 36. London 1871.

7 Life of Rev George Whitefield^ Tyerman. ii 628. London 1876. Life and
Times of Benjamin Franklin, Parton, i. 626.

26 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Bradford printed some sermons and letters, but those under-
taken by Franklin were by authority ; in his journal of 28
November he records, " One of the printers has told me he has
taken above two hundred subscriptions for printing my Sermons
and Journals." 3 Franklin says, " we had no religious connec-
tion. He us'd, indeed, sometimes to pray for my conversion,
but never had the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were
heard. Ours was a mere civil friendship, sincere on both sides,
and lasted to his death." 4

As the extent of Whitefield's audiences forbad their accom-
modation in any of the churches, and the inhibition by the Rec-
tor preventing in 1740 and in his subsequent visits his use of
Christ Church, which was then indeed but one half the size as
we now know it, measures were taken to procure him a proper
building for his preachings ; "it being found inconvenient to
assemble in the open air," Franklin says 5

subject to its inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was
no sooner proposed, and persons appointed to receive contributions, but
sufficient sums were soon receiv' d to procure the ground, and erect the
building, which was one hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the
size of Westminster Hall, and the work was carried on with such spirit
as to be finished in a much shorter time than could have been expected.
Both house and ground were vested in trustees expressly for the use of any
preacher of any religious persuasion, who might desire to say something
to the people at Philadelphia.

Franklin was foremost in the work as he was in any matter
he undertook and contributed of his means to it, though he was
not one of the Trustees until 1749 when the property came into
the possession of the new born Academy. On Sunday, 9
November, 1740, Whitefield records in his Journal, "Preached
in the morning, to several thousands, in a house built since my
last departure from Philadelphia. It was never preached in
before. The roof is not yet up ; but the people raised a con-
venient pulpit, and boarded the bottom." The oft told tale can
bear repetition in this connection of the influence of White-

3 Tyerman, i. 337.

4 Bigelow, i. 209, also letter quoted by Dr Sprague from Rev Jotham Sewell, in
Annals of Episcopal Pulpit, 107. 5 Bigelow, i. 206.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 27

field's oratory on Franklin himself. He attended in April, 1740,
one of Whitefield's meetings where he preached of his Orphan-
age, the location of which did not meet Franklin's approval, as 6
Georgia was then destitute of materials and workmen, and it was proposed
to send them from Philadelphia at a great expense. I thought it would have
been better to have built the house here, and brought the children to it.
This I advis'd ; but he was resolute in his first project, rejected my counsel,
and I, therefore, refus'd to contribute. I happened soon after to attend
one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish
with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing from me.
I had, in my pocket, a handful of copper money, three or four silver dol-
lars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and
concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me
asham'd of that, and determin'd me to give the silver ; and he finished
so admirably, that I empty 'd my pocket wholly into the collectors dish,
gold and all.

VII

Franklin's trusteeship in this property in 1749 rendered the
plan effectual then proposed of making the building the first
home of his College and Academy ; but for this happy instru-
mentality the young College would probably not for many years
have had a home of its own so well adapted for its purposes.
Built for the accommodation of the greatest preacher of the
day, it became the Academy where the greatest teacher in the
province, also a clergyman in like orders, established his fame as
a Provost and nurtured into permanence the reputation of his
College. In 1764 Whitefield himself wrote of the Academy as
" one of the best regulated institutions in the world," after
preaching on the opening of a new term of the College in Sep-
tember. 1 He was in Philadelphia the following spring, and Dr.
Smith asked him to preach at the Commencement of 1765, but

6 Bigelow, i. 208. ' Tyertnan, ii. 477.

28 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

he had been obliged to leave town a few days before for New
York to embark thence for England. 2 His last visit to Philadel-
phia was in May, 1770, when he writes in his Journal, 24 May,
"to all the Episcopal Churches, as well as to most of the
other places of worship, I have free access;" and on 30
September following he died in Newburyport, where lie his
remains. 3

The friendship between these two remarkable men was
begun by some common attraction the one for the other and con-
tinued through life unbroken, though their views on the deepest
thoughts of humanity were so diverse. Such affinities are often
witnessed, though the link is so subtle as to be undefinable. The
one a Deist whose time was given to material things and his
thoughts to the development of human knowledge, the other a
warm believer in divine revelation and a burning preacher of the
message which he claimed to have received ; yet there was
somewhat between them of sympathy and of a mutual under-
standing, which bound them to each other in a common respect
and appreciation of each other's earnestness and reality. White-
field's concern for his older friend manifested itself afterwards in
many ways. He writes to him 26 November 1 740, on his way
to Savannah after their first meeting in Philadelphia, about his
publications, and could not conclude without saying " I do not
despair of your seeing the reasonableness of Christianity. Apply
to GOD ; be willing to do the divine will, and you shall know
it." 4 And on 'i 7 August, 1752, he writes him 5 :

I find that you grow more and more famous in the learned world. As
you have made a pretty considerable progress in the mysteries of electricity,
I would now humbly recommend to your diligent unprejudiced pursuit and
study the mystery of the new birth. It is a most important, interesting
study, and when mastered, will richly answer and repay you for all your
pains. One hath solemnly declared, that without it, "we cannot enter
the kingdom of heaven." You will excuse this freedom. I must have

2 Penna. Gazette. Tyerman, ii. 484.

3 Tyerman, ii. 589. William White writes from Philadelphia 9 October,
1770, to his friend James Wilson at Carlisle, " P. S. The bells are now ringing muf-
fled for the Death of Mr. Whitefield ; he died in New England." MS. letter.

* Ibid. i. 439. 5 Ibid. ii. 283.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 29

aliquid Christiin all my letters. 6 I am a yet willing pilgrim for his great
name sake, and I trust a blessing attends my poor feeble labours.

He had already, more than two years before, written a letter
to be referred to later on, upon the new Academy in which he
held the same anxious language on behalf of his friend's plans
for the education of youth.

It was about nine years before his meeting with Whitefield
that Franklin " put down from time to time such thoughts as
occurred " to him on the subject of religion. 7

That there is one God, who made all things.

That he governs the world by his providence.

That he ought to be worshipped by adoration, prayer and thanks-
giving.

But that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man.

That the soul is immortal.

And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either
here or hereafter.

That portion of his Autobiography in which we find these
lines recorded was written, he tells us, in 1788. It was but a
twelvemonth before he thus took up his pen to renew his inter-
esting personal narrative, that occurred that memorable appeal
by him in the Convention for framing the Constitution for the
use of daily prayers in the deliberations of an assembly upon
whom rested the perpetuation of a solid government for the
United States. " He seldom spoke in a deliberative assembly
except for some special object, and then briefly and with great
simplicity of manner and language." Sparks 8 tells us, on the
occasion now referred to, he rose and said :

In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible
of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection.
Our prayers, Sir, were heard ; and they were graciously answered. All of
us, who were engaged in the struggle, must have observed frequent
instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind
Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the

6 Two years previously Whitefield made the same allusion regarding the pro-
posals for the new Academy, in writing to Franklin 26 February, 1750: "but, I
think there wants aliqitid Chrisli in it, to make it as useful as I would desire it might
be." Tyerman, ii. 251.

7 Bigelow, ii. 190. 8 Sparks, i. 514.

3O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now for-
gotten that powerful Friend ? or do we imagine we no longer need his
assistance ? I have lived, Sir, a long time ; and, the longer I live, the
more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that GOD governs in the affairs
of men. And, if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is
it probable that an empire can rise without his aid ? We have been
assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ' ' except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this ; and I also believe,
that, without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building
no better than the builders of Babel ; we shall be divided by our little,
partial, local interests, our projects will be unfounded, and we ourselves
shall become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages. And, what
is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair
of establishing government by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war,
and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers,
imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberations,
be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business ;
and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in
that service.

But his appeal was unavailing, and the motion was lost, "as
the Convention, except three or four persons, thought prayers
unnecessary.'' There was that in the man that would win the
friendship and respect of even a Whitefield ; and one need won-
der not at the exercise of this personal influence in all his inter-
course with his fellow men.

But domestic concerns led him to other ingenious thoughts,
though for once he here halted, not however for lack of faith,
but failure at the time of the proper instrument to mature his
plans. His son William had reached the age of about twelve
years when he " in 1743 drew up a proposal," he tells us, 9
for establishing an academy; and at that time, thinking the Reverend Mr.
Peters, who was out of employ, a fit person to superintend such an institu-
tion, I communicated the project to him ; but he, having more profitable
views in the service of the proprietaries which succeeded, declined the
undertaking : and, not knowing another at that time suitable for such a
trust, I let the scheme lie awhile dormant.

Mr. Peters, of whom much will be said on later pages, was
appointed on the 14 February of this year, Secretary of the
Province and Clerk to the Council ; his intimate concern and

9 Bigelow, i. 213.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 31

interest in many of Franklin's enterprises, and his activities in
furtherance of the College and Academy as finally framed and
launched six years later, made him a conspicuous figure in the
circle of which Franklin was the centre.

This same year witnessed the suggestion by Franklin, in
his paper dated 14 May, 1743, entitled A Proposal for Pro-
moting Useful Knoivlcdge among the British Plantations in
America, of the American Philosophical Society, which seems
to have very soon thereafter come into existence ; " Benjamin
Franklin, the writer of this proposal, offers himself to serve the
Society as their secretary, till they shall be provided with one
more capable." On 5 April, 1744, he writes to Cadwalader
Golden, "that the society, so far as it relates to Philadelphia, is
actually formed, and has had several meetings to mutual satis-
faction." The vicissitudes of this society, whose vigour
lessened during Franklin's long absences abroad, need only to
be referred to here in connection with its reorganization in
January, 1769, when Dr. Franklin was chosen President, although
then absent in London, to which office he was annually elected
until his death.

In writing about his first proposal for an academy in 1743,
he said, 11

I had on the whole, abundant reason to be satisfied with my being
established in Pennsylvania. There were, however, two things that I

10 Bigelow, ii. I. Duyckinck, i. 575.

He continues : ' ' the members are

Dr Thomas Bond, as Physician

Mr John Bartram, as Botanist

Mr Thomas Godfrey, as Mathematician

Mr Samuel Rhoads, as Mechanician

Mr William Parsons, as Geographer

Dr Phineas Bond, as General Nat. Philosopher

Mr Thomas Hopkinson, President

Mr William Coleman, Treasurer

B. F , Secretary, To whom the following members have since

been added, viz : Mr Alexander, of New York ; Mr Morris, Chief Justice of the Jer-
seys ; Mr Home, Secretary of do ; Mr John Coxe of Trenton ; and Mr Martyn, of
the same place. Mr Nicholls tells me of several other gentlemen of this city that
incline to encourage the thing; and there are a number of others, in Virginia, Mary-
land, and the New England colonies, we expect to join us as soon as they are
acquainted that the Society has begun to form itself."

11 Bigelow, i. 212.

32 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

regretted, there being no provision for defence, nor for a compleat educa-
tion of youth ; no militia, nor any college.

His plans for education had been laid aside for the present,
we have seen ; his plans for defence of his city against foreign
invasion did not culminate for four years. Of them he writes, 12

With respect to defense, Spain having been several years at war
against Great Britain, and being at length join'd by France, which brought
us into great danger ; and laboured and long continued endeavour of our
governor, Thomas, to prevail with our Quaker Assembly to pass a militia
law, and make other provisions for the security of the province, having
proved abortive, I determined to try what might be done by a voluntary
association of the people. To promote this, I first wrote and published
a pamphlet, entitled, PLAIN TRUTH. * * * The pamphlet had a
sudden and surprising effect. I was call' d upon for the instrument of
association, and having settled the draft of it with a few friends, I appointed
a meeting of the citizens in the large building before mentioned, [afterwards
the first home of the University]. The house was pretty full ; I had pre-
pared a number of printed copies, and provided pens and ink dispers'd
all over the room. I harangued them a little on the subject, read the
paper and explained it, and then distributed the copies, which were eagerly
signed, not the least objection being made. When the company sepa-
rated, and the papers were collected, we found above twelve hundred
hands ; and other copies being dispersed in the country, the subscribers
amounted at length to upwards of ten thousand.

Thus was formed in November, 1747, the new militia, or
Associators as they were called. The officers of the companies
composing the Philadelphia regiment chose Franklin as their
lieutenant colonel, 13 "but, conceiving myself unfit, I declined
that station," he writes, "and recommended Mr. Lawrence."

By April following nearly one thousand associations were
under arms, and batteries were erected on the river front, the
grand battery near the Swedes Church, on ground afterwards
occupied by the United States Navy Yard, being named the
Association Battery. But the news of the peace concluded at
Aix la Chapelle in April reached Philadelphia on 24 August,
1748, and their zeal and resolution had no trial of contest with
the dreaded enemy. Franklin adds u

It was thought by some of my friends, that, by my activity in these

12 Bigelow, i. 213. 13 Ibid, i. 214. u Ibid, i. 216.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 33

affairs, I should offend the Quakers, and thereby lose my interest in the
Assembly of the province, where they formed a great majority. * * *
However, I was chosen again unanimously as clerk at the next election.
Possibly, as theydislik'd my late intimacy with the members of Council,
who had joined the governors in all the disputes about military prepara-
tions, with which the House had long been harassed, they might have been
pleas' d if I would voluntarily have left them ; but they did not care to dis-
place me on account merely of my zeal for the Association, and they could
not well give another reason. Indeed, I had some cause to believe, that
the defense of the country was not disagreeable to any of them, provided
they were not required to assist in it. 15

Thus far have been briefly stated the more notable actions
in the first half of the life of the man who conceived the plan
and laid the foundation of the institution of learning whose
history is here attempted ; and to all those who claim it as their
alma mater, it must be a matter of reasonable pride that its
Father was a man whose rare genius, and strong mind, and
whose diligent employment and nurture of the various facul-
ties his Creator had endowed him with, have made the name of
Benjamin Franklin of world wide note. Other institutions of
like character have an earlier origin, some may have a wider
reputation ; but none in our country can claim such paternity.
It is well to review here in the outset his wonderful success in
all practical matters ; his untiring occupation of every waking
hour either in self improvement, or in seeking the improvement
of others ; in advancing the welfare of his city, his province, and
his country at large ; in probing the secrets of nature in wind
or current, or in that more subtle force which we name elec-
tricity whose present great development into practical uses
brings afresh to mind the man who was among the first to make
his fellows familiar with its wonders ; in promoting learning ; in
disseminating useful knowledge in all the communities to which
his influence reached ; in laboring for better municipal govern-
ment ; in securing local betterments in street ways and lighting ;
in arousing his fellow citizens to practical measures to secure

15 Richard Peters approvingly narrates this Association and names Franklin as
the author of it in his letter to the Proprietaries, 29 November, 1747. Sparks, vii. 20.
The plan had not at first commended itself to them, as savoring too much of inde-
pendence in military matters.

34 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

their defence against the foreign foe ; in striving with the out-
stretched olive branch to prevent the mother country forcing a
rupture with her transatlantic children, and when disappointed
in that, holding with his masterly diplomatic skill foreign nations
to their pledged alliance with us ; and under all circumstances,
in adversity as well as in prosperity, under bodily ailments as
well as with full physical health, pursuing with calmness and an
even tenor almost superhuman the paths of usefulness and duty
which he made, or which were laid upon him by a constituency
not always grateful, in private and public life equally faithful to
the ends in view and the interests confided to him. Such a man
it is well to hold up to the view of those who may in the coming
years seek their learning on his foundations as an example of a
manly and rightful ambition, of rare diligence and thrift, and of
a true catholic spirit and abounding industry. He fulfilled the
unconscious prediction of his worthy father, who commended to
him the saying of the Wise Man, " Seest thou a man diligent in
his business ? he shall stand before kings ; he shall not stand
before mean men."

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 35

VIII.

The birth of the university marks the half way point in
Franklin's life ; in the pursuit of its history we cannot fail to
note his work from time to time in behalf of his native country,
for we must watch the events by his share in which he was ele-
vated more and more to public notoriety, and some of which
nearly concerned the institution whose trusteeship he faithfully
continued in to his last days, though his long absences in his
country's service deprived it for many consecutive years of that
prudent and skilful counsel, which, if exercised, had perhaps
spared it from its great disaster of 1779.

The attempt of 1743 had not been forgotten by him, and
though he had not within view any capable or experienced per-
son to take it in charge, he sought counsel of his friends, Mr.
Peters included, and now made public his designs. " Peace
being concluded," T he says in his Narrative,

and the association business therefore at an end, I turn'd my thoughts
again to the affair of establishing an academy. The first step I
took was to associate in the design a number of active friends, of whom
the Junto furnished a good part ; the next was to write and publish a
pamphlet, entitled, Proposals relating to the Education of Youth in Penn-
sylvania. This I distributed among the principal inhabitants gratis; and
as soon as I could suppose their minds a little prepared by the perusal of
it, I set on foot a subscription for opening and supporting an academy.

And he adds a sentence in his usual vein showing how
little anxious he was to claim the authorship of the plan :

In the introduction to these proposals, I started their publication not

1 Bigelow, 224, 25. These Proposals of 1749 are not found in Mr. Bigelow's
Complete Works of Franklin. See Sparks, i. 569, where they are inserted with Mr.
Spark's literary freedom ; but will be found herein correctly recorded in Appendix
I, without however carrying the author's copious and many notes wherein he
transcribed authorities endorsing his objects and his methods. Upon the appearance
of Volumes i. and ii. of Mr. Bigelow's valuable work, his attention was called to the
omission of the Proposals, and he replied, 23 April, 1887, "it will appear in one of
the later volumes which is now in the hands of the printer Why it was assigned to
a later date I do not remember, nor could I satisfy myself without reference to the
copy, which at present would be inconvenient. It will serve your purpose, I hope,
to know that it had not been overlooked." Doubtless the failure to obtain a copy of
the original prevented this consummation. Of this rare publication but three copies
are now known to be preserved, one of them, happily, is in the possession of the
University, the Pennsylvania Historical Society and the Boston Athenasum owning
the other two.

36 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

as an act of mine, but of more publick spirited gentlemen ; avoiding as
much as I could, according to my usual rule, the presenting myself to the
public as the author of any scheme for their benefit.

We can name the time of the issue of this remarkable
paper by his advertisement already quoted.

His first section of the Proposals opens with the well
known axiom that " the good education of youth has been
esteemed by wise men in all ages, as the surest foundation of
the happiness of both private families and commonwealths," and
proceeds to state the further fact that " almost all governments
have therefore made it a principal object of their attention, to
establish and endow with proper revenues such seminaries of
learning, as might supply the succeeding age with men qualified
to serve the public with honor to themselves and to their
country."

The present necessity lying on the colonists to restore and
maintain a "good education" is well stated in the next section.
" Many of the first settlers of these provinces were men who
had received a good education in Europe ; and to their wisdom
and good management we owe much of our present prosperity.
But their hands were full, and they could not do all things.
The present race are not thought to be generally of equal ability:
for, though the American youth are allowed not to want capacity,
yet the best capacities require cultivation ; it being truly with
them, as with the best ground, which, unless well tilled and
sowed with profitable seed, produces only ranker weeds." He
then proceeds; "that we may obtain the advantages arising
from an increase of knowledge, and prevent, as much as may
be, the mischievous consequences that would attend a general
ignorance among us, the following hints are offered towards
forming a plan for the education of the youth of Pennsylvania."

The entire text of the paper will be found elsewhere, but
there are some propositions it submits which call for especial
note as they are as fruitful in suggestions now as then. One of
the first points to a paternal management, giving this preference
over the scholastic :

That the members of the corporation make it their pleasure, and in

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 37

some degree their business, to visit the Academy often, encourage and
countenance the youth, countenance and assist the masters, and by all
means in their power advance the usefulness and reputation of the design ;
that they look on the students as in some sort their children, treat them
with familiarity and affection, and, when they have behaved well, and gone
through their studies, and are to enter the world, zealously unite, and make
all the interest that can be made to establish them, whether in business,
offices, marriages, or any other thing for their advantage, preferably to all
other persons whatsoever, even of equal merit

The next is a proper habitation :

That a house be provided for the Academy, if not in the town, not
many miles from it ; the situation high and dry, and, if it may be, not far
from a river, having a garden, orchard, meadow, and a field or two. [And,]
that the house be furnished with a library if in the country, (if in the town,
the town libraries may serve.) 2

And further,

that the Rector be a man of good understanding, good morals, diligent
and patient, learned in the languages and sciences, and a correct, pure
speaker and writer of the English tongue.

As to the students,

it would be well if they could be taught everything that is useful, and
everything that is ornamental. But art is long, and their time is short*
It is therefore proposed, that they learn those things that are likely to be
the most useful and most ornamental ; regard being had to the several pro-
fessions for which they are intended. * * * Reading should also be
taught, and pronouncing properly, distinctly, emphatically ; not with an
even tone, which under-does, nor a theatrical, which over-does nature. To
form their style, they should be put in writing letters to each other, making

2 Upon the site of a College we have Antony a Woods loving reference to
Oxford : " First a good and pleasant site, where there is a wholesome and temperate
constitution of the air ; composed with waters, springs or wells, woods and pleasant
fields ; which being obtained, those commodities are enough to invite students to
stay and abide there. As the Athenians in ancient times were happy for their conve-
niences, so also were the Britons, when by a remnant of the Grecians that came
amongst them, they or their successors selected such a place in Britain to plant a
school or schools therein, which for its pleasant situation was afterwards called Bello-
situm or Belosite now Oxford, privileged with all those conveniences before men-
tioned." Quoted by John Henry Newman in his Office and Work of Universities,
London, 1856, p. 40. In a previous page Cardinal Newman had said, "If I were
asked to describe as briefly and popularly as I could what a University was, I should
draw my answer from its ancient designation of a Studiam Gfnerale, or school of
Universal Learning ' ' a school of knowledge of every kind, consisting of

teachers and learners from every quarter * * * a place for the communication
and circulation of thought by means of personal intercourse through a wide extent of
country," p. 9.

s Ars longa, vita brevis. Hippocrates, Aphorism.

38 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

abstracts of what they read, or writing the same things in their own words ;
telling or writing stories lately read, in their own expressions.

Here we are reminded of Franklin's own early experiments
in composition ; when a lad of but thirteen or fourteen years
reading the Spectator made him ambitious to excel in style. 4 And
with the view, if possible, of imitating it, his narrative tells us

I took some of the papers, and making short hints of the sentiment
in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then, without looking at
the book, try'd to compleat the papers again, by expressing each hinted
sentiment at length, and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any
suitable words that should occur to me. Then I compared my Spectator
with the original, discovered some of my faults, and corrected them. But
I found I wanted a stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and
using them, which I thought I should have acquired before that time if I
had gone on making verses ; since the continual occasion for words of the
same import, but of different length to suit the measure, or of different
sound for the rhyme, would have laid me under a constant necessity of
searching for variety, and also have tended to fix that variety in my mind,
and make me master of it. Therefore I took some of the tales and turned
them into verse ; and, after a time, when I had pretty well forgotten the
prose, turned them back again . * * * By comparing my work after-
wards with the original, I discovered my faults, and amended them ; but I
sometimes had the pleasure of fancying that, in certain particulars of small
import, I had been lucky enough to improve the method or the language,
and this encouraged me to think, that I might possibly in time come to be
a tolerable English writer ; of which I was extremely ambitious.

Franklin became more than a tolerable English writer, and
he remained to his latest years a master in the art ; and the
foundation of this was laid in the strenuous efforts of his boy-
hood for success, the memory of which must have been in
his mind even when he was writing his Proposals, to which after
this digression we must turn again.

He recurs to History, as embracing Geography, Chronol-
ogy, Ancient Customs, Morals, Politics, and Oratory :

History will also give occasion to expatiate on the advantage of civil
orders and constitutions ; how men and their properties are protected by
joining in societies and establishing government ; their industry encour-
aged and rewarded, arts invented, and life made more comfortable ; the

4 Bigelow, i. 48.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 39

advantages of liberty, mischiefs of licentiousness, benefits arising from
good laws and a due execution of justice, &c. Thus may the first princi-
ples of sound politics be fixed in the minds of youth. On historical occa-
sions, questions of right and wrong, justice and injustice, will naturally
arise, and may be put to youth, which they may debate in conversation
and in writing. * * * Public disputes warm the imagination, whet
the industry, and strengthen the natural abilities.

And of the ancient languages, hear how the master in
English writes :

When youth are told, that the great men, whose lives and actions
they read in history, spoke two of the best languages that ever were, the
most expressive, copious, beautiful ; and that the finest writings, the most
correct compositions, the most perfect productions of human wit and wis-
dom, are in those languages, which have endured for ages, and will endure
while there are men; that no translation can do them justice, or give the
pleasure found in reading the originals; that those languages contain all
science; that one of them is become almost universal, being the language
of learned men in all countries ; that to understand them is a distinguish-
ing ornament ; &c. , &c., they may be thereby made desirous of learning
those languages, and their industry sharpened in the acquisition of them.
All intended for divinity, should be taught the Latin and Greek ; for physic,
the Latin, Greek, and French; for law, the Latin and French ; merchants,
the French, German, and Spanish; and, though all should not be com-
pelled to learn Latin, Greek, or the modern foreign languages, yet none
that have an ardent desire to learn them should be refused; their English,
arithmetic and other studies absolutely necessary, being at the same time
not neglected. * * * With the history of men, times, and nations,
should be read at proper hours or days, some of the best histories of nature,
which would not only be delightful to youth, and furnish them with matter
for their letters, &c., as well as other history; but afterwards of great use
to them, whether they are merchants, handicrafts, or divines ; enabling
the first the better to understand many commodities, drugs, &c., the second
to improve his trade in handicraft by new mixtures, materials, &c., and
the last to adorn his discourses by beautiful comparisons, and strengthen
them by new proofs of divine providence. The conversation of all will be
improved by it, as occasions frequently occur of making natural observa-
tions, which are instructive, agreeable, and entertaining in almost all com-
panies. * While they are reading natural history, might not a
little gardening, planting, grafting, inoculating, &c., be taught and prac-
tised; and now and then excursions made to the neighboring plantations of
the best farmers, their methods observed and reasoned upon for the infor-
mation of youth. * The history of commerce, of the invention

4O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

of arts, rise of manufactures, progress of trade, change of its seats, with
the reasons, causes, &c. , may also be made entertaining to youth, and will
be useful to all.

And the concluding lines enforce yet higher aims :

With the whole should be constantly inculcated and cultivated that
benignity of mind, which shows itself in searching for and seizing every
opportunity to serve and to oblige ; and is the foundation of what is called
good breeding ; highly useful to the possessor, and most agreeable to all.
The idea of what is true merit should also be often presented to youth,
explained and impressed on their minds, as consisting in an inclination,
joined with an ability, to serve mankind, one's country, friends, and
family; which ability is, (with the blessing of God), to be acquired or
greatly increased by true learning ; and should, indeed, be the great aim
and end of all learning.

IX.

Before considering the result of the publication of these
Proposals in the community, we may well take some note of the
educational facilities of the city at this period, the imperfections
of which led Franklin and his associates to formulate something
on a higher plane and to establish a more enduring system.
Before the advent of William Penn's colonists, the schooling of
the young Swedes and Dutch was of a very simple character ;
the systems which the first emigrants had the advantage of at
home they seemed to have but little will and less opportunity to
enforce on the banks of the Delaware. Their faithful clergy
could carry on the elementary branches among the younger
members of their flock, but their pastoral duties must take pre-
cedence. The advent of the Friends brought back more
energy and more learning into the province, and the diligence
and thrift they displayed in all matters were equally felt in their
care of the younger generation. Gabriel Thomas, in his His-
torical Description of the Province of Pennsylvania, including an

HISTORY OF THE UINIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 41

account of the City of Philadelphia, written in 1697, records,
" In the said city are several good schools of learning for youth,
in order to the attainment of arts and sciences, as also reading,
writing, &c." It may be without design that his following sen-
tence has it that " here is to be had, on any day in the week,
tarts, pies, cakes, &c.," as his thoughts naturally would turn to
the latter upon the consideration of children's schools and their
lunches. And later he says, " the Christian children born here
are generally well favored, and beautiful to behold ;" and " of
lawyers and physicans I shall say nothing, because this country is
very peaceable and healthy;" also "jealousy among men is
here very rare, nor are old maids to be met with ; for all com-
monly marry before they are twenty years of age."

The earliest Friends' school of which we find mention is in
the minutes of a Council held 26 December, 1683, at which
William Penn was present, when

having taken into their serious consideration the great necessity there is
of a School Master for the instruction and sober education of youth in
the town of Philadelphia, sent for Enoch Flower, an inhabitant of the
said town, who for twenty years past hath been exercised in that care and
imployment in England, to whom having communciated their minds, he
embraced it upon certain terms, [but this only included the rudiments of
an ordinary English education] ; for boarding a scholar, that is to say,
diet, washing, lodging, and schooling, Ten pounds for one whole year
[But at a council held on the 17 January following,] it was proposed, that
care be taken about the learning and instruction of youth, to wit : a school
of arts and sciences.

Following these efforts came in 1689 the Friends " Publick
School, founded by Charter in ye town and County of Philadel-
phia in Pensilvania," under William Penn's Charters of 1701,
1708, and 1711, which confirmed the charter of 1697, granted
by William Markham, Lieutenant Governor, and which we
know to this day as the Penn Charter School, whose reputation
in efficiency and success in imparting a good and true education
make it rank with the best schools in the land. Its first teacher
was a native of Aberdeen, and a graduate of the University of
his native city, of which the first Provost of the College
and Academy of Philadelphia had been a matriculate.

42 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

George Keith and William Smith both have left their
mark in the annals of Philadelphia ; but the former
made for himself a stormy life and for his old associates
here much contention. George Keith was born in 1638,
and at the University was a student while Gilbert Burnet,
Bishop of Salisbury and five years his junior, was there ; he was
originally a member of the Scotch Kirk, but afterwards em-
braced the doctrines of the Friends of which he became a bold
and shining advocate, " and who by his remarkable diligence
and industry in all parts of his ministerial office, rendered him-
self beloved "of them all, especially the more inferior sort of
people." 1 In 1682 he came to America; in 1687 as Surveyor
he was employed on the boundary line between East and West
Jersey, and in 1689 came to Philadelphia to take charge of the
new Public School. In less than two years time dissensions
arose from his assuming conduct ; Proud 2 describes him " to
be of a brittle temper, and over-bearing disposition of mind.
* * His great confidence in his own superior abilities
seems to have been one, if not the chief, introductory cause of
this unhappy dispute." Doubtless his confidence in Friends
views was slackening, and his adherence to their peculiar ways
was weakening, unknown to himself at first, and his strong will
let loose became impatient at the Society's restraints. However
this may be, he was disowned by them on 20 June, 1692. He,
and those who clung to him, called themselves Christian
Quakers, and the others Apostates, and appealed to the Lon-
don Yearly Meeting, but without avail, although he crossed the
ocean to champion his own cause. Eventually he sought mem-
bership in the Church of England, and was ordained to her
ministry in May, 1700. He was sent out to the colonies as a
Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,
where his zeal against the Friends equalled in force the zeal he
had displayed on their behalf twenty years before. He re-
turned to England, and died in his living of Edburton in 1716,

1 Gerard Croese, quoted in Collections P. E. Historical Society, 1837, p. xi.

2 History of Pennsylvania, i. 363.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 43

Bishop Burnet said of his college mate 3 " he was esteemed the
most learned man that ever was in that Sect ; he was well
versed both in the Oriental tongues, in Philosophy and Mathe-
matics." Dr. Wickersham says " his success was not great " at
the school, and his disappointment may have opened the door
for his restlessness in the Society.

He was succeeded by his usher, Thomas Makin, who con-
tinued in charge for many years. Franklin, in the Pennsylvania
Gazette of 29 November, 1733, announces his death by drown-
ing, and speaks of him "as an ancient man, and formerly lived
very well in this city, teaching a considerable school." His
Descriptio Pennsylvania, anno 1729, Proud gives us and also
favors us with an English version. He refers to the Publick
School thus :

Hie in gymnafiis linguae docentur & artes
Ingenuae; multis doctor & ipse fui.

Una Schola hie alias etiam superemivet omnes
Romano & Grceco quaa docet ore loqui.

The charter of 1701 placed the management of this school
in the Monthly Meeting. That of 1708 took this from the
Meeting and gave it to " fifteen discreet and religious persons of
the people called Quakers" as a Board of Overseers. James
Logan and Issac Norris were overseers when becoming Trustees
of the College and Academy, but their acceptance of this trust
in 1749 was deemed by the Friends inconsistent with their
duties as Overseers of the Publick School. The opening of the
new College and Academy by a form of divine service and a set
sermon probably disqualified Friends from serving in its behalf,
or at least made their presence in its counsels not in accord with
the Society's testimony. James Logan attended for the only
time a meeting of the Trustees of the Academy on 26 Decem-
ber, 1749. He had been from the outset an Overseer of the
Publick School, the minutes of which show him to have been

3 "One George Keith, a Scotchman with whom I had my first education at
Aberdeen; he had been thirty six years among them; * * " after he had been
about thirty years in high esteem among them he was sent to Pensilvania (a colony
set up by Pen where they are very numerous) to have the chief direction of the
education of their youth." History of My Own Times, ii. 248, 9.

44 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

an infrequent attendant at their meetings, indeed he had not
been at any for nine years. His meeting with the Academy
Trustees could not be overlooked, and on 21 February, 1751,
the Overseers recorded a Minute, namely, "inasmuch as James
Logan hath been for some time past by several Fitts of the Palsy
rendered quite incapable of any further service as an over-
seer, without any prospect of his recovery and as he some time
before his being so indispos'd express'd his declining the Trust,
as he could not give his attendance, it is therefore concluded to
choose another in his place." On James Logan's death only a
few months following, the vacancy in the Academy Board was
supplied by electing his son-in-law, Isaac Norris, on 12 Novem-
ber, 1751. He likewise was an Overseer, succeeding his Father
in the Board, but his attendance there was as rare as Logan's :
and the Overseers at a meeting on 30 March, 1752 gave it as
their sense that

Isaac Norris having for several years past neglected attending the meetings
of this Board and having lately accepted of the Trusteeship of the Acade-
my it is the opinion of this Board that it is necessary to enquire whether
he still inclines to continue a member of this Corporation and if he does
to acquaint him, that it is expected and desired by us that he should dem-
onstrate his concern for promoting the Institution by attending of our
meetings, and Joshua Comly and Samuel Preston Moore having at a
former meeting undertaken to converse with him on this subject, the latter
of them is now reminded of it and desired to take an opportunity of doing
it before our next meeting.

The only time Isaac Norris attended a meeting of the Academy
Trustees was on 11 August following, when "the Trustees
visited the Latin School and did no other Business." He re-
signed this Trusteeship on 17 March, 1755, owing to his resi-
dence out of town and to his ailments ; in the meanwhile the
Friends dealt tenderly with him for his neglect of his Overseer-
ship. And it is not until 6 March, 1756, that we find this dis-
posing Minute :

Isaac Norris by the committee appointed to wait on him informed the
Board of the satisfaction this account of the present state of the schools
affords him, and of his inclinations to promote the service of it which he is
willing to manifest by any assistance he can give the master and occasion-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 45

ally visiting the school and examining the scholars, but that as he is often
indisposed and lives out of town he cannot duly attend the meetings of the
Board and therefore desires to resign his Trust and that the Board would
chose another Overseer in his place.

The principal school building of the Overseers was on the
East side of Fourth Street south of Chestnut, to this were
added certain charity schools in different sections of the city.
The usefulness of the Penn Charter School is greatly enlarged
to day by their increased means derived from the modern im-
provements of their Fourth Street property. Nothing can be
added here on the subject of early educational labors in our city
to Dr. Wickersham's History of Education in Pennsylvania,
which is a storehouse of information and an interesting record of
the efforts of our forefathers to secure efficient training to the
coming generations. There were other schools, of moderate
influence; Christ Church had its school building before 1709
where a plain education was furnished at moderate or at no
cost ; and some of the other churches labored in the same direc-
tion. But the Penn Charter School maintained the lead ; yet it
could not have filled all the needs of the growing community,
otherwise in 1749 Franklin's efforts for a school of broader
scope and higher aims could not so speedily have been organ-
ized, and the aid secured by him of the leading Quaker citizens
in the town to further the project. With all Franklin's friend-
ship with the Friends, he realised the importance of establishing
a school on a more catholic basis, in whose management all
classes and all churches could have a reasonable representation.
The faithful performance by the Overseers of the simple require-
ments of their charter was all that could be asked of them, and
to this they were true ; but his foresight of the needs of the
future showed him plainly that no time now should be lost in
laying the foundations of something larger and more elastic.
Harvard and Yale he had heard of and known in his earliest
days ; and the young college at Princeton had already graduated
a Stockton and a Burnet, and among its matriculants were a
Frelinghuysen, a McClintock, a Scudder, and a Livermore.

46 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Such was the spirit and effect of Franklin's Proposals, and
the zeal and personal influence of its author, that the plan
reached consummation within a few weeks time. He tells us,
" the subscribers, to carry the project into immediate execution,
chose out of their number twenty-four trustees, and appointed
Mr. Francis, then Attorney General, and myself, to draw up
constitutions for the government of the academy." 7 These con-
stitutions are worthy of entire perusal, as they embody a widely
useful plan of education, and an admirable system of govern-
ment. From their style in parts, we find good reason to think
that Franklin's ideas were committed to the Attorney General
for a fitting phraseology, but we miss the terseness and lucidity
of expression, though recognizing here and there his interline-
ations, as for instance, where in the first section the " English
tongue is to be taught grammatically " we see Franklin adding
the words " and as a language," by which he would emphasize
his sense of the importance of keeping our Mother tongue
foremost in the aims of the institution. Later on it will be seen
how tenacious he was of this when other influences appeared to
be making what he called the dead languages the principal aim
in the curriculum.

CONSTITUTIONS

OF THE

PUBLICK ACADEMY

IN THE

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA.

As nothing can more effectually contribute to the Cultivation and
Improvement of a Country, the Wisdom, Riches and Strength, Virtue and
Piety, the Welfare and Happiness of a People, than a proper Education
of Youth, by forming their Manners, imbuing their tender Minds with
Principles of Rectitude and Morality, instructing them in the dead and
living Languages, particularly their Mother Tongue, and all useful Branches
of liberal Arts and Science. For attaining these great and important
Advantages, so far as the present State of our Infant Country will admit,

7 Bigelow, i. 225.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 47

and laying a Foundation for Posterity to erect a Seminary of Learning more
extensive and suitable to their future Circumstances ; An ACADEMY for
teaching the Latin and Greek Languages, the English Tongue grammati-
cally, and as a Language, the most useful living foreign Languages, French,
German, and Spanish : As matters of Erudition naturally flowing from the
Languages, History, Geography, Chronology, Logick and Rhetoric k ;
Writing, Arithmetick ; the several Branches of the Mathematicks ;
Natural 'and Mechanic Philosophy; Drawing in Perspective; and every
other Part of Useful Learning and Knowledge, shall be set up, maintained
and have Continuance within the City of Philadelphia, in manner follow-
ing. Twenty-four Persons, To wit, James Logan, Thomas Lawrence,
William Allen, John Inglis, Tench Francis, William Masters, Lloyd
Zachary, Samuel Me Call, junior, Joseph Turner, Benjamin Franklin,
Thomas Leech, William Shippen, Robert Strettell, Philip Syng, Charles
Willing, Phineas Bond, Richard Peters, Abraham Taylor, Thomas Bond,
Thomas Hopkinson, William Plumstead, Joshua Maddox, Thomas White,
and William Coleman, of the City of Philadelphia, shall be TRUSTEES to
begin and carry into Execution this good and pious Undertaking, who
shall not for any Services by them as Trustees performed, claim or receive
any Reward or Compensation ; which number shall always be continued,
but never exceeded, upon any Motive whatever.

WHEN any Trustee shall remove his Habitation far from the City of
Philadelphia, reside beyond Sea, or die, the remaining Trustees shall with
all convenient speed, proceed to elect another, residing in or near the
City, to fill the Place of the absenting or deceased Person.

THE Trustees shall have general Conventions once in every Month,
and may, on special Occasions, meet at other Times on Notice, at some
convenient Place, within the City of Philadelphia, to transact the Business
incumbent on them ; and shall, in the Gazette, advertize the Time and
Place of their general Conventions.

NOTHING shall be transacted by the Trustees, or under their Author-
ity, alone, unless the same be voted by a Majority of their whole Number,
if at a general Convention ; and if at a special Meeting, by a like Majority,
upon personal Notice given to each Trustee, at least one Day before, to
attend.

THE Trustees shall at their first Meeting elect a PRESIDENT for One
Year, whose particular Duty it shall be, when present, to regulate their
Debates, and state the proper Questions arising from them, and to order
Notices to be given of the Times and Places of their special Conventions.
And the like Election shall be annually made, at their first Meeting, after
the Expiration of each Year.

THE Trustees shall annually choose one of their own Members for a
TREASURER, who shall receive all Donations, and Money due to them, and

48 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

disburse and lay out the same, according to their Orders ; and at the end
of each Year, pay the Sum remaining in his Hands to his Successor.

ALL Contracts and Assurances for Payment of Money to them, shall
be made in the name of the Treasurer for the Time being, and declared to
be in Trust for the Use of the Trustees.

THE Trustees may appoint a Clerk, whose Duty in particular it shall
be, to attend them in their general and special Conventions, to give Notice
in Writing to the Members, of the Time, Place and Design of any special
Meetings ; to register all their Proceedings, and extract a State of their
Accounts annually, to be published in the Gazette; for which they may
pay him such Salary as they shall think reasonable.

THE Trustees shall, with all convenient Speed, after signing these
Constitutions, contract with any Person that offers, who they shall judge
most capable, of teaching the Latin and Greek Languages, History, Geog-
raphy, Chronology and Rhetorick ; having great Regard at the same Time
to his Polite Speaking, Writing, and Understanding the English Tongue ;
which Person shall in Fact be, and shall be stiled, the RECTOR of the
Academy.

THE Trustees may contract with the Rector for the Term of Five
Years, or less, at their Discretion, for the Sum of Two Hundred Pounds a
Year.

THE Rector shall be obliged, without the Assistance of any Tutor, to
teach twenty scholars, the Latin and Greek Languages, and at the same
Time, according to the best of his Capacity, to instruct them in History,
Geography, Chronology, Logick, Rhetorick, and the English Tongue ; and
Twenty-five Scholars more for every Usher provided for him, who shall be
entirely subject to his Direction.

THE Rector shall upon all Occasions, consistent with his Duty in the
Latin School, assist the English Master, in improving the Youth under his
Care, and superintend the Instruction of all the Scholars in the other
Branches of Learning, taught within the Academy and see that the Masters
in each Art and Science perform their Duties.

THE Trustees shall, with all convenient Speed, contract with any
Person that offers, who they shall judge most capable, of teaching the
English Tongue grammatically, and as a Language, History, Geography,
Chronology, Logick and Oratory ; which Person shall be stiled the ENGLISH
MASTER.

THE Trustees may contract with the English Master for the Term of
Five Years, or less, at their Discretion, for the Sum of One Hundred
Pounds a Year.

THE English Master shall be obliged, without the Assistance of any
Tutor, to teach Forty Scholars the English Tongue grammatically,
and as a Language ; and at the same Time, according to the best of his

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 49

Capacity, to instruct them in History, Geography, Chronology, Logick, and
Oratory ; and Sixty Scholars more for every Tutor provided for him.

THE Tutors for the Latin and Greek School, shall be admitted, and
at Pleasure removed, by the Trustees and the Rector, or a majority of
them.

THE Tutors for the English School, shall be admitted, and at Pleas-
ure removed, by the Trustees and the English Master, or a majority of them.

THE Trustees 'shall contract with each Tutor, to pay him what they
shall judge proportionable to his Capacity and Merit.

NEITHER the Rector, nor English Master shall be removed, unless
disabled by sickness, or other natural Infirmity, or for gross voluntary
Neglect of Duty, continued after two Admonitions from the Trustees, or
for committing infamous Crimes ; and such Removal be voted by three
Fourths of the Trustees ; after which their Salaries respectively shall cease.

THE Trustees shall, with all convenient speed, endeavour to engage
Persons capable of teaching the French, Spanish, and German Languages,
Writing, Arithmetick, the several Branches of the Mathematicks, Natural
and Mechanic Philosophy, and Drawing ; who shall give their Attendance,
as soon as a sufficient Number of Scholars shall offer to be instructed in
those Parts of Learning ; and be paid such Salaries and Rewards, as the
Trustees shall from Time to Time be able to allow.

EACH Scholar shall pay such Sum or Sums, quarterly, according to
the particular Branches of Learning they shall desire to be taught, as the
Trustees shall from Time to Time settle and appoint.

No Scholar shall be admitted, or taught within the Academy, without
the Consent of the major Part of the Trustees in Writing, signed with their
Names.

IN Case of the Disability of the Rector, or any Master established on
the Foundation, by receiving a certain Salary, through sickness, or any
other natural Infirmity, whereby he may be reduced to Poverty, the Trus-
tees shall have Power to contribute to his Support, in Proportion to his
Distress and Merit, and the Stock in their Hands.

FOR the Security of the Trustees, in contracting with the Rector,
Masters and Tutors ; to enable them to provide and fit up Convenient
Schools ; furnish them with Books of general Use, that may be too expen-
sive for each Scholar ; Maps, Draughts, and other Things, generally neces-
sary, for the Improvement of the Youth ; and to bear the incumbent
Charges that will unavoidably attend this Undertaking, especially in the
Beginning ; the Donations of all Persons inclined to encourage it, are to
be chearfully and thankfully accepted.

THE Academy shall be open'd with all convenient speed, by Accept-
ing the first good Master that offers, either for teaching the Latin and
Greek ; or English, under the Terms above proposed.

5O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ALL Rules for the Attendance and Duty of the Masters, the Conduct
of the Youth, and the facilitating their Progress in Learning and Virtue,
shall be framed by the Masters, in Conjunction with the Trustees.

IF the Scholars shall hereafter grow very numerous, and the Funds
be sufficient, the Trustees may at their Discretion augment the Salaries of
the Rector or Masters.

THE Trustees, to increase their Stock, may let their Money out at
Interest.

IN general, the Trustees shall have Power to dispose of all Money
received by them, as they shall think best for the Advantage, Promotion,
and even Enlargement of this design.

THE Trustees may hereafter add to or change any of these Constitu-
tions ; except that hereby declared to be invariable.

ALL Trustees, Rectors, Masters, Tutors, Clerks, and other Ministers,
hereafter to be elected or appointed, for carrying this Undertaking into
Execution, shall, before they be admitted to the Exercise of their respective
Trusts or Duties, sign these Constitutions, or some others to be hereafter
framed by the Trustees in their stead, in Testimony of their then approving
of, and resolving to observe them.

UPON the Death or Absence as aforesaid of any Trustee, the remain-
ing Trustees shall not have Authority to exercise any of the Powers reposed
in them, until they have chosen a new Trustee in his Place, and such new
Trustee shall have signed the established Constitutions ; which if he shall
refuse to do, they shall proceed to elect another, and so toties quoties, until
the Person elected shall sign the Constitutions.

WHEN the Fund is sufficient to bear the charge, which it is hoped
thro' the Boimty and Charity of well disposed Persons, will soon come to
pass, poor children shall be admitted, and taught gratis, what shall be
thought suitable to their capacities and circumstances.

IT is hoped and expected, that the Trustees will make it their Pleas-
ure, and in some Degree their Business, to visit the Academy often, to
encourage and countenance the Youth, countenance and assist the Masters,
and, by all Means in their Power, advance the Usefulness and Reputation
of the Design ; that they will look on the Students as, in some Measure,
their own Children, treat them with Familiarity and Affection; and when
they have behaved well, gone thro' their Studies, and are to enter the
World, they shall zealously unite, and make all the Interest that can be
made, to promote and establish them, whether in Business, Offices, Mar-
riages, or any other Thing for their Advantage, preferable to all other
Persons whatsoever, even of equal merit.

The Trustees shall in a Body visit the Academy once a year extraor-
dinary, to view and hear the Performances and Lectures of the Scholars,
in such Modes, as their respective Masters shall think proper, and shall

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 51

have Power, out of their Stock, to make Presents to the most meritorious
Scholars, according to their several Deserts.

The fourteenth Day of November, in the Year of our Lord, One
Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-nine ;

FOR the Encouragement of this useful, good and charitable Under-
taking, to enable the Trustees and their Successors to begin, promote, con-
tinue and enlarge the same, humbly hoping, thro' the Favour of Almighty
GOD, and the Bounty and Patronage of pious and well-disposed Persons,
that it may prove of great and lasting Benefit to the present and future
rising Generations ; WE the subscribers do promise to pay to William
Colt-man, the Treasurer, elected according to the above Constitutions, or
to his Successor or Successors for the Time being, the several sums of
Money by us respectively subscribed to be paid, at the Times in our Sub-
scriptions respectively mentioned. Witness our Hands.

Per Annum, for Five Years,

James Hamilton, Fifty Pounds, ^50 oo oo

Thomas Lawrence, Fifteen Pounds 15 oo oo

Joseph Turner, Twenty Pounds, 20 oo oo

William Allen, Seventy-five Pounds, 75 oo oo

William Masters, Twenty Pounds, 20 oo oo

Lloyd Zachary, Twenty Pounds, 20 oo oo

William Plumsted, Fifteen Pounds, 15 oo oo

Abraham Taylor, Fifteen Pounds, 15 oo oo

Samuel AT Call, Junior, Fifteen Pounds, 15 oo oo

John Inglis, Ten Pounds, 10 oo oo

Charles Willing, Fifteen Pounds 15 oo oo

Thomas Bond, Fifteen Pounds, 1 5 oo oo

Tench Francis, Ten Pounds, 10 oo oo

William Shippen, Ten Pounds, 10 oo oo

Benjamin Franklin, Ten Pounds, 10 oo oo

Phineas Bond, Ten Pounds, 10 oo oo

William Coleman, Ten Pounds, 10 oo oo

Richard Peters, Ten Pounds , 10 oo oo

Joshua Maddox, Ten Pounds 10 oo oo

Robert Strettell, Ten Pounds 10 oo oo

Philip Syng, Six Pounds 6 oo oo

Thomas Leech, Six Pounds 6 oo oo

Jhomas White, Six Pounds, 6 oo oo

52 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

On Monday, 13 November, 1749, nineteen of the Trustees
had assembled for due organization, but of the place of their
meeting we are not told. The first Minute recites :

On the thirteenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thou-
sand seven hundred forty and nine, the following persons, to wit, Thomas
Lawrence, William Allen, John Inglis, Tench Francis, William Masters,
Lloyd Zachary, Samuel M' Call, Jun r , Joseph Turner, Benjamin Franklin,
Thomas Leech, William Shippen, Robert Strettell, Philip Syng, Charles
Willing, Phineas Bond, Richard Peters, Abraham Taylor, Thomas Bond,
and Thomas Hopkinson, met, and having read and approved of the fore-
going Constitutions, signed them with their names, and thereby took upon
themselves the execution of the Trusts in those Constitutions expressed.

Whereupon Mr Benjamin Franklin was elected President and Mr
William Coleman Treasurer for the ensuing year.

The five remaining Trustees, namely James Logan, William
Plumsted, Joshua Maddox, Thomas White, and William Cole-
man, appeared at the next meeting, which did not occur until
26 December, and signed the Constitutions. This was the only
meeting of the Trustees attended by James Logan, although he
remained a Trustee until his death two years later ; his absences,
before referred to, were due to declining years and ill health and
not from want of interest in a work whose character he was in
sympathy with and whose propounder he warmly supported.
Here we can quote Proud's reference to the two greater
or public seminaries of Philadelphia, at this time, as follows :

Besides the numerous private Schools, for the education of youth, in
this city, there are two public seminaries of learning, incorporated by
charter, and provided with funds ; the first, in order of time, is that of the
Quakers, already mentioned in another place, incorporated by the first
Proprietor, William Penn ; ***** The second is the College
and Academy of Philadelphia, of a much later standing, and not existing
as such, before the year 1749 ; but greatly improved of late years ; and is
likely, if its present prudent management be continued, to become here-
after, the most considerable of the kind, perhaps, in British America : the
corporation consists of twenty four members, called Trustees ; they have a
large commodious building, on the West Side of Fourth Street, near Mul-
berry Street, where the different branches of learning and science are
taught, in the various parts of the institution. 1

1 History of Pennsylvania, ii. 281. 1st edition, 1797.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 53

Before we enter upon the further proceedings of the Trus-
tees, let us inform ourselves upon the men, in their personal or
public characters, who now took upon themselves this Trust,
and who laid upon strong foundations an edifice of learning
whose history their well matured plans make it worth our while
to pursue through these its earliest years. In enumerating them
we follow the order of their precedence which was observed in
the deed of conveyance to them of the Tenth street property in
1750 and followed in their first minutes; in the conveyance
they are thus recited and described : l

James Logan, Esquire Robert Strettell, Esquire

Thomas Lawrence, Esquire Philip Syng, Silversmith

William Allen, Esquire Charles Willing, Esquire

John Inglis, Merchant Phineas Bond, Practitioner
Tench Francis, Esquire in Physic

William Masters, Esquire Richard Peters, Esquire

Lloyd Zachary, Practitioner Abraham Taylor, Esquire

in Physic Thomas Bond, Practitioner
Samuel M'Call, jr, Merchant in Physic

Joseph Turner, Esquire Thomas Hopkinson, Esquire

Benjamin Franklin, Printer William Plumsted, Esquire

Thomas Leech, Merchant Joshua Maddox, Esquire

William Shippen, Practitioner Thomas White, Esquire

in Physic William Coleman, Merchant

JAMES LOGAN, born in Ireland in 1674 of honorable Scotch
lineage, was now seventy-five years of age, and the foremost
man in the province, eminent in public life, and a faithful
adherent of the dominant religion. He had been the patient

1 I am greatly indebted in compiling the personal notices of many of the
Trustees to that admirable compendium of local biography and genealogy 7 he Pro-
vincial Councillors of Pennsylvania by Mr. Charles Penrose Keith of the class of
1873. And for records of civic and judicial life, reference is also made to Mr. John
Hill Martin's Bunch and Bar of Philadelphia.

54 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Secretary to William Penn who later made him Provincial Sec-
retary, Commissioner of Property, and Receiver General. He
also in turn was Recorder of the City of Philadelphia, Presiding
Judge of Common Pleas, Chief Justice of the Province, and as
President of the Council between the death of Governor Gordon
in 1736 and the arrival of Governor Thomas in 1738 he gov-
erned the province. " Fidelity, integrity, and disinterestedness
were eminently conspicuous in his character, which was indeed
of that sterling worth that needs no meretricious ornament." 2
Mr. J. Francis Fisher says of him,

A history of James Logan's public life would be that of Pennsylvania
during the first forty years of the last century. Venerating William Penn,
with whose noble and generous nature he was well acquainted, he stood up
at all times in his defence against the encroachments of the Assembly ;
and, if he forfeited his popularity, and endured calumny and persecution,
he preserved his fidelity, the confidence of his employers, and the respect
of all good men. Weary of the burden of public office, he retired in 1738
from all his salaried employments, remaining only a short time longer a
member of the Provincial Council. At his estate, called Stenton, near
Germantown, he passed in retirement the remainder of his days, devoted
to agriculture and his favorite studies. 3

At an early age he showed great proficiency in classics,
comprehending Latin, Greek and Hebrew before he was thirteen
years of age. His leisure days after his retirement from public
concern found ample employment in his classical studies as well
as his interests in matters of science. His rare collection
of books " he left a legacy to the public, such at least was his
intention and his children after his death fulfilled his bequest," 4
and these testify to his wide reading and general knowledge. It
was while the humble glazier, Thomas Godfrey, was working at

2 Deborah Logan in Penn and Logan Correspondence, i. liv.

3 Contributed to Sparks, vii. 25, and copied by Bigelow, ii. 94. Mr. Fisher
was a descendant through his father from James Logan, and through his mother from
two other Trustees, Tench Francis and Charles Willing. He was a graduate of
Harvard in 1825 as was also his cousin Dr. Charles Willing. See a letter addressed
to them while at Harvard by Bishop White 25 October, 1822. Memoir by Wilson,
p. 414. Air. Fisher was a member of the American Philosophical Society and a
Vice President of the Pennsylvania Historical Society ; he died 21 January, 1873
aged 67 years.

4 Deborah Logan P. &. L. Corres. i. Iv.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 55

Stenton and had his thoughtful attention drawn by a falling piece
of glass, that there sprang up in his mind the ideas of the Quad-
rant, which he first imparted to Logan, who found him immedi-
ately after this incident in his library consulting a volume of New-
ton to aid him in elucidating his thoughts ; and it was due to
Logan's help in furthering his experiments, that success was
reached and due honor granted Godfrey as the inventor of the
Quadrant, preceding by two years the claim of Hadley to the
discovery. 5

Logan was a staunch Friend but he could not fully share
in the Society's absolute views on non resistance ; and quite
consistently he not only took an interest in but also contributed to
the Association which Franklin in 1747 originated for the defence
of the city against foreign invasion which was then feared, and
for which the Friends, then controlling the Assembly, would
appropriate no funds. Logan writes to Franklin 3 December,
1747 : 6

I have expected to see thee here for several weeks, according to my
son's information, with Euclid's title page printed, and my Mattaire's Lives
of the Stephenses ; but it is probable thy thoughts of thy new excellent
project have in some measure diverted thee, to which I most heartily wish
all possible success. * * * Ever since I have had the power of think-
ing, I have clearly seen that government without arms is an inconsistency,
for Friends spare no pains to get and accumulate estates, and are yet
against defending them, though these very estates are in a great measure
the sole cause of their being invaded, as I showed to our Yearly Meeting,
last September was six years, in a paper then printed But I request to be
informed, as soon as thou hast any leisure, what measures are proposed to
furnish small arms, powder, and ball to those in the country ; and particu-
larly what measures are taken to defend our river, especially at the Red
Bank, on the Jersey side, and on our own, where there ought not to be less
than forty guns, from six to twelve pounders. What gunners are to be
depended on ? Thy project of a lottery to clear ^3000. is excellent, and
I hope it will be speedily filled ; nor shall I be wanting. But thou wilt
answer all these questions and much more, if thou wilt visit me here, as on
First day, to dine with me, and thou wilt exceedingly oblige thy very loving
friend, James Logan.

5 Deborah Logan P. & L. Corres. i. liv. 6 Sparks, vii. 24.

56 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

To which in a letter written next day Franklin replied : 7

I am heartily glad you approve of our proceedings. * * * I
have not time to write larger, nor to wait on you till next week. In general
all goes well, and there is a surprising unanimity in all ranks. Near eight
hundred have signed the association, and more are signing hourly. One
company of Dutch is complete.

In his autobiography he says : " Mr. Logan put into my
hands Sixty pounds to be laid out in lottery tickets for the bat-
tery, with directions to apply what prizes might be drawn wholly
to that service." '

Logan's classical studies were not intermitted during his
public career, for it was in 1734 he undertook his well known
translation of Cicero's De Senectute, which with explanatory Notes
was published for him by Franklin in 1744. Franklin makes a
preface to the book, entitled the " printer to the reader," and
says :

some friends, among whom I had the honor to be ranked, obtained
copies of it in MS. And, as I believed it to be in itself equal at least, if
not far preferable to any other translation of the same piece extant in our
language, besides the advantage it has of so many valuable notes, which
at the same time they clear up the text, are highly instructive and enter-
taining, I resolved to give it an impression, being confident that the public
would not unfavorably receive it.

He closed by adding

his hearty wish that this first translation of a classic in this Western World
may be followed with many others, performed with equal judgment and
success ; and be a happy omen, that Philadelphia shall become the seat of
the American muses.

Had Franklin known of George Sandy's translation of
Ovid's Metamorphoses, in Virginia when Treasurer of that
colony, more than a century before, he would not have claimed
for Logan the honor of making the first American translation of
a classic, but while that was " the first English literary produc-
tion penned in America, at least which has any rank or name
in the general history of literature," 9 it was printed in London in
1626, and it may be claimed for Logan that his was the first
American print of such a translation. Other translations of

7 Bigelow, ii. 94. 8 Ibid, i. 219. 9 Duyckinck, i, 1,77.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 57

Logan from the ancient and essays on matters of practical
import testify to his learning and industry. With such training
and tastes he would naturally welcome any effort to secure and
extend the advantages of learning to the young generations
around him, and having confidence in Franklin's executive
ability to carry to maturity any scheme he would formulate in
furtherance of this, and reliance on his practical judgment, he
naturally gave his interest and influence to it ; and his name
heading the new trust in compliance with Franklin's desire, was
in itself an augury of success to the enterprise. Logan writes
to Peter Collinson in London I July 1749, "Benjamin Franklin
has been here to day, to show me some new curiosities in elec-
tricity, but the weather was too warm and moist." And on 20
October

our most ingenious printer and postmaster, Benjamin Franklin, has
the clearest understanding, with as extreme modesty as any man I know
here. Thou hast seen several of his pieces on electricity, wherein he
almost excels you all.

His practical interest in the new Academy was evidenced
in his early offer to the Trustees of " the gift of a lot of ground
on Sixth Street to erect an Academy upon, provided it should
be built within the Term of Fourteen Years." This lot was
opposite the State House Square, probably immediately North
of the building for his Library which Logan had before this date
erected on the northwest corner of Walnut and Sixth Streets, at
that time considered out of town. l To this however
the President was desired to acquaint Mr. Logan [at the meeting of 26
December] that the Trustees had a most grateful sense of his regard to the

10 In a note to the Proposals of 1749, Franklin refers to this Library, viz:
" Besides the English Library begun and carried on by subscription in Philadelphia,
we may expect the Benefit of another much more valuable in the Learned Languages,
which has been many years collecting with the greatest Care, by a Gentleman dis-
tinguish'd for his Universal Knowledge, no less than for his Judgment in Books.
It contains many hundred Volumes of the best Authors in the best Editions, among
which are, * * * . A handsome Building about 60 feet in front, is now erected
in this city, at the private Expense of that Gentleman, for the Reception of this
Library, where it is soon to be deposited, and remain for the publick use with a
valuable yearly Income duly to enlarge it ; and I have his Permission to mention it
as an Encouragement to the propos'd Academy ; to which this noble Benefaction
will doubtless be of the greatest Advantage, as not only the Students, but even the
Masters themselves, may very much improve by it." Proposals, p. 8.

58 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Academy, but as the New Building was in all respects better suited to
their present circumstances and future views, they could only return him
their sincere thanks for his kind and generous offer.

In his late years he suffered from ill health, and on 3 1 October,
1751 he died at Stenton. The new Trustee selected in his
place was Isaac Norris, his son-in-law.

Franklin's obituary to him which appeared in the Pennsyl-
vania Gazette of 7 November fittingly records his estimation of
the man who was first in the list of the Trustees of the Academy :

Thursday last, after a long Indisposition, died the honourable JAMES
LOGAN, Esq. : in the yyth Year of his Age, and on Saturday his Remains
were decently interr'd in the Friends Burying ground in this city, the
Funeral being respectfully attended by the principal Gentlemen and In-
habitants of Philadelphia and the neighbouring Country. His Life was
for the most Part a Life of Business, tho' he had always been passionately
fond of study. He had borne the Several Offices of Provincial Secretary,
Commissioner of Property, Chief Judge of the Supreme Court, and for near
two Years govern'd the Province as President of the Council, in all which
publick Stations, as well as in private Life, he behav'd with unblemish'd
Integrity : But some Years before his Death he retired from publick
Affairs to Stenton his Country Seat, where he enjoy 'd among his Books
that Leisure which Men of Letters so earnestly desire. He was thoroughly
versed both in ancient and modern Learning, acquainted with the oriental
Tongues, a Master of the Greek and Latin, French and Italian Languages,
deeply skilled in the Mathematical Sciences, and in Natural and Moral
Philosophy, as several Pieces of his writing witness, which have been
repeatedly printed in Divers Parts of Europe, and are highly esteemed by
the Learned. But the most noble Monument of his Wisdom, Publick
Spirit, Benevolence and affectionate Regard to the People of Pennsylvania
is his LIBRARY ; which he has been collecting these 50 Years past, with
the greatest Care and Judgment, intending it a Benefaction to the Publick
for the Increase of Knowledge, and for the common Use and Benefit of all
Lovers of Learning. It contains the best Editions of the best Books in
various Languages, Arts and Sciences, and is without Doubt the largest,
and by far the most valuable Collection of the Kind in this Part of the
World, and will convey the name of LOGAN thro' ages with Honour, to the
latest posterity.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 59

THOMAS LAWRENCE was born in New York 4 September,
1689, the grandson of Thomas Laurenszen, whose arrival in
New York in 1662 and marriage in the year following are found
in the records of the Old Dutch Church, where is also the record
of Thomas' baptism on 8 September, 1689. He appears to have
settled in Philadelphia about the year 1720, shortly after his
marriage. He here entered into mercantile life, James Logan
mentioning him as associated with him in shipping, and in 1730
he became partner of Edward Shippen, the elder brother of
Dr. William Shippen, and who was later known as Edward
Shippen of Lancaster, whither he removed about 1752, the
firm being Shippen & Lawrence. He was elected a Common
Councilman 3 October, 1722, an Alderman 6 October, 1724,
and Mayor of the City in 1728, 1734, 1749, and 1753, during
which last incumbency he died. Governor Gordon called him
to a seat in the Provincial Council in April 1727, but he did not
qualify until 10 May 1728. In September, 1745 he was deputed
one of the Commissioners from Pennsylvania to treat with the
Six Nations at Albany. When Franklin declined the Lieutenant
Colonelcy of the Philadelphia Association, he recommended, his
autobiography tells us, " Mr. Lawrence, a fine person, and a
man of influence, who was accordingly appointed." He was
for some time Judge of the County Court ; and in 1721 and '22
a Warden of Christ Church. He was a frequent attendant on
the meetings of the Trustees, rarely missing one in their first
two years, notwithstanding his business engagements and his
manifold public duties, in those securing a handsome prop-
erty for his children and in these a constantly widening
reputation and influence. The last meeting of the Trustees he
attended was on 17 November, 1753. He died 21 April, 1754,
and was buried in the Family Vault in Christ Church Burying
Ground, not far from the spot where the remains of Franklin
were laid thirty-five years later. We can read the latter's author-
ship in the obituary notice on him which appeared in the Penn-
sylvania Gazette on 25 April, 1754.

Last Sunday, after a tedious fit of Sickness, died here, very much
11 Higelow, i. 214.

60 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

lamented, Thomas Lawrence, Esq. He had the Honour to be a Member
of the Council of this Province, was President of the Court of Common
Pleas for the County of Philadelphia, had been five times elected Mayor
of this City, and in the enjoyment of these Offices ended his life. Charac-
ters are extremely delicate, and few or none drawn with Exactness and
at Length, are free of Blemish. Of this Gentleman we think it may be
truly said, he was an affectionate Husband, a tender Parent, a kind indul-
gent Master, and a faithful Friend. The Funeral was respectfully attended
on Tuesday Evening by a great number of the principal Inhabitants of the
Place, who justly regret the Death of so able and diligent a Magistrate as
a public loss.

But the same hand did not write the Epitaph on his Tomb

Stone, namely

In Memory of

Thomas Lawrence, Esq

An eminent Merchant

A faithful Counsellor

An active Magistrate

Of Pennsylvania

Whose private virtues endeared him to his family and friends ;

Whose public conduct gained him respect and esteem.

Expecting everlasting life he ended this

During his ninth Mayorality of this city

the 25* day of April MDCCLIIII.

Aged 64 years

Mr. Lawrence married at Raritan 25 May, 1719, his kins-
woman Rachel, daughter of Cornelius Longfield of New Bruns-
wick whose daughter Catherine married John Cox, and their
son John Cox of Bloomsbury became father in law to Hon.
Horace Binney and John Redman Coxe, M. D. Of the chil-
dren of Thomas and Rachel Lawrence, the eldest Thomas was
twice Mayor of the City, in 1/58 and 1764; the second, John,
was Mayor from 1765 to 1767, and in the latter year was
appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, and in 1750 married
the daughter of Tench Francis, a Trustee of the Academy and
College ; and their daughter Mary married a few months after her
father's death William Masters, also a Trustee. It was she
who, when the Widow Masters her husband had died in 1760 ,
built the house on the south side of Market Street below Sixth,
which her son-in-law, Richard Penn the Councillor, Sir William

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 61

Howe during the occupation of the city by the British, and
Benedict Arnold successively occupied, and on the site of which
Robert Morris built the house in which Washington resided
during his Presidency.

Mr. Lawrence's place in the Board was filled by the elec-
tion at the September meeting of the Hon. James Hamilton,
Governor of the Province. He had been a faithful attendant at
its meetings; the last one he attended was on 17 November,
1753, just prior to his fatal illness.

WILLIAM ALLEN was born in Philadelphia, 5 August, 1704,
the son of William Allen a merchant in that city and a native of
Ireland who married about 1700, Mary daughter of Thomas
Budd. Mrs. Allen's sister Rose became the wife of Joseph
Shippen and step mother to Dr. William Shippen. His father
brought William up to the study of law, and at the time of his
death in 1725, the son appears to have been in London pursuing
these studies.

The father's death, however, hastened his return home, for
we find him in Philadelphia prior to September 1726, as his
signature appears to the agreement of the merchants and chief
citizens to take the money of the Lower Counties at their face
value. He now engaged in trade, relinquishing the Law. He
was elected a Common Councilman of Philadelphia 3 October,
1727. In 1731 he became a member of the Assembly, serving
until 1739. In 1730 he secured property for the new State
House on Chestnut Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets, his
father-in-law Andrew Hamilton, Thomas Lawrence, and Dr.
John Kearsley being the Trustees of the State House fund ; he
advanced money for the purchase of certain of the lots, taking
the title in his own name until the Province reimbursed him.
In 1732 the building appears to have been begun.

He was chosen Mayor of the city in October, 1735 ; and at
the close of his term, in the Hall of Assembly now just finished,
he opened by a collation customary from the outgoing Mayor.
This must have been had in one of the lower rooms, the upper
story not being yet completed. Franklin gives us a participant's

62 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

account of this notable feast in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 30
September, 1736 :

Thursday last William Allen, Esq., Mayor of this city for the year
past made a Feast for his citizens at the Statehouse, to which all the
Strangers in Town of Note were also invited. Those who are Judges of
such Things say That considering the Delicacy of the Viands, the
Excellency of the Wines, the great Number of Guests, and yet the Easiness
and Order with which the Whole was conducted, it was the most grand
and the most elegant Entertainment that has been made in these Parts of
America.

Mr. Allen became the partner of Joseph Turner, also with
him a Trustee of the Academy, and in his business he was very
successful and amassed a fortune which was enlarged by fortu-
nate land investments. He was appointed Recorder of Deeds
by the Common Council, 7 August, 1741, succeeding therein his
father-in-law Andrew Hamilton who had died 4 August. In the
local struggle to secure proper appropriations from the Quaker
Assembly to put the colony in a state of defence against threat-
ened enemies, for the war of England with Spain promised to
involve the American provinces in its issues, Allen became the
head of the anti-Quaker party, but the result of what was long
known as the bloody election of 1742 was the return of the
leader of the other party, Isaac Norris, to the Assembly ; but as
Recorder he could maintain the policy of the city in support of
the Governor in his struggle against Norris' friends in the
Assembly. Yet, but seven years later, these two united in sup-
port of Franklin's efforts to establish the great educational insti-
tution he had been planning. He continued Recorder of the
City, then an important judicial office, until 2 October, 1750,
when he resigned the office having been appointed Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court of the Province. " He was the only
Chief Justice before the Revolution who was a native of Penn-
sylvania, and the only one before or since excepting Shippen
and Sharswood who has been a native of Philadelphia." He,
however, continued his business interests uninterruptedly, and
from 1756 up to the Revolution was a member of the Assembly
from Cumberland County. About 1750 his country seat was

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 63

established at Mount Airy, now in the Twenty-second Ward
of the City of Philadelphia, and in the possession of the family
of the late James Gowen, Esquire. In 1765 he laid out a town
in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, on a tract of land lying
on the Lehigh River, which we now know as the flourishing
city of Allentown.

Allen was a public spirited man, generous with his means,
giving his services as Chief Justice gratuitously that he might
devote the salary of the station to charities. Besides his
advances on the State House purchases, he advanced on one
occasion a good part of the tax payable by the Proprietaries
under a bill proposed for raising revenue, in the deadlock
between the Lieutenant Governor and the Assembly, the former
pressing for money for military uses, and not being free to con-
sent to a law which included the Proprietary estates in the
assessment for taxation, and the Assembly refusing to vote the
means of defence unless such assessment with taxation was
agreed to ; the gentlemen of Philadelphia made up the sum
which it was estimated would be due from the Proprietaries, and
then the Assembly passed the necessary money bills. When in
England on a visit in 1763 he labored with the home authorities
against any stamp duty, and to him was given the credit of
securing the postponement of its consideration to another session
of Parliament. He joined the American Philosophical Society
shortly after its reorganization in 1769, as did also his three
sons.

His presence at the meetings of the Trustees was suffi-
ciently uniform to attest his continued interest in the welfare of
the institution, though his regular attendance at the Trustees'
meetings in the early years of its work was more marked and
regular. But amid all his public duties he attended at intervals,
and the last meeting we find his name recorded was I June,
1779, a few months prior to the abrogation of the charter. He
was one of the organisers of St. John's Lodge Philadelphia, and
in 1732 was elected Grand Master for one year. 12 He was after-

l - Pennsylvania Gazette, 24 June, 1732.

64 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

wards appointed Provincial Grand Master, by the Grand Master of
England in 1750. He and Franklin were now making a diver-
gence in their public paths ; the sharpness of the political contests
of the time began to cut into all relations of life : while Allen's
sympathies were naturally with the Proprietaries, Franklin's were
with the people ; and though they had labored side by side to
induce the Proprietaries to submit their lands to general taxation
for the public weal, they separated, because while one saw in
the attitude of resistance a special though limited cause of
complaint, the other found in it heated controversies. It gave
rise to the germs of those broader views which were the basis
of all Franklin's services in behalf of his country ; Allen saw
only the present popular clamor against the Proprietaries ; the
other with a wiser apprehension saw that greater and more lasting
principles were involved, out of which grew further those
feelings in his mind of personal disrespect for the Penns which
continued with him through life, and which would necessarily
in some measure alienate those friends of his, such as Allen whose
friendship for the Penn family continued unbroken, strongly
cemented as it was by the marriage of his eldest daughter Anne
in 1 766 to John Penn, then a Councillor and afterwards Governor
of Pennsylvania. Allen misconceived Franklin's course in regard
to the Stamp Act, and in his absence abroad charged him with
double dealing in the matter; yet when Allen called him "that
Goliath," nothing more need be added showing his opinion and
perhaps fear of the ability and powers of this remarkable man. 13
William Allen in the preliminary skirmishes of the Revolu-
tion sided with the Colonies, and he went so far as to donate
shot to the Council of Safety. But his efforts to maintain peace
between them and the mother country drew him away from
the thought of a bloody contest, and as there could be no
midway, his alienation from his country's cause was com-
plete. He resigned the Chief Justiceship in 1774. He retained
his seat in the Assembly as late as June, 1776, but it is
thought he went abroad shortly after. However, he was in

13 See his letters in The Burd Papers for evidences of his later feelings
against Franklin.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNYSLVANIA. 65

Philadelphia a few months later, as he attended a meeting of the
Trustees on 3 I October, and again his presence is recorded at
the three meetings in March 1777. This would seem to refute
the statement which has been accepted that he returned to
Philadelphia on the entrance of the British troops in September,
1777. We find him also at the meetings of the Trustees in
February, March, May, and June 1779. He died 6 September,
1780; and it is believed his death occurred in Philadelphia, or
at Mount Airy. By a codicil to his will dated i December,
1779 he freed all his slaves.

Chief Justice Allen married 16 February, 1734, Margaret
only daughter of Andrew Hamilton, the Councillor, the most
eminent lawyer of his time in Pennsylvania, who died in
1741. Her only brothers James and Andrew Hamilton were
also Councillors, and the former was Lieutenant Governor of the
Province from 1748 to 1754 and died unmarried. Andrew was
elected a Trustee in 1754 of the Academy, in the vacancy made
by the death of Thomas Lawrence. His second son William
Hamilton who was born in 1745 was the builder of the beauti-
fully located and well known Woodland Mansion, near the
University Buildings, where he died in 1813. Of William and
Margaret Allen's children, besides Anne who married John
Penn, there was another daughter Margaret who married in 1771
James DeLancey eldest son of James DeLancey, Chief Justice
and Governor of New York, whose second son John Peter
DeLancey was the father of the Rev. William Heathcote
DeLancey, D. D., Provost of the University of Pennsylvania from
1828 to 1833. Of their three sons, Andrew married Sarah
Coxe, granddaughter of Tench Francis, and was himself a Coun-
cillor in 1770, but becoming a loyalist, as was his father, went
abroad and died in London in 1825 ; and James, whose wife
was a granddaughter of Thomas Lawrence the Councillor, who
died in 1778. Both Andrew and James Allen were graduates
of the Academy in the class of 1759.

66 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

JOHN INGLIS was born in Scotland in 1708. He came to
Philadelphia in 1736 from the Island of Nevis where he had
been a merchant. He here pursued the same career, soon
rising into prominence as a successful merchant, and was in part-
nership with Samuel M'Call, senior, his wife's brother-in-law
and cousin. He was elected a Common Councilman I Octo-
ber, 1745. On i January, 1747-8 he was commissioned Captain
of the First Company of the Associated Regiment of Foot, of
which Samuel M'Call senior was a Major; and in the Associa-
tion Battery Company of 1756 he was a private with his wife's
brother Archibald M'Call and brother-in-law William Plumsted.
During the absence of Abraham Taylor, he was Deputy Col-
lector from 1751 to 1753. He was in the Commission of 1756,
of which Alexander Stedman at that time a Trustee of the
Academy was also a member, to audit the accounts of the far-
mers of Pennsylvania and others, who had claims for losses of
horses and wagons under the contracts which Franklin had
made in 1755 to supply Braddock's needs. He signed the war
Importation Resolutions of 1765. He was one of the organizers
of the St. Andrew's Society in 1749, and succeeded Governor
Morris as its President. He died 20 August, 1775. We may
recognize a familiar pen in the obituary notice of him in the
Pennsylvania Gazette of 23 August :

On Sunday morning last, after a lingering and painful indisposition,
which he supported with great equanimity, died John Inglis, Esq., of this
city in the 68th year of his age ; a gentleman who early acquired, and
maintained to the last, the character of a truly honest man. Possessing a
liberal and independent spirit, despising everything which he thought
unbecoming a gentleman, attentive to business, frugal but yet elegant in
his economy, he lived superior to the world, beloved and respected as an
useful citizen, an agreeable companion, a sincere friend, and an excellent
father of a family.

He married 16 October, 1736, Catherine, daughter of
George M'Call, a native of Scotland then settled in Phila-
delphia, whose wife was a daughter of Jasper Yeates and
a descendant of Joran Kyn the founder of the Swedish
settlement at Upland. Of their numerous children, John was
engaged in the merchant marine service, and secured a commis-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 67

sion as Captain in the Royal Navy in which he obtained
the rank of Rear Admiral; Samuel was elected in 1777 a
member of the Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse and died in
1783 ; and Katharine lived with her cousin Margaret M'Call,
daughter of Samuel M'Call, junior, who were "United through
life. United in the grave" as we are told on their joint tomb-
stone erected "Sacred to Friendship," in Christ Church Burying
Ground. Mrs. Inglis' brother Samuel M'Call, junior, was a
Trustee of the Academy, as was also her sister Mary's husband
William Plumsted.

Mr. Inglis' attendance at the meetings of the Trustees was
almost continuous ; a long interval occurred from May 1762 to
September 1764, which is not explained, but on his return his
accustomed regularity was resumed. His last attendance was
on 22 February, 1774, when the request of the Provost for the
erection of a house for him on the College Grounds was unani-
mously granted. His place on the Board was filled on 17 Octo-
ber, 1776, by the election of Hon. James Tilghman.

TENCH FRANCIS was born in Ireland, the son of the Very
Reverend John Francis, Dean of Lismore in 1722, who was the
grandson of Philip Francis who was Mayor of Plymouth in 1622.
Mr. Francis came to Maryland, as others of his countrymen had
done under the attractions held out by the Calverts ; and it was
while acting as Attorney for Lord Baltimore that he married in
1 724 Elizabeth Turbutt of Talbot County, Maryland. He had two
brothers, Richard, author of Maxims of Equity, first published
in 1729, with an American edition in Richmond in 1823; and
the Rev. Philip Francis, D.D. who was father of Sir Philip
Francis to whom the authorship of The Letters of Junius was for
many years attributed. He appears early to have moved to
Pennsylvania for we find him Clerk of the County Court from
1726 to 1734. He was Attorney General of Pennsylvania from
1741 to 1755, and Recorder of Philadelphia from 1750 to 1755.
His attendance at the meetings of the Trustees was very uniform
up to within eighteen months of his death, which occurred on 16
August, 1758; his last attendance was on 9 May, preceding.

68 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The family tomb in Christ Church Burying Ground was erected
by his son Tench and bears this inscription in part : "The Vault
over which this Monument is erected was built by the late
Tench Francis, for the purpose of depositing the remains of
Tench and Elizabeth Francis his Parents, and a Sepulchre for
himself and his descendants." The vacancy in the Trustees
made by his death- was filled at the meeting of 12 September by
the election of Edward Shippen, jr.

Of Mr. Francis' children, Anne married in 1743 James
Tilghman the Councillor ; Mary married William Coxe of
New Jersey, and her daughter married Andrew Allen the
Councillor ; Tench married Anne daughter of Charles Will-
ing, a Trustee of the Academy ; and Elizabeth married John
the son of Thomas Lawrence also a Trustee.

The Pennsylvania Gazette of 24 August, 1758, records the
following obituary to his memory :

On Wednesday, the i6th Instant, died here TENCH FRANCIS, Esq.,
Attorney at Law. He was no less remarkable for strict Fidelity than for
his profound skill in his profession. He filled the Stations of Attorney
General of this Province and Recorder of this city, for a Number of years,
with the highest Reputation ; and when declining Health had called him
from the Bar, he continued his Usefulness to his Country, by carrying on
a large and honourable Trade. His domestic virtues made him dear to his
Family ; his Learning and Abilities, valuable to the Community ; to both
his Death is a real Loss.

WILLIAM MASTERS was the son of Thomas Masters, who
came with his children from Bermuda to Pennsylvania perhaps
prior to the year 1700, and who built at Front and Market
Streets in 1704 what was said to be the first three-story house
in Philadelphia. He was an Alderman of the city in 1702, and
Mayor from 1707 to 1709, and died in December, 1723.
William inherited from his father and brother Thomas (who died
in March 1740-1) a valuable tract of land in the Northern Liberties,
running West from the Delaware River to beyond Broad Street
and lying between the present Girard and Montgomery Avenues.
He was a representative from Philadelphia County in the
assembly for many years, and a commissioner to disburse the

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 69

money appropriated for the defence of the Province. His sister
Mercy married Peter Lloyd, the first cousin of Dr. Lloyd Zachary,
a fellow Trustee. The story of William's early courtship, and
reputed engagement to, William Penn's daughter Letitia, who was
his senior in years, and who after reaching England at the close of
1701 forgot him and soon afterwards married William Aubrey,
which was referred to with feeling by James Logan in his letter to
Penn written in May 1702, forms one of the earliest romances in
high life in the Province. 14 However that may be, he remained
single during her life ; she died in 1746, and we find him, an elderly
man, marrying in 1754 Mary, daughter of Thomas Lawrence
the Councillor, who must have been his cotemporary in years.
He died 24 November, 1760; of his two daughters who grew
to adult years, Mary married, in 1772, Richard Penn the Coun-
cillor, the grandson of William Penn, and died in London in
1829; and Sarah married, in 1795, Turner Camac of Green-
mount Lodge, County Louth, Ireland.

The Pennsylvania Gazette of 27 November, 1760, thus
noticed his death :

Yesterday were interred the Remains of WILLIAM MASTERS, Esq. ,
who was one of the Representatives of this City in Assembly, and a
Provincial Commissioner, for several years. He was not more remarkable
for his Superior Fortune, than for his firm Adherance to the Constitution of
his Country, and the common Rights of Mankind.

His will which was probated 30 January, 1761, appointed
Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Fox and Joseph Galloway executors
of his Estate and guardians of his three minor daughters; but as
Franklin was absent in England, he did not qualify.

Mrs. Masters, in the year following that of the death of her
husband, took conveyance from her father of a large lot on the
South side of Market Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets,
upon which she decided to build a handsome mansion. Here
her daughter Mary lived with her, and on the occasion of
her marriage to Richard Penn, who had come from England in
1771 commissioned as Lieutenant Governor, the mother con-
veyed the property to her. During the possession of the city

14 The element of doubt that appears in this colonial romance, is stated by
Mr. Jenkins in his The Family of William Penn, pp. 62-63.

70 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

by the British, General Howe occupied the Mansion, the
stateliest in the city. When the city came again under home
rule, and Arnold was in command, the latter here lived sumptu-
ously until his final departure. The house was then occupied
by the French Consul General Holker, and during his occupancy
it was burnt down in 1 780. The lot with the ruins Robert Morris
leased, rebuilt the house in its former style and purchased

t in 1785, and here remained until he vacated it for the use of
our first President, and it then became the residence of Washing-
ton during his two terms of office, and hence bears in local
history the name of the Washington Mansion. The building
afterwards erected by the State on Ninth Street for the use of
his successors in office was never so occupied, and was sold to
the University of Pennsylvania in 1801.

Mr. Masters attendance at the meeting of the Trustees was
sufficiently regular to evince his interests in their concerns, but
for three years prior to his death his name does not appear as
present, the last meeting at which he appears being II January,

1757. He was succeeded in the trust by the Rev. Jacob Duche,
who was elected 10 February, 1761.

DR. LLOYD ZACHARY, was born in Philadelphia in 1701, the
son of Daniel Zachary a native of England who had emigrated
to Boston, and who married 9 April, 1700, Elizabeth, daughter
of Thomas Lloyd, Lieutenant Governor of the Province. De-
borah Logan says of him : "This worthy man, who had settled
in Boston, but had married a Pennsylvanian, a daughter of Thomas
Lloyd, upon the decease of his wife, went home to England,
where shortly after his arrival he also died. He left one son,
Lloyd Zachary, who became afterwards a distinguished physi-
cian in Philadelphia." I5 Young Zachary studied medicine under
Dr. Kearsley, and afterwards abroad, and returning to Phila-
delphia began the practice of his profession with zeal and
skill, becoming one of the first physicians in the city. In
1741, when Dr. Thomas Graeme was superseded as Quarantine
physician wherein he had served twenty years, Dr. Zachary

15 Penn &* Logan Correspondence, i. 348.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 71

was elected in his stead. When the new Hospital was
opened in February, 1752 in John Kinsey's house on Market
street, on the site of which Widow Masters built her mansion
in 1761, Dr. Zachary with the two Doctors Bond, and
Graeme, Moore, Cadwalader and Redman were its first active
physicians, bestowing their medicines free to its patients. The
hospital received from his Aunt and Uncle Hannah and Richard
Hill a valuable tract on the Ridge Road. He died unmarried
25 November, 1756. His attendance at the Trustees meetings
was more constant the first two years than later. He did not
qualify under the Charter of 1755; as his place was filled 11
January, 1757, by the election of Benjamin Chew.

Franklin wrote the following expressive memorial notice of
him for the Pennsylvania Gazette of 16 December, 1756:

On the 26th past died here Doctor LLOYD ZACHARY, who in
Sweetness of Temper, Politeness of Manners, and universal Benevo-
lence, had few Equals, no Superiors. He was a Trustee of the
Academy, and Charity School, and one of the first Subscribers, hav-
ing given one Hundred Pound towards their Establishment. He was
also an early Contributor to the Pennsylvania Hospital, and one of
the first Physicians who agreed to attend it gratis ; which he continued to
do as long as his Health would permit. In his last Will he bequeathed
TTiree Hundred and Fifty Pounds to that charitable Institution as a Means
of continuing to do good after his Decease. An uncommonly great Num-
ber of the Inhabitants testify' d their Respect for him, by attending his
Funeral.

SAMUEL M'CALL, junior, as he was known by way of dis-
tinction from his cousin Samuel M'Call, senior, who married his
sister Anne, was born in Philadelphia, 5 October, 1721, the son
of George M'Call, before mentioned as the father of the wife of
John Inglis. He early engaged in mercantile life, inheriting
his father's store and wharf, and taking his younger brother
Archibald into partnership. He was a Common Councilman,
being chosen 6 October, 1747, and with his brother-in-
law John Inglis was on the Commission to audit the accounts of
Pennsylvania claimants for losses sustained in their supplies to
Braddock's expedition. He became a member of the St.

72 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Andrew's Society in 1751. With his brothers George and
Archibald, and brothers-in-law Inglis and Plumsted, he joined in
the petition to the Proprietaries i August, 1754 asking the grant
of the lot at Third and Pine Streets for a church and yard for
the use of members of the Church of England, whereon St.
Peter's Church was afterwards erected. Mr. M'Call died in
September, 1762. He had married in 1743 Anne, a daughter of
Capt. John Searle. His eldest daughter Anne married Thomas
Willing, himself also a Trustee in 1760, and eldest son of Charles
Willing, one of the original Trustees of the Academy ; and
Catherine married Tench Coxe the grandson of Tench Francis
the Trustee. His brother Archibald's grandson, Peter M'Call,
Esq., became a Trustee of the University in i86i. 16

Mr. M'Call's attendance at the Trustees' meetings was less
regular in the years 1752, '53, and '54, than prior or subsequent,
the last at which his name appears was on I May, 1760 when
the Trustees attended the Commencement services of that day.
He was succeeded by Dr. John Redman who was elected 14
December, 1762.

JOSEPH TURNER, a native of Andover, Hampshire, England,
was born 2 May, 1701, and came to America in January 1714.
He appears to have engaged in shipping, and we find him in
1724 as the Captain of the ship Lovely. In 1726 he was one of
those who signed to take the bills of credit of the Lower Counties
at their face value. In 1729 he was elected a Common Council-
man, and in 1741 an Alderman. He declined election to the May-
oralty in 1745, and submitted to the appropriate penalty of ,30.
For nearly a half century he was in partnership in commercial
business with William Allen, the house of Allen & Turner for a
long time before the Revolutionary War being the most promi-
nent in the Colony; and they also engaged in the manufacture of
iron, owning several mines in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He
was a member of the Provincial Council, qualifying on 14 May,
1747. He died 25 July, 1783, unmarried, leaving the bulk of

16 Pennsylvania Magazine, v. 471, in Mr. Keen's Descendants of Joran
Kyn, for reference to Mr. McCall's ancestry and kin.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 73

his extensive property to the children of his sister Mary, who
married Captain James Oswald, namely, Elizabeth who married
Chief Justice Chew as his second wife, and Margaret who mar-
ried Frederick Smythe, Chief Justice of New Jersey. Another
sister of Joseph Turner married John Sims a merchant in Jamaica,
and was the mother of Joseph and Buckridge Sims, eminent
merchants of Philadelphia. There was a brother Peter, whose
possessions in the Northern Liberties gave rise to the name of
Turner's Lane when that road was opened, but it is now no more,
the rectangular streets of modern municipal geography obliter-
ating all traces of it.

Mr. Turner's presence in the meetings of the Trustees was
very constant up to 1762, when for some years long intervals
occurred between his attendances, and the last time his name is
entered as being present was on 23 July, 1769, the condition of
his health forbidding him to continue his attendance. This con-
tinued for another ten years when on 22 June, 1779, he wrote to
the Trustees, "My advanced age and bodily infirmities not per-
mitting my attendance as one of the Trustees of the College,
Academy and charitable Schools of Philada., I think it my duty
to resign a trust which I am no longer able to execute." This
was accepted at a meeting on that day, and at the meeting on
28 June, Mr. George Clymer, the Signer, was elected in his place,
but the abrogation of the charter before the end of that year
gave him a very brief Trust.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, " who first projected the liberal plan
of the institution over which we have the honor to preside," as
the Provost, Vice Provost and Professors addressed him 16 Sep-
tember, 1785 on his final return home from his manifold foreign
duties, finds a place at this point in the list of the original Trus-
tees. While a sketch is here attempted of the lives and actions,
personal or professional or political, of his associates, but a brief
one should be attempted in this place of the man whose Auto-
biography has to this day remained unapproached in style or
instruction by any who have attempted his Biography. Nor is
it needed to record in these pages in any detail the doings and

74 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

works of a man who has but one peer in his country's annals, so
familiar are they to all who have any knowledge of its history.
In previous pages some attempt has been made to mark the
various important steps in his walk of life, each one seeming to
establish him more firmly in general and useful knowledge as
well also in local reputation and influence. A study of this won-
derful progress of one from an alien in Philadelphia in 1723,
in a quarter of a century to a commanding position in the com-
munity, leaves no room to wonder how easy it was for him to
draw around him for the furtherance of education in a new and
liberal form men of the characters and influence whose lives
are in a measure here portrayed, men who did not merely grant
him the use of their names by which to manufacture a standing
for the institution, but who gave their time to the meetings and
committee work in a degree unusual to men who all were
actively engaged in their own affairs, yet who made time to
share with him in all its deliberations, and whose spirit of direct-
ness and thoroughness so infused itself into their minds as to
enable the institution to proceed with the same force during
his various absences, unhappily continued however at a time
when his calmness and skill might have averted the charter
abrogation of 1779.

We shall follow him in the coming years of his life, and
give some heed to his political and diplomatic course as we pro-
ceed in the narrative of the institution, which Mr. Matthew
Arnold has happily named the University of Franklin. 17 For
although new influences came with its counsels and strove for
its mastery in but a few short years, to the extent of belittling
his influence and clouding his title to its parentage, we must
note his patience throughout all, and realise his continued
interest in the institution, even to the last ; and must perforce
step abreast of his own busy years at home or abroad, and keep
alive that connection with our Commonwealth's and indeed our
Nation's history his own close participation in both of which makes

17 In his paper on "Foreign Education " which he read to a distinguished
audience in the University Chapel, 8 June, 1886. Mr. Sidney George Fisher makes
the like nomination in his True Benjamin Franklin, p 77, " it should have been
called, Franklin University."

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 75

it all the more necessary for those to study who claim it as
their Alma Mater.

He had entitled himself among his fellow trustees bearing
honored titles of rank or profession or of courtesy, simply as
PRINTER ; this he claimed as his proper designation and of equal
honor to his last days, his will reciting " I Benjamin Franklin,
Printer," in precedence of his further titles, " late Minister Pleni-
potentiary from the United States of America to the Court of
France, now President of the State of Pennsylvania," when he
wrote it on 17 July, 1788. Having a competency by his success
in business, he had retired from the active work of his calling in
September 1748, disposing of his printing establishment to
David Hall, his foreman, on favorable terms to both, which were
to be met by Hall within the term of eighteen years during
which it was to be carried on in the names of Franklin
and Hall, the former assisting in the editing of the Gazette
and his Poor Richard's Almanac. But through all his changes
and diversities of labors, he clung with tenacity and in honor to
his cognomen of PRINTER.

The leisure he gained by this made no contribution to any
personal idleness ; he simply turned his activities into more
congenial channels of science or education or philanthropy, or
indeed politics. His electrical pursuits, begun in 1747, continued
unremittingly over a series of years ; I8 his Academy and Charit-
able School of 1749 opened up still further opportunities for

18 These earlier experiments of Franklin were carried on in the house built
by John Wister, No. 141 (now 325) Market street in 1731. " It was in this house
that Dr. Franklin made his first attempt to 'snatch the lightning from Heaven'
and guide it harmlessly to the earth. With this object he here erected his first
lightning rod, an hexagonal iron rod, still in our possession, connecting it with a
bell which gave the alarm whenever the atmosphere was surcharged with electric
fluid. The ringing of this bell so annoyed my grandmother that it was removed at
her request." Memoir of Charles J. Wister , by his son, 1 866, vol i. pp. 21, 33.
John Wister' s son, Daniel, who was born 4 February, 1738-39, was a pupil at
the Academy 1752-1754, as was also his cousin Caspar in 1752. Watson tells us
that in 1750 Franklin owned and was dwelling in the house at the South East
corner of Race and Second Streets. Annals i. 532-33.

The earliest residence of Franklin's family known to us was in the building
owned by Benjamin Hornoron Market Street above Front, now No. 131, where some
of Mr. Hornor's living descendants recollect being shown in their early years traces
then remaining of Franklin's printing work. See Family Memorials by Miss Mary
Coates, Philadelphia 1885, p. 60. It was here that Franklin writes to Thomas Hop-
kinson, in 1747 : " The din of the Market increases upon me, and that, with frequent

76 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

his time and thought; and the new Hospital in 1752, in which his
fellow trustees in the Academy, the two Bonds, Zachary, and
Shippen were the great promoters, found him a willing and ready
coadjutor, as we in the same year find him lending his counten-
ance and aid to the honored Friend, John Smith, who founded
the first Insurance Company formed in the Colonies, the Phila-
delphia Contributionship. He tells us : 19

When I disengaged myself from private business, I flatter' d myself
that by the sufficient tho' moderate fortune I had acquir'd, I had secured
leisure during the rest of my life for philosophical studies and amusements.
I purchased all Dr. Spencer's apparatus, who had come from England to
lecture here, and I proceeded in my electrical experiments with great
alacrity; but the publick now considering me as a man of leisure, laid
hold of me for their purposes ; every part of our civil government, and
almost at the same time, imposing some duty upon me. The governor
put me into the commission of peace, [in 1749 and again in 1752] the
corporation of the city chose me one of the common council [4 October,
1748] ; and soon after Alderman [i October, 1751] ; and the citizens at large
chose me a burgess to represent them in Assembly [1750]. * * * My
election to this trust was repeated every year for ten years without my ever
asking any elector for his vote, or signifying, either directly or indirectly,
any desire of being chosen. On taking my seat in the House, my son was
appointed their clerk. * * * * I would not, however, insinuate, that
my ambition was not flattered by all these promotions ; it certainly was ;
for, considering my low beginning, they were great things to me and they
were still more pleasing as being so many spontaneous testimonies of the
public good opinion, and by me entirely unsolicited.

His first hearing on the Bench in the case of William vs.
Till, (noted later) he was associated with Thomas Lawrence,
Edward Shippen and Joshua Maddox, two of whom were to
become his co-trustees in the Academy before this year was out.

The office of justice of the peace I tried a little, by attending a few
courts, and sitting on the bench to hear causes ; but rinding that more

interruptions, has, I find, made me say some things twice over, and I suppose, forget
some others." Bigelow, ii. 103.

In 1 764 he built on his lot on the South side of Market Street between Third and
Fourth Streets, the house standing southwards from the line of the street nigh where
Hudson Place now bisects the block; this is the " new house" Mrs. Franklin speaks
of in the letter to her husband 7 April, 1765, Bigelow, iii. 374, and where he resided
the remainder of his years. For a description of these premises and the Mansion
and printing offices see Scharf & Wescott's History of Philadelphia, I. 460, for
& letter from Robert Carr to John A. McAllister written 25 May, 1864.

19 Bigelow. i. 227.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 77

knowledge of the Common Law than I possessed was necessary to act in that
station with credit, I gradually withdrew from it; excusing myself by being
obliged to attend the higher duties of a legislator in the Assembly. 20

He was on 3 September, 1776, appointed Presiding Judge
of the Court of Common Pleas, and in October, 1785, while
President Supreme Executive Council was appointed President
Judge ; but there is no certainty of his ever sitting. Gordon
says of him, in connection with his Assembly duties :

His active, comprehensive, and discriminating mind qualified him
at all times to lead in a popular body; but his knowledge of provincial
affairs at once placed him at the head of the assembly, and caused him to
be appointed upon every important committee."

His rank as a Philosopher was earned by his success and
discoveries in Electricity which had begun about this period in
his life. Mr. Peter Collinson, a member of the Royal Society,
who had been commissioned to send books to the Philadelphia
Library, sent out early in 1747 an " electric tube with directions
for using it," which Franklin in acknowledging it said "has put
several of us on making electrical experiments, in which we
have observed some particular phenomena, that we look upon to
be new." His friends referred to were Hopkinson, Syng and
Kinnersley, the latter of whom in 1753 became the Head Master
of the English School connected with the Academy, and in
1755 was chosen Professor of Oratory and English Literature in
the College. In writing to Mr. Collinson 29 July, 1750 he says :

as you first put us on electrical experiments, by sending to our Library
Company a tube, with directions how to use it ; and as an honorable
Proprietary enabled us to carry those experiments to a greater height, by his
generous present of a complete electrical apparatus ; it is fit that both
should know, from time to time, what progress we make.

These experiments unfolded new ideas, and new forces were
discovered in the Electrical Fire, and Franklin's correspondence
abroad detailing them to Collinson and others, though not at
first heeded in regular Scientific circles in England, found a

20 "In the days of the Province nearly all the Justices, both of the Common
Pleas and the Supreme Court, Franklin excepted, were merchants." David Paul
Brown, Forum, i. 256.

21 History of Penti 1 a. Thomas F. Gordon, 268.

78 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

warm welcome in France and on the Continent. To enter here
upon them with any description would open a most entertaining
chapter in Franklin's life, but indulgence can only be given to a
summary of their results as placing Franklin's name at the head
of the practical discoverers of the sources and powers of this
wonderful natural force, which we one hundred and thirty years
later are just beginning to chain to our will and utilize in all
our practical arts. 22

Dr. Priestly says of Franklin's records of his discoveries :

it is not easy to say, whether we are most pleased with the simplicity and
perspicuity with which these letters are written, the modesty with which
the author proposes every hypothesis of his own, or the noble frankness
with which he relates his mistakes, when they were corrected by subse-
quent experiments. * * * Dr. Franklin's principles bid fair to be handed
down to posterity as equally expressive of the true principles of electricity,
as the Newtonian philosophy is of the true system of nature in general.

Before Priestley wrote this, Kinnersley had written to
Franklin 12 March, 1761 :

I most heartily congratulate you on the pleasure you must have in
finding your great and well grounded expectations so far fulfilled. May
this method of security [referring to the lightning rod] from the destruc-
tive violence of one of the most awful powers of nature meet with such
further success, as to induce every good and grateful heart to bless God for
the important discovery. * * * May it extend to the latest posterity
of mankind, and make the name of FRANKLIN like that of NEWTON
immortal.

To which Franklin refers in his letter from London 20
February, 1762, in conclusion " Your kind wishes and congratu-
lations are very obliging." 23

This reference to the lightning rod is to Franklin's happy
experiment with his kite in June 1752, in the open fields not far
from his residence, by which he drew lightning from the clouds,
establishing his theory that under some circumstances of pecu-
liar attraction the electric fluid could be drawn to earth. 24 His
theories had been known abroad, and the " Philadelphia experi-

22 Bigelow, ii. 59. M Ibid, iii. 178.

24 See his Communication of 19 October, 1752, in the Gentleman's Magazine,
for December, 1752, p. 560.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 79

ment" had been successful in France in May of that year,
M. Dalibard drawing electricity from a thunder cloud by a
pointed rod. When the tidings of this reached America, Frank-
lin had not publicly announced his success with the silken kite,
and it was not until 19 October following in a letter to Peter
Collinson he wrote,

as frequent mention is made in public papers from Europe, of the
success of the Philadelphia experiment for drawing the electric fire from
clouds by means of pointed rods of iron erected on high buildings, &c. , it
may be agreeable to the curious to be informed, that the same experiment
has succeeded in Philadelphia, though made in a different and more easy
manner ;

and he then proceeds to a description of his June experiment,
though in an entirely impersonal manner. 25 This letter was read
at the Royal Society on 3 I December following, and in the fol-
lowing November he was granted by the Society the Copley
Medal for that year " on account of his curious experiments
and observations on electricity, as a mark of distinction due to
his unquestionable merit;" and on 29 April, 1756, he was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

The Rev. Ebenezer Kinnersley, alike interested in these
studies, gave public exhibitions of many of these experiments,
and quite reasonably at the time was granted to him by the
public the meed of praise as their discoverer; but Franklin's
correspondence, now all brought to light, shows their letters, and
the relative claims of the two to distinction in the premises can
be properly measured. Franklin took the scientific into his
confidence rather than the curious public. But traces of Frank-
lin's observations can be found from time to time in the news
columns (so-called) of the Pennsylvania Gazette, where frequent
record is made of instances of the destructive power of light-
ning which had been reported to him, doubtless in answer to
his request, published in the Gazette of 21 June, 1753, namely :

Those of our Readers in this and the neighboring Provinces, who

25 Bigelow, ii. 262. On Franklin's Lightning Rod -vide Dr. Andrew D. White's
History of the Warfare of Science and Theology, i. 365, for an interesting statement
of the early opposition it engendered, and of its practical usefulness winning its way
among its theological opponents.

8o HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

may have an opportunity of observing, during the present Summer, any of
the Effects of Lightning on Houses, Ships, Trees, &c., are requested to
take particular Notice of its Course, and Deviation from a Straight Line, in
the Walls or other Matter affected by its different Operations, or Effects on
Wood, Stone, Bricks, Glass, Metals, Animal Bodies, &c. , and every other
Circumstance that may tend to discover the Nature and compleat the His-
tory of that terrible Meteor. Such observations being put in writing and
communicated to Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, will be very thank-
fully acknowledged.

In April, 1751, Mr. Kinnersley gives 26 "Notice to the Curi-
ous " of a " course of Experiments in the newly discovered
Electric Fire," adding at foot " the experiments succeed best
when the air is dry;" and " to be accompanied with Methodical
Lectures on the Nature and Properties of that wonderful ele-
ment." Three years later, he gave for the " Entertainment
of the Curious " " in one of the chambers of the Academy, a
course of experiments in that new Branch of Natural Philosophy
called Electricity." And as the " modern Prometheus," as
Kant had now called him, had drawn the fire down from Heaven,
Kinnersley adds an expostulatory paragraph in his Advertise-
ment, " and as some are apt to doubt the Lawfulness of endeav-
oring to guard against Lightning, it will be farther shewn, that the
doing it, in the Manner proposed, cannot possibly be chargeable
with Presumption, nor be inconsistent with any of the Principles
either of Natural or Revealed Religion. 27 This good Baptist
Minister did not recognise any divorce between Religion and
Science.

When Franklin was sent out in 1757 on a political errand
to represent his adopted colony at the home government, his
reception in England was that due to a savant rather than a
politician. Local politics in their intensity found but little room
for the recognition of those high scientific attainments which
gave a warmth to the welcome, which otherwise would have been
a cold one, to a protesting colonist.

Franklin's attendance at the meetings of the Trustees of the
Academy and College was constant and regular, his first absence

^Pennsylvania Gazette, II April, 1751. 27 Ibid, 26 March, 1754.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Si

being at the meeting of August I75I, 28 and there was but one
absence to note in 1752, " when the Trustees visited the Schools,
but did no other business," the year of his most interesting elec-
trical experiments ; the year 1753 shows absence from only three
regular meetings in the summer of his first duty as Postmaster
General which engaged him in his travels to the Eastward,
besides his two Indian Missions ; in 1754 his absences were
more notable, due largely to his visit to Albany with the Com-
missioners ; in 1755 being early in the year absent on a visit to
New England, and later engaged in aiding Braddock 29 his name
does not appear in two of the regular meetings; in 1756 his
absence was more notable owing to his frequent journeys from
home. Visiting Virginia on his post office duties in the Spring he
received from William and Mary College in person on 2 April
the degree of A.M., " conferred upon him by the Rev G. Daw-
son, A.M., President, to whom he was in public presented by the
Rev. Wm Preston A.M." 30 On his return from there early in
June we find him at the close of the month in New York, and in
November at Easton attending an Indian Conference. In April
1757, he sailed on his first foreign mission to the mother coun-
try. Arriving home in November, 1762, he resumes his attend-
ance at the meetings, but in 1763 he was frequently absent, his
public duties withdrawing him from other concerns ; and in
November, 1764, he set sail for London on his second mission.
He was elected the first president of the Board of Trustees, being
succeeded by Richard Peters who was elected 11 May, 1756.
The minutes give us no indication of the cause of his declining
a re-election at this time : his journey to Albany in the previous
year, his absences now from the first five meetings of the cur-
rent year, may be indications of his accumulating public duties,
but there were thus early developing some of those causes

28 His absence from a meeting of the Common Council that day, also, would
show that absence from the city was the cause.

'^Bigelow, ii. 414. Sparks, vii. 85. ' Since my return, I have been in such
a perpetual hurry of public affairs of various kinds," he writes II Sept. 1755. Paxton,
i. 342.

80 Faculty Proceedings, Historical Sketch of the College of William and Mary,
p. 42. He writes to his wife from Williamsburg, 30 March, 1756: " Virginia is a
pleasant country ; now in full spring ; the people obliging and polite." Bigelow, ii. 458.

82 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

which were working to take the institution not only further out
of the practical lines he had in the outset marked for its
course, but also to make it more agreeable to the political party to
which he was opposed. Ke attended the regular meeting sub-
sequent to Dr. Peters election ; but infrequently afterwards, and
in the April following as stated before, he sailed for England.
The heat of local politics may have fused some antagonisms
which served to counteract his influence in the Board, and indi-
cated for the welfare of the College that some one identified with
the Proprietary interest should preside over their deliberations,
and who so fitting as the constant churchman and faithful Secre-
tary Richard Peters, whose election if any other was to be
chosen could not but be acceptable to his friend Franklin.

THOMAS LEECH was the son of Toby and Hester Leech of
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, who came to America in the year
1682, and settled in Cheltenham township, now in Montgomery
County. They are buried in Trinity Church, Oxford, Philadel-
phia, the inscription on their joint stone being quoted by the
Rev. Dr. Buchanan in his Early History of Trinity Church. 31
Thomas Leech was clerk to the Assembly from 1723 to 1727,
and a representative of Philadelphia County for nearly thirty
years, and was Speaker pro tem in 1758 "in the room of Isaac
Norris, who fell sick." In the controversy in the assembly over
Judge Moore's case, which must be reviewed in later pages on
account of Provost Smith's part in it, Mr. Leech was an active
participant, and was Chairman of the committee which framed
the address to the Governor asking Moore's removal. He was
a Vestryman of Christ Church for many years, and Warden in
1728 and again in 1746-47. He was with his fellow Trustees,
Lawrence and Peters, signer of the letter of 23 April, 1741,
from the Vestry of Christ Church to the Bishop of London
announcing the death of the Rector, Rev. Archibald Cummings.
And we find him in 1760 joining with many of his fellow trus-

31 Two Discourses, &c., Philadelphia, 1885, p, 108. Their second son John
born in Philadelphia shortly after their arrival was said to have been the first male
child born here of English parents : Old York Road and its Early Associations,
Philadelphia, 1890, p. 67.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 83

tees, viz : Allen, Masters, M'Call, Syng, Willing, Taylor, the
two Bonds, Plumsted, and Coleman, on a subscription for
restoring the Glebe House of Oxford Parish which had been
destroyed by fire. He was a very regular attendant on the
meetings of the Trustees until within two or three years of his
death which occurred 31 March, 1762, his last attendance being
on 28 November, 1761. At the meeting of 8 June, 1762, Mr.
Lyn-Ford Lardner was elected to succeed him. He married in
1722, Ann Moore, and had two sons, Thomas and William. The
Pennsylvania Gazette of 8 April, 1762, thus records his
obituary:

On the 3 ist ulto in the Evening, departed this Life, Thomas Leech,
Esq. in the 77th year of his age ; and in the afternoon of the Sunday fol-
lowing was interred in St. Paul's Church in this city, where a Sermon
suitable to the occasion, was preached by the Reverend Mr. William
M'Clanachan, A. M. and Minister of that Church, to a crowded and
weeping Audience. He was a citizen, not more distinguished for the
Honour conferred on him, in several Offices of Public Trust (which he
discharged for a long series of Years, with the approbation of his country)
than for his amiable and familiar virtues in

the mild Majesty of private Life

where he shone as a practical Philosopher, and a sincere Christian,
abounding with unaffected Goodness and exemplary Piety, and a most
rare Pattern of that ancient Simplicity which so beautifully characterised
the first Fathers of our Metropolis ; so that the words of the Poet may,
with the greatest Propriety, be applied to him.

' Born to no Pride, inheriting no strife, '
But led by Virtue through the Paths of life ;
' Stranger to Discord, and to civil Rage
The good Man walked innoxious thro' his Age
No Courts he saw, no Suits would ever try,
Nor said an Oath, nor hazarded a Lye.'

84 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Doctor WILLIAM SHIPPEN was born in Philadelphia I Octo-
ber, 1712, the son of Joseph Shippen, a native of Boston, who
moved to Philadelphia about 1704, and who became in 1727
one of Franklin's Junto. He was the son of Edward Shippen,
who was named by William Penn in his charter of 25 October,
1 70 1, as the first Mayor thereunder of the City of Philadelphia, 32
and who was President of the Council, 1702-04, and in May,
1703, became the actual head of the government until Governor
Evans arrival in December following. Joseph's connection with
the Junto shows him to have been a man inclined to self improve-
ment, and whose leisure enabled him to pursue any special line
of study. His eldest son Edward, William's senior by nine
years, entered mercantile life under James Logan, and later was
in business with him as Logan & Shippen, and in 1749 with
Thomas Lawrence, one of the College Trustees, as Shippen and
Lawrence; he was also Mayor of the City in 1744, and after-
wards Judge of the Common Pleas. In 1748, he was one of
the founders of Princeton College and one of its first Trustees,
which he remained until his resignation in 1767 and was a sub-
scriber to the Philadelphia Academy, of which his brother
William was now one of the first trustees. William himself
became a Trustee of Princeton College in 1765 which he
remained until his resignation in 1796. His tastes for scientific
pursuits were fostered by his father, and an early inclination for
the study of medicine developed the rare talent he possessed
for a successful practice of it, by which he attained a high
reputation and secured an extensive business which remained to
him through his long life. But diligent as he was in his profes-
sional duties, and reliant as he was in the medical knowledge of
his day for the cure of all the ills that flesh is heir to, the story
is told of him that on occasion of his being complimented by a
friend on the number of cures he effected, he replied, " My friend,
Nature does a great deal, and the grave covers up our mistakes."
He was sensible of the necessity of more education than could

32 Humphrey Morrey was the first Mayor of the City of Philadelphia under the
charter of 1691. See Allison Penrose, Philadelphia,' a History of Municipal
Development.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 85

be had in the colonies, and when he found his son William
intending the same profession, he sent him to Europe when he
was twenty one years of age, and in 1761 the latter received his
degree of Doctor in Medicine at Edinburgh, and four years later
we find his election in the minutes of the Trustees as the
first Professor of Anatomy and Surgery in the new medical
school of the college. Doctor William Shippen, Senior, as he
now became known on his son's rising reputation, found his
name worthily reproduced in his son, who added fresh honors
and dignity to it.

Dr. Shippen interested himself in public affairs, and foresaw
the coming shadows of the Revolution. On 20 November, 1778,
when these shadows were the heaviest, he was elected a member
of the Continental Congress by the Assembly of Pennsylvania,
and was re-elected in the November following. He retained an
interest in his father's associations and was Vice President in
1768 of the American Philosophical Society, the child of the
Junto. He was one of the first members of the Medical Staff
of the Pennsylvania Hospital, from 1753-1778 ; and one of the
founders of the Second Presbyterian Church and a member of
it for sixty years. His life was serene and useful ; and posses-
sing a temper calm and equable, and the affection of all who
knew him, he died 4 November, 1801, in the ninetieth year of
his age. 33 He retained his trusteeship in the College until the
abrogation of the charter in 1779, and was made one of the
Trustees of the new institution created in its place, the University
of the State of Pennsylvania, which he remained until 1786.
His attendance at the meetings of the Trustees testifies to his
interest in the institution, as his absences were very few ; and
the action of the Trustees were often influenced by his sage
counsel, though for two years from April, 1761, he did not
attend, and most of the meetings in 1764 and 1765 he missed.

Dr. Shippen married 19 September, 173 5, Susannah daugh-
ter of Joseph Harrison of Philadelphia, who died some years

33 His mode of life was simple and it was said that up to his final illness he
had never tasted wine nor spirits. His temper was never ruffled and his benevolence
was without stint. Dr. Morton's history of the Pennsylvania Hospital, p. 489.

86 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

before him. His sons William and Joseph were graduates of
Princeton, 1754 and 1758. The latter also studied medicine
under his father, and going abroad for further studies, took his
degree at the University of Rheims. Dr. Shippen's nephew,
Joseph, the son of his elder brother Joseph, was a graduate of
the college in 1761. His sister Anne was wife of Charles
Willing, his fellow trustee.

ROBERT STRETTELL was born in Dublin in 1693 the son of
Amos Strettell, a native of Cheshire who had moved to Ireland
about fifteen years before this. Robert left Dublin as a young
man to try his fortune in London, where he passed about twenty
years of his life, but losing his property in the South Sea Bubble,
he came to America about 1736 to retrieve his affairs. He soon
took an active part in public concerns, and was one of the
Friends who favored Logan's views as to the needs of the Province
to defend itself against foreign enemies. He was invited by
Governor Thomas to the Council, and he qualified 14 December,
1741. He became an Alderman in 1748, and Mayor in Octo-
ber 1751, and on the close of the latter term, instead of giving
the customary collation, contributed 75. to the Public Build-
ing. In council he was an active member, and supported the
more warlike members during the French War. He died in
June 1761, and was buried in the Friends Ground. He married
in 1716 Philotesia daughter of Nathaniel Owen of Seven Oaks,
Kent. Of their children, Frances married Isaac Jones who
was a Trustee of the College and Academy in 1771 ; Amos
succeeded to his father's interest in provincial politics and in the
Trusteeship of the College and married a daughter of Samuel
Hasell the Councillor; John became an opulent merchant
in London ; and Robert died before his father.

Mr. Strettell was not behind his fellows in their attendance
on the meetings of the Trust ; his last years of service found
him less able to attend with regularity. The last meeting at
which his name appears was 31 March, 1760 ; and at the meet-
ing of 8 June, 1762, his son Mr. Amos Strettell was elected a
Trustee.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 87

PHILIP SYNG was born in Ireland in November 1703 the son
of Philip Syng, who with his son arrived at Annapolis, Md. in Sep-
tember 1714, and who there died in 1739. The son had before
this settled in Philadelphia, as we find him in the Franklin circle,
a member of the Junto and in 1731 one of the first Directors of
the new Library Company. He acquired a high reputation as
a silver-smith, his skill being shown by several works of art yet
in existence, one being an inkstand made by him in 1752 for the
General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and used by the Conti-
nental Congress while in Philadelphia, and at the signing of the
Declaration of Independence, and yet preserved in the Hall to
which the latter gave its name. He engraved the first seal for
the Library Company. He was a member of the noted " Fish-
ing Company of the State in Schuylkill" as it was called. He
was one of the Associators of 1747; a Vestryman of Christ
Church from 1747 to 1749 ; and a signer of the Non Importation
Resolutions of 1765. He was devoted to scientific pursuits,
and the developments of the times in the use and force of Elec-
tricity were aided by his experiments and discoveries, and Frank-
lin made acknowledgment of the aid he had furnished him in
many of his experiments. In a note to his letter of 1 1 July,
1747 to Mr. Collinson, Franklin refers to certain experiments
" by means of little, light windmill wheels made of stiff paper
vanes" as "made and communicated to me by my worthy and
ingenious friend Mr Philip Syng;" and of another experiment,
thus, " His simple, easily made machine was a contrivance of
Mr. Syng's." 34 Franklin could appreciate the ingenuity of such
a skilful craftsman. He lived to a great age, and dying 8 May,
1789, was buried in Christ Church Burying Ground. One of his
daughters married Edmund Physick and became the mother of

31 Bigelow, ii. 66. He writes Franklin the following letter:

PHILADELPHIA, March i, 1766.

DEAR SIR I received yours of 26th of September last with your very agreeable
Present Doctor Lewis's new Work. You judged very right that I should rind in it
entertaining Particulars in ray Way the Management of Gold & Silver is treated of
in it better more particularly than I have met with in any Author.

The regard you have always shewn me requires my acknowledgment, which
I wish to make by serviceable Actions, because they speak louder than Words, but I
fear I shall be insolvent. The Junto fainted last Summer in the hot Weather and

88 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Philip Syng Physick, a graduate in 1785 of the University, for
whom the Chair of Surgery was created in 1805, which he
filled until 1819 when he took the Chair of Anatomy in which
he continued until 1831. The name of Philip Syng was borne
to a later generation by this worthy descendant who has been
called the Father of American Surgery.

Mr. Syng's attendance on the meetings of the Trustees
was very constant up to the time of Franklin's departure on his
first mission; but from 14 June, 175710 12 May, 1769 he attended
but four meetings these inclusive ; and this last attendance may
have been due to a Minute of the meeting of 8 May previous,

viz :

Dr. Smith is desired to wait upon Mr. Philip Syng to ask him
whether he will be pleased to attend the future meetings of the Trustees,
as the Business of the College suffers greatly for want of a regular attend-
ance of the members ; Mr. Syng in particular, not having attended more
than once or twice for several years. If Mr. Syng should mention any
particular Inconvenience in his attending the Duty of a Trustee, it is
desired that he may be asked whether it would be agreeable to him that
another should be chosen in his Room.

However, nothing was done, nor did Mr. Syng again
attend, until at the meeting of 8 June, 1773 notice was given of
" a new Trustee being wanted in the Room of Mr. Philip Syng
who has removed with his Family to more than five Miles Dis-
tance from the City ;" when at the meeting of 15 June Mr.
Samuel Powel was elected. He was a member of St. John's
Lodge in 1734, Junior Grand Warden in 1737, Deputy Grand
Master in 1738, and Grand Master in 1741.

CHARLES WILLING was born in Bristol, England, 18 May,
1710, the son of Thomas Willing, a merchant of that city, who
brought the son to Philadelphia about the year 1828. A cousin
of the father, also a Thomas Willing, founded and laid out Wil-

has not yet reviv'd, your Presence might reanimate it, without which I apprehend it
will never recover.

I am dear Sir your affectionate Friend and oblig'd Humble Serv't, PHIL SYNG.
Addressed : To Benjamin Franklin, Esq, Postmaster general of North America in
London, pr Capt Sparks. MS letter with the American Philosophical Soc'y. The
gift referred to was doubtless the Commercium Philosophico-technicum, in its new
and last edition, of Dr. William Lewis, who died in 1786. Allibone.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 89

ling's Town now Wilmington, Delaware. Charles entered into
mercantile business and took charge of the house his elder
brother Thomas, who returned to England, had founded in
1726. He was successful in his operations and speculations,
and established a credit at home and abroad which redounded
to the welfare and influence of his adopted city. He was very
active in the formation of the Philadelphia Associators in 1747,
and must here have been much with Franklin in his efforts to
make this defensive association a success. He was Mayor of
the City in 1748, and again in 1754, dying 30 November, 1754,
of ship fever contracted it is said whilst in the discharge of
some of his official duties. Mr. Willing married 21 January,
1731, Anne, daughter of Joseph Shippen, son of the Councillor,
and sister of William Shippen, M. D., the Elder, a Trustee. Of his
children, his eldest son Thomas became a Trustee in 1760,
and in 1761 a Justice of the Supreme Court, and married Anne,
daughter of Samuel M'Call junior, also a Trustee, and was
father of Thomas Mayne Willing a Trustee of the University in
1800, and of Anne who married William Bingham, a Trustee
in 1789; Anne, married Tench Francis, son of Tench Francis a
Trustee ; Mary, married Col. William Byrd of Westover, Vir-
ginia ; Elizabeth, married Samuel Powel, a Trustee in 1773;
and Margaret, married to Robert Hare, a Trustee in 1789, and
became the mother of Charles Willing Hare, whose son Rev.
George Emlen Hare, D. D. was Assistant Professor of the Greek
and Latin Languages in the University in 1844, and of Dr.
Robert Hare, Professor of Chemistry in the University from
1818 to 1848, whose son John Innes Clark Hare, a graduate of
the University in 1834, was a Trustee in 1858, resigning in 1868,
to take the Professorship of the Institute of Law which he held
until 1889, when he became Emeritus Professor.

The following obituary notice by Franklin of Mr. Willing
appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 5 December, 1754.
The portion which is a quotation, is by the Rev. William Smith.

Last Saturday, after a short Illness, departed this Life, in the 45th
Year of his age, CHARLES WILLING, Esq re ; Mayor of this City. As it may
be truly said that this Community had not a more useful Member, his

QO HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Death is justly lamented as a public Loss to his country, as well as an
almost irretrievable Loss to his Family and Friends.

In the Character of a Magistrate, he was patient, indefatigable, and
actuated by a Steady Zeal for Justice. As a Merchant, it was thought that
no Person amongst us understood COMMERCE in General, and the trading
Interests of this Province in particular, better than he, and his Success in
Business was proportionably Great. As a Friend, he was faithful, candid
and sincere. As a Husband and Parent few ever exceeded him in Tender-
ness and Affection. Being himself a sincere Christian, he was strictly
attentive to the Education of his children in every virtuous Qualification,
and in a particular Manner he was remarkable in the Discharge of that
essential part of a Parent's Duty, so little considered, a regular attend-
ance, together with his numerous Family, on the public Worship of GOD.
And for this accordingly, they will now have Reason to bless his Memory ;
since the Impression, thereby received, will go farther to teach them how
to bear their present heavy Affliction, and recommend them to the Favor
of the World (degenerate as it is) than all the external Advantages all the
Fortune, Graces, and Good Nature he has left them possessed of.

Mr. Smith also supplied an " Ode to the Memory of Charles
Willing, Esq.," of which the first Stanza is

Once more I seek the cypress shade,
To weave a garland for the dead,

Alone, dejected, wan !
Shall Willing quit this mortal strife,
And not a verse show him, in life
And death AN HONEST MAN ?

Mr. Willing gave much attendance to the meetings of the
Trustees, with only an interval from July 1750 to November,
1751. The last he attended was on 17 September 1754. At
the meeting of n February, 1755, Mr. Alexander Stedman was
elected to fill the vacancy made by his death.

Doctor PHINEAS BOND was born in Maryland in 1717, the
younger brother of Dr. Thomas Bond, also a Trustee. He was,
as well as his brother educated in his native state, and pursued
his studies during foreign travel, visiting at length Leyden,
Paris, Edinburgh and London for this purpose. He did not
devote himself to surgery as did his brother ; but Dr. Thacher
says of him "no medical man of his time in this country left
behind him a brighter character for professional sagacity, or the

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 91

amiable qualities of the heart." He shared with his brother
many of his tastes for scientific and philosophic pursuits, and
was under Franklin's lead one of the organizers of the American
Philosophical Society ; Franklin writes to Cadwallader Golden
on 5 April, 1744, " I can now acquaint you, that the Society, as
far as it relates to Philadelphia, is actually formed, and has had
several meetings to mutual satisfaction." And in enumerating
the members he describes Dr. Phineas Bond as General Natural
Philosopher, and Dr. Thomas Bond who heads his list as
Physician. 35 His interest also in public affairs was evidenced by
being a member of Common Council from 1747 until his death.
He married 4 August, 1748, Williamina daughter of Wil-
liam Moore of Moore Hall, Chester County, Penn'a, her younger
sister Rebecca marrying Dr. William Smith, the Provost of the
College in 1759. Dr. Bond's eldest son, Phineas, 36 was a
loyalist during the Revolution, and later was made British
Consul at Philadelphia, which he remained for several years at
the end of the last and the beginning of this century ; he died in
London 29 December, 1815. Of Dr. Bond's daughters, Williamina
married General John Cadwalader who became a Trustee of the
College in 1779, and Elizabeth married John Travis of Phila-
delphia. Dr. Bond died II June, 1773, and he was buried in
Christ Church Burying Ground, where a simple stone marks the
last resting place of " Doctor PHINEAS BOND, Esq. " His
attendance at the Trustees meetings was frequent to the last,
with sometimes only intervals of a few months. His last attend-
ance was on i January, 1773. On the 18 June following, Mr.
Thomas Mifflin was elected his successor. An obituary to him
in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 14 June, 1773 recites : "Early on
Friday morning last, to the inexpressible grief of all who knew
him, departed this life in his fifty-sixth year, Dr. Phineas Bond,
a gentleman long and justly acknowledged to be of the first
eminence in his profession."

55 Bigelow, ii. I.

36 A letter from Deborah Franklin of introduction to her husband of young
Phineas Bond, dated n Octo., 1770, is given in the Pennsylvania Magazine, v. 510.

92 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RICHARD PETERS, was born in Liverpool about 1704, the
son of Ralph Peters, town clerk of that place. He was sent
when quite young to Westminster School, where he finished
before he was fifteen years of age. Instead of going to Oxford,
his parents sent him to Leyden, and on his return to England
he undertook the study of law, although against his will, for he
had an inclination to take orders. He was five years in the
Inner Temple, but his predilections for the ministry increasing
with time, his father finally consented to his taking orders and
he was ordained by the Bishop of Winchester 20 September,
1729, Deacon, and was ordained Priest 24 March, 1730.
He became curate at Latham Chapel in the parish of Ormskirk,
and subsequently became tutor of two young wards and kins-
men of the Earl of Derby, and lived with the latter until July,
1735. A youthful marriage which he contracted while at
Westminster school, but which was not consummated, with a
domestic, was the cause of his going to Leyden instead of
Oxford ; but the woman was supposed to have died about 1733,
and he married in 1734 Miss Stanley, sister of his pupils. But
within a few months, the information of the death of the woman
having proven unfounded, he left England and his wife and
came to Bristol, Pennsylvania, the residence of Andrew Ham-
ilton's wife, whose first husband, Preeson, had been a maternal
relative of his. He became assistant to the Rev. Archibald
Cummings at Christ Church.

But in a brief space, dissensions arose between him and
his Rector, and eventually the Bishop of London suspended his
license. However, the Vestry showed their estimation of him
in their letter of 28 July, 1737, to the Bishop, "though this
gentleman," they say,

for reasons which we humbly beg leave to say appear to us to be just, has
thought fit to decline continuing to give his assistance * * * yet it is
true that, during the time he has exercised his ministerial function in this
city, he has given great satisfaction in general to our congregation, and
has been of real service to the Church of England ; to which, by his con-
duct, both in the pulpit and out of it, he has drawn great numbers of the
more understanding Dissenters of all persuasions,

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 93

Failing now work in the ministry, his energies found
employment as Secretary in the Land Office, and for twenty-five
years he continued in that capacity, becoming in fact the real estate
agent for the Proprietaries. In this office, he attained great dis-
cretion, showing how well the confidence of the Penns in him
was justified. Referring to this parochial controversy, Bishop
White says of it : "It was said that Dr. Peters' acquaintance
had been cultivated by the genteelest families in the city ; but
that, being no favorite with the then rector of Christ Church, the
Rev. Archibald Cummings, he accepted from the proprietary gov-
ernment the secretaryship of the land office, which laid the founda-
tion of a considerable fortune." Thomas Penn said of him a
few years after this appointment, " he has always discharged it
with great faithfulness and his understanding and temper render
him very fit for such an office where he must transact business
with a great number of ignorant people closely tied to their
own interests." This was in 1741, when on the death of the
Rev. Mr. Cummings, the Vestry of Christ Church recom-
mended him to the Bishop of London for a license, designing to
make him Mr. Cummings' successor in the Rectorship. The
petition, however, failed ; his connection with the proprietary
interests led to jealousies lest such influence would prevail in the
Church and mar its ecclesiastical independence. Peters sub-
mitted, to save contention, though his influence was so great in
the parish as to have caused an entire independency of the
Bishop's license had he in any way encouraged it. He became
a member of the Vestry in 1740, and again from 1745-1752
and served the Church faithfully in this capacity for these years.
His secular work meanwhile grew upon him, he being appointed
14 February, 1743, Secretary of the Province and Clerk to the
Council. It was in this year that Franklin having drawn up his
first plans for the establishment of a charity school relied upon
Peters to take the matter in hand and become the head of the
needed institution ; but this Peters declined. On 19 May, 1749,
on a suggestion from the Proprietaries, he was made a member
of the Council and at once qualified. This year saw the con-
summation of Franklin's proposal for an Academy and Charitable

94 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

School, and he became a hearty co-worker in it, and preached
a sermon at the opening. He became President of the Board
of Trustees in 1756. He was one of the four representatives
of Pennsylvania in the Congress at Albany in 1754; and in
the year 1756, in a conference with the Indians at Fort Stanwix,
he baptized several of them, of which he had record made in
Christ Church registers on his return. Though thus in actual
secular duties, and entitled Esquire in the organization of the
Academy, he yet could not forego special exercises of his min-
istry. In the beginning of 1762 he resigned his Secretaryship,
but continued member of the Council. In the same year, he
consented to officiate regularly at Christ Church in young
Duche's absence abroad seeking priests orders, and when the
old incumbent Dr. Jenney died, he was elected Rector of the
United Churches of Christ Church and St. Peters in December,
1762. This met the confirmation of the Bishop of London the
following year. In this incumbency he continued until his
resignation 23 September, 1775. He died IO July following,
and was buried in front of the chancel of Christ Church. The
degree of Doctor of Divinity had been conferred on him by
Oxford in 1770. In 1772 he sought the aid of two Assistants
in his cure, in addition to the aid rendered by Mr. Duche, who
had been Assistant from 1759, and the Vestry appointed on his
recommendation two young graduates of the College and
Academy, William White of the class of 1765 and Thomas
Coombe of the class of 1766; and on his resignation he was
succeeded as Rector by Mr. Duche who was of the class of 1757.
As Bishop White was associated with Dr. Peters in Church
and in College, we may find a fitting description of him by the
Bishop's pen. "Dr. Peters was a native of England * * : he
was then a young clergyman, of a respectable family in Liver-
pool, of an excellent education, and of polished manners :
At an age turned of sixty, he gave up his lucrative offices, and
became more serious in religious concerns than at any former
period of his life ; although his morals had been correct, his
attendance on public worship constant and solemn, and his
preaching occasional. * * * He adopted the notions of

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 95

Jacob Boehm and William Law ; in consequence of which his
sermons were not always understood. In social discourse, he
could be exceedingly entertaining * * * yet from the
moment of turning the conversation to religion, he was in the
clouds." 37

Dr. Peters interest in the College and Academy was second
only to that of Franklin, and he shared in all the counsels of
the latter in its inception and firm establishment He suc-
ceeded the latter as President of the Board and continued the
leadership for many years. His attendance at the meetings was
more constant than any other, not even excepting William
Coleman, the only interval of any note being that from July
1764 to December 1765 inclusive. The last time he attended
the meetings was on 19 March 1776. At the meeting of
5 October, 1778, Mr. Robert Morris by election succeeded him
as Trustee. His connection with the Proprietary interests fur-
thered the material recognition of the new institution by the
Penns, and both financially and politically the association was
valuable. In Franklin's early absences abroad, Dr. Peters with
the Trustees and Dr. Smith in the Faculty kept in motion the
busy work of the College. But, on the other hand, this par-
ticular influence may signally have failed of advantage in the
trying times of the Revolution, and have contributed to those
suspicions which claimed to be the basis of the charter abroga-
tion of 1779, which alone could have been prevented by Frank-
lin's presence, who was then too far across the seas on public
duties to wrestle with a suspicious Governor and unstable
Legislature.

Dr. Peters' brother, William, was father of Richard Peters,
a graduate of the College and Academy in 1761, Judge of the
U. S. District Court from 1791 to 1828, a Trustee of the College
from 1789 to 1791 ; he was the owner of Belmont Mansion on
the Schuylkill, now in Fairmount Park.

S7 Afemoir, by Dr. Wilson, p. 27.

96 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ABRAM TAYLOR was born in England about 1703, and came
to Philadelphia from Bristol, and was soon engaged in a success-
ful business ; it is said his partner desiring to return to England
in 1741 sold him his interest in the business for ^7000 stg.
Taylor was at this time in the City Corporation, and on 29
December, 1741, qualified as a member of the Governor's
Council. In the latter part of 1744 the office for the collection
of the customs being vacant by the death of Mr. Alexander he
assumed its duties under a Deputation from Bedford the titular
Collector, " rather than a friend should suffer by the office being
depreciated and undervalued since the commencement of a
French War." He was elected Mayor in 1745, but declining
to serve was fined ^30. He was made Colonel of the regiment
of Associators for Defence formed under Franklin's lead in the
latter part of 1747, the Lieutenant Colonelcy being offered to
the latter but declined when Thomas Lawrence was commis-
sioned. He fell into a contest with the Proprietaries on the
purchase by him of a claim to about 20,000 acres of land, which
they were unwilling to grant. So persistent was he in this, that
they directed Governor Hamilton to strike his name from the
Council. He urged his claim in England in 1750; and return-
ing to Philadelphia, he continued one of the members of the
City Corporation until his final departure from the Province, in

1762, returning to the old country and taking up his residence
in Bath where he died in 1772. His departure from the
Province was signalised by a public dinner given him by his
friends which attracted a notice in the Pennsylvania Gazette of

i July, 1762 :

On Thursday last an elegant Entertainment was prepared in the State
House by a Number of the principal Gentlemen of this city, in order to
bid Adieu to, and take their final Farewell of ABRAHAM TAYLOR, Esq.,
late one of the Council, an Alderman of the City, and Deputy Collector of
the Customs in this Port, now going to reside in England. Upwards of
One Hundred Gentlemen attended Mr. Taylor on this occasion, and the
greatest pleasure appeared on every countenance. Towards the close of
this very agreeable Entertainment Mr. Taylor was addressed by one of the
Company, in the Name of the Whole, and Thanks returned him for his
faithful and upright Discharge of the several offices he had the Honour to

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 97

fill, during a Residence of upward of Thirty Years among us ; and for his
kind, prudent, blameless, and affectionate Behaviour, as a Friend, Fellow
Citizen and Companion ; and the best and most cordial Wishes of the
whole Company attended him, for his safe Passage to, and future Health
and Happiness in his native Land. Mr. Taylor then took the most decent
and affectionate Farewell of the Company, wished them, and the whole
Province, all possible Blessings, Happiness and Prosperity. The Enter-
tainment closed in the Evening with great Harmony, becoming good
Citizens parting with a most worthy member.

He married about 1733, Philadelphia, daughter of Patrick
Gordon, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 1726 to

1735-

Mr. Taylor's attendance at the Trustees meetings resembled
that of Mr. Syng's somewhat, in that they were quite regular up
to the forepart of 1757, when Franklin had departed on his first
mission abroad, his last meeting that year being 10 May, after
which he attended one in May 1761, and his last on 18 May
1762. At the meeting of 14 December, 1762 election was had
for a Trustee "to be chosen in the room of Abraham Taylor
Esquire, departed out of the Province," when Mr. Andrew
Elliott succeeded him.

Doctor THOMAS BOND was born in Calvert county Mary-
land, in 1712. He prepared himself for the medical profession
under the well-known Dr. Hamilton, and afterwards traveled in
Europe in furtherance of his studies, passing some time in
Paris, where he attended the practice of the Hotel Dieu. 38
Returning to America, he began the practice of medicine in
Philadelphia in 1734, and soon attracted the attention and
gained the confidence of the public. The pursuit of his pro-
fession did not engross his attention, for we find him an active
member of the circle of young inquirers and students which
grew into the American Philosophical Society, and he gave con-
stant attention to the affairs of the young Academy and College
by diligent attendance at the meetings of the Trustees, and in
1751 "conceived the idea of establishing a hospital in Philadel-
phia * * which was originally and truly his," as Franklin

88 American Medical Biography , James Thacher, i. 177.

98 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

records in his autobiography ; and was a member of the first
board of managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital, as were Ben-
jamin Franklin and Richard Peters, his fellow trustees in the
Academy. On the opening of the Hospital in 1752, the
patients were regularly attended by him and three other of his
fellow-trustees, Drs. Zachary, Cadwaladerand Phineas Bond, his
brother; and in 1769 he gave the first course of clinical lec-
tures in the Hospital. Of his introductory lecture to this course,
delivered 3 December, 1766, Dr. Carson says "it is a clear
exposition of the advantages of clinical instruction fn connec-
tion with medical education, at the same time evincing a deep
interest in the medical school recently established, to which, as
a Trustee of the College, Dr. Bond had most zealously given
his influence." 39

In 1782 he delivered the annual address before the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society, the subject being, " The rank and
dignity of man in the scale of being, and the conveniences and
advantages he derives from the arts and sciences, and a prog-
nostic of the increasing grandeur and glory of America
founded on the nature of its climate." Dr. Thacher says of
him, " he was for half a century in the first practice in Philadel-
phia, and remarkable for attention to the cases under his care,
and his sound judgment. He was an excellent surgeon, and in
the year 1768 performed two operations of lithotomy in the
Pennsylvania Hospital with success."

He continued his intercourse by correspodence with Frank-
lin during the latter's long sojourn abroad, and a letter of the
latter written at Passy, 16 March, 1780, acknowledges Dr.
Bond's " kind letter of September 22d, and I thank you," he
says 40

for the pleasing account you give me of the health and welfare of my old
friends, Hugh Roberts, Luke Morris, Philip Syng, Samuel Rhoads, &c. ,
with the same of yourself and family. Shake the old ones by the hand
for me, and give" the young ones my blessing. For my own part, I do not
find that I grow any older. * * * Advise those old friends of ours to

39 History Medical Department University of Pennsylvania, Joseph Carson,
M. D., 57.

40 Bigelow, vii. 36.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 99

follow my example : Keep up your spirits, and that will keep up your
bodies ; you will no more stoop under the weight of age, than if you had
swallowed a handspike.

It is in a postscript to this letter he adds :

I have bought some valuable books, which I intend to present to the
Society, but shall not send them till safer times.

Dr. Bond's daughter, Rebecca, married 21 September,
1768, Thomas Lawrence, the grandson of Thomas Lawrence,
the Councillor and his fellow-Trustee, and their second daugh-
ter, Sarah Rebecca, married Warren de Lancey, a grandson of
Governor Cadwallader Golden, and cousin of Provost de Lancey's
father.

He was described as of a delicate constitution, and dis-
posed to pulmonary consumption, but by unremitting care of
his health he passed beyond the threescore and ten years, though
his life was an unceasingly active one, both in practice and
authorship; he died 26 March, 1784. His remains lie in Christ
Church Burying Ground, and on his stone is engraven this
epitaph :

In memory of

THOMAS BOND M D

who practised Physic and Surgery

with signal reputation and success

nearly half a century.

Lamented and beloved

by many
Respected and esteemed

by all

and adorned by literary honors
sustained by him with dignity.

He was as constant as his brother in his attendance on the
Trustees meeting and was one of the faithful ones who attended
the last meeting on 22 November, 1779, under the charter of
1755, the only one of the original Trustees who then attended.
He was a member of St. John's Lodge in 1734, Junior Grand
Warden in 1741, and Senior Grand Warden in 1755.

ioo HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

THOMAS HOPKINSON was born in London 6 April, 1709, the
son of Thomas Hopkinson a merchant of that city. His educa-
tion was a liberal and practical one, and though he is said to
have been at Oxford did not complete his studies there. He
took up the study of law, and at twenty-two years of age decided
on venturing himself in the colonies, coming to Pennsylvania in
1731, and at once engaging in the practice of his profession.
He became deputy to Charles Read, Clerk of the Orphans'
Court of Philadelphia County, and on the latter's death in Janu-
ary, 1737, succeeded him. He was Master of the Rolls from 1736
to 1741, Deputy Prothonotary and afterwards Prothonotary of
Philadelphia County, and chosen in October, 1741, a Common
Councilman. In the latter year he succeeded Andrew Hamilton
as Judge of Vice-Admiralty for Pennsylvania, and on 1 3 May,
1747, became a member of the Provincial Council. But his
interests were not confined to legal or political channels, and
were equally given to literary and scientific pursuits in associa-
tion with Franklin and his circle, and of the American Philo-
sophical Society which had its origin in the Junto he was made
the first President. And when the Academy was planned he
became an active Trustee and warmly co-operated with Franklin
in all its concerns, as he had in the institution of the new
Library Company which was established in the year of his
arrival in the Province. In scientific affairs he was a zealous
amateur, and shared with Franklin in some of the wonderful
developments in the knowledge of electricity. Franklin writing to
his friend Peter Collinson, 11 July, 1747, "in pursuing our
electrical inquiries, * * * of the wonderful effect of pointed
bodies, both in drawing off and throwing off the electrical fire," 4I
adds in later years the acknowledgment: 42 "This power of
points to throw off the electrical fire, was first communicated to
me by my ingenious friend, Mr. Thomas Hopkinson, since
deceased, whose virtue and integrity, in every station of life,
public and private, will ever make his memory dear to those
who knew him, and knew how to value him." Mr. Hopkinson
died in Philadelphia 5 November, 1751. Mr. Sparks says of
41 Bigelow, ii. 66. Ibid. 68,

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 101

him, " He was distinguished for his classical attainments, gen-
eral learning, the brilliancy of his conversation, and his fondness
for philosophical studies." 43

But we must record the testimony of his friend Franklin to
his worth, which we find in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 14
November, 1751:

Last week died here the honourable THOMAS HOPKINSON, Esq. ;
Judge of the Admiralty for this Province, one of the Governor's Council,
and Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Phila-
delphia, &c. A Gentleman possessed of many Virtues, without the Alloy
of one single Vice ; and distinguished for his attachment to the Cause of
Justice and Honesty ; which he practised in private Life with a scrupulous
Exactness, and in Publick Affairs, with an Intrepidity and Firmness of
mind that was not to be shaken ; an excellent Ingredient in his character,
where a quick Conception, a clear Discernment, and a solid Judgment, were
happily United: In Matters of Truth so faithful, that the nearest Concerns
of his own Interest had not a greater Share of his Application. His Benevo-
lence was as extensive as the proper Object of it, the whole human Race,
but his great Modesty, and his not seeking to be known caused the Num-
ber of his intimate Friends to be but small: Among those, in the Hours of
Recreation, he had the particular Faculty of tempering the Facetious with
the Grave, in so agreeable a Manner, as made his Conversation both
delightful and instructive. He was reserved in Professions of Religion,
but the Spirit of Christianity actuated the whole Conduct of his Life. Not
conscious of any Guilt or Neglect of any Social Duty, he beheld the slow
Approaches of Death with an amazing cheerfulness, without any Mixture of
Anxiety or Fear ; and at last bid adieu to the world with all the Serenity of
Mind that could flow from the Wisdom of a Philosopher joined to the
Innocence of a Child.

Mr. Hopkinson married in 1736, Mary, daughter of Bald-
win Johnson of Appoquinimink Hundred, Delaware. 44 Of their
children, Francis, the eldest, we will learn somewhat of later as
an honored alumnus of the College and Academy at its first com-
mencement, together with Jacob Duche, Jr., and John Morgan
afterward his brother-in-law ; Thomas was an alumnus of
1766 and afterward entered Holy Orders, dying in 1784 with-

43 Sparks, vi. 87.

44 Her first cousin, Dr. James Johnson, was Canon-residentiary of St. Paul's
Cathedral, and was in 1752 made Bishop of Gloucester, whence in 1760 he was
translated to Worcester, dying in 1774.

IO2 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

out family; Elizabeth married the Rev. Jacob Duche; and
Mary married Dr. John Morgan, who in 1765 became the
first medical professor, that of the Theory and Practice of
Physics, in the College and Academy, and consequently the
first in America.

Mr. Hopkinson had attended but ten meetings of the
Trustees up to 13 July, 1751, and his death made the first
break among the active Trustees, for though James Logan had
died but a few days before, his age and infirmities precluded his
taking any active part in the proceedings. At the meeting of
12 November, 1751, Dr. Thomas Cadwalader was elected to
take his trust. He was a member of St. John's Lodge, with
Franklin, in 1733, was elected Junior Grand Warden in 1734,
Deputy Grand Master in 1735, and Grand Master in 1736.

WILLIAM PLUMSTED was born in Philadelphia 7 November,
1708, the son of Clement Plumsted the Councillor, a native of
Norfolk, England. In 1724 young Plumsted was taken abroad
by his father. He subsequently became a partner of his father in
business, and continued the establishment after his death. He
became a Common Councilman in 1739. He was made Register
General of Wills for the Province in 1745, "although it was
thought remarkable that a wealthy man would take it:" this
office he held until his death, and on 30 May, 1752 was commis-
sioned a Justice of the Peace of the County Courts. Brought
up a Friend, about middle age he renounced the Society and
became a Churchman, and joined in the petition for the lot on
which St. Peter's Church was erected in 1760, and of which he
became the first Accounting Warden. He was three times
Mayor of Philadelphia, viz. : in 1750, 1754, and 1755 : it is
said he spared himself the public entertainment called for
from the retiring Mayor in 1750 by donating to the City the sum
of 75. He with Chief Justice Allen and others in 1755 con-
tributed to a sum which was to represent the tax properly deriva-
ble from the Proprietaries estates, at the time the Assembly was
refusing to pass any bill for raising money for defence of the
province which excused the Penns from contributing. In 175 7

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 103

he was a member of Assembly from Northampton County. He
died 10 August, 1765, and was buried in St. Peter's Church Yard.
All that now can certainly be deciphered of the inscription on his
tombstone speaks of him as " An Eminent Merchant. An
Alderman, and some time Mayor of Philadelphia, Whose public
character as a useful Citizen and Magistrate Let his country tell."
He married first Rebecca, daughter of Philip Kearny of Phila-
delphia, and whose sister Mary was the wife of Chief Justice John
Kinsey. She died in 1741, and he married secondly, in 1753,
Mary daughter of George M'Call, the sister of Samuel M'Call
junior, his fellow Trustee. His daughter Elizabeth, by the first
marriage, married Andrew Elliott who was elected a Trustee of
the College in 1762.

The Pennsylvania Gazette 14 August records this obituary
notice of him :

On Sunday .last died here, after a short, but severe, Illness, Wil-
liam Plumsted, Esq., one of the Aldermen of this City ; and the next Day
was buried in St. Peter's Church Burying Ground, in the plainest Manner,
at his own Request, according to the new Mode, lately used in Boston and
New York, having no Pall over his Coffin, nor none of his Relations or
Friends appearing in Mourning. We flatter ourselves, that this frugal and
laudable Example of burying our Dead, so seasonably set by People of
Family and Fortune, will be imitated by all, both in City and Country ;
the good Effects of which must soon be felt, especially by those in low
Circumstances.

Mr. Plumsted was more regular in his attendance at the
Trustees meetings in the earlier years of his service, but to the
last he evinced his interest by as frequent attendance as he could
give. His last meeting was that of 1 1 September, 1764. At
the meeting of 23 September, 1765, Mr. John Lawrence was
elected to succeed him. He was a member of St. John's Lodge,
with others of his Fellow Trustees, in 1734, was Senior Grand
Warden in 1735, Deputy Grand Master in 1736, Grand Master
in 1737, and Grand Treasurer in 1755.

IO4 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

JOSHUA MADDOX was born in 1685, a native of England.
He was a member of the Vestry of Christ Church for many
years, at intervals from 1728 to 1746, and a Warden, 1731-33 ;
and was made a Justice of the Orphans' Court I March, 1741,
commissioned 4 April following on the same day with Robert
Strettell, a justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and 6 October,
1 747, an alderman and associate justice of the City Court. With
his associate justices, Thomas Lawrence, Edward Shippen and
Benjamin Franklin (probably the latter's first hearing) he sat in
trial of a case in June Term, 1749 of Lawrence William vs.
William Till, of unusual magnitude at the time for the Common
Pleas. Mr David Paul Brown illustrates this in the following
sentences : 45

We have in this record a singular exhibition of the social and judicial
system of the province. Taken in connection with the large influence of
Friends in the civil concerns of that day, it seems to present a mixture of
the times of the patriarchal government with that of the reign of the mer-
chant princes, and that of the highest state of artificial English law. We
find here four persons, not one of whom was ever at the bar, nor, so far as
we know, ever professionally educated, seated on the seat of judgment,
hearing an important case of commerce, and adjudging it by rules of scien-
tific common law jurisprudence * * * He sat from March 1741 until
his death in April, 1759, a term of eighteen years, upon the seat of judg-
ment, constantly partaking in its councils and attending its adjudications ;
and when he died at the age of seventy four, had almost become personi-
fied in this province with the administration of its local justice.

Mr. Maddox was engaged in mercantile pursuits, with
success, and was a citizen of influence and honor. His education
had been a liberal one, and his library in its choice of books
showed him to be a man of studious and contemplative tastes.
He died 12 April, 1759. His wife survived him many years,
dying in 1783, at the advanced age of 102 years, as is told on
their grave stone in Christ Church Yard. His only child, Mary,
married John Wallace, of Hope Farm, Somerset County, New
Jersey, a native of Scotland, and was mother of Hon. Joshua
Maddox Wallace, an alumnus of the College in 1767.

Mr Maddox was a frequent attendant on the meetings of

45 Fonun, {.237-238.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 105

the Trustees; the last he attended was on 22 November, 1758.
At the meeting of 8 July, 1760, Mr Thomas Willing was elected
his successor.

THOMAS WHITE was born in London in 1704, the son of
William White of London and Elizabeth Leigh his wife ; his
father died when he was but four years of age, and in 1720 he
came to America as apprentice to Mr. Stokes the Clerk of the
County of Baltimore ; he eventually became his deputy and
having pursued the study of law with the limited means then at
command in the colonies, he practiced it at the Maryland bar.
He became deputy surveyor of the province for the then County
of Baltimore, which includes what we now know as Harford
County created in 1773, and gradually acquired lands and was
fortunate in developing them to the cultivation of tobacco, the
great staple of the day, and was successful in producing bar
iron from the ores found on his estates, thus becoming one of
the earliest iron producers in the colonies. He married Sophia,
daughter of John Hall of Cranbury, of one of the oldest settled
families in Baltimore County; but when he was left a widower in
1742 with three young daughters, he was in a few years induced
to make his residence in Philadelphia not alone for their better
education but as well also to increase his business connections,
for when settled in the commercial metropolis of the colonies, he
could more readily export the produce of his plantations and
make importations in exchange therefor. He attained the rank
of Colonel in the provincial militia, and bore this title to his
new home. He must early have made the acquaintance of Franklin
in establishing himself in Philadelphia, through a common
friend Richard Peters, who as Secretary to the Pennsylvania
Council must have often encountered the Maryland Surveyor in
the boundary controversies between the Penns and Calverts.
He was at the early age of twenty-seven made a Vestryman of
old St. George's, Spesutiae, now in Harford County, his attach-
ment to the Church of England being drawn from the traditions
of several ancestral generations who leaned rather to the House
of Stuart, and when he came to Philadelphia he at once attached

106 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

himself to Christ Church. He resigned his Trusteeship in the
Academy and College in 1772 owing to increasing infirmities,
but his young son was two years later elected a Trustee. He was
one of the Commissioners of Peace in 1752, and on 30 May the
same year was commissioned a Justice of the Peace of the County
Courts of Philadelphia. He espoused the cause of the colonies in
their struggles against the parliament, and perhaps his Jacobite
traditions made it the more easy for him to seek a severance
from a King of the House of Hanover ; but an accident which
had befallen him in 1757 forbade participation in any political or
military movements of the time. When writing to his London
correspondents, Messrs. David Barclay & Sons, 1 1 November,
1765, in ordering some articles, he adds, " But not if the Stamp
Act be unrepealed." On one of his stated visits to Maryland
he died, after a short illness, at his daughter's house at the
head of Bush River, on 29 September, 1779, and his remains
now lie in the old St. George's burying ground.

He married secondly, Esther, daughter of Abraham Hew-
lings of Burlington, N. J., of a family which early in the colony
were Friends, but who became followers of George Keith and
returned to the Church of England ; and by her he had a son
William, whom he lived to see Rector of the united Churches
of Christ Church and St. Peter's, but did not live to see him
wearing the Mitre ; and Mary, who became the wife of Robert
Morris the Financier, a Trustee of the College from 1778 to
1791. His eminent son records of him,

He was indulgent to his Family in all their reasonable Desires and
was attentive to the keeping of a plentiful and hospitable Table. Among
his many good Qualities, was strict Temperance and scrupulous Integrity.
Perhaps no Man ever lived and died with a more unreserved acknowledg-
ment of these properties of character.

His oldest grandson, Thomas Hall, a graduate of the
Academy and College in 1768, while reading law in Philadel-
phia served for the following year as tutor in his Alma Mater.

Coi. White's attendance with the Trustees at their meetings
was very regular and would have been almost without inter-
mission but for his absences from the city. The last time he

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 107

attended was that of 30 May, 1769 ; and on 19 May, 1772, he
wrote the Trustees :

As it is not any longer convenient for me to give that attendance at
your Meetings which the Duty of a Trustee requires, I would request you
to accept my Resignation, which I do not make out of any Disregard to the
Institution, the Prosperity of which I shall always wish ; but because my
continuing longer in the office of a Trustee prevents you from having some
more useful and active member.

And at the meeting of 25 May following :

The Hon'ble Richard Penn, Esqr. , the present Governor of the
Province, is unanimously elected a Trustee in the Room of Col. White who
has lately resigned ; and Dr. Peters, Mr. Inglis, and the Provost are
desired to wait upon his Honor, and request his acceptance of a share in
the Trust and Direction of this Institution.

WILLIAM COLEMAN, of whom Franklin so tenderly speaks
when reciting 46 the names of his friends of the Junto, as hav-
ing " the coolest, clearest head, the best heart, and the exactest
morals, of almost any man I ever met with," was born in 1/04,
the son of William Coleman. " Our friendship," he says, "con-
tinued without interruption to his death, upwards of forty years."
The meagre information we have of him does not satisfy our
desires to know more of the man of whom Franklin gives such
a testimony. He early attained eminence as a faithful citizen
and a successful merchant. He was a Common Councilman in
I 739 was appointed Clerk of the City Court, 18 September,
1 747, and on 30 June, 1 749, a Justice of the Peace of the County
Courts of Philadelphia together with Thomas Lawrence, Abram
Taylor, Robert Strettell, Joseph Turner, Thomas Hopkin-
son, William Allen, Joshua Maddox, Charles Willing, and Ben-
jamin Franklin, with whom he was to be a co-trustee of the new
Academy organized before the close of that year. He was again
commissioned 25 May, 1752, others of the Trustees then being
included, William Plumsted, Thomas White, and John Mifflin.
On 27 November, 1757, he was made Presiding Justice of the
Court of Quarter Sessions, and on 8 April, 1758, an associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Province, to which he was

46 Bigelow, i. 143.

loS HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

re-commissioned in 1761 and again in 1764. He was the first
clerk to the Trustees of the Academy, resigning in 1755, and its
first Treasurer, resigning this office in 1764 being succeeded
by Edward Shippen, jr. The last meeting of the Trustees he
attended and no one was more constant in attendance than he
was on 10 July, 1764; and on 21 February, 1769, John
Allen, Esquire, was elected to succeed him. His death occurred
i i January, 1769, and on 19 January following, we find in the
Pennsylvania Gazette this obituary notice of him :

On Wednesday, the Eleventh instant, died at the age of 64, The
Honourable William Coleman, Esq., an Assistant Judge of our Supreme
Court. He was always esteemed a valuable and useful citizen, and a
Gentleman of great good sense, and unblemished Virtue. Tho' much
pleased with Study and Retirement, he possessed many social Virtues, and
was ever fond of those Subjects which were most likely to render him
serviceable to his Neighbor. He was an able and an upright Judge, and
in that character gave the greatest Satisfaction to his Country. And we
may say, with much Reason, that this Province has few such Men, and
that few Men will be so much missed as Mr. Coleman. 47

He married Hannah, daughter of George Fitzwater, whom
he survived and without children. By his will he freed his
slaves, and including his Books and Mathematical Instruments,
he left his residuary estate, which was rich in realty, to his wife's
favorite nephew, George Clymer, the Signer, who had been left
an orphan at an early age, and whose care had devolved upon
William Coleman and his wife. Judge Coleman superintended
young Clymer's education, and with his cultivated mind instilled
into him a love of reading, which better fitted him for his later
political duties. George Clymer became a Trustee of the Col-
lege and Academy in 1779.

47 ' Upon the whole I proposed to them to leave the matter to Reference,
which was accordingly done by mutual consent to a very honest judicious man, Mr.
William Coleman, a merchant of the place," Chief Justice Allen, 5 November,
1753. And again in a later letter to David and John Barclay of London he speaks of
him as " Our Mutual Friend." The Burd Papers, 1897, pp. 9 and 75.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 109
XI.

The first action the now organized Board of Trustees took
was in the direction of securing a habitation for the new school,
before entering upon any general plan of tuition ; and to this
end their thoughts turned to the New Building, as it was called,
on Fourth Street near Arch which had been built nine years
before for Whitefield's impressive ministrations, and which now
could, it was thought, be had on advantageous terms, and as an
investment would prove useful and also give an evidence to the
community of the sincerity of the design the Trustees were now
formulating.

Upon the appointment of the officers, the Minutes next
record :

Messrs. William Allen, Abraham Taylor, Charles Willing, Richard
Peters, Thomas Leech, and William Shippen are requested to treat with
the Trustees of the New Building, about taking a part of it for an Academy,
and report the Terms on which it may be had at the next meeting. And
are further requested to treat with Workmen, on the expence of erecting
what is necessary for that Purpose. l

This Committee reported at the next meeting, namely 26
December, 1749, when all the members were present except
Messrs. Shippen, Hopkinson, and Zachary. The proposals of
the Trustees of the Lot of Ground whereon the House com-
monly called the New Building is erected for conveying the
said Lot and House to the Trustees of the Academy for the
uses in those proposals mentioned, were read and agreed ta
Nemine conlradicente, and the offer by Mr. Logan of his lot on
Sixth St., before referred to, was courteously declined, and the
President requested to acquaint him with this result.

This building has a place in local history of great promi-
nence, and a recital of its beginnings and consummation will be
interesting. On a previous page it was noted how Whitefield's

1 Between these first two meetings of the Board Franklin's friend Godfrey
had died, and he thus notices his death in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 19 December,
1749: " Last week died here Mr. THOMAS GODFRKV, who had an uncommon Genius
for all kinds of Mathematical Learning, with which he was extremely well
acquainted. He invented the New Reflecting Quadrant used in Navigation."

no HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

great Discourses drew extraordinaiy audiences to hear them and
see him, and of the necessity for a place suitable in size for their
accommodation ; for although his cure was in Savannah where
he had made for himself a double duty in building up also an
Orphanage, yet Philadelphia was the pivotal point of his great
missionary tours, and this influential community drew more of
his attention and labors than any other in the colonies outside
of Savannah. As his adherents were not drawn from the upper
classes, who merely tolerated if they did not oppose him, we
find that the four of the former who took title in trust to the
property on Fourth Street, were Edmund Woolly, carpenter,
John Coats, brickmaker, John Howell, mariner, and William
Price, carpenter. The purchase was made 15 September, 1740,
from Jonathan Price and Wife, of the lot of ground, one hundred
feet below Arch Street, with a front of one hundred and fifty
feet on Fourth, opposite the old Friends Burying Ground,
extending westward in depth one hundred and ninety-eight feet
to the Burying Ground of Christ Church, which had been
opened in 1719. On 14 November following these four made
assignment of the property in trust to Rev. Mr. George White-
field, of the province of Georgia, Clerk ; William Seward, of
London, Esquire ; John Stephen Benezet, of Philadelphia, Mer-
chant; Thomas Noble, of New York, Merchant; Samuel
Hazard, of New York, Merchant ; Robert Eastburn, of Phila-
delphia, Blacksmith; James Read, of Philadelphia, Gentleman;
Edward Evans, of Philadelphia, Cordwainer ; and Charles
Brockden, of Philadelphia, Gentleman ; for the purposes as
expressed in the following Preamble :

Whereas, a considerable number of Persons of different denomina-
tions in Religion had united their endeavours to erect a large building upon
the land above described intending that the same should be appointed to
the use of a Charity School for the instruction of poor children gratis in
useful literature and of the Christian religion, and also that the same should
be used as a House of Publick Worship. And that it was agreed that the
use of the said Building should be under the direction of certain Trustees
* * * which Trustees before named and thereafter to be chosen were
from time to time to appoint fit and able school masters and school mis-
tresses for the service of the said school and introduce such Protestant

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 1 1 1

Ministers to Preach the Gospel in the said house as they should judge to be
sound in their Principles, zealous and faithful in the discharge of their duty
and acquainted with the Religion of the Heart and experimental piety
without any regard to those distinctions or different sentiments in lesser
matters which have to the scandal of religion unhappily divided real
Christians.

The building, elsewhere described, was erected about mid-
way of the lot facing eastward, and though but partially com-
pleted, even before the roof was completed, Whitefield had
gathered his first congregation in it five days before the convey-
ance. Franklin gave a very liberal construction to this liberty
of preaching, in writing of it in after years, for he describes the
" design in building not being to accommodate any particular
sect, but the inhabitants in general ; so that even if the Mufti of
Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Moham-
medanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service;" 2 but
Whitefield and Tennent would hardly have extended their
liberality to even a Mufti.

Franklin referring again to the New Building and the obli-
gations resting on the property, which latter formed the occasion
for the Trustees of the Academy to consider the expediency of
securing it, writes :

The enthusiasm which existed when the house was built had long
since abated, and its trustees had not been able to procure fresh contribu-
tions for paying the ground rent, and discharging some other debts the
building had occasion' d, which embarrass' d them greatly.* Of the four
original trustees, one of each sect was appointed, viz : Church of England
man, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Moravian, who in case of vacancy
by death, were to fill it by election from among the contributors. The Mora-
vian happened not to please his colleagues, and on his death they resolved
to have no other of that sect. The difficulty then was, how to avoid hav-
ing two of some other sect, by means of the new choice. Several persons
were named, and for that reason not agreed to. At length one mentioned
me, with the observation that I was merely an honest man, and of no sect
at all, which prevailed with them to choose me. * * * Being now a
member of both boards of trustees, that for the building, and that for the
academy, I had a good opportunity of negotiating with both, and brought
them finally to an agreement, by which the trustees for the building

2 Bigelow, i. 207. 8 Ibid. i. 226.

H2 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

were to cede it to those of the academy ; the latter undertaking to dis-
charge the debt, to keep for ever open in the building a large hall for
occasional preachers, according to the original intention, and maintain a
free school for the instruction of poor children. Writings were accord-
ingly drawn ; and, on paying the debts, the trustees of the academy were
put in possession of the premises ; and, by dividing the great and lofty hall
into stories, and different rooms above and below for the several schools, and
purchasing some additional ground, the whole was soon made fit for our
purpose, and the scholars removed into the building. The whole care and
trouble of agreeing with the workmen, purchasing materials, and superin-
tending the work, fell upon me ; and I went through it the more cheerfully,
as it did not then interfere with my private business.

The question of an earlier date for the foundation of the
University is said to arise from the purchase by the Trustees in
1749 of this incomplete building, which was erected by subscrip-
tions procured in good faith in preceding years for the main-
tenance therein of a certain religious preaching as well also of a
Charity School ; and a gain of nine years in the University exist-
ence is thus affirmed, inasmuch as the former enterprise was
projected in 1740, and the building then shortly begun was
designed to further these two objects. The first public claim in
our own day of this earlier date is sanctioned by its publication in
the University Catalogue of 1893-4. The year in which free
preaching and a free school were thus projected, need not here
be considered, particularly as the operations of the latter feature,
a free school, were not consummated for ten years and more after,
and then only under the efforts of the assignees, though the
preaching privilege was at once exercised even before the
roof was on. The Academy Trustees in thus taking title to the
premises obligated themselves " to discharge the debt, to keep
for ever open in the building a large hall for occasional preachers
* * * and maintain a free school for the instruction of poor
children." The trustees of 1740 having erected the build-
ing by subscriptions gathered upon these pledges, could not but
seek from their assignees the condition that these objects be
carried out in due time, which the Academy Trustees were in no
wise loth to do, as these would not only prove attractions to
the new movement but give them speedy possession of the
needed edifice ; and they, in continuing good faith to the original

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 113

subscribers, under this assignment, eventually started and main-
tained the free school as one of the prominent features of their
scheme of education, although some delay prevented their con-
summation of this until as late as September, 1751. Dr Peters
in his Sermon on Education Wherein Some Account is given of
tJie Academy, Preach' d at the Opening thereof, 7 January, 1750
5 i , says :

It became a matter of debate where to place the Academy, and many
arguments were offered for some village in the country as best favouring the
morals of the youth * * * but when it came to be considered that it
would take a large sum to erect proper buildings at a distance from the city,
that the circumstances of many of the citizens would not admit of a distant
place on account of the expense, that the trustees were men of business
who could not be absent from their habitations without much inconve-
nience, * * * * it was thought proper to fix it somewhere within the
city ; and the more so, when the minds of the trustees of the building,
where we are now assembled, came to be imparted. These thoughtful
persons had been for; some years sensible that this building was not put
to its original use, nor was it in their power to set forward a charity school,
which was also a part of the first design, and that it was more in the power
of the trustees of the Academy than in others to do it ; they therefore made
an offer to transfer their right in it to the use of the Academy ; provided
the debts which remained unpaid, might be discharged and the arrears of
rent paid off. This was thankfully accepted, and a conveyance was
executed .

The Trustees had thus taken over an encumbered and
incomplete building from an insolvent association, which had
also failed in its free schooling project, obligating them-
selves in part consideration to carry forward its free preaching
and educational features. Had they accepted Mr. Logan's
offer of his Sixth street lot, and utilized it by building thereon,
no thought would have arisen for antedating their own creation
of 1749. They accepted the tender of the Fourth street prem-
ises, even in its incompletenesss, not only for greater convenience
in location, but also to spare them the further loss of time
which the erection of a building on the Logan lot would have
entailed ; but they did not, indeed could not, assume that by
takingtitle thereto on I February, 1750, with what may be enti-
tled its philanthropic liens, they would thus add more years to

H4 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

their associated life. The thought of an earlier date than 1 749 for
their beginnings was never entertained by them or by the five
generations succeeding, and only recently arose to exercise
the pleasing thought of a more extended existence by the term
of nine years.

Neither Dr. Peters nor any of his associates could have
entertained such a thought, for in the paragraph of the Sermon
immediately preceding the one above quoted, he records the
birth, which met with no contradiction by any cotemporary,
as of 1 749, as follows :

Nor should it be concealed, that this present institution, tho' one of
those kind which generally have for their Founders, sovereign Princes, or
branches of Royal Families, or Nobles of the first rank and dignity,
owes likewise its being to a sett of private Men, who from the Neces-
sity of such a Seminary of learning set themselves at the close of the war,
seriously to think about one * * * At last they agreed on the general
heads and confident of the continuance of the publick spirit of their fellow
citizens, they ventured to publish their Proposals relating to the education
of youth in this province. * * * After these were found to give gen-
eral satisfaction, twenty-four Trustees, without regard to differences in
religious persuasions, were appointed to carry them into execution : Mer-
chants, Artificers, some likewise of the learned professions. * * *
Thus successful, it became a matter of debate where to place the Academy,
&c., &c., &c.

In announcing in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 2 August,
1750, the contribution of the City of Philadelphia, Franklin
speaks of this as

for the encouragement and support of the Academy and of the Charity
School which the Trustees of the Academy have likewise undertaken to
open in this city, for instructing poor children, &c., &c.

Dr Smith wrote in June, 1753 :

A few private Gentlemen of this city have in the Space of two or three
years, projected, begun, and carried to surprising Perfection, a very noble
Institution, &c., &c.

And in his Eulogium on Franklin in 1791 :

the next institution in the foundation of which he was the principal
agent, was the academy and charitable school of the City of Philadelphia ;
the plan of which he drew up and published in the year 1749.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 115

Indeed in his more formal statement to the Assembly in
1788, made in his Address to the General Assembly of Pennsyl-
vania in the case of the violated charter of the College, &c., of
Pennsylvania, presented to the Assembly 12 March, 1788, he
recites :

The College of Philadelphia was a private corporation similar to the
Exeter College in Oxford ; it had its foundation in the year 1749, from pro-
posals made and published by that great friend of learning, DR FRANKLIN,
with whom were associated the following gentlemen, * * * twenty-
four in the whole ; and their chief funds were of their own private subscrip-
tions for a number of years, aided by the voluntary benevolence of many
of their fellow citizens ; it was first stiled an Academy ; and before it had
a charter, was governed by certain fundamental constitutions agreed upon
by the gentlemen above named as a voluntary society of founders.

Robert Proud, when writing his History a few years later,
recorded the same date for the beginning of the institution. This
date was also maintained by the late Provost Stille in his
Memoir of the Rev. William Smith, D.D., 1869, "my great
predecessor." This was, further, officially held down to the
printed Catalogue of the University for 18923, where the nar-
rative reads :

A pamphlet called Proposals Relative to the Education of Youth in
Pennsylvania written in 1749 by DR FRANKLIN, led to an association by
certain citizens of Philadelphia for the purpose of founding a School on the
lines suggested by that wise counsellor.

This was confirmed in the Biographical Catalogue of the
Matriculates of the College, 1749-1893, published in 1894 by
the Society of the Alumni. The General Catalogue of the
Officers and Graduates of the Department of Arts, published in
1849, also by the Society of the Alumni, had recited "from 1749
to 1849." But in the Catalogue for 1893-4 appears the earlier
birth-date in the Historical Sketch, viz.:

A pamphlet called Proposals Relative to the Education of Youth in
Pennsylvania, written in 1749 by DR FRANKLIN, led to an association by
certain citizens of Philadelphia, for the purpose of raising to the dignity of
an Academy the Charitable School which had been established in 1740,
and which was then struggling under a debt upon the building erected for
its use and the accommodation of the celebrated preacher Whitefield.

And for the first time the cover of this Catalogue bore the legend,

116 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

and claimed the earlier date, "Founded 1740" ; for which there
appears no warrant in the long and unbroken Annals of
the University. It is certain that Franklin and Peters had
themselves no thought of their building in 1749 "upon another
man's foundation."

On the first of February, 1750, the "Trustees of the
Academy met at Roberts's Coffee House, except James Logan*
Tench Francis, and Thomas Hopkinson, Esquires;" when "the
Trustees of the New Building being present, joined in directing
Edmund Woolly and John Coats to convey, and they accord-
ingly did convey the said Building Lot of ground and Appurte-
nances to the Trustees of the Academy, in consideration of the
sum of Seven hundred seventy and five pounds eighteen shillings
and eleven pence and three farthings to them in hand then paid
by the Treasurer for order of the Trustees for discharging the
debts and incumbrances of the said Building." And to meet
this purchase the Trustees " agreed unanimously to borrow
Eight hundred pounds of the Treasurers of the Lottery, which
was accordingly done and bond given by all the Trustees for
repayment of the same with interest ; which is to be done out
of the Stock of the Academy, as it shall arise."

This conveyance of I February, 1750, recites the death of
Howell and Price, the associates of Woolly and Coats ; and
that William Seward and Thomas Noble being since deceased,
the survivors of the Cestui que trust or a majority of them,
namely, Benezet, Hazard, Eastburn, Read and Evans agree to
Woolly and Coats assignment and sale. This conditioned that
the Trustees should place, erect, found, establish, or keep a house or place
of public worship, and also one free school for the instructing teaching
and education of poor children or scholars within two years from the date
of the conveyance ; and likewise from time to time introduce such preacher
or preachers whom they shall judge qualified as recited in the former
indenture is expressed to preach and teach the word of God occasionally
in the said place of publick worship but yet so that no particular sect be
fixed there as a settled congregation and shall at all reasonable times per-
mit and suffer in his reasonable turn any regular Minister of the Gospel to
preach in the House or place on the premises which shall be set apart for
Publick Worship who hath signed or hereafter shall sign certain articles of
religion a copy whereof is hereto annexed and whom they shall moreover

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 117

judge to be otherwise duly qualified as aforesaid and particularly shall per-
mit the free and uninterrupted use of the said Place of Worship to the said
Revd. Mr George Whitefield whenever he shall happen to be in this city
and desire to preach therein.

A meeting of the Trustees was held the following day to
remove the alarm which some of Mr. Gilbert Tennent's friends
raised, fearing that they might be forbidden the use of the New
Building for his ministrations.

It being represented to the Trustees that previous to the conveyance
of the New Building to them, Expectations were given to the Revd. Mr.
Gilbert Tennent and his congregation that they should be permitted with-
out interruption to continue the exercise of Divine Service on the Lord's
Day in that part of the New Building that shall be set off for public wor-
ship until they shall be provided with an House of their own for that pur-
pose which they are now about to erect with all convenient expedition.
The Trustees esteeming the said Mr Tennent to be duly qualified accord-
ing to the deed of Trust, and considering that the said Congregation is at
present without a Meeting House, do concede and grant to him and them
the free and uninterrupted use of the said Place of Worship on the Lord's
Day and other stated times of Meeting, free of Rent (excepting only when
the Revd. Mr. Whitefield shall be present and desire to use the same) from
this time until their intended New Meeting House shall be fit to accommo-
date them, provided the same be ready to receive them within three years
now next ensuing. [And under directions], a copy of the same was accord-
ingly made and signed by the President by order of the Trustees and
delivered to Mr. Samuel Hazard for Mr Tennent.

This was the congregation of the Second Presbyterian
Church who were then building their large edifice on the North
West corner of Arch and Third Streets, which however was
not completed for their use until May, 1752.

The " certain articles of religion, a copy whereof is hereto
annexed," above referred to, could be justly named the White-
field Confession of Faith, and are duly recorded at length in
Deed Book Letter A, No. 5, page 1 68, the only instance known
of the Recorder of Deeds finding room in his volumes for the
entry of a creed. The final sentence alone need be quoted
here, as epitomizing its chief articles :

We do also give our assent and consent to the 9th, loth, nth, I2th,
1 3th and I7th articles of the Church of England as explained by the
Calvinists in their Litteral and grammatical sence without any equivocation

n8 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

whatsoever. We mention these in particular because they are a summary
of the foregoing articles. We believe all that are sound in faith agree in
these whatever other points they may differ in.

This Deed and the Articles of I February were made the
subject of an entry in the Minutes of 25 June, 1/50, namely,
" Ordered, That the Treasurer pay to John Moland, Esqr.,
Twenty Pounds for his services in framing the conveyance of
the New Building to the Trustees of the Academy."

The Trustees individually subscribed, as we have seen, for
a term of three years sums aggregating annually Three Hun-
dred and Forty-three pounds, saving the aged Logan, whose
tender of a lot of ground probably took the place of a cash
subscription. William Allen's subscription was the largest,
amounting to .75. annually; the next in amount were those of
Masters, Zachary, and Turner, for 20. each, Lawrence, M'Call,
Willing, Taylor, Thomas Bond, and Plumsted, for ,15. each,
and Inglis, Francis, Franklin, Shippen, Strettell, Phineas Bond,
Peters, Hopkinson, Maddox, and Coleman for 10. each, and
Leech, Syng, and White 6. each. Governor Hamilton,
through Mr. Peters, added his annual subscription of $o.
Among the general subscribers there are found with varying
sums, the names of John Baynton, Daniel Benezet, William and
Ann Bingham, William Blair, Richard Brockden, James Burd,
Thomas Burgess, Captain John Coxe, William Cradock, Jacob
Duche, Robert Green way, Lawrence Growden, David Hall,
Alexander Hamilton, Samuel Hazard, Samuel Hasell, Edwards
Hicks, Richard Hill, Andrew Hodge, James and William Hum-
phreys, Abel James, Margaret Jeykiil, Lynford Lardner, John
and Thomas Laurence, jr., Archibald M'Cail, David Mcllvaine,
Charles and Reese Meredith, Evan Morgan, Samuel Neaves,
John Ord, Stephen Paschall, James Pemberton, Samuel Read,
John Ross, Joseph Saunders, John Searle, Edward Shippen,
Joseph Sims, Attwood Shute, Peter Sonmans, Amos and John
Strettell, James Trotter, John Wallace, Townsend White, John
Wilcocks, John Yeates ; a representative constituency, evidencing
the sympathy of all portions of the community in the new enter-
prise, and resulting in a first year's subscription of ^"322.8.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 119

But the contributions were not confined to home sources, for
Mess. David Barclay & Sons of London were contributors : it
was recorded in the minutes of 25 June, 1750, "that Mr.
Joseph Turner acquainted the members that they had gener-
ously presented the Academy with the sum of One Hundred
Pounds Sterling Money, which they had ordered him to pay."
Publicity was given to this by Franklin in the Pennsylvania
Gazette of 2 August, 1750 :

We hear that an eminent merchant of London hath generously given
a Hundred Pounds to the Academy now erecting in this City, for the
Education of Youth, which has accordingly been paid into the Hands of
the Trustees by his Correspondent here.

But the minutes do not record the gift of the City of Phila-
delphia, which was the first tie that bound the corporation to
what was to become its great institution. The Treasurer in his
journal records the receipt on 20 August, 1750,

from Samuel Hasell, Esq., the sum given by the Corporation towards
finishing the Building, .200. [And Franklin joyfully informs the readers
of the Pennsylvania Gazette of it on 2 August, 1750:] Tuesday last, the
Mayor and Commonalty of this City met, and voted a Sum of Two
Hundred Poitnds to be paid down, and One Hundred Pounds a year, for
the Encouragement and Support of the Academy and of the Charity
School which the Trustees of the Academy have likewise undertaken to
open in this city, for instructing poor children in Reading, Writing and
Arithmetic: The Corporation only reserving a liberty of nominating
yearly one scholar out of those that shall be taught in the Charity School,
to be received into the Academy, and educated there gratis.

The subject had been presented to the Council on 30 July,
1750, by the Recorder, William Allen, a Trustee, who
proposed that it might be considered. Whether this Design for the
advancement of Learning, be not worthy of some encouragement from
this Board as their circumstances may very well afford it. * * * It
appearing to be a Matter of Consequence, and but a small number of the
Members now present, [it was referred to a special Meeting to be called for]
Tomorrow at four o'clock in the Afternoon to consider of the proposal.

At the Common Council held next day, of those present
the Mayor, the Recorder, three of the Aldermen, and eight of
the "Common Council Men," were Trustees, viz: Lawrence,
Allen, Turner, Strettell, Plumsted, Francis, Franklin, M'Call,

I2O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Inglis, Shippen, Thomas Bond, Hopkinson and Coleman ;
" And a Paper containing an Account of what is already done
by the Trustees of the Academy, and what Advantages are
expected from that Undertaking being laid before the Board
was read." This had been prepared by Franklin and is spread
at length upon the minutes ; it is given elsewhere. It recites :

The Trustees of the Academy have already laid out near ,800. in the
Purchase of the Building, and will probably expend near as much more
in fitting up Rooms for the Schools, and furnishing them with proper Books
and Instruments for the Instruction of Youth. The greatest Part of the
Money paid and to be paid is subscribed by the Trustees themselves, and
advanced by them ; many of whom have no children of their own to
educate, but act from a view to the Public Good, without regard to sect or
party. * * * The Benefits expected from this Institution are: That
the youth of Pennsylvania may have an opportunity of receiving a good
Education at home, and be under no necessity of going abroad for it.

* * * That a Number of our Natives will hereby be qualified to be our
Magistracies, and execute other public offices of Trust, with Reputation to
themselves and Country; there being at present great want of Persons so
qualified in the several counties of this Province. And this is the more
necessary now to be provided for by the English here, as vast numbers of
Foreigners are yearly imported among us, totally ignorant of our Laws,
Customs and Language. That a Number of the poorer Sort will hereby be
qualified to act as Schoolmasters in the Country, to teach Children Read-
ing, Writing, Arithmetic, and the Grammar of their Mother Tongue ;

* * * the Country suffering at present very much for want of good
School masters. * * * It is thought that a good Academy erected in
Philadelphia, a healthy place where Provisions are plenty, situated in the
Center of the Colonies, may draw Numbers of Students from the neighbor-
ing Provinces, who must spend considerable Sums yearly among us, in
Payment for their Lodging, Diet, Apparel, &c. * * * Numbers of
people have already generously subscribed considerable sums to carry on
this Undertaking ; but others, well disposed, are somewhat discouraged
from contributing, by an Apprehension, lest when the first Subscriptions
are expended, the Design should drop . The great Expence of such a
work is in the Beginning. * * * Some Assistance from the Corpora-
tion is immediately wanted and hoped for * * * it will greatly
strengthen the Hands of all concerned, and be a means of Establishing
this good work and continuing the good Effects of it down to an late
Posterity. * * * The Board having weighed the great Usefulness of
this Design, after several Propositions heard and debated, agreed that a
Sum of Money by this Board and paid down towards compleating the

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 121

Building which the Trustees have purchased, and are now fitting up for
the Purpose; and likewise, that a sum or sums be given yearly by this Board,
for five years to come, towards the support and Maintenance of the Schools
under the direction of the said Trustees,

with the result as announced by Franklin in the next issue of his
Gazette. Thomas Lawrence's Mayoralty terminated the follow-
ing October, and he was succeeded by William Plumsted ; and
his year's salary he gave to the Academy, "which Proposal was
approved by a great Majority at a Common Council" held 21
March, 1751; and Mr. Coleman enters the receipt " from Samuel
Hassell, Esq., Treasurer to the Corporation, being presented by
Thomas Lawrence, Esqr., late Mayor of this City (with the
Approbation of the Common Council) in lieu of giving a Mayor's
Feast the sum of ^100 ; " and another Trustee makes, in the entry
of the same date, the Academy the beneficiary of his civil fees,
viz: "from William Allen, Esq, late Recorder, being his half
year's Salary as Recorder he gives .12.10."

But with all the subscriptions and benefactions, the loan
from the Philadelphia Lottery of Eight Hundred Pounds author-
ised by the Trustees at their third meeting was quite necessary,
as the building required considerable alterations, besides the
needed school outfit much of which would have to be imported.
In twelve months there were expended in the New Building
upwards of .598, to make it conform to their proposed require-
ments. This includes an item on 21 August, 1750, "paid for
Provisions at second raising ,4.4.11 ;" which was doubtless a
wholesome and needful expenditure ; but when the good Treas-
urer records in all gravity, 2 May, " given the Bricklayers to
drink 2/3," and the same date "given ditto for drink 7/6," we
are led from the object of the expenditure to consider what
may be in grammatical correctness designed for a distinction in
the two entries by the use of a different preposition. The
Bricklayers were a favored crew, for they received at this " sec-
ond Raising," " for drink, 155." However, the Carpenters were
later remembered, as on 3 I October they were paid for drink
7/6, on 7 December, los, and on 3 January again 7/6. As
Franklin had charge of the repairs and alterations in the Build-

122 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ing and rendered exact accounts of every item expended to his
worthy friend the Treasurer, which the latter faithfully records,
he must have found local custom too strong to resist, and doubt-
less with resignation submitted and with a protest charged the
idle expenditure to the Academy funds. These are the little
pictures which display to us customs of time and place. 4

An offer from Mr. Samuel Hazard made to the Trustees
and reported to them at the meeting of 10 November, 1750, to
sell them two lots, one on each side of the Academy lot, subject
to Ground Rents, for the sum of three hundred pounds, was
accepted. One of these was twenty-five feet on Fourth Street
by one hundred and thirty-nine feet eight inches adjoining the
Academy lot on the north, and the other thirty-four feet by one
hundred and forty feet adjoining on the south. This gave the
Trustees a frontage of two hundred and nine feet on Fourth
Street. The first payment of ^155 was made on 27 February,
and the balance of ^145 on 23 April following. This increase
of Real Estate, which it will be seen was added to in 1753, by
absorbing all the ground Northward to Arch Street, was simply
an indication on the part of those interested that they were
planting for the future an institution of far reaching capabilities
and usefulness ; the sagacity exhibited in these purchases was
equalled only by the faith held by these gentlemen in the great
promises of their Academy and Charity School.

Franklin's summary of the work now begun must be told by
his own narrative, which cannot be equalled in another's lan-
guage. To Jared Eliot he is writing on 13 February, 1750 51, 5
and after giving " his thoughts about the northeast storms begin-
ning to leeward," and an account of his visit to Schuyler's copper
mines in New Jersey the previous Autumn, he proceeds,

It will be agreeable to you to hear, that our subscription goes on

4 In his essay on the Vice of Drunkenness in the New England Courant which
Franklin had written more than twenty-five years before, he said : " I doubt not but
moderate Drinking has been improved for the Diffusion of Knowledge among the
ingenious Part of Mankind who want the Talent of a ready utterance, in order to dis-
cover the Conceptions of their Minds in an entertaining and intelligible Manner."
Did he now recall this sentiment in the tipple to these workmen ?

5 Bigelow, ii. 164.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 123

with great success, and we suppose will exceed five thousand pounds of
our currency. We have bought for the Academy the house that was built
for itinerant preaching, which stands on a large lot of ground capable of
receiving more buildings to lodge the scholars, if it should come to be a
regular college. The house is one hundred feet long and seventy wide,
built of brick, very strong, and sufficiently high for three lofty stories. I
suppose the building did not cost less than two thousand pounds ; but we
bought it for seven hundred seventy five pounds, eighteen shillings, eleven
pence, and three farthings; though it w'ill cost us three and perhaps four
hundred more to make the partitions and floors, and fit up the rooms. I
send you enclosed a copy of our present Constitutions but we expect a
charter from our Proprietaries this summer, when they may probably
receive considerable alterations.

With what gratification must he have written to Mr Eliot
on 12 September following "Our Academy flourishes beyond
expectation. We have now above one hundred scholars, and
the number is daily increasing." 6

This large building, originally designed for one large audi-
ence room, or " great and lofty hall" as Franklin describes it,
with two rows of windows as we see in many of our older
churches, was divided into two stories, and rearranged substan-
tially as we of our generation knew it before its complete
destruction in 1844. The well known cuts of it in local histo-
ries afford a correct exterior view. The entrance opened into a
lar^e hall, on either side large class rooms, that to the north
being occupied by the Charity School. The Western half
of the first floor was occupied by the large school room, about
ninety by thirty-five feet, in the centre of which was a platform
whereon all the teachers from the unhappy Beveridge to the
robust Crawford wielded their authority, from which however
the latter would often descend to try his rattan on some heedless
pupil who perchance had little thought then of commem-
orating the worthy Dominie in these pages. The hall here
turned to the South between the large room and the front class

6 Bigelow, ii. 235, and he adds " We have excellent masters at present ; and as
we give pretty good salaries, I hope we shall always be able to procure such. We

pay the Rector, who teaches Latin and Greek, per annum .200

The English master .'5

The Mathematical professor . 12 S

Three assistant teachers, each ; 60

124 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

room, and then to the West, opening out into the play ground,
about one hundred feet by fifty, where many a happy half hour
was spent during recess, and where Alexander Graydon, the
new pupil, perhaps earned his first laurels in the art of self
defense. 7 We moderns when relaxing thus in the midst of
school hours, had little thought of the worthy and venerable
associations which clustered around the building ; nor were John
Beveridge's pupils a century before us any more mindful of these,
when on a concerted signal a few hiding in the play ground closed
the heavy wooden shutters to darken the room on his entrance,
affording to the majority remaining within the fun of raising a
Bedlam, from which the unlucky professor could only find refuge
under a school form and escape from their missiles of books and
rulers. 8 In this side hall arose a heavy stair case with a solid
balustrade which had stood the racket of hundreds of lads of all
sizes and weights, and which on a turn opened into a large upper
hall covering the width of the building and about ninety feet of
its length. Across the south end, over the stairway, was a gal-
lery, and the rostrum was against the north wall. Here were
held the Commencements and all the public exercises, and on
Sundays Divine service by Whitefield when he was in the city,
by Dr Tennent with his new congregation, and by others who
could subscribe the Creed recited in the deed of conveyance.
Here we may picture Mr. Smith's first display of his pupils' ora-
torical accomplishments in the Christmas holidays of 1756 when
they performed the Masque of Alfred, which they repeated the
following spring before sundry of the colonial Governors then
visiting Philadelphia. A space of perhaps eighty feet or more
remained between the building and Fourth Street, the street
being shut off by a high wall, in which was a modest gate. This
front campus was devoted solely to the solemn entrance or the
joyful exit of the pupils, and no play or pranks were here per-
mitted. And even in our day there sat just outside of the gate
the descendant of the old dame of Gabriel Thomas' time, vend-
ing " on any day in the week, tarts, pies, cakes, &c" which cer-
tainly were toothsome if not wholesome.

7 Memoirs of a Life, &c. Alexander Graydon, 28. 8 Ibid, p. 35.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 125

Herein continued the operations of the College and Uni-
versity until the purchase a half century later of the premises on
Ninth Street, between Market and Chestnut Streets, whither
they moved in 1802, and which is now succeeded by the
United States Post Office ; and by a happy coincidence there
stands on the latter's front pavement the bronze statue of Ben-
jamin Franklin, recently erected there to the memory of the
great colonial Postmaster General, appointed in 1753, who was
as well the Founder of the University, from which the Govern-
ment holds its present title.

XII.

But in the midst of these material preparations for the
accommodation of the future scholars, the mental provision for
them was well undertaken. At the meeting of 29 March it was
voted "that a sum not exceeding one hundred pounds sterling
be paid by the Treasurer to the said Committee [Messrs Franklin,
Allen, Coleman, Peters, Hopkinson and Francis] to be disposed
of in Latin and Greek Authors, Maps, Drafts and Instruments
for the use of the Academy;" which the Journal tells us was
forwarded in a bill of Robert and Amos Strettell's for one hun-
dred pounds sterling, which cost the Trustees at the current
exchange 173.10, to Mr. Peter Collinson in London for his
purchase of the required articles. It was through Mr. Collin-
son's friendly agency in January following that they bought "a
parcel of Latin and Greek books of John Whiston, Bookseller,
.30.11 ; prints bought of Bowles 59/, and Instruments bought
of Adams 4.14, and Mathematical instruments bought of John
Moyan .33.12/6," which with shipping, insurance, and current
rate of exchange cost them 138.3.10. On the margin of this
last entry, Franklin has himself made a note describing some of

126 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the items in the bills, "Bowning's Phil I5/, Philipps Lang" 5/,
Map of the World gj, Rectifer 3/6." l Of Mr. Collinson, Franklin
wrote to Jared Eliot, 12 September, 175 i, 2 in answer to inquiries
about him :

the Collinson you mention is the same gentleman I correspond with.
He is a most benevolent, worthy man, very curious in botany and other
branches of natural history, and fond of improvements in agriculture, &c.
He will be pleased with your acquaintance. In the late Philosophical
Transactions, you may see frequently papers of his, or letters that were
directed to him, on various subjects. He is a member of the Royal Society.

Franklin's correspondence with this gentleman in his Elec-
trical experiments has been referred to on a previous page; his
letter to Mr. Michael Collinson giving some biographical facts
respecting himself is found in Sparks' Franklin, vii. 426, and
contains the sentence : " The characters of good men are exem-
plary, and often stimulate the well disposed to an imitation,
beneficial to mankind and honourable to themselves."

We are not told the places of meeting of the Trustees,
except those of the 1st and 2nd February, which were held at
Roberts's Coffee House. The subsequent meetings doubtless
were held in one of the apartments of the New Building, other
than those which were undergoing alteration and change.

1 Compendious System of Natural Philosophv, by John Bonning. of which an
edition had been printed in London in 1744, two vols. Way of Teaching Languages,
London, 1723, by J. Thomas Philipps.

2 Bigelow, ii. 235.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 127

XIII.

Though Mr. Martin had been secured for the Rectorship,
there had been higher aims in view, and Franklin bent his
energies to secure a clergyman of the Church of England, the
Rev. Samuel Johnson, D. D. of Stratford, Connecticut, to under-
take the general direction of the Academy ; and it must have
been with this design in view that Mr. Martin accepted the
Rectorship. Under the Constitutions, the Rector was obliged,
" without the Assistance of any Tutor, to teach twenty Scholars
the Latin and Greek Languages, and at the same Time, accord-
ing to the best of his Capacity, to instruct them in History,
Geography, Chronology, Logick, Rhetorick, and the English
Tongue ; and Twenty-five Scholars more for every Usher pro-
vided for him, who shall be entirely subject to his Direction."
He was to be in fact, the first professor in honor and rank, and
no reference was made to his general governance of the institu-
tion or to any responsibility attaching to the office as head of
the faculty. Such a person was needed, although not so stipu-
lated in the Constitutions, and came to be known afterwards
under the amended charter of 1755 as Provost, when the then
Rector, Dr. Alison, was made Vice-Provost, and the Rev. William
Smith being the first incumbent of the Provostship. Such an
one Franklin believed he found in Dr. Johnson, whose eminence
as a divine and a scholar in the Eastern Provinces had brought
to him in 1743 Oxford's degree of Doctor of Divinity. They
were both correspondents of Cadwallader Colden, and through
this learned intermediary Franklin formed Johnson's acquaint-
ance, and the more he knew of him the more did he desire to
secure him for his new Philadelphia enterprise. So earnest was
he in the pursuit of this object, that he and his associate Trustee,
Tench Francis, journeyed to Stratford in the early summer of
1750, hoping ;to secure his acquiescence in their plans. It
appears that some talk of a college for New York had been had
in 1749, and Johnson had been consulted in regard to it. The
knowledge of this, and the present lack of certainty in the New
York movement, must have led Franklin to the belief that the

128 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

good Stratford Rector would prefer engaging in the new institu-
tion in the metropolis of the British colonies than await the
developments of one in New York. Johnson had sought upon
this latter the advice and counsel of the good George Berkeley,
Bishop of Cloyne, whose few years residence in this new country
had endeared him to all here who were his friends or corre-
spondents. The Bishop's wise and friendly reply of 23 August,
1749, reached Stratford after the visit of the Philadelphia gentle-
men, and Dr. Johnson enclosed it to Franklin, but his letter of
inclosure is not preserved. The entire correspondence is given
in the Appendix, as no mere extracts, for which the text can
find a place here, can offer a just estimate of the communications
which these two worthy men had one with the other on the
subject.

In age, Samuel Johnson was ten years the senior of Benja-
min Franklin, being born in Guilford, Connecticut, 14 October,
(o. s.) 1696. At ten years of age his first schooling was under
the tuition of Jared Eliot, a Yale graduate of 1706; although
this tutelage continued but a year, as Eliot then entered the
ministry and settled at Killingworth, yet the latter's affection for
his pupil ripened into friendly relations in after life ; and as
Eliot and Franklin became correspondents the latter must have
heard through him of his former pupil. Johnson graduated at
Yale College when it was yet at Saybrook, in 1714, and follow-
ing the example of his early preceptor he began teaching a
school of the higher order in his native town. When the Trus-
tees decided in 1716 to move the College to New Haven,
Johnson was elected one of the Tutors, and he was for a time
the only tutor in the new location, being joined in 1718 by his
classmate Daniel Brown, the animosities engendered by the
removal of the College keeping apart for some years the con-
tending factions created by this removal. The controversies
terminated in 1719, and Governor Yale's benefactions in money
and books to the institution won for it the name it has honestly
borne in the long years since. In March, 1720, he was ordained
a Congregational Minister, but even at that moment, had
written a paper which yet remains in manuscript entitled

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 129

" My present Thoughts of Episcopacy with what I conceive may
justifie me in accepting Presbyterial Ordination," which prepares
us to accept without surprise his eventual adoption of Episco-
palian views. Many of his friends were moved in the same
direction ; and when the Rev. Timothy Cutler, the President of
the College, Rev. John Hart, Rev. Samuel Whittelsey, Rev.
Jared Eliot, Rev. James Wetmore, Rev. Daniel Brown, and
himself, made a public declaration on Commencement Day, 17
September, 1722, "that some of them doubted the validity, and
the rest were more fully persuaded of the invalidity of Presby-
terian ordination in opposition to the Episcopal," we can scarcely
picture to ourselves in these later days the grief and surprise
with which it was received not only in the College, but through-
out the colony where State and Church were almost indissoluble.
This was a theological and religious movement without parallel
in colonial days. The public discussions held to convince them
of their error, had the effect of preventing Eliot, Hart and Whit-
telsey actually seeking Episcopal ordination, and these remained
to the end of their days in the Congregational ministry, and
they continued friends but not members of Episcopacy. John-
son, Cutler, and Brown sailed in a few weeks for England, and
on 22 March, 1723 they were ordained Deacons, and on 31
March, Priests, both ordinations being held at St. Martins-in-the-
Fields, London ; but Brown fell a victim to smallpox and died
on 13 April, a disease Cutler was seized with on his arrival but
happily recovered from. Johnson returned to Stratford by
November following. There was no place of public worship for
Episcopalians in Connecticut, but one had been begun in Strat-
ford, of which Johnson took the Rectorship, and it was opened
for religious services on the Christmas twelvemonth. Here he
continued faithful in the discharge of his pastoral duties, with an
affectionate interest for his alma mater, in whose early tribula-
tions he had a share, and with a revival of his taste for teaching
in the growth of his children, his eldest son being born in 1/27
whose early years found all their mental training at his hands ;
and " that it might be more agreeable to them to have com-
panions, he took several gentlemen's sons of Newport and

130 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Albany." On Bishop Berkeley's visit to this country and his
residence at Newport, Rhode Island, he visited him, and began
a lifelong acquaintance, and was to some extent a sharer in his
peculiar views. The Bishop's scheme for a great college in
some part of the new world growing up under England, must
have found a sympathiser in Johnson ; and when a College was
talked of in New York, and Johnson was conferred with on the
matter, he at once sought the advice and counsel of Berkeley,
with the result already noticed.

Franklin's visit to Stratford must have afforded him some
hopes of success with his appeal to Johnson. He writes him, 9
August, 1750, 3

Mr Francis, our Attorney General, who was with me at your house,
from the conversation then had with you, and reading some of your pieces,
has conceived an esteem for you equal to mine. The character we have
given of you to the other trustees, and the sight of your letters relating to
the Academy, has made them very desirous of engaging you in that design,
as a person whose experience and judgment would be of great use in form-
ing rules and establishing good methods in the beginning, and whose name
for learning would give it a reputation. We only lament that in the infant
state of our funds we cannot make you an offer equal to your merit But
as the view of being useful has most weight with generous and benevolent
minds, and in this affair you may do great service not only to the present
but to future generations, I flatter myself sometimes that if you were here,
and saw things as they are, and conversed a little with our people, you
might be prevailed with to remove. I would therefore earnestly press you
to make us a visit as soon as you conveniently can ; and in the meantime
let me represent to you some of the circumstances as they appear to be.
* * * It has long been observed, that our Church is not sufficient to
accommodate near the number of people who would willingly have seats
there. The buildings increase very fast towards the south end of the town,
and many of the principal merchants now live there ; which being at a
considerable distance from the present church, people begin to talk much
of building another, and ground has been offered as a gift for that purpose.
The Trustees of the Academy are three fourths of them members of the
Church of England, and the rest men of moderate principles. They have
reserved in the building a large hall for occasional preaching, public
lectures, orations, etc. ; it is 70 feet by 60 feet, furnished with a handsome
pulpit, seats, etc. In this Mr. Tennent collected his congregation, who

3 Life and Correspondence of Samuel Johnson, D. D., by Rev. Dr. Beards-
ley, p. 157.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 131

are now building him a meetinghouse. In the same place, by giving now
and then a lecture, you might, with equal ease, collect a congregation that
would in a short time build you a church, if it should be agreeable to you.
* * * And when you are well settled in a church of your own,
your son may be qualified by years and experience to succeed you in the
Academy ; or if you rather choose to continue in the Academy, your son
might probably be fixed in the church. * * * I acquainted the trus-
tees that I would write to you, but could give them no dependence that
you would be prevailed on to remove. They will, however, treat with no
other till I have your answer. * * * There are some other things best
treated of when we have the pleasure of seeing you. It begins now to be
pleasant travelling. I wish you would conclude to visit us in the next
month at furthest Whether the journey produce the effect we desire or
not, it shall be no expense to you.

Dr. Peters wrote the same day to Dr. Johnson urging a
visit and inviting him to his house: 4

I am obliged to you for the honor you did me in your compliments
to Mr. Franklin and Mr. Francis . * * * Though personally unknown
to you, I must take the freedom, from a hint that such a journey would
not be disagreeable to you, to give you an invitation to my house. Let
me, good sir, have the pleasure of conversing with a gentleman whose
character I have for a long time esteemed. * * * I can tell you
beforehand, that can my friends or I find any expedient to engage your
residence among us, I will leave nothing unattempted in the power of,
Reverend Sir, your affectionate brother and humble servant, RICHARD
PETERS .

From Dr. Johnson's retention of his Stratford cure when he
finally accepted the Presidency of King's College, we may see in
this an obstacle in his way to coming to Philadelphia almost
insuperable. Stratford was within easy stages of New York,
where he would reside during College term. Franklin held out
to him the hope of building up a new cure in Philadelphia, thus
anticipating by ten years the formation of St. Peter's Church
which grew out of Christ Church. But this would have been
considered an intrusion, unless Dr. Jenney the Rector had made
the way open for the effort ; however, Dr. Peters was at that time
in the Vestry and could have facilitated the assent of the Rector.

1 Beardsley, 160.

132 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Franklin in his rejoinder 5 of 23 August endeavors to combat
this, and with one of his apt similes :

Your tenderness of the Church's peace is truly laudable ; but, me
thinks, to build a new church in a growing place is not properly dividing
but multiplying ; and will really be a means of increasing the number of
those who worship God in that way. Many who cannot now be accommo-
dated in the church go to other places or stay at home ; and if we had
another church, many who go to other places or stay at home, would go to
church. I suppose the interest of the church has been far from suffering
in Boston by the Building of two new churches there in my memory. I
had for several years nailed against the wall of my house, a pigeon box
that would hold six pair ; and though they bred as fast as my neighbors'
pigeons, I never had more than six pair ; the old and strong driving out the
young and weak, and obliging them to seek new habitations. At length I
put up an additional box, with apartments for entertaining twelve pair
more, and it was soon filled with inhabitants, by the overflowing of my first
box and of others in the neighborhood. This I take to be a parallel case
with the building a new church here.

The correspondence was continued, Franklin again writing
him 13 September, but Dr. Johnson gave a final reply in Jan-
uary, 1752 : 6

I am now plainly in the decline of life, both as to activity of body
and vigor of mind, and must, therefore, consider myself as being an Emeri-
tus, and unfit for any new situation in the world or to enter on any new
business, especially at such a distance from my hitherto sphere of action
and my present situation, where I have as much duty on my hands as I am
capable of and where my removal would make too great a breach to be
countervailed by any good I am capable of doing elsewhere, for which I
have but a small chance left for much opportunity. So that I must beg
my good friends at Philadelphia to excuse me, and I pray God they may be
directed to a better choice. And as Providence has so unexpectedly pro-
vided so worthy a person as Mr. Dove for your other purpose, I hope the
same good Providence will provide for this. I am not personally acquainted
with Mr. Winthrop, the Professor at Cambridge, but by what I have heard
of him, perhaps he might do. But I rather think it would be your best
way to try if you cannot get some friend and faithful gentleman at home, of
good judgment and care, to inquire and try if some worthy Fellow of one
or other of the universities could not be obtained. Perhaps Mr. Peters or
Mr. Dove may know of some acquaintance of theirs, that might do likely :

5 Beardsley, 163, also Bigelow, ii. 204. This is the only letter of this inter-
esting correspondence included by Mr. Bigelow. 6 Beardsley, 165, 167.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 133

dulciits ex ipsio foriibus. * * * * Meantime you have, indeed, my
heart with you as though I were ever so much with you in presence, and if
there were any good office in my power you might freely command it

From Franklin's press was issuing at this time the sheets
of a work by Johnson on Ethics, entitled Elementa PJiilosophica,
containing chiefly Noetica, or Things relating to the Mind or Un-
derstanding ; and Et/iica, or tilings relating to the Moral Be-
haviour. It bears the imprint of B. Franklin and D. Hall,
Philadelphia, 1752. In Johnson's letter, last referred to, he re-
fers to this : "I thank you for sending the two sheets of my
' Noetica,' which are done with much care. I find no defects
worth mentioning but what were probably my own."

A work written by Samuel Johnson, printed by Benjamin
Franklin, and dedicated to Bishop Berkeley, is singular in this
happy conjunction of noted names. And it is a happy coinci-
dence that a vice Provost of the University of Pennsylvania has
given us the first American Annotations on Bishop Berkeley's
Treatise on the Principles of Human Knowledge. Dr. Krauth
says " the first place in the Berkeleyan roll of honor is due to
Dr. Samuel Johnson," and describes his " Elementa Philosophica
as thoroughly Berkeleyan in its main features." 1

King's College had been less Catholic in its intentions and
designs than the Philadelphia Academy, and was without a lead-
ing mind to direct its early steps such as the latter was
favored with. As early as 1/46 a provincial act was passed
authorising a lottery for a College ; the' results of this, to which
were added some benefactions of Trinity Church, produced more
than 3400. which were placed in the hands of Trustees by en-
actments of the Colonial Legislature in 1753, a majority of whom
were Church of England men.

The Presbyterian interest, under the leadership of William
Livingston, thwarted its consummation for some years ; but a
charter was finally granted 31 October, 1754, and Samuel John-
son accepted the Presidency ; leaving his pleasant home at
Stratford in April, but neither removing his family or resigning

T A Treatise, etc., with Prolegomena and Annotations, Charles V. Krauth,
D. D., Philada., 1886, p. 36. See Sparks, vi. 125, note. Also letter of Franklin to
Johnson about the slow sale of Noetica, 15 April, 1754, in Beardsley, 180.

134 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

his parish. On reaching New York he was unanimously chosen
an assistant Minister of Trinity Church, which he declined. His
labors for the College, his early building of it, do not find a
place here ; they are elsewhere more worthily written ; but it
is pleasant to contemplate here even at this late day, the in-
teresting historic connection existing between Columbia College
and the University of Pennsylvania in the associations with the
latter which the first President of the former held ; and the Uni-
versity may with peculiar interest reflect that perhaps it was the
success of efforts of Benjamin Franklin and his colaborers in
Philadelphia that hastened the work in New York and enabled
the founders of Columbia to more effectively overcome the op-
position of politics or of jealousy. A graceful reminder of this
exists in a Library chair of Franklin's, the legacy of Mrs. Cath-
arine Wistar Bache to Dr. Hosack and by him given to the
Literary and Philosophical Society of New York in 1822, which
is maintained in a place of honor in the Library of Columbia
College. May the bond of friendship continued in their con-
temporary years of youth not be forgotten in the present day
when both institutions are rising more fully into the recognition
of University needs. Nor must it be forgotten that the funds
in later years collected in the Mother country for the aid of both
these institutions was done in a joint commission, upon
which Jay and Smith so successfully planted their Appeal for aid
in developing colonial education.

Dr. Johnson's advertisement of the opening of the new
College in I July, 1754 was given in the N. Y. Gazette : or the
Weekly Post Boy, of 3 June and its terms foreshadow the cur-
riculum and discipline of the institution, and as it is worthy of
perusal as not only showing the Doctor's present arrangements
but his future plans, it is printed entire elsewhere. But the last
Article seems such a reflex of the Philadelphia Proposals of
1 749 that it will bear repetition here.

And, lastly, a serious, virtuous, and industrious Course of Life, being
first provided for, it is further the Design of this College, to instruct and
perfect the Youth in the learned Languages, and in the Arts of reasoning
exactly, of writing correctly, and speaking eloquently : and in the Arts of

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 135

numbering and. measuring ; of Surveying and Nain'gation, of Geography and
History, of Husbandry, Commerce and Government, and in the Knowledge
of all Nature in the Heavens above us, and in the Air, Water and Earth,
around us, and the various kinds of Meteors, Stones, Mines and Minerals,
Plants and Animals, and of every Thing useful for the Comfort, Con-
venience and elegance of Life, in the chief Manufactures relating to any of
these Things : And finally, to lead them from the Study of Nature to the
Knowledge of themselves, and of the God of Nature, and their Duty to
him, themselves, and one another, and every Thing that can contribute
to their true Happiness, both here and hereafter.

On 21 July we find Dr. Peters in New York preaching in
Trinity Church and St. George's Chapel that day, 8 where " his
audiences were great, and the sermons universally approved
of" ; and we can picture him visiting Dr. Johnson amid his new
classes, and telling him of the success of the Philadelphia Acad-
emy, not yet a College, and of their recent engagement with
young William Smith, who gave promise of supplying that place
in its administration which the Trustees had hoped Dr. Johnson
would fill.

From age and ill health Dr. Johnson resigned his Presi-
dency in 1763, and retired to his beloved Stratford, where he
passed his remaining years among his books and in continuance
of his correspondence, leaving his parochial duties in its details
largely to his assistant ; and died 6 January, 1772. His son wrote
of him

He died as he had lived, with great composure and serenity of mind * * *
He often wished, and repeated it the morning of his departure, that he
might resemble in his death his friend, the late excellent Bishop Berkeley,
whose virtues he labored to imitate in his life and Heaven heard his
prayer.

Kings College suffered during the Revolution as did the
University of Pennsylvania, but in 1787 it arose into freshened
life under the new name of Columbia, and Dr. Johnson's eldest
son, Hon. William Samuel Johnson, was its first President, re-
signing in 1800.

8 The New- York Gazette of 22 July, 1754.

136 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XIV.

By the end of March, 1750, the Trustees entertaining hopes
of Samuel Johnson for the head of the institution, on the 29th,
" Resolved that the Academy be opened as soon as possible by
accepting the most suitable Person that can be procured for a
Rector," or chief Professor, and apparently having such in view
it was "ordered that Mr. David Martin be acquainted with the
above resolution and be requested to accept of the Rectorship
and enter into it on the I3th of May next." No further Minute
bears on this appointment, but the Treasurer's books show that
Mr. Martin's remuneration began on 13 July in the sum of two
hundred pounds per annum. This action confirms the state-
ment that some higher functionary was desired besides the
Rector, for when Mr. Martin's salary began it has been seen
that negotiations were pending with Dr. Johnson, which the
Trustees kept alive for more than a twelvemonth. The term
Rector had been given at Yale at the outset to the head of the
College, Rector or Master as some time alternatively used ; the
Rector and Fellows, /. e. Tutors, his Fellows in tuition, was the
style of the early Faculty, which became in 1745 the President
and Fellows which it remains to this day. It was during the
administration of Rector Clap, Franklin's correspondent, that
this change of name took place at Harvard ; the head of the
infant seminary Rev. Henry Dunster, took the office and was
first stiled President in 1642, and the corporation under the
charter of 1650 became the President and Fellows, the Overseers
under the Act of 1642 remaining the governing body.

Before the scholars could find accommodations, the Rector
was secured, who could give his time to the Trustees in further-
ance of their plans. Franklin in his Narrative of these events
written perhaps forty years later describes this stage of the
proceedings. l

A house was hired, masters engaged, and the schools opened ; I
think in the same year, 1749. The scholars increasing fast, the house was

1 Bigelow, i. 225.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 137

soon found too small, and we were looking out for a piece of ground, prop-
erly situated, with intention to build, when Providence threw into our way 1
a large house ready built, which with a few alterations might well serve our
purpose. This was the building before mentioned, erected by the hearers
of Mr. Whitefield.

It has been affirmed there were at the time of this purchase
some Charity School with its few scholars accommodated in
this building, which led to Franklin in those later years relating
without due exactness that his Academy had at once on its
inception in 1749 begun with teachers and scholars, and hence
the necessity of a larger building. But neither do the minutes
nor the Treasurer's accounts confirm this, and indeed Franklin's
letter to Mr. Eliot, of February, 1750, before quoted, leaves no
room for any support of this statement.

At this meeting of 29 March, it was also

Ordered that Messrs. Benjamin Franklin, William Allen, William Cole-
man, Richard Peters, Thomas Hopkinson and Tench Francis be a Com-
mittee to consider and report whether it be most convenient for the Pupils
to pay a Gross Sum for being instructed in all the branches of Learning to
be taught in the Academy or distinct sums for each.

The results of their deliberations on this point were
adopted at their meeting of 10 November following, when it
was " Ordered, That the sum of twenty shillings quarterly, and
twenty shillings entrance money, with a rateable share of the
Expense of firing in the Winter Season, be paid by each Pupil,
for which they may be instructed in any Branches of Learning to
be taught at the Academy." Ere they were prepared to receive
any Scholars or offer them any good tuition, many inquiries
must have reached them early as to their procedure upon differ-
ent details of their promising establishment ; for besides the
above consideration of fees, they had made a minute at the pre-
vious meeting, 6 February, 1750.

The Trustees being informed that an Objection is made to that Arti-
cle of the Constitution which relates to the Admission of Scholars, Declare
that the said Article is not intended for any other purpose than to accom-
modate the Number of Scholars to the number of Masters, and the cir-

1 Mr. Sparks renders this, " when acciJent threw into our way, etc.," i. 159.

138 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

cumstances of the Academy ; and that in every Admission a regard will
be had to the Priority of Application, without any View to Sect or Party.

It scarcely needed this affirmation to give the community
the assurance that this very Catholic body of Trustees would
countenance any favoritism in the admission of pupils according to
the religious standing of the parent ; but it is quite possible that
the purchase of the New Building with a reference to a Creed in
the conveyance, and that Creed being as duly formally recorded
as was the conveyance, may have led the unfriendly and the
unsympathising to raise doubts in the minds of their friends as
to the very broad and liberal scope the Founder desired to give
to its operations.

At the meeting of 27 July it was " Resolved that the Eng-
lish Master's salary be increased from the sum of one hundred
pounds to one hundred and fifty;" but this is the first minute
defining a salary, and the sum originally named must have been
agreed to informally ; perhaps thus early began those differences
of opinion among the Trustees as to the proper eminence of
English in the proposed curriculum which Franklin so stoutly
contended for, not that it should take any precedence of the
classics, but that it should be maintained with equal dignity
through all the Academy course.

But it was not until the meeting on 10 November that the
Trustees felt confidence in naming a time for the opening ; their
plans for a proper adaptation of the building to their purposes
were to have been consummated for school uses in the usual
Autumn term, but delays incident to such radical changes in
construction as they found it necessary to make lost them these
autumn months ; not discouraged, however, they proposed to
lose no longer time than was essential to the comfort of their
teachers and scholars, and would begin in midwinter ; and they
ordered "That the Academy be opened on the Seventh day of
January next, and the Rates of Learning and the opening be
published in the Gazette a Fortnight hence." The Teachers
were already under review, for we shall see that at their Decem-
ber meeting they were prepared to act and to create a faculty
for the Academy. The public announcement of the opening is

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 139

couched in simple yet reverent language by the hands of the
Founder, and we can perhaps imagine his hopes and expecta-
tions and those of his co-workers when they read their institu-
tion in print and found themselves committed to the public for
the greatest venture in an educational line yet attempted in the
Province. The time had not been misspent or misused since
the announcement of his famed Proposals in the Gazette of 24
August, 1749, but a steady progress had been made and the
twenty-four Trustees had worked together with unanimity and
harmony under a wise leadership, until they now found themselves
well equipped to fulfill to the community all their promises. The
advertisement appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette as follows :

Phila. December n. 1750

NOTICE is hereby given, That the Trustees of the ACADEMY of Phila-
delphia, intend (God willing) to open the same on the first Monday of Janu-
ary next ; wherein Youth will be taught the Latin, Greek, English, French,
and German Languages, together with History, Geography, Chronology,
Logic, and Rhetoric ; also Writing, Arithmetic, Merchants Accounts,
Geometry, Algebra, Surveying, Gauging, Navigation, Astronomy, Drawing
in Perspective, and other mathematical Sciences ; with natural and
mechanical Philosophy, &c, agreeable to the Constitutions heretofore pub-
lished, at the Rate of Four Pounds per annum, and Twenty Shillings
entrance.

On the day following the opening the Gazette contained
the following account of it :

Yesterday being the Day appointed for opening the Academy in this
City, the Trustees met, and waited on His Honour our Governor, to the
publick Hall of the Building, where the Rev Mr Peters made an excellent
Sermon on the Occasion, to a crowded audience. The Rooms of the
Academy not being yet compleatly fitted for the Reception of the Scholars
the several Schools will be opened To-morrow, in a large House of Mr
Allen's, on Second Street : Those who incline to enter their children or
Youth, may apply to the Rector, or any one of the Trustees.

At a subsequent meeting " the thanks of the Trustees were
given by the President to the Rev Mr Peters for his excellent
Sermon preached in the Academy Hall on the Seventh Day of
January, at the opening of the Academy ; which was done
accordingly. Mr Peters' consent being desired for the publica-
tion of the said Sermon, he desires Time to consider thereof" ;

140 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

which, however, he finally agreed to, as Franklin and Hall before
the close of the year printed :

A Sermon on Education wherein Some Account is given of the
Academy Established in the City of Philadelphia. Preached at the open-
ing thereof on the Seventh Day of January 1750-1 By the Reverend Mr
Richard Peters.

Copies of this are now rare. The reasons for this delay he
gives in his Preface which bears date 1 2 September :

When I came to consider that a Detail was made of the Rise of the
Academy, and of the several Matters proposed to be taught therein, and
that it might be of great service to publish this, in order to remove mis-
takes, and to enable the Publick to judge of its Usefulness and Seasonable-
ness, I no longer hesitated to gratify you in the Publication, confident
that your Adoption and Patronage will procure it a favorable Reception with
my fellow citizens.

It is an admirable Discourse on Education and eloquent in
its adaptation to the particular circumstances which called it
forth ; and as it must be an instance of his pulpit powers, we
feel a natural disappointment that we have left us so few of his
sermons. From this Sermon previous quotations have been
already given, when recording his views as to the foundation
of the Academy.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 141

XV.

We have no knowledge of the number of scholars offering
at the opening, but an entry in the Treasurer's books shows those
who first paid entrance money, namely, George Lea, William
Peters, jun, and Richard Peters, the latter nephews of Rev
Richard Peters. From Dr Peters Preface to his Opening Ser-
mon, however, we obtain a gratifying sight of the progress of
the work,

It affords no small Delight to every one who has the Success of this
Academy at Heart [he is writing in September] that though many Things
promised in this Discourse remain to be done, yet there is already more
effected than in so small a space of Time could have been reasonably
expected. The Latin and English Masters give entire Satisfaction ; indeed
the Progress made by the Boys in both schools is truly surprising ; each
has now the Assistance of an Usher, made necessary by the Number of
Boys, who, notwithstanding the prevalence of the Small Pox in Town,
amount to above one Hundred. Masters are provided for teaching Writing
and French. The Mathematical School is daily increasing. A Charity
School is established. Proper Prayers are composed for the Schools and
used every Morning and Evening.

We cannot refrain from quoting his commendation of the
Trustees :

I must do you the justice to say that much of this is owing to your
Care and the Regularity of your Visitations ; and I have no small Satisfac-
tion in being able to be thus particular, since it must needs be agreeable to
the Publick to know that the most necessary and useful Parts of the Scheme
are in such Forwardness ; and that there are in the Academy, two good
Grammar Schools, one in the English and one in the Latin Language.
No small Benefit this to the Province ! as in these are laid the proper
Foundations for the higher Attainments in Learning which will likewise be
gone into when the Difficulties of the Masters arising from the preparing
and classing so many Boys as are daily admitted from different schools, of
different proficiencies, and taught by different Methods shall abate.

Of the Rector, David Martin, M. A., we know but little;
he did not live to the end of the year; and in the Pennsylvania
Gazette of 17 December 1751 we find the simple record "Wed-
nesday last died, greatly respected, Mr. David Martin, Rector
of the Academy in this City." The Minutes of n December

142 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

record " upon occasion of the sudden Decease of Mr Martin, the
Trustees met to consider of some Person to supply his place in
the Latin School." We learn a little more of his death, and
the action of the Trustees from Franklin's letter of 24 December,
175 i, to Rev Dr Johnson. 1

I wrote to you in my last that Mr. Martin our Rector died suddenly
of a quinsy. His body was carried to the church, respectfully attended by
the trustees, all the masters and scholars in their order, and a great num-
ber of the citizens. Mr. Peters preached his funeral sermon, and gave him
the just and honorable character he deserved. The schools are now broke
up for Christmas, and will not meet again till the 7th of January. Mr.
Peters took care of the Latin and Greek School after Mr. Martin's death
till the breaking up. And Mr. Allison, a dissenting minister, has prom-
ised to continue that care for a month after the next meeting.

He was buried in Christ Church Burying Ground 13
December, but no stone marks the place of burial of the first
Rector of the Academy.

The Rector's assistants were decided upon at the meeting
of 17 December, 1750, in the following Minutes :

Mr. David James Dove having lately come hither from England
where the Trustees are informed he had the care of a School for many
years, and having offered himself for an English Master, The Trustees
being in a great measure strangers to him do order that he be accepted for
the English Master in the Academy for one year, to commence on the
seventh day of January next, for the Sallary of one hundred and fifty
pounds in order to make Tryal of his care and ability.

Mr. Theophilus Grew having offered himself as a Master in the
Academy to teach Writing, Arithmetic, Merchants Accounts, Algebra,
Astronomy, Navigation, and all other Branches of the Mathematics ; it is
ordered that he be received as such at the rate of one hundred and twenty-
five pounds a year, his service to commence on the Seventh day of January
next

Mr. Charles Thomson having offered himself as a Tutor in the Latin
and Greek School, and having been examined and approved of by the
Rector, is admitted as a Tutor in the Latin and Greek school at the rate of
sixty pounds a year, to commence on the seventh day of January next.

1 Beardsley, 1 66.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 143

XVI.

DAVID JAMES DOVE, the English Master, is best known to
us by the criticism on him by his young pupil Richard Peters
who in later years described him as a "sarcastical and ill-tem-
pered doggerelizer, who was but ironically Dme ; for his temper
was that of a hawk, and his pen the beak of a falcon pouncing
on innocent prey." This reference is to the part he took in all
the political issues of the day with his caustic rhymes. Graydon
tells us l he was

much celebrated in his day as a teacher, and no less as a dealer in the
minor kind of satirical poetry. * * * It was his practice in his school, to
substitute disgrace for corporal punishment His birch was rarely used in
canonical method, but was generally stuck into the back part of the collar
of the unfortunate culprit, who, with this badge of disgrace towering from
his nape like a broom at the mast head of a vessel for sale, was compelled
to take his stand upon the top of the form, for such a period of time as his
offence was thought to deserve.

Graydon was a pupil at his school about 1759 or 1760, from
whence he went to the Academy, and these practices of Mr.
Dove doubtless were displayed when he was at the Academy.
He tells us Dove's school was " at this time, kept in Videll's
Alley, which opened into Second, a little below Chestnut Street.
It counted a number of scholars of both sexes, though chiefly
boys."

Whether the duties of the Academy did not fully employ
his talents, or his ambition found but little promise in its routine,
he sought occupation to add to these stated duties. We find his
advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette 29 August 1751 :

As the Scheme formed by the Gentlemen of Philadelphia, for the
regular Education of their Sons, has been happily carried into Execution ;
the Ladies excited by the laudable example, are solicitous that their Daugh-
ters too might be instructed in some Parts of Learning, as they are taught
in the Academy. Mr Dove proposes to open a school at said Academy for
young Ladies, on Monday next, in which will be carefully taught the Eng-
lish Grammar ; the true Way of Spelling, and Pronouncing properly ;
together with fair Writing, Arithmetick, and Accounts : So that the Plan

1 Memoirs, pp. 24, 25.

144 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

recommended by the Universal Spectator may be exactly pursued. Price
Ten Shillings Entrance and Twenty Shillings per Quarter.

No reference is made in the Minutes of the Trustees to this,
but their assent must have been had to the scheme. On 10
December 1751, a minute records.

There being above 90 Scholars now in the English School, and Mr.
Dove having declared he found it impossible duly to instruct so great a
number without another Assistant, the Trustees agreed to accept of one Mr
Francis Peisley, who offered himself, and who Mr. Dove represented as a
Person well qualified for a Tutor in that School, and to allow him at the
Rate of .50. per annum

His first assistant was John Jones who had been appointed
on 25 September. Before an assistant was given him, the Trus-
tees had voted him 9 July, 1751,

an allowance, in consideration of his extraordinary Trouble in teaching a
greater Number of Scholars for some time past than by the Constitu-
tions he is obliged to do, and for the Board of a Lad whom he entertained
for some time as an assistant, in the sum of Ten pounds.

At the meeting of 9 June 1752, reference was made to Mr.
Peisley's departure, and there still being "above Ninety Scholars
in the English School," and Mr. Jones, the remaining assistant
not being sufficient, the President was desired to confer with him
about providing another. But at the meeting of 10 October it
was represented that

Mr Dove had since Mr. Peisley' s Departure caused two of the most
capable Boys in his School to assist him in teaching the Younger Scholars,
acquainted the Trustees that he was willing to continue that Method if they
approve thereof, and agree to make the said Boys a suitable allowance for
their trouble. But upon considering the matter, the Trustees are of Opin-
ion, it would be more advantageous to the School that a good Usher should
be provided.

At the meeting of 1 5 November we find recorded the names
of these "two of the most capable boys," namely, Edward Bid-
die and William Scull, who were allowed Twenty Dollars each
as a Reward for assisting Mr. Dove.

But the cause for Mr Dove's anxiety for two ushers is found
in a preceding minute of the same meeting, which testifies to his
continuance of his own school. "The Trustees being informed

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 145

that Mr Dove makes a Practice of leaving his School at Eleven
o'clock in the morning, and at four in the afternoon ; and such
frequent absences of the Master being thought a Disadvantage
to the School, Mr Franklin and Mr Peters are desired to speak
to him about it, and request his Attendance during the School
Hours." At the following meeting these gentlemen reported
that " Mr Dove acknowledged what had been reported of him
concerning his leaving the School, and that he seemed desirous
of being indulged in that practice, but the Trustees considered
it as of bad example and too great a Neglect of the children
under his care, and desired him to be informed they would expect
he will attend the School at the appointed Hours." Mr Dove,
anxious to maintain his school, made a proposition for other
hours, but finally on 13 February 1753

the Trustees having fully considered this Request and the ill Consequence
such an indulgence would be attended with, adhered to their former opin-
ion ; * * * and as he had said, in Case his present Request was not
granted he would continue to take care of the School for a Quarter, or till
they could provide another Master, so they, on their Part, would give him
a Quarter's notice when they had provided.

On 10 July following Mr Kinnersley was provided for the
English school, and Mr Dove was relieved. The detail of this
transaction illustrates the care and watchfulness of the Trustees
over the labors of their Teachers and Ushers. And it is also in
some measure a testimony to Mr. Dove's merits and abilities as
a teacher that they dealt so patiently with him, not wishing to
lose his services on any peremptory notice. Franklin's senti-
ments regarding him were testified to in his letter of 24 Decem-
ber, 1751, to Dr. Johnson, where he says,

The English master is Mr Dove, a gentleman about your age, who
formerly taught grammar sixteen years at Chichester in England. He is
an excellent master, and his scholars have made a surprising progress. 2

In later years, upon the discontinuance of the Videll's Alley
School, he opened a private academy in Germantown in the
house yet standing immediately west of the Germantown Academy,
wherein however he was not very successful. He had taken

2 Beardsley, p. 166.

146 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

lodgers in his house ; besides the lad he entertained who had
assisted him, he at one time lodged Charles Thomson, the young
Tutor, but Thomson found his hosts uncongenial and soon
sought other quarters. The first English Master mads a history
for himself, other than the records of the Academy display, in
teaching Graydon and being associated with Thomson, two his-
toric characters whose writings have commemorated him, but
not in flattering terms.

THEOPHILUS GREW styled himself " Mathematical Profes-
sor at the Academy in Philadelphia" where he "asks commu-
nications of observations on Eclipse of the Moon next Tues-
day " from the public in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 23 May,
1751, and he thus officially signs the Constitution. Thus if his
claim be admitted, we must put him third in the long list of
Professors, as Martin and Dove who precede him in nomi-
nation must be allowed his peers in rank. But as he was at
the meeting of the Trustees on n July, 1755, " unanimously
elected Mathematical Professor," the confirmation of his title is
assured. A later advertisement indicates that pupils to the
new Academy were offering from the interior and from other
places, as indeed did Mr. Dove's lodgers as well : " YOUTH for
the Academy may be boarded in Arch Street, at the House of
Theophilus Grew, MATHEMATICAL PROFESSOR," we are informed
in the Pennsylvania Gazetted 14 November, 1751. He pur-
sued the even tenor of his way, following in his leisure hours
scientific studies instead of indulging in political rhymes, and
developing no pecularities which a Thomson or a Graydon found
worthy of record. In Dove's successor Kinnersley, and with
Franklin, the President of the Board of Trustees, the Mathe-
matical Professor found congenial friends, and remained in the
service of the institution until his death in 1759. Provost Smith
in his account of the Academy in the American Magazine for
October, 1758, speaks of him as " having so long been an
approved teacher of Mathematics and Astronomy in this city,
that I need say nothing to make him better known than he is
already." His tomb stone in Christ Church Burying Ground

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 147

erected over his remains which were laid within a few feet of
the Academy Building where he so worthily taught, is but par-
tially decipherable at this day.

Here lies interred

the Body of

MR THEOPHILUS GREW.
He distinguished himself in Life by

many exemplary Virtues
and many valuable Qualifications.

He was very deeply learned
in Astronomy and the Mathematics

whereby he rendered himself

a most useful Member of Society

He served as Professor of

those noble sciences

in the College of this City.

He discharged the trust with

honor and integrity.

CHARLES THOMSON, born in November 1729 a native of
Ireland, became the first Tutor of the Academy when he was
twenty-one years of age. He crossed the ocean with his father
when but ten years of age, and his father dying at sea, he and
an elder brother landed at New Castle orphans among strangers.
By his peculiar energies he seized favorable opportunities for
schooling, and was at one time under the tuition of the Rev.
Francis Alison, also an Irishman, at his school at Thunder Hill,
Maryland, and who succeeded Mr. Martin as Rector of the
Academy. While here a schoolmate returning from Philadel-
phia brought with him a volume of the Spectator : he read it
with such delight, that learning an entire set could be purchased
for the amount of the small sum he had at command, he set off
without asking permission on foot to Philadelphia to purchase
it. 3 His truancy was excused in consideration of its motive.
This recalls to us the fascination Franklin found in this work.
May it not be that his visit to Philadelphia brought him ac-
quainted with Franklin at a time the Academy was being
formed, and he was led eventually to offer himself to the Trus-

3 Duyckinck, i. 170.

148 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

tees as a Tutor in Latin and Greek, when he was accepted after
due examination and proof by the Rector. Dr. Ashbel Green,
President of Princeton College, in his Autobiography said of
him in after years " he was one of the best classical scholars
our country has ever produced." Young Thomson continued
Tutor until his resignation in the spring of 1755, when we find
by the Minutes of 17 March

a letter to the Trustees from Mr. Charles Thomson, one of the Tutors in
the Latin School, was read, acquainting them with his Intention of leaving
the Academy within two or three Months, having a Design to apply him-
self to other Business ; Mr. Peters was therefore desired to assist Mr.
Alison in providing another in his Room. The Trustees at the same
Time, declared themselves well satisfied that the said Mr. Thomson had
discharged the Duties of his Place with Capacity, Faithfulness and
Diligence.

But the " other business " did not prevail, as we find him in the
September following engaging himself as teacher in the Friends
Publick School, then located on Fourth Street below Chestnut.
It is not requisite that his life should be further sketched here, but
reference must be made to the fact that it was the first tutor in
the Academy who became the Secretary to Congress from 1774
to the close of the war, the " Perpetual Secretary " as he was often
called. The acquaintance formed with Franklin through his con-
nection with the Academy ripened into mutual esteem and con-
tinued through life, and their correspondence whether as friend
to friend or as Secretary to Ambassador breathes on Franklin's
part a warm appreciation of the younger man's faithfulness and
intelligence. In his letter written from Passy, 13 May, 1784,
on the Ratification of the Definitive Treaty with England, so
full of patriotic advice to his countrymen now acknowledged by
the parent to be free, and to be a Nation of like independence
with her, he says to Thomson 4 "Thus the great and hazardous
enterprise we have been engaged in, is, God be praised, happily
compleated ; an event I hardly expected, I should live to see."
But it was in a different tone that he wrote to his " Dear Old

4 Bigelow, viii. 492. Also, for the Thomson correspondence, vide N. Y.
Historical Society's Collections for 1878, p. 185.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 149

Friend" Thomson on 29 December, 1788, after his return
home, upon the subject of his own public services which he
deemed and with justice had not met with that recognition
which they merited. No one but he at that day could weigh
with accuracy the sum of those services as well as he, but later
history has realised what was done by him in those weary and
anxious years when for his country's sake he was exiled from
the comforts of his home.

My good friend, excuse, if you can, the trouble of this Letter ; and if
the reproach thrown on Republicks, that they are apt to be ungrateful,
should ever unfortunately be verified with respect to your services, remem-
ber that you have the right to unbosom yourself in communicating your
griefs to your affectionate ancient friend and most obed. humble ser-
vant, B. Franklin. 5

Charles Thomson employed his later years in a translation
of the entire Bible, an excellent contribution to Biblical literature ;
this was printed in four volumes in Philadelphia in 1808. His
own copy of this admirable version with his latest MS. cor-
rections is in the Philadelphia Library. He lived to the age of
94, dying 16 August, 1824. His is one of the most interesting
characters figuring in Revolutionary scenes, and is worthy of
study by every young man. At the treaty with the Indians
at Easton in 1757, they named him in their language
"The Man of Truth," which clung to him always; and upon
doubtful tidings and uncertain rumors prevailing, his friends
would say of him "Here comes the truth: here is Charles
Thomson!" Thomson married secondly in 1774 Hannah
Harrison a niece of Isaac Norris, the Speaker, for many years a
Trustee of the College and Academy. He was called to the
Secretaryship of Congress the day after his wedding ; his notes
of its proceedings were taken in short hand, and on his return
home from Philadelphia in the evening to Harriton it was this
faithful wife who wrote out from them the Minutes of Congress.

5 Bigelow, x. 29. N. Y. Historical Society's Collections, 1878, p. 248.

150 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XVI.

Six months from the opening of the Academy had only
elapsed when a second Tutor was engaged ; the Minutes of 9
July, 1751, recording " Mr. John Jones, late of Connecticut of-
fering himself for a Tutor under Mr. Dove in the English
School, the Trustees have agreed with him for one quarter, at
the rate of Fifty pounds per annum;" this quarter proved his
capacity, and we find that in a twelvemonth (14 July, 1752) the
Trustees on his request " for an augmentation of his salary de-
clared their willingness to add Ten pounds per annum to his
salary." The Mathematical Professor needing aid for his writ-
ing lessons, we find that at the same meeting Mr. John Jones
was appointed.

"Mr. Horace Jones, late of Chester County, offering himself upon
Tryal for three months, as an Assistant to Mr. Grew, and the Trustees
present having seen a specimen of his Writing, agree to make Tryal of him
for that Time, and to allow him after the Rate of Fifty pounds per annum.' '

At the meeting in February following his salary was like-
wise increased ten pounds. On 21 September, 1752, Theophilus
Grew and Horace Jones advertise in the Pennsylvania Gazette
"on Monday, the ninth of October next, at the house of Mr.
Atkinson, in Second street, and opposite to Mr. Boudinot's, an
Evening School is intended to be open'd for teaching of Writing,
Arithmetick, Navigation, Surveying, Algebra, and other parts of
the Mathematicks, and to continue until the middle of March
next. Those who incline to be instructed, are desir'd to give in
their names immediately to either of the Subscribers, living in
Arch Street." This was repeated in substance the year follow-
ing, and the effort was a success. Night Schools were now rend-
ered safer by the lighted streets. " Monday night last the
streets of this city began to be illuminated with lamps, in Pur-
suance of a late Act of Assembly." Pennsylvania Gazette 12
September, 1751. But these were not safe from the lively boys
of the town. " Last week a Person was convicted of breaking
one of the Public Lamps, by throwing an Apple at it, and paid a

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 151

Fine of Forty Shillings." Gazette 3 October, 1751. This is the
first mark an apple has made in local history.

At the meeting of 10 December following, the appoint-
ment of Mr. Peisley followed, as before stated ; but he remained
only until the following summer as we find from the Treasurer's
accounts ; and before his place was supplied Mr. Dove had the
opportunity of calling upon two of his young pupils, Biddle and
Scull, to assist him as previously related. Before Mr. Peisley 's
departure we find in the Minutes of 21 April, 1752 :

The number of Scholars now in the Latin School requiring that
another Tutor should be provided, and Mr. Alison having recommended
one Mr. Paul Jackson as a person well qualified, the Trustees present
agree to accept of him, and allow him at the Rate of Sixty Pounds per an-
num.

He continued as Tutor until 1756. The next in order is
Patrick Carroll, who in the minutes of 9 June, 1752, it is said,
" has for some time assisted Mr. Price in the Charity School,"
we find by the minutes of 1 2 December is " now employed as
an Usher under Mr. Dove," but he continued only until Novem-
ber, 1753, when lack of scholars in the English school made his
services no longer needed. The next tutors were young Barton
and Duche ; but before our narrative reaches their time, other
details of the early working of the Academy call for mention,
and we have yet to enter upon the second Rectorship. How-
ever we must not overlook the opening exercises of the second
year of which the Minutes take no note. Franklin makes a note
of it in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 7 January, 1752.

Yesterday being the anniversary of the opening of the Academy in
this city, an excellent Sermon was preached on the occasion by the
Reverend Mr. PETERS, in the Academy Hall, from these words, Luke, ii,
52. And Jesus increased in Wisdom and Stature and in Favour with God
and Man.

152 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XVII.

The Charity School was set on foot before the first term had
expired, but could not be accomplished without a proper head.
At the meeting of 9 April, 1751 "The Trustees taking into
consideration that, by their Engagements, the Charity School
ought to be open'd very speedily; and it being mentioned that
Mr. Martin had recommended some person in Trenton who
was well qualified for Master of such a school, the President is
desired to speak to Mr. Martin to write to that person in order
to know whether he will accept of that charge, and upon what
terms." Mr. Martin wrote in compliance with this request, but
at the May meeting he was not able to report an answer. At
the June meeting " it appearing to the Trustees that the Person
formerly proposed for Master of the Charity School, is not so
well qualified as could be wished, and that his Terms are high,
some other person is to be sought for to undertake that charge."
The some other person came in time in George Price. The
Trustees on 13 August, 1757, reported "having made a pro-
posal to George Price to teach a Charity School consisting of
twenty Boys, and do some services in the other schools, for the
consideration of Thirty Pounds per annum, to be paid him,
besides his House Rent and Living during the Winter Season ;
which proposal he desired some Time to consider of. But
having since signified his Willingness to accept of the Terms
offer' d him the President is requested to reduce the Agreement
to Writing, and get the said Price to sign it." And " publick
advertizement " was directed to be made, so soon as the Trus-
tees were ready to open a Charity School. Accordingly the
announcement was made in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 12
September, 1751.

By Order of the TRUSTEES of the ACADEMY

NOTICE is hereby given, That on Monday, the i6th of this instant Septem-
ber, a FREE-SCHOOL will be open' d (under their Care and Direction) at
the New Building, for the Instruction of poor Children gratis in Reading,
Writing, and Arithmetic. Those who are desirous of having their chil-
dren admitted, may apply to any of the Trustees.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 153

The "some services in the other schools " may have had
reference to other than strictly scholastic services, if the minute
of IO September is any indication of their character.

The Trustees considering that no Reward, except having Rent free,
has been yet given to George Price, for his Care and Trouble in removing
the Rubbish occasioned by Workmen, sweeping the Schools, making and
putting out the fires, and other services performed by him, from the first
opening of the Academy: It is ordered, That the Sum of Five Pounds be
paid to the said George Price for the said Services.

His efficiency and zeal were successful in the management
of the School, as on 12 April, 1752, it is recorded "The Trus-
tees being willing to take more poor Children into the Charity
School, the President is desired to make Enquiry for some fit
Person to assist the Master of that School." And at the June
meeting, " Patrick Carroll, who for some time has assisted Mr.
Price in the Charity School, was allowed at the rate of Forty-
five pounds per annum for his services in the said School." Mr.
Carroll subsequently became, as before mentioned, a Tutor in
the English School, his place was supplied 12 December, 1752,
by Mr. John Ormsby, " who offered himself as a tutor in the
Charity School," and was accepted, and on like terms as those
paid Carroll. Mr. Price also had the assistance of Mr. A. Dunn
for a few weeks, he being paid " two pounds, twelve shillings
for three weeks attendance in the Charity School, his affairs now
calling him beyond Sea." The Charity School was kept before
the Community and public means were availed of to secure a
better support for it. The Pennsylvania Gazette of 19 April,
1753 tells us :

Monday last an Excellent Sermon was preached in the Academy
Hall by the Rev. Mr. PETERS, on the Charity, Necessity and Advantages
of providing suitable Means of Education for the Children of the Poor;
when a Collection was made towards the Support of the Free School in the
Academy amounting to ^95.12.8 Halfpenny.

154 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XVIII.

The Trustees did not weary in their well doing ; their
meetings were well attended, the faithful President being always
on hand, inspiring the others to worthy motions though his hand
is not visible ; yet sometimes they were without a quorum, and
to secure this it was on 21 April, 1752,

Agreed by the Trustees present to pay a Fine of One Shilling, if absent at
any Meeting, unless such Excuse be given as the Majority shall judge
reasonable. The Money to be applied towards buying Books, Paper, &c
for the Scholars in the Charity School.

This was affirmed at their meeting of 25 May, 1754, but
the fine was then made absolute, of " one shilling, to be laid out
in paper, quills, books, &c, for the use of the Charity School."
The rule obtaining in the Constitutions requiring that " nothing
be transacted by the Trustees unless it be voted by a Majority
of the whole Number, which as experience has been found
highly inconvenient, in regard to the difficulty of so great a
Number's meeting" it was on 27 July, 1750

Resolved, Nemine contradicente, that a Majority of the Trustees met
(that Majority not being less than seven, or on a meeting of seven if they
all agree) shall have power to order and transact any business relating to
the Academy or its Government except the alteration of the Constitutions or
making Contracts, whereby the Publick money may be expended.

And on 9 April, 1751 they "agree to meet the second Tuesday
in every month. The time of Meeting to be at four o'clock in
the afternoon."

The Trustees attention to the well being of the Academy,
even to many of its minor details, brought them sometimes to
be administrators as well as formulators of discipline ; though
this may have been more notable in the interregnum between the
first two Rectorships. It was on 1 1 February, 1752," Agreed, that
no holidays be solicited for the Boys by any of the Trustees
separately." This was modified, probably under the judicious
but calculating advice of the new Rector, for at the meeting of
21 April following it was
Agreed unanimously that no Holdiday be granted to the Scholars at the

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 155

requestof any Person, unless at the same time he made a present to the
Academy of a Book of Ten Shillings value : The Masters to be made ac-
quainted with this Rule.

Graydon gives some account of the pranks of the boys
when he attended the College and Academy, a few years later
than this, which certainly were not new in his day ; the boys of
1751 were but the forerunners of those of 1760 and of many
succeeding years. The only reference to their doings in the
formal minutes of the Trustees may be the entry of I 5 Novem-
ber 1752, "Agreed that a small Ladder be bought, to be always
at hand for the Conveniency of mending the Windows." Per-
haps the person who broke one of the new street lamps in the
preceding October with an apple was a matriculant at the Acad-
emy, and led his classmates in practice on the windows of the
New Building, to repair which it was found convenient to keep
a ladder " always at hand for the conveniency of mending
them."

XIX.

Death entered early among the Trustees, for James Logan
and Thomas Hopkinson died within a few days of each other,
the one on 31 October and the other on 5 November, 1751, and
in less than six weeks the Rector was numbered with them.
Both were a loss to their associates, and to Franklin especially
the death of Hopkinson must have left a vacancy in his own
circle of friends difficult of replacement, for they had been asso-
ciated together in matters of science and of beneficence. The
Trustees met on 12 December, 1751, and proceeded to fill the
vacancies without any note or comment, no encomium or eulogy
expressed the sense of their loss. " Two of the Trustees, to
wit, James Logan, Esq r and Thomas Hopkinson being deceased,
Isaac Norris, Esq and Thomas Cadwalader were chosen in their

156 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Room, by a Majority of Votes." The influence wielded by
Logan on behalf of the Academy could well be carried on by
his son-in-law, Isaac Norris, the foremost Friend of his day ;
and Hopkinson's tastes for science would find just representa-
tion in Cadwalader who a few years later could exert his in-
fluence toward the development of the Medical Department of
the College and Academy. Some notice of these two promi-
nent worthies must be given here, before we look further into
the work of the growing institution in whose direction they
were now to participate.

ISAAC NORRIS, son of Isaac Norris, the Councillor, was
born in Philadelphia, 3 October, 1701. His father brought him
up to a mercantile life, after fitting him by a trained education
to take his proper place among his fellows

He was endowed with good natural abilities, had received an excellent
education, and might indeed be called learned ; for, in addition to a
knowledge of Hebrew, he wrote in Latin and French with ease, and his
reading was extensive. He possessed a fine library containing many of
the best editions of the classics, and was a liberal patron of literature. 1

He had twice visited Europe for travel, and in 1743 he retired
from mercantile life, and as he expressed it "lived downright in
the country way." But before this his talents and aptitude for
public affairs, call them politics if you will, brought him before
his fellow townsmen prominently, and he had been sent to the
Assembly in 1734. He here encountered as a staunch Friend
the demands of the provincial government for money to arm the
colony against the foreign enemy, and resisted and successfully
opposed the requisition. He became the leader of the Quaker
party. The Proprietaries now were Churchmen and personally
had lost the respect of their great ancestor's co-religionists.
The Friends had in 1710 granted a sum to Queen Anne for the
reduction of Canada, but it was accompanied by an explanation
that their principles forbad war, but commanded them to pay
tribute and yield obedience to the power God had set over them
in all things so far as their religious persuasions would permit.
But now, they were not willing to place funds for such purpose

1 Geo. W. Norris, M. D., in Penn'a Magazine^ i. 449.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNYSLVANIA. 157

in the hands and power of the Governor and his friends. But
finally in 1739, the Assembly yielded to the importunities
for money, and voted ^3000, to Isaac Norris, his brother in
law Thomas Griffitts, Thomas Leech, John Stamper and Edward
Bradley, "for the use of King George II." There were now
beginning the dissensions arising out of the claims of the Pro-
prietaries that all their lands should be exempt from provincial
taxation, which grew into a grave occasion of opposition to their
government in time, and the tie of religion being sundered, this
opposition to the Proprietaries on account of their exceeding
selfishness eventually placed Pennsylvania in the front of the
contests of the Revolution. Norris was a member also of the
Assemblies of 1740 and 1741, and in 1742, in the latter year
occurring the riotous scene at the election, due it was said to
the machinations of the Governor, in which however Norris was
returned to the Assembly. In 1745 he was with Kinsey and
Lawrence appointed by the Governor a commissioner to repre-
sent Pennsylvania at the conference with the Indians at Albany.
And in 1755 he was again sent to Albany as a like commissioner
to treat with the Indians.

Continuing a member of the Assembly, he succeeded John
Kinsey as Speaker in September 1751, and in that year he
directed the legend for the new State House Bell which became
so prophetic, though perhaps at the time he would have shrunk
from the application made of it in 1776. He continued Speaker
of the House fifteen years. The contest between the people
and the Proprietaries grew during this period, and Norris at the
head of the Quakers was firmly opposed to their privileges as
they claimed them. In 1757, the Assembly resolved to send
him and Franklin to England to solicit the removal of griev-
ances arising out of the Proprietary instructions to their Gover-
nors, such as forbidding them to sanction any bill for the reve-
nue which did not exempt their property from taxation and the
like ; but on account of ill health he declined the appointment,
so that Franklin undertook it alone. His opposition to their
encroachments, however, did not lead him to desire the
exchange of a Royal Government for a Proprietary, and when

158 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

in 1764 a petition to this effect passed the Assembly, he resigned
the Speakership, rather than as Speaker sign the petition to the
Crown for the change and Franklin was chosen Speaker in his
place and signed the petition. Franklin could see no remedy
for the trouble but in the substitution of a Royal Government
in the place of one by a privileged Family ; but not many years
elapsed before he himself acknowledged that there was as little
dependence to be placed upon the so called paternal govern-
ment of a King. It was in this contest that we find Franklin's
mind developing those great principles which he eventually had
to apply to our national affairs and which became in the logic
of events the unanswerable argument for our Independence,
while such men as Norris and his son-in-law John Dickinson,
alike pure and patriotic as was Franklin, stopped short of the
realisation of those principles of true Government which all of
English blood are expected to uphold. By the strange contra-
rieties of popular suffrage, Franklin was not returned to the
next assembly, only however by a minority of twenty-five in a
vote of nearly four thousand, while Norris, who contrary to his
wishes had been placed on the County Ticket was again chosen
to the Assembly, and again became the Speaker, while Frank-
lin, the majority in the Assembly remaining unbroken, was
chosen Colonial Agent and carried abroad the petition for
redress against the claims of the Proprietaries. Isaac Norris
shortly again resigned the Speakership on 24 October 1764;
and on 13 July, 1776, he died at his seat, Fair Hill. It was
justly said of him by a cotemporary, "That in all his long
public career he never asked a vote to get into the House, or
solicited any member for posts of advantage or employment."
His public duties forbad him, in the want of robust health,
from attending with any diligence to the duties of his Trustee-
ship of the College and Academy, and his service therein con-
tinued less than four years. At the meeting of the Trustees of
1 1 February, 1755, this minute appears :

As Isaac Norris, Esqr had never met the Trustees but once since his
being chosen, and, it was said, had intimated he could not conveniently
attend at their Meetings, Mr. Peters was desired to write to him, and

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 1 59

acquaint him that the Trustees were endeavoring to obtain a new Charter
confirming the former with some Additions, and were desirous to know
whether it would be agreeable to him that his Name should be inserted
therein.

Mr. Peters produced his reply at the next meeting, which
was as follows ; and which was

order' d to be enter' d on the Minutes.
Respected Friend, Richard Peters

I can have no Objection to the Qualification to the Govrm as we take
it every year before we are instituted to our Seats in the Assembly, neither
have I any objection to any other Part of the Academical Institution, but
heartily wish you success in it My Distance from Town, and the Ails I
have, make it very inconvenient to me to attend the Duty of a Trustee,
and therefore I request the Gent' n will be pleased to accept my Resignation
of that Trust.

I return them my Thanks for the Favours they have already shewn
me by inserting my Name in their former Charter, and am Their and

Yr Assd Fr'd
Feby 25 1755 ISAAC NORRIS.

On a previous page was narrated his connection with the
Friends Publick School, and the cause of their desire for his
resignation from the Board of Overseers. Strong Friend as he
always was, he was unwilling to confine his influence in the
favor of a public education to the seemingly narrow limits his
Society had marked out for the instruction of their Youth.

His two sons died in infancy. His daughter Mary became
the wife of John Dickinson, the famous author of A Farmer's
Letters, and whose Mother was sister of Dr. Thomas Cadwal-
ader. It was while Dickinson was President of Pennsylvania,
that he " presented Dickinson College, Carlisle, with the prin-
cipal part of the library of the late Isaac Norris, Esq., consisting
of about 1500 volumes upon the most important subjects." 2

DK. THOMAS CADWALADER was born in Philadelphia in 1707
the son of John Cadwalader, who came to Pennsylvania from
Pembrokeshire and married in 1699 the daughter of Dr Edward
Jones of Lower Merion, then in Philadelphia County, one of the

1 Penn'a Gazttte, 27 Octo., 1784.

160 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

earliest practitioners of medicine in the Province. Young Cad-
walader received his early education at the Friends Publick
School then under the charge of Thomas Makin. Later, his
father sent him to England to pursue his studies as a physician,
spending a year in the study of anatomy under Chesselden and
returning home about 1731. He at once took an active part in
practical movements, and as he was about the age of Franklin,
perhaps the youngest of the coterie which gathered around him,
he was drawn into the same line of activities, and at once threw
his interests with those who were then forming the new Library
company, in which he was a Director many years. Watson 3
names him as one of the physicians inoculating for the small
pox in the Winter of 17367, others being Doctors Zachary,
Shippen, and Bond, afterwards his fellow Trustees in the Academy
and College.

Marrying in 1738 a daughter of John Lambert of New
Jersey, he appears to have taken up his residence in that province
about that time, and when in 1746 Governor Belcher granted a
Borough charter to Trenton, he was chosen the first Burgess.
When four years later the citizens surrendered this charter, Dr
Cadwalader shortly thereafter returned to Philadelphia and upon
the death of Thomas Hopkinson he was chosen 12 November,
1751, upon Franklin's nomination, a Trustee of the Academy to
succeed him ; and in the same year he was elected a member of
the Common Council of Philadelphia and there served until
1774. In 1755 he was called to the Provincial Council at the
same time as were John Mifflin and Benjamin Chew who a few
years later became his fellow Trustees. He was a member of
the Philosophical Society for many years, and in 1765 became a
member of the Provincial Council ; and during the Revolution
became a Medical Director in the Army. As one of the physi-
cians to the new Hospital, he gave there a course of medical
lectures. 4 He was a signer of the Non-Importation Article in
1765, but his age precluded him from an active participation in

3 Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, i. 373.

4 " In 1750 he had the honor of preparing the first systematic course of Medi-
cal lectures to be delivered in a Philadelphia College." Dr. Morton, pp. 446, 458.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 161

the affairs of the Revolution. In July, 1776, he was appointed
by the Committee of Safety with Drs. Bond, Shippen, jr, and
Rush a committee for the examination of all the candidates who
applied to be surgeons in the Navy ; and he was also appointed
a Medical Director of the Army Hospitals, and in 1778 suc-
ceeded the elder Dr. Shippen as Surgeon of the Pennsylvania
Hospital.

Though a resident of Philadelphia the greater portion of
his life, Dr Cadwalader retained his farm near Trenton, called
Greenwood, to which he frequently resorted, and here he died 14
November, 1779, but two months after the abrogation of the
charter of the Academy and College of which he had been a dili-
gent and faithful Trustee for nearly twenty eight years. Though
he and his wife, who survived him seven years, remained Friends
all their lives, their only sons John and Lambert both distin-
guished themselves in the military service of the Revolution.
The elder, Gen. John Cadwalader, was elected a Trustee on
his father's death. Both these sons were " entered " by him in
the Academy and College in 1751 at its opening.

1 62 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XX.

The Trustees lost no time in looking for a supply to the
vacancy caused by Mr. Martin's death. Twenty-one of their
number were present at the meeting on 1 1 December, 1751
including the new Trustee Dr. Cadwalader, "to consider of
some Person to supply " Mr. Martin's place

in the Latin School, and it being said that Mr. Allison, a gentleman of good
Learning in Chester County had lately expressed some Inclination to be
employed in that School, Mr. Francis was desired to write to him, to know
whether he was yet so inclined, and upon what Terms he would undertake
the charge thereof.

At a Meeting held on 28 December it was reported by Mr.
Allen

that Mr. Francis Alison had been in Town, and that himself, and some
others of the Trustees have had some Conversation with him, and though
he seemed diffident of undertaking the charge of the Latin School, he had
promised however to be in Town again by the 7th of January next, and
attend School for a month upon Trial.

He entered upon his duties at the time named, and ful-
filled the promise of his reputation, and remained ; his salary at
the March meeting being set at 200 per annum, the same
as his predecessor's was. His former pupil, Charles Thom-
son, must have been the source of the Trustees' information
regarding this celebrated teacher ; and his name being submitted
when Dr. Cadwalader was present, the latter could speak intelli-
gently of the man who had been tutor in the family of his sister
Dickinson. Mr. Alison's diffidence, referred to in the Minutes,
continued many months, and his final assumption of the Rector-
ship cannot be determined. In his letter of 2 July, 1752 to
Rev. Dr. Johnson, Franklin speaking of the Academy, says :

Our Academy, which you so kindly inquire after, goes on well.
Since Mr. Martin's death the Latin and Greek School has been under the
care of Mr. Alison, a Dissenting minister, well skilled in those languages
and long practiced in teaching . But he refused the Rectorship, or to have
anything to do with the government of the other schools. So that remains
vacant, and obliges the Trustees to more frequent visits. We have now

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 163

several young gentlemen desirous of entering on the study of Philosophy,
and Lectures are to be opened this week. Mr. Alison undertakes Logic
and Ethics, making your work his text to comment and lecture upon.
Mr. Peters and some other gentlemen undertake the other branches, till
we shall be provided with a Rector capable of the whole, who may attend
wholly to the instructions of youth in the higher parts of learning as they
come out fitted from the lower schools.

FRANCIS ALISON was born in the parish of Lac, County
Donegal, in the year 1705. He received an excellent edu-
cation at an academy under the particular inspection of
the Bishop of Raphoe, and was subsequently a student for
some years at the University of Glasgow. He came to
America in 1/35, and his first educational work was as
tutor in the family of Samuel Dickinson of Talbot County,
Maryland. Whether he remained there long enough to
have any training of the young John Dickinson is doubtful.
In 1737 he was ordained by the New Castle Presbytery,
Delaware, and installed pastor of the New London con-
gregation, Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he continued
fifteen years. At this latter place he opened an Academy in
1743. Upon this school of his creation, the Synod of Phila-
delphia in 1744 engrafted the grammar school which they took
measures to establish on a permanent foundation, with special
reference to training young men for the ministry. Mr. Alison
was made Principal, and it became a justly celebrated institu-
tion, and served not only the purposes of the Synod in pre-
paring well qualified ministers, but furnished the State with
trained civilians; among these were Charles Thomson, Dr. Ewing,
Hugh Williamson, and James Latta, and of Signers of the
Declaration of Independence, Thomas McKean, George Read
and James Smith. This Academy was eventually removed to
Newark, Delaware, and became the foundation of Delaware
College. l When Mr. Martin the Rector of the new Academy
died, he was attracted to Philadelphia and was asked to take
his place, but this caused the severance from his pastoral charge

1 Wickersham, iii.

164 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

and his school and in an irregular way, which however the Pres-
bytery condoned as in a great measure excusable on account of
the pressing circumstances in which he was placed at New
London, it being almost impracticable for him to apply for the
consent of the Presbytery or the Synod in the usual way. He
ramained in the faithful charge of his duties, and under the
charter of i/55 creating the College, he became Vice-Provost.
It was at the meeting of 10 December, 1754, that he
joined with William Smith, then Professor of "Logick, Rheto-
rick, Ethicks, and Natural Philosophy " in submitting the
thought of a College :

It being represented by Mr. Alison and Mr. Smith that it would
probably be a Means of advancing the Reputation of the Academy, if the
Professors had a Power of conferring Degrees upon such Students as had
made a suitable proficiency in Learning to merit that Distinction ; and
that several ingenious young Men, not finding that Testimony of their
Acquirements to be had here had left the Academy on that Account: The
Trustees considering that such honorary Distinctions might be an Incite-
ment to Learning, and having Reason to believe the Governor, if applied
to, would readily grant the Power of conferring them, desired Mr. Alison
and Mr. Smith to draw up a Clause to be added to the Charter for that
Purpose, and lay it before the Trustees at their next meeting.

This was done ; but the subsequent steps in securing the
Charter of 1755 will be narrated in future pages. On 13 April,
1756, a minute records he was

appointed Professor of the higher classics, Logic, Metaphysicks and Geogra-
phy, and that he teach any of the other Arts and Sciences that he may judge
himself qualified to teach, as the circumstances of the Philosophy Schools
may require ; but if it so happen that Mr. Smith can spare time from his
Employment in the other Branches of Literature to teach any of these
Branches, then and in that case Mr. Alison shall employ the overplus of
his Time as usual in the Grammar School in the Capacity of Chief Master.

Besides his duties at the Academy, he continued his cleri-
cal work as assistant minister of the First Presbyterian Church,
Philadelphia. Yale College in 1755, two years after Franklin
had received his degree, and Princeton in 1756 conferred upon
him the degree of Master of Arts, and in 1758 the University

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 165

of Glasgow made him Doctor of Divinity. Dr. Sprague says,
" so highly was this latter honour then appreciated, that the
Synod to which Mr. Alison belonged, made a formal acknowl-
edgment of it to the University." In 1765 his former congre-
gation at New London, who had remained without a Pastor
since he left them, asked him to return and resume his labors
among them ; but this he declined. He was then three score
years of age, and preferred ending his life in the performance of
his present engagements. He died 28 November, 1779, * wo
months after the hostile Legislature had abrogated the charter
of his College and Academy. Had his energies and life been
spared, his influential connection with the Institution would
have disarmed the political enemies of the institution of much
of the force of their attack, and indeed might have stayed the
thought of abrogation until calmer and juster thoughts would
have found their sway.

It was in 1755 that Dr. Alison made a journey to New
England, John Bartram being his fellow traveler. Franklin had
written I September, 1755, a letter 2 introducing them to his
friend Jared Eliot :

I wrote to you yesterday, and now I write again. You will say, //
can' t rain, but it pours ; for I not only send you manuscript, but living
letters. The former may be short, but the latter will be longer and yet
more agreeable. Mr. Bartram I believe you will find to be at least twenty
folio pages, large paper well filled, on the subjects of botany, fossils, hus-
bandry, and the first creation. This Mr. Alison is as many or more on
agriculture, philosophy, your own Catholic divinity, and various other
points of learning equally useful and engaging. Read them both. It
will take you at least a week; and then answer, by sending me two of the
like kind, or by coming yourself.

The testimonies of two of his pupils show him to have
been a remarkable man in natural powers and trained gifts, and
his influence in the College and Academy was greatly felt in its
development, and in the faculty he was second only to William
Smith in learning and force. The University owes very much
in its early nurture to its second Rector, the faithful and diligent

* Bigelow, ii. 413.

1 66 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Presbyterian divine, Francis Alison. Dr. Ewing, in his funeral
sermon, says of him :

Blessed with a clear understanding and an extensive liberal educa-
tion, thirsting for knowledge, and indefatigable in study, through the
whole of his useful life, he acquired an unusual fund of learning and knowl-
edge, which rendered his conversation remarkably instructive, and abun-
dantly qualified him for the sacred work of the ministry, and the faithful
instruction of youth in the College. * * * All who knew him acknowl-
edge that he was frank, open and ingenuous in his natural temper ; warm
and zealous in his friendships ; catholic and enlarged in his sentiments ; a
friend to civil and religious liberty ; * * * he has left behind him a
lasting testimony of the extensive benevolence of his heart in planning,
erecting and nursing, with constant attention and tenderness, the charitable
scheme of the widows' fund, by which many helpless orphans and destitute
widows have been seasonably relieved and supported, and will, we trust,
continue to be relieved and supported, so long as the Synod of New York
and Philadelphia shall exist.

Bishop White, in briefer phrase, gives a picture of his old
professor :

Dr. Alison was a man of unquestionable ability in his department, of
real and rational piety, of a liberal mind ; his failing was a proneness to
anger ; but it was forgotten, for he was placable and affable. 3

In his journey to New England in 1755, he visited Pro-
fessor Stiles at Newport, who says of him :

He is the greatest classical Scholar in America, especially in Greek
not great in Mathematics, Philosophy and Astronomy, but in Ethics, His-
tory and general reading, is a great literary character.

Provost Smith in his account of the College and Academy
in the American Magazine for October, 1758, says he

has long been employed in the education of youth in this province, and
many of those who now make a considerable figure in it have been bred
under him. He was one of the first persons in this country, who, foresee-
ing the ignorance into which it was like to fall, set up a regular school of
education in it ; and so sensible were that learned and respectable body,
the University of Glasgow, of his pious and faithful labour for the propa-
gation of useful knowledge in these untutored parts, that they lately hon-
ored him with the degree of Doctor of Divinity sent him without any
solicitation on his part, and even without his knowledge.

* Memoirs > 1 8.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 167

XXL

The young tutors Barton and Duche have been already
named. No minute appears recording the appointment of
Thomas Barton, though by the Treasurer's accounts he was on
duty and received a salary of ^50 per annum as early as
November, 1752, and the Trustees voted him 17 November,
1753, an augmentation of .10. Jacob Duche's nomination
was due to the order of the Trustees, 13 February, 1753, "the
number of Scholars in the Latin School being greatly increased,
it is resolved that another Usher be provided with all convenient
speed," and on 17 November, 1753, he was granted a salary of
,40 per annum, the Treasurer's accounts showing he had been
then six months on duty. This young man, but just fifteen
years of age, continued, but without formal appointment,
eighteen months in this work, as Mr. Coleman's entries charge
him with no payments after August, 1754. It interfered with
his duties as a scholar preparing for a degree, which he obtained
with honor at the first commencement in 1757. His talents
secured his election as Professor of Oratory in December, 1759,
and he was further honored by the election as a trustee in
February, 1761, in the room of William Masters who had died
in the November previous. Some acc6unt of his ecclesiastical,
political, and literary life may be found in place when we con-
sider him as a Trustee.

THOMAS BARTON, born in Ireland in 1730, of English
parentage, was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and when
about twenty years of age came to this country and opened a
school in Norriton township, Montgomery County, Pennsyl-
vania, in the neighborhood of the Rittenhouse family. The
following year he accepted the tutorship in the Academy, and
he here continued until 1754, when at a meeting of the Trustees
on the 1 3th August " having by letter directed to them signified
his Design of leaving the School and going into Orders; they
consented to his Dismission in a Month or two, agreeable to his
Request." He was ordained by the Bishop of London, 29

1 68 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

January, 1755, and returning to Philadelphia in the following
April, he shortly entered on his duties as Missionary in Hunt-
ingdon County, Pennsylvania, from whence he ministered at
York, and Carlisle and Shippensburg. His interest in the
Indians was warmly aroused, but the defeat of Braddock marred
his plans for usefulness among them. He became Chaplain to
General Forbes in his expedition of 1758. For nearly twenty
years he was Rector of St. James Church, Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania ; his life was full of untiring activities in the frontier settle-
ments. In the Revolution he felt that his oath of allegiance as a
minister bound him to England, and he parted with all his
interests in Pennsylvania, and arrived within the British lines in
New York in 1778. He died 25 May, 1780, and was interred
in the chancel of St. George's Church, New York. He preached
a notable sermon on Braddock's Defeat, which with an intro-
ductory letter by Provost Smith received a very extended cir-
culation, entitled Unanimity and Publick Spirit. He had sought
Mr. Smith's judgment upon it and asked his views

on the office and duty of Protestant ministers, and the right of exercising
their pulpit liberty in the handling and treating of civil as well as religious
affairs, and more especially in times of public danger and calamity. 1

This embodied a reference to the Friends then in power in
the Assembly who were opposed to all warfare defensive as well
as offensive. And the Provost enclosing a copy of this produc-
tion to the Archbishop of Canterbury, informs him

upon the general consternation that followed General Braddock's Defeat,
I wrote to the Missionaries on the Frontiers as far as I knew them, exhort-
ing them to make a noble Stand for liberty, and vindicating the office and
Duties of a Protestant Ministry against all the Objections of the Quakers
and other Spiritualists who are against all clergy. 2

As we use the latter word to-day, such association would
not be sought by the former now. It may well be granted,
however, that the Friends were consistent, and that had the
whole community been permeated with the just principles of
which they claimed to be the exponent, there would have existed

1 Mr. Smith's letter is given at full in his Life and Correspondence, i, llo-llS.

2 Life and Correspondence, i. 119.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 169

no hostility or treachery among the Indians, and the frontiers
would have had the defence of righteousness. John Penn, the
Proprietary, said of Barton :

Nor has he done anything in the military way but what hath increased
his character for piety, and that of a sincerely religious man and zealous
minister. In short he is a most worthy, active and serviceable Pastor and
Missionary.

Mr. Barton married in 1753 a sister of David Rittenhouse.
The College and Academy conferred on him in 1760 the degree
of Master of Arts, and the same was conferred by Kings College
in 1770. His son Benjamin Smith Barton was in 1789 elected
Professor of Natural History and Botany in the College, and in
1813 from that was made Professor of Materia Medica in the
University. And his grandson William P. C. Barton was chosen
Professor of Botany, in 1816, succeeding his uncle, whose death
occurred in 1815.

In his son's Memoirs of David Rittenhouse it is said that
his death

put a period to the sincere and intimate friendship between that gentleman
and Mr Rittenhouse, which had subsisted almost thirty years. This friend-
ship, which may be said to have commenced almost in the youth of both
parties, continued without interruption until the year 1776; when the
declaration of American independence produced, unhappily, some abate-
ment of it on each side ; at least, so far as related to that great political
measure, respecting which they entertained different opinions. For,
although Mr. Barton was, in truth, warmly attached to the principles of the
English Whigs ; and had, on various occasions, manifested his zeal for the
liberties of the American people and rights of the colonists ; his opinions
were conscientiously opposed, and only these, to the expediency of that
measure. Yet, it is believed, that the personal friendship of these intimate
relatives was far from having ever subsided ; the ties that early united them,
were of the strongest kind ; that union was of long continuance ; and they
were mutually sensible of each other's worth and talents. 8

The loyal obituary notice of him which appeared in the
Royal Gazette, 31 May, 1780, is worthy of record here :

On Thursday the 2$th inst. departed this life aged 50 years, the Rev-
erend THOMAS BARTON, A. M., the Society's Missionary for Lancaster, in
the Province of Pennsylvania. This worthy Clergyman was distinguished

3 Memoirs of Rittenhouse, by William Barton, M.A., p. 287.

170 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

by a generous openness of temper, and liberality of sentiments, which
joined to an exemplary conduct, and indefatigable zeal in discharging the
duties of his function, gained him the love and esteem of his acquaintance!;
especially of his parishioners, who greatly respected him during his resi-
dence among them for 21 years. His unshaken loyalty and attachment to
the Constitution, drew upon him the resentment of the rebels, and exposed
him to many hardships. The violence of the times compelled him at last
to leave his numerous family, and take refuge in this city ; where he bore a
tedious and most painful sickness with fortitude and resignation ; he died
in firm expectation of that immortality and glory which are the exalted
privileges of sincere Christians. On Friday last his remains were interred
in the Chancel of St. George's Chapel.

His wife had died 18 June, 1774 and was buried at Lan-
caster. 4

XXII.

The vacancy occasioned by Mr. Dove's retirement, which
was made necessary by his insistence on continuing his private
school, was filled by the appointment of Ebenezer Kinnersley,
at the meeting of 10 July, 1753. The story is best told in the
Minutes :

Mr. Peters inform" d the Trustees, That in Pursuance of their Resolu-
tion of providing a new Master for the English School, Mr. Franklin had
sometime since wrote to Mr. Ebenezer Kinnersly, then in the West Indies
to know if that Place would be agreeable to him, and that Mr. Kinnersly
was now come over and had signified his Willingness to accept thereof, if
the Trustees approve of him. The Trustees present, having express' d their
approbation of Mr. Kinnersly, thought proper to send for Mr. Dove and
acquaint him that they had provided a new Master for the said School
pursuant to their Intention signified to him some Months ago ; who,
thereupon, declared he would attend the School no longer. Mr. Kinnersly

* Alden, American Epitaphs, ii, 206.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 171

being then sent for, accepted the charge of the said School for one Year,
his salary to be one Hundred and Fifty pounds per annum.

On 17 November following Mr. Kinnersley informed the
Trustees "that there are no more than Fortyone scholars
belonging to the English school," and they thought it unneces-
sary to keep two Ushers and Mr. Carroll, and

Mr. Franklin was therefore desired to acquaint him that the Trustees have
no further occasion for his services, but that they will nevertheless continue
him in Pay for Three Months after the expiration of the current Quarter,
unless he shall sooner get into some other employment.

Mr. Kinnersley so commended himself to the Trustees in
his labors, that at a large meeting of the Trustees held on 1 1
July, 1755, with Franklin presiding, he was "unanimously
chosen Professor of the English Tongue and of oratory." It
was a month before his appointment as Master of the English
School, that we find one of those fugitive notes in the local
press which testify to the Trustees' recognition of the importance
of keeping the attention of the community alive to the subject
of education as exemplified by the rule of the Academy. " On
Wednesday the 3Oth past, the Reverend Mr. Cradock, from
Maryland, preached in the Academy Hall, a most excellent
Sermon on the Advantages of Learning." l This may have had
a deeper meaning than the mere notice of the sermon would
convey. May it not have been that Franklin thought he would
find in this trained scholar and successful teacher the man to
take the place, which he had hoped at the outset of the Academy
would be filled by the learned Samuel Johnson of Stratford,

1 Pennsylvania Gazette, 7 June, 1753. The Rev. Thomas Cradock, incum-
bent of St. Thomas' Parish, Baltimore County, the older brother of John Cradock,
who in 1772 became Archbishop of Dublin, was a very learned man, and in the
Maryland Gazette $ May 1747 had advertised to take young gentlemen in his family and
teach them the Latin and Greek languages, which he did for many years, his school
being patronized from the near southern counties of that Province. It is related of
his son Thomas that under his tuition the lad at the age of twelve was able to repeat
entire pages of Homer in the Greek. Rev. Ethan Allen in Sprague's Annals, p. III.
In 1753 he published a version of the Psalms, translated from the Hebrew original
into uniform heroic verse. Miss H. \V. Ridgely's Old Brick Churches of Maryland,
p. 122. It is not mentioned by Allibone. Mr. Cradock died 7 May, 1770, aged 51
years.

1/2 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Connecticut, who became the head in 1754 of the New King's
College, New York? There was no meeting of the Trustees
in June 1753 for lack of a quorum; and the conjecture relating
to Mr. Cradock in this connection has only the warrant of
Franklin's special notice of his Academy Sermon on a Week
Day, which he deemed important enough to apprise his
readers of.

EBENEZER KINNERSLEY'S name is so interwoven with the work
of the first score of years of the Academy and College, that we
naturally desire to know somewhat of the man who made for him-
self this distinction. He was born, the son of William Kinnersley
a Baptist Minister, in Gloucester, England, 30 November, 1711.
His father immigrated to America in 1714, and settled in Lower
Dublin, near Philadelphia, where he officiated as minister to the
Pennypack Baptist Church. He died in 1734; and the son after-
wards united with the Pennypack Church, and on his marriage
in 1739 removed to Philadelphia. His talents as a public
speaker were soon manifest, and his desire was to enter the min-
istry but his health not being robust he was not ordained until
1743. He had in one of his lay sermons denounced Whitefield's
teachings and so incurred the enmity of most of his co-religion-
ists who were entranced by that wonderful preacher, that he
was for a season under excommunication by his brethren, and
for some time he attended Christ Church ; but a reconciliation
took place in 1746 when the Philadelphia Baptist Church was
organized, of which he became one of the constituent members,
and with this he remained in communion the remainder of his
life.

It was in the year 1746 that in the indulgence of his well
formed scientific tastes he became deeply interested in the inves-
tigation of electricity and its subtle and wonderful powers, and
became closely associated with Franklin in his experiments and
with others like minded. His pursuit of it was so engrossing as to
overtax his health and he sought convalescence in Bermuda,
whither he resorted at subsequent times for a like purpose ;
and it was while here that Franklin corresponded with him in the

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 173

Spring of 1753 about taking charge of the English School,
which resulted in his connection with the Academy. His powers
as a speaker made successful the Lectures on Electricity which
he undertook, and which brought his name more prominently
before the different communities in which he exhibited his
interesting experiments, than other congenial friends who had
not the like need to turn their accomplishments to useful pur-
poses. Franklin gave him a letter of introduction, 5 Sep-
tember, 1751, to James Bowdoin when he is about visiting
Boston : 2

As you are curious in electricity, I take the freedom of introducing
to you, my friend Mr. Kinnersley, who visits Boston with a complete appa-
ratus for experimental lectures on that subject. He has given great satis-
faction to all that have heard him here, and I believe you will be pleased
with his performance. He is quite a stranger in Boston ; and as you will
find him a sensible worthy man, I hope he will be favored with your coun-
tenance, and the encouragement which that must procure him among your
friends.

In writing to Cadwallader Golden on 14 September, 1752,
Franklin says 3 : "I am sorry you could not see Mr. Kinnersley 's
Lectures ; they would have pleased you." Kinnersley's cor-
respondence with Franklin was continued over many years, his
last letter to Franklin which we have being written him to Lon-
don 13 October, 1770; extracts from it have been given in the
sketch of Franklin's life on a previous page, and all display
the ardor of a learned enthusiast who in communicating his
observations and experiments to an older friend appears to seek
his concurrence if not approval in their results, who in turn
responds with like eagerness to his friend whether from the
quiet of his home or amid his public duties while abroad.

In 1757, Mr. Kinnersley received the degree of M.A. from
his College, and in 1758 became a member of the American
Philosophical Society. We shall see traces of his steps through
his College duties, until his three score of years with a feeble
constitution induced him to lay down his professorship, and he

2 Sparks, v. 257. Bigelow, ii. 243. s Sparks, vi. 123.

174 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

resigned it 17 October, 1772. The Minutes of the Trustees, 15
October, record that

Dr Redman and Dr Peters reported that Mr Kinnersley had desired
them to inform the Board that on the iyth inst, he designed to resign his
office and Professorship in this Institution, the present state of his health
requiring that he should make a Voyage to a warmer climate during the
approaching Winter ; and that he hoped the Trustees would give him a
proper Certificate of his good Behaviour during the last nineteen years in
which he has been employed in their Service, and that they will allow Mrs
Kinnersley to occupy the House in which he now lives, till next Spring,
which was at once granted.

He passed the following winter in Barbadoes, thus again seeking
strength under the restfulness of a tropical climate. On his
return, he made his home in the country among the scenes of
his early youth, and there died 4 July, 1778, and was buried at
the Lower Dublin Baptist Church. It was as a graceful tribute to
his memory that some of the Alumni and others erected a Win-
dow Memorial to Ebenezer Kinnersley 4 in College Hall ; it is on
the Eastern stairway, and all who pass and repass under its
tinted light must be reminded of the faithful professor who found
time to contribute to his fellow men some better knowledge of
Electricity, and who thus supplemented the discoveries of the
great Founder of the institution to which the latter had called
him to be a professor.

Graydon in his Memoirs describes his tuition in grammar
and recitation under Mr. Kinnersley, and speaks of him as " an
Anabaptist clergyman, a large, venerable looking man, of no
great general erudition, though a considerable proficient in elec-
tricity." Provost Smith's notice of him in the American Magazine
for October, 1758, where he noticed Alison and Grew, already
referred to, will be quoted later in a more fitting connection
than here.

An opportunity presented itself shortly after Mr. Kinners-
ley's appointment, to securing a teacher for modern languages ;
on 1 6 December,
the Trustees being inform' d that Mr. Creamer a gent'n from Germany is

4lt ln Memoriam Rev. E. Kinnersley, A.M., Orat. et Litt. Angl. Prof. 1753-
1772 " is the legend on the window. It was erected in 1872.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 175

very capable of teaching the French and German Languages, and that he
is now out of employment, Mr. Peters, Mr. Franklin and Dr. Bond are
desired to enquire more particularly into his qualifications and to treat with
him concerning his teaching those Languages in the Academy.

On 8 January, 1754,

Dr. Thomas Bond reports that pursuant to the Request of the Trustees at
their last Meeting Mr. Franklin and himself had made some Enquiry
concerning Mr. Creamer and had been informed he was qualified for
Teaching the French, Italian and German Languages, and besides was
well skill' d in Musick and some Kinds of Painting. That they had also
desired to know of him upon what Terms he would undertake to teach
these Things, or such of them as the Trustees should require, in the
Academy. That in Answer to this he proposed to give attendance four
Hours in a Day for a Salary of Sixty Pounds per annum, provided he
might have Liberty of using the School Room to teach in at other Times,
in Case any Scholars, not of the Academy, offer' d. The Trustees con-
sidering that some Inconveniences might attend this Matter, chose rather
to make him an offer of ^100. per annum for his attendance all the School
Hours, or Time equivalent, if other Hours should be found to suit them
better; Wherewith Dr. Thomas Bond is desired to acquaint him.

But this arrangement proved irksome to the Trustees, it
seems, for a minute of II July, 1755, implies they desired a
severance of these relations.

A letter from Mr. Creamer to the Trustees was read, requesting to be
continued Teacher of the French Tongue till April next. But the Trustees
being of Opinion his being longer employ' d in the Academy was unneces-
sary, agreed he should be paid up to this Time, and to give him a quarters
salary over.

The interests of the Charity School kept pace in the
thoughts of the Trustees with that of the Academy. At the
meeting of 17 November, 1753,

Mr. Franklin and Dr. Shippen are desired to treat with one Mrs. Hoi-
well (who for some Time past has kept a school, and is said to be well
qualified for that Business) to know upon what Terms she would undertake
the charge of thirty Girls to teach them Reading, Sewing and Knitting.

At the next meeting, these Trustees reported an engage-
ment with Mrs. Holwell,

for which she is to be paid Thirty pounds per annum; and that at present
she teaches in one of the upper Rooms in the Academy, till a more con-
venient place shall be provided.

176 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

On 13 August, 1754, it was

ordered, That the Treasurer pay to Frances Holwell, Mistress of the
Charity School, the Sum of Three Pounds, to be laid out in Books, Canvas,
Cruels, and other Things necessary in the Instruction of the poor Children
under her care.

What we of to-day term Fancy Work, the Trustees of old
thought a necessary tuition to poor children ; and the remem-
brance of ancient samplers is revived, the handiwork of the
girls of the last century, which was fostered by the Fathers of
our University. On 8 April, 1755, Mrs. Holwell was allowed
"Fifteen pounds a year for an assistant, she taking charge of
Fifty Girls, if the Trustees think fit to send so many."

XXIII.

The progress of the good work so carefully guided by the
Trustees opened up further thoughts of the future uses of the
Academy, and at the meeting of 10 April, 1753, when the
approval of a Charter for the vigorous Academy was announced,
it " was represented to the Trustees that the ground between
the Academy Lot and Arch street might probably now be
obtained on a reasonable Ground Rent, it was unanimously
agreed to request Mr. Alison (who had been treating with the
owners concerning it) to secure the same at the Rate of 4.6 pr
Foot." The matter was at once closed, and certain two lots
were secured, reaching from the Western moiety of their lot to
Arch Street 1 giving them a frontage on that street of 126 feet ;
and at the same time and by the same conveyance they pur-
chased the lot at the corner of Arch and Fourth streets, 36 feet
on the latter by 54 feet deep, and upon this latter was eventually
erected the Provost's house. There remained three adjoining

1 Title was taken from Dr. Alison 14 July, 1753, who had purchased on 16
April previously from Jonathan Price. See Deed Book H, No. 7, p. 449, &c.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 177

lots between this latter and the remainder, 40 feet on Fourth Street
by 1 8 feet on Arch Street which were purchased by Mr Dove
about the same time. Probably seeing the desire of the Trustees
to possess these to square out their premises, Mr Dove may have
secured them on a venture, for if he did not prove himself a
Dove in teaching, as we shall see, he may have lacked his titular
innocence in a trade. However this may be, negotiations were
opened in about twelve years for their sale to the Trustees, and
after a dozen years further patience they secured them for
850, which was reported at a special meeting on 22 November,
I766. 2 The purchase of 1753 was not too much for their
expected wants. Buildings would be erected, and ample play
ground reserved for the pupils, and dormitories were wanted
for the incoming of the country lad who desired a better edu-
cation than he could find near his distant town ; though the
Charter, now forthcoming, gave them no higher title than the one
they had begun and flourished on : The Academy and Charita-
ble School in the Province of Pennsylvania.

A Charter had early been in their thoughts, for the firmer
management of their affairs and the proper holding of real estate,
to say nothing of the political influence accruing to their efforts
to have their work thus officially sealed to them by the powers
that be. And at the meeting of 9 June, 1752, " Mr. Francis is
desired to make a Draught of a charter for incorporating the
Trustees of the Academy in order to be sent over to the Pro-
prietor for his approbation." Through the influential offices of
Dr. Peters, Secretary to the Proprietors, whose active interest
in the Academy seemed to be second only to that of Franklin,
the application to be chartered was well furthered. But the
delays of ocean travel, and the formal solemnities of such a trans-
action, took many months to overcome ; and only at the meet-
ing of 10 April, 1753,

Mr. Peters acquainted the Trustees, that the Proprietors approved the
Draft of a Charter which had been laid before them, and had sent over
Directions for passing the same under the great seal. That they had like-

1 The two Fourth Street Lots he had taken from the same Price title 18 April,
1753. The Trustees' title from him is Recorded in Deed Book I, No. 6, p. 663, &c.

i/8 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

wise sent an Order on their Receiver General for the Payment of Five
Hundred Pounds to the Trustees of the Academy as soon as the Charter
should be executed ; and the said Order was accordingly deliver' d to the
President.

And it was then

Resolved, That an Address of Thanks be made to the Proprietors for
this great Favour and noble Benefaction ; and Mr. Allen, Mr. Francis and
Mr. Franklin are desired to prepare a Draft of the same, to be laid before
the Trustees at their next meeting.

At the meeting of 13 July, seventeen Trustees 3 being pres-
ent, though the President was absent from the city on his tour
to the Eastward on his post office duties,

Mr. Peters informed the Trustees that the Governor was now at his House,
ready to pass the Charter, which had been fairly engrossed for that Purpose ;
Whereupon the Trustees in a Body waited on the Governor, who accord-
ingly signed the same with a Warrant for affixing the Provincial Seal thereto,
and delivered it to the Trustees, expressing his good wishes to their Under-
taking and that the charter now granted them might contribute to its
Success. Mr. Francis then, in Behalf of the Trustees, returned the Gov-
ernor their most hearty Thanks, and assured him they would likewise
dutifully address the Proprietors in Acknowledgment of so great a Favour,
and of their late noble Benefaction to the Academy. Mr. Francis was then
desired to get the great seal affixed thereto pursuant to the Governor's War-
rant, and cause it to be recorded in the Rolls office in Philadelphia.

Thus was chartered THE TRUSTEES OF THE ACADEMY AND
CHARITABLE SCHOOL IN THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The gratification in receiving a Charter extended beyond
the Trustees to the Pupils, and these were afforded an early
opportunity to make declamations on the pleasing topic. Orig-
inal papers by Francis Hopkinson, Josiah Martin, John Morris,
and William Masters (who did not graduate), are preserved
among the Penn Papers in the possession of the Pennsylvania
Historical Society. These were cared for by the thoughtful
Peters and forwarded to the Proprietaries as evidences of the
proficiency attained in the Academy, which they had now clothed

3 Messrs. Lawrence, Francis, Turner, Willing, Plumsted, Maddox, White,
Cadwalader, Syng, Thos. Bond, Leech, Phineas Bond, Shippen, Strettell, Inglis,
Peters, and Coleman.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 179

with a Charter. And in his handwriting we find the endorse-
ment on one of them :

Some declamations made by the Latin Boys in the Academy on the
Proprietaries kind grant of a charter, Not intended for View being only
written as Rough Drafts to help their Memories at the time of delivery.
Neither masters nor any other person that we know of gave any assistance.

Hopkinson in a firm manly hand, though but sixteen years
of age, writes :

'Tis Learning which like an able Artist polishes the Diamond and
Discovers its Lustre and latent Beauties. 'Tis Learning which makes a
Man happy in himself and a blessing to his Country. 'Tis Learning
which prepares us for Heaven and Perfection and makes a Mortal almost
equal to the Angels themselves. * * * Alas, how unhappy are they
who have not had the advantages of a liberal Education, surely Life must
be a burden to them and Time hang heavy on their Hands ; but this shall
never be said of Philadelphia while such generous, such publick spirited
Gentlemen bear any sway in it

John Morris, a graduate of 1759, who could not have been
over fourteen years of age, with a vigorous and clear pen writes :

Our present Honourable Proprietaries, copying after the Example of
such a noble Father, will no doubt, advance every good, every useful
Design among us. How much are we indebted to them, for their generous
Benefaction, how much for granting a Charter, which establishes this
Academy upon a sure and lasting Foundation ? A Charter confirmed to us
by a Governor, who has thought us worthy of his Notice and Protection
amid the cares that attend his exalted Station ; a Governor born among us,
our Friend and our Countryman, and a Governor distinguished for his
peaceable administration and an inviolable Regard for the Laws and
Rights of Mankind. How much is it for our Honour that our President
has been so successful in his searches into the most hidden secrets of Nature
and is in as much esteem at London and Paris as in Philadelphia. With
such examples as these before our Eyes, and under your care, and inspec-
tion of such worthy gentlemen, what advantages may we not hope for ?

i So HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XXIV.

Franklin's summer in 1753 was a busy one ;

Having been for some time employed [he writes] 1 by the postmaster-
general of America, as his comptroller in regulating several offices, and
bringing the officers to account, I was upon his death, in 1753, appointed
jointly with Mr. William Hunter, to succeed him, by a commission from
the Postmaster-general in England. The American office never had
hitherto paid anything to that of Britain. We were to have six hun-
dred pounds a year between us, if we could make that sum out of the
profits of the office. * * * The business of the postoffice occasioned
my taking a journey this year to New England, where the College of Cam-
bridge, of their own motion, presented me with the degree of Master of
Arts. Yale College in Connecticut had before made me a similar compli-
ment. Thus, without studying in any College, I came to partake of their
honours. They were conferred in consideration of my improvements and
discoveries in the electric branch of natural philosophy.

In writing to Cadwallader Golden on 25 October, 1753, he
says : 2

This last summer I have enjoyed very little of the pleasure of reading
or writing. I made a long journey to the eastward, which consumed ten
weeks ; and two journeys to our western frontiers ; one of them, to meet
and hold a treaty with the Ohio Indians, in company with Mr. Peters and
Mr. Norris.

In writing his friend Mr. Hugh Roberts on 16 July, from
Boston, he says :

My respects to all our old friends of the JUNTO, Hospital and Insur-
ance. 3

These references call here for some notice of two other
of the notable enterprises of the time in which Franklin's leader-
ship was sought. The Pennsylvania Hospital had begun its
first ministrations to the suffering in February, 1752, in the
house of Judge Kinsey, on Market Street near Sixth, on the

1 Bigelow, i. 241. * Bigelow, i. 357.

'Sparks, vii. 77. Writing to the same from London 27 February, 1766, he
adds, "remember me affectionately to the Junto, and to all inquiring friends."
Bigelow, iii. 456. Sparks, vii. 308.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 181

site of which a few years afterwards Mrs. Masters erected her
Mansion, elsewhere referred to, which was the precursor of the
Washington residence. From its inception, at the close of 1750,
Franklin had been its guide. His friend Dr. Thomas Bond
originated the movement, and while these two were busy in
arranging for the beginning of the Academy to train the mind
of youth, they found time to plan an institution to provide means
for healing the suffering bodies of the aged and the injured, or
as Franklin expressively styles it, " for the relief of the Sick
and Miserable;" and on 7 February, 1751, a bill was passed
the Provincial Assembly incorporating " The Contributors to
the Pennsylvania Hospital." Franklin had written up the mat-
ter in the Gazette, and employed other active means to interest
the community in the project. And at the first meeting of the
Contributors held at the State House, a board of managers was
chosen, of which Benjamin Franklin was made President. Of
the managers, twelve in number, Franklin, Bond, and Peters,
were trustees of the Academy ; and another Manager was Hon.
John Smith, who in a twelvemonth became the originator of an
institution for effecting insurances on buildings, in the further-
ance of which he secured the like co-operation from Franklin
that Thomas Bond had for his Hospital. Funds came in, and
pending the selection of a permanent location, Judge Kinsey's
house was rented, rules and regulations for its management
were adopted, and Lloyd Zachary, Thomas and Phineas Bond,
Thomas Cadwalader, Samuel Preston Moore, and John Redman
were appointed the first surgeons and physicians, who offered
to attend the patients gratuitously for three years. In Decem-
ber, 1754, the managers secured a block of ground, distant from
the outskirts of the built-up portions of the city, being the entire
square south of Spruce Street and west of Eighth Street. * Pro-
vision was at once made for a building, and the corner stone of
what we know as the East Wing was laid 28 May, 1755, with

4 The Managers purchased for the erection of their Buildings the plot of
ground known as Society Square on 15 November, 1754, on Pine Street between
Eighth and Ninth Sts., and to this was subsequently added the balance (about one-
fourth) of the block extending north to Spruce Street of the same width by gift of
Thomas and Richard Penn under patent of 10 November, 1767. Dr. Morton's
History of the Pennsylvania Hospital, 1895, p. 270.

1 82 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Franklin's well known inscription on it, which will bear repe-
tition here :

In the year of Christ

MDCCLV

GEORGE the Second happily Reigning
(for he sought the happiness of his people)

Philadelphia Flourishing
(for its inhabitants were public spirited)

This Building

By the Bounty of the Government
And of many private persons

Was piously founded

For the Relief of the Sick and Miserable,

May the God of Mercies

Bless the undertaking

The Hospital and the University have the same parentage,
and their kinship is recognised to this day, for the Medical
Department of the latter has always found its chief school in
the means furnished by the former for the development of medi-
cal and surgical science, and most of its professors have earned
their eminence on the basis of the tuition they have found in
Hospital residence here.

It was in April, 1752, that Franklin, with great zeal and
interest, lent his aid to establishing the first Insurance Company
on the Continent, The Philadelphia Contributionship for the
Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, of which the Hon.
John Smith was the first policy holder and the first Treasurer;
an institution whose vigor and security to day make its policies
the first on the list of all those granting indemnity for the Hos-
pital and the University buildings in case of their loss by fire.

With such a citizen as Benjamin Franklin, though he was
not native to the soil, can we wonder at the people of Philadel-
phia, under such inspiration and leadership, establishing so
many institutions of value whose age to day proves the strength
of their foundations ; it could not be otherwise that Philadelphia
was flourishing, " for its inhabitants were public spirited."
Rarely has it fallen to the lot of any citizen known to history to
have behind him so many works of value and beneficence as we

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 183

find bearing the impress of Benjamin Franklin's brain and hand.
To trace, therefore, the life of any one of them, it seems unavoid-
able in our progress to pass on without taking some account of
the others, for in thus doing we can more fully estimate his
catholicity and his wisdom.

He was next present at the Trustees meeting of 9 October,
1753, but there lacking a quorum, "the Trustees visited the
English School but did no other business." It was between
this date and that of his letter to Cadwallader Golden, of 25
October, above quoted from, that he journeyed to Carlisle as
one of the deputies from the Provincial Assembly to meet the
Western Indians, where a treaty was concluded. It is on this
occasion that the narrative of his diplomacy to prevent the Indians
becoming drunk before the Treaty was concluded has place, 5

he strictly forbade the selling any liquor to them : and, when they com-
plained of this restriction, he told them, that if they would continue sober
during the treaty, he would give them plenty of rum when business was
over.

The results were twofold, a successful treaty, but a following
night of drunken orgies. For this the older Indians in their
soberness the next day apologised, but laid it upon the rum,
which they said was one of the good things of the Great Spirit,
who when he made it, said, " Let this be for the Indians to get
drunk with," and added "it must be so." In Franklin's time
his observation was that "rum had already annihilated all the
tribes who formerly inhabited the sea coast."

The entry of October, 1753, above quoted is one of many
testifying to the personal attention of the Trustees to the work

of their Professors and Tutors, namely,

\
14 January, 1752. The Trustees visited the Schools, but did

no other Business.

ii August, 1752. The Trustees visited the Latin School, but
did no other Business.

8 May, 1753. The Trustees visited the English School but

did no other Business.

9 October, 1753. The Trustees visited the English School but

did no other Business.
5 Bigelow, i. 229.

184 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

13 November, 1753. The Trustees visited the Latin School

but did no other Business.

9 April, 1754. The Trustees visited the Writing Mathematical
and Charity Schools, but did no other Business.

14 May, 1754. The Trustees visited the English School but

did no other Business.

ii June 1754. The Trustees visited the Latin School but did
no other Business.

9 July 1754. The Trustees visited the French School but did

no other Business.

10 September, 1754. The Trustees visited the Latin School

but did no other Business.

XXV.

To the names of Grew, Alison, Kinnersley, and Creamer,
Thomson, Jackson, Duche, and Barton, who at this point of time
composed the faculty and tutors of the Academy, and not forget-
ting those whose connection with it had ceased by death or resig-
nation, Martin and Dove, the two Jones', Peisley and Carroll ; we
are led next in order to name, which though first appearing in
the Minutes of 25 May, 1754, had been in the thoughts and on
the tongues of the Trustees for a twelvemonth, William Smith,
who happily formed a connection with it which he made the best
and most enduring work of his life, which redounded to the
advantage and credit of the Academy and College through his
years of work in its behalf, and the remembrance and repute of
which must remain to the latest era of its existence. The Trus-
tees had now found, they believed, the man of mind and nerve
and training to take the headship of the Academy. Though
Dr. Johnson had denied them, and had assumed but a few
weeks before this the Presidency of King's College, yet it was
to his kindly interest as well as to his lasting credit that the sug-
gestion of the name of this young Scotch tutor, who was then in
the line of his duty on Long Island, may be traced. If the parent

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 185

of the University could not make Johnson its President or Pro-
vost, it was a fitting gift on the part of the parent of Columbia
College to point the way for the first Provost of the University.

WILLIAM SMITH, the son of Thomas Smith, the great grand-
son of Sir William Smith, who died in 1631, was born within a
few miles of the city of Aberdeen, 7 September, 1727, and was
baptised in the "Old Aberdeenshire Kirk," 19 October. His
Mother was Elizabeth the daughter of Alexander Duncan, of
the Camperdown family, whose wife was a daughter of Sir Peter
Murray of Auchtintyre. Young Smith entered the parish
school at seven years of age where he remained a year, when he
was taken, charge of by the Society for the Education of Paro-
chial Schoolmasters from whose care he passed to the Univer-
sity of Aberdeen in 1741, where he resided some time but did
not remain for graduation as there appears no record of this in
the annals of either of the Colleges. 1 His biographer places him
next in London, in 1750, as Commissioner for the Established
or Parochial Schoolmasters in Scotland, addressing a "Memorial
on their behalf to the great men in Parliament ; " and in the same
year he published an Essay on Liberty. 2

1 Life of Rev. William Smith, D.D., by his great-grandson, Horace Wemyss
Smith, Philada, 1880, i, 20. The biographer states he graduated in 1747, but his
degree of 1759 of Sacrosantae Theologise Doctorem et Magistrem from the Univer-
sity of Aberdeen makes no reference to this earlier degree, i, 202. The official
record of the Doctorate is as follows: "Kings College 7th March, 1759, Con-
vened the Principal and Masters. The said day the University unanimously agreed
to conferr the degree of Doctor of Divinity upon the Reverend Mr. \Villiam Smith
Provost of the College of Philadelphia. Jo'. Chalmers, Prin'"." vide letters of 27
May, 1887, and 3 February, 1888, from P. J. Anderson. LL. B., Librarian of the
University of Aberdeen. Had Mr. Smith been an alumnus, the fact would have
been here noticed. Mr. Anderson writes in the latter, " The absence of the title
' M. A.' is I think conclusive as to Mr. Smith's not possessing the degree."

2 " The whole of the year 1750 he passed in London and I have every reason
to believe that during thnt time he acted as clerk for the Honorable Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel." ibid i, 20. We form some idea of the man and his early
record from Archbishop Sherlock's letter testimonial of him to Thomas Penn, dated
19 September, 1753:

Sir The bearer of this Mr. William Smith is desirous of being known and
recommended to you and I make no difficulty of taking the liberty of complying
with his request. He came to me from Scotland about two years ago, with very
ample Testimonials of his capacity and morals and affection to the King and our
Constitution. Had he stayd here, I should have had my Eye upon him, but a good
opportunity offering he went off as Tutor, to some young Lad, to New York. How
he behaved there, the enclosed Letters will inform you very fully, and at the same

1 86 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

During this period he was tutoring in London, and later
entered the family of Josiah Martin, Esquire, the second son of
Samuel Martin of Green Castle, as tutor to his two sons. With
this family he came to New York in the spring of 1751, landing
in New York I May. Mr. Martin's house known as the Her-
mitage, at Far Rockaway, Long Island, where Smith passed the
next two years is yet standing and in excellent order. 3 Here
Mr. Martin died in 1778 ; his eldest daughter married her
cousin Josiah Martin, Governor of North Carolina in 1770,
whose older brother Samuel was Member of Parliament for
Camelford, Joint Secretary to the Treasury, and Treasurer to
the Princess Dowager of Wales.

While here, Mr. Smith, in his nearness to New York City
must have been familiar with the efforts then prevailing to erect
a College in that city, and in this connection may have been in
communication with Dr. Johnson, but of correspondence between
them there is none existing.

The disputes in the Province of New York on the subject
of a College were at their height when he arrived, and the
questions of town or country for its location, and of its con-
trol by Episcopacy or Presbytery, were either of them suffi-
cient to invite the young tutor of twenty-four years of age to
note them and soon to take a part in the fray. Being a member
of the Martin household, his intercourse with the leading men
of the neighborhood was assured and easy. In 1752 he wrote

time give foundation to consider, how proper he may be to support the important
character he aims at in the conduct of the infant College at Philadelphia. I have
great reason to thick him a good man. He is a scholar and ingenious and what is of
the highest consequence of a temper fitted as it seems to me to pursue a plan of
Education upon the large and generous footing of aiming at the Publick Good, with
no other Bias, or partiality but preserving his Duty to the Constitution of his Mother
country, consistently with a warm regard to the service of the Colonies, and the uni-
versal benefit of the various People that compose them. I think I am not mistaken
in him, and if I am not, his Youth may recommend him and he may become a very
faithful and useful servant in a country in whose prosperity you have so strong an
interest. You will please to interrogate him and I believe you will be pleased with
the good sense and ingenuousness with which he will answer to your questions. I
have the honor to be, Sir, You obliged Humble Servant, Tho. Cantuar.

This autograph letter is in the Penn Papers in Pennsylvania Historical Society,
private, vol. iv. This letter may have reached Philadelphia for Smith's personal
presentation of it to Mr. Penn, ere he sailed for England, as it is supposed, on 13
October following.

3 And is the property of James A. Hewlett, Esq., of New York.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 187

Some Thoughts on Education : with Reasons for Erecting a College
in this Province, and fixing the same at the City of New York :
to which is added a Scheme for employing Masters or Teachers
in the mean Time, and also for raising and endowing an Edifice
in an easy Manner, and over the name of Philomathes dedi-
cated them to Chief Justice De Lancey. " Being advised that,
perhaps, it might be of public Use, to print the following
Papers, which were intended originally to be laid before the
House of Representatives only in Manuscript ; I must beg
Leave to put them under your Protection, to which the Subject
naturally recommends them"; and they were printed by J.
Parker in the autumn of 1752. The whole concluded with A
Poem, Being a serious Address to the House of Representatives.
In tone it rises above the ordinary controversial pamphlet,
though it is full of the author's didactic statements submitted
with his customary force ; there is no ambiguity as to his mean-
ing. He opens :

If we look into the Story of the most renowned States and King-
doms, that have subsisted in the different ages of the World, we will find
that they were indebted * for their Rise, Grandeur and Happiness, to the
early Provision made by their first Founders, for the public Instruction of
Youth. The great Sages and Legislators of antiquity, were so sensible of
this, that they always made it their prime care to plant Seminaries, and
regulate the Method of Education ; and many of them even designed, in
Person, to be the immediate Superintendants of the Manners of Youth,
whom they justly reckoned the rising Hopes of their country.

Towards the conclusion, a paragraph embraces a reference
to the efforts in Philadelphia of a like nature :

I shall only add that Oxford, Leyden, &c., are too complex and
large to be any Model for us : the neighbouring Colleges of New England,
Pennsylvania, &c., may be kept chiefly in our Eye ; but tho' the People
of these Provinces have the Honor to set us an Example in this truly
noble WORK, we have the Advantage of seeing where they have been
deficient, and of being sensible that Something might be contrived more
commodious than any of their Schemes.

4 In preparing the Thoughts for the edition of his Works published in 1803,
Smith qualified this by making it read "they were greatly indebted," &c. The
T'toti^uis were designed by him as a part of his Third volume, but the published
Works only reached two Volumes ; hence the pamphlet did not reach the second
edition.

1 88 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

These Thoughts brought the author into controversial
prominence, and Philomathes was made the object of the resent-
ment of those whose schemes may have been thwarted by his
careful reasonings. Franklin in his letter to Smith of 3 May,
T 753> which we shall shortly reach, affords us a clue to this when
he expresses regret at Smith's expressions of resentment against
his adversaries in his Mirania, where towards the close he says :

As for those Writers who delight to give frequent Specimens of their
Knack at Wrangling and Chicane ; or, who are determined to think
Nothing right in this Affair, but what comes from themselves, my Time is
too precious to follow them thro' the Maze of Perplexity. They may, if
they please, ascribe every Thing I have done to a Selfish Motive ; I shall
leave it to Time and the Issue of the Thing to convince them how much
they have injured me. It will then be sufficient Punishment for them to
reflect on their Usage of One who never offended them, but by a Zeal for
the Happiness of that Province, which they ought to love more, than
one, who is a Stranger in it. There was no other way I could manifest that
Zeal but on the Subject of Education, as all the Time I have lived in the
World has been Spent on my own Education and that of others. * * *
Sorry should I be, however, if, after all my Partiality in treating this
Matter, I should fall under the Displeasure of any Sect or Party, who may
claim an exclusive Right of modeling this Institution to their Mind. 5

A few months after the publication of his Thoughts, he pro-
ceeded to draw up in detail, and publish over his signature, his
plan of a College, entitled

A General Idea of the College of Mirania, * * * Addressed more
immediately to the consideration of the Trustees nominated by the Legisla-
ture, to receive Proposals, &c. relating to the Establishment of a College
in New York ;

wherein under the guise of an allegory he sketched out this plan.
He says :

While I was ruminating on the constitutions of the several colleges
which I had either personally visited or read of, without being able to fix on
any Thing I durst recommend as a model worthy our Imitation, I chanced
to fall into the Company of a valuable young gentleman, named Evander,
who is a person of some distinction, of the province of Mirania. After
some conversation on learned topics, he was led to give me an account of
a seminary established about twelve years ago in that province in which I

5 Mirania, p. 79.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 189

thought I perceived all that seems excellent in the ancient and modern
Institutions reduced to the greatest Method and Simplicity. This I have
presumed to propose to your consideration ; which as it may be further
improved by you, and other learned Men among us, seems extremely well
adapted to the circumstances of this Province of New York, as we are now
entirely such as the Miranians were when they founded their College, with
Regard to Riches, Trade, and the Number of People. 6 * * * Evander
tells him about twelve years ago, the Miranians saw themselves a mighty
and flourishing people, in possession af an extensive country, capable of
producing all the necessaries and many of the superfluities of life. They
reflected that the only method of making these natural advantages of last-
ing use to themselves and posterity, the only infallible source of tranquillity,
happiness and glory, was to contrive and execute a proper scheme for form-
ing a succession of sober, virtuous, industrious citizens, and checking the
course of growing luxury. They were sensible, that tho" a Combination of
lucky circumstances, almost wholly independent on them, had raised them
so high, they should be wanting to themselves if they depended longer on
blind chance for any Thing which was now in their Power to command.
They were convinced that, without a previous good Education, the best
Laws are little better than Verba minantia, and considered as such, will be
duped and broke thro" with Impunity by illustrious Villains ; that the
Magistrate can at best but fight vice into a corner, and that 'tis Education
alone can mend and rectify the Heart ; that no Government can subsist
long on Violence and brute Force, and that Nature follows easily when
treated rationally, but will not bear to be led, or driven .

They saw also, that among the foreigners, who were as numerous as
the English, many distinctions were forming upon their different customs,
languages, and extractions, which, by creating separate interests, might, in
the issue, prove fatal to the government. They wisely judged, therefore,
that nothing could so much contribute to make such a mixture of people
coalesce and unite in one common interest, as the common education of
all the youth at the same public schools under the eye of the civil au-
thority * * * With these views the Miranians applied themselves
to project a plan of education ; every person of genius, learning, and expe-
rience, offering his impartial thoughts on this subject, whether they were in
a private or public capacity ; as being sensible that an understanding of
such lasting consequences demanded the united councils, the heads and
hearts, of a whole country * * * With regard to learning, the Mira-
nians divide the whole body of people into two grand classes. The first
consists of those designed for the learned professions ; by which they
understand divinity, law, physic, agriculture, and the chief officers of the
State. The second class of those designed for mechanic professions, and

6 Atirania, p. 8.

190 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

all the remaining people of the country. Such a division is absolutely
necessary ; for, if the shortest way of forming youth to act in their proper
spheres, as good men and good citizens, ought always to be the object of
education, these two classes should be educated on a very different plan.
* * * These considerations gave rise to what is called the Mechanics'
School in this Seminary. It might, however, as well have been called a
distinct college ; for it is no way connected with what is called the College
(by way of Distinction) than by being under the Inspection of the same
Trustees, and the Government of the same Head, whom they call Provost
or Principal. Most of the Branches of Science, taught in the College, are
taught in this School ; but then they are taught without languages, and in
a more compendious manner, as the circumstances and Business of the
Mechanic require. This school is so much like the English School in
Philadelphia first sketched out by the very ingenious and worthy Mr.
Franklin, that a particular Account of it here is needless . 7

This reference to the Philadelphia Academy implies the
author's familiarity with that scheme; and some of the phrases
of Evander's narrative echo the ideas more tersely expressed
by Franklin in his Proposals and other early papers on the
Academy. Evander proceeds to describe the schools, and their
classes in detail, and speaks of " the principal whose name is
Aratus," who instructed the fifth or highest class in the study
of agriculture and history.

.# * * Forgive me, my friend [proceeded Evander], if in this
part of my narrative, I should be tedious, or discover any unbecoming rap-
tures. The time spent in these studies was the happiest period of my
life, and which I have often wished I could begin again, a period I can
never reflect upon, without feeling my bosom burn, and thinking I hear
the good Aratus, with hands outstretched, and eyes glowing affection and
devotion, pouring important Truths from his fervent Tongue, and leading
us unperceptibly from the visible to the unvisible things of God. 8

It was but natural that Mr. Smith should send copies of
his piece to some of those interested in a work in Philadel-
phia, akin to the efforts now making in New York, and on
April 1 1 he wrote to Franklin enclosing a copy of his

7 Afirania, pp. 9, IO, 14, 15.

8 Afirania, p. 45. Dr. Smith prepared a second edition of this very entertain-
ing and instructive Essay for his Discourses of 1762, "corrected" by him, but the
corrections and abbreviations detract somewhat from the interest and style and the
freshness of the edition of 1753.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 191

publication upon the ideal College of Mirania, and made
inquiry about placing his pupils, the young Martins, in
the Philadelphia Academy, pending a proposed visit home
which he appeared to be contemplating for the purpose among
others of applying for Orders in the Church of England. We
are not told aught of Mr. Smith's change of ecclesiastical
views, for that he was brought up in the Presbyterian Kirk a
faithful adherent to ,the Westminster Confession we cannot
doubt. It may be that a two years residence on Long Island,
where Yale's influence predominated, led him to a knowledge
of the painful separation Johnson and Cutler and Brown had
made from Presbyterianism thirty years before, and with designs
of the ministry early in mind, he now acquiesced in the claims
of Episcopacy and turned his face to England to seek Orders,
though many months elapsed before this consummation. His
letter we have not ; but Franklin's letter is preserved, both the
original draft and the letter, the latter omitting a paragraph of
the former which bore more immediately upon the entertainment
and instruction the Martins would find in Philadelphia. Mr.
Smith's letter had evidently conveyed the impression that he
proposed settling in England on his return. Franklin's letter
is inserted here as originally drafted, the paragraph withheld
being marked in brackets. Mr. Sparks gives the letter as drafted ;
Mr. Smith's Biographer with the original letter in hand calls
attention to the omission 9

Philadelphia 19 April 1753 10

Sir. I received your favor of the nth instant, with your new piece
on Education which I shall carefully peruse and give you my sentiments
of it, as you desire, by next post.

[I believe the young gentlemen, your pupils, may be entertained
and instructed here, in mathematics and philosophy to satisfaction. Mr.
Alison, who was educated at Glasgow, has been long accustomed to teach
the latter, and Mr. Grew the former, and I think their pupils make great
progress. Mr. Alison has the care of the Latin and Greek School ; but,
as he has now three good assistants, he can very well afford some hours
every day for the instruction of those, who are engaged in higher studies.
The mathematical school is pretty well furnished with instruments. The

9 Smith, i. 23. lo Bigelow, ii. 288. Sparks, vii. 63.

192 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

English Library is a good one, and we have belonging to it a middling appa-
ratus for experimental philosophy, and purpose speedily to complete it
The Loganian Library, one of the best collections in America, will shortly
be opened ; so that neither books nor instruments will be wanting ; and,
as we are determined always to give good salaries, we have reason to
believe we may have always an opportunity of choosing good masters ;
upon which, indeed, the success of the whole depends. We are obliged
to you for your kind offer in this respect ; and, when you are settled in
England, we may occasionally make use of your friendship and judg-
ment.]

If it suits your conveniency n to visit Philadelphia before your
return to Europe, I shall be extremely glad to see and converse with you
here, as well as to correspond with you after your settlement in England.
For an acquaintance and communication with men of learning, virtue and
public spirit, is one of my greatest enjoyments.

I do not know whether you ever happened to see the first proposals
I made for erecting this Academy. I send them enclosed. They had,
however imperfect, the desired success, being followed by a subscription
of. four thousand founds towards carrying them into execution. And, as
we are fond of receiving advice, and are daily improving by experience, I
am in hopes, we shall, in a few years, see a perfect institution. I am,
very respectfully, &c B. Franklin.

In a fortnight Franklin took up his pen to write Smith
further on his College of Mirania. In this case as the letter is
longer than the draft, we quote it entire from Smith's Life and
Correspondence, merely noting at foot the verbal changes and
the point of addition. I2

Philadelphia 3 May 1753

Sir : Mr. Peters 13 has just now been with me, and we have com-
pared notes on your new piece. We find nothing in the scheme of educa-
tion, however excellent, but what is in our opinion very practicable. The
great difficulty will be, to find the Aratus, and other suitable persons in
New York, to carry u it into execution ; but such may be had if proper
encouragement be given. We have both received great pleasure in the
perusal of it. For my part, I know not when I have read a piece that has
more affected me ; so noble and just are the sentiments, so warm and

11 The letter reads : " if it suits you to visit Philadelphia." 12 Smith, i. 23.

13 In a letter of this date Richard Peters writes to Thomas Penn, " I desire
your acceptance of a Book on Education sent me by the Author, Mr. William Smith,
Tutor to Col. Martin's children on Long Island, an acquaintance of the Archbishop of
Canterbury."

u In New York not in draft.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 193

animated the language ; yet, as censure from your friends may be of more
use, as well as more agreeable to you, than praise, I ought to mention, that
I wish you had omitted, not only the quotation from the Review, which
you are now justly dissatisfied with, but all those 15 expressions of resent-
ment against your adversaries, in pages 65 and 79. In such cases the
noblest victory is obtained by neglect, and by shining on. 18

Mr. Allen has been out of town these ten days ; but before he went,
he directed me to procure him six of your 17 pieces, though he had not and
has not yet seen it. 18 Mr. Peters has taken ten. He proposed 19 to have
written to you, but omits it, as he expects so soon to have the pleasure of
seeing you here. He desires me to present his affectionate regards to you,
and to assure you that you will be very welcome to him. I shall only say
to you that you may depend upon my doing all in my power to make your
visit to Philadelphia agreeable to you. 20 Yet, me thinks I would not have
you omit bringing a line or two from Mr. Allen. If you are more noticed
here on account of his recommendation, yet as that recommendation will
be founded upon your merit, known best where you have so long resided,
their notice may be esteemed to be as much ' on the score of something
you" can call your own," as if it were merely on account of the pieces you

15 All not in draft.

16 In a letter from the Bishop of Oxford to Dr. Johnson, 19 March, 1754
when Mr. Smith was in London awaiting his ordination, the Bishop says, " if he had
pursued his intention of residing awhile at Oxford, I should -have hoped for more of
his company and acquaintance. Nor would he, I think, have failed to see more
fully, what I flatter myself he is convinced of without it, that our Universities do not
deserve the sentence which is passed upon them by the author whom he cites, and
whose words he adopts in page 84 of his ' General Idea of the College of Mirania.'
He assures me they are effaced in almost all the copies. I wish they had not been
printed, or that the leaf had been cancelled. But the many valuable things which
there is in that performance, and in the papers which he published at New York, will
atone for this blemish with all candid persons." Beardsley's Johnson, '78. The
Bishop's reference is to the following : " They know little what our English Univer-
sities are at present : For, to use the words of the authors of the Jfeview, for
November, 1750: 'That even both our Universities (not forgetting that in the
Metropolis of a neighboring Kingdom) are rendered of little use to the Public, or to
the Welfare of Religion, by the idle Doctrines and corrupt Manners which prevail in
them, is a Truth equally notorious and melancholy ; and any effectual scheme for a
thoro' Reformation or (if this is impossible, thro' the Perverseness of their Members)
a total abolition of them would merit the attention of every Lover of his Country,
every Wellwisher to true Christianity, and to civil and religious Liberty.' " Afirania,
p. 84. On Smith's copy of the Mirania, he adds on the margin opposite these lines
" This quotation was raz'd out of most of the copies before they got abroad, the
author considering them injuriously applied." But for Franklin's reference to the
author's personal allusion on pages 65 and 79 of Mirania, we should not now know that
they were "expressions of resentment against his adversaries;" thus early in his
American career had his active zeal in devising new things been intensified by his
warm temperament and a youthful proneness to disputation.

17 Six copies of your piece in draft.

18 This last phrase not in draft. 19 Purposed in draft.
20 This ends the draft. The letter proceeds.

194 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

have written. I shall take care to forward your letter to Mr. Miller by a
vessel that sails next week. I proposed to have sent one of the books to
Mr. Cave, but as it may possibly be a disappointment to Mr. Miller if
Cave should print it, I shall forbear, and only send two or three to some
particular friends. I thank you for your information concerning the author
of the dialogues. I had been misinformed ; but saw with concern in the
public papers last year, an article of news relating that one Mr. Fordyce, 21
the ingenious author of Dialogues on Education, perished by shipwreck on
the coast of Holland, on returning home from his tour to Italy. The
sermon on the ' ' Eloquence of the Pulpit ' ' is ascribed in the Review of
August, 1752, to Mr. James Fordyce, Minister at Brechin. I am, with
great esteem, Sir, your most humble servant B. Franklin.

By the first of June, Smith was in Philadelphia with his
young pupils whom he placed at the Academy. His satisfac-
tion on this occasion in witnessing the fruits of the faithful
work of the Trustees and Masters found expression in

A POEM on visiting the ACADEMY of Philadelphia, June, 1753, [of
two hundred and seventy lines, bearing on the title page Virgil's lines as
the legend :]

Inventas qui Vitam excoluere per Aries ;

Quique fui memores alios fecere merendo ;

Omnibus bis nivea cinguntur Tempera Vitia.

His letter of Dedication bears date 5 June, and addresses
the Trustees :

Gentlemen. Having receiv'd the intensest Satisfaction in visiting
your Academy, and examining some of its higher Classes, I cou' d not be
easy "till I had testify' d that Satisfaction in the most public Manner. The
undeserv'd Notice many of you were pleas' d to take of Me during my Short
Stay in your City, and the Honor the Academy (when I first went into it)
did me in making one of the Youth Speak a Copy of Verses, which I lately
wrote to promote the Interest of Science in a neighboring Province, might
claim my most grateful Acknowledgments. But what I now offer is a
Tribute paid to Merit of a more public Nature. A few private Gentlemen
of this City have, in the Space of two or three Years, projected, begun, and
carried to surprizing Perfection, a very noble Institution ; and an Institu-
tion of that Kind too, which, in other Countries, has scarce made such a

21 David Fordyce lost at sea, 1751, brother of James. As natives of Aber-
deen, these brothers may have been personally known to William Smith ; hence the
present reference. Both received their education at the University of Aberdeen, and
David was appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy in Marischall College in 1742, the
year subsequently to William Smith's matriculating at Kings College. Allibone.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 195

Figure in the Space of some Centuries, tho' founded by Kings, and sup-
ported at the public Expence.

Prosecute, Gentlemen, yet a little longer prosecute your generous
Plan, with the same Spirit ; and your own Reputation, with that of your
Academy, shall be establish' d, in Spite of every Obstacle, on a Bottom
immortal, and never to be Shaken. A Succession of good Men and good
Citizens shall never be wanting in Pennsylvania to do Honor to your Mem-
ories, and diffuse Spirit and Happiness thro' their Country. The Virtues
to be chiefly inculcated in your Youth in order to obtain this End, you know
better than I. They are however modestly hinted, in the following Poem,
from a Mouth that cannot fail to give them new Importance. * * * *
That the Success of your Undertaking may still exceed even your own
most sanguine Hopes, is my earnest Prayer, as it is my firm Persuasion
that such a fair Beginning cannot fail of the most lasting good Conse-
quences. * * *

The Poem may merit the quotation from it of a few lines :

Heavens ! how my Heart beat Rapture, to behold

The little Heroes, decent, graceful, bold,

The Rostrum mount, with British Ardor warm' d,

And, by the sacred Soul of Glory charm' d,

With Hands out-stretch 'd, rowl, tingling, from their Tongue,

Sage Truths of Justice, Freedom, Right, and Wrong,

In numerous Periods, sweeter than my Song.

O how the Sires glow'd round, and fed their Eyes

Fix' d on their darling Sons in sweet surprize ;

O how the Sons were smit with conscious Fires,

In the animating Presence of their Sires !

Even GOD Himself exults in such a Sight ;

And Angels hang applausive, in Mid-flight.

While those bright Souls releas' d from earthly care,

To whom th' Affairs of Kindred-men are dear,

Look down triumphant on the lovely Scene ;

And for a While Suspend their heavenly Strain.

In reference to the efforts now also made in the city of
New York for a like institution he at the close gives these lines :

O were the Joy compleat ! But one sad Thought
Depresses half the Raptures of my Note !
For can I celebrate such wisdom here,
O much lov'd YORK, nor drop a duteous Tear ?

196 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Rise, nobly rise ! dispute the Prize with Those ;

As Athens, rivaling Lacedaemon, rose !

The illustrious sisters, keen alike to seize

The Palm of Empire, and the Reins of Greece,

Each rous' d by Each, fed high the glorious Fire ;

Flam'd, bustled, shone and had the World admire !

O Strife far nobler, who shall most excel,

In Knowledge, Arts of Peace, and Living well!

This nobler Strife, ye nobler 22 Sisters feed !

Be yours the Contest in each worthy Deed ;

Shine Godlike Rivals for the Muses' Palm ;

And strive who first shall sway the Laureat-realm.

The author closes with a tender farewell to his pupils,
whom in a foot note he describes as

the three eldest Sons of the Honorable Josiah Martin, Esq, late of Antigua ;
They were plac' d at the Academy of Philadelphia at the ' Time this Piece
was written :

Yet ere we close, O Muse, one Labor more

Indulge where I have labor' d oft before.

Dear Pupils, let the Lessons here imprest,

Sink intimate and deep into your Breast

Now climb the Steep to Science in your Youth,

The Votaries of Wisdom, and of Jruth.

Your zeal let none within these walls excel ;

Strive for Esteem, for Glory, and . . . farewell !

This interesting and now rare quarto of sixteen pages was
printed by Franklin and Hall, and is announced in the Pennsyl-
vania Gazette of 7 June, "Next week will be Published." The
College of Mirania is advertised in the Gazette of the following
week "just published in New York, and to be sold by D. Hall."
And it was during this brief visit to Philadelphia, and in his
conferences with the Trustees, that William Smith's interest in
the young institution led him to compile his Prayers for the Use
of the PJiiladelphia Academy, a little tract of twenty pages, which
was also printed by Franklin and Hall in the same year. This
includes "A Morning Prayer, to be used by every Scholar in

22 The Cities of N'eiu York and Philadelphia.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 197

his chamber at rising from Bed," and "An Evening Prayer to
be used by every Scholar in his chamber at going to Bed,"
besides " Publick Prayer," for both Morning and Evening in the
chapel, each consisting of Sentences, Exhortations, and Prayers ;
and in addition, embracing The Ten Commandments, The
Apostles' Creed, and the Duty to God and towards my Neigh-
bour, from the Church of England Catechism. An Evening
Prayer is the following :

Be favourable to all Seminaries of sound Learning and virtuous
Education ; vouchsafe to shower down thy peculiar Blessings on all those
who are in the Trust, Direction and Management of this Academy, upon
the Institution itself, and upon all those who are in any ways concerned in
or related to it. Help them to put it upon the best Foundation, and to
form from Time to Time such Orders and Regulations in it as will best
promote thy Glory, and the Establishment of solid and useful Learning. ' a

Thus the first visit of William Smith to Philadelphia created
and secured impressions which left no room for other wish than
that he might be induced to make the city his home, and
the evidence presented him as to the stable foundation of the
Academy and its bright promises of future usefulness and repu-
tation left no doubt that he would accept a connection with it.
Nothing official appears to have passed, neither records nor cor-
respondence affording us any information on this. His visit to
Philadelphia was brief, as he says in his dedication of the Poem,
" The Performance is far inferior to the Subject ; but an Apology
will not mend it. As I have no time to improve it during my
Stay in America," &c., thus he may have at once sailed for
home, and this explains why he left his young pupils in Phila-
delphia at this time. He could have made but a brief visit to
Scotland, for we find him again in New York by October ; and
his biographer tells us he sailed thence again on 13 October,

23 The University recently came into the possession of one of the two only
copies of these Prayers known to us of these days. The publication is not referred
<o by Dr. Smith's Biographer, and was also unknown to Mr. Hildeburn when print-
ing, in 1885, his /ssufs of the Pennsylvania Press, 1685-1784. Could the seed of this
have been Bishop Ken's Manual of Prayers for the use of the Scholars of Win-
chester College ? A copy of the edition of 1700 of this little formulary was in the
Library of the late Professor Henry Reed.

198 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

I753, 24 landing in London on I December. Franklin now
writes him :

Philadelphia, 27 November 1753.

Dear Sir : Having written to you fully, 25 via Bristol, I have now little
to add. Matters relating to the Academy remain in statu quo. The trus-
tees would be glad to see a Rector established there, but they dread entering
into new Engagements till they are got out of debt ; and I have not yet got
them wholly to my Opinion, that a good Professor or Teacher of the higher
Branches of Learning, would draw so many Scholars as to pay great Part,
if not the whole of his Salary. Thus, unless the Proprietors [of the
provinces] shall think fit to put the finishing Hand to our Institution, it
must, I fear, wait some few years longer before it can arrive at that State
of Perfection, which to me it seems now capable of ; and all the Pleasure I
promised myself in seeing you settled among us, vanishes into smoke.

But good Mr Collinson writes me Word that no Endeavors of his
shall be wanting ; and he hopes, with the Archbishop's Assistance, to be
able to prevail with our Proprietors. I pray God grant them success. My
son presents his affectionate regards, with

Dear Sir, yours, etc B. Franklin.

P. S. I have not been favored with a line from you since you arrived
in England. 26

Mr Smith at once communicated with the church authori-
ties and sending the Archbishop of Canterbury a copy of his
Mirania, received from him a reply on 10 December :

I have read over your Mirania, and am pleased with the Design. It
is a very comprehensive one, and if you cannot execute the whole you must
go as far as you can . When you form it into a plan for public use, you
will cut off some of those Luxuriances which perhaps are more of amuse-
ment than instruction. You see I am somewhat free with you. I shall be
glad to find that the schemes for yourself are like to succeed, being confi-
dent you will do your duty conscientiously .

24 Smith, i. 28,29. Dr. Franklin in his letter of 1 8 April, 1754, acknowl-
edges Dr. Smith's letter of 1 8 October from England acquainting Franklin that he
"had written largely" before that; and we have the Archbishop of Canterbury's
letter of 13 September to Thomas Penn beginning, "The bearer of this, Mr. Wm.
Smith, is desirous of being known and recommended to you, &c." His passage in
return to America must have been a short one, especially if he had waited to present
in person the Archbishop's letter of introduction to Thomas Penn ere he sailed ; but
the dates of this correspondence, and the biographer's record are not reconcilable.

25 This letter is not in existence.

26 Smith, i. 28; Bigelow, ii. 335. The draft of this letter in possession of Dr.
T. Hewson Bache, on the third line reads, " A majority of the trustees I find would
be glad," &c., &c. The postscript is not in Bigelow or Sparks, but is in the draft, as
here given.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 199

Meanwhile, he lost no time in seeking his entrance into the
ministry ; and on 2 1 December, in Fulham Palace, he was
ordained Deacon by the Bishop of Lincoln, and on the 23d was
ordained Priest by the Bishop of Carlisle, each acting for the
aged and infirm Sherlock, Bishop of London, who was present
at the services. There were ordained with him Samuel Seabury,
William Skerrington, Francis Hoyland, and James Pasteur.
Seabury was two years his junior; brought up in boyhood at
Hempstead, Long Island, a graduate of Yale, he ministered
as a layman on behalf of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts at Huntington, Long Island, up to July,
1752, when he crossed the ocean to pursue his studies at Edin-
burgh University ; he must have formed Smith's acquaintance
shortly after the latter reached Long Island in Mr Martin's
family, for Smith was of too active a temperament to remain
unknown to any man of education within his reach, and it may
be that from Samuel Seabury he derived some of those ideas of
Episcopacy which helped him to a determination in his ecclesi-
astical career. They returned to America about the same time ; v
but we have no knowledge of their again meeting until 1789
when assembled in Philadelphia the Council of the American
Episcopal Church, in which sat Samuel Seabury and Smith's
early college pupil William White, and where Smith's instru-
mentalities for concord and union among all sections proved so
potent to the strengthening of the church.

Three days after his ordination Rev. William Smith started
North to see his father, and on the last day of the year, he
records in his Diary " preached in the Kirk in which I was bap-
tized." Before his return to America he engaged the interest
of the Propagation Society in the matter of education of the
German emigrants in Pennsylvania, in which he felt much con-
cern which was increased on his return to Pennsylvania, when
he actively participated in a local movement there for that pur-

27 Mr. Smith arrived in Philadelphia on his return on 22 May, 1754, and Mr.
Seabury reached his mission at Hempstead, Long Island, on 25 May; it is possible
both were fellow passengers on the Falcon. In 1789 on Bishop Seabury's visit to
Philadelphia he was the guest of Dr. Smith, then a resident of the South East corner
of Chestnut and Fifth Streets.

2OO HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

pose ; it was a matter not only of religious bearing but of political,
as it was then feared that the ignorance of the German emigrants
in regard to our language and laws made them easy prey to the
designs of French emissaries who sought all means to weaken
British interests in the Middle Colonies. He formed some
design of remaining at Oxford for further study. Dr. Seeker,
then Bishop of Oxford, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury,
in a letter of 19 March to Dr. Johnson already quoted thanked
him " for his favors by Mr. Smith. He is, indeed, a very inge-
nious and able, and seems a very well-disposed young man,
and if he had pursued his intention of residing awhile at
Oxford, I should have hoped for more of his company and
acquaintance."

Franklin again writes him, apparently uncertain of his
plans and intentions, which were doubtless unformed at the
time, and which accounts for the infrequency of his letters to
Philadelphia, but the letter did not reach him as he had already
sailed from England : ^

Philadelphia April 18 1754.

Dear Sir : I have had but one letter from you since your arrival in
England, which was but a short one, via Boston, dated Oct. 18 [?]
acquainting me that you had written largely by Captain Davis. Davis
was lost and with him your letters, to my great disappointment. Mesnard
and Gibbon have since arrived here, and I hear no-thing from you. My
comfort is, in imagination that you only omit writing because you are
coming, and propose to tell me everything viva voce. So not knowing
whether this letter will reach you, and hoping either to see or hear from
you by the Myrtilla, Capt. Budden's ship, which is daily expected, I only
add, that I am, with great esteem and affection, Yours etc B. Franklin.

On 22 May, Mr. Smith landed in Philadelphia, from the
Falcon, having sailed from London 5 April. His biographer
tells us, " during the voyage he wrote several essays on educa-
tion, which were afterwards published in the Antigua Gazette" :
He was now at the threshold of his life's best work, and with

28 Smith, i. 44. This letter is not found in either Sparks or Bigelow, nor refer-
ence thereto. There is an error in the date of the letter named, for Mr. Smith was
then on the ocean, having sailed, it is said, on 13 October. See ante.

29 Smith, i. 44.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 201

his accustomed energy and vivacity lost no time in consummating
his plans.

Three days after his arrival, a Meeting of the Trustees was
summoned, and there attended, as the roll in order recites,
Messrs. Franklin, Shippen, Leech, Peters, Taylor, Inglis, Cad-
walader, Plumsted, Tho: Bond, Francis, Allen, M'Call, Masters,
Phin. Bond, White, Willing, Syng, and Coleman, when

the Question being put, Whether it be necessary at this Time to provide a
Person in the Academy to teach Logick, Rhetorick, Ethicks and Natural
Philosophy ? it was carried in the affirmative by a great majority.

It being proposed that Mr. William Smith, a Gentleman lately arrived
from London should be entertain'd for sometime upon Trial, to teach the
above mentioned Branches of Learning, in Case he will undertake it ; the
same was agreed to, and Mr. Franklin and Mr. Peters are desired to speak
with him about it. [No terms were then set for his remuneration ; and it
was not until the meeting of II July, 1755, that this was defined:] the
Question being put, whether the Salary of the Provost shall be Two Hun-
dred Pounds per annum carried in the affirmative by a great Majority,
and resolved that it shall commence from the Time of his first being
employed in the Academy.

This was the amount of Mr. Alison's salary from the outset, as
it had been that of Mr. Martin, the first Rector. To this, however,
was added an annuity to Mr. Smith of ,50 per annum from Thos.
Penn, in compliance with a request made him in 1754 " when the
state of the Academy made it necessary to open schools in the
higherbranches of Learning, begginghis assistance to enable them
to employ a fit Person to instruct the Youth in the Arts and
Sciences." The addition to the Provost's salary from this
generous source continued until 1761, when Mr. Penn's gift of
his one-fourth part of Perkasie Manor was accepted with the
understanding that this sum was now to be assumed by the
Trustees. M The Treasurer's account confirms the entry in Mr.
Smith's Diary, " 25 May, 1754 commenced teaching in the phil-
osophy class, also ethics and rhetoric to the advanced pupils.
I have two classes, a senior and a junior one." It was at the
meeting previous to the action had relating to the salary,
namely 30 June 1755 that it was " Proposed, That the Trustees

30 Minutes 10 February, 1761.

2O2 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

visit Mr. Smith's School on Thursday next, and inform them-
selves particularly what Branches of Learning and Science he
teaches the Students under his care, and the Proficiency they
have made ; " the result of which was so satisfactory that they
voted his salary at the subsequent meeting.

Mr. Smith's Diary could not have been a cotemporary
record, and in after times he may have made leading entries
which will account for the entry immediately preceding the one
just quoted ; and which in fact anticipated by ten months the
actual appointment, viz: "24th May 1754. I was this day in-
ducted Provost of the College and Academy of Philadelphia,
and Professor of Natural Philosophy." 31 But the College had
no existence until the new charter of 1755, under which, at the
meeting of 7 March, 1755, twenty of the Trustees attending,
" in Pursuance of the proposed new Institution, Mr. William
Smith was chosen Provost and Mr. Francis Alison Vice Pro-
vost and Rector, and their names order'd to be accordingly
inserted in the Draught of the new Charter." In a note on the
margin of this Minute in the handwriting of Dr. Smith, added
some years later, it appears they then were "both unanimously "
elected.

We soon have an insight into the workings of the Acad-
emy as Mr. Smith found them, in his letter of 18 July following
written to Dr. Peters then at Albany in attendance on a council
with the Six Nations. As Smith was landing in Philadelphia
the colonies were alive with fears of war with France, and the
importance was felt of counteracting the influence to be wielded
by that nation with the Indians. The fears were not groundless,
and as many of the Trustees were on duty in public service in
this and the following year, the Professors and Tutors had less
of their aid and countenance than in the piping times of peace.

Smith in a letter to Dr. Samuel Chandler, written 30 May
says: " Messrs. Peters and Franklin are to be sent out on Monday
next as commissioners from the province to the general treaty,

31 Smith, i. 45 ; being a day earlier than the meeting of the Trustees above
quoted.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 203

to be held with the Five Nations at Albany, in New York, on
the 1 4th of next month." 32 Franklin in his autobiography
describes the opening of this drama, and the meeting which
he was about attending was made memorable in the annals of
the country as giving him the occasion to present his famous
plan of union of all the colonies. At the instant of time when
he had finally secured William Smith to become one of the
faculty of the Academy and to lead onwards and upwards the
well digested aims of the institution, he was then preparing this
famous plan of a constitutional confederation, having the
prescience of a seer that some kind of union of English interests
in this cis-Atlantic must be effected ere many years would elapse.
In his Gazette of 9 May, when narrating the capture by the
French of Capt. Trent's party at the Ohio Forks, he concluded
with a reference to the necessity of a union of the colonies for
" one common defence and security," and closes with the illus-
tration by a wood cut of a snake divided into several parts with
the legend JOIN OR DIE ; an effective picture which was often
reproduced at the beginning of the Revolution. His auto-
biography narrates the steps leading to this : M

In 1754, war with France being again apprehended, a congress ot
commissioners from the different colonies was, by an order of the Lords of
Trade, to be assembled at Albany, there to confer with the chiefs of the Six
Nations concerning the means of defending both their country and ours.
Governor Hamilton, having receiv'd this order, acquainted the House with
it, requesting they would furnish proper presents for the Indians, to be
given on this occasion ; and naming the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself
to join Mr. Thomas Penn and Mr. Secretary Peters as commissioners to
act for Pennsylvania. The House approv'd the nomination, and provided
the goods for the present, and tho' they did not much like treating out of
the provinces ; and we met the other commissioners at Albany about the
middle of June. In our way thither, I projected and drew a plan for the
union of all the colonies under one government, so far as might be neces-
sary for defense, and other important general purposes. As we pass'd
thro' New York, I had then shown my project to Mr. James Alexander
and Mr. Kennedy, two gentlemen of great knowledge in public affairs,
and, being fortified by their approbation, I ventur'd to lay it before
the Congress. It then appeared that several of the commissioners had

81 Smith, i. 45. M Bigelow, i. 242.

2O4 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

form'd plans of the same kind. A previous question was first taken,
-whether a union should be established, which passed in the affirmative
unanimously. A committee was then appointed, one member from each
colony, to consider the several plans and report Mine happened to be
preferr' d, and, with a few amendments, was accordingly reported.

Mr. Bancroft says of this statesman's plan :

New England colonies in their infancy had given birth to a
confederacy. William Penn, in 1697, had proposed an annual congress
of all the provinces on the continent of America, with power to regulate
commerce. Franklin revived the great idea, and breathed into it
enduring life. As he descended the Hudson, the , people of New York
thronged about him to welcome him ; and he, who had first entered
their city as a runaway apprentice, was revered as the mover of American
Union. 34

XXVI,

Instruction as well as interest calls for some attention in
these pages to the great political movements of the day, seeing
that the hand which was so often seen and felt in them was the
same that was in like kind seen and felt in the local institution
whose narrative we are pursuing ; and we can thus obtain the lights
and shadows of its life which might otherwise remain hidden from
our eyes. We turn now to Mr. Smith's letter to Dr. Peters,
which is doubly entertaining as illustrating how in less than a
two months' domicile in the colony his versatile mind had already
formed decided views on the political questions of the day, and
which in the present case would be acceptable to his corre-
spondent :

1 Philadelphia 18 July 1754.

Dear Sir. As we have not heard from you this Post, I am at some
loss how to direct to you, but presume this will find you at New York. I

34 History of the United States, iv. 125. l Smith, i. 49.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 205

wish your Congress with the Indians may turn out to the advantage of the
British cause, which has received a fatal blow by the entire defeat of
Washington, whom I cannot but accuse of Foolhardiness to have ventured
so near a vigilant enemy without being certain of their numbers, or waiting
for junction of some hundreds of our best Forces, who were within a few
Days' March of him. But perhaps what is (in this case) is right ; as it
may open the eyes of our Assembly.

As I hope soon to see you I shall say nothing about the Academy.
A Resolution which my worthy Friend, Col. Martin, is like to take, affects
me much, as it must be attended with an irreparable Loss to his children,
for which Reason and none other you may endeavour, as I have already
done, to divert him from it ; and I doubt not his good sense will take it in
this Light both from you and me. I know his children. They know and
I hope love me. Now in about a twelvemonth their Education will be
finished on the plan I have proposed. What is most useful in Logic they
have already acquired. Moral Philosophy we have begun, and against
the vacation in October shall have completed what we intend. Greek and
Latin they continue to read at proper Hours, together with two Hours
every Day at Mathematics. From October till February or March we shall
be employ' d in reading some ancient Compositions critically, in applying
the Rules of Rhetoric and in attempting some Imitations of these most
finished Models in our own Language. This I take to be the true way of
Learning Rhetoric, which I should choose to put off until after the study
of natural Philosophy had we any apparatus ready, because in order to
write well we should have at least a general notion of all the sciences and
their relations one to another. This not only furnishes us with sentiments
but perspicuity in writing, as one science frequently has Light thrown upon
it by another. In the Spring we shall spend 5 or 6 weeks in such experi-
ments in natural Philosophy as we shall be able to exhibit The rest of
the Summer may be usefully spent in the Elements of civil Law, the
reading of History and the study of the Ends and Uses of Society, the
different Forms of Government, &c &c. All this I hope we shall be able
to give our higher Class a sketch of, several of whom, particularly Mr.
Martin's sons, have capacity enough for such a course of Reading. Now,
sir, I appeal to you whether, for the sake of one year, it would be prudent
in Mr. Martin to change his son's Masters and Method ? Would he con-
sult their Interest if, for that short time, he should interrupt the many
acquaintances they are forming at our academy, which may be of use to
them while they live, and which they cannot expect at New York, where
there will not be for some time above 8 or 10 Boys (unless they depart
from the odd plan they have proposed), and not one Boy can be classed
with Mr. Martin's sons.

All this I say upon the supposition their Education could be com-

206 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

pleted as well in New York as here. But this is impossible at first. For
Dr Johnson only pretends to teach Logic and Moral Philosophy, both
which the Martins will have gone thro' before Dr Johnson begins, and
should he begin them again, his Logic and Morality are very different from
ours. There is no Matter by his scheme. No ground of Moral Obliga-
tion. Life is a Dream. All is from the immediate Impressions of the
Deity Metaphysical Distinctions which us Men and surely no Boy can
understand. I fear much will come in the place of fixing virtue on her true
Bottom and forming the Taste of elegant writing. But further, whom have
they at New York for Mathematics or Nat. Philosophy, which are not the
Dr's province ? Whom for teaching the Belles Lettres ? Where is their
apparatus ? Where a sufficient number of Students for public school acts
& Disputation ? Thus, then, you see if Mr Martin takes his sons from this
place he must fix them at New York so far advanced that they cannot
carry them one step farther, and thereby I wonder what could induce Dr
Johnson, whose worth and Integrity I know, to strive to persuade Mr
Martin to remove his sons from a Seminary where they have reaped great
Benefit, & where their Education must soon be finished. To me, who
know what they have done, what they can do and what they want to do, it
clearly appears such a step would absolutely mar their Education and I
doubt not it would appear so to you. I have stated the case to Col Martin,
but could say a Thousand things more if I saw him. I beg you to speak
to him, if you should go to Long Island on purpose. You love doing good,
and you never can have such an opportunity of serving that Gentleman,
who, not having a liberal education, may be easily misled on a point the
most important of all others, Did I not see it in this light I would scorn
to say one word on the subject. 'Tis true, I had reason to think what I
have already done for his sons would make him glad of finishing their
studies under one who knows and loves them ; but if their Interest were not
at stake, his Design of removing them would only so far affect my pride as to
make me resent the usage with Silent Contempt . I would never wish that
the Character of an Academy or mine in particular should want any other
Basis but what is intrinsic and may be seen by all.

My compliments to our dear Franklin. We are in hopes he will
return with you. I beg also to be remembered to Mr. Penn, Mr. Morris
and all your company, as also to the Gov'r'mt and as many of my New
York Friends as are pleased to think of me. The clergy there I do not
forget. Excuse my haste & the length of this, which flows from honest
zeal for the wellfare of my dear pupils. Yours affectionately

William Smith

From this letter we gather an insight into the beginnings of
Kings College, of which Dr. Johnson had assumed the Presidency

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 207

but a few weeks before. The controversies which surrounded
its birth, and of which indeed it was made the occasion, forbad
Dr. Johnson working out a full curriculum at once, and in Mr.
Smith's warm concern for his pupils he was loth to have them go
thither under the circumstances and away from his tutelage ;
though it was alike reasonable for Mr. Martin to desire his sons
entered at a college nearer home, the support of which was sought
for from every active Churchman. But death soon solved the
question for one of the lads : William Thomas Martin, the second
son, died after a brief illness on 28th of August, 1754. And
on Sunday, I September, the day after the funeral, Mr. Smith
preached a sermon in Christ Church " On the Death of a Beloved
Pupil," the first of his published discourses. With the sermon
there were printed " A Collection of the Tears " of a few young
gentlemen who were fellow students of the deceased, in verse, the
writers being Francis Hopkinson, Samuel Magaw, Jacob Duche
and Paul Jackson, with lines also from Thomas Barton. Hop-
kinson's lines open and conclude thus :

I call no aid, no muses to inspire,
Or teach my breast to feel a poet' s fire ;
Your soft expression of a grief sincere,
Brings from our soul a sympathetic tear

* * * *

This only truth permits me to disclose,

That in your own, you represent my woes ;

And sweeter than my song, is your harmonious prose.

In an obituary of the young man and a notice of the sermon
printed in the Gazette, 5 September it is said :

Our Academy has been remarkably happy, in sustaining so few Losses
of this kind. For since it was first open' d this is but the second Youth
that has died, in more than the Space of four Years : which among several
Hundreds that have been constantly educating in it, is uncommon, as it
has been long observ' d, in all the Schools and Colleges of Europe, that
one out of an Hundred dies one Year with another. Our City was never
known, upon the whole, so healthy in the Month of August, as this year,
nor have we ever had fewer Deaths * * * As the Preacher seem'd
sensibly touch' d with his subject, and was known to have loved the

208 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Deceased, who had grown up under him for several Years, and was a
Plant reared by his own Hand, the Discourse had a very great effect upon
the Audience. It is now in the Press, by the particular Desire and Advice
of some who heard it, and will be published about the Middle of next
week. 2

During Franklin's absence in the early part of 1755 in a
tour in the New England States, he visited New Haven, at
which time at a reception in College Hall the Rev'd Ezra Stiles,
an alumnus of 1746, then a Tutor, and in 1778 President of
Yale College pronounced a Latin oration in compliment to him.
Franklin's friendship with the Rev. Jared Eliot, one of the Trus-
tees of the College, and acquaintance with President Clap had in-
duced him in 1749 to send an electrical machine to the College ;
and the experiments made with it at this time by Mr. Stiles are
claimed to have been the first of the kind in New England. 3

2 " Personal Affliction and frequent Reflection upon human Life of great
Use to lead man to the Remembrance of God." A Sermon, &c., Printed by B.
Franklin and D. Hall, 1754.

3 Yale College, Kingsley. i. 78, 103. This oration, " In Gratulatione Nobilis-
simi et Amplissimi vivi B. FRAMCLINI, Armig. Pensylvan. De Honoribus suis, ob.
Ratiocinia & Inventiones ejus eximias et insignes in ELECTRICISMO ; oratio, quam ad
ILLUM, in Aula Acad. Yal. Habuit. EZRA STILES, Nonis Februarii, A. D. 1755,"
is given in full in William Temple Franklin's Memoirs of the Life and Writings
of his Grandfather, London, 1818, quarto Vol. i,p. 443, and octavo edition ii.
289. Mr. Dexter, Assistant Librarian of Yale University, favors me with a copy from
Dr. Stiles' original MS. of the oration ; the author must have furnished Dr. Franklin,
upon request, with a copy, and this doubtless was found among the latter's papers
from which it was inserted in the Memoirs of 1818. This latter bears some verbal
changes from the original which make no difference, however, in the proper render-
ing. Mr. Dexter writes me: "In February, 1755, the Tutors were the only resi-
" dent instructors besides the President; and with President Clap's partiality for Stiles,
"it is not strange that the duty of welcoming Franklin was committed to him." For
a further reference to this interesting occasion see Mr. Dexter's Annals of the College
History for 1754-55, ii. 355 : " Another distinguished writer in the following Feb-
"ruarywas Benjamin Franklin, who was now Deputy Postmaster General for the
" North American Continent, and had already received the honors of the College for
'' his brilliant electrical discoveries, &c."

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 209

XXVII.

We have seen that Mr. Smith was chosen Provost and Mr.
Alison Vice-Provost in March, 1755, in advance of the passage of
the new charter, in order to secure the names of the incumbents
of these two offices being inserted in the draft of the charter.
This new charter, as stated in a previous page, was based upon
a suggestion to the Trustees in December, 1754, submitted by
Mr. Alison and Mr. Smith, looking to securing the needed power
of conferring degrees, which was not accorded in the charter of
1753. These gentlemen, under instructions to draw up a clause
to be added to the charter for that purpose, appeared at the Jan-
uary meeting and " laid before the Trustees the Draught of a
Charter" drawn up by Mr. Smith,

for the Purposes mentioned in the Minute of 10 December last, which
being long and containing several matters of Importance, Mr Francis Mr
Peters Mr White and William Coleman are appointed a Committee to
examine the same, and are desir'd to report thereon at the next meeting,
[on II February] Mr Peters reported that the Committee appointed to
examine the Draught of a Charter laid before the Trustees at their last
meeting, after maturely considering the said Draught, had made a new
one, varying from the former in several Particulars, and the said new
Draught being produced by Mr Francis, was read, and considered Para-
graph by Paragraph, and after a small Alteration was approved of and
ordered to be engrossed. [On 7 March] the Trustees being now informed
that the Governor agreeable to the Prayer of their Petition to him, was
ready to grant them a Charter on the Terms of the above mentioned
Draught, resolved to wait on him immediately in order to receive the same
at his Hands.

These were Messrs. Hamilton, Franklin, Inglis, Stedman, M'Call,
Allen, White, Plumsted, Turner, Cadwalader, Strettell, Maddox,
Peters, Phin. Bond, Francis, Tho. Bond, Leech, Masters, Syng
and Coleman. But a clause in the charter excited some mis-
apprehension as to its scope, which perhaps was only detected
upon the due application of its terms ; and at the meeting of 13
May, the only Minute recorded bears on the question :

The new Charter lately granted to the Trustees being produced and
read, some Objection was made to a clause therein, as tending to confirm

2io HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

any future Provost, Vice Provost and Professors in their respective offices
during Life, which not being intended Mr Peters was desired to wait on
the Governor in Behalf of the Trustees, and request he would be pleased
to alter the same.

This was accorded ; and on 10 June, 1/55,

the clause in the new Charter objected to at the last Meeting having
been altered by the Governor to the Satisfaction of the Trustees, and the
Charter afterwards repass'd the Seal all the Trustees who attended this
meeting [namely Messrs Franklin, Phin. Bond, Taylor, Cadwalader, Zach-
ary, Peters, Stedman, Shippen, Masters, Hamilton, Strettell, Turner,
Syng, Inglis, Tho. Bond, and Coleman,] except Lloyd Zachary, waited
on the Governor as did likewise the Provost and Vice Provost ; and
respectively took and subscribed the Qualifications thereby required in his
Presence. And the Trustees in Consequence thereof do now assume the
Name and Title of THE TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE, ACADEMY AND
CHARITABLE SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIA IN THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYL-
VANIA, by which Name they are incorporated.

Dr. Zachary never qualified and took his seat in the Board ; but
his death in November 1756 removed his name from the list of
Trustees. At the meeting of 30 June Messrs. Francis, Maddox and
Mifflin, qualified and took their seats ; and on 1 1 July, Messrs.
Allen and White appeared in like manner. As there are no min-
utes between that date and 9 December, we find no record of the
times Messrs. Leech, M'Call, and Plumsted took their seats under
due qualification.

Early information to the public was given of the passage of
the first draft of this charter, by Franklin in the Gazette of 1 1
March, 1755 :

Last Friday an additional Charter passed the Great Seal of this
Province by which a COLLEGE, in the most extensive Sense of the Word,
is erected in this city, and added to that Collection of Schools, formerly
called the Academy, under the same general Government, the Trustees
being now incorporated by the Name of ' ' THE TRUSTEES OF THE COL-
LEGE, ACADEMY, AND CHARITABLE SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIA, IN THE
PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA." The Chief Masters are also made a
FACULTY, or learned Body, by the Name of ' ' THE PROVOST, VICE PRO-
VOST, AND PROFESSORS OF THE COLLEGE AND ACADEMY OF PHILADEL-
PHIA IN THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA," and a Power of admitting
Students and others to the usual UNIVERSITY DEGREES is granted, under
such wise and judicious Restrictions, that the Honors of the Seminary

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 211

can hardly ever be prostituted to mean or venal Purposes, but must be
the object of every Student's Ambition, who is capable of distinguishing
between real and counterfeit Honor. That Clause in the Charter relating
to DEGREES shall be inserted in next Week' s Gazette, that such as are
desirous of the Honors of this College, may see on what terms they are to
expect them, and how far they may be considered as real Honors.

XXVIII.

Four of the original trustees were now dead. To the names
of Logan and Hopkinson, already recorded, were added
Lawrence and Willing ; a fifth, Dr. Zachary participated no
further in the councils of the Trustees. Isaac Norris who
had succeeded Logan had tendered his resignation from
want of time amid pressure of public duties. Governor Hamil-
ton had been chosen 17 September, 1754, to succeed Mr.
Lawrence; Mr. Alexander Stedman, on n February, 1755 to
succeed Mr. Willing ; and Mr John Mifflin on 7 March, 1755 to
fill the vacancy left by Mr. Norris. Both Hamilton and Sted-
man attended the meeting which elected the new Provost and
Vice-Provost, and Mifflin's election was had at the same meet-
ing. Before we proceed in our narrative of the College under
the creation given to it by the charter of 1755, let us learn
somewhat of these new Trustees, who all shared actively in its
work.

JAMES HAMILTON, son of Andrew Hamilton, a Councillor,
and a native of Accomac County, Virginia, was born about
1710. His sister, Margaret, was wife of Chief Justice Allen,
one of the original Trustees of the Academy. His father own-
ing lands in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, he was returned
from there to the Provincial Assembly when but twenty-four
years of age, and was re-elected five times therefrom. Removing
afterwards to Philadelphia, he was made a member of Council

212 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

in 1739, in 1741 an Alderman, was chosen Mayor in
October, 1745, and while Mayor was called to a seat in the
Provincial Council and qualified 17 January, 1746. Visiting
England, he returned from there in November, 1748, bearing a
commission from the Perms as Lieutenant-Governor of the Prov-
ince. Franklin writing to James Logan 6 April, 1748, says,
" You must have heard that Mr. James Hamilton is appointed
our Governor ; an event that gives us the more pleasure, as we
esteem him a benevolent and upright, as well as a sensible
man." T His instructions from home hampered him in his deal-
ings with the Assembly, whose bills for the issue of paper
money could not meet his approval as they were without the
required proviso that the operations of all such should be sus-
pended until the Royal assent to them could be had. The
assembly stood firm on their privileges, and the Governor was
embarrassed, for the French were threatening and the Quaker
assembly, averse to appropriations for war purposes, though not
so to points of money "for the King's use," which would indeed
cover many an object whether for war or for peace, could only
recognize the issue of bills as the surest way of raising money
even for the requirements of the province. Hamilton asked to
be superseded, and a month after his election as a Trustee of
the Academy he was relieved of the Governorship by the arrival
in October, 1754, of Robert Hunter Morris, whose success with
the Assembly was no better. " Weary of a service, which he
found incompatible, if not with his notions of honor, at least
with his repose, he had desired to be dismissed." 2 Hamilton
remained in the Council, and was active in all efforts of the
authorities to thwart the ravages of the Indians on the borders,
traveling even in midwinter to secure proper organization of the
inhabitants and friendly Indians, for in the year after his retiring
from the Governorship Braddock's defeat had thrown the
whole Province into consternation. He was again commissioned
Lieutenant-Governor on 19 July, 1759, when on a visit to

1 Bigelow, ii. 115.

' 2 'Historical Review, in Sparks, iii. 280. In Franklin's letter to David Hume,
27 September, 1760, he disclaims the authorship of this Review. Bigelow, iii. 125.
But this disclaimer seems yet an open question with historians.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 213

England, but on the understanding he be not restrained from
assenting to any reasonable bill for taxing the Proprietary
estates in common with all other estates in the Provinces. This
was the political sore of the Province, which grew into greater
proportions in after years. In a letter to Thomas Penn, 21
August, 1759, he says :

Everybody knows I did not solicit my appointment to it; nor have I
varied the terms, on which I professed to engage in it, one iota from the
beginning. Those terms were that I would not be restrained from giving
my assent to any reasonable bill for taxing the proprietary estates in
common with all the other estates in the province, because in my opinion
it was not more than just that it should be so. If you have changed
your sentiments, with regard to this matter, which, for a long time I
looked upon to be the same as mine, it will give me no pain on my own
account. * * * * I think it incumbent on me to declare, as I
have frequently done, that I cannot think of engaging myself in that
service, but upon the terms and conditions above mentioned. 3

In 1760 a bill was introduced for raising ^100,000 assess-
ments to be on all alike ; but inasmuch as the assessors only
represented the people and in their appointment the Penns had
no voice, hamilton endeavored for some change in the bill,
but without avail, and finally approved it under the necessity at
that time existing for money, all his contention having been that
the Proprietaries be put on an equal footing with all others. He
was again relieved from the office by the arrival of John Penn
in October, 1763, as Lieutenant Governor. On Mr. Penn's
departure in May, 1771, as President of the Council, Ham-
ilton was for the third time acting Governor of the province,
and in this term encountered the controversies of the
Connecticut claimants in the Wyoming Valley. And again a
fourth term for a few months after Richard Penn left the pro-
vince in July, 1773. He stood apart from the movements of
the Revolution, his political associations drawing his sympathy
to the English side. In 1777 he was a prisoner on parole

1 Sparks, vii. 172.

214 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

within the bounds of the province. He was at Northampton
during the occupation of Philadelphia by the British, but returned
here on a pass, not long after the enemy evacuated the city,
and he returned to Bush Hill, which he had inherited from
his father, the Woodlands west of the Schuylkill having been
left to his brother Andrew. James Hamilton died in New York
14 August, 1783. He was never married and his brother's son
William succeeded to his estates including Bush Hill.

He partook with his associates the like lively interest
with them in the meetings of the Trustees and the affairs of the
College, but his public concerns in the Council and otherwise
forbad him a regular attendance at the meetings. His wealth
joined to a personal influence gave him a position of great
weight in the community, and a taste for scientific pursuits and
a desire for the furtherance of public enterprises showed him to
be a man of parts. He was for some years President of the
Philosophical Society when it united with the Society for Pro-
moting Useful Knowledge, and at the first election for the
President of the new Society, 2 January, 1769, he and Franklin
were placed in nomination, but the latter although then abroad,
with his reputation in science and as the founder of the original
Philosophical Society in 1743, was elected. The firmness and
strength of his character are portrayed sufficiently in his letter
to Thomas Penn already referred to. And there must have been
between him and Franklin certain lines of sympathy in the pro-
prietary contest, which was active at the time he was elected a
Trustee, which served to bring the two often together in con-
ference on the public situation. Hamilton's first administration
as Governor is very completely portrayed in the Historical Reiew
of Pennsylvania above referred to.

ALEXANDER STEDMAN was born in 1703 the son of Robert
Stedman of Kinross. He took part in the Stuart rising of 1745,
was taken prisoner after Culloden, but escaped to America and
settled in Philadelphia, and made his peace with the mother
country. He was a sound lawyer and profound mathematician.
He was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 215

21 March, 1764.* He was a Vestryman of Christ Church from
1758 to 1766, and was Church Warden from 1759 to 1762. On
the declaration of the colonies' independence he withdrew to
England, and retired to Swansea where he died aged 91. He
married Elizabeth daughter of William Chancellor of Peresford,
Somerset. He and his brother Charles became largely inter-
ested in Lancaster County lands, a large portion of which they
sold in 1758 to Baron Stiegel, upon which the latter laid out the
town of Manheim, and eventually he bought the entire Stedman
interest in the tract. 5 Alexander Stedman was one of the Com-
mission in 1 756 appointed by Lieutenant Governor Morris to audit,
adjust and settle the accounts of certain owners of horses and
wagons, contracted for by Benjamin Franklin under General
Braddock's service. 6

Alexander's younger brother Charles, born 1713, shared in
the ill fortunes of the Stuarts, and came to Pennsylvania where
his interests increased. He was a member of Christ Church
Vestry in 1752-74 and again 1776-78 ; and was Church Warden
in 1764 and 65, and was present at Mr Duche's house on 4 July,
1776 when the Vestry unanimously passed the resolution
requesting in the name of the vestry and their constituents to
omit the petitions in the liturgy for the royal family. Charles
married in 1769 Ann, daughter of Or Thomas Graeme.

Sabine says of Alexander and his son Charles, Jr : " of Phila-
delphia : the latter a lawyer. Both attainted of treason, and
estates confiscated." 7

* He had been commissioned Associate Justice of the City Court 5 October,
1756, and President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of
Philadelphia in place of William Coleman, 8 April, 1758, and Presiding Justice of the
Orphans' Court 9 December following.

5 Pennsylvania Magazine, i. 69 and viii. 68.

6 Ibid., v. 336. Dr. William Drewet Smith was married to Miss Peggy
Stedman daughter of Alexander Stedman, Esq., of this city. Peunsylvania
Gazette 23 Aug. 1775.

1 Loyalists, ii. 581. Charles, Jr., became head of the Commissariat of the
British army in the States, war prisoner in 1776 and again 1780, and was companion
to Major Andre while in prison. He was author of the History of the Origin, Progress,
and Termination of the American War. 2 vols. quarto, London, 1794. *' The author
thinks that Howe could have closed the war victoriously in the campaign of 1776."
Allibone.

216 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

JOHN MIFFLIN was born in Philadelphia 18 January, 1715,
the son of George Mifflin and grandson of John Mifflin of Wilt-
shire, England, who was one of the first arrivals in Pennsyl-
vania. He became a merchant of great prominence, and was
elected a Councilman of Philadelphia in 1747, and an Alder-
man in 1751, to the latter office being chosen concurrently with
Franklin. He had been but a few months Trustee of the
Academy when he was on 2 November, 1755, called to the Pro-
vincial Council. He was one of the Commissioners appointed
by Act of Assembly to disburse the .60,000 granted after a
long struggle by the Assembly "for the King's use," a eupho-
nious phrase denoting the defence of the Province, which the
Assembly under its Friendly Control would not directly vote for
military defence. He died in February, 1759, and was buried
in Friends' Burying Ground. He was twice married, his second
wife being Sarah daughter of William Fishbourne, whose widow
married John Galloway. Mrs. Mifflin eventually married Mr.
John Beale Bordley of Maryland. John Mifflin's eldest son
Thomas, a graduate of the College and Academy in 1760,
became a Trustee in 1773 ; his eminent services in the Revolu-
tion and as the first Governor of Pennsylvania will demand a
notice when we reach his election. His son by the second wife,
John Fishbourne, was a graduate of the College and Academy in
1775, and became a Trustee of the University in 1802.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 217

XXIX.

At the meeting of 10 June, 1755 "The President, Mr.
Hamilton, Mr. Taylor, Doctor Phineas Bond, Mr. Peters, and
Mr. Stedman, were appointed a Committee to Examine a
Draught of Sundry Rules and Statutes now proposed to the
Trustees to be enacted," doubtless prepared by the President and
submitted by him for adoption. And at the meeting of 1 1 July,

the President reported, That the Committee appointed at the last meeting
to examine a Draught of sundry Rules and Statutes then laid before the
Trustees, had after due consideration, made some Alterations therein ; and
the same being now produced and read were approved and enacted, being
in the following Words :

RULES AND STATUTES OF THE COLLEGE, ACADEMY AND
CHARITY-SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIA.

SECT. I.
OF THE GENERAL POWERS OF THE FACULTY IN EXECUTING LAWS.

As a Faculty, the Provost, Vice-Provost and Professors, shall have
an immediate & general Regard to the Manners and Education of all the
Youth, belonging to this College, Academy and Charity-School.

They shall be invested with the Execution of all Laws, that shall
from Time to Time, be made by the Trustees, for the wholsome Govern-
ment of the several Members of the same ; excepting in those particular
Cases, wherein, by Laws and Statutes hereafter to be enacted, it may be
thought proper to restrict them.

That they may more effectually discharge this Trust, they shall meet
at least once a Fortnight in the College & Academy and oftener if the
Provost think fit, or any two Members of the Faculty desire him to call a
Meeting.

When met, they shall diligently examine what Proficiency the
Students make from Time to Time, under their respective Professors or
Tutors ; and whether there be any Breach, or Neglect of the Laws of the
Corporation among the Students, and shall determine all Matters by a
Majority of Votes.

In Consequence of these Determinations, the Person who presides
at such Meetings, as hereinafter directed, shall, in the Name of the Fac-
ulty, encourage and reward the deserving, & admonish, censure, or inflict
such Mulcts & lesser Punishments on Delinquents, as the Majority of the
Faculty so met, shall deem reasonable and conformable to the Laws then
in Force.

218 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

But that Things of a more weighty Nature may be done with greater
Deliberation and Solemnity, the Inflicting upon any Student or Students,
the greater Punishments of Expulsion, Suspension and Degradation, shall
be by Direction of the Trustees only when duly met

And, if at such Meetings of the Faculty it shall appear, that there
has been a Neglect of Duty in any Professor, the Faculty shall admonish
him in the most friendly Manner ; but if repeated Admonitions have not
the proper Effect, they shall lay the Matter before the Trustees.

SECT. 2.
OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF THE FACULTY.

And that a Body of good Laws may speedily be compiled & perfected
by Persons, who from their daily Employments in this Seminary, have
frequent Opportunities of discovering the Necessity, or Utility, of particular
Regulations ; and because various Cases and Circumstances may arise,
which no human Prudence can foresee, and against which the Laws then
in Being have not sufficiently provided ; the Faculty, when met, shall from
Time to Time, have Power to make such Ordinances and Regulations, as
they, or the major Part of them, shall judge necessary, either for the
Education of the Youth, or the better Government of the several Members
of this College Academy & Charity-School. The Regulations and Ordi-
nances so made by the Faculty, shall have the same Force as Laws and
Statutes of the Trustees till their first ensuing Meeting ; before whom at
their said first ensuing Meeting, all such Regulations and Ordinances shall be
laid by the Provost or any other Person they may appoint for that Purpose.

If at the first Meeting of the Trustees the said Regulations and
Ordinances shall not be annulled, they shall still continue in Force, as
Ordinances of the Faculty, subject to such Amendments & Alterations as
the Trustees from Time to Time shall think proper ; till at last by them
either annulled or ratified, and enrolled among the publick Statutes.

Nevertheless no Regulation or Ordinance made by the Faculty shall
be valid if they neglect to lay the same before the Trustees at their first
ensuing Meeting as above directed, nor shall any Ordinance be made
repugnant to the standing Laws of the Corporation.

But if the Faculty find any Amendment or Alteration of a standing
Law of the Corporation necessary, they shall propose the same to the
Trustees for their Consideration.

SECT. 3.
OF THE PARTICULAR POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PROVOST.

The Provost shall have a general Inspection of the Morals and
Behaviour of all the Youth, to admonish and regulate them in all Affairs
of smaller Concern.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 219

He shall also have Power to call a Meeting of the Faculty whenever
he shall judge it necessary.

In all Meetings of the Faculty, stated or occasional, he shall preside ;
and likewise in all publick Acts and Disputations, and in publick Exami-
nations and Commencements.

SECT. 4.
OF THE VICE-PROVOST.

During the necessary Absence of the Provost, the Vice-Provost shall
be invested with all the Powers, and do the Duties of a Provost

Upon the Death, Cession or Removal, of the Provost, the Vice-
Provost shall exercise all the said Powers as he was used to do in the
ordinary Absence of the Provost, till a Successor be chosen and admitted.

SECT. 5.
OF THE SENIOR PROFESSOR.

In the necessary Absence of both the Provost and Vice-Provost
all the aforesaid Powers shall be devolved upon the Senior Professor that
shall be present, according to that Order of Precedence which shall from
Time to Time be settled by the Trustees among the Professors, next after
the Provost and Vice-Provost.

In the College and At a Meeting of the Corporation, the

Academy Hall July nth five foregoing Sections of Laws & Statutes

1755. were enacted, and ordered to be enrolled

in the Book of Statutes, and a Copy of
them to be delivered to the Faculty.

B. FRANKLIN President of the
Trustees.

And the following three Laws or Statutes, drawn up by the President,
after being read and consider' d by the Trustees, were also enacted, to wit :

LAWS OR STATUTES OF THE TRUSTEES.

CHAP. I.

Concerning Elections.

It is enacted by the Trustees of the College, Academy and Charitable
School of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania, That all Elections
to be made hereafter by the Trustees aforesaid, for the Time being,
Whether of a President, Treasurer, Clerk, or other Officer of the Trustees,
or of Provost, Vice-Provost, Professor of any Kind, or other Master,
Usher, or Officer of the College, Academy or Charitable School, shall be
made by written Tickets containing the Name or Names of the Person or

22O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Persons voted for, put into the President's Hat by the Persons voting ; and
the Choice appearing to be made by a Majority of such Tickets, shall be
immediately entered by the Clerk in the Minutes of the Trustees Proceed-
ings.

CHAP. II.
Concerning the Meetings of the Trustees, & Officers to be chosen.

It is enacted, That the Trustees shall meet on the second Tuesday
of every Month throughout the Year, at the Academy, to visit the Schools,
examine the Scholars, hear their publick Exercises, and transact such other
Business as may come before them, and also at such other Times and
Places as they shall adjourn to at such Meetings, or as they shall be called
to meet at by the President on Special unforeseen Occasions.

And at their first Meeting in the Month of May yearly they shall
chuse a President, for the ensuing Year, whose particular Duty it shall be,
when present, to regulate their Debates, and State the Questions arising
from them ; to sign the Orders of the Trustees, and to direct Notices to be
given of the Times and Places of their special Conventions.

They shall also at the same Time, chuse one of their own Members
to be Treasurer, who shall receive all Donations and Money due to them,
and disburse and lay out the Same according to their Orders ; And at the
End of each Year pay the Sum remaining in his Hands to his Successor.

They shall also at the same Time chuse a Clerk for the ensuing
Year ; whose Duty it shall be to keep an exact Account of the Times of
all Admissions and Departures of Students, the Quarterly Sums due from
each, and the Payments made ; and also to collect the Sums due from
Time to Time, whether Entrance Money or Quarteridge, and pay the same
Quarterly into the Hands of the Treasurer. The Clerk shall also make
out and deliver written Notices to the Trustees, one Day at least before
each Meeting, of the Time Place of such Meeting ; attend the Trustees
at their Meetings, and take the Names of the Persons present, with true
Minutes of their Proceedings.

CHAP. III.
Of the Number of Trustees necessary to do Business.

It is enacted That, due Notice having been left by the Clerk, in
Writing, at the House of each Trustee, signifying the Time and Place of
any Meeting of the Trustees, the Members that shall meet in pursuance of
such Notice, may one Hour after the time appointed, proceed to consider
any Business that shall come before them relating to their Trust ; and the
Determination of a Majority of those so met, shall be as valid and con-
clusive as if the whole Number of Trustees were present.

Provided nevertheless, That when any Money is to be laid out or

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 221

disposed of, exceeding the Sum of Twenty Pounds, or any Salary to be
augmented at any Meeting of the Trustees, the same shall be first pro-
posed at a preceding Meeting and particularly express' d in the written
Notice to be given.

In addition to the approval and enactment of the above
The President, Mr. Peters and Mr. Inglis are appointed a Committee to
consider the Rates to be paid by the Scholars in the General schools and
to prepare a Scheme thereof, to be laid before the Trustees at their next
Meeting. They are likewise desired to consider what Vacations and
Hollidays ought to be allowed.

We are without the results or report of this Committee's work,
as there is an absence of all Minutes for five months those of 9
December being the next recorded, but mention must not be
omitted of their voting at this meeting " a Sum not exceeding
one Hundred and Fifty pounds Sterling, be laid out in an Ap-
paratus for exhibiting Philosophical Experiments." It was at
this July meeting " Mr. Paul Jackson was chosen clerk to the
Trustees for the ensuing year, and to be allowed Six pounds per
annum for that service." Mr. Jackson had been a tutor for
three years, and in less than a twelvemonth from this time we
shall find him one of the Faculty. The faithful Trustee, Wil-
liam Coleman, was thus relieved from the clerkship ; at the first
meeting of the Trustees he was elected Treasurer, but on 17
December, 1750, "Mr. William Coleman being requested to act
as Clerk for the ensuing year, agrees to perform that service,"
but his year lengthened out to almost five years. The new
clerk makes no note of explanation of this hiatus in the pro-
ceedings of the Trustees. It was however a season of alarm in
the Province, for Braddock's expedition which had raised the
highest hopes of a final destruction to the efforts of the French
and their Indian allies on our borders had by his defeat in July
brought the colonists to the lowest straits of anxiety and alarm.
General Braddock had landed at Alexandria, Virginia, with his
confident troops and in his own greater confidence, and marched
thence to Fredericktown, where he was obliged to halt for
transportation. The unfortunate dissensions in the Pennsylvania
Assembly, the non-resistants opposed to grants for military
defence, and the executive hampered, Braddock had formed the

222 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

impression that Pennsylvania was averse to aiding the King in
this expedition. The Assembly deputed Franklin to visit the
British General and under guise of arranging a postal service
during his campaign to disabuse his mind of any wrong im-
pressions held of the Pennsylvanians. The Minutes of 8 April
simply state, " The Trustees should have met this Day, but
most of them being engaged in Publick Business, no meeting was
held ;" Franklin was at the time with Braddock, and in his
Autobiography says, 1

We found the General at Frederictown, waiting impatiently for the
return of those he had sent through the back parts of Maryland and Vir-
ginia to collect waggons. I stayed with him several days, dined with him
daily, and had full opportunity of removing all his prejudices, by the infor-
mation of what the Assembly had before his arrival actually done, and
were still willing to do, to facilitate his operations. When I was about to
depart, the returns of waggons to be obtained were brought in, by which it
appeared, that they amounted only to twenty-five, and not all of those were
in serviceable condition. The General and all the officers were surprised,
declared the expedition was then at an end, being impossible ; and
exclaimed against the ministers for ignorantly landing them into a country
destitute of the means of conveying their stores, baggage, &c not less than
one hundred and fifty waggons being necessary. I happened to say, I
thought it was a pity they had not been landed rather in Pennsylvania, as
in that country almost every farmer had his waggon. The General eagerly
laid hold of my words, and said, Then you, sir, who are a man of interest
there, can probably procure them for us ; and I beg you will undertake it.

On his way North Franklin issued an Advertisement from
Lancaster on 26 April, where he would attend " from this day
to next Wednesday evening, and at York from next Thursday
morning till Friday evening," calling for the needed wagons
and horses, and offering to contract for the same ; and at the
same time issued an Appeal to the Inhabitants of the Counties
of Lancaster, and York, concluding,

the King's business must be done ; so many brave troops, come so far for
your defence, must not stand idle through your backwardness to do what
may be reasonably expected from you ; wagons and horses must be had ;
violent measures will probably be used, and you will be left to seek for a
recompense where you can find it, and your case perhaps be little pitied
or regarded.

1 Bigelow, i. 250.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 223

Of Franklin's success in this appeal, history makes full
record ; but as the colonists

alleged they did not know General Braddock, or what dependence might
be had on his promise, insisted on my bond for the performance, which I
accordingly gave them .

Franklin was in Philadelphia by the meeting of 1 3 May ;
and on 24 June attended the Grand Lodge of Masons, of
which he was Deputy Grand Master, held in their new Lodge,
from which the body proceeded to Christ Church, where the
Rev. William Smith, who had been a Mason before he came to
America, preached a Sermon, 2 entitled An earnest Exhortation
to Religion, Brotherly Love and public Spirit, in the present
Dangerous State of Affairs ; which forms the second of his
published Discourses, the text of which is, Love the Brother-
hood ; fear God ; honor the King. In this the young Provost
earnestly pleaded for a proper resistance to the enemy and
defence of one's home, and struck the key note of those who
blamed the Quakers in the Assembly who scrupled to defend
the Province by armed resources ;

The doctrine of Non resistance, * * * is now sufficiently
exploded ; and may it be for ever treated with that sovereign Contempt,
which it deserves among a wise and virtuous people. God gave us Free-
dom as our Birthright, and in his own government of the world he never
violates that Freedom, nor can those be his Vicegerents who do. To say
they are, is blaspheming his holy name, and giving the lie to his righteous
authority. The Love of Mankind and the Fear of God, those very prin-
ciples from which we trace the divine original of just government, would
lead us, by all probable means, to resist every tryant to destruction, who
should attempt to enslave the free-born Soul, and oppose the righteous will
of God, by defeating the happiness of Man * * * Suffer me now to
apply what has been said, by earnestly charging every one of this audience
to a conscientious observance of these duties ; for if there ever was a
people, in a more peculiar manner, called to observe them, we who inhabit
these colonies are that people. Being yet in our infancy, and surrounded

* " Forty years will this day have finished the long period, since I first
addressed from this pulpit, a grand Communication of Brethren, with our great fel-
low-laborer, the venerable Franklin, at their head." Dr. Smith's Sermon in St.
Peter's Church, 24 June, 1795. Works, ii. 74. But Dr. Smith overlooked, at this
long interval, the fact that the early sermon was in Christ Church. Works, ii. 27.
St. Peter's Church was not then existing.

224 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

with restless enemies, our Strength, our Success, and our future glory,
depend upon our trust in God, our love and unanimity among ourselves,
and obedience to that one thing, which is necessary to collect our scattered
rays, and pour them, with impressive force, upon the heads of our
proud foes. * * * Shall we, whose souls have been taught to exult at
the sacred sound of liberty, not be roused, animated, and enflamed, by
our present danger, to secure a treasure which includes in it almost every
human felicity ? Things of inferior concern may be adjusted at another
season ; and those who pretend to the greatest public spirit, should be the
first to give a proof of it, by turning their attention to the main chance, at
a juncture when our strength and success so evidently depend on unanim-
ity and immediate action. Is this is a time for dissensions about matters
of trivial moment, when the very vitals of Liberty are attacked, which,
once gone, may never be recovered ? Is this a time to decline toils or
dangers, or expence, when all lies at stake, for which a wise man would
choose to live, or dare to die !

So impressive was this Discourse and so timely its senti-
ments that the young preacher not yet thirty years of age,
whose pulpit power was now further established in the com-
munity, was requested to give a copy of it for the press.

XXX.

Braddock was then within a fortnight of his defeat and
death. But of the confidence felt in the community generally
in his success Franklin mentions an incident showing their faith
in it of the two doctors Bond, his fellow trustees.

Before we had the news of this defeat, the two doctors Bond came to
me with a subscription paper for raising money to defray the expense of a
grand firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoicing on receiving
the news of our taking Fort Duquesne. I looked grave, and said, it
would, I thought, be time enough to prepare the rejoicing when we knew
we should have occasion to rejoice. They seemed surprised that I did not
immediately comply with their proposal. "Why the d 1" said one of
them "you surely don't suppose that the fort will not be taken?" "I
don't know that it will not be taken ; but I know that the events of war

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PEXNYSLVANIA. 225

are subject to great uncertainty." l I gave them the reasons of my doubt-
ing ; the subscription was dropt, and the projectors thereby missed the
mortification they would have undergone, if the firework had been pre-
pared. Dr Bond, on some other occasion afterward, said, that he did not
like Franklin' s forebodings.

Those April days passed in Braddock's society at Frederic-
town had not given Franklin confidence in the general's ability
to succeed in such untried warfare. When Braddock was detail-
ing to him his confident plans by which Fort Duquesne would
easily be taken, and from thence to Niagara for its capture, and
thence to Frontenac " if the season will allow time, and I sup-
pose it will, for Duquesne can hardly detain me above three or
four days, and then I see nothing that can obstruct my march
to Niagara."

But Franklin 2 ventured only to say, To be sure, sir, if you arrive
well before Duquesne, with these fine troops, so well provided with artil-
lery, that place not yet compleatly fortified, and as we hear with no very
strong garrison, can probably make but a short resistance. The only
danger I apprehend of obstruction to your march is from ambuscades of
Indians, who, by constant practice, are dexterous in laying and executing
them ; and the slender line, near four miles long, which your army must
make, may expose it to be cut like a thread into several pieces, which,
frbm their distance, cannot come up in time to support each other. He
smiled at my ignorance, and reply' d, These savages, may, indeed, be a
formidable enemy to your raw American militia, but upon the King's
regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make any
impression. I was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing with a
military man in matters of his profession, and said no more.

But Braddock's boast was remembered to the discourage-
ment of Dr Bond's proposed firework.

This serious reverse to the British arms brought renewed
dangers to the frontiers ; the proprietaires, yet unwilling to suffer
taxation on their lands, now thoroughly alarmed, added five
thousand pounds of their money to whatever sum might be
given by the Assembly for such purpose ; whereupon the
Assembly passed a new bill with a clause exempting from taxa-
tion their estates, and voted sixty thousand pounds, chiefly for

1 Bigelow, i. 263. 2 Bigelow, i. 258.

226 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the defence of the province, which was to be disposed of by
seven commissioners, Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Norris, James
Hamilton, John Mifflin, Joseph Fox, Evan Morgan and John
Hughes. Franklin says

I had been active in modelling the bill and procuring its passage,
and had, at the same time, drawn a bill for establishing and disciplining a
voluntary militia, which I carried thro' the House without much difficulty,
as care was taken in it to leave the Quakers at their liberty. * * *
While the several companies in the city and country were forming, and
learning their exercise, the governor prevail' d with me to take charge of
our North Western frontier, which was infested by the enemy, and provide
for the defense of the inhabitants by raising troops and building a line of
forts. I undertook this military business, tho' I did not conceive myself
well qualified for it. * * * I had but little difficulty in raising men,
having soon five hundred and sixty under my command. * * * The
Indians had burned Gnadenhut, a village settled by the Moravians, and
massacred the inhabitants. * * * In order to march thither, I assem-
bled the companies at Bethlehem, the chief establishment of those people.

He with Hamilton and Fox left Philadelphia on 18 Decem-
ber " for the Frontiers in order to settle Matters for the
Defence of the Province." 3 On 15 January, 1756 he writes to his
wife

I hope in a fortnight or three weeks, God willing, to see the intended
line of forts finished, and then I shall make a trip to Philadelphia, and
send away the lottery tickets, and pay off the prizes, though you may pay
such as come to hand of those sold in Philadelphia of my signing.

This reference was to the second class of the Academy
Lottery, the drawings for which had been made on 25 December,
the first class drawings having been on 28 August. On his
return to Philadelphia, early in February, he was commissioned
Colonel, William Masters Lieutenant Colonel, and John Ross
Major of the Philadelphia Regiment 4 He writes to his sister
on 12 February, 5

I am just returned from my military expedition, and now my time is
taken up in the Assembly. Providence seems to require various duties of
me. I know not what will be next, but I find, the more I seek for leisure
and retirement from business, the more I am engaged in it.

3 Pennsylvania Gazette, 1 8 December, 1755.

* Ibid, 19 February, 1756. 5 Bigelow, ii. 455.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 227

In the month following he visits Virginia with Col. Hunter his
associate postmaster general, from whence he did not return
home until early in June. His attendance at the meeting of the
Trustees this month was his first for the year. He was immedi-
ately afterwards in New York. And in November he was again
drawn North by the restlessness of the Indians, with whom a
conference was held at Easton beginning on the 8th, when he
and Fox and Masters, and Hughes, were delegates from the
Assembly, and Dr. Peters and William Logan from the Council.

His many absences of late brought some inconvenience to
the Trustees, and at the meeting of 1 1 May, 1756, while he was in
Virginia, the annual election recurring afforded the opportunity
for electing Dr. Peters President for the ensuing year. Besides the
June meeting, he attended those in September and December,
and that of n January, 1757, but on 4 April following he set
out on his first mission to England as representative of the
Assembly and his immediate counsels were from that time lost
to his fellow Trustees.

At the time of Dr. Peters succession to the Presidency a
minute was adopted

as the Trustees apprehended that in Case of the Absence or Indisposition
of their President they were not authorised to meet on Special Occasions,
how much soever the Nature of the Case might require their immediate
Attention, it was Resolved that in Case of the absence or Sickness of the
President, the Senior Trustee shall be vested with all the powers of a
President by Virtue of which he is to call special meetings and preside in
them ;

which action freed them from the difficulties often arising
in Franklin's absence.

When Franklin's mission of 1757 was initiated the words
of the Assembly's resolution of 28 January were that a
Committee " be appointed to go Home to England on behalf
of the People of this Province to solicit a Removal of the
Grievances we labour under by Reason of Proprietary In-
structions," and when Isaac Norn's the Speaker and Benjamin
Franklin were next day " requested to go," it was still " to go
Home to England." The light of later days dims to our sight

228 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the appealing force of those words we find in the votes of As-
sembly, which the people employed to express their hope that
redress would be found at Home in England. 6 The Revolu-
tionary War, which culminated a score of years later over-
shadows to us the stirring politics and the Indian Warfare which
lay in a long series of years behind that ; but upon a study of those
times we must reach some realization of the stir and commotion,
the fears and anxieties of those earlier years in which our forefathers
were being schooled for greater things. The College and
Academy furnished from its Trustees men who joined in all the
issues of the time, and no meeting could convene in the interests
of their young institution without some of them exchanging sen-
timents on the events of the day. Among the Trustees all
shades of political opinion and religious thought were repre-
sented, and the politics of those days were as sharply defined
and as penetrating as any we ourselves are participants in ; but
we cannot to-day measure the happy influences which must
have flowed from these meetings, the common interests on behalf
of the Academy must have smoothed away the asperities of the
Assembly or the Press, at the least for the time being, and
friendships were maintained and continued which otherwise
might have been severed. But the growing public concerns in
which Franklin became involved by his own aptitude and the
selection of either Assembly or Governor, was now telling on
his attendance at the College and Academy and the meetings of
its trustees ; and finally his long absences abroad made a com-
plete severance, and the way was soon open for the uncharity of
politics to lessen his influence and mar his plans in the great
work of a firm and sound'educational institution which was second
in his affections to no other of his creations.

6 It was in the same light, that a few years later the Vestry of Christ Church
at a meeting held 4 December, 1760, voted an address to the Society for the Propa-
gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, of thanks for the Society's compliance with
their request of the previous year in the disposition of the Jauncey bequest, by
directing " Chuch Warden Harrison to draw a fair copy and send it home"

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 229

XXXI.

Meanwhile the work of the College proceeded amid all the
clash of arms and wrangle of politics and the young men were
being fitted for their stations in life by the faculty ; the young
Provost with his happy facility of devising pleasant exercises for
the pupils and encouraging them by bringing them skillfully to
the notice of the community, early arranged for one of the pub-
lic exercises in which his management was so successful. Noth-
ing could be more helpful to them as well as to the institution in
furthering the interests of all than these efforts of Mr. Smith.
Six months had not elapsed before he planned his first public
exhibition of their oratorical powers, and the Pennsylvania
Gazette of 14 November, 1754, affords us ajgraphic account of the
entertainment in " Our Academy " which was of a novel character
for the quiet city of Philadelphia, but full of great promise to
all who had any interest in the furtherance of the cause of
education in the Province.

Last Tuesday the Students in Philosophy which compose the higher
class in our Academy delivered a Series of publick Exercises before the
Trustees. As their Exercises were the first of the Kind in our young
Seminary, they drew together a large Audience of Ladies and Gentlemen,
particularly his Honour our Lieutenant Governor ; his Excellency John
Tinker, Esq., Governor of Providence ; the Honourable James Hamilton,
Esq. , our late Governor, with several other Persons of Distinction.

The exercises were ushered in with a Prologue, which (excepting the
Lines marked with the inverted Comma) was written by the ingenious
young Author who spoke it. The marked lines were added or altered by
the Hand that wrote the Epilogue, and digested the Whole. After the
Prologue, the Exercises were as follows ;

ist On the Advantages of Education in General.

2nd An Enquiry- into the several Branches of Education, in order to
ascertain the just Importance or Moment of each.

3d. An Address to the Trustees of the Academy, and to his Honour
the Lieutenant Governor, &c

4th On Logick

5th On Method

6th On Moral Philosophy

7th A Hymn to Philosophy

230 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The whole concluded with an Occasional Epilogue spoken by Master
Billy Hamilton. As he is a child under Nine years of age, and spoke
it with a great deal of Humour and Propriety, it gave inexpressible Satis-
faction to the Audience.

The Prologue and Epilogue are subjoined ; and the Exercises will be
published in our future Papers, by particular desire, as they form a regular
Treatise on the Sciences.

In the Prologue which was spoken by young Duche,
occur his lines, addressing the Trustees :

You who in polish' d Arts and Merits Shine

The Kind protectors of the Sacred Nine,

Whose Patriot Toils, your country' s Pride and Grace,

Build up her Fame on Virtue's lasting Base ;

To you our first Essays in Prose belong,

Be you the Patrons of our early Song. 1

Master Billy Hamilton, who spoke the Epilogue " with a
great deal of Humor and Propriety," became the graduate of
1762, and is principally known to us as the builder of Wood-
lands Mansion, but his political attitude in the Revolution did
not afford his fellow citizens any inexpressible satisfaction.

We have seen that at the meeting of 30 June, 1755, the
Trustees proposed to "visit Mr. Smith's school and inform
themselves particularly " in the Branches he taught and the
proficiency of his pupils, the result being full satisfaction to
them and bringing to a conclusion at their meeting following
the question of his salary. And to afford a more public exhibit
of his work and display the success of his pupils, he planned a
programme for the 22 July, in which many of them could
show to their parents and friends the high mark they had
reached in learning and composition. A notice of this can best
be told in the words of the Pennsylvania Gazette of 31 July,
which doubtless were contributed in the language of the Provost,
whose " Hand digested the whole," as in the Exercises of the
previous November, and whose communications for the public
eye were the composition of a master in this art.

We hear that Philosophical Discourses, on the following Subjects,

1 A MS copy of this performance in Mr. Smith's handwriting is among the
Penn Papers on file with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 231

were delivered in the College and Academy Hall on Tuesday the Twenty
Second Instant by several of the Students greatly to the Satisfaction of a
numerous and Polite Audience, viz:

MORAL

1. On the Supreme Good, by JOHN HALL

2. On Temperance, by JAMES LATTA

MISCELLANEOUS and POLITICAL

3. On the Uses and Pleasures of Imagination, by FRANCIS HOPKINSON

4. On the Distribution of Power and different Forms of Government, by

WILLIAM MASTERS

5. On the Necessity of human Force 'to the Support of human Government,

by ISRAEL MARTIN

6. On the Question " Whether a State of Nature (so-called) be a State of

War ? " By three Speakers in the Forensic Manner, viz: SAMUEL
MAGAW, HUGH WILLIAMSON and JACOB DUCHE.

The fifth and sixth subjects were clearly Political, and
bore on questions which were then uppermost in the minds of
the community, and in which the Provost's interest and activities
were second to none of his fellow citizens.

The Trustees had at their meeting of 30 June, 1755 author-
ized an expenditure of ^443. " concerning the Alterations neces-
sary to be made in the Hall," which embraced

a Gallery along three sides of the Hall finished like those of Mr. Ten-
nent's Building, 2 the Fronts painted, and under side of the Joice plaister'd
without any Pews made * * * a Platform for accommodating the
Trustees, the Masters, Candidates for Degrees, and Strangers of Distinc-
tion on publick occasions,

and other items of lesser dignity ; thus preparing fitting accom-
modations for pupils, masters, and visitors on all special occa-
sions, so that this commodious building so happily secured in
the outset of the enterprise was gradually being made fit for all
its employments both regular and occasional.

The Second Presbyterian Church.

232 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XXXII.

Two names now first appear on the roll of tutors, those of
Hugh Williamson and James Latta, who were both members of
the first graduating class, both becoming eminent in their call-
ings, the former in particular, attaining celebrity in Mathematics
and Medicine and also as a Politician, and becoming one of the
Faculty as Professor of Mathematics when he was twenty-six
years of age. At the meeting of 9 December, 1755, Franklin
in the chair the first recorded since that of 1 1 July, it was

ordered that Hugh Williamson and James Latta, who have alternately sup-
plied the Place of one Usher in the Latin School from the I3th of June
until the ist of November, be paid after the rate of sixty pounds per
annum for their Attendance during the above Term, and that their future
Salaries be ascertained at the next meeting of the Trustees.

Action on this was not reached until 10 February follow-
ing, when the following Minute appears :

Hugh Williamson the present Writing Master and James Latta Tutor in
the Latin School are ordered each the sum of Fifty Pounds as their stated
annual Salaries.

We shall desire to know somewhat more both of Williamson
and Latta in the course of our narrative.

The Provost attends the meeting of Trustees on 13 April,
1756, there being a goodly number present, namely, Mess.
Allen, Peters, Turner, Cadwalader, Shippen, Mifflin, Strettell,
Masters, Maddox, Coleman, Stedman, Leech, and Inglis, Frank-
lin being then absent on Post Office duty in Virginia ; and he
sketched out to them a more equitable division of the faculty
work which was assented to. The minute tells its own story :

Mr. Smith represented to the Trustees, that the number of Classes
which study Philosophy being now increased to three and likely always to
continue at that Number, it would be no longer possible for him with what
Assistance Mr. Grew can spare from his present Business to carry on the
proposed Scheme of liberal Education, unless some further Assistance was
granted.

It was therefore agreed that in the present Situation of the Funds

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 233

the only possible Method of doing Justice to the Situation without any
addition to the present Number of Teachers, is as follows :

That Mr. Alison be appointed a Professor of the Higher Classics,
Logic, Metaphysicks and Geography ; and that he teach any of the other
Arts and Sciences that he may judge himself qualified to teach, as the
Circumstances of the Philosophy Schools may require ; but if it so happen
that Mr. Smith can spare time from his Imployment in the other Branches
of Literature to teach any of these Branches, then and in that case Mr.
Alison shall employ the overplus of his Time, as usual in the Grammar
School in the capacity of Chief Master.

That Mr. Jackson be appointed a Professor of the Languages to
employ his Time in the Grammar School and to have the Care of all the
Latin and Greek Classes that are not under Mr. Alison's more immediate
Care while he is employed in the Philosophy School. And in consideration
of Mr. Jackson's being appointed a Professor, and having declined an
advantageous Offer made him by the Overseers of the Quaker School it is
agreed to augment his Salary to the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Pounds
per annum, commencing from the Time the said offer was made him, viz :
in September, 1755.

That whenever Mr Kinnersley is supply' d with an Assistant agreeable
to a late order of the Trustees, Mr Williamson shall spend the Whole of
his Time in the Latin School to supply Mr Alison's Place, while employed
in the upper Schools.

The Provost, with his ready thought, suggested at this
meeting the early 7 preparation of a Seal for the use of the Cor-
poration. And it was agreed

That Mr Smith prepare a public Seal for the Colledge with a proper
Device and Motto and get the same speedily engraved on Silver.

We find by Mr. Coleman's cash account, under date of I I
July following, that he "pd. James Turner, Engraver, for a Seal
with device, &c. ^18.19.9^."

A few days later we hear of another of Mr. Smith's pleasant
plans for bringing the pupils of the Academy to the notice of the
community.

To-morrow, at Ten o'clock, in the Forenoon, the public Examination
of Candidates for Degrees in the College of Philadelphia, will be begun,
and continued that Day and part of the Day following. The Company of
such of the Inhabitants of this City as please to attend, will be very agree-
able. l

1 Pennsylvania Gazftt(, 29 April, 1756.

234 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XXXIII.

We come now to the Provost's formula or scheme for a
complete curriculum, which must be our guide in estimating in
the coming years his system of education in the College, which
was unequalled in any institution in this new Western country
for its comprehensiveness and thoroughness. We first receive
knowledge of it at this meeting in April, 1756, when it was

Agreed that a Scheme of liberal Education offered by the Faculty for the
Approbation of the Trustees be tried for the space of three Years from
this Date and that Mr Smith publish the Same in Order to obtain the Sen-
timents of Persons of Learning and Experience concerning it.

It first saw publication in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 12
August, 1756. The Trustees were conservatively inclined, and
before committing themselves to adopting for all time the cur-
riculum proposed, sought for it publicity in order to draw upon it
the criticism?, or to speak more courteously, the Sentiments of
the Learned and Experienced. The substantial continuance of
its employment through Provost Smith's career proved its excel-
lence and its adaptability to the wants of the College ; and we
must read it here in its entirety to judge of its great merits.

The source of this excellent formula may be found in
the curriculum at King's College, Aberdeen, where William
Smith had been trained a decade before. While there may be
amendments to it, induced by local circumstances and drawn
from his own rare ingenuity, it may be said to be substantially
framed on that course, to which he had an attachment, and
of which he had doubtless proved its great merits. But whence
ever its origin or conception, it is the first complete curriculum
for a college training which the American colonies had yet
witnessed or recognized, and will stand for all time as the fore-
runner in all advanced education on these shores.

For the Historical Account and Present State of the
"University and King's College of Aberdeen " and the " Maris-
chal College and University of Aberdeen," to the close of the
last century, including their courses of study, we refer to

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 235

Thorn's History of Aberdeen.^ Quoting from the Appendix
containing the account of King's College, it is said :

In the year 1753 the whole plan of discipline and education in King's
College was brought under review for the purpose of improvement. A
great number of statutes relative to these objects, since known by the name
of " The New Regulations," were enacted by the College, and submitted
to the examination of the public. In framing these regulations, the cele-
brated Dr. Reid's opinion and views respecting education, are supposed in
general to have prevailed. * * * That less time than usual should be
spent in the logic and metaphysics of the schools, and a great part of the
second year be employed in acquiring the elements of natural history in all
its branches ; that the professor of Greek and humanity should open
classes for the more advanced students during the three last years of their
course ; that a museum of natural history should be fitted up and furnished
with specimens for the instruction of the students, and that a collection of
instruments and machines relative to natural philosophy, and a chemical
laboratory for exhibiting experiments in that science, should be provided
with all convenient speed. For some years the good effects of these regu-
lations seemed very flattering, and the masters thought they might con-
gratulate themselves upon ' ' having under their care a set of the most regular
and diligent students to be found anywhere in the King's dominions,"
(printed memorial to Lord Findlater, chancellor, relative to the union,
1755)-

It will be recalled 2 that Mr. Smith was in Aberdeen at the
close of 1753, having proceeded immediately after his ordina-
tion in London Northwards to visit his "honored father," and
where he preached his maiden sermon in the kirk in which he
was baptised. And he may then have procured a copy of The
New Regulations which became useful to him in his per-
formance of I 756.

This proposed scheme, 3 is in the form of Views of the
Latin and Greek Schools and of the Philosophy School, and
was "subscribed by the Faculty of masters."

1 By Walter Thorn, 2 vols. Aberdeen, 1811. With Appendices I and II.

2 >mith, i. 39.

3 " It was not until Dr. Smith established at the College of Philadelphia, in
1756, the first graded course of studies of a higher kind ever pursued in an American
College, that a young man here had an opportunity of laying broad and deep the foun-
dations of a liberal culture, such as he would have enjoyed had he gone abroad for
that purpose." Provost Stille in his Life and Times of John Dickinson, p. 15.

236 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

A VIEW OF THE LATIN and GREEK SCHOOLS.
ist STAGE. Grammar. Vocabulary. Sententise Pueriles. Cordery,
Erasmus.

N. B. To be exact in declining and conjugating. To begin to
write Exercises, for the better understanding of Syntax. Writing and
Reading of English to be continued if necessary.

2nd STAGE. Selectas e veteri Testamento. Selectae e profanis Authoribus.
Eutropius. Nessos. Metaphorphosis. Latin Exercises and Writing
continued.

3rd STAGE. Metamorphosis continued. Virgil with Prosody. Caesar's
Comment. Sallust. Greek Grammar. Greek Testament. Elements
of Geography and Chronology. Exercises in Writing continued.
4th STAGE. Horace. Terence. Virgil reviewed. Livy. Lucian. Xeno-
phon or Homer begun.

N. B. This Year to make Themes ; write Letters; give Descrip-
tions and Characters. To turn Latin into English, with great Regard
to Punctuation and choice of Words. Some English and Latin Ora-
tions to be delivered, with proper Grace both of Elocution and Gesture.
Arithmetic begun.

Probably some youths will go thro' these Stages in three years, many
will require four years, and many more may require five years, especially if
they begin under nine or ten years of age. The masters must exercise
their best discretion in this respect.

Those who can acquit themselves to satisfaction in the books laid
down for the fourth stage, after public examination, are to proceed to the
study of the sciences, and to be admitted into the College as Freshmen,
with the privilege of being distinguished with an undergraduate's gown.
The method of study to be prosecuted in the College for the term of three
years, follows in one general view:

VIEW OF THE PHILOSOPHY SCHOOLS.

P'ORENOON

INSTRUMENTAL PHILOSOPHY
LECTURE I LECTURE II

Lat. & Engl. Exercises Arithmetic reviewed
continu'd

FIRST YEAR
FRESHMEN May 15

First Term
Three Months
Second Term
Three Months

January
Third Term
Four Months

Logic with Metaphysics

Decimal Arithmetic

Algebra

Fractions and Extract. Roots

Equations simple and

quadratic
Euclid (Stone) Six Books

Euclid a Second Time
Logarithmical Arithmetic

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 237

Remarks.

SECOND YEAR
JUNIORS, May 15

First Term
Three Months
Second Term
Three Months

January

Third Term
Four Months

THIRD YEAR
SENIORS May 1 5

First Term
Three Months

Second Term
Three Months

January
Third Term
Four Months

N. B. At leisure hours
Disputation begun.

Duncan's Logic as a
Classic ; to be sup-
plied by Le Clerc, or
Crousaz on Syllo-
gisms.

Logic, c reviewed

Surveying and Dialling

Navigation

Conic Sections
Fluxions

MORAL PHILOSOPHY

begun .

viz: Fordyce'scompend.
System .

N. B. Disputation con-
tinu'd. Fordyce well
understood will be an
excellent Introduction
to the larger Ethic
Writers

Hutcheson's Ethics.

N. B. On Construction of
Logarithms, use Wilson' s
Trigonometry, and Sher-
win's compleat Tables by
Gardiner.

Plain & Spherical Trigo-
nometry

Euclid I ith Book

1 2th Ditto

Architecture with Fortificat
NAT. PHILOSOPHY, begun

viz: Rowning's Propert. of
Body

Mechanic Powers

Hydrostatics

Pneumatics.

N. B. Declamation con-
tinued. Rowninga
general System may be
supplied by the larger
Works in the last Column,
recommended for private
Study

Rowning on Light and

Colours
Optics

Burlamequi on Natural
Law

Introduction to Civil His-
tory.

to Laws and Gov-
ernment

to Trade and Com-
merce

Review of the Whole

ExaminaL for Degree of
B. A.

Perspective, Jesuits

Astronomy, Keif s

Natural History of Vege-
tables
of Animals

Chemistry, Shaw's Boer-

haave
of Fossils
of Agriculture

238 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FIRST YEAR

FRESHMAN, May

First Term
Three Months

Second Term
Three Months

January
Third Term
Four Months

N. B. Altho' it is tho't
necessary to fix some
Classics as a Text to
read the Lectures by,
yet there must be a
Liberty of changing
them left when needful

AFTERNOON
Classical and Rhetoric

Studies
LECTURE III

15 Homer's Iliad
Juvenal

Pindar

Cicero, Select Parts

Livy resumed

Thucydides, or

Euripides

Wells' s Dionysius

N. B. Some Afternoons
to be Spared for
Declamation this year

SECOND YEAR
JUNIORS May 15

First Term
Three Months

Second Term
Three Months

Rhetoric from Preceptor
Longinus critically

Horace' s Art of Poetry

critically

Aristot Poet, critically.
Quintilian, Select Parts.

N. B. Thro' all the years
the French Language
may be Studied at
leisure Hours.

PRIVATE HOURS
Miscellaneous Studies

For improv. the various
Branches

Spectators, Ramblers,
and monthly Maga-
zines, for the Improve-
ment of Style and
Knowledge of Life.

Barrow' s Lectures, Par-
die' s Geometry, Mac
laurin' s Algebra,
Ward's Mathematics,
Keil's Trigonometry.

Watts' s Logic, and Sup-
plement, Locke on
Human Understand-
ing, Hutcheson' s
Metaphysics, V a r e -
nius's Geography,
Watts' s Ontology and
Essays, Kingde Origine
Mali with Law's Notes.

V o s s i u s , Bossu, Pere
Bohours, D r y d e n ' s
Essays and Prefaces,
Spence on Pope's
Odyssey, Trapp' s
Prcelect. Poet. Diony-
sius Halicarn, Deme-
trius Phalereus, Stradas
Prolusiones, Patoun's
Navigation, Gregory's
Geometry, Bisset on
Fortification, Simp-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 239

January
Third Term
Four Months

Remarks

THIRD YEAR
SENIORS May 15

First Term
Three Months.

Second Term
Three Months

January
Third Term
Four Months

COMPOSITION begun,
viz: Cicero pro Milone

Demosthenes pro Ctesi-
phon.

N. B. During the Appli-
cation of the Rules to
these famous Orations,
imitations of them are
to be attempted on the
Models of perfect Elo-
quence

Epicteti Enchiridion

Cicero de officiis

Tusculan QuaesL

Memorabilia Xenoph.
Greek

Patavii Rationar Tempo-
rum.

Plato de Legibus

Grotius de Jure B. & P.

Afternoons of the 3d
Term, for Composition
and Declamation on
Moral and Physical
Subjects, Philosophy
Acts held.

son 1 s Conic Sections,
Maclaurin's and Em-
erson's Fluxions, Pal-
ladia by Ware.
Helsham' s Lectures,
Gravesande, Cote's
Hydrostatics, Desagu-
liers, Muschenbrock,
Keil's Introduction, '
Martin' s Philosophy,
Sir Isaac Newton's
Philosophy, Maclau-
rin's View of Ditto,
Rohault per Clarke

Puffendorf by Barbeyrac,
Cumberland de Leg.
Selden de Jure, Spirit
of Laws, Sidney, Har-
rington, Seneca,
Hutcheson's Works,
Locke on Government,
Hooker's Polity, Scali-
ger de Emendatione
Temporum, Compends
in Preceptor Le Clerc' s
Compend of History.

Gregory's Astronomy,
Fortescue on Laws, N.
Bacon's Discourses,
My lord Bacon's
Works, Locke on
Civic-Davenant, Gee's
Compend. Ray. Der-
ham, Spectacle de la
Nature; Rondoletius,
Religious Philosopher.
HOLY BIBLE to be read
daily from the Begin-
ning, and now to sup-
ply the Deficiencies of
the Whole.

240 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

To this early publication of the plan,

by a bare suggestion of which, any Parent may know what Progress his
son makes, and what is his standing, as well as what Books to provide,
from Time to Time, 4

the Provost added the following remarks elucidating it and
showing its merits ; he must speak for himself, and to abbreviate
it would mar the force of his statement :

Life itself being too short to obtain a perfect acquaintance with the
whole circle of the Sciences, nothing has ever been proposed by any plan
of University Education, but to lay such a general foundation in all the
branches of literature, as may enable youth to perfect themselves in those
particular parts, to which their business or genius, may afterwards lead
them. And scarce any thing has more obstructed the advancement of
sound learning, than a vain imagination, that a few years, spent at college,
can render youth such absolute Masters of Science, as to absolve them from
all future study.

As far as our influence extends, we would wish to propagate a con-
trary doctrine ; and tho' we flatter ourselves that, by a due execution of the
foregoing plan, we shall enrich our country with many Minds that are lib-
erally accomplished, and send out none that may justly be denominated
barren or unimproved ; yet we hope that the youth committed to our
tuition, will neither at college, nor afterwards, rest satisfied with such a
general knowledge, as is to be acquired from the public lectures and exer-
cises. We rather trust that those whose taste is once formed for the acqui-
sition of solid Wisdom, will think it their duty and most rational satisfac-
tion, to accomplish themselves still farther, by manly perseverance in
private study and meditation.

To direct them in this respect, the last column contains a judicious
choice of the most excellent writers in the various branches of literature,
which will be easily understood when once a foundation is laid in the
books proposed in the plan, under the several lectures. For the books to
be used as Classics, at the lecture hours, will not be found in this last col-
umn, which is only meant as a private library, to be consulted occasionally
in the lectures, for the illustration of any particular part, and to be read
afterwards, for compleating the whole.

The last book in the catalogue is the HOLY BIBLE, without which the
student' s library would be very defective. But tho' it stands last, we do
not mean that they are to defer reading it to the last, it being part of our
daily exercise, and recommended from the beginning. We only intimate,
by this disposition, that, when human Science has done its utmost, and

^Pennsylvania Gazette, 12 Aug. 1756.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 241

when we have thought the youth worthy of the honors of the Seminary,
yet still we must recommend them to the Scriptures of God, in order to
compleat their Wisdom, to regulate their conduct thro' life, and guide them
to happiness forever.

In the disposition of the parts of this Scheme, a principal regard has
been paid to the connexion and subserviency of the Sciences, as well as to
the gradual openings of young minds. Those parts are placed first, which
are suited to strengthen the inventive Faculties, and are instrumental to
what follows. Those are placed last which require riper judgment, and
are more immediately connected with the main business of life.

In the meantime, it is proposed that they shall never drop their
acquaintance with the classic sages. They are every day called to con-
verse with some one of the ancients, who, at the same time that he
charms with all the beauties of language, is generally illustrating that par-
ticular branch of philosophy or science, to which the other hours of the
day are devoted. Thus, by continually drawing something from the most
admired masters of Sentiment and expression, the taste of youth will be
gradually formed, to just Criticism and masterly Composition.

For this reason, Composition, in the strict Meaning of the term,
cannot be begun at an earlier period than is proposed in the plan. The
knowledge of Mathematics is not more necessary, as an introduction to
natural philosophy, than an acquaintance with the best ancient and modern
writers, especially the Critics, is to just Composition.

Whoever would build, must have both the art and materials of
building ; and therefore Composition, from one's own stock, is justly
placed after Criticism, which supplies the art, and not before Moral and
Natural Philosophy, which enriches the understanding, and furnishes the
Materials or Topics for the Work.

Thus it is hoped the Student may be led thro' a scale of easy ascent,
till finally render' d capable of Thinking, Writing and Acting well, which
is the grand aim of a liberal education. At the end of every term, there
is some time allowed for Recreation, or bringing up slower Geniuses.

Perhaps, after all, some who see this plan, may think three years
too scanty a period for its execution. We would not be tenacious of our
opinion ; but, from an attentive consideration of the business proposed
for each term, we are inclined to think the time will be sufficient for a
middling genius, with ordinary application. And where both genius and
application are wanting, we conceive no time will be found sufficient.
Experience, however, being the best guide in matters of this kind, we
only propose that a fair trial of three years may be made, before anything
farther is determined upon a subject of such high concern.

Such a trial we think due to the present state of our Seminary, as
well as to the public, and the particular circumstances of these colonies,

242 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

where very few youth can be detained for a r long period at infant unen-
dowed colleges, where they must wholly maintain themselves at a consid-
erable expence, and where the genius seems not only to be sooner ripe,
but where there is also a more immediate demand, and a more easy settle-
ment to be obtained, in all the ways of genteel employment, for Young
Men of Parts, than there is in European Countries.

N. B. The utmost care will be taken for a faithful execution of this
plan in all its parts. The time for admitting Freshmen in the youngest
philosophy class is May 13, according to the plan. But those who necessarily
apply later in the first year will obtain Admission, provided it appears
upon examination that they are sufficiently grounded in the parts laid down
in the plan, previous to the date of such their admission ; which facts may
always be known from inspection, together with the proficiency made by the
class which they are to join. The Sentiments of Men of Learning will be
thankfully received for perfecting the whole ; and upon a candid applica-
tion to any of the professors, they will endeavor to explain and remove any
difficulties that may occur to any persons concerning it.

The plan was next published in the American Magazine, of
which Mr. Smith was Editor, in its last number, October, 1758 ;
and the year following he included it in the Appendix to his
Discourses on Several Public Occasions during the War in
America, published in London 1759, with an account of the
College and Academy, which received a second edition, Lon-
don, 1762, and which was dedicated to the Proprietaries, Thomas
Penn and Richard Penn ; and these were repeated in the edition
of his Works published in Philadelphia in 1803. In the Ameri-
can Magazine he supplemented what has already been quoted
from his pen on the Collegiate course, by an account of the
Academy proper, from which we learn of its conduct and its
tuition. This article entire will be found in the Appendix, and
the narrative merits attention.

Tn the account of the College and Academy in the edition
of the Discourses, London, 1759, the foregoing plan is included
with the addition of a short paragraph inserted in the middle of
the first section, namely :

Besides this rostrum, which is in their private school, there is also
a large stage or oratory erected in the College hall, where the Speakers
appear on all public occasions, before as many of the inhabitants as
please to attend.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 243

And in a footnote, adds,

A number of the students and scholars performed the masque of
Alfred by way of Oratorical Exercise, before the Earl of Loudon and the
Governors of the Southern Colonies, in the beginning of the year 1757,
with very much and just applause, and on any occasion a sufficient number
of speakers may be selected to perform any good piece of this kind.

To this he further adds in the edition of his Works, Phila-
delphia, 1803 :

The choice of this performance was owing to the great similarity of
circumstances in the distress in England under the Danish invasion, and
that of the colonies at this time under the ravages and incursions of the
Indians. The whole was applied in an occasional prologue and epilogue,
and at any time a sufficient number of Speakers may be found to perform
any piece of the kind, in a manner that would not be disagreeable to
persons of the best taste and judgment.

Selections from this Masque, " originally written by the
pious and philosophic Mr Thompson in conjunction with Mr
Mallet, and in the year 1751, altered and greatly improved by
the latter," which had " been several Times represented during
the Christmas Holidays, in one of the Apartments of the Col-
lege," were given a prominent place in numbers of the Pennsyl-
vania Gazette in January and February, 1757, where we learn
that young Jacob Duche took the part of Alfred, and Samuel
Chew that of the Danish King. In this cotemporary account
Mr Smith prefaces it with the Statement that

ever since the first Foundation of the College and Academy in this city,
the Improvement of the Youth in ORATORY and correct Speaking; has
always been considered as an essential Branch of their Education. And
though it be a Branch too much neglected in other Institutions of a like
kind, yet its importance is manifest, and nothing could have been better
devised in the Circumstances of this Province, where the true Pronuncia-
tion of the English Language might soon be lost without proper care to
preserve it in the rising Generation, as we are a Mixture of People from
almost all corners of the world ; speaking a variety of Languages and
Dialects.

244 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XXXIV.

We have just seen in Provost Smith's words that from the
outset of the Academy direct attention had been paid to training
the boys in the correct use of their own language. The origi-
nators had desired the teaching of the English tongue gram-
matically, and as a language to be second to no other of the
objects of the school. While the tendency of the day was to
elevate the study of the Classics and the Knowledge of the
Ancients beyond any attention that the pursuit of the Mother
language could possibly attract, it was Franklin who strove for
its proper maintenance in the Academy ; he who had studied
his native language in the best English classics knew its wealth
and capacity, and how richly it would reward any who studied
it diligently ; what more important, he argued, than the
thorough knowledge of one's own language to those who
designed following in their native country the various pursuits
of livelihood. His own experience warranted his belief that in
the English tongue was found the best vehicles for conveying
the thoughts of man to his fellows, as it was his self training in
its uses that brought to him that unexcelled employment of its
words and terms which gave to all his writings that surprising
force, indeed eloquence, which commanded the attention of his
cotemporaries and affords to us their successors such delightful
perusal.

When in June, 1789, he wrote his Observations, relative to
the intentions of the original founders of the Academy in Philadel-
phia, he looked backward those forty years and recited how
their early designs were to make the English School of
greater prominence in this general plan. His paper, well
worthy of a perusal in its fullness, is a history of this branch of
the institution which is narrated in language which cannot now
be equaled, and is referred to at this point, to show how atten-
tion was early sought to train the pupils in a correct use of
their Mother tongue in reading, in declamation, and by various
public exercises. When Mr Smith assumed his duties in May,

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 245

1754, he found the existence of this practical -system with
evidences of its good results, and with his own knowledge of
oratory he gladly carried on these plans, and gave to them his
own experience and culture ; but inasmuch as the influences
already prevailed which placed the English school in a secondary
position, he with his greater taste for the Ancient Classics but
confirmed and established more effectually these influences
which were in later years the subject of Franklin's deprecations ;
and there no longer remained those public exhibitions of display
in proficiency in English which the pupils under Mr Dove
had attained to.

These tendencies Franklin termed partialities. But let us
hear his own statement : T

The first instance of partiality, in favor of the Latin part of the
institution, was in giving the title of Rector to the Latin master, and no
title to the English one. But the most striking instance * * * was,
when the votes of a majority carried it to give twice as much salary to the
Latin Master as to the English, and yet require twice as much duty from
the English master as from the Latin, viz : .200 to the Latin master to
teach twenty boys ; ^100 to the English master to teach forty. However,
the trustees who voted these salaries being themselves by far the great-
est subscribers, though not the most numerous, it was thought they
had a kind of right to predominate in money matters ; and those who had
wished an equal regard might have been shown to both schools, sub-
mitted, though not without regret, and at times some little complaining,
which, with their not being able in some months to find a proper person
for English master, who would undertake the office for so low a salary,
induced the Trustees at length, viz : in July, 1750, to offer ^50 more.
Another instance of the partiality above mentioned, was in the March
preceding, when ^100. sterling was voted to buy Latin and Greek books,
maps, drafts, and instruments for the use of the Academy, and nothing
for the English books. * * *

The Trustees were most of them the principal gentlemen of the pro-
vince. Children taught in other schools had no reason to expect such
powerful patronage. The subscribers had placed such entire confidence
in them as to leave themselves no power of changing them, if their con-
duct of the plan should be disapproved ; and so, in hopes of the best, all
these partialities were submitted to.

Near a year passed before a proper person was found to take charge

1 Sparks, ii. 141.

246 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

of the English school. At length Mr Dove, who had been for many years
master of a school in England, and had come hither with an apparatus for
giving lectures in experimental philosophy, was prevailed with by me
after his lectures were finished, to accept that employment for the
salary offered, though he thought it too scanty. He had a good voice,
read perfectly well, with proper accent and just pronunciation, and
his method of communicating habits of the same kind to his pupils was
this : When he gave a lesson to one of them, he always first read it to
him aloud, with all the different modulations of voice, that the subject and
sense required. These the scholars, in studying and repeating the lessons,
naturally endeavored to imitate ; and it was really surprising to see how
soon they caught his manner, which convinced me and others who fre-
quently attended his school, that, though bad tones and manners in read-
ing are, when once acquired, rarely, with difficulty, if ever cured, yet,
when none have been already formed, good ones are as easily learned as
bad. In a few weeks after opening his school, the trustees were invited to
hear the scholars read and recite. The parents and relations of the boys
also attended. The performances were surprisingly good, and of course
were admired and applauded ; and the English school thereby acquired
such reputation, that the number of Mr Dove's scholars soon amounted to
upwards of ninety, which number did not diminish as long as he continued
master, viz : upwards of two years ; but, he finding the salary insufficient,
and having set up a school for girls in his own house to supply the defi-
ciency, and quitting the boys' school somewhat before the hour to attend
the girls, the trustees disapproved of his so doing, and he quitted their
employment, continued his girls' school, and opened one for boys on his
own account. The trustees provided another English master ; but though
a good man, yet not possessing the talents of an English schoolmaster in
the same perfection with Mr Dove, the school diminished, daily, and soon
was found to have but about forty scholars left. The performances of the
boys, in reading and speaking, were no longer so brilliant ; the trustees of
course had not the same pleasure in hearing them, and the monthly visita-
tions, which had so long afforded a delightful entertainment to large
audiences, became less and less attended, and at length discontinued ;
and the English school has never since recovered its original reputation.
Thus by our injudiciously starving the English part of our scheme of
education, we only saved fifty pounds a year, which was required as an
additional salary to our acknowledged excellent English master, which
would have equalled his encouragement to that of the Latin master ; I say,
by saving the ,50. we lost fifty scholars, which would have been ,200. a
year, and defeated, besides, one great end of the institution.

The Master of the English School, Mr. Kinnersley, Mr.
Dove's successor, we have seen was in July 1755 made Pro-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 247

fessor of the English Tongue and Oratory; but his want of suc-
cess in training the lads discouraged him from inciting public
exhibitions of their progress; and as Franklin ere long began
his absences from Pennsylvania, the influence of the "Latinists,"
as he calls them, may have chilled any encouragement he sought
in the faculty or the Trustees for the fuller development of his
school. On Franklin's return home from his first mission, in
November, 1762, he found this change in the English School,
and at the meeting of 8 February 1763, we find this Minute,
doubtless at his instance :

The state of the English School was taken into consideration and it
was observed that Mr Kinnersley's Time was entirely taken up in teaching
little Boys the Elements of the English Language, 2 and that speaking and
rehearsing in Publick were totally disused to the great Prejudice of the
other Scholars and Students and contrary to the original Design of the
Trustees in the forming of that school, and as this was a matter of great
Importance it was particularly recommended to be fully considered by the
Trustees at the next meeting.

But consideration of this was not reached until the meeting
of 12 April, at which only Messrs. Peters, Coleman, Duche,
White, Stedman and Redman were present, when the following
Minute appears :

The State of the English School was again taken into Consideration,
and it was the opinion of the Trustees that the original Design should be
prosecuted of teaching the Scholars of that and the other Schools the
Elegance of the 'English Language, and giving them a proper pronunciation,
and that the old Method of hearing them read and repeat in public should
be again used. And Mr. Franklin, Mr Coleman, Mr. Coxe, and Mr
Duche were appointed a Committee to confer with Mr Kinnersley how this
might best be done as well as what assistance would be necessary to give
Mr Kinnersley to enable him to attend this necessary service, which was
indeed the proper Business of his Professorship.

Franklin's zeal and influence were felt, though his public
duties forbad his regular attendance at the Trustees' meetings.
In April he left for Virginia where he passed three or four weeks
returning to Philadelphia in time to attend the meeting of the

2 In quoting this Minute in his Observations Franklin here inserts in parenthesis
"(this is what it dwindled into, a school similar to those kept by old women, who teach
children their letters)" Sparks, ii. 145.

248 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Trustees of 27 May, 1763, made notable by the adoption of the
addresses to the King and to Lord Bute to be transmitted to
the Provost then in England for due presentation as expressive
of the thanks of the Trustees to "his Majesty for his Protec-
tion, Countenance and Bounty to our Institution " and " to
Lord Bute in acknowledgment of his goodness to us ; " and
early in June we find him starting on a trip to the Eastern States
on postoffice service, from which he did not return until early in
November. This May meeting was the last he attended of the
Trustees that year; the coming winter found him engrossed
in many concerns ; the year 1 764 was full of political conten-
tions, and in October he was appointed agent for the Province
in England, and in November set sail from Philadelphia on his
second mission. 3 But before he sailed he signed on the Minute
Book the fundamental Resolve or Declaration made by the
Trustees in consequence of the letter brought them by the
Provost on his return from England, jointly written them 9 April,
1 764 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas and Richard
Penn and Dr. Samuel Chandler, and entered on the Minutes of
14 June 1764, and which will come before us in the due progress
of this narrative. At the meeting of 13 June, only Messrs.
Peters, Coleman, Redman, Stedman, and Duche present, the
following minute appears :

Some of the parents of the children in the Academy having complained
that their children were not taught to speak and read in publick and having
requested that this useful part of Education might be more attended to, Mr
Kinnersley was called in and desired to give an account of what was done
in this Branch of his Duty, and he declared that this was well taught not
only in the English School which was more immediately under his care,
but in the Philosophy classes regularly every Monday afternoon, and as
often at other times as his other Business would permit. And it not appear-
ing to the Trustees that any more could at present be done without
partiality & great inconvenience and that this was all that was ever proposed
to be done they did not incline to make any alteration, or to lay any
Burthen upon Mr Kinnersley.

s and " reached London on the evening of 10 December and went immediately
to his old lodgings" Sparks, vii. 282.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 249

Upon this, Franklin says in his Observations : 4

That the English School had not for some years preceding been visited
by the Trustees. If it had, they would have kncwn the state of it without
making this inquiry of the Master. They might have judged, whether the
children more immediately under his care were in truth well taught, with-
out taking his word for it, as it appears they did. But it seems he had a
merit, which when he pleaded it, effectually excused him. He spent his
time when out of the English School in instructing the philosophy classes,
who were of the Latin part of the institution. Therefore they did not
think proper to lay any further burthen upon him. * * * Certainly
the method that had been used might be again used, if the Trustees
had thought fit to order Mr. Kinnersley to attend his own school, and not
spend his time in the philosophy classes, where his duty did not require
his attendance. What the apprehended partiality was, which the Minute
mentions, does not appear, and cannot easily be imagined ; and the great
inconvenience of obliging him to attend his own school could only be
depriving the Latinists of his assistance, to which they had no right. * * *
The parents, indeed, despairing of any reformation, withdrew their chil-
dren, and placed them in private schools, of which several now appeared
in the city, professing to teach what had been promised to be taught in the
Academy ; and they have since flourished and increased by the scholars
the Academy might have had, if it had performed its engagements. Yet
the public was not satisfied ; and, we find five years after, the English
school appearing again, after five years' silence, haunting the Trustees like
an evil conscience, and reminding them of their failure in duty.

The minutes of 19 and 26 January, 1768, revive the sub-
ject, " it having been remarked, that the schools suffer in the
public esteem by the discontinuance of public speaking," but
only temporizing measures were sought, by

agreeing to give Mr. Jon. Easton and Mr. Thomas Hall, at the rate of
twenty-five pounds per annum each, for assisting Mr. Kinnersley in the
English school, and taking care of the same when he shall be employed in
teaching the students, in the philosophy classes and grammar school, the
art of public speaking. [But] Mr. Easton and Mr. Hall are to be paid out
of a fund to be raised by some public performance for the benefit of the
College.

Or as Franklin says :

Care was however taken by the Trustees not to be at any expense for this

> 4 Sparks, ii. 148. These Observatious Relative to the Intentions of the Origi-
nal Founders of the Academy in Philadelphia, June, 1789 are not included by Mr.
Bigelow in his Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin.

250 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

assistance to Mr. Kinnersley ; for Hall and Easton were only to be paid
out of the uncertain fund of money to be raised by some public perform-
ance for the benefit of the College.

The year following the Trustees " considered whether the
English school is to be longer continued," and at a special meet-
ing on 23 July, Messrs. Hamilton, Willing, Shippen, Coxe, Law-
rence, Redman, Peters and Inglis, being present, were

unanimously of the opinion that as the said School is far from defraying
the expense at which they now support it, and not thinking that they ought
to lay out any great part of the Funds entrusted to them on this Branch of
Education which can so easily be procured at other schools in this city [it
was voted] that from and after the iyth of October next Mr. Kinnersley 's
present Salary do cease, and that from that Time, the said School, if he
shall be inclined to keep it, shall be on the following terms

which in brief were that he could continue the school on his
own financial responsibility he

to have the house he lives in rent free, in consideration of his giving
two afternoons in the week as heretofore for the instruction of the students
belonging to the College in public speaking.

And the Trustees expressed the

hope this Regulation may be agreeable to Mr. Kinnersley as it proceeds
entirely from the Reasons set forth above, and not from any abatement of
that esteem which they have always retained for Him during the whole
course of his services in College.

But it soon occurred to them that this was involving the exist-
ence of a branch of the institution the continuance and main-
tenance of which they stood obligated to their subscribers and
the community, for at the meeting following, on i August 1769
fifteen of the Trustees attending, it was recorded,

The minute of last meeting relative to the English school was read,
and after mature deliberation and reconsidering the same, it was voted to
stand as it is, provided it should not be found any way repugnant to the
first charter granted by the Assembly, a copy of which was ordered to be
procured out of the rolls office.

The repugnance of the charter to this proceeding served
to keep alive in its feebleness the English school ; but the knot
was cut by Mr. Kinnersley's resignation in October 1772, who
had attained his three score years but in impaired health, which

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 251

led him to seek a warmer climate. No strenuous effort was
employed to supply his place, partly from lack of interest and
partly from placing the new Salary on a footing which would
not attract any experienced teacher. But the Trustees at their
meeting on 2 February following, record this minute :

The College suffers greatly since Mr. Kinnersley left it, for want of
a person to teach public speaking, so that the present classes have not
those opportunities of learning to declaim and speak which have been of
so much use to their predecessors, and have contributed greatly to raise
the credit of the Institution.

On this Franklin briefly remarks in his Observations of
1789:

Here is another confession that the Latinists were unequal to the task
of teaching English eloquence, though on occasion the contrary is still
asserted . [and in closing he says] I am the only one of the original trustees
now living, and I am just stepping into the grave myself. I am afraid that
some part of the blame incurred by the Trustees may be laid on me, for
having too easily submitted to the deviations from the constitution, and not
opposing them with sufficient zeal and earnestness ; though indeed my
absence in foreign countries at different times for near thirty years, tended
much to weaken my influence. * * * I seem here to be surrounded
by the ghosts of my dear departed friends, beckoning and urging me to use
the only tongue now left us, in demanding that justice to our grandchildren,
that to our children has been denied.

252 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XXXV.

However, we have somewhat anticipated the course of
events, in this review of the English tuition of the College and
Academy, made necessary here in order to preserve the con-
tinuity of Franklin's argument ; and we recur with satisfaction
to the Provost's plan or scheme of education, broad and liberal
in its stretch, which claims in our thoughts a preeminence over
any cotemporary curriculum in this country and perhaps in
England. He divided it in two great sections, the Latin and
Greek Schools, and the Philosophy Schools ; the first embrac-
ing all tuition in those ancient Languages in their structure and
their uses, and the other building on this foundation and making
use of the necessary vehicle of language to pursue the study of
the reason of things employing the term Philosophy in its
generic term the Love of Wisdom, embracing both Natural
and Moral Philosophy. At the stage when the word Philosophy
was here applied to district schools its use was more general
than it has now come to be used in this generation, and modern
curricula use it to denote narrower spheres. Dr. Johnson's new
Dictionary had now appeared, and Peter Collinson 1 the good
friend and agent in London of the College and Academy had
in October 1755 sent out to its Library an early copy of this
great lexicographical work, then just published ; and we find in
it Johnson's definition of Philosophy as " the course of sciences
read in the schools," and for definition of the word sciences he
uses the pithy quotation from Hooker, " any art or species of
Knowledge." This was much broader in its scope than anything
yet attempted in our Colleges, and its conception was bold as well
as novel ; but in their confidence in the learning and in the in-
genuity of the young Provost, the Trustees accepted the pro-
gramme for the time, soliciting however the opinion of the
learned upon it. But let the Provost himself explain his em-

1 Mr Collinson's Invoice shows :

1755.1 May, Blair's Chronology 49,'

1 8 July, Martin's Introduction to English Tongue 2/
1 6 Sept, Johnson's Dictionary 2 vols 4-io/

v. Treasurer's Accounts.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 253

ployment of the term Philosophy as applied to the highest
school, as we find it in his Discourse delivered at the first com-
mencement, 17 May, I/57- 2

A person who knows himself endued with reason and under-
standing, will not be content to take his knowledge entirely at sec-
ond hand, on subjects so important as the nature and fitness of things,
and the Summum Bonum of man ; he will not care to rely wholly
on a Historical Knowledge, founded on the Experience and Testimony
of others ; however much his labors may be shortened thereby. He
will think it his duty to examine for himself, and to acquire a Moral
and Physical knowledge ; founded on his own Experience and Observa-
tion. This is what we call Philosophy in general ; comprehending in it
the knowledge of all things Human and Divine, so far as they can be made
the objects of our present inquiries. Now the genuine branches of this
Philosophy or great system of Practical Wisdom, together with the neces-
sary- instrumental parts thereof, may be included under the following
general heads ; it appearing to me that the nature of things admits of no
more:

1. LANGUAGES, which have been already mentioned rather as an
Instrument or Means of Science, than a Branch thereof.

2. LOGIC and Metaphysics, or the Science of the Human Mind ;
unfolding its powers and directing its operations and reasonings .

3. NATURAL Philosophy, Mathematics, and the rest of her beautiful
train of subservient arts, investigating the Physical properties of Body ;
explaining the various phenomena of Nature ; and teaching us to render
her subservient to the ease and ornament of Life.

4. MORAL Philosophy ; applying all the above to the business and
bosoms of men ; deducing the laws of our conduct from our situation in life
and connexions with the Beings around us ; settling the whole (Economy
of the Will and Affections ; establishing the predominancy of Reason and
Conscience, and guiding us to Happiness thro' the practice of Virtue.

5. RHETORIC, or the art of masterly Composition ; just Elocution,
and sound Criticism : teaching us how to elevate our wisdom in the most
amiable and inviting garb ; how to give life and spirit to our Ideas, and
make our knowledge of the greatest benefit to ourselves and others ; and
lastly, how to enjoy those pure intellectual pleasures, resulting from a just
taste for polite letters, and a true relish for the sprightly Wit, the rich
Fancy, the noble Pathos, and the marvelous Sublime, shining forth in the
works of the most celebrated Poets, Philosophers, Historians and Orators,
with beauties ever pleasing, ever new. * * *

Thus I have given a sketch of the Capital branches of Human

3 Discourses, ed 1759, p 142.

254 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Science ; and all of them are professed and taught in this Institution.
But there is yet one Science behind necessary to compleat all the rest, and
without which they will be found at best but very defective and unsatis-
factory. 'Tis the Science of Christianity and the Great Mystery of Godli-
ness ; that Sublimest Philosophy, into which even the angels themselves
desire to be further initiated.

A new departure in higher education Mr. Smith felt was
needed in the colonies. Up to this time, the aim of our earlier
colleges had been primarily to prepare young men for the
ministry. The conditions attendant upon the organization and
the circumstances surrounding its progress forbad this to the
new Philadelphia institution, however much Mr. Smith may
have thought of it, of which however their appears no evidence. 3
While tutoring in Long Island he must have had knowledge of
the curriculum at Yale, and he may have visited New Haven ;
his acquaintance with its distinguished alumnus Samuel Johnson
possibly ensured this. The chief thought here, as it was in like
manner at Harvard College, seemed to be to fit the pupils to
assume the clerical profession ; the President and Fellows, or
Tutors, for it was not until 1755, that the term Professor was
known at Yale and that was upon the appointment of Dr.
Daggett as Professor of Theology, were mostly clergymen,
whose professional sympathies would lead to such a training ;
and while the curriculum might of itself not bear such bias, those
who administered it would perhaps insensibly give to it a theologi-
cal discipline. But it must, at the same time, be admitted that Yale
"was a seminary which was intended for the training of min-
isters as much as for any purpose ; " 4 and it was on this ground
that the head of the College, Rev. Timothy Cutler, " was ex-
cused from all further service as Rector," when he led off in

3 It is doubtless true, that the studies of the English universities, from which
the American Colleges are historically derived, were originally arranged with special
reference to the clerical profession, and that to this day some of the peculiarities thus
induced >have not been entirely outgrown. The first American Colleges were also
primarily founded as training schools for the clergy, but as the other professions came
to require a liberal culture, this special reference to the clerical profession was laid
aside. President Porter, American Colleges and the Ametican Public, p. 93. And
President Clap of Yale said in 1754 "the original End and design of Colleges was to
instruct and train up persons for the work of the ministry * * The great
design of founding this school was to educate ministers in our own way."

4 President Woolsey in Kingsley's Yale College i. 53~54-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 255

the great Episcopal movement in 1722, which involved also other
sons of Yale, including Dr. Johnson, the Trustees voting this
" in faithfulness to the trust reposed in them ; " and this action
was recognized by its subjects as legitimate and quite proper,
and so far from hard feelings being engendered by it those who
left and those who staid still remained friends, and the former
honored their Alma Mater equally with the latter. As the
Philadelphia institution began at a day and in a province
where clerical influence was not foremost in the control
and where church and state were absolutely separate
from tuition, the way was open for Provost Smith, who
had not yet attained his thirtieth year, to propound a scheme
free of early colonial traditions and build anew a richer and a
broader curriculum, and offer it to parents for the higher educa-
tion of their sons. Had he begun his College work on the Yale
plan, he would have been without originality and its influence
would have been purely local ; a new departure was called for,
and his was the genius and courage to attempt it. In the
success of this scheme, Provost Smith found his highest gratifi-
cation ; and as his pupils took their places in the world
thoroughly trained mentally for their various calls, it is quite
easy to recognize how the ancient languages gradually took pre-
cedence of the English, not it may be to the exclusion of the
latter, but sufficiently to the extent that the pupil's mind appre-
hended less the value and importance of his own tongue than
he might have done had the views of the Founders prevailed.
But so far as his influence may have extended in this, the
educated community generally was equally with him in greater
sympathy with the pursuit of the classics of the ancients than
with those of the mother country.

The establishment of the first Professorship in Yale, in
1 7SS> that of Theology, appeared to remove this from a general
to a special study, and marked a new era in the spirit of the
generally accepted curriculum. 5 And the same thought of making

5 Professor Fisher, Yale College, ii. 17. "Both Harvard and Yale wer e
modeled in general after the English Colleges ; Yale having before it, also, the exam"
pie of its older sister. It is only necessary to look at the course of study at Harvard
in the early days to see that theology was a prominent and even a principal study.
Ibid., ii. 15.

256 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

a new departure prevailed alike with Dr. Johnson in New York
and Mr. Smith in Philadelphia, though with the former there
prevailed in his Advertisement of June, 1754, elsewhere referred
to, some sympathy with the old course of his Alma Mater, when
he said :

The chief Thing that is aimed at in this College is, to teach and
engage the children to know God in Jesus Christ, and to love and serve
him, in all Sobriety, Godliness, and Righteousness of Life, with a perfect
Heart and a willing Mind.

But let us see what Yale's curriculum was at this period,
and President Woolsey's words can give the story : 6

The Latin law of 1748, of which also an English original, under date
of 1745, is extant in manuscript, prescribes that in the first year the students
shall principally study the tongues and logic, and shall in some measure
pursue the study of the tongues the next two years. In the second year
they shall recite rhetoric, geometry, and geography. In the third year,
natural philosophy, astronomy, and other parts of mathematics. In the
fourth year metaphysics and ethics. Every Saturday shall especially be
devoted to the study of divinity, and the classes, through the whole of
their college life, shall recite the Westminster Confession of Faith, received
and approved by the churches of this colony, Wollebius's or Ames's
Medulla, or any other system of divinity by direction of the President and
Fellows. And on Friday, each student in his order, about six at a time,
shall declaim in the hall, in Latin, Greek or Hebrew, and in no other
language without special leave; and the two Senior Classes shall dispute
twice a week.

In Dr. Johnson's pupilage, 7

common arithmetic and a little surveying were all the mathematics studied;
but he, as a tutor, introduced more mathematics for the understanding of
the Newtonian system. Geometry was studied not long afterward. In a
letter of Jonathan Edwards to his father (written probably at the beginning
of his Senior year, 1720), he says that the Rector advised him to get
Alsted's Geometry and Gassendus's Astronomy for the purposes of study.
At a later period, I know not when, except that it is likely to have been
under President Clap, the mathematics of Ward (President of Trinity
College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Exeter) were introduced. 8

Let us advance a decade and note yet further enlargement

6 Yale College, ii. 497. 7 Ibid.,ii. 499. 8 Ibid., ii. 497.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 257

of the studies, but not yet up to the point set by the Philadel-
phia Provost :

President Clap, in his history, written in 1766, gives an account of
the studies, which shows that, during his term of office considerable pro-
gress had been made in the mathematical branches. In the first year, he
says, they learn Hebrew, and principally pursue the study of the languages,
and make a beginning in logic and some parts of mathematics. In the
second year they study the languages, but principally recite logic, rhetoric,
oratory, geography, and natural philosophy, and some of them make good
progress in trigonometry and algebra. In the third year they still pursue
the study of natural philosophy and most branches of mathematics. Many
of them well understand surveying, navigation, and the calculation of
eclipses; and some of them are considerable proficients in conic sections
and fluxions. In the fourth year they principally study and recite meta-
physics and divinity. The two upper classes exercise their powers in dis-
puting every Monday in the syllogistic form and every Tuesday in the
forensic .

And proceeding a few years later we note yet further
advances :

There is, in President Stiles' Diary for November 9, 1779, a list of
' ' books recited in the several classes at [his] accession to the presidency,"
which we will here insert : 9

Freshman Class. Virgilius, Ciceronis Orationes, Graec. Test,
Ward's Arithmetic.

Sophimore (sic) Class. Graecum Testament., Horatius, Lowth's
English Grammar, Watts' Logic, Guthrie's Geography, Hammond's Alge-
bra, Holmer's Rhetorick, Ward's Geometry, Vincent's Catechism [Satur-
day], Ward's Mathematics.

Junior Class. Ward's Trigonometry, Atkinson and Wilson ditto,
Graec. Test, Cicero de Oratore, Martin's Philosophic Grammar and Phi-
losophy, 3 vols., Vincent, [Saturday].

Senior Class. Locke, Human Understanding, Wollaston, Relig. of
Nature Delineated, and for [Saturday], Wollebius, Amesii Medulla,
Graec. Test, (or Edwards on the Will, sometime discontinued), President
Clap's Ethics.

President Woolsey further tells us : lo

For the classical tongues the examinations embraced at first, and for
many years, a part of Virgil, a part of Cicero's select orations, and in
Greek the four Evangelists. The course in College went very little further

Yale College, ii. 498. 10 Ibid., ii. 500.

258 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

than to complete these Latin authors and the New Testament. I do not
think that even Homer was studied except by the candidates for the Berke-
lian scholarship, until the earliest years of the present century, when the
late Professor Kingsley and Professor Moses Stuart, being tutors, used it in
their classes. * * * * Latin, at the first, was both spoken and
written with ease, and the daily practice in disputation and even in con-
versation was such that the students would put to shame in this respect
those of the present day. But I fear that correctness of style was not
reached, much less was elegance.

Even Mr. Smith's " Latin and Greek Schools" were many
years in advance of all this ; but when to these his Philosophy
Schools were added we find the College and Academy of Phila-
delphia a half century in the advance of imparting a thoroughly
liberal education to the increasing American generations.

As Yale grew out of Harvard, it followed that the curriculum
was on the same pattern as the latter. New England did not
require another College, but church government and alleged
differences in orthodoxy were the reasons for the former's exist-
ence as early as 1647-;" but a decade after the origin of Har-
vard, the people of New Haven "undertook the enterprise of
establishing a College in that colony but postponed it in deference
to the interests of Cambridge." However in 1700 the matter
was consummated, and Abraham Pierson, a graduate of Har-
vard of 1668, became the first Rector of the Saybrook Academy
which in a few years, when removed to New Haven, was entitled
Yale College in honor of Governor Yale, its illustrious bene-
factor.

Mr. Palfrey, writing of Harvard College, tells us :

The course of study, adopted from the contemporaneous practice of
the English Universities, consisted of Latin and Greek (in which some
proficiency was required for admission) ; of logic, arithmetic, geometry,
and physics ; and of Hebrew, Chaldee Syriac, and Divinity, the forming
of a learned ministry being a main object of the institution. [Under the
Rev, Henry Dunster, the second president], the College soon acquired so
high a reputation, that in several instances youth of opulent families in the
parent country were sent over to receive their education in New England. 12

11 Duyckinck, i. 85.

12 Palfrey's History of New England, ii. 48, 49.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 259

[But this may doubtless have been largely owing to the religious tests of
the English Universities.]

During Pierson's pupilage at Harvard, President Quincy
tells us : 13

To the general student, and such as were not destined to the work of
the ministry, the exercises of the College must have been irksome, and, in
their estimation, unprofitable. The reading every morning a portion of
the Old Testament out of Hebrew into Greek, and every afternoon a por-
tion of the New Testament out of English into Greek, however it might
improve their knowledge of those languages respectively, could not greatly
accelerate or enlarge their acquaintance with Scripture, or tend vividly to
excite their piety. The exposition, required by the laws of the College to
be made by the President, of the chapters read at the morning and evening
services, although greatly lauded for its utility, and made the repeated
subject of inquiry by active members of the Board of Overseers, seems
not to have been of any material efficiency in point of instruction. * * *
"To speak true Latin, both in prose and verse," was made an essential
requisite for admission. Among the laws and liberties of the College was
the following : " The scholars shall never use their mother tongue, except
that, in public exercises of oratory or such like, they be called to make
them in English. * * * Scholares vernacula lingua, intra Collegii
limites nullo pretextu intentur."

The flavor of this training Rector Pierson must have main-
tained during the few years of his life spared to the Connecticut
College. The administration of President Holyoke, at Harvard,
beginning in I/37, 14

was distinguished by a series of persevering and well directed endeavors
to elevate the standard of harmony in Harvard College. * * * But
the customs and rules of the College tardily yielded to the influences of the
period ; and it was not until after the middle of the eighteenth century,
that effectual improvements were introduced. * * * The dissatisfac-
tion of the Board of Overseers with the state of elocution among the
undergraduates, and with the standard of classical attainments in the Col-
lege, was the origin of the present literary exhibitions, which were at first
only semi-annual. In October, 1754, a committee was raised in that
board " to project some new method to promote oratory." * * * The
same Committee 15 had reported in April, 1755, tnat l ^ e fourth part of the
yearly income of the Hollis donation, and the whole of the yearly income

13 History of Harvard University, Quincy, i. 193.
"Quincy, ii. 123. 15 Ibid., ii. 125.

260 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

of other splendid donations, should be applied to encourage the study of
the languages, by equally dividing the amount between any three of the
Junior Sophister class, two of whom should appear most expert in the
Latin and the Greek, and the third in the Hebrew language ; and the other
incomes of Mr. Hollis to be divided equally between nine other Junior
Sophisters, who should most excel in the knowledge of said languages, the
said scholars to be all of good morals. * * * By other action the
Corporation * * * voted that the exercises of the Freshmen and
Sophomores, with their respective Tutors, on Friday morning (except
when they declaim) "be to read some celebrated orations, speeches, or
dialogues in Latin or English, whereby they may be directed and assisted
in their elocution or pronunciation ; that the Tutors attend the declama-
tions in the Chapel on Friday morning, and that once a month the two
senior classes have their disputations in English, in the forensic manner,
without being confined to syllogisms ; that the number of opponents and
respondents be equal and that they speak alternately ; the questions to be
given out by the Tutors at least a fortnight beforehand." [But President
Quincy adds] notwithstanding the unanimity with which these principles
were adopted, it was found difficult to introduce a practice so little in
unison with the private recitations, syllogistic forms, and solemn exercises
of ancient times. 16

It was not however until President Willard's administration,
namely in 1787 after the War of the Revolution, that we trace
some significant changes in the books of instruction, recreating
the curriculum, but not up to the standard of that of Philadel-
phia of 1756 :

Horace, "Sallust, Cicero de Oratore, Homer, and Xenophon were substi-
uted for Virgil, Cicero's orations, Caesar, and the Greek Testament. The num-
ber of exercises was increased, and the instructors were enjoined to ascertain
that they were learned by the whole class. These classics formed the prin-
cipal studies of the first three College years. The Freshmen were instructed,
also, in rhetoric, the art of speaking, and arithmetic ; the Sophomores in
algebra, and other branches of mathematics ; the Juniors in Livy, Dod-
dridge's Lectures, and, once a week, the Greek Testament ; the Seniors in
logic, metaphysics, and ethics. The Freshmen and Sophomores were
required to study Hebrew, or French, as a substitute. Through the College
course all the classes were instructed in declamation, chronology and
history. In 1788 Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric was introduced as a text
book.

16 Quincy, ii. 127. n Ibid., ii. 279.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 261

But within fifteen years from this time, Harvard had still
further advanced her standard : l8

In 1803, the former conditions of admission were repealed, and a
strict examination in Dalzel's Collectanea Graeca Minora, the Greek Tes-
tament, Virgil, Sallust, and Cicero's Select Orations ; a thorough acquaint-
ance with the Greek and Latin grammars, including prosody ; also, an
ability to translate those languages correctly, and a knowledge of geography
and arithmetic to the rule of three, was substituted.

Of the curriculum at William and Mary College, Virginia,
at the period of the publication of Provost Smith's Plan, we have
no certain knowledge. The visitations of fire to its buildings
had caused the destruction of most of its valuable records. The
origin of this venerable institution was even more decidedly of a
theological intention than Harvard or Yale, and was

to the end that the church of Virginia may be furnished with a seminary
of ministers of the Gospel, and that the youth may be piously educated in
good letters and manners, and that the Christian faith may be propagated
amongst the Western Indians to the glory of Almighty God.

The Rev. James Blair, afterwards Commissary of the Bishop of
London in Virginia, was sent to England by the Colonial Assem-
bly in 1691 to solicit a charter from the Crown, which was
granted on 8 February, 1693, William and Mary giving out of
the quit rents two thousand pounds towards the building.
When he was charged to convey to Seymour, the Attorney
General, the royal commands to issue the charter, Seymour
remonstrated against this liberality, upon the ground that the
nation was engaged in an expensive war ; that the money was
wanted for better purposes, and that he did not see the slightest
occasion for a College in Virginia. Mr Blair begged the Attorney
would consider " that its intention was to educate and qualify
young men to be ministers of the gospel, much wanted there;
that the people of Virginia had souls to be saved as well as the
people of England." " Souls," exclaimed Seymour, " damn
your souls; make tobacco!" 19 Commissary Blair, a native of

18 Quincy, ii. 280.

19 This is related by Franklin to Messrs Weems and Gant, two candidates then
in London seeking his counsel as to obtaining orders, in his letter from Passy, 18
July, 1784. Bigelow, ix., 10.

262 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Scotland as was William Smith, had come as a Missionary of
the Church of England to Virginia in 1685. He was nominated
the first President of the College and so continued the half cen-
tury until his death in 1743. We are told that,

before the Revolution, the College consisted of a school of Divinity, one of
Philosophy, in which Natural Philosophy and Mathematics were taught, a
Grammar School for instruction in the Ancient Languages, and an Indian
school supported by the donation of the Hon Robert Boyle, in which, from
about the year 1700 to 1776, eight to ten Indians were annually maintained
and educated. 2 "

In this Christian and generous thought and action for the
aborigines, the College of William and Mary was far in advance
of its cotemporaries. Franklin visited the College in April
1756:

This day, Benjamin Franklin, Esquire, favored the Society with his
company and had the degree of A. M. conferred upon him. 21

Thomas Jefferson was then in one of the younger classes,
graduating in 1759. Twenty years later, the Master and the
undergraduate were united on a Committee to draft a Declara-
tion of Independence from the Mother country which came forth
from their deliberations in the immortal words of the younger
of the two.

In 1771, there graduated James Madison, afterwards the
first Bishop of Virginia, who received the degree of D.D. in
1785 from the University in Philadelphia; who within three
years of his graduation was made Professor of Natural Philoso-
phy and Chemistry, and within six years became the President
of the College, both of which stations through the remainder of
his life to 1812 he filled with zeal and ability, and to which after
his consecration in 1790 were added the duties of his Episcopate.

20 Historical Sketch, p. 40. Archdeacon Burnaby visited William and Mary
College in September, 1759, and referring to the Indian School says, "this pious
institution was set on foot and promoted by the excellent Mr. Boyle. * * * At
present the only Indian children in Mr. Boyle's school are five or six of the Pamunky
tribe, who, being surrounded by and living in the midst of our settlements, are more
accustomed to the manners and habits of the English Colonists. * * * The
business of the Professor of the Indian School is to instruct the Indians in reading,
writing, and the principles of the Christian religion." 7ravc/s, London, 1798, p. 24.

21 Ibid., 42.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 263

Provost Smith's Biographer tells us that Rev Mr Madison intro-
duced the curriculum of the Philadelphia Academy and College
of I756, 22 and adopted it on his accession to the Presidency, in
the College of William and Mary, from which we may learn
that the course previously pursued was a less liberal one and
savored more of the courses which we have found to have pre-
vailed in the New England Colleges prior to the Revolution.
Franklin may not after his visit of 1756 have again been in
Virginia, but his interest was awakened in this then venerable
institution of learning on the banks of the James River, and
was sealed by his acceptance of a degree of honor it conferred
upon him. On his return from that visit he found that the
Trustees had approved of Mr Smith's " Scheme of liberal educa-
tion," and may have sent a copy of it to his friends at Williams-
burg as its eminent faculty contained, "Persons of Learning and
Experience, in order to obtain their sentiments upon it." The
seeds were sown, and when young Madison became the head
of the College, at about the same age Smith had become Pro-
vost, he was ready and able to carry into practice a new depar-
ture in the College form of studies, which otherwise might have
remained unchanged in the main since good Commissary Blair
had established them four score of years before. The vigor of
youth found its way to the front then when possessed by men
of courage and cultivation as it does to day, though we are apt
to assume that only in these times does the opportunity present
itself to the young man to become a leader. Well may it be if
the young man of the present will always find himself as well
fitted for his opportunity as did Smith and Madison. 23

Of the curriculum in the English Universities we gather the
best account, not from English sources, but from a German
authority, V. A. Huber, whose studies of the subject in The

"Smith, i. 124.

25 Mr. Sydney G. Fisher, in his recent interesting publication, entitled Church
Colleges; their History, Position and Importance, Philadelphia, 1895,5375: " Before
the Revolution, William and Mary and the College of Philadelphia were the leading
seats of learning in the colonies. The fame of Harvard and Yale is of a later date.
The Philadelphia College was a little larger than William and Mary, and had a wider
curriculum embracing more topics ; but was inferior to William and Mary in the
quality of its training and in producing remarkable men." p. 25.

264 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

English Universities, translated by Francis W. Newman, make
of the subject one of the most interesting studies in English life.
He says of their course in the eighteenth century :

The average scientific result of the seven years course [academic and
collegiate] may be judged of, by considering what was required by the
Colleges (not by the University) for the attainment of the Bachelorship in
Arts, The candidate was to be well founded in Latin, and to have a
moderate acquaintance with Greek, a certain facility in speaking or writing
Latin, and a knowledge rather general and elegant, than fundamental, of
the commonest Classics, connected more with an ability to quote passages,
than aught else a rather piecemeal acquaintance with archaeological and
historical matters, serviceable for commenting on the separate authors.
Mathematical information, slight enough at Oxford, but comprising in
Cambridge the higher branches of Mathematics, Physics, and a foretaste of
Astronomy with the general Philosophical cultivation which may be gath-
ered from a very moderate acquaintance with the more important works of
Bacon and Locke. Whatever was done beyond, either in the Arts or in
the Faculties, was a work of supererogation. 24

Referring to public examinations, which became the estab-
lished practice in the Philadelphia Academy for many years
to the great benefit of the students and reputation of the institu-
tion, Huber had, in a few pages before the above, written :

In Cambridge, the Mathematical examinations appear alone to have
been carried on with earnestness : indeed, the examinations for ' ' honors ' '
introduced as early as the middle of last century, became so severe, that
only the ablest minds could enter the lists. The publicity of these exami-
nations, and the interest felt in the results, certainly gave a powerful excite-
ment to ambition in the case of those who could compete for them.
Another and more widely diffused stimulus, was found in the prizes which
were offered, at least after the middle of the century, for compositions in
prose or in verse. Independently of the prize itself, the publicity of the
recitation and the augury afforded of future progress for the successful
candidate, were of great effect. 25

He had already spoken of the pre-eminence of Mathematics
at Cambridge :

Only the Mathematical studies at Cambridge and those in Natural

24 The English Universities from the German of V. A. Huber. By F. W.
Newman, ii. 304. 25 Ibid, ii. 299.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 265

Philosophy connected with them, require or admit especial mention. In
these the impulse reached even the University Statutes, and introduced the
germ of the system of mathematical examinations, which has since reached
the highest pitch of mechanical perfection ; and essentially contributed to
gain for Cambridge its mathematical pre-eminence above all other institu-
tions in the world. The name of Newton suffices to explain this prepon-
derance of mathematics, yet we ought not to overlook the merit of his
predecessor Barrow, and the earlier predisposition towards this branch of
study. That Bentley was not able to elevate the classics to the same
pitch, may be explained, both by the firm footing which Mathematics had
already gained, and by his own unpleasantness and unpopularity. While
Cambridge continued in this praiseworthy path, under Newton's energetic
successors, and shortly produced Person to take the place of Bentley ;
Oxford also began to break the spell of its political evil spirit, and resume
its classical studies. Thus in the second half of the eighteenth century we
find both the Universities upon that level of scientific, moral, and religious
cultivation, upon which they upon the whole remained till about thirty
years ago, when a new impulse began, the riper and permanent results of
which are yet to come. 26

Dr. Christopher Wordsworth in his Social Life at the
English Universities affords us more information as to the ages
of the matriculants :

Swift went to Dublin at fourteen. Gibbon entered at Magdalen,
Oxford, as a gentleman commoner (April, 1752) before he had completed
his fifteenth year. And, that entries at that early age were contemplated as
possible, is evident from the fact that there was a regulation at Oxford,
which provided that students who entered at an earlier age should not
subscribe the XXXIX Articles on their matriculation, bnt should wait till
they had completed their fifteenth year. Out of a dozen cases taken at
random, of men who studied at the Universities in the last century (not
including Gibbon) I find three who entered at fifteen years of age, two at
seventeen, three at eighteen, and four at nineteen. 27

The ages of the early graduates at the Philadelphia College
show that they entered college life at earlier years than Dr.
Wordsworth quotes of the ages at matriculation, at the English
Universities. Of the seventy graduates at the sixteen com-
mencements, prior to the abrogation of the Charter in 1 779, whose
ages are known to us, thirty-seven were not over nineteen years

28 Newman, "ii. 293-4. "Social Life, p. 94.

266 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

of age, and of these, fifteen were seventeen years of age, eight
were sixteen years, and three were fifteen : these latter were
John Bankson, John Maddox Wallace, and Benjamin Duffield.
The greatest age at graduation was twenty-seven years, this
being the age of Robert Goldsborough, Samuel Jones a native
of Wales, and James Cannon a native of Scotland. The aver-
age of the whole number was nineteen years and six-sevenths.
The sixty-five whose ages are unknown to us would not, it is
assumed, materially change these figures. There may be
naught to argue from this contrary to the completeness of the
College curriculum, which was admittedly more thorough than
any cotemporary plan ; but the figures testify to the influence
of colonial life which stimulated the young men to more rapid
courses in their educational life, in order the earlier to embark
in their chosen pursuits whether professional or otherwise. In
the old country at home more deliberation was had in all such
matters, and there probably no one was eager to enter the lists
of trade or of profession where social caste prevailed to dictate
the mode of a man's pursuit of self maintenance.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 267

XXXVI.

It may be well at this point, though we may anticipate
some of our steps, to consider whether the exemplary standard
thus raised by the Provost narrowed the door of admission to the
young applicant, and served in the course of years to maintain
a minimum number of graduates as compared with the other
well known and older institutions in the land. To this cause
if it existed may be added a city location of the College and
Academy, wherein was at first no stated home for the student
from the interior and which deficiency was only in part remedied
within a few years. Harvard, and Yale, and New Jersey, and
William and Mary, each graduated more pupils than Philadel-
phia and King's College together, '.within the twenty years
following 1756. Cambridge, New Haven, Princeton, and
Williamsburg were small places, possibly chosen for scholastic
sites on account of their freedom from the turmoil of large
centres, though the first named was within sound of one. Har-
vard and Yale drew matriculants from the New England Col-
onies and some even from New York ; Princeton's supply came
as well from Pennsylvania and New York as from New Jersey,
the Presbyterian element in Philadelphia contributing largely
to it. The College of Philadelphia could only draw from its
own province and the Lower Counties as they were termed,
but at the same time attracted many from Maryland, when
William and Mary within the period under review had but two
Maryland graduates. But Philadelphia had the honor of grad-
uating Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant in 1763, a graduate of
Princeton of 1762, which of itself was a testimony to its higher
standard. Columbia drew from the churchmen of New York
and some West India youth, notably Alexander Hamilton,
though the latter's studies were interrupted by the approach of
the Revolution. Of the three hundred and eighteen graduates of
William and Mary within these two decades, three hundred were
Virginians, of whom were Jefferson, Monroe, and Marshall,
two from Maryland, one from Jamaica, the three Murrays,
sons of the Earl of Dunmore, and to the honor of the college

268 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

be it recorded ten Indians. The two city colleges, New York
and Philadelphia, even under experienced leaders supported by
strong local influences, suffered for want of that home college life
which the other institutions offered. Harvard in this period
made an annual average of about forty-one graduates, Yale
about thirty-three, Princeton about twenty and William and
Mary about sixteen, while Philadelphia with two vacant years,
1758 and 1764, averaged in the twenty a little over seven, and
Columbia with its first Commencement in 1758, averaged in the
nineteen years but about five and one-half. Of the graduates in
this period eight became signers of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, William and Mary furnishing Wythe, Jefferson and
Braxton ; Philadelphia, Hopkinson and Paca ; Harvard, Hooper
and Gerry; and Princeton, Benjamin Rush a Philadelphia!!. Of
the College Alumni before 1757, there were ten of the signers,
of which Harvard furnished Samuel Adams, Ellery, Williams,
Paine and John Adams ; Yale, Livingston, Lewis Morris, Wol-
cott and Hall (these two classmates of 1747); and Princeton,
Stockton. The churchmanship of King's College did not
attract pupils from the general community, as Yale and Prince-
ton on either side not only furnished to them a more welcome
theology but a college home life. Philadelphia with its liberal
Constitutions and catholic minded Trustees yet eventually fell
tinder the taint of Episcopacy, for in Christ Church were
centred those most active in its control and management. But
its standard was elevated, and many of the best minds of Penn-
sylvania and Maryland and Delaware sought the Muses in its
College, rugged as were the steps that led into its Portico. It
was to the honor of the College and to the credit of the young
Provost, that the maintenance of his high standard of 1756
secured to the graduates a higher rank in general studies, i. e. in
Philosophy, than their compeers of other Colleges at the time.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 269

XXXVII.

To carry out in thoroughness this comprehensive scheme of
tuition the Provost had associated with him in the Faculty, the
Vice Provost Alison, and Professors Grew, Kinnersley, and
Jackson, with the assistance of the Tutors James Latta, Hugh
Williamson, and Thomas Pratt. Horace Jones had served from
1751, and his engagement ceased in January of this year.
Young Duche had served but one year's Tutorship; from
August, 1754, he had devoted himself solely to his studies.
Jackson, a Tutor from April 1752, had now been appointed
Professor of the Languages. John Ormsby, appointed a Tutor
in the latter part of 1753, had served but a few months. John
Constable's appointment as Tutor in February, 1755, continued
barely six months. William Donnaldson served as Tutor but
for one quarter, at the close of 1755. Andrew Morton had
been Master of the Charity School since March, 1753 ; William
Ayres had been assistant in the Charity School since Septem-
ber, 1755, and when Mr. Morton was appointed Tutor, he was-
unanimously chosen Master to succeed him ; and Mrs. Frances
Holvvell had been Mistress of the Charity School from Decem-
ber of the same year. John Kirke had assisted in the Charity
School during 1774, and was "allowed Twenty Pounds for his
service and Thirty pounds for the year ensuing if

he continues in the Academy," which, however^ he did not.
Hugh Williamson added to his duties as Tutor those of Writing
Master; but later, Thomas Pratt was called the Writing Master.
Williamson and Latta, tutors in the Latin Schools, were pupils
in the Philosophy Schools, and were to adorn the first gradu-
ating class in the year foilowing.

2/o HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XXXVIII.

But the activities of the Provost in other matters than those
of the College the claims of which might well be supposed to
engage his entire time with only intervals for those pulpit calls
which his eloquence made frequent, 1 brought him abreast of
the politics of the day in which he stirred with a lively interest,
and on behalf of which he often exercised his ready and trench-
ant pen. Controversy with him was a sure avenue to the display
of his keenest abilities, and perhaps was more congenial to him
at this time of his life, for he was not over thirty years of age,
than the staid and regular duties of the College with its full day
sessions and brief holidays in season. This much must be said
before we narrate one of these controversies, the consideration
of which found its way into the deliberations of the Trustees,
and necessarily became part of the history of the College; the
only advantage of which lies in the opportunity it affords us in
passing to take some view of the political heats of the province
and city at that time prevailing.

Early in the year 1756 party feeling ran high; the popular
sentiment being keenly at the time against the Proprietaries
who continuously instructed their Governors not to approve of
any bill taxing their estates, and the other side contending this
cry was a pretence to undermine the Proprietaries' interest
entirely and take the Government out of their hands. William
Smith, who could not rest quiet in any civil strife any more than
in a theological controversy, early sided with the latter party,
and against the Assembly of which Franklin was a conspicuous
and influential member. We have seen from his letter of July,
1754, how early in his Pennsylvania life he had formed views on
local controversies. It was in the month of March, 1756, that
being at the Coffee House and engaged in animated conversa-
tion with Mr. Daniel Roberdeau, afterwards General Roberdeau,
the latter said to him " he was sorry a gentleman of his cloth had

1 Dr. George B. Wood in his History of the University of Pennsylvania, read
before the Historical Society on 29 October, 1827, says: "The Rev'd Dr. William
Smith was eminent for his various learning and general ability. Many living can bear
witness to his eloquence as a preacher." p. 20.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 271

intermeddled in party affairs," to which Mr. Smith replied "I
am of no Party : I just dress the Sentiments of one side of the
Question ; I would do the same for you, were there not men of
abilities among you." This language was overheard, and being
repeated from mouth to mouth was added to, so that the
accepted report had it that Smith's language was to this effect :
" I only dress the Sentiments of the Proprietary side in proper
language ; and if it was not that there are men of sense and
ability among the friends of the People I would do the same for
them." The offense in this latter version lay in the naming of
the two parties, and the sting to Smith was in his apparent
acknowledgment that the Assembly party were the Friends of
the People. This Mr. Smith met by an affidavit not only deny-
ing the language as reported, but further denying his having
given expression to any sentiments of the kind whatever in a
conversation with Mr. Roberdeau or otherwise. This was met
by an affidavit of the gentleman and by the same from those
bystanders who had noted what had been said in the warmth
of the conversation, affirming that Mr. Smith employed the
words as first recited above. And to strengthen Mr. Rober-
deau's worth and credit with the community, not only did the
Rector, Warden, and Vestrymen of Christ Church certify to his
having "always supported the character of an Honest, Virtu-
ous, Religious, Upright and Sober man," but certain citi-
zens, seventy in number, joined in a certificate in the same
terms, among whom were Drs. Bond and Zachary and Mr.
Syng, who were trustees of the Academy. The town talk
became oppressive, and the Pennsylvania Journal, Bradford's
paper, admitted communications on the charge anonymous and
otherwise. Humphrey Scourge gave mild advice to a certain
Parson : " I could wish for thy own sake, and the sake of those
under thy care, that thee would behave more prudently, and
give less occasion of offense to the People ; " and Obadiah
Honesty came out in a Broadside arguing that the probabilities
all were against Mr. Smith saying the words currently reported
he had uttered. Smith himself was the reputed author of an
article in the Journal of 15 April in which he referred to the

2/2 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

" aspiring views of a certain mighty politician, who expected
that every person would fall down and worship the GOLDEN
CALF. I had almost said the GOLDEN BULL." Which were
considered by another writer in the issue of the following week
as "the vomitings of this infamous hireling against an absent
person." And to this on 6 May, Smith's rejoinder contained a
qualification of these words, " No one desires to detract from the
Gentleman's Merits and Abilities, but certainly they are not too
high for competition nor wholly unparalleled." These references
to Franklin did not show new antagonisms, but were the fruits
of earlier controversies. Franklin was absent during this news-
paper war, not returning until June ; but his unwillingness
longer to continue President of the Board of Trustees took form
at the annual meeting in May, when Dr. Peters succeeded him.
At the moment of time when William and Mary was bestowing
on him their honorary degree, his own College under the heat
of local politics was willing his influence in it should be lessened,
and accepted his withdrawal from the Presidency.

This present controversy was affecting the College, and the
young Provost felt the need of vindication from public calumny.
Franklin on his return from Virginia attended the meeting of 8
June, but being again called out of town was not at the meeting
of 5 July, Messrs. Peters, Allen, Hamilton, Inglis, Stedman,
Maddox, Coleman, Strettel, Taylor and Syng only being present,
when

it was moved by one of the Trustees that Examination be made into the
foundation of the Several Charges lately published to the Disadvantage of
Mr. Smith, as the Reputation of the Academy might be affected by them,
and it appearing to the Trustees that in Justice to their own Character as
well as that of their Provost, such an examination was very proper, it was
referred to Mr Peters, Mr Taylor and Mr Stedman to make full enquiry into
this Matter and report the same at the next meeting of the Trustees that it
may then be considered what ought farther to be done.

At the same meeting, four of the students of the Senior Philos-
ophy Class, viz. : Duche, Latta, Hopkinson and Williamson,
presented a paper to the Trustees which was ordered entered on
the minutes bearing on this subject. Magaw and Morgan's signa-
tures are not attached as they were out of town. It was a filial

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 273

document, the utterance of an appeal in behalf of their Provost
to whom they were personally attached, resenting the

several unjust and malicious insinuations lately appearing in the public
papers and been spread through the city by the heat of Party against the
Rev. William Smith, Provost of this College, [and thinking it] their duty in
justice to the Character of our respected Tutor to certify to you that for near
the space of two years last in which we have been under his immediate care,
he never did in any of the lectures take occasion to introduce anything relat-
ing to the Parties now subsisting in this Province, or tending to persuade us
to adopt the Principles of one side more than another. * * * We
further beg leave to certify to you that in the whole course of his Lectures on
Ethics, Government, and Commerce, he never advanced any other Princi-
ples than what were warranted by our standard authors Grotius, Puffendorf,
Locke and Hutcheson, writers whose sentiments are equally opposite to
those wild notions of Liberty, that are inconsistent with all government, and
to those pernicious schemes of government which are destructive of true
liberty, * * * as a sufficient proof of which we now lay our notes of
the Lectures which he delivered upon the several Branches of Morality
before the Trustees and any other persons willing to inspect the same.

At a meeting held on 13 July with the same members
except Messrs. Coleman and Syng, and adding Messrs. Turner,
Cadwalader and Mifflin, the committee presented their report,
" which being several times read and considered the Trustees
were unanimously of opinion with the Committee on the
several Matters reported by them, approved and agreed to their
Report." In the course of this the Committee say :

We have likewise at the request of the Trustees examined and inquired
into the conduct of the Rev'd Mr Smith and do report that during his
employment in his present Station as Provost of the said College and
Academy, it has been becoming and satisfactory to us ; his application, his
abilities and Labours in the instruction of his Pupils have been attended
with good success and approved by the Trustees and Audience, at the
late public examination of the senior Philosophy class, who are now recom-
mended for admission to their first Degree. * * * From these facts
and our own personal knowledge of Mr Smith we are of opinion that he has
discharged his Trust as a capable Professor and an honest man, and that
he has given sufficient evidence of the goodness of his Principles.

The action of the Trustees was accepted as his final dis-
charge from the burden of these public insinuations, and an
exoneration from all alleged injury to the institutions by his

274 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

political course. Their Committee's report they desired pub-
lished in the Pennsylvania Gazette, which offered a wider pub-
licity than that afforded by the Journal, though as it was known
as Franklin's paper, its columns were rather on that account
sought for personal reasons. Franklin was absent from the
the city, but David Hall the publisher returned a reply declin-
ing an insertion, and this was a further cause of offence against
the proprietor of the Gazette. This suspicion was not warranted,
however, and importance only is attached to Hall's letter from
the fact that the Trustees at their meeting of 10 August thought
it merited a full insertion in their minutes. Mr. Hall said in his
letter of 15 July :

but as these insinuations were not published in our paper, and as it has
some relation to the party disputes that have for some time subsisted, which
we have carefully avoided having any concern with, I cannot but think it
more proper to publish this by the same channel, through which the Dis-
putes have hitherto been carried on, on both sides; especially as in all
probability there will be some answer or remarks offered upon it which we
should be under a necessity of publishing, if we printed this, and be
thereby engaged in an affair, which we have all along been endeavoring to
avoid. I therefore return it to you in time, that it maybe published in the
other paper, if thought proper.

This referred to Bradford's Journal, in which, however, it
did not make an appearance. If the report made to the Trustees
was offered to Bradford for publication after this refusal by the
Gazette, and declined by him also, the reason must have been
from a like desire to avoid further controversy on the subject.

This declination was in consonance with the general course
of Franklin's Gazette, and to have printed the Trustees' finding
would have been a departure from it. The principles of the
paper in this regard were enumerated in the issue of 8 Janu-
ary preceding in Franklin's words, which form a sound example
for the guidance of the partisan press of to-day :

Whereas the Publick has been lately informed, that -various seditious
and inflaming Papers have been published in this Province containing abus-
ive Reflections, manifestly tending to propagate Dissension, G^c., which
seems (tho* perhaps undesignedly) to throw a general Reflection on all the
Printers in the Province; and as the Publishers of this Gazette think they

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 275

deserve no share of that Blame, having, for a course of years, carefully
avoided publishing any Thing of that kind in their Paper; they therefore
desire, that Papers of such a Tendency may not be offered to their Press
for the future; for if they are, they will (as they have hitherto been) be
absolutely rejected, without any regard to the Author or Authors of them.
But, on the contrary, if any Pieces of a healing Nature are sent us, with
a view of doing away our late unhappy Differences, and of extirpating that
cruel Spirit of Party Rage, which has so long torn us to Pieces; and which
may be a Means under Divine Providence of uniting us together as one
Man in the Defence of our bleeding country, that is daily ravaged by a
Savage enemy, supported by a treacherous one; such Pieces shall be most
thankfully received and immediately made publick, by the Proprietors of
this News-Paper.

XXXIX.

From this picture it is pleasant to turn to another sphere
of action in which William Smith found time to engage,
one more congenial to his academy connections, and this was
the work of the Society for the Education of Germans in
America. 1 Before he left London on his return to America in
the Spring of 1754, he had been in communication with gentle-
men who had associated themselves to secure more education to
the ignorant German emigrants to Pennsylvania, and prevent
their being led away by French persuasions from British inter-
ests, and " that they may become better subjects to the British
government and more useful to the Colonies, where Providence
has now fixed their habitation." On their behalf the Rev.
Samuel Chandler, their Secretary, addressed a letter to Gover-
nor Hamilton, Chief Justice Allen, Secretary Peters, Postmaster
General Franklin, Conrad Weiser. Interpreter, and Rev. William
Smith, which the latter bore with him, appointing these gentle-
men their Trustees. Mr. Smith wrote to Mr. Chandler, in a
week after his arrival in Philadelphia, conveying the assurance
of these gentlemen of how sensible they were of the honor done

1 Smith, i. 40.

276 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

them by the Society, and that they will decline no labor in the
execution of their important trust, adding :

We think the scheme you have engaged in for the instruction of these
poor foreigners, and blend them with ourselves in the most inestimable
privileges and interests, is one of the most generous and most useful that
ever engaged the attention even of Britons. But Mess Peters and Frank-
lin are to be sent out on Monday next as commissioners from this Province
to the general treaty, to be held with the Five Nations at Albany in New
York, on the I4th of next month; we cannot, therefore, do anything in the
business you so generously commend to us until their return, especially as
Mr. Weiser attends them.

At their first meeting, 2 10 August, 1754, held at the house
of the Chief Justice at Mount Airy, Messrs. Hamilton, Peters,
Franklin, and Smith being present, they resolved " that an Eng-
lish school be erected and opened with all possible expedition
at each of the following places, viz : at Reading, York, Easton,
Lancaster, Hanover, and Skippack." As there early arose

the difficulty of finding proper Schoolmasters skilled in both languages
coming next under consideration, Mr. Smith informed his co-trustees that
there were several poor children in the Academy that spoke English and
German, who might in a few years be qualified to serve as schoolmasters.

Franklin presented and read a letter to him from the Rev.
Henry Muhlenberg in which

he rejoiced much in hearing an illustrious society at home had undertaken
to carry on a scheme for promoting the knowledge of God among the
Germans in Pennsylvania, and for making them loyal subjects to the sacred
Protestant throne of Great Britain, and that he was pleased that the man-
agement of the said charity was intrusted to such important persons ; but,
as by long experience he was acquainted with almost all the corners of
Pennsylvania, and with the temper and circumstances of his countrymen,
he much feared some ill-minded persons would strive to defeat so just and
noble a view. * * * Mr. Sauer who printed a German newspaper,
which was universally read by the Germans all over Pennsylvania and the
neighboring colonies, made haste to prejudice them against the scheme.

It was resolved to purchase a German printing-house, to
counteract this influence ; and
Mr Franklin said that a few days before a printer of good character, well

2 Smith, i. 64.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 277

skilled in English and German, had applied to him to purchase his
German printing house, but that if the trustees thought it best to have the
press under their own direction, he would endeavor to engage the printer
in their service, both as a schoolmaster and printer, and in order to encour-
age so useful a work, he would dispose of his press to the trustees 31/25.
less than any two impartial judges would value it at. [This was agreed to,
and Mr. Smith was appointed Secretary] to keep a record of the proceed-
ings of the Trustees, so that copies of them might from time to time be
transmitted to the Society in London and to the proprietaries.

At a meeting on 23 August held at the Governor's House
at Bush Hill, local or deputy trustees were elected for each of
the six places already named ; and the question arising whether
one Calvinist and one Lutheran minister should not be joined
with each set of deputy trustees, Mr Weiser observed that

so great was the jealousy of the people at present against the clergy in
general, that such a measure at first might be a hindrance to the scheme,
especially as these jealousies are daily fomented, as was further confirmed
by different articles which he called attention to in MrSauer's paper.

Mr. Smith's correspondence in the work of this Society is
very entertaining, and affords a view of the apprehension gener-
ally felt by the loyal and educated Englishmen of the increase
of the German population, who, with an alien language portended
trouble to the unity of English rule in Pennsylvania. He writes
to the Archbishop of Canterbury 19 October, I754. 3

As the French are|daily encroaching behind us, and taking possession
of the vast fruitful country upon the Ohio, they will be able to offer our
Germans easy settlements, which these last will accept of, as they are an
ignorant people that know no difference between French and English gov-
ernment, being wanton with liberty, uninstructed in the use of it, and
placing all happiness in possessing a large piece of land. * * * The Indians
are going over to the French in these parts, because the latter, having
possession by means of their forts, can protect them ; and whenever they
come a little nearer, the Germans will submit and go over also for protec-
tion, caring for nothing but to keep possession of the estates they have
settled.

Mr. Smith prepared A Brief History of the Rise and Prog-
ress of the Scheme carrying on for the Instruction of Poor Ger-

3 Smith, i. 86.

278 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

mans and their Descendants, which was approved of at a meet-
ing on 10 December, 1754, and fifteen hundred copies ordered
to be printed in English and Dutch. The work went on ; and
in February, 1755, they commissioned the Rev. Mr. Schlatter* to
take a journey through the several parts of the Province and
visit the schools already formed, and try to counteract the
opposition which yet remained to this benevolent plan, and seek
more openings for the furtherance of the objects of the Society.
But Christopher Sauer mistrusted its aims and fanned the oppo-
sition into life. He wrote to a friend 6 September, 1755 :

I have been thinking since you wrote to me whether it is really true
that Gilbert Tennent, Schlatter, Peters, Hamilton, Allen, Turner, Schippin,
Schmitt, Franklin, Muhlenberg, Brumholz, Handschuh, &c, have the
slightest care for a real conversion of the ignorant portion of the Germans
in Pennsylvania, or whether the institution of free schools is not rather the
foundation to bring the country into servitude, so that each of them may
look for and have his own private interest and advantage. 5 Concerning
Hamilton, Peters, Allen, Turner, Schippin, and Franklin, I know that they
care very little about religion, nor do they care for the cultivation of mind
of the Germans, except that they should form the militia, and defend their
properties. Such people do not know what it is to have faith and confi-
dence in God; but they are mortified that they cannot compel others to
protect their goods.

The Society bought Franklin's press on his terms ; and
Smith writes Mr. Chandler 30 October, 1755 : 6

The German newspaper succeeded well; there being upwards of 400
subscribers, and more daily coming in, * * * the paper may do more
good to the design than several sc hools, because the Director has express
orders not to meddle with any of the disputes in this province, but to strive
in every paper to say something to improve and better his countrymen and
to confirm them in the Love and Knowledge of the Protestant Religion and
Civil Liberty. There are also 3000 Dutch almanacs for 1756 printed.

This was a noble work, in which William Smith appeared
to have had the laboring oar, exhibiting at once his faith, his
patriotism and his philanthropy. When we consider this, with all
its correspondence and perhaps controversy, was added to his
first busy year at the Academy which had now become a College

4 Smith, i. 92. 5 Ibid, i. 95. 6 Ibid, i. 96.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 279

with him as its Provost, together with his by-play of local
politics, we can form some realization of his great energy and
keen intelligence, shunning no work, accepting in the warmth
of youth all those duties which an active and willing man always
draws to himself, and performing them with singular zeal and
tenacity.

In the height of the Roberdeau controversy, occurred the
public fast, appointed by the Government of Pennsylvania, for
2 May 1756; and Mr. Smith preached at Bristol, 7 Pennsylvania,
one of his published Discourses, taking as his text certain verses
from Jeremiah viii. In his introduction he " acquaints the reader
that the discourse was delivered when the Province was groaning
under all that load of misery, which was the consequence of
Braddock's Defeat and the inroads of the French and Savages on
our distressed and helpless Frontiers, and any apology for the
matter or manner of it would be needless." In it he eloquently
describes the visitations of Providence, which brought from the
Authorities the call for a Fast.

Within the short period of one year, how many marks of God's
dealing with us have we seen ? Not to mention excessive droughts, earth-
quakes and other omens of his wrath, the troops sent to our protection
have been most miserably defeated, and such scenes of barbarity, sorrow
and desolation have ensued, as human nature shudders to recount, and
history can scarce parallel. * * * Yet what have we profited by all
this ? * * * Has it brought our civil discords to an end ? or has it
eradicated those absurd principles of government that have brought our
country to the brink of ruin ? * * * Have we not many who have
made it their business to restrain the ardor of God's people in their
righteous cause ; to tie up the hands of the king's best subjects in the
hour of extremest danger, and cry, Peace, peace, when there is no peace ?

These political references were not misunderstood at the time.

During the year prior to this, William Smith had written
a pamphlet entitled A Brief State of the Province of Pennsyl-
vania * * * in a letter from a gentleman who has resided
many years in Pennsylvania to his friend in London in which the

7 Discourses, London I759>P- 62. This is the only edition naming the place
of preaching. This was afterwards preached " with small variation " at German-
town on the Public Fast in July 1757. ibid, p. 6l.

280 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

conduct of their assemblies is impartially examined, and which
passed through three editions in London. 8 This was charged
with being written " with a view to render the Quakers of Penn-
sylvania and their Government obnoxious to the British Par-
liament and Ministry." And Smith wrote a second letter
entitled A Brief View of the Conduct of Pennsylvania for the
year ij$5 * * * Interspersed with several interesting anec-
dotes and original papers relating to the politics and principles of
of the people called Quakers, which was published in London in
I/56. 9 In his first letter, Smith affords us some interesting
figures of the population of the Province :

that the inhabitants were to be computed to be two hundred and twenty
thousand one third Germans, two fifths Quakers, more than one fifth
Presbyterians, and some few Baptists. One fourth of the Germans were
Roman Catholics. [He] suggested that Christopher Sauer was a popish
emissary, in the pay of the Quakers.

And the consequence of Sauer's influence " was that the Ger-
mans voted with the Quakers, were under the control of that
party, and always voted to keep them in power." And he
recommended

to suspend the right of voting for members of the Assembly from the
Germans until they have sufficient knowledge of our language and consti-
tution : and to make all bonds, wills and other legal contracts, void,
unless in the English tongue ; that no newspapers, almanacs, or periodi-
cal paper, by whatsoever name it may be called, be printed or circulated
in foreign language ; or, at least, if allowed, with a just and fair English
version of such foreign language printed in one column of the same page
or pages, along with the said foreign language.

And yet we have found him pursuing, in response to Franklin's
wise suggestion, the better course in the Society for the educa-
tion of the Germans of meeting the redoubtable Christopher
Sauer with his own weapons, and employing a German press
to circulate its publications among those dreaded foreigners

8 Smith, i. 122, 123.

9 The Pennsylvania Journal of 27 May, 1/56, announces this, "Being a
Sequel to a Late well known Pamphlet Intitled a Brief State of Pennsylvania."
" Just published in London and to be sold by William Bradford, price 2/6." The
Gazette of the following week has a like advertisement.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 281

whose assumed power for evil was deemed subversive of all that
was English in Government or religion ; overlooking the force
of a natural sympathy binding the quiet German, intent only
in his home life and freedom from state ambition, to the peace
loving Quaker who might be the better legislator for his in-
terests. It is difficult for us of to-day, who are reaping the fruits
of the inherent strength of our own mother tongue, to realize
the apprehension of our colonists at the predominating influence
of German language and politics.

XL.

The life of the young College and Academy would not re-
ceive full illustration without a proper understanding at this
period of the activities of its young Provost ; for it could not be
otherwise than that his instant zeal ecclesiastically, politically, and
philanthropically should reflect some publicity upon, and secure
some influence for, the noble school which he was now with
equal zeal extending and strengthening. One thing is quite as-
surred, that the College was kept well before the eyes of the
community, and if publicity would bring success it was bound
to attain it. But however this may be, these influences were
not all salutary, for seeds were now sown which brought forth
such malevolent fruit in 1779, and it is difficult to conceive his
giving in the exitements of the day that constant and complete
attention to the furtherance of his curriculum, which it and the
institution it served might seem to require.

The first commencement was hoped for in the Spring of
1756. In the Gazette of 29 April, 1756, it is noticed : "On
Friday se'ennight at Ten o'clock in the Morning, the public
Examinations of Candidates for Degrees in the College of Phil-
adelphia will be begun in the Public Hall, and continued that

282 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Day and the Day following." No reference to this finds place
in the Trustees' proceedings, and it was probably deemed better
to await conferring the first degrees of the College, until after the
aspirants had some training in the Scheme of liberal Education
which the Provost had about this time submitted for the appro-
bation of the Board. At their meeting of 27 December, 1756,
it was " ordered that an exact Catalogue of the Youth at present
in each of the Schools be prepared by the Clerk and presented
to the Trustees at the next meeting," which was submitted and
we find it " inserted in the Minute Book by order of the Trus-
tees " at the meeting of 5 March, 1757. Those who had now
earned their Degrees are not included. The Philosophy school
had twelve pupils, the Latin, sixty, the Mathematical twenty-
two and the English thirty-one. This first roll of students is
worthy of recording here as we find the names entered in due
order on the minute book.

The following List of the Youth belonging to the College and Acad-
emy of Philadelphia is inserted in the Minute Book by Order of the
Trustees.

PHILOSOPHY SCHOOL.

SENIOR CLASS. JUNIOR CLASS.

John Allen Samuel Keene

Andrew Allen John Chew

James Allen Philemon Dickinson

Joseph Reade Alexander Lawson

John Morris William Paid [Paca ?]

Samuel Powell
Abraham Walton

LATIN SCHOOL.

Benjamin Baynton James Murray

Thomas Bond Samuel Morris

John Cadwalader William Greenway

Lambert Cadwalader Tench Tilghman

Thomas Mifflin Joel Evans
Lindsay Coates

Robeson Yorke John Luke

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 283

John Stevens

Alexander Wilcox [Wilcocks ?]

William Gibbes

Richard Peters

James Cruikshank

William Kinnersley

Hugh Hughes

Mark Grime

John Searle M'Call

Andrew Hamilton

William Hamilton

Jasper Yeates
Henry Darler
John Neilson
George Thomson
John Murgatroyd

Samuel Inglis
Thomas Lawrence
Samuel Nicholas
Perry Frazier Child
Robert Strettell Jones
John Okill
John Diemer
Henry Elves

Francis More
Benjamin Alison
Anthony Morris
John Johnson
Thomas Coombe.

Thomas Hopkinson
James Huston
George Rundle
George Davis
William White
Thomas Murgatroyd
James Sayer

John Johnson

John Bennezett [Benezet|r]

Edward Welch

John Ord

William Davis

William Hockley

John Reade

Samuel Correy

George Ogle

Philip Francis

Amos Denormandie [Andrew^}

MATHEMATICAL SCHOOL.

Nathan Comitage

Cornelius O' Bryan.

Henry Benbrige

Charles Pratt

James Cools [Coutts ?]

Thomas Pratt

John Dunbavin

Thomas Plumsted

George Emlen

Thomas Philips

Nathaniel Evans

Samuel Penrose

James Gorrel

John Sharpe

John Jepson

John Wilcocks

John Inglis

John Yeates

Charles Knight

Andrew Yorke

Thomas Mnybury

William Karst

ENGLISH

SCHOOL.

Andrew Bell

Phineas Bond

James Bingham

Joseph Conyers

John Bingham

John Deering

284 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Richard Duncan Joseph Syng

George Gostelowe John White Swift

Henry Kepley [Keppele?] Thomas Tresse

Matthew Jackson John Wooden

Joseph M' Ilvaine Thomas Moore

William M' Ilvaine Thomas Woodcock

William Merrifield John Fullerton

George Morgan Alexander Fullerton

Robert Montgomery William Falkner

Lindley Murray John Knox

William Rush John Montour

Samuel Smith Richard Stanley
Gillis Sharpe

XLI.

But in the midst of preparations for the long looked-for first
Commencement, the Provost's eloquence as a preacher brought
to him an invitation for another of his special sermons from
Colonel Stanwix who was about starting with the forces under
his command to the Frontiers. 1 The Colonel and his command
attended in Christ Church on 5 April, 1757, when William Smith
preached his Discourse on "The Christian Soldier's Duty; the
Lawfulness and Dignity of his Office ; and the Importance of the
Protestant Cause in the British Colonies," from St. Luke iii. 14.
"such are the words which were recommended to me on the sub-
ject of this discourse." 2 It is an able argument on behalf of the
Christian Soldier's Duty, and an eloquent plea for the rightful-
ness of human warfare under circumstances of defense and op-
pression, and one which the necessities of the colony at the time

1 " On Tuesday last the first Battalion of the Royal American Regiment marched
in their several Companies to Christ Church in this city ; where, after Prayers by the
Rev. Dr. Jenny, a sermon was preached to them by the Rev. Mr. Smith, Provost of the
College, at the request of their officers. As the subject was important, there was a
very solemn attention in all present ; and the Colonel has requested that the sermon
may be published, which will be done with all possible Expedition." Penn. Gazette,
7 April, 1757.

2 Discourses, London 1759, p. 97.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 285

demanded. " I will pronounce it," he says " before Heaven
and Earth, that from the days of our Alfreds, our Edwards, and
Henries downward, the British sword was never unsheathed in a
more glorious cause than at present."

The next public occasion in which we find William Smith a
participant was upon the arrival in the province of William
Denny, the Lieutenant Governor, as successor of Governor Mor-
ris, from whom the College obtained its charter. The welcome
accorded to Denny was warm on all sides, only equalled in its
force by the disappointment soon caused by the failure of his
administration, in which came to an issue the contentions
between the Proprietaries whom he represented and the Assem-
bly, and which in a few short months produced that mission to
England in which Benjamin Franklin and Isaac Norris were dele-
gated to bear the plaints of the Assembly to the King. Governor
Denny arrived in Philadelphia 21 August, 1756, and was greeted
with sundry addresses from various bodies of citizens, Franklin
presenting him with an address as Colonel of the Regiment and
Artillery Company of the City of Philadelphia, and with one in
behalf of the Hospital. William Smith presented

the humble address of the Provost, Vice Provost, and Professors of the
College and Academy of Philadelphia. * * * Permit us to recom-
mend the Seminary of Learning under our care to your Honour's Protec-
tion, hoping, that you will condescend to grant the same Countenance to it,
and to us, which, on all occasions, we have been honoured with from your
two worthy Predecessors in the Government ; by which means, and the
fatherly care of the Trustees, its Founders, this Institution, thro' the Bless-
ing of God, has arrived to a very great Degree of Perfection ; altho' it has
hitherto been carried on under many Disadvantages and in Times that have
been far from auspicious to the Muses or the softer Arts of Peace.

To which the Governor happily said in his response :

As a proper Education contributes greatly to the Advantage of Man-
kind, you may, on all occasions, rely on my Countenance and Protection ;
and be assured that I shall think myself happy, in promoting and encour-
aging so laudable an institution. 8

3 Pennsylvania Gazette, 26 August, 2 and 9 September, 1756.

286 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XLII.

At the meeting of the Trustees held on 12 April, 1757,
order was taken for the first commencement, a programme
arranged, and the time named. On the 7th of the month the
Gazette announced that :

The Commencement for giving Degrees to the Senior Class of Stu-
dents in the College of this City, formerly put off on Account of the Small
Pox, is now fixed to be on Tuesday the iyth Day of May next : which will
be the first Commencement that has ever been had in this Seminary.

At the meeting of 10 May, the due formality was observed
of the Senior Class, Paul Jackson, James Latta, Hugh William-
son, Francis Hopkinson, John Morgan, Samuel Magaw and
Jacob Duche, presenting their humble petition, that

having gone through our Course of Studies in the Sciences, as professed in
this College, and having performed our public Exercises and been publicly
examined as Candidates for Degrees in your Presence, agreeable to Charter,
do now humbly request, that you would be pleased by your written Man-
date to present and recommend us to the Provost, Vice Provost and Pro-
fessors for our Admission to such Degree or Degrees as as we are entitled to
by our several Standings and Proficiencies in this Institution, [which] being
considered and approved, the Trustees accordingly directed the Mandate
to be issued.

But as some honorary degrees were in contemplation, two
Mandates were issued to the Faculty. The first

directing the Faculty to admit Paul Jackson to the Degree of Master of
Arts, and Jacob Duche, Francis Hopkinson, Samuel Magaw, Hugh Wil-
liamson, James Latta and John Morgan to the Degree of Bachelor of Arts.

And the second to

admit Ebenezer Kinnersley Professor of English and Oratory in the
Academy and Theophilus Grew Professor of Mathematics to the Honorary
Degree of Master of Arts ; and Josiah Martin, now Student at the Temple,
a youth of promising Genius who had finished the requisite Course of
Studies in order to the Degree of Bachelor in the Senior Philosophy Class
of this College, 1 and Solomon Southwickof Rhode Island, who without the

1 He died in the Island of Antigua in June, 1762, and Hopkinson wrote an
Elegy on his former classmate. Essays and Occasional Writings, iii. 70.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 287

usual Foundation of critical Learning and Languages discovered an apt-
ness worthy of Encouragement in Mathematics and some Branches of
Philosophy, to the honorary Degree of Bachelor of Arts .

The programme for the Commencement was announced in
the Gazette on 12 May, 1757, and was as follows :

A PLAN of the COMMENCEMENT to be held here on Tuesday next,
in the College and Academy Hall.

Prayers by the Rev. Mr. Peters.

A Sermon adapted to the Occasion by the Provost.

A Salutatory Oration by Mr. JACKSON. And

A Thesis to be defended. This closes the forenoon.
In the afternoon.

Three other Theses to be defended.

Then the Degrees are to be conferred.

Some Orations are to be spoken by some of the Students who have
been admitted to Degrees ; and a Valedictory Oration to be spoken by Mr.
JACOB DUCHE.

N. B. To avoid Confusion, the Gallery Door will be opened at Half
an Hour past Nine, and the Business of the Day will begin precisely at
Ten in the forenoon, and at Three in the afternoon.

We can imagine the interest of the occasion to all who
were concerned in it, and which enabled the friends of the insti-
tution to attend what was practically an All-day Commence-
ment. Such however was the custom of the period, and it
lived in some of the American Colleges into the times of the
present generation. The Trustees saw the crowning of their
eight years' effort in the public graduation of their first class ;
the Provost and the Faculty the successful issue of their Liberal
plan of Education in fitting their young men for the " Com-
mencement " of their matured lives ; and the young men them-
selves were impressed with the dignity and responsibility of
being the first to earn the honors of their Alma Mater, and they
were men who each of them in his life of usefulness attained
such eminence and displayed such worth, as to have united in
making their class not only the first in the history of the insti-
tution but unexcelled in point of average distinction and renown
by any of its successors.

The Minutes afford us no record of this day's festivities,
nor does the Gazette make any reference to the proceedings, as

288 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

in some subsequent Commencements. The Trustees were
present with but one notable exception, for Benjamin Franklin
had sailed a month before on his mission to England represent-
ing the Assembly's complaint on the subject of the Proprietaries'
claims. Dr. Peters was announced to open the services with
Prayer, but he had not been present at the meeting of 12 May
nor does his signature appear on the Mandates. The Provost's
sermon was from the text Psalm ii. 8, " On the Planting the
Sciences in America, and the Propagation of Christ's Gospel
over the untutored Parts of the Earth," and is the Fifth in the
Discourses of I/59- 2 This eloquent Sermon we have already
drawn upon for the Provost's explanation of the term Philoso-
phy as applied in his Curriculum. He sets out with two propo-
sitions :

First to observe to you that the propagation of Science (thro* the
establishment of seminaries of Learning on this continent) will probably
be the most effectual human means of accomplishing so glorious an end
[the conversion of the heathen].

Secondly, in this view of things and surely I can find none higher
to bespeak your continued favor and protection of this infant Seminary. [And
later, proceeds in his argument :] Having shewn the subserviency of Human
Science to the advancement of Christianity, and that the plan of education,
pursued in this Seminary, cannot fail, thro' Divine grace, to be a means of
spreading a thirst for heavenly wisdom; what need I add more, to bespeak
your continued favour and protection of it? Surely it cannot be indifferent
to you, whether the knowledge of Christ and his blessed Gospel shall be
spread over this continent, or not? Surely it cannot be indifferent to you,
whether your own children should be bred up in ignorance; or whether
they shall shine in every moral excellence, the glory of their country and
a light to the world around them ? You must know the relation in which
you stand to them, and the account which you will one day be required to
give of their tender years.

Oh ! then, in the first place, I beseech you, let their minds be sea-
soned with useful knowledge, and cherish this infant Seminary for their
benefit, and the benefit of millions that are to come after them. For what-
ever business you may design them, the education they will receive here
will not only prepare them for that, but also for a life of general virtue.

2 It is printed as Part II of the Sixth in the Discourses of 1762; but does not
appear as such in the Works of 1803. It may here be noted that the quotations
which follow are taken from the copy of the Discourses of 1759 owned by Dr.
Franklin.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 289

If you intend them for the noble Profession of the Law, to be the
protectors of the innocent and the advocates of justice; the best foundation
will be a love of humanity, and such a knowledge of the laws of nature
and general rights of mankind as they will obtain here. If for the service
of the state, the same will hold good. The man best acquainted in the
nature of civil government, the just bounds of authority and submission,
and the universal principles of equity and virtue, will always be the ablest
Politician and firmest Patriot Again, if they are to follow the healing art
of Physic, the knowledge of mathematics and the various branches of
Natural Philosophy, will be the best introduction. If proposed for the
Ministry of the blessed Gospel, it has been already observed that every
human science ought to lend its aid, and kindle a love of wisdom.

If other arguments were necessary to induce you to the cultivation of
knowledge and the support of this Institution, I might display to you the
wonderful change which the Sciences have produced in the state of every
country, where they have been received. Tho' they have not been able
wholly to eradicate tyranny, yet they have always crushed and mitigated t
influence; inspiring humanity, love of moral excellency, and every softer
virtue.

But why should I bring instances from other countries, when one of
the most illustrious is before our eyes ? This polished and flourishing city !
What was it fourscore years ago ? Even its foundations \vere not then laid ;
and in their place was one depth of gloomy wilderness ! This very spot,
this Seat of the Muses where I have now the honour to stand, preaching
the Gospel of Jesus, surrounded with men excelling in every valuable
accomplishment, and youth rising after their great example had I seen it
then, what should I have found it ? A spot rank with weeds perhaps, or
the obscure retreat of some lawless and gloomy savage.

O glorious change ! O happy day ! that now beholds the Sciences
planted where barbarity was before ! that now sees this Institution at length
brought to such perfection, as to extend the Laurel to her first worthy sons!
how ought such advancements in knowledge; to rejoice every heart among
us, but especially you the founders and patrons of this excellent Seminary,
who now begin to taste some of the chief fruits of your pious labors.

This sermon affords us some insight into the display of
religious influences in the College :

Tho' its wide and generous foundation allows equal indulgence to
Protestant denominations of all sorts, without adopting the particular
modes of any ; yet there is not a greater regard paid to religion, pure
evangelical religion, in any seminary in the world than here.

We have forms of prayer, peculiarly well adapted to our own cir-
cumstances, twice every day ; and the morning is always begun with read-

29 o HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ing some portion of the holy scriptures ; all which is done before the whole
youth assembled. And when they have arrived at their highest progress
in Philosophy and Science, we are far from instructing them to think that
their education is finished. On the contrary, we strive to shew them the
connexion between the precepts of sound reason and the morality of the
Gospel ; and teach them that, when Human Science has done its utmost,
it is from this last source that they must complete their knowledge and
draw superior wisdom. Nor do we now find our labors difficult in this
respect. For such an acquaintance with the Sciences, as is mentioned
above, is so far from damping the ardor of religious knowledge, that it is
inflamed more and more thereby ; which is one convincing argument of
the strong and immediate connexion between them.

We are not, then, surprised, when of the seven graduates
on this occasion, we see four of them entering the ministry,
Duche and Magaw, of the Church of England, and Williamson
and Latta of the Presbyterians.

For the second part of the Commencement exercises, the
Provost reserved his " Charge, Delivered in the Afternoon of
the same Day, to the Candidates who obtained their Degrees,"
which he opens with a reference to their freedom from the
University tests of the old country :

You now appear as candidates for the first honors of this institution.
The free spirit that it breathes permits us not to bind you to us by the
ordinary ties of oaths and promises. Instead thereof, we would rely on
those principles of virtue and goodness which we have endeavored to cul-
tivate. * * * You are now about to step into life, and embark in all
its busy scenes. It is fit, then, that you should make a pause a solemn
pause at its portal, and consider well what is expected from you, and
how you are prepared to perform it. * * * Let no part if your future
conduct disgrace the lessons you have received, or disappoint the hopes
you have so justly raised ! Consider yourselves, from this day, as distin-
guished above the vulgar, and called upon to act a more important part in
life ! strive to shine forth in every species of moral excellence, and to
support the character and dignity of beings formed for endless duration !
The Christian world stands much in need of inflexible patterns of integrity
and public virtue ; and no part of it more so than the land you inhabit.
* * * If, then, you regard the credit of this institution, which will
travail in concern for you, till you are formed into useful men ; if you
regard your own credit, and the credit of the many succeeding setts of
youth, who may be hied to glory by your example ; let your conduct in
the world be such, at least, as to deserve the applause of the wiser and the

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 291

better part of it. Remember you are the first who have received the
honors of this Seminary. * * Think, then, what pain it would give us,
should we be disappointed in you, our first and most hopeful sons.

This forms an admirable Chapter of Counsel, suitable for all
classes and conditions of Youth, and for all times, and is made
impressive by the earnestness of youth with its sense of respon-
sibility, for it must be remembered that William Smith had not
yet attained his thirtieth birthday. And closing with fervor, he
adapted the words Polonius gave to Laertes to this occasion,

Farewell ! my blessing season this in you.

This Charge was printed by Franklin and Hall in pamphlet
form, which included also Paul Jackson's Latin Salutatory. In
his preface, the Provost says :

Whether the Partiality of Private Friendship has made the Author
of the following charge too Sanguine in favor of the young gentlemen to
whom it was delivered, Time will best show. * * * other specimens
might also be produced, which would redound greatly to the credit of the
other young gentlemen, were anything further necessary than the ample
Testimony they have already received from an institution which ' tis hoped
will never prostitute its Honours to the Undeserving.

292 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XLIII.

But William Smith was not " too Sanguine in favour of
the young gentlemen," who formed the first graduating class
and which proved such an exemplar to its successors. Their
individual merits, and the peculiar circumstances which made
them the first children of this Alma Mater, call for some notice
here before we proceed further in our narrative.

PAUL JACKSON, who was of Scotch-Irish descent the son of
Samuel Jackson of Oxford, Chester County, who died in 1768,
proceeded at once to the degree of Master of Arts, the first
possessor of it on the University roll, became a Tutor in the
Academy in April, 1/52, and on 13 April, 1756, was appointed
the Professor of Languages, and though thus a member of the
Faculty became an alumnus with the Master's degree. To him
was accorded, as we have seen, the honor of the Latin Saluta-
tory at the Commencement. But within two years' time his
health began to fail, and at the meeting of the Trustees, 9 May,
1758, it was voted that " Professor Jackson, for sometime past,
having found himself consumptive, requested of the Trustees
his Discharge from the care of the Latin School, and their
Interest with the Governor to obtain for him a Commission in
the Levies now raising for the Expedition against Fort Duquesne.
At his pressing Instance, they not only consented to his Dis-
charge, but those of the Trustees who were members of the
Governor's Council, recommended him for a Captain's Com-
mission, which the Governor conferred on him, and they have
taken it into consideration how his Place shall be supplied ; "
which was done by the appointment the month following of Mr.
John Beveridge. When Mr. Coleman desired release from being
Clerk to the Trustees, Mr. Jackson was appointed 1 1 July,
1755, to succeed him much to the regrethowever of the reader
of Mr. Coleman's clerkly and well written Minute. He lived
but ten years after graduation, and he lies buried at St. Paul's,
Chester, Pa., with the inscription on his stone : " Here lies Paul

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 293

Jackson, A. M. ; he was the first to receive a degree in the
College of Philadelphia ; a man of virtue, worth and knowl-
edge ; died 1767, aged 36 years." l

JACOB DUCHE, jr, was born in Philadelphia in 1737, the son
of Col. Jacob Duche, an eminent citizen of that city and a
vestryman of Christ Church. We have already known him as
a pupil of the Academy, where also for fifteen months, from
May 1753 to August 1754, he served as Tutor. In the month
of July following his graduation he accompanied Governor
Denny as a clerk on his visit to Easton in pursuit of an Indian
treaty, Richard Peters being of the party. Intending to seek
orders in the Church of England, he crossed the ocean and
entered Clare Hall, Cambridge, and was ordained by the Bishop
of London II March, 1759, returned home the following
September, and on 1 1 December was unanimously appointed
Professor of Oratory in the College and Academy, and was
made an Assistant Minister at Christ Church. In 1762 he was
again in England, and received Priest's Orders on 12 September.
When Dr. Peters resigned in 1775 the Rectorship of Christ
Church, in which he had succeeded Dr. Jenney, Mr. Duche was
unanimously chosen Rector of the united churches of Christ
Church and St. Peter's. He was an eloquent preacher, and a
fervent reader of the liturgy. His interest in local politics was
second only to that of his former Provost, and at the outbreak
of the Revolution he took part with the patriots, and on 7 Sep-
tember, 1774, was called upon to open the Continental Congress,
meeting in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, with prayers, an event

1 " Little is known of his early life except that he was a close student, a deep
thinker and a man of great natural ability. He became prominent as a physician,
soldier and linguist, and was Chief Burgess of Chester at the time of his death. He
was made Professor of Languages in the College the year of his graduation, and sub-
sequently became one of the most distinguished scholars of the colonies. His Latin
compositions which were published gave him a wide reputation. His studious appli-
cation impaired his health, and when General Forbes led the expedition against Fort
Duquesne, he was appointed on May 11, 1756, captain of the 3rd battalion of the
Pennsylvania Regiment. The rugged life of a soldier restored his general health,
and after the return of his regiment he attended the ' Royal Hospital.' and acquired
his knowledge of medicine. He could not have received a regular degree as there
were none conferred in the Colonies until 1768." Dr. J. L. Forwood in Proceedings
Delaware County Historical Society, J May, 1896.

294 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

which forms one of the most striking pictures in the march of
the Revolution. Samuel Adams wrote of this to his friend Dr.
Warren :

As many of our warmest friends are members of the Church of
England, I thought it prudent, as well as on some other accounts, to move
that the service should be performed by a clergyman of that denomination.
Accordingly the lessons of the day and prayer were read by the Reverend
Doctor Duche, who afterwards made a most excellent extemporary prayer,
by which he discovered himself to be a gentleman of sense and piety, and
a warm advocate for the religious and civil rights of America.

John Adams wrote also and warmly of this to his wife :

It seemed as if Heaven ordained that Psalm to be read on that morn-
ing [Psalm XXXV, being the opening Psalm in the Psalter appointed for
the day of the month] . After this Mr Duche, unexpectedly to everybody,
struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every
man present. * * * Episcopalian as he is, Dr Cooper himself never
prayed with such fervor, such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in
language so elegant and sublime, for America, for the Congress, for the
province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially the town of Boston.

On ii May, 1775, the second Congress meeting in the
State House, Mr. Duche again " performed Divine Services,"
for which he was unanimously voted their thanks. Duche was
present with his Vestry and presided at the meeting at his house,
on 4 July, 1776, when they requested the Rector and Assistant
Ministers of the united churches to omit the petitions in the
Liturgy for the King of Great Britain, as inconsistent with the
action had by Congress resolving to declare the American
Colonies to be free and independent States. On 8 July he
was appointed Chaplain to Congress with a direction to attend
on them every morning at nine o'clock, " in consideration of
his piety, as well as his uniform and zealous attachment to the
rights of America." This he resigned on 17 October.

But when the British entered Philadelphia at the close of
the following year, his heart failed him, and the beautiful picture
of his devotion in 1775 and 1776 to his country became pain-
fully marred, and was made significant by a weak letter to
Washington, which the latter was charitable enough "to suppose
was rather dictated by his fears than by his real sentiments."'

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 295

This man devoted to the duties of his profession, faithful in all
social relations, of a winning influence in the community, was yet
without firmness in the hour of his country's trial, for which he
had strange inconsistency offered such fervent prayers to
Heaven. His brother-in-law Francis Hopkinson writes him :

Our intimacy has been of a long duration, even from our early youth;
long and uninterrupted without even a rub in the way; and so long have
the sweetness of your manners and the integrity of your heart fixed my
affections.

In December following Duche sailed for England, and his
wife and family followed in 1780.

In 1779 Mr. Duche published two volumes of Sermons,
and in time he received the appointment as Chaplain of the
Asylum in St George's Fields. He sought a return to Phila-
delphia at the close of the war, but it was not encouraged, as
time alone could allay the bitter feelings aroused among his old
people by his course in 1777. Yet when William White went
to England for consecration in 1787 he sought out his former
Rector and Pastor, who was present at Lambeth on 4 February
to witness the consecration of White and Provoost. When he
returned finally to Philadelphia, in May, 1792, he was the guest
of Bishop White, during which time the latter arranged his visit
to President Washington who had been apprised of it and con-
sented to it. He died 3 January, 1798, and was buried in St.
Peter's churchyard. Of his oratorical powers Bishop White
records :

The next best reader of the Prayers [after Whitefield], within the
sphere of the acquaintance of the present writer, was a gentleman already
mentioned under the head of preaching, the Rev. Mr. Duche. He was
perhaps not inferior to Mr Whitefield in the correctness of his pronuncia-
tion. His voice was remarkably sweet; although short of the voice of the
other gentleman in the compass of its powers, and especially in modula-
tion. Mr Duche was frequently oratorical in his sermons, but never so in
the reading of the prayers; although always read by him with signs of
unaffected seriousness and devotion. 2

2 Commentaries Suited to Occasions cf Ordination, New York, 1833, p. 183;
On his memorising his sermons, caused by near sightedness, v. p. 169. ''The only
clergyman here known to have derived advantage from memorising his sermons

296 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

And as a tribute .to his personal attractions, the Bishop further
says, when speaking of his own consecration :

The recollection of the benefit which I had received from his instruc-
tions in early life, and a tender sense of the attentions which he had shown
me almost from my infancy, together with the impressions left by the har-
mony which had subsisted between us in the discharge of our joint pastoral
duty in Philadelphia, being no improper accompaniments to the feelings
suited to the present very interesting transaction of my life. 3

Mr. Duche was the first alumnus to enter the Trusteeship
of his College, being elected 10 February, 1761, to fill the
vacancy made by Mr. Martin's death. His attendance at the
meetings was constant, and his counsel and influence must have
been felt, for as pupil, tutor, and professor he was thoroughly
informed as to the needs of the College and was ready at all
times to further the plans of the Provost. The last meeting he
attended was on 28 June, 1777 from that date to 25 Septem-
ber, 1778, "there were no regular meetings of the Board on
account of the State of public affairs, nor any Minutes taken",
as the city was then in possession of the British army.

FRANCIS HOPKINSON was born Philadelphia on 21 September
(o. s.), 1737, the son of Thomas Hopkinson, a Trustee of the Col-
lege and Academy, a sketch of whose life has already been given
in a preceding page. His talents for literature and music must
early have displayed themselves, and his mother who had been

adequate to the pains taken, was the late Rev Jacob Duche, of the City of Philadelphia.
When he began his ministry in Christ Church of that city, his voice, his pronuncia-
tion, and his action, were immediately subjects of great commendation ; but he had
the disadvantage of nearness of sight. In a short time, however, he was observed to
lay by, almost entirely, the help of his manuscript; his notice of which, when it
happened, became visible to the congregation ; as he had to bring his face very near
to the cushion on which his sermon lay. This amiable gentleman had a very extra-
ordinary talent for that particular exercise of the memory, to which he was thus incited.
There are many still living who know with what ease he prepared himself in this
department. And he has often been heard to acknowledge, that it would have been
generally impossible to him, a few days after the delivery of a sermon, to have recited
a single paragraph of its contents. Certain it is, that he manifested no signs in the
pulpit, of his being there puzzled in the work of recollection. And this circumstance,
added to what has been said of his voice, and the praise due to the correctness of his
action, made his delivery exceedingly pleasing." From " A Commentary on the
Duties of the Public Ministry " in the Quarterly Theological Magazine, Philada, for
January, 1814, p. 129.

3 Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church, New York. 1836, p. 137.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 297

left a widow when he was fourteen years of age, wisely continued
him at the Academy, of which he was the first scholar, and in
the course of his tuition there we have already seen what a
prominent place he earned in all the public exercises. In his
declamation of 1753, and his poem on the death of his fellow stu-
dent, young Martin, in 1754, we see the beginnings of those abili-
ties which were carefully cultured to bear fruit to his good repu-
tation in after years. Graduating in 1757, he took his Masters'
Degree in 1760, and his musical attainments added a charm to
the services of the day. An organ had first been fitted up in
the Hall by kind friends for the use of the College, and we are
told

one of the Students, who received his Master's Degree on this occasion,
conducted the organ with that bold and masterly Hand, for which he is
celebrated; and several of the Pieces were also his own Composition. 4

After graduation he began the study of Law under Benjamin
Chew, Attorney General, and was admitted to the Bar in 1761.
In 1759 he had become secretary of the Library Company, and
was its Librarian from February 1764 to May 1765. He was
also Secretary of the Vestry of the United Churches of Christ
Church and St. Peters' in 17645, and was elected a Vestryman in
1769, serving to 1773 when his residence in Trenton severed
his connection with the church ; but resuming his residence in
Philadelphia he was again elected Vestryman in 1788 serving
thereon until his death. He displayed his talent in vocal and
instrumental music by leading the choir and playing the organ in
Christ Church, as well as teaching the children "in the art of
psalmody," for which the Vestry recorded their thanks, 3 April,

4 Penna Gazette, 15 May, 1760.

5 He wrote to Dr Franklin, 13 December, 1765, " I visited your Family the
Day before Yesterday & put Miss Sally's Harpsichord in the best order I can but the
instrument, as to its Touch & all machinery, is entirely ruined & I think past Recovery
* a * But we will talk more about this next Spring. I have finished the Trans-
lation of the Psalms of David to the great Satisfaction of the Dutch Congregation at
New York & they have paid me ^145, their currency, which I intend to keep as a
Body Reserve in case I should go to England." MS letter in the American Philo-
sophical Society's Collection. 1 he work referred to was " The Psalms of David with
The Ten Commandments. Creed, Lord's Prayer. &c In Meter. Also the Catechism.
Confession of Faith, Liturgy, &c, translated from the Dutch For the use of the
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York." New York. Printed

by James Parker at the New Printing Office in Beaver Street, MDCCLXVI.

298 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

An opportunity offering for a visit to England, he sailed
thither in May, 1766. An affectionate tribute to his merits were
given before his sailing by the Trustees, which would serve him
as a special academic letter of credit in his proposed travels ;
before separating from the Commencement exercises of 20 May,
1766, their Minutes recite :

After the Business of the Commencement was finished, it was resolved,
that as Francis Hopkinson, Esqr, (who was the first Scholar entered in this
Seminary and its opening, and likewise one of the first who received a
Degree) was about to embark for England, and has done Honour to the
Place of his Education by his abilities and good morals, as well as ren-
dered it many substantial Services on all public occasions, the Thanks of
this Institution ought to be delivered to him in the most affectionate and
respectable manner. And Mr Stedman and the Provost are desired to
communicate the same to Mr. Hopkinson accordingly and to wish him a
safe and prosperous Voyage.

In London, which he reached late in July, he expected to
meet Franklin, his father's friend, but the latter was then in
Germany. In intercourse with the Bishop of Worcester his rela-
tive and with Benjamin West in London, he passed many happy
days 6 and remained in that city until June, 1767. He returned
home in August following. Marrying in 1768 a daughter of
Joseph Borden, jr., of Bordentovvn, he resided half of the year
at that place, until his interests grew there and those in Phila-
delphia lessened, and in 1774 was called to a seat in the Pro-
vincial Council of New Jersey. But the current for Liberty took
him along, and he threw himself into the movement for inde-
pendence, and became a member from New Jersey of the new
Congress, and on 2 July, 1776, voted in favor of the Resolution

6 He writes thence to Dr. Franklin from

" Hartlebury Castle, May 3 1st, 1767.
' ' My dear Sir

" I have once more the Pleasure of writing to you from this delightful Place ;
where, I thank God, I enjoy perfect Health and all the Pleasures the Country can
afford. Time rolls away in the most agreeable Manner imaginable : Reading, walk-
ing, riding, Music, Drawing, &c, season the Hours with much calm and rational
Pleasure ; and to crown all, the good Bishop and Mr. Johnson treat me with all
possible Affection and Kindness. Yet after all (such is my Partiality for dear Philada.
and my Friends there) that I must say it is with great Delight I look forward to the
Time of my Embarkation." Addressed " Dr Franklin, at Mr Stevenson's Craven
Street, London." MS. letter in the American Philosophical Society Collection.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 299

for Independence. 7 When the British sought revenge in the
Jerseys by destroying the houses of the principal Whigs, when
their movement in Philadelphia by that course proved a failure,
and in which the Borden Mansion fell a victim to the flames,
Hopkinson's house was also fired, but escaped destruction in a
singular manner. It is related that Captain Ewald, a Hessian
officer, who was in command of the party of British employed in
firing the houses, entering Hopkinson's was amazed to find his
library filled with scientific apparatus in addition to the books on
the walls ; and picking up a volume of Provost Smith's Dis-
courses, he wrote in his Mother tongue, "This man was one of
the greatest rebels, nevertheless, if we dare to conclude from
the Library, and Mechanical and Mathematical Instruments, he
must have been a very learned man ; " and he spared the house
from the flames.

He was at Bordentown when the melancholy tidings
reached him of Duche's defection, and thence he wrote to him
his letter of wounded affection and yet patriotic scorn, which he
sent under cover to Gen. Washington :

The Intimacy of my connection with Mr Duche renders all assurance
unnecessary that the letter addressed by him to your Excellency on the 8th
of October last year gives me the greatest concern. * * * I would not
forbear communicating some of my sentiments to him on this occasion.
These I might probably have been able to convey to him by secret means,
but did not chuse to incur the imputation of a clandestine correspondence.
I have therefore taken the liberty to send the enclosed letter to you unsealed
for your perusal. Resting it entirely on your judgement to cause it to [be}
forwarded or not. * * * The occasion is a very interesting one to me.
My friendship for Mr Duche calls upon me to do all I can to warn him
against the fatal consequences of his ill-advised step, that he may if possi-
ble do something to avert them before it is too late.

But the letter never reached its destination, Washington
writing him 27 January, 1778 :

7 It was shortly after this he and John Adams met ; the latter writing to his
wife from Philadelphia 21 August, 1776, says: " I met Mr Francis Hopkinson, late
a Mandamus Counsellor of New Jersey, now a member of the Continental Congress,
who, it seems is a native of Philadelphia, a sou of a prothonotary of this county, who
is a person much respected. The son was liberally educated, and is a painter and a
poet. I may possibly give you some more particulars concerning him." Letters to
his Wife, Boston, 1841, i. 157.

3OO HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Having never found an opportunity of conveying the Letter which
you sometime ago sent me for Mr Duche, by such a channel as I thought
would reach him, I return it to you again.

In September, 1776, Hopkinson was appointed Third
Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. This he held
until he accepted the Treasurership of the Continental Loan
Office, an office under Congress. From this he became Judge
of the Admiralty by appointment of President Reed of Penn-
sylvania, and was 16 July, 1779, commissioned thereto, thus
filling an office honorably occupied by his Father nearly thirty
before. In September, 1789, Washington appointed him United
States Judge for the District of Pennsylvania. In the Constitu-
tional Convention of 1 787 he was an active and able partici-
pant, and with his zeal and force aided in its final adoption.

His political influence was largely aided by his skillful pen,
which was of a genial cast while witty and pungent, and the
cultivation of measured verses in early youth stood him in good
stead when he wanted to hold up to ridicule the Tory cause.
His Pretty Story, 1774, his Political Catechism of 1777, his
Battle of the Kegs in 1777, his New Roof of 1787, and other
pieces make his valuable contribution to the political literature
of the times. But with softer strains his poetic qualities showed
themselves in hymns and domestic ballads, and his musical
talent found exercise in the composition of hymn tunes which
are to this day familiar to our ears. His Miscellaneous Essays
and Occasional Writings were published in Philadelphia in 1793,
" in the dress in which he left them." Thomas I. Wharton wrote
of him, " a poet, a wit, a patriot, a chemist, a mathematician,
and a judge of the admiralty ; * * with the humor of

Swift and Rabelais, he was always found on the side of virtue
and social order." John Adams wrote to his wife 21 August,
1776:

I have a curiosity to penetrate a little deeper into the bosom of this
curious gentleman. He is one of your pretty, little, curious, ingenou s
men. His head is not bigger than a large apple, less than our friend
Pemberton or Dr. Simon Tuft. I have not met with anything in natural
history more amusing and entertaining than his personal appearance yet
he is genteel, and well bred, and is very social.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 301

A condescending encomium from the Boston visitor, who-
now in the metropolis for the first time met different types of
men hitherto unknown to his observation. 8

Francis Hopkinson died suddenly, of apoplexy, on 9 May,
1791. His son Joseph, a graduate of 1786, is known as the
author of Hail Columbia, our patriot song. His sister Elizabeth
was the wife of Rev. Jacob Duche ; and Mary, of Dr. John
Morgan, both his fellow graduates. His brother Thomas was a
graduate of 1766 and later entered the ministry of the Church
of England. Four generations of Hopkinsons, in lineal
descent, adorn the list of graduates of the institution which their
ancestor the first Thomas Hopkinson aided in founding.

JAMES LATTA was a native of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish Stock,
and was born in 1732. His mother was an Alison, a relative of
Dr. Francis Alison. His parents came to this country when he
was about six years of age and settled near Elkton, Maryland.
He was placed at school to his kinsman, Dr. Alison, at New
London, Pennsylvania ; and shortly after the latter went to Phila-
delphia in 1752 to begin his work at the Academy, young Latta
followed him thither and completing his course there graduated
with honor in the class of I757. 9 Before the completion of his
course he was, like Williamson, employed as Tutor by the
Trustees : he and his classmate " having alternately supplied the
Place of one Usher in the Latin School from the 13 June until
the i November [1755] be paid after the rate of Sixty Pounds
per Annum for their attendance during the above Term, and
that their future salaries be ascertained at the next meeting of
the Trustees." He continued Tutor after his graduation to the
end of the year 1759, and when Mr. Jones left, in July 1758, he
was appointed to succeed him as Clerk to the Trustees. He was
pursuing meanwhile his studies for the Ministry, and on 15

8 Letters to his Wife. Ibid.

9 Minutes of Dec. 1755. Dr. Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit gives
a letter from a relative of Dr. Latta stating that he had the Salutatory oration in
Latin at the Commencement; but the publication of Paul Jackson's Latin Salutatory
with the Provost's charge disposes of this statement.

302 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

February, 1758, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of
Philadelphia. His connection with the College ceased in
November, 1759, when the Synod directed him to go on a mis-
sion to the destitute settlements in Virginia and North Carolina,
he having been ordained a few weeks before. In 1761 he was
installed as Pastor of the congregation at Deep Run, Bucks
County, Pennsylvania. He left this in 1 770 for the pastoral
care of Chestnut Level, in Lancaster County, and was there
installed in November, 1771. He here added the care of a
school to his many duties, for which he was well fitted by his
training in the College. During the revolutionary war, it is said
he accompanied a Pennsylvania regiment in one campaign as
chaplain. He was alive to all the controversies in his church
during these years of trial, and an active participant in them, and
was generally on the side of progress. When the subject of
introducing Dr. Watt's Psalms and Hymns into public worship
disturbed the traditions of many of the congregations, he advo-
cated the new Psalmody, and in the controversy issued a pam-
phlet of one hundred and eight pages in defense of the new
practice ; it is said this was the only work he ever published.
The Degree of D.D. was proposed for him by the Trustees in
1799; that he accepted the Degree about that period is a fact
well sustained, yet his name does not appear on the roll of any
other College ; but as we have the record of its proposal, it is
right to assume it was formerly conferred upon him, though we
fail to find record of its consummation. He died 29 January,
I So I, aged 77 years. He married about the year 1765, Miss
Mary M'Calla of Deep Run. Of his children there were four
sons, all of whom entered the ministry ; of these three were
graduates of the University, Francis Alison in 1790, William,
1794, and John Ewing in 1795. Dr. Samuel Martin's Memoir
of him, says :

Dr Latta was remarkably well qualified. Without severity, he had
the faculty of governing well. He possessed the happy talent of making
his pupils both fear and love him. * * * As a scholar, too, he had
few equals ; his erudition was general and profound. Such were his known
abilities, and such his reputation as an instructor, that when any of his

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 303

pupils were sent to the University over which the late Dr Ewing presided,
who has been so deservedly famed as a scholar, they were always received
without examination. It was sufficient to know they had received their
education with Dr Latta * * * It was indeed almost impossible to be
long in his company without being both pleased and improved. Both old
and young were fond of his society. When paying a visit to any of his
people, it was pleasing to see the youth gather around him to enjoy his
conversation. * * * He was conscientious in the discharge of every
duty. And with such dignity did he support the sacred office which he
bore, that there was scarce ever an instance of any person conducting him-
self profanely or rudely in his presence.

SAMUEL MAGAW was born in 1735, the same year with his
classmates Morgan and Williamson. We know little of his
early life. Graduating in 1757, he received his Master's degree
from the College in 1760. He soon made preparations for the
ministry, and with John Andrews of the class of 1765, the
Provost of 1810, he went to England for Orders, bearing a letter
from Provost Smith dated 13 November, 1766, introducing them
to the Bishop of London : "I cannot now let the Bearers, Mr.
Samuel Magaw and Mr. John Andrews go without a few lines.
They were educated and graduated under me and I hope in
Examination will do credit to our College." On 18 December,
Dr. Smith wrote: "My last to your Lordship was by Mr.
Andrews and Mr. Magaw, both educated in our College, since
which another Mr. Edmiston 10 educated with them has sailed
from Maryland on the same errand. I hope it will appear to your
Lordship that they are all well grounded in their education." 11
Magaw and Andrews were ordained Deacons, 2 February, 1767
in St. James' Chapel, [Westminster, by the Bishop of St. Davids'

10 \Villiam Edmiston, class of 1759. He was ordained 15 March, 1767, and
priest on the agthat St. James, Westminster, by the Bishop of Oxford, acting for the
Bishop of London. On his return to Philadelphia he did not at once present his
letters in Maryland, owing to the hesitation of the colonial authorities in accepting
the Bishop of London's licenses. See Bishop White's reference to tfcis, Memoirs.
p. 19 He became Rector of St. Ann's, Annapolis, and later of St. George's.
Spesutia ; but his Tory activities lost him the latter and in September, 1775, he went
to England. Dr. Ethan Allen's Historical Notes of St. Ann 1 s Parish, p. 79. The
name is variously spelled, Edmiston, Edminston, Edmonson.

11 Perry's Historical Collections, ii. 412, 413. Smith, i. 403.

304 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

and Priests on the I5th of the same month by the Bishop
of London. Returning, Magaw was a missionary of the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts at Dover
and its vicinity, Delaware. He became Rector of St. Paul's
Church, Philadelphia, in January 1781, in which duty he con-
tinued until 1804 when he was succeeded by Dr. Pilmore. He
was elected Vice-Provost of the University of the State of
Pennsylvania in 1782, but his functions ceased when the merger
was made into the University of Pennsylvania, in 1791, Dr.
Andrews then becoming Vice-Provost and Provost in 1910. Dr.
Magaw took an active part in the various Assemblies of his
Church in Pennsylvania, in Conventions and Societies ; and
held a conspicuous place in all their deliberations ; and pub-
lished some Sermons, one of which was preached at the open-
ing of St. Thomas' Church for Colored People in 1794. "In the
latter part of his time he became deaf and was retired. He was
a man above the average, of great ability and learning." He
died i December, 1812. He left behind him a memory of
amiability in deportment and faithfulness in the discharge of all
his duties.

JOHN MORGAN, was born in Philadelphia in 1736. His father
was a near neighbor of Franklin's. His early education devel-
oped in him a great aptitude to study. He acquired the rudi-
ments of his classical learning at the Nottingham Academy of
Dr. Finley's, who was afterward President of Princeton College ;
and entering as one of the first pupils of the Academy in Phila-
delphia he graduated in 1757. During the last year of his
attendance here, he pursued his medical studies under Dr. John
Redman. Desirous of surgical practice in the field, he was
commissioned lieutenant and surgeon of the Provincial Troops,
and served against the French and Indians until 1760. Taking
his Master's Degree at the College in this year, he went to
Europe to pursue yet further his medical studies. He passed
some years abroad, attending for two years the Lectures at the
University of Edinburgh, taking his degree there in 1763,
While in London attending the Lectures of Dr. William Hunter

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 305

he was in intimate acquaintance with Dr. Franklin, and on his
going to Edinburgh he bore a letter from him to Lord Kames,
dated London, November, 1761, in which he says :

May I take the freedom of recommending the bearer, Mr Morgan, to
your Lordship's protection. He purposes residing some time in Edinburgh,
to improve himself in the study of physic, and I think will one day make
a good figure in the profession, and be of some credit to the school he
studies in, if great industry and application, joined with natural genius and
sagacity, afford any foundation for the presage. He is the son of a friend
and near neighbor of mine in Philadelphia, so that I have known him from
a child, and am confident the same excellent dispositions, good morals,
and prudent behavior, that have procured him the esteem and affection of
all that knew him in his own country, will render him not unworthy the
regard, advice, and countenance your Lordship may be so good as to afford
him.

Dr. Morgan from Edinburgh went to Paris, and there
passed a winter, still enlarging his medical studies, and after-
wards traveled in Holland and Italy. Upon his return to Lon-
don he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was
admitted a licentiate of the College of Physicians in London,
and a member of the College of Physicians in Edinburgh, and
had been admitted to membership in the Society of Belles
Lettres in Rome.

Thus furnished by study and travel, and with the earlier
field hospital service, he returned to Philadelphia in 1765. He
had written from London in November, 1764, to Dr. Cullen :
" My scheme of instituting lectures you will hereafter know
more of. It is not prudent to broach designs prematurely, and
mine are not yet fully ripe for execution." These he had talked
over with the younger William Shippen, his schoolmate at Not-
tingham, when they were a year or more together in Edinburgh. 12
Shippen had returned home in May, 1762, and in the autumn
of that year began his private course of lectures, his introductory

11 Dr. Shippen in his letter to the Trustees of 17 September, 1765. says: " I
should have long since sought the Patronage of the Trustees of the College, but
waited to be joined by Dr. Morgan, to whom I first communicated my plan in Eng-
land "

306 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

being delivered in the State House. 13 His courses proved to be
the introductory to the larger scheme of Dr. Morgan which
became the Medical School of the College and Academy of
Philadelphia. Dr. Morgan had formed his plans maturely, and
upon the counsel and advice of his friends abroad. He arrived
home early in 1765, and at a Special Meeting of the Trustees
called for 3 May, 1765, there attended among others both the
Doctors Bond, Dr. Cadwalader, and Dr. Redman, now a Trustee
and Morgan's old preceptor, when the following letter was read
from the Proprietary. This letter, with its wise recommenda-
tions seems the herald of the new Medical Department, in the
account of which it may properly belong, yet it is so full of per-
sonal references to the young Surgeon who had taken counsel
with Governor Penn on the subject so near his heart, that it
seems to belong in a sketch of his life.

Gentlemen.

Doctor Morgan has laid before me a Proposal for introducing new Pro-
fessorships into the College for the Instruction of all such as shall incline to
go into the Study and Practice of Physick and Surgery, as well as the
several Occupations attending upon these necessary and useful Arts.

He thinks his scheme, if patronized by the Trustees, will at present
give Reputation and Strength to the Institution, and tho' it may for some
Time occasion a small Expence, yet after a little while it will gradually
support itself, and even make considerable additions to the Academy
Funds.

Dr Morgan has employed his Time in an assiduous Search after
Knowledge, in all the Branches necessary for the Practice of his Profession,
and has gained such Esteem and Love from Persons of the first Rank in it,
that as they very much approve his Plan, they will, from Time to Time, as
he assures us, give him their Countenance and Assistance in the Execution
of it.

We are made acquainted with what is proposed to be taught, and his
Lectures may be adopted by you, and since the like Systems have brought
much Advantage to every Place -where they have been received, and such
Learned and eminent Men speak favorably of the Doctor's Plan, I could
not but in the most kind manner recommend him to you, and desire that
he may be well received, and what he has to offer be taken, with all becom-
ing Respect and Expedition, into your most serious Consideration ; and if

13 See his announcement in the Pennsylvania Gazette II November, 1762, of
beginning "a course of anatomical Lectures" on 18 November.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 307

it shall be thought necessary to go into it, and thereupon to open Professor-
ships, that he may be taken into your service.

When you have heard him, and duly considered what he has to lay
before you, you will be best able to judge in what Manner you can serve
the Public, the Institution, and the particular Design now recommended to
you. I am

Gentlemen
London Feb 15, 1765 Your very affectionate Friend

Thomas Penn
To the Trustees of the
College &c of Philada

Dr. Morgan also presented a letter to the same effect " by
two worthy Trustees of this College now in England, viz.: The
Hon'ble James Hamilton, Esqr. and the Revd Mr. Richard
Peters." And

The above Letters and Proposals being duly weighed, and the Trustees
entertaining a high sense of Dr Morgan's Abilities, and the Honors paid to
him by different Learned Bodies and Societies in Europe, they unanimously
appointed Him Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physick in this
College.

Thus was created the Medical Department of the College,
which has literally fulfilled Thomas Penn's words in giving
" Reputation and Strength to the Institution." The history of
this important department is elsewhere given, and while to it
probably belongs the official life of Dr. Morgan which adorned it,
we must pass on to a recital of other events in his life in which
he served the community and his friends ; first noting that
at the commencement of that year, viz. on 30 May, at the
" Forenoon's Exercises " came "the first Part of Dr. Morgan's
inaugural oration," and " the weather being very warm, the
remainder was adjourned to Friday Forenoon, 31 May," and
" Dr. Morgan then printed the remainder of his learned and
elaborate oration." This was entitled "A Discourse upon the
Institution of Medical Schools in America," and was published by
William Bradford ; it was a significant and bold venture for a
young man of but twenty-nine years to enter upon in the new
country, but his faith and courage fitted him to the duty, " and

308 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

hope assured success." u At the meeting of 23 September
following a letter from his friend Shippen was read, applauding
their action in so promptly meeting Dr. Morgan's views and
scheme and stating to them "a Professorship of Anatomy and
Surgery would be gratefully accepted by him," to which they
unanimously appointed him. Thus were the two friends united
in a congenial work in a public institution, fulfilling their plans
as they talked them over during the interval of their Edinburgh
studies. William Shippen, an alumnus of Princeton in I/54, 15
had not the claim, though a Philadelphian, upon the College and
the Academy of this city that its own John Morgan had, who
came with his proposition endorsed by the highest civil influence
known to the province. The location of Morgan's Alma Mater
in the largest city of the colonies enabled it to utilize his prac-
tical schemes and secure for itself the honorable distinction o
organizing a Medical Department in advance of other kin-
dred institutions ; but Shippen contributed ideas from his
own well stored brain and trained mind, thoughts and sug-
gestions which helped to nourish the new Department, and it
was but just that Princeton should furnish its second Pro-
fessor.

Dr. Morgan tells us when he returned from Europe, he
departed from the customary practice, and was the first
physician who restricted himself to simply prescribing for the
sick. And he writes :

As far as I can learn everybody approves of my plan for instituting
medical schools, and I have the honor of being appointed a public pro-
fessor for teaching physic in the College here. Can any man, the least
acquainted with the nature of that arduous task, once imagine it possible

14 A Discourse Upon the Institution of Medical Schools in America ; Deliv-
ered at a Public Anniversary Commencement held in the College of Philadelphia
May 30 and y., 1765. With a Preface Containing among other things the Author 's
Apology for attempting to introduce the regular mode of practising physic in Phila-
delphia. By John Morgan, M. D. : Fellow of the Royal Society at London ;
Correspondent of the Royal Academy of Surgery at Paris ; Member of the Arcadian
Belles Lettres Society at Rome ; Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in
London and in Edinburgh; and Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in
the College of Philadelphia. Philadelphia : Printed and Sold by William Bradford
at the corner of Market and Front Streets MDCCLXV.

15 And a classmate there of Provost Ewing.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 309

for me to acquit myself in that station in an honorable or useful manner,
and yet be engaged in one continued round of practice in surgery and
pharmacy as well as physic ? * * * My usefulness as a professor
makes it absolutely necessary for me to follow that method of practice
which alone appears to be calculated to answer that end.

Medical science alone did not occupy his activities. He
was an interested member of the American Philosophical
Society. When the Trustees sought for funds from the learned
and the educated in the West Indies, Dr. Morgan was their
ambassador, and a very successful voyage he made thither,
which will have more particular notice when our narrative
reaches that period.

In October, 1775, Congress appointed him Director in Gen-
eral and Physician in Chief to the General Hospital of the
American army, and he at once proceeded to Cambridge, and
from thence back to New York. His reforming spirit in admin-
istration was far in advance of the times, and he could not
overcome the crowding difficulties of his Medical Bureau, due
to inexperience and a clinging to former ways ; clamors arose,
to which Congress responded by removing him in 1777; but
on a subsequent examination by Congress, all the complaints
were found entirely without foundation, and an honorable
acquittal of all the charges made against him rendered.

He died in Philadelphia I 5 October, 1789, and was buried in
St. Peter's Church. It was the year of his return from Europe
and of appointment as Professor, that he married Mary Hopkin-
son, the sister of his classmate Francis Hopkinson, whose
elder sister Elizabeth had married six years previously,
another classmate, Jacob Duche.

HUGH WILLIAMSON, of Scotch-Irish parentage, was born
in Nottingham Township, Chester County, Penn., 5 December,
1735. His early education was pursued under Dr. Alison's care
at New London, and when that able preceptor became a pro-
fessor in the Philadelphia Academy his parents sent him thither.
His proficiency earned him a Tutorship as early as July, 1755, in
which he continued the remainder of his College life. His father

3io HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

died the year of his graduation; and the family having previous
to this moved to Shippensburgh, Williamson made this his resi-
dence until 1759 when he went to Connecticut to prosecute his
theological studies, where he was licensed to preach, and afterwards
returning to Pennsylvania was admitted a member of the Pres-
bytery of Philadelphia. His health however was not robust ;
and he was unable to undertake any stated ministerial duty.
We find him again resuming his connection with his College.
At the meeting of the Trustees on 13 January, 1761,

the President acquainted the Trustees that notwithstanding that repeated
advertisements had been published in the Gazette of the want of a Pro-
fessor of Mathematics in the Academy, and he had wrote to some of his
acquaintances in the other Colonies to enquire if there was any fit person,
and that Dr. Smith had likewise made enquiry in Maryland, and Dr
Alison at Boston and other Places thro' which they had travelled in the
Vacation, yet no one properly qualified could be heard of. In this exigency
Dr. Smith had wrote to the Rev'd Hugh Williamson one of the late Ushers
in the Latin School (who was known to have made a considerable Progress
in the Mathematics, and being lately ordained among the Dissenters yet
at present was not in the Exercise of his Function) to know if he would
undertake the Care of that School, upon which Letter he now waited upon
the Trustees and made a tender of his services, which were accepted
and in case he should upon tryal give Satisfaction, he is to receive One ,
Hundred and Twenty five pounds per annum to commence from the Day
on which he shall take the Charge of the School.

In this duty he continued less than three years, and at the
meeting of 8 November, 1763 :

desiring admittance he came in and acquainted the Trustees that he could
not continue much longer in the care of the Mathematical School, having
disposed of himself some other way, he requested they would as soon as
conveniently they could, provide a Master for it.

And action was had looking to this provision, at the meet-
ing of 13 December " Professor Williamson still expressing a
desire to be dismissed." But he filled out the College term,
and parted from his duties 10 May, 1764. His mathematical
and other studies made no obstacle to his engaging with interest
in provincial politics ; and having his interest enlisted on the
Proprietaries' side, probably from sympathy with the Provost's
views, he replied on their behalf in a pamphlet to Franklin's

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 311

Cool Thoughts on the Present Situation of our Public Affairs
published early in 1 764, the year when a crisis seemed to be con-
summating between the two opposing and heated parties. But
Williamson was himself one of "the proprietaries' new allies;
the Presbyterian Clergy of Philadelphia," who feared that the
substitution of a Royal Government for that of the Proprie-
taries which was now sought by the popular party would bring a
State church into the province, and openly took the ground that
the change would be the ruin of the province, 16 and what was
denied to him in public speaking or preaching, he yet could
ably set forth his views by his pen. And this rejoinder was
followed by the subsequent contribution to the political litera-
ture of the times.

In the same year Williamson crossed the ocean in order
to pursue medical studies at the University of Edinburgh and
on the Continent. He remained abroad for two l7 years, and
returning to Philadelphia, began the practice of medicine, his
health not permitting any stated ministerial duties. His attain-
ments in science were great, and he was one of a committee, of
whom also were David Rittenhouse, Provost Smith, Dr. Ewing,
and Charles Thomson, appointed by the American Philosophical
Society to make observations of the transit of Venus on 3 June,
1769, and the same committee was instructed also to view the
transit of Mercury on 3 November of the same year. The
reports of these observations, in which Williamson as a mathe-
mation had a large share, are given in the first volume of

16 Franklin in his Preface to Galloway's Speech, Bigelow, iii. 310. William-
son's pamphlet was entitled " The Plain Dealer, Number n, Being a Tickler for the
leisure Hours' Amusement of the Author of Cool Thoughts, Wherein the Tone of
his several Arguments in Favour of a change of Government is stated in a clear
Light and accomodated to the Comprehension of Readers of every Capacity. By
X. Y. Z. Gentleman." In Dr. Smith's preface to John Dickinson's speech he gave
a very eulogistic Epitaph on William Penn. In Franklin's preface to Galloway's
speech, he burlesqued this and applied it to Richard and Thomas Penn. This in
turn gave rise to Williamson's later pamphlet: "What is Sauce for the Goose
is also Sauce for a Gander, Being A small Touch in the Lapidary Way, or Tit
for Tat, in your own Way. An Epitaph on a certain great Man. Written by a
Departed Spirit and now most inscrib'd to all his dutiful Sons and Children, who
may hereafter chose to distinguish him by the name of A Patriot." Bibliography of
Fmnklin, Ford, 393.

17 With Capt Falconer from London, came passenger Hugh Williamson, M.
D. belonging to this Place. Penna Gazette, II Dec., 1766.

312 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the Transactions of the Society and afforded valuable inform-
ation to the foreign correspondents of the Society. In 1770,
Dr. Williamson published through the same channel some obser-
vations on the change of climate which had been remarked
within a range of years to have taken place in the middle colonies
of North America. This and other scientific investigations of
his brought him the notice of foreign savants, and his medical
alma mater, Utrecht, made him Doctor of Laws in 1772, and
he was made a member of the Holland Society of Sciences, and
the Society of Arts and Sciences of Utrecht.

In 1772 he undertook a voyage to the West Indies to
raise funds for the Academy at Newark, Delaware, the suc-
cessor of Dr Alison's school of which in early life he had been
a pupil, and of which he was a Trustee ; and in the year fol-
lowing in company with his co-Trustee, Rev. Dr. Ewing, after-
wards Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, he made a
tour through Great Britain on the same errand, and in this duty
they remained together until the autumn of 1775, but William-
son did not return home with Ewing. He then travelled through
Holland and the Low Countries, but when the news of Ameri-
can Independence reached him, he retraced his steps and
reached Philadelphia in March, 1777. The story which had
credence for a number of years that it was through his agency
the Hutchinson letters were procured for Franklin who sent
them to Massachusetts, and which is yet frequently repeated, is
contradicted by the fact that Dr. Williamson, at the time of Dr.
Franklin sending those Letters, namely in December, 1772, was
at the time in the West Indies, and he did not sail for England as
stated above until December, 1773 ; the ship he sailed in from
Boston lay in the harbor ready for sail, when the famed Tea
Party took place on that eventful night of 16 December, and
he was the first one to communicate to the British Government
the tidings of this decisive destruction of the East India Com-
pany's cargoes of tea.

On Dr. Williamson's return to Pennsylvania, no opportunity
appeared open for the pursuit of his profession, and turning his face
southward he engaged in mercantile pursuits ; but his medical

HISTORY OF- THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 313

reputation brought to him in the winter of 1779-80 the appoint-
ment of chief of the medical department of the North Carolina
troops; he was present at the Battle of Caniden 1 8 August,
1780, and under a flag of truce entered the enemy's lines to
attend to the wounded when the regimental surgeons declined
the duty. In 1782 he became a member, from Edenton, of
the North Carolina Assembly. In 1787, he was one of the
delegates from that State to the Convention which framed the
Constitution which met in Philadelphia ; and he was a member
of the first Congress which met in New York in 1787, and it
was while here he married Maria, daughter of Charles Ward
Apthorpe, formerly a member of the Provincial Council of New
York. In 1812, appeared his History of North Carolina in
two volumes, printed in Philadelphia. Much of his time after
this was passed in New York. He lived to a great age, not-
withstanding his early debility and in despite of an unusually
active and busy life in the wanderings of a cosmopolite, and
died in New York, 22 May, 1819. At the close of that year
his friend Dr. Hosack was appointed to read a Biographical
Memoir of Williamson before the New York Historical Society ;
he describes him as

no less distinguished for the manliness of his form, than for the energy
and firmness of his mind. Dr. Williamson in his person was tall, consid-
erably above the general standard, of a large frame, well proportioned,
but of a thin habit of body. He was remarkable for his erect, dignified
carriage, which he retained even in the decline of life. * * * His
style both in conversation and in writing, was simple, concise, perspic-
uous and remarkable for its strength ; always displaying correctness of
thought and logical precision. In the order, too, and disposal of his dis-
course, whether oral or written, such was the close connexion of its parts,
and the dependence of one proposition upon that which preceded it, that
it became easy to discern the influence of his early predilection for mathe-
matical investigation . * * * Whatever be the merits of Dr. William-
son as a scholar, a physician, a statesman, or philosopher ; however he
may be distinguished for his integrity, his benevolence, and those virtues
which enter into the moral character of man ; he presents to the world
claims of a still higher order. The lovers of truth and virtue will admire
much more than his literary endowments, that regard for religious duty, of
which, under all circumstances and in all situations, he exhibited so
eminent an example.

314 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XLIV.

The commencement of 1757, with all the satisfaction
and pleasure it brought to its participants, had one shadow,
which however did not show itself at once. The Provost's
signature to the diplomas was thought sufficient to give them
force, and this appeared to be the intent of the Charter of 1755,
where it was

Ordained, That the Provost, vice provost, or other person appointed
as aforesaid, shall make, and with his name, sign diplomas or certificates
of the admission to such degree or degrees, which shall be sealed with the
public seal of the said corporation, and delivered to the graduates as hon-
ourable and perpetual testimonials thereof.

But at the Trustees' meeting of 14 June, the Vice-Provost
Alison, and Professors Kinnersley, Grew and Jackson " petitioned
they might be allowed to join with the Provost in signing the
College Diplomas," as follows : T

Gentlemen. The Custom as far as we know or can learn has univer-
sally obtained in other Colleges, both in Europe and America, of granting
Diplomas or honourable Certificates, signed as well by all the Professors
as by the Provost or President. The Initiation of this generally received
Mode in the Diplomas to be granted in this College will, we humbly con-
ceive, be more satisfactory to the graduates, who will no doubt chuse to
carry with them the most express and ample Proofs of the Respect and
approbation of every Professor belonging to the Institution ; more reputable
to the Vice Provost and Professors to whom it may be of some advantage
to be known in a Way that will carry the least appearance of Vanity or
ostentation, and more honourable and useful to the Institution itself as the
Number of Professors employed in it and their names, if at any Time they
should be Men of Merit and Reputation, which it is not unreasonable to
suppose, may be of service to engage the Notice of People in Distant Parts
and by that means to add to the Number of Students. We therefore the
Vice Provost and Professors of this College and Academy humbly petition
the Trustees to grant us by a Law the Privilege of joining with the Provost
in signing the College Diplomas.

1 Francis Hopkinson's diploma bears the autographs of the Provost, Vice
Provost, and the other three professors ; if the Provost's was originally given alone,
and thus became the occasion of the petitions, this action of the Trussees may have
secured the subsequent affixing the signatures of the others. The appearance of this
document seems to give color to this suggestion.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 315

This was referred to Messrs. Chew and Stedman for their
opinion, to be given at the next meeting, and on 12 July their
Report was :

The Committee on considering the Charter conceive that by the said
Charter it is not necessary that Diplomas should be signed by any more
of the Faculty than the Provost Yet as they may receive additional
Weight and Credit by being signed by the whole Faculty, and no Mischief
or Inconvenience, that we apprehend can arise from such a Proceeding, we
are of Opinion, that the whole Faculty should on this occasion be admitted
to sign with the Provost

This discreet and equitable report was

read and referred to the next Meeting of the Trustees, in Consequence
thereof Mr Smith requested a Copy of the Petition, which the clerk was
desired to make out and deliver to him as soon as it may be convenient

But no action was reached until the meeting of 23 December,
when

the Report of the Committee upon the Propriety of Diplomas being signed
by the whole Faculty, entered on the Minutes of 12th of July last, is
approved by the Trustees.

At this December meeting the fees for graduation were
named as follows :

A Bachelor shall pay to the College Library ,0.15.0

A Master shall pay to Do i. o.o

A Bachelor shall present to the Provost at least i. o.o

" " to each of the Professors including the

Vice-Provost under whom he has studied since his entering

the College 0.15.0

The Keeper of the Great Seal for affixing it to any Diploma,

honorary ones excepted shall have o. 10.0

At the beginning of this year, at the meeting of 1 1 January,
the Rate of Tuition for the Students in Philosophy was "aug-
mented to ten Pounds per Annum *' to " commence at the End
of Three Months from this Date."

316 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

BENJAMIN CHEW, who drew up the report on the petition
of the Vice-Provost and the Professors, was elected a Trustee on
1 1 January, 1757, to fill the vacancy made by the death of Dr.
Zachary. The son of Dr. Samuel Chew, he was born at his
Father's residence, on West River, Maryland, 29 November,
1722. He was young when his Father removed to the Lower
Counties. After completing his education, he entered the office
of Andrew Hamilton, the Councillor, but the latter dying in
1741, Chew went abroad and entered the Middle Temple in
London. He returned to America in 1743, on hearing of the
death of his Father, and was admitted an attorney of the
Supreme Court of the Province of Pennsylvania in September
Term, 1746, but it appears did not practice until about nine
years later. His residence was at Dover, Delaware, and in
1751 he was included in the Boundary Commission as a repres-
tative of the Lower Counties. He removed to Philadelphia
about 1754. His reputation largely exceeded his age, and
though so new a resident of Philadelphia he in January 1755
became Attorney General, succeeding Mr. Francis, and in
August following, became Recorder of the City. And at the
close of the same year he was called to the Governor's Council,
in the midst of the excitement following Braddock's defeat. His
was a busy life, filling these public offices ; and in 1765, to these
were added that of the Register-General of the Province. In
1761 he built his Mansion, "Cliveden," at the then outlying
town, Germantown. When William Allen resigned the Chief
Justiceship of the Supreme Court in 1774, Chew was appointed
his successor on 29 April. At the outbreak of the Revolution
these offices fell with the Royal authority, which was their
derivation, though his continuance as Register-General was
made necessary by force of circumstances, and his acts were in
1778 validated by the Legislature. As a suspect he was under
surveillance, during the Revolution, and was for some time
under arrest; but he was released in June, 1778, and remained
at his house in peace until the quietness of the times
removed him from all suspicion. During his absence his house
was the conspicuous figure in the Battle of Germantown, Octo-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 317

her, 17/7, and by its possession a handful of British troops
were enabled under its cover to detain the main body of Ameri-
cans in its attack long enough to prevent the consummation of
Washington's plans for the struggle of the day, to ensure the
defeat of the American army. In October, 1791, he was
appointed Judge and President of the High Court of Errors
and Appeals of Pennsylvania, and these he held until the aboli-
tion of the court in 1808. He died 20 January, 1810, and is
buried in St. Peter's Churchyard. Notwithstanding his accu-
mulating duties, he gave faithful attendance on the meetings of
the Trustees, and from his acknowledged judgment and learn-
ing he was sought on many of the special committees, as in the
case of the vexed question which his opinion settled in July
1757. During the Revolutionary period, we find him at the
meetings of January, 9 May, 3, 17 October, 1775 ; April, June,
October, 1776; 5 June, September; November 1778; and in
1779 from March quite regularly to 28 September. He was not
present at the final meetings of October and November, 1779,
when the blow of destruction was impending ; his presence
would not have aided the unfortunate institution against the
attacks of the party who sought the abrogation of its charter.
His eldest son Benjamin, a graduate of 1775, became a Trustee
in 1810. The latter's sons Benjamin and Samuel were gradu-
ates of 1810, John of 1812, Henry Banning of 1815, William
White of 1820, and Anthony Banning of 1825 ; while a grand-
son of Henry B. Chew renews the link as a graduate of 1886.
Chief Justice Chew was the last of those Trustees whose
office dates prior to the first Commencement. Of the original
twenty- four, Logan, Lawrence, Zachary and Willing had died ;
Isaac Norris, who had succeeded James Logan, resigned in
1755 ; and to the nineteen original Trustees remaining were now
added Cadwalader, Hamilton, Stedman, Mifflin and Chew. Of
the original number, seven were Provincial Councillors of Penn-
sylvania, Logan, Lawrence, Turner, Strettell, Peters, Taylor and
Hopkinson ; and of the six new members, five were also Coun-
cillors, Norris, Cadwalader, Hamilton, Mifflin and Chew. Allen,
the Recorder of the City at the organization of the Trustees,

318 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

became Chief Justice the year following, and his wife was the
daughter and sister of Councillors. Francis was Attorney Gen-
eral of the Province at the time of the organization, and in 1750
succeeded Allen as Recorder of the City. Masters married in
1754 the daughter of a Councillor. Zachary was the grandson
of an early Councillor. Franklin's genius and leadership found
no place in the Council, but his influence was greater than any
such seat could create, for he was the foremost man in the
Province. Of the rest, Inglis, M'Call, Leech, Shippen, Syng,
Willing, the two Bonds, Plumsted, Maddox, White, Coleman
and Stedman had earned for themselves eminence in the com-
munity as merchants or professional men. Such a collocation
of men of provincial note and influence was the most remark-
able and distinguished ever gathered together in one common
work in this Province ; and as such, in force and dignity was
perhaps never equalled, certainly never excelled in any of the
sister Provinces ; and all this was in the cause of Education,
and the men were inspired and united in their work by one who
had attained to a high appreciation of the needs of the Province
in this direction, and yet who it may be said was himself with-
out early education further than what could be drawn out of
the materials he found around him by his own inborn faith and
perseverence.

The period of Organization of the College and Academy
may be said to be completed on the graduation of the first class
in 1757. There has been much to study in this formative
time, in both men and methods, and its picture has to be
drawn with more measured details than may be required in its
subsequent periods. From this point on for nearly a score of
years we may designate as the ante-Revolutionary period. The
Institution felt the influence of party broils and wrangles of the
time, as this was unavoidable when the men the most conspicu-
ous in its control and management did not avoid provincial
politics. We shall find this period to end only in disaster, and
we must endeavor to fathom those causes which led to the
injustice of 1779, when the fair fabric was laid low which had
grown to such vigor by its first commencement. It is difficult

HlSTORV OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 319

to draw the line between the differing influences which were
fostered within its boundaries, for though Education was its aim,
yet there was too much fomenting and seething within the Prov-
ince in which it was placed to keep that aim undisturbed ; and
many matters may have taken form that do not appear on
record, which left their sting behind to bear fruit in the uncer-
tain and harassing times of mid-revolution, in which perhaps
institutions were made the victims of mistrust and suspicion in
order to strike at individuals.

XLV.

That the mixing of politics in college life was not due to
colonial influences in this case, but rather in the inborn taste of
the average Englishman, whether in home or colonial life, for
politics generally, is borne out by the consideration of their
influence in the universities at home. Mr. Wordsworth in his
Social Life at the English Universities, quoting Hartley Cole-
ridge, "Everything in England takes the shape and hue of poli-
tics," proceeds to say :

If this was true of the country in the earlier half of the present century,
it was so preeminently at the Universities in the Eighteenth, * * * It might
at first sight appear that politics could have very little to do with the Life
and Studies of a University. But this is far from being the real state
of the case. After three such revolutions as the country had experienced
within half a century, it was impossible that the interest of the country should
not be fixed upon public affairs. The taste for Pamphlets which had arisen
in the days of Charles I. had now increased a thousandfold. * * * If
we take up a chance volume containing i8th century tracts relating to either
of the Universities, it will be no extraordinary thing if there are one or
more bearing directly upon the politics of the day : very few we shall find,
if we have the time or the patience to read them through are totally uncon-
nected with party dissensions. * * * Politics usurped the place of
Christian doctrine in the pulpit ; politics lurked in the Coffee houses and
the taverns her spirit was not expelled even from the ' Triposes ' and
Tripos-speeches. At Oxford the Act (or Commemoration) was full of

320 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

i t * * * Party feeling had a great power in producing and foster-
ing the nightly demonstrations which disturbed the more peaceful students
and inhabitants of Cambridge and Oxford, at the beginning of the last
century, and early in our own. 1

That a certain knowledge of cotemporary politics can be
made a handmaid to Education, there can be no question, for the
pupil in this can with the aid of his preceptor be led to juster and
truer views of the former, than if he was shut out of all knowl-
edge of civil movements around him and only turned into them
without training when Education has set him nominally free
from its bonds. The boys in the College and Academy were
trained to loyalty; the Commencement of 1762 provided a
Dialogue and Ode on the death of our late gracious Majesty
George II ; the Commencement of 1763 had a like exercise in
honor of the happy accession and nuptials of our present gra-
cious Majesty George III. But the controversies over the
Stamp Act made loyalty to such a gracious sovereignty less
palatable, patriotism became an element in the community,
and its votaries were found in our College Halls in increasing
numbers year by year. Smith, the author of the Dialogues of
1762 and 1763, could not sympathise in this patriotism as did
Hopkinson the author of the Ode, who with his pen and good
humor helped in the nationalising of his native land. Thus, in
our narrative we cannot recite the work and influence of the
remarkable curriculum alone, and note the happy results for
learning and knowledge in its students which proved its excel-
lence, without throwing upon it, and the men who employed it,
those lights and shadows which the contemporary circumstances
surrounding the new birth of a nation would naturally engender.
In our case, this is imperative ; for some of the Trustees and
members of the Faculty were deep in the controversies of these
years, and their personal influence must have been felt by the
lads. Could it be a matter of little moment to any of these,
that the Founder of their Home of learning was the foremost
man of the day in all public affairs whether of politics or of
philanthropy, and was in most of these years representing his

1 Social Life, pp. 5, 24, 25, 26, 27.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNYSLVANIA. 32 [

adopted Province at the throne of power pleading for liberty ?
Could it be a matter of indifference to any that their Provost
was taking his share in controversy whether public or anony-
mous ? Would they not catch at least the echo of these
influences ? And may it not lie in such surroundings that the
College and Academy turned into the arena of the Revolution
more men in proportion to her graduates than any other
Collegiate institution ? If this was so, no regret can be felt at
the exhibitions of partisan strife we shall witness as we pro-
ceed in the years whose records are yet to be studied. In this
central Province of the colonies all the great movements of
the time found their larger expression, and the College lads
would have been cold indeed did their feelings not respond
to the thought that they were waiting on the infancy of a great
Nation, in whose future success they might have some share,
whether more or less. Hopkinson who set his loyal Odes of
1762 and 1763 to his own music and sang them, was equally
with Paca nurturing those greater principles which caused
them to set their hands to a Declaration that loyalty to one's
own country was the highest patriotism. Duche put his hands
to the same plough, but looked back and was lost. Latta, and
Magaw, and Morgan, and Williamson, were all true to the same
pole. These were the farthest removed from the storm
burst of 1775. But they, even from this distant point, attain
a like degree in the work of their country's freedom with John
Morris, Patrick Alison, Robert Goldsborough, Whitmel Hill,
Thomas Mifflin, Richard Peters, Tench Tilghman, Alexander
Wilcocks, Joseph Yeates, Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, John
Andrews, William White, Francis Johnston, Joshua Maddox
Wallace, Benjamin Duffield, Henry Latimer, and others. Hap-
pily for their country, these men came to the struggle with
minds trained in the best school for learning known in the
colonies, and the record of such results should alone have
saved it from the suspicions and the injustice of 1779 ; but, the
party heat of that year having found its victim exhausted itself,
and the successors of these partisans in a single decade made
restitution and galvanized their victim into new life.

322 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XLVL

During the preparations for the first commencement there
arose the beginnings of a contention in which the Provost
largely figured. It was in the case of Judge Moore of Chester
County, against whom as early as March, 1757, petitions were
being sent up to the Assembly praying his removal for sundry
alleged acts of injustice and cruelty. These the Assembly
deferred the consideration of for several weeks, but the petitions
accumulated. At last in August a hearing of both parties is
had, and Judge Moore presents a paper in general contradiction
of the petitions. Adjournment is had, but instead of appearing he
sends in a Memorial denying authority of Assembly, as all mat-
ters charged against him were cognizable by common law. The
House continued the case and took testimony from the peti-
tioners, and finally on 27 September adjudged him guilty, and
addressed Governor Denny requesting him "to remove William
Moore from the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas
and Justice of the Peace and from all other publick Offices, Posts
and Employments." The animus of all this lay in the imputed
enmity of the Friends in the Assembly to Judge Moore, as he
had taken a prominent part in the attacks on the Friends for
their Peace principles when war was hovering on the borders of
the Province. The address to the Governor was by order of the
House published in the Gazette, where many of the official docu-
ments reached the public eye. Judge Moore took umbrage at
this ; and the Assembly having adjourned on I October, and
the election for the new Assembly shortly recurring, he deemed
it important to submit a counter address to the Governor, which
was also inserted in the Gazette ; his language was free and
aggressive, for the body which had maligned him was in his opin-
ion dead ; but the new Assembly composed mainly of the same
members accepted his address as an attack on their dignity, and
6 January, 1758, they summoned him and also William Smith to
the Bar of the House to answer such questions as should then
and there be put to them. Mr. Smith's connection with this was
due not only to the general suspicion that he was the author of

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 323

Judge Moore's letter to the Governor that was deemed so
offensive by the Assembly, which however Judge Moore declared
was his own authorship ; but to the fact that he had been instru-
mental in causing its publication in the German newspaper
that was published under the care of the German Society,
which was not denied. The Governor appointed a day for hear-
ing the case, but in the meanwhile the House impatient at the
Governor's tardiness and wishing to lose no time in avenging the
indignity to the former house had placed Judge Moore under
arrest, which in turn he pleaded as an excuse for not appearing
before the Governor for the appointed hearing. Governor
Denny and the Assembly fell into an angry correspondence, as
the latter came under the belief that he was seeking the refuge
of technicalities on behalf of the Judge. On 1 1 January he was
adjudged guilty of a high contempt, and ordered to be impris-
oned until he should retract. On the I3th, Mr. Smith was called
up to answer for his share in this controversy, and on the 24th
he was adjudged guilty of " promoting and publishing the libel-
lous paper &c," and on the next day, on being ordered in and
informed of this finding, he arose and said he would make an
appeal to the King. On being presented with the alternative of
a retraction, he replied, in one of his eloquent outbursts,

as he was conscious of no offense against the house, his lips should never
give his heart the lie, there being no punishment which they could inflict
half so terrible to him as the thought of forfeiting his veracity and good
name with the world, 1

which attracted applause among his friends who were in the
house, but for which they in turn were brought up for censure
and admonition.

Mr. Smith was then committed to the Sheriff for imprison-
ment, and to Jail he went. On 4 February he applied to Chief

1 American Magazine, p. 200. In this serial will be found, in the Numbers
for February and August, 1758, Mr. Smith's narrative of this whole proceeding.
" The Assembly of this province hath been sitting since the 2nd inst [January],
during which time some steps have been taken, so alarming in their nature, and
attended with such public heats and animosities, that we dare not trust ourselves at
present to give a particular account of them, least we should have caught some
degree of the general infection to make us depart from our usual coolness and candor
of disquisition," p. 199.

324 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Justice Allen, a College Trustee, for a writ of Habeas Corpus,
but the latter did not think himself authorized in granting such
as the petitioner was committed by the House for a breach of
privilege. His appeal to the Governor was as well unsuccessful,
for his endorsement on the petition read, " The unhappy
situation of the Petitioner moves me with great compassion, but
if I have a Power in any shape to interpose in this matter, I do
not incline to excuse it, as it might, at this critical Juncture,
endanger the safety of the whole Province." Here he continued
until liberated about 1 1 April by the Supreme Court on the
adjournment of the Assembly ; but on reassembling in Septem-
ber new writs were issued and he was again arrested and was in
imprisonment until the final adjournment. In the meanwhile,
his appeal was prepared and had gone forward and had been
referred to the Attorney General. The new Assembly in
November, again in pursuit of the vindication of the honor of the
former Assembly, voted Smith's commitment to the Sergeant-at-
Arms, but he could not be found and by I December had
sailed for England to prosecute in person his Appeal from the
judgments of the assembly. As to Judge Moore, the Governor
gave him a hearing in August, and adjudged him free of the
charges preferred against him ; but the assembly still sought
reparation and his retraction, without avail ; and in February,
1759, the Sergeant-at-Arms reported that " Moore has absconded
without paying his fees, and Smith having lately embarked for
England."

It is difficult for us, so many years after these transactions,
to form an exact opinion on the merits of this peculiar case.
Mr. Smith to a letter to the Bishop of London written from the
" Philada. County Gaol ", 7 February, 1758, speaks of the

Persecuting spirit of the Quakers against those who had the courage to
avow themselves strenuous advocates for the defence of this His Majesty's
Colony. * * * Against me in particular they have had a long grudge
supposing me the Author of some Pamphlets published in London to alarm
the Nation of the dreadful consequences of suffering such men to continue
in power at this time. But finding no pretext to distress me, though lying
in watch for three years, the Assembly called me before them and com-
mitted me to gaol for having reprinted a Paper (in the German Newspaper

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 325

under my Direction as a Trustee for a Society in London) which had been
printed four weeks before in both the English Newspapers, and in one of
them by the Assembly's own Printer after consulting the Speaker and
two other leading Members. 2

This statement brings the gravamen down to one charge,
of his instrumentality in printing it in the German paper. It is
true it had appeared in Franklin's Gazette and Bradford's
Journal but only in sequence with other State Papers, and these
newspapers were more just to Judge Moore in printing both
sides of the controversy than was the German paper in merely
printing the Judge's Counter Address. In this sense the Assem-
bly adjudged him guilty " of promoting and publishing a false,
scandalous, virulent and seditious libel against the late House
of Assembly of this Province, and highly derogatory of and
destructive to the rights of this House and the privileges of
Assembly." Their error and fault lay in their entire course,
for they could not pass upon the libeller of the former assembly,
and their proceeding to his imprisonment was contrary to all prin-
ciple of sound justice. The Germans found that their only means
of securing general news was through a newspaper in their own
language ; and as they were assumed to be inimical to the
Assembly which was largely composed of Quakers, to circulate
Judge Moore's Counter Address was certainly treating them to
that view of the controversy which was the most prejudicial
to their influence, and they rightly deemed that this was not the
intent of the publication in the German newspaper. But whatever
the former Assembly might have done to vindicate their honor,
their successors had no standing upon which to take up the
cudgels for them. Here was Mr. Smith's strong point, and he
was aware of it ; and he would be content with even imprison-
ment if he felt that justice in the end would be attained.

That there were lurking suspicions against Mr. Smith as to
his connection with the controversies of the day, and somewhat
of a fear of the force of his trenchant pen, there can be no doubt,
but to what extent there existed ground for the former we now

1 Isaac Norris, William Masters, and Joseph Galloway. American
Magazine, p. 200.

326 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

know not, but we can well judge that both his tongue and his
pen were deemed strong weapons, which perhaps were more
dreaded than respected. These were not entertained alone by
the Quakers, as Smith always termed the Friends, although he
appeared to lay at their door all the charges of enmity to him.
In the Assembly which now passed judgment upon him there
were three of his College Trustees, Leech, Masters, and Plum-
sted, all Churchmen, and so far as we know they did not
befriend him. Even good old Dr. Jenney, the Rector of Christ
Church, had no warm thought for the young cleric-politician,
for on 27 November of the same year he wrote to the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury :

What I am most concerned for and apprehensive of evil conse-
quences from is the practice of some Clergymen here to intermix what is
their true and real business with politics in civil affairs and being so zealous
therein as to blame and even revile those of their Brethren who cannot
approve of their conduct in '.his particular. I am very sorry to be forced
to name one William Smith, who 'tis said is gone to England with this
view, and without doubt will wait upon -your grace. * * * He pre-
tends to be a great intimate of the Hon' ble Mr. Thomas Penn, our Pro-
prietor, and several other great men whose favour he boasts of, but I am
in Hopes that no great man will support him in his misrepresentation of
me without giving me an opportunity to clear myself.

One element of opposition to him was found, probably, in
a natural but unreasonable local prejudice against a new comer
into the community engaging so heartily in provincial contests,
for he had been a resident of Philadelphia but three years when
he became a partisan of Judge Moore. His dislike of the
Assembly, on account of its Quaker influences, was perhaps
reciprocated on account of their repugnance to a minister of
Christ who was so valorous for war ; but his opponents in the
Assembly were not always these Quakers. Politics found in him
a congenial adherent, and it was impossible with his peculiar
temperament for him to keep out of the fray that was raging
in the press around him. Had a contrary attitude prevailed,
his influence on the side of peace and harmony would have been
of great avail, but his pen was but adding fuel to the flames.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 327
XLVII.

The circumstances of the province military-wise were
peculiar, and were made more conspicuous in its position of
danger by surrounding enemies, from whom it could only
defend itself by its own resources. These resources, so far as
the descendants of Penn's followers could be considered, were
not drawn from any military preparations, but only from the
mighty arm of peace and good-will. Had the Friends been the
only citizens in the Province, it is not without reason to suppose
that they would never have been harassed by enemies, for the
Indians would have been their defendants against the French
instead of befriending the subtle foe ; but from the mixed nature
of the inhabitants offences could not be avoided, and the peace
policy of the Friends lost all its force. Mr. Smith, in Novem-
ber, 1757, describes the situation thus :

The province of Pennsylvania has something peculiar to itself that
renders this task harder in it than in almost any other country. We are at
present a trading and not a military colony; and of eight religious denomi-
nations that are of most note among us (if we follow the example of our
mother country) we can only depend on four to bear arms. The Roman
Catholics are excluded for political reasons ; the Unitas Fratrum or Mora-
vians are exempted from all personal service by an act of parliament in
1749 ; and the Quakers and Mennonites, two numerous and wealthy socie-
ties, cannot bear arms consistent with their religious tenets ; so that the
danger and burden of publick defence is devolved on the members of the
Church of England, the English and German Presbyterians, the Lutherans,
and the English Baptists. But these will think it hard and unequal to
expose their lives to maintain their neighbors in ease and safety, who have
equal estates and privileges ; and it may be thought as hard to oblige men
by a law, to do that in defence of their lives or estates, which they are per-
suaded will ruin their souls. * * * If the burden of defence be cast
on the four religious denominations who can bear arms, it would be
unequal and severe ; nay, it would be to preserve the religious rights of
one part of the State at the expense of the civil rights of another. 1

Thus the Friends, being the greatest in number and
influence of all the combatants, attracted to themselves the
opposition of those who were impatient at their conscientious

1 Proposal for a Militia in Pennsylvania. American Magazine, p. 63.

328 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

denial of appropriations for military purposes, and in contem-
porary politics they bore the brunt of accusations that they were
exposing the borders of the Province to Indian and French
depredations. This revilement was convenient and easy, yet
no attempt was made by their accusers to pursue that even-
handed justice with the native Savage which would have gone a
long way to avert the calamities of war.

XLVIII.

Mr. Smith's occupation in this arraignment and imprison-
ment necessarily deprived the College of his continuous atten-
tion ; and references to this peculiar condition of affairs are
found twice in the Minutes of the Trustees. On 4 February,
the first meeting after his imprisonment, when the refusal to
him on that day by Chief Justice Allen of a writ of Habeas
Corpus rendered his release for the remainder of the Assem-
bly's session hopeless, it is recorded :

the Assembly ot the Province having taken Mr Smith into Custody the
Trustees considered how the Inconveniences from thence arising to the
College might be best remedied, and Mr Smith having expressed a Desire
to continue his Lectures to the Classes which had formerly attended them,
the Students also inclining to proceed in their Studies under his care ;
They ordered that the said Classes should attend him for that Purpose at
the usual Hours in the Place of his present Confinement :

this being in the County Prison at the corner of Walnut
and Sixth Streets, and here the young Provost taught his
classes within a stone's throw of the lot which James Logan
had in 1749 offered the Trustees for the use of their new
Academy. And here he remained, unyielding in his position
and surrounded by his classes, until his liberation in April upon
adjournment of the Assembly. But no steps were taken for
the annual commencement, possibly under the apprehension lest

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 329

a public ceremony of this kind would draw some of the hostility
exhibited by the partisans of the Assembly against its Provost,
personally towards the College and its Trustees. Three of the
young men were ready for their degrees ; Andrew Allen, James
Allen, and John Morris had undergone the usual public exami-
nation with approbation, but they had to await the commence-
ment exercises of 1759 for their public reception. l

But in the midst of Mr. Smith's trials and imprisonment,
came the romance of his life. In his acquaintance with Judge
Moore and his family, he could not but be attracted by the
charms of his daughter Rebecca, a beautiful and accomplished
girl. She was a faithful visitor to her Father in his confinement,
and while the Judge and the Provost in their long hours of
imprisonment must have often conferred together upon their
wrongs and have fostered each in the other common courage
and endurance, and maintained a mutual hope of ultimate free-
dom, the latter must have had frequent and favorable opportu-
nities of cultivating an acquaintance with the former's lovely
visitor ; an engagement followed, and in a few weeks after his
liberation they were married on 3 June, 1750, at Moore Hall,
in Chester County, the Judge's residence. Mrs. Smith's eldest
sister, Williamina, had married in 1748, Dr. Phineas Bond. Of
this alliance, his Biographer records :

he was indebted for a well -assorted and happy connexion ; it was
every way judicious ; family, fortune and external circumstances, combined
with considerations of feeling to make it wise.

1 Minutes, 8 Tune, 1759. See Smith i. 186.

33O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

XLIX.

But, with all his employments of mind and heart early in
1758, William Smith's thoughts drifted again to public affairs; and
out of his keen anxieties for the safety of the Province in the
approaching campaign which General Forbes was now undertak-
ing against Fort Duquesne, came his " Earnest address to the
Colonies, particularly those of the Southern district ; on the
opening of the Campaign, 1758," to which the concluding para-
graph gives an eloquent closing :

Rise, then, my countrymen, as you value the blessings you enjoy,
and dread the evils that hang over you, rise and show yourselves worthy of
the name of Britons ! rise to secure to your posterity, peace, freedom, and
a pure religion ! rise to chastize a perfidious nation for their breach of
treaties, their detestable cruelties, and their horrid murders ! remember the
cries of your captivated brethren, your orphan children, your helpless
widows, and thousands of beggar' d families ! think of Monongahela, Fort
William Henry, and those scenes of savage death, where the mangled
limbs of your fellow citizens lie strewed upon the plain ; calling upon you
to retrieve the honor of the British name ! Thus animated and roused, and
thus putting your confidence, where alone it can be put, let us go forth in
humble boldness ; and the Lord do what seemeth him good.

The hopeful anticipations of the colonists for this campaign
were realised ; and we find Mr. Smith preaching in Trinity
Church, New York, on 17 September, 1758, his sermon on
" the Duty of praising God for signal Mercies and Deliverances,
on occasion of the remarkable success of His Majesty's Arms
in America, during that Campaign ; " which he repeated at
Oxford, Pennsylvania, on i October :

After the days of mourning which we have seen, the short period of
one year has produced such a turn in favour of the Protestant cause, as
astonishes ourselves, and among posterity will scarce be believed. The
wonderful successes of the Prussian Hero, towards the close of the last
campaign in Germany ; and the successes which, in the present campaign,
God has already been pleased to bestow on the British arms in America, by
the reduction of Louisburg, l and other important places, furnish a series of

1 Pennsylvania Gazette of 24 August, 1758, announces the " New York post
riding ninety miles last Monday to bring news of the fall of Louisburg, our bells
were set a Ringing, the Guns were fired, Bonfires were lighted, and the city was
beautifully illuminated."

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 331

such happy events, that if any one had proposed them to our hopes a
twelvemonth ago, we should have thought him mocking our credulity, or
insulting our distress. * * * The best fruits of victory are beset around
with thorns ; and what are days of rejoicing to others are but days of
mourning to many, whose dearest Relatives have given up their lives, a sac-
rifice in the contest. This world is a chequered scene, and we are to expect
no pure bliss in it.

The new Assembly which convened in November was
seeking Mr. Smith for further imprisonment. His appeal had
gone forward to England. He may have hoped the coming
Assembly would not strain its authority as had the former
Assembly, and he might remain unmolested in the pursuit of
of his duties. But he was disappointed, and at his request the
President called

an especial Meeting on the 22d November, that the Trustees might be
made acquainted that he had been imprisoned by a former Assembly for a
supposed offence in promoting and publishing an Address of William
Moore, Esq r , to the Honourable William Denny, Esq r ,the Governor of this
Province, which that House had voted a Libel against them and the Privi-
leges of Assembly ; that he conceived though the Charge against him had
been true, which however he utterly denied, he did not think it a Matter
cognizable before them: that, not having hitherto made any Submission for
the said supposed offence, the present assembly had issued their Warrant
to apprehend him and take him into Custody ; and being, in this Situa-
tion, rendered incapable for the present to discharge the Duty of his Sta-
tion, he designed with the consent and approbation of the Trustees speedily
to sail for England to solicit his Majesty for relief ; and prayed the Trustees
to grant him their License for that Purpose ;

and on Dr. Peters assuring them of the expected assistance of the
Rev. Mr. Ewing in the Provost's absence,

the Trustees took Mr Smith's Request into consideration and unanimously
agreed to give Mr Smith their Leave to take a Voyage to England, and to

332 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

be absent from his service in the College till the first Day of June next, a
which Time they would very cheerfully receive him again as their Provost,
and on this occasion they thought it incumbent on them to do Mr Smith
the Justice to testify their Sense of his great abilities and the Satisfaction
he had given them in the faithful Discharge of his office.

Furnished with this diplomatic but kindly action of the
Trustees for they forebore using any word or phrase which
might seem to befriend the subject of it as endangering the
notice of the Assembly, Mr. Smith took passage for England
about i December, arriving in London on New Year's Day,
1759. He prosecuted his appeal with success, and on 26 June
the Privy Council granted him the relief he sought, " declaring
his Majesty's high displeasure at the unwarrantable behaviour of
the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania in assuming to
themselves powers which do not belong to them, and invading
both his Majesty's Royal Prerogative, and the Liberties of the
Subject" ; and with the order in his pocket to the Governor to
signify the same to the Assembly, he set his face homeward and
arrived in Philadelphia on 8 October. He also brought with him
the Degree Sacrosanctae Theologise Doctor et Magister from
the University of Aberdeen, dated 10 March, 1759, and that of
Doctor in Sacra Theologia of the University of Oxford, of
seventeen days later. His visit to England was singularly
favorable, as the influence of the Penns, of whose cause in
Pennsylvania he was perhaps the ablest advocate, befriended
him and enabled him with more readiness to prosecute his
appeal. This was helped in turn by the Oxford Degree ; and at
a time when the Assembly's representative was pleading without
success for relief from Proprietary restrictions, to mark with
signal favor, by college and royalty, the man who was in fact
combating that complaint, was an opportunity that might not
be lost at this critical political juncture. The Penn family were
now Church of England people, and had lost the personal sym-
pathies of their great ancestor's co-religionists who were quite
free to join the popular party who were combating the Proprie-
tary selfishness. Thus on every hand, the Penns would welcome
the man whose trenchant pen was maintaining their authority

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 333

in a distant province which had reason to fault their absenteeism
and exactions. Under these peculiar circumstances, Dr. Smith
did not confer with Franklin, then in England. We know not
whether they met. Ordinarily, it might be thought he would
seek counsel of the man who had made for him such an excel-
lent position in Pennsylvania ; but to avail himself of the influ-
ence of the Penns, it was essential there should be no entangle-
ment or acknowledged intercourse with the representative of the
Assembly whose attitude was one of opposition to that family.
However, the author of the Account of the College and Academy
of Philadelphia in the American Magazine for October, 1758,
might not expect a welcome or any aid from the man upon
whom he had therein recorded an injustice ; and a copy of this
may have reached Franklin, as his partner must have kept him
supplied with all home publications.

The American Magazine or Monthly Chronicle for the
British Colonies, was undertaken in October, 1757, by a
" Society of Gentlemen," and published by William Bradford,
at his establishment in the London Coffee House, at the corner
of Front and Market Streets, and bore the Motto on its title
pages, Veritatis cultores. Fraudis inimici. Bradford had such a
publication long in mind, and finally in William Smith he found
his editor.

The parties saw in each other their required complements ; and with
such a literary support as Dr. Smith both ready and able with his pen,
methodical in business, and with talents formed equally to gratify the
learned and to attract those inspiring to learn Bradford felt that he could
safely begin his work. 1

1 Smith, i. 165. The Editor writes to George Washington, 10 November
1757, soliciting his interest in the publication and displaying some of his plans in its
conduct: "Sir: You'll perceive your name in the list of those 'tis hoped will
encourage the enclosed Magazine & I hope you'll forgive the Liberty we have taken
as you are placed in good company & in a good design. Tis a work which may be
rendered of very general Service to all the Colonies. We shall be under particular
Obligations for every Subscriber you can procure, to give the work a general Run.
I have not been unmindful of the Papers you sent relating to the French Memorial &
you would have seen proper use made of them before now * * * in the general His-
tory of the present War which you find promised in the Magazine. I shall therefore,
be greatly obliged to you for every Light you can throw upon that Subject. * *
As you acted a principal part in all these Affairs, and as it is our design to do the
utmost Justice to all concerned & especially those Patriots & brave men born in
America, who have distinguished themselves in the present war, I must rely on your

334 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The Editor in his preface says :

We think we have every advantage for carrying it on, which this new
world can afford. We are placed in the centre of the British Colonies, in
a city that has extensive commerce, and immediate communication with
all our other settlements. We have also the opportunity of decorating our
work with engravings of every sort, for demonstrations in mathematics,
and other necessary cuts and figures, by means of an able workman
residing among us.

Ebenezer Kinnersley and Thomas Godfrey were contrib-
utors to its pages. Some of the early poems of Frances Hop-
kinson adorned them. William Smith contributed the Hermit,
the Antigallican, the Planter, the Watchman, and the Prattler,
each continued through various numbers ; and the Monthly
Chronicle furnished the latest news from abroad and political
intelligence at home. It was a Magazine well ahead of the
times ; but its life was brief, the last number being that of Octo-
ber, 1758, which contains a Postscript dated 14 November,
reciting that

as the design was at first set on foot by a number of gentlemen, merely
with a view to promote a taste for Letters and useful knowledge in this
American World, and as several of the principal hands who first engaged
in it, are now obliged to give their constant attention to other matters, the
carrying on the work falls too heavy on the remainder, so that it has been
determined to discontinue it, at least for some time.

The Editor, upon whose skill and management its life
depended, was now contemplating his visit to England in prose-
cution of his appeal, and Bradford discontinued its publication,
" which if reputation or profit had been their motive, the work
would have been long continued."

The account of the College and Academy prepared by the
Provost for the last number of this Magazine was inserted in
substance in the edition of his Discourses which were published

Assistance, so far as comes within your knowledge. * * * As this history is to be
a full one & will probably be long preserved, I flatter myself that your Regard for
your Country and Desire to have its interests understood will excuse this trouble, &
induce you to send me as soon as possible what I have requested. If we delay long,
the Thing may fall to other hands, less inclined to a disinterested execution of it.
* * * Send the subscribers' Names for the Magazine to me but do not mention
my name to any Body. * * * Wm. Smith." Letters to Washington edited
by S. M. Hamilton, 1899, ii. 233.

HlSTOKV OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 33$

in London during his visit there in 1759, an< ^ this has been fol-
lowed in the later edition of his Discourses and that of his
Works. Both publications open with the statement that

in the year 1749, a number of private gentlemen, who had long regretted
it as misfortune to the youth of this province that we had no public Semi-
nary, in which they might receive the accomplishments of a regular
education, published a paper of hints and proposals for erecting an
academy in this city.

But the Discourses of 1757 omit a phrase in the third para-
graph, found in the Magazine :

At first only three persons were concerned in forming it, two of
whom are 1 since dead, and the other now in England. These communi-
cated their thoughts to others, till at last the number of [here the narrative
continues alike in both] twenty-four joined themselves together as
Trustees, &c.

The one " now in England " was Franklin ; the two " since
dead," were Francis and Hopkinson ; for though Logan, Law-
rence, Zachary and Willing were also "since dead," the two here
named were those intended by the writer. It is not probable
this mode of reference to the author of the Proposals and the
originator of the Academy would have been made had he been
at the time at home. This allusion of 1758 was of an opposite
character to that of 1753 (which was indeed repeated in 1762)
where in his Mirania he refers to " the English School and
Academy in Philadelphia first sketched out by the very ingen-
ious and worthy Mr. Franklin of that place." 2 Certain personal
references to the Faculty of the College, added to the account
in the Magazine, and which will be noticed hereafter, do not
find place in its subsequent publications. It was no light work
to edit such a Magazine, and it affords another evidence of
William Smith's mental activity aud unfailing industry that he
should continue it through the particular harassments that the
year 1758 brought to him.

1 Miranians, p. 15. In the second edition included in the Discourses of
1762, this reference is put in a footnote and reads "first sketched out by the
ingenious Dr. Franklin of that place."

336 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LI.

In following the steps of the Provost from the Commence-
ment of 1757, we have done so continuously for the space of
two years, in order that the narrative of this period of his life
should be unbroken. It is not only the doings of the man that
have been noted, but of the Provost, for it seems almost
impossible to separate the man from the incumbent, as the
influences which he carried with him were felt more or less by
the College ; his individuality and force impressed themselves
upon every undertaking in which he took an interest, and what
work was there in which he had a share in which he did not
fully interest himself?

The subject of a Library had forced itself upon the atten-
tion of the Trustees. At the meeting at which the Provost's
arrest was reported, 4 February, 1758, a Minute records :

It being represented to the Trustees that many of the Students in the
Philosophy School had been very deficient in their Exercises and other-
ways much retarded in their Studies for Want of a Library furnished with
suitable Books in the different Branches of Science, the Clerk was there-
fore directed to acquaint the Trustees by the next written Notices that a
Proposal was under consideration for granting a sum of money to be laid
out in purchasing an assortment of approved Authors for the Use of the
College, a list of which was laid before the Trustees at this Meeting.

No further reference to this present effort appears, but it
was successful. On 9 February, 1762,

Mr William Dunlap having been so good as to make a present of some
books to the College, the Catalogue was read over and the Books
examined therewith having been first placed in their proper order upon

Shelves.

And two years later we find the subject a matter of action ; on
10 April, 1764,

Mr Peters and Mr Duch6 are appointed a Committee to inspect the
College Library, taking Professor Ewing to their Assistance, and to com-
pare it with the Catalogue which after their examination is to be inserted
in the Minutes. And further that they examine the Apparatus for Experi-
mental Philosophy and compare it with the Catalogue, which is likewise to
be inserted in the Minutes ;

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 337

which latter however, the Clerk failed to do, and thus deprived
us of the pleasure of knowing the works of a College Library
at that day.

Professor Ewing's name first appeared in the Minutes of
22 November, 1758, when provision had to be made to supply
Mr. Smith's place, who was then granted leave to depart for
England :

The President further acquainted the Trustees that Mr Ewing, late
Professor and teacher of the Mathematics in the new College erected at
Princeton in New Jersey, was represented to him as a Person capable of
continuing Mr Smith's Lectures in the Philosophical Classes, and of
instructing the Students in the several Branches of Knowledge alloted to
Mr Smith, and that it was believed he would readily give his Assistance in
the Academy till Mr Smith's return. The Trustees desired Mr Peters
would immediately write to Mr Ewing to know if he would supply the
Place of Mr Smith in the Philosophical Classes, and if he should accept,
and be found capable of this service then to engage him on such Terms
as could be agreed to, to be paid by Mr Smith out of his Salary. [And
with further concern for the College, whose interests doubtless felt the
depressing effects of all the political turmoil in which its head was
involved,] The Professors were ordered to attend upon this occasion and
desire respectively to give their assistance in their respective services to the
Students under -Mr Smith's care and to Mr Ewing or whoever else should
be got to supply his Place, and they with the utmost Cheerfulness, each for
himself, declared Nothing should be wanting in their Power to serve the
Students and likewise Mr Ewing or any other Gentleman who should be
employed to do Mr. Smith's Duty.

At this meeting attended Messrs. Peters, White, Cadwalader,
Allen, Stedman, Maddox, P. Bond, M'Call, Mifflin, Inglis, T.
Bond, Plumsted, Turner and Shippen. It was a grave moment,
and called out a larger number than customary of the Trustees;
two of whom, Maddox and Mifflin, were now to meet with them
no more.

At the following meeting, on 12 December,

the President acquainted the Trustees that having wrote to Mr. Ewing,
according to the Desire of the Trustees at the last Meeting he had been
kind enough to come to Town, and had, by Way of Trial, assisted Mr
Alison in reading the Lectures and giving the Instructions to the Students
in the highest classes in the same Manner Mr. Smith used to do, and

338 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

appeared to be extremely well qualified and the Students having expressed
their Satisfaction to Mr Peters he should, with their leave, proceed to engage
his Service upon the best Terms he could make with him, which they
desired might be done.

Thus was begun a connection with the institution which
lasted until Dr. Ewing's death in 1802; appointed Pro-
fessor of Natural Philsophy in 1762, he was made Provost
of the new institution which in 1779 took the place of the
College and Academy, and in turn became the first Provost of
the University of Pennsylvania, the institution which carried on
the work and the traditions of both.

Vice-Provost Alison was ably assisted by Mr. Ewing, and
the Senior Class proceeded without interruption to the com-
pletion of their studies. On 6 April, 1759, the Trustees met
"in the common Hall," namely Messrs. Peters, White, Cad-
walader, Turner, Stedman, E. Shippen, M'Call, Inglis, Strettell,
T. Bond, Plumsted, P. Bond, Chew, W. Shippen, and Leech,
and attended

a Public Examination held in the presence of the Governor, several
strangers of Distinction, and many of the Citizens, when the under named
Students were examined,

Samuel Powel Samuel Keene

William Paca Alexander Lawson

John Beard Nathaniel Chapman

William Edmiston

and on the day following, the day being Saturday] the examination was
continued and the Students having acquitted themselves to the Satis-
faction of the Trustees and all present, it was the unanimous opinion of
the Trustees that they should be admitted to the first Degree of the
Batchelor of Arts ; and that the Commencement should be held on the
eighth of June, and Notice be given thereof in the Gazette.

At this last meeting,

the Reverend Mr Hector Alison and the Reverend Mr John Ewing, Assis-
tant Professor of Natural Philosophy in the absence of the Provost,
petitioned that the honorary Degree of Master of Arts might be conferred
upon them at the next commencement ; and it appearing that they merited
the same, their Request was granted.

At the meeting on 8 May, Messrs. Peters, Coleman and

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 339

Edward Shipper) alone attended, but the minute of their pro-
ceedings recites :

The two Charity Schools were visited, the Boys and Girls examined
as to their Reading, Writing and casting Accounts, and it appeared that they
were carefully instructed. The copy Books of the Boys in the Latin School
were likewise examined and it is recommended to Prof. Beveridge that the
Boys attended their writing more diligently.

LIL

The second Commencement Day arrived, 7 June, 1759, and
was duly advertised, " at which time the Company of all that
please to attend will be very acceptable." l The Trustees met,
and the three undergraduates who met with no Commencement
in 1758, Andrew and James Allen and John Morris,

reminded the Trustees that they had finished their Studies and had under-
gone a public Examination last year, 2 and were favored with their
Approbation, and therefore, with their leave, they proposed to offer them-
selves for the Degree of Batchelor of Arts, and requested a Mandate to the
Faculty to admit them,

which was granted them; and then "the Vice Provost presented
to the Trustees " the young men who had passed their Exami-
nation in April, together with John Hall,

as Candidates for the Degree of Batchelor of Arts, informing them, that
they had finished their Studies, had undergone a public examination, and
were well qualified ; whereupon the Trustees issued the written Mandate
under their Hands and the privy seal of their College, directed to the
Provost, Vice Provost and Professors requiring them to admit said Students
to the Degree of Batchelor of Arts, and likewise they gave a like Mandate
to admit the Reverend Mr Hector Alison, now on Duty as Chaplain in the
Pennsylvania Regiment, and the Reverend Mr John Ewing, their present
Lecturer in Natural Philosophy to the honorary Degree of Master of Arts.

1 Penna. Gazette, ^ June, 1759.

3 This may have been had on Monday, 14 August, 1758, notice for which was
advertised in the Penna. Gazette, 10 August.

340 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The minute then proceeds to narrate, by way of making a
record of the Commencement exercises :

After which the Trustees repaired to the Academy Hall, preceded by
the candidatesjfor Degrees in their Gowns, and the members of the Faculty
in their Gowns, and were followed by the Masters and Tutors of the
several schools at the head of the Junior Classes aud the Scholars, who
walked in Procession, two by two ; and having respectively taken their
Seats, the Commencement was opened by Prayers, performed after the
Rites of the Church of England by the Reverend Mr. Peters, President.

The honorable the Governor, several officers of the Army, a great
many Gentlemen of this and the other Colonies and a number of Ladies
and Citizens were pleased to favor us with their Presence.

There was a great Variety of entertaining Orations and public Dispu-
tations in the Latin and English languages, in which the Students, acquit-
ting themselves with universal applause, the Rev Mr Alison, who presided
according to Charter, in the absence of the Provost, conferred the several
Degrees as directed by the two Mandates.

At the close of this Ceremony, which was performed in a very solemn
Manner, the Vice Provost made a serious Address to the Graduates, exhort-
ing them to fear God, prosecute their Studies, and make it the whole
Endeavor of their Lives to become as useful as possible in their respective
Stations, and to consider this World as preparative for the Fruition of our
holy GOD, in that glorious State of Immortality, which through the Merits
of our blessed Saviour, was to succeed this transitory life. And then con-
cluded with a suitable Prayer.

It gave the Trustees a very sensible Pleasure to hear the Commenda-
tions that were given of the whole Performances by almost every Body
present.

Of the distinguished class who received their degrees this
day, Andrew Allen and Samuel Powel in later years became
Trustees of the College, the former being a member of the
Council ; William Paca became a Signer of the Declaration of
Independence and Governor of Maryland ; John Morris became
Master of the Rolls of Pennsylvania ; John Beard a Tutor in
the College ; and William Edmiston and Samuel Keene entered
the ministry. By the Treasurer's books we find that Keene was
tutoring during his last year at College.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 341

LIII.

It was during the controversies of the past year and before
Mr. Ewing was called to take the Provost's classes in his absence,
that another Professor was added to the Faculty. At the meet-
ing of the Trustees on 13 June, " the State of the Latin School
was taken into consideration ; Mr. Alison declared that the
Philosophy Schools were so full, that in his present state of
health he could not continue to attend and recommended it to
the Trustees to supply that place as soon as possible." Where-
upon,

Mr Peters informed the Trustees that Mr Beveridge was come to town in
consequence of the Letters wrote to him by Mr Smith, Mr Alison and Mr
Jackson; that he had examined him in a close manner, by which he was
satisfied as to his Knowledge of the Latin, and as his Testimonials certified
the same, as well as that he was a man of Virtue and good morals, he was
of opinion that he would make an excellent Master. [Testimonials were
submitted from] the Ruddimans and others of eminent character in Edin-
burgh and from the gentlemen Trustees of Hereford School. [He] was
called in, and after sometime spent in Conversation, withdrew. The Ques-
tion hereupon was put whether he should be appointed to the Professorship
of the Languages, and the care of the Latin School, [and the vote was
unanimous in his favor.] He was called in again and accepted on the
same terms with Mr Jackson, but acquainted the Trustees that some
time in August, his affairs required his being at Hereford, and prayed
the Trustees he might be allowed to go there in order to settle his concerns
and bring his Family to Town. In his younger years he taught a grammar
school in the city of Edinburgh, under the particular patronage of the
great Mr Ruddiman.

William Smith, in the last number of the American Maga-
zine, October, 1758, speaks warmly of his attainments as a classi-
cal scholar, and quotes some of his Latin verses :

By the specimens he has given, he will undoubtedly be acknowledged
one of the ablest masters in the Latin Tongue on this continent ; and it is
a singular happiness to the institution that on the vacancy of a professor of
languages, the Trustees were directed to such an excellent choice, as it must
be the certain means of increasing the number of students from all parts,
with such as are desirous of attaining the Latin tongue in its native purity
and beauty. 1

1 American Magazine, p. 640.

342 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Alexander Graydon says of him " he was no disciplinarian,
and consequently very unequal to the management of seventy
or eighty boys." From his student's view, he records this
description of him :

The person whose pupil I was consequently to become, was Mr John
Beveridge, a native of Scotland, who retained the smack of his vernacular
tongue in its primitive purity. His acquaintance with the language he
taught, was, I believe justly deemed to be very accurate and profound.
But as to his other acquirements, after excepting the game of backgammon,
in which he was said to excel, truth will not warrant me in saying a great
deal. He was, however, diligent and laborious in his attention to his
school ; and had he possessed the faculty of making himself beloved by
his scholars, and of exciting their emulation and exertion, nothing would
have been wanting to an entire qualification for his office. But, unfortu-
nately, he had no dignity of character, and was no less destitute of the art
of making himself respected than beloved. Though not perhaps to be
complained of as intolerably severe, he yet made a pretty free use of the
ratan and the ferule, but this to very Itttle purpose. * * * So entire
was the want of respect towards him, and so liable was he to be imposed
upon, that one of the larger boys, for a wager, once pulled off his wig,
which he effected by suddenly twitching it from his head under pretence of
brushing from it a spider ; and the unequivocal insult was only resented by
the peevish exclamation of hoot mon ! 2

In preparing their plans for the Fall term of 1759 for the
Provost was yet detained in England some changes were made
necessary in the corps of teachers. Dr. Peters reported to the
Trustees, 14 August, that

Mr. Kinnersley still continued very bad, and that he had not been able
for some time past to attend the English School, and that he had prevailed
upon Mr. Montgomery to supply his Place, and he had the Pleasure to let
them know that the Scholars were well instructed. * * * Mr. Grew was
fallen into Consumption, and not being able to attend the school, Mr.
Pratt the Writing Master, for the present supply' d his Place. * * *
Mr. Latta being obliged, in consequence of an order of the Synod, to go to
Virginia and Carolina this Fall, and there to officiate as an itinerant Preacher,
had given them notice that he could not continue after the middle of
October. * * * Mr. Morton now one of the Tutors in the Latin
School had given them Notice of his Intentions to accept an Invitation he
had received to take the charge of the Public School at Bohemia

2 Memoirs, p. 35.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 343

[Maryland], and made them the most grateful acknowledgments for the
many Favors they had conferred upon him and particularly for their late
Advancement of him into the Latin School, intimating at the same
time that if these should be a vacancy in the English School and they
should think him worthy of that Professorship, it might induce him to alter
his intentions. 8

At the meeting of 1 1 September, Mr. Montgomery, upon his
petition, was appointed an Usher in the Latin School on trial,
to fill one of the

Places which were Vacant in the Latin School by the going away of Mr
Latta and Mr Morton, and Mr Peters and Mr Alison reporting that he was
a good Latin and Greek Scholar, and in other respects well qualified.

And at the meeting of 9 October, he was confirmed as an Usher
and John Beard, a graduate at the the last Commencement, was
also elected an Usher in the Latin School. Joseph Montgomery,
who was a graduate of Princeton in the class of 1755, did not
continue in this connection longer than May, 1760. He entered
the Presbyterian ministry, and was a member of the Continental
Congress from 1780 to I784. 4 Mr. Grew soon fell a victim to
his consumption ; and at the meeting of 1 1 December fol-
lowing

It was further agreed that our want of a Mathematical Master should be
advertised in the next Gazette, and the Provost was instructed to draw and
insert a proper advertisement

Within a twelvemonth two vacancies occurred among the
Trustees by death : to succeed Mr. Francis, Edward Shippen,
jr., his pupil and his son-in-law, and the nephew of Dr. William
Shippen the Trustee, was elected on 12 September, 1/58 ; and to
succeed Mr Mifflin, William Coxe, also a son-in-law of Mr Fran-
cis, was elected on 1 1 July, 1759.

3 Mr. Morton subsequently took orders in the Church of England, being
ordained by the Bishop of London 17 March, 1760, and licensed for Missionary work
in New Jersey. Later we find him Rector of St. Thomas' Church, I lunterdon Co.,
New Jersey, and officiating at Easton, Penna. Penna. Magazine, x. 258. Perry's
History of the American Episcopal Church, i. 243.

4 Memoir by his great grandson, Hon. J. Montgomery Forster.

344 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LIV.

Provost Smith, as has been seen, was detained in England
longer than was anticipated, and he arrived home early in
October, the day before the monthly meeting of the Trustees.
On the gth, only three of the Trustees being in attendance,
Messrs. Peters, Stedman and Strettell, business was proceeded
with, the Provost was received, and the pleasant event recorded
at full in the Minutes :

The Reverend Mr Provost Smith arrived yesterday from England and
was very kindly and affectionately received. He expressed great concern for
his long absence, and hoped that as he had obtained the Royal order in
his favour, he should for the future be able to discharge his Duty without
any interruption. He informed the Trustees that this Academy was in
high Esteem in Great Britain and was well assured the Institution would
find many warm and good Friends among the best personages in that King-
dom, and having had the Honour of receiving the Degree of Doctor of
Divinity from the University of Oxford which had been conferred on him
at the joint request and recommendation of the Archbishop of Canterbury
and many of the principal Bishops, he produced his diploma, the preamble
of which being much to his credit, as well as the credit of this Seminary, is
here inserted 1 [at full in the minutes in the original Latin].

But a more substantial gift than this was the subject of the
next minute:

The Provost likewise brought over with him, and delivered to the
Trustees, a Deed of Gift from the Honorable Thomas Penn assigning over
to them in their Corporate Capacity for the use of the Institution his fourth
part of the Manor of Perkasie in Bucks County containing Two Thousand
Five hundred Acres which the Trustees considered as a noble Benefaction
from that worthy gentleman, and was received with a due sense of
gratitude.

Thomas Penn's concern for the College had been kept warm
by his Secretary, the President of the Trustees, who had furnished
him from time to time as we have seen with the work of the

1 This refers to him, reverendum et egregium virum Gulielmum Smith, ex
Academia Aberdonensi in Artibus magistrum, et Collegii apud Philadelphiam in
Pennsylvania Prrepositum, etc., etc., but does not allude to Aberdeen's Doc-
torate. In the Minutes of the Trustees the ex Academia Aberdonensis in Artibus
Magistrum is omitted.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 345

pupils to inform him as to the progress of the College and its influ-
ence upon them ; and his interest in it was further fostered by a
reasonable desire that the province, which was of his Father's
settlement, and bore his name, should thus be honored by an
educational establishment of growing repute. And the young
Scotch Provost won his sympathies and earned his regard, and
he now made him the happy messenger of his kind thoughts
and the bearer of his benefaction to the College.

The Trustees and Students were shortly afforded one of
those civil exhibitions, so common yet so useful in a loyal
Province, which the Provost was skilful in devising and execut-
ing. The December meeting found present Messrs. Peters,
Plumsted, Cadwalader, Turner, Chew, Allen, Coleman, W. Ship-
pen, Stedman, Strettell, White, P. Bond, M'Call, and

Mr Hamilton, who was again appointed by the Honourable the Proprie-
taries to the Government of this Province, having been pleased to resume
his seat as one of the Trustees. 1 * * * And being received at the Gate,
was conducted up to the Experiment Room, to take his place among the
other Trustees. * * * and after paying him their Compliments of
Congratulation on his safe arrival and Reappointment they attended him
into the Hall 8 followed by the Masters, Tutors, Graduates and Students,
in orderly procession, where being seated the following address, and con-
gratulatory verses were delivered in the presence of a large number of
Citizens. 4

1 . The address by the Provost, attended by the rest of the Faculty.

2. The Latin verses, presented by the Rev. Jacob Duch^, A. M.,
attended by a deputation from the Graduates and Philosophy Schools ; the
verses being written by Professor Beveridge.

Nonne hinc Schulkillius amnis,
Hinc Delavarus item, sedesque paterna salutant.

3. The English Verses, by Mr William Hamilton, attended by a
deputation from the Lower Schools.

O ! Friend to Science, Liberty and Truth,
Patron of Virtue, Arts and rising Youth ;
Indulge our weak Attempts! with Smiles approve
This humble Boon of Gratitude and Love.

He had not attended the Trustees' meetings since that of 17 August, 1757.

* Pennsylvania Gazette, 27 December, 1759.

* Minutes of Trustees.

346 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

In answer to these the Governor replied :

Gentleman of the Faculty : I thank you for this Kind Address of your
Body, and for the Marks of Regard shewn to me by the Youth educated
under your Care.

I should think myself greatly wanting in the Duties of my Station, if
I did not countenance every Institution for the Advancement of useful
Knowledge : and I am so sensible of the particular good Tendency of this
Seminary, whereof I became an early Promoter, that I shall always be
happy in affording it every reasonable Degree of Encouragement in my
Power.

I am glad to find it growing in Reputation, by means of the Youths
raised in it, and doubt not but it will continue to do so, under the Direction
of Gentlemen, who have given unquestionable Proofs of their Capacity, and,
on that Account, have received the highest honors from some of the most
learned Societies in Great Britain.

After these grateful exercises, instead of proceeding to a
lunch and social intercourse, the Trustees returned to the Exper-
iment or Apparatus Room, and resuming their business, took
kindly action towards the aid of the widow of Professor Grew.

A scheme was now on foot to make all the exhibitions and
services in the Hall more attractive by securing an organ for
their accompaniment. The Pennsylvania Gazette of 27 Decem-
ber, 1757, tells us :

By permission and particular desire towards the raising a Fund for
purchasing an organ to the College Hall in this city and instructing the
charity children in Psalmody, at the Theatre, in Society Hill, this evening
will be presented, the tragical and interesting History of George Bamwell.
N. B. As this Benefit is wholly intended for improving our Youth in the
divine art of PSALMODY and CHURCH Music, in order to render the Enter-
tainment of the Town more compleat at Commencements and other public
occasions in our College * * * To begin exactly at 6 o'clock.

We see here the hand of young Francis Hopkinson, whose
musical accomplishments were being turned to pleasant use not
only on behalf of his Alma Mater, but to Christ Church as well,
where the Vestry a few years later voted him their thanks for
his " great and constant pains in teaching and instructing the
children." The organ was procured and in place for the com-
mencement of 1760, when

The Orations, Disputations, and other Academical Exercises were

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 347

agreeably intermixed with sundry Anthems and Pieces of Psalmody, sung
by the Charity Boys, attended with an organ, which the Liberality of the
Town lately bestowed. At the close of the whole, the Audience was most
delightfully entertained with two Anthems sung by several Ladies and
Gentlemen, who have not been ashamed to employ their Leisure Hours in
learning to celebrate their Master's Praises with Grace and Elegance.*

And we have already noted how Hopkinson " conducted the
organ with that bold masterly Hand for which he is celebrated."

LV.

The Commencement of 1760, on I May, we are told, "was
held in the College of this city, before a vast Concourse of Peo-
ple of all Ranks and Distinctions," and the Degree of Bachelor
of Arts was conferred upon Patrick Alison, Chaplain to Congress
in 1776, Thomas Bond, jr., son of Dr. Bond, Lindsay Coates
Robert Goldsborough, of Maryland, Whitmel Hill, of North
Carolina, John Johnson, Thomas Mifflin, Governor of Pennsyl-
vania from 1790 to 1799, and Robert Yorke ; and the Degree
of Master of Arts was conferred upon Duche, Hopkinson, Latta,
Magaw, Morgan, and Williamson in course, and upon Josiah
Martin, jr., formerly with those of the class of 1757, and who
took the honorary degree of B. A. with them in that year, and
Joseph Montgomery who earned his degree at Princeton in the
class of 1755.

The Trustees were of opinion that it might be of service to the
Institution to confer Honorary Degrees on some of the Ministers and Gen-
tlemen of this and the Neighboring Colonies who were of distinguished
character^ for their usefulness and Learning. And it appearing to them
that the following Gentlemen were such, a Mandate issued under their
Hands and the Lesser Seal, requiring the Faculty to admit them to the
Honorary Degree of Master of Arts; viz. : the Reverend Mr Samuel Davis,

5 Pennsylvania Gatette, 15 May, 1760. The organ "was placed in the centre
of the East Gallery facing the Pulpit," according to the Minutes, p. 117.

348 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

President of the College of New Jersey ; the Reverend Mr Philip Reading,
of Appoquinimink ; the Reverend Mr Thomas Barton at Lancaster ;
the Reverend Mr Samuel Cooke at Shrewsbury ; the Reverend Mr Robert
M'Kean at Brunswick ; the Reverend Mr Sampson Smith at Chestnut
Level ; the Reverend Mr Matthew Wilson in Kent County.

The opinion of the value of these degrees was not long
maintained by the Trustees. When Dr. Alison, in 1762, in the
Provost's absence, made sundry recommendations in line with
the action of 1760, the Trustees at their meeting of n May
that year,

desired the President to acquaint Dr. Alison that it was the unanimous
opinion of the Trustees present that the College must lose Reputation by
conferring too many Honorary Degrees, and that for the future the Faculty
would not proceed to the Recommendation of Persons for Honorary
Degrees without first conferring with the Trustees.

Only a few weeks after the Commencement Archdeacon
Burnaby in his Travels through the Middle Settlements in
North America passed through Philadelphia and among the
institutions in the city he refers to is the "Academy or College
originally built for a tabernacle for Mr. Whitefield ; " and adds
"this institution is erected upon an admirable plan, and is by
far the best school for learning throughout America." T The
day before the Commencement of 1760, there assembled in
Christ Church the first Convention of the Church of England
Clergy, of which Dr. Smith was elected President ; and of the
number were Messrs. Reading, Barton, Cooke and McKean,

1 Travels, London, 1798, p. 66. Dr. Burnaby's comments on the Pennsyl-
vanian of the period are graphic if not flattering. "As to character, they are a frugal
and industrious people; not remarkably courteous and hospitable to strangers, unless
particularly recommended to them ; but rather, like the denizens of most commercial
cities, the reverse. They are great republicans, and have fallen into the same errors
in their ideas of independency as most of the other colonies have. They are by far
the most enterprising people upon the continent. As they consist of several nations,
and talk several languages, they are aliens in some respect to Great Britain ; nor can
it be expected that they should have the same filial attachment to her which her own
immediate offspring have. However, they are quiet, and concern themselves but
little, except about getting money." But as a flattering offset to this, the Arch-
deacon adds: "The women are exceedingly handsome and polite; they are
naturally sprightly and fond of pleasure; and, upon the whole, are much more
agreeable and accomplished than the men. Since their intercourse with the English
officers, they are greatly improved ; and, without flattery, many of them would not
make bad figures in the first assemblies in Europe." p. 67.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 349

who were now honored with the College degree. Dr. Smith's
sermon, preached before the Convention on the day subsequent
to the Commencement, forms the sixth in the Volume of his
Discourses of 1762. A second Convention was held in 1761,
and the clergy who were attending it went to the Commence-
ment of that year which was held on Saturday, 23 May, in a
body, when Dr. Smith preached in the College Hall before
them. 2 This

was held in the College of this City, before a vast concourse of People of
all Ranks. * * * There was performed in the Forenoon an elegant
Anthem composed by JAMES LYONS, A. M., of New Jersey College, and
in the afternoon an Ode, sacred to the Memory of our late gracious Sov-
ereign George II., written and set to Music in a very grand and masterly
Taste by FRANCIS HOPKINSON, Esq., A. M., of the College of this city.
A sett of Ladies and Gentlemen in order to do Honour to the Entertain-
ment of the Day, were kindly pleased to perform a Part both of the
Anthem and Ode, accompanied by the Organ, which made the Music a
very compleat and agreeable Entertainment to all present.

An all day Commencement in our time would not be per-
mitted in the busy life of the present ; but certainly the young
graduates of that time must have had a higher esteem and love
for their Alma Mater who thus made the occasion of their
entering upon their first Degrees the scene of a two sessions'
entertainment which was so " compleat and agreeable " to all
present.

At this commencement there graduated, William Flem-
ing, Marcus Grimes, James Hooper, John Huston, William
Kinnersley, the son of the Professor, Matthew McHenry,
Abraham Ogden, Richard Peters, the nephew of Dr. Peters,
Joseph Shippen, a nephew of Dr. William Shippen, Tench
Tilghman, Washington's Aide-de-Camp, Henry Waddell, Alex-
ander Wilcocks, and Jasper Yeates, 3 afterwards a Justice of the

* Smith, i. 276. Pennsylvania Gazette, 28 May, 1761. This is Sermon
XVIII. of Smith's Works of 1803, ii. 337, and is there described as "first preached
before the Trustees, Masters and Scholars of the College and Academy of Philadel-
phia at the Anniversary Commencement, May, 1761;" but it is the same sermon
which he preached at the first commencement, and is known as No. V. in his
Discourses of 1759-

8 His daughter Mary married in 1791, Charles Smith, the son of Provost
Smith.

35O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ; a class of thirteen, the largest
up to the year 1770. Of these, Peters and Wilcocks became in
later years Trustees of the College. 4 But two Masters' Degrees
were conferred, namely, on the Rev. Isaac Eaton, and the Rev.
Samuel Stillman.

The Commencements of 1762 and 1763 were without
the presence of the Provost, who was during the period
covering these events on his tour through England making
collections from the friends of education in the colonies
towards the new College which was growing up with bright
promises in Pennsylvania; and 1764 was also without any
graduating Class, Dr. Smith arriving home in June of that
year. While his continued absence affected the number of
students in attendance in the instruction of the College, his
visit abroad proved of that substantial benefit which enabled
the Trustees to strengthen financially the foundations of the
institution and to enlarge their abilities in accommodating the
coming numbers of the future years.

* It was on 4 September of this year that Dr. Smith preached on the Great Duty
of Public Worship at the opening services of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia. This
forms part II. of No. VI. in the Discourses of 1759, and No. VII. in the Discourses
of 1762.

HlSTORV OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 35 1

LVL

In the midst of the concerns of the Trustees for the man-
agement of their Trust, a new question had arisen in 1 760,
bearing on the desire of some of the Professors to take private
pupils. The matter must have been of moment, for serious con-
sideration was given to it by them at their meeting of 8 July in
that year.

Mr Peters, at the Instance of the Faculty, acquainted the Trustees
that several applications had been made to one of the Professors, to give
private Instructions after School Hours to some of the Boys that were under
his Care during the Day, but that it was not thought proper to do anything
of this kind without the particular direction of the Trustees, to which all
the Masters declared themselves always ready to conform. The matter
was fully debated at the Board, and being represented that this Method of
allowing the publick Professors to become private Tutors to any parcel of
the Youth under their general Management would be attended with many
Inconveniences; that it would lead to disagreeable distinctions among the
Youth, discourage many of the poorer sort who could not afford the
Expence of private Tuition, and subject the Masters to the suspicion of
partiality in Favour of those who could afford it, as well as bring the Insti-
tution into Disrepute by encouraging a Notion that the general Scheme of
Education was not sufficient without these private helps. The Trustees in
consideration of all this, and in Regard to their original Faith to the Pub-
lick (viz: to keep all the Youth, as much as might be on an equal footing)
were unanimously of Opinion that none of the Publick Professors should
make any Distinctions among the Youth under their care in respect to
their Tuition, but that such parent or Guardians as were desirous of having
any extraordinary helps for any particular Scholar or Pupil might supply
themselves with private Tutors where they could be found.

So far for the regulation by the Trustees of what was
claimed to be ill practices among the Professors. The latter
themselves felt the need of revising the Rules of the school, and
on 10 February, 1761,

having prepared a Draught of several necessary Statutes the same was
presented by them to the Trustees for their approbation and being read
paragraph by paragraph several Debates arose thereupon, and the Presi-
dent, Mr Stedman, Mr Coxe, and Mr Willing were appointed a Committee
to revise and amend the Draught agreeable to the Sense of the Trustees

352 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

first acquainting the Faculty with their Sentiments in the several Points in
which they differed from them and conferring with them thereupon.

At the following meeting-, 10 March, young Duche now
taking his seat as Trustee.

Mr Peters from the Committee appointed to examine the Draught of the
Laws proposed by the Faculty and read at the last Meeting of the Trustees
reported that they had conferred with the Provost and Vice Provost there-
upon, and had made such Alterations therein as to them appeared just
and proper which they now submitted to the Trustees, and their amended
Draught being read, debated, altered, settled, and approved of, they are
now ordered to be entered as Statutes in Force.

These are very primitive and particular, and in strong con-
trast to the broader statutes of reason and self-respect which
prevail to-day. One need not wonder that the boys of that day
were stung into forwardness and mischief, by a restraint that
their spirits rebelled against. The boys of to-day are the same
in natural force aud youthful elasticity as were their ancestors in
adolescence ; but education in its many changes within a cen-
tury has submitted to none greater than the abandonment of
impossible rules of propriety and frequent chastisements. These
Rules and Ordinances of 1761 close with the word chastised,
but the alternative is a money penalty, and the worth of a chas-
tisement is but sixpence : the pence are numbered but the
strokes may be without number. Who would not rather suffer
the certain pence rather than the uncertain strokes. Alexander
Graydon entered the Academy about this period ; but a visita-
tion of Yellow Fever early afforded him a welcome holiday.
"About the year 1760 or 1761, to the best of my recollection,
the city was alarmed by a visitation of the Yellow Fever.
* The schools were shut up, and a vacation of five or
six weeks its fortunate consequence." 1 He describes some of
his early duties. "The task of the younger boys, at least," for
he was but about eight years of age when he entered,

consisted in learning to read and to write their mother tongue grammati-
cally, and one day in the week (I think Friday) was set apart for the recita-
tion of select passages in poetry and prose. For this purpose each scholar,

1 Memoirs^ p. 43.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 353

in his turn, ascended the stage, and said his speech, as the phrase was.
This speech was carefully taught him by his master, both with respect to its
pronunciation, and the action deemed suitable to its several parts. 1

Let us have his account of his first fight, before referred to :
A few days after I had been put under the care of Mr. Kinnersley, I
was told by my classmates, that it was necessary for me to fight a battle
with some one, in order to establish my claim to the honor of being an
Academy boy; that this could not be dispensed with, and that they would
select for me a suitable antagonist, one of my match, whom after school I
must fight, or be looked upon as a coward. I must confess that I did not
at all relish the proposal. * * * I absolutely declined the proposal ;
although I had too much of that feeling about me, which some might call
false honor, to represent the case to the master, which would at once have
extricated me from my difficulty, and brought down condign punishment
on its imposers. Matters thus went on until school was out, when I found
that the lists were appointed, and that a certain John Appowen, a lad, who,
though not quite so tall, yet better set and older than myself, was pitted
against me. With increased pertinacity I again refused the combat, and
insisted on being permitted to go home unmolested. On quickening my
pace for this purpose, my persecutors, with Appowen at their head, followed
close at my heels. Upon this I moved faster and faster, until my retreat
became a flight too unequivocal and inglorious for a man to relate of him-
self, had not Homer furnished some apology for the procedure, in making
the heroic Hector thrice encircle the walls of Troy, before he could find
courage to encounter the implacable Achilles. To cut the story short, my
spirit could no longer brook an oppression so intolerable, and stung to the
quick at the term coward which was lavished upon me, I made a halt and
faced my pursuers. A combat immediately ensued between Appowen and
myself, which for some time, was maintained on each side, with equal
vigour and determination, when unluckily I received his fist directly in my
gullet The blow for a time depriving me of breath, and the power of
resistance, victory declared for my adversary, though not without the
acknowledgment of the party, that I had at last behaved well, and shown
myself not unworthy the name of an Academy boy. Being thus estab-
lished, I had no more battles imposed upon me. 3

7 Memoirs, p. 28. s Ibid, p. 28.

354 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LVIL

The College was now attracting students from the country
and other provinces. Indeed, each of the graduating classes
thus far had members not natives of Philadelphia, viz : William-
son of Chester County, Alison of Lancaster County, Pennsyl-
vania ; Keene, Paca, Goldsborough, and Tilghman, of Maryland ;
Ogden of New Jersey ; and Hill of North Carolina ; to which
might be added Latta and Magaw of Ireland. And concern
filled their minds as to the influence upon their prospects should
they be unable to assure their friends at a distance of comfort-
able quarters for their sons. The subject took form at the Trus-
tee's meeting of 10 March, 1761, the same at which the new
Rules and Ordinances were affirmed.

Some of the Trustees mentioned the Inconveniences arising from the
Scholars being boarded at such great Distances and in such different parts
of the City as well as the great Expence that Strangers were put to by the
late high demands that was made for their Board on account of the rise of
Provisions, etc., whereupon it was considered whether it might not be better
to have some additional Buildings erected on the Ground belonging to the
Academy that might hold a number of the Scholars that came from other
Provinces and the West Indies, and put them upon a Collegiate way of
living, as is done in the Jersey and New York Colleges. But on inquiring
of the Treasurer what might be the state of the Academy Funds and rind-
ing that they had not beforehand above ^3000. a great part of which was
in the hands of the several Managers of the Lotteries, it was dropt for the
Present as being utterly inconsistent with our capital.

At the meeting of 14 April, only Messrs. Inglis, Stedman,
and Duche attending with the President, the subject was the
topic of discussion. Dr. Peters regretted the smallness of
attendance as it was desirable to make publick

the Substance of what passed at the last meeting with respect to a Sett of
Buildings for the Lodging and Dieting a Number of Students, as he found
it was most heartily desired by a very great Number of respectable
People in the City, and as the Town was now full of Officers and Strangers
many gave it as their opinion that a Lottery to raise ^2000. for such a use-
ful Purpose would soon fill, and the other gentlemen likewise saying that
they had heard the same observations made by many People of Credit as
well Strangers as Citizens, they had mentioned it occasionally to several of

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 355

the Trustees who were all of opinion that the present good Disposition that
the People were in should not be lost and expecting to have*had a larger
meeting, Mr. Stedman had drawn up two Schemes which were read.

The subject slumbered until the meeting of 10 November
following, when

the President, Mr. Stedman, Mr. Willing, and Mr. Cox, having formerly
had under consideration a Plan for additional Buildings were appointed a
Committee on this occasion; and they were desired to meet upon this Busi-
ness immediately, and as soon as they should have perfected Matters &
were ready to make their Report, the President was desired to call a special
meeting,

which was held on the 28th, there being present Messrs. Peters,
Cadwalader, Stedman, Cox, Turner, Allen, Duche, White,
Inglis, Willing, Shippen, Leech and Chew, when the Report of
the Committee was submitted and adopted. As it contains in
Dr. Peters' words a statement of the present condition and the
promising prospects of the institution, it merits the entire inser-
tion here. Containing as it does the bold and yet practical sug-
gestion of soliciting funds from the Mother Country, and asking
Dr. Smith to be their mouthpiece for the same, it in fact opens
a view of one of the most interesting periods in the history of
the College, and which proved to be one of those important
movements in the life of the institution from which great results
in financial strength and in influence flowed. But for this inci-
dental desire to put their pupils from abroad " upon a collegiate
way of living," the suggestion may not have arisen for this
foreign mission which in the end redounded so much to the
advantage of the general work they had in hand "for the
Advancement of Learning for ever."

But the Committee can speak for themselves :

Gentlemen. Having been nominated by you as a Committee to
consider the Ways and Means for improving the State of the Academy
and compleating its Funds so as to place it on a permanent and respectable
Footing for the Advancement of Learning for ever. We have had several
Meetings with the Provost and Vice Provost upon these Topics, and upon
the whole after mature Deliberation have agreed to recommend the follow-
ing things, viz:

I. As it appears to us by a prevailing Objection against this Institution

356 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

from abroad, that our Youth, especially such of them as are grown in
years are left to lodge at large in the City, not under the Controul of the
Masters or any Persons having proper authority over them; by which they
are exposed to many Avocations, and much unnecessary Expence, the
thoughts of which have prevented sundry Persons who wish well to the
Institution from sending their Children to it, some not knowing where to
lodge them in safety, and others being apprehensive of the great Expence
attending it : And as a Sense of these Inconveniences put the Trustees
sometime ago upon sollicking a Sum of Money by way of Lottery partly to
erect some necessary lodging Rooms to accommodate the Elder part of the
Youth that come from abroad and partly to rebuild the Charity Schools
that are in a ruinous condition :

We are therefore of Opinion that Workmen should now be agreed
with to go on in the ensuing Summer with one half of the Buildings con-
tained in the Plan formerly given to us by Mr Robert Smith, which will be
70 feet long by 30 wide and will have on the Ground Floor two Charity
Schools, with a Kitchen and a Dining Room, and in the upper Stories
Sixteen Lodging Rooms, with cellar beneath the whole, which, by an
Estimate given to us may be executed for ^1500, and the Rent of the
Rooms at a Moderate Charge may nearly bring the interest of the Money,
and the chief of those objections will be taken off which sundry Persons
have not failed to improve to the Disadvantage of this Institution.

In regard to the Funds we apprehend that if a final Settlement be
speedily made of the Lottery accounts, and leave be got to sell the Per-
kasie lands to add to the Capital (which there is no Reason to doubt of
obtaining on a respectable Application) we should then probably have
near ^8000. in Bank ; so that if an addition of 6 or 7000 more could be
speedily procured, the whole put together would furnish an Yearly Income
sufficient with the Tuition Money, to support the Institution for ever. But
if this matter should be delayed a few years longer our present Capital
would be exhausted and the same addition which would now compleat it,
would then only put us where we are at present, if it could be procured.

We are therefore of opinion that as the Method of Lotteries which is
at best but precarious and attended with much Trouble to Individuals
must speedily fail us, we have no resource but once for all to betake our-
selves to the Generosity of the Public. And when we consider the
Encouragement that has heretofore given by the Mother country to Semi-
naries of Learning erected on this Continent, at a time when the Affairs
of America were not thought of half the Importance which they are at
present, and these seminaries far less extensive in their Plan than this
Academy, and Countenanced by the Governments in which they are
erected: We cannot entertain the least Doubt, but under our Circum-
stances a Seminary placed in this large and trading City and which prom-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 357

ises to be of so much use for the Advancement of true Learning and
Knowledge, will at this time meet with great Encouragement in England,
where there are Thousands that want nothing more than opportunities
of Showing their Beneficence and good will to anything calculated for the
Benefit of these Colonies, and we have the greatest hopes in this affair
from the assurance given us by Dr. Smith of the Disposition which he
found in sundry Persons of Distinction when he was lately in England, to
befriend this Seminary on a due Application to them and which some of
them have been pledged to respect in their private Letters to him .

We therefore most heartily recommended to the Trustees to take this
Matter into their immediate and most serious Consideration and to engage
some proper person to go over to England with all convenient Expedition
and furnish him with proper Recommendations and Credentials in order to
sollicit the Benevolence of the Good People of Great Britain for such
further Support of the Institution so that it may be put upon a footing suf-
ficient to maintain for ever an expedient Number of Professors, Masters,
and Tutors as well as to enable the Trustees to make such additional Build-
ings as will obviate the objections made to the Institution in its present
form for want of Lodging and Superintending the Morals of the Students.

It is recorded that a

great majority voted to carry on the whole Buildings, as recommended in
the Report which was accordingly agreed to provided the Expence did not
exceed the sum raised by the last Lottery, [and] the Trustees unanimously
agreed that there was a Necessity of nominating some proper person to
sollicit the Benefactions of their Mother country for the further support of
this Institution, and it was agreed that Dr Smith was the properest Person
to undertake the Service.

And the Committee having intimated

that in some previous Conversation with him they had reason to believe he
would be very willing to serve the Institution in this way if it should be
approved by the Trustees. They therefore desired he might be sent for,
and the President acquainted him in the name of the Trustees that it was
their unanimous Desire that he would with all convenient Speed undertake
a Voyage to England for the Purposes above mentioned, and that they
would endeavor to supply his place with some proper Person who should in
his Absence carry on his part of the Lectures in the Philosophy School.
Dr Smith answered that it might be a little inconvenient to him to under-
take a Voyage at this Season of the Year, yet he was willing to serve the
Institution in this or any other Method in his Power ; and further that he
would make all the Dispatch he could in preparing himself for the Voyage ;
and had good Hopes from what had passed between him and some Persons
of Distinction in England, of answering their Expectations in this Matter.

358 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

These Buildings were to be erected partly on the original
Academy lot and partly on the lot purchased from Mr. Hazard
in 1750, facing upon the Eastern campus, with Mr. Dove's two
Fourth Street Dwellings to the Northward in the rear.

The Provost lost no time in preparing for this absence
which might be of uncertain length, and welcoming any duty
which would redound to the service of the College, he looked
to a parting from his wife and their two young sons, William
Moore and Thomas Duncan, with equanimity and patience. The
Trustees at the meeting of 15 December, adopted Letters and
Instructions for his introduction and guidance abroad ; on 10
January, 1762, he preached in Christ Church the Sermon T at
the funeral of Dr. Jenney, its venerable Rector; "God Knows
but this may be my last opportunity of ever speaking to you
from this place : my heart is full on the occasion," he says in
conclusion ; on 25 January he sets out for New York where he
remained over a fortnight, sailing thence on 1 3 February to Eng-
land and arriving early in March. There we leave him, until
we can carry on the story of the College up to the time of his
return in June, 1764, freighted with those substantial bounties
which so materially added to the resources of the College.

The proposed Buildings, which proved the occasion of this
foreign mission of the untiring Provost, were at this meeting of
28 November, 1761, committed to Messrs. Peters, Cox, Sted-
man, Willing, Chew, and E. Shippen "to agree with proper
Workmen for carrying them on the ensuing spring." The loca-
tion of these was at the meeting of 12 April, 1762, decided upon:
the members resumed the consideration whether it would be better to build
on the North or South Side of the Academy, and as well on Account of the
South Exposure as Keeping clear the South Door which is the common
Entry into their schools it was agreed that they should be placed at the
North End of the Square.

On i November, Franklin arrived in Philadelphia on his
return home after a five years' absence in England on behalf of
his country, bringing with him his Oxford Doctorate of 22 Feb-
ruary, 1762, and bearing from Dr. Smith to William Coleman

1 Entitled the Gospel Summons, and is No. VIII. in the Discourses of 1762.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 359

the Treasurer, the cash account of the fund he then had in hand, 2
and attended the meeting of the Trustees on the pth, when the
first letters from Dr. Smith were read descriptive of the lengthy
and formal beginnings of his collections. At the next meeting
Dr. Franklin attended, 8 February, 1763, and a minute records:

The Charity Schools being now removed into the new Buildings it
was represented that some little Conveniences would be wanted, as Shelves
and Cupboards, and the Carpenter was accordingly ordered to make them,

and on 28 May Dr. Peters writes to Dr. Smith : 3

the new Buildings are finished, and I think it will be an easy matter to
find some reputable person who will take upon them at a yearly rent to
provide all necessaries and to be subject to such Rules of Oeconomy and
Discipline as will keep those in perfect good Order who shall be allowed
to live in them. I do not encourage any Schemes (and I believe others
think as I do), till we shall be favored with your Judgment and assistance.

These the Trustees had on Dr. Smith's return, and later
on we shall find a picture of the home-life in the College Build-
ings.

J Minutes of Trustees, 9 November, 1762.
3 Pennsylvania Magazine, x. 352.

360 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LVIIL

But we must return to the year 1762 : T The Commence-
ment of that year was held on 17 May "in the presence of a
learned, polite and very brilliant Assembly. Every part of the
public Hall was crowded with Spectators." And what added to
the pleasure of the loyal mind was,

his Honour the Governor, who is one of the Trustees of this Institution, was
pleased to attend the whole day. A great number of the Clergy of differ-
ent denominations, together with many other Gentlemen of Learning and
the first Distinction, from the neighboring Parts were likewise present. 2

The morning exercises were opened with a Salutatory Ora-
tion in Latin by one of the Candidates. This was followed by
a forensic Disputation, in which the

Disputants discovered a great deal of Sprightliness, Wit and good Sense ;
and closed with a Latin Syllogistic Disputation. In the afternoon two
English Orations were pronounced, followed by another Syllogistic Dispu-
tation in Latin. The Vice Provost then conferred the Degrees, and he
delivered from the Pulpit a solemn charge to the Candidates. The young
Orator who spoke the Valedictory with much elegance and Tenderness met
with deserved applause. Then came the Loyal Dialogue and Ode on the
accession and Nuptials of his Majesty which closed the whole Performance.

This latter had. been arranged by the Provost before his
departure for England four months before, he writing the Dia-
logue, and "one of the Sons of this Institution" writing and

setting to Music the Ode no less a one than Francis Hopkin-
son. The graduates of the occasion were Samuel Campbell,
who became a Tutor in August, 1759, and clerk to the Trustees
in 1760, John Cooke, William Hamilton, the "Master Billy
Hamilton " referred to on former pages, Samuel Jones, a native
of Wales, John Porter, a Tutor from October, 1761, and

1 The Pennsylvania Gazette of 7 January, 1762, announces This Day is
published and to be sold by A. Stewart, price 4p or 3; per Doz. A Letter from a Gen-
tleman in England to his Friend in Philadelphia ; giving him his opinion of the
College of that City. No copy of this is known to any one of this day ; and the
only knowledge of the publication is this advertisement. It forms title 1824 in Mr.
Hildeburn's Issues of the Press in Pennsylvania ; i. 373.

2 Minutes, p. 169, Pennsylvania Gazette, 27 May, 1762.

HISTORY OF THE ILNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANMA. 361

Stephen Watts, who became Tutor in the College in the follow-
ing August. John Beard, Nathaniel Chapman, William Edmis-
ton, and William Paca, were the only members of the class of
1759 who proceeded to their degree of M. A.

Henry Marchant, formerly a Student of this Institution having pro-
nounced an elegant spirited Oration upon the Study of the Law, was
admitted to a Master's Degree ; also the Rev'd Mr Morgan Edwards, the
Rev'd Mr Joseph Mather, the Rev'd Mr John Simonton, and Mr Isaac
Smith of Nassau College, now Student of Physic, to the honorary Degree
of Master of Arts. And Mr Thomas Pollock [who had become a Tutor in
November, 1761] to the Honorary Degree of Bachelor of Arts.

It was a satisfactory minute that recorded :

Everything was conducted with the utmost Decency and Order. The
Candidates acquitted themselves in every part of their Exercises to the
Satisfaction of all present, and have derived considerable Honor to them-
selves and to the Institution.

A broadside programme of these interesting exercises in
Latin is preserved among the Penn Papers in the archives of the
Pennsylvania Historical Society, thanks to the cotemporary
care of the Penn's Secretary and the Trustees' President, the
ever watchful and considerate Dr. Peters.

362 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LIX.

The Commencement of 1763 held on 17 May, had the
attendance of Dr. Franklin the only one of his College and
Academy which won his presence, for he had sailed on his first
Mission a month before the first Commencement, and before
another he had sailed on his second mission. The Minutes of
this meeting are comparatively meagre, but the faithful chroni-
cler of all College events, the Pennsylvania Gazette of 26 May
tells us ho\v the Public Commencement was held at the College
" in the Presence of a learned, polite and very brilliant Assembly,
Every part of the public Hall was crowded with Spectators."
But a more graphic account, and one worth transcribing here, is
that of Dr. Peters to Dr. Smith in his letter of 28 May: 1

* * * I was forced to stay with the greatest reluctance till the
very day before the Commencement which was held on the iyth instant
before a very crowded audience. As it was Synod time, whilst only two of
our own Clergy, Mr. Barton and Mr. Inglis could be spared from their
Churches, being oblig'd to prepare their congregations for Whit Sunday
which you know is a large Communion Day. Two of the graduates were
preferred to vacant Tutorships, Davis 2 in the English School and Lang in
the Latin School, and Mr. Hunt, of whom I have taken care for your sake,
will have a tutorship likewise in the English School which is full, in order
to give Mr. Kinnersley leisure to teach all the boys of other schools that
are wishing to learn how to read and speak properly in public. This you
know has been disused and we have suffered much for want of it. 3 * * *

1 Pennsylvania Magazine, x. 350.

2 John Davis' name does not appear in the Treasurer's accounts.

3 This matter was the subject of a minute at the Trustees meeting of 13 June
following Dr. Peters being present, as " some of the parents of the children had com-
plained that their children were not taught to speak and read in publick." Mr.
Kinnersley was called in who "declared this was well taught not only in the Eng-
lish School which was more immediately under his care, but in the Philosophy Classes
every Monday afternoon and as often at other times as his other Business would per-
mit." But it appeared to the Trustees that " no more could be done at present with-
out partiality and great inconvenience ' * * and they did not incline to make
any alteration or to lay any Burthen upon Mr. Kinnersly." A partial explanation of
this may be in some of the parents resting under the belief that their children were not
so favored as others in public speaking; but with Dr. Peters admission to Dr. Smith,
the Trustees formal action must have been taken to shield Mr. Kinnersley. This
action is so indefinite, and so contrary to that taken at the meeting of the Trustees on
8 February, 1763, on the motion of Dr. Franklin, that it can only leave an impress
that some design existed to nurture rather the Classical and Mathematical branches of

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 363

The printed Theses will shew you who took their Degrees of right In my
absence the Faculty recommended for honorary Degrees the Rev' d Jo.
Rogers and the Rev'd W. Miller and Mr. M'Kean the Lawyer at New
Castle.

From this last reference we are not far out of the way in
claiming for Dr. Peters the authorship of the warning note
uttered by the Trustees in the previous year against "conferring
too many Honorary Degrees."

But this Commencement was without Hopkinson' s rhythm
and sweet notes. Dr. Peters writes the story to Dr. Smith :

I am sorry to tell you that a foolish but tart difference has arisen
between the Faculty and our good Friend Francis Hopkinson on account
of a grammatical squabble, wherein Mr. Hopkinson was the Aggressor,
but he did not mean to offend any of the Faculty, only to expose Stuart
the Printer; I should not mention this, but only to inform you that the
Faculty applied to Sam. Evans to write the Dialogue and to Mr. Jackson
to write the Ode for them, 4 Mr. Duche and Mr. Hopkinson declining to have
anything to do with it by means of this Squabble about the Grammar. My
endeavours to reconcile prov'd unsuccessful. 5 It is unfortunate that we
have not at this time any publick performance more worthy of being laid
before the publick. You must make the best Apology you can.

the college at the expense of the English, a design rather the result of indifference
than of intent and perhaps of a want of appreciation of its importance, although Mr.
Kinnersley would naturally foster it would be thought a branch in all its details over
which he was supreme. That the matter was a grave issue can be seen in the force
of the Minute of 8 February, where it is stated that " Mr. Kinnersley's time was
entirely taken up in teaching little Boys the Elements of the English language,
and that speaking and rehearsing in Publick were totally disused to the great prejudice
of the other Scholars and Students and contrary to the original Design of the Trustees"
and " it was particularly recommended to be fully considered by the Trustees at their
next Meeting.." This, though, was not done until the meeting of 12 April, at which
however Dr Franklin did not attend, when he, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Coxe and Mr.
Duche were appointed a committee to confer with Mr. Kinnersley how this might be
done as well as what assistance would be necessary to give Mr. Kinnersley to enable
him to attend this necessary service, which was indeed the proper business of his
Professorship." But no report was made, and the next reference to the matter is at
the meeting of 13 June, just referred to, by which it would seem it was more conven-
ient to accept Mr. Kinnersley's denials than to pursue the matter further.

4 These were sent to Dr. Smith who had them printed in the Liverpool Ad-
vertiser of 21 July, copies of which he distributed with advantage to his Mission.
When he received his Dublin degree he sent Dr. Martin "a letter of thanks * * *
also one of the Liverpool papers containing the Dialogue and Ode which made part
of the Exercises at the College," Life and Corresf>. i. 326, 331.

5 This foolish but tart difference arose out of the publication by "Andrew
Steuart for the College and Academy of Philadelphia, MDCCLXII" of a Short
Introduction to Grammar for the Use of the College and Academy in Philadelphia,
being a AVw Edition of IVhittenhalt S Latin Grammar wi.'k many Alterations,

364 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The graduates at the Commencement of 1763 were,
James Anderson, John Davis, Isaac Hunt who became the
father of Leigh Hunt, and who failed in attaining his Master's
Degree in 1766 on account of his share in some of the news-
paper political controversies of that day, as elsewhere stated ;
Robert Johnston, appointed Tutor in September, 1763 ; James
Lang, William Paxton, Stephen Porter, Jonathan Dickinson
Sergeant, an alumnus of .Princeton of 1762, and John Stuart.
We now have to wait until 1765 for the next Commencement.
Of the three who shortly received Tutorships, Hunt served
but three months, Johnston to May, 1764, and Lang to Janu-
ary, 1764.

Additions and Amendments from ancient and late Grammarians. Hopkinson's
humor was too lively for him to let pass the opportunity of making some jest of this
ambitious little book. And next year there appeared Errata or the Art of Printing
incorrectly; Plainly set Forth by a Variety of Examples Taken from a Latin
Grammar lately printed by Andrew Steuart for the Use of the College and Academy
of this City.

Still her old Empire to restore she tries

for, born a Goddess, DULNESS never Dies. Pope.

Philadelphia, MDCCLXIII.

As the writer finds "151 Capital Blunders in 137 Pages," he says "Our worthy
Printer, A. Steuart, fired with a laudable Zeal for the Honour of America, and
learning to tread the servile Paths of Imitation, has ventured to strike out a Method
of Printing entirely new; the many Advantages of which it is our present Purpose to
set forth in the best Manner we are able. It is to be observed that Mr. Steuart has
been employed to print a Grammar for the use of our Academy ; which after a long
space of Time, he has done in so Artful a Manner, that, without the Help of this our
Errata, or List of Mistakes, or some other like it, it is indeed no Grammar at all.
For as Grammar is justly defined, That Art which teacheth to write and speak
correctly, that Book which of itself teacheth no such Things cannot properly be said
to be a Grammar. So that this our Work may well be called a Key to the said
Book; without which it must remain unintelligible * * * This Grammar is
not the first, and very probably will not be the last Effort of his Genius ; but we
think ourselves happy in being the first to notice it to the Public, and in preventing
others from mentioning this Performance of his to his Dishonour by giving it the
laudable Term we have done in our Preface." Hopkinson's humor was taken
seriously, for it assured the death of Steuart' s print of the work of the Faculty, who
doubtless relied upon him for correct proofreading.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 365

LX.

The year 1763 is noted for the offer of the Sargent prizes.
At the meeting of 8 February, Franklin referred to the Trustees
a letter he had received from Mr. John Sargent, a Merchant of
London on the subject, about which there had been some con-
ference when Franklin was in London, and shortly after he left
there, Mr. Sargent wrote him on 12 August, 1762, as follows : l

Dr. Sir. By our Friends here I am enabled to convey the enclosed
Trifles to you, which are the best I could meet with at present and cost
five guineas each.

You remember the Intention, viz : for the two best Performances at
the general Meeting or Publick Act of your College or Seminary.

The subject of one to be, in a short English Discourse, or Essay,
' ' on the reciprocal advantages arising from a perpetual Union between
Great Britain and her American colonies."

The other prize, for some Classical Exercise, that you shall think
best suited to your Plan of Education and the ability of your young people.

I submit to your Judgment whether the former shall be confined to
your Students or left open to every one, whether of the Seminary or not.
Yourself and Mr Norris your Speaker and any third [here the copy ends].

As Franklin felt unauthorized to accept Mr. Sargent's
nomination of the subjects, he

informed the Trustees that neither he nor Mr Norris inclined to do any-
thing in the Matter, being clear of opinion that Mr. Sargent would not
have mentioned them on this Occasion if he had been acquainted with the
Trustees or the Constitution of the Academy. And therefore he desired
the Trustees would take the whole under their care.

1 A letter of same date from Mr. Sargent's firm, Sargent, Aufrere & Co., to
" Dr. Franklin at Portsmouth to be left at the Post House till called for" is with
the American Philosophical Society, reading: " We have just sent you by the chan-
nel of the Post Office the two Gold medals which you will apply as a mark of our
good Wishes for your College, & now enclose a Letter of Credit which we hope
you will never have occasion for, but if you should, we are perswaded the Name of
B. M. da Costa whatever Port you are carried in'o will be respected and procure
you all you wish, etc." William Temple Franklin in his Life and Works, 1818,
oct., i; p. 180, says his Grandfather "on his return to Philadelphia from England in
1775 carried thence two large gold medals given by Mr. Sargent, one of his friends,
to be bestowed as prizes, &c., &c. ;" but the author confounded this with the for
mer voyage home. Dr. Franklin sailed from Portsmouth in the latter part of Au-
gust, 1762, and brought then with him these medals. He did not reach Philadel-
phia, however, until 1st November following.

366 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

After considering the Letter which Mr. Peters and Mr. Franklin
were desired to think of a proper Classical Subject and to inquire of Dr.
Alison and Mr. Ewing if both or either of these subjects might be pro-
posed to the present Candidates for Degrees, and if proper Orations could
be prepared by them against the next Commencement. The Medals
were very kindly accepted and the same gentlemen were desired to return
the Thanks of the Trustees to Mr Sargent for his Gift.

At the meeting of 8 March they

acquainted the Trustees that they had conferred with Dr Alison and Mr
Ewing and finding it to be their Opinion that the Subject proposed by Mr
Sargent was too high for the Present Candidates for Degrees, but that they
might perhaps find time to undertake the classical Subject; they had there-
fore proposed to them, if the Trustees approved of it, to prepare Orations
on the Subject of a Roman Education, for as in this the Foundation was
laid of all those great characters which were so much admired in the
Roman History, the Students would have an ample opportunity in this
subject to show their Abilities and Improvements in Literature.

But as to the other Medal, it was said with perhaps some
significance, " As to the other Subject they would recommend
it to the Trustees to let it lye a little longer for consideration."
Dr. Peters wrote an acknowledgment of thanks on 6 April, and
his letter is entered on the minutes, giving Mr. Sargent

their hearty Thanks for the Regard you have been pleased to shew to the
Institution in the Disposal of the two gold Medals committed to the care of
our worthy Member Dr Franklin, He has been so kind as to present these
two curious Medals to the Trustees as your Gift, and to communicate to them
your Letter, whereby we observe you have yourself made Choice of one of the
Subjects for the Students to try their Abilities upon, and we are obliged to
you for your Attention to the Welfare of these Colonies in desiring that it
may be on the reciprocal Advantages arising from a perpetual Union
between Great Britain and them ; * * * indeed this came too late to
be proposed to our Students as they had all the Subjects of their Exercises
given them against the approaching Commencement, and were ingenuous
enough to acknowledge they did not think themselves furnished with a
competent Stock of that sort of Knowledge and Reading which is required
to write well on that Subject;

and then he acquainted him with the present decision of the
Trustees.

But the medals were not brought into service for the space

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 367

of three years. On 18 February, 1766, it was proposed by the
Trustees

to bestow Mr Sargent's Prize-Medals at the next Commencement, for the
two best Performances on the Subjects proposed by him, [and it was] agreed
that the Medal for the best classical Performance be confined to the present
Set of Candidates for Bachelor's Degrees at the ensuing Commencement,
and that the Subject proposed for the other Medal, being of a higher
Nature, be left open to all those who have received any Degree or Part of
their Education in this Seminary and the Provost was desired to draw up a
proper advertisement for this Purpose, and to publish the same, after com-
municating it to the Governor, Mr Allen, Mr Shippen and Mr Duche for
their Opinion and Approbation.

In the Pennsylvania Gazette of 6 March, this public announce-
ment appeared, and in the reference to the Medal to be awarded
the political Essay, Dr. Smith wrote :

As the subject proposed for this Medal, is one of the most important
which can at this Time employ the Pen of the Patriot or Scholar ; and as
it is thus left open for all those who have had any Connection with this
College, either as Students or Graduates, it is hoped for the Honour of the
Seminary, as well as for their own, they will nobly exert themselves on a
Subject so truly animating, which may be treated in a Manner able inter-
esting and pleasing to good Men both here and in the Mother country.

The public tension in the Spring of this year was great on the
subject of the Stamp Act, for a crisis was approaching in colo-
nial attachments to the Mother Country, and it was understood
that the British government was about considering whether it
would maintain or abandon its position on this parliamentary
import.

On 8 May the Trustees, Messrs. Penn, Chew, Allen, Cad-
walader, Coxe, Willing, Strettell, and Duche with Dr. Smith,
Dr. Alison, and Dr. Shippen, junior, Professor of anatomy, in
attendance, gave the Forenoon to receiving and examining the
Pieces that might be produced for Mr. Sargent's Medals. Dr.
Smith laid before them

nine Performances, sealed up under Covers as directed, and marked to be
written for the Medal proposed for the best English Essay on the Recipro-
cal Advantages of a perpetual L/nion between Great Britain and her Ameri-

368 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

can Colonies ; also nine sealed Performances for the Medal proposed for
the best Classical Performance.

After reading three of the English performances adjourn-
ment was had until the Afternoon, when Messrs. Redman,
Lawrence and Inglis and Dr. Morgan gave their attendance,
and the other six pieces were read. The Trustees little thought
that the Author of the Prize Essay was one of their afternoon's
company. Rereading three of the pieces,

the Medal was unanimously decreed to the Piece having the Motto "Force
may subdue, but Commerce &c, " which on opening the cover answering to
the Motto was found to belong to John Morgan, M. D. F. R. S. and Pro-
fessor of the Theory and Practice of Physic in this College. The second
also was judged a Masterly, judicious and Sensible Performance, well
worthy of a Medal also, if there had been another for the same subject ;
and the third was likewise greatly approved of as a spirited Performance,
so far as it went ; and it was agreed that the Publication of both, together
with the Prize Piece, would be of service at this Crisis ; which Determina-
tion was accordingly inserted in the public Papers ; in Pursuance of which,
Stephen Watts, M. A., the modest and candid author of the second Piece,
directly disclosed his Name with his Consent to publish it with the Piece.
The author of the third Piece gave the same Leave, but for particular con-
siderations desired his Name not to be affixed.

This was Joseph Reed, an early student of the College, 2
the young lawyer of Trenton, a graduate in 1757 of the Col-
lege of New Jersey, who was now to receive the honorary
Master's Degree from the Philadelphia College, and thus be
brought within reach of the Sargent Medal ; and whose political
prominence in the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was
to connect his name closely with the ill fortunes of the College
in 1779. Dr. Smith says of this, in his Preface to the Disserta-
tions,

the author of the third Dissertation, wrote concerning his piece, that
he had but two days to spare, from a particular hurry of business in his
possession, to prepare it in; and that so far from thinking it disgraced by
being the third best, he would have rejoiced, for the honor of the Semi-
nary in which he received his first education, if all the others had been
superior also; and that if there were any observations in it which had not

2 He was entered by his father Andrew Reed in 1751 and appears in the list
of students the two years succeeding.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 369

occurred to the other gentlemen, or were likely to serve as hints for able
pens to set so important a subject in a proper light, he readily consented to
its publication; but requested, for particular reasons that his name might
not be annexed to it

A fourth Dissertation was also published, written by the
favorite son of the College, Francis Hopkinson ; 3 or to employ
the too partial words of his Provost :

The fourth little piece is the production of an ingenious son of the
College in his own unpremeditated way. He has by many compositions
done honor to the place of his education; and by this, which was only the
sudden work of a few hours of that day, in which the other pieces were
under examination, he meant not to come in competition for the prize, but
only to throw his mite into the general stock.

An evening session afforded the Trustees an opportunity
"to proceed to the examination of the Latin Pieces, but were
obliged to adjourn them till next Day." An all day session of
these worthy men, earnest in interest for their College and dili-
gent in attendance on their duties, testifies to the spirit of its
management at this time. At the next day's session Dr. Peters
attended ; was his absence on the first day due to a desire
to avoid decision on a composition in which a consideration of
the Propietaries' interests might be discussed ?

This last day's session was fruitless as it was found

that the candidates for the other Medal had imprudently and for want of
experience, discovered their Mottoes and consequently their Names to each
other, so that the Authors of the several Pieces were generally known both
within and without Doors * * * it was determined that the Medal
could not consistent with Mr. Sargent' s Trust be disposed to any of them
* * * it was therefore proposed to give them a new subject * * *
but there was not time to write anew * * * and the Candidates
requested that it might be left for another year, and then be open for all
Bachelors of Art, and this was acquiesced in.

8 Four Dissertations on the Reciprocal Advantages of a Perpetual Union
Between Great Britain and her American Colonies written for Mr. Sargent 1 s Prize
Medal. To which (by Desire) is prefixed An Eulogium Spoken on the Delivery of
the Medal at the Public Commencement in the College of Philadelphia, May 2Oth,
1766, Printed by William dr* Thomas Bradford, at the London Coffee House,
MDCCI.XIl, p. 112. This is title No. 2213 in Mr. Hildeburn's Issues efthe Press,
ii. 51. Though there were more than three hundred and fifty copies of this publica-
tion subscribed for by the leading citizens and other friends of the College, yet the
book is now very rare. See also Life and Correspondence of President Keed, \. 40.

3/O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The presentation of the Sargent Medal to Dr. Morgan at
the ensuing commencement was a great feature of the occasion.
" His Honour the Governor as President of the Trustees," gave
" into the Hands of the Provost the Prize Medal, ordering him
to deliver the same as it had been previously decreed ;" the
Provost in a few words introduced Dr. Morgan who " then
delivered his Essay, which was received with the highest appro-
bation by the Audience ;" after this the Provost added,

Sir. Ab the reward of your great merit in this elegant Performance,
I am in the name of the Trustees and Faculty of this College, as well as
in behalf of the worthy donor, to beg your acceptance of this Gold Medal.
Its intrinsic value may not be an object of much consideration to you, but
the truly honorable circumstances by which it now becomes yours, must
render it one of the most valuable jewels in your Possession. That the
first literary Prize in this Institution should fall to the Share of one of its
eldest sons, who to much Genius and Application, has joined much knowl-
edge of the World, will not seem strange. Yet still for the honor of this
Seminary, and what will not derogate from your Honor, it will appear that
you have obtained this pre-eminence over no mean Competitors. Some of
our younger Sons (among whom we ought not to omit the Name of the
modest and candid Watts, with some others even of inferior standing) have
exhibited such vigorous Efforts of Genius and tread so ardently on the
Heels of you their Senior, that it will require the utmost Exertion of all
your Faculties, the continual straining of every Nerve, if you would long
wish to lead the way to them, in the great Career of Time.

This address of the Provost to Dr. Morgan, or Eulogium
as entered in the Minutes, is in part there recorded. It was a
happy circumstance that the news of the repeal of the Stamp
Act had reached Philadelphia the day before the Commence-
ment, and the publication of Dr. Morgan's Essay was most
opportune. And we can picture to ourselves the warmth and
earnestness of the following words of the zealous Provost in his
address on delivering this Medal :

Truly delicate and difficult, we confess, was the Subject prescribed to
you to treat of the reciprocal advantages of a perpetual Union between
Great Britain and her Colonies at a Time when a fatal misunderstanding
had untwisted all the Cords of that Union, and the minds of many were
too much inflamed. This Difficulty was likewise increased to us by other
considerations. Great Britain, who by her Liberality, had raised this

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 371

College from a helpless to a flourishing State had an undoubted Demand
on us for all the returns of Gratitude. Yet we could not, we durst not,
divert the streams of Learning from their Sacred Course. Our country,
nay all America, had a Right to expect that they should be directed pure
along to water the goodly TREE OF LIBERTY, nor ever be suffered to cherish
any rank Weed that choaks its Growth. In this most difficult Conjuncture,
we rejoice to behold you in your early years, exercising all the Temper and
Prudence of the most experienced Patriots. We rejoice that ever we had
the least Share in forming Sentiments which have led you so powerfully to
shew, that in the everlasting Basis of reciprocal Interest and a participa-
tion of constitutional privileges, our Union shall be perpetuated, and our
bleeding Wounds healed up without so much as a Scar by Way of Remem-
brance. Here you have Shewn yourselves entitled to the Name of true
SONS OF LIBERTY. SONS OF LIBERTY indeed ! neither betraying her
sacred Cause on the one Hand, nor degenerating into Licentiousness on
the other.

Young William White, a few days after, writes to his nephew:

as the Glorious News of the Repeal of the Stamp Act reach' d Philadelphia
the Day before Commencement, Dr. Smith, the Provost congratulated the
Audience on the joyful occasion. His Piece will soon be publish'd
together with a few of the Performances for the Medal. 4

A delay had occurred, it has been seen, in awarding the
Sargent Medal for this political essay ; but how opportune and
singular it was that its final award came contemporaneously with
the tidings of the repeal of the Stamp Act, which allayed a
crisis in the life of the colonies, and seemed to give renewed
assurances of the perpetuation of their Union with the Mother
Country; and the donor of this significant prize was a Member
of that Parliament against whose encroachments the people of
the colonies through all their channels of utterance, their halls
of learning as well as in other ways, were now in earnest protesting ;
and this happy coincidence placed the young College in the
forefront of and in sympathy with the great thought of the day.

Of Mr. Sargent we know but little beyond the record of his
public services. 5 He renewed his correspondence with Dr. Frank-

* MS. Letter. Bp. White to his nephew Benedict Edward Hall of Baltimore
County, 31 May, 1766.

4 Mr. John Sargent was appointed Store Keeper of the King's Yard at Deptford
in 1746, afterwards was Merchant in London and a Director of the Bank of Eng-

372 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

lin after the peace, and the latter writes him from Passy, 27 Janu-
ary, i78 3 . 6

I received and read the letter you were so kind as to write me on 3rd
instant, with a great deal of pleasure, as it informed me of the welfare of
a family, whom I have so long esteemed and loved, and to whom I am
under so many obligations, which I shall ever remember. Our correspon-
dence |has been interrupted by that abominable war. I neither expected
letters from you, nor would I hazard putting you in danger by writing any to
you. * * * Mrs. Sargent and the good lady, her Mother, are very kind
in wishing me more happy years. I ought to be satisfied with those Provi-
dence has already been pleased to afford me, being now in my seventy-
eighth ; a long life to pass without any uncommon misfortune, the greater
part of it in health and vigor of mind and body, near fifty years of it
in continued possession of the confidence of my country, in public employ-
ments, and enjoying the esteem and affectionate, friendly regard of many
wise and good men and women, in every country where I have resided.
For these mercies and blessings, I desire to be thankful to God, whose
protection I have hitherto had, and I hope for its continuance to the end,
which cannot be far distant

This letter contains one of those quaint phrases which so
often find their way into Franklin's correspondence :

The account you give me of your family is pleasing, except that your
eldest son continues so long unmarried. I hope he does not intend to live
and die in celibacy. The wheel of life, that has rolled down to him from
Adam without interruption, should not stop with him. I would not have
one dead, unbearing branch in the genealogical tree of the Sargents. 1

land, and from 1754 to 1761, Member of Parliament for Midhurst, and 1765-8, M. P.
for West Looe, Cornwall. He first possessed the mansion of May Place in Kent and
afterwards purchased Halstead Place, fie died at Tunbridge Wells, 20 Septem-
ber, 1791. His son John was the author of the Mine and other Poems; in 1790 he
was M. P. for Seaford, in 1793 for Queensborough, and after parliamentary service he
accepted the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds in 1806, and died in 1831. His
eldest son, also John, born in 1781, was fellow of King's College, Cambridge,
obtained orders and was presented by his father to the livings of Graffham in 1805
and Woollavington, 1813, where he died 3 May, 1833. One of the latter's daughters
married Samuel Wilberforce, afterwards Bishop of Oxford, and another Henry Man-
ning, who succeeded him in the living of Woollavington and afterwards became Car-
dinal Manning. Gentleman? 's Magazine, 1833. Supplement, i. 636, also Hansard
and Allibone for the last two Sargents.

6 Bigelow, viii. 256.

7 and he continues : " The married state is, after all our jokes, the happiest,
being conformable to our natures. Man and woman have each of them qualities and
tempers, in which the other is deficient, and which in union contribute to the common
felicity. Single and separate, they are not the complete human being ; they are like
the odd halves of scissors: they cannot answer the end of their formation."

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 373
LXL

Having thus anticipated some of the narrative of later
years, which has been done in order to present unbroken the
story of the Sargent Medal, we now return to the year 1763 to
note one of the public corporate appearances of the College ;
we find in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 17 November, the narra-
tive of the " Humble Address of the Vice Provost and Profes-
sors of the College and Academy of Philadelphia to the Honor-
able John Penn, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor," in which they
are " happy in this Opportunity of presenting him with their
Compliments of Felicitation on his safe arrival in this Province."
To which his reply* was couched in appropriate phrase :

Being very sensible that nothing can better advance the Interest and
Welfare of this young Colony, than the Encouragement of Literature and
useful Knowledge; you may be assured that the well established Seminary
under your care shall at all times receive my Countenance and Protection.

John Penn, now thirty-four years of age, had arrived in
Philadelphia on 30 October, 1763, on his second visit to the
Province, and succeeded as Lieutenant Governor William
Denny, whose unpopular administration was now almost for-
gotten in the coming of the grandson of the founder of the
Province. The welcome accorded by the faculty of the College
to Denny on his arrival in August, 1756, in common with other
public bodies and the civic authorities, had suggested the most
exalted promises for a happy administration ; the local disap-
pointment had been so extreme that it tended to make the
welcome to John Penn seven years later not less loyal but much
less extravagant. Governor Perm's interest in the institution
was manifested by his acceptance of a Trusteeship ; on the
occurrence of the first vacancy after his arrival by the removal
of Mr. Andrew Elliot from the Province, he was elected at the
meeting of 11 September, 1764, to succeed him, and at the
meeting of 9 October, the Secretary, Dr. Smith, enters the
Minute :

The Hon'ble John Penn, Esq r took the oath, and subscribed the
Declaration as required by the Charter, and also subscribed the Funda-

374 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

mental Article for perpetuating the Constitution of this Seminary, atter which
he took his seat at the Board of Trustees.

He soon was elevated to the Presidency, at the meeting of
1 6 November following :

The President [James Hamilton] having signified to the Board that his
affairs required his embarking soon for England, he desired that the Trus-
tees would proceed to the choice of a new President and the Hon' ble John
Penn, Esq r , Governor of this Province was unanimously chosen; and
Mess. Inglis and Lardner were appointed to acquaint the Governor with
this Choice and to request him to do them the Honor to accept of the
same;

which he did, and took his seat accordingly at the meeting of 1 1
December, succeeding to the brief incumbency of James Hamilton,
who had been elected when Dr. Peters went to England in June,
1764, on a visit. His uncle, Lynford Lardner, had been elected
a Trustee on 8 June, 1762, but did not qualify and take his seat
until 10 January, 1764. Mr. Lardner was elected to the place
made vacant by the death of Mr. Leech in the previous March ;
and at the same meeting with him was elected Mr. Amos Stret-
tell who succeeded his father who had died the previous year.
In addition to these two vacancies by death among the Trustees,
there had been those caused by the death of Mr. Maddox and
Mr. Masters ; to the former Thomas Willing ( was elected on 8
July, 1760; and Rev. Jacob Duche, the first alumnus to be-
come a Trustee, was elected on 10 February, 1761. Mr. Wil-
ling, who thus became a Trustee at twenty-eight years of age,
was the eldest son of Charles Willing, one of the original twenty-
four Trustees, and became an eminent merchant, and served his
city in many public capacities. But Duche was his junior, being
but twenty-three years of age at the time of his election a great
testimony to his learning and intelligence and to his warm
interest in his Alma Mater. These are evidences that our an-
cestors of a century ago did not always elect men of mature
years to posts of dignity and responsibility, but equally with us
availed themselves when occasion served of the services of young
men, which we of this generation claim to be a peculiar departure
of our own. Mr. Willing did not qualify until 10 February,

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 375

1761, "having been prevented by absence and indisposition
from giving his Attendance till now." When Dr. Smith took
his departure for England in 1762, eleven of the original Trus-
tees had died, and also one of those later elected, John Mifflin.

LXII.

The finances of the institution did not keep pace with its
growing influence. Circumstances forbad, it may be presumed,
higher charges or fees for tuition than those already prescribed.
There were now " near two hundred Students and Scholars, be-
sides eighty Boys and forty Girls educated on Charity," as stated
in the Address of the Trustees submitted at the meeting of 1 5
December, 1761, for Dr. Smith to submit "to all Charitable Per-
sons, Patrons of Literature and Friends of Useful Knowledge."
And the Faculty consisted of " a Provost, a Vice Provost, and
three professors, assisted by six Tutors or Ushers, besides two
Masters and a Mistress for the Charity Schools." These were
Dr. Smith, Dr. Alison, Professors Kinnersley, Williamson and
Beveridge, William Ayres, Thomas Pratt, Samuel Campbell,
Richard Harrison, Patrick Alison, and Thomas Polock, Tutors;
John Davis and John Porter, Masters, and Mrs. Middleton, Mistress
of the Charity School. The sum of the salaries of these amounted
annually to .1321, to which were now to be added Dr. Ewing's
compensation for supplying the Provost's place in his absence,
amounting to 17$. The collections from the tuition fees in
1761 amounted to 763.15.11. In 1760 they amounted to
629.7.6; in 1 759 to 414.4.7 ; in 1758 to 746.10.1 ; in 1757
to 543.10; the greatest return was in 1753, when the sum
amounted to 1102.12.6. The total from the beginning to the
end of 1761, amounted to 6393.19.3^. The subscriptions
from friends and the kindly disposed, for the same period,

376 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

amounted to .5442. 3. 4 ; of which sum ,3376. 12. 4 had been real-
ised before the close of the year 1753. To these may be added
the contribution in 1753 of the City Council of 200, and their
five years annuity of 100; the Proprietaries' gift of $OO on
granting the charter ; the proceeds, namely 184. 5.1 1 1/2, of Rev.
George Whitefield's Charity Sermon of September, 1754; and
Henry Wright's principal of his annuity amounting to 300,
granted in I759- 1 But the Trustees soon realised that the ordi-
nary channels of income could not meet their engagements, even
with an occasional special effort. And Lotteries were resorted to
as early as 1757, and this source of revenue through seven Lot-
teries in all for as many years was well cultivated. To the end
of the year 1761, the sum of ^678 1. 17.2 had thus been gathered.
It was an age of Lotteries, when all needy institutions, churches
included, sought this fictitious and abused system as a means of
drawing money from their fellow citizens for needed wants under
the deceit of offering^them chances of gain. Their first scheme
was advertised in the Gazette of 17 March, 1757, and introduced
by a statement :

the necessary expenses of this Institution, the constant support of two
Charity Schools in it ; the late enlargement of the design by opening
schools for Philosophy and the Sciences ; the purchasing a compleat appa-
ratus for experiments therein, and fitting up the publick Hall for accom-
modating the Inhabitants at Commencements and other publick occasions,
[and they] were entirely sensible that no Institution of such extensive

1 " Dr. Smith acquainted the Trustees that one Mr. Henry Wright, of this
city, Whipmaker, to whom he was a stranger, had sent for him and acquainted him that
finding himself out of order and having of a long time intended to give his little Estate
to the Academy he desired some of the Trustees might be told of it and come to
assist him to draw such Writings as should be thought necessary for that purpose,
that thereupon Mr. Chew and Mr. Alexander Stedman waited on him and an Instru-
ment was drawn at his special direction wherein he acknowledged to have given to the
Trustees Three Hundred Pounds Currency for the use of the Academy and is to
receive from them if demanded an Annuity of Thirty Pounds per Annum but for no
longer time than until the several Yearly Payments shall amount to the said sum of
Three Hundred Pounds." Minutes 14 December, 1759. At the meeting of 8 Janu-
ary, 1760, report was made of the proper exchange of papers at which Mr. Wright
" was extremely pleased and told them as he found himself on the Recovery he would
continue to keep shop and hoped to augment the sum already given for this useful
Institution."

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 377

Usefulness was ever supported in any Country without some certain Rev-
enue or Endowment, independent of what is paid by the Scholars. *

But these schemes were not pursued without animadver-
sion by many good citizens. Bradford's paper the Pennsylvania
Journal, had admitted to its columns towards the close of the
year 1758 some communications reflecting on the College for
seeking this unwarranted and unseemly mode of raising funds,
which however were accepted by its friends as displaying more
unfriendliness to the institution than condemnation of Lotteries
in themselves. These disturbed Dr. Alison and his associates
of the Faculty, and he sought counsel and comfort from the
Trustees. Had the valiant Provost at that time not been
engrossed with his preparations to take a quiet departure for
England to prosecute his appeal for redress against the Assem-
bly, he would have taken up his pen and vigorously met these
charges. Dr. Alison was inclined to this himself, but the com-
fort and counsel he obtained from the Trustees only enjoined
silence and patience. At their meeting of 9 January, 1759,

Mr Alison, the Vice Provost, with the other Professors, as a Faculty,
acquainted the Trustees, that some Papers were published in the Pennsyl-
vania Journal, in which many false and scandalous Aspersions were
thrown on the characters of the Trustees and Professors ; and sundry false
arguments brought against the Morality and Lawfulness of Lotteries, and
desired Leave to make Answer to the said Papers, in order to undeceive
the People, and vindicate their Characters. The Request was taken into
consideration, and it was the unanimous Opinion of all present, that the
Professors should be desired to forbear publishing any Answers, because it
appeared to the Trustees and to many sensible and sober Citizens, with
whom they had fallen into Conversation on this Subject, that the Persons,
who were the Authors of these Papers were some low creatures, who wrote
from Passion and Resentment, that neither their Calumnies nor their

2 The receipts from the Lotteries were as follows :

No. i. 881. 4. 3 '757- 39i- o.n

2. 2983. 9. 3 1759. 1376.19.11

3. 914. I. II 1760. 574. i. 2

4. 99-'7- 8 1761. 739-15- 2
5- 956. 7- 2^ 1762. 877. 8. 7

6. 1079. 5. 9 1763. 2183.16. 4

7. 1652. i. 7 1764. 614. 5. 6%

9457- 7- 7# 9457- 7- 7#

378 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Arguments would hurt the Institution or the Characters of any concerned
in the Trust or Schools.

The Lotteries were too popular to be scolded down, and
were too fruitful in financial results for needy institutions to
forego their service. In the space of a few years at this period
of the city's history Lotteries were opened to erect Christ Church
Steeple, 3 to aid in building St. Peter's Church ; to finish St.
Paul's Church , for the Steeple of the Second Presbyterian
Church ; to enlarge Trinity Church, Oxford, Philadelphia County ;
for the use of St. James' Church, and for the Presbyterian Church,
at Lancaster, Penna. ; to rebuild St. John's Church, in Chester
County ; for the Presbyterian Church at Middletown, and for the
new Presbyterian Church on the Brandywine ; for the new Presby-
terian Church in Baltimore ; to build a Light House at Cape Hen-
lopen and improve the navigation of the Delaware ; for a bridge over
Conestoga Creek ; to pave Second Street from Race to Callowhill
Street ; for a company of rangers in Tulpehocken, Berks County ;
and one also to raise ;6ooo for the New Jersey College at Prince-
ton, and one for 1 1 2 5 . 1 . i ^ for the new Germanto wn Academy,
the corner stone of which was laid 21 April, 1760, and which
before the end of the year had gathered in sixty-one English
and seventy German pupils, and where David James Dove was
now employed as English teacher, and as English usher or
tutor Thomas Pratt, whom by the beginning of the year 1762
we find again in the employ of the College and Academy. But
a line was drawn on the object of a Lottery if it was not accept-
able, for where one was proposed for the erection of public
baths and pleasure grounds, the clergy and others of the com-
munity protested strenuously against them, as tending to
further the growing inclination among the people for " pleasure,
luxury, gaming, and dissipation," and among the protestants
were Dr. Jenney, Dr. Smith, Dr. Alison, Mr. Ewing and Mr.
Duche.

3 At their meeting of 30 October, 1752, the Vestry of Christ Church appointed
twelve of their number, adding thereto Benjamin Franklin, to be the Managers of the
Lottery ; it is this conjunction which originated the statement that Franklin was a
Vestryman of Christ Church, but he was never elected thereto, though a pew holder
in the Church. Of the Vestry on this Committee, Mess. Taylor and Leech were
Trustees of the College and Academy.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 379

The evil influences of Lotteries were however recognised,
and the Provincial Assembly finally passed a bill for their sup-
pression, declaring all such schemes, public or private, to be
common nuisances and against the good of the province. This
action was due to the attitude and remonstrance of the Society
of Friends, whose influence in the Legislature was great ; but
the authorities at home did not approve, doubtless because their
enactment was due to this source, and Dr. Peters at the meeting
of the Trustees on I3th January, 1761, hastened to inform them

that the Governor had received from the Council office the Repeals of
several Laws passed in this Province in the Time of the late Governor
Denny and among them the Repeal of the Law for suppressing Lotteries
and Plays, which were to be notified to the Publick in the next Gazette,
and proposed it to the Consideration of the Trustees whether it might not
be proper to have a Sixth Lottery ; and they were unanimously of
opinion that one should be offered for the raising of three Thousand Pieces
of Eight, and a scheme being laid before them by Mr Charles Stedman,
the same was approved of, and the Management thereof committed to Mr
Peters, Mr Turner, Mr Stedman, Mr Willing, and Mr Thomas 'Gordon,
who were to give Bond and to be under Oath for the faithful Discharge of
their Duty, and they were desired to take care that the Tickets be printed
by Mr Hall, and the scheme inserted in the next Gazette.

This last caution deprived Mr. Bradford of an advertise-
ment in his Jour)ial, as they had not forgotten his anonymous
correspondent of two years before, who had maligned the
College and its administrators for their resort to Lotteries.

380 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXIII.

Dr. Smith on his return from England in 1759 brought
from Thomas Penn his gift to the College of his one-fourth part
of the Manor of Perkasie in Bucks County, containing twenty- five
hundred acres, through which the Perkiomen Creek coursed.
This was thankfully acknowledged and Dr. Alison and Mr. Coxe
were appointed a Committee to view the property, and they
reported to the Trustees on 8 July, 1760, upon its condition,
and recommended its sale :

The Land will now sell better than at any time hereafter, for many
years to come, for the Tenants are pretty well able to purchase, having
cleared a great Quantity of Land for Corn. * * * If we do not sell
the Lands the present inhabitants will move off and purchase elsewhere,
and sell their Leases to poor wretches for a Sum of Money, who will
destroy the Lands to pay this Sum and to enrich themselves and probably
leave our Rent unpaid. * * * On the whole we think that we can
sell the whole Tract for three thousand pounds .*

This gift of the Proprietary was in the nature of a permanent
grant to the Institution in lieu of the annuity of 50 he had
from the first granted to the Provost, and as the present rental
of the quarter of the Manor amounted by the Committee's
report to but ^43.5, the present gift was of no advantage to
the College unless a sale could be made for ready funds which
in another investment would yield more income :

as Lands were now at a very high price owing to the Abundance of money
thrown into the Country by the Army, * * * and Mr Peters was
desired to send Mr Penn a copy of the Report and Opinion of the Trus-
tees and a proper Letter on the Subject

But many months elapsed before the President, Dr. Peters, acted
in this request, and at the meeting of 10 February, 1761,

1 Of this Tract 714 acres were valued at ^1.15 per acre.

878 ' " 1. 10

250 ' " 1.05

150 ' " I.

175 < " .18

333 ' " about .10

2500

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 381

he acquainted the Trustees that some Difficulties arising on the more
mature Consideration of the Matter he had communicated to some of the
Trustees who were of opinion that it ought to be postponed till it could be
better considered, thereupon the Trustees went upon a serious Considera-
tion of it and appointed Mr Peters, Mr Chew, & Mr Edward Shippen a
Committee to draw up a letter to Mr Thomas Penn to desire leave to make
sale thereof and to dispose of the Money arising therefrom in some other way
more advantageous to the Academy and to preserve the same Reservations
as were in the Deed.

The suggestion for an early realization by sale of this gift
of realty may not have been welcomed by the Proprietary ; but
however that may be he completely dissembled it when he
finally wrote them on II August, 1762 :

As I have the establishment of the Institution very much at heart,
and am truly sensible that the constant attention and care with which you have
executed your Trust has under the Blessing of the Almighty raised the
reputation of the College and Academy very high, and so as to answer all
the good Purposes at first intended, it is a great Satisfaction to me to assist
in promoting so good a Work, and I wish to do it in such a Manner as
shall be most agreeable to yourselves, provided I can be convinced such
Method will tend to the real advantage of it considering the future as well
as the present Time. This consideration has induced me to defer for so
long a time the sending an Answer to your very respectful and obliging
Letter, and I have not only waited to consider the proposal you have made
myself, but have desired the Sentiments of one or two of my most valuable
Friends, and they do also fortify me in my own opinion that it will be
most for the Interest of the College to keep the Lands I have granted, as
in the common course of things they must, though they should not be
taken the best care of, yield much more to those that are to come after us,
than the Sum you propose to raise from the Sale of them ; I am therefore
under a Necessity of desiring you will not think I act an unkind part
when I refuse to comply with your Request.

But that the Trustees

may not be greatly disappointed I have proposed that we should give Five
Hundred Pounds Sterling to the present Collection [now making by Dr.
Smith], and if that should not amount to a sum sufficient to answer your
Expectations I shall be willing to add a subscription of ^50 Currency a
year, till such time as it is redeemed by a Benefaction of as great value.

Dr. Smith's presence in England was helpful to a solution
of this matter ; and besides this contribution to the Collection,

382 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the promised annuity practically continued the sum formerly
granted the Provost, for which Mr. Penn recognized that the
Perkasie gift was n'ot an equivalent. This was read at the
meeting of 9 November, 1762, and the Trustees

in considering the handsome and kind Manner in which the Proprietary
had expressed his favourable Sentiments of the Trustees and their Con-
duct, and the fresh Instances he had given of his Generosity, declared
unanimously their Satisfaction with the Proprietary's Determination and
good Pleasure, though he had not been pleased to favour their request.

LXIV.

But we must now return to Dr. Smith's visit to England,
where we have seen that he arrived early in the month of March,
1762, bearing letters and instructions to aid him in his collections
on behalf of the College, whose funds were proving inadequate
to its proper maintenance and its further reputation. The rep-
resentative of no other College would have been so well received
in England as one from an institution which attracted to itself so
powerful an influence at home, and no one better fitted for such
representation than the young Scotch Provost whose native
trait of loyalty, now that he was in the orders of the State
Church, made him an Englishman of Englishmen. Harvard,
and Yale, and Princeton, were perhaps more self reliant, being
without those Home relations which were so promising to the
Colleges in Philadelphia and New York when their Appeals were
presented. King's College had turned its face at this time and
with the same end to England, and Dr. Smith on his arrival
found that the field was not his own ; but with his ready
adaptability to circumstances, he prepared himself to work in
partnership as well as he could single handed.

The meeting of the Trustees held on 15 December,
1761, at which these Letters and Instructions were approved

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 383

was well attended, Messrs. Peters, Stedman, Chew, Willing,
Duche, Thomas and Phineas Bond, White, Coleman, Coxe,
Edward Shippen, Inglis and Plumsted, being present. They
addressed " All Charitable Persons, Patrons of Literature, and
Friends of Useful Knowledge" and

humbly represented, That about twelve years ago sundry Gentlemen of
the City of Philadelphia, observing the rapid Growth of the said City and
Province, through the vast accession of People from different parts of the
World, became seriously impressed with a View of the Inconvenience that
must necessarily arise in such a place if left destitute of the necessary
means of Instruction. They saw with concern that after the Death of the
first settlers (many of whom were well educated before they came into
America) the generality of their Descendants were in danger of degene-
rating into the greatest ignorance, as few of them could afford the Expence of
educating their Children in distant Places, and there was but little Prospect
of seeing anything speedily done in a publick way for the Advancement of
Knowledge. To prevent as much as possible these Inconveniences and to
make some adequate Provision for training up a Succession of Good Men,
for the Service of their Country in these remote parts the above mentioned
Seminary was begun by private Subscriptions, and through the Blessing of
Almighty God and the Liberality of Individuals though unassisted by any
Publick Encouragement it has in after years arrived to a very great Degree
of Perfection. Sundry excellent youths have already been raised in it as
well for the sacred office of the Ministry, as for the civil Professions of Life.
It consists at present of near two hundred Students and Scholars besides
eighty Boys and forty Girls educated on charity. * * * Though the
greatest CEconomy hath been used in every part of the Design and nothing
attempted but what the Circumstances of so growing a place seemed abso-
lutely to require, yet the necessary expence attending so large an undertak-
ing hath greatly exceeded all the Resources in the power of the Trustees,
and as the charge of the Seminary is now ,700 annually more than its
Income, they have the disagreeable Prospect of seeing its Funds in a few
years wholly exhausted and an end put to its Usefulness after all their
labours for its support unless they can procure the assistance of generous
and well disposed persons abroad. * * * They cannot doubt but that
a Seminary of Learning placed in one of the most important Cities and
central Provinces of America, will meet with all due Encouragement from
the Friends of Religion and Learning in Great Britain and Ireland. * * *
And they hereby promise that whatever shall be contributed to that End
shall be faithfully applied upon the same liberal and pious Plan whereon it
was first founded and hath hitherto been so successfully carried on. And they
further promise that due care shall be taken to preserve Lists of the Con-

384 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

tributors and to perpetuate their Names in the Institution with Gratitude to
the latest generations.

The burden of this appeal would seem to ignore the exist-
ence of the now venerable college at Cambridge and the well
grown institution at New Haven, were it not for thought of the
stress laid upon the establishment of a like college on a sound
financial basis in a chief city in the new country, for the College
in Philadelphia was the first practical attempt made to plant an
institution with like ambitious plans in a community whose bus-
iness connections and influences exceeded all other centres in the
colonies. A like attempt was being followed by King's College
in New York, but it had not won for itself in the same term the
like reputation of its elder sister of Philadelphia. It may well
be assumed, however, that the advanced and thorough curriculum
of the latter, which had now survived its experiment of a three
years' trial and become an established system, justly inspired the
Trustees with the pleasant thought that the aims of the Seminary
whose care was in their Trust had attained a much higher plane
than any of the other like institutions in the provinces ; and who so
fitting to represent its claims and needs abroad than the well
trained scholar who had placed its reputation as a school so
high ?

An address was likewise prepared to the Proprietaries,
Thomas and Richard Penn,

returning them most hearty Thanks for all the Instances of their Generosity
and Protection which they had shown to this Institution, by means of which
and the Liberality of many other good Friends of Learning they have been
enabled to carry it on for the space of Twelve Years and have now the
pleasure of seeing its Reputation extensive and its Usefulness generally
acknowledged and felt But amidst the Satisfaction arising from this we
find that all Resources in our Power will be insufficient to support it for
any Number of years its Annual Expence so far exceeding its Income as
continually to diminish our Capital ; [and commending Dr. Smith] to their
kind advice and assistance in prosecuting this good Design, being well
assured that benevolent spirit and Love of Learning, which induced them
so freely to become the kind Patrons of this Seminary will be sufficient
Motives with them to countenance and encourage this Design for its-
completion.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 385

Another letter was addressed alone to Thomas Perm,
mainly on the subject of the disposition of the Perkasie Manor
property which the Trustees deemed best to sell and realize a
sum of money which they could invest to better advantage ;
to this, however, as we have already seen, a negative answer was
returned by Mr. Penn.

These were enough for one meeting. Two days later the
same Trustees met, excepting Messrs. Chew, Willing, Duche and
Coleman, and agreed upon certain instructions to Dr. Smith, and
made provision for his expenses as well as for the supply of his post
in the college, which Mr. Ewing had been desired to do "in his ab-
sence and he had kindly promised to do it upon a proper Com-
pensation for Trouble," and " Mr. Peters and Mr. Stedman were
desired to settle the sum that should be allowed him." He had
so faithfully and well supplied Dr. Smith's place in his former
absence, that Dr. Smith could leave his pupils with confidence
under his care, a confidence he found not misplaced on his
return to them in 1764.

Dr. Smith's instructions were placed in full on the Minutes.
In the outset they assure him they have proceeded in this affair
very much by his Advice, and in Expectation of the hearty con-
currence of our Honorable Proprietaries, and

we trust and desire you will lose no time either in embarking for England
or when there in setting about and carrying on this good work with your
utmost Zeal, Prudence, and Assiduity, first waiting on the Proprietaries
that by their Council and Recommendation you may be enabled to make
a good beginning.

Here the urgent Perkasie matter comes in :

Do not neglect to let Mr. Thomas Penn know that as Lands are now at
a high Price, owing to our present happy flow of Wealth, if he be inclined
to favour our application for their sale, the sooner he sends his Orders the
greater Benefit will be likely to accrue to the Academy.

And then the Instructions proceed :

If Mr. Franklin should be in England on your Arrival, we desire you
will wait upon him, lay before him your several Papers, acquaint him with

386 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

our Necessities, consult with him and desire he will give you all the assist-
ance in his Power and we doubt not but he will readily advise and assist
you and that by his Means you may be recommended to many Persons of
Wealth and Distinction. If any other of the Trustees should happen to
be in England whilst you are engaged in this Business, you are to consult
with them from time to time, as occasion may require.

The Treasurer was "ordered to pay him the sum of one
hundred and fifty Pounds Currency which is advanced towards
the charge that may attend the service" and they add "we
trust you will lay it out with the utmost Frugality and be care-
ful to Keep an exact Account of every Expence that you shall
be put in the Prosecution of this Business." The dangers of a
voyage in those times were provided for ;

Mr Peters on our behalf has given you a Credit on Mess Barclay &
Co as far as an hundred Pounds Sterling. If you arrive safe there may be
no use for it, but in case you shall fall into the hands of the Enemy it may
be of use to obtain a decent support and a quick Exchange and conveyance
to England.

The instructions continued with precision and thorough-
ness to the end.

If in six Months after your arrival in England you shall not meet
with Encouragement nor see any Prospect of it, we would have you lose no
Time but take the first opportunity that shall offer of returning home. But
if you shall meet with good success, we think it too great a Risque for you
to carry large sums of Money about you, and therefore order you whenever
the sum collected, becomes considerable to pay or order it to be paid into
the Hands of Mess Barclay & Co. whom we have appointed our Agents for
the receipt of all sums that shall be collected on this Occasion, sending
them always along with the Money or Order an exact List of the Names of
such as you shall have received it from which Lists we would have trans-
mitted to us from Time to Time that we may know how you go on. * * *
You will not fail to write full accounts of your proceedings to us by every
opportunity;

and adding " we most heartily pray for your Safe Arrival and
good Success," this statesmanlike document was concluded.
Dr. Peters' schooling in the Service of the Proprietaries had well
qualified him to draft the proper instructions to a plenipoten-
tiary.

Armed with these letters and guided by these instructions,

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 387

the Provost made his final arrangements for departure on a Mis-
sion which while it had some promise in it was at the same time
the cause of anxiety to those interests which he was now so not-
ably to serve ; we can read between the lines as it were of these
proceedings of the Trustees and recognise the grave concern
which prompted this serious movement to resuscitate the finances
of the College and secure a further lease of life for its usefulness ;
and Dr. Smith's cheerful alacrity in responding to the summons
testified to his sense of the necessity of the case, and without
hesitation he ventured on his winter voyage. On 10 January,
1762, he preached in Christ Church the funeral sermon over the
Rev. Dr. Jenney, its Rector, and on the 2 5th he took his depar-
ture from Philadelphia for New York, where he remained until
13 February fora suitable opportunity and on which day he
sailed for England. He could not have contemplated, when he
left, that an interval of more than two years and a half would
occur before his home would welcome his return. His time in
New York afforded him a renewal of his intercourse with Dr.
Johnson, who was now made acquainted with the objects of
his visit to England, and as King's College had like needs with
its fellow College in Pennsylvania for present support, the
thoughts of Dr. Johnson and his co-laborers had already turned
to the Mother Country hoping for aid, and it is not unlikely that
Dr. Smith talked over his plans with them, and we shall not be
surprised to see the two Colleges soliciting collections side by
side, by their respective emissaries, for their treasuries, although
Dr. Smith soon after his arrival in England found to his regret
that instead of proceeding individually it was the better plan to
proceed in partnership.

On reaching London early in March he prepared

an Humble Representation by William Smith D. D, Provost of the College,
Academy, and Charitable School of Philadelphia, in behalf of said Semi-
nary, and by appointment of the Trustees thereof, To all Charitable Per-
sons and Patrons of Useful Knowledge, l

which is a recapitulation and extension of the petition prepared
by the Trustees already noticed, and which he employed in
1 Smith, i. 295.

388 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

preference to the briefer Address they had approved. To his
Humble Representation he added this Postscript:

As many pious Persons and Friends of Literature, whom the Writer
of this cannot possibly know of, nor wait upon at their respective Places of
abode, may be desirous of contributing to this useful Seminary, they will
be pleased to observe that Benefactions will be received for it by the fol-
lowing Gentlemen, Bankers, viz : Sir Charles Asgill and Company, Lom-
bard Street, and Mess Drummond and Company, at Charing Cross.

He had not yet communicated with David Barclay & Co. He
presented his letters to Mr. Thomas Penn who received him
graciously and promised to forward his scheme all in his power.
" It is impossible, indeed, forme" he writes " to express how
hearty and zealous Mr. Penn is in this business." On 19 March
he waited upon Dr. Seeker the Archbishop of Canterbury, and
from him he "obtained the hint that if a Brief should be sought
for by him that there had been so many applications of that sort
of late, that he feared it would produce but little." The Arch-
bishop of York promised him also his countenance and aid. On
his arrival Dr. Smith had discovered there were two prime ways
for him to pursue in making his collections ; his Humble Rep-
resentation was in print, but it must be employed with skill ; he
could either communicate personally and upon influential intro-
duction to the individual wealthy and well disposed, or seek the
other plan, which was more formal but of the highest influence,
that of attaining a Royal Brief; and he soon decided to make
application for this.

The Brief was the technical term given to letters patent written in the
royal name to the incumbent of every parish in England, directing him to
recommend to his congregation some charitable object which the King
was particularly desirous of promoting, and authorising Collections to be
made by specially appointed Commissioners ' from house to house' these
are the words of the Brief throughout the Kingdom in aid of the under-
taking. 2

The following clauses of the Brief describe its authority
and scope.

And therefore in pursuance of the Tenor of an Act of Parliament,

Memoirs of the Rev. William Smith, D. D. C. J. Stille, p 25.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 389

made in the Fourth Year of the Reign of the late Queen Anne, entitled
An Act for the better collecting Charity Money on Briefs by Letters Patent,
and preventing abuses in relation to such charities, Our Will and Pleasure is,
and we do hereby (for the better Advancement of these our Pious intentions)
require and command all Ministers, Teachers, and Preachers, Church
Wardens, Chapel Wardens, and the Collectors of this Brief, and all others
concerned, that they and ever)- of them observe the Directions in the said
Act contained, and do in all Things conform themselves thereunto; and
that when the printed copies of these Presents shall be tendered unto you
the respective Ministers and Curates, Church Wardens and Chapel War-
dens, and to the respective Teachers and Preachers of every separate Con-
gregation, that you, and every of you, under the Penalties to be inflicted by
the said Act, do receive the same.

And you the respective Ministers and Curates, Teachers and Preach-
ers, are, by all persuasive Motives and Arguments, earnestly to exhort your
respective Congregations and Assemblies to a liberal Contribution of their
Charity for the Pious Intent and Purpose aforesaid And you the said Church
Wardens and Chapel Wardens, together with the Minister, and some of
the substantial Inhabitants of the several Parishes and Places accompany-
ing them, are also hereby required to go from House to House, upon the
Week Days next following the Publication of these Presents, to ask and
receive from the Parishioners, as well Masters and Mistresses, as Servants
and others in their Families, their charitable and Christian Contributions
and to take the Names in Writing of all such as shall contribute hereunto,
and the Sum and Sums by them respectively given, and indorse the whole
Sums upon the said printed Briefs, in Words at Length, and subscribe the
same with their proper Hands, together with the Name of the Parish or Place
where, and the Time when collected, and to enter the same in the publick
Books of Account kept for each Parish and Chapelry respectively; and the
Sum and Sums collected, together with the said printed Briefs, so endorsed,
you are to deliver to the said Deputies and Agents authorized to receive the
same. * * *

And lastly, Our will and pleasure is, That no Person or Persons
shall receive the said printed Briefs or Monies collected thereon, but such
only as shall be deputed and made the Bearer and Bearers of these Pres-
ents, or Duplicates thereof.

In witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made
Patent and to continue in Force for One \Vhole Year from Michaelmas Day
next, and no longer.

The " Trustees and Receivers of the charity to be collected
by virtue of these Presents, with Power to any Five or more of
them, to give Deputations to such Collectors as shall be chosen

390 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

by the said Petitioners, or their Agents here," were, the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, Henley, the Arch-
bishop of York, Earl Granville, President of the Council, the
Earl of Egremont, one of the Secretaries of State, the Earl of
Bute, the Earl of Halifax, the Bishops of London, of Durham,
of Winchester, and of St. David's, Lord Sandys, Sir Charles
Hardy, Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Proprietors of Penn-
sylvania, Joseph Hudson and George Clark, Esquires, Doctor
Samuel Chandler, Doctor William Smith, Doctor James Jay,
Daniel Moore, Robert Charles, and Lynford Lardner, Esquires,
Barlow Trecothick and William Neate, Merchants, Thomas
Stevenson and John Stevenson, Gentlemen.

Endorsed on the Brief was " the clause in the Act of Par-
liament made in the 4th and 5th of Queen Anne, against farm-
ing of Briefs," and reciting the Penalty "N. B. The penalty on
Ministers, Church Wardens and others neglecting any Thing
required in this Act, is Twenty Pounds."

But before this point was reached, he found that King's
College was already in the field. His stay in New York early
in February and conferences with Dr. Johnson on his plans had
now borne fruit in the latter proposing to his Governors to solicit
funds in England in like manner, and as Dr. James Jay, was
about proceeding to England on private business he was com-
missioned to seek the contributions of those at Home for the
College. He had sailed from New York I June, 1762, bearing
letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury and "To all Patrons of
Learning and Knowledge, and Friends of the British Empire in
America, The Governors of the Province of New York in the
City of New York in America, Greeting," bearing date 14 May,
1762, which were of the authorship of Dr. Johnson. His instruc-
tions were signed by J. T. Kempe, Henry Barclay, Samuel
Auchmuty, Samuel Johnson and James Duane.

As it is impossible in a Transaction of this Nature to be very particular,
and as the Corporation place great confidence in the Doctor's Prudence,
we submit the general Conduct of this Affair to him ; and we therefore
only request he will correspond with the Committee as often as opportunity
will admit and acquaint us with the Progress he has made and the further

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 391

Prospect he has had of advancing the Design he has been so good as to
undertake, for the Interest of the College. * * * A Brief would be
very beneficial, but whether there is a prospect to obtain this will be the
best judged of by their Lordships, [i, e. the Archbishop of Canterbury
and the First Lord of Trade, to whom he was to apply for Advice] as soon
as he conveniently can after his Arrival.

Dr. Jay, " a gentleman of this city, of a liberal education
and of Eminence in his Profession," was a native of West-
chester County, New York, the fourth son of Peter Jay
and an elder brother of Hon. John Jay. On arriving in
England he at once communicated with Dr. Smith, and
doubtless suggested a joint concern in their matters. He
had already taken steps to securing a Brief, and the authorities
entertaining this, the Archbishop of Canterbury advised Dr.
Smith to make a similar application, and recommended them
both that a joint application on behalf of both Colleges should
be made to the King.

Dr. Smith appeared much disappointed at this turn of
affairs, and he wrote home on 10 July :

Just now I am so disconcerted that, I know not what to do. * * *
Dr. Jay has just called on me, and told me that, some business of his own
calling him to England, the people of the College at New York had applied .
to and empowered him to solicit money for them . Here was a strange
clashing of interests and applications, and the common friends of both
Colleges were afraid that both schemes might be defeated by this method
of doing business, and that the public would be disgusted with such fre-
quent applications, and so close upon the heels of each other. A proposal
was made to unite both designs, but I thought my own interest best, pro-
vided the good Archbishop shared his countenance equally, and we could
agree to keep at a good distance from each other ; nor could I well stomach
the thought of being concerned with people who had followed so close
upon us as if on purpose to interfere with and prevent our success. 8

To the Trustees he writes of the :

Great perplexity which the Headlong and ill-timed Application from the
College of New York gave to the Archbishop and other great Personages
who were equally disposed to serve both Designs. * * * After the
Transactions and clashing of Interests, whereof my former letters will fully
acquaint you, it was agreed, with the particular Advice of the Archbishop,

8 Smith i. 300.

392 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Mr. Penn and Dr. Chandler, and also by his Majesty's express approba-
tion, and Lord Bute's desire, that the two Designs should be united. * * *
And that his Majesty himself would so far show his Countenance to this
Plan, as to begin it with a Mark of his Bounty to both Institutions.

That same concurrence of thought had existed between
Dr. Smith and Dr. Johnson on this subject in their February
conferences, there can be little doubt. Dr. Johnson was unpre-
pared to cross the ocean himself, and at that moment there was
no one to send. But after Dr. Smith's departure from New
York, the knowledge of Dr. Jay's proposed visit to England
afforded Dr. Johnson the opportunity desired of a personal
solicitation from friends in England. Dr. Jay says :

While I was in New York, and intending to come to England on
some business of my own, the Rev Dr Johnson proposed it to me to make
a Collection in this Kingdom, for the Benefit of that Seminary which I
consented to do. The Doctor called a meeting of the Governors of the
College and laid the matter before them and they appointed a Committee
to confer with me on the subject.

Dr. Jay's immediate consultations with Dr. Smith on his
reaching England testify to his knowledge of Dr. Smith's
plans, and of his readiness to join the work of the two Colleges
'in one comprehensive scheme. But by previous correspondence,
Dr. Jay may have prepared the way in a measure for his work,
knowing that the Philadelphia ambassador had already been
three months on the ground ; and while Dr, Smith had hesitated
about resorting to a brief, hoping great things doubtless from
the Penn influence, Jay had lost no time in complying
with his special instructions and had applied for a Brief
immediately on his arrival. Dr. Smith afterwards wrote of him :
" Jay is an active and sensible young fellow." 4

In the union of these two appeals, great gain was made
for both, as the results proved and each College was materially
bettered by the joint mission, for time was saved by each, and
the minister of each traveling in different ways could present to

* He was five years the junior of Smith. See Dr. Jay's Letter to the Governor
of the College of New York respecting the Collection for the Colleges of Philadelphia
and New York, London, 1771, by Sir James Jay, Knight, M. D. This pamphlet
exhibited the unhappy controversy he fell into with the College authorities on the
closing of his collections.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 393

his auditors and his friends two noble schemes of education
which the New England in distant Pennsylvania and New York
were endeavoring to plant on sure foundations. The early
disappointment of Dr. Smith was turned into a measure of
success he liad hardly hoped for. Eventually Dr. Smith
admitted this in his letter of 1 1 February, 1764, when he says :
" taking the cause of New York along with ours, rather than .
acting in opposition, by which each of us have got double of
what we could in that case have hoped for singly." Jay's appeal
had shown a great strength, inasmuch as he represented a
" King's College," whose title alone appealed directly to
royalty, and with success, and the royal bounty was testified to in
the sum of 400 to the College he represented, while the
Philadelphia College was remembered to the extent of but 200.
When the tidings of the Prince's birth reached New York, the
Governors of the College prepared an address of loyal congrat-
ulations to the King, which Dr. Jay presented in person on 23
April, 1763, at which time he was knighted by the King. 5

Dr. Smith's description of the issue of the Brief is told to
the Trustees in that loyal strain in which his enthusiasm showed
the brightest, and concludes the letter already quoted. 6

The glorious 12 August (the ist o. s.) remarkable heretofore for so
many good things, viz : the Battle of the Boyne 7 and Minden, and the
accession of the present Royal Family ; became again remarkable for the
Birth of a young Prince, the accession of the Riches of the Hermione, a
larger prize than Anson's, and if small things may be mentioned after these,
the ordering and passing our Brief, which three things happened before
9 o'clock on Thursday Morning. For the Prince [George IV.] was born
half an hour past seven ; the Trea'sure passed by the Palace a little after Eight,
and the Council that met before Nine to Register the Birth did our Busi-
ness. The circumstances attending this were as honorable to us as any-
thing could be. For finding that we could get no Council to meet on our
Account, and finding that the Chancellor and others thought not very
favorably of the Design, as it might lead to too frequent Applications of
the like Nature from the Colonies, we fixed before hand with the Archbishop

5 Sir James Jay died in New York, 12 October, 1815.
Minuies of November 1762.

7 Here lie wrote hastily, for the Battle of Boyne was on I July, 1690, n. s
and that of Minden on I August, 1759, n. s.

394 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

that the Council of State Officers that should immediately meet on the
joyous Occasion of the Queen's Delivery would not only be the most favour-
able Moment for us, but also the most honourable if any of such Business
could be introduced. The good Archbishop engaged to try what could be
done, and I got the Clerks of the Council to promise me early Notice to
attend with the Petition. The Event, however, happened sudden and easy
to the Queen, as every Briton had prayed it might and before I could hear
of it, and had huddled on my Gown to run to St. James' with my Petition, the
Council was convened in the King' s Closet. I meditated whether it was
proper to send in any Thing under cover to the Archbishop while in the
Royal Presence, and as I was perplexing myself about this, the Council
rose. I immediately saw his Grace, who wished me double Joy, on the
Birth of a Prince and the Completion of our Business, of which he had not
been unmindful. For before he went into Council, he desired Lord Egre-
mont, who presides in Lord Granville's absence, to propose it. His Lord-
ship doubted whether anything of Business had been ever introduced
on such an occasion. Lord Bute, who was very willing to have our busi-
ness through, observed that there was on the present occasion, one other
Piece of Business to be done, viz : qualifying Lord Berkly as Constable of
the Tower, and that ours might also be done. When the Council met,
Lord Egremont did accordingly propose our affair (the Archbishop giving
the Substance of the Petition, for I had got the original) and after some few
Objections and Answers to them, our good and gracious King himself signi-
fied his Royal Pleasure that if there was nothing contrary to Right in what we
desired, it might be granted, and Lord Bute further informed that his
Majesty had so far approved the Thing already as to be a Contributor to it ;
upon which it was unanimously and without more Difficulty agreed to, the
Chancellor and other State Officers being present ; and I have this Moment
received the Order of Council from Mr Sharpe who has been truly oblig-
ing in the Affair and made a present of his Fees to the Design, though the
other Fees are still pretty high.

Would that the life of the young Prince who first saw light this
day had been equally meritorious in its purposes and aims as
were those of the Brief now granted at the Council called to-
register his birth.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 395

LXV.

That portion of the Instructions to Dr. Smith relating to Dr.
Franklin appears in effect to have failed in compliance with on his
part, if absence of such reference to it in his letters can be
accepted as evidence. The instruction to consult and advise
with him could neither have been agreeable to Dr. Smith or
welcome to the latter. Political controversies at home had
been so embittered as to diminish any cordiality which in their
first intercourse may have existed between them ; and Franklin
could not have forgotten the injurious reference in the American
Magazine of October, 1758, to his reputed claims of certain
discoveries in Electricity made by its Editor at a time and in a
publication of general circulation when he was too faraway from
home to promptly acknowledge its unkindness ; but it must have
afforded Franklin a grim satisfaction to learn that the number
which was so freighted with injustice was the last issue of a Maga-
zine which had been published and edited in interests which were
in no wise friendly to him. However, this maybe, we may well
suppose their intercourse, for the brief period they were at the
same time in London, was strained ; all we know is Dr. Smith's
account of his earlier collections made before the issue of the
Brief he sent by the hands of Dr. Franklin to the Treasurer, 1
and this implies some recognition of the instructions of the
Trustees ; but as Dr. Smith for personal and other reasons
greatly counted upon the influence of the Penn family, he could
not seek that of Franklin with any intent of abiding by it should
it run counter to the paths pointed out by the Proprietaries. It
has been claimed that Dr. Franklin opposed Dr. Smith's efforts
by insinuating to his friends the narrowness of the institution
which was sought to be benefited, and in effect thwarted his
efforts in certain influential quarters. 2 But the circumstances of
the case do not sustain the charge in the absence of any direct
evidence to that effect. That Dr. Franklin felt less interest in

1 Letter to Dr. Peters, 24 April, 1763. This appears to be his only reference
to an intercourse with Dr. Franklin. Smith i. 317.

2 Smith i. 326. Dr. Stille's Memoir p. 30.

396 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the institution than formerly there can be but little doubt ; but
his lukevvarmness now was rather to the representative than
the constituent. Dr. Smith's plans for Collections were not put
at once into execution as he soon recognized, as we have seen,
the value and importance of securing a Royal Brief, although he
had obtained some of the first fruits of his visit ; his prime
efforts being reserved until armed with the plenitude of the
Brief. He did not receive a copy of the Fiat of the Brief until
1 8 August, which was formally issued on the ipth, while Dr.
Franklin was on board ship on 17 August in the Downs waiting
a favorable wind to carry him home. 3 The latter had no
influence at Court wherewith to impede Dr. Smith's steps, and
he was on the sea when the Brief was issued. No intimation
occurs in his letters to the Trustees implying he had met with
any obstacles by Franklin, which had they existed would have
been eminently proper for him to inform them of, if only to
relieve himself from the imputation of neglecting their special
instructions in the premises ; indeed, it has been seen, that he
made Dr. Franklin the bearer of his first statement of receipts
to the Trustees, 4 which he would have been relieved from had
any imputation arisen of Dr. Franklin's efforts to thwart his
plans. The only allusion to an opposition of Dr. Franklin
to his work occurs in a private letter of Dr. Smith, where he
recites that

an eminent Dissenter called on me, and let me know that Dr Franklin took
uncommon pains to misrepresent our Academy, before he went away, to
sundry of their people, saying, that it was a narrow, bigoted institution, put
into the hands of the Proprietary party as an engine of government ; that
the Dissenters had no influence in it (though, God knows, all the Professors
but myself are of that persuasion) with many things grievously reflecting
upon the principal persons concerned in it ; that the country and Province
would readily support it if were not for these things ; that we have no occa-
sion to beg ; and that my zeal proceeds from a fear of its sinking, and my
losing my livelihood. * * * The virulence of Dr Franklin on this

3 Bigelow iii. 2IO.

4 Smith i. 306, 319, " .300. of the cash I sent Mr. Coleman on account by Mr.
Franklin. * * I wonder you should desire to know what I collected before Dr. Jay
came over. I sent an exact list of it to Mr. Coleman by Mr. Franklin, and he
received it." Letter 24 April, 1763.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 397

subject betrayed itself, and disgusted the gentleman who had procured me
forty guineas to the design .*

In referring in his diary to his collections at Oxford, he
complains "that at St. John's and Baliol Dr Franklin's friends
were very averse." 6 But this lack of response doubtless was due
to the man rather than to the Provost, as they were those
friends of Dr. Franklin who now recalled the efforts made by
Dr. Smith to prevent Oxford bestowing on him its Doctorate. 7

"Assuming," as Dr. Smith's Biographer writes, "the emi-
nent dissenter to have spoken the truth, and Dr. Smith to have
correctly reported him," the charge is a serious one, but needs
other support, in light of the surrounding circumstances.

At the first business meeting of the Trustees held after Dr.
Franklin's return to Philadelphia in 1762, on 9 November, he
attended, and must have been an interested hearer of Dr. Smith's
letter describing the steps to and procurement of the Brief, which
is above largely drawn upon for our information. At the meeting
of 8 February following he attended and "presented the two
Gold Medals the Gift of Mr Sargent of London," and submitted
Mr. Sargent's letter written him on the subject a few days before
he sailed from London, which would have been done before but
for the desire of the donor that Dr. Franklin and Mr. Norris
should elect the subject for the prizes and designate their
recipients, which upon conference together they declined to do.
It may be safely assumed, that it was Dr. Franklin's interest in
the College that attracted to it these prizes of a Member of
Parliament, who personally was a stranger to the institution or

5 Smith i. 336. Ibid i. 335.

7 Provost Stille refers to " an imprudent letter which Dr. Smith had written to
the authorities of the University of Oxford protesting against a proposal to confer the
Degree of Doctor of Laws on Franklin." Memoir p. 29. His Biographer makes
reference to this : " We are not enabled by an exhibition of Dr. Smith's objections,
as assigned, to judge whether his action was blameworthy, excusable, or to be justi-
fied and commended." Smith, i. 340. On Dr. Smith's arrival in England he may
early have learned of the action of the Heads of Houses at Oxford taken on 22 Feb-
ruary, a few weeks before " Agreed, nem con., that Mr. Franklin, whenever he shall
please to visit the University, shall be offered the compliment of the degree of D. C.
L., honoris causa," and may then have pursued steps to prevent this consummation.
The decree however was made on 30 April. In this controversy may be found the
reason why Dr. Smith avoided communications with Franklin, though under instruc-
tions to seek him. Sparks i. 267.

398 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

any of its managers except Dr. Franklin. The latter's paternity,
as it were, of these valuable prizes, the first offered to the students,
may in part account for the tardiness in offering them to the
students, as Dr. Alison and Dr. Ewing, to whom the design was
committed at this February meeting, reported at the March
meeting the present want of ability of the students to compete
for them, and it was, as we have before seen, nearly two years
after Dr. Smith's return to his post that finally steps were taken
to secure competition for them. On 24 March, 1763, Dr.
Franklin, with his fellow Trustees, Hamilton " his honor the
Governor," Duche, Phineas Bond, Chew, Strettell, Peters,
White, Thomas Bond, William Shippen, Coxe, and Redman
attended " the publick Examination of the Students held in the
public Hall before a large audience of People, and the
Students acquitted themselves to the satisfaction of the
Trustees."

In the middle of April Franklin set out for Virginia on post-
office duties, 8 but returned in time to attend, as we have also seen,
the Commencement exercises of 17 May following, "the Trustees,
Professors, Candidates for Degrees and Scholars walking in Pro-
cession to the Publick Hall, and as soon as seated a Mandate
under the lesser seal authorizing the Faculty to hold a Com-
mencement and confer the Degrees agreed to at the last meet-
ing was delivered to the Vice Provost;" it being by a singular
coincidence the only Commencement he could attend. And he
attended the meeting of 27 May, and gave his approval to the
' draughts of the Addresses to his Majesty and Lord Bute,"
prepared by a committee consisting of Dr. Peters, Mr. Stedman
and Mr. Duche, conveying the thanks of the Trustees for their
royal and noble aid and countenance ; and also Dr. Peters'
draught of his reply to Dr. Smith's letters of 8 January,
12 February, and I March. We find him early in June
starting on a tour to the Eastern States, again on postoffice
claims, his daughter accompanying him, from which he did not

8 " I am going in a few days to Virginia, but expect to be back in three or four
weeks." Letter to Jonathan Williams, 13 April, 1763, Bigelow iii, 237.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 399

return home until 5 November. 9 These instances of Dr.
Franklin's continued personal concern in the College warrant
the belief that far from doing aught either at home or abroad to
retard its prosperity, he was on the contrary prepared to serve
it with his counsel and his influence, although doubtless with-
holding his confidence in a great measure from the Provost,
whose political affiliations had placed him in such opposing
influences, which in his opinion were detrimental to the best
interests of the College. It may be that Dr. Smith refrained
from incorporating in his letters to the Trustees any mention of
his apprehensions of Dr. Franklin's unfriendliness, from the fact
that the latter was now at home and in occasional attendance
on the meetings of the Trustees. Had such suspicion on Dr.
Smith's part reached Dr. Franklin's notice, some denial would
have reached us to-day; there is certainly nothing on record
leading us to suppose that his fellow Trustees ever doubted Dr.
Franklin's fidelity to his Trust, however much Dr. Peters, Gov-
ernor Hamilton and others of them might be less intimate with
him than formerly, owing to the widening and separating influ-
ences of provincial politics. But rumors soon reached Dr.
Franklin's ears that Dr. Smith was at this time saying unkind
things of him in England. His friend Miss Mary Stevenson
wrote from London on 11 November, 1762, within two days of
the date he had attended the first meeting of the Trustees after
his return, one of her letters in which she must have narrated to
him some unfriendly conduct of Dr. Smith. 10 He acknowl-
edges this letter on 25 March, 1763, the day subsequent to his
attendance upon the public examination of the students already
noticed, and one paragraph refers to this unwelcome topic."

I do not wonder at the behaviour you mention of Dr Smith towards
me, for I have long since known him thoroughly. I made that man my

9 Bigelow iii. 244. He writes on 15 April, 1764,10 Mrs. Catharine Greene,
" Public business and our public confusions have so taken up my attention that I sus-
pect I did not answer [her letter of 24 December] when I received it." Ibid iii. 247.

10 Doubtless the attempt in the preceding Spring of Dr. Smith to prevent the
Oxford degree.

11 Bigelow iii, 232.

4OO HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

enemy by doing him too much kindness. It is the honestest way of acquir-
ing an enemy. And, since it is convenient to have at least one enemy, who,
by his readiness to revile one on all occasions, may make one careful of one' s
conduct, I shall keep him an enemy for that purpose ; and shall observe
your good mother's advice, never to receive him again as a friend. She
once admired the benevolent spirit breathed in his sermons. She will now
see the justness of the lines your laureate Whitehead 12 addresses to his
poets, and which I now address to her :

Full many a peevish, envious, slandering Elf

Is, in his works, benevolence itself,

For all mankind, unknown, his bosom heaves ;

He only injures those with whom he lives.

Read then the Man ; does truth his actions guide,

Exempt from petulance, exempt from pride ?

To social duties does his Heart attend,

As son, as father, husband, brother, friend ?

Do those who Know him love him ? if they do,

You've my permission, you may love him too. 13

It was doubtless at this time that Dr. Franklin also wrote
these lines in his copy of Dr. Smith's Discourses printed in 1759,
on the fly-leaf opposite the title page where an asterisk at the name
of the Author calls attention to them ; it was also doubtless in
the sermons printed in this volume that good Mrs. Stevenson
admired the benevolent spirit breathed in them. Dr. Franklin's
handwriting cannot be questioned, and appearing without naming
their source, many have given him the credit of their authorship,
which, however, his letter to Miss Stevenson sets at rest.

One cannot part with this unfortunate difference between
the Founder and the Provost (and here we can let it rest) with-
out now reciting the charge made by Dr. Smith affecting the

12 Poet Laureate in 1757, succeeding Colley Gibber.

13 These lines occur in William Whitehead's A Charge to the Poets, first printed
in 1762, and found in the edition of his Plays and Poems. The italics here followed
are Dr. Franklin's in his copy of the lines, in his letter to Miss Stevenson, in the
possession of the descendants of Mrs. Hewson, and from which this present copy of
his letter is rendered. These are quoted in Smith I, 341, but from the context
the authorship of the epigram might be attributed to Franklin himself. Their repro-
duction here seems necessary after the prominence given them by Dr. Smith's Biogra-
pher, otherwise they might not have merited a place in a history of the Institution
with which both were so intimately acquainted. See this letter in Bigelow, iii, 235,
wherein, however, only the initial letter of Smith's name is given.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 401

integrity of Dr. Franklin's electrical experiments, and which
must have been accepted by the latter, when it came to his
knowledge, as an unfriendly act, for it was recorded during his
first absence abroad. In the American Magazine, already
quoted from as under Dr. Smith's editorship, the latter in his
Account of the College and Academy in its last number
includes the names of the Professors and gives some statement
of their respective abilities and reputation ; and in speaking of
Mr. Kinnersley he uses this language :

He is well qualified for his position ; and has moreover great merit
with the learned world in being the chief inventor (as already mentioned)
of the Electric apparatus, as well as author of a considerable part of those
discoveries in Electricity published by Mr Franklin to whom he commu-
nicated them. Indeed Mr Franklin himself mentions his name with
honor, tho' he has not been careful enough to distinguish between their
particular discoveries. This, perhaps, he may have thought needless, as
they were known to act in concert But tho' that circumstance was known
here, it was not so in the remote parts of the world to which the fame of
these discoveries have extended.

Allusion has before this been made in these pages to
charges of Franklin's plagiarism in electrical experiments, that
some of his opponents maintained, which however were not sup-
ported by any statements of Kinnersley himself; but this is no
place to discuss their merits ; and the fact remains that when
preferred in this public manner, and in Franklin's absence
abroad by a well-known writer and one who had been intimately
associated with him in the management of the College, they
could not but be accepted by their object other than as an act
of extreme unkindness and unfriendliness, and memory would
retain their sting for a long time. Franklin could not but recall
those earlier years of constant communion with him in the con-
cerns of the young Academy, and of his own particular efforts
to secure the young Scotch tutor to its aid at the outset. But
Dr. Smith's, "our dear Franklin 14 ," of 1754, was no more, and
Franklin had now recorded in his quotation above given the
withdrawal of his friendship and confidence from Dr. Smith.

14 Smith, i. 51.

4O2 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

However, the lives of both were spared long enough for
them to overcome this unhappy estrangement, and the survivor
did large justice to his early and older friend, " his earliest
friend in Pennsylvania," 15 in his Eulogy on Franklin in 1791.

From West to East, by land and on the wide ocean, to the utmost
extent of the civilized globe, the tale hath been told that the venerable
sage of Pennsylvania, the patriot and patriarch of America is no more.
* * * * Yes, thou dear departed friend and fellow citizen ! Thou,
too, art gone before us thy chair, thy celestial car, was first ready. We
must soon follow, and we know where to find thee. May we seek to follow
thee by lives of virtue and benevolence like thine then shall we surely
find thee, and part with thee no more forever. 16

LXVL

Returning to the more agreeable topic of Dr. Smith's
journeyings and collections in England, we find in the Minute
of the King's Council of 12 August directing the issue of the
Brief, the following recital :

Whereas there was this day read to his Majesty at this Board the
Joint Petition of William Smith, Doctor in Divinity, Agent for the Trustees
of the College, Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia, in the
Province of Pennsylvania, and Provost of that Seminary; and of James
Jay, Doctor in Physic, Agent for the Governors of the College of the
Province of New York, in the City of New York in America, Setting forth,
That the great growth of these Provinces and the continued accession of
People to them from the different parts of the World, being some years ago
observed by sundry of his Majesty's good subjects there, they became
seriously impressed with a view of the inconvenience like to arise among
so mixt a multitude, if left destitute of the necessary means of instruction,
differing in Language and Manners, unenlightened by Religion, uncemented
by a common Education, Strangers to the human Arts, and to the just use
of Rational Liberty. [And reciting the fears caused by the] amazing pains
which Popish Emissaries were every day perceived to take for the propa-
gation of their peculiar Tenets, and the many Establishments which they

15 Smith, ii. 345 16 ibid, ii. 330, 343.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 403

were making for this Purpose in all the parts of America belonging to
them; * * * that from a deep sense of these growing Evils the
two Seminaries aforesaid, distant about 100 miles from each other, were
begun in two of the most important and populous trading Cities in his
Majesty's American Dominion, nearly at the same time and with the same
view not so much to aim at any high Improvements in Knowledge, as to
guard against total Ignorance; to instill into the Minds of Youth just prin-
ciples of Religion, Loyalty and Love of our excellent Constitution, to
instruct them in such branches of Knowledge and useful Arts as are neces-
sary to Trade, Agriculture, and a due improvement of his Majesty 1 s valu-
able Colonies; and to assist in raising up a succession of faithful Instruc-
tors and Teachers to be sent forth not only among his Majesty's subjects
there but also among his Indian allies, in order to instruct both in the way
of Truth, to save them from the Corruptions of the Enemy, and help to
remove the Reproach of suffering the Emissaries of a false Religion to be
more zealous in propagating their Slavish and Destructive Tenets in that
part of the world than Britons and Protestants are in promoting the pure
form of Godliness, and the glorious plan of public Liberty and Happiness
committed to them. * * * But as Designs of so extensive a nature
have seldom oeen completed (even in the most wealthy Kingdoms) unless
by the united generosity of many private Benefactors and often by the par-
ticular Bounty of Sovereign Princes, the Petitioners are persuaded it will
not be thought strange that all the Resources in the power of individuals in
young Colonies should be found inadequate to such a work, and that the
Governor and Trustees of the said Seminaries should have the just appre-
hension of seeing all that they have raised for their support speedily
exhausted and an end put to their usefulness, unless they can procure assist-
ance from distant places, as the expense of each of them is four hundred
pounds sterling yearly above their Income, the defraying of which would
require an additional Capital of about Six Thousand Pounds sterling a
Piece. * * * That the Petitioners being accordingly appointed to
sollicit and receive such assistance, and being sensible that the highest satis-
faction which his Majesty's known piety and humanity can derive from the
Prosperity and Extension of his Dominions will be to see these advantages
improved for enlarging the sphere of Protestantism, increasing the number
of good Men, and bringing barbarous Nations within the Pale of Religion
and Civil life, they are, therefore encouraged humbly to pray, That his
Majesty will be pleased to direct that a ROYAL BRIEF maybe passed under
the Great Seal of Great Britain, authorizing them to make a Collection
throughout the Kingdom from house to house, for the joint and equal ben-
efit of the two Seminaries, and Bodies corporate aforesaid.

And the Brief was, with only the delay of official formalities,
issued on 19 August.

404 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The recounting to the Trustees of these important prelimi-
nary steps made them ready to respond to Dr. Smith's sugges-
tions that suitable acknowledgments be made to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Thomas Penn, and Rev. Dr. Chandler, for their
zealous aid and influence on behalf of his plans. At the meeting
of 14 December, Messrs. Peters, Stedman, Chew, Edward Shippen
and Duche, were appointed a committee to prepare suitable
addresses, and at the meeting of 1 1 January "the President on
behalf of the Committee brought in the Draughts of the Addresses
and Letters which they were desired to prepare, and the same
being read were settled." To the Archbishop they said :

It gave us singular Pleasure and Satisfaction to hear of the extraordi-
nary Countenance and Encouragement which our worthy Provost met with
from your Grace, that you not only contributed generously yourself, but that
it is owing principally to your good offices that our pious Design hath
attracted the regard of the best of Kings, who hath been graciously pleased
to make the Charity more universal by granting to us his Royal Brief. * * *
We are willing to flatter ourselves, that our Infant Institution will be the
Means, under a wise and good Providence, of spreading the glorious light
of Gospel Truth over a considerable part of this untutored Continent. These
were our sincere and Christian motives at the first erection of this Seminary,
and by these we are still most zealously actuated in our Endeavors to sup-
port and establish it Encouraged by your Grace's kind and condescending
Regard, and ambitious of being patronized by a Prelate of such distin-
guished Piety, Learning and Knowledge, we will pursue with Industry
unwearied these benevolent Purposes.

To the Rev. Samuel Chandler, D. D., the eminent non-
conformist Divine, whose friendship with Dr. Smith had begun
in his correspondence as Secretary of the Society founded in
London in 1754 for the Education of Germans in Pennsylvania
with him, they

manifest their Gratitude for your kind Zeal and Influence in obtaining a
Royal Brief to render the Charity universal [and proceeding in a more catho-
lic vein than to the Archbishop :] this Institution was founded upon the
most generous and charitable principles. Our views were confined to no
particular Party, Sect or Denomination. The advancement of Learning, a
sincere and Christian regard for the Souls of our Countrymen together with
an inviolable attachment to that Religion and Liberty which we enjoy under
the best of Governments were the Sole Motives by which we were influ-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 405

enced in the Foundation of this Seminary. * * * Slavery and irreligion
were too frequently the offspring of Ignorance, and that the best and surest
preservative from both was the good and careful Education of our Youth.
This was the Plan upon which we set out at first, and we trust that we have
ever since invariably adhered to it [To Thomas Penn, they wrote grace-
fully accepting his decision in regard to the Perkasie lands and conclude :]
Dr Smith in all his Letters mentions the ready Assistance which you have
been pleased from time to time most cheerfully to afford him. We have
indeed experienced repeated Instances of your paternal regard for our Semi-
nary, from its very Foundation. But your kind Patronage and Countenance
of our present pious Design, your late exemplary Contributions, your warm
and affectionate Recommendations of it to persons of the highest Rank and
Fortune in the Kingdom by which you have prepared the way for the Suc-
cess with which it has been and is like to be attended, together with the
Zeal and Influence which you have exerted in obtaining a Royal Brief in
order to render the Charity universal, call for the highest returns of Grati-
tude that we can possibly make.

But meanwhile the Provost was busy in preparations for his
journeyings in England, heralded by the Brief. This was sent by
the instrumentality of what were known as Brief Layers, men
who were appointed attorneys for the purpose by Dr. Smith and
Dr. Jay to send a duly stamped copy of the Brief to each clergy-
man in the Kingdom, and as there were eleven thousand five
hundred of these in the Kingdom, even to furnish a majority of
these with a certified copy of the Brief was a labor to the Brief
Layers and so much revenue to the government. 1 John Byrd,
John Hall and John Stevenson, in the Borough of Strafford, Gen-
tlemen, were on 24 August appointed the Brief Layers, who from
the "money thereon collected," were to

deduct out of the same the sum of Six Pence a Parish Chapel or meeting
for every Brief duly certified and endorsed which shall by them be col-
lected and received back from all Places (except within the city of London
and weekly Bills of mortality and therein the sum of twelve Pence,) as the
full salary and charge for Laying down, collecting and receiving back the
said Briefs.

On 26 August Dr. Smith wrote to the Archbishop of York, ask-
ing his aid in the Northern Province :

these things are most honestly and dutifully submitted to your Grace,
1 Smith, i. 306.

406 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

which I have taken the Liberty to do, after having just come from the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, who was pleased to say he would write to your Grace
on this subject, and that there might be no Impropriety in my sending a
few Lines at the same time.

On 9 September, Dr. Smith and Dr. Jay issued a letter " To all
worthy and Reverend the Clergy and Ministers of the Gospel
into whose hands his Majesty's Royal Brief, for the Colleges of
Philadelphia and New York" may come, affording them

such further account of the Design and Usefulness of these Seminaries, as
might enable them, upon due information, to give the People under their
Ministry that Encouragement which we are persuaded your Christian Zeal
will induce you to bestow upon every Scheme for the advancement of
Religion and useful Knowledge. * * * You, Gentlemen, who are
the Ministers of God's Word, and always foremost in every Design for the
Instruction of Mankind, we can well depend that this so laudable an under-
taking will meet with your particular Countenance and assistance. The
kind Providence of God seems to have great things in view, by calling
the British Nation to the Possession of the most important part of America;
and the greatest of all the Glories that can accrue to this Kingdom from a
Dominion so widely extended, will be to make use of the opportunities
thereby given her for the advancement of divine Knowledge, and to be
found a chosen instrument in these latter Days for calling New and here-
tofore unexplored Countries, to the enjoyment of everything that can exalt
Humanity at a time when so many of the old have fallen again into their
original Barbarity. * * * What we would in a more especial manner
pray of you is, that, together with your good offices to make our Brief as
effectual as possible, in regard to the pious purposes for which it is granted,
you would likewise give it all the despatch your convenience will admit of.
And we hope our particular circumstances will be our plea for this humble
request, being at three thousand miles distance from the places of our
abode, and obliged at great expense to our Constituents, to wait the issue
of this business.

This letter, the authorship of Dr. Smith, is lengthy, but per-
spicuous. It recites the present work of the Colleges : " near
four hundred Youths are continually educated in them; of whom
about sixty are intended for the learned Professions, and," here
is a reference to the prevailing motive of all like seminaries at
the time " particularly to furnish a Supply of Ministers and
Teachers for the Different Societies of Christians in these parts."
And,

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 407

many excellent Youths, who would otherwise have been destitute of all
opportunities of a sufficient Instruction, are continually rendered useful in
both Provinces ; and, among those of more enlarged Circumstances, a far
greater number than ever was known at any former period, for acquiring the
first Rudiments of learning there have been induced and enabled to finish
their Education in this Kingdom at the Universities and Inns of Court.

Upon the outer leaf of the copy of this letter which he sent
Dr. Peters, he wrote these words "This Paper (which you have
had a copy sent you before) has been worth a Thousand Pound or
Two, to our Collection. Nothing was ever better received among
all Ranks of the clergy." They also united in a letter of the
same date, " To all Friends of Religion and Patrons of Useful
Knowledge," which was with some requisite modifications the
same Humble Representation that Dr. Smith had put forth
shortly after his arrival and before his concern in a Brief was con-
templated. The tempting suggestion was made that if their
friends now gave to the two institutions, they would not be
troubled with further solicitation.

The Subscribers were appointed to Solicit and receive the Benefac-
tions of pious and well disposed Persons in Great Britain and Ireland for
the Use of these Seminaries ; and have joined both Applications in One,
in order that, from the Importance of the Objects Such persons may be
induced to contribute more liberally, without Fear of future Solicitations
for any Thing of the like Kind from that Part of the World. 2

Thus armed and advertised the joint Commissioners set off
from London on 29 September, 1762, Dr. Smith hastening
Northward, as far as to Scotland his native land, and Dr. Jay
going to the West and South. The Provost writing to the
Trustees on 3 January, 1763 : 3

On that day, which was as soon as we could get all the 1 1, 500 Briefs
signed and stamped, I set out for Edinburgh and from thence went one
hundred miles farther North to see my aged and good Father. As my
business urged, I was obliged to do so much violence to myself as to stay
only a few Days with him. This act of Duty I hope the Trustees will no^

* The printed endorsement includes : " N. B. The Church Wardens are
requested to deliver this Rep> esentation (together with the Brief) to the Clergy as
soon as it comes to their Hand ; and it is hoped they will do everything else in their
Power to forward this pious design."

s Minutes, 12 April, 1763.

408 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

think was throwing away their time. If they should, it is the only fort-
night, or indeed the only moment, I have lost to them. But it cannot well
be called loss. One gentleman in that neighborhood, Sir Archibald Grant,
gave ten pounds sterling to the Design, and will collect somewhat more for
us. The University of Aberdeen also propose doing something. When
at Edinburg I waited on Dr Robertson, 4 Dr Wishart, 5 Dr Cuming, 6 Dr
Jordain and others. They are well disposed to serve us, but think their
Joint interest, though at the Head of Church of Scotland, will not be able
next Assembly at least to procure us a National Collection. * * *
However, the Gentlemen are to write to me on this Head, and readily
agreed to countenance a private Collection, which may produce almost as
much as the public one. Provost Drummond, who is the most popular
Magistrate they have ever had, will give his Countenance to the same.
* * * Dr Alison will not lose a moment in procuring Letters for the
Scots Clergy whether we apply publicly or privately, and let them be here
in April with your Instructions. * * * At Glasgow I found the same
Encouragement as at Edinburgh among the clergy, who professed them-
selves pleased with the Catholic plan of having Professors of different
Persuasions and told me that the Party in the Church of Scotland to whom
that would be an objection were not many. But I could not stay to
make any particular Collection either here or at Edinburg only prepared
matters. My being detained so long at London before I could set out for
the North and being obliged to be at Oxford in November hampered me
much in time. * * * On my return, I visited all the principal clergy
in the Towns on or near the Great Road, and wrote Letters to others. In
places where it was thought my presence would assist the Collections, we
agreed to delay it till March, when I promised to go down again, especially
to Yorkshire. * * * Thus in about six weeks from my setting out I
got back to London to meet Dr Jay, who had taken a like Tour Southward
on the same Plan. * * After two or three days' stay in London, we set
out again for Oxford, thinking it a compliment due to them to be both
there. From Oxford we went to Gloucester, and to the Manufacturing
Towns in that County, Dr Jay taking part of them and myself the other
Part, so as to meet at Bath, which we did a day before Christmas, and then
proceeded to London where the Briefs are now to be read in those full
months January and February. Bristol we have delayed to the end of
February and Bath afterwards. Dr Jay will go thither, while I go to" the
North in March. * * * We now find before us near forty Letters
unanswered, and a continual attendance on the clergy of London neces-

4 The Historian, who in this year was elected Principal of the University of
Edinburgh.

5 Rev. George Wishart.

6 Rev. Patrick Cuming.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 409

sary ; every one of whom, being near two hundred we must see within this
fortnight, and before they can read the Brief, which we are to give them
with our own hand. Many principal People are also to be waited on before
the Brief is read in their particular Parish because we hope they will give
more to one of ourselves than to a Brief, which some Persons have
resolved never to contribute to on account of Abuses which they conceive
are committed by the Brief Layers. * * * From the above account
you will see that neither our plan, nor our time would permit us to collect
much Money, yet we have not been unsuccessful even in this respect

And the Provost submits an account showing that Dr. Jay
had collected from their parting to their meeting again on 20
November, .121.12.6; Dr. Smith, in the same period had
collected .187.6.0. At the University of Oxford they had
jointly collected \ 6 1.18.0, and in the same manner at Glou-
cester, 35.10.0. Dr. Smith collected " among the clothiers at
Stroud, where he preached and had the Brief read " 49.11.6,
and at " Uiey, Dursley, and Weston Underedge, other cloathing
towns, independent of the Brief" 65.6.6. And Dr. Jay at
Hamton, Tetbury and Pains wick, collected .33.4.6.

The Brief was read at St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday, 6
March, 1763, and a sermon preached by Dr. John Brown, Vicar
of St. Nicholas', New Castle, on Religious Liberty, whose

greatest and most extensive effect, joined with true Christian Zeal, would
be a free and powerful Communication of the Glad Tidings of the Gospel
to those many and distant Nations who as yet sit in Darkness and the
Shadow of Death ; a duty which I should at all times be glad to Recom-
mend, but particularly when we are entering on a Peace, which throws into
our Hands immense savage Nations, as the greatest object of civilization ;
and more especially at a Time when a laudable Brief is on Foot (and on
this day read in many of the Churches of this great city) which calls on
every Christian to contribute his share to the success of this important
work. ~

1 A copy of this Sermon, " published at the Request of the Managers of the
Charity," is with the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Dr. Brown was a well-
known writer of his day; his Essays on Shaftesbury's Characteristics, London,
1751, which were suggested to him by Warburton, and to Warburton by Pope,
reached a fifth edition in 1764. The work which earned him the greatest reputa-
tion was ' An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times," London,
1757, and which reached seven editions in a little more than a twelvemonth.
Allibone.

4io HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

In the letter of the Trustees to Dr. Smith of 27 May,
1763, " they think themselves particularly obliged to Dr. Brown
for his most excellent Sermon."

Dr. Smith was favored with the company of one of his
first graduates, Dr. Morgan, and one of the Trustees, Mr. Inglis.
In his letter already quoted from, he says " Dr. Morgan is now
collecting somewhat occasionally for us and Mr. Inglis will join
him." In their letter of 27 May, 1763, the Trustees say to
him :

Mr Inglis and Dr Morgan will be able to advise you whether it is
best to proceed now to ask private charities, or to stay as you think it
would be better, till some time hence. Whatever you do, Mr Elliot can
be of great assistance, and will we doubt not cheerfully give it, and furnish
all necessary Letters and Recommendations from his Relatives who are
numerous and have great Interest.

A subsequent letter from the Provost asked the attention
of the Trustees to the importance of offering their thanks to
King George and to Lord Bute for their countenance and
assistance. King's College had early in the matter made its
loyal Address to the King, and later its loyal congratulations
on the birth of the Prince, and Dr. Smith knowing the salutary
effect of such procedure, took his Trustees to task for their
thoughtlessness on this head ; doubtless he took it amiss on his
own part that provision had not already been made for this.
The Knighting of Dr. Jay at this time because he was the
bearer of the Address of King's College, was an acute reminder
to him of the seeming neglect of the Trustees. " I know not
how it is," he writes them, 8

that our College, as a body, is so diffident and apt on the first motion to
beat down any proposal that has anything great in it It was thought
once that we were too little an object for national notice here. Time and
a fair trial have taught us better on this head. Had I at first desired an
Address from the Trustees to the King, I think it would not have been
granted. Yet a College of less note set out with such an Address. Public
bodies should have no shame of this sort ; I speak not this to blame
what is past, but rather to persuade you to lift up your heads and rather
fail in great attempts than be found too diffident.

8 Smith, i. 320.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 411

This letter with others was read to them on 10 May, 1763,
but a copy does not appear in the minutes, and a special Meet-
ing was held on 27 May to consider the addresses framed on his
suggestions. The warmth of loyalty expressed in the one to
the King may have compensated for their tardiness.

Amid the joyous Acclamations of a grateful People, exulting in a
Happiness derived from your Majesty's wise, just and gentle Administra-
tion, we, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects beg leave to lay
our sincere and humble acknowledgments at Your Majesty's Feet and to
express the deep sense we entertain of your Royal Condescending Regard
to the Institution under our Government and Direction. * * * Situ-
ated as we are in the centre of a Territory, which has long been the Theatre
of Desolation and Bloodshed, we cannot but feel a large share of that
general joy which is now diffused through your Majesty's American
Dominions, upon the conclusion of a Peace so honourable to our Nation,
so peculiarly beneficial to us. By this illustrious Event, we are prompted
not only to look with Astonishment upon your Majesty, as a Conqueror
triumphing over your Enemies, and giving Strength and Increase to your
Subjects and Dominions, but to revere you as a blessed instrument, in the
hands of Providence, of planting at once the Christian and the British
Banners, the Banners of Liberty and true Religion in these remotest
corners of the Western World. * * * To conquer and to civilise has
hitherto been deemed the highest Effort of human Heroism. But to com-
pleat the Glory of your Majesty's Reign, Heaven seems to have reserved
it for your Majesty not to conquer and civilize only, but, by spreading
throughout your wide extended conquests the Knowledge of Christ's
Kingdom, even to bless Millions of Mankind with the comforts of true
Religion, and the Gospel means of Salvation.

Could the phraseology of the concluding paragraph have
been one of the counts of the Indictment of 1779?

It shall be our earnest Endeavor, as far as our Influence extends,
carefully to provide that the Principles of true Religion, good govern-
ment, and useful learning, together with a love and Veneration for the
British Constitution, and an unshaken Loyalty and Affection to your
Majesty' s Person and your illustrious House, be constantlyinculcated in
the Minds of the Youth placed under our Instruction.

To Lord Bute, they " beg leave to return your Lordship
our most sincere Thanks and Acknowledgments for the Chear-
fulness and Condescension with which you have been pleased

412 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

to promote the Interest of the Seminary under our Inspection
and Government."

Dr. Smith, on 5 August, was taken by Mr. Penn to an
audience with the King in order to present this Address. Mr.
Inglis, as a Trustee, and Mr. Powel, an alumnus, accompanied
them. The King was gracious and asked several questions
about the College. ' In one of his letters he says :

He almost got Mr Powel knighted, but thought it would be idle, and
be considered as a design to separate him from his old friends, the
Quakers at home ; a thought which he would scorn in regard to any of his
Pupils. He did not know whether it would be agreeable to Mr. Powel,
and therefore gave it to be understood that he desired no honours, but
only to testify gratitude. 9

As Dr. Jay had been Knighted in the previous April on
presenting the Address of King's College, it was reasonable for
Dr. Smith to hope the like honor for his lay companion at this
scene.

In later letters Dr. Smith continues his narrative. On 24
April, 1763, he acknowledges from London the receipt of the
" Addresses of the Trustees to the Archbishop, Mr. Penn, and
Dr. Chandler," which " were delivered and kindly received,"
and he proceeds :

I shall leave this place by the I2th of May at farthest having kept
back the Collection at York, Liverpool, and some other considerable towns.
From thence I shall cross over to Ireland and try to get away for America
by 1st September, for I will by no means take a winter passage. The
Trustees ^may depend that I shall leave nothing undone that requires
my presence and shall rather stay another winter, how irk-
some and inconvenient soever than desert the good cause which I
have carried on so far with success. * * * At present our Col-
lection goes on well in the several parishes of this city and I take the
usual pains to get proper Preachers. In a most divided kingdom, by a
happy Fate, the leaders of all sides have been induced to contribute.
We have in our list the names of the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Bute,
and Mr Pitt ; and both Universities have been liberal. From Lady
Curzon, who happened to be one of my audience when I preached at
Curzon Street Chapel (commonly called Mayfair Chapel), I received one
Hundred pounds. My friend Mr Dawkins readily gave fifty pounds and

9 Smith, i. 322.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 413

Col. Barre has been kind in introducing me to sundry persons. But you
must not think that all this produces very great Sums.

And he then proceeds to portray a curious picture of the con-
ditions under which his plans were pursued.

We are by the Brief entirely prevented from applying to the middling
rank of people, for if we were to go to them (which indeed is hardly pos-
sible in any large Degree) none of the Parish Ministers would be at the pains
to carry round the Brief, and then as to People of Fortune who can afford
something extraordinary, it is almost impossible to get at them, or to get
anything from them but by a particular interest, they are so harassed with
an infinity of Charities; and then when they are disposed to give you must
call twenty times perhaps before the matter is finished, so that you see the
Brief must greatly interfere with all our private attempts to collect, not
only as barring our applications to all that set of people who could be most
readily got at, but likewise furnishing others with an excuse to put us off
by saying they have given or will give to the Brief. * * * On sum-
ming up my Book I find that including Mr Penn's Benefaction I have ^1700
to the credit of our College without the Brief Money our share of which
will certainly amount to as much more. * * * On Wednesday next
we are to have a Benefit oratorio at Drury Lane and Mr Beard leaves his
own House to perform for us at the other, and will give a benefit himself
next winter, but could not do it now on account of a Week lost to him by the
late riots at his house, viz: Covent Garden. Mr Garrick has been exceed-
ingly kind in the matter and gave his house at first asking and was sorry
that the season was so far advanced and that he had no night disengaged
sooner. The principal performers, vocal and instrumental, serve Gratis and
we are favoured by the Boys from the Chapel Royal, and every other mark
of Distinction. Mr Tyers even put off the opening of Vaux Hall, which was
fixed on Wednesday next in order to favour us. But after all the season
is so far advanced and so warm that we doubt it will turn out to no great
advantage. If the house fill it may be .200. If not, the expense will be
certainly cleared. And as Dr Brown kept his performance for this purpose
agreeable to a promise given me at Newcastle we could not refuse it, at the
time we could get it on. I enclose you a copy of this performance as also
Dr Brown' s Sermon, with one by Mr Watson on account of our Brief ; so that
you see we begin to be taken notice of. There has been many a good
Sermon on this subject, which the Circular Letter sent with the Brief con-
tributed much to produce. And indeed I rejoice more in having been the
writer of that letter than anything I ever wrote, it has been so well
received.

The postscript to this letter contains the germ of a future
controversy.

414 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

You will observe that this Collection was solicited and given to raise
a Capital and that the Bishops and commissioners in the Brief have desired
Mr Penn's assurance as well as mine that it shall be properly laid out as
such for the Payment of Salaries, a thing we had no difficulty to promise,
knowing it to be the full intention of the Trustees, for should we spend this
we could not beg a second time.

We cannot follow Dr. Smith's steps through his busy
wanderings in pursuit of his collections; we would find in them a
most interesting itinerary, and would be afforded a clear picture
of the customs prevailing in such cases. Nothing was left
undone by him in his zeal for the furtherance of his mission ;
untiring in journeyings, in visits, in solicitations, in correspond-
ence, his energies did not seem to flag.

On 1 2 September he writes :

Jay and I are just setting out from the New York Coffee House and
hope to be at Holyhead as soon as the Lord Lieutenant, and at Dublin by
Saturday night But I do not know that I shall stay more than three or
four weeks in Ireland, for we are told that in the present situation of that
Kingdom, we can hope for little but in Dublin, Cork, and Deny.

But shortly after his arrival in Dublin he was taken
ill, and the anxieties of his friends were great lest he
should not recover ; here he was detained in enforced
idleness for many weeks ; but in convalescence he measur-
ably resumed his activities, and sought the society of the
learned in Dublin and those influential in the work of educa-
tion. Trinity College bestowed a Doctorate upon him, his
diploma bearing date 9 January, 1764. He was detained here
until 28 January, when he returned to England, proceeding to
Stoke, the seat of the Penns, where he remained under the kind
care of Mr. Penn and his wife for a fortnight, and reached Lon-
don in the first week of February.

He wrote to the Trustees on n February, 1764, a few
days after his arrival there, an account of his

most dangerous situation in Dublin, having been ten weeks confined to Bed
of Fever both Bilious and Nervous which from the beginning had very bad
symptoms, and for some time brought me to a State in which no hopes were
entertained of a possibility of recovery. Sir James Jay attended me at
first, but soon declared the matter to be too serious for him to take the whole

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 415

on himself; and Dr. Dawson, our proprietor' s Brother in law concurring in
this, Dr. Barry a Man of the first note in Dublin, Physician general to the
Army and Professor of Physick in the University, was called, who paid me
near four score of visits with such care and tenderness as I shall never
forget. * * * Happy was it that I was taken ill in a large city, and
where I could have such help. * * * It was long hanging about me
before I was taken down, and Dr. Barry said it had been brought on by too
much anxiety and fatigue. It is not my Temper to boast of services or value
myself thereby; I would rather be more humble on that Account, knowing
that Posterity will always do justice if the present times were wanting. We
have indeed had surprising success; but there have been so many happy
turns in it, when to all appearances difficulties were insuperable, that a
kind providence seems to have been with us, and I can claim no more than
doing my duty and attentively striving to make the most of every Incident
as it happened. * * * Except by my sickness, I can in truth say, I
have never lost a day to our Business nor thought of anything else; but
so much traveling on Horseback, different diet and cookery, different Beds,
different drink, and being obliged to eat and drink often especially at
night, when I had no want of either, contributed to bring that most invet-
erate and obstinate disorder on me; and yet it was not in my power, in
justice to our cause, to refuse the invitations given me and the Hospitality
of our Benefactors. * * * But God has been pleased to preserve me
not only thro' that danger, but also the danger of a most tempestuous pas-
sage, being in the beginning of the same storm that has done so much
damage in the channel and frightened the Nation on account of the Prince
and Princess of Brunswick, who are at last got safe to Holland. I waited
near ten days at Dublin on account of the weather at Dublin and embarked
on a most flattering evening with a fair Gale, but the scene was soon
changed. However, next day about ten in the morning and with much
difficulty, we got in.

One of the last letters to the Trustees written by him prior
to his illness, already quoted from, again enlarged upon the
necessity of capitalising the collections made under the Brief,
for a minute is made at their meeting of 8 November, namely :

Several letters received from Dr. Smith were read the substance of
all which was contained in one of 12 September, and as it appeared by
these Letters that the Commissioners under the Royal Brief required some
Assurances from the Trustees of the Academy that the Money collected
should be laid out on Land security and presented as a perpetual Fund for
the College, the President was desired to write the necessary Letters and
to consult with Mr Chew and Mr Shippen thereupon. [Dr Smith had
said,] when you draw, it is expected that you will enable me to satisfy the

416 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Commissioners how you are laying out the Money and on what securities
and that it will be preserved as a Capital. I have often been interrogated
on these Heads and if Mr Penn had not kindly promised for you in all
these points, we should not have got our Money so fast into our hands.
These questions you will not think impertinent from Men of high rank
whoce countenance has procured us this great collection and whom the
King has made Trustees in the appropriation of the Money to the uses for
which it was given, viz: as a Capital towards bringing us .400 per annum,
as the Brief of my commission sets forth. This you will not think any
hard request. Mr Penn, Mr Allen, and every body think we are bound to
keep it as a Capital and ought to do it even if we had not asked for it as
such. I have wrote you often on this head, and I wonder you have not
enabled me to say what is proper on your behalf. I have a difficult part to
act between you and those under whom I act here. They desire to inter-
meddle no further, than to be ascertained how the money here committed
to them, is laid out with you, and that it will be made a lasting Capital.
They would scorn, even if they could, to abridge us of one single right
which we hold under our Charter, and after the Money is remitted, and
they assured that it is laid out to its true uses, they will perhaps never
inquire more after us. For my part, whatever silly Notions may enter
jealous minds, I would sooner have come to you without a shilling than
have been subjected to any terms inconsistent with our present liberal
plan. You may see this by my anxiety to remit such large sums, without
a single condition, but enabling us to shew the Commissioners of the Brief
and the good people of England that their cash is faithfully remitted and
on undoubted security (which I presume must be land security) to answer
the purposes for which we are entrusted with it.

There were reasons, undoubtedly, for this urgency, which
we cannot now fathom ; whether the desires of the Trustees
to realize on the Perkasie gift of Mr. Penn had led him to doubt
their wisdom while at the same time he was wanting in confi-
dence as to the stability of their purposes, we cannot say. Cer-
tain it is that the occasion of Dr. Smith's visit was the wish to
complete their new buildings, though its cause lay deeper than
that, namely, in the annually diminishing resources of the insti-
tution. An echo of this distrust may have found lodgment in
Dr. Smith's mind as well, as Dr. Franklin was now at home,
and his influence might be again felt among the Trustees and
some scheme might be formulated foreign to his own views of
the government of the College. Whatever may have been the

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 417

force of this urgency among the contributors generally, it will
be found in the sequel that the only official request made of the
Trustees by their friends the Commissioners was an assurance
that the institution should forever be carried on in the same
"liberal plan " as it had been framed in.

Dr. Peters, on behalf of the Trustees, responded to this
warm appeal of Dr. Smith with a degree of spirit which testified
to their sense of being misapprehended if not mistrusted, and
wrote him 12 November, 1763 :

The Trustees conceived that the assurances they gave the publick in
your commission under their Seal, ' that whatever should be contributed to
the good end therein set forth should be faithfully applied upon the same
liberal and pious plan wherein the College was first founded ' would have
satisfied the Commissioners appointed by the King, so that they might
safely pay to you the Money collected to be remitted to us; otherwise we
would have given you before this fresh assurances and as strong as could
be made. But as you inform us that further assurances are expected, I
am now requested and authorized by the Trustees to let you know that all
the money drawn for which is ^1500 sterling was forthwith let out upon an
interest of 6 p ct on a double security, that is, on a Mortgage of Lands
accompanied with a Bond and Judgment from the Mortgagor which is the
very best security that can be devised, being the same that the Trustees of
the General Loan Office of this province take for the monies lent by them
to private Borrowers, and that the same method will be observed punctually
and faithfully with respect to every sum that shall come into their hands
out of the Monies collected and paid to you for the use of their College.
* * * Lest you should be absent or set out for America, I have said
as much as this in my Letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury and to
Mr Penn, and as the latter has a perfect knowledge of the Trustees, their
characters and their whole Conduct in the Management of their Trust, we
hope there will be no hesitation in ordering the payment of the monies
collected to be made to you. 10

10 When just prior to Dr. Smith's leaving England on his return home, five of
the Commissioners under the Brief, namely the Archbishops of Canterbury and
York, the Bishop of Winchester, Dr. Chandler, and Thomas Penn, gave Dr. Smith
their power of attorney dated 13 April, 1764, "to see and take care in conjunction
with the Trustees, that the share of the Collection that has arisen or may arise to the
same be laid out upon sufficient security ; and preserved as a Capital to produce
an Annual Revenue for the Benefit of the said Seminary agreeable to the meaning
of the said Letters Patent and our express Intention in this our Letter of Attorney
declared" And requiring him "to transmit them an account properly vouched and
certified of the manner in which the whole monies * * * * is disposed or
laid out * * with an account of the Securities taken and the amount of the
annual Revenue which the monies so laid out may produce."

418 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

In his letter of 1 1 February, 1764, the Provost gave a brief
summary of the results of the collection.

I can now assure you that our share (including the Proprietors ^500)
will amount to Six thousand pounds nearly and clear of all expenses.
This tells well and will be a noble sum in your Currency. But you will
not let your Draughts from the beginning exceed four thousand pounds,
till I see you or send further advice, for I must return to Stratford before I
embark and one of the last things I do. There are 9600! Briefs come in
and 1500 not come in, but the greatest part will be ready by the ist March
and then I go to make a settlement with them. * * * I begin next
week to publish a List of the Whole Collection that every Contributor may
see the exactness of the Account * * * I find the Dissenters have not
contributed so much as I hoped ; but many others have far exceeded all
hopes . The Quakers have returned all their Briefs blank. But I do not
find that they have tried much to dissuade others from giving, and so far
we are obliged to them.

His last letter, dated 10 March, is submitted to the Trustees
at their Meeting of 8 May.

Since I came to London from Ireland, I began to recover my usual
strength, have preached on the Brief in three Capital Churches where it
had been delayed for that purpose, viz : St. Mary, White Chapel, St.
George the Martyr, and Lambeth Church ; I have made great Collections
in the Parishes belonging to them, and do not doubt if I could stay a
Month or two longer I might add at least a thousand Pounds more to the
Collection, as I have raised near one hundred Pounds one Week with
another since my return to London, part of which was on the Brief, and
Part in private Collections. But I am determined to embark for Philadel-
phia the end of March, as I am thoroughly tired out, and long earnestly
to be with my Family, and Mr Peters is urgent for my return that he himself
might embark for Liverpool to see his Relatives. There are only about
seven or eight parishes now in London, w r here the Brief has not been
collected, and I have engaged some of my friends to preach in them, and
to give all possible attention to the Collection.

That his work had been well done and his labors constant
are testified to by the results already portrayed, and there needs not
the confirmation of his English supporters. Thomas Penn writes
him, 9 April, 1764, " the great zeal with which you have sol-
licited the Contributions for the Benefit of the College of Phila-
delphia must entitle you to the Regard and Esteem of every
Person that wishes well to the Province of Pennsylvania," and

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 419

assuring him of his friendship on all occasions, asks him to accept
as a Token his Draft on his Banker for fifty pounds. In his prompt
acknowledgment of the Proprietary's substantial remembrance,
he covers also his allegiance to the Proprietary interests in his
far-off home :

please to accept my assurances, that so far as my Judgment or Abilities can
carry me, you shall ever find me, in all Prudence, earnest to promote the
best interests of the Country with which you are so closely connected, and
which I know you and your Family will always consider as inseparable
from your own interests.

Archbishop Seeker writes to Dr. Peters on 13 April :

I cannot let Dr Smith go without sending you a line by him. Provi-
dence has blessed our Endeavors here, for the Benefit of his College, much
beyond my expectation. And indeed his Abilities and Diligence have
been the chief Instruments of the Success. Dissenters have contributed
laudably ; but the Members of the Church of England, and particularly
the Clergy, have been proportionately more liberal. Doubtless they were
induced to it by the Allegation in the Brief, that this Seminary, and that of
New York, would be extremely useful in educating Missionaries to serve
the Society for propagating the Gospel. And therefore I hope the Trustees
of the College of Philadelphia will be careful to make Provision, that all
such as are designed for Clergymen of our Church shall be instructed by a
Professor of Divinity who is a Member of our Church ; which may surely
be done without giving any offense to Persons of other Denominations ; a
Fault that by all means should be studiously avoided ; as I doubt not,
through your Prudence, it may and will. And with due Precaution, the
Thing is necessary to be done.

And Dr. Chandler writes to Dr. Peters :

The Doctor has been indefatigable in his Endeavours to serve the
Philadelphia College and greatly successful He well deserves the sin-
cerest thanks of all the Trustees, of the several Professors and Masters, and
all who wish well to the College, and indeed, in general, of all the Friends
of Knowledge and Learning. 11

Sir James Jay had been left in Ireland by Dr. Smith, and
the latter had given settlement of their joint accounts in the hands
of Mr. Penn ; but it was not until August of that year that Mr.
Penn, as representative of Dr. Smith, Sir James Jay for King's

"Smith, i. 351, 52,54.

420 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

College, and Mr. Barlow Trecothick, as a Friend to both Colleges,
met for the purpose of settling the accounts, which being passed
upon by each one, Mr. Trecothick was entrusted with preparing
<~he final account. Sir James Jay's unhappy controversy with
his College which grew out of the accounting of his affairs, led
to the publication of his Letter to the Governors of the College of
New York, 1771, before referred to. This grew, apparently,
from anticipating his collections, and drawing for too great an
amount. A reference to this draft by Dr.. Smith in his letter of
II February, 1764, properly finds record here:

I thought it best the moment I was able to come to look after our
Business in England, and to leave Jay in Ireland, who does not propose so
speedy a return to America as is necessary for me. And indeed I got to
England just Time enough to save for New York the damages on ^2500
protested bills ; for they had drawn for ^4000 at once, and Mr Drummond
had but ^1500, and could not get more as the power of settling with the
Brief gatherers was in Jay and me. They were too rash in their Draught
at New York ; but, however, out of their own share the whole ^4000 is
paid and ^500 left over with Mr Drummond, with whom I have just been.

LXVIL

Finally, Provost Smith bade Adieu to his friends in Eng-
land, and embarking from Falmouth on 23 April in the Earl of
/7tf/2/"<2;r packet, reached New York, 1 on 5 June, and immediately
set out for Philadelphia which after a rapid journey for those
days he reached the next evening. The Pennsylvania Gazette of
16 June, chronicled his arrival and reception on 14 June.

Late on Wednesday Evening the 6th Inst. the Rev'd Doctor Smith,
Provost of the College of this city, arrived in perfect health, having come
in the Halifax packet, in about six weeks from Falmouth. The Day follow-
ing, the Professors of the Colleges in their proper Habits, and many of the
principal gentlemen of the city, gave him a most cordial welcome at his

1 New York Mercury, 1 1 June, 1 764.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 421

House; and on Tuesday last the Trustees of the College received him at
the College, and, after perusing the Papers and Accounts which he laid
before them, they did by the Mouth of their President return him their
unanimous Thanks, for the great Zeal, Ability, and Address, which he hath
shown in the Management of the Collection, carried on in conjunction with
Sir James Jay, for this College, and that of New York; by Means of which,
about Thirteen Thousand Pounds Sterling will come clearly to be divided
between the two Seminaries. 2

But the Trustees' Minutes of 12 June give a more stately
account of their reception of him. Messrs. Peters, Hamilton, Coxe,
Duche, Redman, Edward Shippen, Coleman, Turner, Phineas and
Thomas Bond, Lardner, Strettell, Stedman, White, Willing, and
Cadwalader, met according to notice and Dr. Smith

being introduced by the President, he was most affectionately received by
all the members of the Board, who expressed great satisfaction on seeing
him safely returned and perfectly recovered from the dangerous Sickness
into which he had fallen in the City of Dublin. After which kind saluta-
tions he produced the State of the Collection as it stood at the time of his
Departure from England, properly vouched by the Hon'ble Thomas Penn,
Esqr and Mr. Alderman Trecothicke who have kindly accepted a Power of
Attorney from the Commissioners named in the Royal Brief, to examine,
settle and close the whole Collection as soon as the remainder of the Briefs
can be returned into the proper office, there being about thirteen hundred
outstanding when Dr. Smith came away, and about nine thousand seven
hundred returned. Dr. Smith then delivered a joint Letter from the Pro-
prietors to the Trustees, and a separate Letter to them from the Hon'ble
Thomas Penn, Esq, after which he withdrew. Being soon afterwards
called in, the President in the Name and by the order of the Trustees
voted him their unanimous Thanks in the warmest and most affectionate
Manner for the great Zeal, Diligence, Ability and Address which he had
shown in the Management of this Collection, for which all the Friends of
this Institution as well as of Learning in General were under the greatest
obligations to him.

2 The total results as recited in the account entered in the Minutes of 3 May,
1765, are namely:

One half of the Brief Money, 4800.

One half private Collections preceding 22 June, 1762, 1136.10.6

Royal Bounty, 200.

Proprietary Bounty, 500.

Collected before the Scheme for New York was united, 284.17.

6921. 7.6

which at current rate of exchange 72^ per cent, would bring in Pennsylvania
Currency, .11.939.6.5.

422 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

To this the Provost made a feeling and appropriate reply,
closing with the statement

that the Success had far exceeded anything that could be reasonably expected,
and would no doubt lead all concerned to be truly thankful to our Bene-
factors, and earnestly desirous to manage their Bounty so as most effectu-
ally to answer their pious Intentions.

Dr. Peters then read the letter of Dr. Chandler to him of
12 April, already quoted from, and as it

referred to another drawn up by the Archbishop of Canterbury and him-
self, Dr. Smith produced the same, and Mr. Stedman, Mr. Shippen, Mr.
Duche and Dr. Redman were appointed a Committee together with the Pro-
vost, to consider the said two letters together, with those from the Propri-
etors, and to draw up proper addresses and answers to them against Thurs-
day next.

Thanks were ordered to be conveyed to Mr. Trecothick
for his great kindness during the whole Collection and also to
Messrs. David Barclay and Sons for their kindness ; and before
closing

it was recommended to the Trustees to consider against next Meeting in
what Manner they might best shew their Regard to Dr. Smith, increase his
support, and put him on as respectable a Footing as possible in the Insti-
tution.

And at the following meeting this regard was testified by allow-
ing him

One Hundred Pounds per annum as a Consideration for those Services,
which sum is not to be considered as an addition to the Salary of Provost,
but solely as a Reward for Dr. Smith's personal services in England.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 423
LXVIII.

The meeting of 14 June, 1764, became a historic one, and
marks an era in the life of the College of standing importance,
although fifteen years later that life was for a while stricken down
by its enemies, who turned to the record of this meeting for false
testimony whereon to formulate their charges which brought
about the abrogation of the existing charter. Let us first recite
the significant letter jointly signed by Archbishop Seeker, the
brothers Penn, and Dr. Chandler, of which Dr. Smith was the
bearer. The causes which led to this historic document are
detailed by Dr. Chandler in his letter to Dr. Peters of 12 April,
and display the kindly and worthy motives which prompted it.
He writes :

As there have been some Suspicions entertained on both sides that
the present Constitution of it may be altered, and the Professors and Mas-
ters, now of different Denominations, in Time may all be of one prevail-
ing Denomination to the exclusion of those of the other, by the Art and
Power of the prevailing party ; and as the Doctor [Smith] justly appre-
hended this would be contrary to the intention of those who have con-
tributed towards the Support of the College (who have been of all parties
amongst us) and inconsistent with the Prosperity of the Institution itself,
by his Desire, I waited, Monday last, on the good Archbishop of Can-
terbury, where, with the Doctor, we freely debated this affair for an Hour
together. His Grace, a friend to Liberty, and highly approving the pres-
ent Plan on which the College is established, gave his Opinion that this
Plan should be preserved without alteration. I had the Honor entirely
to agree with the ArchbP , and, on Dr. Smith's proposing to him that a
Letter to the Trustees representing our Judgment in this affair, and signed
by both of us, might be of some Weight to keep Things on their present
P'ooting and prevent all future Jealousies on either side, he readily assented
to it. * * * As my Judgment is supported by that of so worthy a
Prelate, and as I apprehend by the Reason of the Thing itself, I hope it
will, as his Judgment, have the good effect of preventing all future jeal-
ousies, and of establishing Peace and Harmony amongst all the worthy
Professors, and of promoting Religion, Learning and Liberty, which I pray
God may long continue to flourish in that Seminary.

The following letter, it will be seen, was joined in by the Pro-
prietaries, and approved by one of the most influential Trustees,
then in London, Chief Justice Allen.

424 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

To the Trustees of the College and Academy of Philadelphia
Gentlemen

We cannot omit the opportunity which Doctr Smith's return to
Philadelphia gives us of congratulating you on the great success of the
Collection which he came to pursue and of acknowledging your obliging
Addresses of Thanks to us for the Share we had in recommending and
encouraging this Design. Such a mark of your Attention to us will, we
doubt not, excuse our hinting to you what we think may be further neces-
sary to a due Improvement of this Collection, and the future Prosperity
of the Institution under your care.

This Institution you have professed to have been originally founded
and hitherto carried on for the general Benefit of a mixed Body of People.
In his Majesty's Royal Brief, it is represented as a Seminary that would be
of great use " for raising up able Instructors and Teachers, as well for the
Service of the Society for propagating the Gospel in foreign Parts, as for
other Protestant Denominations in the Colonies."

At the time of granting this Collection, which was sollicited by the
Provost, who is a Clergyman of the Church of the England, it was known
that there were united with him a Vice Provost who is a Presbyterian, and
a principal Professor of the Baptist Persuasion, with sundry inferior Pro-
fessors and Tutors, all carrying on the Education of Youth with great Har-
mony ; and People of various Denominations have hereupon contributed
liberally and freely.

But jealousies now arising lest this Foundation should afterwards be nar-
rowed, and some Party endeavor to exclude the Rest, or put them on a worse
Footing than they have been from the Beginning, or were at the Time of this
Collection, which might not only be deemed unjust in itself, but might like-
wise be productive of Contentions unfriendly to Learning and hurtful to
Religion ; we would therefore recommend it to you, to make some funda-
mental Rule or Declaration to prevent Inconveniences of this Kind ; in
doing of which, the more closely you keep in View the Plan on which the
Seminary was at the Time of obtaining the Royal Brief, and on which it
has been carried on from the Beginning, so much the less Cause we think
you will give for any Party to be dissatisfied.

Wishing continual Prosperity and Peace to the Institution, We are,
with great Regard,

Gentlemen

Your faithful

Friends and Servants

London Tho. Cant.

9 April, 1764 Tho. & Richd Penn

I as a Trustee approve Sam. Chandler,

of this Letter. Wit-
ness my Hand,

Will. Allen

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 425

Wherein lay this distrust that the Trustees would possibly
narrow the scheme of the College cannot now well be traced.
King's College was admittedly a Church of England Institution,
and was the recipient of the noble bounty of Trinity Church,
which to secure to the College the President of its choice elected
Dr. Johnson an assistant Minister of the Parish in order to
assure him a living. It appealed under the Royal Brief to the
English people with force equal to that exerted by the Phila-
delphia College, though making no pretentions to that " liberal
plan" claimed by the latter at its origin. But the latter having
now renewed this claim, to meet possibly the desires of Dr. Chand-
ler and his friends, urgency was now exerted on the Trustees to
officially renew the assurance of it. The President of the Board was
now Rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, the Provost the
most eminent preacher and orator in the Province, and the more
influential Trustees were members of the Church of England.
These latter from the outset had in fact the same prevailing
church membership, but under Franklin's leading impulse this
was not felt, they having been united by him to aid the new
academy from their mercantile and personal influence, and in no
wise because of their church membership. But the gradual
withdrawal of Franklin's concerns in the Seminary, and the
prevailing influence of Peters, Smith and Duche, 1 three Church
of England clergymen, especially as the second of these was
politically the champion of that church's interest in the
Province, would suffice to give color to any accusations of the
kind which might be raised against it. From Franklin's present
standpoint, it must have appeared to be narrowing, and his fears
would be confirmed when he saw his college uniting with a
Church of England college in a general collection. If this view
was accepted by him before his leaving England, he might
reasonably give some expression to it, for he was without the
confidence of Dr. Smith, whose estrangement might only serve

111 Mr. Stedman and Mr. Duch6 are both extremely kind and give me all the
Assistance in their power with the utmost assiduity and readiness in conducting the
Academy Business." Dr. Peters to Dr. Smith. 28 May, 1763. Penna. Magazine,-*..
352.

426 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

to strengthen this view. That some of the Professors and
Tutors were other religionists than Churchmen, was rather the
result perhaps of circumstances than of intention, and this may
have been known to Franklin. Dr. Peters in writing to Dr.
Smith his letter of 28 May, 1763, bewails this :

I blush to tell you that we have not one church Tutor in all our
Academy. There is not a Churchman upon the Continent as I can hear
of that is fit to make a Tutor ; and it is from downright necessity that we
are obliged to take such as offer. 2

This fear or mistrust of the Trustees would have but little
weight as a matter of mere record in the life of the College, but
as grave issues a few years subsequently were evolved from
this disputed point, this seems the place to look for the seeds
which were claimed to bear the bitter fruit of those later years.
The wise and capable Dr. Chandler could not have succeeded
in winning Archbishop Seeker's cooperation in the present
appeal to the Trustees, had he not satisfied him that good reasons
prevailed to seek an official utterance from the Trustees which
would allay this doubt. Whatever may have been at that time
the prevailing circumstances which fostered this doubt as to the
integrity of the appeal of the Trustees on their original "liberal
plan," we cannot now well define them, but we must admit their
credible existence, and the readiness of the Trustees to
appreciate the point and their promptness to give a responsive
assurance of their integrity in this regard, is evidenced by their
immediate action upon the joint letter to them from their friends.
And before adjournment at this important meeting of 14 June,
they adopted the following Declaration :

The Trustees being ever desirous to promote the Peace and Pros,
perity of this Seminary, and to give Satisfaction to all its worthy Bene-
factors, have taken the above Letter into their serious Consideration, and
perfectly approving the Sentiments therein contained, do order the same to
be inserted in their Books, that it may remain perpetually declarator)' of
the present wide and excellent Plan of this Institution, which hath not only
met with the approbation of the great and worthy Personages above men-
tioned, but even the Royal Sanction of his Majesty himself. They further

1 Penna. Magazine x. 352.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 427

declare that they will keep this Plan closely in their View, and use their
utmost Endeavours that the same be not narrowed nor the Members of the
Church of England or those dissenting from them (in any future Election to
the principal offices mentioned in the aforesaid letter) be put on any worse
Footing in this Seminary than they were at the Time of obtaining the
Royal Brief. They subscribe this with their names and ordain that the
same be read and subscribed by every new Trustee that shall hereafter be
elected before he takes his Seat at the Board.

Of the Twenty-four Trustees now serving, twenty promptly
signed the same on the Minute Book, including Franklin,
though he and Dr. Shippen and Mr. Chew did not attend this
meeting or that of 12 June called to receive the Provost. 3 Of
the other four, Mr. Inglis who was yet abroad in June, signed
on 1 1 September; Chief Justice Allen was also abroad ; Mr.
Elliot had removed to New York, and his place was shortly
declared vacant ; and Mr. Syng's name also does not appear.

This weighty matter thus duly recorded, letters to their
kind friends were read, approved, and ordered to be entered on
the minutes. To the Archbishop they say :

Whatever comes recommended to us by the names of Personages to
whom we are under so many obligations, cannot fail of having its due
Weight with us, more especially as it is conformable to that generous plan
which we have always pursued in this Seminary ; and therefore we found

8 Dr. Shippen's attendance at the meetings about this time were infrequent.
But the absence of Mr. Chew may not have been without design, if we accept a
statement regarding him in Dr. Peter's letter to Dr. .smith of 28 May, 1763: "It
gives your Friends here a great deal of concern that you have had so much trouble in
defending yourself against what was said to your prejudice about Mr. Beaty's Collec-
tion. The noise as I wrote you, was very strong at first, but it has subsided for some
time. From your first Letters we all saw the thing in its true light. * * * I
gave Dr. Alison the printed Letter with your Defence certified by Mr. Penn and Dr.
Chandler and desired him to shew it to his Brethren. This I did as soon as the first
of them arrived. * * I showed it likewise to Mr. Allen and left it with him at

his own request, and I hope at meeting you will be able to remove any unfavorable
Impressions that may still remain with him towards you. I could find by his discourse
that he had a great sense of the very great services you was doing for us, and make
no doubt, but as both he and you are very open on all occasions, everything will be
discussed and settled between you to mutual satisfaction. ' I have had

much discourse [with] Mr. Chew and at times with the Governor [Hamilton] and
from both I learn that the same unfavorable Impressions conceived of you were not
worn off yef your extraordinary merit and success were amply acknowledged and I
am sure they will on your arrival make you quite sensible that they are real friends
of the Institution, and therefore cannot but give you a mighty hearty welcome
and act towards you a just and kind Fart. God restore you to us in good health,
and then I think you will find things much better than you can imagine, and we shall
be able to put all things on a good footing.'' Pennsylvania Magazine, x 351.

428 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

no Difficulty in making and entering on our Books a fundamental Declara-
tion of this Plan as proposed to us, a Copy of which is hereunto annexed
under our Seal.

But the next paragraph appears to show their fear that the
Archbishop might misconstrue their expression, " that the
members of the Church of England or those dissenting from
them be not put on any worse footing " than before :

After the great Countenance shewn to this Seminary by our gracious
Sovereign and by our National Church over which your Grace presides, we
should hold ourselves inexcusable if, by any Act of ours, we should endeavor
to put the Interest of that Church on any worse Footing in the said Semi-
nary than it was at the Time of obtaining so great Favors. On the contrary
we think it our Duty to shew every mark of our Regard to that Church, so
far as is consistent with our Faith pledged to other Religious Denomina-
tions and that Plan of Christian Liberty to which we know your Grace is a
warm Friend.

To Dr. Chandler they write :

You may be well assured that we shall be ever Zealous to preserve
that Plan of Christian Liberty on which it is the Glory of this Institution to be
founded ; and at the same time that we shew all due Regard to our national
Church, we shall never violate our Faith pledged to other religious Denomi-
nations.

To the Proprietaries they also write their acknowledgments,
and say :

What comes recommended to us by Personages to whom we owe so
many obligations, could not fail to have its due Weight with us, more
especially as it is conformable to that generous Plan which we have always
pursued in this Seminary ; and therefore we found no Difficulty in making
and entering into our Books a fundamental ; Declaration of this Plan, as
proposed to us.

The carefulness with which the Trustees reiterated their
constant maintenance of the original plan of the Institution, and
the grace with which they now acceded to a request from high
quarters to renew assurances to that effect, would seem to
imply they had knowledge that there was some ground for the
mistrust held by their friends, otherwise they would have coupled
to their reiteration some denial of, perhaps resentment at, the
serious implications involved in the request. The Trustees had

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 429

replied through Dr. Peters with becoming spirit to the equally
serious intimations that the funds arising from the collections
might not meet with proper investments, but there is a lack of
this spirit underthe present implications. But it is only surmise,
and not evidence, that their good friends in England had some
grounds for their kind suggestions and inquiries.

The Trustees did not adjourn this important meeting of 14
June until they had appointed " Dr. Smith their Secretary, to
take charge of their Minutes and Proceedings and to give his
assistance to the Treasurer whenever it may be required ; which
services he is to perform without any further consideration than
the said additional sum of One Hundred Pounds per annum"
already noted. From this time greater care is preserved, and
more detail observed in the Minutes of the Trustees, for the
excellent workmanship and industry of Dr. Smith were observed
in this minor office as in all his engagements.

43O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXIX.

The worthy and faithful President, who had been elected
Rector of the United Churches of Christ Church and St. Peter's
on 6 December, 1762, to succeed Dr. Jenney, whose funeral
sermon Dr. Smith had preached on the eve of his sailing a twelve-
month before, had been himself desirous of going abroad, and
indeed it was subsequently found requisite that he should visit
England to receive a license in due form from the Bishop of
London in person. He had assisted the Rector of the Church,
the Rev. Archibald Cummings for a few months in 1736, but
the present election was his first cure and he entered on his
duties at once, but he felt indisposed to go abroad and leave the
young College, for there was no one among the Trustees
unless it were young Duche who would give it that lively
management in the absence of the Provost that he could. He
writes to Dr. Smith on 28 May, 1763 :

As I have reason to think you will have been at Liverpool, you will
have satisfied my sister that it is not possible for me to come over this year.
* * * You wrote in so affecting a manner on this subject that I am
forced tho' with reluctance to postpone my voyage till your return. J [He now
immediately upon the Provost's return] informs the Board that he was to
embark for England in a few Days to visit his Relations, and in Hopes to
benefit his Health. * * * The Trustees, by one of their Members
returned him their unanimous Thanks for his long and faithful Services to
the Institution, and on his Resignation of the office of President, the
Hon'ble James Hamilton was unanimously elected President, which he was
pleased to accept

Dr. Peters " took an affectionate leave of his congregations
at Christ Church on Sunday [i7th June] and on Monday morn-
ing set out for New Castle, in order to embark for England ; " 2
he remained abroad eighteen months, returning home in the
Christmas holidays of 1765 ; 3 and his attendance at the meeting
of 14 January, 1766, testified to the prompt resumption of his
share in the College trust.

1 Penna. Magazine, x. 352.

2 Penna. Gazette, 20 June, 1764. 3 Ibid, 2 January, 1766.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 431

A commencement for the year 1764 was in preparation,
but at the meeting of 13 March, Dr. Peters

acquaints the Trustees that he had received a letter from Dr Smith wherein
he desired that the time of the ensuing Commencement might be left open
till his arrival, as it would then be necessary to make a publick mention of
the generous donations made to the Academy and other distinguishing
marks of respect shewed the Institution in the course of his present appli-
cations; and agreeable to his request it was Resolved that no time should
be fixed for the Commencement, but that the Candidates should be exam-
ined by such of the Trustees as would attend on the z8th of this month,
and if they should be found well qualified that they then should be exam-
ined in publick on the 6th of April, of which last examination, notice is to
be inserted in the Gazette as usual. 4

But the Provost's departure from England was delayed, with
the result that no order was taken for the annual commence-
ment ; and we have no means of knowing who were the suc-
cessful candidates in 1764 who took their degrees at the
commencement of 1765.

4 The Penna. Gazette, 5 April, 1764.

432 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXX.

The Rev. George Whitefield favored Philadelphia with
another of his visits in 1764,* and on 9 October the Trustees
appointed ''Dr. Redman, Mr. Duche, and the Provost to wait
on him and to request in Behalf of the Trustees that before his
Departure from this City he would oblige the Institution with a
sermon for the Benefit of the Charity Children educated in it,"
which he did on the i/th in the College Hall, "an excellent
sermon from St. Matthew vi. 10, Thy Kingdom come. He
concluded with a most fervent and Christian exhortation to the
Youth of the Institution ; and the Collection at the doors
amounted to one Hundred and Five pounds." 2 Whitefield
speaks of this as "one of the best regulated institutions in the
world ;" and in describing this service writes :

Dr. Smith read prayers for me; both the present and the late Gov-
ernor, with the head gentlemen of the city were present; and cordial thanks
were sent to me from all the trustees, for speaking for the children, and
countenancing the institution. 3

Mr. Whitefield had attended and preached at the Commence-
ment of the College of New Jersey at Princeton on 26
September. 4

But the Kingdom of Peace, which Whitefield preached in
October, did not spare the Province a strife of politics which
was the severest experienced by its citizens for many years.
Dr. Smith's return home was in the midst of this ferment, and as
the two foremost men in the College annals became prominent
on opposite sides, we must pause in the recital of these to
take a view of the civil situation surrounding its academic
halls. But we must go back a twelvemonth to obtain the
key to the situation. The return of peace, that of 1763,

1 Dr. Franklin writes him 19 June, 1764, " We hope you will not be deterred
from writing your friends here, by the bugbear Boston account of the unhealthiness
of Philadelphia." Bigelow iii. 251.

2 Penna. Gazette, 1 8 October, 1764.
3 Tyerman's Life\\. 477.

* Penna. Gazette, II October, 1764.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 433

bought to a close the active military work of the colonies, and
the frontiersmen were now more exposed to marauding Indians,
who, having tasted war under the influence of the French intrigues,
nourished memories of hatred against the English settlers and
sought in some cases to avenge themselves for past injuries.
The whites dreamed of a war of extermination of the Indians,
and awoke to the reality of a murder of a band of peaceful
Indians who had for two generations dwelt in Lancaster county
in amity with all their neighbors, the oldest of them being
Shehaes, who had assisted at Penn's second treaty in 1701 and
had ever since continued a faithful and affectionate friend
to the English. In the middle of December, 1763, a body of
less than sixty men from Paxtang Township, in that county,
marched one night and surrounded their settlement in Cones-
toga Manor, and massacred without note of warning the few
they there found, for the most happened to be away from home
at the moment. These latter, hearing of this cruel work, sought
refuge in Lancaster and were by their friends secured in the jail
to spare them from attack of the same party, who became known
as the Paxton Boys. News of the massacre of the 14 December
was speedily carried to Philadelphia, and produced intense
indignation ; the Governor issued his proclamation calling upon
all officers to make diligent search for the murderers. But
unheeding this, and undaunted by the shame and cruelty of
their proceeding, they came to Lancaster where they heard the
remaining villagers were in hiding, and on the second day after
Christmas, appeared in force, and broke into the jail, and mur-
dered all the Indians they there found. Governor Penn issued
a second proclamation on 2 January, 1764. Franklin wrote his
well-known Narrative of the late Massacres in Lancaster County
of a number of Indians, friends of this province, appealing to the
people by every instinct of mercy and justice to stand by the
honor of the government and protect peaceable citizens, even
though they might be Indians whom they were asked to shield
from unprovoked slaughter. He says :

Let us rouse ourselves, for shame, and redeem the honor of our
province from the contempt of its neighbors; let all good men join heartily

434 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

and unanimously in support of the laws, and in strengthening the hands of
government, that justice may be done, the wicked punished, and the inno-
cent protected; otherwise we can, as a people, expect no blessing from
Heaven; there will be no security for our persons or properties ; anarchy
and confusion will prevail over all; and violence without judgment dispose
of everything. * * * I shall conclude with observing, that cowards
can handle arms, can strike where they are sure to meet with no return,
can wound, mangle and murder; but it belongs to brave men to spare and
protect; for, as the poet says,

' Mercy still sways the brave. '

But neither the fulminations of the authorities, nor the elo-
quence of the foremost citizen of the province had weight with
these savages of a whiter hue. Their thirst for Indian bloodied
them to search for wider streams wherein to quench it. Many
friendly Indians in the province, to the number of one hundred
and forty, some of them Christians under Moravian teachings, at
once sought protection among their Philadelphia friends, where
they found a place of refuge on Providence Island in the Dela-
ware. The Paxton Boys marched towards Philadelphia in swel-
ling numbers. The Indians were now brought into the city and
secured in the barracks. Franklin, at the request of the Gover-
nor, organized a military association as he had done before under
the fears of foreign invasion, and nine companies were formed.
The Paxton boys had marched as far as Germantown, where
they paused, hearing of the Indians' protection and the prepara-
tions for their armed defence : happily, a fatal pause to their
schemes. Governor Penn deputed Franklin with other citizens
to go out and meet them, among these being his fellow Trustees
Dr. Peters, Thomas Willing and Benjamin Chew. But an influ-
ential element in the province exhibited some sympathy with the
cry of " Down with the Indians," and beyond the quiet disper-
sion of these marauders, unharmed by the law, nothing was
accomplished ; and the month of February witnessed the cessa-
tion of the excitement and the assured safety of the Indians.
Their enemies alleged that the friendship of these Indians was
deceitful, that they gave encouragement to traitors, even if they
did not harbor them ; that retaliation was justifiable ; and their
war was against them as a nation, of which every tribe and indi-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 435

vidual formed a part Indeed, religious enthusiasm suggested, as
they were heathen, there was a divine command to exterminate
them. Even the mild John Ewing, the divine who was filling
Provost Smith's chair in his absence wrote to his young friend
Joseph Reed then in London,

Our public money is lavishly squandered away in supporting a num-
ber of savages, who have been murdering and scalping us for many years
past This has so enraged some desperate young men, who had lost
their nearest relations, by these very Indians, to cut off about twenty
Indians that lived near Lancaster, who had, during the war, carried on a
constant intercourse with our other enemies ; and they came down to Ger-
mantown to inquire why Indians, known to be enemies, were to be sup-
ported, even in luxury, with the best that our markets afforded, at the
public expense, while they were left in the utmost distress on the Frontiers,
in want of the necessaries of life. Ample promises were made to them that
their grievances should be redressed, upon which they immediately dis-
persed and went home. * * * Few, but Quakers, think that the
Lancaster Indians have suffered anything but their just deserts. 'Tis not
a little surprising to us here, that orders should be sent from the Crown, to
apprehend and bring to justice those persons who have cut off that nest of
enemies that lived near Lancaster. * * * What surprises us more
than all, the accounts we have from England, is, that our Assembly, in a
petition they have drawn up, to the King, for a change of Government,
should represent this Province in a state of uproar and riot, and when not a
man in it has once resisted a single officer of the Government, nor a single
act of violence committed, unless you call the Lancaster affair such,
although it was no more than going to war with that tribe, as they had
done before with others, without a formal proclamation of war by the Gov-
ernment 5

We cannot wonder at Franklin's indictment of the Govern-
ment, two months later, in his Cool Thoughts on the Present Situ-
ation of Our Public Affairs :

At present we are in a wretched situation. The Government, that
ought to Keep all in order, is itself weak, and has scarce authority enough
to keep the common peace. Mobs assemble and Kill (we scarce dare say
murder) numbers of innocent people in cold blood, who were under the
protection of the Government. Proclamations are issued to bring the
rioters to justice. Those proclamations are treated with the utmost indig-
nity and contempt Not a magistrate dares wag a finger towards discover-

5 Life and Correspondent* of President Reed, William B. Reed.i. 35.

436 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ing or apprehending the delinquents (we must not call them murderers).
They assemble again, and with arms in their hands approach the capital.
The Government truckles, condescends to cajole them, and drops all prose-
cution of their crimes ; while honest citizens, threatened in their lives and
fortunes, flee the province, as having no confidence in the people' s protec-
tion. We are daily threatened with more of these tumults ; and the Gov-
ernment, which in its distress called aloud on the sober inhabitants to come
with arms to its assistance, now sees those who afforded that assistance
daily libelled, abused, and menaced by its partisans for so doing ; whence
it has little reason to expect such assistance on another occasion.

This border episode, sanguinary as it was, would have had
less significance but for the heat of local politics then existing.
The disputes between the people through their Assemblymen
with the Proprietaries, were reaching a culmination. The
advent in the province in the previous autumn of a Governor of
Penn's name and blood had produced great hopes of a harmo-
nious government ; but it was soon found he came with family
instructions as rigid as his predecessors ; and the popular disap-
pointment was greater in proportion to the height upon which
favorable hopes had been built. The outbreak of the Paxton
Boys showed the weakness of government, and afforded fresh
material for the advocates of a change to employ in their argu-
ments, and Franklin's Narrative made a lively picture of the
situation as they apprehended it Governor Penn proposed a
Militia Bill, seeing the weakness of the province in self-defence,
and the Assembly framed one in which due regard was had to
the nomination of officers by the companies, but the Governor
returned the bill, as it did not clothe him with the sole power
of their appointment, and the bill was accordingly lost. 6
Renewed dissensions on the supply bill arose upon the clause
which subjected the Proprietary lands to a modified taxation,
which the Governor contended should be the maximum for
all their lands, whether improved or unimproved ; and the finan-
cial necessities of the province were such that the Assembly
finally yielded the point, but in great wrath. Convinced that

6 In September, 1764, under the name of Veritas Franklin wrote his Remarks
on a partictilar militia bill rejected by the Proprietor's Deputy, or Governor. Bigelow
iii. 304.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNYSLVANIA. 437

nothing now was left but to seek a change of government, from
Proprietary to Royal administration, the majority, 7 on 24 March,
1764, passed a resolution of adjournment,

in order to consult their Constituents, whether an humble address should
be drawn up, and transmitted to his Majesty, praying, that he would be
graciously pleased to take the People of this Province under his immediate
Protection and Government, by compleating the Agreement heretofore
made with the first Proprietary for the Sale of the Government to the Crown,
or otherwise as to his Wisdom and Goodness shall seem meet,

and took a recess until 14 May. On 12 April Franklin issued
his Cool Thoughts.

The response from their constituency confirmed the majority
in their attitude ; and reassembling on 14 May, they proceeded to
put in form a " Petition to the King for changing the Proprietary
Government of Pennsylvania into a Royal Government," 8 and
on 24 May John Dickinson made his celebrated speech in oppo-
sition to the measure, the publication of which shortly after-
wards brought Provost Smith into participation in the contro-
versy, and Joseph Galloway at once responded to it in a speech
which was also published. On the next day the Petition was
ordered to be transcribed, 9 in order to be signed by the Speaker
on the day following ; Isaac Norris, the Speaker, waived his
signature to the Petition by resigning, when Franklin was
elected in his place, and gave his official signature to it. 10 Both
Norris and Dickinson had been with Franklin opponents to the
exactions and demands of the Proprietaries and hoped for some
other government, but could not advance with him so far as to
seek as a substitute a royal government. On 6 June, the day
Provost Smith arrived in Philadelphia from his collecting tour,
some of the Proprietary friends applied to Mr. Dickinson for a

1 The vote was twenty-seven to three.

8 Drawn by Franklin. Bigelow iii. 303.

'Joseph Richardson, Isaac Saunders and John Montgomery, were the only
members to vote with Dickinson affirmatively on his resolution to adjourn the sub-
ject another day.

10 "Benjamin Franklin, Esq., was accordingly chosen speaker, and in the
afternoon of the same day, signed the petition, as one of his first acts ; an act which
but posterity will best be able to give it a name !" Smith's Preface, vii., to Dickin-
son's speech printed by William Bradford, 1764.

438 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

copy of his speech, " persuaded that the publication thereof
would be of great utility and give general satisfaction." But the
speech needed the aid of another pen, and Dr. Smith was at
once asked to write a preface to it. No man in the colonies
was deemed so apt and able to take the other side in any con-
troversy in which Franklin was engaged as was the Provost of
the College ; even the influential and capable legislator, Dick-
inson, now sought his fluent pen, and he was ready to respond.
Fresh from successes "at home," and with grateful memories of
his treatment by the Penns, he would naturally warm to this
work and apply his ready skill to the attack of any attempt
which sought to destroy the proprietary interest and rule. It is
one of his best political papers, but evidently written in haste.
Its publication at once brought to the press Galloway's speech,
which was in turn preceded by a Preface, the author being
Franklin himself. Dr. Smith's Preface to Dickinson's speech
was sufficiently open to his corrections and criticisms, and we
have one of the clearest and most pungent of his political
articles ; knowing who Dickinson's sponsor was, he sought
occasion under cover of Galloway's speech to answer him and
meet his statements and insinuations, and to present to the
reader a historic account of the more recent controversies
between the Governors and the Assembly/ 1 in which no Penn-
sylvanian was better informed than he..

11 " It has long been observed, that Men are, with that Party, Angels or Demons,
just as they happen to concur with or oppose their Measures, and I mention it for the
comfort of old Sinners, that in Politics, as well as in Religion, Repentance and
Amendment, though late, shall obtain Forgiveness and procure Favor. * * * * Then
might all your political offences be done away, and your scarlet Sins become as Snow
and Wool ; then might you end your Course with (Proprietary) Honor. P[eters]
should preach your Funeral Sermon, and S[mith] the Poisoner of other characters,
embalm your Memory." Preface, xxiv. to Galloway's speech printed by W. Dun-
lap, 1764.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 439

LXXI.

Nothing was now left but to await the results of the
autumn elections, by which either of the great parties hoped to
attain the ascendancy. A crisis had been reached in provincial
affairs, and the issues must be decided. In the city the Proprie-
tary party had gained some allies, from varying causes. All
those who sympathized with the principles (or want of princi-
ples) of the Paxton Boys were now antagonistic to Franklin and
others who had cried aloud for the suppression of their crimes. 1
The influential Presbyterians were now united in sentiment
against a change of government, rather willing to bear with
present ills than open the door for a change to a Royal govern-
ment which might involve even the greater influence of Episco-
pacy than was now represented by the Penns. Both the Vice-
Provost, Alison, and Professor Ewing, had joined with Gilbert
Tennent in a Circular Letter on 30 March to their friends :

The Presbyterians here, upon mature deliberation, are of opinion,
that it is not safe to do things of such importance rashly. Our privileges
by those means may be greatly abridged, but will never be enlarged. We
are under the King's protection now, as much as we can be, for he will never
govern us in person; and it is of no great consequence whether his deputy
be recommended by the Proprietaries, or by some other great man by his
Majesty's approbation. Our charter is in danger by such a change, and
let no man persuade you to the contrary. 2

The reference to "some other great man" conveyed an inti-
mation of the fear many cultivated that Franklin was seeking
under cover of a change of charter his own personal advance-
ment ; certain it may be that had the change been consummated
and had the new Master, the King, sought to make the most
prominent citizen the Governor of the Province, that officer
would have been Franklin. A man whose rare power of influ-

1<( My very zeal in opposing the murderers, and supporting the authority of
Government, and even my humanity with regard to the innocent Indians under our
protection, were mustered among my offences, to stir up against me those religious
bigots, who are of all savages the most brutish." Remarks. Bigelow iii. 361.

J Sparks vii. 282.

44O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

encing people was without its equal in the Province, and whose
pen was feared if not respected by all, could only have arisen to
this prominence from unworthy motives, many said ; and for
them to impute to him now sinister designs for his aggrandize-
ment was to be expected. In the heats of party strife, suspicions
as to another's motives may be fused in one's imagination only.
The elections took place, and Franklin, after having received
fourteen consecutive elections to the Assembly, being honored
with them during his six years residence abroad, 3 was now
defeated, but only by a minority of twenty-five out of a total
vote of four thousand. However, the elections generally assured
a continued majority in the Assembly opposed to Proprietary
rule, and so soon as it convened in October, he was appointed
to " embark immediately for Great Britain to join with and assist
the present agent in transacting the affairs of this Province for
the ensuing year," 4 and to bear their petition for a change of
government. This turn of affairs, so unlocked for, gave much
chagrin to the Proprietary party. Instead of committing him to
private life at the public election as they hoped, he was now
raised to a position of imminent danger to them. Great excite-
ment prevailed. The elation of the popular party at this happy
stroke of policy intensified the disappointment of the other side ;
but these latter were powerless to thwart the appointment and
could only vent their thoughts in a Protest " against the appoint-
ment of the person proposed as an agent of the Province," 5
which paper bears the marks of Dr. Smith's authorship ; but
only ten members of the Assembly signed it, including Thomas
Willing and George Bryan who had just been elected in the place
of Franklin and his associate Samuel Rhoads. The appointment
was made on 26 October ; Franklin at once prepared to fulfill
his mission. There being no funds in the treasury to assure him
of the payment of his expenses, the deficiency was to be " pro-

3 " In none of the fourteen elections you mention did I ever appear as a can-
didate. I never did, directly or indirectly, solicit any man's votes. For six of the
years in which I was annually chosen, I was absent, residing in England." Remarks.
Bigelow iii. 361.

4 Penna. Gazette, I November, 1764.

5 Smith i. 344,587.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 441

vided for in the next bill prepared by the House for raising
money to defray the public debt." But Franklin writes his
nephew, Jonathan Williams, " The merchants here in two hours
subscribed eleven hundred pounds to be lent the public for the
charges of my voyage. I shall take with me but a part of it,
five hundred pounds sterling." 6

The Protest was not received by the House, and found no
entry in the Minutes, and its signers proceeded to publish it. 7

This called out, two days before his sailing, his Remarks on a
late Protest against the appointment of Mr. Franklin as agent for
the Province of Pennsylvania, one of his ablest and most caustic
papers, as the structure of the Protest and its charges afforded
him some strong points for his criticism and invective. One of
the opening paragraphs has a personal reference in it which
should bear quotation in this connection.

Another of your reasons is that I am, as you are informed, very
unfavorably thought of by several of his Majesty' s ministers . I apprehend,
Gentlemen that your informer is mistaken . He indeed has taken great pains
to give unfavorable impressions of me, and perhaps may flatter himself that
it is impossible so much true industry should be totally without effect. His
long success in maiming or murdering all the reputations that stand in his
way (which has been the dear delight and constant employment of his life)
may likewise have given him some just ground for confidence, that he has.
as they call it, done for me, among the rest. But, as I said before, I
believe he is mistaken. 8

He evidently had no doubt as to the authorship of the
Protest.

His concluding paragraph has a hidden prophecy of his
long absence, and is pathetic in its expression, as more than ten
years were passed in the pursuance of this vexatious mission, and
his return was coincident with the new birth of his country, for

6 3 November, 1764. Bigelow iii. 256.

7 " I would observe that this mode of protesting by the minority, with a string of
reasons against the proceedings of the majority of the House of Assembly, is quite new
among us; the present is the second we have had of the kind, and both within a few
months. It is unknown to the practice of the House of Commons, or of any House
of Representatives in America that I ever heard of, and seems an affected imitation
of the Lords in Parliament, which can by no means become Assembly-men of America."
Franklin in his Remarks. Bigelow iii. 357.

8 Bigelow iii. 358.

442 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

he was homeward bound on the ocean when the first blood of
the Revolution was shed in April, 1775.

I am now to take leave (perhaps last leave) of the country I love,
and in which I have spent the greatest part of my life. Esto perpetua. I
wish every kind of prosperity to my friends; and I forgive my enemies. 9

More than a quarter of a century later Dr. Smith delivered
his Eulogium on Dr. Franklin ; time had brought him to differ-
ent conclusions on the struggles of 1764, for speaking of this
second mission of Franklin, he said :

But under whatsoever circumstances this second embassy was under-
taken, it appears to have been a measure pre-ordained in the councils of
Heaven; and it will be forever remembered, to the honor of Pennsylvania,
that the agent selected to assert and defend the rights of a single province,
at the Court of Great Britain, became the bold asserter of the rights of
America in general; and beholding the fetters that were forged for her,
conceived the magnanimous thought of rending them asunder before they
could be riveted. 10

But two years ere this oration Dr. Smith had meted out to
Dr. Franklin in the records of the College his due honor for its
creation, when he as Secretary of the Trustees recorded in the
Minutes of their meeting which was held at Dr. Franklin's
house 9 March, 1789, for reorganization, the unanimous election
of " the venerable Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the Father and one
of the first Founders of the Institution " as President of the Board.

Franklin left Philadelphia on 7 November, and took ship at
Chester, whither he was attended by a cavalcade of three hundred
citizens. n

It was kind to favor me with their good company as far as they
could. The affectionate leave taken of me by so many dear friends at
Chester, was very endearing; God bless them and all Pennsylvania.

He writes to his daughter from Reed Island the next night. He

9 Bigelow iii. 370.

10 Works, 1803, i. 6l. He here quotes the Abbe Fauchet. Smith ii. 334.

11 Yesterday B. Franklin, Esq., appointed an agent for this Province at the
Court of Great Britain set out for Chester, in order to embark on board the King
of Prussia, Captain Robinson, for London, when he was accompanied by a great num-
ber of the reputable inhabitants from both City and Country. Penna. Gazette, 8
March, 1764.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 443

had a favorable passage of thirty days, and was in London on
10 December. 12 Here we leave him in the furtherance of those
measures of hopeful conciliation, which, however, eventually
shaped themselves to the separation of the colonies, though when
he entered on this present mission even his foresight could not
apprehend such a political change which was of greater magni-
tude and promise than had been witnessed in the political world
for many ages. And in the meanwhile we must seek a portrayal
of the continued life and work of the College of his foundation,
which under other hands was to supply the community with well
trained men who would thus be better fitted to become cit-
izens of the young Nation with whose birth and infancy the
name of Franklin will ever be inseparably coupled.

LXXIL

The new buildings, the want of means for the completion
of which had been the moving cause for Dr. Smith's tour of
solicitation in England and Ireland, had been completed and
were in part occupied. But the institution was yet unable to
make the lodgings therein entirely free. At the meeting of 14
June, 1764, immediately upon Dr. Smith's return, he was joined
with Messrs. Coxe, Willing and Strettell in a " Committee to
consider what could be done with the new Buildings, so that
they may bring in an annual Revenue, agreeable to the Institu-
tion." Their report, a lengthy one, is entered on the Minutes
of 1 1 September. Some extracts from this may afford us a view

11 News of his arrival in England did not reach Philadelphia for three months.
Penna. Gazette, 14 March, 1765. Dr. Cadwalader Evans writes him 15 March, "the
most agreeable news of your arrival in London occasioned a great and general
joy in Pennsylvania among those whose esteem an honest man would value most.
The bells rang on that account till near midnight, and libations were poured out for
your health, success, and every other happiness. Even your old friend Hugh Roberts
stayed with us till eleven o'clock, which you know was a little out of his common
road, and gave us many curious anecdotes within the compass of your forty years'
acquaintance." Sparks vii. 283.

444 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

of the designs of the Trustees for the accommodation of their
pupils and of their endeavors to measure them by the limits of
their financial ability, as also some knowledge of the arrange-
ments of the Buildings.

With Respect to the Buildings, there are Sixteen lodging Rooms in
the two upper Stories, which we think may contain about fifty Boys,
without being more crowded than in the Jersey College, which Dr Alison
and Mr Kinnersley have visited on purpose to gain the necessary infor-
mation.

That we think the eight rooms in the second story may be charged at
six pounds each room, and the eight rooms in the third story at five pounds
each, so that these two upper stories will produce a clear Rent of eighty
eight Pounds per Annum, exclusive of a double room on the first floor for
the Charity Boys, which at the same Rate is worth twelve Pounds per
annum. Of the three other Rooms on the first floor one is a Kitchen, the
other is a Dining Room and the third (where the Charity Girls are) should
be left as a Store Room and as a Sitting Room for the use of the Steward,
as the Girls cannot either in Decency or Prudence be kept there after the
Youth are collected into a Collegiate Way of Life ; nor do we find that
the Charity Girls are any way included in the original Plan of the Insti-
tution, nor were admitted into it, till the Month of December, 1753.

That with Respect to the rest of the (Economy of the House, it is to
be kept entirely on a separate Footing, and will be no expence to the
Trustees after the first Outset, nor any way mixt with their Accounts or
Funds. The Plan is as follows :

There must be a Steward, a Cook and an Assistant, who is also to be
Bedmaker and to sweep the rooms. [After enumerating the various wages,
from the Steward down who was to have forty shillings per annum for each
Boy till they exceed the number of fifty, the report proceeds.]

In Jersey's, the Commons, one year with another are from ^17 to
^18. In Philadelphia from the great Advantages of our Markets and
buying in the Gross, we think our Commons will come as cheap, and then
the whole annual Expence will be as follows to the Boys who live four in a
room, viz:

To Commons ,18.0.0

Steward 2.0.0

Room Rent the highest i.io. o

Washing and Mending 2.12.0

Servants' Wages o.io. o

Firewood separate from the schools o. 15.0

Wear of Kitchen Furniture and other Con-
tingencies 8.0 ,25.15.0

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 445

But the economies had to be carried further. The funds of
the institution had so narrowed, partly by the lessening value of
money, that closer calculations had now to be made than had
ever before been entered upon.

Fourth. As to savings, we think the following may be made in the
general plan, viz :

We commonly lay in eighty Cords of Wood, which with Hauling,
Sawing &c. is ...................... ,80

Of which the Scholars pay 6s. per annum at 150 boys ...... 45

Loss by Firewood

Seventy Cords may serve us ; let every Boy pay for half a Cord, as is done
in every School in Town for Winter Firewood, and here we may
save .......................... ^35

We have had two writing Masters, one at sixty and one at seventy pounds
per annum ; whereas we well know that one has sufficiently done the
business ; allow 10 for extraordinary services, his salary will
be ........................... /yo

Here we may save ...................... ^60

Let the Master of the Mathematical School be for some years (as now) an
unmarried Man, and an hundred pounds will be an honorable support
to him ; whereas ,150 can hardly maintain a Family. Here we may
save ^50. or at least we may save ............. ,25

Let the Scholars, as is usual in all Schools and Colleges, pay for their
Quills, Ink, broken glass, and for a servant to ring the Bell and make
their Fires, we will save ................. 22

The Rent of the new College may be ............. 88

Savings .......................... ,230

This sum may be saved without any Debate or ground of uneasiness.
A School for Girls was never a part of our original Plan, it is unbe-
coming and indecent to have Girls among our Students ; it is a Reproach
to our Institution, and were our Friends able to support them, as they are
not, they should be removed to another part of the City.
This school removed you will save by the House for the Mistress and the
School ...................... ^15

By Firewood for her and them ............. 10

By her Wages .................... 45

By Wages to her Assistant when she has one ....... 10

Add ......................... ,230

Sum Total may be saved

Equal to ,5180 added to our present Stock.

446 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Sixth. As to the Boys' Charity School, we think many of them are
taken in too young, and many of them kept too long, and also that their
Number has exceeded the original Intention, and many Persons, who are
not entitled to charity, send their children to that School ; all of which we
are of opinion should be regulated.

The beginnings were now made to sever the College from
the Charity Schools, which latter had been so popular a feature
of the institution at its inception. But at the next meeting, on 9
October, Messrs. Coxe and Strettell reported :

they had perused the Minutes and consulted some of the Members
concerned in the original plan of this Institution and are of opinion that it
was part of the said plan to educate thirty poor girls besides having a
school for poor boys, [and the Trustees agreed] that the Girls' school should
be continued & limited to that Number and that no girls be admitted into
it for the future otherwise than by a special order of the Trustees at their
usual meetings. But it is judged convenient to remove the Girls' School as
soon as possible to a proper Distance from the College .

But the Charity Schools could only be maintained by the
public generosity ; Mr. Whitefield's sermon in the previous
October, which drew a handsome sum, was supplemented on
10 April following by the performance in the College Hall of

a solemn Entertainment of Music, under the Direction of Mr Bremner,
interspersed with Orations by some of the young Students. The whole was
conducted with great Order and Decorum, to the satisfaction of a polite and
numerous audience ; by which near one Hundred and Thirty Pounds was
raised for the Benefit of the Charity Schools belonging to the said College. 1

The Trustees agreed to the committee's recommendations
relative to the CEconomy and Management of the New Build-
ings, subject to such Amendments and Regulations as future
Circumstances might render necessary, and they appointed Mr.
Ebenezer Kinnersley, Steward.

A public announcement of the readiness of the Buildings for oc-
cupants, for the waiting scholars were not at once attracted to them,
was made in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 3 1 January, following :

College of Philadelphia January 31, 1765

It having been represented some years ago, to the Trustees of the
College, Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia, that many per-
sons, at a Distance from the City, would more willingly send their Children

^Pennsylvania Gazette, 1 8 April, 1765.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 447

to this Seminary, if they could be lodged and boarded in a Collegiate
Way, under the immediate Care and Inspection of the Professors and
Masters ; by which it was hoped the Youth would make greater Proficiency
in their Studies, and the Expence be considerably less.

The Trustees do, therefore, now give Notice, that a New Building is
completely finished as a Wing to the College, capable of accomodating
about Sixty Students, and that the Rev Mr EBENEZER KINNERSLEY, one of
the Professors, a Gentleman of regular and exemplary Life, hath under-
taken the particular Management and Stewardship of the same. A Num-
ber of the Senior Students and Scholars are now entered into this Building;
and Parents residing at a Distance are hereby acquainted that their
Children, being ten or eleven Years of Age, or upwards will be admitted
into it, and the Greatest Care taken of their Health, Morals and Education.
For, besides the general Inspection committed to Mr Kinnersley, the
Trustees visit every Month ; the Provost, Vice Provost, and Professors will
also take their weekly Turns in Visiting ; and the Ushers of the several
Schools lodge and board with the Youth in the said Building, to preserve
the greater Decorum and Order. The plentiful and commodious Market,
with which this City is blest, will give an opportunity of providing every
Thing good in its Kind ; and as a regular Account of the whole will be
kept by Mr Kinnersley and (after Examination by the Trustees or Masters)
proportioned Quarterly among the Youth, without any other Charge than
the prime Cost of Provisions and Firewood, with the stated Fees to the
Steward and Servants, it is hoped that the Youth will be accomodated in
the most easy and reasonable Terms. But if there should be, nevertheless,
any Parents at a Distance, who may have any Person in Town, with whom
they would particularly chuse to entrust their Children as private Lodgers,
it is not intended, by this public Plan, to prevent such Persons from
following their own inclination in this Respect ; the Trustees being ever
desirous so to manage the Institution, as that the greatest Good may be
done thereby.

Some questions arising upon the powers and duties of Mr
Kinnersley in this government of the collegiate family he
solicited from the Trustees an explanation and definition of these,
and at their meeting of 19 November, 1765, they

think it necessary in general to declare, that as they cannot, without
further Trial, frame Rules that may provide against all possible cases, it
was their Intention to give Mr Kinnersley all the Powers necessary for pre-
serving good Order among the Youth in the said Buildings ; and that he
may and ought in ordinary Cases to exercise such Discretionary Authority
as a Father would in the government of his own Family ; and in difficult
cases to take the Advice and Assistance of the Faculty of Masters, or to
consult the Trustees when the case may require it.

448 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

To get some light on the mode of life in the New Buildings
and the needful Regulations governing the students, we have to
await the proceedings of the Trustees for more than four years,
and it is not until the meeting of 17 October, 1767, that we find
any reference to the "Collegiate way of living" of the under-
graduates. The minute recites "the ceconomy and manage-
ment of the New Buildings to be taken into Consideration at
next meeting, complaint having been made that sufficient care
was not taken to keep the younger part of the Lodgers clean ;"
and " Dr. Shippen and Mr. Inglis are appointed to inquire into
the Complaints," but these gentlemen's " report thereon " was
not ready before the meeting of 15 December, 1767, when it
was submitted as follows, presenting a curious picture of the
personal habits of the lads :

They have visited the Lodgers and Apartments in the new Buildings,
and had read the original Regulations made for their Management
and Government, from which it appears, that the care of the Boys with
respect to their Linnen, Combing their Heads and other matters, in which
the younger part of them could not be trusted to themselves, had always
been considered as part of the Steward' s Duty, for the Allowance made to
Him. And that Mr Kinnersley had assured them that he had always taken
care to see that their Chambers were kept clean, and that Mrs Kinnersley
sends for the smaller Boys twice every Week to have their Heads combed,
and that every Monday they are ordered to bring their dirty Linnen to her,
with a List of them, to be given out to be washed, and that she receives them
back according to the list. They report further that on visiting the Rooms,
they found them clean, and the Provisions good that were intended for
that Day's Dinner. And as Mr Kinnersley engages to continue his
utmost care in these matters, they think there can be no just ground for
Complaint.

The readiness of Mr. Kinnersley, and his willingness, to
serve the College in all practical matters as well as professional,
led the Trustees often to make use of his abilities in this way.
And for the " attendance and service of a Negro " of his in the
affairs of the Buildings, he had been compensated to the extent
of 12 per annum, which arrangement had begun as early as
April, 1767 ; he was thus probably the only slave-holding mem-
ber of the Faculty; certainly the only one whose chattel was
for a consideration in the employ of the College.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 449

LXXIII.

On Dr. Smith's return in June, 1764, he found that the
places of four of the original Trustees had been filled. Messrs.
Leech, Strettell, and M'Call had died, and Mr. Taylor had
"departed out of this Province." In their places were elected
Mr. Lynford Lardner, a councillor, Mr. Amos Strettell, 1 Dr.
John Redman and Mr. Andrew Elliot. 2

MR. LARDNER was a native of England ; his sister Hannah
was the wife of Richard Penn, and coming to America in 1740,
he was made Councillor in 1755 ; and died in 1774 aged 59
years.

MR. STRETTELL, the son of Robert Strettell, was born in
Dublin in 1720, and came to America a lad; he died in 1780
aged 59 years.

DR. JOHN REDMAN was born in Philadelphia, 37 February,
1722, a " descendant of one of the first settlers of the State."
After completing his classical education in the Rev. William
Tennent's Academy, otherwise known as the Log College,
which was opened in 1735 by Tennent, pastor of the Neshaminy
Church in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, " where for some twenty
years he continued to gather about him a body of choice young
men and to train tHem for the service of the church and of
society ; 3 young Redman began the study of physic with Mr.
John Kearsley, a physician of high standing in Philadelphia. After
beginning the practice of his profession he went to Bermuda
where he passed many years, and thence went to Europe, pass-
ing a year at Edinburgh at the medical school, and another year
at Guy's Hospital, London, and also some time in Paris. He
took his degree at the University of Leyden in 1748. On his
return soon after to his native city, he in a short time earned a
high reputation as a skilful physician and secured a profitable
practice ; the delicacy of his health prevented him practicing
surgery for which he had prepared himself.

'8 June, 1762. J 12 Dec., 1762. s Wickersham, 453.

45O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

He was elected one of the physicians of the Pennsylvania
Hospital soon after its establishment, and became the first Presi-
dent of the College of Physicians. He was elected 14 Decem-
ber, 1762, a Trustee of the Academy and College in the vacancy
made by the death of Samuel M'Call jr. and was retired in 1791.
He was an active member of the Second Presbyterian Church
of which he was elected an elder in 1784. Having obtained a
competency from his profession, he gave up its active practice
in mid-life. His private life it is said was a picture of beauty, for
he had a warm heart for all those connected with him by blood
or affinity, possessed with much humility, and faithful in all his
religious duties, was of good sense and learning, and much
respected by all. In his older years he clung to the habits and
the customs of former years, and a picture of him in the Ridg-
way Library portrays him in his wig with more humor than
truth ; and his quaintness was equalled by his sincerity.

Of his marriage, his two sons died in infancy ; of his two
daughters one married in 1770, Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey,
a member of the Council of that Province, and who continuing
an adherent of the Crown soon went to England, whither his
wife and children followed him in 1785, and Dr. Redman did
not see her again until her return to America in 1807 with her
children. He did not long survive to enjoy this restored com-
panionship of his sole surviving child, and died on 19 March,
1808. He had the satisfaction of seeing his grandson Dr. John
Redman Coxe a Trustee of the University to which he was
elected in 1806.

ANDREW ELLIOT was the son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, Lord Jus-
tice Clerk of Scotland, and the son-in-law of William Plumsted,
a Trustee, but did not serve long, as he was commissioned, in
January, 1764, Collector of Customs of New York, whither he
removed ; and on 1 1 September following his trust was declared
vacant, and Governor Penn was elected to succeed him. After
the Revolution he left New York, and died at his place near
Edinburgh, in 1787.

It was in this month of September that Dr. Smith

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 45 I

attended " a convention of the clergy of New Jersey, and
some of their Brethren from New York and Pennsylvania, held
at Perth Amboy " and presided at it, as he had at the Conven-
tions of the clergy held in Philadelphia in 1760 and I76i. 4 His
activities could not find their limits ; and these diversions as
they may be termed from his duties in a " collegiate way,"
while bringing him in close association with his cotemporaries
may have consumed time which the College might have claimed,
especially after his long absence from it. The Convention at
Perth Amboy, of 1764, took some notice of charges preferred
against a missionary, the Rev. Andrew Morton, who had been
a Tutor in the College from March, 1753, to October, I759- 5 It
was at the close of the year 1764 that Dr. Smith met Colonel
Bouquet on his return from his successful expedition against
the Ohio Indians, and undertook to write for him an Historical
Account of it from the Journals and other papers which Bouquet
furnished him for that purpose. This came from the press of Wil-
liam Bradford in 1765, and the title page bore on it, Published
from Authentic Documents, by a Lover of his Country^ Many years
elapsed before the Author was knowti. The book was eagerly
sold, and in the year following a handsome quarto edition was
published in London, and later it met with editions at Paris and
Amsterdam. Dr. Smith's Introduction added to the value of
the work, as it made a very entertaining narrative of the Indian
wars immediately preceding the time of Bouquet's expedition,
and contributed to our Colonial history a chapter as interesting
as it was reliable. No one in the province, it was recognized, was
so capable of editing Bouquet's materials as Dr. Smith, whose
constant interest in local politics had kept him well informed on
all subjects which affected the welfare of the community, whether
from within or from without.

* At this Convention " Dr. Smith produced a plan of a corresponding society
in America agreed to by the Venerable Society in England, but as he said sent over to
the clergy here for their opinion," which was also urged by the Rev. Mr. Auchmuty of
Trinity Church, New York, but proved unacceptable to the other clergy. Letter of
Rev. H ugh Neill. Perry's Historical Collections ii. 304.

'Smith, i. 384.

452 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXXIV.

It has been seen that no Commencement was held in 1764 ;
but that of 1765 was made attractive and interesting. On 30
May some of the Trustees and Faculty met for the purpose and

the Trustees then proceeded to the public Hall and several more of their
Body at different Times attended during the Day. The Provost, Vice Pro-
vost and Professors, followed by the Candidates and Students entered next
in their proper Habits and at 10 o'clock the Solemnity was begun by the
Provost, with part of the Church Prayers, and an occasional Prayer for the
King, the Royal Family, the Benefactors of the College, for the whole
Church of Christ and the Propagation of the Gospel and useful Science.

There were seven graduates in course : Alexander Alex-
ander, who had been a Tutor since January, 1764; Benjamin
Alison, son of the Vice-Provost ; John Andrews, of Maryland,
who became Professor of Moral Philosophy in 1789 and died as
Provost in 1813 ; Thomas Dungan, appointed a Tutor in Janu-
ary, 1764, who became Professor of Mathematics in 1766 ;
John Patterson, who became Tutor at the same time ; James
Sayres, a Scotchman by birth, who took orders in the Church of
England, received the degree of M. A. of Kings College in
1774, became Chaplain in De Lancey's Brigade, and died at
Fairfield, Connecticut in 1798; and William White, the only
son of a Trustee, himself elected a Trustee in 1774, Treasurer
for three years from October 1775, President of the Board
of Trustees in 1790 and 1791, and well known as the first
Bishop of Pennsylvania, and the great organizer of the American
Church upon its severance from the Church of England, T whose
episcopacy he brought hither in conjunction with Samuel Provost
of New York in 1787, and whose Liturgy in its adaptation to
the new circumstances in which the Church now found itself,
William Smith, the Provost of the College, had more influence
in shaping than any other of its ministry. The Provost and his
young pupil formed at College an acquaintance which ripened

1 " The venerable father of our Church," so termed by Bishop Hobart in his
Address to the New York Convention of 1826.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 453

into a long friendship, and in the ecclesiastical claims of the
times which were now dawning upon them, William Smith
found in William White a diligent and judicious colaborer, and
in personal matters a patient and considerate friend, one to whose
hands he finally committed his selected works for publication
wlien he found the end of his busy life approaching.

The Degree of Master of Arts was conferred in course
upon the Rev. Samuel Keene of the class of 1759, on Messrs.
Grimes, Kinnersley, McHenry, Peters, and Yeates of 1761,
Cooke, Jones, Porter, and Watts of 1762, and Anderson, Davis,
Johnston, Lang, and Porter of 1763. Messrs. Huston, Ogden
and Waddell of 1761 and Hunt of 1763, applied too late for
their Degrees. "But," as the Minute has it, "the Mandate
being filled up, the Company waiting in the Hall, and no Time
to get a new Mandate written or signed by thirteen Trustees
according to Charter, it was resolved that these gentlemen
could not be admitted at this Time, and ought to have applied
sooner." The honorary degree of Master of Arts was conferred
upon the Rev. Nathaniel Evans,

although he had not received the previous degree of Bachelor, on account
of the interruption in his studies during the season which was spent in the
counting house 2 as a mark of their Attention and Regard to his promising
Genius and great merit;

and on Robert Strettell Jones, the son of Isaac Jones who
became a Trustee in 1771, and the grandson of Robert Strettell
a Trustee.

Dr. Smith records the events of the day in the Minutes,
and his narration of them is so interesting as to bear their
reproduction.

The Forenoon's Exercises were : I. Salutatory oration, by Mr Alexan-
der. 2. Forensic Dispute, " Whether the Planets be inhabited." 3. Verses
on Science, written and spoken by Mr Evans. 4. A Syllogistic Dispute,
" Utrum, Sublato Statu futuro, maneat satis firma ad Virtutem obligatio ? ' '

5. The first part of Dr Morgan's inaugural Oration. The weather

being very warm, the remainder was adjourned to Friday Forenoon, May

2 Smith, i. 480. Minutes 3 May, 1765.

454 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

3 1 st. After Prayer, this Day's Business proceeded as follows: i . A For-
ensic Dispute, "Whether the present Situation of the Earth, or the inclina-
tion of its axis to the Plane of the Ecliptic, could be changed for the
better ? ' ' The Bachelors' Degrees were conferred, as in the above List.
2. A Speech on the Beauty and Order of the Creation, by Mr William
White. The Masters' Degrees conferred as in the above List and Mr Sayre
spoke the Salutatory Oration. 3. The Provost then delivered a speech, in
which he gave an interesting but brief account of the present state of the
Institution and with becoming Gratitude, mentioned the Kind Patronage of
his sacred Majesty, the hon'ble Proprietors, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
and the noble Benefactions he had received in England, by which the Col-
lege is now placed on a more secure and lasting Foundation ; concluding
the whole with an affectionate address to the young Gentlemen who had
taken the Bachelors' Degree. Dr Morgan then finished the Remainder of
his learned and elaborate Oration ; and the whole Business was concluded
with a Dialogue, Air, and Chorus suitable to the Occasion, the Dialogue
spoken by Mr R. Peters and Mr W. Kinnersley with great Propriety, and
the air by Mr Bankson in the sweetest and most delicate manner. The
Vice Provost dismissed the Audience with Prayers, and the young Gentle-
men in their several parts of the Exercises did Honor to the Institution, the
whole being conducted with the Utmost regularity and Ease, without the
least confusion or Mistake. 3

Dr. Smith had desired the presence of the Rev. Mr. Whitfield
at this Commencement and invited him to preach a sermon on the
occasion, but his farewell sermon he had preached in St. Paul's
Church on 22 May and on the 24th he left Philadelphia. 4
He had however, in writing on the 8th of this month to the Sec-
retary of the Propagation Society, used the following language :
" Mr. Whitfield is here, but will receive no invitation from us
to preach in our Churches, being determined to observe the same
conduct as when he was here in October last, which our super-
iors in England have approved." 5 But the Provost could rightly
pursue a line of action with this great preacher in the building
whose deed contained a proviso that he should preach there at
will, different from that of a Church of England divine in admitting

3 The Solo air on Peace was sung by Master Bankson of the junior Philosophy
Class with such an exquisite sweetness and Delicacy of Voice that the whole audi-
ence was charmed with the Performance. Pennsylvania Gazette, 6 June, 1765.

^Pennsylvania Gazette. Smith, i. 363.

Smith, i. 384.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 455

him within the bounds of his parish. The staunch Hugh Neill
from his rectory at Oxford wrote to the Society in October,
1764, of

the powerful efforts that Mr Whitfield is now making in Philadelphia and
places adjacent. St. Paul's, the College, and Presbyterian Meeting houses
were open to him ; but the Salutary admonitions of His Grace of Canter-
bury to the Rector &c of Christ Church and St Peter's has prevented his
preaching at this time in either of them. 6

It is a curious coincidence that this good missionary was
succeeded in this Oxford cure sixteen months later by William
Smith, the Provost. 7

6 Letter 1 8 October, 1764, in Perry's Historical Collection, ii. 363. Yet we
find it in the year before Whitfield had preached in the Churches, and this per-
haps had brought the admonition which led to the present inhibition. Dr. Peters
wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 17 October, 1763, of the request his Church
Wardens and others made of him to allow the great preacher in Christ Church, and
said, "therefore after Mr. Whitfield has shown his regard to the Government by
waiting on the Governor, and had paid me likewise a very kind and polite visit, I
invited him to preach in the Old Church the first Sunday his health would permit, and
he has preached four times in one or other of the Churches without any of his usual
censures of the clergy and with a greater moderation of sentiment * * * and I
am in hopes his stay will be attended rather with good than harm to the Churches."
393-

7 " I have in several late letters informed you that since Mr. Neill's departure
in October last, I have twice in three weeks supplied the Mission at Oxford in order
to prevent that old and respectable Mission from dwindling away, and as the act of
our Assembly which was made for selling the old and purchasing the new Glebe,
required that there should be a Minister to constitute a Vestry and do any legal act,
I was obliged last February to let the people nominate me their Minister in order
that we might proceed to get possession of the Glebe for the use of the church, and I
accordingly consented to supply them for one year, or till you appoint another, unless
so far as Mr. Peters' indisposition might require my assistance in Town, which has
been but seldom till within these few weeks past." Letter I September, 1767. In
Dr. Buchanan's Early History of Trinity Church, Oxford, 1885. Dr. Buchanan
says, " he continued to officiate here, certainly till 1770, and, most probably, for
several years longer." p. 32.

456 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXXV.

The commencement of 1766 was a notable one as it was the
occasion of the presentation of the Sargent Medal, already noted,
and as the news of the Repeal of the Stamp Act on 1 8 March had
reached the city but the day before. The deep interest taken by
all classes of the community in this unfortunate Act, which for
the time seemed to unite all the better classes against an unjust
and unmerited tax, had stirred up the feelings of the people to a
pitch of excitement and indeed anxiety which was without par-
allel in the history of Pennsylvania and its sister provinces. 1
Even those who afterwards held back from joining in the legit-
imate consequences of this malicious proceeding which nec-
essarily had led to a surrender by the government to colonial
clamor, thus opening the eyes of the colonists to their strength
if united, were all now of one mind with the most active and
restless of those who foresaw that the connection with the home
country was being strained almost to rupture. Dr. Smith had
written on 18 December, 1765, to Dr. Tucker, the Dean of
Gloucester, in the following decided language :

With regard to the Stamp Act, or any act of Parliament to take
money out of our pockets, otherwise than by our own representatives in our
Colony legislatures, it will ever be looked upon so contrary to the faith of
charters and the inherent rights of Englishmen, that amongst a people
planted, and nursed, and educated in the high principles of liberty, it must
be considered as a badge of disgrace, impeaching their loyalty, nay, their
very brotherhood and affinity to Englishmen, and although a superior force
may, and perhaps can, execute this among us, yet it will be with such an
alienation of the affections of a loyal people, and such a stagnation of Eng-
lish consumption among them, that the experiment can never be worth the
risque. 2

1 The citizens of Philadelphia united in the resolve to import no British goods,
and to resort to more frugal ways suitable to the self denying times, and it was in the
midst of this that the aged Trustee of the College, William Plumsted, was buried at
St. Peter's Church in August, 1765, by his directions " without pall or mourning
dresses." Watson Annals, ii. 269.

2 Smith i. 385. Dr. Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, had publicly charged Dr.
Franklin with soliciting for himself or for a friend the post of Stamp Agent, and this
led to a demand from the latter for a retraction which was ungraciously given.
Bigelowv. 285-292. Sparks i. 297 and iv. 516-525.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 457

The seeds of "an alienation of the affections of a loyal
people" were however planted, and had germinated ere the
Repeal had been effected. But no one could foresee at this
juncture the extent of the growth of this alienation, which could
have but one legitimate political outcome, and this was reached
in a short decade. The excitement in the colonies was not
sufficiently weighed at home. Evil as the Stamp Act was in
principle and unjustifiable from every point of view, even
Franklin, who was in London and laboring for its repeal, had
but little hopes of this latter for a long time, and fully expected
the British Government to adhere to its position. After the pas-
sage 3 of the Act he wrote on 1 1 July, 1765, to his friend Charles
Thomson, his early colaborer in the Academy and College : 4

The tide was too strong against us. * * * We might as well have
hindered the sun's setting. That we could not do. But since it is down,
my friend, and it may be long before it rises again, let us make as good a
night of it as we can. We may still light candles. Frugality and indus-
try will go a great way towards indemnifying us. Idleness and pride tax
with a heavier hand than kings and parliaments. If we can get rid of the
former, we may easily bear the latter.

Absent from his friends, he could not realize the force of
the storm arising among them and their neighbors, which
could only feebly be portrayed in correspondence ; but he was
face to face with the authorities in whom he saw no relenting,
and prudent man as he was he for a while accepted the
inevitable, and not only made the nomination of his friend
John Hughes as the Stamp distributer in Philadelphia, but
prepared to supply his partner in Philadelphia with stamped
paper at a considerable outlay.

Ere, however, the 1st November came, on which date the
Act was to go in force, the popular storm came and reached
across the Atlantic, and Franklin used its elements with effect.
He wrote to Charles Thomson on 27 February, 1766 :

I have reprinted everything from America, that I thought might help

*On 22 March, 1765.

4 Bigelow iii. 400. See Mr. Bigelow's footnote on this interesting passage,
p. 401 ; also Bancroft, History v. 306.

458 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

our common cause. We at length, after a long and hard struggle, have
gained so much ground, that there is now little doubt the Stamp Act will
be repealed. 5

He gathered this not only from the debates in Parliament ;
he could recognize in the course of his famous examination a
few days before this in the House of Commons that his replies
to their queries were having their effect on his auditors :

The promptness and pertinency with which he replied to every ques-
tion, the perfect knowledge of the subject manifested in his answers, his
enlarged and sound views of political and commercial affairs, and the bold-
ness and candor with which he expressed his sentiments, excited the sur-
prise of his auditors, and were received with admiration by the public,
when the results of the examination appeared in print. 6

Happy indeed was the coincidence that the tidings of the
repeal, in which he had so effectual a part, reached his adopted
city in time for his partner to issue a supplement (though we of
to-day would call it an extra), copies of which were in the hands
of many of the auditors who attended the glad Commencement
of his College in 1766.

The young graduates, whose Commencement Day had thus
a historic significance, were Robert Andrews, Phineas Bond, son
of Dr. Phineas Bond, and afterwards British Consul in Philadel-
phia from 1791 to 1811, Samuel Boyd, Thomas Coombe, after-
wards taking orders in the Church of England, 7 and for a brief
period an assistant minister at Christ Church, Hans Hamilton,
Thomas Hopkinson, also taking orders, 8 John King, Richard
Lee, John Montgomery, also in orders, 9 Thomas Read, David

5 Bigelow iii. 457.

6 Sparks iv. 161-198. Mr. Vaughan's Notes fix the date : " 13 February, Ben-
jamin Franklin having passed through his examination, was excepted from farther
attendance."

7 17 October, 1771.

8 24 September, 1774.

9 23 July, 1770. He settled in Maryland, and while Rector of Shrewsbury
Parish, married Margaret the daughter of Hon. Walter Dulany and niece of Hon.
Daniel Dulany. Not sympathizing with the Revolution, he went to England with his
family in 1778 and obtained a living in the Diocese of Hereford, subsequently
becoming Vicar of Ledbury where he died in September, 1802, aged 55 years. From
his daughter who married Rev. James Watts, M. A., who succeeded her father at
Ledbury, descended her grandson, Rev. Robert Eyton, M. A., late Canon of
Westminster.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 459

Sample, and James Tilghman, twelve in all. Montgomery and
Read accepted tutorships in the College. The Master's Degree
was conferred on Ogden and Waddell of the class of 1761 ; and
the honorary Master's Degree on " Joseph Reed, Esq., of
Trenton, and Mr. James Wilson, one of the Tutors in this
College, in regard to their particular Learning and merit."
It was at a previous meeting that Wilson had petitioned for this
honor, and the "Trustees had agreed to grant him the same in
consideration of his Merit and his having had a regular Educa-
tion in the universities of Scotland." As Professor of English
Literature in 1773, and the first Professor of Law in 1790, and
thus establishing for the University another claim for its larger
title, as Dr. Morgan had in 1768 in opening the Medical School
first developed the University idea, we shall learn more in the
progress of our narrative of this eminent jurist and statesman. 10
Of Joseph Reed, as President Reed, we shall with interest learn
more of the man upon whom, in 1779, seemed to alight the
onus of breaking the College charter of 1775 ; yet when we
reach that period ample reason will be found to have at the time
appeared to many that some change was needed in its conduct,
and Reed from the executive chair was but the exponent of a
class rather than a party in having to deal with a matter, the
only cure for which they thought to lie in the substitution of a
new charter for the old.

10 See Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution by Mr. McMaster and Dr.
Stone, Philadelphia, 1888, p. 757 for a brief sketch of his life.

460 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXXVL

One of the Bachelors of 1763, Isaac Hunt, the son of
the Rector of St. Michael's Church, Bridgetown, Barbadoes,
unsuccessfully applied for his Master's Degree, but his com-
plicity in

several scurrilous and scandalous Pieces, unworthy of a good man or Per-
son of Education ; some of them highly reflecting on the Government of
this Province, as well as on this College itself where he had received his
Education and his former Benefactors in it; in proof of which the original
copies of two Numbers of an infamous Publication, entitled "Exercises in
Scurrility Hall," were produced, with some of his own Handwriting in one
of them ; and it was also asserted that he had been concerned in the pub-
lication of several other Pieces of the like nature, as well as the "Letter
from Transylvania," all which, the Printer of these Pieces, Mr Armbruster
was ready to prove,

were sufficient condemnation of his hopes. He was in waiting
in another room to hear the judgment of the Trustees, who
deemed " him at present unworthy of any further Honors in
this Seminary," which Dr. Smith communicated to him, when
he "did not deny his having written the Letter from Transyl-
vania, nor his having made some corrections in some of the
Exercises in Scurrility Hall, but that he was not the author of
any of them." Thus the father of Leigh Hunt lost his Master's
Degree in course in the Philadelphia College. Isaac Hunt and
Benjamin West married sisters, and both found their homes in
England. He took orders in the Church of England and was
ordained 4 March, I777- 1

1 Hunt aspired to contest for the Sargent Medal and wrote to Dr. Frank-
lin, " would be glad to be honored with your sentiments when you have read both
Performances, which I propose sending you by the Packet. This much I would beg
leave to observe that I could not expect to receive Honors from Men to whom I am
so obnoxious. This is evident from the ill usage I have very lately received. Accord-
ing to custom I made application for my Master's Degree, an Honor which I had
not forfeited, and was therefore entitled to. The Trustees after sending for my Prin-
ter, and strictly examining the poor ignorant Man with respect to the Political Pam-
phlets I had wrote, without hearing what I had to say, rejected my Application and
refused to give me my Master's Degree. There are no Honors for me, this Side the
Water unless your patriotic Endeavors for a change are crowned with success. Had
I not so great and sincere a Friend as you are, good Sir, I candidly confess that my
Ambition would have been greatly checked by this cruel Behavior cruel because it

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 461

But it may be worth while to note how the exercises of
this interesting Commencement were carried on. "The Sol-
emnity was opened " by the customary religious and loyal
service. The local chronicler, the Pennsylvania Gazette, of 22
May. recorded :

it was rendered very splendid by the great Number of Persons present,
and many of the public exercises being happily adapted to the joyful
Event, of which we had received the News the preceding Day.

Mr. John King opened with " an elegant salutatory oration in
Latin." Mr. Hans Hamilton followed with "An English Ora-
tion." Then came "A Syllogistic Disputation, Utrum Praescientia
divina tollit Libertatem agendi." Then Mr. Montgomery and
Mr. Hopkinson followed each with "An English Oration."
The afternoon session began with "A Forensic Disputation,
Whether Ease be the chief Good ; the question was opened and
stated by Mr. Thomas Read, who denied Ease to be the chief
Good. Mr. Richard Lee and Mr. Samuel Boyd, entertained the
Audience with many ingenious and specious Arguments on the
affirmative side ; which were ably answered by Mr. Robert
Andrews and Mr. Phineas Bond." And the "Valedictory
Oration was spoken by Mr. Thomas Coombe, who obtained
much applause by the Spirit of his Performance, Propriety of
Action and Grace of Elocution." 2 Then came the delivery of

flows from the poisoning Fountain of Faction and Revenge. * * * I am, worthy
sir, with great Faithfulness your affec. and obliged Hble Servt, Isaac Hunt."
MS letter with American Philosophical Society. The title of his publication would
but invite condemnation to the author by the Trustees, as follows: "A Humble
Attempt at Scurrility. In Imitation of Those Great Masters of the Art the Rev. Dr.
S th ; the Rev. Dr. Al n; the Rev. Mr. Ew n ; the Irreverend D. J. D ve ;
and the Heroic J n D n, Esq.; Being a Full Answer to the Observations on Mr.:
H s's Advertisement. By Jack Retort, Student in Scurrility, Quilsylvania
Printed, 1765." John Hughes had offered five pounds to the Pennsylvania Hospital
if certain charges against Franklin could be proven. His advertisement called out a
severe attack on Franklin, to which Hunt's pamphlet was a reply. He thus, on the
other side from Hugh Williamson, had entered the lists of controversy, and met that
punishment which the other escaped. Bibliography of Franklin, Ford. 351.

1 A few years later Dr. Franklin wrote to young Coombe : " That reputation
which you are acquiring as an Orator, gives me Plensure as your Friend, and it will
give you yourself the most solid Satisfaction, if you find this by your Eloquence you
can turn many to Righteousness. Without that Effect, the preacher or the priest in
my opinion, is not merely sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal, which are innocent
things; he is rather like the Cunning Man in the Old Baily, who conjures and tells
Fools their Fortunes, to cheat them of their Money." To Rev. Mr. Coombe, Lon-
don, 22 July, 1774 ; draft with the American Philosophical Society.

462 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the Prize Medal, already narrated. " The last Exercise was a
Dialogue in Honor of the Friends of America, and two Odes
on Liberty and Patriotism. The Dialogue was spoken by Mr.
Richard Lee and Mr. Phineas Bond, and the Odes 3 sung by the
two Master Banksons, accompanied by the Organ, and the whole
was received with the utmost marks of Approbation from a
candid audience. The Vice Provost concluded with Prayer,"
and with a graceful reminder for the Charity Schools.

The Provost having given notice that some of the Trustees would
attend at the Gates, to receive the free will offerings of pious and well dis-
posed Persons, for the use of the Charity Schools, about Forty Pounds
were collected a great proof of the Generosity of the Public and their
readiness to encourage this useful institution on all occasions.

The sun was already declining in the western sky when the
participants in this day's doings in the College Hall wended
their homeward ways with the most pleasing reflections upon
their country and upon the College. The young men who this
day " commenced " their Life had upon them the brightest
harbinger of their country's welfare and happiness, yet the
shadows soon gathered and in a few years the classmates
found themselves scattered and about equally placed on the
opposing sides in the great controversy. One of the odes com-
posed by young Hopkinson had an allusion to Col. Barre' s visit
on a former occasion to the College :

Nor let our Barre' s worth be lost to Fame
Barre, who deigned to grace these humble Walls,
And listen partial to our Infant Strains;
Who joy'd to see the Seeds of Sacred Truth
And Freedom, planted in a distant land;
Nor yet forgets our Cause. 4

The fervor of the descriptions of the College Commence-
ments in these early years as prepared by the Provost, and often

3 " Two odes written chiefly by one of the Candidates, Thomas Hopkinson, B
A." Penna. Gazette, 5 June, 1766.

* " Col. Barre while in America was pleased to be present at several of the
Exercises in this College, when some of the gentlemen who received their Degrees
on the present occasion, were very young, and making their first appearance as
speakers." Penna. Gazette, 5 June, 1766.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 463

penned with his own hand in the Minutes, portray to us the
spirit of their performance, and as he was able to put on paper
such a picture of the present scene, we can realize what they
must have been in influence and interest to those who partici-
pated in them. His power of description was that of the pencil
of the painter, and though the Minutes record year by year the
like story, yet each has its variety and its significance. One would
like to record all of them here, but in print they would not con-
vey that living interest which the Minutes written in his own
clear and decided hand do, touched up as they may be with
some interlineation which adds force to the tale. But none of
the later Commencements can equal that of 1766, just described,
in interest, and we cannot suffer ourselves to linger over them,
with however the single exception of that of 1768, which Dr.
Smith records " may be considered as the Birth Day of Medical
Honors in America." Even he could not with his eyes of a
Seer predict what a great day this Commencement of 1 768 was
to the College, and how fruitful this Birth Day of Medical
honors was of reputation and dignity to the College in those
long after years for which he was doing his share in erecting
the edifice.

464 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXXVIL

The year 1766 closed with the purchase by the Trustees of
Mr. Dove's houses on Fourth Street and the adjoining Arch
Street Lot, which now made their frontage on Fourth Street
two hundred and eighty-four feet, and one hundred and ninety-
eight feet on Arch Street. These had been purchased by him
* n : 753> at the time the Trustees added materially to their
premises, and negotiations to secure them were opened in 1765,
but the uncertainty of public affairs and indeed of all private
concerns due to the excitement caused by the Stamp Act broke
these off; the delay was fortunate for the Trustees in that they
were finally enabled to secure the properties at their own price.
Having at the close of 1765 rented out their vacant Arch Street
and Fourth Street lots " for any Term not exceeding Seven
Years on the best Yearly rents they can obtain," they were
thus enabled to meet their interest charges on this new pur-
chase.

Dr. Smith continued to respond to requests for his sermons,
for no one in this or the adjoining Provinces excelled him in
pulpit reputation. On 10 April of this year he preached "a
suitable sermon" in Burlington, New Jersey, at the funeral of
the Rev. Colin Campbell, many years a Missionary there. 1 And
on 2 September we find him 2 preaching in Trinity Church, New
York, "an excellent sermon on the occasion" of the induction
of his friend Rev. Samuel Auchmuty to the Rectorship of the
parish, and again in the afternoon at St. George's Church. 3

It was in this year, as we have seen, he assumed the Rec-
torship of Trinity Church, Oxford. 4 He appears to have remained
the incumbent of this parish for at least five years, for on 3 May,
1771, he writes to the Propagation Society :

l Penna. Gazette, 14 April, 1766.

2 New York Mercury, 3 September, 1766.

3 In the following year we find him taking Dr. Peters' duties at Christ Church.
He writes to Thomas Penn 23 August, 1767 : " Mr. Peters is in a very low state and
I have been obliged to preach for him for some time past," and on 26th," Mr. Peters
is got a little better since my last, but not yet able to do any duty."

4 Smith i. 406, 407.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 465

I have great pleasure in going to preach among them and in Sum-
mer particularly. * * * The people seem more desirous than ever of
my continuance to officiate among them, and as it is at present a pleasure
to me independent of some benefit it is to my large family, I must rely on
your goodness that there be no alteration made without the concurrence of
the people and myself, a request which, from my long services to the
Church in America, I hope the Society will think me entitled to make. 8

Early in this year "we see the first evidences of that desire
for the acquisition of lands, which, by degrees, made a feature in
his character and history." 6 His biographer tells us that in Sep-
tember he purchased a tract of land on the Juniata River, at the
mouth of the Standing Stone Creek, which he laid out in lots
and called Huntingdon, and this soon became one of the most
flourishing Boroughs in Pennsylvania. This was no uncommon
attraction to the active men of the day, and Dr. Smith was not
singular in making such hopeful investments. The allayment of
the Stamp Act controversy by the repeal of the Bill produced
the most sanguine thoughts in the minds of those more adven-
turous as to the future of the country, and to become posses-
sors of tracts of lands which would surely rise in value ere many
years was both a reasonable and natural attraction to many.
However, in many cases, loss was the result more than gain, and
the years of Revolution when there was no market for idle
acres brought many holders of such to penury and want.

5 Smith i. 462.

Ibid, 391. He wrote 13 January, 1766, to Sir William Johnson : "Mr.
Barton who is a very valuable man, informed me that you had recommended him for a
grant of some Lands from your Government, and he generously offered me to share
with him. If, by your goodness, anything would be done this way, or any Tract
worth recommending, I believe I have interest enough in England, and perhaps also
in New York, to make it effectual." We find Dr. Smith writing to the Secretary of
the Propagation Society, 10 August, 1769, " I do not expect to be in Town as our
College vacation begins next Monday and I cannot deny myself my annual ramble
towards the frontiers of this Province." Perry's Historical Collections ii. 443.

466 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXXVIII.

The Commencement of 1767 was not held until ^Novem-
ber ; the reason for the delay, however, is not stated in the record.
10 November had been appointed "and eight days more being
judged necessary to prepare the students, it is put off till next
Tuesday." The six graduates were Jacob Bankson, who spoke
the Salutatory Oration ; James Cannon, a native of Edinburgh,
who became professorof Mathematics in 1773 ; Francis Johnston,
afterwards Colonel of a Pennsylvania Regiment in the Revolu-
tion, and Receiver General of the Pennsylvania Land Office from
1781-1800; John White Swift, the Valedictorian; Edward
Tilghman, a native of Maryland, afterwards a leading lawyer at
the Philadelphia Bar ; and Joshua Maddox Wallace, a grandson
of Joshua Maddox the Trustee who had died eight years before :
young Wallace shortly became a tutor in the College. 1 Alison,
Andrews, Dungan, Patterson and White of the class of 1765,
were made Masters in course. " The honorary degree of Bach-
elor of Arts was conferred on Joseph Hutchins, of Barbadoes,
formerly a student in this College." But the great achievement
of the occasion was conferring the honorary Master's Degree
on "Mr. David Rittenhouse, of Norriton, in this County, 2 on
account of his great Knowledge in Mechanics, Mathematics,
Astronomy and other liberals arts." The Provost's remarks
when admitting him to the Degree, he enters on the minutes :

The Trustees of this College (the Faculty of Professors cheerfully
concurring) being ever desirous to distinguish real merit, especially in the

1 "An elegant Dialogue written in verse by Thomas Coombe, B. A., was also
spoken on this occasion and an ode set to Music was sung by Master John Bankson.
with great sweetness and propriety, accompanied by the Organ, under the conduct of
a worthy son of the College (viz : Mr. Hopkinson) who has often shown his Regard
to the Place of his Education, by honoring it on public occasions with his ready
service. The Band belonging to the i8th or Royal Irish Regiment, was kindly per-
mitted by Col. Wilkins to perform the Instrumental Part of the Music." Minutes.
Francis Hopkinson, Samuel Powel, and Hon. James Hamilton had arrived home on
23 October in the Pennsylvania Packet. Pennsylvania Gazette, 29 October, 1767.
Mr. Coombe's Dialogue in Verse was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 26
November.

2 Norristotvn : This portion of Philadelphia County was afterwards set oft
as Montgomery County.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 467

natives of this Province, and well assured of the extraordinary Progress
and Improvement which you have made by a Felicity of natural Genius,
in Mechanics, Mathematics, Astronomy and other liberal Arts and Sciences;
all which you have adorned by singular Modesty and irreproachable Morals,
have authorised and required me to admit you to the honorary Degree of
Master of Arts in this Seminary.

Of this justly distinguished man, whose talent for the
investigation of the mysteries of creation was developed with
such industry and skill, we shall learn more in the progress of
our present journey, as the institution was honored in his various
connections with it ; he was made Professor of Astronomy in
1779, and was a Trustee from 1784 to 1796. The mortality
among the college men this year was remarkable : Dr. Smith's
pupil and young friend, the Rev. Nathaniel Evans, had died on
29 October, having borne the honors of the College but two
years ; Paul Jackson, an early Tutor and one of the first Profes-
sors, died at Chester on 22 October; and on 30 June, Professor
Beveridge, the eccentric but faithful preceptor, had died. 3 The
death of Evans must have cast a shadow over this Commence-
ment, for his early genius and his winning manners had drawn
to him the affection of many and the esteem of all.

The learning of Beveridge was undoubted, but in discipline
he was very lax ; and it is doubtful whether the pupils of the
Latin School made that progress which was expected. How-
ever this may be, the regard held for him by the Provost was
often shown by his aid in upholding his proper influence with
his classes. In January, 1761, he had appealed to the Trustees
" that he was under great Difficulties in the Discharge of his
Duty, for want of a proper Sett of Rules for the Government of
the Latin School, and likewise for want of a proper Grammar,"
which led the Trustees to an entire review of the Rules of the
College. But the cure promised in these did not reach the case ;
the Minutes record " it had been observed about that Time that
the Discipline and good order which had been kept up in the
Latin School, before Dr. Alison leaving it, were somewhat
relaxed," and in September the Vice- Provost was asked to

* Pennsylvania Gazette, 5 November, I October, 2 July, 1767.

468 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

resume its care and oversight " in the hope that justice might
now be done to the great number of Scholars which had of late
entered that School," at which Mr. Beveridge expressed great
Satisfaction with the care the Trustees had taken to engage Dr.
Alison's assistance. 4 As to the Latin Grammar, " Mr. Peters
and Mr. Stedman were appointed a Committee to confer with
the Members of Faculty, and with them to settle a good Latin
Grammar 5 in order to be forthwith printed for the use of the
Latin School." This resulted in the Grammar printed by Steuart,
whose typographical errors afforded Hopkinson so much merri-
ment as to lead him to publish his key to it, and thus give
unconscious offence to both Alison and Beveridge, which harm-
less humor shut him out from any share in the Commencement
exercises of 1763, as narrated by Dr. Peters in his letter to the
Provost already quoted. Beveridge's want of care was the
cause of this : had Dr. Alison been as careful in details as Dr.
Smith, the book would have had his own careful supervision and
would not have appeared from Steuart's press in the form which
invited Hopkinson's ridicule. 6 At this time there were reported
eighty-four boys in the Latin School. Upon Mr. Beveridge's
death some difficulty existed in finding a successor to him ;
the Trustees met the same day, showed their regard for him by
bearing his funeral charges, and proposed to advertise for a suc-
cessor. Young Wallace, soon after his graduation in the fol-
lowing November, offered himself, and in December "entered
upon three Months trial in the Latin School * * and if

not then appointed Chief Master, to have the common Salary of
an Usher if he should chuse to continue longer." 7 But search
was continued for another, and "it was recommended to Mr.
Peters and such other Trustees as should meet the Maryland
Commissioners at Christiana Bridge, to take that opportunity of

4 Minutes 13 January, 8 September, 1761, 24 March, 1763.
5 Ibid 13 January, 1761.

6 " Dr. Alison and Mr. Beveridge * * now acquainted the Trustees that it
was printed by Mr. Steuart under their Inspection and Correction of the Press and he
had delivered to them five hundred copies for which they had agreed to give him
according to his Bill." Minutes, 9 November, 1762.

7 Minutes, 9 December, 1767.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 469

enquiring of Mr. James Davidson, Master of the School at New-
ark." At the February meeting following these gentlemen
reported their engagement of Mr. Davidson at a Salary of Two
Hundred Pounds, " he taking the house," one of the Dove pur-
chases, "Mrs. Child lived in at the rate of Thirty Pounds per
annum to be accounted as part of the said Yearly salary." Mr.
Davidson continued in his Professorship until the abrogation of
the Charter in 1779, and in the revived institution he held the
chair from 178 2 to 1806.

LXXIX.

The Latin School appeared to attract the greater solicitude
of the Trustees, and the best assistance was sought for its Master.
Late in 1761, it is recorded that "Mr. Polock a young man
lately came from Ireland had been employed for some time upon
Trial as a Latin Usher and appeared to be well qualified and
diligent." 1 He continued in service only to June, 1762, as he
" intends going to keep a school in New England." 2 In his place,
young Watts, then in his Senior year " was chosen Usher in his
room." Patrick Alison had been Usher since the summer of
1760; more than once he applied for increase of salary, and
finally in the spring of 1763 gave " Notice that his affairs would
not permit him to continue longer in their service than the ensu-
ing Commencement ;" when on Dr. Alison's recommendation,
young Lang, a Senior, was chosen in his place. Mr. Watts did
not remain longer than July, 1763, and Lang not later than
January, 1764; the latter repented and applied in February to
be admitted again as Tutor "but all were of opinion that as he
left the Trustees' service abruptly he should not be employed
again." 3 John Davis, a tutor in the English school, was on 12

1 Minutes I o November, 1761. a lbid, II May, 1762.

3 Ibid, 14 February, 1764.

4/o HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

July, 1763, two months after his graduation, admitted a Tutor
in the Latin School. But the following May found him
acquainting the Trustees that " his affairs require him to leave
their service." He was succeeded by John Andrews, of the
Senior Class, who in later years became the head of the institu-
tion ; he, in turn, applied to the Trustees in July, 1765, " and
obtained leave to remove to take charge of a school at Lan-
caster." Dungan, his classmate, a tutor in the English school,
succeeded him in the Latin School. Robert Eaton, recom-
mended by " Mr. Powell the Master of the School at Burlington
whom he had served as a Latin assistant," was chosen in February,
1764, in the place made vacant by Lang. Mr. Peters had
examined this young man and reported that " he had but in part
examined him as to his Learning and Ability to teach which were
not extraordinary, yet it appeared to him that he had the funda-
mentals of the Languages and a good improveable Capacity."
But in the following August he was relieved, " they having no
farther occasion for his services. 4 We find a Mr. Anderson Tu-
tor in the Latin School, but his place was filled in June, 1766, by
.Thomas Read of the class of that year. John Montgomery, of
the class of 1766, became the following year Tutor in the Latin
School.

The Mathematical School since the death of Mr. Grew in
1759 had been but inefficiently mastered. In March, 1760, Dr.
Peters

acquainted the Trustees that he had examined the Mathematical School in
which there are twenty Boys who belong to that school and no other; and
besides these he found Numbers of Boys from the Latin and English
Schools who came there to be taught to write, that he thinks the Business
being too much for Mr Pratt to go thro' , the Boys cannot be sufficiently
instructed, and desires the Trustees will think of giving him some assistant.

On the endorsement of the Provost, Samuel Campbell, an
Usher in the Charity School since August, 1759, "who wrote a
very good hand," was appointed, " he teaching the Boys to
write one hour and an half in the Latin School and the same

4 Minutes 13 March, 21 August, 1764.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 471

in the English School," and he was then also appointed Clerk
to the Trustees. It was not until January following that a
head for this important school was found in Mr. Hugh
Williamson who had been an Usher in the Latin School
up to June, 1757; indeed Mr. Pratt, in temporary charge, had
left in May, 1760, and Mr. Campbell had in fact been the only
incumbent. Mr. Williamson resumed his connection with the
College and became the Professor of Mathematics. Here he
faithfully continued until, in June, 1763, he expressed a desire
to be relieved, which was allayed by the Trustees acceding at
their next meeting to some proposed regulations he presented
which arose from " some sentiments he offered concerning the
present state of the school." But as his views were not endorsed
fully he in November following renewed his request, and the
school was again put under the

care of Mr Pratt the writing Master. * * * the rather as some of the
Trustees were told by Mr Pratt that he had improved himself in the several
parts of Learning taught there, and would be willing to undertake it till
they could be supplied with a Master to their Minds.

This continued for two years; in November, 1765, "the
Trustees for several weighty considerations have agreed to pro-
vide an able Mathematical Master (for the school in which Mr.
Pratt is now employed) as soon as possible ;" and in January
following Thomas Dungan " who had his education in this Col-
lege and was well qualified in these Respects," and who had
been tutor in the English and Latin Schools respectively, was
appointed Professor of Mathematics. As the writing lessons
came under this department, we learn the idea of the Trustees
of a proper standard recorded in their Minutes of 17 October,
1767,

that strict orders be given to the Masters of the Latin School to receive
no exercises from the Boys that are blotted, interlined, or not written in as
fair and good a Hand, as the Boy can be supposed capable to write. 5

5 In the Minutes of 21 August, 1764, we find Tutor Johnston's salary aug-
mented to the sum of ten pounds " in consideration of doing the whole duty of Writing
Master in both schools and making Pens between 6 and 8 in the Morning in Sum-
mer, and between the School Hours in \Vinter."

472 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The English School, under Mr. Kinnersley's care, seemed
to attract less and less interest with the Trustees, and Franklin
on his return had good cause for faulting this important branch ;
the Professor was given the Stewardship of the new Buildings,
and anxious and careful man as he was, he could not success-
fully carry on jointly these two charges. In November, 1761,
John Davis " one of the Junior Students in the Philosophy
Classes offered his services to assist Mr. Kinnersley two or
three hours every day." In May, 1763, a few days before his
graduation, he was formally appointed " an usher in the Eng-
lish School." In the ensuing July he was appointed Tutor in
the Latin School, and Isaac Hunt, his classmate, became Tutor
in the English School. In April, 1764, Mr. Alexander Alex-
ander was " admitted full Tutor in the English School." In the
following October, he was appointed Tutor in the Latin School,
Edward Jones succeeding him here, but the latter resigned in
April, 1765, being in turn succeeded by Thomas Dungan. In
June, 1766, John Montgomery, who had just graduated, was
appointed to "assist Mr. Kinnersley until further Orders." We
find him later Tutor in the Latin School. 6 At the meeting of
January, 1768, it was "remarked that the Schools suffer in the
public esteem by the Discontinuance of public speaking," and
at a special meeting called a week later, Jonathan Easton and
Thomas Hall, then in their Senior Year, were selected

to assist Mr Kinnersley in the English School and taking care of the same
when he shall be employed in teaching the Students in the Philosophy
Classes and Grammar School, the Art ef Public Speaking.

6 Minutes 10 November, 1767,

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 473

LXXX.

Thus far have we some illustrations of the different Schools
of the Academy. The College, in its higher aims, was under
the care of the Provost and Vice Provost, Dr. Ewing, who was
now made Professor of Natural Philosophy, supplying the
former's place in his absence. The Trustees gave their interest
to both, though reasonably their concern was greater for the
Lower Schools, as probably less immediately under the Pro-
vost's Eyes. We find them in April, 1762, just after Dr. Smith
sailed for England, assiduous in their duties as Examiners of the
pupils : " The Senior Students were examined by Dr. Alison and
Mr. Peters in the Greek and Latin Languages ; by Mr. Ewing
and Mr. Williamson in Mathematicks ; and by Mr. Peters and
Dr. Alison in Logic which took up the Forenoon." In the
afternoon

Mr Stedman and Mr Ewing examined the Students in Natural Phil-
osophy, and Dr Alison and Mr Peters in Moral Philosophy. The exami-
nation in all the Branches of Science was Strict and full, and the Students
gave very clear and sensible answers, much to the satisfaction of the
Trustees, and the audience was pleased to express, at going away, very
favorable Sentiments of the great Improvement made by Students.

The public examination of the students on 24 March, 1763,
" Mr. Peters, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Stedman, Mr. Coleman, and
Mr. Duche " having been appointed at a previous meeting "to
examine them strictly in the Classicks and in all the Branches of
Science that they had been instructed in, * * was held in
the Publick Hall before a large audience of People, and the
Students acquitted themselves to the Satisfaction of the Trustees."

Of tuition in modern languages not much could have been
expected. Since the short professorship of Mr. Creamer in the
French and German Languages in 1754, there had been tuition
for a short while by Mr. Fontaine who died in 1760,* and he
was succeeded by another whose name is not recorded who

1 Minutes 14 October, 1760.

474 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

" was well recommended for a good French Master." Later,
we find in the Minutes of 8 January, 1763,

The Rev Mr Rothenbuller, Minister of the Calvinist Church in this
city having been desired by some of the scholars to teach them the French
Language, applied for Liberty to make use of one of the Rooms of the
Academy for that Purpose, which was granted him, so as he did not
interfere with any of the School hours.

And on 20 May, 1766, Dr Smith records :

Mr Paul Fook was chosen Professor of the French and Spanish
Tongues in this College, by the vote of fourteen Trustees, immediately
after the Commencement.

The Provost's division of the studies in the Academy and
the College he defines for us in his curriculum of 1754. The
former embraced the professorship " of English and Oratory
with one Assistant and a Writing Master," and the professorship
of Mathematics. The College embraced the three Philosophy
Schools under the Provost and Vice Provost, and the Latin and
Greek School under the " Professor of Languages, three Tutors,
a Writing Master, &c." In the course of the twelve years
following this, these proper divisions may not have been fully
conformed to, the Provost being twice absent in England. Dr.
Ewing taking the Provost's lectures in his second absence as he
did in the first, brought him to a larger acquaintance with the
pupils and the institution, and in the Professorship of Natural
Philosophy, which he was given in February, 1762, he continued
fifteen years, as his assistance to the College classes had been
made necessary by his merits of learning and teaching. The
maintenance of the schools in the Academy was essential to a
supply of proper material for the classes in the College ; the
former were more closely under the concern of the Trustees, the
latter were under the supervision of Smith, Alison and Ewing.
To sustain the College life, that of the Academy must be
nurtured in order to supply a trained constituency for the
former. There were no schools in the city or neighborhood
who contributed any boy to the College lectures ; those schools
who furnished such were in the adjoining counties or in Mary-
land ; hence the importance, indeed the necessity, of furnishing

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 475

the Academy classes with efficient and experienced teachers, in
order to attract from the community the lads of the rising gene-
rations. But the results as shown by the number in the gradu-
ating classes does not evidence any growing influence of the
College on the townsfolk; though the stimulus of the Commence-
ment of 1766, with its Sargent Medal, for which even a Prince-
tonian had competed, may have influenced the material which
made up the large classes of 1770 and 1771, each of which
however graduated but fourteen.

In addition to his regular lectures, the Provost had at the
close of 1766 opened a course of Lectures on Natural and
Experimental Philosophy for the benefit of the Medical Students,
and this he proposed in the following season

to continue on an extensive plan, at the request of the Medical Trustees
and Professors. 2 * * * As these lectures are instituted and given
gratis with the view to encourage the medical schools lately opened, and
to extend the usefulness and reputation of the College, any gentlemen who
have formerly been educated in this Seminary, and are desirous of renew-
ing their acquaintance with the above mentioned branches of Knowledge,
will be welcome to attend the course.

But this notice was anticipated by the announcement a
week before by Mr. Ewing and Dr. Williamson of their intro-
ductory Lecture to a course of Natural and Experimental
Philosophy to be given on II December "at the Lodge."
This had been the subject of some correspondence by these
gentlemen with the Trustees. They had written to the latter
on 26 October :

Many young gentlemen in this Place being desirous of making some
progress in the Study of Natural Philosophy, but from their want of Mathe-
matics and the necessary avocations of Business, not being able to attend
the Lectures given in the College by your Provost, have repeatedly
solicited us to institute a private Lecture this Season, on such a Plan,
and at such hours, as might be most convenient and best suited to them.

* Pennsylvania Gazette, 17, 31, December, 1767. The advertisement has a
" N. B. An evening Lecture in some branches of Mathematics, preparatory to the
Philosophical course is opened at the College." The notice included the following
inducement : "To the standing use of the large apparatus belonging to the College,
Mr. Kinnersley has engaged to add the use of his electrical apparatus which is fixed
there, and to deliver the lectures on electricity himself, as well as to give his occa-
sional assistance in other branches."

476 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

And they craved permission for the "Use of your Philosophical
Apparatus, which is in the College" ; and gave the promise "to
fix the time of Lecturing so as by no means to interfere with the
College Hours, or with the Provost when he may have occasion
to use the Apparatus " ; and asked whether the Trustees could
"conveniently spare the Use of any Room in the College to give
our Lectures" ; concluding with the assurance, "so to conduct
our Lecture as not to injure the Apparatus, incommode the Pro-
fessors, nor hurt the Institution." The share of Dr. William-
son in this request ruled it out, for the Trustees
unanimously resolved that it would be improper to allow any Persons
except the Professors, to read Lectures in the College, but it was agreed to
give Mr. Ewing and Dr. Williamson the use of the apparatus, for this
season, out of the College, agreeable to their Request at such times as shall
not interfere with Dr Smith's Lectures to the College Pupils, in his Class,
or with the Course he has engaged to give at the Request of the Medical
Professors to the Medical Students.

While there thus seemed to be a conflict of service, the
Provost maintained his jurisdiction ; though it is difficult now to
assign a reason for Professor Ewing adding his influence to the
plan of Dr. Williamson, who since his retirement from the pro-
fessorship of Mathematics four years prior to this had not been
solicited to renew his connection with the College.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 477

LXXXI.

The Commencement of 1767 had been attended by Col.
Wilkins, a schoolmate of the Provost's at Aberdeen, whose
Regiment, the i8th or Royal Irish Regiment was then quartered
in Philadelphia, and its Band had given accompaniment to the
music on the occasion, and supported Hopkinson's performance
on the organ. Dr. Smith was made Chaplain pro tempore of the
regiment ; and in the following spring he preached a series of
sermons before the Regiment on The Christian Soldier's Duty
" in the Great Hall of the College of Philadelphia." 1 In the fol-
lowing June he preached twice again to them, "being the last
or farewell to the said Regiment, then under marching orders."
These offer good specimens of his effective style in presenting a
subject, made more impressive by his remarkable oratorical
powers which tradition assures us were unequaled by any
of the preachers or speakers of the time in the province, and
the fame of which opened to him the pulpits of all the churches
in the other provinces. It was in the autumn of this year that
we find him acting as Rector of Christ Church in the absence
of Dr. Peters at Fort Stanwix, New York, where a treaty was
being concluded with the Indians. Dr. Peters had been desired
by the Governor and Council, he told his Vestry, to attend the
treaty,

from a belief that his long experience in Indian affairs would enable
him to be of great service there ; * * * he had consented to go, and
Dr Smith was so good as to promise to do his duty in his absence.*

Dr. Peters, on this visit, did some Missionary work among
the Indians, and baptised many, whose names on his return
home he entered on the records of his Church. His zeal must
have communicated itself to some of his friends in Philadelphia.
Dr. Smith writes to Sir William Johnson, 17 December, 1768 :

I should be glad to know whether any lands be reserved for the
church and Indian Missions upon the plan formerly mentioned. * * *

1 These are Nos. ix., x., xi., and xiii in his Works of 1803.

2 Minutes Vestry of Christ Church, 5 September, 1768.

478 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Mr Peters and I have talked seriously about supplying you with proper
persons for the Indian Mission, and on the whole submit to you whether it
were not best to have one or two pious young men of sound principles and
good education, not exceeding twenty-two years of age, to be sent imme-
diately to spend two years under your direction as Catechists and school-
masters, till they acquire the language ; others, if found fit, to be sent for
orders. We have two such men, who can speak both German and English,
educated in our College, of exemplary good behaviour ; one of them on
account of his grandfather Conrad Weiser, perhaps might be particularly
acceptable to the Indians. He is also the son of a most worthy man, the
Revd Mr Muhlenberg, who married Weiser' s daughter, and is at the head
of the Lutheran Churches in this Province, and is willing his son should
go on this business and take orders in the Church. The other is equally
well qualified. 3

Young Muhlenberg was Henry Ernst, the youngest son of
the Patriarch Muhlenberg; he received in 1780 the honorary
degree of Master of Arts in the University of the State of Penn-
sylvania ; and became a member of the American Philosophical
Society in 1785. "He passed his days as a pious and devoted
Lutheran pastor, adding to his spiritual cure a close study of the
natural sciences, in which he obtained eminence, particularly
that of botany." 4 Who the other one recommended by the
Provost was we know not ; it suffices only to know that the pro-
ject was not consummated, though it held large promise in offer-
ing a grandson of Conrad Weiser to give his life work among
the Indians. Just seventy years after this the University gradu-
ated James Lloyd Breck, whose life work among the Indians of
the Northwest has shown what might have been that of Henry
Ernst Muhlenberg among the Indians of the North in provin-
cial days.

3 Smith, i. 418.

* Life and Work of William Augustus Muklenberg, D. D., Ayres, p. 3.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 479

LXXXII.

The year 1768 bore in its calendar "The birthday of
medical honors in America," as it was happily termed by the
Provost. The inception of the Medical Department has been
narrated in connection with the biographical sketch of Dr.
Morgan, to whom credit is due as its founder, though if the dis-
tinction can be made, the father of it was Thomas Penn, in
whose letter of 15 February, 1765, to the Trustees commending
to them young Morgan's plans, must be found the influential
germ from which it grew. But an equal share in the honor
of this paternity must be granted to the ever faithful friend of
the College Dr. Fothergill, who in a letter of April 1762 to his
friend James Pemberton, advising him of sending by Dr. Shippen
a gift of anatomical subjects and drawings to the Philadelphia
Hospital, says he recommends to

Dr. Shippen to give a course of anatomical Lectures tc such as may attend.
He is very well qualified for the subject, and will soon be followed by an
able assistant, Dr Morgan, both of whom, I apprehend will not only be
useful to the Province in their employments, but if suitably countenanced
by the Legislature, will be able to erect a School of Physic amongst you,
that may draw students from various parts of America and the West Indies,
and at least furnish them with a better idea of the rudiments of their Pro-
fession, than they have at present the means of acquiring on your side of
the water. 1

The medical lectures of William Shippen the younger had
preceded this action of the Trustees by the space of more than
two years, but his pupils completed their course under his
instructions without any specific honors in view. Dr. Morgan
must have perceived the inutility of this, though he had at one
time projected an alliance with Dr. Shippen in a course of
lectures. With lively ingenuity he recognized that the path for
such honors was through the Philadelphia College, and sub-
mitting his plans to the Proprietary he found them warmly

l ee Minutes of the Hospital Managers, 8 November, 1762. Dr. FothergitPs
expectations proved to be prophecies.

480 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

seconded, and the result was Thomas Penn's commendatory
letter. Dr. Morgan accordingly submitted a proposal " setting
forth his plan of opening Medical Schools under the Patronage
and Government of the College and intimating his Desire to be
appointed Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physick."
Whereupon the Trustees

duly weighing the above Letters and Proposal, and entertaining a high
sense of Dr Morgan's abilities and the Honors paid to him by different
Learned Bodies and Societies in Europe, they unanimously appointed him
Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physick in this College.

Thus an honored alumnus of the first class of the College
became the founder of a new Faculty in the Institution, which
gave "Reputation and Strength" to it, and which made the
first step in that University life, which in later years was to be
enlarged by the Faculty of Law and was publicly claimed for
the institution by the Provost at the commencement of 1771.
It was now in fact the budding University, which was only
legally recognized as such when the political subversion of 1779
created a new institution in which the title University was
fittingly substituted for that of College.

Dr. Morgan soon had a coadjutor in his friend Shippen,
who in the following September sent a communication to the
Trustees reciting his earlier labors and asking to be joined in
this new effort. A son of Princeton as he was, he had not
before thought of asking to form a new Faculty for the Phila-
delphia College ; but Dr. Morgan as its alumnus and with
the powerful endorsement of the Penns had succeeded. Dr.
Shippen wrote :

It is three years since I proposed the Expediency and Practicability
of teaching Medicine in all its branches in this City in a public oration read
at the State House introductory to my first course of anatomy. I should
long since have sought the patronage of the Trustees of the College, but
waited to be joined by Dr Morgan, to whom I first communicated my Plan
in England, and who promised to unite with me in every scheme we
might think necessary for the Execution of so important a Point I am
pleased however to hear that you, Gentlemen, on being applied to by Dr
Morgan, have taken the Plan under your Protection and have appointed
that gentleman Professor of Medicine. A Professorship of Anatomy and

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 481

Surgery will be greatly accepted by, Gentlemen, your most obedient and
very humble servant, \V. Shippen, jr. :

and on this being read at a Special Meeting on 23 September,
1765, " the Trustees by an Unanimous Vote appointed him Pro-
fessor of Anatomy and Surgery in this Seminary."

Morgan and Shippen well bore the honors of this Faculty
and trained up a worthy band of young men who earned their
honors in 1768. But their number was added to in January 2 of
this year by the appointment of Dr. ADAM KUHN, on his
request, to the Professorship of Botany and Materia Medica "the
Trustees having ample assurance of his abilities to fill that Pro-
fessorship, for which he is likewise particularly recommended by
the Medical Trustees and Professors belonging to the College
itself." Dr. Kuhn was born in Germantown in 1741, the son of
a physician who was a native of Suabia. He was entered a
pupil in the Academy in 1751, and in 1752 the father moving
to Lancaster was there instrumental in establishing a school in
which the Greek and Latin Languages were taught by eminent
masters, and there young Kuhn continued his elementary educa-
tion and commenced his medical studies under his father. In
1761 he went to Europe, and first resorting to Sweden for
instruction in botany and materia medica at the hands of Lin-
naeus, he subsequently went to Edinburgh and received his
degree from that university in 1767. He returned from Europe
in January, 1768, and at once received his Professorship. His
first course was on Botany in May following. He held the Chair
of Materia Medica for twenty-one years until he assumed the
Chair of Practice.

Before any of the medical students could be prepared for
their honors, both Morgan and Shippen realised the value of
framing rules for the guidance of the new Faculty in examining
them. At the meeting of 12 May, 1767,

Dr. Smith laid before the Board the following Plan for conducting the
Medical Education and conferring Medical Degrees which he said had been
prepared at several private meetings in which he had been present with the

Minutes, 26 January, 1768.

482 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Medical Trustees, viz. Dr Shippen, Dr Thomas Bond, Dr Cadwalader, Dr
Phineas Bond and Dr Redman, and the Medical Professors Dr Morgan
and Dr Shippen junior.

The preamble to these rules is entitled to a record here ; its sim-
ple statement of the situation held a larger promise in it than the
Trustees and the Provost could foresee ; they were building more
than they knew, and could not realize how large an influence and
reputation to their beloved institution they were now preparing for
their successors to work and develop. Morgan had founded a
Faculty which was to earn for his Alma Mater a National posi-
tion as the great instructor in Medical Science for long years to
come, and its graduates were to extend the name and fame of
the College into every corner of the land in a measure which
could never be obtained by any efforts of the earlier Faculty of
the College. If Dr. Smith moulded the College into a great
teacher, none the less did Dr. Morgan earn the gratitude of suc-
ceeding generations in founding therein the higher teaching of
the medical sciences which was to be the forerunner, indeed the
leader, in every attempt of succeeding times in our country to
develop and further the knowledge of the healing art. The
question may arise where Dr. Morgan received his impulses
which worked out this great movement, and how came it that
Philadelphia for so long a period held the preeminence in this
science. We shall not be far wrong in tracing it to the seed
planted in the Pennsylvania Hospital, which in turn was an out-
growth of the College when certain Trustees of the latter con-
ceived the bold project in 1752. Dr. Thomas Bond, alike inter-
ested in College and Hospital, would welcome the pupils and
graduates of the former attending his clinics in the latter, and
this interest was shared by his fellow Trustees Phineas Bond,
the elder Shippen, Cadwalader, and Redman. If certain College
Trustees founded the Hospital, the return gift was made when
the latter offered a clinical school to the former's students and
alumni to whom the younger Shippen and Morgan were now lec-
turing, and the Pennsylvania Hospital must be granted its
honorable meed of being the supporter and ally of the new Col-
lege Faculty, making an obligation of duty and reverence which

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 483

the latter can never overlook. Its continuance to this day in a
like loving association is a constant testimony to that early and
secure support and alliance, in which the new Faculty received
its best inspiration and brightest encouragement. 3

King's College, New York, was not long behind the Phila-
delphia enterprise ; and from a letter of Dr. Morgan's we can
conceive of the friendly rivalry between the two. He wrote to
his friend, Mr. William Hewson, of London, 20 November, 1767 :
" I have twenty pupils this year at about five guineas each. Next
year we shall confer the degree of Bachelor in Physic on several
of them, and that of doctor in three years after. New York has
copied us and has six Professors, three of whom you know, to
wit : Bard, Professor of Physic ; Tennant of Midwifery ; and
Smith, in Chemistry ; besides whom are Dr. Jones, Professor
of Surgery ; Middleton, of Physiology ; and Clossy of Anatomy.
Time will show in what light we are to consider the rivalship ;
for my part, I do not seem to be under great apprehension."
King's College conferred its first degree of Bachelor of Physic
in 1769, but its first Doctorate was in 1770, and this latter gives
King's the precedence in conferring the greater degree. 4

But to return to the Rules of the Philadelphia College
which were prefaced by the following Preamble :

Whereas the Trustees of the College of Philadelphia by its Charter
can confer the usual Degrees granted in the European Seminaries and Uni-
versities ; and it being apprehended that the granting Degrees in Physic to
Students regularly educated and properly qualified for the same, would
contribute greatly to the Encouragement of the Medical School in this Col-
lege, and would also be a Means of putting the Practice of Physic on a
more respectable and useful Footing, especially in these Parts of America,
and would moreover draw many Students for their Education to this city,
which is advantageously situated for such an undertaking, in the Center of

8 So close has been the association between the hospital and the medical
school, that of the twenty-nine professors who have occupied collegiate chairs, eigh-
teen have been attending physicians or surgeons of the hospital and five of the seven
medical men first elected to these positions in the hospital were Trustees of the
College. Dr. Carson, History of the Medical Department of the University of
Pennsylvania, p. 37.

4 Sir Dr. Hosack's Inaugural Discourse Delivered at the Opening of the Rtit-
gers Medical School in the City of New York, 6 November, 1826. Also Dr. Carson's
review of the claims of King's College, Hist. Mud. Depart. Univ. of Penna., 66-67.

484 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the Colonies; it was therefore the Unanimous Opinion of the Gentlemen
above named that such Degrees in Physic ought to be conferred on deserv-
ing Students ; and the following Qualifications and course of Studies were
agreed upon to be proposed to the Trustees of the College in Order to be
enacted as requisite to entitle Medical Students to their different Degrees,

viz:

FOR A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN PHYSIC.

1. Such Students as have not taken a Degree in the Arts, in any
College, shall before receiving a Degree in Physic, satisfy the Trustees and
Professors of this College of their Knowledge in the Latin Language and
such Branches of Mathematics, natural and experimental Philosophy, as
shall be judged requisite to a Medical Education.

2. Each Student shall take at least one Course in Anatomy, Materia
Medica, Chemistry, Theory and Practice of Physic, and Clynical Lectures,
and shall attend the Practice of the Pennsylvania Hospital for One Year,
and may then be admitted to a public Examination for a Bachelor's
Degree, provided that in a previous private Examination by the Medical
Trustees and Professors, and such other Trustees and Professors, as chuse
to attend, he shall be judged fit for a public Examination, without attend-
ing any more courses in the Medical School.

3. It is further required that each Student previous to the Bachelor's
Degree shall have served a sufficient Apprenticeship to some reputable
Practitioner in Physic and be able to make it appear that he has a general
Knowledge in Pharmacy.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR A DOCTOR'S DEGREE IN PHYSIC.
It is required for this Degree that at least Three Years shall have
intervened from taking the Bachelor's Degree, and that the Candidate be
full Twenty-four Years of Age ; who shall also write and defend a Thesis
publickly in College, unless he should be beyond Seas, or so remote on the
Continent of America, as not to be able to attend without manifest Incon-
venience, in which case, on sending a written Thesis, such as shall be
approved by the College, the Candidate may receive his Doctor's Degree ;
and his Thesis is to be printed and published at his own expense.

FEES TO THE PROFESSORS.

No Professor to take more than Six Pistoles for a single course in any
of the above Branches, and after two courses any Student may attend as
many more as he pleases, gratis.

A twelvemonth elapsed before the establishment of rules
for the Examination of the Students and regulation of their fees.
On 27 May, 1768, the following were agreed to :

i. Such Medical Students as propose to be Candidates for Degrees
and likewise such other Medical Students, as shall attend the Natural

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 485

Philosophy Lectures now given by the Provost, and whose names have
never been entered in the College, shall enter the same, and pay the usual
Sum of Twenty Shillings matriculation money.

2. Every Student, on taking the Degree of Bachelor of Physic, shall
pay not less than One Guinea to each Professor he has studied under in
the College from the Time of his entering the Medical Classes and likewise
the usual Fees for the Seal to his Diploma, and for the Increase of the
Library.

3. Each Medical Student who shall pay one Dollar for the Use of the
Library (exclusive of the Fee at Commencements) shall have his name
entered and have the free Use of any books belonging to the Medical
Library of the College, during his continuance at the same, and attend-
ance of Lectures under the Medical Professors.

The fourth and last rule was in fact a request to Dr. Bond
to keep alive the connection of the College with the Hospital:

4. Dr Thomas Bond is requested by the Trustees and Professors to
continue his Clynical Lectures at the Hospital, as a Branch of Medical
Education, judged to be of great Importance and Benefit to the Students.

These Lectures Dr. Bond had begun in December, 1/66,
and his Introductory he submitted to the Managers of the
Hospital which they directed to be inserted in the minutes of
their Board.

Finally the " Birthday of Medical Honors in America"
arrived, and on 21 June, 1768, the first Medical Commencement
was held. It is recorded that

the Trustees being met at half an hour past nine in the forenoon, and
the several Professors and Medical Candidates in their proper Habits, pro-
ceeded from the Apparatus Room to the public Hall, where a polite
assembly of their fellow citizens were convened to honor the Solemnity.

The Provost having there received the Mandate for the Commence-
ment from his Honour the Governor as President of the Trustees, intro-
duced the Business of the Day with Prayers, and a short Latin Oration
suited to the Occasion. Then followed

1. A Latin Oration delivered by Mr Lawrence, " De Honoribus qui
omni ALvo in veros Medicinas Cultores, Collati fuerint"

2. A Dispute "whether the Retina or Tunica Choroides DC the
immediate Seat of Vision ? " The argument for the Retina was ingeniously
maintained by Mr Cowell ; the opposite side of the Question was supported
with great acuteness by Mr Fullerton, who contended that the Retina is
incapable of the office ascribed to it, on account of its being easily per-
meable by the Rays of Light, and that the Choroid Coat, by its being

486 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

opake, is the proper Part for Stopping the Rays, and the receiving the
Picture of the Object.

3. Num detur Fluidum Nervosum ? Mr Duffield held the affirma-
tive, and Mr Way the negative both with great Learning.

4. Mr Tilton delivered an Essay "on Respiration and the Manner
in which it is performed," which did credit to his Abilities.

5. The Provost then conferred the Degree of Bachelor of Physic on
the following gentlemen, viz. : Messrs John Archer of New Castle County,
Benjamin Cowell of Bucks, Samuel Duffield of Philadelphia, Jonathan
Elmer of West Jersey, Humphrey Fullerton of Lancaster County, David
Jackson of Chester County, John Lawrence of East Jersey, Jonathan Potts
of Philadelphia, James Tilton of Kent County on Delaware, and Nicholas
Way of Wilmington.

6. An elegant Valedictory Oration was spoken by Mr Potts ' ' On the
Advantages derived in the Study of Physic, from a previous liberal Educa-
tion in the other Sciences.

7. The Provost then addressed the Graduates in a brief account of
the present State of this College, and its quick Progress in the various
extensive Establishments it hath made. He pointed out the general
Causes both of the Rise and Decline of Sciences and observed that as the
present Sett of Graduates were the first who had received Medical Honors
in America, on a regular Collegiate Plan, it depended much on them, in
their future conduct and Eminence, to place such Honors in Estimation
among their countrymen ; concluding with an earnest charge that they
would never forget the Opportunities which their Profession would give
them (when their Art perhaps could be of no further service to the Body)
of making serious Impressions on their Patients, and shewing themselves
Men of Consolation and Piety, which might have singular Weight from a
Lay character; adding that what might more particularly concern their
Practice, he had devolved on a Gentleman of their own Profession from
whom it would come with greater Propriety and Advantage.

Dr Shippen, Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, then gave the
Remainder of the charge, further animating the Graduates to Support the
Dignity of their Profession by a laudable Perseverance in their Studies,
and by a Practice becoming the character of Gentlemen ; adding many
useful precepts respecting their Conduct towards their Patients, Charity
towards the Poor, Humanity towards all, and the Opportunities they might
have of gaining the Confidence and Esteem of those who by their care
might be relieved from Suffering and restored to Health.

The Vice Provost concluded the whole with Prayer and Thanks-
giving.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 487

LXXXIII.

Before another Commencement occurred, a young physician
who had well earned his degree in a foreign school was crossing
the ocean on his way home ; and having heard of the plans of
the Trustees in devising honors for their medical matriculants,
formed hopes of taking part in the medical work of the College ;
and the name of BENJAMIN RUSH is now to be added to this
notable faculty. Young Rush, then in the twenty-fourth year
of his age, had just returned from completing his medical studies
abroad. Born in Philadelphia County on Christmas Eve, 1745,
he graduated at Princeton College in the class of 1760, and
shortly after began the study of medicine in Philadelphia under
the direction of Dr. Redman. In 1766 he went to Edinburgh
to further pursue his studies, where he secured his Degree ; and
passed the earlier months of 1769 in London in attendance on
its hospitals and medical lectures. Here he secured the friend-
ship of Dr. Fothergill, and through him obtained the coun-
tenance of the Proprietary ; and contemplating some practical
plans for his work at home and possibly looking to a connection
with the College of which his learned preceptor was a Trustee,
and to the advantages of the Hospital with which Dr. Redman
was also closely associated, he submitted his plans to Thomas
Penn, who wrote the Trustees under date of 9 May, 1769 : T

Dr Rush having been recommended to me by Dr Fothergill as a
very expert Chymist, and the Doctor having further recommended to me to
send a Chymical Apparatus to the College as a Thing that will be of great
Use, particularly in the Tryal of Ores, I send you such as Dr Fothergill
thought necessary, under the care of Dr Rush, which I desire your accept-
ance of. I recommend Dr Rush to your Notice, and heartily wishing
Success to the College, remain with great Regard, Gentlemen, Your very
affectionate Friend, Tho. Penn

1 Dr. Carson quotes a letter from Dr. Rush written from London in October,
1768, to Dr. Morgan which would imply some certainty on his part of being elected
a Professor, " I am much obliged to you for continuing to read Lectures upon Chem-
istry. I hope to be in Philadelphia in May or June next, so that I shall relieve you
from the task the ensuing winter. Is it necessary for me to deliver publickly an
Inaugural Oration ? Something must be said in favor of the advantages of Chemistry
to Medicine, and its usefulness to medical philosophy, as the people of our country
in general are strangers to the nature and objects of the science." History &c. p. 73.

488 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

This letter was presented at the Meeting of the Trustees on
23 July, Dr. Redman being present. And at a special meeting
held on i August, there being fifteen Trustees present, and
among them the two Doctors Bond, Dr. Redman, Dr. Shippen
and Dr. Cadwalader, a letter from Dr. Rush was submitted
offering himself as a candidate for " the Professorship of Chem-
istry (which Dr. Morgan hath some time supplied)," when "in
consequence of the above application and in consideration of
Dr. Rush's character as an able chemist, he was unanimously
appointed Professor of Chemistry in this College." Thus was
formed a connection with the institution which continued until
Dr. Rush's death in 1813. Of his civil and public services
our country's history makes true note ; and these in a measure
reflected with advantage upon the Faculty of which he was a
distinguished member. In the course of our present narrative,
we may have more to say of him, as in his professional and
political life he became intimately associated with all the interests
and concerns of the College. The average age of the four pro-
fessors, Morgan, Shippen, Kuhn, and Rush was under thirty
years; affording another instance in the history of the College
that some of its best and firmest developments were the instru-
mentality of young men. Dr. Bond, the clinical Lecturer, as
Dr. Carson humorously records, "only had arrived at that age
when experience is supposed to bring the greatest wisdom :
he was over fifty years." 2

At the Commencement of 1769, on 30 June, eight students
received their degrees of Bachelor of Medicine : James Arm-
strong, Josias Carvill Hall, John Hodge, John Houston, Thomas
Pratt, Alexander Skinner, John Wynder, and Myndert Veeder.
The Commencement of 5 June, 1770, exhibited but one of these
honors, Thomas Parke. At the Commencement of 28 June,
1771, were conferred seven of these degrees, viz: Benjamin
Alison (of the class of 1765), Jonathan Easton (1768), Frederick
Kuhn, John Kuhn, Bodo Otto, Robert Pottenger, and William
Smith. 3 But this occasion was chiefly notable for the conferring

2 History Sec. p. 75.

3 Who married in 1775 the granddaughter of Dr. Thomas Graeme.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 489

of the first degrees of Doctor of Physic, Messrs. Elmer, Potts,
Tilton and Way, the Bachelors of Physic in the class of 1 768,
being the recipients of this honor. The Provost records this act
in the following words :

They then presented themselves agreeable to the rules of the College,
to defend in Latin the Dissertations printed for their Degree of Doctor in
Physic. Mr Elmer's piece, "De Causis & Remedies Sitis in Febribus,"
was impugned by Dr Kuhn, Professor of Botany and Materia Medica. Mr
Pott's " De Febribus intermittentibus, potentissimum tertianis" was
impugned by Dr Morgan, Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic.
Mr Tilton' s " De Hydrope" was impugned by Dr Shippen, Professor of
Anatomy. Mr Way's " De Variolerum Insitione" was impugned by Dr
Rush, Professor of Chemistry.

Each of these candidates, having judiciously answered the objections
made to some Parts of their Dissertations, the Provost conferred the Degree
of Doctor in Physic with particular Solemnity, as the highest mark of
Literary Honor which they could receive in their Profession.

These theses were submitted in Latin and were published
according to the Rules adopted in 1767.*

He proceeds further in his Minutes of this interesting day,
and epitomises Dr. Morgan's charge to these young Doctors.

Dr. Morgan, who was appointed to that Part of the Business, entered
into a particular Account of those Branches of Study, which th# Medical
Gentlemen ought still to prosecute with unremitted Diligence, if they
wished to be eminent in their Profession ; laying down some useful Rules
for an honorable Practice in the Discharge of it. He observed that the
"Oath which was prescribed by Hippocrates to his Disciples, had been
generally adopted in Universities and Schools of Physic on the like occa-
sions, but that laying aside the Form of Oaths, this College, which is of a
free Spirit, wished only to bind its Sons and Graduates by the Ties of
Honor and Gratitude; and that therefore he begged leave to impress it
upon those, who had received the distinguished Degree of Doctors, that as
they were among the foremost Sons of the Institution, and the Birth Day
of Medical Honors in this New World had arose upon tkem with auspi-
cious Lustre, they would in all their Practice consult the Safety of their
Patients, the Good of the Community, and the Dignity of their Profession ;
so as that the Seminary, from which they derived their Titles in Physic,
miirht never have cause to be ashamed of them.

* These are the earliest medical inaugural essays published in America. Copies of
them are with either the American Philosophical Society or the Library Company of
Philadelphia. They bear the date 1771.

490 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LXXXIV.

But this Commencement of 1771 is memorable in witness-
ing the first public claim by the Provost for the institution of the
rank and place of a University, to which in fact it had attained
in 1768, and which it has maintained with honor through vary-
ing changes and vicissitudes to the present moment. Dr. Smith's
charge to the graduates, written in his happiest style, he gives
in part in the Minutes, wherein he observed, he says, among
things,

That it is by slow Degrees the Sciences are introduced and established
in any young Country ; that there is perhaps scarce an Instance, where any
Seminary of Learning although patronized and supported by Princes, hath,
in the same space of Time come to equal Perfection, with the College of
Philadelphia, although at first begun only by a few private Gentlemen.
That he had found it seventeen ago just in its Infancy ; that amid the
Tumults of War and many other Circumstances unfavorable to Literature,
it had, during that period, been constantly growing in Usefulness and Rep-
utation, that numerous and illustrious Benefactors had been raised up for
its support, that all the Branches of Science were now professed and
taught in it on so liberal a Foundation, that it would be entitled not merely
to the name of a College, but of an University, in any Part of the World;
that not only Professorships in the Languages, Mathematics, Philosophy, etc ;
but in the different branches of Physic, were established in it, and that
this Day saw the whole plan compleat, as several Gentlemen, who had
been regularly educated in the Study of Physic, and admitted to their first
Degrees in this Seminary, were now, after three years reputable and suc-
cessful Practice, and after giving convincing Specimens of their Abilities,
thought worthy of being admitted to the Degree of Doctor, the highest
Honor belonging to their Profession. He added an earnest Exhortation to
all the Graduates so to acquit themselves through Life, as still to reflect
fresh Lustre on the Place of their Education ; referring further to what
might be said by the Gentlemen, who was to give the Medical Charge.

With two Bachelors in Physic created in 1773, Thomas
Biddle and David Ramsey, the latter of whom won his Doctor's
Degree in 1780, we find that but twenty-eight sought this honor
prior to the dissolution of the College in 1779, and of these four
only won their Doctor's Degree in that time. It may be that the
lesser Degree furnished its possessor with sufficient warrant for
general practice, and the active life thrust upon him in the stir of a

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 491

busy population perhaps forbade his continuance in the three
years course prescribed for a Doctor's Degree. The troublous
times of the Revolution, of which Philadelphia appeared to be
the centre, were not propitious to professional research or study
among the younger people ; but students were not wanting in
the Medical Faculty, although the year 1780 had arrived before
the latter could bestow any honors upon them. In that year three
Bachelors in Physic were created ; in 1781, two; in 1782, eight,
of whom were James Craik and Caspar Wistar, Jr. ; in 1783,
three; in 1784, eight; in 1785, nine, of whom Edward Miller
received the Degree of Doctor in Physic in 1789 ; in 1786, four,
of whom Moses Bartram received the Degree of Doctor in
Physic in 1790 and Nicholas B. Waters in 1788 ; in 1787, four;
in 1788, six, of whom Francis B. Sayre received his Doctorate
in 1790; in 1789, three; and in 1790, twelve, of whom John
Laws received his Doctorate in 1797. After 1790, no Degrees
of Bachelor of Physic were conferred ; the whole number up to
this time being ninety; of these, but ten continued their studies
and became entitled to their Doctor's Degree.

From the absence of any lists of students in the College we
can only form an estimate of the relative growth of their number
from the Treasurer's receipts of Tuition fees. While in the year
1752 these were 716.19.9 and in 1753 758.19.4, they did not
rise to 600 per annum until 1760, when they amounted to
629.7.6, and in 1761 the figures reached 763.15. While in
1762 they were 609.1.10. they were in 1763, 910.22, but in
1764, only 643.11.7 Some allowance must be made for the
irregular returns of the Collectors, who were generally the
younger Tutors, and whose compensation was two and a half
per cent ; but no annual returns equalled those of 1763 the year
of Dr. Smith's absence in England. In 1765 they fell below
600 ; in 1766 and 1767 they did not exceed 612 each year;
but in 1768, the Birth year of Medical honors, which drew greater
credit to the College, the fees amounted to 751.12.6. The
following three years the annual average was but 529.4, but in
1772 they again rose to 646.2.3^. The increase in tuition

492 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

fees required by the depreciating paper currency, made the
average returns for 1774 and 1775 amount to ^"722.5.5.

Here the AUTHOR lays down his pen, Jioping, however,
that another may carry on the History of this University Family,
illustrating its varying misfortunes during the Revolutionary strug-
gle, its quiet life througli the first seventy years of this century, and
portraying with loving strokes its enlarged and influential work
of the present generation, under the strong stimulus of which it is
prepared to enter upon its great career in the Twentieth Century.

APPENDIX.

A. PROPOSALS RELATING TO THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH IN

PENNSYLVANIA.

B. PROCEEDINGS OF PHILADELPHIA COUNCILS RELATING

TO THE ACADEMY 1750-1751.

C. FRANKLIN AND JOHNSON CORRESPONDENCE.

D. ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPENING OF KING'S COLLEGE.

E. ACCOUNT OF COLLEGE AND ACADEMY IN The Ameri-

can Magazine, October, 1758.

F. LlST OF ALL THE STUDENTS ENTERED UP TO AND

INCLUDING 1769.

APPENDIX A.

PROPOSALS

RELATING TO THE

EDUCATION

OF
YOUTH

PENSILVANIA

PHILADELPHIA

PRINTED IN THE YEAR MDCCXLIX

TO THE

READER.

IT has long been regretted as a Misfortune to the Youth of this
Province, that we have no ACADEMY, in which they might receive the
Accomplishments of a regular Education.

The following Paper of Hints towards forming a Plan for that Pur-
pose, is so far approv' d by some pub lick- spirited Gentlemen, to whom it
has been privately communicated, that they have Directed a Number of
Copies to be made by the Press, and properly distributed, in order to obtain
the Sentiments and Advice of Men of Learning, Understanding, and
Experience in these Matters ; and have determined to use their Interest
and best Endeavours, to have the Scheme, when completed, carried grad-
ually into Execution ; in which they have Reason to believe they shall
have the hearty Concurrence and Assistance of many who are Wellwishers
to their Country.

Those who incline to favour the Design with their Advice, either as
to the Parts of Learning to be taught, the Order of Study, the Method of
Teaching, the (Economy of the School, or any other Matter of Importance
to the Success of the Undertaking, are desired to communicate their Senti-
ments as soon as may be, by Letter Directed to B. Franklin, Printer, in
Philadelphia.

PROPOSALS, &c.

The good Education of Youth has been esteemed by wise Men in all
Ages, as the Surest Foundation of the Happiness of both private Families
and of Common-wealths. Almost all Governments have therefore made
it a principal Object of their Attention, to establish and endow with proper
Revenues, such Seminaries of Learning, as might supply the succeeding
Age with Men qualified to serve the Publick with Honour to themselves,
and to their Country.

496 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Many of the first settlers of these Provinces, were Men who had
received a good Education in Europe, and to their Wisdom and good
Management we owe much of our present Prosperity. But their Hands
were full, and they could not do all Things. The present Race are not
thought to be generally of equal Ability : For though the American Youth
are allow' d not to want capacity ; yet the best Capacities require Cultiva-
tion, it being truly with them, as with the best Ground, which unless well
tilled and sowed with profitable Seed, produces only ranker Weeds.

That we may obtain the Advantages arising from an Increase of
Knowledge, and prevent as much as may be the mischievous Consequences
that would attend a general Ignorance among us, the following Hints are-
offered towards forming a Plan for the Education of the Youth of Penn-
sylvania, viz :

It is propos'd,

THAT some Persons of Leisure and publick Spirit, apply for a
CHARTER, by which they may be incorporated, with Power to erect an
ACADEMY for the Education of Youth, to govern the same, provide Mas-
ters, make Rules, receive Donations, purchase Lands, &c., and to add to
their Number, from Time to Time such other Persons as they shall judge
suitable.

That the Members of the Corporation make it their Pleasure, and in
some Degree their Business, to visit the Academy often, encourage and
countenance the Youth, countenance and assist the Masters, and by all
Means in their Power advance the Usefulness and Reputation of the
Design ; that they look on the Students as in some Sort their children,
treat them with Familiarity and Affection, and when they have behav'd
well, and gone through their Studies, and are to enter the World, zealously
unite, and make all the Interest that can be made to establish them,
whether in Business, Offices, Marriages, or any other Thing for their
Advantage, preferably to all other Persons whatsoever even of equal
Merit.

And if Men may, and frequently do, catch such a taste for cultivating
Flowers, for Planting, Grafting, Inoculating, and the like, as to despise all
other Amusements for their Sake, why may not we expect they should
acquire a Relish for that more useful Culture of young Minds. Thompson
says :

' Tis Joy to see the hitman Blossoms blow,
When infant Reason grows apace, and calls
For the Kind Hand of an Assiduous Care ;
Delightful Task ! to rear the tender Thought,
To teach the young Idea how to shoot,
To pour the fresh Instruction o' er the Mind,
To breathe th! enliv ning Spirit, and to fix
The generous Purpose in the glowing Breast.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 497

That a House be provided for the ACADEMY, if not in the Town, not
many miles from it ; the Situation high and dry, and if it may be, not far
from a River, having a Garden, Orchard, Meadow, and a Field or two.

That the House be furnished with a Library (if in the Country, if in
the Town, the Town Libraries may serve) with Maps of all Countries,
Globes, some mathematical Instruments, an Apparatus for Experiments in
Natural Philosophy, and for Mechanics ; Prints, of all Kinds, Prospects,
Buildings, Machines, &c.

That the RECTOR be a Man of good Understanding, good Morals,
diligent and patient, learn' d in the Languages and Sciences, and a correct
pure Speaker and writer of the English Tongue ; to have such Tutors under
him as shall be necessary.

That the boarding Scholars diet itogether, plainly, temperately, and
frugally.

That to keep them in Health, and to strengthen and render active
their Bodies, they be frequently exercis'd in Running, Leaping, Wrestling,
and Swimming, &c.

That they have peculiar Habits to distinguish them from other
Youth, if the Academy be in or near the Town ; for this, among other
Reasons, that their Behaviour may be the better observed.

As to their STUDIES, it would be well if they could be taught every
Thing that is useful, and every Thing that is ornamental : But Art is
long, and their Time is short. It is therefore proposed that they learn
those Things that are likely to be most useful and most ornamental, Regard
being had to the several Professions for which they are intended.

All should be taught to write a fair Hand, and swift, as that is useful
to All. And with it may be learnt something of Drawing, by Imitation
of Prints, and some of the first Principles of Perspective.

Arithmetick, Accounts, and some of the first Principles of Geometry
and Astronomy.

The English Language might be taught by Grammar, in which some
of our best Writers, as Tillotson, Addison, Pope, Algernon Sidney, Catd s
Letters, &c should be classicks: The Stiles principally to be cultivated,
being the clear and the concise. Reading should also be taught, and pro-
nouncing, properly, distinctly, emphatically ; not with an even Tone,
which under-does, nor a theatrical, which over-does Nature.

To form their Stile, they should be put on Writing Letters to each
other, making Abstracts of what they read ; or writing the same Things in
their own Words ; telling or writing Stories lately read, in their own
Expressions. All to be revised and corrected by the Tutor, who should
give his Reasons, explain the Tone and Import of Words, &c.

To form their Pronunciation, they may be put on making Declama-
tions, repeating Speeches, delivering Orations, &c. The Tutors assisting
at the Rehearsals, teaching, advising, correcting their Accent, &c.

498 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

But if HISTORY be made a constant Part of their Reading, such as
the Translations of the Greek and Roman Historians, and the modern
Histories of antient Greece and Rome, &c., may not almost all Kinds of
useful Knowledge be that Way introduced to Advantage, and with Pleasure
to the Student ? As

GEOGRAPHY, by reading with Maps, and being required to point
out the Places where the greatest Actions were done, to give their old and
new Names, with the Bounds, Situation, Extent of the Countries con-
cern' d, &c.

CHRONOLOGY, by the Help of Helvius or some other Writer of the
kind, who will enable them to tell when those Events happened ; what
Princes were Cotemporaries, what States or famous Men flourished about
that Time, &c. The several principal Epochs to be first well fix'd in
their Memories.

ANTIENT CUSTOMS, religious and civil, being frequently mentioned
in History, will give occasion for explaining them ; in which the Prints of
Medals, Basso Relievo's, and antient Monuments will greatly assist.

MORALITY, by descanting and making continual Observations on
the Causes of the Rise or Fall of any Man's Character, Fortune, Power,
&c., mentioned in History ; the Advantages of Temperance, Order, Fru-
gality, Industry, Perseverance, &c. &c. Indeed the general natural Ten-
dency of Reading good History, must be, to fix in the Minds of Youth
deep Impressions of the Beauty and Usefulness of Virtue of all Kinds,
Publick Spirit, Fortitude, &c.

History will show the wonderful effects of ORATORY in governing,
training and leading great Bodies of Mankind, Armies, Cities, Nations.
When the Minds of Youth are struck with Admiration at this, then is the
Time to give them the Principles of that Art, which they will study with
Taste and Application. Then they may be made acquainted with the best
Models among the Antients, their Beauties being particularly pointed out
to them. Modern Political Oratory being chiefly performed by the Pen
and Press, its Advantages over the Antients in some Respects are to be
shown ; as that its Effects are more extensive, more lasting, &c.

History will also afford frequent Opportunities of showing the
Necessity of a Publick Religion, from its Usefulness to the Publick ; the
Advantages of a Religious Character among private Persons ; the Mischiefs
of Superstition, &c., and the Excellency of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION
above all others antient or modern,

History will also give Occasion to expatiate on the Advantage of
Civil Orders and Constitutions, how Men and their Properties are protected
by joining in Societies and establishing Government ; their Industry
encouraged and rewarded, Arts invented, and Life made more comfortable :
The Advantages of Liberty, Mischiefs of Licentiousness, Benefits arising
from good Laws and a due Execution of Justice, &c. Thus may the first
Principles of sound Politicks be fixed in the Minds of Youth.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 499

On Historical Occasions, Questions of Right and Wrong, Justice and
Injustice, will naturally arise, and may be put to Youth, which they may-
debate in Conversation and in Writing. When they ardently desire Vic-
tory, for the Sake of the Praise attending it, they will begin to feel the Want,
and be sensible of the Use of Logic, or the Art of Reasoning to discover
Truth, and of Arguing to defend it, and convince Adversaries. This
would be the Time to acquaint them with the Principles of that Art
Grotius, Puffendorjf, and some other Writers of the same kind, may be
used on these Occasions to decide their Disputes. Publick Disputes warm
the Imagination, whet the Industry, and strengthen the natural Abilities.

When Youth are told, that the Great Men whose Lives and Actions
they read in History, spoke two of the best Languages that ever were, the
most expressive, copious, beautiful; and that the finest Writings, the most
correct Compositions, the most perfect Productions of human Wit and
Wisdom, are in those Languages which have endured Ages, and will endure
while there are Men; that no Translation can do them justice, or give the
Pleasure found in Reading the Originals; that those Languages contain all
Science; that one of them is become almost universal, |being the Language
of Learned Men in all Countries; that to understand them is a distin-
guishing ornament, &c. , they may be thereby made desirous of learning
those Languages, and their Industry sharpen' d in the Acquisition of them.
All intended for Divinity should be taught the Latin and Greek ; for
Physick, the Latin, Greek and French ; for Law, the Latin and French ;
Merchants, the French, German, and Spanish; and though all should not
be compel!' d to learn Latin, Greek, or the modern foreign Languages; yet
none that have an ardent Desire to learn them should be refused; their
English, Arithmetick, and other Studies absolutely necessary, being at the
same Time not neglected.

If the new Universal History were also read, it would give a con-
nected Idea of human Affairs, so far as it goes, which should be followed
by the best modern Histories, particularly of our Mother Country; then of
these Colonies; which should be accompanied with Observations on their
Rise, Encrease, Use to Great Britain, Encouragements, Discouragements,
&c., the Means to make them flourish, secure their Liberties, c.

With the History of Men, Times and Nations, should be read at
proper Hours or Days, some of the best Histories of Nature, which would
not only be delightful to Youth, and furnish them with Matter for their
Letters, &c., as well as other History; but afterwards of great use to them,
whether they are Merchants, Handicrafts, or Divines; enabling the first the
better to understand many Commodities, Drugs, &c., the second to im-
prove his Trade or Handicraft by new Mixtures, Materials, &c., and the
last to adorn his Discourses by beautiful Comparisons, and strengthen them
by new Proofs of Divine Providence. The Conversation of all will be
improved by it, as Occasions frequently occur of making Natural Observa-

5oo HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

tions, which are instructive, agreeable and entertaining in almost all Com-
panies. Natural History will also afford Opportunities of introducing
many observations, relating to the Preservation of Health, which may be
afterwards of great use. Arbuthnot on Air and Aliment, Sanctorius on
Perspiration, Lemery on Foods, and some others, may now be read, and a
very little Explanation will make them sufficiently intelligible to Youth.

While they are reading Natural History, might not a little Gardening,
Planting, Grafting, Inoculating, &c., be taught and practised, and now
and then Excursions made to the neighboring Plantations of the best
Farmers, their Methods observ'd and reason' d upon for the Information of
Youth ? The Improvement of Agriculture being useful to all, and Skill
in it no Disparagement to any.

The History of Commerce, of the Invention of Arts, Rise of Manu-
factures, Progress of Trade, Change of its Seats, with the Reasons, Causes,
&c., may also be made interesting to Youth, and will be useful to all. And
this with the Accounts in other History of the prodigious Force and Effect
of Engines and Machines used in War, will naturally introduce a Desire to
be instructed in Mechanicks, and to be informed of the Principles of that
Art by which weak Men perform such Wonders, Labour is sav' d, Manu-
factures expedited, &c., &c. This will be the Time to show them Prints
of antient and modern Machines, to explain them, to let them be copied,
and to give Lectures in Mechanical Philosophy.

With the whole should be constantly inculcated and cultivated, that
Benignity of Mind, which shows itself in searching for and seizing every
opportunity to serve and to oblige ; and is the Foundation of what is called
GOOD BREEDING ; highly useful to the Possessor, and most agreeable
to all.

The Idea of what is true Merit, should also be often presented to
Youth, explain' d and impress' d on their Minds, as consisting in an Incli-
nation join'd with an Ability to serve Mankind, one's Country, Friends
and Family; which Ability is (with the Blessing of God) to be acquir'd or
greatly increas'd by true Learning, and should indeed be the great Aim
and End of all Learning.

NOTE. Thomson's lines are found near the close of his Spring, and begin :

By degrees

The human blossom blows ; and every day,
Soft as it rolls along, shows some new charm,
The father's lustre, and the mother's bloom.
Then infant reason grows apace, and calls
For the kind hand of an assiduous care,
Delightful task! &c., &c., &c.

The tidings of the poet's death could have reached Franklin but a few weeks
before making this quotation. T. H. M.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

APPENDIX B.

At a Common Council held at Philadelphia for the City of Phila-
delphia the30 l .h Day of July 1750.

PRESENT.

Thomas Lawrence, Esq r , Mayor

William Allen, Esq r , Recorder

Samuel Hassell

Edward Shippen

Benj a Shoemaker

Joseph Turner

Robert Strettell

Esquires,
Aldermen.

Septimus Robeson
John Mifflin
John Stamper
Benj a Franklin
Tho s Hopkinson
Phineas Bond
Tench Francis
Tho s Lawrence, jun r
Samuel Rhoads
George Mifflin
W m Coleman

The Recorder acquainted the Board there is a Design on Foot
for the Erecting a Publick Academy and Charity School in this City, for
instructing Youth in the several Branches of useful Learning, And that
divers of the Inhabitants have subscribed liberally towards it ; But as this
Undertaking is attended with a great Expence in the Beginning, some
further Assistance is necessary to carry it into Execution in the best
Manner. And as this Corporation have a considerable Sum of Money in
the Hands of their Treasurer, and have likewise an Income of about Three
Hundred pounds p. Annum, besides Fines and Forfeitures, the Recorder
proposed that it might be considered, Whether this Design for the Advance-
ment of Learning, be not worthy of some Encouragement from this Board,
as their Circumstances may very well afford it

The Board having taken this Affair into Consideration, and it appear-
ing to be a Matter of Consequence, and but a small Number of the Mem-
bers now present, it was thought proper to referr the further consideration
thereof to the next Common Council: It is therefore Ordered, That the
Members of this Board have Notice to meet Tomorrow at four a Clock in
the Afternoon, to consider of a Proposal of contributing a Sum of Money
for the Encouragement of the Academy & Charity School now erecting in
this City.

5O2 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

At a Common Council held at Philadelphia the 3 I st Day of July

1 7 SO-
PRESENT.

Thomas Lawrence, Esq r , Mayor
William Allen, Esq r , Recorder

Samuel Hassell
Anthony Morris
Joseph Turner
Robert Strettell
Edw d Shippen
Benjamin Shoemaker
William Plumsted

I
d

o
U

c
o
S

o
U

Septimus Robeson
Tench Francis
Benjamin Franklin
Samuel M c Call, jun r
John Inglis
William Shippen
Thomas Bond
Tho s Hopkinson
Tho s Lawrence, jun r
Nathi Allen
Joseph Sims
George Mifflin
William Coleman
John Wilcocks
John Stamper.

The Board resumed the Consideration of the Proposal made at the
last Common Council, of contributing a Sum of Money for the Encourage-
ment of the Academy & Charity School now erecting in this City ; And a
Paper containing an Account of what is already done by the Trustees of the
Academy, and what Advantages are expected from that Undertaking being
laid before the Board, was read, and follows in these Words :

, The Trustees of the Academy have already laid out near ,800, in
the Purchase of the Building, and will probably expend near as much more
in fitting up Rooms for the Schools, & furnishing them with proper Books,
& Instruments for the Instruction of Youth.

, The greatest Part of the Money paid & to be paid is subscribed by
the Trustees themselves, and advanced by them ; Many of whom have no
children of their own to educate, but act from a View to the Publick Good,
without Regard to sect or party. And they have engaged to open a Charity
School within two Years for the Instruction of Poor Children gratis, in
Reading, Writing and Arithmetick, and the first Principles of Virtue and
Piety .

The Benefits expected from this Institution are :

, i. That the Youth of Pensilvania may have an Opportunity of
receiving a good Education at home, and be under no necessity of going
abroad for it ; Whereby not only considerable Expense may be saved to
the Country, but a stricter Eye may be had over their morals by their
Friends and Relations.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 503

2, That a Number of our Natives will be hereby qualified to bear Magis-
tracies, and execute other public offices of Trust, with Reputation to them-
selves & Country ; there being at present great Want of Persons so quali-
fied in the several Counties of this Province. And this is the more
necessary now to be provided for by the English here, as vast Numbers of
Foreigners are yearly imported among us, totally ignorant of our Laws,
Customs, and Language.

,3. That a Number of the poorer Sort will hereby be qualified to
act as Schoolmasters in the Country, to teach Children Reading, Writing,
Arithmetic, and the Grammar of their Mother Tongue ; and being of good
morals and known character, may be recommended from the Academy to
Country Schools for that purpose ; The Country suffering at present very
much for want of good Schoolmasters, and oblig'd frequently to employ in
their Schools, vicious imported Servants, or concealed Papists, who by
their bad Examples and Instructions often deprave the Morals or corrupt
the Principles of the Children under their Care.

,4. It is thought that a good Academy erected in Philadelphia, a
healthy place where Provisions are plenty, situated in the Center of the
Colonies, may draw numbers of Students from the neighbouring Provinces,
who must spend considerable Sums yearly among us, in Payment for
their Lodging, Diet, Apparel, &c., which will be an Advantage to our
Traders, Artisans and Owners of Houses and Lands. This Advantage is
so considerable, that it has been frequently observed in Europe, that the
fixing a good School or College in a little inland Village, has been the
means of making it a great Town in a few Years ; and therefore the mag-
istrates of many Places, have offer' d and given great yearly salaries, to
draw learned Instructors from other Countries to their respective Towns,
merely with a View to the Interest of the Inhabitants.

, Numbers of people have already generously subscribed considerable
sums to carry on this Undertaking ; but others, well disposed, are some-
what discouraged from contributing, by an Apprehension, lest when the
first Subscriptions are expended, the Design should drop.

.The great Expence of such a Work is in the Beginning. If the
Academy be once well-open' d, good Masters provided, and good Orders
established, there is Reason to believe (from many former Examples in
other Countries) that it will be able after a few years to support itself.

, Some Assistance from the Corporation is immediately wanted and
hoped for ; and it is thought that if this Board, which is a perpetual Body,
take the Academy under their Patronage, and afford it some Encourage-
ment, it will greatly strengthen the Hands of all concerned, and be a

504 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

means of Establishing this good Work, and continuing the good Effects of
it down to our late Posterity.

The Board having weighed the great Usefulness of this Design, after
several Propositions heard & debated, agreed That a Sum of Money be
given by this Board & paid down, towards compleating the Building
which the Trustees have purchased, and are now fitting up for the
Purpose ; and likewise, that a Sum or Sums be given yearly by this Board,
for five Years to come, towards the support & Maintenance of the Schools
under the Direction of the said Trustees. Whereupon the following
Questions were put and carried in the Affirmative.

I . Whether this Board will give the Sum of Two Hundred Pounds,
to be paid immediately to the Trustees of the Academy, towards compleat-
ing the Building purchased by the said Trustees for an Academy & Charity
School in this City ? Which was carried in the Affirmative by a great
Majority.

2. Whether this Board will give Fifty pounds p. annum for five years
next ensuing, to The Trustees of The Academy, towards supporting a
Charity School for the Teaching of poor Children Reading, Writing and
Arithmetick ?

Which was unanimously agreed to.

3. Whether this Board will give Fifty Pounds p. annum for the five
years next ensuing, to the Trustees of the Academy, for the Benefit thereof,
with Condition that this Board shall have a Right of nominating and send-
ing one Scholar Yearly from the Charity School, to be instructed gratis
in the Academy , in any or all of the Branches of Learning there taught ?
Which was carried in the Affirmative by a great Majority.

At a Common Council held for the City of Philadelphia the 2ist Day
of March, 1750-51.

PRESENT

Common Council Men

William Plumsted, Esq re , Mayor Joshua Maddox

Tench Francis, Esq re , Recorder Samuel Rhoads

Robert Strettell
Anthony Morris
Thomas Lawrence
Edward Shippen
Samuel Hasell

John Stamper
Israel Pemberton
Joseph Morris

5f 2 Benjamin Franklin

William Logan
George Mifflin
William Coleman

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 505

Alderman Lawrence acquainted the Board that the Sum of One Hun-
dred Pounds is due to him from this Corporation, being his Salary as
Mayor of this City for the last Year, pursuant to a Vote of this Board of
the 1 8th of September, 1747, whereby it was resolved that such Salary
should be paid to the Mayor of this City for the three Years then next
ensuing ; And that, as some late Mayors, in lieu of an Entertainment, had
given a Sum of Money for some publick Use, he was inclined to follow the
Example, and proposed to give the Sum of One Hundred Pounds for the
Use of the Academy in this City ; which Proposal was approved of by a
great Majority ; And at Alderman Lawrence's Request, the Treasurer of
this Corporation is order' d to pay the said Sum to William Coleman in
Behalf of the Trustees of the said Academy, for the Use aforesaid.

506 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
APPENDIX C.

BERKELEY, JOHNSON, AND FRANKLIN CORRESPONDENCE.
FROM DR. BEARDSLEY'S LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, D. D.

BISHOP BERKELEY TO DR. JOHNSON.

Cloyne, August 23, 1749.

REV. SIR, I am obliged for the account you have sent me of the
prosperous estate of learning in your College of New Haven. I approve
of the regulations made there, and am particularly pleased to find your
sons have made such a progress as appears from their elegant address to
me in the Latin tongue. It must indeed give me a very sensible satisfac-
tion to hear that my weak endeavors have been of some use and service to
that part of the world. I have two letters of yours at once on my hands
to answer, for which business of various kinds must be my apology. As
to the first, wherein you inclosed a small pamphlet relating to tar-water, I
can only say in behalf of those points in which the ingenious author
seems to dissent from me, that I advance nothing which is not grounded
on experience, as may be seen at large in Mr. Prior's narrative of the
effects of tar-water, printed three or four years ago, and which may be
supposed to have reached America.

For the rest, I am glad to find a spirit towards learning prevail in
those parts, particularly New York, where you say a College is projected,
which has my best wishes. At the same time I am sorry that the condi-
tion of Ireland, containing such numbers of poor uneducated people, for
whose sake Charity Schools are erecting throughout the kingdom, obligeth
us to draw charities from England ; so far are we from being able to extend
our bounty to New York, a country in proportion much richer than our
own. But as you are pleased to desire my advice upon this undertaking,
I send the following hints to be enlarged and improved by your own
judgment.

I would not advise the applying to England for charters or statutes
(which might cause great trouble, expense, and delay), but to do the busi-
ness quietly within themselves.

I believe it may suffice to begin with a President and two Fellows.
If they can procure but three fit persons, I doubt not the college from the
smallest beginnings would soon grow considerable : I should conceive good
hopes were you at the head of it.

Let them by all means supply themselves out of the seminaries in
New England (who are willing to go) worth sending.

Let the Greek and Latin classics be well taught. Be this the first

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 507

care as to learning. But the principle care must be good life and morals
to which (as well as to study) early hours and temperate meals will much
conduce.

If the terms for degrees are the same as in Oxford and Cambridge,
this would give credit to the College, and pave the way for admitting their
graduates ad eundem in the English Universities.

Small premiums in books, or distinctions in habit, may prove useful
encouragements to the students.

I would advise that the building be regular, plain, and cheap, and
that each student have a small room (about ten feet square) to himself.

I recommended this nascent seminary to an English bishop, to try
what might be done there. But by his answer it seems the colony is
is judged rich enough to educate its own youth.

Colleges from small beginnings grow great by subsequent bequests
and benefactions. A small matter will suffice to set one a going. And
when this is once well done, there is no doubt that it will grow and thrive.
The chief concern must be to set out in a good method, and introduce,
from the very first, a good taste into the society. For this end the princi-
pal expense should be in making a handsome provision for the President
and Fellows.

I have thrown together these few crude thoughts for you to ruminate
upon, and digest in your own udgment, and propose from yourself, as you
see convenient

My correspondence with patients who drink tar water, obliges me to
be less punctual in corresponding with my friends. But I shall be always
glad to hear from you. My sincere good wishes and prayers attend you
in all your laudable undertakings.

I am your faithful, humble servant,

G. CLOYNE.

MR. FRANKLIN TO DR. JOHNSON.

Philadelphia, Atig. 9, 1750.

REV. SIR, At my return home I found your favor of June the 28th,
with the Bishop of Cloyne' s letter inclosed, which I will take care of, and
beg leave to keep a little longer.

Mr. Francis, our Attorney General, who was with me at your house,
from the conversation then had with you, and reading some of your pieces,
has conceived an esteem for you equal to mine. The character we have
given of you to the other trustees, and the sight of your letters relating to
the academy, has made them very desirous of engaging you in that design,
as a person whose experience and judgment would be of great use in form-
ing rules and establishing good methods in the beginning, and whose name
for learning would give it a reputation. We only lament, that in the
infant state of our funds, we cannot make you an offer equal to your merit.

508 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

But as the view of being useful has most weight with generous and benevo-
lent minds, and in this affair you may do great service not only to the
present but to future generations, I flatter myself sometimes that if you
were here, and saw things as they are, and conversed a little with our
people, you might be prevailed with to remove. I would therefore earnestly
press you to make us a visit as soon as you conveniently can ; and in the
mean time let me represent to you some of the circumstances as they
appear to me.

1. The Trustees of the Academy are applying for a charter, which
will give an opportunity of improving and modeling our Constitution in
such a manner as, when we have your advice, shall appear best. I suppose
we shall have power to form a regular college.

2. If you would undertake the management of the English Education,
I am satisfied the trustees would, on your account, make the salary ,100
sterling, (they have already voted ,150 currency which is not far from it),
and pay the charge of your removal. Your son might also be employed
as tutor at ^60 or perhaps 70 per annum.

3. It has been long observed, that our church is not sufficient to
accommodate near the number of people who would willingly have seats
there. The buildings increase very fast towards the south end of the town,
and many of the principal merchants now live there ; which being at a
considerable distance from the present church, people begin to talk much
of building another, and ground has been offered as a gift for that purpose.
The Trustees of the Academy are three fourths of them members of the
Church of England, and the rest men of moderate principles. They have
reserved in the building a large hall for occasional preaching, public
lectures, orations, etc. ; it is 70 feet by 60, furnished with a handsome
pulpit, seats, etc. In this Mr. Tennent collected his congregation who are
now building him a meeting-house. In the same place, by giving now
and then a lecture, you might, with equal ease, collect a congregation that
would in a short time build you a church, if it should be agreeable to you.

In the mean time, I imagine you will receive something considerable
yearly, arising from marriages and christenings in the best families, etc. ,
not to mention presents that are not unfrequent from a wealthy people to a
minister they like ; and though the whole may not amount to more than a
due support, yet I think it will be a comfortable one. And when you are
well settled in a church of your own, your son may be qualified by years
and experience to succeed you in the Academy ; or if you rather choose to
continue in the Academy, your son might probably be fixed in the Church.

These are my private sentiments which I have communicated only to
Mr. Francis, who entirely agrees with me. I acquainted the trustees that
I would write to you, but could give them no dependence that you would
be prevailed on to remove. They will, however, treat with no other till I
have your answer.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 509

You will see by our newspaper, which I inclose, that the Corporation
of this city have voted ^200 down and ^100 a year out of their revenues
to the Trustees of the Academy. As they are a perpetual body, choosing
their own successors, and so not subject to be changed by the caprice of a
governor or of the people, and as 18 of the members (some the most
leading) are of the trustees, we look on this donation to be as good as so
much real estate ; being confident it will be continued as long as it is well
applied, and even increased, if there should be occasion. We have now
near ,5,000 subscribed, and expect some considerable sums besides may
be procured from the merchants of London trading hither. And as we are
in the centre of the Colonies, a healthy place, with plenty of provisions,
we suppose a good Academy here may draw numbers of youth for educa-
tion from the neighboring Colonies, and even from the West Indies.

I will shortly print proposals for publishing your pieces by subscrip-
tion, and disperse them among my friends along the continent. My
compliments to Mrs. Johnson and your son ; and Mr. and Mrs. Walker
your good neighbors.

I am, with great esteem and respect, Sir,

Your most humble servant,

B. FRANKLIN.

P. S. There are some other things best treated of when we have the
pleasure of seeing you. It begins now to be pleasant travelling. I wish
you would conclude to visit us in the next month at farthest. Whether
the journey produce the effect we desire or not, it shall be no expense to
you.

DR. PETERS TO DR. JOHNSON.

Philadelphia, Aug. 6, 1750.

REVEREND SIR, I am obliged to you for the honor you did me in
your compliments by Mr. Franklin and Mr. Francis. They said so many
good things of your abilities and inclinations to promote useful knowledge,
and the Trustees of the Academy are so much in want of your advice and
assistance, that, though personally unknown to you, I must take the free-
dom, from a hint that such a journey would not be disagreeable to you, to
give you an invitation to my house. Let me, good Sir, have the pleasure
of conversing with a gentleman whose character I have a long time esteemed,
and provided your journey be not between the 2oth October and ist Novem-
ber, when I am obliged to attend the Governor and Assembly at New
Castle, I will meet you at Trenton or Brunswick, or any other place you
shall appoint I will tell you beforehand, that can my friends or I find any
expedient to engage your residence among us, I will leave nothing unat-
tempted in the power of, Reverend Sir,

Your affectionate brother and humble servant,

RICHARD PETERS.

5 TO HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

DR. JOHNSON TO DR. PETERS,
(from Dr. Johnson's draft)

Aug. 1 6.

SIR, I am extremely obliged to you for the honor you have done
me in writing so kind and polite a letter to me, who am a perfect stranger
to you, a person whose real character I doubt you will find much below
what the candor of the openly friendly gentlemen have represented. You
will see by my letter to Mr. Franklin what difficulties lie in my way with
regard to my residence among you, which otherwise would, doubtless, be
vastly agreeable to me. However, as I do think in earnest, if practicable,
to make a tour to Philadelphia in acknowledgment of the great kindness
you express towards me, I shall most gratefully accept of your kind invita-
tion, and let you know beforehand when to expect me. If I can come at
all it will be before the time you mention, but I would first see my brethren
here together at our Commencement on the ad week in Sept, by convers-
ing with whom I shall be the better able to make adjustment whether a
remove would be practicable. Meantime,

I remain, Sir, etc.,

S. J.

MR. FRANKLIN TO DR. JOHNSON.

Philadelphia, Aug. 23, 1750.

DEAR SIR, We received your favor of the i6th inst. Mr. Peters
will hardly have time to write to you per this post, and I must be short.
Mr Francis spent the last evening with me, and we were all glad to hear
that you seriously meditate a visit after the middle of next month, and that
you will inform us by a line when to expect you. We drank your health
and Mrs Johnson' s, remembering your kind entertainment of us at Strat-
ford.

I think, with you, that nothing is of more importance for the public
weal, than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue. Wise and
good men are, in my opinion, the strength of a State much more so than
riches or arms, which, under the management of ignorance and wicked-
ness, often draw on destruction, instead of providing for the safety of the
people. And though the culture bestowed on many should be successful
only with a few, yet the influence of those few, and the service in their
power, may be very great. Even a single woman, that was wise by her
wisdom saved a city.

I think, also, that general virtue is more probably to be expected and
obtained from the education of youth than from the exhortation of adult
persons; bad habits and vices of the mind being, like diseases of the body,
more easily prevented than cured. I think, moreover, that talents for the
education of youth are the gift of God; and that he on whom they are
bestowed, whenever a way is opened for the use of them, is as strongly

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 511

called as if he heard a voice from heaven. Nothing more surely pointing
out duty, in a public service, than ability and opportunity of performing it

I have not yet discoursed with Dr. Jenney concerning your removal
hither. You have reason, I own, to doubt whether your coming on the
foot I proposed would not be disagreeable to him, though I think it ought
not For should his particular interest be somewhat affected by it, that
ought not to stand in competition with l\\t general good ; especially as it
cannot be much affected, he being old, and rich, and without children. I
will however learn his sentiments before the next post But, whatever influ-
ence they might have on your determinations about removing, they need
have none on your intention of visiting. And if you favor us with the
visit, it is not necessary that you should previously write to him to learn
his dispositions about your removal, since you will see him, and when we
are all together those things may be better settled in conversation than by
letters at a distance. Your tenderness of the Church's peace is truly laud-
able; but, methinks, to build a new church in a growing place is not
properly dividing' but multiplying ; and will really be a means of increas-
ing the number of those who worship God in that way. Many who cannot
now be accommodated in the church go to other places or stay at home;
and if we had another church, many, who go to other places or stay at
home, would go to church. I suppose the interest of the Church has been
far from suffering in Boston by the building of two churches there in my
memory. I had for several years nailed against the wall of my house, a
pigeon-box that would hold six pair; and though they bred as fast as my
neighbor's pigeons, I never had more than six pair; the old and strong
driving out the young and weak, and obliging them to seek new habita-
tions. At length I put up an additional box, with apartments for enter-
taining twelve pair more, and it was soon filled with inhabitants, by the
overflowing of my first box and of others in the neighborhood. This I
take to be a parallel case with the building of a new church here.

Your years, I think, are not so many as to be an objection of any
weight, especially considering the vigor of your constitution. For the
small-pox, if it should spread here, you might inoculate with great proba-
bility of safety ; and I think that distemper generally more favorable here
than further northward. Your objection about the politeness of Philadel-
phia, and your imagined rusticity, is mere compliment ; and your diffidence
of yourself absolutely groundless. My humble respects, if you please, to
your brethren at the Commencement. I hope they will advise you to what
is most for the good of the whole, and then I think they will advise you to
move hither.

Please to tender my best respects and service to Mrs. Johnson and
your son.

I am, dear Sir,

Your obliged and affectionate, humble serv 1 ,

B. FRANKLIN.

512 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

MR. FRANKLIN TO DR. JOHNSON.

DEAR SIR, I am sorry to hear of your illness. If you have not been
used to the fever-and-ague let me give you one caution . Don' t imagine
yourself thoroughly cured, and so omit the use of the bark too soon.
Remember to take the preventing doses faithfully. If you were to continue
taking a dose or two every day for two or three weeks after the fits have
left you, 'twould not be amiss. If you take the powder mixed quick in a
tea-cup of milk, 'tis no way disagreeable, but looks and even tastes like
chocolate. "Pis an old saying : That an ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure, and certainly a true one, with regard to the bark ; a little
of which will do more in preventing the fits than a great deal in removing
them.

But if your health would permit I should not expect the pleasure of
seeing you soon. The small-pox spreads apace, and is now in all quarters;
yet as we have only children to have it, and the Doctors inoculate apace, I
believe they will soon drive it through the town ; so that you may possibly
visit us with safety in the spring. In the meantime we should be glad to
know the result you came to after consulting your brethren at the Com-
mencement. Messrs. Peters and Francis have directed me on all occa-
sions to present their compliments to you. Please to acquaint me if you
propose to make any considerable additions to the "Ethics," that I may
be able in the proposals to compute the bigness of the book.

I am, with sincere esteem and respect, dear Sir,

Your most obliged humble servant,

B. FRANKLIN.
Philadelphia, September 13, 1750.

Inclosed I return the good Bishop's letter with thanks.

MR. FRANKLIN TO DR. JOHNSON.

Philadelphia, December 24, 1751.

DEAR SIR, I received your favor of the i ith inst and thank you for
the hint you give of the omission in the ' ' Idea. ' ' The ' ' Sacred Classics ' '
are read in the English school, though I forgot to mention them . And I
shall propose at the meeting of the Schools, after the Holidays, that the
English master begin and continue to read select portions of them daily
with the prayers as you advise.

But if you can be thus useful to us at this distance, how much more
might you be so if you were present with us, and had the immediate
inspection and government of the schools. I wrote to you in my last that
Mr Martin our Rector died suddenly of a quinsy. His body was carried
to the Church, respectfully attended by the trustees, all the masters and
scholars in their order, and a great number of the citizens. Mr. Peters
preached his funeral sermon, and gave him the just and honorable char-
acter he deserved. The schools are now broke up for Christmas, and will

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 513

not meet again till the yth of January. Mr. Peters took care of the Latin
and Greek School after Mr. Martin's death till the breaking up. And Mr.
Allison, a dissenting minister, has promised to continue that care for a
month after their next meeting. Is it impossible for you to make us a visit
in that time ? I hope by the next post to know something of your senti-
ments, that I may be able to speak more positively to the Trustees con-
cerning the probability of your being prevailed with to remove hither.

The English master is Mr. Dove, a gentleman about your age, who
formerly taught grammar sixteen years at Chichester in England. He is
an excellent master, and his scholars have made a surprising progress.

I shall send some of the "(Economies" to Mr. Havens per next post
If you have a spare one of your "Essays on the Method of Study," the
English edition, please to send it me.

My wife joins in the compliments of the season to you and Mrs.
Johnson, with, dear Sir,

Your affectionate humble servant,

B. FRANKLIN.

DR. JOHNSON TO MR. FRANKLIN.
(From Dr. Johnson's Draft.)

DEAR SIR, I now write my most thankful acknowledgments for
your two kind letters of December 24 and January 8, and have received
your most obliging letters of the summer before last, to which you refer
me. There was one of August 23, to which I did not make a particular
reply by reason of my illness at that time. In that you reasoned, I own,
in a very forcible manner upon the head of duty. You argued that ability,
with opportunity, manifestly pointed out duty, as though it were a voice
from Heaven. This, Sir, I agree to, and therefore have always endeavored
to use what little ability I have that way in the best manner I could, having
never been without pupils of one sort or other half year at a time, and
seldom that, for thirty-eight years. And, thank God, I have the great satisfac-
tion to see some of them in the first pulpits, not only in Connecticut, but also
in Boston and New York, and others in some of the first places in the land.
But I am now plainly in the decline of life, both as to activity of body and
vigor of mind, and must, therefore, consider myself as being an Emeritus,
and unfit for any new situation in the world or to enter on any new business,
especially at such a distance from my hitherto sphere of action and my
present situation, where I have as much duty on my hands as I am capable
of and where my removal would make too great a breach to be counter-
vailed by any good I am capable of doing elsewhere, for which I have but a
small chance left for much opportunity. So that I must beg my good
friends at Philadelphia to excuse me, and I pray God they may be directed
to a better choice. And as Providence has so unexpectedly provided so

514 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

worthy a person as Mr. Dove for your other purpose, I hope the same good
Providence will provide for this. I am not personally acquainted with Mr.
Winthrop, the Professor at Cambridge, but what I have heard of him,
perhaps he might do. But I rather think it would be your best way to try
if you cannot get some friend and faithful gentleman at home, of good
judgment and care, to inquire and try if some worthy Fellow of one or
other of the Universities could not be obtained. Perhaps Mr. Peters or
Mr. Dove may know of some acquaintance of theirs, that might do likely :
dulcius ex ipsis fortibus. Your son intimated that you had thought of a
voyage home yourself ; if you should you might undoubtedly look out a
fit person to be had, and you had better do as you can for some time than not
be well provided. I could, however, wish to make you a visit in the Spring,
if the way were safe, but it seems the small-pox is propagating at New York,
and perhaps you will be scarcely free of it Meantime you have, indeed,
my heart with you as though I were ever so much with you in presence, and if
there were any good office in my power you might freely command it. I
thank you for. sending the two sheets of my "Noetica" which are done
with much care. I find no defects worth mentioning but what were
probably my own. At page 62, 1. 19, there should have been a( ;) after
"universal," and 1. 2ia(;) after "affirmative." On reviewing the
former sheets I observe a neglect, p. 30, 1. 24, "on account of which, "
and p. 36, 1. 3, there should be a (, ) after "is."

I am very much obliged to you for Short and the Almanac and my
wife for hers. I have had five parcels of the "(Economies " and Fisher.
I think you told me they were a dollar each parcel, besides that of Havens,
who desires you to send him another parcel, and begs you to send one or
more of your pieces on "Electricity," published in England. By your
son's account I am much charmed with this, and beg if you have a spare
copy to send it me. And as you desire a copy of my " Introduction, "
since I had many sent me from home, I send a half dozen of which with
my humble service to Messrs: Peters and Francis and your son, pray them
to accept each a copy. My wife and son , with me , desire our service may
be acceptable to them and Mrs. Franklin and your son.

I am , Sir , etc.

S. J.

MR. FRANKLIN TO DR. JOHNSON.

Philadelphia, July, 2, 52.

REV. SIR, I have sent you, via New York, twenty-four of your
books bound as those I sent per post. The remainder of the fifty are
binding in a plainer manner, and shall be sent as soon as done and left at
Mr. Stuyvesant' s as your order.

Our Academy, which you so kindly inquire after, goes on well.
Since Mr. Martin' s death the Latin and Greek School has been under the

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 515

care of Mr. Allison, a Dissenting Minister, well skilled in those lan-
guages and long practiced in teaching. But he refused the Rectorship, or
to have anything to do with the government of the other schools. So that
remains vacant, and obliges the Trustees to more frequent visits. We
have now several young gentlemen desirous of entering on the study of
Philosophy, and Lectures are to be opened this week. Mr. Allison under-
takes Logic and Ethics, making your work his text to comment and lecture
upon. Mr. Peters and some other gentlemen undertake the other
branches, till we shall be provided with a Rector capable of the whole,
who may attend wholly to the instructions of youth in the higher parts of
learning as they come out fitted from the lower schools. Our proprietors
have lately wrote that they are extremely well pleased with the design, will
take our Seminary under their patronage, give us a charter, and, as an
earnest of their benevolence, Five Hundred Pounds sterling. And by
our opening a Charity School, in which near one hundred poor children
are taught Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, with the rudiments of reli-
gion, we have gained the general good will of all sorts of people, from
whence donations and bequests may be reasonably expected to accrue from
time to time. This is our present situation, and we think it a promising
one ; especially as the reputation of our schools increases, the masters
being all very capable and diligent and giving great satisfaction to all con-
cerned. I have heard of no exceptions yet made to your work, nor do I
expect any, unless to those parts that savor of what is called Berkeley-
anism, which is not well understood here. When any occur I shall com-
municate them.

With great esteem and respect, I am, dear Sir,

Your obliged humble serv' t,

B. FRANKLIN.

516 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
APPENDIX D.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE OPENING OF KING'S COLLEGE.

May 31, 1754.
ADVERTISEMENT.

To such Parents as have now (or expect to have) children prepared
to be educated in the College of New York.

I . AS the Gentlemen who are appointed by the Assembly, to be
Trustees of the intended Seminary or College of New York, have thought
fit to appoint me to take Charge of it, and have concluded to set up a
Course of Tuition in the learned Languages, and in the liberal Arts and
Sciences ; They have judged it advisable, that I should publish this Adver-
tisement, to inform such as have Children ready for a College Education,
that it is proposed to begin Tuition upon the first Day of July next, at the
Vestry Room in the new School Hotise, adjoining to Trinity Church in
New York, which the Gentlemen of the Vestry are so good as to favour
them with the Use of in the Interim, till a convenient Place may be built.

II. The lowest Qualifications they have judged requisite, in order to
Admission into the said College, are as follows, viz. : That they be able to
read well, and write a good legible Hand ; and that they be well versed in
the Five first Rules in Arithmetic, i. e. as far as Division and Reduction ;
and as to Latin and Greek, That they have a good Knowledge in the
Grammars, and be able to make grammatical Latin, and both in con-
struing and parsing, to give a good Account of two or three of the first
Orations of lully, and of the first Books of Virgil ' s ^Eneid, and some of
the first Chapters of the Gospel of St. John, in Greek. In these Books
therefore they may expect to be examined ; but higher Qualifications must
hereafter be expected : and if there be any of the higher Classes in any
College, or under private Instruction, that incline to come hither, they
may expect Admission to proportionably higher classes here.

III. And that People may be the better satisfied in sending their
Children for Education to this College, it is to be understood, that as to
Religion, there is no Intention to impose on the Scholars, the peculiar
Tenets of any particular Sect of Christians ; but to inculcate upon their
tender minds, the great Principles of Christianity and Morality, in which
true Christians of each Denomination are generally agreed. And as to

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 517

the daily Worship in the College Morning and Evening, it is proposed
that it should, ordinarily, consist of such a Collection of Lessons, Prayers
and Praises of the Liturgy of the Church, as are for the most Part, taken
out of the Holy Scriptures, and such as are agreed on by the Trustees, to
be in the best Manner expressive of our common Christianity ; and as to
any peculiar Tenets, ever)' one is left to judge freely for himself, and to
be required only to attend constantly at such Places of Worship, on the
Lord's Day, as their Parents or Guardians shall think fit to order or permit

IV. The chief Thing that is aimed at in this College is, to teach and
engage the Children to know God in Jesus Christ, and to love and serve
him, in all Sobriety, Godliness and Righteousness of Life, with a perfect
Heart and Willing Mind ; and to train them up in all virtuous Habits,
and all such useful Knowledge as may render them creditable to their
Families and Friends, Ornaments to their Country, and useful to the
public Weal in their Generations. To which good Purposes, it is earnestly
desired, that their Parents, Guardians, and Masters, would train them up
from their Cradles under strict Government, and in all Seriousness, Virtue
and Industry, that they may be qualified to make orderly and tractable
members of this Society ; and, above all, that in order hereunto, they be
very careful themselves, to set them good Examples of true Piety and
Virtue in their own Conduct For as Examples have a very powerful
Influence over young Minds, and especially those of their Parents, in
vain are they solicitous for a good Education for their Children, if they
themselves set before them Examples of Impiety and Profaneness, or of
any sort of Vice whatsoever.

V. And, lastly, a serious, virtuous, and industrious Course of Life,
being first provided for, it is further the Design of this College, to instruct
and perfect the Youth in the learned Languages, and in the Arts of reason-
ing exactly, of writing correctly, and speaking eloquently ; and in the
Arts of numbering and measuring; of Surveying and Navigation, of Geog-
raphy and History, of Husbandry, Commerce and Government, and in
the Knowledge of all Nature in the Heavens above us, and in the Air,
IVater and Earth around us, and the various kinds of Meteors, Stones,
Mines and Minerals, Plants and Animals, and of everything useful for the
Comfort, the Convenience and Elegance of Life, in the chief Manufactures
relating to any of these Things : And finally, to lead them from the
Study of Nature to the Knowledge of themselves, and of the God of
Nature, and their Duty to him, themselves, and one another, and every
Thing that can contribute to their true Happiness, both here and hereafter.

Thus much, Gentlemen, it was thought proper to advertise you of
concerning the Nature and Design of this College : And I pray God, it
may be attended with all the Success you can wish, for the best Good of

518 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

the rising Generations ; to which, (while I continue here) I shall willingly
contribute my Endeavours to the Utmost of my Power.
Who am, Gentlemen,

Your real Friend,

And most humble Servant,

SAMUEL JOHNSON.

N. B. The Charge of the Tuition is established by the Trustees to
to be only 253. for each Quarter.

The New York Gazette: or Weekly Post Boy, June 3, 1754.

This is to acquaint all whom it may concern, that I shall attend at
the vestry room, in the school-house, near the English- Church on Tues-
days and Thursdays, every Week, between the hours of nine and twelve,
to examine such as offer themselves to be admitted into the college.

S . JOHNSON.
The New York Mercury, Monday, July I, 1754.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 519
APPENDIX E.

Account of the College and Academy in

The American Magazine, October, 1758, p. 630 lit. seq.
[Written by Provost Smith.]

To THE PROPRIETORS, &c.
GENTLEMEN :

AMONG your various publications for the Advancement of virtue and
literature I observe that you have hitherto given no account of the College
and Academy of this place, altho' you have no doubt been beholden to the
members of that institution for many of those monthly performances,
which have been so considerable an ornament to your work. To supply that
defect you will, therefore, accept from me the following brief and genuine
account of its Rise, Progress, and present state.

In the year 1749, a number of private gentlemen, who had long
regretted it as misfortune to the youth of this province, that we had no
public Seminary, in which they might receive the accomplishments of a
regular education, published a paper of hints and proposals for erecting an
academy in this city. They observed very justly that the good education
of youth has been esteemed by wise men in all ages, the surest foundation,
both of private and public happiness; and that it has been the principal
concern of every well-regulated government to establish and endow proper
seminaries for the advancement of learning, and for training up a succes-
sion of men, fit to serve their country in every useful station. Many of the
first settlers of these provinces, (it was observed further) were men who had
received a good education in Europe, and to their wisdom and good man-
agement we owe much of our present prosperity. Nevertheless, it was
obvious that without making a provision for cultivating wisdom and good-
ness in the rising generation, we would soon degenerate into a state of igno-
rance and barbarity, little better than that of our Neighbour-Savages, and
be neither able to preserve nor enjoy the inestimable blessings, delivered
down to us from our fathers. To prevent these dreadful misfortunes, was
the design of those who projected this institution ; a design that will do
honor to their names as long as any memorial of virtue and letters shall
remain in their country; and a design in which they can boast all the
Sages and Lawgivers and Patriots of every age, as their patterns and fellow
labourers, for the propagation of wisdom and good of their species !

This design was not long formed before it was carried into execution.
At first, only three persons were concerned in forming it, two of whom are
since dead, and the other now in England. These communicated their
thoughts to others, till at last the number of twenty-four joined themselves

520 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

together, as Trustees for carrying on the work, and agreed never to exceed
that number, which was composed without any regard to difference in reli-
gious persuasions, of creditable gentlemen of various professions and
callings .

The scheme being made public, with the names of the gentlemen
undertakers, all was so well approved of, that in a very short time the sub-
scription for carrying it on amounted to Eight Hundred Pounds per annum,
for five years, a very strong proof of the public spirit and generosity of the
inhabitants of this place ! In the beginning of January, 1750, three of the
schools were opened, namely the Latin School, the Mathematical School
and the English School, the two former under men who had long been
known in the country as sufficiently qualified for the business; and the
latter under a person who, being accidentally in the place, offered his
service and was accepted for a time upon trial. For it had always been
considered as a very leading part of the design, to have a good school in
the mother tongue, and to be well satisfied of the abilities and assiduity of
the person entrusted with the care of it, before any final agreement, which
had likewise been made a rule in providing masters for the other schools.
Oratory, correct Speaking and Writing the Mother Tongue, is a branch
of education too much neglected in all our English Seminaries, as is often
visible in the public performances of some of our most learned men. But
in the circumstances of this province, such a neglect would have been
still more inexcusable, than in any other part of the British dominions .
For as we are so great a mixture of people, from almost all corners of the
world, necessarily speaking a variety of languages and dialects, the true
pronunciation and writing of our own language might soon be lost among
us, without such a previous care to preserve it in the rising generation.

Thus this Seminary opened with three masters in the branches of
education most immediately necessary to prepare the youth for public life,
and the higher parts of learning. All the trustees, and a great concourse
of the inhabitants were present at the Opening when the service of the
Church of England was read, and a suitable sermon preached by the rev-
erend Mr. Peters, Provincial Secretary, from St. John viii. 32, And ye shall
know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you Free.

This worthy gentleman (who amid all the labours of his public station,
as well as the many private labours in which his benevolence continually
engages him, has still made it his care to devote some part of his time to
Classical Learning and the Study of Divinity, to which he was originally
bred) took occasion, from these words of our blessed Saviour, to shew the
intimate connexion between Truth and Freedom, between Knowledge of
every kind, and the preservation of civil and religious Liberty . For it has
ever been found that where the Former is not, the latter cannot subsist.

The institution, thus begun, continued daily to flourish, in so much
that all the schools soon stood in need of ushers and assistants to the chief

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 521

masters. At length encouraged by such a fair beginning, the Trustees
applied to the honourable Proprietors for a charter of Incorporation, which
they obtained in July , 1753. At that time the institution consisted of
three schools above mentioned, and two Charity Schools.

In the space of about 4 years, from the first opening, it was fourjd
that many youths, having gone thro' their course of Grammar- Learning,
would be desirous of proceeding to Philosophy and the Sciences, and must
depart to other Seminaries unless a provision was made for compleating
their studies here. This being represented to the Trustees, they began to
think of enlarging their plan, as they had promised at the beginning.
They were highly sensible that the knowledge of Words, without making
them subservient to the knowledge of Things, could never be considered
as the business of education. To lay a foundation in the Languages, was
very necessary as a first step, but without the superstructure of the Sciences
it would be but of little use for the conduct of Life. The bare study of
words could never be designed as the chief object of man's reasoning and
intellectual faculties . Our Maker had something more sublime in view;
and to stop short of that end is to be greatly wanting to ourselves, in a
matter of the last importance.

In consideration of this, the trustees determined to complete the
remainder of their plan, and applied for an Addition to their Charter, by
which a power of conferring degrees and appointing Professors in the
various branches of the arts and sciences, was granted to them. By this
means a COLLEGE was added to, and ingrafted upon their former Academy,
a joint government agreed upon for both, the style of the trustees changed
to that of ' ' Trustees of the College, Academy and Charity School of
Philadelphia,'"'' and the Professors constituted under them into one body
or faculty, by the name of ' ' The Provost, Vice Provost and Professors of the
College and Academy of Philadelphia." This charter was obtained May
I4th, 1755. What further relates to the government of this institution
shall be mentioned, after giving a view of the plans of education pursued
in it, which I am to do under two heads. The first shall be the plan of
education in the college or higher part of the institution, including the
Latin and Greek schools, which shews the course gone thro' by those
intended for the learned professions. The second shall be what is properly
called the Academy, shewing the course of learning intended for those who
are bred for the mechanic arts and other professions.

Probably some youths will go thro' these stages in three years, many
will require four years, and many more may require five years, especially
if they begin under nine or ten years of age. The masters must exercise
their best discretion in this respect.

522 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

with the privilege of being distinguished with an under-graduate' s gown.
The method of study to be prosecuted in the college for the term of three
years follows in one general view.

[Given on pp. 236 to 239.]

Along with this plan, which was first published in August, 1756,
and subscribed by the Faculty of masters, the following remarks were
also published, viz.: "Life itself being too short to attain a perfect
acquaintance with the whole circle of the Sciences, nothing has ever been
proposed by any plan of University-Education, but to lay such a general
foundation in all the branches of literature, as may enable youth to perfect
themselves in those particular parts, to which their business, or genius,
may afterwards lead them. And scarce any thing has more obstructed the
advancement of sound learning, than a vain imagination, that a few years,
spent at college, can render youth such absolute Masters of Science, as to
absolve them from all future study."

"As far as our influence extends, we would wish to propagate a
contrary doctrine, and tho' we flatter ourselves that, by a due execution of
the foregoing plan, we shall enrich our country with many Minds, that are
literally accomplished, and send out none that may justly be denominated
barren, or unimproved ; yet we hope that the youth committed to our
tuition, will neither at college, nor afterwards, rest satisfied with such a
general knowledge, as is to be acquired from the public lectures and exer-
cises. We rather trust that those, whose taste is once formed for the
acquisition of Solid Wisdom, will think it their duty and most rational
satisfaction, to accomplish themselves still farther, by manly perseverance
in private study and meditation."

"To direct them in this respect, the last column contains a judicious
choice of the most excellent writers in the various branches of literature,
which will be easily understood when once a foundation is laid in the
books proposed in the plan, under the several lectures. For the books to
be used as Classics, at the lecture hours, will not be found in this last
column, which is only meant as a private library, to be consulted occasion-
ally in the lectures, for the illustration of any particular part ; and to be
read afterwards for compleating the whole."

" The last book in the catalogue is the HOLY BIBLE, without which
the student's library would be very defective. But tho' it stands last, we
do not mean that they are to defer reading it to the last, it being part of
our daily exercise, and recommended from the beginning. We only inti-
mate, by this disposition, that, when human science has done its utmost,
and when we have thought the youth worthy of the honors of the Semi-
nary, yet still we must recommend them to the Scriptures of God, in order
to compleat their Wisdom, to regulate their conduct thro' life, and guide
them to happiness forever !"

"In the disposition of the parts of this scheme, a principal regard

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 523

has been paid to the connexion and subserviency of the Sciences, as well
as to the gradual openings of young minds. Those parts are placed first,
which are suited to strengthen the inventive Faculties, and are instrumental
to what follows. Those are placed last, which require riper judgment, and
are more immediately connected with the main business of life."

" In the mean time, it is proposed that they shall never drop their
acquaintance with the classic sages. They are every day called to converse
with some one of the ancients, who, at the same time that he charms with
all the beauties of language, is generally illustrating that particular branch
of philosophy or science, to which the other hours of the day are devoted.
Thus, by continually drawing something from the most admired masters of
sentiment and expression, the taste of youth will be gradually formed, to
just Criticism and masterly Composition."

" For this reason, Composition, in the Strict Meaning of the term,
cannot be begun at an earlier period than is proposed in the plan. The
knowledge of Mathematics is not more necessary, as an introduction to
natural philosophy, than an acquaintance with the best ancient and
modern writers, especially the Critics, is to just Composition."

" Whoever would build must have both the art and and materials of
building; and therefore Composition, from one's own stock, is justly
placed after Criticism, which supplies the art, and not before Moral and
Natural Philosophy, which enriches the Understanding, and furnishes the
Materials or Topics for the Work. ' '

"Thus it is hoped the student may be led thro' a scale of easy
ascent, till finally render' d capable of Thinking, Writing and Acting well,
which is the grand aim of a liberal education. At the end of every term,
there is some time allowed for Recreation, or bringing up slower Geniuses.

' ' Perhaps, after all, some who see this plan, may think three years
too scanty a period for its execution. We would not be tenacious of our
opinion; but, from an attentive consideration of the business proposed for
each term, we are inclined to think the time will be sufficient for a mid-
dling genius, with ordinary application. And where both genius and
application are wanting, we conceive no time will be found sufficient.
Experience, however, being the best guide in matters of this kind ; we
only propose that a fair trial of three years may be made, before anything
farther is determined upon a subject of such concern.' '

1 ' Such a trial we think due to the present state of our seminar)', as
well as to the public, and the particular circumstances of these Colonies,
where very few youth can be detained for a long period at infant unendowed
colleges, where they must wholly maintain themselves at a considerable
expence, and where the genius seems not only to be sooner ripe, but where
there is also a more immediate demand, and a more early settlement to be
obtained, in all the ways of genteel employment, for Young Men of Parts,
than there is in European Countries."

524 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

" N. B. The utmost care will be taken for a faithful execution of
this plan in all its parts. The time for admitting Freshmen in the youngest
philosophy class is May 15, according to the plan. But those who neces-
sarily apply later in the first year will obtain Admission, provided it
appear upon examination that they are sufficiently grounded in the parts
laid down in the plan, previous to the date of such their admission ; which
parts may always be known from inspection, together with the proficiency
made by the class which they are to join. The Sentiments of Men of
Learning will be thankfully received for perfecting the whole , and upon a
CANDID application to any of the professors, they will endeavour to explain
and remove any difficiclties that may occur to any persons concerning z/."

So far the Professors themselves proceed in their account of the
College-part, two years after its first erection. I go on to the next branch
of this institution, which is properly an English Academy, and consists of
two parts ; an English and Writing School, and a School for the Practical
branches of the Mathematics. In the Former, besides Writing, the
children are taugh the Mother-tongue Grammatically, together with a cor-
rect and just pronunciation. And for attaining this, a small rostrum or
oratory is erected in one end of the School, and the children are frequently
exercised in reading aloud from it, or delivering short orations ; while the
Professor of English and Oratory stands by to correct whatever may be
amiss, either in their Speech or Gesture. This part of the institution
is of singular benefit. It corrects unbecoming bashfulness, &c. gives the
youth presence of mind, habituates them to appearing in public, and
has been the means of producing many excellent young Orators, that have
occasionally charmed vast audiences and it is hoped will soon become an
honour and ornament to their country, in the various stations to which
they may be called . This attention to public speaking, which is begun
here, is continued to the end, and especially in the philosophy schools,
where the youth frequently deliver exercises of their own composition, at
commencements, examinations and other public occasions.

The Last branch of this institution consists of two charity schools ;
in one of which 40 Girls are taught Reading Writing, and Sewing, and
in the other 60 Boys are taught Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.

This is a very noble and generous part of the design, and the bene-
fit done by it to a vast number of poor children, who received the rudi-
ments of education here to fit them for various sorts of business and
mechanic arts, is unspeakable. For tho' the number of Boys was only
intended to be 60, yet it is generally near 80, and wou'd be much greater
if they could be received.

Thus, besides 5 Professors that constitute the Faculty, and have the
immediate inspection of the whole, 6 other persons are continually

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 525

employed in this institution, making 1 1 in all ; by whom 266 students and
scholars, often more, are instructed ; and all the branches of education
carried on that are necessary, either for the learned professions, or mer-
chandise or the mechanic arts and inferior callings, A seminary, on so
extensive a plan, is nowhere else to be found in this new world, nor in
many parts of the old ; and therefore a sketch of its constitution and gov-
ernment, and those methods, by which discipline and good order are pre-
served, among such a variety of schools, students and scholars, may be
proper on this occasion. And here it will be found that its Government is
the most rational and free that can well be imagined, and its Constitiition
has many advantages peculiar to itself.

The chief power is, by Charter, lodged in twenty-four Trustees, who
must all be residents not only within the province, but within five miles of
the city. All matters of higher import are to be decided by their councils
and direction ; and all Laws are either to be made by them, or receive a
final sanction from them.

No student can receive the honors and ordinary degrees of the
college, without a previous examination in their presence, and a Mandate
under their privy-seal and the hands of a majority of them. Nor can even
an honorary Degree be conferred without a like Mandate, under the said
privy-seal and the hands of at least two-thirds of the whole body ; which
regulations must ever be a means of preventing a prostitution of those
degrees and honors to the Illiterate and Undeserving, which should be the
reward of real Learning and Worth ; a practise too much complained of
in many other places.

In order to do their duty as trustees more effectually, they set apart
the second Tuesday of every month, for visiting and examining the schools,
conversing and advising with the masters, encouraging the students accord-
ing to their several degrees of merit, aad making such regulations as may
be thought necessary. All the schools, high and low, have their turns of
these visitations ; which are so truly calculated to keep up the spirit of the
institution, and promote diligence, emulation and good behaviour among
the scholars, that 'tis hoped none who accept the office of a Trustee will
ever be slack in their attendance, when health and other business will
permit. Besides these stated meetings, their president* who is chosen
annually, has a power of calling other meetings on any particular occasion.
The present trustees are the following gentlemen, viz.

James Hamilton, William Allen, John Inglis, William Masters,
Samuel J/' Call, jun., Joseph Turner, Benjamin Frank/in, Thomas Leech,
William Shippen, Robert Strettell, Philip Syng, Phineas Bond, Richard
Peters, Abraham Taylor, Thomas Bond, Joshua Maddox, William Plum-
sted, Thomas White, William Coleman, Thomas Cadivalader, Alexander
Stedman, John Mifflin, Benjamin Chew, and Ed-ward Shippen, junior.

* 'I he present President of Trustees is Richard Peters, Esq

526 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Under these trustees, the principal masters are constituted into a
Faculty, or learned body, with all the powers necessary for the ordinary
government of the schools and good education of the youth. They are
to meet, in Faculty, at least once in every two weeks, and at such other
times as the Provost, or senior member present, shall think fit to call them,
or any two members desire him to do. At these meetings they are to
enquire into the state of the schools and see that the several plans of edu-
cation be regularly carried on, and the laws of the institution duly executed
and observed. They have also power to enact temporary Rules and
Ordinances, to be in force as Laws, till the first ensuing meeting of the
trustees; before whom they are then to be laid, in order to be altered,
amended or confirm' d, or left probationary for a longer period, or wholly
laid aside, as they shall think fit.

By this method, all Laws either do or may take their rise from
masters, who being daily present in the institution know best what regula-
tions and orders may be wanted. At the same time, as these regulations
are to receive their last sanction from the Trustees, who are men of experi-
ence, weight and probity, and have children of their own to educate, we
may be certain that nothing can obtain the force of a Standing Law but
what is found salutary and good upon trial. By the present rules, the
faculty meets every Thursday noon, and all the schools are assembled in
order to examine the weekly roll, and call delinquents to account. As
several youth are too big for corporal punishment, there are small Fines
by the laws agreeable to the nature of the offence, and the custom of other
Colleges, yet no one need pay any such fine unless he chuses it, but may
undergo the same punishment as if no such fines had ever been appointed.
Whatever money is thus raised from the slothful and refractory in Fines,
is appropriated in rewards to the diligent and obedient; so that any youth
who has once been a delinquent may have an opportunity of getting back,
^future care, what he forfeited "bj former neglect.

These Rewards and Punishments are both administered in the most
public manner ; and in short the whole discipline is so reasonable and
just, that any youth who might desire to break thro' the rules of this
institution in his younger years, can hardly be expected to submit to the
rules of any institution when grown up .

As to the plan of education, it is already laid down, and has been the
fruit of much thought. Great care has been taken to comprehend every
useful branch in it, without being burdensome, or launching into those
that are unnecessary. The greatest regard possible is also paid to Religion,
pure Evangelical Religion, untainted by the Dogmas of particular sects or
persuasions. Prayers and reading the Holy Scriptures are regular every
day, before the whole youth assembled. Nor is it any objection, but
rather an advantage particularly for the youth intended for business and
public life, that the building is within the city. By good rules and good

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 527

example, the Morals of youth may be as easily preserved, in a great and
well-policied city, as in a small village, if we can suppose any place to
continue small where such a seminary is once founded. When I speak
so, I would be understood to mean, when the youth all lodge in the houses
of their parents, or in lodgings within the walls of the college, which the
trustees, by their first plan proposed to erect, and will do doubt accomplish
whenever their funds will permit

In this institution, there is a very noble Apparatus for experiments
in Natural Philosophy, done in England by the best hands, and brought
over from thence, in different parcels, at a very great expence. There
is also, in the experiment room, an Electrical Apparatus, the property of
one of the professors, chiefly his own invention, and perhaps the com-
pletest of the kind, now in the world .

What a blessing must such an institution be to this continent in
general, and how great an honor to its worthy founders ! What advan-
tages may not the youth reap in it with common industry, amid so many
opportunities of improvement and so many incitements to industry ;
where the Masters transact every thing by joint advice ; where a due
regard to religion is kept up ; and the whole open to the visitation and
frequent inspection of a number of gentlemen of rank and character ?
Who would not chuse rather to see his son in such a seminary, than in any
obscure corner, under immoral men, habitual Drunkards, professed
Gamesters, concealed Papists or others, who never call on the name of
God in their schools thro' the week, and on his Sabbaths seldom enter his
holy sanctuary ! And yet, it were to be wished, that some such as these
may not have been but too successful in deluding unthinking parents to
commit an inestimable treasure into their hands, namely the education of
innocent children.

But to return, the present professors and members of faculty in the
institution of which I am giving an account are :

REV. WILLIAM SMITH, M. A., PROVOST of the College and Academy,
and Professor of Rhetoric and Natural Philosophy.

REV. FRANCIS ALISON, D. D., VICE PROVOST of the College, Rector
of the Academy, and Professor of Logic and Moral Philosophy.

REV. EBENEZER KINNERSLEY, M. A., Professor of English and
Oratory, and Chief Master of the English School.

THEOPHILUS GREW, M. A., Professor of Mathematics, and Master of
the Mathematical School .

JOHN BEVERIDGE, M.A., Professor of Languages, and Chief Master
of the Latin and Greek Schools.

As to the First of these gentlemen, his name has been so often
mentioned of late, on many public occasions, that the writer of this would
leave it to cooler times to declare for or against him. With respect to his

528 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

abilities, the world have specimens enough in their hands to judge con-
cerning them.

The Second gentleman mentioned above has long been employed in
the education of youth in this province, and many of those who now make
a considerable figure in it have been bred under him. He was one of the
first persons in this country, who, foreseeing the ignorance into which it
was like to fall, set up a regular school of education in it ; and so sensible
were that learned and respectable body, the University of Glasgow, of his
pious arid faithful labors for the propagation of useful knowlege in these
untutored parts, that they lately honored him with the degree of Doctor of
Divinity, sent him without any solicitation on his part, and even without
his knowlege.

As to the Third of the above gentlemen, he is well qualified for his
profession ; and has moreover great merit with the learned world in being
the chief inventor (as already mentioned) of the Electrical apparatus, as
well as author of a considerable part of those discoveries in Electricity,
published by Mr. Franklin to whom he communicated them. Indeed
Mr. Franklin himself mentions his name with honor, tho' he has not been
careful enough to distinguish between their particular discoveries. This,
perhaps he may have thought needless, as they were known to act in
concert. But tho' that circumstance was known here, it was not so in the
remote parts of the world to which the fame of these discoveries have
extended.

The Fourth gentleman in the above list has so long been an
approved teacher of Mathematics and Astronomy in this city, that I need
say nothing to make him better known than he is already.

The last gentleman, namely Mr. Beveridge, has been already mentioned
in your magazine for June. By the specimens he has given, he will undoubt-
edly be acknowledged one of the ablest masters in the Latin tongue, on this
continent ; and it is a singular happiness to the institution that on the
vacancy of a professor of languages, the trustees were directed to such an
excellent choice, as it must be the certain means of encreasing the num-
ber of students from all parts, with such as are desirous of attaining the
Latin tongue in its native purity and beauty.

Mr. Beveridge, in his younger years, taught a grammar school in the
city of Edinburgh, under the particular patronage of the great Mr. Rud-
diman, from whom he has ample testimonies of regard and esteem to
produce. While in this station the famous Mr. Blacklock, the blind Poet,
was placed under his care by a number of gentlemen of Edinburgh, who
discovering uncommon marks of genius in him, were desirous, at their own
expence, to give him the advantages of an education in the Latin Tongue,
if by reason of his blindness it could possibly be communicated to him.
This business Mr. Beveridge soon accomplished, and shewed very par-

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 529

ticular regard to Blacklock, who in return communicated to him all the
occasional rough sketches of his poetry.

Among other pieces done by Mr. Blacklock, while under Mr. Bev-
eridge s care, his celebrated paraphrase of Psalm CIV, was one, which is
printed in the Lives of the Poets, Vol. IV., with the following extraordinary
character :

"This Psalm (say the authors of that work) is one of the sublimest
"in the whole book of Psalms, and there have been no less than forty
" different versions and paraphrases of it by poets of considerable emi-
" nence, who seem to have vied with one another for superiority. But of
"all these, if we may trust our own judgment, none have succeeded so
"happily, as Mr. Blacklock, a young gentleman now resident at Dumfries
' ' in Scotland. This paraphrase is the more extraordinary as the author of
"it has been blind from his craddle &c. It carries in it such elevated
"strains of poetry, such picturesque descriptions, and such a mellifluent
"flow of numbers, that we are persuaded the reader cannot be displeased
"at seeing it here, &c.

This performance Mr. Blacklock also shew'd to Mr. Beveridge for
his judgment, who told him that he admired it much, but would be still
better pleased with it, if it could be made shorter, and brought nearer the
original. Mr. Blacklock replied that he could not make it shorter, and
begged Mr. Beveridge to try if he could do it The latter answered that
he could not write English verse, but he would do a little of it in Latin for
a trial. He accordingly set about it, and was so much inspired with the
subject, that, instead of a Part, he soon did the Whole, in the compass of
about loo lines, which are one half fewer than are in Blacklock s Para-
phrase. As this of Mr. Beveridge' s has never yet appeared in print, I am
persuaded that not only the readers of your magazine who understand
Latin, but the learned world in general will be glad to see it. I shall
therefore subjoin it, and therewith close my account of this useful institu-
tion, as well as of the Professors and Masters in it ; only adding that what
is here done is from authentic Materials, and without the privity and
advice of them or any other persons whatsoever.

POETICAL.

53O HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
APPENDIX F

LIST OF
SCHOLARS ENTERED

AT THE

ACADEMY AND COLLEGE
UP TO AND INCLUDING THE YEAR

1769

TAKEN FROM THE EARLIEST TWO
COLLEGE TUITION BOOKS

Note. The names with asterisk are also found in the Biographical Catalogue of\
the Matriculates of the College, published in 1894.

Entered By Whom Year,

Abercrombie, James* Alex r Stedman 1766

Ache, John Lewis William Smith 1754

Adye, Ralph Lieu : Adye 1768

Alexander, Adam James Alexander 1762

Alexander* per se 1762

James James Alexander 1752

Robert William M'llvaine 1752

William Alexander Alexander J759

Alison, Benjamin* Dr. Francis Alison 1754

Benjamin Ashley . . . Do J 759

Blaney Robert Alison 1768

Francis * Dr. Francis Alison 1758

Patrick* per se J 759

Robert* Robert Alison 1768

Allaire, Peter Alexander Allaire 1752

Alice, Jonathan Abraham Alice 1752

Allen, Andrew* William Allen, Esq 1751

Charles . . Richard Peters, Esq 1755

James William Allen, Esq 1751

John* Do 1751

William Do . . ; 1759

Ambler, Jaqueline* Do 1758

Amory, John Capt John Mease 1760

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 531

Entered By Whom Year.

Anderson, James Robert Anderson 1752

James* Samuel Anderson 1762

James Monatt . . . . Dr Kearsley, jun'r 1766

Andrews, John* per se 1763

Robert* per se 1764

Anna, John William Mrs Lindsay 1758

Annas, John Robert Lindsay 1752

Apowen, John Capt. Apowen 1760

Samuel Do 1760

Armitage, Nathaniel Francis Alison ... 1756

Armor, Samuel* Robert Alison 1769

Armstrong, Edward* per se 1760

James John Armstrong 1756

Arnold, Henry* Samuel Caldwell 1766

Arrel, David Richard Arrel 1761

Peter . Do 1752

Ash, Oliver Charles Batho 1762

Rowland Do 1762

Ashfield, Redford Thomas Lawrence, Esq 1763

Aspden, Matthias Matthias Aspden 1762

Assheton, Ralph Susanna Assheton 1751

William William Assheton 1767

Austin, Isaac Samuel Austin 1762

William Do 1762

Ayers, Willliam 1752

Badger, Edward George Sharswood 1754

Bagnall, Robert Benjamin Bagnall 1752

Baker, Benjamin perse 1766

Ignatius Do 1765

John William Baker 1752

Baily, John John Bailey 1761

Bankson, Andrew Andrew Bankson 1759

Jacob* Do 1764

Barbaric, Andrew John Barbaric 1766

John Do 1766

Barclay, Robert . .... Alexander Barclay 1758

Bard, John per se 1758

John Peter Bard 1760

Peter Do 1761

Samuel Do 1751

Barnhill, Daniel John Barnhill 4 . . . 1768

John Do . 1769

532 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Barret, John* John Wilcocks 1769

Bartholomew, Benjamin .... Thomas Bartholomew 1765

Stephen .... Do 1755

Bartram, William John Bartram 1752

Batho, John Charles Batho 1758

Baxter, Joseph Enoch Story 1765

Bayard, James Assheton .... Joseph Richardson 1753

John Baginham .... Do 1753

John Richardson . . . Do J 753

Bayley, John John Bayley 1766

Baynton, Benjamin* x John Baynton 1753

John Do 1764

Peter Do 1764

Bedford, Gunning * William Bedford 1752

Beere, James Jonathan Beer 1767

Belgrave, William Nicholas Moll 1761

Bell, Andrew Stephen Carmich 1 7S7

Andrew John Bell 1765

Hamilton* Dr Francis Alison 1767

Patterson* Do 1769

Thomas James Bell 1761

William Dr Francis Alison ... . . . . 1767

Benbridge, Absalom Edmund Benbridge J 756

Henry Thomas Gordon 1751

Benezet, Anthony Daniel Benezet 1760

John Do 1755

Samuel James Benezet 1760

Stephen ..... Do 1761

Bensel, Charles Dr Bensel 1768

Bevan, Davis Awbrey Bevan 1761

Biddle, Edward William Biddle 1751

Nicholas Mary Biddle 1761

Thomas Do 1761

William* 1769

Bingham James William Bingham 1756

John Do 1756

William* Do 1758

Bird, Edward Joseph Shippen, Esq 1763

Marcus Dr James Dove 1753

*To 1756, and a Benjamin enters 1764 and continues to '69 as do the follow-
ing two.

2 To 1756, and a Gunning enters 1766 and continues to '68.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 533

Entered By Whom Year.

Bird, William* John Patton 1769

Bishop, Edward 1763

Blackburn, Thomas Capt James Child 1760

Blackwell, James (Evant) . . . John Wilcocks 1765

Thomas* Do 1769

Blair, John Capt William Blair 1752

Bleakly, John* John Bleakly 1768

Bond, John Dr Thomas Bond 1752

Phineas* Dr Phineas Bond 1756

Richard Dr Thomas Bond 1758

Robert Do 1765

Thomas* Do 1751

Thomas Dr Phineas Bond 1752

Bonner, Andrew John Stillwagon 1754

Borden, Joseph Joseph Borden 1766

Boude, Joseph Thomas Boude 1751

Boudinot, Elias Elias Boudinot 1751

John Do 1751

Boyd, Samuel* per se 1 765

Bradford, Thomas William Bradford 1751

William Cornelius Bradford 1762

William William Bradford ... . . 1762

Braithwaite, Thomas per se 1768

Bridges, Culpepper Cornelia Bridges 1755

Robert Do 1751

Bright, James Philip Syng 1752

Brisbane, William Capt James Young 1767

Broakhead, Daniel Nicholas Scull 1753

Brooks, Ebenezer* Capt John Mease 1762

Brown, Samuel Redmond Conyngham 1758

Bruin, Peter* William Gallagher 1769

Buchanan, William Thomas White, Esq 1 760

Buckley, Joseph Dorsey .... Archibald Hilhouse 1755

Budden, James Capt Richard Budden 1751

Burnholt, John 1763

Burroughs, Arthur Capt Arthur Burroughs 1751

John Do 1751

Byles, Thomas [Biles?] Thomas Byles 1760

Byrn, Henry Jonathan Beere 1768

John Do 1766

By water, William William By water 1761

Cadogan, Thomas Thomas Willing, Esq 1 763

534 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered fly Whom Year.

Cadwalader, John* Dr Thomas Cadwalader ... 1751

Lambert* Do 1751

Caldwell, John Dr Alison 1769

Campbell, James Anthony Stocker 1/57

John Mrs Campbell 1767

Peter Dr Farmer 1763

Cannon, James* per se 1767

Carlisle, Langton Robert Raulinton 1751

Carmick, Peter Stephen Carmick . . 1767

Carpenter, Miles Harding 1752

Carson, John* William Carson 1765

John William Pyewell 1765

William Do 1765

Cartland, Nathaniel 1753

Caryll, John Reese Meredith 1751

Chadd, Henry 1751

Champe, John Amos Strettell 1755

William Do 1755

Chapman, Nathaniel* Reese Meredith 1752

Charleton, Thomas Thomas Charleton 1757

Cheeseman, Edmund Samuel Cheeseman 1762

Chew, Benjamin* Benjamin Chew Esq 1765

John* Dr Thomas Bond 1751

Philemon Lloyd Dr Adam Thomson 1751

Samuel Dr Thomas Bond 1751

Child, James Capt James Childs 1761

John Do 1751

Perry Frazer Do 1754

William Do I 7S9

Clampffer, Adam William Clampffer 1761

Clarkson, Gerardus Rev Gilbert Tennant 1751

Thomas Matthew Clarkson 1766

Claypoole, Abraham [George] . . James Claypoole 1766

David Do 1766

Clayton, Joshua* James Murray 1757

Clemm, John Mrs Elizabeth Clemm 1761

William Do 1761

Clifton, William John Clifton 1751

Clymer, Daniel Capt Daniel Roberdeau 1755

Coatain, William Capt Thos Coatain 1752

Coates, John John Coates 1760

John W T illiam Plumsted 1760

Lindsay* John Coates 1751

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 535

Entered By Whom Year.

Coates, Septimus John Coates 1764

William Do 1751

Collins, William Capt John Willcocks 1757

Condey, William Benjamin Condey 1 767

Conyngham, Alexander .... Redmond Conyngham 1760

David Hayfield . . Do 1757

Robert Do 1760

Conyers, Joseph Alexander Magee !756

Cooke, John* Richard Smith 1757

Stephen Nathan Cooke 1761

William perse 1755

Coombe, Thomas* Thomas Coombe . 1754

Cooper, Henry Alexander Wilcocks 1764

Corbit, Francis Michael Batho 1761

Michael Do 1761

Correy, John John Correy 1768

Robert Do 1762

Samuel Do i?57

William William Correy 1761

Cottenham, George Mr Cottenham of Trenton .... 1766

Coutanche, Benjamin . . . . Anthony Stocker 1757

Coutts, James Theophilus Grew 1756

Coxe, Daniel William Coxe 1752

Isaac [Cox?] Thomas Clifford 1761

John* Do 1760

John William Coxe 1 760

Tench Do 1761

William* Do 1769

William Elden Robert Stevenson 1765

Craig, James James Craig 1760

John Do 1761

Joseph William Craig 1761

William James Craig 1764

Crook, Charles* Dr Smith 1769

Crooke, William* Capt John Wilcocks 1757

Cruger, John Harris Thomas Lawrence, Esq 1753

Cruikshank, James Mrs Sayres 1752

Cummings, John William Craig 1767

Currie, James Rev Mr William Currie 1757

Cuthbert, Thomas Thomas Cuthbert 1757

Darland, John Dr Lloyd Zachary 1752

Darvil, William Evan Morgan 1755

536 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Davenport, Franklin Josiah Davenport 1763

David, Ebenezer Enoch David 1765

Davidson, Robert* 1 7&9

Davis, Benjamin Benjamin Davis 1765

George Mrs Plumsted 1754

John* Joseph Davis 1754

Robert William Davis 1762

William Mrs Plumsted 1754

Deering, John Richard Swan 1757

Richard [?] 1756

DeHaven, Hugh Peter DeHaven 1763

DeLancey, John* per se 1760

Peter* Do 1760

Denny, Henry Isaac Cox 1767

De Normandie, Andrew .... Peter Bard 1756

James Anthony De Normandie 1761

Desvories, James Capt James Ross 1768

Dewees, Farmer William Dewees 1751

Dexter, Henry* Eleanora Dexter 1754

James Do 1752

Dickinson, Philemon* John Dickinson 1751

Diemer, John Dr John Diemer 1754

Dillon, Hugh perse 1758

Doe, Archibald 1758

D'Olici, Richard perse 1764

Donaldson, Hugh Hugh Donaldson 1762

John Do 1760

Joseph Do 1761

Dorsey, Basil* Col Thomas White 1751

Henry Do 1752

John Hammond .... Samson Levi 1767

Joseph Buckley .... Archibald Hilhouse 1756

Dougal, Samuel* per se . . 1768

Dougan, Robert Capt John Wilcocks 1 7S7

Douglas, Richard Jacob Morgan 1766

Dow, Alexander Dr M'Lean 1761

Dowers, John Capt Edward Dowers 1751

Doyle, Thomas Theophilus Grew 1751

DuBois, Walter* James James 1760

Duche, Jacob* Jacob Duche 1751

William Anthony Duche 1761

Duffield, Benjamin* William Duffield 1759

Dunbavin, Charles John Wilcocks 1751

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 537

Entered By Whom Year.

Dunbavin, John John Wilcocks 1751

Thomas Do 1753

Duncan, Matthew* Isaac Duncan 1765

Richard John Malcolm 1757

William ... .... Isaac Duncan 1765

Dungan, Thomas* per se 1 762

Dunscombe, Thomas Redmond Conyngham 1757

Dupuy, John Mr Dupuy 1759

Duval, William per se 1766

Eastburn, Thomas Robert Eastburn 1752

Easton, Jonathan* perse 1765

Edgar, Charles Charles Edgar 1752

Edmiston, William* Samuel Edmiston 1752

Edwards, Enoch Alexander Edwards 1768

John Ann Williams 1751

John Capt. Coney Edwards 1752

William Do 1752

Ege, George MrStiegel 1766

Egger, Thomas DrTombe 1763

Ehrenzeller, Jacob Jacob Ehrenzeller 1762

Elliot, George Ezekiel Shepherd 1761

Elligood, Jacob Dr Sam' 1 Preston Moore .... 1754

Elmer, Jonathan per se 1766

Elves, Henry Capt Henry Elves 1754

Emlen, George George Emlen 1756

Engle, Charles Jacob Hall 1767

Erwin, James John Erwin 1752

Evans, Joel* Jonathan Evans 1752

John per se '. 1768

Nathaniel* Edward Evans 1751

Eve, Oswald Oswald Eve 1764

Ewing, James Dr James Dove 1753

Faesch, John Rhodolph .... Rev Mr Handchurch 1756

Fairley, George Jonathan Beer 1767

Henry Do 1767

Farley, George Samuel Leacock 1766

Henry Matthias Sculp 1764

Farmer, James 1751

William Dr Richard Farmer ..... . . 1751

Faulkner, William Nestor Faulkner 1757

Faultner, Ephraim Joseph Faultner 1752

538 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Ferguson, James* William West 1769

Fisher, Joseph Samuel Fisher 1761

Fitzhugh, William Amos Strettell 1755

Fitzpatrick, John Mrs Graham 1761

Flag, Henry Collins Ebenezer Kinnersley *754

Fleming, William* perse ! 759

Flower, Samuel Capt. Samuel Flower 1760

Flowers, Benjamin , Benjamin Flowers . 1761

Follow, James Elizabeth Follow 1760

Francis, John* Tench Francis 1769

Philip . , Do 1756

Turbot Do 1751

Franks, David John Franks 1760

Moses David Franks 1761

Fraser, George . Peter Salmon 1752

Fullerton, Alexander John Fullerton ... 1756

John Do 1756

Gale, Christopher Mrs Hallo well 1760

Galloway, Benjamin Benjamin Chew Esq 1761

Gardiner, Theophilus .... Theophilus Gardner 1764

Gardner, Richard per s = 1 7$6

George, Josuah Dr James Dove 1752

Sidney* Mr Davidson 1 7&9

Gibbes, William Rebecca Gibbes 1754

Gibbon, Francis Grant Gibbon X 759

Gilbert, John Thomas Gilbert 1765

Giles, James . . .... Capt John Giles 1 760

Glen, John Alexander Lunan 1757

Goldfrap, James *. Francis Wade 1767

Goldsborough, Charles* .... John Dickinson, Esq 1757

Robert* .... Tench Francis 1757

Gordon, Henry Captn Henry Gordon 1 7^9

James Thomas Gordon . . 1756

Peter Capt Henry Gordon 1766

Gorrel, James Dr James Dove 1752

Good, George Willm Plumsted 1753

Gostelowe, George Jonathan Gostelowe 1757

Jonathan George Gostelowe 1755

Graham, Joseph Israel Pemberton, jr 1753

Robert John Inglis 1767

Grantham, Isaac per se 1762

Graves, Richard Mrs Gibbs . 1752

Gravill, Samuel Samuel Stil man 1761

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 539

Entered By Whom Year.

Gray, Joseph . George Gray 1752

Graydon, Alexander Joseph Marks 1760

Andrew* Mrs Graydon 1768

Green, John . . Elizabeth Green 1752

Joseph Dr Peter Sonsimon 1757

Rodolphus Capt John Murray 1754

Greenway, William* Robert Greenway 175*

Grew Theophilus* Theophilus Grew . 1751

Griffin, Thomas Capt Rankin . . '. . . . . 1753

Grime, Mark* John Bell 1756

Groath, John Henry Groath 1760

Grove, John Jane Grove 1761

Hall, Aquila* William White 1768

David David Hall 1762

Jacob* Jacob Hall, Esq 1761

John* Thomas White 1752

Thomas* Mr John Hall 1761

William David Hall 1 7S9

Hallwood, John* John Wilcocks 1768

Hamilton, Andrew Mary Hamilton 1751

Charles Rev' d John Hamilton 1768

Hans* per se 1764

John John Beveridge 1761

William* Mary Hamilton 1751

Handshew, Henry Mrs Handshew 1765

Hanson, Alexander Reese Meredith 1761

Samuel* per se 1769

Harding, Samuel* James Harding 1769

Harker, Ahimaaz per se 1764

Harleston, John Will West 1769

Harper, John John Harper 1764

Joseph Do 1765

Harris Charles* Francis Harris 1769

Oswald Peel* Do 1769

Robert 1751

Harrison, Benjamin Amos Strettell 1755

Eastwick Enoch David 1761

Henry Henry Harrison !759

Joseph* Do 1761

Matthias* Mrs Harrison 1766

Hastings, Samuel Samuel Hastings 1751

Hathorn, Daniel Daniel Hathorn 1762

540 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Haughn, William Jacob Winey 1760

Hazard, Ebenezer Samuel Hazard 1751

Samuel Do 1751

Hazleton, William Capt Hazleton 1757

Heaselton, William Bartholomew Penrose 1752

Heath, James Dr Adam Thomson 1751

Henry, George* William Henry 1757

John Mr Jones 1755

Hicks, Augustine Augustine Hicks 1751

Charles Edward Hicks 1751

Joseph Augustine Hicks 1751

Hill, Benjamin Nicholas Moll 1761

John John Hill 1762

Whitmel* Samuel Orme 1757

Hillegas, Michael Samuel Hillegas 1765

Samuel Michael Hillegas 1762

Hindman, William* Mr Alison 1 7S9

Hinshelwood, Thomas Robert Hinshelwood .... . . 1765

Hockley, William Richard Hockley 1755

Hodge, Hugh Hugh Hodge 1762

Hogland, Benjamin Derich Hogland 1757

Hollingshead, Thomas 1766

William* William Hollingshead 1765

Holwood, John John Wilcocks 1762

Hood, Thomas John Hood 1761

Hook, Christian Andrew Hook 1765

Hooper, James* Dr Peter Sonsman 1758

Robert Do 1757

Hoops, David Adam Hoops 1761

Robert Do 1758

Hooton, Thomas Thomas^Hooton 1752

Hopkinson, Francis* Thomas Hopkinson, Esq . . . . 1751

Thomas* Mary Hopkinson 1756

Hopper, William* !759

House, George Capt Samuel House 1764

Samuel Mrs House 1767

Houston, Alexander Alexander Houston ... . , . . 1767

Thomas George Houston 1761

Howell, Richard Letitia Howell 1751

Samuel Samuel Howell 1762

Huddell, William Joseph Huddell 1760

Hughes, Hugh* John Hughes 1751

Samuel Thomas Riche" 1753

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 541

Entered By Whom Year.

Hulings, Jonathan Michael Hulings 1751

Humphreys, Assheton James Humphreys 1 7S9

James* Do 1759

Hunt, Isaac* Thomas Gilbert 1757

John , Charles Williams 1757

Richard Glover Hunt 1767

Hunter, Samuel Capt John Murray 1758

William Benjamin Franklin 1764

Huston, Alexander Alexander Huston 1768

George John Inglis 1755

James* James Huston 1756

John* perse 1759

Thomas, George Huston 1760

Hutchins, Joseph* John Howard 1 7S9

Hutchinson, Richard . . . . . Redmond Conyngham J 758

Hyde, William Joseph Marriott 1762

Hyrne, William* William West . 1769

Ibyson, William Capt James Coultas 1751

Imlay, William 1759

Ingham, John Jonathan Ingham *753

Inglis, George John Inglis 1757

John Do 1751

Samuel Do 1752

Irish, Nathaniel William Allen, Esq 1751

Jackman, Nathaniel Samuel Osborne 1759

Philip Do 1759

Jackson, John M Charles Thomson 1769

Matthew Matthew Jackson 1757

Jacobi, Charles Matthew Usher 1752

Jekyll, John Margaret Jekill 1751

Jenkins, Joseph Charles Jenkins 17 5 2

William Do 1752

Jennings, Henry per se 1762

Michael John Jennings 1762

Jepson, John Anthony Stocker *755

Jervis, John John Jervis 1752

Johns, Richard John Chew 1762

Johnson, Alexander John Clifton 1751

Francis Randle Mitchell 1765

Heathcote John Johnson 1757

John Do .1756

542 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Johnson, John William Smith *756

John perse 1758

Robert John Johnson 1761

Johnston, Archibald* William West ' . ... 1769

Charles Capt Jarvis Johnston 1769

Robert Do 1767

Robert* Mrs Barclay 1767

Jones, George Mr Wilcocks 1768

Joseph Thomas Clifford 1761

Latimer Thomas Willing 1757

Philip Do 1757

Robert Isaac Jones 1752

Robert Strettell* Do 1756

Samuel* per se 1761

Josiah, James Emanuel Josiah 1760

Robert Do 1760

Judah, David Abraham Judah 1760

Judkins, Stephen Townsend White 1762

Kearney, Francis Philip Kearney 1766

James Do 1766

Michael Do 1766

Ravand Dr Peter Sonsman 1754

Keen, Reynold Peter Keen 1751

Keene, Samuel* Dr James Dove J 753

Keimar, Thomas Dr Morgan 1766

Kellen, James George Lee 1761

Kelly, Erasmus* per se 1767

Kemble, Peter Robert Tuite 1751

Stephen Do 1751

Kendall, Joseph Benjamin Kendall 1764

William William Allen, Esq 1753

Keppele, Henry Henry Keppele 1756

John Do ., . . . 1766

King, Edward James Filler 1759

John* per se 1765

Thomas Joseph King *753

William Capt. Alison 1768

Kinnersley, William* Ebenezer Kinnersley 1751

Kinsey, Charles Mrs Pritchard 1752

Kirk, John Samuel Kirk 1751

Knight, Charles John Knight 1752

John Elizabeth Knight 1761

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 543

Entered By Whom Year.

Knowles, Edward Godfrey . . . Matthias Leamy 1766

Knox, John Nestor Falkner 1756

Kolloch, Philip Joseph Swift . . 1760

Kuhn, Adam 1751

Daniel Simon A. Kuhn 1766

Peter Dr Adam Kuhn 1768

Kuhl, Benjamin Marcus Kuhl 1751

Lacavalerie, John Capt Burrows 1768

Lang, James* per 1761

Langdale, Joshua Philip Syng 1752

Langley, Thomas Dr M c Lean 1760

Lardner, James* Lynford Lardner, Esq 1769

John Do 1760

William* Do ...... 1769

Latimer, Henry* Mr Davidson 1768

Lawrence, Elisha per se 1762

John Thomas Lawrence 1762

Staats Do 1767

Thomas* Do 1751

Lawson, Alexander* Thomas White J 753

Henry Thomas Gilbert 1757

Lea, George Dr Adam Thomson 1751

Joseph Elias Boudinot 1751

Learning, Jonathan per se 1757

Person Aaron Learning 1767

Thomas Ebenezer Kinnersley 1764

Leamy, John Matthias Leamy 1753

Lee, Richard* Thomas Willing, Esq 1763

Leech, Benjamin Mary Leech 1751

Jacob Elinor Leech 1751

Thomas Thomas Leech -1756

Walter Moor Mr Clayton 1767

LeGay, Benjamin Mary Wey man 1759

Legee, Jacob Mrs Legee i?5 2

Leonard, Robert Morris .... Rev' d Mr Peters 1766

Levers, Robert* Robert Levers, Esq 1769

William* Do '. . 1767

Levi, Moses [Levy?] Sampson Levi 1764

Nathan Benjamin Levi 1768

Lewis, Francis Capt Badger 1759

John Dr Stewart 1761

Samuel Do 1761

544 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Lindsey, William John Wilcocks 1751

Lisle, Joseph* John Lisle 1767

Little, Archibald* Andrew Little 1768

Livingston, Philip Alexander Lunen 1755

Lloyd, Edward Dr Smith 1761

Loockerman, Vincent Rev Ebenezer Kinnersley ... .1761

Lowes, Henry Richard Peters, Esq 1755

Loxly, Abraham Benjamin Loxly 1761

Benjamin Do 1761

Lownds, Francis Thomas Willing 1760

Luff, Nathaniel Doct Sonman 1768

Luke, John John Smith . . 1754

Lukens, James John Lukens 1761

Lyon, Charles Capt Charles Lyon 1761

Samuel Do 1766

M Afee, William William Moore 1769

M'Call, George Samuel M' Call, jr 1757

John Do 1751

John Searle* Do 1754

M'Casland, Alexander per se 1765

M'Clane, Archibald per se 1767

McClean, John* Robert Porter 1 769

McClure, William ... 1752

McCubbin, Nicholas Nicholas McCubbin 1765

McCubbins, William Nathaniel Chapman 1756

McDonald, Theodosius .... Amos Strettell 1755

McDowell, John* Alexander McDowell *755

John John Montgomery 1769

McEvers, Charles William Vanderspiegle 1751

McGee, Alexander William Edgell 1751

McGraw, Perkins William Smith 1757

McHenry, Matthew* per se 1757

Mcllvaine, Joseph William Mcllvaine 1756

William Do 1756

Mclntire, John Michael Mclntire 1762

Michael Do 1762

McKenzie, William Capt Morrell 1766

McMichael, John John McMichael 1756

McMurtrie, William David McMurtrie 1765

McNaire, John Andrew McNaire 1760

McPherson, John Capt John McPherson 1757

William Do 1761

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 545

Entered By Whom Year.

Mackrel, Thomas Richard Peters, Esq 1751

Maffitt, John per se 1768

Magee, Alexander Dr James Dove 1752

Magra, Edmond Theophilus Greer 1752

Perkins William Plumsted 1760

Malcolm, Henry John Malcolm 1765

William Do 1765

Martin, Josiah William Allen, Esq 1753

Samuel Do 1753

William* Do 1753

Manning, Charles Jonathan Beve 1767

Manny, James Francis Many 175'

Marshal, Richard Mr Franks *753

Martindale, John Thomas Austin 1757

Mason, Abram Abram Mason 1766

Masters, William* William Masters 1751

Mather, Joseph [Mathers?] . . . John Mather 1751

Maurichean, Abraham .... per se _..-.... 1761

Mawby, John Capt Mawby 1768

Mayburry, Thomas Capt Jolly J 753

Melchor, Adam Leonard Melchor 1762

Isaac Do 1760

Merchant, Henry* [Marchant ?] . Ebenezer Kinnersly J 753

Merrifield, William Atwood Shute, Esq 1756

Mifflin, George John Mifflin 1757

John* Mrs Mifflin 1765

Jonathan Samuel Mifflin 1762

Thomas* John Mifflin 1751

Miller, Alexander Peter Miller 1765

Benjamin Do 1766

Miln, John Thomas Austin !759

Mitchell, John Andrew Caldwell 1764

William Mrs Jean Mitchell 1758

William Thomas Mitchell 1761

Moland, John . . John Moland, Esq 1751

Joseph Capt Hay 1767

Robert John Moland, Esq 1751

Thomas Do 1751

Montgomery, Hugh* Dr Alison 1769

John per se 1764

Montgomery, Robert James Mackey 1756

William* .... perse 1756

Montour, John Richard Peters, Esq 1756

546 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Moore, Blany Harper Dr Smith 1 766

Francis Redmond Conyngham 1754

James Wemyss* .... Coll. Wm Moore 1 7$6

John Harper Dr Smith 1766

Robert* William Moore 1769

Thomas Lloyd Do 1766

William Sturge Dr Smith 1 766

Morgan, Benjamin Morris Morgan 1751

George Do 1751

James Samuel Morgan 1766

James Gerrard .... Townsend White 1764

John* Samuel Morgan 1760

Thomas Townsend White 1764

Morrel, John Mr David Franks . . ... . . 1766

Peter Do 1766

Morris, Anthony Samuel Morris 1752

Benjamin Do 1766

Cadwalader* ..... Do 1751

George Anthony .... Joseph Morris 1755

Governeur Thomas Lawrence 1761

Isaac 1751

Israel William Morris 1 7S3

John* Samuel Morris 1751

Samuel Do 1754

Thomas Robert; Morris 1761

Thomas Samuel Morris . . . 1764

Mowbray, John Capt John Mowbray 1767

Muhlenberg, Peter* Rev'd Henry Muhlenberg ... .1761

Murgatroyd, John Dr Salmon 1755

Thomas Do 1755

Murray, James* Dr Murray 1756

Lindley Mrs Durborow 1756

Keilson, John* Francis Alison 1754

Nicholas, Samuel Atwood Shute 1752

Nicholson, Benjamin Alexander Lunan 1761

Edward Do 1759

Robert Robert Nicholson 1761

William Laetitia Howell 1752

North, George* [Noarth ?] . . . Capt George North 1 760

Nuttle, Samuel Capt Samuel Nuttle 1761

Obryan, Cornelius John Clifton 1751

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 547

Entered By Whom Year.

Obryan, Talbot John Clifton 1751

William Do 1751

O 1 Parrel, John* Patrick O'Farrell 1769

Ogden, Abraham* Richard Peters, Esq 1757

Samuel Do 1 7S9

Ogle, Benjamin Mr Bard 1757

George William Ball 1756

O'Kyll, John [O 1 Kill?] George O'Kyll 1752

Oliver, James perse 1761

Ord, John John Ord 1753

Osborne, Charles Charles Osborne 1756

George Mr Renaudet 1 762

John John Wilcocks 1765

Matthew George Lucas Osborne 1751

Robert Do 1751

Paca, Aquila Thomas White 1752

William* Do 1752

Parke, John* Mr Davidson 1769

Parker, Samuel Benj Franklin, Esq 1752

Paschall, Stephen Stephen Paschall 1761

Patterson, John* perse 1763

Paxton, James Charles Coxe 1759

William* Do 1757

Pearson, James 1751

Pelgrave, Ezekiel Capt Enoch Hobart 1752

Pennock, William Joseph Yeates 1762

Penrose, Isaac Mary Penrose 1760

James Thomas Penrose 1751

Jonathan . James Penrose 1 762

Joseph Bartholomew Penrose 1752

Samuel Thomas '756

Peters, Richard* William Peters, Esq 1751

Thomas Do 1763

William Do 1751

Phillips, John Capt John Phillips 1751

Thomas Do 1752

Philpot, John Dr Thomas Bond ... . . . 1762

Phcenix, Alexander Capt James Child 1762

Physick, Henry White* .... Edward Physick 1766

Pierce, Henry John Neilson ! 753

Plumsted, Clement Mrs Plumsted 1768

Thomas William Plumsted, Esq 1751

54$ HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Plumsted, William Mrs Plumsted 1768

Porter, Alexander perse 1762

John* Benj Franklin, Esq I75 2

Stephen* Rev' d John Ewing 1761

Postell, James* William West . . 1769

John* Do 1769

Potts, John Thomas Yorke, Esq 1751

Samuel Do 1752

Powel, Samuel* Mary Powell 1754

Power, Patrick Charles Batho 1760

Thomas Isaac Garrick 1761

Pratt, Charles Rebecca Pratt 1753

Joseph Do 1751

Thomas Do 1755

Prevost, Augustine Colonel Prevost 1756

Price, George 1751

John Jonathan Price 1751

William William Price 1761

Pringle, Joljn* Capt Mason 1769

Prior, Norton Richard Brogdon 1755

Provoost, William John Sayres 1 7S3

Purviance, Andrew Samuel Purviance *757

Ramsay, Hugh perse 1761

Rankin, John George Rankin 1768

Rannals, William Sarah Rannalds 1761

Read, Franklin John Read 1762

John Benjamin Franklin, Esq 1756

Thomas* per se 1764

Reade, Jacob William Coxe 1757

Joseph* John Sayre ^754

Joseph Joseph Reade 1755

Reading, Philip* pr his Father 1765

Reed, Bowes Andrew Reed 1751

Joseph* Do 1751

Joseph . . .... . . Thomas Lawrence 1752

Redman, Joseph Joseph Redman 1767

Reese, Duddleton Stocker . . . Anthony Stocker 1757

Reily, John John Ord 1767

Samuel -Do 1768

Reynolds, William Sarah Reynolds 1760

Rice, John Leonard Milcher 1760

Richards, Philip Daniel Currey 1757

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 549

Entered By Whom Year.

Ridgley, Charles Dr James Dove 1751

Ringgold, Thomas Charles Swain 1757

Rivers, Shadlock Joseph Rivers 1752

Roberts, Samuel Mary Roberts 1751

Robinson, Abraham Dr Rowan 1756

Beverly Henry Hill 1766

Edward Peter Robinson 1752

Joseph Budd Robinson 1751

William Peter Robinson 1751

Rogers, James Reese Meredith 1760

Rogers, John* [Rodgers ?] . . . John Wilcocks 1751

Philip Reese Meredith 1760

Ronan, John 1767

Ross, George George Ross, 'Esq 1767

Round, Samuel Samuel Caldwell 1767

Rowan, Thomas Dr Rowan 1 7S9

Rudolph, John 1767

Rumsey, Nathan* Mr Davidson 1769

Rundle, George* Daniel Rundle 1756

Richard Do 1762

Rush, Jacob Richard Morris 1756

William William Rush J 756

Rutherford, John Andrew Elliot 1757

Salter, John Capt Elisha Salter 1754

Robert Do 1754

Sample, David* perse 1764

Saunders, Arnold Ebenezer Kinnersly 1754

George* Thomas Asten 1757

John* John Relfe 1 760

Martindale Do 1759

Savage, Nath 1 Littleton .... perse 1753

Robert Robert Ritchie 1768

Sayre, James* [Sayer ?] .... Capt John Sayre 1756

Sayres, John John Sayres 1751

Schuyler, Arent 1751

Ranseler 1751

Samuel Thomas Lawrence, Esq . . . .'.1761

Scott, Edward per se ... 1763

John John Scott 1762

Thomas William Scott 1761

William Do 1754

Scull, Joseph Redmond Conyngham ... ... 1764

5 So HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Scull, William 1751

Seth, Charles Sarah Wilkinson 1763

Shall, Joseph Redmond Conyngham 1765

Sharp, Gillis Capt John Wilcocks ...... 1756

John Do 1756

Sharswood, George George Sharswood 1757

James . Do 1757

William Do 1757

Shee, John Walter Shee 1752

Shenon, Thomas James Shenon 1755

Shewbert, Philip Isaac Zane . . 1751

Shewell, Robert Elizabeth Shewell 1760

Stephen Stephen Shewell 1764

Shippen, Edward Edward Shippen, Esq 1766

John Dr William Shippen 1751

Joseph Do 1751

Joseph* Joseph Shippen 1751

Shute, John 1751

Simpson, Michael per se 1768

Sims, Joseph Joseph Sims J 75 2

Wooddrop Do 1767

Sinclair, Henry 1751

Small, Francis perse 1756

Smith, Benjamin* William West 1769

George William Smith I75 2

Gilbert Hamilton . . . . Dr Phineas Bond 1766

James William Smith 1752

John ' . . . George Smith J759

John Robert Smith 1760

John Cornelia Smith 1765

John Joseph Sims 1768

Jonathan Samuel Smith 1751

Peter* . . .... ... William West . . . 1769

Samuel William Smith I75 2

Samuel Thomas Smith 1765

Thomas Thomas Willing, Esq 1 766

Thomas* Dr Smith 1767

William Samuel Smith 1756

William* Dr Smith 1767

Snow, John William Plumsted, Esq 1751

Sobers, John John Sober 1764

Somersall, William Mrs Filler 1757

South wick, Solomon* Ebenezer Kinnersly 1754

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 551

Entered By Whom Year

Spafford, George John Spafford 1757

Stanley, Joseph Valentine Stanley 1767

Richard William Stanley 1755

Valentine Valentine Stanley 1762

Stedman, Charles Alexander Stedman, Esq . ... 1761

John Do .... 1761

Stephens, Evan per se 1764

John [Stevens ?] . . . Joseph Bell 1756

Sterling, Walter Thomas Willing, Esq 1762

Stevenson/James William Vanderspiegel X 753

John James Stevenson 1766

Robert Mr Stevenson 1765

Stewart, John* [Stuart?] .... perse 1761

Stiegel, Jacob John Stiegel 1766

Stiles, Henry- Capt Stiles 1767

James John Nesbit 1766

Stillwaggon, Lawrence John Stillwaggon 1751

Stout, Harman Mrs Stout 1766

Street, John per se 1765

Streight, Christian* Rev Mr Muhlenberg 1766

Strettell, Robert Amos Strettell 1760

Stringer, Samuel Dr Thomas Bond 1752

Swan, Richard Richard Swan 1751

Swift, Charles John Swift 1766

Jacob Do 1761

John Samuel Swift 1751

John James ... . . . . Joseph Swift 1755

John White* John Swift 1756

Joseph* Do 1760

Swoope, George Henry Keppele J 755

Syng, Joseph Philip Syng 1755

Taite, Matthew* [Tate ?] . . . . Mr Davidson 1768

Talbot, James John Talbot 1766

Tallman, Hinchman Dr James Dove *75 2

James James Tallman 1755

Tennison, John Thomas .... Capt Magnus Miller 1764

Tew, David Thomas Mullen 1766

Therould, Douro Capt John Wilcocks 1757

Thorn, William* per se 1768

Thomas, Alexander per se 1756

John* Mr Davidson 1769

Luke John Sawer 1765

552 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Thomas, William* Capt Morrel 1766

Thomson, George 1751

William Richard Peters, Esq 1752

Thornton, George Amos Strettell 1755

Tilghman, Edward* Richard Peters, Esq 1760

James* James Tilghman 1762

Philemon ... . Do 1766

William* Do 1762

Tench* Tench Francis 1752

Tinker, John Redmond Conyngham ...".. 1759

Tittermary, Richard John Tittermary 1762

Tolbert, James John Tolbert 1768

Traill, Robert John Kidd 1761

Tresse, Thomas Robert Greenway 1756

Trimingham, John Alexander Lunan 1765

Trott, John Emanuel Josiah 1760

Tucker, Richard John Nesbitt 1766

Tuite, Robert Robert Tuite 1751

Turner, Thomas Peter Turner 1751

William Do 1751

Tweedy, Joseph* Nathaniel Tweedy 1764

Vance, Adam James Vance 1760

Van Cortlandt, Stephen 1761

Vangezel, Benjamin Evan Morgan 1753

Vanlaer, George I75 1

Vaughan, Thomas Capt Lyon 1767

Vanlouvening, Joseph Widow Vanlouvening 1751

Vining, Benjamin* Benjamin Wyncoop 1765

Waddell, Henry* Capt John Sayre 1758

Walker, Philip John Dickinson, Esq 1765

Robert Robert Walker 1761

William Capt Magnus Miller 1762

Wall, Richard Gurney Wall 1760

Wallace, Joshua Maddox* . . . John Wallace 17 59

Waller, Michael 1754

Waldron, Mainsweet Mr Lyon 1767

Walton, Abraham* Thomas Lawrence, Esq I75 2

Gerard Do I75 2

Ward, James Tench Francis, Esq 1753

Warner, John Thomas Riche 1765

Waterman, Kear Benjamin Hutchins 1763

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 553

Entered By Whom Year.

Watkins, John Joseph Watkins 1760

Watts, Stephen* per se 1760

Wayne, Anthony per se 1 763

Weams, Thomas Dr Phineas Bond 1752

Webb, James !753

John Elizabeth Church 1752

John Dr John Clifton 1751

Webbe, John William Griffiths 1757

Weiser, Benjamin Conrad Weiser 1754

Samuel Do 1754

Weiss, Jacob Jacob Weiss 1762

Welsh, Edward [Welch?] . . . Thomas Gilbert 1756

Valentine Do 1757

Wells, Benjamin . i?59

George 1760

Richard Charles Cox 1761

West, John Thomas West 1764

Westcott, George George Westcott 1769

Wey, Nicholas Joseph Wey 1760

White, James Townsend White 1752

John Do 1759

Townsend Do 1752

William* Thomas White, Esq 1754

Whitpaine, John Sarah Whitpaine 1754

Wickham, John Thomas Gilbert 1757

Wilcocks, Alexander* John Wilcocks 1751

John Do 1751

John Robert Wilcocks 1761

William Mrs Mary Hopkinson 1753

Wilkins, Nathaniel* George Bartram 1769

Wilkinson, Daniel Mrs Wilkinson 1753

Williams, Charles Townsend \Vhite 1752

Charles Charles Williams 1762

Willing, Charles Charles Willing, Esq 1751

James Thomas Willing !759

Richard Charles Willing 1752

Willoughby, John Thomas Bourk 1762

Wilmer, Edward Price* .... Benjamin Franklin 1753

Wilt, Christian Abraham Wilt 1762

Wister, Caspar MrsWister 1753

Daniel John Wister 1752

Witherhead, William 1753

Wood, John Dr McLean 1760

554 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Entered By Whom Year.

Wood, Samuel 1751

William Joseph Wood 1763

Woodcock, Thomas Charles Batho 1756

Wooden, John Reese Meredith J755

Woodroe, William Henry Woodroe 1754

Wormley, Henry William Hodge J75 1

Wright, Joseph Joseph Wright 1768

Wynkoop, Abraham Benjamin Wynkoop 1762

Benjamin John Inglis 1752

James Benjamin Wynkoop 1762

Yearswood, Naboth John Howard 1757

Yeates, Jasper* John Yeates * . . . 1752

John* Do 1752

Yorke, Andrew Thomas Yorke, Esq 1751

Edward Do 1751

Robinson* [Robeson?]. . Do 1751

Samuel Do 1762

Thomas Do I75 1

Young, John John Young 1 7S 2

John Col James Young 1764

Nottley Dr Thomas Bond 1751

William John Young 1752

INDEX.

Aberdeen University, curriculum, 235.

Academy and College (see also Charity School). Account of (1758), 519.
Addresses, to Archbishop of Canterbury (1762), 404, Samuel Chandler
(1762), 404, Lord Bute (1763), 411, King George (1763), 411. Adver-
tisement of opening, 139. Buildings, the first, 26, 27, 109-111, 116,
123, 124, 231; plans for (1761), 354-359; purchase of, 70, 125, 443-
448, 464. Charter, 177-179, 209-211, 439. Co-education, 445.
Commencements (1757), 281, 286-291, 314; (1759), 3391 (!76o), 347-
350; (1762), 360; (1763), 362, 398; (1764), 37o; (1765), 431. 452-
454; (1766), 456, 458-463; (1767), 466, 477; (1768), 463, 485; (1769),
488; (1770), 488; (1771), 488-490. Constitutions, 46; ratification of,
52. Curriculum and Education, 138, 205, 231, 233, 234, 269, 352,
471, 473-476. Degree conferring, 164, 491. Diplomas, 314. English
School, 472. Examinations, 473. Finances, first expenditures, 121;
first funds, 51, 120, 121; finances up to 1762, 375-382; general
subscribers, 118, 12 1; help from lotteries, 376-379; investment
of capital (1763), 416, 417; loan from Philadelphia lottery, 121;
Perkasie Manor, 201, 380, 344; plans in 1764, 444-446; pur-
chase of apparatus, 125, 126, 221; purchases of property, 122,
176, 177, 464; result of mission to England, 409, 415, 418-421;
subscription of Trustees, 51, 118; tuition receipts, 491. Graduates,
268, 282-284, 298, 340, 349, 360, 362, 364, 452, 453, 458, 459, 466,
475, 478, 486, 488-491. Instructors, see Alexander, F. and P. Alison,
Anderson, Andrews, Ayres, B. S. and T. Barton, W. P. C. Barton,
Beard, Beveridge, Campbell, Cannon, Carroll, Constable, Davidson,
J. Davis, Donnaldson, Dove, Dungan, Easton, Eaton, Ewing, Fon-
taine, Fook, Grew, T. Hall, G. E., J. T., R. and Dr. R. Hare, Har-
rison, Hunt, Jackson, Johnston, E. , H., and J. Jones, Keene, Kin-
nersley, Kuhn, Lang, Latta, John and Joseph Montgomery, J. Mor-
gan, Morton, Ormsby, Patterson, Peisley, Pollock, Porter, Pratt, Read,
Rittenhouse, Rothenbuller, Rush, W. Shippen, jr., W. Smith, Steuart,
Thomson, Wallace, Williamson, Wilson. Instructors, in 1761, 375;
private lesson giving, 351; salaries of, 123, 138, 142, 144, 150, 151,
162, 167, 232, 245, 301, 375, 469, 484. King George's interest, 412.
Latin School, 469. Library, 336. Logan* s offer, 57. Mathematical
School, 470. Medical School, abrogation of degree of Bachelor of
Physic, 491; curriculum, 475, 484-486; commencements, 485, 486,
488-490; graduates, 491; origin, 305-307, 479-483; professors, see
Morgan, W. Shippen, jr., Kuhn, Rush, Bond; rules, 483, 485; theses,
489. Mission to England (1762), 382-394, 402-420. Offer to Sam.
Johnson, 127, 130-133, 136. Origin, 501; date of origin, 112-116,

556 HlSTORV OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

335; father, 442; first opening, 138, 139, 151; Franklin's proposals,
30, 31, 33, 35, 46, 495; Proud's reference, 52. Political influences,
319-321, 371, 432-443. Prizes for students, 365-372. Provost, see
Andrews, DeLancey, W. Smith. PtMic appeals, 383-394, 404-406;
see Mission to England. Public Exercises, 229231, 233, 243, 281-
284, 286-291, 314, 338, 345, 347, 360, 362, 370, 398. Pupils, age
of, 265, 266; alteration in regulations, 352; boarding, 354-359, 447;
care of, 448; deaths among, 207; expenses of, 444, 445, 447, 485;
list of (up to 1769), 530; matriculants (in 1757), 282-284; number,
267, 268; pranks of, 155; see also Graduates. Rectors, see F. Alison,
D. Martin; duties, 127. Relations to Charity School, see Charity
School. Relation with King' ' s College, see King's College. Relation
to John Penn, 373, 380, 381. Relation to Penn' a Hospital, see Hos-
pital, the Pennsylvania. Relation to W. Smith s controversies, 272-
275, 322-326, 328, 332. Religious policy, 424-429. Royal Brief,
388-390, 402, 405. Rules and Statutes, 217, 483, 484. Schools, see
English, Latin, Medical and Mathematical Schools; also see curricu-
lum. Seal, 233. Titles, 177, 480, 490; Matthew Arnold's term, 74.
Tmstees, see A., J. and W. Allen, Bingham, P. and T. Bond, J. and
T. Cadwalader, Chew, Clymer, Coleman, J. R. and W. Coxe, Duche,
and Duche, jr., Elliott, Francis, Franklin, A. and J. Hamilton, J. I.
C. Hare, F. and T. Hopkinson, Inglis, I. Jones, Lardner, J. and T.
Lawrence, Leech, Logan, Maddox, Magaw, Masters, S. M'Call, jr.,
J. and T. Mifflin, R. Morris, I. Norris, R. Penn, Peters, Plumsted,
Powell, Redman, Rittenhouse, E. Shippen, jr., W. Shippen, Stedman,
A. and R. Strettell, Syng, Taylor, Tilghman, J. Turner, T. and W.
White, C., T. and T. M. Willing, Zachary. Trttstees, clerks of, 108,
221, 471; first action, 109; number necessary to transact business,
154; places of meeting, 126; presidents, 52, 372, 374; prominence,
317, 318; public interests of, 228; religious tenets, 130, 425; report
of Committee on Buildings (1764), 444-446. Trustees' Meetings,
Mimites (\T q$), 52, 109; (1750), 116-120, 136-138, 142, 154; (1751),
125, 144, 150, 152, 154, 155, 162; (1752), 44, 151- 153-155, 177.
183; (1753), US. !7o, 175, 177, 178, 183, 184; (1754), 154, 164, 175-

2Oi; (1755), 148, 158, 175, 209, 210, 217, 221, 222, 231, 232; (1756),
164, 227, 232, 234, 272, 273, 282; (1757), 286, 314, 315; (1758),

328, 336-338; (1759), 339-341, 343, 377; (1760), 344, 347, 35 L
380, 470; (1761), 351, 352, 354, 355, 357-359, 383, 385: (1762), 348,
361, 382, 473, 480; (1763), 247, 359, 362, 366-369, 471, 473, 474;
(1764), 373, 374, 421, 422, 426, 471; (1765), 415,452,453,481;
(1766), 298, 460, 476; (1767), 448, 466-469, 471, 481; (1768), 249,
472; (1769), 250, 488; (1770), 251; (1771), 489, 490; (1772), 107,
174. Tuition fees, 157, 315, 375; first payment of, 141; Vice-Pro-
vosts, see F. Alison, J. Andrews.

HISTORY OF THK UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 557

Alexander, Alex., tutor in College, 452, 472.

Alison, Francis, biographical sketch, 163 ; election to Vice-Provostship,
209 ; professorship, 162, 233, 375 ; rectorship, 162.

Alison, Patrick, tutor in Academy, 375, 469.

Allen, Andrew, Trustee of Academy, 340.

Allen, John, election to Trustees of Academy, 108.

Allen, William, biographical sketch, 61 ; subscriber to Academy, 118, 121.

American Magazine, origin, 333.

American Philosophical Society, first members, 31 ; origin, 18, 31 ; reor-
ganization, 31 .

Anderson, tutor in College, 470.

Andrews, John, ordination, 303 ; professor and provost, 452 ; tutor, 470 ;
vice-provost, 304.

Arnold, Matthew, address in University, 74.

Associators, origin, 32.

Ayres, William, assistant in Charity School, 269 ; tutorship, 375.

Barton, Benjamin Smith, professor in College & University, 169.

Barton, Thomas, biographical sketch, 167 ; honorary degree, 348.

Barton, Wm. P. C., professor in University, 169.

Bartram, John, 31, Franklin's opinion of, 165.

Baynton, John, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Beard, John, tutor in Academy, 343.

Belmont Mansion on Schuylkill, ownership, 95.

Benezet, Daniel, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Berkeley, Bishop, relations with Samuel Johnson, 130, letter to, 506.

Beveridge, John, characteristics, 124, 342, 467, 468; death, 467; professor-
ship, 341, 375.

Biddle, Edward, assistant in Academy, 144.

Bingham, William, subscriber to Academy, 118, Trustee, 89.

Blair, Wm., subscriber to Academy, 118.

Bond, Phineas, biographical sketch, 90; subscription to Academy, 118.

Bond, Thomas, biographical sketch, 97 ; clinical lecturer, 488 ; founder of
Penn'a Hospital, 181 ; connection with St John's Lodge, 21 ; subscrip-
tion to Academy, 118.

Braddock's expedition, consequences of, 279; influence on Academy, 221 ;
Pennsylvania claimants, 71.

Breck, James L., 478.

Brientnal, Joseph, 17.

Brockden, Richard, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Brown, John, connection with Academy, 409.

Burd, James, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Burgess, Thomas, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Cadwalader, General John, election to Trustees of Academy, 161.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Cadwalader, Thomas, biographical sketch, 159; election to Trustees of
Academy, 102, 155; relation to Philadelphia Library Company, 20; to
St. John's Lodge, 21.

Cambridge University, age of matriculants, 265 ; education, 264, 265.

Campbell, Samuel, tutor in Academy, 360, 375, 470.

Cannon, James, professor in College, 466.

Carroll, Patrick, connection with Charity School, 153; usher in Academy,
151.

Chandler, Samuel, connection with Academy, 404 ; letter to Dr. Peters,

423-

Charity School (see also Academy and College), masters, 153, 269, 375;
mistresses, 175, 269, 375; new building, 359; opening, 152; origin,
no, 152; separation from College, 446.

Chew, Benjamin, biographical sketch, 316; descendants, 317; election to
Trustees of Academy, 71.

Christ Church School, 45.

Church, 2d Presbyterian, foundation, 117.

Clymer, George, election to Trustees of Academy, 108.

Coleman, William, biographical sketch, 107; clerk of Trustees, 220;
member of Junto, 1 8; subscriber to Academy, 118; treasurer of Phila-
delphia Library company, 20; treasurer of trustees of Academy, 52.

Collins, John, relation with Franklin, 15.

Columbia College, see King's College.

Constable, John, tutor in Academy, 269.

Cooke, Samuel, honorary degree, 348.

Coombe, Thomas, election to Christ Church, 94.

Coxe, John, member American Philosophical Society, 31; subscriber to
Academy, 118.

Coxe, John R., trustee of University, 450.

Coxe, William, election to trustees, 343.

Cradock, Thomas, sketch of, 171.

Cradock, William, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Creamer, connection with Academy, 174, 175; professorship, 473.

Davidson, James, instructor in College, 469.

Davis, John, master in Charity School, 375 ; tutor in Academy, 362, 469,

470, 472.

Davis, Samuel, honorary degree, 347.
DeLancey, Wm. H. , Provost of University, 65.
Delaware College, foundation, 163, 312.
Dickinson College, library, 159.
Donnaldson, Wm., tutor in Academy, 269.
Dove, David J., election to mastership, 142; private school of, 145;

sketch of, 143-145; teacher in Germantown Academy, 378.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 559

Duche, Jacob, election to Trustees of Academy, 70; degree, 286; subscrip-
tion to Academy, 118.

Duche, Jacob, jr., biographical sketch, 293; election to Trustees 01
Academy, 374.

Dungan, Thomas, instructor in College, 452, 470-472.

Dunn, A., teacher in Charity School, 153.

Easton, Jonathan, assistant in College, 472.

Eaton, Robert, instructor in College, 470.

Edmiston, Wm., biographical, 303.

Edwards, Morgan, honorary degree, 361.

Elliott, Andrew, biographical sketch, 450; election to Trustees of Academy,

97-

Evans, Nathaniel, death, 467; honorary degree, 453.
Ewing, John, connection with Academy, 337, 385, 474; opinion on Indian

troubles, 435.

Fellow, application of term, 136.

Fontaine, professor in College, 473.

Fook, Paul, professor in College, 474.

Fordyce, David, professor at Marischall College, 194.

Fothergill, Dr., connection with College, 479.

Francis, Tench, biographical sketch, 67; election to Trustees of Academy,
210; subscription to Academy, 118.

Franklin, Benjamin, biographical sketch, 11-40, 73-83. Academy con-
nections : Academy' s reliance upon, 399 ; connection with Board of
Trustees, 27, 52, 81; correspondence with Dr. Johnson, 506-509, 510-
515; disassociation, 227; on disposal of funds (1750), 120, 123;
draughter of Constitutions, 46; founder of Academy, 33; first pro-
posals (1743), 30, 31; prospectus and proposals (1749), 35, 495;
resignation of presidency of Trustees, 272; subscription, 118; ideas
on education, 244-251. Colonel of Philadelphia regiment, 226.
"Cool Thoughts," etc., 435. Degrees conferred upon, 14, 180.
Electrical studies, 75,77, 173,401. Founder of Pennsylvania Gazette,
19; of the first American insurance company, 24, 182; of Pennsyl-
vania Hospital, 76, 1 8 1. Friendships, with Wm. Allen, 64; with
John Bartram, 165; with Samuel Johnson, 127, 130, 132; with the
Penns, 64, 439-441; with Wm. Smith, 190-192, 200, 335, 395-402;
with Whitefield, 25, 28. " Narrative of the late Massacres," etc.,
433. Plan of a constitutional federation, 203, 204. Posttnastership,
24, 1 80. " Remarks on a lute Protest," etc., 441. Relation to Stamp
Act, 457. Treaty with Indians, 183. Usefulness, 182. Visits, to
England (1774), 440, 443; to Yale College, 208.

560 HlSTORV OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Friends' Publick School, early teachers, 42, 43; foundation, 41; overseers,
43, 44; location, 45.

German immigrants, see Society for Education of Germans.

Germantown Academy, foundation, 145, 378; lottery for, 378.

Godfrey, Thomas, member of American Philosophical Society, 31; mem-
ber of Junto, 18; obituary by Franklin, 109.

Grace, Robert, 18.

Greenway, Robert, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Grew, Theophilus, election to mathematical mastership, 142; honorary
degree, 286; sketch of, 146, 147.

Growden, Lawrence, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Hall, David, subscriber to Academy, 1 1 8.

Hall, Thomas, tutor in Academy, 106, 472.

Hamilton, Alexander, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Hamilton, Andrew, election to Trustees of Academy, 65.

Hamilton, James, biographical sketch, 211; election to Trustees of
Academy, 61, 211; relation to St . John' s Lodge, 21; subscription to
Academy, 118.

Hamilton, William, epilogue by, 230.

Hare, George Emlen, professor in University, 89.

Hare, J. I. C. , trustee and professor in University, 89.

Hare, Robert, trustee of Academy, 89.

Hare, Dr. Robert, professor in University, 89.

Harrison, Richard, tutor in Academy, 375.

Harvard College, 13; early curriculum, 258-261; father of, 258; grad-
uates, 268.

Hasell, Samuel, subscriber to Academy, 118, 119, 121.

Hazard, Samuel, ground sold to Academy, 122; subscriber to Academy,
118.

Hicks, Edwards, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Hill, Richard, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Hodge, Andrew, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Holwell, Frances, mistress of Charity School, 175, 269.

Hopkinson, Francis, biographical sketch, 296; dissension from Faculty,
363; degree, 286; " Errata on the Art of Printing," 364; essay, 179;
prize dissertation, 369. ,

Hopkinson, Thomas, biographical sketch, 100; death, 155; member of
American Philosophical Society, 31; relation to Philadelphia Library
Company, 20; to St. John's Lodge, 21 ; subscription to Academy, 118.

Hospital, the Pennsylvania, first physicians, 71; foundation, 76, 180-182,
482; kinship with University, 182, 482, 483, 485.

Howe, General, residence in Philadelphia, 70.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 561

Humphreys, James, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Humphreys, William, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Hunt, Isaac, libels on the College, 460, 461 ; tutor in Academy, 362,

364, 472.

Huntingdon, foundation of, 465.
Hutchins, Joseph, honorary degree, 466.

Inglis, John, aid for Academy, 410; biographical sketch, 66; subscription
to Academy, 118.

Jackson, Paul, biographical sketch, 292; clerk to trustees, 221; death,
467; degree, 286; elections to instructorships, 151, 233.

James, Abel, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Jay, James, connection with Academy and King's College, 390-393, 405,
407, 409, 410, 414, 419, 420; knighthood, 412.

Jeykill, Margaret, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Johnson, Samuel, biographical sketch, 128; call to Academy, 127, 130,
131 (and Appendix C); correspondence with Franklin, 507, 510-515;
with Dr. Peters, 509, 510; declination of Academy's offer, 132;
" Elementa philosophica," 133; president of King's College, 131,
133; death, 135.

Johnston, Robert, tutor in Academy. 364, 471.

Jones, Edward, instructor in College, 472.

Jones, Horace, instructor in Academy, 269.

Jones, Isaac, trustee of Academy, 86.

Jones, John, sketch of, 150.

Jones, Rob. Strettell, honorary degree, 453.

Junto, formation, 17; members, 18; relation to Philadelphia Library Com-
pany, 20.

Keene, Samuel, tutor in Academy, 340.

Keith, George, sketch of, 42, 43.

King's College, advertisement of opening, 134, 516; charter, 133; date of
term Columbia College, 135; designs for, 127, 186, 187, 207; funds
for, 133; number of graduates, 268; medical school, 483; relation to
Academy in Philadelphia, 134, 387, 390-394, 419, 420, 425, 483;
religious policy, 425.

Kinnersley, Ebenezer, biographical sketch, 172; election to English mas-
tership, 145, 170; electrical studies, 79, 80; honorary degree, 286;
memorial window to, 174; relations to Academy, 77; professorship,
375, 472; stewardship, 446, 447.

Kirke, John, assistant in Charity School, 269.

Kuhn, Adam, professor in College, 481.

Kyn, Joran, founder of Swedish settlement at Upland, 66.

562 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Lang, James, tutor in Academy, 362, 364, 469.

Lardner, Lynford, subscriber to Academy, 118; trustee of Academy, 374,

449-
Latta, James, biographical sketch, 301; degree, 286; tutor in Academy,

232.

Lawrence, John, election to Trustees of Academy, 103.
Lawrence. John, jr. , subscriber to Academy, 1 18.

Lawrence, Thomas, biographical sketch, 59; subscription to Academy, 1 18.
Lawrence, Thos., jr., subscriber to Academy, 118.
Leech, Thomas, biographical sketch, 82; subscription to Academy, 118.
Library Company of Philadelphia, origin, 20.
Logan, James, attendance on Trustees' meetings, 43; biographical sketch,

53; death, 155; gifts to Academy, 20, 118; library, 57; overseer of

Friends' Publick School, 43; president of the Council, 23.
Log College, 449.
Lotteries, 378; laws for suppression of, 379.

Maddox, Joshua, biographical sketch, 104; election to Trustees of Acad-
emy, 210; subscription to Academy, 118.
Magaw, Samuel, biographical sketch, 303; degree, 286.
Makin, Thomas, teacher in Friends' Publick School, 43.
Martin, David, rector of Academy, 127, 136; obituary notes, 141, 142.
Martin, Josiah, death, 286; relation with Wm. Smith, 186, 196, 205.
Martin, Wm. T., death, 207.
Masonic Lodge, the earliest, 21.
Master, application of term, 136.
Masters, Mary, historic house of, 60, 71.

Masters, William, biographical sketch, 68; subscription to Academy, 118.
Mather, Joseph, honorary degree, 361.
Maugridge, Wm., member of Junto, 18.
M'Call, Archibald, subscriber to Academy, 118.

M'Call, Samuel, jr., biographical sketch, 71 ; subscription to Academy, 118.
Mcllvaine, David, subscriber to Academy, 1 1 8.
Meredith Charles, subscriber to Academy, 118.
Meredith, Hugh, 18.

Meredith, Reese, subscriber to Academy, 118.
Middleton, Mrs., mistress of Charity School, 375.
Mifflin, John, biographical sketch, 216; election to Trustees of Academy,

210.

Mifflin, Thomas, election to Trustees of Academy, 91.

M'Kean, Robert, honorary degree, 348.

Montgomery, John, biographical note, 458; tutor in Academy, 459, 470,

472.
Montgomery, Joseph, usher in Academy, 343.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 563

Moore, Judge, legal case, 322-326, 331.

Morgan, Evan, subscriber to Academy, 1 18.

Morgan, John, aid for Academy, 410; biographical sketch, 304; degree,

286; first medical professor, 102, 479-482; winner of medal, 368, 370;

Smith's eulogy of, 370.

Morrey, Humphrey, first mayor of Philadelphia, 84.
Morris, John, essay by, 179.

Morris, Robert, election to Trustees of Academy, 95.
Morton, Andrew, master of Charity School, 269; tutor in Academy, 342;

charges against, 451.

Muhlenberg, Henry, letter on German immigrants, 276.
Muhlenberg, Henry E., 478.

Neaves, Samuel, subscriber to Academy, 1 18.

Norris, Isaac, election to Trustees of Academy, 44, 58, 155; biographical
sketch, 156; Overseer of Friends' Publick School, 43.

Ord, John, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Ormsby, John, tutor in Academy, 269; in Charity School, 153.

Oxford University, age of matriculants, 265; education, 264, 265.

Parsons, William, member of American Philosophical Society, 31; mem-
ber of Junto, 1 8.

Paschall, Stephen, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Patterson, John, tutor in College, 452.

Paxton Boys, 434, 436, 439 .

Peisley, instructor in Academy, 151.

Pemberton, James, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Penn, John, relations to Academy, 373, 374,

Penn Richard, election to Trustees of Academy, 107.

Penn, Thomas, interest in Academy, 344, 380, 381, 385, 388, 418 ; letter
on Medical School, 306, 479.

Penn Charter School, see Friend' s Publick School.

Pennsylvania Gazette, origin, 19.

Perkasie Manor, 201, 380, 416.

Peters, Richard, biographical sketch, 92, 95 ; letters to Samuel Johnson,
131, 509; president of Trustees of Academy, 272; secretary of the
Province, 30 ; sermon at opening of Academy, 140, 141 ; subscription
to Academy, 118 ; visit to England, 430.

Physick, Philip Syng, connection with Academy, 88.

Pliny, the Younger, letter of, 1 1 .

Plumsted, William, biographical sketch, 102 ; relation to St. John's
Lodge, 21 ; subscriptions to Academy, 118, 120.

Pollock (Polock), Thomas, tutor in Academy, 361, 375, 469.

564 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Poor Richard's Almanack, 2 1 .

Porter, John, master in Charity School, 375 ; tutor in Academy, 360.

Potts, Stephen, 18.

Powel Samuel, election to Trustees of Academy, 88.

Pratt, Thomas, tutor in Academy, 269, 375, 471 ; in Germantown

Academy, 378.

Price, George, assistant in Charity School, 153.
Princeton College, founders, 84 ; graduates, 268 ; lottery for, 378.
Proprietaries' Interests, 157, 213, 225, 270, 311, 436, 439-441.

Read, Samuel, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Read, Thomas, tutor in the College, 459, 470.

Rector, application of term, 136.

Redman, John, biographical sketch, 449 ; election to trustees of Academy,

72.

Reed, Joseph, Academy connections, 368, 459; honorary degree, 459.
Rhoads, Samuel, 31.
Rittenhouse, David, honorary degree, 466; professorship, 467; Trustee of

Academy, 467.

Roberdeau, Controversy, 270-275, 279.
Ross, John, subscriber to Academy, 118.
Rothenbuller, teacher in College, 474.
Rush, Benjamin, biographical sketch, 487 ; professorship, 488.

St. Andrew's Society, organization, 66.

St. John's Lodge, formation, 21, 63.

St. Peter's Church, location, 72.

Sargent, John, prizes offered by, 365-372, 397; sketch of, 371, 372.

Sauer, Christopher, opposition to Franklin, 278, 280.

Saunders, Joseph, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Schools, of Philadelphia; early schools, 40; night schools, 150; see also

Christ Church School, Friends' Publick School, Germantown Academy,

Videll's Alley School, School of Tennent.

School teachers of Philadelphia, see Beveridge, Dove, Keith, Makin.
Scull, Nicholas, 18.
Seabury, Bishop, ordination, 199.
Searle, John, subscriber to Academy, 118.
Seeker, Archbishop, letter to Dr. Peters, 419.
Sherlock, Archbishop, letter testimonial to Wm. Smith, 185.
Shippen, Edward, subscriber to Academy, 118.
Shippen, Edward, Jr., election to Trustees of Academy, 68, 343.
Shippen, William, attendance at Trustees' meetings, 427; biographical

sketch, 84; subscription to Academy, 118.
Shippen, William, Jr., professor in the College, 479, 482.

HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 565

Shute, Attwood, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Simonton, John, honorary degree, 361.

Sims, Joseph, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Smith, Isaac, honorary degree, 361.

Smith, Sampson, honorary- degree, 348.

Smith, William, Academy Connections, first relations, 184, 194, 197, 201,
202; draught of charter, 209; educational projects, 187, 188, 205,
234-244, 252-256 ; letters to Dr. Peters (1754) 204 ; mission to Eng-
land (1762), 382-395, 402-420; prayers for use at the Academy, 197.
Biographical Sketch, 185 ; Degrees, 332, 414, 185. Editor of
American Magazine, 335 ; of Colonel Bouquet's Journals, 451.
Eulogy on Dr. Morgan, 370. Help for German Immigrants, 199,
275-279. Marriage, 91, 329. Politics, Duquesne Campaign, 330 ;
Indian troubles (1764), 437, 438 ; Judge Moore case, 322-326, 328,
331 ; Roberdeau controversy, 270-275 ; political sermon (1755), 22 3>
on Stamp Act, 456. Relations with Franklin, 335, 395-402.
Religious activity, change of religion, 191 ; missionary work, 477 ;
on religious bodies, 327 ; ordination, 199 ; preaching powers, 477 ;
president of conventions, 451 ; rector of Oxford Parish, 455, 464 ;
Sermons, 284, 286. Return from England, (1754), 200 ; (1759), 344;
(1764), 420.

Society for Education of Germans, foundation, 275-279.

Sonmans, Peter, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Southwick, Samuel, honorary degree, 286.

Stamp Act, 456-458.

Stedman, Alexander, biographical sketch, 214 ; election to Trustees of
Academy, 90, 211.

Steuart, Andrew, "Short introduction to Grammar," 363, 468.

Stiles, Ezra, oration on Franklin, 208.

Strettell, Amos, biographical note, 449; election to Trustees of Academy,
86, 374; subscriber to Academy, 118.

Strettell, John, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Strettell, Robert, biographical sketch, 86; subscription to Academy, 118.

Syng, Philip, biographical sketch, 87; relation to Philadelphia Library
Company, 20; to St. John's Lodge, 21; subscription to Academy, 118.

Taylor, Abram, biographical sketch, 96; subscription to Academy, 118.

Tennent, William, school of, 449.

Thomson, Charles, election to Latin Mastership, 142; sketch of, 147.

Tilghman, James, election to Trustees of Academy, 67.

Till, William, see L. William.

Trotter, James, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Turner, Joseph, biographical sketch, 72; subscription to Academy, 118.

566 HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Union Fire Company, origin, 24.

University of Pennsylvania, see Academy and College ; see Charity School.

VidelTs Alley School, 145.

Wallace, John, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Wallace, Joshua, M., alumnus of Academy, 104; tutor in the College, 466.

Washington, George, residence in Philadelphia, 61, 70.

Watts, Stephen, prize essay, 368: tutor in Academy, 361, 469.

Webb, George, member of Junto, 1 8 .

White, Thomas, biographical sketch, 105 ; election to Trustees of Academy,

210; subscription to Academy, 118.
White, Townsend, subscriber to Academy, 1 1 8.
White, William, biographical note, 452; on Jacob Duche", Jr., 295, 296;

rector of Christ Church, 94, 106; trustee of the College, 452.
Whitefield, George, arrival in Philadelphia, 25; confession of faith, 117,

death, 28 ; last visit to Philadelphia, 28: ordination, 25; preaching in

Christ Church, (1763), 455; preaching powers, 109, no; sermon at

Academy, (1764), 432.

Wilcocks John, subscriber to Academy, 1 1 8.
William and Mary College, adoption of curriculum of Philadelphia

College, 263; education, 262; graduates, 267, 268, origin, 261.
William, Lawrence, vs. William Till, 104.
Williamson, Hugh, biographical sketch, 309; degree, 286; instructor in

Academy, 232, 269, 375, 471.

Willing, Charles, biographical sketch, 88; subscription to Academy, 118.
Willing, Thomas, election to Trustees of Academy, 89, 105, 374.
Willing, Thomas M., trustee of Academy, 89.
Wilson, James, tutor in the College, 459.
Wilson, Matthew, honorary degree, 348.

Yale College, early curriculum, 256-258 ; first professorship, 255 ; first
use of term "professor," 254; graduates, 268 ; relation to Harvard
College, 258 ; religious troubles (1722), 129 ; removal to New Haven,
128, 258; use of terms "rector," "master," "fellow," "tutor,"

136-
Yeates, John, subscriber to Academy, 118.

Zachary, Lloyd, biographical sketch, 70 ; subscription to Academy, 118.

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