HISTORY

OF THE 

 

 

COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY,

 

FROM ITS ORIGIN IN 1746 TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1854. 

 

JOHN MACLEAN,

TENTH PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE. 

  

VOLUME I. [ Willison Part 1 of 2 ] 

 

 

P H I L A D E L P H I A.

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.

1877.

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Page numbers in the original publication are shown in brackets as such: [ 3 ]

The following begins the original text:

[ 3 ]

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by

JOHN MACLEAN,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

[ 4 ]

TO

 

 

JAMES LENOX, ESQUIRE, LL.D.,

WHOSE MUNIFICENCE TO THE COLLEGE

 

 

DURING THE AUTHOR’S ADMINISTRATION

 

GIVES HIM A CLAIM TO THE GRATITUDE

 

OF ALL ITS FRIENDS,

 

THIS HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

 

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY

 

 

DEDICATED.

[ 5 ]

PREFACE.

 

THE plan of this work will be seen at once by a glance at the table of contents.

In his letter to the Trustees resigning the office of President, the writer mentioned that it was his purpose to devote a portion of his time to the collecting of materials for a history of the College. Accordingly, the earlier portions of his manuscripts were labelled "materials for a history." But, learning that his former colleagues, and also the friends of the College generally, looked to him to set in order and to publish, as well as to collect, the requisite facts for a history of the institution, he determined to do what he could in this direction; and the following volumes are the result.

This statement will account, in a measure, for whatever lack there may be of a proper grouping of the incidents given in the narratives of the different administrations.

Several important matters, which at the first he intended to introduce into this work, have been omitted, for the reason that they have already been given to the public,—viz., sketches of the two literary societies of the College, and brief notices of the more distinguished graduates. The Histories of the Societies, by Professors Giger and Cameron, and the work of the Rev. Dr. Samuel D. Alexander, entitled "Princeton College during the Eighteenth Century," have happily relieved the writer from any obligation to attempt what these gentlemen have done so well; and it is earnestly hoped that Dr. Alexander’s work may be so enlarged as to include at least the graduates of the first half of the nineteenth century.

In this work the writer has had in view two classes of readers; one being those friends of the College who wish to have a general

[ 6 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

knowledge of the institution,—viz., of its origin, its design, its methods of instruction, and its success ; and the other consisting of those who desire to know more fully the various measures adopted from time to time to attain the ends sought; and a knowledge of which may be of special use to those whose duty it is to watch over the institution, and to whom a detail, to some extent, of the various doings of the Trustees and of the Faculty in times past may be of assistance in determining their own course of action. To many of the graduates, too, it may be a matter of interest to have an authentic account of the views and plans of the Trustees in different periods of the history of the College; and for them numerous extracts are given from the Minutes of the Board and from other documents.

To meet these different views, the writer has adopted the plan of having the work printed with two different sets of type, in the smaller of which most of the extracts from minutes and public records will be printed. The rest of the work will be in larger type, and of itself will form a narrative suited to the class of readers first spoken of.

Another object aimed at in giving the official statements is to secure their preservation in case the volumes containing them should be lost or destroyed.

The citations from the College records are in some cases followed by an expression of the writer’s own views in reference to the matters therein mentioned.

Had the writer’s health permitted it, he would have devoted some time to a thorough revision of this work, omitting some parts and rewriting others, in the hope of thereby making the entire work more acceptable to the reader; but, his age and health forbidding this, it must go to the press as it is. He is not, however, without hope that, whatever may be its defects, he has clearly shown that it was the design of the founders of the College, and of their successors in office, to make the institution one devoted to the upbuilding of the Redeemer’s kingdom, by promoting the advancement of piety and learning in happy union.

For reasons which will readily occur to the mind of the reader, this history is brought down only to the date of

[ 7 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

inauguration as President. It would give him sincere pleasure to bring into full view the valuable services rendered by all his colleagues, and especially by those associated with him in the instruction and government of the institution from the beginning of his presidency to its close; but the limit which he has assigned himself prevents this from being done. Doubtless some other annalist of the College will give such a record of the labors of those who contributed so greatly to its success from 1854 to 1868, during which period the number of undergraduates increased from two hundred and forty-seven to three hundred and fourteen, as was the case in 1860—61; and although these numbers, in consequence of the civil war, were reduced in 186—2 to about two hundred and twenty, yet in 1868, the last year of the writer’s connection with the College, they again reached two hundred and sixty-four, with a fair prospect of a still larger increase in the course of the ensuing year,—the number of new students for the College year of 1867—68 being one hundred and eleven, of whom one hundred and five entered College the first term of that year.

At different periods in the history of the College the curriculum has varied more or less, and greater prominence was given to one class of studies than to another; and in the period just referred to, the course of study, religious and secular, was considerably enlarged, and the requirements for admission. to the first degree in the Arts kept pace with the progress of learning. With the exception of the French and German languages, the study of which was optional, all the branches of knowledge taught in the College were made parts of the regular course, which every student was required to pursue.

Of the condition of the College finances during the same period, viz., from 1854 to 1868, while the subject is yet fresh in his mind, the writer deems it due to some of his friends to say in this connection a few words.

Within the time here mentioned, and the year preceding, viz,, the last year of Dr. Carnahan’s administration, after paying all the ordinary and contingent expenses of the College, and those incurred in the rebuilding of Nassau Hall in 1855—56, the actual increase in the funds vested in bonds, mortgages, and public

[ 8 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

securities, and mainly through the efforts of Professors Hope and Atwater, was not less than two hundred and forty thousand dollars, Of this sum, one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars were contributed for professorships, over fifty-five thousand dollars for scholarships, about sixty-four thousand dollars for general purposes, and six thousand dollars for prizes.

From a gift and a bequest by the late Dr. John N. Woodhull, of Princeton, to found a professorship, the College became the owner of all his houses and lots adjacent to the College grounds, and extending on William Street from the road or path west of Dickinson Hall to Washington Street, with the exception of a small house and lot purchased by .the College a year or two before, and on Washington Street from the corner of William and Washington Streets to Nassau, on the main street of Princeton, the corner house and lot on Nassau Street included; the estimated value at that time being twenty thousand dollars. Since then This property has greatly increased in value.

The house and lot on William Street, mentioned as having been purchased by the College, cost between one and two thousand dollars.

This increase in the real estate and in the other permanent funds of the College is exclusive of the first ten thousand dollars given in 1865 by General N. N. Halsted for the erection of the Astronomical Observatory, which was completed by him in 1872, at an expense of fifty thousand dollars; exclusive, too, of the sum of five thousand five hundred dollars expended by the College in the purchase of the site on which the Observatory stands,—of which sum three thousand dollars were a bequest by the Rev. Dr. C. Van Rensselaer towards the establishment of an Observatory; exclusive also of the sixteen thousand dollars given in 1866 by John C. Green, Esq., for the purchase of the lots on which "Dickinson Hall" was built by him three or four years after; and of the further gift of one hundred thousand dollars in the spring of 1868 by the same gentleman. It is also exclusive of the thirty-eight thousand dollars, over and above the twelve thousand dollars insurance, expended in the rebuilding and enlarging of "Nassau Hall" in 1855—56; of which sum eighteen thousand dollars were gifts and twenty

[ 9 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

thousand dollars the excess of the receipts above the ordinary expenses of the College from 1854 to 1860. The aggregate of the above sums is four hundred and thirty thousand dollars, of which more than four hundred thousand dollars were gifts or bequests. Besides the above, there were three bequests amounting to sixteen thousand dollars, which have been paid since 1868; and another bequest of thirty thousand dollars a vested legacy (to found a professorship), not yet due, but the payment of which was made sure by the donor.

It was the intention of the donors that these several bequests should be made parts of a permanent endowment; and if they be added to the above they will make the increase in this class of funds from July, 1853, to July, 1868, not less than four hundred and seventy-six thousand dollars.

During this period the President’s house and a house occupied by one of the Professors were also enlarged and improved, at an expense of several thousand dollars, which without any impropriety might have been added to the above amount. And within the same time two other friends of the College in their respective wills made provision for the endowment by each of them of a professorship, which at a future day will doubtless be established and the original bequests enlarged. In addition to the sums above mentioned as contributed to the permanent funds, nine thousand dollars were given towards the current expenses of the College, viz., five thousand dollars, in ten semi-annual installments of five hundred dollars each, to aid in establishing a professorship of Mental and Moral Philosophy, fifteen hundred dollars for the professorship of Geology and Physical Geography, and twenty-five hundred dollars to meet a deficiency in the income of the College consequent on losses during the first year of the late civil war. Several thousand dollars were also given to an association formed for the purpose of aiding inch-gent and worthy young men, without respect to the particular professions to which they proposed to devote themselves. This fund has already rendered valuable assistance to as many as thirty students of the College.

To what extent the College was indebted to its then Treasurer, the late Governor Charles S. Olden, for the above-mentioned

[ 10 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

gifts of the ]ate John C. Green, Esq., will appear from the following correspondence, begun on the 4th of August, 1866, very nearly two years before the end of the writer’s administration. This difference of dates will account for one or two seeming discrepancies between the writer’s statement and that of the Governor’s in regard to the College finances.

Governor Olden’s letter to Mr. Green:

"PRINCETON, August 4, 1866.

"JOHN C. GREEN, ESQ.:

" Dear Sir,—In the age in which we live, whatever has a tendency to improve agriculture and manufactures and advance useful science is attracting the attention of the best men of the civilized world. The urgent necessity of thoroughly educating a large portion of the youth in those branches termed ‘Applied Science’ is apparent. This necessity has led to the establishment of many private schools and academies in which these subjects receive special attention, and it has led to the organization by most of the principal colleges of the country of departments in which these subjects are thoroughly taught. Several of the prominent colleges of New England have recently established such departments, and where already in existence they have been greatly enlarged. The college at Easton, Pennsylvania, has by the contributions of the citizens of that State organized a department of ‘Applied Science.’ So also has Rutgers College, at New Brunswick, in this State. And a college is started at Allentown [Bethlehem ], Pennsylvania, through the munificence of Judge Packer, to be under Episcopal influence, in which these are to be prominently taught. This gives those institutions advantages over the College of New Jersey, and has already drawn away some of her students and deterred others from coming. The Faculty realizing this, and unwilling this time-honored institution should lose the position (so long occupied) among the foremost in the United States, drew a paper which was laid before the Trustees, setting forth what they thought should be taught in the department of ‘Applied Science,’ and what was needed to carry it into effect. A copy of

[ 11 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

this is enclosed herewith, and I have noted on it some changes that could, I think, be advantageously made.

"Your brother, the Chancellor, is one of the oldest and most influential Trustees, and always manifested great interest in the College. His attention had been for some time directed to this subject, and in conversation with him about a year ago he told me that on a recent visit to Princeton he had looked at the land owned by the College, with the view of ascertaining whether there was any eligible site for a building suitable for a scientific department. I gave him some information about lands adjoining the College property, which induced him to ask me to furnish him with some maps, etc., and ascertain the price for which the land referred to could be obtained, in order that he might fully understand the matter. Some time after, I did so, and told him that I had obtained a refusal of the property until the first of January next (now last). His official business was at this time very engrossing, and I forbore saying anything further to him on the subject until the expiration of the time for which I had the refusal of the property, when he informed me that he had not had leisure to give the subject the attention he desired, but would do so ere long. With some difficulty I got the time extended (for which I had the refusal) one month; but before I saw him again he was taken sick, and I have not since thought it proper to call his attention to it, as he had more requiring his supervision than the state of his health warranted. In our first conversation he intimated, as I understood him, that he believed you felt interested in Princeton College, and possibly, if satisfied that decided good could be effected, this subject might be considered by you favorably. I am emboldened by this allusion to you to lay this matter before you; and I have no doubt that, if known to him, my doing so would meet his approval. I. send you herewith a copy of the map furnished the Chancellor, giving a sketch of the property now owned by the College, and of that which it is desirable to obtain in order to carry out the plan of a scientific department properly,—also the prices at which I had the refusal of the several parcels making up the plot.

"You are aware that the College of New Jersey is among the

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PREFACE.

oldest institutions of the kind in the United States, two only (or at most three) being older, and yet it has had less outside assistance by far than any of the other prominent ones. It has struggled along, relying on its own resources almost entirely, until within a few years, when several friends have come to its aid. In 1844, when I became particularly acquainted with its financial condition, it had a charitable fund of about twelve thousand dollars, and all the other funds belonging to it, after paying its debts, did not exceed one hundred dollars. Its finances improved somewhat between this time and 1~ when the main building of the College was burned. It was insured for twelve thousand dollars; about eighteen thousand were contributed by sundry persons towards rebuilding it, and the balance of the fifty thousand dollars which it cost to erect it was supplied by the savings of the business of the College the previous and the succeeding five years, during whch its affairs were quite prosperous.*

"A short time before this event, an effort had been commenced to raise a sum by establishing scholarships, of one thousand dollars each, to aid in educating destitute young men intended for the ministry, and, in some cases, others. This effort was continued through several years, and was quite successful, realizing over fifty thousand dollars."

"In the year 1862 it became apparent that the loss of the Southern students in consequence of the rebellion, and the increased cost of living, required an increase of the Professors’ salaries; and, as the College could not get on with the means then at command, an effort was in consequence made to secure what was termed an ‘Endowment Fund.’ Over sixty-five thousand dollars were subscribed and paid to the College, and one professorship of thirty thousand dollars and one of thirty- five thousand dollars were also established. A professorship of twenty-five thousand dollars had been formed some years before by the united contributions of a number of individuals, and there is a probability that another will be secured ere long. The whole funds of the College now amount to about two hun

* These six years were the first six years of Dr. Maclean’s administration.

[13 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

dred and forty thousand dollars,* which it is believed is securely invested at an interest averaging seven per cent. per annum. As at present situated, and with a continuance of the number of students in attendance the last three years, the income and the expenses of the College are about equal. There is little or nothing left at the close of each year with which to make improvements or to enlarge the operations of the institution. When the resources of the College are compared with those of other prominent colleges of the country, it is astonishing that it has been able to maintain its established reputation. While Harvard and Yale each have funds amounting to millions of dollars, and colleges of less note quadruple of those of Princeton, it has required all the talent of the Faculty and Trustees of Princeton College to maintain her reputation; and without further aid it will probably be impossible for them to do it much longer. For some reason, after the College of New Jersey was fairly in operation, it appears to have been taken for granted that it needed no further assistance. It received nothing, comparatively, until within a few years, while other colleges have been the recipients of munificent gifts. Other States have made liberal appropriations to their colleges. New Jersey, though solicited, has done nothing in aid of that which for many years was her only one. Individuals appear to have forgotten her altogether. Mr. James. Lenox, of New York, is an exception, and had it not been for his liberality the College would have been seriously embarrassed. At a later period other friends of the institution have contributed liberally and made up what is the present fund. The great importance of the College, its influence for good to the country generally and the Presbyterian Church in particular, have not, I think, been duly considered.

* * * * * * * * * *

 

 

* This sum does not include the notes of the late Captain Silas Holmes, of New York, amounting to thirty thousand dollars, given by him to found a professorship and five scholarships, the principal payable at the option of the donor, the interest at six per cent, payable on the 1st of January and the 1st of July in each year. Captain Holmes died before the date of this letter, and, as the payment of the principal was not at that time fully secured by bond and mortgage, Governor Olden did not reckon the notes of Captain Holmes as a part of the vested funds of the College.

[ 14 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

Princeton stands alone as having for more than a century taught nothing in Theology but the purest doctrines, as understood by the Old School branch of the Presbyterian Church, and, pursuing the same course unwaveringly, is at this time doing more probably for the cause of sound principles and true religion than any institution in the land; in evidence of which it may be stated that two-thirds of all the students in College during the last session were professors of religion, the greater portion of whom became such after entering. The opportunity afforded of making lasting impressions on the minds of youth at a period when they are most impressible is nowhere more fully understood or diligently improved than by the President and Professors of this College. While errorists abound and are zealous in disseminating heterodoxy over the land, the influence for good of the band of young men yearly passing out from ‘the College of New Jersey’ is incalculable. We need only look over the country and observe what men are giving direction to public sentiment, to see how mighty the influence exercised by it. In the pulpit her graduates are unsurpassed for learning and piety. In the Senate of the United States (the only men in that body whom no one ventured to approach with business on the Sabbath were Frelinghuysen and Berrien, both graduates of Princeton), in Congress, on the bench of the Supreme Court, in the State Courts (all the Chancellors of the State under the present Constitution were graduates of this College), and of eminent and influential men, there are more in proportion to the number of graduates who are from Princeton than from any other institution in this country. But I will not enlarge further on the importance of the College. My object is, principally, to inform you that those best able to judge think that a department of ‘Applied Science' is very much needed to enable her to keep her standard of instruction equal to that of other prominent institutions. Knowing that you are a Jerseyman, and believing you are interested in all that concerns our native State, I do not doubt that you sympathize with those who congratulate themselves on having at least one institution in New Jersey of which they are proud. Should you feel sufficient interest in the matter to induce you to desire farther in-

[15 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

formation, I will cheerfully give it; or can you not make me a visit, and I could point out the localities and explain everything more fully here than elsewhere? If you should incline to come, let me know a few days before, as I should regret being absent. No one connected with the College knows that I am writing to you, and you can, if you desire it, be entirely private while here.

"Trusting that you will not consider me intrusive in addressing you, I am, very respectfully,

"Yours, etc.,

"CHAs. S. OLDEN."

Copies of two letters of the same date from John C. Green, Esq., to the Hon. Charles S. Olden:

"NEW YORK, December 24, 1870.

"HON. CHARLES S. OLDEN, Princeton, New Jersey:

"My DEAR SIR,—I have your letter of the 2nd instant, accompanying the final accounts of the cost of Dickinson Hall and the grounds pertaining thereto.

"Herewith I hand you my check on the National Bank of Commerce, in New York, payable to your order, for ten thousand and ninety-seven dollars and twenty-nine cents [ $10,097.29), which is the balance represented in said accounts to be due to the College of New Jersey.

"It was my intention to leave the provisions of the Elizabeth Endowment absolutely to you and my brother, the Chancellor. I have not the deed at hand, and cannot, therefore, express an intelligent opinion on the point regarding which you ask my ‘further directions.’ I leave it to your own judgment, and whatever your decision may be I now confirm it.

"This letter is official. I write another of a personal character, which is due to the occasion, but which, for want of time, may not reach you by this mail.

"Very truly yours,

"Jno. C. GREEN."

"NEW YORK, December 24, 1870.

"HON. CHARLES S. OLDEN, Princeton:

"My DEAR SIR,—I have already acknowledged the receipt of

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PREFACE.

your letter of the 2nd instant, and complied with its business requirements. Now I propose to add what the occasion calls for besides.

"Your letter of August 4, 1866, now lies before me, and has just been re-perused. This was the beginning of our correspondence on the subject of the affairs of the College of New Jersey, and the origin of all that I have done for the institution.

My belief in the fulness of your knowledge, and confidence in your judgment and public spirit, led me to consider your opinions with more than ordinary care, and to examine anew the claims of the College to public aid. My brother Henry was absent in Europe. On his return, consultation with him confirmed my own favorable conclusions, and induced me to enter upon the work which has just been finished. Its subsequent conduct having been intrusted absolutely to my brother and yourself, no cause of anxiety was allowed to remain lest the money bestowed should be extravagantly or unwisely disbursed.

"The first proposed contract, which was not executed, strengthened my conviction that a restraining and controlling power was needed other than that of the official authorities. With the prosecution and completion of the undertaking I am fully satisfied, and beg you, my dear sir, to accept my hearty thanks for your ready acceptance of the trust, and for the fidelity, wisdom, and success with which it has been discharged.

"My pleasure is enhanced by the consideration that a tried and valued friend has crowned a life of honor and usefulness by rendering this (among other important services running through a long course of years) important aid to an eminent institution of learning which confers blessings on the State and the world.

"I remain, my dear sir, very faithfully, your friend,

"J NO. C. GREEN."

 

In preparing this history, the author has availed himself of all the sources of information within his reach, and, except through some inadvertence, lie has not failed to refer to his authorities and to name the authors from whom he had occasion to cite either passages or facts. Among these, and chiefly, are:

[17 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

The College Records.

The Minutes of the Synods of New York and of Philadelphia.

The Diary, in manuscript, of President Davies, during his visit to Great Britain in behalf of the College in 1753—4.

An Account of the College, published by order of the Trustees, in 1764.

Memoranda, by Mr. N. F. Randolph, of Princeton, respecting the charters, and the erection of Nassau Hall.

Governor Belcher’s Correspondence, in manuscript.

Letters of the Rev. Charles l3eatty to the Rev. Dr. Treat, of Abington, Pennsylvania, written from Scotland in 1767.

President Witherspoon’s Address to the Inhabitants of Jamaica and other West India Islands in behalf of the College, and other papers in the fourth volume of his works, W. W. Woodward publisher.

President Green’s Notes respecting the college, his Autobigraphy, and his Address before the Alumni Association of Nassau Hall.

History of the College of New Jersey, from 1746 to 1783," by a graduate (Rev. Dr. William A. Dod), in 1844.

Historical Sketch of the College of New Jersey," by Robert Edgar, a student of the College, 1859.

Dr. Samuel D. Alexander’s "Princeton College."

Professor Cameron’s " history of the American Whig Society." Professor Giger’s " History of the Cliosophic Society."

The " New York Gazette and Mercury." The " Pennsylvania Gazette."

The " Pennsylvania Chronicle."

"Wood’s Gazette," of Newark, New Jersey. "Newark Daily Advertiser."

New Jersey State Gazette."

Mr. Samuel Smith’s " History of New Jersey."

Hon. William Smith’s " History of New York."

Mr. William A. Whitehead’s " East Jersey under the Proprietors.

Mr. Whitehead’s " Contributions."

Minutes of the Provincial Council."

Judge Field’s " Provincial Courts."

Judge Elmer’s " Constitution, etc., of New Jersey."

Dr. Hodges " History of the Presbyterian Church."

Rev. Richard Webster’s "History of the Presbyterian Church.’’

Dr. A. Alexander’s "Log College."

"Transactions of the American Philosophical Society,’ voL

Dr. Bellamy’s Correspondence, in manuscript.

Dr. Sprague’s " Annals."

President Quincy’s " History of Harvard University."

Life of Mrs. Quincy," by her daughter, Miss Quincy.

Charters and Catalogues of Yale College.

Professor Kingsley’s sketches of the history of Yale College.

President Clap’s " Defence of the Charter of Yale College," given in the appendix to the " History of the Dartmouth College Case."

VOL. 1—2

[18 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

President Porter’s "Life of Professor Silliman, of Yale College."

"History of the College of William and Mary, of Virginia."

History of Brown University," by Mr. R. A. Guild, the Librarian.

Judge Bradley’s Discourse at the Centennial Anniversary of Rutgers College.

Dr. Stearns’s " History of the First Presbyterian Church, Newark, New Jersey."

Dr. Hall’s " History of the First Presbyterian Church, Trenton, New Jersey"

Dr. Davidson’s " History of the First Presbyterian Church, New Brunswick, New Jersey.’’

Dr. Hatfield’s " History of Elizabeth, New Jersey."

Dr. Gibbon’s "Sermon on the Death of President Davies," London.

President Finley’s ‘‘Sermon on the Death of President Davies."

Dr. Rodgers’s Sermon on the Death of Dr. Witherspoon."

Dr. E. S. Dwight’s "Life of President Edwards."

Dr. Beasley’s "Life of President S.. S. Smith." Princeton Review."

"New York Medical Repository."

"The Presbyterian Magazine," of Philadelphia, edited by Dr. C. Van Rensselaer.

Princeton Magazine," edited by William C. Alexander, LL.D. Mr. Bancroft’s " History of the United States."

Dr. Foote’s " Sketches of Virginia" and "Sketches of North Carolina." Life of the Rev. Dr. Miller," by his son, the Rev. Samuel Miller, D.D.

"Life of The Rev. Dr. A. Alexander," by his sort, the Rev. Dr. James W. Alexander.

Life of James Madison, Fourth President of the United States," by William C. Rives, of Virginia, United States Senator.

Dr. Franklin’s Life and Essays.

Bishop Johns’s " Life of Bishop Meade, of Virginia.’’

Mrs. Lee’s Life of her father, George Washington Parke Custis.

Judge Duer’s " Life of Lord Stirling."

Dr. Carnahan’s " Life of Dr. John Johnston, of Newburgh, New York," and some manuscripts papers of his, including Dr. Carnahan’s Sermon at Colonel Aaron Burr’s funeral.

The Forum and the Bar," by David Paul Brown, Esq.

Dr. Allibone’s ‘ Dictionary of Authors."

Dr. Morse’s " American Gazetteer.’’

Messrs. Barber and Howe’s " Historical Collections from New Jersey and Virginia."

Frank Moore’s " Diary."

The Biographical Dictionaries of the Rev. Drs. Allen, Blake, and Lempriere.

Manuscript letters of Joseph Shippers, a student in the College of New Jersey in 1750—53.

Mr. Parton’s account of Rittenhouse’s orrery, in the "New York Ledger."

The readers of this history cannot fail to observe that the writer has freely expressed his opinions in reference to various measures adopted from time to time by the authorities of the

[19 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

College touching its course of instruction and discipline, and with respect to its 1~scal affairs. For these opinions he alone is responsible; and yet he cannot but indulge the hope that some of them at least will have the hearty approval of the friends of the College generally.

In collecting his materials the writer had but little aid, with the exception of that given him by one of his friends, who is unwilling that any mention should be made of his services, although to him the writer is more indebted In this matter than to all others. Still, the writer is under obligations to many of his friends for the constant encouragement they have given him to persevere in his arduous work,—how arduous none but those who have faithfully and laboriously engaged in like undertakings can fully appreciate; and it is a pleasure for him to add, that to his distinguished successor in the office of President of the College, Dr. McCosh, the writer is indebted for important suggestions as to the plan of the work, and for the deep interest which he has manifested in its preparation for the press.

To his friend the Rev. Dr. Duffield he is under peculiar obligations for making the requisite arrangements for the publication of this work, all pecuniary interest in which the writer has transferred to the Princeton Charitable Institution, for the aid of indigent and worthy youths engaged in seeking a liberal education.

To the publishers of the work, also, the writer must tender his thanks for the careful and satisfactory manner in which they have performed their part in issuing it from the press.

When he began to gather materials for a history of the College, the writer scarcely dared to hope that he should be spared to complete that undertaking; still, he cheerfully gave himself to it, under the impression that his labors in this line might be of service in the hands of another, in preparing a truthful account of the origin, design, and progress of the College. But in the kind providence of God he has been permitted to go beyond this, and to bring to its close a history of the College of New Jersey from its foundation in 1746 to the annual Commencement of 1854, a period of one hundred and eight years ;

[ 20 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

PREFACE.

and it is his fervent prayer that this work may help to keep in perpetual remembrance the design of those truly good and great men who, in laying the foundations of the College, sought to erect an institution for the advancement of piety and sound learning, and one especially devoted to the upbuilding of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I PAGE
The Origin of the College 23

CHAPTER II. 61

The Design of the College, and its Relations to the Church and the State .

CHAPTER Ill.

The Charters of 1746 and 1748 70

CHAPTER IV.

Memoir of Governor Belcher, and Brief Notices of the Trustees named in

the Two Charters of the College 98

CHAPTER V.

The Administration of the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, First President of the

College; and Memoir of his Life 114

CHAPTER VI.

The Administration and Life of the Rev. Aaron Burr, Second President of the College 127

CHAPTER VII.

The Annual Commencement of 1757, and the Election and Administration

of President Edwards 169

 

CHAPTER VIII.

Memoir of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, Third President of the College 178

 

CHAPTER IX.

The Interval between the Decease of President Edwards and the Inaugura-

tion of the Rev. Samuel Davies as President of the College . . . 192

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CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X. PAGE

The Administration of the Rev. Samuel Davies, Fourth President of the

College 203

CHAPTER XI.I

Memoir of the Rev. Samuel Davies, Fourth President of the College . . 219

CHAPTER XII.

The Administration of the Rev. Samuel Finley, Fifth President of the

College 249

CHAPTER XIII.

Memoir of the Rev. Samuel Finley, D.D., Fifth President of the College . 277

CHAPTER XIV.

The Interval between the Death of Dr. Finley and the Accession of Dr.

Witherspoon, from July 18, 1766, to August 17, 1768 . . . . 285

 

CHAPTER XV.

The Administration of the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, Sixth President of

the College 300

Appendix to the Chapter on Dr. Witherspoon’s Administration 368

CHAPTER XVI.

A Memoir of the Rev. John Witherspoon, D.D., LL.D., Sixth President of the College 384

HISTORY

OF THE 

 

COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY.

CHAPTER 1.

THE ORIGIN OF THE COLLEGE.

 

ON the occasion of his inauguration as President of the College of New Jersey, on the 28th of June, 1854, the writer of this History gave a brief outline of its origin and design. In this outline the College was represented as "being in fact a continuation of the one over which the pious and learned Jonathan Dickinson presided," and as being established under the auspices of the Synod of New York; which Synod at that time embraced not only the Presbyterian churches in New York, but also the larger part of those in New Jersey.

A more thorough examination has served to confirm the view then taken as to the identity of the College, under the charter given in 1746, by the Honorable John Hamilton, President of his Majesty’s Council; and under the one granted two years after, by his Excellency Jonathan Belcher, Esq., his Majesty’s Governor of the Province of New Jersey. But the statement as to the Synod was not as exact as it might have been. The credit given to the Synod of New York belongs almost exclusively to certain leading members of that body, one of whom was the pastor of the only Presbyterian church in the city of New York, and the others pastors of Presbyterian churches in East Jersey.

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Particular attention is due to both these matters, for the reason that they have been misapprehended by most of those who have undertaken to write or to speak of them. At the time application was first made to the civil authorities of New Jersey for a college charter, the state of things in the Presbyterian Church in this country was a very peculiar one, and the condition of the civil affairs of time Province was also peculiar. In any other circumstances than those which. existed at the time the first charter was obtained, and for a few years after, it is hardly probable that a charter, in the name of the King, would have been granted by the Governors and Council of New Jersey for the erection of a college to be under the control of ministers and laymen of the Presbyterian Church. It will therefore not be amiss to recite the facts to which reference is here made, before entering upon a regular chronological detail of the events which properly constitute the history of the College.

The first efforts for the erection of a college in New Jersey have an intimate connection with the first schism in the Presbyterian Church. This schism began in 1741, with the separation of the Presbytery of New Brunswick from the Synod of Philadelphia. It was consummated in 1745, by the withdrawal of the Presbytery of New York from the same Synod, then the only one; and by the organization of a new Synod, "under the title of the Synod of New York," in the autumn of that year.

At its formation the Synod of New York consisted of the Presbyteries of New York, New Brunswick, and New Castle. There was another and older Presbytery of the name of New Castle, in the Synod of Philadelphia.

The Presbytery of New York was formed in 1738, by uniting the Presbyteries of Long Island and East Jersey, and the Presbytery of New Brunswick was also formed in 1738, upon the petition of some members of the Presbytery of New York, then just constituted, to be erected into a distinct Presbytery with some members of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. The Presbytery of New Castle, the second of that name, was formed in

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CHAPTER 1. ORIGIN OF THE COLLEGE.

 

 

1741, and it was composed of members who sympathized with their New Brunswick brethren, and who refused to remain any longer in Presbyteries connected with the Synod of Philadelphia, from which these brethren had been virtually cut off without any respect had to the usual forms of citation and trial. This Presbytery was first known as the Presbytery of Londonderry, but before the Synod of New York was organized it took the name of New Castle.

The schism above mentioned arose not from any different views in reference to the Calvinistic system of doctrine as set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith, which had been adopted by the entire Synod, but chiefly from conflicting opinions with respect to the requisites for admission to the ministry, and in regard to the countenance which should be given to the religious excitements of that period, which prevailed to a greater or less extent in New England and in the middle Provinces. A majority of the old Synod insisted upon a regular training of candidates in studies usually pursued at colleges or universities, and they were unwilling to license and ordain preachers whose preliminary training had been defective, although they might be sound in the faith and give evidence of fervent piety. The majority also objected earnestly to all intrusion into their congregations, on the part of the revivalists, which some of the New Brunswick ministers and their friends openly advocated and practised.

These differences in opinion and practice were the occasion of many sharp and bitter controversies, which prepared the way for the rending asunder of the entire body.

The ministers and elders who organized the Synod of New York were all of one mind as to the desirableness of religious revivals, and as to the duty of doing all in their power to promote them; but they were not equally prudent in the use of the requisite means for attaining their object, nor were they all agreed as to the evidences of true conversion. As a body the Presbytery of New York was more conservative than the Presbytery of New Brunswick. And while these two Presbyteries were yet in connection with the Synod of Philadelphia, the leading men in them evidently differed in opinion as to the provision

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CHAPTER 1. ORIGIN OF THE COLLEGE.

which should be made for the education of candidates for the holy ministry. The New Brunswick men, several of whom had been trained at the school established by the Rev. William Tennent, Sr., on the southwest bank of the Neshaminy, in Pennsylvania, and who had been greatly blessed of God in their labors as ministers of the gospel, were content with the comparatively meagre instruction in the arts and sciences given at that seminary of learning; and they deemed the different efforts made to establish a school of a higher order as aimed against their foster-mother and school of theology. In this school, now well known under the designation of the "Log College," more account was very properly made of personal piety and religious experience, in candidates for the ministry, than of a complete knowledge of both their preparatory and their professional studies. And it is equally true that at this school the great benefits of mental discipline and of a familiar acquaintance with tile several branches of philosophy and of polite learning were not estimated at their full value.

The ministers of the New York Presbytery, most of whom were pastors of churches in East Jersey and residents in that part of the Province, were no less ardent friends of revivals than were their brethren of the Presbytery of New Brunswick. Nor were they less fully persuaded of the unspeakable importance of personal piety as an element of success in preaching the gospel. But they did not approve the course of their New Brunswick brethren in reference to intrusion, and in the matter of licensing candidates. They were also desirous that the best possible provision should be made for the preparatory and professional education of all candidates for the ministry. Before the schism they concurred with their brethren in the Synod of Philadelphia in the project of founding, for this very purpose, a school or seminary of learning. This is evident from the following record in the minutes of that body at their sessions in Philadelphia, May, 1739, six years before the schism of 1745:

"An overture for erecting a school or seminary of learning being brought in by the Committee, the Synod unanimously approved the design of it; and in order to the accomplishing it did nominate Messrs. Pemberton, Dickinson, Cross, and An-

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derson, two of which,.if they can be prevailed upon, to be sent home to Europe to prosecute this affair with proper directions. And in order to this, it is appointed that the Commission of the Synod, with correspondents from every Presbytery, meet at Philadelphia on the third Wednesday of August next. And if it should be found necessary that Mr. Pemberton should go to Boston, pursuant to this design, it is ordered that the Presbytery of New York supply his pulpit during his absence."

Messrs. Pemberton and Dickinson were members of the New York Presbytery, they were leading men in that body, they were present at the meeting of the Synod, they were members of the Committee which brought the overture before the Synod, they had the respect and confidence of all their brethren, both of the Old Side and of the New, as the two principal parties in the Synod of Philadelphia were then called. Had they not been in favor of the proposed measure, they would not have been the first persons named to take so active a part in carrying it into effect. Mr. Pemberton was a native of Boston, well known and highly esteemed by the ministers and people there, and perhaps the roost influential person the Synod could have selected to solicit aid in that city.

This statement of the different views entertained by the leading men in the Presbyteries of New York and New Brunswick is confirmed by what is said in a letter, of May 30, 1746, addressed by the Synod of Philadelphia to President Clap, of Yale College, and which has reference to a proposed arrangement by which candidates for the ministry at the school established by the Synod of Philadelphia at New London, Pennsylvania, in 1744, might have certain privileges granted to them by Yale College. The writers of it say, "And by his [Mr. Whitefield’s] interest, Mr. Gilbert Tennent grew hardy enough to tell our Synod that he would oppose their design of getting assistance to erect a college, wherever we should make application, and would maintain young men at his father’s school in opposition to us."

This must have occurred at the meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia in 1739, and the language here attributed to Mr. Tennent was most probably used by him before the above-

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CHAPTER 1. ORIGIN OF THE COLLEGE.

mentioned overture was submitted to the Synod; for it appears from the minutes of 1739, that, on the morning of the day on which the design of the overture was approved in the afternoon, the Rev. Gilbert Tennent protested in behalf of himself and of such as would join with him, viz., William Tennent, Sr., William Tennent, Jr., Samuel Blair, Eleazar Wales, Charles Tennent, ministers, Thomas Worthington, David Chambers, William McCrea, John Weir, elders, against the act respecting the trial of candidates. This act required all candidates who had not studied at a college or university to be examined by a committee of Synod before being received under the care of any Presbytery and placed on trial for license to preach the gospel. In the debate on this subject it is highly probable that Mr. Tennent gave utterance to his feelings in no very measured terms, under the deep conviction that the resolution then under consideration was aimed against his father’s school and was designed to prevent his "training gracious men for the ministry." Words to this effect are also given in the Synod’s letter to President Clap as having been uttered by Mr. Tennent in connection with his protest. It is not likely, therefore, had Mr. Tennent and his friends been present when the Synod expressed its approval of the design of the overture respecting the erection of a school to be under the care of the Synod, that they would have even acquiesced in a resolution approving that design. If upon presenting their protest against the act in regard to candidates, they retired and took no further part in the proceedings of the Synod, which were then drawing to a close, and which were closed that very day, we can readily understand how it was that the design of the overture was unanimously approved, as stated in the record.

No member of the New York Presbytery united with Mr. Tennent and his friends in their protest at this meeting, or in the one presented by them the following year, when the Synod reaffirmed their act respecting the examination of candidates by a committee of the Synod.

The plan of sending two of their number to Europe to solicit funds to aid in the establishing of a school, was given up by the Synod of Philadelphia; and the reason for giving it

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CHAPTER 1. ORIGIN OF THE COLLEGE.

up may be learned from the following minute of the date of May 29, 1740: "The Commission of Synod did meet last year according to appointment, in order to conclude upon a method for prosecuting the overture respecting the erecting a seminary of learning. The minutes of that proceeding were read, and although herein it is found that they concluded upon calling the whole Synod together as necessary in that affair, yet the war breaking out between England and Spain, the calling of the Synod was omitted, and the whole affair was laid aside for that time." The war here spoken of would have rendered a voyage to England far more hazardous to those selected to go abroad, or, as the phrase then was, to go home, in order to solicit funds for their projected school; and the difficulty of obtaining the requisite aid would have been greatly increased. The entire scheme was not again resumed.

Next year the contentions in the Synod began to come to a head. The meeting was small. No one from the Presbytery of New York was present. The members of the Old Side party were in a majority; and they availed themselves of the opportunity to protest against the members of the New Brunswick Presbytery being permitted "to sit and vote as members of the Synod." The reasons for this remarkable protest can be seen in full on pages 155—158 of the printed minutes. It is sufficient for our purpose to know that the protest led at once to the separation of the New Brunswick Presbytery from the Synod. Sincere and earnest efforts to effect a reconciliation were made the following year by the Presbytery of New York, and were continued until May, 1745, but all to no purpose.

Failing to bring the two parties to such an understanding as would enable them to come to an amicable adjustment, the Presbytery of New York deemed it their duty to withdraw, and to take measures for the formation of another and separate Synod. Both these they did; not because they approved the conduct of their New Brunswick brethren in the matters alleged against them, but solely on the ground that these brethren had been irregularly cut off from the Synod, and denied their rights as members of that body. They believed them to be sincere and faithful servants of Christ, and men owned and blessed of

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God in their labors; yet they were not blind to their defects. And before they united with them in a new Synod, all concerned entered into an engagement to abstain from denunciations of their brethren from whom they differed in opinion, from-all divisive courses, and to retire peaceably from the new Synod if they could not conscientiously submit to its decisions and orders; terms which would have readily secured their speedy restoration to the old Synod, had they been of a mind to offer or to accept them.

This state of things prevented all further united action to secure the erection of a college or seminary of learning. Three of the Presbyteries in connection with the Synod of Philadelphia made provision for establishing a school or academy as early as November, 1743, which in May, 1744, was taken under the care of the Synod. The plan of the school was a very liberal one. It had a succession of able teachers,* and it rendered good service to the cause of religion and learning. But in the unsettled state of affairs then existing, the Presbytery of New York, consisting almost wholly of ministers and churches in East Jersey, although still in connection with the Synod of Philadelphia, could take no part in fostering this institution. It was yet uncertain whether the Presbytery itself could continue its relations to the Synod; and until this matter was de

* The first teacher of this school was the Rev. Francis Allison, pastor of the Presbyterian church in New London, Pennsylvania. He continued to have charge of the school until his removal from New London to Philadelphia, in 1752, at which time be became the principal of a grammar-school in that city. This Philadelphia school was, in 1755, erected into a college, of which Mr. Allison was made vice-provost. The erection of this college and Mr. Allison’s connection with it seemed to do away the necessity of a school, of the rank of a college, under the supervision of the Synod; and the Synod’s school continued to be only a preparatory school of a high order. As principal of the Synod’s school, Mr. Allison was succeeded by his assistant-teacher, the Rev. Alexander McDowell. In 1754 the Rev. Matthew Wilson was appointed teacher of languages, and Mr. McDowell continued to give instruction in logic, mathematics, and in natural and moral philosophy. This school was finally removed to Newark, Delaware, and received a charter from the Proprietaries, under the name of the Newark Academy.

In 1756, Mr. Allison received from Nassau Hal1 the degree of Master of Arts, and from the University of Glasgow the degree of Doctor in Divinity, and he is said to have been the first Presbyterian minister in this country upon whom this degree was ever conferred.

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termined, it was inexpedient to give their countenance and aid to the Synod’s school, or to undertake to erect one to be under their own control, either virtually or directly. It is therefore almost certain that nothing was done by the Presbytery of New York, or by any of the leading members of that body, towards the erection of a college or seminary of learning, until 1745, when the Presbytery separated itself from the Synod, and thereby consummated the first great schism in the Presbyterian Church. It is not improbable, however, that, before this took place, Mr. Dickinson, in order to meet present emergencies, established a private school at Elizabethtown, according to a commonly received tradition to this effect. It is known that he instructed certain candidates for the ministry in their theological studies. About this time, also, Mr. Burr had a classical school at Newark.

After the schism, Messrs. Dickinson, Pierson, Pemberton, Burr, and others of the Presbytery of New York, unable to unite with the Synod of Philadelphia in sustaining their school, not satisfied with the limited course of instruction given at the Neshaminy school, and having become more or less alienated from the colleges of New England, turned their thoughts to the erecting of a college, in which ample provision should be made for the intellectual and religious culture of youth desirous to obtain a liberal education, and more especially for the thorough training of such as were candidates for the holy ministry. That they might the more effectually accomplish their purpose, they sought to obtain a charter for the erection of a college in New Jersey. In this undertaking they had no assistance from either Synod; and most probably at that time they neither sought nor desired it. The Synod of Philadelphia were interested in the success of their own school; the Presbytery of New Brunswick in that of the Neshaminy school. The venerable founder of this school, the Rev. Wm. Tennent, Sr., was still living when measures were taken to obtain the desired charter. His sons and his pupils were the leading men in, the Presbyteries of New Brunswick and New Castle. His eldest son, the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, in his famous Nottingham sermon, had openly expressed his preference for private schools

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or seminaries, under the care of skilful and experienced Christians (see Dr. Hodge’s " History of the Presbyterian Church", vol. ii. page 154), "as the most likely method to stock the Church with a faithful ministry." The Rev. Samuel Blair, one of the most distinguished scholars and ablest men trained at the Log College, had established at his residence in Fagg’s Manor, Pennsylvania, and within the limits of the New Castle Presbytery, a classical and theological school, at which President Davies and other prominent ministers* of the gospel were prepared for their work. Had there been no rupture of the old Synod, there is every probability that there would have been a hearty co-operation on the part of the Presbytery of New York with the Synod of Philadelphia in the establishment and endowment of a synodical school. And after the schism, had the Log College ceased to exist before the formation of the Synod of New York, it is morally certain that the Synod, as soon as it was organized, would have promptly given their countenance to the plan of erecting a college, to be under the supervision and control of ministers and laymen whose church relations were with their own body. This is almost evident from the fact that, two years after, upon an application for another charter with greater privileges, the former friends of the Neshaminy school became the earnest and devoted friends of the College of New Jersey. But at the juncture just mentioned it so happened, in the good providence of God, that the work of initiating the measures for the erection of a college and for obtaining a charter devolved almost exclusively upon the leading ministers and laymen of the Presbytery of New York, most of whom resided in East Jersey, and were men of high standing in thc community and held in great respect for their wisdom, learning, and piety. In the whole Synod there were no men so likely to find favor in the sight of the Governor and of his Council, and to obtain from them a compliance with their petition.

Lewis Morris was Governor of New Jersey during the whole of the excitement that led to the rupture of the Presbyterian Church, and he was Governor when the first application was

* Dr. John Rodgers, Dr. Robert Smith.

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made for a college charter. His son Robert Hunter Morris was the Chief Justice of the Province during the whole of his administration, and for many years after. Both of them must have been more or less familiar with the divisions or parties in the Presbyterian Church; and, although having no particular regard for any one of these parties, it is more than probable that they had a special dislike to the one most nearly allied in views, feelings, and style of preaching to Whitefield and his admirers. This was the party of the Tennents, Blairs, Rowland, Finley, and others of kindred spirit, who were members of the Synod, but not of the Presbytery, of New York.

In 1741 an attempt was made to indict and convict the Rev. John Rowland for horse-stealing, he having been mistaken for a remarkable adventurer of the name of Bell. Robert Hunter Morris presided at the trial, and it is reported that with great severity he charged the grand jury to find a bill against Mr. Rowland. After two refusals and as many reproofs, they complied with the instructions given to them, and found the required bill. Whereupon Mr. Rowland was regularly tried; but he was also acquitted.

The witnesses for the defence were the Rev. William Tennent, Jr., and Messrs. Joshua Anderson and Benjamin Stevens. By the testimony of one or more of these witnesses the fact was fully established that Mr. Rowland was in another Province, and not in New Jersey, on the very day on which the theft was committed. At the same term of the court, for an incorrect statement made by Anderson in reference to another party while giving his testimony in this case, he was, by order of the court, indicted for perjury. It is most probable that the mistake made by him was due to failure of memory, the matter having reference to the time and place when and where he saw this other party.

At a subsequent term of the court, Messrs. Tennent and Stevens were also charged with perjury; and bills were found against them. Mr. Tennent was tried and acquitted. Mr. Stevens was not tried. It is probable that a nolle prosequi was entered by the Attorney-General, in view of the evidence adduced in Mr. Tennent’s case.

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Neither Mr. Rowland nor Mr. Tennent owed anything to the favor or the indulgence of the court, which would have had them both convicted if it had been possible. They were both associated in the public mind with the most active and earnest of the revival preachers; and this whole class of ministers were objects of dislike to such men as Chief-Justice Morris and his father, Governor Morris.

In an application at this time for a college charter, it would have been very indiscreet for any of this class of persons to unite in the petition, even had they been warmly in favor of the project. Their taking part in the matter would have surely resulted in a denial of the request. But, for the reasons which have been given above, they were not disposed at this time to take any part in promoting this enterprise, and the leading men in the Presbytery of New York were left by their brethren in the other Presbyteries to pursue their plan without aid or interference.

The petition for a college charter was refused by Governor Morris, but on what grounds is not certainly known. It may have been that he doubted his authority to grant such a charter as was asked of him, or, having no doubt as to his power, he may have deemed it altogether inexpedient to clothe a body of Dissenters, as he regarded the petitioners, with the power and privileges sought to be attained by a charter for a college to be under the exclusive control of Presbyterian ministers and laymen, however discreet and liberal-minded the petitioners themselves might be. Governor Morris was Chief Justice of New York when a charter was refused once and again, by the Council of that Province, to the First Presbyterian Church in the city of New York, on the ground that there was no precedent for granting corporate privileges to a body of Dissenters. The sole object of the church in seeking to obtain a charter was to secure their property more firmly, which was then held in trust by certain individual members of the congregation.

At the time of their second application, Governor Burnet was Governor of New York as well as of New Jersey, and the Presbyterians in New York City had hope, from the well known liberal views of his father, Bishop Burnet, and from his

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own professions of liberality, that he would have given them his countenance and aid; but he did not, Upon a second refusal, both the petitioners and the Council requested that the petition might be sent to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, in London, for their decision. But the Governor did not send it until the 16th of May, 1724, nearly four years after he was requested to do so. Richard West, Attorney-General for Ireland and Solicitor-General to the Board of Trade, and a brother-in-law of Governor Burnet, to whom the petition was referred, gave it as his opinion that in the general and abstract view of the thing there was nothing in the request unreasonable or improper. Yet no charter was obtained until after the American Revolution, when one was granted by the State of New York. Perhaps one reason why the Board of Trade did not instruct Governor Burnet and his Council to give the charter in question was, that Mr. West died in December of that year,—1724,—and the matter was lost sight of. Whether Governor Morris, who must have been familiar with the proceedings in this case, was influenced by this refusal of the New York Council to incorporate a body of Dissenters cannot now be known; but that he refused to grant a charter for a college in New Jersey appears from a statement in the supplement to the " Weekly Mercury and New York Gazette" of Monday, the 28th of July, 1755. That such an application was made and refused is confirmed by the fact that was no denial as to this point in the reply to the supplement, which reply was evidently written by one familiar with the history of the efforts made to obtain a charter, and most probably by a Trustee of the College. Had Governor Morris lived, or had he been succeeded by one of like spirit, no charter given in the name of the King could have been obtained by the petitioners from the Governor and Council of New Jersey. And from the time that the eastern and western divisions of New Jersey were united, in 1702, under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Crown, until the death of Governor Morris, in 1746, there was probably no period when a royal charter could have been obtained for the erection of a school or college by a body of Presbyterian ministers and laymen, or by any class of religionists, whether Churchmen or Dissenters. We might

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possibly except from this period the years from 1736 to 1738, when John Anderson and John Hamilton were acting Governors, at the end of which time Lewis Morris received his commission as Governor.

From the accession of Cornbury, in 1702, to that of Morris; in 1738, the Province of New Jersey may to some extent be viewed as an appendage of New York, the Governor of New York being also Governor of New Jersey. The Governors during this period were Lord Cornbury, Lord Lovelace, Robert Hunter, Win. Burnet, John Montgomerie, and Win. Cosby. Upon the death of Lord Lovelace, Richard Ingoldsby, the Lieutenant-Governor, had charge of the government for nearly a year. Upon his removal, Win. Pinhorne, as senior Councillor, for a very short time was at the head of affairs in New Jersey. Upon Governor Hunter’s return to England, Lewis Morris, as President of the Council, acted as Governor, and a second time, upon the death of Governor Montgomerie. John Anderson President of the Council, acted as Governor for a few weeks, upon the death of Governor Cosby; and John Hamilton, upon the death of Anderson. The jurisdiction of the acting Governors here named was limited to New Jersey.

In virtue of the concessions of Carteret and Berkeley, the first Lords Proprietors of New Jersey, to the settlers of this Province, there seem to have been a greater freedom in matters of religion and learning in New Jersey than in New York, and less frequent attempts on the part of the Governors to enforce the instructions given them by the Home Government. These instructions required the Governors of the several Provinces "to give all countenance and encouragements to the exercise of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, as far as conveniently might be done in their respective Provinces ;" and particularly directed that " no schoolmaster be hereafter permitted to come from this kingdom, and to keep school within this our said Province, without the license of the Bishop of London; and that no other person now here, or who shall come from other parts, shall be admitted to keep school without your license first obtained." "There is reason," says Wm. Smith, the historian of New York, "to think that this instruction has

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been continued from the [English] Revolution to the present time to the Governors of the Provinces.’’

Bent upon exercising all the power given to him, and ever ready to go beyond the spirit of his instructions, Cornbury, in administering the affairs of New York, " insisted that neither ministers nor the schoolmasters of the Dutch," the most numerous persons in the Province, " had a right to preach or instruct within his gubernatorial rule" (see Wm. Smith’s " History of New York," page 172), and this, notwithstanding by the terms of surrender the Dutch were not to be molested or interfered with in matters of religion,—the eighth article of the terms being in these words "The Dutch shall enjoy their liberty of conscience in Divine worship and Dutch discipline." (See Samuel Smith’s" History of New Jersey," page 44.)

An avowed friend and supporter of the Church of England, he was an enemy to all classes of ministers who faithfully and boldly preached the truth, and who refused to submit to his arbitrary orders. Attached to the Church, not because it was the Church of God, but because it was the Church of England established by law, he imprisoned a truly excellent and devoted missionary of that Church, the Rev. Thorowgood Moore, for denouncing certain well-known and indecorous practices of his Excellency the Governor, and for refusing to administer the communion to Lieutenant-Governor Ingoldsby on account of his debauchery and profaneness. These two worthies, the Governor and the Lieutenant-Governor, "par nobile fratrum," had him arrested in New Jersey and brought to Amboy; and there, contrary to law, he was forced by their order into a barge, taken to New York, and committed to the custody of a guard at the fort. After a confinement of three weeks, he escaped, and, in company with the Rev. John Brooks, another minister of the Church of England, a man of kindred spirit, and who had reason to apprehend like treatment (see S. Smith’s "History of New Jersey," page 333), he went to Marblehead, Massachusetts, where they took passage for England, intending to make known to the authorities there the situation of affairs here. Unhappily, the vessel was lost at sea, and all on board perished. The Rev. Mr. Talbot, a well-known minister of the English

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Church, said of these good men, that they were "the most pious and industrious missionaries the Honorable Society ever sent over." (See. Hatflelds " History of Elizabethtown."}

Another instance of Lord Cornbury’s tyranny is seen in his treatment of the Rev, Francis Makemie and the Rev. John Hampton, two Presbyterian ministers, who, on their way to Boston from their homes on the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia, stopped in New York, and there preached without his Lordship’s license, one in a private house in the city, and the other on Long Island. He caused them to be arrested and brought before him, and ordered them to be confined. Mr. Makemie was indicted and tried; and when acquitted by the jury, he was required by the court to pay the costs of trial. In a letter dated October 14, t;O6, to the Beard of Trade, his Lordship gives his account of the matter, and confirms what is here said of his treatment of these men be excuses his treatment of them on the ground that they were strolling preachers, and disposed to bid defiance to the government. Mr. Makemie was a native of Ireland, and the first Presbyterian minister ever settled in America as a pastor.

In the very first year that Cornbury entered upon the administration of affairs in New York, he and certain of his officials were guilty of great oppression and gross cruelty, in seizing and imprisoning Samuel Bownas, a preacher of the Society of Friends, for preaching at a private house in Hempstead, Long Island, and speaking in disparaging terms of the Church of England, in relation to the sacrament of baptism. He was confined in a room which two years before had been protested against as an unlawful prison. His friends were denied admittance; and, that he might be chargeable to no man, he learned to make shoes, and earned his food. The grand jury refusing to find a bill against him, he was released, having been in prison nearly a whole year. This act of seizing and imprisoning Bownas is said to have been done by Cornbury at the instigation of two men who had been Quakers, but who had renounced their faith and had turned Churchmen. One of these was the Rev. George Keith, who was a zealous advocate of the Church of England, and a bitter opponent of all non-conformists.

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These are a few of the things which made Cornbury so odious to the people in both Provinces, and which contributed to his downfall. His successors in office were men of higher and nobler aims; and yet some of these found it expedient not to bring upon themselves the hostility of the more earnest partisans of the Church of England.

Lord Lovelace, the immediate successor of Cornbury, was greatly respected for his upright administration of affairs, which, however, in consequence of his decease, was of short duration. Had he, or any of his successors, ventured to grant an act of incorporation to the members of any dissenting body, it might and probably would have been a ground of complaint against them, that they had disregarded their instructions. As it was, Governor Hunter, one of the most liberal-minded and popular of these Governors, was complained of for his lack of zeal in behalf of the Church. Against this charge he found it necessary to defend himself; and his friend Lewis Morris, then Chief Justice of New York, united with him in defending his official conduct. To show that he was not unmindful of his duty, Governor Hunter furnished to the Government officials in England evidence of his zeal in behalf of the Church in both the Provinces of which he was Governor; and in the following terms he made a solemn protestation of his devotion "to the true interests of our Holy Mother, in whose communion, ever since I was capable of sober thoughts, I have lived, and, by the blessing of God, 1 am resolved to die." (See Whitehead’s "Contributions," etc., page 153.) At the same time the Governor did not hesitate to speak his mind very freely in regard to some of his clerical opponents. Under the date of October10, 1711, writing to the Board of Trade, he says, "It is reported that the Bishop of London has appointed Rev. Mr. Vesey as his commissary for New York. Governor Hunter hopes that Mr. Talbot will be appointed his Lordship’s commissary for New Jersey, and Mr. Phillips for Pennsylvania: though I know no good they have ever done, I know no great harm they can do at present." (See Whitehead’s "Contributions.")

Governor Burnet, the immediate successor of Governor Hunter, interpreted his instructions as giving him authority to

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judge of the qualifications of ministers, even of those licensed by the Bishop of London, and complaint was made against him for his conduct in this matter, as appears from a letter addressed to him by his brother-in-law, Richard West, Solicitor-General of the Board of Trade, who, in writing to the Governor in regard to the complaint of the Bishop of London, that clergymen licensed by him were subjected by the Governor to a second examination, says, "Your method is to present him a text, and give him a Bible, then lock him up in a room by himself, and then in case he does not produce, in a given time, a satisfactory sermon, you refuse to license him. The consequence is that the man must starve. I have seen many complaints against Governors, and no one was surprised. You are surely the first who ever brought himself into difficulties by an inordinate care of souls." (See Whitehead’s "Contributions.")

It can hardly be supposed that a Governor who was so watchful of the spiritual instruction given to the members of his quasi established Church would be anxious to aid in building up churches of other denominations, either by granting them corporate privileges, or by giving them charters for the erection of schools and colleges. Aware, no doubt, of the difficulties of his predecessor arising from his liberal treatment of non-conformists in the matter of civil appointments, he was not disposed to bring upon himself the like charge of being neglectful of his duty to the Church, or of being too indulgent to Dissenters. And this will account for his conduct in the matter of a charter for the First Presbyterian Church of New York, of which mention has been made above.

Of the views and feelings of Governors Montgomerie and Cosby in regard to the granting of charters upon the petition of Dissenters, nothing particular is known; and there is no reason to believe, from anything that is recorded of their respective administrations, that in the matter named they would have pursued a different course from that marked out by their predecessors in office.

On the 20th of April, 1730, while Mr. Montgomerie was Governor of New York and New Jersey, there was passed at St. James an Order of Council, approving the instructions sent

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to all the Governors in America (except of the Leeward Islands, New England, North and South Carolina), directing them to "support the Bishop of London and his commissaries in the exercise of such ecclesiastical jurisdiction as is granted to them." And this included the licensing of schoolmasters as well as of preachers.

During the administration of Governor Cosby occurred the famous trial of John Peter Zenger, printer of the "New York Journal," for a libel against the English Government and the Governor of New York. The trial involved the question whether or no there was freedom for the press in the Province of New York. There was intense feeling on the subject; and for denying the competency of the court to take cognizance of the case, Messrs. Alexander and William Smith, the two most eminent lawyers of New York, who had offered to defend Zenger, were excluded from further practice in the Supreme Court, and their names were stricken from the roll of attorneys; nor were they restored until after the death of Cosby, in 1736. Andrew Hamilton,* a famous lawyer from Philadelphia, and rendered still more famous by his efforts and success in this trial, engaged in the defence, and obtained a verdict for his client, by which it was established that the jury are to decide not only that a paper alleged to be seditious was published by the party accused, but also whether it is of a libellous or seditious character. It is mentioned as a remark of the late Gouverneur Morris, that "the trial of Zenger, in 1735, was the germ of American freedom.† Governor Cosby was evidently no friend to freedom of speech and of the press, and most probably no patron of learning.

Richard Ingoldsby, the Lieutenant-Governor under Corn-bury, and who, before the arrival of Lord Lovelace, administered the affairs of the Province, was a man of like views and spirit with Cornbury. Lewis Morris, in virtue of his office as President of its Council, was twice acting Governor of New Jersey,—first from the summer of 1719 to the summer of 1720, and

* A different person and of a different family from Governor Andrew Hamilton.

† The Forum of Philadelphia, by David Paul Brown.

VOL. 1.—4

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again from July 1, 1731, upon the death of Governor Montgomerie, to the arrival of Governor Cosby, in 1732. Governor Cosby dying upon the 10th of March, 1736, John Anderson, President of the Council for New Jersey, administered the government of this Province until his own death, which occurred between two and three weeks after he became the acting Governor. He was admitted to the Council by Governor Hunter, who, in his report of the matter to the Board of Trade, apologized for displacing an unworthy Churchman and substituting in his room a worthy Dissenter. He was "a gentleman of the strictest honor and integrity, justly valued, and lamented by all his acquaintance." He was a brother of the Rev. James Anderson, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in the city of New York. He was succeeded by John Hamilton, the next senior Councillor, who discharged the duties of the Governor until the accession of Lewis Morris as Governor, in 1738. As early as 1699, Morris was made President of the Council by Governor Andrew Hamilton; and, with a few short intermissions, he was a member of the Council until he was appointed Governor. He was active and influential in bringing about the surrender of the Proprietary Governments in East and West Jersey, and for this service he was named at that time by the Lords of Trade for the post of Governor; but Viscount Cornbury, son of the second Earl of Clarendon, and a cousin of Queen Anne, received the commission. Morris was twice suspended from the Council by Cornbury, on account of his strenuous opposition to his Lordship’s administration. But in whatever else they disagreed, they were both professedly earnest supporters of the Church of England. It is related of Morris that he made the suggestion "that the Venerable Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts should see to it that only Churchmen should be sent as Governors of the Colonies; and that no person should be competent to receive a considerable benefice in England who had not performed three years of missionary service in America." (See Webster’s " History," page 81.) His zeal for Episcopacy must, however, have greatly abated before his death, for in his last Will and Testament, a remarkable document, these words occur: "I forbid . . . any

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man to be paid for preaching a funeral sermon over me. Those who survive me will commend or blame my conduct in life as they think fit, and I am not for paying any man for doing either; but if any man, whether Churchman or Dissenter, in or not in priest’s orders, is inclined to say anything on that occasion, he may, if my executors see fit to admit him to do it."

In view of these passages, it can occasion no surprise that he refused to give a charter to an institution to be erected and controlled by a body of Presbyterians, with a special reference to the training of young men for the holy ministry.

But whatever were his errors or feelings, it is due to him to say, that in the course of his long public career of more than fifty years, and embracing within its limits the entire period from the formation of the first Presbytery to the schism of 1745, he rendered several very important services to New Jersey, and indirectly to the interests of religion, learning, and civil liberty. He probably did more than any other one man towards effecting the overthrow of the Proprietary Government in the eastern and western divisions of the Province, and the consequent union of these two divisions under the sole jurisdiction of the Crown. He was also instrumental in securing for New Jersey a Governor separate from the Governor of New York. The first of these measures contributed greatly to the prosperity of the whole Province; and without it the College of New Jersey, in all probability, would never have been established upon its present basis. There might have been an East Jersey College, but not a College of New Jersey. And had the Colonial governments of New York and New Jersey continued under one head, there is reason to believe, as has already been said, that no corporate privileges would have been granted to any body of Dissenters, as all persons who were not of the Church of England were then wont to be called. And in this matter the friends of that Church were in all probability no more unreasonable than the Dissenters themselves would have been, had their respective conditions been reversed. It was reserved for those not connected with established churches to be liberal-minded, and regardful of the rights of others.

In a matter of controversy between the Presbyterians and

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Episcopalians of Jamaica, brought before him when he was Chief Justice of New York, he did not permit his preference for the Church of England to influence his decisions, but acted the part of an independent and upright judge.

Another thing for which Governor Morris is to be greatly commended was his earnest opposition to the tyrannical measures of Governor Cornbury;—also for his persistent and successful efforts to have his Lordship removed from an office for which he was utterly unfit.

Governor Morris died in May, 1746, and upon his death the government again devolved upon John Hamilton, Esq., President of the Council. He was the son of Andrew Hamilton, Governor of East and of West Jersey, under the Proprietors, from 1692 to 1702, and for some years also Deputy-Governor of Pennsylvania. Andrew Hamilton was a native of Scotland, and removed with his family to this country in 1686. Both father and son were intelligent and liberal-minded men, and popular Governors. The first and for many years the only laws for the establishing and supporting of public schools in East Jersey were passed while Andrew Hamilton was Governor of the Province. For some years before the surrender of the government he was Postmaster-General for the Provinces of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (See "East Jersey under the Proprietary Governments," page 229.)

When, in 1746, John Hamilton assumed a second time the administration of affairs, as President of the Council and Cornmander-in-Chief, the petitioners for a college charter renewed their request, and prepared the form of a charter which they desired to have granted to them. It was granted, and thus the way was prepared for laying the foundations of the College of New Jersey.

It is worthy of notice that this is the first college charter ever granted in this country by a Governor, or acting Governor, with simply the consent of his Council. That of Harvard was granted by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay, with the consent of the Governor; that of Yale, by the General Assembly of Connecticut; that of William and Mary, by their Majesties of those names.

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The first Legislative Assembly ever convened in America was that of Virginia, in 1619, and the first attempt to establish a college in this country was made by this Assembly. And although nothing resulted from their action, for the erection and support of a college, it is nevertheless highly creditable to their discernment and good sense, that the members of this body should have directed their attention to a matter of this kind at the very beginning of their legislative career, and almost at the very foundation of their colony.

Mr. Hamilton was the first Governor who ventured to act in a matter of this kind without previously obtaining either the consent of the Provincial Legislature or the special permission of his Majesty’s Home Government. Governor Belcher followed the example set him by Mr. Hamilton, and at a later period Governor Franklin did the same, in granting to sundry ministers and laymen of the Dutch Reformed Church a charter for Queen’s College, now Rutgers. Governor Bernard, the successor of Governor Belcher, and afterwards Governor of Massachusetts, claimed the right, as the representative of the King, to grant charters for schools and colleges without any action on the part of the Assembly or of the General Court; and a charter for the erection of a college, or collegiate school, in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, was actually prepared and signed by him: but in consequence of an earnest remonstrance from the Overseers of Harvard the Governor did not issue the charter. His right to grant such a charter was questioned by the Overseers, although in their representations to the Governor they did not press this point. Some few at least were of the opinion, and in private gave utterance to it, that, in the charter given to the Province itself, the King had relinquished his own right to interfere in such matters. (See President Quincy’s "History of Harvard," vol. ii. pp. 477—479.)

In 1754, Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey, then administering the government of New York, with the consent of the Council, gave to King’s College a charter, which was afterwards confirmed by a vote of the Assembly of that Province. This approval by the Assembly was probably obtained by the Trustees of the College in consequence of the objections made to its

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establishment under a charter given by the acting Governor, in the name of the King, and in order to remove all doubts as to the validity of the charter to which these objections may have given rise.

The Proprietaries of Pennsylvania and Delaware claimed and exercised the right to grant charters for academies and colleges.

The prerogative of the King in this matter was sedulously maintained; and it was never in any case openly called into question: but there was no little diversity of opinion as to the respective rights of Governors and of Assemblies in reference to the granting of charters.

Joseph Dudley, who was Governor of Massachusetts from 1703 to 1715, has been highly commended, and very justly, for his boldness in consenting to a resolution to revive the charter given to Harvard in 1650 by the General Court of that Province, and "thus establishing a charter without, and contrary to, the will of the British sovereign," and that after the consent of the Crown had been withheld from several successive charters granted by the provincial authorities between the years 1692 and 1701. The resolution referred to was passed by the Council and by the House of Representatives in December, 1707, and it is believed that it was suggested as well as officially approved by him. (See President Quincy’s "History," pages 159—161.)

John Hamilton, the acting Governor of New Jersey in 1746, should be held in no less honor, at least by the College of New Jersey, for his wise and liberal treatment of the founders of this College, in granting to them a charter with ample privileges, and that too in the absence of all precedent in matters of this l<ind, and with the full, knowledge of the fact that his predecessor in office had refused to give them such a charter. His liberality is the more conspicuous from the fact that the petitioners for the charter were Presbyterians, and that he himself was a Churchman.

Just at this time there were in the condition of the civil affairs of the Province several things very favorable to the success of those who were anxious to obtain a charter for their projected institution:

1. The acting Governor was a man of enlightened views,’and

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friendly to the interests of religion and learning; a member of the Episcopal Church, but not unmindful of the rights of those who were members of other Christian churches.

2. Several members of the Council were Presbyterians: for instance, John Reading, the next senior Councillor to President Hamilton, and his immediate successor as President of the Council; James Hude, a native of Scotland, and the son of a Presbyterian elder who emigrated to this country to escape persecution in his own; and Thomas Leonard, of Princeton. Andrew Johnston, another member of the Council, was an Episcopalian, a gentleman of liberal views, and cordially in favor of the proposed scheme for the erecting of a college. His father, Dr. Johnston, was bail for the Rev. Francis Makemie when he was arrested, imprisoned, and prosecuted by order of Lord Cornbury. Dr. Johnston was a native of Scotland, and came to America in 1685. His son Andrew was born in 1694. These four gentlemen, Messrs. Reading, Hude, Leonard, and Johnston, were all named as Trustees of the College in the second charter given, in 1748, by Governor Belcher. James Alexander, Esq., a native of Scotland, and an eminent lawyer in New York, was also a member of tile Council, and, from a liberal gift made by him to the College a few years after, there is good reason to believe that he too was favorable to the wishes of the petitioners.

3. In East Jersey, where most of the petitioners for a college charter resided, the people were divided into two parties, which were known as the Scotch and the English. This distinction had existed for a 1ong time. In a letter of the date of June 16, 1703, addressed to the Lords of Trade by Colonel Quarry, who held at one time the position of a member of Council in five different Provinces, and who was Judge of the Admiralty Court in New York and also in Pennsylvania, the writer says, "The contest in West Jersey was always between the Quakers and those who were not Quakers; in East Jersey between the Scotch and the English,—the Scotch for many years had the advantage of having a Scotch Governor, Colonel [Andrew] Hamilton." The Presbyterian churches in this country all adopted the Doctrine and the Discipline of the Church of Scot-

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land; and the Presbyterian Church in New York City was known as the Scotch Church. This in a measure may account for the interest taken in the plan for a Presbyterian college, both by President Hamilton and Mr. Johnston. They doubtless thought that in this land the adherents of the Church of Scotland were entitled to equal favors and privileges with the adherents of the Church of England. And in the case of President Hamilton, the fact that the partisans of the English faction had for a time deprived his father of his office as Governor, on the ground that he was a Scotchman and not an Englishman, and the refusal to grant the Scotch Church in New York their petition for a charter, no doubt rendered him all the more disposed to grant to Presbyterians those privileges for which they could rightfully ask, and which he could lawfully bestow.*

4. The relations between Governor Morris, who had refused to give the sought-for college charter, and President Hamilton, who did give it, were not of the most pleasant kind. Upon his return from England, and before he received his commission as Governor. Morris demanded of Hamilton that he should surrender to him the seals of the Province, which Hamilton refused to do, on the ground that Morris had forfeited his right to administer the government by his absence from the country; and in this Hamilton was sustained by the Home Government. A year or two after, when Morris received his Majesty’s commission, he declared it to be his purpose to regard all previous difficulties as bygones; and yet he claimed from Hamilton all the moneys which Hamilton had received for discharging the duties of Governor, on the ground that he, and not Hamilton, was the legal President of the Council during that time. Moreover, although Mr. Hamilton was the second Judge of the Supreme Court of the Province, Governor Morris made his

* Another instance of this national feeling is to be seen in the conduct of Lieutenant-Governor Gooch, of Virginia. Sundry gentlemen were brought before him, in 1742, for attending unauthorized religious meetings. As soon as he learned that they held to the doctrinal views and the system of church order set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith, he said that these gent2emen "were Presbyterians according to the Kirk of Scotland, and could not be molested."

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son Robert Hunter Morris, Chief Justice, who, as compared with Mr. Hamilton, was a mere youth; and the letter of Governor Morris to the Board of Trade, which informed the Board that he had made his own son Chief Justice, also made mention of Mr. Hamilton’s resignation as Judge.

In an attack made in 1755 upon the petitioners for the College charter, which passed the seal of the Province in 1746 attested by President Hamilton, it is asserted that he was incompetent, from age and infirmity, to discharge properly the duties of Governor, and that the petitioners availed themselves of his infirm health to obtain from him a charter, which, had he been in the full possession of his faculties, he would never have granted. The paper containing this assault affords evidence that the information of the writer was probably derived, either directly or indirectly, from Chief-Justice R. H. Morris. That this gentleman was no friend to the College appears from an expression in a letter of Governor Belcher’s, of the date of January 8, 1749—50, to Mr. Walley, of London, in which the Governor, alluding to the Chief Justice, speaks of "the malevolence of a young gentleman, lately gone from New Jersey, towards the Province and the College."

The statement made by the writer of the paper to which reference is here made is as follows (taken from the supplement to the " New York Mercury" of July 28, 1755, No. 155):

"I have been curious enough to inquire what methods were taken to obtain this charter, and, by the best information I can get, was told that it was done in a public manner, by petition, and passed the seal in same legal manner that other grants of the King do. The reasons of my being so particular in my inquiries of this kind were, that I would endeavor to compare the legality of one grant with the legality of another of the same nature. What I mean is, the grant of the charter of the College of New Jersey. There the Presbyterians, Independents, and the New Lights, for I speak of them as one body, and they are all of a kidney, I am told made their application to the late Governor Morris for a charter. He told them that he could not grant such a charter, he soon after dying, the Government devolved upon the Honorable John Hamilton, Esq., whose age and infirmity had rendered him unequal to the task. This they thought the proper time to get what they wanted; accordingly they applied again, and a draft of the charter was laid before Mr. Hamilton in Council; and the petitioners were ordered to lay a draft of it before the Chief Justice of the Province for his opinion, whether it was legal to grant it or not; but they, well convinced of the illegality of it before the

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Chief Justice had time to give his opinion, prepared an engrossed draft on parchment, and got the Governor (by the help of some about him), whom they had properly prepared on the occasion, to pass the charter, at a time when he was unable to read, and scarcely able to sign his name.

"Now, as I am no lawyer, I would beg leave to ask, whether an instance can be found in the law books that a petition to his Majesty for any grant or charter, and that petition referred to the Attorney or Solicitor-General, or to the Judges, for their opinion, whether he ought to grant the prayer or petition, any grant or charter was ever granted by the King before such opinion was given. I have been informed that some of those gentlemen (whose cunning and deceit equal the society founded by Loyola), because the Judge did not give his opinion, that the charter laid before them was legal, for that reason when he afterward went to England, they represented him there as an Atheist,—a man of no religion; for the great misfortune of most of these people is, that a man has no religion, in their opinion, if he be not possessed of as much cant, hypocrisy, and enthusiasm as themselves. Yet this College has a Presbyterian or Independent President [Mr. Burr], and is a most excellent institution, under the sole inspection and direction of the Watch Tower; and because that of New York [King’s College, now Columbia] is not under their sole direction, it is a most scandalous, pitiful, paltry institution."

 

The "Watch-Tower" is the title of a series of papers published in the "New York Gazette" in 1754 and 1755. The entire series was edited, and many, if not the greater part, of the articles were written, by Win. Livingston, Esq., an eminent lawyer of New York, and subsequently Governor of New Jersey, being the first Governor after the Declaration of Independence. The preface to No. XL. of the "Watch-Tower" is avowedly written by the editor; but the paper itself professes to "be a letter from a gentleman in the country to his friend in the city, and it contains a reply to some of the statements in the supplement cited above: it is as follows:

Sir—The reflections that have been frequently cast on the College of New Jersey by the enemies of the ‘Watch-Tower’ are so perfectly groundless, and appear so evidently the effects of envy and impotent malice, that I have ever thought them unworthy of the least notice, and I should with the same neglect have treated the spiteful performance which appeared in the Supplement of the ‘ Mercury, number 155, had you not judged a few remarks on some points of it necessary for the satisfaction of the Public.

"The present Constitution of the College has no dependence upon the Charter obtained from Governor Hamilton, nor indeed any relation to it, as that by which it is now established is in sundry respects different; the majority of the Trustees being also different persons.

"That Governor Morris [Robert Hunter Morris, who at this time was Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania as well as Chief Justice of New Jersey] was misrepre

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sented at Home [ in England], is to me entirely new, and has not, I am persuaded, the least foundation in Truth. The Trustees of the College of New Jersey are disposed to treat that Gentleman with all suitable respect, and none have the least inclination to enter into a Dispute with him. But if he requests it, a particular account of the manner in which the first charter was obtained shall be published, together with a full and candid Disquisition of any Accusation he may be pleased to bring. Till this happens, no notice shall be taken of any ill-natured Reflections made by a Person totally ignorant of his subject, and who will not, I am confident, receive any thanks from the Governor for introducing his name into a controversy with which he had no connexion. The story, as represented from hearsay, as the author himself confesses, is grossly and notoriously false, and that almost in every circumstance, as can be made to appear by sufficient evidence.

"Whether the Charter obtained from Governor Hamilton in his declining state was a valid one, I am not able to determine. The contrary, however, has always appeared to me most probable, and that it was therefore wisely resigned; though, indeed, the Episcopal Church in Newark is established by a charter obtained of the same gentleman and in the same circumstances, the validity of which I hai’e not heard called in question."

"It is well known that the College at present is established by a Charter, with its usual formalities, from Governor Belcher, with the full consent of his Council, on the petition of several public-spirited gentlemen, who have with great pains and Industry laid a Foundation for a liberal education of Youth in a Province where it was evidently wanted, and in which no undertaking of like nature had ever been attempted.

"And though it must be confessed that the majority of the Trustees thereby incorporated were professed Presbyterians, yet it is worth remarking that his Excellency at the same time generously offered to grant a charter, with equal Privileges, to any Gentlemen of the Episcopal Persuasion who should be willing to embark in the like noble design.

"The present charter exhibits a most Catholic Plan, and contains no exclusive causes to deprive persons of any Christian denomination (except Papists) either from its Government or any of its Privileges." Signed T. T.

If the remark in the last sentence be understood as implying that Papists were excluded from any of the privileges of the College, it will make a wrong impression. No such words, "except Papists," occur in the charter. It is expressly set forth, as one reason for granting the charter, "that the said petitioners have expressed their earnest desire that those of every religious denomination may have equal liberty and advantages of education, any different sentiments in religion notwithstanding." It is true that the Trustees—none others—were required to take certain oaths for the security of his Majesty’s person and government, and respecting the succession of the Crown, which "Popish recusants" could not or would not take,

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and on that account could not be Trustees of the College. Upon the establishment of American Independence these oaths were no longer required.

There is one matter in this letter in defence of the College to which exception will be taken when the two charters shall come more distinctly under consideration; but on the whole we regard it as a dispassionate and satisfactory reply to the charges made against the petitioners for the first charter, and as exposing the ignorance as well as the malevolence of their assailant. The object of the writer of this vindication was rather to defend the College as it was at the time he wrote, viz,, in than to defend the charter given by President Hamilton or the conduct of those concerned in soliciting it. He does indeed say that the account given of the whole matter "is grossly and notoriously false , and that almost in every circumstance, as can be made to appear by sufficient evidence."

He might have added that it was obviously contradictory and absurd. The writer of the supplement admits that the charter was obtained "in a public manner, by petition, and passed the seal in the same legal manner that other grants of the King do," and, further, "that a draft of the charter was laid before Mr. Hamilton in Council." Had age and infirmity rendered the other members of the Council, as well as the President, unequal to the task devolved upon them? Without the consent of the Council, Mr. Hamilton could not have given the petitioners a charter, if he had been disposed to do so. It is clearly implied, in the charges under consideration, that almost immediately after the death of Governor Morris the petitioners applied to Governor Hamilton, in Council. Governor Morris died on the 21st of May, 1746; the charter was given five months after, viz,, on the 22d of October of the same year. Surely there was no hot haste in this thing, especially as the labor of maturing the plan had all been done by the parties seeking the charter. It is hardly to be supposed that a Chief Justice of the acknowledged ability of Chief-Justice R. H. Morris would require several months to determine whether the granting of the charter would be illegal, when, according to the writer of the supplement, the petitioners themselves "were

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well convinced of its illegality." ‘With his well-known hostility to the granting of a charter, if such an inquiry was ever made of him, it cannot be uncharitable to suppose that he wilfully deferred making his response as to the legality of the proposed grant until President Hamilton and the Council, as well as the petitioners, were annoyed by the delay and determined to wait no longer. And it is by no means improbable that the writer of No. XL of the "Watch-Tower" had allusion to something of this kind when he made the remark, "But if he [Chief-Justice R. H. Morris] requests it, a particular account of the manner in which the first charter was obtained shall be published, together with a full and candid Disquisition of any Accusation he may be pleased to bring." In these words there is an evident intimation that in the conduct of the Chief Justice relative to the charter there were things that would not redound to his credit.

While making the intimation just mentioned, the writer of No. XL. of the "Watch-Tower" says nothing respecting the statement made by the writer of the supplement, that the petitioners "were ordered to lay a copy of the charter before the Chief Justice for his opinion, whether it was legal to grant it or not." Although, possibly for some unexplained reason, this may have been so, yet it is far more probable that the Chief Justice, being a member of the Council, requested that all action in regard to the, charter might be deferred until he could carefully examine its provisions and satisfy himself as to the propriety of his giving his consent, as a member of the Council, to the prayer of the petitioners. Beyond all question, the usual course in regard to all important grants was to refer them to the Attorney-General of the Province for his opinion as to the legality of the grants therein contained. The Attorney-General at this time was J. Warrell, Esq., the same gentleman who, upon the granting of the charter of 1748 by Governor Belcher, signed the following declaration at the close of the charter: [L. S.] "I have perused and considered the written charter, and find nothing contained therein inconsistent with his Majesty’s interest or the honor of the Crown."

On the charter given in July, 1718, to the Episcopal Church in Perth Amboy, by Governor Hunter, there is a like declara

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tion, signed by Thomas Gordon, the Attorney-General at that time, But whatever may be the precise facts in the case of the first charter of the College, whether it was referred to the Chief Justice or the Attorney-General, one thing is certain, that the petitioners for a college were under no obligation to the Chief Justice for any favor extended to them by him.

Although President Hamilton was in feeble health during the time he administered the government,—from May 21, 1746, to June 17, 1747, when he died,—he appears to have attended personally to the duties of his office until the latter part of December; and the first official information we have that his health prevented his corresponding with the Home Government is contained in a letter written at his request by Messrs. James Alexander and R. Hunter Morris to the Board of Trade. The date of this letter is the 24th of December, 1746, two months after the College charter had passed the seal of the Province.

The two gentlemen here named were members of the Council. In any record of what Mr. Hamilton did at this time there is no evidence of an infirm state of mind. His consenting to grant the petition for a college charter is in full accord with what would have been expected of him in his best days.

The above sketch shows what was the condition of civil affairs in the Province of New Jersey, and also the state of the Presbyterian Church in the country at large, so far as they had any bearing, either directly or indirectly, upon the erection of the College of New Jersey. It also shows who were the parties engaged in accomplishing this important work, and that the College owes its origin to the need felt by them of more ample provision than any at that time within convenient reach, for the thorough training of candidates for the holy ministry, in both their preparatory and professional studies. But in the erection of this College its founders did not limit their views simply to the educating of candidates for the ministry. It was also their aim to make full provision for the instruction of all classes of youth who might desire to obtain a liberal education and be disposed to avail themselves of the advantages furnished by such a seminary of learning.

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With the modes of conveyance then in use, Harvard and Yale, the only Colleges in New England, were too remote for the convenience of youth residing in the middle Provinces. The stand taken by the authorities of these Colleges in opposition to the extravagances which in not a few instances attended the great religious awakening of that period, and seemingly to the awakening itself, alienated from them more or less some of the best and most moderate men in the Presbyterian Church. Suspicions, not fully warranted by the facts of the case, were beginning to find vent that they were tinctured with Arminianism, and were tending to even greater departures from the thorough Calvinism of their founders and early friends.*

It has been said that the College owes its origin to the expulsion of David Brainerd, the celebrated missionary, from Yale College, and to the refusal of the President † and Trustees to admit him to the first degree in the Arts at the same time with the members of his class. The following extract is taken from Dr. D. D. Field’s "Genealogy of the Brainerd Family," page 265:

"It is clear enough that the Rev. Jonathan Edwards was not satisfied with the refusal of a degree to David Brainerd by the Faculty and Trustees of Yale College, after all his readiness to confess his faults, and to confess them openly and fully. others in New England sympathized with him, and others at a distance. Among the former were the Rev. Moses Dickinson, pastor of the church in Norwalk, Connecticut; among the latter, the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, pastor of the church in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and the Rev. Aaron Burr, pastor of the church in Newark, who pleaded for Brainerd before the authorities of Yale College in behalf of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge in Foreign Parts, which had appointed him their missionary.

"And now I will state a fact that may not be known to very many that will read

* See Governor Belcher’s letter of the 31st of May, 1748, to the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, and also President Quincy’s " History of Harvard University,’ vol. ii. pp. 52 and 67.

† It is to be regretted that a man of the eminent ability and piety of President Clap should not have discriminated more nicely between what was genuine arid what was false in the great religious awakening of his day, and that he should have treated with marked severity any of his pupils whose strong religious feelings may have betrayed them into the use of unguarded language or into a disregard of college rules. For his inflexible adherence to what he deemed to be his duty, in those times of high excitement in matters of religion, he is to be held in honor and esteem. There is abundant evidence that he was sound in doctrine, and a faithful servant of Christ.

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this book. I once heard the Hon. John Dickinson, Chief fudge of the Middlesex County Court, Connecticut, and son of the Rev. Mr. Dickinson, of Norwalk, say that the establishment of Princeton College was owing to the sympathy felt for David Brainerd, because the authorities of Yale College would not give him his degree, and that the plan of the College was drawn in his father’s house.

Perhaps I have not given every word as he uttered the declaration. But

I am Certain that I have declared the precise fact that Judge Dickinson uttered. There is evidence that the Rev. Aaron Burr said, after the rise of Princeton College, that it would never have come into existence had it not been for die expulsion of David Brainerd from Yale College. It is a significant fact, that three of the men most conspicuous in their sympathy and efforts for Brainerd were the first three Presidents of that College,—Jonathan Dickinson, Aaron Burr, and Jonathan Edwards."

The evidence here referred to respecting Mr. Burr’s declaration, is probably that given in Dr. A. Alexander’s work, entitled "The Log College," page 127, in these words: "Some years ago the writer heard the relict of the late Dr. Scott, of New Brunswick, say, that when she was a little girl, she heard the Rev. Mr. Burr declare in her father’s house in Newark, if it had not been for the treatment received by Mr. Brainerd at Yale, New Jersey College would never have been erected."

Mrs. Scott was a Miss Crane, daughter of Mr. Elihu Crane, of Newark, and a step-daughter of President Dickinson.

These statements were given from memory long after they were uttered; and if they be in every particular strictly accurate, it does not follow that the College of New Jersey owes its existence to the treatment which Brainerd received from the authorities of Yale College. The originators of the plan for the erection of a college in New Jersey may have needed the stimulus, which that occurrence gave them, to mature, without further delay, their plan for a seminary of ]earning, which for several years they had deemed necessary to the proper training of candidates for the ministry in their branch of the Church, and for the liberal education of youths designed for other employments; and it may have been that without this additional incitement their plan for such an institution would not have been perfected at that time, nor the requisite steps taken to secure a charter, which in those days was deemed essential to the establishment of a college, or at least to the conferring of literary degrees.

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It has also been said that the Log College was the germ of the College of New Jersey, and Whitefield somewhere speaks of the Neshaminy school as having grown into a large college, now erecting in the Jerseys.* But we cannot see the matter in this light. For, as shown in the preceding narrative, the friends and patrons of the Neshaminy school stood aloof when the College of New Jersey was first established. With no more propriety, therefore, can we look to the Log College to discover the origin of the College of New Jersey than we can to the headwaters of the Neshaminy to ascertain the fountainhead of the Delaware, of which river the Neshaminy is but a branch and a tributary.

After the College was in operation, and when it was proposed to enlarge the institution, and to obtain a ,new charter, the friends of the Log College came into the measure, and became earnest and most efficient friends of the enterprise, and contributed very largely to its success.

In New England the College of New Jersey had many well-wishers, and prominent among these Jonathan Edwards and Moses Dickinson. There is also reason to believe that some of the more extravagant among the Revivalists in New England, after they had seen and renounced their errors, took an interest in the institution designed to promote fervent piety and sound learning, and to be the advocate of such genuine works of grace as were often witnessed in the revivals of those times. In this class may be placed James Davenport and Timothy Allen, men of talent, learning, and piety, yet for a time erratic and even fanatical, but afterwards sober-minded and desirous to repair the evils of their wild and unwarrantable courses. With the aid of some friends, they erected, in New London, Connecticut, an institution called by them "The Shepherd’s Tent," to educate men of the right stamp far the ministry. They were led to do this in consequence of the opposition of Harvard and Yale to their teaching and measures, and also on account of the severe treatment which Mr. Davenport received at the hands of both the civil and Church authorities of Connecticut. By prohibiting

* Dr. Stearns’s History of the First Church of Newark.

VOL. 1.—S

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the establishment of seminaries by private persons, the Legislature of Connecticut compelled the friends of this school to remove it to Rhode Island, where it lingered for a time, and was given up.

Mention is made of the "Shepherd’s Tent" by the Synod of Philadelphia in their letter of the 30th of May, 1746, to President Clap, of Yale College,* and, from the manner in which it is spoken of, it is evident that the Synod had about the same opinion of it which they had entertained of Mr. Tennent’s school. They assure the President that they will be shy of the proposals of the New York Synod for a friendly correspondence "till they show us in what way they intend to have their youth educated for the ministry, and be as ready to discourage all such methods of bringing all good learning into contempt, as the ‘Shepherd’s Tent.’" The Synod of Philadelphia knew full well that Mr. Dickinson and his friends of the New York Presbytery were as earnestly in favor of a thorough education of candidates for the ministry as they themselves were; but the Synod also knew that the majority of the Synod of New York were not so; and they were apprehensive that if the Synod of New York took order in regard to the erection of a school or college, it would be of the character and standing of the Log College, or of the Shepherd’s Tent. The language of the Synod of Philadelphia makes it evident that the Synod was not aware that even before this time the leading members of the Presbytery of New York had sought to obtain a charter for a college.

Between the supporters of the Shepherd’s Tent and the petitioners for authority to erect a college in New Jersey there was not at that time a full accord in doctrine, and there was but little, if any, sympathy. The principal of the Tent and several other ministers of like mind united in controverting the views of President Dickinson, as set forth in his dialogue "On the Display of Divine Grace," and in condemning him, for teaching what they then regarded as an inexcusable error, viz., that the proof of our justification is to be found in the evidence of

* See the printed minutes of the Synod.

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our sanctification. (See Webster’s "Church History," page 584.) But, as intimated above, Messrs. Allen and Davenport changed their views and openly renounced their errors in doctrine and in practice, and subsequently connected themselves with the Presbyterian Church. For some years they resided in New Jersey, and labored here in the ministry, and were members of the Presbytery of New Brunswick.* The Rev. Timothy Symes, one of the ministers who had united with Allen in condemning the work of President Dickinson, settled in East Jersey in 1746, and became a member of the Presbytery of New York. As they had become Presbyterians, and had settled within the bounds of a Synod the members of which were now all earnestly united in favor of the then only Presbyterian college in the land, they too could not fail to give it their best wishes.

The union of the Synods of New York and of Philadelphia, in 1757, served to promote a friendly feeling towards the College on the part of sundry ministers of the Philadelphia Synod; and in the autumn of 1766 a proposition from a number of gentlemen in Philadelphia and Lewistown, Pennsylvania, was made to the Trustees, that the Faculty of the College should be further enlarged by the appointment of several professors, to be chosen without respect to former divisions or parties in the Church, with the promise of pecuniary aid in case their proposal should be accepted.

It was found that this arrangement could not be carried into effect. Still, a friendly feeling was promoted.

Thus from the different sources here enumerated, and from others less prominent, including several academies, there were raised up friends for the new College, who all contributed more or less to its prosperity. But for its first establishment, as will be more fully shown, the College was indebted, under God, to Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton, Aaron Burr, and their immediate friends and helpers. They engaged with earnestness in this undertaking, because they knew and felt the need of just such an institution to train for the Church

* See article Davenport, in Sprague’s Annals of the American Pupit, vol. iii. page 90.

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a pious and learned ministry, and for the other learned professions a body of intelligent and godly men.

May the time be far distant, or, rather, may it never arrive, when this College shall be an "institution devoted exclusively [ of even mainly] to the advancement of science or general literature"! On the contrary, may it ever be regarded as an institution consecrated to the service of God for the defence of revealed truth and for the promotion of fervent piety and sound learning!

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IN tracing the origin of the College, its design was almost necessarily brought into view; but not so fully as the importance of that design demands.

The chief aim of the founders and early friends of the College was to furnish the Church, and more especially their own branch of it, with a pious and learned ministry. But this was not their only aim. It was a part of their plan to provide liberally for the proper intellectual and religious culture of all classes of youths who might be disposed to avail themselves of the facilities afforded by this institution for such culture.

The Trustees under the second charter were in full accord with those under the first, and all had one object in view. Mr. Burr, the first President under the second charter, was Mr. Dickinson's successor under the first charter; and it is highly probable that all the surviving Trustees of the first charter were Trustees under the charter given by Governor Belcher two years after. The correspondence of the Governor furnishes complete evidence that he and the early friends of the College were all of one mind as to the objects to be attained through the instrumentality of the College, which was already in operation when he entered upon the administration of public affairs in New Jersey. In offering to give the College "a new and better charter," it was not his aim to change the character of the College, but only to enable it the more readily and effectually to accomplish the design of its founders.

The view here given of this design is fully established by the following extracts from the minutes of the Trustees, and from the minutes of the Synod of New York. At a meeting

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of the Board, held October 13, 1748, after accepting the charter offered them by Governor Belcher, the Trustees voted to present an address to the Governor, and to "thank his Excellency for the grant of the charter." The further record of this matter is as follows:

"An address being drawn sip by the Rev. Mr. Burr, was read and approved.

Ordered, That the Rev. Mr. Cowell wait upon his Excellency and present the address to him.

Ordered, That a copy of the address be taken by the Clerk and inserted in the minutes.

"To His Excellency

"JONATHAN BELCHER, ESQ.,

Captain General and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of New Jersey and territories thereon depending in America, and Vice-Admiral of the same:

"The Humble Address of the Trustees of the College of New Jersey. May it please your Excellency,— "We have adored Else wise and gracious Providence which has placed your Excellency in the chief seat of government in this Province, and have taken our parts with multitudes in congratulating New Jersey upon that occasion.

Your long known and well approved friendship to religion and learning left us no room to doubt your doing all that lay in your power to promote so valuable a cause in these parts, and upon this head our most raised expectations have been abundantly answered. We do, therefore, cheerfully embrace this opportunity of paying our most grateful and sincere acknowledgments to your Excellency for granting so ample and well-contrived a charter for erecting a seminary of learning in this Province, which has been so much wanted and so long desired.

"And as it has pleased your Excellency to intrust us with so important a charge, it shall be our study and care to approve ourselves worthy of the great confidence you have placed in us, by doing our utmost to promote so noble a design.

"And since we have your Excellency to direct and assist us in this important and difficult undertaking, we shall engage in it with the more freedom and cheerfulness; not doubting but by the smiles of Heaven, under your protection, it may prove a flourishing seminary of piety and good literature; and continue not only a perpetual monument of honor to your name, above the victories and triumphs of renowned conquerors, but a lasting foundation for the future prosperity of Church and State.

"That your Excellency may long live,—a blessing to this Province, an Ornament and support to our infant college,—that you may see your generous designs for the public good take their desired effect, and at last receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away, is and shall be cur constant prayer.

By order of the Trustees.

"THOMAS ARTHUR, Cl. Cor.

‘New BRUNSWICK, October 13, 1748."

 

To which his Excellency was pleased to return the following answer:

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"GENTLEMEN:

"I have this day received by one of your members, the Rev. Mr. Cowell, your kind and handsome address; for which I heartily return you my thanks; and shall esteem my being placed at the head of this government a still greater favor from God and the King, if it may at any time fall in my power, as it is my inclination, to promote the kingdom of the great Redeemer, by taking the College of New Jersey under my countenance and protection, as a seminary of true religion and good literature.

"J. BELCHER."

In an address to the Governor by the Trustees, the date being September 24, 1755, mention is made of his ardor for the promotion of true piety and sound learning among the inhabitants of New Jersey, and of the indebtedness of the College to him, under God, for its then flourishing state. In his reply he says:

"It seemed to me that a seminary of religion and learning should be promoted in this Province, for the better enlightening the minds and polishing the manners of this and the neighboring colonies This important affair I have been, during my administration, honestly and heartily prosecuting in all such laudable ways and measures as I have judged most likely to effect what we all aim at, which I hope and believe is the advancing the kingdom and interest of the blessed Jesus and the general good of mankind."

 

These extracts furnish abundant evidence that the promotion of true religion and of sound learning was the aim of all concerned in laying the foundations of the college of New Jersey.

Although the Synod of New York, as a body, took no part in the first efforts to establish the College of New Jersey, but left this important measure to the fostering care of sundry leading ministers and laymen connected with the Presbytery of New York, yet when the new charter was given to the College by Governor Belcher, the entire Synod became interested in promoting the design of the College. And when, in 1753, the Trustees of the College had obtained the consent of the Rev. Gilbert Tennent and of the Rev. Samuel Davies to visit Great Britain and Ireland, to solicit funds for the erection of suitable buildings, the Synod, upon the petition of the Trustees, appointed these distinguished gentlemen to this work, gave them letters of commendation, and sent with them an earnest appeal to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for aid in behalf of the College. After reciting their utter inability to meet the demand for ministers, to supply the Presbyterian

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churches in connection with the Synod, in the Provinces of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina, the Synod say:

Now, it is from the College of New Jersey only that we can expect a remedy for these inconveniences; it is to that [college] your petitioners look for the increase of their numbers; it is on that the Presbyterian churches through the six colonies above mentioned principally depend for a supply of accomplished ministers; from that has been obtained considerable relief already, notwithstanding the many disadvantages that unavoidably attend it in its present infant state; and from that may be expected a sufficient supply, when brought to maturity.

"Your petititioners, therefore, earnestly pray that this very reverend Assembly would afford the said College all the countenance and assistance in their power. The young daughter of the Church of Scotland, helpless and exposed in foreign lands, cries to her tender and powerful mother for relief. The cries of ministers oppressed with labors, and of congregations famishing for want of the sincere milk of the word, implore assistance. And were the poor Indian savages sensible of their own case they would join in the cry, and beg for more missionaries to be sent to propagate the religion of Jesus among them."

In the conclusion of their address they add:

"Now, as the College of New Jersey appears to be the most promising expedient to redress these grievances, and to promote religion and learning in these Provinces, your petitioners most heartily concur with the Trustees, and humbly pray that an act may be passed by this venerable and honorable Assembly for a national collection in behalf of said College." (See printed minutes, pp. 255 and 256, of the Synod of New York.)

Funds more than sufficient to defray the expense of erecting Nassau Hall was the result of this action of the Synod. The above extracts from the address of the Synod to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland show clearly why the members of the Synod labored so assiduously to establish and to sustain with vigor the College of New Jersey. They regarded it as the most effectual means of supplying their churches with an able ministry.

The authorities above cited"’ are amply sufficient to establish the positions assumed above as to the views and aims of those who founded and built up this institution. Prompted by a strong desire to further the interests of religion, and more especially to furnish their own branch of the Church with an able and learned ministry, they sought to lay the foundation of

* See also the Rev. David Cowell’s letter, urging Mr. Davies to accept the presidency of the College, in Dr. Hall’s "History," page 132, or Webster’s, page 444.

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an institution of learning which should be commensurate with the wants of the whole community, and so to conduct its affairs as to promote, at one and the same time, the welfare of the Church and of the State.

Having obtained a charter, to use their own expression, "so ample and well contrived," the Trustees were not only content, but perfectly satisfied with its provisions. It gave them all they wanted. They were left untrammelled by the State, and yet were under its protection. They enjoyed the confidence of the Church, and yet were perfectly free to adopt such measures as they deemed best adapted to the success of the institution, and through it to advance the civil and religious interests of the country; and, being wise, active, and pious men, their labors were not in vain.

The view here presented accords fully with that given by President Green in his "Historical Sketch of the Origin and Design of the College," as the following extract from that work will fully show:

"It is apparent not only from the motives which so powerfully influenced those who first projected the College, and who labored so long and earnestly to establish it, but from the express and repeated declarations of Governor Belcher, in his replies to the addresses to the original Trustees (those named in the second charter) that this institution was intended , by all the parties concerned in founding it, to be one in which religion and learning should be unitedly cultivated in all time to come. This ought never to be forgotten. There is scarcely anything more unrighteous in itself, or more injurious to society, than disregarding and perverting the design of the founders of charitable, religious, or literary institutions. It is doing base injustice to the dead, and at the same time a powerful and often an effectual discouragement to those among the living, who might, otherwise, make exertions and bestow their property to found and endow establishments of the greatest public utility. It is hoped that the guardians of Nassau Hall will forever keep in mind that the design of its foundation would be perverted if religion should ever he cultivated in it to the neglect of science, or science to the neglect of religion; if, on the one hand, it should be converted into a religious house like a Monastery, or a Theological Seminary, in which religious instruction should claim, almost exclusively, the attention of every pupil; or if, on the other hand, it should become an establishment in which science should he taught, how perfectly soever, without connecting with it, and constantly endeavoring to inculcate, the principles and practice of genuine piety, Whatever other institutions may exist or arise in our country, in which religion and science may be separated from each other by their instructors or governors, this institution, without a gross perversion of its original design, can never be one."

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It is worthy of note that Governor Belcher and the Trustees, in speaking of the College as an institution designed for the promotion of religion and learning, always mention religion first; and it is evident from what they said and did with respect to the College, that the religious culture of the pupils was the thing uppermost in their minds, and that to which they attached the most importance. Between true religion and sound learning there cannot be any real or substantial disagreement; nor will the volume of Nature when thoroughly unfolded be found to contradict the volume of Inspiration properly interpreted. Science, falsely so called, may call into question the teachings of revealed truth, but such a thing as this can never be allowed in this institution, unless its guardians lose sight of its original design and prove recreant to the trust confided to them. Yea, more, if due regard be had to this sacred trust, the promotion of true religion will ever be regarded by the authorities of the College as having the first claim upon their attention, in all their plans for the extension and the improvement of the course of instruction given in the College. It must ever be the solemn duty of the Trustees to see to it, in the selection of persons to fill the vacancies in their own Board, that none be chosen in regard to whom any doubt can be entertained as to their approval of the original design of the College, or in regard to their earnest desire to secure the very purposes for which the College was erected. In the good providence of God, the College has an ample charter, that is equal to all its legitimate aims; and we trust that it will undergo no radical changes, in deference to the varying opinions of the day and to a public clamor for experiment and innovations. If the College were a State institution, founded, supported, and governed by State authorities, it might with some show of reason be expected to conform its teachings, discipline, and mode of selecting its guardians and instructors to the wishes and whims of those who, from time to time, may represent the opinions of the community at large: but this is not the case with the College of New Jersey. It was founded, not by the State, although with the sanction and under the protection of the civil power, to accomplish certain definite purposes, and in a certain definite

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way. Nor was it founded directly by the Church, although one branch of the Church extended to it a fostering care, and prominent members of that Church were the first to devise the plan of it and to lay its foundations. The founders of the College were both members of the Commonwealth and members of the Church, and they were in every respect suitable men to be intrusted with the important enterprise of erecting and controlling an institution for the education of youth, in whose education both the State and the Church were deeply interested. In both charters it was stipulated that none should be excluded from the privileges of the College on account of any different religious sentiments, as was the case in the English Universities, but, on the contrary, that all should enjoy equal liberties and privileges; yet the very terms of the stipulation show that the College was expected to have a religious faith, although none were to be required to adopt the religious views embraced by the College authorities as a condition of enjoying the privileges afforded to its members.

The petitioners for the College charter were known to be Presbyterians, and it was also known that the governing motive with them in seeking a charter was to provide for the youth of their own Church, and more especially for their candidates for the ministry, a thorough training in all the various branches of a liberal education, including, as a matter of the highest interest, full instruction in the doctrines of the Christian faith, according to their understanding of them.

Either the superior judgment of those concerned in the foundation of our College, and their great liberality of sentiment, or else the circumstances of their position, perhaps all combined, led them to adopt the very best plan possible for the right founding and the right ordering of such an institution. They made it neither a State College nor a Church College, but committed it to the oversight and care of a select number of the very best men interested in this enterprise, and who had the confidence and respect of the whole community, being leading men both in the Church and in the State.

It has been sometimes a matter of remark and even censure that the Legislature of New Jersey never contributed any funds

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for sustaining its oldest college, which has been a source of many benefits to the State, and the occasion of large sums of money being expended here. But in this matter we incline to the opinion that the Legislature has acted wisely for the State and happily for the College. Had the College been liberally endowed by the State, this might have given the Legislature a pretext, if nothing more, for interfering with the government and course of instruction; which we are happy to say it has never attempted to do. In the charter of the College the Legislature has never made a change, except at the request of the Trustees; and never refused to make one desired by the Board. And, further, the Legislature has at different times enacted special laws for the protection of the students from extortion and for the guarding of their health and morals.

Had the College been a State institution, under the control of a Board of Trustees chosen from time to time by the State authorities, and with a course of instruction and a system of government presented by the Legislature, the State would doubtless have regarded it as a duty to do all in its power to sustain the College, and to provide the requisite means for an ample and most liberal course of instruction. But in this case probably the course of religious instruction, the most important given in any school or college, must have been circumscribed and of a comparatively limited extent, if not wholly excluded: lest the rights of conscience should be invaded.

The only effectual course to guard against such a result is to have this matter of a higher education in the hands of a select number of prominent citizens, bearing the twofold relation of citizens and of church-members, with power to perpetuate themselves, by filling at their own discretion all vacancies in their own body, and let all who are disposed and are able to establish such institutions be encouraged to do so, by granting them corporate privileges without regard to the particular religious denomination with which they are associated. In this way full provision may be made in the academic curriculum for all the religious instruction which the interests of either the State or the Church call for. Each pupil, or his parent for him, can select the college he prefers, in view of all the advantages prof

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fered, and neither pupil nor parent can properly complain that the student is required to give attention to the whole of the prescribed course, including the religious as well as the literary and scientific parts of that course.

On this plan, too, each religious denomination will have a guarantee that the children of their own Church will have a sound religious training according to their views of truth. For such colleges must to a great extent depend for their patronage and support upon that religious denomination with which the trustees and teachers are connected; and thus indirectly the Church, or the particular branch of it under whose auspices a college has been established, will have a voice in its management, and that too without being subjected to any of those inconveniences and troubles to which a more direct control might readily and naturally give rise, introducing jealousies and collisions into the ecclesiastical bodies themselves. Happily for the College of New Jersey, it is not and never has been a State or a Church college; yet through the whole period of its existence it has merited and received the countenance and favor of that branch of the Church most interested in its establishment, and also the confidence and protection of the State authorities which gave and confirmed its charter. Yea, more, such from the beginning has been its catholic spirit, that not a few of its warmest friends have been found in other denominations than the Presbyterian; and it has had the honor to educate for other branches of the Church some of their brightest intellects, who have not failed to acknowledge their indebtedness to their Alma Mater.

While, therefore, the friends of this College are not called upon to speak disparagingly of colleges directly under either State or Church control, they may be thankful that the College of their affections was intrusted to the exclusive care of a few wise and select men, who, in the fear of God, laid deep its foundations, and upon them erected an institution for the advancement of piety and learning, and had a special reference to the supplying of their own branch of the Church of Christ with a godly and well-trained ministry.

CHAPTER III.

THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

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CHAPTER III. THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

 

THE first charter of the College passed the great seal of the Province on the 22d of October, 1746, and it was attested by John Hamilton, Esq., President of his Majesty’s Council, and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of New Jersey, as appears from a memorandum made in Book C of Commissions and Charters, etc., page 137, in the office of the Secretary of State for New Jersey.

The charter itself is not given in these records. By the parties to whom it was granted it is spoken of as "a charter with full and ample privileges," and one by which "equal liberties and privileges are secured to every denomination of Christians, any different religious sentiments notwithstanding."

In an advertisement in the "New York Gazette and Weekly Post Boy" of February 2, 1746—47, it is mentioned that this charter was granted to Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton, Aaron Burr, ministers of the gospel, and some other gentlemen, as Trustees of said College.

According to a memorandum made by Mr. Nathaniel Fitz Randolph, of Princeton, the gentleman who gave to the College the land upon which Nassau Hall is erected, the whole number of Trustees under the first charter was twelve.

This comprises all that is now positively known respecting this charter, of which neither the original nor any copy is to be found.

In his biographical sketches of Presbyterian ministers in this country, the late Rev. Richard Webster mentions that the Rev. Thomas Arthur was one of the original Trustees of the College. This is by no means improbable; but on what authority, or with what understanding of its import, this statement is made,

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is not known. Mr. Arthur was the pastor of the Presbyterian church in New Brunswick, and a member not of the Presbytery of New Brunswick, but of the Presbytery of New York, of which body Messrs. Dickinson, Pierson, Pemberton, and Burr were all members. Mr. Arthur is named in the second charter as one of the Trustees under that grant.

The second charter was given two years after the first, by Jonathan Belcher, Esq., his Majesty’s Governor of New Jersey, and it passed the great seal of the Province on the i4th of September, 1748. Under this second charter the number of clerical and lay Trustees, exclusive of the President of the College, was equal. It is, therefore, most probable that one-half of the Trustees under the first charter were laymen. And as all the ministers who are known to have been Trustees under the first charter, and alive at the date of the second charter, are named as Trustees in this second instrument, so it is probable that most, if not all, of the lay members of the Board under the first charter, who were living at the date of the second, continued to be Trustees under the second.

The ministers of the gospel known to have been Trustees under the first charter all resided either in East Jersey or in New York City; and this renders it highly probable that the lay Trustees associated with them were also residents in the same districts.

Of the lay Trustees named in the second charter, William Smith and P. V. B. Livingston were members of the First Presbyterian Church in the city of New York, of which church the Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton was the pastor; and itis certain that Mr. Pemberton was a Trustee under both charters. Win. Pear-tree Smith, who was a Trustee from 8748 to 1793, forty-five years, also resided in the city of New York, at the respective dates of the first and of the second charter. Subsequently he was a prominent citizen of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and a Trustee of the Presbyterian church there. James Hude, a member of his Majesty’s Council for New Jersey, was connected with the Presbyterian church in New Brunswick, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Thomas Arthur. Andrew Johnston, who was not only a Trustee, but also the first person chosen Treasurer of the

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College under the second charter, was a member of his Majesty’s Council for New Jersey, and a resident of Perth Amboy, the residence of President Hamilton, and the seat of government for East Jersey. Messrs. Hude and Johnston were members of the Council when President Hamilton, with the consent of the Council, granted the first charter. The five civilians here named as included among the Trustees under the second charter were all gentlemen of high standing, and for the reasons suggested above we deem it morally certain that some if not all of them were Trustees of the College under the first charter as well as under the second; and that Samuel Smith, the earliest historian of New Jersey, was substantially correct in saying that "the College was first founded by a charter from President Hamilton, and enlarged by Governor Belcher." (See Smith’s "History of New Jersey," page 490.) Mr. Smith was a personal friend of Governor Belcher, and for some years a townsman.

It is true, indeed, that in the second charter there is no reference made to the one previously granted by President Hamilton of his Majesty’s Council; and there appears to have been a disposition upon the part of some of the friends of the College to lose sight of the first charter, and to regard the College under the second charter as a new and distinct institution. Thus, in an account of the College prepared by Mr. Samuel Blair, then a Tutor in the College, under the direction of President Finley, and published in 1766, we meet with the following statement upon page 7:

"Yet even in this dark period there were not wanting several gentlemen, both of the civil and of the sacred character, who, forming a just estimate of the importance of learning, exerted their utmost efforts to plant and cherish it in the Province of New Jersey. After some disappointments and fruitless attempts, application was at length made to his Excellency Jonathan Belcher, Esq., at that time Governor of the Province; and in the year 1748 he was pleased, with the approbation of his Majesty’s Council, to grant a charter incorporating sundry gentlemen of the clergy and laity, to the number of twenty-three, as Trustees, investing them with such powers as were requisite to carry the design into execution, and constituting his Majesty’s Governor for the time being, ex officio their President."

The writer of No. XL. of the "Watch-Tower" uses the following language (see pages 50 and 51, ante):

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The present constitution of New Jersey College has no dependence upon the charter obtained from Governor Hamilton, nor indeed any relation to it; as that by which it is now established is in sundry respects different, the majority of the Trustees being also different persons. Whether the charter obtained from Governor Hamilton in his declining state was a valid one I am not able to determine. The contrary, however, has always appeared to me most probable, and that it was therefore wisely resigned; though, indeed, the Episcopal church in Newark is established by a charter obtained of the same gentleman and in the same circumstances, the validity of which I have not heard called in question.’’

The writers of the "Watch-Tower" were opposed to the founding of a college in New York by charter from a Governor, and insisted it should be by an act of the Assembly, of course with the concurrence of the Governor and Council; and they were therefore, in all probability, the more predisposed to question the validity of a charter granted not even by the regularly commissioned Governor, but by one for the time being administering the government; and they were not unwilling to throw doubt upon the right of Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey, then at the head of affairs in New York, to grant a charter for a college to be established in that Province, by giving utterance to any doubt they may have had respecting the validity of the charter granted by the acting Governor of New Jersey.

As to the fact that a majority of the Trustees under the second charter were different persons from those under the first, it has nothing to do in deciding the matter in question, viz., whether the College under the second charter was the same with that under the first charter. Under the first the number of Trustees was twelve, and under the second twenty-three. Of the former, one at least had died; and this itself would make the new Trustees a majority of the whole number under the second charter.

It is true that the first charter ceased to be of any force upon the acceptance of the second; and inasmuch as the first was never recorded, and as all persons who could claim any rights or privileges under it had transferred their interests to a new corporation, no formal surrender of it was tendered to the granting power; nor was any such surrender required. This view of the matter accords with what, in a letter of the date of July 4,1748, Governor Belcher said to the Rev. Gilbert Ten-

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nent, and probably in reply to an inquiry made by Mr. Tennent, "as the old charter was not

recorded, upon the appearance of the present one the old one would become a nonentity." By

"the present one" is meant the charter prepared by himself, or under his instructions, which at the

date of his letter was probably ready for revision by the Council.

In a letter dated July 28, 1748, and addressed to the Rev. Mr. Pemberton, Governor Belcher says:

"The charter has passed the seal, and is ready in all respects, and I think it is l)est that you and Mr. Burr come hither [to Burlington] as soon as you can, to receive it from me, and that I may talk with you about the College."

And on the 30th of the same month he writes to Mr. Tennent:

"I have wrote to Mr. Pemberton, desiring he and Mr. Burr would be here as soon as they could, and when they come they should give you notice to come hither also, when I should deliver the charter to you gentlemen on behalf of the Trustees’’

In these extracts, written in July, 1748, it is distinctly said that "the new charter has passed the seal, and is ready in all respects;" and yet it appears from the charter now in the possession of the Trustees, that it was attested by the Governor and passed the seal of the Province on the i4th day of September, 1748. The only solution of the discrepancy here mentioned is this, viz., that Messrs. Pemberton, Burr, and Tennent were not altogether satisfied with some clauses of the charter as at first prepared by the direction of Governor Belcher, and that at their request the charter was altered, and passed the seal a second time on the 14th of September, 1748, the day after its final approval by the Council of the Province.

It was doubtless from viewing the first charter as a nullity upon their acceptance of the second, and from their regarding a charter as essential to the very being of a college, that the Trustees, in one of their written addresses to Governor Belcher, viz., in that of November 24, 1755, speak of him as "the founder, patron, and benefactor of the College."

As to the validity of the charter given by President Hamilton, there is no more moom for doubt than there is with re

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spect to the validity of the one granted by Governor Belcher. From the instructions given to Lord Cornbury, Governor of the Province from 1702 to 1708 (see Smith’s "History of New Jersey," pages 258 and 259), it is evident that, upon the death or absence of the Governor and the Lieutenant-Governor, the senior Councillor became the acting Governor, and was in express terms authorized to exercise all the powers of the Governor:

"It is our will and pleasure, therefore, that if, upon your death or absence, there be no Lieutenant-Governor or Commander-in-Chief, the eldest Councillor, whose name is first placed in our instructions to you, and who shall be, at the time of your death or absence, residing in our said Province of New Jersey, shall take upon him the administration of the government, and execute our said commission and instructions, with the several powers and authorities therein contained, in the same manner, and to all intents and purposes, as either our Governor or Commander-in- Chief should or ought to do, in case of your absence, or until your return, or in all cases until our further pleasure be known.’’

August 23, 1743, the Secretary of the Board of Trade wrote to John Hamilton, Esq., in reply to his letter of June 9, that the Board looked upon him to be the legal President and Commander-in-Chief of New Jersey from the 28th of March, 1736’, till Mr. Morris took possession of the government. Upon the death of Governor Morris, 1746, Mr. Hamilton, being the senior Councillor, again, took upon himself the administration of the affairs of the Province as President of the Council and Commander-in-Chief; and as such he granted, in the name of the King, with the consent of the Council, the first charter of the College.

It is a far more serious question whether a charter given by-a Governor was a valid one before it received the sanction of his Majesty by the advice of his Council. The one hundredth article of the instructions given to Lord Cornbury is in these words:

"And if anything shall happen that shall be of advantage and security to our-said Province, which is not herein or by our commission to you provided for, we do hereby allow you, with the advice arid consent of our Council of our said Province,, to take order for the present therein, giving to us, by one of our principal Secretaries of State, and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, speedy notice thereof, that so you may receive our ratification, if we shall approve the same."

Lord Cornbury was the first Governor of New Jersey ap

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pointed by the royal authority upon the surrender of the government by the Proprietors of East and West Jersey; and this no doubt accounts for the fulness and particularity of the instructions given to him, as they would serve for the guidance of his successors in office.

There does not appear to have been any subsequent augmentation of the powers intrusted to the Governor, but, on the contrary, further restrictions were imposed.

The granting of charters was regarded by the Crown and its advisers as a special prerogative of the Crown. The Provincial Governors, as representatives of the regal authority, considered themselves authorized to give their consent to legislative acts granting charters for various purposes; and among them were charters to erect institutions for the advancement of knowledge and for its increase among the people. But these charters were liable to be revoked by the royal authority; and in one instance, at least, the royal assent was refused to a charter to Harvard College, viz., to the one granted in 1692 by the General Court of Massachusetts, although it had the sanction of his Majesty’s ‘Governor for that Province; and in other instances the Governor refused his consent to the action of the General Court in reference to that institution.

The charters granted by President Hamilton and Governor Belcher—the first charters ever granted by a Governor with merely the consent of his Council—were neither ratified nor revoked by the supreme authority. Although they both passed the seal of the Province, the firs t was never recorded, and the one given by Governor Belcher on the 14th of September, 1748, was not recorded until the 4th of October, 1750, more than two years after it had passed the seal; and then it was placed on record by an order of the Trustees, given on the 26th of September immediately preceding. The order was in these words:

"Ordered, That the Clerk take care to have the charter recorded in the Secretarv’s Office at Amboy and at Burlington, with all possible speed, and be allowed so pay the charges out of the Lottery money in the hands of Mr. Hude"

There is scarcely room for doubt that the Trustees were prompted to this measure by the sudden and severe illness of

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Governor Belcher at this time, and from an apprehension that if the charter were not placed on the records of the Province it might, in case of the Governor’s decease, be altered or even altogether revoked by his successor in office. Of the alarming illness of the Governor there is abundant evidence. Cadwallader Colden, in a letter of the date of October 6,1750, to R. H. Morris, then in London, says, "Governor Belcher has been seized with palsy while attending Commencement at Newark." Governor Belcher himself, writing to his son in Ireland, July 3, 1752, says that his paralytic affection had so increased that for eighteen months he had not been able to hold a pen. His subsequent correspondence shows that he never entirely recovered from the effects of this shock.

It has been conjectured that the reason why the charter given by Governor Belcher was not sooner delivered to the Trustees was owing to the necessity he was under of submitting it to the inspection of the Home Government and of obtaining the King’s permission before issuing the instrument. (See Dr. Green’s "Notes.") But the correspondence of the Governor with Messrs. Pemberton, Burr, Tennent, and Edwards, respecting the charter, shows conclusively that the charter was not sent to England before its delivery to the Trustees. Extracts from this correspondence, establishing this fact, will hereinafter be given.

That a copy of it was not sent to the authorities in London, after it had passed the seal and had been delivered to the Trustees, is morally certain from the delay in recording the instrument and from the circumstance that the recording of it took place by order of the Trustees themselves, and not in virtue of any statute requiring it to be done; and it is beyond dispute that, although given in the name of George the Second, the charter never received his Majesty’s ratification. This is evident from the "Diary" of the Rev. Samuel Davies, who, in company with the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, visited England and Scotland in the years 1753 and 1754 to solicit funds to aid the Trustees in their efforts to erect suitable buildings for the recently established college. Under the head of February 6, 1754, Mr. Davies thus writes:

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"Went to Mr. Stennet’s who went with us to introduce us to the Duke of Argyle to deliver Governor Belcher’s letter. We found eight or ten Gentlemen and Noblemen waiting in his Grace’s Levee. His Grace took us into his Library, a spacious, elegant room. . . . His Grace told us. after reading the letter, that as the College related to the Plantations, we ought first to apply to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, and if they approved of it, he would willingly countenance it, both here and in Scotland. He advised us to apply to Lord Halifax or Lord Duplin, and Mr. Stennet went to the latter, . . . and showed our Instructions from the Trustees, and the petition we had drawn up. Mr. Stennet told him he applied to him in confidence, and his Lordship assured him he would do nothing to injure us. He there upon told him that we had our Charter only from a Governor, and asked him whether he thought it would be deemed valid in Court. His Lordship replied that he doubted it, but he would soon satisfy himself by enquiring into the extent of the Governors commission; and in case it appeared valid, he would advise us to lay the matter before the Archbishop of Canterbury, and that he himself would go with Mr. Stennet to Mr. Pelham [the Prime Minister] in our Favor, and introduce the matter in Court. For my part, I am afraid of all applications to that Quarter, lest we lose our Charter and stir up opposition, and it is against my mind that the matter has been carried so far. Dined at Mr. Stennet’s, who gave us five guineas for the College. Went home anxious as to the Fate of our Application to the Lords of Trade and to the Court."

Monday, February the 11th, there is the following entry:

"Visited Mr. Mill, and, delivered Mr. Donald’s letter. He and his partner, Mr. Oswald, advised us to apply to the Lords of Trade to encourage our Embassy. But I am afraid of the consequence. \Vent to Mr. Denham, a Presbyterian minister, and had a long and difficult dispute with him about the importance and necessity of our College, the validity of our Charter, without the Royal approbation, etc., which he managed with great dexterity. It was my happiness to have my thoughts ready, and I made such a defence as silenced him. His name is of great importance, and I was solicitous to obtain it to our Petition, had lost all hope of it, when, to my agreeable surprise, he subscribed."

Under the head of Thursday, the i4th of February, Mr. Davies says:

"Waited on Mr. Stennet to hear Lord Duplin’s opinion of the validity of our Charter, but he was indisposed and had not waited on his Lordship."

 

On Wednesday, the 6th of March, Mr. Pelham, the Prime Minister, died, and his death diverted the attention of Lord Duplin from any further inquiry with respect to the extent of Governor Belcher’s powers, and as to the validity of the charter,—matters of more immediate importance at home demanding all his time. At any rate, no further mention of the charter is made in Mr. Davies’s "Diary," nor any allusion to it.

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In reference to Mr. Pelham’s death and its results, mentioned on page 176 of his "Diary," Mr. Davies observes:

"This day died the Honorable Henry Pelham, Esq., Prime Minister, which has struck the town [London] with consternation. He has left a general good character behind him; and the Court is puzzled whom to choose in his place."

Again, under the date of Tuesday, the i9th of March, Mr. Davies writes:

"The Court is all in confusion about choosing one to fill up Mr. Pelham’s place, and the King is much perplexed. He says he hoped to spend his old age in Peace, but all his Peace is buried in Mr. Pellham’s grave." (" Diary,’’ vol. i. pages 188—89.)

Elections were held soon after in the city of London, and, the state of things there not being favorable to the prosecution of their agency, Messrs. Tennent and Davies left London for Edinburgh; and, although they returned to London before sailing for America, nothing more appears to have been said or done in reference to the charter.

Whether the approval of the King was requisite to give validity to the charter is now, happily, a matter of no moment to the College. Its validity was never called in question by any court in Great Britain or in the Province, and by an act passed the 13th of March, 1780. The Legislature of the State recognized and confirmed its grants.

It is, however, a matter of interest to many friends of the College whether under the second charter it was a new institution, and entirely distinct from the College under the first charter, or whether it was the same College under both charters. The facts recited above tend to show, if they do nothing more, that the College of New Jersey under the first charter and the College of New Jersey under the second charter were one and the same institution. Its powers and privileges may have been, and doubtless were, somewhat enlarged, and the number of Trustees nearly doubled; but the Trustees arid students of the one became Trustees and students of the other; and the Rev. Mr. Burr, who, upon the death of Mr. Dickinson, had the oversight and instruction of the students and the general interests of the College intrusted to him, was

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unanimously chosen President by the Trustees of the second charter. Before the second charter was prepared, it must have been fully understood that he was to be the President under the second charter, as appears from these two facts: 1st, that the whole number of Trustees, exclusive of the Governor of the Province and the President of the College, was limited to twenty-one; and, 2d, that in the charter itself twenty-two names are inserted, and one of them is that of Aaron Burr, who, upon being chosen President, became ex officio a Trustee, and this reduced the number to the limit prescribed in the charter itself

If the view here presented be the correct one, President Dickinson is justly regarded as the first President of the College of New Jersey; and he has a right to the place so long conceded to him in the triennial catalogue of the College as its first President; and to him and his associates should also be conceded the honor of being the founders of the College.

The advertisement taken from the "New York Gazette" of February 2, 1746—47, and inserted at the beginning of this chapter, is of itself sufficient to show that the first charter of the College was obtained, not by the Synod of New York, but by the most prominent members of the Presbytery of New York. Had it been obtained through any action of the Synod, or by any concert among the leading members of that body, there can be no doubt that Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Blair would have been mentioned with Messrs. Dickinson, Pierson, Pemberton, and Burr as those to whom the charter had been granted. They were both far too prominent in the Church not to have been named in such an announcement to the public, had they been Trustees under the first charter, and men of too much influence not to have had their names inserted in the charter, had they consented to take any part in the effort to obtain it, Beyond all question, Mr. Tennent was the most influential member in the Presbytery of New Brunswick, and Mr. Blair the leading man in the Presbytery of New Castle; and had the first efforts to establish the College, and to procure for it a charter, originated with the Synod, the whole matter would not have been given up to the ministers and laymen connected with the Presbytery of New York. The Presbytery of New

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Brunswick embraced a larger number of ministers and churches than did the Presbytery of New York, and included several in Pennsylvania, as well as a majority of those in New Jersey.

In the attempt to enlarge the sphere of the College and to increase the number of its friends, the first effort was naturally made to secure the countenance and support of the friends of the Neshaminy school, and to bring into the Board of Trustees Messrs. Gilbert and William Tennent, and some of their particular friends, which was done; and also, as far as practicable, to gain for the College the good will of other gentlemen of position and influence, both in West Jersey and in Pennsylvania. Hence we find in the second charter the names of Chief Justice Kinsey and Judge Edward Shippen, of Philadelphia, and of the Rev. Mr. Cowell, of Trenton., then a member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and of the Rev. Samuel Blair, of Fagg’s Manor, Pennsylvania.

In the list of ministers whom it was proposed to make Trustees, under the second charter, Mr. Blair’s name was not included at the first; possibly from a doubt of his willingness to be a Trustee in an institution which might interfere with the one established by himself, or might require him, in case of its success, to change the character of his own school. But whatever may have been the reason, the fact was as here stated; and this is evident from Governor Belcher’s letter of the 6th of April, 1748, to the Rev. Mr. Pemberton, in which he says, "I am well pleased to add the name of the Rev. Samuel Blair to the Trustees, for you must remember that we cannot have too many friends in our present infant state."

The circumstance just mentioned, independently of the evidence given heretofore, would of itself make it morally certain that Mr. Blair was not a Trustee under the first charter.

The ground taken above as to the oneness of the College under both charters is abundantly strengthened by the following extracts from Governor Belcher’s letters. The dates, and the names of the persons to whom the letters are addressed, precede the extracts. Governor Belcher arrived in this country from England August 8,1747.

October 8, 1747 to President Dickinson:

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CHAPTER III. THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

"I duly received your favor of the 10th ult., enclosing a catalogue, but for some reason I shall not send it forward till I see you, which I hope may be next month, when the Assembly sits here,—the 17th—and I shall he glad Mr. Pemberton could so order as to come with you, and that you may be prepared to lay something before the Assembly for the service of the embryo college, as a Lottery, or anything else."

Mr. Dickinson died on the 7th of October, 1747, the day before this letter was written.

October 8, 1747, to Rev. Mr. Pemberton, of New York:

"Mr. Dickinson has sent me a catalogue, which I have not thought proper to send forward till I shall talk with him and you, and which I hope may be next month, when the Assembly of the Province meets here (17th), and I would have you come prepared to lay something before the Assembly for the service of our infant College. I say our, because I have determined to adopt it for a child, and to do everything in my power to promote and establish so noble an undertaking."

October 8,1747, to Mr. Smith, New York. After acknowledging the receipt of several other things sent to him by Mr. Smith, the Governor adds:

"I have also the Lottery scheme, which may be of service in the affair of our infant College. What went into the newspapers was carefully done."

 

These are extracts from three letters written on the same day, but cited in the reverse order from that in which they were written,—one to the President of the College, one to the Rev. Mr. Pemberton, who beyond all doubt was a Trustee tinder both charters, and the third evidently addressed to one deeply interested in the prosperity of the then existing College. The Mr. Smith to whom one of these letters is addressed was probably Mr. Wm. Peartree Smith, of whom Governor Belcher, in a letter to the Rev. Mr. Sergeant, of the date of February 23, 1748, makes mention as being his correspondent in the city of New York. Mr. Smith was one of the Trustees named in the second charter, and most probably he was also a Trustee under the first. In addition to the other reasons for this opinion assigned above, there is a confirmation of it in the form of expression used in his letter to this gentleman, "our infant College," compared with the same expression in the Governor’s letter to Mr. Pemberton of the same date, in which he explains his meaning in his use of this phrase, "our infant College :" "I say our, for I have determined to adopt it for a daughter." This

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was a very proper expression in writing to a Trustee of a college recently organized, but not an appropriate one had he been writing to a person who had no particular connection with the College. Mr. Pemberton, we know, was a Trustee at this time, and we infer it to be highly probable that Mr. Smith was also Mr. Dickinson is urged by the Governor to come prepared to present a petition to the Assembly for a lottery, or for something else, for the service of the College. In his letter to Mr. Smith, the Governor speaks of having also the Lottery scheme, which may be of service in the affairs of our infant College,—that is, in case the Assembly will authorize the Trustees to raise funds for the College by means of a lottery.

October 2,1747, to his friend Mr. Walley:

"There has been a striving at what place the College should be built, but I have persuaded those concerned to fix it at Princeton, and I think as near the centre as any, and a fine situation. I believe they must have a new and better charter, which I shall give them."

This letter was written a few days before the death of President Dickinson, and it determines another point of interest,— viz., that the question of another charter was agitated before the death of President Dickinson.

November, 1747, to Mr. Pemberton:

"I shall be glad to see you here for the sake of the College. . . . The death of that eminent servant of God, the learned and pious Dickinson, is a considerable Rebuke of Providence, and is to remind us that we have such precious treasure in earthen vessels, and that our eyes and hearts must he lifted to the great head of the Church, who holds the stars in his right hand, Then let us not despond or murmur."

December 13, 1747, to Mr. Allen, of Boston:

"The death of the late excellent, now ascended, Dickinson, is indeed a considerable loss to my adopted daughter; but God lives, and is always better than we deserve, and with whom we must wrestle for his mercy and blessing to fall upon our Infant College, so shall it rise into youth, and in God’s best time become an Alma Mater for this and the neighboring colonies."

January 25, 1747—48, to Mr. Pemberton:

"As to a new charter, if you and the rest of the gentlemen will digest that matter, and with enlargement, in the best manner you can, and let me have a Rough of it, to see if it can be made better, you will be sure of all my Protection."

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This last extract shows that at the date of this letter nothing had been done towards the preparing of a new charter.

March 21, 1747—48, to Mr. Burr, the successor of President Dickinson:

"You cannot be more thoughtful or solicitous for the growth and prosperity of my adopted daughter, and our future Alma Mater, than I am. In order to the perfecting of the charter, you know it will be necessary for me to go to Philadelphia, and which I intend soon. You say Commencement is designed the third Wednesday of May next, so I will try to get the charter to you before that time. I much approve a wise frugality at the solemnity you mention, more especially in our Infant Days, for I think the too common Extravagances and Debauchery at such times be no honor to what may laudably pride itself in being called a Seminary of Religion and Learning. So soon as the charter shall be completed, a meeting of the Trustees will be very proper and necessary."

The above extract shows that the Governor had no expectation that the charter would be ready much before the third Wednesday of May. It was not, however, prepared and issued until the 14th of September, and the Commencement was postponed from time to time until the 9th of November, at the request of Governor Belcher.

May 31, 1748, to the Rev. Jonathan Edwards:

As to our Embryo College, it is a noble design, and if God pleases may prove an extensive blessing. I have adopted it for a daughter, which I hope in time may become an Alma Mater to this and the neighboring Provinces, .. . I am getting the best advice and assistance I can in a draft of a charter which I intend to give our Infant College; and I thank you for all the kind hints you have given for the service of this excellent undertaking," etc.

This is conclusive as to the fact that the charter was not matured at the date of this letter, May 31.

June 18, 1748, to the Rev. Gilbert Tennent. In this letter the Governor alludes to the first charter, viz., the one given by President Hamilton, in these words:

"Perhaps it may be more satisfactory to a majority of the intended Trustees to proceed on the old Patent, in which I am quite easy." And he adds, "If I have any further to do in the matter, I shall immediately send it [the charter] to Mr. Gillnawary of your city [Philadelphia] to be engrossed, who I think did the last.’’

This extract shows that the charter had not been engrossed as late as the 18th of June.

Extracts from other letters, showing the same facts, might be

[85 ] HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

CHAPTER III. THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

given; but the above will probably be regarded as more than sufficient to establish these two points: 1, that the charter given by Governor Belcher could not have been sent to England for the King’s approbation before its delivery to the Trustees; and, 2, that it was given, not for a new college, but for the College of New Jersey, already established and in operation, under a charter granted, in the name of the King, by President Hamilton, of his Majesty’s Council for New Jersey. It is not for a new institution, but for a new charter, that we are indebted to Governor Belcher. An infant is not a nonentity, nor a something that is to be, but a reality, a thing in actual existence. So in this case, the infant College of New Jersey, the adopted daughter of the Governor, was in being and engaged in its appropriate work before Governor Belcher gave it "a new and better charter," and even before his arrival in the Province. The charter of 1748 doubtless gave increased vigor to the institution, and added largely to the number of its friends. Under this new charter the College became, what its name indicates it aspired to be, "The College of New jersey," and not simply of East Jersey, sending abroad throughout the land a wholesome influence for the promotion of genuine piety and sound learning. Under this charter additions were made to the number of the Trustees, by introducing into the Board several distinguished ministers and laymen in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,—and among these the most prominent members of the Presbyteries of New Brunswick and of New Castle,— and thus securing to the College the friendship and patronage of the entire Synod of New York,

It has been conjectured that the reason why the first charter was never recorded was this, that its grants were of so limited a character that the founders of the College were much dissatisfied with it, and, knowing that Governor Belcher was to be the Governor of the Province, they hoped that he would give them one with ampler powers and privileges. Dr. Green, in his Sketch of the Origin and Design of the College, takes this view of the matter; and most others, if not all, who have had occasion to advert to it have done the same. Had they ever met with the advertisement respecting the College inserted

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CHAPTER III. THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

in the "New York Gazette" of February 2, 1746—7, they would have seen that the conjecture was not well founded as to any dissatisfaction with the charter granted by President Hamilton. Had there been any such dissatisfaction, the Trustees in their notice to the public could not have used the language they did:

"Whereas a charter with full and ample Privileges has been granted by his Majesty, under the seal of the Province of New Jersey, bearing date the 22d of October, 1746, for erecting a college within said Province, . . . by which charter equal Liberties and Privileges are secured to every denomination of Christians, different religious sentiments notwithstanding," etc. There is some evidence that the charter was drawn by the petitioners, and that they obtained all they asked for. (See chap. i., "On the Origin of the College," page 44) However this may be, the acknowledgment by the Trustees, that they had received a charter of the description just mentioned, takes away entirely the foundation of the above conjecture as to the reason why the first charter was not recorded.

Was the second charter left unrecorded for two years or more because of any dissatisfaction with it?

The first charter may not have been in all respects as liberal as the second; but in what the second differed from the first, excepting with respect to the larger number of Trustees, and in making the Governor of the Province for the time being President of the Board, can now be only a matter of conjecture. Possibly the first charter was more restrictive as to the power of conferring degrees, and as to the amount of productive property which the Trustees were permitted to hold. In its liberal provision for the admission of all classes of Christians to the privileges of the College, the first was on the same footing with the second; and, in fact, the language of the second as to this matter is evidently taken from the first. The reference in the second charter to the concessions of Carteret, seemingly for the purpose of assigning a good and sufficient reason why all should be admitted to the privileges of the College, in accordance with the prayer of the petitioners, was also probably intended to meet, by indirection, the objection to granting corporate powers to a body of Dissenters; the right to do which

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had been called in question upon an application for a church charter for the First Presbyterian Church in the city of New York. The connection in which these things occur in the second charter renders it highly probable that the provision for admitting all classes of Christians, and the reference to the concessions of Carteret, were both borrowed from the first charter.

William Smith, the most distinguished lawyer of his day in New York, was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church in that city. For reasons given near the beginning of this chapter, it is more than probable that he was a Trustee of the College under both charters; and it is by no means improbable that he prepared the first charter, and also "the rough" of the second, which Governor Belcher desired Mr. Pemberton to send him for his inspection. There was no person among Mr. Pemberton’s friends better, if so well, qualified to do this Work, and no one upon whom Mr. Pemberton would be so likely to call for just such a service. For many years, and to the end of his life, Mr. Smith was an earnest friend of the College, and one of the most honored and influential members of the Board.

Governor Belcher was disposed to possess himself of the views and wishes of those interested in the College, but at the same time he purposed to mould the charter to suit his own views; and therefore, while he sought, and in some cases accepted, advice, be desired not to have a charter fully prepared for his approval and signature, but only the "rough’ of one, which he might examine and see if it could be made better. He was to give "a new and better charter," and he must decide for himself what that new and better charter must be; and to this end he had it prepared under his own direction, as is fully evident from his letters to Messrs. Pemberton and others. He introduced in the second charter the clause making the Governor of the Province ex officio President of the Board of Trustees, in opposition to the wishes of some of the friends of the College and the earnest remonstrance of the Rev. Gilbert Tennent. But the Governor was inflexible as to this point, and said he could not give a charter without such a provision, it is not to be supposed that Mr. Tennent, or any other friend of

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the College, had any objection to making Governor Belcher President of the Board: the objection was to establishing it as a fixed rule that the Governor for the time being should be President of the Board. The opposition to this measure doubtless arose from an apprehension that it would sometimes happen that the Governor would not be in sympathy with the Trustees, and that he might embarrass their deliberations, even if he should not directly oppose their measures. But the experience of more than a hundred years has shown that there was no sufficient cause for any such apprehension, and that the measure has worked to the advantage of the College, and not to its injury. It is but right that the State to which the College is indebted for its corporate privileges, and which has a deep interest in the proper training of her youth, should be represented at the Board and have a voice in directing the affairs of the institution and the Chief Magistrate of the State seems to be the proper person to represent her in her highest seats of learning, and to see that the interests of the State are properly cared for and the directions of the charter properly observed. From a remark made by Governor Belcher in his letter of April 2,1748, to Mr. Pemberton, it is not improbable that the Governor would have been disposed to make several members of Council ex officio members of the Board of Trustees, as well as the Governor of the Province, for in this letter he says:

"As to the matter of the President of the Trustees, I think Mr. Burr was convinced with what I said, that it would be best to be always the King’s Governor for the time being, which may be of service on many accounts. He is to be confined to a single vote, nor is he to call, or adjourn, a meeting but in conformity to the constitution. It is now thirty years since my first being one of the Trustees of Harvard College, by virtue of my being one of his Majesty’s Council for the Massachusetts Bay. I could never observe any Inconvenience in that part of the Charter. However, I will consider and talk further with some of the Trustees on this article."

The first four persons named as Trustees of the College in the charter given by Governor Belcher were members of his Majesty’s Council for New Jersey, but they were not Trustees ex officio, but by special designation. There was probably an earnest desire on the part of the friends of the College to have these gentlemen for Trustees, but they never would have

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assented to have their successors in his Majesty’s Council to be ex officio their successors in the Board of Trustees. The College was a Presbyterian College, established by Presbyterians, supported by Presbyterians, and controlled by Presbyterians, and they never would have consented to run the risk that might arise, either to the religious or Presbyterian character of their institution, from having so large a number of the Board chosen, not by the other Trustees, but by the civil power. Knowing the feeling on this subject on the part of the friends of the College, Governor Belcher, even if willing to make sundry members of the Council ex officio members of the Board, was content with carrying out his plan of making the Governor for the time being President of the Board. In doing this he did the College good service. Had he gone further in this direction, he would have turned away from the College some of those who proved to be among its most efficient friends and advocates.

The following extract is from a letter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards to Rev. Dr. John Erskine, of Scotland, of the date of May 20, 1749, and written from Northampton:

"I have heard nothing new that is very remarkable concerning the College in New Jersey. It is in its infancy; there has been considerable difficulty about settling their charter. Governor Belcher, who gave the charter, is willing to encourage and promote the College to his utmost, but differs in his opinion concerning the Constitution which will tend most to its prosperity from some of the principal ministers that have been concerned in founding the Society. He insists upon it that the Governor for the time being and four of his Majesty’s Council for the Province should always be of the Corporation of Trustees, and that the Governor should always be the President of the Corporation. The ministers are all very willing that the present Governor, who is a religious man, should be in this standing; but their difficulty is with respect to the future Governors, who they suppose are as likely to be men of no religion and Deists as otherwise. However, so the matter is settled, to the great uneasiness of Mr. Gilbert Tennent, who, it is feared, will have no further concern with the College on this account. Mr. Burr, the President of the College, is a man of religion and singular learning, and I hope the College will flourish under his care."

The following is a list of the gentlemen named in the charter given by President Hamilton in 1746, as far as positive evidence-exists on this head, viz., Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson,. Ebenezer Pemberton, and Aaron Burr.

VOL. 1—7

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The following is a list of the Trustees named in the charter given by Governor Belcher in 1748, viz., John Reading, James Hude, Andrew Johnston, Thomas Leonard, John Kinsey, Edward Shippen, William Smith, Peter Van Brugh Livingston, William Peartrec Smith, Samuel Hazard, John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton, Joseph Lamb, Gilbert Tennent, William Tennent, Richard Treat, Samuel Blair, David Cowell, Aaron Burr, Timothy Johnes, Thomas Arthur, and Jacob Green.

As already shown, it is very probable that at least nine of the gentlemen here named were Trustees under the first charter.

CHARTER OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY.

 

GEORGE THE SECOND, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, &c., to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting—

[ Preamble.]

WHEREAS sundry of our loving subjects, well-disposed and public spirited persons, have lately, by their humble petition, presented to our trusty and well-beloved Jonathan Belcher, Esquire, governor an(l commander in chief of our province of New Jersey in America, represented the great necessity of coming into some method for encouraging and promoting a learned education of our youth in New jersey, and have expressed their earnest desire that a college may .be erected in our said province of New Jersey in America, for the benefit of the inhabitants of the said province and others, wherein youth may be instructed in the learned languages, and in the liberal arts and sciences. AND WHEREAS by the fundamental concessions made at the first settlement of New jersey by the Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret, then proprietors thereof, and granted under their hands and the seal of the said province, bearing date the tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and sixty-four, it was, among other things, conceded and agreed, that no freeman within the said province of New Jersey should at any time be molested, punished, disquieted or called in question, for any difference in opinion or practice in matters of religious concernment, who do not actually disturb the civil peace of the said province; but that all and every such person or persons might, from time to time, and at all times thereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their judgments and consciences, in matters of religion, throughout the said province, they behaving themselves peaceably and quietly and not using this liberty to licentiousness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others, as by the said concessions on record in the secretary’s office of New Jersey, at Perth Amboy, in lib. 3, folio 66, &c, may appear. WHEREFORE and for that the said petitioners have also expressed their earnest desire that those of every

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CHAPTER III. THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

religious denomination may have free and equal liberty and advantages of education in the said

college, any different sentiments in religion notwithstanding. We being willing to grant the

reasonable requests and prayers of all out loving subjects, and to promote a liberal and learned education among them— KNOW YE THEREFORE, that we, considering the premises, and being willing for the future that the best means of education be established in our said province of New Jersey, for the benefit and advantage of the inhabitants of our said province and others, do, of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, by these presents, will, ordain, grant and constitute, that there be a college erected in our said province

[ College Founded ]

of New Jersey, for the education of youth in the learned languages and in the liberal arts and sciences ;* and that the trustees of the said college and their successors for ever, may and shall [Trustees a corporation ]

be one corporation. body corporate and politic, in deed, action and name, and shall be called, and named and distinguished, by the name of THE TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

[ Corporate name ]

—and further, we have willed, given, granted, constituted and appointed, and by this our present charter, of our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, we do, for us, our heirs and successors, will, give, grant, constitute, and ordain, that there shall, in the said college from henceforth for ever, be

[ Charter perpetual ]

a body politic, consisting of trustees of the said College of New Jersey. And for the more full and perfect erection of the said corporation and body politic, consisting of trustees of the College of New Jersey, we, of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, do, by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, create, make, ordain, constitute, nominate and appoint, the governor and commander in chief of our said province of New Jersey, for the time being, and

[ Names of corporators ]

also our trusty and well-beloved John Reading, James Hude, Andrew Johnston, Names of Thomas Leonard, John Kinsey, Edward Shippen and William Smith, Esquires, Peter Van-Brugh Livingston, William Peartree Smith and Samuel Hazard, gentlemen, John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton, Joseph Lamb, Gilbert Tennent, William Tennent, Richard Treat, Samuel Blair, David Cowell, Aaron Burr, Timothy Johnes, Thomas Arthur and Jacob Green, ministers of the gospel, to be trustees of the said College of New Jersey.

[Oaths to be taken ]

That the said trustees do, at their first meeting, after the receipt of these presents, and before they proceed to any business, take the oath taken appointed to be taken by an act, passed in the first year of the reign of the late king George the First, entitled, "An act for the further security of his Majesty’s person and government, and the succession of the crown in the heirs of the late princess Sophia, being protestants, and for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended prince of Wales and his open and secret abettors ;" as also that they make and subscribe the declarations mentioned in an act of parliament, made

* Extended by the Act of March 11, 1864.

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CHAPTER III. THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

[By whom oaths to be administered ]

in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of king Charles the Second, entitled "An act for preventing dangers which may happen from popish recusants;" and likewise take an oath for faithfully executing
the office or trust reposed in them, the said oaths to be administered to them by three of his Majesty’s justices of the peace, quorum unus;and when any new member or officer of this corporation is chosen, they are to take and subscribe the aforementioned oaths and declarations before their admission into their trusts or offices, the same to be administered to them in the presence of the trustees, by such person as they shall appoint for that service.*

[Notice of meeting of trustees. ]

That no meeting of the trustees shall he valid or legal for doing any meeting of business whatsoever, unless the clerk has duly and legally notified each and every member of the corporation of such meeting and that before the entering on any business, the clerk shall certify such notification under his hand, to the board of trustees.

[To fill vacancies]

That the said trustees have full power and authority or any † thirteen or greater number of them, to elect, nominate and appoint, and associate unto them, any number of persons as trustees upon any vacancy,
[ Number of trustees ]

so that the whole number of trustees exceed not ‡ twenty-three, whereof the president of said college for the time being, to be chosen as here after mentioned to be one, and twelve of the said

[Residence ]

trustees to be always such persons as are inhabitants of our said province of New Jersey. And we do further, of our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, for us, our heirs and

[Perpetual succession ]

successors, will, give, grant and appoint, that the said trustees and their successors shall, for ever hereafter, be in deed, fact and name, a body corporate and politic; and that they, the said body corporate and politic, shall be known and distinguished in all deeds, grants, bargains, sales, writings, evidences, muniments or otherwise howsoever, and in all courts for ever here after, plead and be impleaded, by the name of THE TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY.

[ Property. ]

And that they the said corporation, by the name aforesaid, shall be able and in law capable, for the use of the said college, to have, get, acquire, purchase, receive and possess lands, tenements, hereditaments, jurisdictions and franchises, for themselves and their successors, in fee simple or otherwise howsoever; and to purchase, receive or build, any house or houses, or any other buildings, as they shall think needful or convenient for the use of the said College of New Jersey, and in such place or places in New Jersey, as they the said trustees shall agree upon, and also to receive and dispose of any goods, chattels, and

 

*The entire clause relative to oaths repealed and supplied by Act of March 13, 1780.

†Altered to nine, provided that the Governor of the State, or the President of the College, or the senior Trustee, be one of the nine; by the Act of November 2, 1781, p. 18.

‡Altered to twenty-seven by the Act of April 6, 1868.

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[Limitation of value of estate. ]

other things of what nature soever, for the use aforesaid : and also to have, accept and receive any rents, profits, annuities, gifts, legacies, donations and bequests of any kind whatsoever, for the use aforesaid, so, nevertheless, that the yearly clear value of the premises do not exceed the sum of * two thousand pounds sterling: And therewith or otherwise to support and pay, as the said trustees and their successors, or the major part of such of them as (according to the provision herein afterwards) are regularly convened for that purpose, shall agree and see cause, the

[Salaries ]

president, tutors and other officers or ministers of the said college, their respective annual salaries or allowances, and all such other necessary and contingent charges as from time to time shall arise and accrue, relating to the said college; and also to grant, bargain, sell, let, set or assign, lands, tenements or hereditaments, goods or chattels, contract or do all other things

[Contracts ]

whatsoever, by the name aforesaid, and for the use aforesaid, in as full and ample manner, to all intent and purposes, as any natural person or other body politic or corporate is able to do, by the laws of our realm of Great Britain, or of our said province of New Jersey.

[ Who is to preside ]

And of our further grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, to the intent that our said corporation and body politic may answer the end of their erection and constitution, and may have perpetual succession and continue for ever, We do for us, our heirs and successors, hereby will, give and grant, unto the said trustees of the College of New Jersey, and to their successors for ever, that when any thirteen of the said trustees or of their successors are convened and met together as aforesaid, for the service of the said college, the governor and commander in chief of our said province of New Jersey, and in his absence, the president of the said college, and in the absence of the said governor and president, the eldest trustee present at such meeting, from time to time, shall be president of the said trustees in all their meetings: and at any time or times such

[Quorum. ]

thirteen trustees convened and met as aforesaid, shall be capable to act as fully and amply, to all intents and purposes, as if all the trustees of the said college were personally present; provided always, that a majority of the said thirteen trustees be of the said province of New Jersey, except after regular notice they fail of coming, in which case those that are present are hereby empowered to act, the different place of their abode notwithstanding; and all affairs, and actions whatsoever, under the care of the said trustees, shall be determined by the majority or greater

[Majority of quorum to decide ]

number of those thirteen, so convened and met together, the president whereof shall have no more than a single vote.

[Meetings, how called ]

And we do for us, our heirs and successors, hereby will, give and grant, full power and authority, to any six or more of the said trustees, to call meetings of the said trustees, from time to time, and to order

* Altered to one hundred thousand dollars, by the Act of March 11, 1864.

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CHAPTER III. THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

notice to the said trustees of the times and places of meeting for the service aforesaid.

[Election of President. ]

And also we do hereby for us, our heirs and successors, will, give and grant, to the said trustees of the College of New Jersey, and to their successors for ever, that the said trustees do elect, nominate and appoint such a qualified person as they, at the major part of any thirteen of them convened for that purpose as above directed, shall think fit, to be the president of the said college, and to have the immediate care of the education and government of such students as shall be sent to, and admitted into the said college for instruction and education; and also

[Tutors and Professors ]

that the said trustees do elect, nominate and appoint so many tutors and professors, to assist, the president of the said college, in the education and government of the students belonging to it, as they, the said trustees, or their successors, or the major part of any thirteen of them, which shall convene for that purpose as above directed, shall, from time to time, and at any time hereafter, think needful and serviceable to the interests of the said college; and also, that the said trustees and their successors, or the major part of any thirteen of them, which shall convene for that

[Power of removal ]

purpose, as above directed, shall at any time displace and discharge from the service of the said college such president, tutors and professors, and to elect others in their room and stead; and

[ Other officers ]

also, that the said trustees or their successors, or the major part of any thirteen of them, which shall convene for that purpose, as above directed, do from time to time, as occasion shall require, elect, constitute and appoint a treasurer, a clerk, an usher, and a steward, for the said college,
and appoint to them, and each of them, their, respective business and trusts, and displace and discharge from the service of the said college such treasurer, clerk, usher or steward, and to elect

[Powers of officers ]

others in their Powers of room and stead; which president, tutors, professors, treasurer, clerk,

officers, usher and steward, so elected and appointed, we do for us, our heirs and successors, by these presents, constitute and establish in their several offices, and do give them, and every of them, full power and authority to exercise the same in the said College of New Jersey, according to the direction, and during the pleasure of the said trustees, as fully and freely as any other, the like officers in our universities or any of our colleges, in our realm of Great Britain, lawfully may and ought to do.

[Election of Trustees ]

And also that the said trustees, and their successors, or the major part of any thirteen of them, which shall convene for that purpose as above directed, as often as one or more of the said trustees shall happen to die, or by removal or otherwise shall become unfit or incapable, according to their judgment, to serve the interest of the said college, do, as soon as conveniently may be, after the death, removal or such unfitness or incapacity of such trustee or trustees to serve the interest of the said college, elect and appoint such other trustee or trustees as shall supply the place of him or them so dying, or otherwise becoming unfit or incapable to serve the interest of the said college; and every trustee

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CHAPTER III. THE CHARTERS OF 1746 AND 1748.

so elected and appointed shall, by virtue of these presents, and of such election, and appointment, be vested with all the power and privileges which any of the other trustees of the said college are hereby invested with.

[Laws for the government of the college ]

And we do further, of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, will, give and grant, and by these presents do, for us, our heirs government and successors, will, give and grant, unto the said trustees of the College of New Jersey, that they and their successors, or the major part of any thirteen of them, which shall convene for that purpose as above directed, may make, and they are hereby fully empowered from time to time, freely and lawfully to make and establish such ordinances, orders and laws, as may tend to the good and wholesome government of the said college, and all the students and the several officers and ministers thereof, and to the public benefit of the same, not repugnant to the laws and statutes of our realm of Great Britain, or of this our province of New Jersey, and not excluding any person of any religious denomination whatsoever from free and equal liberty and advantage of education, or from any of the liberties, privileges, or immunities of the said college, on account of his or their being of a religious profession different from the said trustees of the said college; and such ordinances, orders and laws, which shall be so as aforesaid made, we do, by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, ratify, allow of and confirm, as good and effectual, to oblige and bind all the said students and the several officers and ministers of the said college; and we do hereby authorize and empower the said trustees of the college, and the president, tutors and professors by them elected and appointed, to put such ordinances and laws in execution, to all proper intents and purposes.

[Degrees ]

And we do further, of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, will, give and grant, unto the said trustees of the College of New Jersey, that, for the encouragement of learning and animating the students of the said college to diligence, industry, and a laudable progress in literature, that they and their successors, or the major part of any thirteen of them, convened for that purpose as above directed, do, by the president of the said college for the time being, or by any other deputed by them, give and grant any such degree and degrees to any of the students of the said college, or to any others by them thought worthy thereof, as are usually granted in either of our universities or any other college in our realm of Great Britain ;* and that they do sign and

[Diplomas ]

seal diplomas or certificates of such graduations, to be kept by the graduates as perpetual memorials or testimonials thereof.

[Seal ]

And further, of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, see do, by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant unto the said trustees of the College of New Jersey and to their

* Extended by the Act of March 29, 1866.

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successors, that they and their successors shall have a common seal, under which they may pass all diplomas, certificates of degrees, and all other the affairs and business of and concerning the said corporation, or of and concerning the said College of New jersey, which shall be engraven in such form and with such inscription as shall be devised by the said trustees of the said college, or the major part of any thirteen of them, convened for the service of the said college as above directed.

[Inferior officers ]

And we do further, for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant unto the said trustees of the College of New jersey and their successors, or the major part of any thirteen of them, convened for the service of the college as above directed, full power and authority from time to time, to nominate and appoint all other inferior officers and ministers, which they shall think to be convenient and necessary for the use of the college, not herein particularly named or mentioned, and which are accustomary in our universities, or in any of our colleges in our realm of Great Britain, which officers or ministers we do hereby empower to execute their offices or trusts as fully and freely as any other the like officers or ministers, in and of our universities or any other college in our realm of Great Britain, lawfully may or ought to do.

And lastly, our express will and pleasure is, and we do by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, give and grant unto the said trustees of the College of New Jersey and to their successors for ever, that these our letters patent, or the enrolment thereof, shall be good and effectual in the law, to all intents and purposes, against us, our heirs and successors, without any other license, grant or confirmation from us, our heirs and successors, hereafter by the said trustees to be had or obtained; notwithstanding the not reciting or misrecital, or not naming or misnaming of the aforesaid, offices, franchises, privileges, immunities, or other the premises, or any of them: and notwithstanding a writ of ad quod damnum hath not issued forth to inquire of the premises or any of them, before the ensealing hereof; any statute, act, ordinance or provision, or any other matter or thing to the contrary notwithstanding; to have, hold and enjoy, all and singular the privileges, advantages, liberties, immunities and all other the premises herein and hereby granted and given, or which are meant, mentioned, or intended to be herein and hereby given and granted, unto them the said trustees of the said College of New Jersey, and to their successors for ever.

IN TESTIMONY whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent, and the great seal of our said province of New Jersey to be hereunto affixed. WITNESS our trusty and well-beloved Jonathan Belcher, Esquire, governor and commander in chief of our said province of New jersey, this fourteenth day of September, in the twenty-second year of our reign, and in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and forty-eight.

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I have perused and considered the written charter of incorporation, and find nothing contained therein inconsistent with his Majesty’s interest or the honor of the Crown.

  1. WARRELL, Att. Gen’l.

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CHAPTER IV.

MEMOIR OF GOVERNOR BELCHER, AND BRIEF NOTICES OF THE

TRUSTEES NAMED IN THE TWO CHARTERS OF THE COLLEGE.

 

THE Governor was not, properly speaking, the founder of the College, in the sense of being its originator, for the College was in existence, and in active operation, before his arrival. He was not, therefore, to use a phrase of Lord Coke’s, its "Fundator Incipiens," although, in view of what he did towards the building up of the institution, he may be regarded as its "Fundator Perficiens;" and in this latter sense only can the statement in one of the addresses of the Trustees to the Governor be justified, when they assign as a reason why the first College edifice should be called "Belcher Hall," that "the College of New Jersey views you in the light of its founder, patron, and benefactor." That this view of Governor Belcher’s relations to the College is a perfectly accurate one is evident from the extracts given in this work from his letters to various correspondents, and from his replies to the addresses presented to him by the Trustees of the College. The extracts here referred to are those given in the narrative of the two charters of 1746 and of 1748, in the chapter on the Design of the College, and in the History of President Burr’s Administration.

Governor Belcher was the son of the Hon. Andrew Belcher, of Cambridge, one of his Majesty’s Council for Massachusetts Bay, and he was born on the 8th of January, 1682. He was graduated at Harvard in 1699; and soon after he went to Europe, where he resided six years. During this period he formed an acquaintance with the Princess Sophia Dorothea, of Hanover, and with her son, George Augustus, which opened the way for his future advancement, upon the accession of this prince, in 1727, to the throne of England, as George the Second.

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On his return he married and settled in Boston, where he became a merchant of great reputation and considerable wealth. His wife was a daughter of Lieutenant-Governor Partridge, of New Hampshire. She died on the 1st of October, 1736. He was appointed a member of the Provincial Council, and in 1729 he was sent to England as agent of the Province; and on the 29th of November. of the same year he was made Governor of Massachusetts and of New Hampshire, which office he held for twelve years. Upon becoming Governor he relinquished his mercantile pursuits and devoted himself to his official duties. His home was distinguished for its elegant hospitality, and he is said to have impaired his private fortune in upholding the dignity of his office, of which, both in Massachusetts and in New Jersey, he had a very high estimate.

We learn from President Quincy’s "History of Cambridge University" that Governor Belcher, as Governor Burnet had done before him, made a formal and public visit to Harvard. Of this visit the President gives the following account:

"The visit of Governor Belcher to the College appears, according to the records, to have been attended with like ceremonies. He was, on the 9th of September, 1730, accompanied to Cambridge by a 'military troop, then waited on by two companies of foot.’ When he arrived at the College, after having been for a while in Mr. Flynt’s chamber, the bell tolled, and the scholars assembled in the Hall, into which the Governor and Corporation having entered, Mr. Hobby made a Latin oration, and his Excellency made a very handsome answer in Latin. This done, and his Excellency the Governor, his Majesty’s Council, the Tutors, Professors, and sundry gentlemen, who came on the occasion, dined together it the library, with the Corporation.

"These forms and ceremonies, of the last and preceding age," adds President Quincy, "are interesting as characteristic of the customs and manners of Massachusetts under the Colonial and Provincial Governments."

The "History of the College of New Jersey" furnishes examples of somewhat similar ceremonies, on occasions of the first visits made to the College by the Colonial Governors.

On the death of President Wadsworth, of Harvard, which occurred on the 16th of March, 1737, the other members of the Corporation were equally divided in opinion as to the proper person to be chosen his successor, one half being in favor of electing the Rev. Mr. Holyoke, a minister of Marblehead, and

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the other half being for the Rev. Joshua Gee, whom President Quincy describes as a man of considerable genius, not deficient in learning, holding all the peculiar doctrines of Calvin with a bigoted pertinacity, and naturally of a fiery zeal, which, if it had not been quenched by constitutional indolence, would probably have rendered him a firebrand among the churches. Perhaps this description of a rigid Calvinistic divine, by one of such liberal views in matters of religion as President Quincy, should be taken cum grano sails. Still, it may be sufficiently near the mark to account for Governor Belcher’s influence being finally cast in favor of Mr. Holyoke, of whose thorough Calvinism some of the stricter sort stood in doubt, without ascribing the Governor’s course "to the tact of a politician, who saw clearly that the times of denunciation and exclusion were fast passing away," and who was satisfied, or willing to appear to be convinced, upon the sole authority of Barnard" (also a minister of Marblehead, and an intimate friend of Holyoke), "although the terms in which he vouched for the Calvinism of Holyoke placed his catholicism and liberality in high relief, and conveyed a severe sarcasm on those who were counteracting his election by scattering doubts concerning the soundness of his principles." Upon hearing Mr. Barnard’s account of the character and religious views of Mr. Holyoke, Governor Belcher said, "Then I believe he must be the man." "And accordingly," adds President Quincy, "he was the man, and was elected in both Boards* unanimously." This statement shows at once the sound judgment of his Excellency, his freedom from undue bias, and his great influence, at that time, in shaping the measures of the authorities of Harvard.

Governor Belcher presided at the inauguration of President Holyoke, and also on this occasion made a speech in Latin, in the course of which he delivered to the President the charter, key, etc. The President replied in Latin. Governor Belcher’s

* The Boards referred to above were the Corporation, consisting of the President and six Fellows, whose privilege it was to nominate the officers of the College, and the Beard of Overseers, consisting of the Governor, Deputy-Governor, members of the Council, arid others, who had the power to confirm or to reject.

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course with respect to the University was such as naturally tended to gratify the friends of the institution generally; and had he been equally fortunate in pleasing the supporters and opponents of his administration, he might possibly have held the government during life. But his insisting, as his predecessors had done, that a sufficient and fixed salary for the support of the Governor should be voted by the General Court, and his opposition to a measure known as "the land bank company," helped to undermine his influence and to prepare the way for his removal. As the representative of the King, he was not indisposed to exercise all the authority given him in his commission; and in deciding upon the course he ought to pursue in reference to measures bearing upon the honor of the Crown, the welfare of the Province, or the interests of religion and learning, he was not distrustful of his own judgment, although as to particular points he deemed it prudent to avail himself of the opinions of others whose position, ability, and good sense commanded his respect and confidence; and sometimes, though not always, he yielded his own judgment to theirs. In religion he was a decided Calvinist; also an ardent friend to revivals, and a favorite of those engaged in promoting them. That eminent evangelist, the Rev. George Whitefield, was most kindly received by him, both in Massachusetts and in New Jersey.

His freedom in the utterance of his opinions was very marked, and not always the most discreet; and this is said to have been one and a principal cause of the hostility against him on the part of those who succeeded in their efforts to have him removed from his office as Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

That he had been misrepresented by his political enemies, he gave to King’s Council, at the English Court, such clear evidence that he was promised the first vacancy in the gubernatorial chairs of the American Provinces; and happily for the interests of the country, and more especially for the interests of sound learning and fervent piety, this first vacancy occurred in the Province of New Jersey, in which, at this very time, efforts were making to establish the institution ever since known as "The College of New Jersey," although it is not unfrequently

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spoken of under the names of" Princeton College" and "Nassau Hall."

Upon being superseded by Governor Shirley, in 1741, Governor Belcher went to England, and did not return to America until the summer of 1747, when he came back with the commission of Captain-General and Governor of the Province of New Jersey, etc. The date of his corn mission was that of July 18, 1746, and it was approved in Council August 22 of that same year; but such appear to have been the straitened circumstances of the Governor at this time, that he was unable for many months to pay the requisite fees; and for the funds with which they were paid he was indebted to the liberality of sundry persons, members of the Society of Friends, in England.

Sailing from England in the Scarborough, an English vessel of war, he arrived here on the 8th of August, 1747, after a tedious passage of nearly ten weeks; and, as mentioned by him in a letter of the 16th of September, to a friend in London (Rev. Mr. Bradbury), he was received by the people with all possible appearance of respect and satisfaction.. In this letter he also speaks of putting forward the building of a college, and in a letter to the Committee of the West Jersey Society of London he says:

"The people of New Jersey are in a poor situation for educating their children, and the project for a college had been started before my arrival, and where it should be placed was a matter of dispute between the gentlemen of East and West Jersey, but I have got them to agree upon Princeton."

And in a letter of October 2, of the same year, he says, to another friend (Mr. Walley):

"Princeton is fixed upon for the site of the College, and such a nursery for religion and learning is much wanted."

We are not to infer from these statements that there was any formal vote or agreement among the friends of the College that it should be permanently established at Princeton, but that those of them with whom the Governor conversed had intimated to him a willingness to accede to his suggestion, "if," to use an expression common in ecclesiastical parlance, "the way should be clear."

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For ten years Governor Belcher administered, with great ability and much to the satisfaction of the people generally, the government of this Province. The disturbances existing before his coming were quelled by his mild and conciliatory course, and he had the esteem and encouragement of the friends of evangelical piety and sound learning in his efforts to place upon a firm foundation the College which, to use his own expression, "he had adopted as a daughter."

Governor Belcher was the first to follow the notable example set by acting Governor John Hamilton, in granting a charter, with the consent of Council, without any reference to the Assembly, and without waiting for any special instructions from the English Court. (See chapter i., page 45.) In this respect, Hamilton first, and Belcher next, in boldness and consummate judgment, went beyond the much-lauded measure of Governor Dudley, of Massachusetts, in prompting and approving the declaration by the General Court of that Province in 1707, that the act of 1650, respecting Harvard College, having never been repealed, was to be deemed the law governing that institution, and thus secured its perpetuity and its freedom from further interference by the Crown, which had annulled its charters, granted subsequently to that act. The example of President Hamilton was followed not only by Governor Belcher, but by other of the Provincial Governors, as in the cases of King’s College, New York City; Dartmouth College, New Hampshire; Queen’s College, New Jersey; which were all, in a measure at least, indebted for their existence to these precedents of 1746 and of 1748.

Of the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, and of the Rev. Aaron Burr, Trustees of the College under the first charter, memoirs will be given in connection with the narratives of their administrations as Presidents of the College.

The Rev. John Pierson, a Trustee under both charters, was pastor of the Presbyterian church in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey. He was a graduate of Yale in 1711, and was a son of the Rev. Abraham Pierson, the first rector or President of that College; and he was the maternal grandfather of the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, the eighth President of

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the College of New Jersey. Mr. Pierson was the Moderator of the Synod of New Jersey in 1749.

The Rev. John Pemberton, D.D., also known to be a Trustee under both charters, was graduated at Harvard College in 1721. His father, of the same name, was at this time minister of the South Church, Boston. Dr. Pemberton, the Trustee, was pastor of the Presbyterian church in the city of New York from 1727 until 1753 or 1754, when he removed to Boston and took charge of a church in that city. In 1746 he was the Moderator of the Synod of New York. He died on the9gth of September, 1777, at the age of seventy-two years. It was only during his residence in New York that he held the position of Trustee.

The Hon. John Reading, the first person named as a Trustee in Governor Belcher’s charter, was a resident of Hunterdon County, and the senior member of the Governor’s Council at the time this charter was given; and upon the death of Governor Belcher he became the acting Governor of the Province, as he had been for nearly a year before Governor Belcher’s arrival.

Hon. James Hude, a native of Scotland, emigrated to this country while yet a young man, and made New Brunswick the place of his residence. He took an active part in the erection of the First Presbyterian Church in that city, of which church he was an elder during the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Arthur. Mr. Hude was for some time Mayor of New Brunswick, and at the time of his appointment as Trustee of the College he was a member of Governor Belcher’s Council.

Hon. Andrew Johnston was a resident of Perth Amboy, an attendant at the Episcopal church of that city, a member of Governor Belcher’s Council, Treasurer of East Jersey, and was the first person chosen Treasurer of the College.

Both Mr. Hude and Mr. Johnston were members of the Provincial Council when the Honorable John Hamilton, President of the Council, gave the first charter, and it is quite probable that they were Trustees of the College under that charter also. (See page 47.)

Hon. Thomas Leonard was a member of Governor Belcher’s

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Council, a resident of Princeton, and a gentleman of wealth and influence. He laid the corner-stone of "Nassau Hall."

The Leonards of New Jersey were of English origin, and they were descended from a family of that name settled at Raynham, Massachusetts, in 1652. At this place they introduced the first forge set up in America,and in 1797 it was in the possession of this family of the sixth generation. The Leonards were remarkable for their longevity, promotion to public office, a hereditary attachment to the manufacture "of iron, and kindness to the Indians." "Of the great ages attained by this family, it is stated that in 1793 it was known that one had died aged one hundred, two over ninety, seventeen over eighty, fifty-three over seventy-three. Thirteen had been graduated at Cambridge." *

King Philip’s hunting-house stood a mile and a quarter from the forge, and Philip and the Leonards lived on such friendly terms that as soon as the war of 1675 broke out, which ended in the death of the King and in the ruin of his tribe,." he issued strict orders to all his Indians never to hurt the Leonards." * As early as 1721, Mr. Leonard was a member of the Assembly of New Jersey, from Somerset County; and he died in 1760.

The Hon. John Kinsey, the next in the list of Trustees, was, at the date of the charter, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Society of Friends. In the preparation of this instrument Governor Belcher sought his advice, and he placed it in his hands for revision before submitting it to the Attorney-General of New Jersey for his approval. At the earnest desire of Governor Belcher, Chief-Justice Kinsey continued to serve as a Trustee.

He was a native of England, and upon coming to this country settled first in New Jersey. In 1716 he was a representative to the Provincial Assembly from Middlesex County, and the same year, and for several years in immediate succession, he was chosen Speaker of this body; and again in 1730 and 1733. From New Jersey he removed to Philadelphia, where he was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, of

* Morse’s American Gazetteer.

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which he was the Speaker for several sessions. (See Elmer’s "Reminiscences.")

David Paul Brown, author of the "Forum and Bar," speaks of Mr. Kinsey as being for some years, with Andrew Hamilton, the only great lawyer in the Province. In the case of the Rev. Wm. Tennent, tried for perjury, Mr. Kinsey was associated with Mr. Win. Smith, of New York, and with Mr. John Coxe, of New Jersey, as counsel for the defence.

A few years after the establishment of the Court of Chancery in Pennsylvania by Governor Sir W. Keith, he caused Mr. Kinsey’s hat to be taken off by an officer of the court, whilst Mr. K. was attending to some business before him as Chancellor. This gave great offence to the Quakers, and, although they were afterwards allowed to wear their hats, the court itself was soon after entirely set aside. (See Field’s "Provincial Courts" and Proud’s "History of Pennsylvania.")

In 1738, Mr. Kinsey was Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, and in 1743 he was made Chief Justice of that Province: this latter office he retained until his death, which occurred at Burlington, New Jersey, in May, 1750.

In writing to Mr. Richard Partridge, then in London, Governor Belcher, in a letter of the date of April 22, 1748, says of Mr. Kinsey, "He is the next man in honor and power to the Governor of Pennsylvania." And again, in writing to the same gentleman, in November, 1750, he says, "My friend Kinsey is dead."

Hon. Edward Shippen was by profession a merchant, but in 1749 he was made a Judge of the Common Pleas, and also of the Orphans’ Court and Quarter Sessions, of Philadelphia. He had for his associates on the bench Franklin, Lawrence, and Maddox. (See Brown’s "Forum.")

He was evidently a man of note and influence, and took an active part in promoting the interests of the College. Owing to his advanced age, he resigned his place at the Board in 1767.

His son, Edward Shippen, was for some years Chief Justice of the State of Pennsylvania; and his younger son, Joseph Shippen, a graduate of the College in 1753, was Secretary of the Province of Pennsylvania. Judge Shippen was a scholarly

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man, and occasionally corresponded with his sons in the Latin and French languages.

Hon. Win. Smith was an eminent lawyer of New York City. He was born in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1696, and emigrated to America in 1715. He was graduated at Yale College in 1719, and was a Tutor in the same from 1722 to 1724. In 1736 he was made Recorder of the city of New York, and subsequently a member of the King’s Council, and also a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Province. Of the part he took in the Zenger trial for libel, and of the consequences to himself and to his friend James Alexander, Esq., mention was made in the first chapter of this work; but nothing is there said of the grounds of the exceptions taken by them to the competency of the court to try the case. They were these:

"1. Because the commission was granted during pleasure, whereas it ought to be granted during good behavior.

"2. That the commission was granted by a Justice of the Common Pleas, whereas it could only be granted by a Judge of the King’s Bench.

"3. That the form of the commission was not warranted by law.

"4. It appears that the commission was allowed by William Cosby, Esq., Governor of the Colony, and without the advice or consent of his Majesty’s Council of this Colony, without which the Governor could not grant the same.

"When these exceptions were offered to the Court, April 15, 1735, the Chief Justice said to Messrs. Alexander and Smith that they ought well to consider the consequences of what they offered; to which they answered, they had well considered the consequences; and Mr. Smith further said, that he was so well satisfied of the right of the subject to take an exception to the commission of a judge, if he thought such commission illegal, that he durst venture his life upon that point.

"The next day Mr. Smith asked to be heard by the Court on these two points:

"1. Whether the subject has the right to take such exceptions.

"2. That the exceptions were legal and valid.

"To which the Chief Justice said, ‘That they would neither hear nor allow the exceptions; . . . and that either we must go from the bench or you from the bar.’

"Accordingly, by order of the Court, they were ‘excluded from any further practice in this Court.' " (See Brown’s "Forum," pp. 287, 288.)

In 1754, with the aid of Messrs. James Alexander, P. V. B. and W. Livingston, and J. Morin Scott, he raised £6oo to buy books to lend to the people, which led to the establishment of the New York Society Library." (Duer’s "Life of Lord Stirling.")

The following obituary notice of Mr. Smith appeared in the "New York Gazette," November 22, 1769:

"Last Wednesday morning departed this life, in the seventy-third year of his

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age, the Honorable "Wm. Smith, Esq., one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, and late one of his Majesty’s Council for this province. He was born in England, and arrived here in 1715. He practised the law with great reputation, and was esteemed one of the most eminent in his profession. In 1753 he was made one of his Majesty’s Council, which office he afterwards resigned, and in the year 1763 he was made one of the Judges of the Supreme Court. He was a gentleman of great erudition, and was the most eloquent speaker in the province. He was of an amiable and exemplary life and conversation, and a zealous and inflexible friend to the cause of religion and liberty."

 

Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Esq., was an eminent merchant in the city of New York, and a man of great public spirit. He was a son of Philip Livingston, of Livingston Manor, and the eldest brother of Governor Livingston, of New Jersey. He was graduated at Yale in 1731. He married Mary, a daughter of James Alexander, above mentioned. In the latter part of his life he removed to Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the vicinity of which he purchased a farm, that has remained in possession of his family ever since, the present proprietor being John Kean, Esq.

Win, Peartree Smith was the grandson of Win. Smith, Governor-General of the island of Jamaica, who was married at Port Royal to Frances Peartree, and who died at New York April 2, 1714, leaving two sons, the younger of whom, William, was the father of William Peartree Smith, who was born in New York in 1723. He was graduated at Yale College in 1742, and studied law, but did not engage in the practice of it, finding sufficient employment in attending to his own estate and in promoting useful objects. Governor Belcher, as early as 1748, speaks of him as his correspondent in New York, and as being "a very worthy and religious young man." The family was one of much taste and refinement. He married Mary Bryant, daughter of Captain Bryant, of Amboy, and left one daughter, the wife of the Hon. Elisha Boudinot, and one son, Win. Pitt Smith, M.D. Ten other children died in early life. He joined Cummings, Livingston, and Scott in publishing the "Watch-Tower," in the city of New York, in 1755. He was an ardent patriot, and took a great interest in the struggle between the Provinces and the mother-country, and lost much of his property by the depreciation of the currency. ‘ He was,"

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says Dr. Hatfield, "one of the most distinguished civilians of the day." Upon the marriage of his daughter he removed to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and while living there he was arrested by the British and taken to New York, and, had it not been for the interposition of his numerous friends in that city, would have been sent to the prison-ship. He resigned his place at the Board in 1793, having been for at least forty-five years a trustee of the College. He died in 1801.

Samuel Hazard, Esq., was the second son of Nathaniel Hazard, a merchant of New York. He removed to Philadelphia, and continued to reside there. He had two sons, one of whom, Ebenezer Hazard, a graduate of Nassau Hall, succeeded Mr. Bache as Postmaster-General of the United States.

Mr. Hazard, the Trustee, and Mr. Robert Smith, the Architect, were a committee to select the site for Nassau Hall.

Of the Rev. John Pierson and the Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, the first two ministers of the gospel named in the second charter, mention was made above as being Trustees under the first charter.

The next in order is the Rev. Joseph Lamb. He was graduated at Yale in 1717, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Long Island, and installed pastor of Mattituck. Being called to Baskingridge, May, 1744, he joined the New Brunswick Presbytery. He was the Moderator of the Synod of New York in 1748, his predecessors in that office being, Jonathan Dickinson, 1745; Ebenezer Pemberton, 1746; Gilbert Tennent, 1747. Mr. Lamb died in July, 1749.

The Rev. Gilbert Tennent and the Rev. William Tennent were born in Ireland, and came to America with their father, the Rev. William Tennent, Senior, September, 1716. Their father accepted a call to Neshaminy in 1726, at which place he established the famous Log College, "at which," says Whitefleld, "eight ministers trained by him were sent out before the autumn of 1739. Of these, four were his own sons." As frequent mention will be elsewhere made in this history of these two distinguished and devoted servants of Christ, and our object being mainly to identify, as far as can be done, the first Trustees under each of the two College charters, we shall merely state

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in this connection that the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, D.D., was first settled as pastor of the Presbyterian church at New Brunswick, in 1726, and removed to Philadelphia in 1744, where he had charge of the Second Presbyterian Church until his death, in January, 1764. He was an eloquent preacher, and an earnest controversialist, both in the pulpit and out of it, making a liberal use of the press in maintaining his own opinions, and in attacking, and not always in the mildest terms, the opinions of those from whom he differed. He was beyond question the leading man among his brethren of the Presbytery of New Brunswick—not to say of the Synod of New York—after the death of Mr. Dickinson.

Of Dr. Gilbert Tennent, and also of his father and three brothers, William, Jr., John, and Charles, interesting memoirs are given in Dr. A. Alexander’s "History of the Log College."

The Rev. William Tennent, Jr., was ordained by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in October, 1733, and succeeded his younger brother, John Tennent, as pastor of the Freehold Presbyterian church, now known as the Tennent Church, Monmouth County, New Jersey. On different occasions he was chosen pro tem. President of the College. A sketch of his life, recording several extraordinary incidents, was published by Hon. Elias Boudinot, LL.D., in "The Assembly’s Missionary Magazine" of 1806.

The accuracy of this sketch with respect to some matters connected with Mr. William Tennent’s trial, on the charge of perjury in the case of Mr. Roland, before Chief-Justice Robert Hunter Morris, has been called in question by two such eminent lawyers as Judge R. S. Field and Chancellor H. W. Green, who, in the opinion of the writer, have made good the exceptions taken by them to some of the details. Chancellor Green's paper was published in the "Princeton Review" for 1868, and Judge Field’s in the "Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society," vol. vi.

The errors in the narrative of the trial can be readily accounted for, if we bear in mind that it was written between sixty and seventy years after the trial took place, and about

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thirty years after Mr. Tennent’s decease; and further, that the incidents mentioned were given upon the authority of persons who had no personal knowledge of any of the facts, and whose belief in the truthfulness of what they had heard respecting the trial rested solely upon mere traditions, in which the facts were so intermingled with wrong deductions from them as to give to the entire narrative an air of fiction. If all the incidents, both those known and those unknown to the author of the narrative had been given in their proper order, there would have been no difficulty in showing that they were such as might have occurred in the usual course of divine providence, without requiring any supernatural interposition through the medium of dreams. Granting that two of the witnesses had the very dreams they are reported to have had, it is far more likely that the dreams were in consequence of what they had previously heard respecting the bills of indictment found against Mr. Tennent and Mr. Stevens, than that their first information on the subject was derived from the dreams; which, indeed, is not directly affirmed, but is left to be inferred from the manner in which they are introduced into the narrative. The trial took place in June, 1742, ten months after the indictment, and of course there was ample time to summon all the witnesses required in the case.

There is another objection to the narrative, inasmuch as it exalts Mr. Tennent’s piety at the expense of his judgment, the right exercise of which would have led him, contrary to what is said in the narrative, to employ every lawful means within his reach to meet the unjust and cruel charge brought against him, and from which he was triumphantly vindicated by the testimony adduced at the trial and by the verdict of the jury.

The Rev. Richard Treat, D.D., was born in Milford, Connecticut, September 25, 1705, and was a descendant or near relative of Governor Robert Treat. He was graduated at Yale in 1725, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and installed pastor of the church of Abington, December 30, 1731. But upon the division in the Synod of Philadelphia, by which the Presbytery of New Brunswick and their adherents were excluded from the Synod, he joined this Presbytery, of

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which he was an influential member. He died November 20,

1778.

Rev. Samuel Blair was born in Ireland, June 14, 1712; he came to this country while yet a lad. He pursued his studies at the "Log College," and was licensed November, 1733, at Abington, by the Philadelphia Presbytery. He accepted a call to Middletown and Shrewsbury, New Jersey, and was ordained by the East Jersey Presbytery in 1734. At the earnest invitation of the people at Fagg’s Manor, Pennsylvania, he removed to that place, and was installed pastor of their church in April, 1740. Here he established a classical and theological school, which under his wise and skilful guidance, and that of his brother, the Rev. John Blair, his successor at Fagg’s Manor, rose to be an institution of much note. He died July 5, 1751. The Rev. Samuel Davies, in writing to the Rev. Dr. Bellamy, says, ‘The greatest light in these parts is just about to take wing." (See Rev. R. Webster’s "History.")

Rev. David Cowell was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, ifl 1704, and was graduated at Harvard in 1732. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, November 3,1736, and installed pastor of the church at Trenton. He was an ardent and devoted friend of the College, and had much to do in placing Mr. Davies in the presidency of that institution. To Mr. D. he wrote, "I am sensible that your leaving Virginia is attended with great difficulties, but I cannot think your affairs are of equal importance with the College."

He died December 1, 1760, and his funeral sermon was preached by President Davies, who said of him, "In the charter of the College of New Jersey he was nominated one of the Trustees, and but few invested with the same trust discharged it with so much zeal, diligence, and alacrity;" adding, "The College of New Jersey has lost a father, and I have lost a friend." (See Rev. Dr. Hall’s "History of the First Church, Trenton.")

He was the only member of the Synod of Philadelphia whose name appears in the charter; for, although Drs. Tennent and Treat resided in Pennsylvania, they were members of the Synod of New York.

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Rev. Timothy Johnes, D.D., was of Welsh descent, and was born at South Hampton, Long Island, New York, May 24, 1717. He was graduated at Yale in 1737. He was ordained February 9, 1743, and was pastor of the church at Morristown until his death, September, 1794, at the age of seventy-eight years. In 1783 he received from Yale the degree of Doctor in Divinity.

Rev. Thomas Arthur was graduated at Yale in 1743, and was ordained by the Presbytery of New York in 1746, and settled as pastor of the Presbyterian church at New Brunswick, at which place he died, February 2, 1751, aged twenty-seven. "He was a good scholar, a graceful orator, and a finished preacher."

Rev. Jacob Green was born at Malden, Massachusetts, January 22, 1723. He was graduated at Harvard in 1744. He came to New Jersey, and was ordained and installed at Hanover in 1746.

On the 22d of November, 1758, he was chosen Vice-President of the College pro tem., and for six months discharged the duties pertaining to the office of President.

He was father of the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, the eighth President of the College. He was a member of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey of 1776, and the chairman of the committee that prepared the first Constitution of the State.

In the second charter the names of the lay Trustees appear to be inserted in the order of their rank, if they held office, and of their age or social position, if not in office. Hence the names of the members of the Governor’s Council are given first. Then occur the names of Chief-Justice Kinsey and Judge Shippen, of Pennsylvania. The name of William Smith, the distinguished attorney and counsellor of New York, comes next. He was not made a judge till 1763. After him are named Peter V. B. Livingston, William Peartree Smith, and Samuel Hazard, in order of age, most probably.

The names of the clergy are given according to the dates of their respective ordinations.

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IN the Introduction to this work it has been made to appear that the College owed its origin mainly to the foresight and efforts of the Rev. Messrs. Dickinson, Pierson, Pemberton, Burr, and their coadjutors.

The first named of these eminent and good men was the one selected by his associates to take the oversight of their infant seminary of learning.

In the triennial catalogue of the College, Mr. Dickinson is spoken of as President in 1746; but this is an error, and it arose from confounding the date of the first charter with the time when Mr. Dickinson was chosen President of the College, which most probably took place in April, I~47, and certainly not before February of that year. For on the 2d of February, 0. S., corresponding to the ,3th of February, N. S., the Trustees announced to the public that a charter for a College had been granted to them, and that the College would be opened some time in May next, at the latest; but in this their first advertisement they make no mention of the choice of a President, nor of the location of the College. In their next public notice, of the date of April 27, 1747, they say that "the Trustees of the College of New Jersey have appointed the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson President of said College, which" (they add) "will be opened in the fourth week of May next, at Elizabethtown. At which Time and Place all Persons suitably qualified may be admitted to an Academic Education."

That the first term of the College began at the time here specified there can be no reasonable doubt; and the evidence adduced shows that the charter under which Mr. Dickinson

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conducted the instruction and the government of the College was in full force until it was superseded by the one given by Governor Belcher in 1748.*

Within one year from the opening of the College there were several students ready to receive their first degree in the Arts. And this fact renders it morally certain that some of these candidates, if not all, had been in training under the supervision and instruction of President Dickinson. As just mentioned, the first term began in the fourth week of May, 1747. Mr. Dickinson died on the 7th of October of the same year. The third Wednesday of May, 1748, was the day selected for the first Commencement; and had it taken place at that time the first graduates of the College of New Jersey would have been admitted to their Bachelor’s degree under the charter given by President Hamilton in 1746. But Governor Belcher, desirous that they should receive this honor from himself and the gentlemen to be associated with him as Trustees under the charter which he was then preparing, requested that the Commencement might be deferred for a fortnight, in order that he might have it in his power to attend the Commencement, and to deliver the new charter to the Trustees on that occasion. The promised charter was not ready at the time the Governor expected, and a further delay occurred in the holding of the first Commencement. And when the charter prepared under the direction of Governor Belcher was ready to be delivered to the Trustees therein named, it did not prove to be in all respects satisfactory to the leading friends of the College. It was therefore altered, and it passed the seal of the Province a second time on the14th of September, 1748; and this delay in the preparation of the second charter occasioned a still further postponing of the Commencement, which finally took place at Newark on the 9th of November of that year, when the expectant candidates received their deferred honors. From the above statement it is evident that these first graduates are to be regarded as foster-sons of the College under the first charter rather than under the second, and as connected with the ad-

* See extracts from the Governor’s letters on pages 82—84.

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ministration of President Dickinson as well as with that of President Burr.

Of the course of study or of the number of pupils during Mr. Dickinson’s administration, so far as is now known, there is no official record, nor is there any memorandum of these matters by any person conversant with the condition of the College at that time. With respect to the number of students during the presidency of Mr. Dickinson, different estimates have been made; but, as they can be little else than mere conjectures, they hardly call for particular consideration.

From the well-known ability and learning of the President, and from the character of the prominent gentlemen associated with him, there can be no doubt that they sought to establish a curriculum which would compare well with those of the older colleges; and further, it is certain beyond all question, that in ordering the course of instruction they had a special reference to the training of young men for the gospel ministry. Not only was this their avowed object and their strongest inducement to engage in this enterprise, but the catalogue of graduates shows that the first class consisted of six members, five of whom became ministers of the gospel; and that of the seven graduates of the following year, five entered the ministry. Another of the seven, of whose professional pursuits nothing is known, died about two years after leaving College.

It is said by Dr. Hatfield, in his " History of Elizabeth," that President Dickinson was assisted in the instruction of the students by the Rev. Caleb Smith, a graduate of Yale College, and that this gentleman was the first Tutor of the College of New Jersey. it is quite probable that it was so; although the evidence is not so complete as we could desire, From a "Brief Account of Mr. Smith," published in 1765, and within two or three years after his decease, it appears that he was teaching at Elizabeth, and pursuing his theological studies there under the direction of Mr. Dickinson; and that he was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of New York in April, 1747, which was about the time that Mr. Dickinson was chosen President of the College. If not formally appointed a Tutor by the Trustees, he may have been, and most probably was,

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employed by the President under an authority given him by the Trustees to engage for a limited time the services of a competent assistant. From what is known of Mr. Smith’s talents and scholarship, he must have been a very suitable person for such a position. There is reason to believe that Mr. Smith continued to reside at Elizabethtown after the decease of Mr. Dickinson, until his ordination and settlement at Newark Mountains, now Orange, in the autumn of 1748. Of the character of this early friend of the College, and of the important services which he rendered to it, we hope to have an opportunity to speak more fully than we can in this connection.

A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND LABORS OF PRESIDENT

DICKINSON.*

President Dickinson was born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, on the 22d of April, i688. His father was Hezekiah Dickinson, and his grandfather was Nathaniel Dickinson, one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, Connecticut. His mother was Abigail, daughter of Samuel, and granddaughter of the Rev. Adam Blackman, or Blakeman, the first minister of Stratford, Connecticut, and a graduate of the University of Oxford.

Mr. Dickinson was graduated at Yale College in 1706, and while there he was a pupil of the Rev. Abraham Pierson, the first Rector or President of that institution, which was founded in 1701 and incorporated in 1702, and to which the College of New Jersey is indebted for the academic training of her first three Presidents,—Dickinson, Burr, and Edwards.

After leaving college, Mr. Dickinson engaged in the study of theology, but under whose guidance we have no tradition. He went to Elizabethtown in 1708, and his preaching was so acceptable to the people of that place that he was invited to become their pastor, and, accepting this invitation; he was ordained on Friday, the 29th of September, 1709. The services on this occasion were performed by the ministers of Fairfield

* In preparing this sketch, the writer has freely availed himself of the labors of Dr’s. Green, Sprague, Stearns, and of the Rev. Richard Webster; but more especially of the admirable sketch of "President Dickinson’s Life and Labors," be the Rev. Dr. Edwin F. Hatfield, in his "History of Elizabeth, New Jersey."

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County, Connecticut, who the year before had formed a consociation according to the Saybrook Platform, and who on this occasion were assisted by the pastors of some of the churches in New Jersey.

At the time of his ordination and of his engaging in pastoral labors Mr. Dickinson was not twenty-one years of age.

"It was," says Dr. Hatfield, "a weighty charge to be laid on such youthful shoulders. And yet not too weighty, as the sequel proved. Quickly and diligently he applied himself to his work, and his profiting presently appeared to all. It was not long before he took rank among the first of his profession."

Some months before his ordination, and while supplying the pulpit of the church at Elizabethtown, he married Joanna Melyen, daughter of Jacob Melyen, and sister of the Rev. Samuel Melyen. The father was one of the associates in the purchase of the Elizabethtown tract, under Governor Nicolls’s grant; the brother was for two or three years pastor of the church of that place prior to Mr. Dickinson’s settlement there.*

The church at Elizabethtown was originally Independent, and conducted its affairs after the model of the Congregational churches of New England. At the time Mr. Dickinson became the pastor of this church it had been established about forty years, and for several years after his settlement it continued to be an Independent church. But, influenced more or less by his

* The family was from Holland, and Cornelis Melyn, the grandfather of Mrs. Dickinson, was a patroon, or large landed proprietor, having obtained of the Dutch Government a grant of Staten Island, which he afterwards relinquished to the West India Company.

Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson had nine children. Their youngest daughter, Martha, was married to the Rev. Caleb Smith, of Newark Mountains, now Orange, and their eldest to Jonathan Sergeant, the father of the Hon. Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant and the grandfather of the Hon. John Sergeant and of the Hon. Thomas Sergeant, of Philadelphia, and also of Mrs. Sarah Sergeant Miller, wife of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller , of Princeton.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s descendants are numerous, and several of them highly distinguished in their respective callings. Among these are John C. Green, Esq., of New York, who has reared a noble monument to his eminent ancestor, in the erection of Dickinson Hall, at Princeton, the Hon. Henry M. Green, LL.D., late Chancellor of New Jersey, and the Rev. William Henry Green, D.D., LL.D., Professor in the Princeton Theological Seminary, and who in the spring of t568 was chosen President of the College, but declined the appointment.

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views and wishes, the members consented to change their form of government, and placed themselves under the care of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. This change probably occurred in the spring of 1717, as in the autumn of that year Mr. Dickinson’s name is given in the list of members present at the meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia, which held its first sessions in the city of Philadelphia, in September, 1717. Although it appears from certain memoranda kept by the Presbytery that Mr. Dickinson was present and took part in the ordination of the Rev. Robert Orr, on the 20th of October, 1715, yet there is no reason to believe that he was at that time a member of the Presbytery, as his name does not appear in the list of members at that meeting, or at any previous one. He was also present at the ordination of his friend the Rev. John Pierson, at Wood-bridge, New Jersey, on the 29th of April, 1717; and, as he was a member of the Synod in the following autumn, he was probably received as a regular member at the meeting held for Mr. Pierson’s ordination.

The first Presbytery in this country, viz., that of Philadelphia, was organized in 1705. It increased rapidly, and in 1716 it resolved itself into a Synod, consisting of three Presbyteries, one of them retaining the name of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. Of this body Mr. Dickinson was a member until the formation of the Presbytery of East Jersey, in 1733. This last-named Presbytery comprised most if not all of the ministers in the eastern division of the Province, and to it was united, in 1738, the small Presbytery of Long Island. Upon the union of the two they received the name of the Presbytery of New York; and of this Presbytery Mr. Dickinson was the leading member until his decease, in the autumn of 1747. It was as a member of this Presbytery that Mr. Dickinson took the prominent part mentioned in the Introduction to this work, in favor of establishing a seminary of a high order for the education of candidates for the holy ministry.

Mr. Dickinson was held in great reverence by his brethren in the sacred office. He was twice chosen Moderator of the Synod of Philadelphia,—once in 1721 and again in 1742,—and he was the first Moderator of the Synod of New York, organ-

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ized in 1745. He was also from year to year a member of the most important committees of the Synod. From choice a Presbyterian, he was nevertheless not forgetful of his training as an Independent, and he was altogether indisposed to countenance the assumption, by Presbytery or Synod, of any doubtful power. Hence, at the meeting of the Synod in 1721, he drew up a protest against the action of the Synod in adopting a certain measure which, he apprehended, would prepare the way for the introduction of rules and regulations touching the government and discipline of the Church, the enacting of which by the Synod would, according to his view of the case, transcend its legitimate powers as a Church court. At the next meeting of Synod, as Moderator of the previous one, he preached the opening sermon, and in this discourse he took occasion to define fully and clearly his own views in regard to the limits of ecclesiastical authority. This full discussion of the subject led to the withdrawal of the protest of the year before, and to the presentation of a paper by Mr. Dickinson and his friends, in which paper the true limits of Church power were so satisfactorily exhibited that it commanded the hearty approval of the entire body, and its unanimous adoption called forth, on the part of the Synod, to use the words of the minute, "a thanksgiving prayer and joyful singing of the 133d Psalm."

In the autumn of 1728 an overture was introduced into the Synod, "having reference to the subscribing of the [Westminster] Confession of Faith, and proposing that every minister and candidate should be required to give his hearty consent to it." Deeming this proposition to be one of grave importance, the Synod deferred the consideration of it until the following year, In the mean while the overture was printed, and Mr. Dickinson published an answer to it, although he was an earnest Calvinist and cordially assented to the system of doctrine set forth in the Confession and the Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly. When this subject again came before the Synod, it was referred to a committee, of which Mr. Dickinson was a member. After an evidently careful survey of the whole matter, the committee agreed upon a unanimous report, and presented the overture with such alterations as secured for it

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the assent of the entire Synod, with the exception of one member, who declared that he was not prepared to vote. The changes made in the overture are ascribed to the ground taken by Mr. Dickinson, and the paper as adopted by the Synod is known, in the Presbyterian Church, as "the Adapting Act."

The record of this act is accompanied by the following minute: "The Synod, observing that unanimity, peace, and unity which appeared in all their consultations and determinations relating to the affair of the Confession, did unanimously agree in giving thanks to God in solemn prayer and praises."

It was Mr. Dickinson’s constant aim to promote harmony among his brethren, and to engage them in earnest endeavors for the advancement of sincere and fervent piety and of sound learning. He was a man of great practical wisdom, and of untiring industry. These qualities, together with his learning and piety, gave him a commanding influence in the Church and in the community at large, and enabled him to accomplish the great and good work which in the providence of God he was called to do.

He was an earnest advocate of missionary labor among the Indians, and with his younger yet intimate friends, Messrs. Pemberton and Burr, he made a successful appeal to the Honorable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge * in behalf of the Indians on Long Island, in New Jersey, and in Pennsylvania. The three who united in this appeal, and who were afterwards united in other important labors, were appointed correspondents of the Society, and they were authorized to employ missionaries to instruct the Indians, in whose welfare they had taken so deep an interest. The first missionary employed by them was the Rev. Azariah Horton; the second, the Rev. David Brainerd, whose name is so dear to all friends of Christian missions. From the time that Mr. Brainerd came to New Jersey he was ever a welcome guest at the house of Mr. Dickinson; and their intimate friendship lasted till death.

Mr. Dickinson was also an earnest advocate and defender of revivals; that is to say, of those remarkable religious excite-

* Formed at Edinburgh in 1709.

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ments which from time to time have been witnessed in the churches of Christ, when the truth of God accompanied with unusual power from on high has aroused the attention of the hearers to the most serious and devout contemplation of their spiritual condition, and has led them, sometimes in large numbers, to seek a vital union with Christ, if unconverted, or clearer evidence of such union, if they are already one with Him, through sanctification by the Holy Spirit and a belief of the truth.

It can therefore occasion no surprise to learn that Mr. Dickinson was earnestly desirous that his own Church should share in that wondrous outpouring of the Spirit which occurred in so many of the churches in this country at the time of " the Great Awakening," as the event here alluded to is commonly designated by the Revivalists and their friends of that day. His prayers and his faithful labors were graciously and abundantly rewarded. Writing to Mr. Foxcroft, of Boston, September 4, 1740, he says, "I have had more young people address me for direction in their spiritual concerns in this three months than in thirty years before." (See Dr. Hatfield’s " History.") By invitation of Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Whitefield preached on two different occasions at Elizabethtown.

Although warmly in favor of revivals, Mr. Dickinson was not indifferent to the abuses and errors sometimes connected with them; and to guard his own people and others against these errors, he prepared and published a discourse from the words, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." A second edition was published in 1743. It was entitled "The Witness of the Spirit. A Sermon preached at Newark, May 7, 1740." It gave offence to some of the friends of revivals; and even by the Tennents it was regarded as being of a hurtful tendency to the interests of religion. (See Webster’s "History," pages 148 and 152.) Yet in the estimation of the most sober-minded advocates of revivals, the views entertained by Mr. Dickinson are in entire accord with the teachings of the gospel.

As a preacher, and as a theological writer, Mr. Dickinson attained to great distinction. He was esteemed one of the best

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preachers in the Presbyterian Church, and the ablest defender of its doctrine and order. Several of his works were republished in Great Britain, and were much commended.

The following is a list of his published works:

1. In 1722. The sermon already spoken of as preached before the Synod of Philadelphia on "Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction."

2. In 1724. "A Defence of Presbyterian Ordination," published at Boston, being a reply to a pamphlet entitled ‘A Modest Proof of the Order and Government settled by Christ and his Apostles in the Church." This was followed by another from Mr. Dickinson’s pen, both of which were afterwards revised, enlarged, and published by the author.

3. In 1729. "An Answer to the Rev, John Thomson’s Overture urging the Synod to adopt by a Public Agreement the Standards of the Church of Scotland." R. Webster.

4. In 1732. A work entitled "The Reasonableness of Christianity, in Four Sermons. Wherein the Being and Attributes of God, the Apostasy of Man, and the Credibility of the Christian Religion are demonstrated by Rational Considerations, and the Divine Mission of our Blessed Saviour proved by Scripture Arguments, both from the Old Testament and the New," with a preface by Mr. Foxcroft of Boston, and published in that city.

Of these discourses the Rev. Dr. Hatfield makes these remarks: "They are admirable discourses, learned, discriminating, and logical; full of pith and power; pointed and impressive. Happy the people favored with the ministry of such a teacher!Happy the children whose early years were blessed with such instruction !"

5. In 1733. "The Scripture Bishop vindicated," published at Boston—Dr. Hatfield.

6. In 1733. A sermon preached at the funeral of Mrs. Ruth Pierson, the wife of his friend the Rev. John Pierson, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, and daughter of the Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, of Hartford, Connecticut. Printed at New York.—Dr. Gteen’s " Notes."

7. In 1735. "Remarks on a Letter to a Friend it1 the Country, containing the Substance of a Sermon preached at Philadelphia, in the Congregation of the Rev. Mr. Hemphill." Published September, 1735.

S. In 1736. A sermon preached at Newark, Wednesday, June 2, 1736, and published with the title, "The Vanity of Human Institutions in the Worship of God."

9. In 1737. A defence of this sermon.

to. In Fehroary, 1737—38. A second defence of this sermon, entitled "The Reasonableness of Non-conformity to the Church of England in Point of Worship."

Ii. In 1740. His sermon on the "Witness of the Spirit," of which mention has already been made.

12. In 1741. "The True Scripture Doctrine concerning some Important Points of Christian Faith, particularly Eternal Election, Original Sin, Grace in Conversion, Justification by Faith, and the Saint’s Perseverance, represented and applied in Five Discourses." This able work has been several times republished in this country and in Scotland.

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13. In 1742. "A Display of God’s Special Grace, in a Familiar Dialogue between a Minister and a Gentleman of his Congregation. About the Work of God in the Conviction and Conversion of Sinners, so remarkably of late begun and going on in these American Parts. Wherein the Objections against some Uncommon Appearances among us are distinctly considered, Mistakes rectified, and the Work itself particularly proved to be from the Holy Spirit: with one Addition, in a Second Conference, relating to Sundry Antinomian Principles beginning to obtain in some Places."

It was published first at Boston, and a second time at Philadelphia, in 1743. The first edition was without the author’s name, but with an attestation by the Rev. Messrs. Coleman, Sewell, Prince, Webb, Cooper, Foxcroft, and Gee, all ministers of Boston, and most of them men of note.

The second edition appeared having the hearty commendation of the Rev. Messrs. Gilbert and William Tennent, Samuel and John Blair, Treat, and Finley.

Of this work Dr. Green, in his "Notes," observes that " no contemporaneous publication was probably so much read, or had as much influence."

14. In 1743. "The Nature and Necessity of Regeneration, considered in a Sermon from John iii. 3, preached at Newark, at a Meeting of the Presbytery there. To which are added some Remarks on a Discourse of Dr. Waterland’s, entitled and explained according to Scripture Antiquity."

Rev. Dr. Hatfield observes, "Dr. Waterland’s book had been imported by the Episcopal ministry, and circulated as an antidote to the revival doctrines of Whitefield and his sympathizers. Dickinson’s drew forth, in 1744, from the Rev. John Wetmore, rector of the parish church of Rye, New York, a defence of Waterland’s discourse on ‘Regeneration.’ This was answered promptly by Mr. Dickinson."

In 1745 he published his "Familiar Letters to a Gentleman, upon a Variety of Seasonable and Important Subjects in Religion." A work of great ability, in which the Evidences of Christianity, the Doctrine of God’s Sovereign Grace in the Redemption of Men, the Way of Salvation, and the Dangers of Antinomianism are fully set forth. It has been reprinted several times, both at home and abroad. It is from a print in the Glasgow edition of this work that the portrait of President Dickinson in the College collection of portraits, and the portraits of him in several sketches of his life published in this country, were copied.

In this same year he published his work entitled "A Vindication of God’s Sovereign Free Grace. In some Remarks upon Mr. J. Beach’s Sermon, with some Brief Reflections upon Mr: H. Caner’s Sermon, and on a pamphlet entitled ‘A Letter from Aristocles to Anthades.’ " This letter was from the pen of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, of Hartford, Connecticut. This work called forth a reply by Dr. Johnson, which induced Mr. Dickinson to prepare "A Second Vindication of

God’s Sovereign Free Grace," which was published after his death by his brother, the Rev. Moses Dickinson.

HIS DEATH.

Mr. Dickinson died of pleurisy, October 7, 1747, in the sixtieth year of his age. In reply to an inquiry made by a friend who visited him when he was on his dying bed, he said, " Many

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days have passed between God and my soul, in which I have solemnly dedicated myself to Him, and I trust what I have committed unto Him He is able to keep until that day."

The following notice of his death and burial appeared in the "New York Weekly Post Boy" of October 12, 1747

"ELIZABETHTOWN, IN New Jersey, October 10.

"On Wednesday morning last, about four o’clock, died here, of a pleuritic illness, that eminently learned and pious minister of the Gospel and President of the College of Now Jersey, the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Dickinson, in the sixtieth year of his age, who had been Pastor of the first Presbyterian Church in this Town fur nearly forty years, and was the Glory and Joy of it. In him conspicuously appeared those natural and acquired moral and spiritual Endowments which constitute a truly excellent and valuable man, a good Scholar, an eminent Divine, and a serious, devout Christian. He was greatly adorned with the gifts and graces of the Heavenly Master, in the Light whereof he appeared as a star of superior Brightness and Influence in the Orb of the Church, which has sustained a great and unspeakable Loss in his Death. He was of uncommon and of very extensive usefulness. He boldly appeared in the Defence of the great and important Truths of cur most holy Religion, and the Gospel Doctrines of the free and sovereign Grace of God. He was a zealous Professor of godly Practice and godly Living, and a bright ornament to his Profession. In Times and cases of Difficulty he was a wise and able Counsellor. By his death our Infant College is deprived (if the Benefit and Advantage of his superior Accomplishments, which afforded a favorable prospect of its future Flourishing and Prosperity under his Inspection. His remains were decently interred here yesterday, when the Rev. Mr. Pierson, of Woodbridge, preached his funeral sermon; and as he lived desired of all, so never any Person its these Parts died more lamented, Our Fathers, where are they? and the Prophets, do they live forever?"*

Dr. Hatfield remarks that "this notice was probably written by the Rev. Mr. Pemberton, of New York, with whom Mr. Dickinson had been intimately associated for years in the defence of the truth and the promotion of the cause of Christ."

This testimony to the worth of Mz-. Dickinson is not exaggerated. H~ was all that he is here represented to have been. President Edwards, the Rev. Dr. Bellamy, Dr. John Erskine, of Scotland, Governor Belcher, all confirm its truthfulness. Edwards speaks of him as the late learned and very excellent Mr. Jonathan Dickinson. Bellamy calls him the great Mr. Dickinson. Erskine, speaking of Dickinson and Edwards, says, "The

* Dr. Stearns’s "First Church, Newark," and Dr. Hatfield’s " History of Elizabeth."

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British Isles have produced no such writers on divinity in the eighteenth century." Belcher, in his letter of the i3th of November, 1747, to Mr. Pemberton, speaks of him as " that eminent servant of God, the learned and pious Dickinson."

It may be doubted," says Dr. Sprague, "whether, with the single exception of the elder Edwards, Calvinism has ever found an abler or more efficient champion in this country than Jonathan Dickinson." If the writer may venture to institute a comparison between those two admirable men: for profound thinking, but not always correct, he would assign the palm to Edwards; but for sound judgment and practical wisdom, to Dickinson. Both of them were eminently good, and both eminently great.

From the autobiography of the Reverend Jacob Green, in early life a pupil of Dr. Dickinson’s, and the father of the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, the eighth President of the College, it appears that both Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Burr differed from President Edwards in regard to the qualifications requisite for admission to the sacraments; and that in regard to this important question they held, or inclined to, the views of Mr. Stoddard, the maternal grandfather of President Edwards.

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UPON the decease of President Dickinson, the Rev. Aaron Burr took charge of the College,* and the students were removed from Elizabethtown to Newark, the place of Mr. Burr’s residence. Whether Mr. Burr was formally invested with the office of President at this time is uncertain, there being no College records of that date, or other contemporary authority to determine this question. But it is certain that he discharged the duties of the President while the College was yet under the first charter.

The charter given by Governor Belcher was accepted by the Trustees therein named on the 13th of October, 1748, O. S., and on the 9th of November following, at a meeting of the Trustees at Newark, Mr. Burr was unanimously chosen President of the College as reorganized under the second charter.

In his sketch of the College, Dr. Green observes:

"It will be seen from the following extracts from the minutes of the Trustees that a class was in readiness to receive their Bachelor’s degree within one month from the time that Belcher’s charter took effect; and that under that charter the degrees were conferred by Mr. Burr on the very day that he was elected President. Everything, therefore, must have been previously prepared and arranged with a view to this event,"

If the reverend and learned author of this sketch had had access to Governor Belcher’s correspondence with Messrs. Burr, Pemberton, and Gilbert Tennent respecting the second charter, he would have learned from that correspondence that there was a class in readiness to receive their first degree in the

* See obituary notice of President Burr, in the "New York Mercury," September 29, 1757, or Dr. Stearns’s " History," p. 206.

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Arts six months before they did receive it, and he would also have known the reason of the delay in conferring upon them this distinction.*

In the minutes of the Trustees there is no reference or allusion to either of these things; yet they are important from their bearing upon the question, whether the College under the first charter and the College under the second charter were one and the same institution.

The following is the entire record respecting the first Commencement, and the conferring of degrees on that occasion:

"Agreed, that the commencement for graduating the candidates, that had been examined and approved for that purpose, go on to-day.

"It was accordingly opened this forenoon by the president with prayer, and publickly reading of the charter in the meeting house.

"Adjourned till two o’clock in the afternoon,

"in the afternoon the president delivered a handsome and elegant Latin Oration. And after the customary scholastic disputations, the following gentlemen were admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, viz., Runs Ayres, Israel Read, Benjamin Chestnut, Richard Stockton, Hugh Henry, Daniel Thane.

"After which his Excellency the Governor was pleased to accept of a degree of Master of Arts; this was succeeded by a salutatory oration by Mr. Thane, and the whole concluded with prayer by the president"

The above-named gentlemen, the first graduates of the College, were prepared to receive this their first academic honor while the first charter was yet in force. Apart from the evidence on this head furnished by Governor Belcher’s letters, referred to above, the fact that they were admitted to their first degree on the very day that Mr. Burr was chosen and inaugurated President of the College under the second charter is sufficient to establish the truth of this statement. It appears, also, that this honor was conferred after the candidates had been examined and approved. By whom, and under whose authority, was this examination held? Assuredly not by the authority of the Trustees acting under the second charter, or by persons designated by them. For at the meeting on the 13th of October—their only one previous to the election of Mr. Burr and the holding of the first Commencement—no provision whatever was

* See extracts from Governor Belcher’s letters, in the third chapter of this work.

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made for this examination. The candidates must therefore have been examined and approved by the President and others acting under an authority given in the first charter, although they were admitted to their first degree in the Arts by a vote of the Trustees of the second charter, the transition of the College from the control of the one to that of the other being completed on the very day on which the degrees were conferred.

"Its first Commencement," says Mr. Moore, the Librarian of the New York Historical Society, "was celebrated with circumstances of great pomp and ceremony equally novel and interesting. The following report of the proceedings was prepared at the request of the Trustees of the College, by WILLIAM SMITH, at that time a leading lawyer of the New York Bar, and published in the principal New York newspaper."

[From Parker’s Gazette and Post Boy, Nov. 22, 1741.]

"MR. PARKER:

"As the Acts of a publick Commencement are little known in these Parts, perhaps the following Relation from an Eye and Ear Witness, may be agreeable to many of your Readers.

"On Wednesday the ninth Instant, was held at Newark, the first commencement of the College of New-Jersey; at which was present his Excellency JONATHAN BELCHER, Esq., Governor and Commander in Chief of the said Province, and President of the Trustees, and sixteen Gentlemen, being other Trustees named in the Royal CHARTER: Who after they had all taken and subscribed the Oaths to the Government, and made and signed the Declaration which are appointed by divers Statutes of Great Britain, and had taken the particular Oath for the faithful performance of their Trust, all which were required by the said Charter, they proceeded to the Election of a President of the said College; whereupon the Reverend Mr. AARON BURR, was unanimously chosen.

"Which being done, his Excellency was preceded from his Lodgings at the President’s House; first by the Candidates walking in Couples uncovered; next followed the Trustees two by two being covered, and last of all his Excellency the Governor, with the President at his Left Hand. At the Door of the Place appointed for the Publick Acts, the procession (amidst a great number of Spectators there gathered) was inverted, the Candidates parting to the Right and Left Hand, and the Trustees in like Manner. His Excellency first entered with the President, the Trustees next following in the Order in which they were ranged in the Charter; and last of all the Candidates. Upon the Bell ceasing, and the Assembly being composed, the President began the Publick Acts by solemn Prayer to God in the English Tongue, for a Blessing upon the publick Transactions of the Day; upon his Majesty King GEORGE the Second, and the Royal Family; upon the British Nations and Dominions; upon the Governor and Government of NewJersey; upon all Seminaries of true Religion and good Literature; and particularly upon the infant College of New-Jersey.

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"Which being concluded, the President attended in the Pulpit with the Reverend Mr. Thomas Arthur, who had been constituted Clerk of the Corporation, desired in the English tongue, the Assembly to stand up and hearken to his Majesty’s Royal CHARTER, granted to the Trustees of the College of New-Jersey.

"Upon which; the Assembly standing, the Charter was distinctly read by the Reverend Mr. Arthur, with the usual Indorsement by his Majesty’s Attorney General, and the Certificate signed by the Secretary of the Province, of its having been approved in Council, with his Excellency’s Fiat for the Province Seal, signed with his Excellency’s own Hand.

"After this, the Morning being spent, the President signified to the Assembly, that the succeeding Acts would be deferred till two o’clock in the Afternoon.

"Then the Procession, in Return to the President’s House, was made in the Order before observed.

"The like procession being made in the Afternoon as in the Morning, and the Assembly being seated in their places, and composed; the President opened the publick Acts, first by an elegant Oration in-the Latin Tongue, delivered memoriter, modestly declaring his Unworthiness of, and unfitness for so weighty and important a Trust as had been reposed in him; apologizing for the Defects that would unavoidably appear in his part of the present Service; displaying the manifold Advantages of the liberal Arts and Sciences, in exalting and dignifying the humane Nature, enlarging the Soul, improving its Faculties, civilizing Mankind, qualifying them for the important Offices of Life, and rendering them useful Members of Church and State: That to Learning and the Arts, was chiefly owing the vast Pre-eminence of the polished Nations of Europe, to the almost brutish Savages of America; the Sight of which last was the constant Object of Horror and Commiseration. Then the President proceeded to mention the Honours paid by our Ancestors in Great Britain to the Liberal Sciences; by erecting and endowing those illustrious Seminaries of Learning which for many Ages had been the Honour and Ornament of those happy Islands, and the source of infinite Advantage to the People there: Observing, that the same noble Spirit had animated their Descendants, the first English Planters of America, who, as soon as they were formed into a civil State in the very infancy of Time, had wisely laid Religion and Learning at the Foundation of their Commonwealth; amid had always regarded them as the firmest pillars of their Church and State—That hence very early arose Harvard College, in New-Cambridge, and afterwards Yale College, in New-Haven, which have row flourished with growing Reputation for many Years, and have sent forth many hundreds of learned Men of various Stations and Characters in Life, that in different Periods have proved the Honour and Ornament of their Country, and of which, the one or the other had been the ALMA MATER of most of the Literati then present. That Learning, like the Sun in its Western Progress, had now begun to dawn upon the Province of New-Jersey, through the happy Influence of its generous Patron their most excellent Governor; who from his own Experience and an early Acquaintance with Academic Studies, well knowing the Importance of a learned Education, and being justly sensible that in nothing he could more subserve to the Honour and Interest of his Majesty’s Government, and the real Good and Happiness of his Subjects in New-Jersey, than by granting them the best Means to render themselves a religious, wise and knowing people; Had therefore, upon his happy Accession to his Government, made the Erection of a College in

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this Province for the Instruction of Youth in the liberal Arts and Sciences, the immediate Object of his Attention and Care: The clearest Demonstration whereof they had by the Grant of his most gracious Majesty’s ROYAL CHARTER in the Morning published in that Assembly, which had been conveyed to them through his Excellency’s Hands; which appears to have been founded in the noblest Munificence, granting the most ample Privileges consistent with the natural and religious Rights of Mankind, and calculated for the most extensive Good of all his Majesty’s Subjects. That therein we see the Ax laid to the Root of that ANTICHRISTIAN BIGOTRY that had in every Age (wherever it had prevailed) been the Parent of Persecution, the Bane of Society, and the Plague of Mankind: That by time Tenour of his Majesty’s Charter, it could assume no Place in the College of New-Jersey, but as a foul Fiend was banished to its native Region, that infernal PIT from whence it sprung.

"These, and many other Particulars having, more Oratorio, taken up about three Quarters of an Hour, and the printed Theses being dispersed among the Learned in the Assembly, the Candidates, by the Command of the President, entered upon the publick Disputatious in Latin, in which six Questions in Philosophy and Theology were debated. One of which was:

"‘An Libertas agendi Secundum Dictamina conscientiae, in Rebus mere religiosis, ab ulla Potestate humane coerceri debeat?’

"In English, Whether the Liberty of acting according to the Dictates of Conscience, in Matters merely religious, ought to be restrained by any humane Power?

"And it was justly held and concluded, That that Liberty ought not to be restrained. Then the President addressing himself to the Trustees in Latin, asked, Whether it was their Pleasure that these young Men who had performed the publick Exercises in Disputation should be admitted to the Degree of Batchelor of the Arts ?

"Which being granted by his Excellency in the name of all the Trustees present, the President descended from the Pulpit, being seated with his Head covered, received them two by two; and according to the Authority to him committed by the Royal Charter, after the Manner of the Academies in England, admitted six young Scholars to the Degree of Batchelor of the Arts.

"In the next Place, his Excellency JONATHAN BELCIIER, Esq., Governor and Commander in Chief of the Province of New-Jersey, having declared his desire to accept from that College the Degree of Master of Arts; the other Trustees in a just Sense of the Honour done time College by his Excellency’s Condescension, most heartily having granted his Request, and the President rising uncovered addressed himself to his Excellency; and according to the same Authority committed to him by the Royal CHARTER, after the Manner of the Academies in England admitted him to the Degree of Master of Arts.

"Then the President ascended the Pulpit, and commanded the Orator Salutatorius to ascend the Rostrum, who being Mr. Daniel Thane, just before graduated Batchelor of Arts; he in a modest and decent manner, first apologizing for his Insufficiency, and then having spoken of the Excellency of the liberal Arts and Sciences, and of the Numberless Benefits they yield to Mankind in private and social life; addressed himself in becoming Salutations and Thanks to his Excellency and the Trustees, the President and whole Assembly: All which being performed in good Latin from his Memory in a handsome oratorical Manner in the

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Space of about half an Hour. The President concluded in English, with Thanksgiving to Heaven for the Favours received and Prayers to God for a Blessing upon the Scholars that had received the publick Honours of that Day, and for the Smiles of Heaven upon the infant College of New-Jersey, and dismissed the Assembly. All which being performed to the great Satisfaction of all present, his Excellency with the Trustees and Scholars, returned to the House of the President in the Order observed in the Morning; where, after sundry BY-LAWS were made, chiefly for regulating the Studies and Manners of the Students, they agreed upon a Corporation Seal with this Device: in the upper Part of the Circle, a Bible spread open, with Latin Characters inscribed on the Left Side, signifying the Old Testament, and on the right side the New, with this Motto over it: VITAE LUMEN MORTUIS REDDIT; with a view to that Text, Who hath abolished Death, and hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel. Underneath on one Side a Table with Books standing thereon, to signify the proper Business of the Students; on the other a Diploma, with the College Seal appended over it, being written MERITI PRAEMIUM, to signify that the Degrees to be conferred are only to be to those that deserve them. On the outside of the Circle, SIGILLUM COLLEGII NEO CAESARIENSIS IN AMERICA; the Seal of the College of New-Jersey, in America, and then appointed the succeeding Commencement to be at New-Brunswick on the last Wednesday of September next. Thus the first Appearance of a College in New-Jersey having given universal Satisfaction, even the Unlearned being pleased with the external Solemnity and Decorum which they saw, ‘tis hoped that this infant College will meet with due Encouragement from all publick spirited generous Minds; and that the Lovers of Mankind will wish its Prosperity, and contribute to its Support."

In the evening of Commencement-day the Trustees held another session, and took into consideration several important measures for the welfare of the College, the first of them having reference to its government, the minute respecting which is as follows:

"A set of laws were laid before the Trustees for their approbation; and, after a second and third reading, and some alterations and amendments, they were unanimously received, and ordered to be inserted with the minutes, as the laws of the College of New Jersey."

It is morally certain that these laws were prepared by President Burr, and that they were the product of his experience in conducting the government of the College for the twelve months preceding.

The following were the rules relating to the admission of students:

"1. None may expect to be admitted into College but such as being examined by the President and Tutors shall be found able to render Virgil and Tully’s Ora

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tions into English; and to turn English into true and grammatical Latin; and to be so well acquainted with the Greek as to render any part of the four Evangelists in that language into Latin or English; and to give the grammatical connexion of the words.

2. Every student [that] enters College shall transcribe the Laws, which being signed by the President, shall be testimony of his admission, anti shall he kept by him, while he remains a member of the College, as the rule of his Behavior."

So far as a knowledge of Latin and Greek is concerned, it is doubtful whether any advance has been made in the requisites for admission into the Freshman or lowest class since the time that the first of these two rules was adopted. For although a more extensive reading of authors in these languages is now required of candidates, yet the instances are very rare in which they are found able to translate any part of the four Gospels from Greek into Latin, or to turn English into true and grammatical Latin. In those days a knowledge of Latin and Greek was more generally and highly appreciated by educated men than it is now; not that the first classical scholars of those times were superior or even equal to the best in our own times in matters of critical nicety and in a thorough acquaintance with the grammatical structure of these ancient languages. Many a man can speak his own language well and fluently, and with readiness quote from eminent writers passages committed by him to memory, who possesses little or no ability to analyze his own modes of speech, much less the expressions of others, and weigh with exactness the import of the several words and sentences. So classical scholars of the last century, in this country, could quote and speak and write Latin with far greater facility than students of the same relative position at the present day are able to do, but in sound and thorough criticism they have been surpassed by their successors. What is wanting in our schools and colleges is the union of both systems, of which there is little hope, seeing the number and variety of subjects pressing their claims for a place in our curriculums of study.

The next thing, after adopting a college code, was a vote:

"That the annual Commencement for the future be on the last Wednesday of September, and that the next Commencement be held at New Brunswick."

 

The reason for selecting the last day of September as the

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day for the annual Commencement was probably owing to the circumstance that at that time the Commencement at Harvard took place on the second Wednesday in September in each year, and that at Yale on the third Wednesday of the same month.

Notwithstanding Governor Belcher’s strong preference for Princeton as the permanent seat of the College, some of the Trustees, perhaps a majority, were in favor of locating the institution at New Brunswick, and by holding the next Commencement there they hoped to interest the people of that place in the College, and to induce them to offer liberal pecuniary aid towards the erection of suitable buildings.

The appointment of a Treasurer next claimed their attention, and the minute respecting it is this:

"Voted, That the Honorable Andrew Johnston, Esq., be desired to accept the office of Treasurer to the corporation."

Mr. Johnston was the Treasurer of East Jersey, and a member of the Council, and in the list of Trustees mentioned in Governor Belcher’s charter his name stands third. He was present at the meeting, on the i3th of October, 1748, when the new charter was accepted, and was qualified by taking the prescribed oaths. He was not present at this meeting. It is not said in the minutes of the Board that he accepted the office thus tendered him, but it is probable that he did, as there is no mention made of the appointment of another person to this office until nearly two years after, and then only incidentally, as seen in the following extract from the minutes:

"Mr. Hude was appointed to administer the oaths required by the charter to Messrs. Caleb Smith and Mr. Woodruff, Trustees, Mr. Sergeant, Treasurer, Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Maltby, Tutors,"

Mr. Sergeant was probably appointed Treasurer at this time, September 26, 1750, as his name does not appear in the minutes before this meeting, and as in a previous minute of this same meeting it is said, "Rev. John Frelinghuysen and Rev. Caleb Smith chosen Trustees in the room of John Kinsey, Esq., deceased, and of the Hon. Andrew Johnston, resigned." It is not improbable that Mr. Johnston resigned both offices at the same time, while it is possible that he may never have acted as Treas

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urer, and that the President of the College may have attended to the fiscal concerns of the institution until the appointment of Mr. Sergeant.

The other items of business at this meeting may be learned from the following extracts from the minutes:

"Voted, That the seal prepared by Mr. P. Smith [one of the Trustees] be accepted as the common seal of this corporation, and that the thanks of the corporation be returned to Mr. Smith for his care in devising the same.

"And that he be desired to get two seals engraven, of the same device, for the use of the corporation, and that the Trustees be answerable for the expense thereof.

"Voted, That all diplomas and certificates of degrees be signed by the President and at least six of the Trustees.

"Voted, That William Smith, Esq., be appointed to draw tip an account of the proceedings of the Commencement, and to get it into the ‘New York Gazette’ as soon as he conveniently can,

"That Messrs. Pierson, Cowell, Johnes, Arthur, be appointed to make application to the General Assembly of this Province, now sitting at Perth Amboy, in order to get their countenance and assistance for the support of the College.

"Voted, That the following gentlemen be desired to take in subscriptions for the College, viz., Messrs. Kinsey, Hazard, at Philadelphia; P. Van Brugh Livingston, P. Smith, New York; Read and Smith, at Burlington; Read and Cowell, at Trenton; John Stevens, Amboy; Samuel Woodruff, Elizabethtown; Thomas Leonard, John Stockton, Esqs., Princeton; James Hude, Esq., and Thomas Arthur, at Brunswick; Henderson and Furman, Freehold; John Pierson, Wood-bridge; Major Johnson, at Newark.

"That all the Trustees shall use their utmost endeavors to obtain benefactions to the said College, and that this vote go into the New York and Philadelphia gazettes.

"That this meeting be adjourned to the third Tuesday in May, to be held at Maidenhead [now Lawreucevillej. Mr. Tennent concluded with prayer."

It is evident, from the variety and importance of the matters handled by the Trustees on the day of the first Commencement, that they must have devoted themselves very earnestly to the business before them, viz., the election of a President, his inauguration, the public reading of the charter, attendance on the Commencement exercises, in eluding the President’s Latin address, the conferring of degrees, and the adopting of a body of laws, besides the various matters mentioned in the above extract,

The next record in the minutes is in these words:

"TRENTON, May 18, 1749.

"According to adjournment, met at Maidenhead [Lawrenceville ] sundry of the Trustees of the College, but were frustrated of a Quorum by the absence of several

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members. The Trustees, however, thought proper to wait upon his Excellency the Governor, who was come to Trenton on his way to the meeting of the Corporation, where several things were disposed of with respect to the College.

"Upon the recommendation of Mr. President, the Trustees present do approve of Mr. Maltby to be employed as Tutor of the College, and do recommend it to the Trustees at their next meeting to establish him in that capacity. It is farther recommended to the Committee appointed to wait upon the Assembly [of the Province], that they renew their application to them, at their next session, at Perth Amboy, and that they do Expressly request that a Lottery be granted them, for the service of the College."

Public attention had not yet been called to the evils of the lottery system; and, as a lottery scheme furnished great facilities for the raising of funds, the Trustees of the College at that time did not scruple as to the propriety of their taking part in one, provided they could obtain permission so to do.

At the next regular meeting of the Board, held at New Brunswick, September 27, 1749, the committee to ask aid from the General Assembly of the Province was enlarged by the addition of four members, and was instructed to apply for authority to raise by a lottery a sum not exceeding three thousand pounds proc., equal to eight thousand dollars.

The application was made; but the final report to the Board on this subject was, that "the Provincial Assembly absolutely refused to grant the petition for a Lottery," and that the committee, "with the concurrence of the generality of the Trustees, had agreed to erect a Lottery in Philadelphia to raise money for the benefit of the College; and that the said Lottery had been drawn." This report was made at a meeting of the Trustees, held at Newark, September 26, 1750. The thanks of the Board were presented to the gentlemen who took upon themselves the management of the lottery, and provision was made for settling all matters connected with it.*

It was ordered, that all moneys remaining in the hands of the managers after the expiration of six months be paid to the Treasurer. The committee appointed to settle with the managers consisted of the President, the Treasurer, the Clerk of the Board, and Messrs. Woodruff and Neilson. Subsequently,

* There does not appear to have been at this time in Pennsylvania any law prohibiting the drawing of lotteries in that Province.

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viz., in the year 1753—4 (see "Minutes of the Board," pages 37 and 39), upon a petition from the Trustees, the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut granted them the privilege of drawing a lottery within the limits of that Colony, and in 1761—2 the General Assembly of New Jersey gave them authority to draw one in this Province. What sums of money were received from these lotteries cannot now be ascertained, the books of the Treasurer at those periods not having been preserved. It is most probable that the College received but little, if any, addition to its funds from these sources. The last application to the Legislature of New Jersey for a lottery was made in the winter of 1813—14, soon after Dr. Ashbel Green became President of the College, and it met with the same fate that most of the previous ones had done,—it was refused.

In his notes respecting the College, and in reference, more particularly, to the failure of the first efforts made to obtain aid from the General Assembly of the Province, Dr. Green thus writes:

"Petitions of the most urgent kind were addressed to the legislature of the province of New Jersey in behalf of the College. But even a petition for a lottery was ‘absolutely rejected.’ Whatever was the influence of Governor Belcher or the popularity of President Burr, their united exertions could never prevail upon the legislature of the province in which the College was founded, whose name it bore and of which it was the greatest ornament, to show it patronage or favor of any kind. It is as grievous to the writer to record this want of liberality in the legislature of his native State, as it can be to any other inhabitant to read the record. But historical fidelity requires that the fact should not he suppressed. All the State patronage which the College has ever received shall, in its proper place, be faithfully stated. The writer has only to regret that the statement will so easily be made."

As the "Historical Sketch of the Origin of the College of New Jersey," from which the above is copied, does not extend over a period of twenty years, but ends with the administration of President Finley, who died while yet President, in 1766, no allusion or reference is again made to this matter in the notes of President Green, except the mention of the fact that in the year 1761 the General Assembly of New Jersey authorized the drawing of a lottery for the benefit of the College.

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To the view here presented of the want of liberality on the part of the Legislature the writer of this history cannot assent; and for these reasons. The College of New Jersey, although bearing the name of the State, was never a State institution. It was not established by the Legislature. In the exercise of its granted and legitimate powers it is not subject to the control of that body, and therefore has no special claims upon its liberality. On the other hand, after the American Revolution, the Legislature confirmed the charter of the College, with only such changes as the altered condition of the civil affairs of the country required, enlarged its powers, and never refused to pass any measure desired by its friends for the protection of its interests.

The good will uniformly exhibited towards the College by the authorities of the State calls for a grateful acknowledgment on the part of the friends of the College, and they may be glad that the applications to the Legislature for pecuniary aid were unsuccessful. Had the aid sought been granted, this might have led to more or less interference by the Legislature in the management of the institution, under the plea of seeing that the funds given by the State were wisely expended, or employed in accordance with the design and the terms of the different grants. From any and all such interference the College, happily, has ever been free.

The matters which more especially demanded and received the attention of the Trustees during the presidency of Mr. Burr were provision for the instruction of the students, the selection of a permanent seat for the College, the erection of suitable buildings, and the raising of the funds required for these purposes.

To provide the necessary instruction, the Board, at a meeting held September 27, 1749, authorized the President, "with the advice of any four of the neighboring Trustees, to employ any such person or persons as they shall think proper to assist him in the government and instruction of the College till their next meeting." Previously to this action, as appears from a minute cited above, sundry Trustees, but not a quorum, met Governor Belcher at Trenton, May 18, 1749, and those present expressed

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their approval of employing Mr. Maltby as a Tutor, and also recommended "that at their next meeting the Trustees should establish him in that capacity." The form of the minute seems to indicate that he had been assisting President Burr, or at least that lie was expected to do so, from that time, which corresponded with the beginning of the second term under the second charter. Whether at their next meeting, of September 27, 1749, the Trustees did establish Mr. Maltby in the office of Tutor, the minutes of that meeting do not indicate. But the minute, already cited, authorizing the President to employ such assistants as he might need, with the consent of any four of the neighboring Trustees, was a virtual confirmation of Mr. Maltby’s appointment; and at the next meeting of the Board, at Newark, September 27, 1750, this gentleman took the required oaths of office as a College Tutor, as also did Mr. Samuel Sherwood, who was chosen a Tutor at this time.

It is a matter of some doubt whether for the first six month’s. Mr. Burr had any assistance in the government and the instruction of the College. He may have employed Mr. Maltby on trial before he recommended his appointment by the Trustees but this is uncertain. For the next eighteen months he was aided by this gentleman, and from the beginning of the third College year until the end of his administration there were, without any intermission, two Tutors associated with him, who with him constituted the College Faculty.

The names of the several Tutors during Mr. Burr’s time are:

John Maltby, Samuel Sherwood, Jonathan Badger, Alexander Gordon, George Duffield, William Thompson,, Benjamin Youngs Prime, John Ewing, Isaac Smith, and Jeremiah Halsey. Some of these gentlemen became eminent in their professions, and of them further mention will be made at the end of this memoir of President Burr and his administration.

What was the full course of instruction at this period in the history of the College we have no means of ascertaining definitely, as the Faculty minutes of that time are lost. But from what is known of the opinions prevalent among the early friends of the College, and from the varied attainments of Mr. Burr and of the Tutors associated with him, and also the

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usual scholastic exercises at the Commencements of those days, we may safely conclude that the College curriculum embraced the study of the Latin and Greek languages, the Elements of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Rhetoric and Logic, together with declamations and discussions. The students were also well instructed in the doctrines and precepts of the Christian faith, their religious teacher being the President of the College.

In the school under the care of the Synod of Philadelphia, established three years before the first charter of the College of New Jersey was obtained, the course of instruction included "languages, philosophy, and divinity;" and from a minute of the Synod of Philadelphia, May 23, 1754, it appears that Mr. Alexander McDowell, the Principal of the school at that time, was to continue to give instruction in "logic, mathematics, natural and moral philosophy," etc., and that Mr. James P. Wilson, just appointed to assist him, was "to teach the languages."

It is not to be presumed that in the College of New Jersey, under the government and instruction of President Burr, a graduate of Yale, and one of the first scholars of his day, the prescribed course would fall short of that existing in the school of the Synod of Philadelphia, as it was the aim and desire of the early friends of the College to provide for the young men of the middle Provinces an education equal to that furnished by Harvard and Yale to the youth of New England.

The view here presented of the course of instruction given by President Burr and his assistants is confirmed by sundry occasional remarks of Mr. Joseph Shippen, of Philadelphia, a student of the College, in his correspondence with ‘nia father, Judge Edward Shippen, and with other friends. It is only very recently (May, 1876) that the writer has had access to this correspondence, and for this privilege he is indebted to the courtesy of the Hon. J. C. C. Kennedy, of Washington City.

In his letters, written in 1750, 1751, 1752, and 1753, Mr. Shippen does not profess to give a particular account of the College curriculum, but, as the occasion calls for it, he mentions the subjects of study pursued by his dais, and the works of which he had need, or which would be useful to him, in the prosecution of his studies. For example, he says to his father, in a letter written in French, and dated February 13, 1750, at which time he was a member of the Freshman class, "But must give you an account of my studies at the present time. At seven in the morning we recite to the President lessons in the works of Xenophon, in Greek, and in Watts’

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‘Ontology.’ The rest of the morning, until dinner-time, we study Cicero the Oratore and the Hebrew Grammar, and recite our lessons to Mr. Sherman (the College Tutor). The remaining part of the day we spend in the study of Xenophon and Ontology, to recite the next morning. And besides these things, we dispute once every week after the syllogistic method; and now and then we learn Geography." Two months later, April 19, he requests his father to send him Tully’s "Orations," which, he adds, "I shall have occasion to use immediately." In a subsequent letter, of May 12, 1750, he says, "I believe I shall not want any more books till I come to Philadelphia, when I can bring them with me; which will be Gordon’s ‘Geographical Grammar’ and (it may be) Watts’ ‘Astronomy’ and a book or two of Logick. . We have today a lesson on the Globes."

"As I have but little time but what I must employ in my studies I can’t enlarge, otherwise I would give some account of our College, as to the constitution, method, and customs, but must leave that till I see you." In a letter of the 8th of June, he says, "I shall learn Horace in a little while; . . . but my time is filled up in studying Virgil, Greek Testament, and Rhetoric, so that I have no time hardly to look over any French, or Algebra, or any English book for my improvement. However, I shall accomplish it soon, . . . The President tells our class that we must go into Logick this week, and I shall have occasion for Watts’ ‘Book of Logick.’"

Such it seems was the course of study pursued by the Freshman class in 1750. As portions of Virgil and the four Gospels were required for admission to this class, it is probable that at or near the end of the year they revised these for another examination upon them, in connection with the regular studies of the year. In the Sophomore year attention was paid to Rhetoric, Ontology, and Mathematics. In his letter of the 21st of December, 1750, at which time he was a member of the Sophomore class, referring to a course of lectures then being delivered in Philadelphia, on several branches of Natural Philosophy, Mr. Shippen remarks, " The Astronomical parts, I perceive, are to be illustrated by a fine Orrery,* which will represent to you the most adequate idea of the system of the world and the various motions of the Heavenly Bodies, which [it] would give me great pleasure to see, because these things are a part of my studies every day." It is probable that these subjects were attended to in connection with the study of the globes previously mentioned. From the same letter it appears that at this time he was reading the second book of Homer, and would shortly enter upon the study of the third book, and that in the spring he would have need of Martin’s "Natural Philosophy," in two volumes, of which he seems to have a just appreciation when he says, "that it is by far the best that is extant, and which," he adds, "the President now uses in the instruction of the upper [Senior] class.’

On the 29th of May, 1751, President Burt wrote to Mr. James David Dove, of Philadelphia, and made an arrangement with him for the use of an apparatus suited to the illustration of a course of twelve lectures on Natural Philosophy, by Mr. Lewis Evans. It does not appear what compensation Mr. Evans was to receive for his lectures, but Mr. Burr engaged to pay to Mr. Dove ten pounds proclamation—‘ when the lectures are finished. These lectures were the same as those delivered by Mr. Evans in the cities of Philadelphia and New York, and concerning which Mr. Shippen thus speaks in his letter to his father, of the date of September 14,

*This was not Rittenhouse’s famous orrery.

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1751 "Mr. Lewis Evans has already exhibited eight of his lectures, . . . to the general satisfaction of all attending thereon. And as to his Lecture on Electricity, his great knowledge in it, and his accurateness in per-forming the experiments, have given us abundant Light into the Nature and properties thereof, of which I was entirely ignorant before. And as several Phenomena in Nature can he accounted for from the knowledge of this newly-discovered Element (I mean the Electrical Fluid), and are dependent thereon, I have taken this good opportunity, while Mr. Evans is here, and has a globe to spare, to procure myself a small Electrical Machine, particularly for my instruction in this useful branch of Philosophy.’’

From a letter of Governor Belcher to Mr. [Dr.] Franklin, of the date of January 20, 1752, it appears that President Burr had possessed himself of an Electrical Machine, and that he experimented with it upon the Governor himself, for his relief from the paralysis under which he was suffering at the time. The relief, however, afforded by the use of electricity in the Governor’s case was but little, if any. Dr. Franklin had kindly offered to Wait upon the Governor for a like purpose, and sent him one of his machines, the "glass globe" of which unfortunately was broken on its way to the Governor’s residence; and this was the occasion of Mr. Burr proffering his services. As Mr. Burr instructed the students in Natural Philosophy, this doubtless was the chief reason for his purchase of this Electrical Machine. Dr. Franklin’s great discovery of the identity of lightning and ordinary electricity was made in 1752.

In a letter of December 2, 1751, Mr. Shippen says, "Mr. Burr has collected this Fall subscriptions to the value of £200, Penn’s currency, for the apparatus, about , £100 whereof Col. Alford very generously subscribed, he being one of the greatest friends our College is blessed with." Further on Mr. Shippen adds, "I am beginning to read Ethics (or Moral Philosophy), and shall have occasion for Grove’s 2 vols, on that branch." Again, in a letter of May 23, 1752, "Since you were here, the President has been instructing two or three of us in the calculation of Eclipses, for which we made use of Whiston & Brent’s Astronomical qal)Ies." And in a letter of the 25th of July, 5752, to his father, Mr. Shippen, "I received your letter of the 23d of May, with Hodgson’s ‘Theory of Navigation’ and Street’s ‘Tables,’ for which I am very thankful, though I am sorry that I cannot now employ my thoughts in studying anything of them, as I am fully engaged in the necessary exercises of the College." From this remark and the one preceding, it is probable that the calculating of Eclipses and study of Navigation were optional studies, to which the students in general were not required to give attention, but for instruction in which, if desired, they could have all needed help.

In August, 1752, Mr. Shippen, with the consent of his father, and of Mr. Burr, went for a few weeks to New Rochelle, to be with a French family and learn the French language more perfectly.

THE LOCATING OF THE COLLEGE.

The second thing mentioned as an object of special interest at this time was the choice of a permanent seat for the College. At a meeting of the Trustees, at Newark, September 26, 1750,

the time of the annual commencement, it was voted,

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"That a proposal be made to the Towns of Brunswick and Princetown to try what sum of money they can raise for Building of the College, by the next meeting, that the Trustees may be better able to judge in which of these places to fix the place of the College."

At the next meeting, held at Trenton, May 15, 1751, the Trustees decided,

"That New Brunswick be the place for the building of the College, provided the Inhabitants of said Place agree with the Trustees upon the following terms, viz. that they secure to the College a Thousand Pounds proc. money, ten acres of land contiguous to the College, and two hundred acres of wood-land, the furthest part of it not to be more than three miles from the town."

At this meeting there was an offer made by the inhabitants of Princeton, and it was next ordered,

"That Mr. Sergeant, the Treasurer, and some other person, whom he shall see fit, view the above promised land at Princetown, and also that to be given by the Inhabitants of New Brunswick, and make a report of the same to the Trustees at their meeting in September next."

This meeting was held at Newark, on the 25th of September, at which time the following record was made:

"When the Board of Trustees had laid before them the proposals of the Inhabitants of New Brunswick, relating to the College being fixt there, for want of some particular steps being taken respecting that matter, the Trustees judged that they could not at present come to any conclusion in the affair, and so deferred the further consideration of it to their next meeting."

The Trustees also ordered,

"That Mr. Sergeant, with any person he shall choose, view the land at New Brunswick and at Princetowne, and make a report what they shall deem an equivalent at the next meeting."

This is substantially the same order with one given at the previous meeting, but differing in this respect, as they were to give their judgment as to what would be an equivalent for the land promised the College.

The next meeting of the Board was held at Elizabeth, May 14, 1752, but it does not appear from the minutes that any action was had in reference to the erection of a College building. At the meeting held at the time of the next Commencement,

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September 27, 1752, the following entry was made in the minutes:

"The Trustees taking into consideration that the people of New Brunswick have not complied with the terms proposed to them for fixing the College in that place, by the time referred to in the offer of this Board, now Voted, That they are free from any obligation to fix the College at New Brunswick, and are at liberty to place it where they please. The Trustees agree that it shall be put to Vote in what place the College shall be fixed, upon such conditions as the Board shall propose,

"Voted, That the College be fixed at Princetown, upon condition that the inhabitants of said Place secure to the Trustees those two hundred acres of wood-land, and that Ten Acres of cleared land which Mr. Sergeant viewed; and also one thousand Pounds proc. money. The one half of which sum to be paid within two months after the foundation of the College is laid, and the other half within six months afterwards; and that the people of said Place comply with the terms of this vote within three months from this time by giving in Bonds for said money, and making a sufficient Title for said land to be received by such persons as the Board shall appoint, or else forfeit all privilege from this Vote; and that the Treasurer be empowered to give them a bond for the fulfilment of this Vote on the part of the Trustees.

"The Trustees appoint Messrs. President Burr, Samuel Woodruff, Jonathan Sergeant, Ehihu Spencer, Caleb Smith, to be a committee to transact the above affair with the Inhabitants of Princetown, and that Ehizabethtown be the place for accomplishing the same."

At this meeting Governor Belcher earnestly urged the Trustees to go on with the erection of a College building, and of a house for the President and his family. The Governor’s speech is given at length in the minutes of the Board.

The next meeting of the Trustees was held at Princeton, on the 24th of January, 1753, when it was voted by the Board,

"That said People (when Mr. Randolph has given a Deed for a certain tract of Land four hundred feet Front and thirty Poles depth, in lines at right angles with the broad street where it is proposed that the College shall be built) have complied with the terms proposed to them for fixing the College at said place."

Mr. Nathaniel Fitz Randolph here referred to did give the required deed, and through his liberality and that of the gentlemen who contributed the thousand pounds proc., and who paid for the rest of the land given to the College, the permanent seat of the College was fixed at Princeton.

Among certain memoranda made by Mr. Randolph is the following:

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"January 25, 1753. Gave a deed to the Trustees for (4 1/2) four and one-half acres of Land for the College."

The consideration mentioned in the deed was ( £150) one hundred and fifty pounds; but it is added by Mr. Randolph,

"I never did receive one penny for it: it was only to confirm the title."

He also gave twenty pounds in addition to the land and his services in obtaining subscriptions.

From a comparison of dates, it appears that the deed was given the third day after the meeting of the Board in Princeton to conclude their agreement with the inhabitants of that place, viz., on the 25th of January, 1753.

THE ERECTION OF COLLEGE BUILDINGS.

At the meeting in Princeton just mentioned, Thomas Leonard, Esq., Samuel Woodruff, Esq.; and the Rev. Messrs. Cowell, William Tennent, Burr, Treat, Brainerd, and Smith, were appointed a committee "to act in behalf of the Trustees in building the College, according to the plan agreed upon by the Board." This committee was also authorized to build a house for the President, and to draw upon the Treasurer of the College for the requisite funds. The plan adopted was, "in general," one drawn by Dr. Shippen and Mr. Robert Smith, of Philadelphia. Mr. Samuel Hazard and Mr. Robert Smith were a committee to select the spot and to mark out the ground. Dr. Shippen and Mr. Hazard were Trustees. Mr. Smith was the Architect for the building.

It was first ordered, "That the College be built of brick, if good brick can be made at Princeton, and sand be got reasonably cheap, and that it be three stories high, and without any cellar" At a subsequent meeting it was "Voted, That the College be built of stone, and the President’s house of wood." The outer walls of the College were accordingly built of stone obtained from a quarry near the village, but the President’s house was built of brick. (See Minutes of the Board for July 22, 1754, and for September 25 of the same year.)

The land upon which these buildings were erected was

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given by N. F. Randolph, from whose memoranda* we gather the following particulars respecting the College building, viz., that the ground for this building was first broken on the 29th of July, 1754, under the direction of Joseph Morrow, and that the first corner-stone was laid at the northwest corner of the cellar, by Thomas Leonard, John Stockton, John Hornor, William Worth (the mason who did the stone and brick work), N. F. Randolph, and many others. From which we may infer that the corner-stone was laid by Mr. Leonard, the Chairman of the Building Committee, in the presence and with the assistance of some of the other persons named. Mr. Randolph adds that in November, 1755, "the roof of said College was raised by Robert Smith, the carpenter who did the wood-work of the College."

This building was originally one hundred and seventy-six feet in length, fifty-four in width at the two ends, with projections in the front and in the rear, the front one extending three or four feet, the one in the rear about twelve feet. The middle of the roof was surmounted by a cupola. There were three stories, with a basement, and, exclusive of the Chapel, there were in all sixty rooms, sixteen of them in the basement, or what is now the cellar. From the account of the College prepared by Mr. Samuel Blair, under the direction of President Finley, and published in 1764, it appears that forty-nine of these rooms were assigned to the lodging of students, and that they were deemed sufficient for one hundred and forty-seven, reckoning three to a chamber. The other rooms were used for recitation, library, refectory, dining-room, etc. Since the burning of Nassau Hall, in 1855, none of the sixteen rooms above mentioned have been fitted up for the accommodation of students, as was the case before that time.

At the time of its erection this College building was the largest edifice of its kind in the British Provinces of North

* Copies of these memoranda and of other papers of the Randolph family were very kindly furnished the writer by Colonel J. Ross Snowden, of Philadelphia, Miss Frances W. Morford, formerly of Princeton, but now of Lynchburg, Virginia, and Mrs. John S. Hart, all of whom are descendants of the Randolphs of Princeton.

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America, and in view of the very important services rendered to the College by Governor Belcher, the Trustees, in a very flattering letter addressed to the Governor, requested his permission to call this building "Belcher Hall."

With a rare modesty he declined the honor, and at the same time expressed an earnest desire that the building should be called "Nassau Hall," in honor of King William the third, "who was a branch of the illustrious House of Nassau." It was therefore ordered by a vote of the Trustees, "that the said edifice be, in all time to come, called and known by the name of Nassau Hall."

From the name given to this first College edifice the College itself is extensively known under this appellation.

THE RAISING OF FUNDS.

Of necessity this important matter demanded the attention of the Trustees from the very beginning of their efforts to erect a College. But it was altogether beyond their ability to make provision for the current expenses of the institution, and at the same time to erect such buildings as were deemed essential to the complete success of their enterprise. The erection of a large and commodious College building was regarded by them as scarcely of less importance than the charter itself. It would seem from, some of Governor Belcher’s letters, written soon after his arrival in the Colony, that he too regarded the erection of a suitable building and the full establishment of the College as almost one and the same thing, or at least he was of the opinion that without such a building the attempt to establish a College must prove a failure. In a letter to the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, of the date of July 30, 1748, the Governor says, …. "and if, finally, money cannot be raised for the house and to support the necessary officers, the thing must be given up. In a letter, written as early as September 18, 1747, to a committee of the West Jersey Society, the Governor says, "I find the people of this Province are in a poor situation for educating their children. I am therefore for promoting the building of a College for the Instruction of Youth. This affair was agitated before my arrival, and much contested between the

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gentlemen of the Eastern and those of the Western Division, where it should be placed, and I have got them to agree to have it built at Princetown, in the Western Division, being (I apprehend) nearest to the centre of the Province." And in a letter to his friend Mr. Walley, of Boston, of the date of October 2, 1747, he writes: "The People . . . in many parts of the Province show a great desire to enjoy the Gospel in Its purity. There has been striving at what place the College should be built, and I have persuaded those concerned to fix it at Princetown, and I think it as near the centre of the Province as any, and a fine situation. . . . By the Scarborough I have wrote to several of my rich Friends in England of this noble design, and I doubt not of obtaining some Donations from them, and, God sparing my life, they will find me a faithful friend. These southern Provinces greatly want such a nursery of Religion and Learning."

Neither the Governor nor the Trustees ever lost sight of the importance of erecting a College building,, and to the obtaining of the requisite funds for this purpose they gave much thought. Before Governor Belcher entered upon his administration of the Province the Trustees had gotten subscriptions to the amount of eight hundred pounds (see letter of Governor Belcher to Rev. G. Tennent), and before the selection of the permanent seat of the institution they had received some valuable gifts, which, in the low state of the College treasury, were of great service to their undertaking. Still, they found that they needed larger funds than could be had in this country; and they therefore turned their thoughts to the securing of aid from abroad, The Rev. Dr. Pemberton, of New York, was the person first chosen to visit Great Britain; but he having declined, Mr. Burr was requested to take upon himself the burden of soliciting funds in England and Scotland. With no little hesitation Mr. Burr consented to do so, provided his friend the Rev. Caleb Smith, then pastor of the church in Newark Mountains, now Orange, would agree to take the oversight of the College during his absence. Mr. Smith, although disposed to render the College every assistance in his power, shrank from this responsibility, on the ground that he did not think

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himself equal to the task. It is no slight evidence of this gentleman’s great worth, as well as of his modesty, that the estimate of his talents and learning by those best acquainted with them was far higher than his own.

The Trustees next requested Rev. Messrs. Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Davies to visit Great Britain and to solicit aid in behalf of the College; and having obtained the consent of these distinguished ministers, they next applied to the Synod of New York for their sanction, which was unanimously given by that body. An address to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was prepared, and, after a revision by a committee, was unanimously approved by the Synod. Certificates of their appointment by the Synod were also given to Messrs. Tennent and Davies, and provision was made for supplying their pulpits during their absence. The address of the Synod is well worthy of a place in any and every history of the College, and it may perhaps be as well inserted in this connection as in any other.

A COPY OF THE ADDRESS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

"To the very venerable and the very honourable the moderator and other members of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, to meet at Edinburgh, May, t~54. The petition of the Synod of New York, convened at Philadelphia, October 3, 1753, humbly showeth:-

"That a college has lately been erected in the province of New Jersey, by his Majesty’s royal charter, in which a number of youth have been already educated, who are now the instruments of service to the church of God; and which would be far more extensively beneficial were it brought to maturity. That after all the contributions that have been made to said college, or can be raised in these parts, the fund is far from being sufficient for the erection of suitable buildings, supporting the president and tutors, furnishing a library, and defraying other necessary expenses; that the trustees of said college, who are zealous and active to promote it for the public good, have already sent their petition to this venerable house for some assistance in carrying on so important a design; and also petitioned the Synod to appoint two of their members, the Rev. Messrs. Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Davies, to undertake a voyage to Europe in behalf of said college.

"Your petitioners therefore most heartily concur in said petition of the trustees to the Reverend Assembly, and appoint the said Messrs. Tennent and Davies to be their commissioners for that purpose.

"And as your petitioners apprehend the design of said petition to be of the utmost importance to the interests of learning and religion in this infant country, and are confident of the zeal of so pious and learned a body as the General Assembly of

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the Church of Scotland to promote such a design, they beg leave to lay before this venerable house a general representation of the deplorable circumstances of the churches under their Synodical care, leaving it to the commissioners to descend to particulars.

"In the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina a great number of congregations have been formed upon the Presbyterian plan, which have put themselves under the Synodical care of your petitioners, who conform to the Constitution of the Church of Scotland, and have adopted her standards of doctrine, worship, and discipline. There are also large settlements lately planted in various parts, particularly in North and South Carolina, where multitudes are extremely desirous of the ministrations of the gospel; but they are not yet formed into congregations, and regularly organized, for want of ministers. These numerous bodies of people, dispersed so widely through so many colonies, have repeatedly made the most importunate applications to your petitioners for ministers to be sent among them; and your petitioners have exerted themselves to the utmost for their relief, both by sending their members and candidates to officiate some time among them and using all practicable measures for the education of pious youth for the ministry.

"But, alas, notwithstanding these painful endeavours, your petitioners have been utterly incapable to make sufficient provision for so many shepherdless flocks; and those that come hundreds of miles crying to them for some to break the bread of life among them, are often obliged to return in tears, with little or no relief, by reason of the scarcity of ministers.

"Though every practicable expedient which the most urgent necessity could suggest has been used to prepare labourers for this extensive and growing harvest, yet the number of ministers in the Synod is far from being equal to that of the congregations under their care. Though sundry of them have taken the pastoral charge of two or three congregations for a time, in order to lessen the number of vacancies; and though sundry youth have lately been licensed, ordained, and settled in congregations that were before destitute, yet there are no less than forty vacant congregations at present under the care of this Synod, besides many more which are incapable at present to support ministers; and the whole colony of North Carolina, where numerous congregations of Presbyterians are forming, and where there is not one Presbyterian minister settled.

"The great number of vacancies in the bounds of this Synod is owing, partly, to new settlements lately made in various parts of this continent, partly to the death of sundry ministers belonging to this Synod, but principally to the small number of youth educated for the ministry, so vastly disproportionate to the numerous vacancies; and unless some effectual means can be taken for the education of proper persons for the sacred character, the churches of Christ in these parts must continue in the most destitute circumstances, wandering shepherdless and forlorn through this wilderness, thousands perishing for lack of knowledge, the children of God hungry and unfed, and the rising age growing up in a state little better than that of heathenism with regard to the public aministrations of the gospel.

"The numerous inconveniences of a private, and the many important advantages of a public education are so evident, that we need not inform this venerable Assembly of them, who cannot but be sensible, from happy experience, of the many extensive benefits of convenient colleges.

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"The difficulty (and in some cases the impossibility) of sending youth two, three, four, or five hundred miles or more, to the colleges of New England, is evident at first sight. Now it is from the College of New Jersey only that we can expect a remedy of these inconveniences; it is to that your petitioners look for the increase of their numbers; it is on that the Presbyterian churches through the six colonies above mentioned principally depend for a supply of accomplished ministers; from that has been obtained considerable relief already, notwithstanding the many disadvantages that unavoidably attend it in its present infant state, and from that may be expected a sufficient supply when brought to maturity.

"Your petitioners, therefore, most earnestly pray that this very reverend Assembly would afford the said college all the countenance and assistance in their power. The young daughter of the Church of Scotland, helpless and exposed in this foreign land, cries to her tender and powerful mother for relief. The cries of ministers oppressed with labours, and of congregations famishing for want of the sincere milk of the word, implore assistance. And were the poor Indian savages sensible of their own case they would join in the cry, and beg for more missionaries to be sent to propagate the religion of Jesus among them.

"Now, as the College of New Jersey appears the most promising expedient to redress these grievances, and to promote religion and learning in these provinces, your petitioners most heartily concur with the trustees, and humbly pray that an act may be passed by their venerable and honourable Assembly for a national collection in favour of said college. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever pray,’’ etc.

A COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE FOR MESSRS. GILBERT TENNENT

AND SAMUEL DAVIES.

"The Rev. Messrs. Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Davies, the bearers hereof, undertaking a voyage to Europe by the appointment of the Synod, in concurrence with the trustees of the College of New Jersey, for services of said college; the Synod do hereby certify, that the above reverend gentlemen are worthy and well-approved members of their body, and do recommend them to the acceptance of the church of God and the work of their mission, wheresoever Divine Providence may call them, imploring the Divine Presence with them and success to their important undertaking.

"Signed by order of the Synod."

The appointment of these two gentlemen, Messrs. Tennent and Davies, was a most happy one for the College. Going with an earnest recommendation from the Synod, and with letters from Governor Belcher, they were cordially received by the Presbyterians of Scotland and Ireland, and the Baptists and Independents of England, and kindly treated by some of the prominent statesmen of that day. Their mission was successful beyond all expectation, and they obtained an amount of funds which enabled the Trustees to proceed without further delay

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in the erection of their proposed College Hall, and also of a house for the President and family. What was the precise sum collected in Great Britain and Ireland cannot now be stated, as the books of the Treasurer of the College have been lost; but the minutes of the Board for the 24th of September, 1755, set forth the fact that the funds were amply sufficient to defray the expenses incurred in the erection of the buildings above mentioned; and that three hundred and fifty pounds sterling, or more, were also obtained from divers friends in Great Britain for the education of pious and indigent youth for the gospel ministry."’

Messrs. Tennent and Davies received in the city of London alone about twelve hundred pounds sterling. On their return from Edinburgh to London, Mr. Tennent went to Ireland, and to some of the towns in the west of England, and obtained on this tour five hundred pounds sterling. And Mr. Davies collected in the several towns visited by him about four hundred pounds. And these sums are exclusive, in a great measure at least, of the collections made in the churches in Scotland and Ireland, by order of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and by the Synod of Ulster.

The youth to be aided from this fund were to be selected by the Synod, and to receive their education at the College of New Jersey. This doubtless may be regarded as the foundation of the charitable funds of the College, which have been of no little service to the institution, as well as to the Presbyterian Church, by assisting in the support of a valuable class of students, whose desire and aim were to become ministers of the gospel. Of the several contributions to this fund mention will be made hereafter.†

For the liberality and kindness of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Trustees, by a formal vote, expressed their grateful acknowledgments.

In Guild’s "History of Brown University" there is a copy of a letter written from London, April 26, 1768, by the Rev.

* For a list of the contributors to this particular fund, see printed "Minutes of the Synod of New York," pages 264, 263.

† In Minutes, page 43.

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Morgan Edwards to President Manning, in which letter the following passage occurs respecting Messrs. Tennent and Davies, and two other well-known gentlemen, who had visited Great Britain and Ireland to solicit funds in aid of the important and benevolent objects of their several missions:

"You must observe also that in England, as in Ireland, I solicit money towards endowing the College, and therefore take care that you attend to the design of the donors.

"Indeed, you have a list of all the sums I received in Ireland, which list was distributed in the several places where I have been. The design was to let every one of them see that I gave true credit for what I have received, Had Tenn—nt, D—vis, and Be—ty and Whit—r, done so, they would have prevented suspicions very injurious to themselves, and to those that come after them on the like errand. Mr. Raffey told me that he had been called a rogue for aiding the said persons to raise money in London."

Mr. Guild, not content to let the letter speak for itself, must needs add the following note, lest the reader of his book might not otherwise know who were the gentlemen referred to by Mr. Edwards:

"In 1753, by request of the Trustees of the College of New Jersey, the Presbyterian Synod of New York appointed the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, in connection with the Rev. (afterwards President) Samuel Davis, to cross the Atlantic and solicit funds for that Institution. The mission was eminently successful; but the only account of it that remains is found in the diary of Mr. Davis. About the same time, or a little later, the Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker, accompanied by Samson Occum, an Indian preacher, solicited funds for Moor’s Indian Charity School,. afterwards Dartmouth College. Who the other person was to whom Edwards refers we are not informed."

This information it is in the writer’s power to supply. He was the Rev.. Charles Beatty, a man without reproach and of eminent piety, who was sent by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia to solicit contributions for the establishment of a fund to assist aged and disabled ministers and the families of deceased ministers. All the gentlemen named discharged their respective trusts, in collecting funds and in making report thereof, to the entire satisfaction of those whose agents they were. And although there be not now any account of the moneys collected by Messrs. Tennent and Davies but what is given in the diary of Mr. Davies, yet it would be perfectly absurd to imagine that they did not give a detailed report of all the moneys received by them for the College; and for the collecting of which the Trustees of the College gave them their thanks, and to each a present of £50, in addition to the expenses of their agency and of supplying the pulpits during their absence. The Treasurer’s books and papers of that

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day have long been lost, but whether during the ravages of the Revolutionary War or by the fire of 1802, which consumed the College edifice, known as Nassau Hall, together with the Library, Philosophical Apparatus, and other valuables, is unknown. The election of Mr. Davies, a few years later, as President of the College, in the absence of all other evidence, would be conclusive as to the fact that his agency had given the Trustees entire satisfaction; and it shows that the currency giver, to what was doubtless the grossly exaggerated statement of Mr. Raffey, as reported by Mr. Edwards, was a discourteous treatment of gentlemen in every respect his equals, not to say his superiors.

The Rev. Dr. Manning, the first President of Brown University, to whom Mr. Edwards’s letter was addressed, was a graduate of the College of New Jersey in 1762. He was an eminently active and useful man, and was held in high repute as a teacher, a minister, and a patriot. In 1786 he represented Rhode Island in the Continental Congress.

THE REMOVAL TO PRINCETON.

The College edifice and the house for the President were both so far completed by the autumn of 1756 that the Trustees, at their meeting in September of that year, the time of the annual Commencement, passed an order for the removal .of the students from Newark to Princeton, and it took place accordingly. The words of this order were: " Voted, That the President move the College to Princeton this Fail, and that the .expense thereof be paid by the Treasurer."

In Dr. Finley’s account of the College it is said to have taken place in 1757. Dr. Green suggests that President Finley "probably spoke of what might be called a collegiate year, reckoning from one Commencement to another."

That the removal actually occurred in the autumn of 1756 we have the testimony of Mr. N. F. Randolph, who, in his "Memoranda," says that, "in 1756, Aaron Burr, President, preached the first sermon, and began the first school in Princeton College." And it also appears from a minute in the Rec.ords of the Synod of New York for 1757, that a committee of the Synod met at Princeton on the 23d of November, 1756, to examine such students as were candidates to receive assistance from the fund designed for the support of pious youths.

At this time, it is estimated that there were seventy pupils

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in the College. Everything appeared bright and promising Governor Belcher and Mr. Burr had seen their fondest hopes in regard to the College realized. Their efforts to obtain funds in Great Britain and Ireland had surpassed their expectations. A college edifice sufficient for the accommodation of more than one hundred students had been erected. A house for the President of the College had also been built. The College was in good repute at home and abroad, with a prospect of increase in the number of the pupils and in the resources of the institution. At the meetings of the Synods of New York and of Philadelphia in May, 1757, effectual measures were taken for the union of these two Synods, thus bringing together into one harmonious body all the Presbyterian ministers and churches in the several Provinces, and giving hope to the friends of the College of increased patronage from a united Church.*

But scarcely were these things realized, or rather looked forward to with confident expectation, when the two principal supports of the College were removed from their earthly labors; and neither of them lived to see a class graduated at Princeton,

—Governor Belcher having died on Wednesday, the 31st of August, and President Burr on Saturday, the 24th of September, 1757, four days before the annual Commencement, which took place on Wednesday, the 28th of September.

From the day on which Mr. Burr was inaugurated President of the College, under the second charter, to the Commencement, which occurred on the fourth day after his decease,—that is, from the 9th of November, 1748, to the 28th of September, 1757,—there were admitted to the first degree in the Arts one hundred and fourteen young gentlemen who had pursued their studies under his guidance, and of these, sixty-two entered the ministry. Thus far, it appears, the College had answered the design of its founders.

The first general revival of religion in the College took place in the last year of President Burr’s administration and of his life, the Lord permitting him to see that the blessing of the

* The union was consummated in May, 1758.

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Almighty had attended his labors for the promotion of piety and learning in happy union.

The names of the several Tutors during Mr. Burr’s administration are as follows, viz.:

1. John Maltby, from 1749 to 1752. Mr. Maltby was a graduate of Yale, and was a descendant of the Rev. Abraham Pierson, the first President of that College. For several years he was "the much-loved pastor" of a church in the island of Bermuda. He died in 1771.

2. Samuel Sherwood, from 1750 to 1752.

3. Jonathan Badger, from 1752 to 1755.

4. Alexander Gordon, from 1752 to 1754.

5. George Duffield, from 1754 to 1756.

6. William Thompson, from 1755 to 1756.

7. Benjamin Y. Prime, from 1756 to 1757.

8. John Ewing, from 1756 to 1758.

9. Isaac Smith, from 1757 to 1758.

10. Jeremiah Halsey, from 1757 to 1767.

11. Joseph Treat, from 1758 to 1760.

The following gentlemen were chosen Trustees during Mr. Burr’s presidency:

1. James Neilson, Esq., in 1749; resigned in 1754.

2. Samuel Woodruff, Esq., in 1749; died in 1768.

3. Rev. John Frelinghuysen, in 1750; died in 1755.

4. Rev. Caleb Smith, in 1750; died in 1763. He was pastor of the church at Newark Mountains, now Orange, New Jersey.

5. Rev. Thomas Thompson, in 1751; died in 1752.

6. Rev. Samuel Finley, in 1751; resigned in 1761. In this year he was chosen President of the College.

7. Rev. Elihu Spencer, in 1752; died in 1784.

8. Rev. John Brainerd, in 1754; died in 1780.

9. Rev. Alexander Cumming, in 1756; resigned in 1761.

10, Rev. Charles McKnight, in t,~g7; died in 1778.

11. Richard Stockton, Esq., in 1757; died in 1781.

Of the one hundred and fourteen graduates who, from 1747 to 1757, pursued their studies under the direction of President Burr, more than half became preachers of the gospel, and about forty were men of more or less note in their respective callings,

 

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and of these not a few were quite eminent. To begin with instructers in this and in other institutions: of the class of

1752. The Rev. Jeremiah Halsey, AM., for ten years a Tutor, a Professor elect of Mathematics, and then a Trustee.

1754. The Rev. John Ewing, S.T.D., for two years a Tutor in this College, Professor in the University of Pennsylvania, and also Provost of the same.

1754. William Shippen, M.D. The first Professor of Anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania.

1757. James Smith, M.D. The first Professor of Materia Medica in King’s (Columbia) College, New York.

MEMBERS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.

1748. Hon. Richard Stockton, New Jersey; a signer of the Declaration of Independence; a Trustee of the College.

1749. Hon. William Burnet, New Jersey; also Surgeon General of the United States Army.

1751. Hon. Nathaniel Scudder, New Jersey; a Trustee of the College.

1752. Hon. Samuel Livermore of New Hampshire; also United States Senator, etc., etc.

1754. Hon. William Shippen, M.D., of Pennsylvania; a Trustee of the College.

1755. Hon. Joseph Montgomery, of Pennsylvania; from 1784 to 1788.

1756. Hon. Jesse Root, LL.D., of Connecticut; also Chief Justice of Connecticut.

1757. Hon. Joseph Reed, of New Jersey and Pennsylvania; also, in 1784, President of the Pennsylvania State Convention; a Trustee of the College, etc.

OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE.

1756. Hon. Alexander Martin, LL.D., of North Carolina.

OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

1755. Hon. Isaac Smith, of New Jersey; also a Judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

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SECRETARY OF THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

1753. Joseph Shippen, Esq.

HIGH SHERIFF OF LONDON.

1757. Stephen Sayre, Esq.

As those gentlemen whose names are about to be given are not included in any of the above lists, they will be mentioned in the order of their admission to the first degree in the Arts:

1748. Rev. Hugh Henry, Rehoboth, Maryland.

1748. Rev. Israel Reed, A.M., of Bound Brook, New-Jersev; a Trustee of the College.

1749. Rev. John Brown, New Providence, Rockbridge County, Virginia.

1749. Rev. John Todd, A.M.; successor to the Rev. Samuel Davies as minister of the Providence church, Virginia.

1750. Rev. Daniel Farrand, A.M.; minister of a Congregational church in South Canaan, Connecticut.

1750. Rev. Samuel McClintock, D.D.; minister of a Congregational church in Greenland, New Hampshire.

1750. Benjamin Youngs Prime, M.D.; Tutor an elegant classical scholar; a practitioner of medicine and surgery in the city of New York,

1750. Rev. Robert Henry, A.M.; pastor of Cub Creek church, Charlotte County, Virginia.

1752. Rev. George Duffield, D.D.; Tutor and Trustee; pastor of the Third Church, Philadelphia.

1752. Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker, D.D., of Connecticut, received his degree from St. Andrew’s, Scotland.

1753. Rev. John Harris, of Delaware and South Carolina.

1753. Dr. Robert Harris, of Philadelphia; for fifty-four years a Trustee of the College.

1753. Rev. Hugh McAden, AM., a native of Pennsylvania; pastor of the churches in Duplin and New Hanover, North Carolina.

1754. Rev. Hugh Knox, D.D.; minister at St. Croix, West Indies.

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1754. David Matthews, A.M.; Mayor of New York in 1775; a Loyalist.

1754. Rev. William Ramsay, A.M.; pastor of Fairfield church, Connecticut.

1755. Thaddeus Burr, A.M.; a lawyer in Fairfield, Connecticut.

1755. Rev. Wheeler Case, A.M.; pastor of Pleasant Valley’ church, Dutchess County, New York; author of a volume of poems.

1756. Rev. Azel Roe, D.D., of Woodbridge, New Jersey; a Trustee of the College.

1757. Rev. William Kirkpatrick, A.M., of Amwell, New Jersey; a Trustee of the College.

1757. Rev. Alexander McWhorter, D.D., of Newark, New Jersey; a Trustee of the College.

1757. Henry Wells, A.M., M.D., of Brattleborough, Vermont.

 

MEMOIR OF PRESIDENT BURR.

 

The Rev. Aaron Burr was born in Fairfield County, Connecticut, on the 4th of January, 1716. He was the youngest son of Daniel Burr, whose father and paternal grandfather were both named John. The elder John came to Fairfield from Springfield, Massachusetts. (See Dr. Stearns’s " Historical Discourses," page 151.)

In their respective sketches of the life of President Burr, Drs. Allen, Green, and Sprague agree in representing him as descended from the learned and pious Jonathan Burr, a non-conformist preacher who came from England in 1639, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, where he died in 1641. John Burr, the second son of the Rev. Jonathan Burr, of Dorchester, settled in Fairfield County probably about the time that the first John came from Springfield to Fairfield, and this fact, mentioned by Dr. Allen in his "Biographical Dictionary," may have given rise to the conjecture that President Burr was descended from the Rev. Jonathan Burr. Dr. Allen expressly says that Daniel Burr, the father of President Burr, was descended from John Burr. But this cannot be unless Daniel’s

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mother was a daughter of John Burr, of which we have no evidence or even any intimation,

The true account, therefore, of this matter is the one given by the Rev. Dr. Stearns, and for it he acknowledges himself indebted to the Rev. Dr. L. H. Atwater, then of Fairfield, but now of Princeton, who at Dr. Stearns’s request ascertained the facts of the case. And here it may not be amiss to say that the fullest and the best sketch of the life of President Burr of which we have any knowledge is the one given by Dr. Stearns, in his Historical Discourses" relative to the First Presbyterian Church of Newark.

President Burr was graduated at Yale College in the autumn of 1735, being at that time in the twentieth year of his age. At the completion of the usual College course he was a successful competitor for one of the classical scholarships founded at Yale by Berkeley, the eminent and learned Bishop of Cloyne; and having obtained this prize, he continued his studies at New Haven for another year. It was during this year that he became deeply and permanently interested in the subject of religion, and, hoping that he was called of God to engage in the work of the ministry, he resolved to devote himself to it with all his heart. And this he did. Upon being licensed as a candidate for the sacred office, he left New England and came to New Jersey. Here he labored for a short time at Hanover, in Morris County, and while there he attracted the attention of the church in Newark, which was then without a pastor. At first he was invited to preach at Newark for one year, beginning the 10th of January, 1737. At the expiration of this time he was invited to assume the pastoral office, and, accepting the invitation, he was ordained on the 25th of January, 1738, by the Presbytery of East Jersey, with which Presbytery the church of Newark was then connected.

"The settlement of Mr. Burr," says Dr. Stearns, "was a most auspicious event." This remark has special reference to the church which had just given him a unanimous call to become their pastor; but it is equally true with respect to the interests of religion and learning within the limits of the entire Presbyterian Church in this country, of which he was an eminent

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minister, surpassed by none in devotion to his work, or, as far as we can judge, in the greatness and successful prosecution of his various and arduous labors.

Within eighteen months after Mr. Burr’s settlement at Newark, the divine blessing manifestly rested upon his ministrations there: the people of his charge were favored with a most remarkable outpouring of the Spirit, and among all classes, young and old, there was such an awakening to their spiritual interests as produced a wonderful change in the whole community. This unusual attention to religion continued for nearly two years, and during this period they had one or more visits from the pious and eloquent Whitet5eld, for whom Mr. Burr seems to have entertained the highest respect, which was fully reciprocated by this famous itinerant for the gospel’s sake.

Soon after his settlement at Newark, Mr. Burr became deeply interested in the matter of Christian missions among the Indian tribes of this country, and united with his friends, the Rev. Messrs. Dickinson and Pemberton, in directing the attention of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge to this field of labor. The result of their correspondence was that they were chosen correspondents of the Society, and were authorized to employ two missionaries at the expense of the Society. This led to the appointment of David Brainerd and of Azariah Horton as missionaries to the American Indians.

Mr. Burr took an active part in the proceedings of the Church courts of which he was a member, and even in regard to matters in which the feelings of the members were strongly enlisted, he did not hesitate to act in accordance with his convictions; yet always exhibiting good sense and a Christian temper, he never failed in securing the respect and esteem of those from whom he differed in opinion.

His zeal in behalf of learning was conspicuous from the beginning of his ministry. Before a charter was obtained for the College of New Jersey, Mr. Burr established a classical school in Newark, doubtless for the special, though not for the exclusive, benefit of the youth of his pastoral charge. In the efforts to obtain a charter for a college he took a prominent part; and when, upon the decease of President Dickinson, he became

 

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the head of the institution, his untiring labors in its behalf ceased only with his life.

Of the success which attended these labors mention was made in speaking of his administration of the affairs of the College; but of his liberality to it, when it was without funds sufficient to meet its necessary expenses, we have not spoken. It has been said that for the first three years he received no salary from the College.* And it is true that in the minutes of the Trustees no mention is made of any order or vote for the payment to him of any moneys until the meeting of the Board, at Newark, on the 26th of September, 1750. In the record of this meeting there is the following minute: "Ordered, That the Clerk be allowed £5, per annum for his trouble, and that £5 be reserved for Defraying the Incidental charges of the Corporation; and that the Residue of the Interest in the Treasurer’s hands be paid the President for his services till further orders," This was at the end of the second year of Mr. Burr’s presidency under the second charter. The three years mentioned in the Obituary probably included the year that he had the charge of the College under the first charter.

The moneys in the hands of the Treasurer were those received from the lottery drawn in Philadelphia, and from donations, the first of which was a gift of fifty pounds proc. from the Hon. James Alexander, Esq., father of Major-General Lord Stirling. About this time, also, Colonel John Alford, of Boston, gave one hundred pounds to the College. The above-mentioned order seems to indicate that the Clerk’s compensation and the incidental expenses were paid from the interest of moneys in the hands of the Treasurer, and doubtless the Treasurers salary of ten pounds a year, mentioned in a previous order, was paid from the same fund. This arrangement would leave the tuition-fees to be distributed to the President and Tutors; each of the Tutors probably receiving a fixed stipend, and the President the remainder.

The first mention of a fixed compensation to the President

* See Dr. Stearns’s "Historical Discourses," page 185, and obituary notice, from the "New York Mercury," on page 206.

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is in the minutes of the Trustees for May 2, 1754, and in these words: "Voted, That the President’s salary be £150 proc. for the year following the next Commencement."*

How much he received of the interest from the vested funds of the College, as ordered by the Board at their meeting in September, 1750, from this date to September, 1754, when his salary, independent of the graduation-fees, was fixed at one hundred and fifty pounds a year, we have no means of ascertaining. But it is morally certain that his entire income from the sources named was a very meagre one compared with the services rendered; and this fact shows the sacrifices made by him for the cause of religion and learning while laboring so earnestly for the upbuilding of the College; and it also shows the generous spirit of the man, who lost sight of his own interests in efforts to serve his fellow-men. Well, therefore, might the Trustees, upon his decease and immediately before electing one to succeed him in the office of President, adopt the following resolution on the subject of the President’s salary, which for the last year of Mr. Burr’s life was two hundred and fifty pounds:

* At the same meeting it was also "Voted, That each of the two Tutors have £40 proc. yearly; and provided they tarry four years that they have £40 gratuity, if recommended by the President as having faithfully discharged their Trusts. The said salaries are to take place after the next Commencement." By a vote of the Board, at a meeting held September 27, 1752, two years before, each Tutor was allowed for his services twenty pounds sterling a year, reckoned to be at that time equal to thirty pounds proc.

The tuition-fees were fifteen shillings proc. a quarter, or three pounds a year. On the supposition that there were thirty students in the four classes during each of the first three years, and, judging from the number of graduates in those years, the average could hardly have been less, the entire income from the tuition-fees would have been two hundred and seventy pounds proc. For the first year there was but one Tutor, and the entire sum paid to the Tutors for these years did not exceed one hundred and fifty pounds proc., which would leave one hundred and twenty pounds for the President for the three years, or an average of forty pounds proc. a year.

By an ordinance of the Board, passed on the day of the first College Commencement, each student "admitted to the honor of a Degree was required to pay to the President thirty shillings proc." From this source he should have received, and probably did, about ten pounds more a year, making the yearly income from these two sources about fifty pounds proclamation money, which is only one-third of the salary voted to him by the Board for one year from September, 1754.

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"The Trustees having considered that the salary which the last year was voted to the Rev. President Burr was considerably increased on account of his constant Attention, great Zeal, and indefatigable Labors for the College; and more especially for that the said President Burr, for some years in the fore Part of the Executing his said Office, had done many and great services for said College, for which he has never received any pecuniary consideration; and that any President, who now or hereafter may be chosen, cannot, for the service of this office for some Time, deserve so well of this Board: It is therefore Ordered, that the salary of the President for the time being shall be the sum of two hundred Pounds proclamation money of this Province, during the ensuing year, together with the use of the President’s house,* and the improved Lands, with Liberty of getting his Firewood on the Lands belonging to the Corporation."

That Mr. Burr devoted himself to the upbuilding of the College without regard to the emolument to be derived therefrom is abundantly evident from the record just cited, and this fact shows that he was as generous as he was wise and laborious. It is no wonder that such a man should command the unlimited respect and confidence of all persons associated with him in his efforts to promote the cause of religion and learning.

For several years Mr. Burr discharged the duties both of pastor of the Newark church and of President of the College, but, in consequence of the increased number of students, and in view of the intended removal of the College, it was deemed best that Mr. Burr should devote himself exclusively to the instruction of the students and to the general interests of the College; and therefore at their meeting, September 25, 1754, the Trustees appointed a committee to wait upon the Presbytery of New York, and to ask from that body a dissolution of Mr. Burr’s pastoral relation to the church of Newark. This application was accordingly made to the said Presbytery, and the petition of the Trustees was granted.

The church was very reluctant to give up their beloved and faithful pastor, whose labors among them had been signally blessed of God; but, in view of the great importance of the College, and of Mr. Burr’s relations to it, they finally acquiesced in the decision of the Presbytery as right and proper.

* The mention of the President’s house in this connection, and the manner of mentioning it, indicate that had been occupied by Mr. Burr and his family. This resolution was adopted on the 27th of September, 1757, three days after the decease of President Burr.

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As a scholar, a teacher, and a preacher, Mr. Burr was held in the highest esteem by his cotemporaries. His success in the discharge of his varied and responsible duties is evidence of his great intellectual vigor and of his indomitable energy; and the results seem to justify what to some may appear to be only the extravagant eulogies of warm personal friendships on the part of those who have left us memorials of Mr. Burr’s life and labors as seen by themselves.

His publications were a Latin Grammar, commonly known as the Newark Grammar; a treatise entitled "The Supreme Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, maintained in a Letter to the Editor of Mr. Emlyn’s Inquiry," reprinted in Boston in 1791; "A Fast Sermon, on account of the Encroachment of the French, and their Designs against the British Colonies in America, delivered at Newark, January 1, 1755 ;" "The Watchman’s Answer to the Question, 'What of the night?’ (Isaiah xxi. 11, 12.) A Sermon before the Synod of New York’, convened at Newark, September, 1750;" and a funeral sermon, at Elizabethtown, on the occasion of Governor Belcher’s death, September 4,1757. The sermon before the Synod was delivered by him at the opening of Synod’s sessions, he having been the Moderator of the Synod at their meeting the year previous. The preparation and the preaching of the funeral sermon for Governor Belcher, under the exposure and the fatigue to which he had been recently subjected, brought on the extreme prostration and the accompanying fever which ended in his own death.*

It is not probable that, with the immense burden resting upon him almost perpetually after he took charge of the College, he was able to prepare for the press any other works than those enumerated above; but the writer of this article learned from Colonel Burr, the only son of President Burr, that his father’s

* Mrs. Burr, in acknowledging the receipt of a letter addressed to President Burr by one of his friends in Scotland, thus refers to this last discourse: "I here enclose you, sir, the last attempt my dear husband made to serve God in public,— a sermon which he preached at the funeral of our late excellent Governor. You will not think it strange,. if it has imperfections, when I tell you that all he wrote on the subject was done in a part of one afternoon and evening, when he had a violent fever on him, and the whole night after he was irrational." (Edwards’s "Life," page 566.)

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papers, and some of his own, which had been left for safe-keeping in the hands of his daughter, Mrs. Theodosia Allston, were lost with her upon her last voyage from Charleston, South Carolina, to New York, the ship having no doubt foundered at sea, as it was never heard from after leaving port.

On the 27th of June, 1752, Mr. Burr was united in marriage with Esther, the third daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, his successor in office. Mrs. Burr is spoken of as a lady remarkable for her beauty of person, her intelligence and piety, and as admirably suited to the station she was called to occupy as the wife of President Burr, whom she survived less than a year, dying on the 7th of April, 1758, a few weeks after the decease of her father, President Edwards. She left two children, a son and a daughter. The son was Colonel Aaron Burr, at one time Vice-President of the United States; the daughter, Sarah Burr, the elder of the two children, was married to the Hon. Tappan Reeve, an eminent lawyer, who was for some years Chief Justice of Connecticut, and founder of the famous Law School of Litchfield in that State.

On his death-bed, Mr. Burr gave directions that no unnecessary parade should be made at his funeral, and no expenses incurred beyond what Christian decency required; and that the sum which must be expended at a fashionable funeral above the necessary cost of a decent one should be given to the poor out of his estate.*

Upon the death of President Burr, a eulogy and a funeral sermon were prepared and published by two of his intimate friends, the eulogy by William Livingston, Esq., of New York, but subsequently the first Governor of New Jersey after the Revolution, the sermon by the Rev. Caleb Smith, of Newark Mountains. The sermon was prepared and preached at the request of the Trustees of the College, and published at their expense. A monumental stone was placed over President Burr’s grave by order of the Trustees, and at their request the inscription for it was prepared by the Hon. William Smith,

* President Edwards, six months after, requested his own funeral might be conducted in the manner Mr. Burr’s was.

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Esq., a member of the Board. Obituary notices of President Burr appeared both in the "New York Mercury" and in the "Pennsylvania Gazette." It is believed, and it is by no means improbable, that the one in the "Gazette" was written by its eminent editor, Benjamin Franklin. It was as follows: ‘ Sept. 29, 1757. Last Saturday died the Rev. Aaron Burr, President of the New Jersey College, a gentleman and a Christian, as universally beloved as known; an agreeable companion, a faithful friend, a tender and affectionate husband, and a good father; remarkable for his industry, integrity, strict honesty, and pure, undissembled piety; his benevolence as disinterested as unconfined, an excellent preacher, a great scholar, and a very great man." After citing this notice, Dr. Stearns makes the following comment: "The glowing eulogy of William Livingston, supported by the plain, unvarnished statements of Caleb Smith, and endorsed by the weighty testimony of Benjamin Franklin, seems to leave little more to be desired in attestation of the genuine merit of the subject of its commendation ;" and yet the writer will venture to add the testimony of President Edwards in his letter of October 19, 1757, to the Trustees of the College "This makes me shrink at the thought of taking upon me in the decline of life such a new and great business, attended with such a multiplicity of cares, and requiring such a degree of activity, alertness, and spirit of government, especially as succeeding one so remarkably well qualified in these respects, giving occasion to every one to remark the wide difference."

The following is the inscription on President Burr’s tombstone:

M. S.

Reverendi admodum Viri,

Aaronis Burr, AM., Collegii Neo-Caesariensis Praesidis,

Natus apud Fairfield Connecticutenium IV. Januarii

A.D. MDCCXVI. S. V.

Honesta in eadem Coldnia Familia oriundus,

Collegio Yalensi innutritus.

Novarcae Sacris initiatus, MDCCXXXVIII.

Annos circiter viginti pastorali munere

Fideliter functus.

Collegii N. C. Praesidium MDCCXLVIII accepit,

In Nassoviae Aulam sub finem MDCCLVI translatus.

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Defunctus in hoc Vico 24 Septembris

A.D. MDCCLVII. S. N

Aetatis XLII. Eheu quam brevis!

Huic Marmori subjicitur, quod mori potuit

Quod immortale, vendicarunt coeli:

Quaeris Viator qualis quantusque fuit ?

Perpaucis accipe.

Vir corpore parvo ac tenui,

Studiis, vigiliis, assiduiscue Laboribus,

Macro.

Sagacitate, Perspicacitate, Agilitate,

Ac Solertia, (si fas dicere )

Plusquam httmana, pene

Angelica.

Ainima ferme totus,

Omnigena Literatura instructus,

Theologia praestantior:

Concionator volubilis, suavis et suadus;

Orator facundus;

Moribus facilis, candidus et jucundus;

Vita egregie liberalis ac beneficus;

Supra vero ornnia emicuerunt

Pietas ac Benevolentia.

Sed ah ! quanta et quota Ingenii,

1ndustriae, Prudentiae, Patientiae,

Caeterarumque omnium Virtutum

Exemplaria,

Marmoris sepulchralis Angustia

Reticebit.

Multum desideratus, multum

Dilectus,

Humani generis Deliciae,

O! infandum sui Desiderium,

Gemit Ecclesia, plorat

Academia:

At Coelum plaudit, dum ille.

lngreditur

In Gaudium Domini

Dulce loquentis,

Euge bone et fidelis

Serve!

Abi Viator tuam respice finem !

 

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CHAPTER VII.

THE ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT OF 1757 AND THE ELECTION AND

ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT EDWARDS.

 

THE Commencement of 1757 took place at Princeton, on \Vednesday, the 28th of September, just four days after the decease of President Burr. On this occasion the Trustees, with one exception, were all present. At their request the Hon. William Smith, a member of the Board, presided at the Commencement exercises, and conferred the usual degrees. The two oldest ministers of their number, viz., the Rev. John Pierson and the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, were chosen to open and to conclude the exercises with prayer. Twenty-two candidates were admitted to the first degree in the Arts, and four to the second degree.

At this meeting of the Board, the Trustees ordered that the diploma fees for this Commencement be paid to Mrs. Burr "for her proper use." They also ordered, "That any sum not exceeding Twenty Pounds be laid out in erecting a monument to the memory of the late President Burr." Mr. Robert Smith was "desired to provide a proper marble stone for the purpose," and the Hon. William Smith was "requested to prepare a Latin inscription for said monument."

The Rev. Caleb Smith was requested to prepare a funeral sermon on the occasion of Mr. Burr’s death, and to print the same at the expense of the College. With this request he complied, and his excellent discourse is the source from which our knowledge of Mr. Burr’s labors and life is mainly derived. The Hon. William Smith prepared the Latin inscription, which being referred to the Rev. Messrs. Caleb Smith and Jacob Green, and revised by them, was engraved on the marble monument.

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Governor Belcher having died on the 31st of August, 1757, Samuel Woodruff and Robert Ogden, Esquires, were requested by the Trustees "to see that all the Books, with the other Things given by his Excellency for the use of the College, be conveyed to this Place."

THE ELECTION OF THE REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS.

On the day following, viz,, Thursday, the 29th of September, 1757, the Trustees took into consideration the propriety of appointing at once a successor to President Burr. The minute in regard to it is in these words:

"A choice of a President being proposed to the Board, it was ordered to be put to Vote whether the said President be now chosen or not; which being Voted accordingly, was carried in the affirmative."

"Whereupon after Prayers particularly on this occasion, and the number of Trustees present being twenty, the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Edwards, of Stockbridge, was chosen by a majority of seventeen; and this Board requests that Messrs. Livingston and Spencer, of their Number, would draw the draught of a letter requesting that the said Mr. Edwards would accept of the said choice; and also of an Address to the Honorable the Commissioners for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen in America, in the province of Massachusetts, requesting the said Commissioners to liberate the said Mr. Edwards from his pastoral charge of the Indian Congregation at Stockbridge and the Mission given him by the said Commissioners; and that the said Letter and Address be signed in behalf of this Board by the Clerk of the same."

Previously to engaging in this election, the Trustees voted, ‘That the salary of the President should be two hundred pounds proclamation money of the Province, together with the use of the President’s house and the Improved lands, with Liberty of getting his Fire-wood on the land belonging to the Corporation."

It was also voted that twenty pounds should be paid to the Rev. Mr. Edwards for the expenses of moving his family to Princeton. The committee appointed to prepare a draft of a letter to Mr. Edwards, and of an address to the Commissioners above mentioned, brought in the said drafts; which, being read, were approved, and the Clerk was ordered to transcribe the same and to send them as soon as may be to the persons for whom they were designed.

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In reference to the grammar-school connected with the College, the following minute was made by order of the Board:

"Mr. President Burr in his life-time having set up and carried on a Grammar School in this College, which by his death will now fail unless proper care be taken for its support, the Trustees therefore, in Consideration of its importance in general and in particular to this Society, do agree to take the said School under their immediate Direction and Government, and do appoint Mr. Montgomerie to be the Master of the said School, and that Mr. McWhorter* serve as an Usher under him for the ensuing year; and if the School continues to consist of Twenty Scholars or upwards, said Master shall be allowed forty-five Pounds, and the Usher fifteen Pounds, provided he gives his attendance in the School three hours in the Day but in case the School decrease to sixteen or under, then the Master shall have the Charge of said School, and be entitled to three Quarters of the Tuition Money. The Tuition Money for each student to be four Pounds per annum."

At this meeting provision was also made for the temporary oversight and inspection of the College, by the appointment of the Rev. William Tennent President pro tem, and authority was given to the Clerk to call an extra meeting of the Board at any time within three months. And in case Mr. Edwards should not attend and accept the office of President of the College at the end of the vacation, the Clerk was instructed to request Mr. Isaac Smith, a graduate of the College in 1755, to act in the Place of a Tutor until the President can attend."

During the last year of his Presidency Mr. Burr was assisted by two excellent Tutors, viz., Benjamin Youngs Prime, a graduate of the College in 1751, and John Ewing, a graduate in 1754. Mr. Prime having tendered his resignation, the Board adopted the following resolution, viz.

"Mr. Prime, one of the Tutors, applying to this Board for a Dismission from his office, It is ordered, that at the request of the said Mr. Prime he be dismissed accordingly. Nevertheless, the Trustees being fully sensible of the abilities of the said Mr. Prime, and of his having faithfully executed his said Office during the Tune of his continuance therein, do with great Reluctance part with the said Mr. Prime; and as a Testimony of their sense of his good Conduct and Merit, do present him with the sum of Ten Pounds over and above his salary, and are Sorry that the smallness of their Fund will not admit of their giving him a larger sum."

At this time the usual salary of a Tutor in this College was

* The Mr. McWhorter mentioned in this minute is the Rev. Dr. Alexander McWhorter, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark, who had just been admitted to his first degree in the Arts.

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forty pounds a year, but at this meeting of the Board it was increased to fifty pounds a year; and in the case of Mr. Ewing it was also voted, "That this Board, in consideration of the extraordinary services which are justly expected of Mr. Ewing, a Tutor for the ensuing year, will allow the said Mr. Ewing the sum of fifty pounds over and above the aforesaid salary." The Mr. Ewing here mentioned is the well-known scholar and divine, the Rev. Dr. John Ewing, for many years the distinguished Provost of the University of Pennsylvania.

At their present session the Trustees also enacted several additional rules with respect to the conduct of the students in the College edifice, which rules had been prepared by a committee appointed at the last meeting of the Board, and of which committee Mr. Burr was the first named.

"The eleventh of these rules was as follows ‘Every student shall pay four shillings per Quarter for Study-rent, sweeping their Rooms, and making their Beds; and such as smoke or chew Tobacco, five shillings, and one shilling for incidental charges.’"

The Rev. Caleb Smith having tendered his resignation as Clerk of the Board, in consequence of his residence being now at a distance from the College, by its removal to Princeton, Richard Stockton, Esq., a member of the Board, was unanimously chosen Clerk in the room of Mr. Smith, and generously undertook to discharge the duties of his office as Clerk without compensation.

The next meeting of the Trustees took place on the 14th of December, 1757, thirteen members being present, and the Hon. Thomas Leonard, Esq., in the chair.

The Trustees, taking into consideration a letter from Mr. Edwards in relation to his dismission from his pastoral charge at Stockbridge, voted,

"That it is highly proper that one of their members do endeavor, if possible, to attend the Ecclesiastical Council who are to convene for that purpose, and there represent in behalf of this Board the Reasons for the propriety of such Dismission."

Continuing their session through the following day, the Trustees, on the morning of the 15th, voted,

"That if the Rev. Mr. Edwards come and take upon him the Charge of the College this Winter, that he be entitled to the President’s salary for the whole of

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this year; and that he have the liberty of receiving one-half of his salary at the end of six months from the last Commencement."

At their meeting, April 19, the Trustees ordered the Treasurer to pay to the executors of Mr. Edwards one hundred pounds, a half-year’s salary.

The next record is as follows:

"The Rev. Messrs. Caleb Smith and John Brainerd are requested immediately to proceed to Stockbridge, if possible, to attend the Ecclesiastical Council to convene relative to Mr. Edwards’s Dismission; and that the sum of £20 be paid them for their services."

It appears from the minutes of this meeting that the Rev. William Tennent, "for his services in inspecting the government of the College," was paid eleven pounds, and that the Rev. David Cowell, of Trenton, was chosen President until the next meeting of the Trustees, and that, accepting the appointment, he was qualified as the charter directs.

"It was voted, That the President of the College and the Clerk for the time being (viz., Rev. David Cowell and Richard Stockton, Esq.) be a Committee to transact the affairs about Mr. Edwards’s Removal," with power to add to their number."

Messrs. Caleb Smith and John Brainerd attended the Ecclesiastical Council at Stockbridge, and secured the release of Mr. Edwards from his pastoral charge, and in the latter part of January he repaired to Princeton. The Council, as appears from a letter of Mr. Edwards, of the date of December 1, 1757, to his friend and former pupil, Mr. Bellamy, of Bethlehem, was called for the 21st of the same month, but for some reason not now known it did not assemble until the 4th of January following. The decision of the Council having been announced to Mr. Edwards and to the church of which he was pastor, he submitted to their judgment, and made his arrangements to go without delay to Princeton, leaving his family in Stockbridge, to remain there until the ensuing spring.

Upon his arrival at Princeton, measures were promptly taken to call a meeting of the Trustees of the College. They met accordingly on Thursday, the 16th day of February, 1758, and among the minutes of that meeting is the following:

"The Rev. Mr. Jonathan Edwards, at the repeated Requests and Invitations of this Board, and agreeably to a vote passed at a meeting of the Trustees in Septem

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ber last, attending, and having been pleased to accept the office of President of the College, so unanimously voted him, was qualified as the charter directs; and the said President Edwards was at the same time qualified as a Trustee of the College, and took his seat accordingly."

Several matters relating to the order and government of the College and of the grammar-school were considered by the Board at this meeting, and it was voted,

"That President Edwards have the direction, care, and government of the Grammar School, with its Masters and Ushers, and have authority to introduce the elements of Geography, History, and Chronology, if he judge proper; and that he have the profits of said school."

Mr. Robert Smith, the architect employed by the Trustees in the erection of the College buildings, was desired to make some improvements in the President’s house. At this meeting it was

"Voted, That the Law obliging the students to wear peculiar Habits be repealed."

The law here referred to was enacted at a meeting of the Trustees held September 24, 1755.

Provision was made for an address to the new Governor in the name of the Trustees, should one be appointed and come into the Province before the next meeting of the Board. The performance of this duty was devolved upon the President of the College and the Clerk of the Board. A committee was. appointed to settle with the Treasurer, and to report to the Board the amount of funds in his hands. The Treasurer was directed to pay the Rev. Mr. David Cowell, for his inspection of the College from the 14th of December to the time of President Edwards’s arrival in Princeton, the sum of eleven pounds.

At the request of the senior Tutor, Mr. Ewing, that a provisional arrangement should be made for supplying his place in case he should decide to leave, it was voted that President Edwards have power, in that case, to employ any gentleman be thought proper upon Trial for the office of Tutor, until the next meeting.

The Treasurer was directed to pay the bill for printing Mr. Burr’s sermon at the funeral of Governor Belcher, and the Rev. Caleb Smith was requested to take charge of the sale of the

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ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT EDWARDS.

copies, and to account to the Treasurer for the money arising from said sale.

Provision was made for the "drawing of a Lottery for the College, to raise a sum not exceeding £600, the price of a ticket to be two dollars."

It was also voted that there should be a meeting of the Trustees at every Commencement.

The above is a summary of the business done at the only meeting of the Trustees ever attended by Mr. Edwards, and that was a special meeting called more particularly for the purpose of inducting him into the office of President.

One week after this meeting, viz., on the 23d of February, he was inoculated for the smallpox, and on the 22d of March he died. His active service, therefore, in behalf of the College must all have taken place within four or five weeks, and yet the power of his name for good is felt by the College to this day. Probably no man ever connected with this institution has contributed so much to the reputation of the College, both at home and abroad. In the narrative of his life, published in connection with his works, it is said, "While at Princeton, before his sickness, he preached in the College hall, but did nothing as President, unless it was to give out some questions in divinity to the Senior class, to be answered before him, each one having opportunity to study and write what he thought proper upon them. When they came together to answer them, they found so much entertainment and profit by it, especially by the light and instruction Mr. Edwards communicated, in what he said upon the questions when they delivered what they had to say, that they spoke of it with the greatest satisfaction and wonder." (See Dr. S. E. Dwight’s "Life of Edwards," page 577, copied from Dr. Hopkins’s.)

The first sermon he preached in Princeton was on the unchangeableness of Christ, and it is to be found in the eighth volume of his works. From this we may infer what would have been the character of his religious teachings in the College had he been spared to preside for a length of time over its discipline and instruction.

During the time of his being at Princeton he was assisted

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ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT EDWARDS.

by two excellent Tutors, one already mentioned as a Tutor under President Burr, Mr. John Ewing, and the other Mr. Jeremiah Halsey, who, to the great benefit of the institution and to the equally great satisfaction of the Trustees, held his office for ten years. The respective duties of these two gentlemen will appear from the following minute adopted at the meeting of February 16:

"The Board further judge most advisable, in the present circumstances, and do accordingly vote, that Mr. Ewen [Ewing] take the Junior and the Sophomore classes under his particular tuition, and that Mr. Halsey apply himself to the instruction of the Senior and Freshman classes."

Of the College curriculum at this date we have no particular information, there being no Faculty records in existence, and the minutes of the Trustees containing no details of the duties discharged by the several officers of the College.

From Mr. Edwards’s letter of the date of October 19, 1757, in reply to the one informing him of his election to the office of President, we may gather some idea of the course of study and of instruction:

"Among the reasons which made him doubt the propiety of his accepting the appointment he mentions his deficiency "in some parts of learning, particularly in Algebra and the higher parts of Mathematics, and in the Greek classics; my Greek learning having been chiefly in the New Testament." Again he remarks, "If I should see light to determine me to accept the place offered me, I should be wilting to take upon me the work of a president, so far as it consists in the general inspection of the whole society; and to be subservient to the school, as to their order and methods of study and instruction, assisting myself in the immediate instruction in the Arts and Sciences (as discretion should direct, and occasion serve, and the state of things require), especially of the Senior class; and, added to all, should be willing to do the whole work of a professor of divinity, in public and private lectures, proposing questions to be answered, and some to be discussed in writing and free conversation, in meetings of graduates and others, appointed in proper seasons, for these ends. It would now be out of my way to spend time in constant teaching of the languages, unless it be the Hebrew tongue, which I should be willing to improve myself in by instructing others."

In these extracts we doubtless have sketched ..an outline of what would have been the course of instruction during his administration had his life been spared. The plan embraces instruction in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, in the arts and sciences, and in the teachings of Holy Scripture. Most

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of these studies, if not all, together with composition and declamation, had been matters of attention under the administration of Mr. Burr. It is highly probable that Mr. Ewing, the senior Tutor, instructed the classes assigned to him in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and Mr. Halsey his classes in the Greek and Latin classics. After Mr. Ewing’s decease, a course of lectures on Natural Philosophy, delivered by him in the University of Pennsylvania, were published at Philadelphia; and it is by no means improbable that the substance of these lectures was prepared for the instruction of his pupils at Nassau Hall.

Mr. Isaac Smith, a graduate of the College in 1755, was associated with Messrs. Ewing and Halsey, as a Tutor, for a few months before Mr. Edwards’s induction into office as President. Mr. Smith was subsequently a Judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and also a member of the National Congress.

From the foregoing narrative it appears that the following-named gentlemen had charge of the instruction and government of the students from the time of Mr. Edwards’s election, September 29, 1757; until his decease, on the 22d of March, 1758:

Rev. William Tennent, from the opening of the session until December 14, 1757.

Rev. David Cowell, from December 14, 1757, until Mr. Edwards’s arrival in Princeton, in the latter part of January, 1758.

President Edwards himself, from the time of his reaching Princeton until his decease, March 22, 1758.

The Tutors were Messrs. John Ewing, Jeremiah Halsey, and Isaac Smith.

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CHAPTER VIII.

MEMOIR OF THE REV, JONATHAN EDWARDS, THIRD PRESIDENT

OF THE COLLEGE.

Tiiis eminent man, the only son of the Rev. Timothy Edwards, of Windsor, Connecticut, was born at Windsor on the 5th of October, 1703. The mother of President Edwards was Esther Stoddard, a daughter of the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Massachusetts. The father and maternal grandfather were both held in repute for talent, piety, and learning. Their families, which were unusually large, are connected by intermarriage with many of the prominent families in New England, and in other parts of our country.

The studies requisite for admission to college the subject of this memoir pursued under the direction of his father, and he was admitted to Yale College when but a youth of thirteen years of age, His proficiency even in childhood was such as to give hope of his becoming what he did become, a careful observer and a profound thinker. While yet a youth he evinced a great fondness for philosophical speculations. At the age of fourteen he read with delight and profit Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, and his college course was marked with sobriety of deportment and with improvement in the different branches of learning. He is said to have maintained the highest standing in his class, and to have been graduated with the highest honors.

The mention made by one of his biographers of "his thorough knowledge of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew" does not accord fully with his own account of his proficiency in these languages, given in his letter of October 19, 1757, to the Trustees of the College, in which he says, " I am also deficient in some parts of learning, particularly . . . , and in the Greek classics; my Greek learning having been chiefly in the New

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Testament." And again he says, "It would now be out of my way to spend time in constant teaching of the languages, unless it be the Hebrew tongue, which I should be willing to improve myself in by instructing others."

Although having a keen relish for all matters pertaining to natural philosophy, which he is said to have cultivated to the end of his life, yet moral philosophy and divinity were his favorite subjects of study.

He was admitted to the first degree in the Arts in the autumn of 1720, just before attaining the age of seventeen; and entering at once upon the study of theology, he remained at College for nearly two years after he had finished the usual under-graduate course. He was licensed to preach before he had completed his nineteenth year, and at the request of a small society of Presbyterians in the city of New York, he began his ministerial labors among them. He supplied their pulpit for about eight months; but finding that the congregation, which was a fragment of one still older, were unable to support a minister, he gave up his charge and returned to New England.

He was solicited to resume his labors in New York, but declined, influenced in all probability by the conviction that there was no sufficient reason for the attempt to erect another Presbyterian church in that city at that time, and that if he refused to return, the persons to whom he preached would resume their former relations with the church already established, and under the charge of an able and worthy minister of the gospel, the Rev. James Anderson, a native of Scotland.

In September, 1723, he received his degree of Master of Arts, and at the same time he was chosen a Tutor in Yale College. Upon the duties of this office, however, he did not enter until the next June. About this period several congregations were desirous to have him for their pastor; but all these invitations he declined. In the summer of 1726, the people of Northampton, Massachusetts, invited him to become the colleague of his venerable grandfather, the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, and among the reasons urged for his acceptance of this call was the one that his grandfather, by reason of his great age, stood in need of assistance. Accepting their proposal, he resigned his

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office of Tutor at the close of the college year, and on February 15, 1728, he was set apart to the pastoral office in the church of Northampton, being at that time in the twenty-fourth year of his age. His grandfather dying in February, 1729, Mr. Edwards became the sole pastor. He continued at Northampton about twenty-four years. From the time of his settlement until the year 1744, Mr. Edwards’s ministrations were highly acceptable to his people and greatly blessed to their spiritual good. In the years 1734 and 1735 there was a powerful awakening among the people of his charge. "His preaching," says the Rev. Dr. Sprague, "during this period was eminently doctrinal, and was of the most pungent, heart-searching, and often terrific character. Among the subjects of the revival were persons of every class and character, and for a while the whole community seemed to have undergone a moral renovation. Towards the close of 1735 the work began to decline, after which there seems to have been no unusual attention until the early part of 1740, when there occurred another powerful revival." His pungent preaching, though doubtless distasteful to some of his hearers, was nevertheless acceptable to the people generally, and they felt honored in having for their minister a man of Mr. Edwards’s rare ability in the pulpit, and one who was held in such high repute both at home and abroad. But in 1744 an event occurred which entirely ruptured the happy relations previously existing between the minister and the people, and which six years after resulted in their separation.

Being informed that certain young persons, members of the church, had in their possession books of an immoral and corrupting tendency, which they made use of to promote improper conversation and conduct, Mr. Edwards preached a sermon to indicate the duty of the church in reference to matters of this kind; and

"After the sermon he desired the brethren of the church to stop, told them what information he had received, and put the question to them in form, Whether the Church, on the evidence before them, thought proper to take any measures to examine into the matter? The members of the Church with one consent and with much zeal manifested it to be their opinion that it ought to be inquired into; and proceeded to choose a Committee of Inquiry to assist their pastor in examining into the affair. After this Mr. Edwards appointed the time for the Committee of the

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Church to meet at his house; and then read to the Church a catalogue of the names of the young persons whom he desired to come to his house at the same time. Some of those whose names were thus read were the persons accused, and some were witnesses; but, through mere forgetfulness or inadvertence on his part, he did not state to the church in which of these two classes any particular individual was included, or in what character he was requested to meet the Committee, whether as one of the accused or as a witness."

The above extract is taken from the 299th page of Dr. S. E. Dwight’s " Life of President Edwards," and was probably taken by him from Dr. Hopkins’s "Life of Edwards," which was the basis of his own account of President Edwards’s life and labors. Only in this way can we reconcile what is said in this extract with what his biographer says on pages 432 and 433:

"The manner in which Mr. Edwards invited the young people to meet the Committee, without distinguishing the witnesses from the accused, whether a matter of inadvertence on his part or not, was the very manner in which most other persons would have given the invitation; and, so far as I can see, was the only manner which propriety could have justified."

We incline, however, to the opinion that the biographer’s ideas of justice must have been somewhat confused when he observes, as the ground of his own judgment in the matter,

"As therefore both the accused and the witnesses must be present before the Committee, justice as well as kindness demanded that they should be named without discrimination."

This may have been kindness to the accused, but surely it was neither kindness nor justice to those who were merely to give testimony in the case, and who were in no way implicated in the charges to be investigated. The best excuse that can be made for the course pursued is the one suggested in the first of the above extracts, that it was the result of forgetfulness or inadvertence. And no one at this day need be surprised at the excitement produced throughout the entire community at Northampton by the manner in which this whole business was conducted. For while, on the one hand, it furnishes a noted instance of Mr. Edwards’s faithfulness and fearlessness in the discharge of duty, with the full conviction that it would be to him the occasion of many and bitter trials, and of his ability to rise above all personal considerations in all matters wherein

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the purity and welfare of the Church of Christ were concerned, yet, on the other hand, it as clearly shows a lack of practical wisdom in dealing with the errors and prejudices of those over whose spiritual interests he was called to watch. The alleged facts were not a matter of notoriety; they were evidently unknown to the community at large; and the first thing that brought them to the knowledge of the people generally was his discourse on this subject. Had he instituted a private investigation, and, having satisfied himself as to the guilty parties, dealt with them individually and tenderly, showing them their sin and their danger, there is reason to believe that his labors would not have been without a happy result. In cases in which the parties were insensible to his urgent and affectionate appeals, had he called to his aid the counsels and entreaties, and even the authority, of the parents of the erring youth, he might have reclaimed some of them; and not until all other methods had failed should he have resorted to this announcement of their offence, and to the exercise of discipline by the entire church. Again, notices might have been sent privately to each individual whose presence was desired by the pastor or the committee, without any public mention of names. If this view of the case be a correct one, it is easy to see why the whole community became so much excited, and that the people are not entitled to all the blame in regard to this unhappy affair, which had so much to do in the alienating of their affections from their minister.

The unwillingness of the people to proceed with the proposed investigation, upon the discovery made by them that large numbers of their children were more or less implicated in the alleged offence, not only aroused their feelings against their minister, but as naturally led the minister to ascribe their conduct to a want of a proper zeal for the honor of Christ and the purity of the Church. Hence doubts, which had already existed in his mind as to the propriety of receiving to the communion of the church any persons who did not give satisfactory evidence of being truly converted, ripened into a full conviction that none but regenerate persons ought to partake of the Lord’s Supper. For many years, under the advice and teachings of

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his grandfather, a different course had been pursued, and all baptized persons, who were fully and correctly instructed as to the plan of salvation revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and who professed to receive it as such, and who were free from all scandal, were taught that it was their duty and privilege to come to the Lord’s table, notwithstanding any doubts they might have in regard to themselves as regenerate persons, and even if they had reason to believe they were not regenerated. This view of the case had been discussed and defended by Mr. Stoddard, and was zealously maintained by the churches in Hampshire County. Mr. Edwards, having satisfied his own mind that this method was contrary to the teachings of Scripture, resolutely set himself to work to bring about a change in the practice of the church of which he was pastor. His effort in this direction was not successful, and he was finally dismissed from his charge by a council of ministers and delegates from the neighboring churches called by himself and the church at Northampton.

The opinion embraced by Mr. Edwards on this subject did not originate with him, but was held quite generally by the churches of New England at its first settlement; but no advocate of this opinion has exerted so much influence as President Edwards in the maintenance and propagation of it, both in Congregational and Presbyterian churches. This is not the time, nor is it the place, to discuss the correctness or the error of an opinion which had so important a bearing upon some of the leading events in the life of President Edwards, but it cannot be improper, in this connection, to say that his views on this subject were not the views held by his predecessors, Presidents Dickinson and Burr, nor are they in accord with the teachings of the "Directory for Worship" set forth by the Presbyterian Church in this country.* The Rev. John Blair, Vice-President of the College, and its first Professor of Moral Philosophy and Divinity, from 1767 to 1769, published, in 1771, "An Essay on the Nature, Uses, and Subjects of the Sacra

* See "Directory for Worship," and "Christian Advocate," vol. x., edited by President Green, or Dr. Sprague’s "Annals," vol. iii., article Rev. Jacob Green.

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ments of the New Testament," in which he maintains and defends views opposite to those of President Edwards. Mr. Blair’s discussion of the matters handled by him is very calm and very able, and well worthy of a perusal by those who are seeking light in regard to these matters. A careful comparison of the views of President Edwards and of Vice-President Blair may serve to elicit the exact truth more fully and clearly.

After the dissolution of his pastoral charge Mr. Edwards remained for about a year at Northampton, but upon an invitation to take charge of the church at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and also of the Indian mission there established, he removed to that village, and devoted himself assiduously to his studies and his ministerial and missionary labors. Here he rendered most valuable services to the Indian mission, and also to the cause of learning. He was not free altogether from trials in this chosen retreat; but the same firmness and fidelity which had always characterized him were manifested by him in his efforts in behalf of the Indians, and a greater degree than usual of prudence marked his course towards those with whom he was brought into collision; and, the Lord favoring his faithful efforts, he was successful in defending the interests of the Indians against the machinations of sundry individuals, whose aim seemed to be their own aggrandizement at the expense of the youths sent to the mission-schools to be educated.

At Stockbridge Mr. Edwards wrote his famous work on the "Will" which added so much to his already great reputation, and gave him rank among the first philosophers of his age. He resided at Stockbridge for six years, at the end of which time, upon the death of his son-in-law, the Rev. Aaron Burr, President of the College of New Jersey, he was chosen his successor; and, as narrated in the account given of his short administration, he with much hesitation and misgiving accepted this appointment, so honorable to himself and to the institution over which he was called to preside.

His letter of October 19, 1757, in reply to the one from the Trustees of the College apprising him of his election, shows that his modesty was equal to his great intellectual endowments; and this letter, from which some extracts have been

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given, is in every respect worthy of its author. His aim seems to be to prepare the minds of the Trustees for a refusal of their offer, although he highly appreciated the honor they had done him in choosing him to be the head of their important institution. In this letter he sets forth his reasons for thinking that he is not the person for such a station. Still, he deemed it his duty to submit the question of his acceptance to a council of his clerical brethren; and this he did, with a pretty clear intimation, however, of his doubts, if not of his preferences. Having received their judgment, which was in favor of his going to Princeton, he yielded, and reluctantly gave up his church and missionary work at Stockbridge to devote himself to the training of youth for the service of the Church in the gospel ministry, and for the welfare of the State in the different professions and employments.

As before mentioned, he reached Princeton in the latter part of January, and took the oath of office on the t6th of February, 1758. On the 23d of the same month, by the advice of physician and friends, he was inoculated for the smallpox in consequence of the general prevalence of this disease. A young but skilful physician from Philadelphia, Dr. William Shippen, came to Princeton to inoculate him and his daughter, Mrs. Burr, and her two children; and after a most serious and deliberate consultation with certain friends they were all inoculated,* and for a time they all apparently were doing well; but, according to the statement of Dr. Shippen in his letter to Mrs. Edwards informing her of the death of President Edwards, it appears that

"Although he had the smallpox favorably, yet having a number of them in the roof of his mouth and throat, he could not possibly swallow a sufficient quantity of drink to keep off a secondary fever, which has proved too strong for his feeble frame; and this afternoon [March 22], between two and three o’clock, it pleased God to let him sleep in that dear Lord Jesus whose kingdom and interest be has been faithfully and painfully serving all his life." Dr. Shippen adds, "And never did any mortal man more fully and clearly evidence the sincerity of all his professions by one continued, universal, calm, cheerful resignation, and patient submission to the divine will, through every stage of his disease, than he: not

* It is said that he was inoculated with the consent of the Trustees, but upon what authority I know not. The minutes of the Board make no reference to it.

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so much as one discontented expression, nor the least appearance of murmuring through the whole. And never did any person expire with more perfect freedom from pain,—not so much as distorted hair,—but, in the most proper sense of the words, he fell asleep. Death had certainly lost his sting as to him." *

After he was sensible that he could not survive that sickness, a little before his death he called his daughter† to him, who attended in his sickness, and addressed her in a few words, which were immediately taken down in writing as nearly as could be recollected, and are as follows:

"Dear Lucy, it seems to me to be the will of God that I must shortly leave you; therefore give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her that the uncommon union, which has so long subsisted between us, has been of such a nature as I trust is spiritual, and will therefore continue forever; and I hope she will be supported under so great a trial, and submit cheerfully to the will of God. And as to my children, you are now like to be left fatherless; which I hope will be an inducement for you all to seek a Father who will never fail you. And as to my funeral, I would have it to he like Mr. Burr’s; ‡ and any additional sum of money that might be expected to be laid out that way, I would have it disposed of to charitable uses."

"He said very little in his sickness, but was an admirable instance of patience and resignation to the last. Just at the close of life, as some persons, who stood by expecting he would breathe his last in a few minutes, were, lamenting his death, not only as a great frown upon the College, but as having a dark aspect upon the interest of religion in general, to their surprise, not imagining he heard or that he would ever speak another word, he said, ‘Trust in God, and ye need not fear.’ These were his last words." (Dwight’s " Life.")

The Trustees caused a marble monument to be erected in honor of President Edwards. On this monument was the following inscription:

M. S.

Reverendi admodum Virl,

Jonathan Edwards, A.M.,

Collegii Novae Caesariae Praesidis,

Natus apud Windsor Connecticutensium V Octobris,

AD. MDCCIII. S. V.

* See Dwight’s "Life," page 870.

† His eldest unmarried daughter.

‡See notice of Mr. Burr’s funeral, page 166.

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Patre Reverendo Timotheo Edwards oriundus,

Collegio Yalensi educatus;

Apud Northampton Sacris initiatus, XV Februarii

MDCCXXVI-VII.

Illinc dimissus XXII Junii MDCCL,

Et Munus Barbaros instituendi, accepit.

Praeses Aulae Nassovicae creatus XVI Februarii

MDCCLVIII.

Defunctus in hoc Vico XXII Martii sequentis, S. N.

Aetatis LV, heu nimis brevis !

Hic jacet mortalis Pars.

Qualis Persona quaeris, Viator?

Vir corpore procero, sed gracili,

Studiis intentissimis, Abstinentia, et Sedulitate,

Attenuato,

Ingenii Acumine, Judicio acri, et Prudentia,

Secundus Nemini Mortalium.

Artium liberalium et Scientiarum Peritia insignis,

Criticorum sacrorum optimus, Theologus eximius,

Ut vix alter aequalis: Disputator candidus;

Fidei Christianae Propugnator validus et invictus;

Concionator gravis, serius, discriminans;

Et, Deo favente, Successu

Felicissimus.

Pietate praeclarus, Moribus suis severus,

Ast aliis aequus et benignus,

Vixit dilectus, veneratus—

Sed ah ! lugendus

Moriebatur,

Quantos Gemitus discedens ciebat !

Hen Sapientia tanta! heu Doctrina et Religio !

Amissum plorat Collegium, plorat Ecclesia;

At, eo recepto, gaudet

Coelum.

Abi Viator, et pia sequere Vestigia.

 

Mrs. Edwards did not long survive her husband. In September she set out, in her usual health, for Philadelphia to bring to Stockbridge the two orphan children of her daughter, Mrs. Burr. Upon the death of Mrs. Burr, which occurred a few weeks after her father’s death, these children, a daughter and a son, had been taken care of by some friends, and they were in Philadelphia at the time of Mrs. Edwards’s visit to that city. She arrived there on the 21st of September, and within a few days she was seized with a dysentery, from which she died on

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the 2d of October, 1758, in the forty-ninth year of her age, after an illness of five days. She suffered intensely, but died in perfect peace. Her remains were taken to Princeton, and were buried by those of her husband.

Mrs. Edwards was a remarkable woman, distinguished for her personal charms, her great intelligence, and her early and fervent piety, and also for her wise and economical management of her family affairs, setting her children an example worthy of their admiration and imitation, in her diligent attention to the affairs of her household, and in her unceasing efforts to train her children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Mrs. Edwards was a daughter of the Rev. John Pierpont, of New Haven, and she was married to Mr. Edwards on the 28th of July, 1727. She was the mother of eleven children, three sons and eight daughters. Two of her daughters died young and unmarried; the other children all grew up and were married, and their descendants are very numerous, and some of them are among the most eminent in their respective callings.

The following is a list of the published works of President Edwards, taken from Dr. Sprague’s sketch of his life.

1731. A sermon, "God glorified in Man’s Dependence."

1734. A sermon, "A Divine and Supernatural Light imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God."

1735. A sermon, "Curse ye Meroz."

1736. "A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God, in the Conversion of many Hundred Souls in Northampton," etc. (London.)

1738. Five Discourses, prefixed to the American edition of the preceding.

1741. A sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

1741. A sermon, "Sorrows of the Bereaved spread before Jesus," at the funeral of the Rev. William Williams.

1741. A sermon, "Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the True Spirit," preached at New Haven,

1742. "Thoughts on the Revival in New England in 1740."

1743. A sermon, "The Watchman’s Duty and Account," at the ordination of the Rev. Jonathan Judd, of Southampton, Massachusetts.

1744. A sermon, " The True Excellency of a Gospel Minister,’’ preached at the ordination of the Rev. Robert Abercrombie, of Pelham, Massachusetts.

1746. A treatise concerning Religious Affections. (Printed at Boston.)

1746. "An Humble Attempt to promote Explicit, Agreeable, and Visible Union among God’s People in Extraordinary Prayer."

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1747. A sermon, "True Saints, when Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord," preached at the funeral of the Rev. David Brainerd.

1748. A sermon, "God’s Awful Judgments in breaking the Strong Rods of the Community," occasioned by the death of Colonel John Stoddard.

1749. "Life and Diary of the Rev, David Brainerd."

1749. A sermon, "Christ the Example of Gospel Ministers," preached at the ordination of the Rev. job Strong.

1749. "Qualifications for Full Communion in the Visible Church."

1750. "Farewell Sermon to the People of Northampton."

1752. "Misrepresentation Corrected and Truth Vindicated, in a Reply to Mr. Solomon Williams’ Book on ‘Qualifications for Communion;’ to which is added a Letter from Mr. Edwards to His Late Flock at Northampton."

1752. A sermon, "True Grace distinguished from the Experience of Devils," preached before the Synod of New York, at Newark, New Jersey.

1754. "Inquiry into Freedom of the Will."

1758. " The Doctrine of Original Sin defended."

1765. Eighteen Sermons annexed to the "Life of Edwards" by Dr. Hopkins.

1777. " The History of Redemption." (Edinburgh.)

1788. " Nature of True Virtue."

1788. "God’s Last End in Creation."

1788. Practical Sermons. (Edinburgh.)

1789. Twenty Sermons. (Edinburgh.)

1793. "Miscellaneous Observations on Important Theological Subjects." (Edinburgh.)

1796. "Remarks on Important Theological Controversies." (Edinburgh.)

1829." Types of the Messiah."
1829. "Notes on the Bible."
1852. " Charity and its Fruits."

The most complete collection of his published works and correspondence is the one edited by his great-grandson, Rev. Dr. Sereno E. Dwight, in ten volumes, inclusive of the one containing his life. These volumes furnish evidence of his untiring industry and of his rarely equalled power of thought. The correctness of his opinions on various subjects may be questioned, but there can be no question as to the ability with which they are maintained and defended. And no theological writer of the last century exerted a more powerful influence in moulding the opinions of those who hold sentiments commonly designated evangelical. Such a master-spirit as Dr. Chalmers expresses in the following words his own appreciation of Edwards as a theologian:

"I have long esteemed him as the greatest of theologians, combining in a degree that is quite unexampled the profoundly intellectual with the devotedly spiritual

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and sacred, and realizing in his own person a most rare yet most beautiful harmony between the simplicity of the Christian pastor on the one hand, and on the other all the strength and prowess of a giant in philosophy; so as at once to minister, from Sabbath to Sabbath, and with the most blessed effect, to the hearers of his plain congregation, and yet in the high field of authorship to have traversed, in a way that none had ever done before him, the most inaccessible places, and such a mastery as never till his time had been realized over the most arduous difficulties of our science.

"There is no European divine to whom I make such frequent appeals in my classrooms as I do to Edwards. No book of human composition which I more strenuously recommend than his ‘Treatise on the Will,’—read by me forty-seven years ago, with a conviction which has never since faltered, and which has helped me, more than any other uninspired book, to find my way through all that might otherwise have proved baffling and transcendental and mysterious in the peculiarities of Calvinism." (Extract from a letter to the Rev. Dr. Stebbins, of Northampton, given in Dr. Sprague’s Sketch of President Edwards, and the sentiments of which Dr. Sprague says Dr. Chalmers expressed to him in a private conversation.)

It does not, however, follow from all this that no false positions are assumed in the writings of President Edwards, or that he never gives utterance to forms of thought which if carried to their logical conclusion would lead to serious error. Nor does it follow that his exhibition of the religious affections and mental exercises connected with true conversion is in all cases to be taken, without any doubt or question, as being the actual and invariable experience of all persons truly regenerate.*

* President Edwards was a man of eminent piety, as well as a man well versed in the teachings of Scripture and the experiences of godly minds; still, there seems to he in some of his writings too much insisting upon a settled order and a certain degree of inward experiences as essential to true conversion, more likely in some cases to hinder than to aid the inquirer in coining to a right decision in regard to himself.

Doddridge’s famous work on the " Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul" is a work of this description, and while in many cases it has done great good, there are others in which to a tender conscience it has proved a real hindrance to its spiritual advancement and growth in grace. The type of piety produced under this procrustean treatment, while sometimes both genuine and beautiful, and by consequence lovely, and ever bowing with unfeigned submission to the sovereign will of God, often lacks that cheerfulness of spirit, and that exuberant joyfulness, which it should be the aim of every redeemed soul to have and to keep as pertaining to the privileges purchased and made over to it by its beloved Saviour, the incarnate Son of God. Such a work as Edwards’s on the " Religious Affections" was perhaps better adapted to the state of things in his day than it is in ours; and

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yet this great work may be read and studied with the greatest profit by all who are desirous to distinguish true religious affections from those which are false, if they will bear in mind that while persons truly converted may be conscious of possessing all the views and feelings therein described, yet that such consciousness is not essential to vital piety. While they find in themselves those great distinguishing marks of true conversion, love to God, and love to man, with a humble trust in the righteousness and intercession of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as the ground of their hope, and of their acceptance with God, they need not be concerned at the discovery that they possess not some of those experiences which are insisted upon by writers on Experimental Religion.