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THE HARVARD BOOK.
VOL. I.
THE HARVARD BOOK.
A SERIES OF
HISTORICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, AND DESCRIPTIVE
SKETCHES.
J^stOn public llbkahy,
various authors.
Illudrateb toil^ WxtiaB anb portraits.
COLLECTED AND PUBLISHED
F. O. VAILLE AND H. A. CLARK,
Class of 1874.
\Tmi Najung of Aolms Hall. The fol- lowmK i3 an extract from Pccsideut Uol yoke's diary uoder date o£ Jan. 13, 17t;t, giv iag the particulars of the I'oriaal adoption of tL© name:
1 li'» Da.T Hollis Ha:i wa.s nainad by Cinv- ertor iTra Bernard in tbe l^'eseuca" of the Gen'l Court, hoth Uouneil & hLouse m (he OBapel. I'he Go%'. came '.ip about one o'clock, 3000 »fter wliioli all went into rlie Cbapel at the tolling ot tlio liell, the Presi- dent & Cornnricion preceding ve Goyornor & General Ooiirt & when all wore well searp.l, Che I'resiflent rising up said "as ilu-se are hoe present, His Excellency the Goyernor, The Honourable His Majesties Council & the Honourable Hotase cf Kepresentativcs, wUo bj their yoies Have to ihe CoUeae tlie Neiv BuildiufT, in our vie\y it cannot tUerefora be an improper time to ask w name to ii:, where fore t apply to ja E.\-celleucv to fcivc ibe name." Upon which his Exeell'v staudiHE np s£id "Inow Hire to thi': new buildinu the I ame of Hollis Hall." Upou wijii;h the Ptes'dtsaid "There is nowexofcted asi'ata- 1 ■> tory Ora tion to this yeneiihle Audieuc-, & let the Ora.'or ascend tUe Desk." Upon which the Orator (Tayl-r a jun'r Sopr-i^i'r) accrdiutdy ascended & pronounced with suitable and proper action au Enilisb Ora- tion. After which the Assembly brake up, Ihe Pres'dt & Corporation still preceding the Governor & General Court & then all went into the New Bnildins toview it & while they were there, the steward sent word, tha Divi- ner, to whicD all had been inyiied, wus niiou the Table, all then repairintr to the HiOl sat down to Dinner a iitile before twj o'clock.
(Msm.) The Minister" of Boston &c. ihi. they were all invited the Dav belore, i;t this entertainment, ye' all being lii','hly aifrnted rclused to come. /'- . ■","<«- \rfyQ f'
ii
VOL. I.
^
0 - )l- oil
CAMBRIDGE:
WELCH, BlGELOW, AND COMPANY,
UNIVERSITY PRESS.
1875-
3,63,).¥t^
COPYKIGHT, 1875.
Jy F. O. VAILLE and H. A. CLARK.
^,
J\^-A ^^^
ID 1151
V. 1
The Class of 1874,
FOR WHOSE MEMBERS THESE SKETCHES WERE AT FIRST INTENDED,
f Ijis mtovk
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
PREFACE.
In the middle of the academic year 1873-74, when the subject of class photographs was being discussed by that class which was to graduate at the following Commencement, this work was begun. It originated by considering the possibility of securing, in some more durable and attractive manner than hitherto, those pictures of the familiar scenes and faces of College days which every student at the end of his four-years' life at Harvard desires to carry away with him. It was thought this object might be best attained if there were added to the usual pictures composing a class album descriptive sketches of the College grounds, buildings, and those institutions which enter so largely into the social life of the undergraduate.
This plan was attempted, and the book, started essentially for the Class of 1874, was intended to be chiefly limited in circulation to the members of that class. It was found, however, that the generous interest manifested by them in the work at its inception was shared to a great degree by the other undergraduate classes as well as by many of the Alumni. The result was, that the sketches began to increase both in length and number, and the scope of the work to be more comprehensive. These volumes must not, therefore, be regarded as completed in accordance with the plan proposed at first, but they should rather be con- sidered as the outgrowth of an originally designed class-book. This fact must answer the question why some few more or less remote subjects are included in a work which mainly relates to the University, — they are such as usually find illustration in the student's portfolio, and are always remembered with interest as a part of the pleasant associations of Cambridge.
That the work is free from errors, is not professed ; that some statements may even be repeated, is not denied ; indeed, it would hardly seem to be possible
viii PREFACE.
Otherwise, for the different articles, written by various authors, give the separate histories of subjects in many instances closely related to one another. The fre- quent absence of records often made recourse to memory necessary, in order to substantiate many facts relative to some of the societies and other institutions of the College, to those customs which flourished for a short time only, and to those tales and legends which, handed from one class to another, become tra- ditional in College circles, and form so large and so pleasant a portion of the fireside conversation of students. It may be that errors of fact have escaped detection, but great care has been taken to verify every statement.
Tlicre may be many things contained within these pages which may not be appreciated or even understood by the general public, yet they may, nevertheless, be most acceptable to and welcomed by that indulgent public for whom they are principally intended, — the Alumni. It is earnestly hoped that the work may embrace that which will bring to the older and the younger graduate agreeable reminiscences of their College days ; that which may afford to those who have not been enrolled as students, or who may contemplate becoming so, a glimpse of the inner and more secluded student-life at Cambridge ; that which may give to any person seeking the information a correct account of the foundation of the College, its growth and expansion into a University, — in brief, a truthful repre- sentation of Harvard's past and present.
To thank those who have shown a generous sympathy, kindly aid, and ready advice, at all times and in many ways, would be thanking all from whom sym- pathy was claimed, aid needed, or advice asked : they are so numerous, that it is wellnigh impossible to mention each ; but to every one the reader will be per- sonally indebted, if he finds that the attempt to make these pages accurate, entertaining, and instructive has been successful.
Cambridge, May, 1875.
CONTENTS
VOLUME FIRST,
HISTORICAL SKETCH By Samuel Eliot.
CHAPTER I. — Previous Histories of Harvard College. — The General Court, 1636, VOTE "to give ;£'4oo towards a Schoole or Colledge." — The College origi- nally A State Institution. — Earlier Provisions for a similar Institution in Vir- ginia.— Vote of the General Court in 1637. — Locating the College at New- town.— Nathaniel Eaton. — -The General Court, 1639, vote to name the College "Harvard College." — John Harvard. — His Bequest. — The College Buildings IN 1643. — President Dunster. — Regulations. — Early Customs. — Need of Funds.
— Charles Chauncy. — Contributions to the College. — The Indian College. — Indian Students. — Reforms. — Leonard Hoar, the first Alumnus called to the Presidency, 1672
CHAPTER II. — Increase Mather the first President of American Birth. — ■ His Absence from Cambridge. — His Implication in the Persecution of Witches at Salem. — Robert Calef. — His Book burned in the College Yard by Order of THE President. — Tutors Brattle and Leverett. — Leverett elected President, 1707. — An Account of his Inauguration. — Growth of the College. — The Col- lege Faculty organized, 1725. — Proceedings of Committees appointed by the Overseers. — Commencements. — Corporal Punishment suspended by the Corpora- tion, 1755. — Bi^rning of Harvard Hall, 1764. — Resolve of the General Court to rebuild it. — Prizes for Compositions in Honor of George HI. — -Vote of the Senior Class to wear Home-made Suits at Commencements. — Rebellion of the Students. — The Marti-Mercurian Band. — The General Court occupy the Col- lege Chapel. — James Otis. — Spirits of the Students at the Prospect of War.- — President Langdon's Prayer before the Revolutionary Troops. — The Students assemble at Concord instead of Cambridge
CHAPTER HI. — Extract from the Address of Harrison Gray Otis to his Class. — Professorships founded. — Growth of the College. — Standard of Ad- mission raised. — Annual Examinations cause Discontent among the Students. — Class Day. — College Societies. — Address of the Students in 1798 to the Presi- dent OF the United States. — Social Relations of the Students. — The Engine Society. — The Harvard Washington Corps. — The Med. Fac. — ^The Navy Club.
— College Periodicals. — Expansion of the College during President Kirkland's Administration. — The Second Centennial celebrated, September 8, 1836. — The Elective System established during President Quincy's Administration. — The Observatory. — The Scientific School. — Extract from the Poem delivered at the Commemoration of July 21, 1865
X CONTENTS.
MASSACHUSETTS HALL ... By Charles Eliot Norton.
The Hall built by the Province ok Massachusetts. — Various Grants to the College. — Former Uses of the Hall. — Present Uses. — -Danger from the Fire WHICH consumed Harvard Hall. — Occupancy by Revolutionary Troops. — Esti- mate of Damages. — Associations connected vifiTH the Building. — Repairs in Dr. Kirkland's Time. — A Portion of the lower Floor formerly devoted to Society Uses. — Alterations in 1870 53
HOLDENCHAPEL . . . . By Andrew Preston Peabody.
Visit of Benjamin Colman to England in 1695. — Gift of Madam Holden and her Daughters to the College. — Erection of Holden Chapel, 1744. — Conjec- tured Occupants in Early Times. — Scenes at Prayers. — Uses to which the Chapel has been put during the past Fifty Years 58
HOLLIS HALL By John Holmes.
Thomas Hollis. — His Benefactions to Harvard College. — Liberality of the HoLLis Family. — Character of the third Thomas Hollis. — Thomas Brand Hol- lis, THE SEVENTH AND LAST BENEFACTOR BEARING THE NaME OF HOLLIS. ThE NUM- BER OF Students reduced by the "Old French War," 1756-63. — The Corporation URGE THE Need of a new Building, 1761. — The General Court vote ^2,000 for ANOTHER Hall. — A further Sum of ;^5oo voted. — Site selected. — The Building completed, December, 1763. — January 13, 1764, the Building named "Hollis Hall."
— Rent from the Cellars and Rooms applied to different Uses. ^Description of Hollis Hall. — Used for Barracks. — Account of Damages done to Hollis Hall DURING ITS Military Occupation. — Room No. 8. — Rebellion Tree. — Class- Day Tree. — The Marti-Mercurian Band. — Harvard Washington Corps. — The Engine Company. — The Medical Faculty. — Distinguished Occupants of Rooms in Hollis Hall. — The College Wood-Yard. — The College Sloop, the "Harvard" . . 61
HARVARD HALL By James Freeman Clarke.
The first Harvard Hall the Centre of College Life. — Uses of the Building.
— Anecdote of Dr. Freeman. — Two Scenes taken from different Periods of its History. — First Harvard Hall burned. — Losses. — The present Harvae;d Hall built by the State. — Cost. — Distribution of the Rooms. — College Clock. — Mr. McKean's Leap from Harvard to Hollis Hall. — Letter from Honorable Horace Binney. — Damages to the Hall by Revolutionary Troops. — Present Aspect . 72
STOUGHTON HALL ..... By Samuel Longfellow.
William Stoughton. — The first Stoughton Hall. — Tablets on its Front. — Stoughton's Will. — Printing-Office. — First Stoughton taken down 1780. — The General Court authorize a Lottery in 1794 to raise Money for a new Build- ing.— Second Stoughton Hall. — Rooms 3, 17, and 25. — Stoughton first called New Hall. — Distinguished Occupants of Rooms in Stoughton .... 79
HOLWORTHY HALL By Henry Warren Torrey.
Bequest of Matthew Holworthy. — A Lottery authorized. — Opening of the Building. — Extract from President Kirkland's Address. — Description of the Hall 82
CONTENTS. xi
UNIVERSITY HALL By Henry Lee.
Preface. — Initiatory Measures toward erecting University Hall. — A Grant
FROM THE State. — Laying of the Corner-Stone. — Description of the Building.
Criticisms. — The Chapel. — Entertainments given to the Students by Profes- sors.— A Concert by the Students. — Daily Life at University Hall. — The
Organ. — The Harvard Union. —The Euphradian Society. — The Mock Trial.
Exhibition Day. — Class Day. — Commencement. — Reception of distinguished Vis- itors.— Former Professors. — -Melancholy Changes. — Conclusion .... 84
OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT, DEAN, AND SECRETARY.
By William Reed, Jr. Faculty Meetings formerly held in the old President's House. — Rooms in University Hall taken for the President and Regent. — Change in them. — The Secretary's Office. — Pictures. — -Office Furniture 109
GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY.
By John Langdon Sibley. Bequest of John Harvard. — Gifts till the End of the Seventeenth Century.
— Solomon Stoddard chosen Library Keeper. — Regulations. — Stools and Chairs FOR THE Library. — Benefactions of Thomas Hollis and Family. — Citations from Letters of Thomas Hollis. — First Library Catalogue. — Donations. — Descrip- tion and Uses made of Harvard Hall, in vt^niCH the Books were kept. — Occu- pied by THE General Court. — Burnt. — Rebuilt by the Province. — Amounts paid to Occupants of Rooms for Losses by the Fire. — Donors and Donations. — The Books sent into the Country Tovi^ns vi^hile the British occupy Boston. — Bequests of Samuel Shapleigh, Thomas Brand Hollis, and Thomas Palmer. — Gifts of Israel Thorndike, Samuel Atkins Eliot, and others. — Gore Hall erected with Christopher Gore's Bequest. — Corner-Stone laid; the Inscription.
— Account of the Building. — Books moved into it. — Twenty Thousand Dollars subscribed for Books. — Gift of William Gray. — Gifts and Bequests by James Brown, John Farrar, George Hayward, Clarke Gayton Pickman, Stephen Salis- bury, Charles Sumner, Charles Minot, Henry Ware Wales, Frederick Athearn Lane, and others. — Number of Volumes. — Need of a new Building for a Library 112
APPLETON CHAPEL By Edward James Young.
The Need of its Erection. — The Donor. — The Original Structure and its early History. — Its Renovation and present Condition. — The Associations con- nected with it .............. 122
BOYLSTON hall .... By Josiah Parsons Cooke, Jr.
Gift and Bequest of Ward Nicholas Boylston. — Terms of the Bequest. — Ex- tract from President Walker's Annual Report, 1855-56. — Description of the Hall. — Apparatus of Laboratories and Cabinets 125
PEABODY museum of AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY By Jeffries Wyman.
The Foundation of the Museum by a Gift of the late George Peabody. — The Conditions of the Gift. — The Professorship provided for by the Gift still un- filled.— The Groups into which the Portion of the Collection arranged for Exhibition has been divided 127
xii CONTENTS.
GRAYS HALL By William Henry Pettee.
Location. — Description of the Building. — The Tablets. — Reasons for erect- ing THE Building. — The Name 129
THAYER HALL By William Henry Pettee.
Erected in 1S69-70. — Location. — Description of the Hall. — Mr. Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, the Donor of the Building. — Inscription on the Tablet. — Nathaniel Thayer, D. D. — Mr. John Eliot Thayer 131
MATTHEWS HALL By William Henry Pettee.
Gift of Nathan Matthews. — First occupied, 1872-3. — Description of the Building. — Site. — Conditions of Mr. Matthews's Gift. — The Indian College . 133
WELD HALL.
Stephen Minot Weld. — His Interest in Harvard College. — Weld Hall erect- ed to his Memory by his Brother, William F. Weld. — Description of the Hall. — Inscriptions on the Tablets 13S
THE OLD PRESIDENT'S HOUSE ... By Charles Deane.
The House built in 1726. — Interesting Facts connected with its early His- tory.— List of the Presidents who have resided in the House: — Evidence show- ing THAT Washington made his Headquarters there for a short Time. — The Changes made in the House since its original Construction. — The Uses to which the House has been put • • i37
THE DANA HOUSE By Joseph Lovering.
Erected in 1823. — Alterations. — Estate purchased by the College. — Efforts TO establish an Astronomical Observatory. — Directors. — Meridian Line lo- cated.— Apparatus removed to the New Observatory. — Occupants since 1844 . 143
THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE By Thomas Hill.
Gift of Hon. Peter C. Brooks, in 1846. — Accumulation of the Fund. — The President's House erected in 1861. — First occupied by President Felton. — President Eliot gives up the House for Use as a Hospital. — Location. — Mag- netic Observatory. — Arrangement of Rooms. — Surroundings 145
BIOGRAPHIES.
Josiah Quincy . . ' By Edmund Ouincy 147
Edward Everett By Edward Everett Hale 151
Jared Sparks By Francis Bowen 157
James Walker By Joseph Lovering 159
Cornelius Conway Felton ... By William Watson Goodwin 162
Thomas Hill ■ ... 164
Charles William Eliot 166
CONTENTS.
xm
John Langdon Sibley ^^
Andrew Preston Peabody . .
Benjamin Peirce
Francis Bowen
174
loSEPH LoVERING .... r
Evangelinus Apostolides Sophocles j.g
Henry Warren Torrey ....
179
Jeffries Wyman ^g^
James Russell Lowell jg^
Francis Tames Child ..... o
J • • ■ . . 183
George Martin Lane ^g
Josiah Parsons Cooke, Jr ^g
Charles Franklin Dunbar ..... ,q»
William Watson Goodwin jgg
Ferdinand Bocher ....
• ■ • • . . . .190
Ephraim Whitman Gurney j.^
James Mills Peirce
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ....'... jn-j
THE DIVINITY SCHOOL By Oliver Stearns.
Early Mode of Theological Instruction in the College. — Origin of the School. — First Foundations for Professorships. — The Society for the Promotion of Theological Education in Harvard University. — Past Professors. — Divinity Hall erected 1825-6.— Ceremonies accompanying the Laying of the Corner-Stone and Dedication of the Building.— Description of the Building. — The Association OF Alumni formed. —The Question of the Transfer of the Trust of the School from the Corporation to the Society for promoting Theological Education.— The Library. — The Present Staff of Professors. — New Foundations. — Occa- sional Lectures. — Beneficiary Funds. — Degree of Bachelor of Divinity.— Aims OF Governors and Professors loy
BIOGRAPHIES.
Frederic Henry Hedge 2^2
Oliver Stearns ...
■ ■ • • • • 2^3
Ezra Abbot ••.....,.... 21';
Edward James Young 217
Charles Carroll Everett 219
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL. By Emory Washburn.
Legacy of Isaac Royall in 1779. — Erection of Dane Hall in 1832. —Founda- tion of Professorships. —John H. Ashmun's Life and Character. — Professorship
XIV CONTENTS.
OF Simon Greenleaf ; his published Works. — Judge Story; his Connection with THE School and his Works on Law. — Appointment of William Kent, and after- wards OF Joel Parker, to the Royall Professorship. — Appointment of Theoph- iLUS Parsons to the Dane Professorship in 1848. — University Professorships: Frederick H. Allen and Emory Washburn. — Appointment of Nathaniel Holmes to the Royall Professorship. — Present Professors. — Lecturers at the School. — Gifts of Nathan Dane and Benjamin Bussey. — Account of the Law Library. — Dedication of Dane Hall ; its Enlargement and Removal to its Present Site. — Degrees. — Number of Students 223
BIOGRAPHIES.
Emory Washburn 232
Christopher Columbus Langdell ....... 233
James Bradley Thayer 234
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL ... By Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Foundation of the School at Cambridge in 1783. — Three Professorships es- tablished.— Dr. John Warren, Dr. Aaron Dexter, and Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse THE first Professors. — Transfer of the Lectures to Boston in 1810. — The Build- ing IN Mason Street erected in 1816. — In 1821, the Massachusetts General Hospital opened for Patients, and made accessible to the Medical Students. — Dr. James Jackson resigns in 1836, and is succeeded by Dr. John Ware. — Dr. John C. Warren resigns in 1847. — The same Year, Dr. J. B. S. Jackson and Dr. O. W. Holmes appointed to Professorships. — Resignation of Drs. Hayward, Channing, and Bigelow, and Appointment of Dr. H. J. Bigelow, Dr. D. H. Storer, Dr. E. H. Clarke as their Successors. — Dr. George Parkman gives a Piece of Land on North Grove Street as a Site for a new Building. — The Present Inadequacy of the Building erected on this Site. — Methods of Teaching in the various Departments. — The Number of Students during the Years from 1788 to 1867. — Changes in the Mode of Instruction made in 1871. — Description of the present Building. — The Warren Anatomical Museum and Library. — Aims of the Medical Department 239
BIOGRAPHIES.
John Barnard Swett Jackson " . ' . . . . . . .252
Oliver Wendell Holmes 253
George Cheyne Shattuck 255
Henry Jacob Bigelow 256
George Derby 257
John Eugene Tyler 258
Charles Edward Buckingham .,.....•• 259
Francis Minot 260
Calvin Ellis 261
Henry Willard Williams .......•• 262
David Williams Cheever 263
James Clarke White . . . . . . . . . • 264
Robert Thaxter Edes 265
CONTENTS. XV
Henry Pickering Bowditch 266
Reginald Heber Fitz 267
Edward Stickney Wood 268
THE DENTAL SCHOOL . . By Thomas Henderson Chandler.
Extract from an Address of Dr. Nathan C. Keep. — Vote of the Massachu- setts Dental Society regarding a Chair of Dentistry in the Medical School. — Committee appointed. — Its Report, March 5, 1866. — A Committee appointed to
confer WITH the COLLEGE. RePORT OF THE COMMITTEE, APRIL I, 1867. COMMITTEE
OF Conference from the Medical School. — The Corporation petitioned for a Dental School. — Vote of the Corporation thereon. — Professors appointed. — First Meeting of the Dental Faculty. — Opening of the School, November, 1868.
— The Degree. — Location of the School. — Summer Session established. — Changes in the Examinations. — Course of Study extended 271
BIOGRAPHIES.
Thomas Henderson Chandler 275
George Tufton Moffatt 276
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
By Henry Lawrence Eustis.
Foundation of the School in 1847, by a Gift of Mr. Abbott Lawrence. — De- scription of Lawrence Hall. — Organization of the School under Professors Horsford and Agassiz. — The School established on a new Financial Basis in 1849. — Lieutenant Eustis of West Point organizes the Engineering Department.
— Zoological Hall erected. — Professor Agassiz's Collections purchased. — The Observatory made a distinct Department of the University in 1854. — Contribu- tions for the Scientific School. — Professor C. W. Eliot has Charge of the Chemical Department. — Mr. Edward Pearce takes Charge of the Engineering Department during the Absence of Professor Eustis. — Professorship founded BY Hon. Samuel Hooper in 1864. — Gift of Mr. James Lawrence. — Plan of Consolidation with the Institute of Technology. — Lawrence Hall remodelled
IN 1871.— Change in the Organization of the School 279
BIOGRAPHIES.
Henry Lawrence Eustis . • . . 294
JosiAH DwiGHT Whitney 296
WOLCOTT GiBBS 298
THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY . By Joseph Winlock.
Efforts to establish an Astronomical Observatory in 1839. — William Cranch Bond appointed Astronomical Observer for the College. — The Dana House used AS AN Observatory. — Nature of the Work done there. — Site of the present Observatory. — Measures taken for securing a Telescope and Building suitable for it. — The Tablets. — List of Contributors. — Removal of the Instruments from the old to the new Observatory, 1844. — Gift of Instruments. — -Bequest of Edward Bromfield Phillips. — Phillips Professorship founded, 1849. — Observatory completed, 1851. — W. C. Bond succeeded at his Death, 1859, by his Son, G. P.
XVIU
ILLUSTRATIONS.
DANE HALL 223
MEDICAL COLLEGE, AND OPERATING THEATRE OF MASS. GEN. HOSPITAL 239
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL 279
THE OBSERVATORY 303
THE BOTANIC GARDEN 313
THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION 321
THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY 329
PORTRAITS.
GROUP OF THE FIVE PRESIDENTS 147
EX-PRESIDENT THOMAS HILL 164
PRESIDENT CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT 166
JOHN LANGDON SIBLEY 167
ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY 170
BENJAMIN PEIRCE 172
FRANCIS BOWEN 174
JOSEPH LOVERING 176
EVANGELINUS APOSTOLIDES SOPHOCLES 178
HENRY WARREN TORREY 179
JEFFRIES WYMAN 180
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 182
FRANCIS JAMES CHILD 183
GEORGE MARTIN LANE . 184
JOSIAH PARSONS COOKE, Jr 185
CHARLES FRANKLIN DUNBAR 187
WILLIAM WATSON GOODWIN 188
FERDINAND BOCHER 190
EPHRAIM WHITMAN GURNEY 191
JAMES MILLS PEIRCE 192
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 193
FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE 212
OLIVER STEARNS 213
EZRA ABBOT 215
EDWARD JAMES YOUNG 217
CHARLES CARROLL EVERETT 219
EMORY WASHBURN 232
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS LANGDELL. . 233
JAMES BRADLEY THAYER 234
JOHN BARNARD SWETT JACKSON 252
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 253
ILLUSTRATIONS. xix
GEORGE CHEYNE SHATTUCK 255
HENRY JACOB BIGELOW ' . . . . 256
GEORGE DERBY 257
JOHN EUGENE TYLER 258
CHARLES EDWARD BUCKINGHAM 259
FRANCIS MINOT 260
CALVIN ELLIS 261
HENRY WILLARD WILLIAMS 262
DAVID WILLIAMS CHEEVER 263
JAMES CLARKE WHITE 264
ROBERT THAXTER EDES 265
HENRY PICKERING BOWDITCH 266
REGINALD HEBER FITZ . . 267
EDWARD STICKNEY WOOD 268
THOMAS HENDERSON CHANDLER 275
GEORGE TUFTON MOFFATT 276
HENRY LAWRENCE EUSTIS 294
JOSIAH DWIGHT WHITNEY 296
WOLCOTT GIBBS 298
JOSEPH WINLOCK 309
ASA GRAY 316
DANIEL DENISON SLADE -324
FRANCIS HUMPHREYS STORER 325
JEAN LOUIS RODOLPHE AGASSIZ 342
HERMANN AUGUST HAGEN 345
NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER 347
WOOD- EN CRAVINGS.
FIRST COLLEGE SEAL 23
HARVARD'S MONUMENT 26
SECOND COLLEGE SEAL 35
FAC-SIMILE OF AN OLD ENGRAVING OF THE COLLEGE HALLS ... 39
THE THIRD AND PRESENT COLLEGE SEAL 44
COLLEGE LOTTERY TICKET 45
PAVILION ERECTED FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE SECOND CENTENNIAL
IN 1836 51
PLAN OF SEATS IN THE PAVILION 5^
HARVARD, STOUGHTON, AND MASSACHUSETTS HALLS IN 1755 . . . -53
HOLDEN CHAPEL S^
HOLLIS HALL 6»
XX ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIRST HARVARD HALL 72
SECOND HARVARD HALL 76
FIRST STOUGHTON HALL 79
HOLWORTHY HALL 82
UNIVERSITY HALL 84
LIBRARY BOOK-PLATE 121
THE OLD PRESIDENT'S HOUSE 137
DIVINITY HALL ,97
DANE HALL 223
THE FIRST "MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL COLLEGE" 239
ZOOLOGICAL HALL 279
INTERIOR OF THE DOME OF THE OBSERVATORY, SHOWING THE EQUA- TORIAL, AND OBSERVER'S CHAIR 308
THE PROPOSED MUSEUM 329
LITHOGRAPHS.
THE SOUTH ELEVATION OF THE OBSERVATORY, AND SECTION LOOKING
NORTH 306
PLAN OF THE DOMES AND FIRST AND SECOND FLOORS 307
COPPER ENGRAVING OF MASSACHUSETTS AND THE FIRST STOUGHTON
HALL, BY PAUL REVERE 27
HARVARD COLLEGE.
HISTORICAL SKETCH. CHAPTER I.
Previous Histories of Harvard College. — The General Court, 1636, vote "to give ;f4oo
TOWARDS a SCHOOLE OR COLLEDGE." ThE COLLEGE ORIGINALLY A StATE INSTITUTION.
Earlier Provisions for a similar Institution in Virginia. — Vote of the General Court IN 1637. — Locating the College at Newtown. — Nathaniel Eaton. — The General Court, 1639, vote to name the College Harvard College. — John Harvard. — His Bequest. — The College Buildings in 1643. — President Dunster. — Regulations. — Early Customs. — Need of Funds. — Charles Chauncy. — Contributions to the College. — The Indian Col- lege. — Indian Students. — Reforms. — Leonard Hoar, the first Alumnus called to the Presidency, 1672.
The history of Harvard College has no need of being rewritten. It is already as accessible as any history requires to be. The legislative acts which form its Constitution are in the Catalogue of the present year. Its chronological tables are given at length in the Triennial. Its details appear in the volumes of its historians or the pamphlets of many writers, and these can be found in almost any large library of the neighborhood. Then, too, the history has been made interesting. The pens employed upon it have been touched with an enthusiasm which spreads among readers prepared to sympathize with it, and to regard the subject as exceptionally attractive.
Jactamus jampridem omnis te Roma beatura.
One writes or reads about the College as if it were a world apart, where men and things are lifted above ordinary levels, where scholars are more scholarly, benefactors more beneficent, purposes nobler, results greater, than in the world at large. Now and then a shadow falls, officers err, students break out in dis- order, and human nature asserts itself even amidst these favoring circumstances.
24 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
But the cloud quickly passes away, and only heightens by contrast the glow which generally prevails. On the whole, the only excuse for attempting a fresh sketch of such a history is, that it may lead back to what lies in fuller propor- tions behind it. There stands the sanctuary, and if we enter its cloisters, we shall soon be drawn within the walls where the dead repose and the living fulfil the offices to which they have succeeded.
The beginning was the vote of the General Court of Massachusetts Bay, Oc- tober 28, 1636, "to give 400/ towards a schoole or colledge." This grant not only founded the institution, but gave it its chief characteristic as an institution of the State, which it continued to be until our own time. What we are accustomed to see ordered or executed by a corporation, a board of overseers, or a faculty, was for generations the work of a legislature. The State, that is, the Colony, was the patron, and, more than this, the sovereign, of the College. Our early annals would be inexplicable but for the existence of this political bond ; and bond it was, necessary perhaps, certainly serviceable, but as certainly trying, and at times obstructive, if not oppressive. Every academic relation, of officer to officer, offi- cer to student, student to student, was subordinate to this supreme relation of the whole academic body to the colonial government. It was not the first institu- tion of the kind in the American colonies. Seventeen or eighteen years before, the governing company of Virginia voted to establish a college at Henrico, then a town not far from the present Richmond. Large subscriptions were made in England, and as large, proportionally, in Virginia, where one clergyman, Thomas Bargrave, gave his library, and many others made their offerings or lent their exertions. The College, with a school attached, was to train the youth not only of the Virginians, but of the Indians. Just as the buildings were about to be begun, in 1622, the Indians suddenly fell upon the colonists, massacring a great number, alarming all, and driving the College, and all similar plans, far off into the future. In a corresponding condition, the Massachusetts College might have had a like fate.
In November, 1637, another vote of the General Court ordered the College to be established at Newtown, to which the more collegiate name of Cambridge was given in the following year. By this vote the institution received another of its most deeply marked impressions. For at that time of difficult communication between one place and another, the situation at Cambridge was one of compara- tive remoteness from the principal settlements even of the surrounding country. Boston could be reached only by a long circuit on land or a sluggish ferry over the river, while towns at a greater distance were almost as far off as the Pacific is now. This is to be kept constantly in mind by one who would understand the narrowness he seems to see in the early history. Colonial life was isolated, at the best, and when it included life yet more shut up within itself, as that
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 25
within College precincts, the isolation must have been profound. As for the sit- uation itself, it appears to have been better thought of then than afterwards. " A place very pleasant and accommodate," says the writer of a work published at London in 1643. Another work, of 1654, says: "The situation of this College is very pleasant, at the end of a spacious plain more like a bowling-green than a wilderness, near a fair navigable river."
The School, as mentioned in the vote of 1636, preceded the College. In 1637, Nathaniel Eaton was appointed " professor of the said School," with the charge of building and planting, as well as teaching and purveying. He appears to have been more successful in the former duties than in the latter; and there soon arose a small wooden house, with a little more than an acre of land around it, and at least thirty apple-trees set by Eaton, as we know from his account. The house probably stood somewhere near the site of the Old President's House, op- posite Holyoke House. Governor Winthrop — who, as Governor of Massachusetts, was the real head of the College — says, in his History of New England, that Eaton had " many scholars, the sons of gentlemen and others of best note in the country." He also " entertained one Nathaniel Briscoe, a gentleman born, to be his usher." But alas for the gentleman, and the sons of gentlemen ; they were very soon overtaken by the troubles that would seem to be almost inseparable from boarding-schools, and particularly new ones. The scholars complained of bad food and ill-treatment, the usher of being " entertained," after but three days, with "two hundred stripes about the head"; and Eaton was discharged by the General Court, and fined. His wife's sins as a housekeeper were more than a match, according to her own confession, for the offences of the husband; and thus the Adam and Eve of the College fell, and were driven away.
This was in September, 1639. In March of that year the General Court voted " that the College shall be called Harvard College." The great event in all this history is the bequest of John Harvard, once of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who came to Massachusetts in 1637, and died in 1638, leaving all his library and half his estate to the College, which has since borne his name. It could bear no better. His benefaction, a very great one in itself, has been a yet greater one in its effects. It secured the development of the School into the College. It loosened the dependence of the College upon the government by this unquestionable assur- ance of the support to be given by individuals. It brought in the intellectual influences and opened the intellectual resources which gave the College a better life than any material possessions could give. That library of Harvard's, those three hundred volumes, — Chrysostom and Pelagius, Duns Scotus and Aquinas, Luther and Calvin, Homer and Plutarch, Horace and Pliny, Bacon and Camden, — were the first real teachers in the College. Nor are we to forget the value of this personal presence, shadowy though it be, which has always been the centre
26
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
of our academic community, — like Washington to the United States, like Colum- bus to America, — the leader and the father of generations grown beneath his
name.
In 1643, the writer already quoted describes the College buildings thus : " The edifice is very fair and comely within and without, having in it a spacious hall, where they daily meet at Commons, Lectures, Exercises, and a large library with some books to it, the gifts of divers of our friends ; their chambers and studies also fitted for and possessed by the students, and all other rooms of office neces- sary and convenient; and by the side of the College a fair Grammar School for the training up of young scholars and fitting of them for academical learning, that still as they are judged ripe they may be received into the College." This School was probably the one of Eaton's building. It was now under Master Cor- let, of whom it is encouraging to read that " he hath very well approved himself." The other building, the College proper, was in the immediate charge of the Pres- ident. Henry Dunster, " a learned, conscionable, and industrious man," says his contemporary. He began his labors in 1640. They prospered so far as to enable him to hold his first Commencement in 1642, when, as Governor Winthrop writes, " nine bachelors commenced ; they were young men of good hope, and performed their acts so as gave good proof of their proficiency in the tongues and arts." The Governor's idea of proficiency was probably moderate. The class of 1642 had been studying perhaps two, perhaps three years, with very few teachers, and those few changing; but Dunster had them in hand long enough to give them some claim to a degree. " We have," declares his contemporary, " to our great comfort, and in truth beyond our hopes, beheld their progress in learning and
Note. — The eastern face of the monument, represented above, bears the name " Harvard " ; beneath, on a marble tablet, is the following inscription : " On the 26th day of September, A. D. 1828, this stone was erected by the Graduates of the University of Cambridge, in honor of its Founder, who died at Charlestown, on the 26th day of September, A. D. 1638."
On the western side of the shaft is another inscription, written in Latin : " In piam et perpetuam memoriam Johannis Har\'ardii, annis fere ducentis post obitum ejus peractis, Academis quae est Cantabrigiae : Nov. Anglorum alumni, ne diutius vir de litteris nostris optima meritus sine monumento quamvis humili jaceret, hunc lapidem ponedum curaverunt."
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
27
godliness also." Things gradually settled into a system. " When any scholar is able to understand Tully, or such like classical Latin author, extempore, and make and speak true Latin in verse and prose, Suo ut amnt Marie, and decline per- fectly the paradigms [spelled paradigim's] of nouns and verbs in the Greek tongue : let him then, and not before, be capable of admission into the College." So runs the first law of the Dunster Code. The " times and order " of the College studies are laid down for every day, from eight to four o'clock, for three years. They consist of the Scriptures and their languages, Chaldee, Syriac, Greek, and Latin ; Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, Politics, Ethics, and Logic, Style, Compo- sition, Imitation, Epitome and Declamations, History " in the winter," and the Nature of Plants " in the summer." " Every scholar able to read the originals of the Old and New Testament into the Latin tongue, and to resolve them logically ; withal being of godly life and conversation, .... is fit to be dignified with his first degree. Every scholar that giveth up in writing a system, or synopsis, or sum of Logic, Natural and Moral Philosophy, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astron- omy, and is ready to defend his thesis or positions, withal skilled in the originals as above said, and of godly life and conversation, .... is fit to be dignified with his second degree." Such was the aspect and such the purpose of the College at the time of its first Commencement.
To see the undergraduates as they then were, is not very easy. One of the most peculiar usages affecting them was that which arranged them in their class according to their social position. This arose naturally from the character of the College as a public institution, recognizing the same distinctions of office and rank as existed in the state. A graduate of the next century describes the custom as it was in his day, and it was probably much the same from the beginning. He says the Freshman Class was usually " placed " within six or nine months after admission. " As soon as apprised of their places, each one took his station according to the new arrangement, at recitation, and at Com- mons, and in the Chapel, and on all other occasions." This could not be done without many heart-burnings. " The scholars," we are told, " were often enraged beyond bounds for their disappointment in their place ; and it was some time
Note. — The accompanying engraving, made by Paul Revere, was struck from a portion of the origi- nal plate which was accidentally preserved. It appears that the State engaged Revere to engrave some bank-notes at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Copper being scarce, he took the plate of the College buildings, cut it into two parts, and executed the notes, three in number, bearing date July 8, 1775, on the back of one. This part came into the possession of the State, and is now among the archives at the State House.
The students walking with their hats in their hand are probably Freshmen obeying the regulations of that period to go with heads uncovered in the presence of upper classmen or College officers. — Ed.
28 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
before a class could be settled down to an acquiescence in this allotment
The higher part of the class commonly had the best chambers in College assigned to them. They had also a right to help themselves first at table in Commons." But these creature comforts were by no means the only advantages of the higher part. The sense of superiority in rank was then keen enough to affect one intellectually and morally, as well as physically. Its gratification lent a charm to the hall and the chapel, as well as to the chamber and the table. It continued throughout College ; indeed, it continued after College, as appears from a letter of a graduate of 1696, entreating restoration to the rank from which he had been degraded in his " Sophymoreship." " Nothing can be more grateful," he says, " to my father and mother, nor anything more encouraging to me." Another influence upon the students came from outside. The severity of life was then at its maximum. Not only was it a matter of principle to repress one's spirits and one's manners ; it may be said to have been a matter of neces- sity. The new country, the struggle with nature and man, the entire absence of luxury, the closing in of labor and penury, made what is now called enjoyment simply impossible. It was no abrupt transition from the strict regimen of the family to the strict regimen of the College. Lines were as sharply drawn in the one as in the other. The Freshman ran the errands of the upper classes as he would have run those of his elder brother at home. The undergraduate, already trained to show the utmost respect towards his elders, would have won- dered had he not been compelled to take off his hat in the yard when any of the officers were there.* There was nothing offensive in the law which subjected
* The following, contributed by Dr. S. K. Lothrop, shows how this custom was finally broken up : — " In a conversation about obsolete College customs, I heard my uncle, Dr. Kirkland, say that the usage, which required a Freshman to take off his hat if one of the higher classes was in the Col- lege Yard, and remain uncovered till he had entered one of the buildings, or was out of the College grounds, was broken up by the firmness and independence of the late Professor Levi Hedge ; and he
related the anecdote as follows : Mr. D , having found Mr. Hedge, a Freshman of a few weeks'
standing, refractory upon this point, called on President Willard and complained that Freshman Hedge
violated this custom, and had refused several times when he (D ) met him and asked him to
take off his hat. After considering a moment, the President said, ' D , do you go to Hedge's
room and tell him that I want to see him immediately, and do you come back with him.' D ■
executed his errand in high glee, entering Hedge's room with the exclamation, ' Come, Hedge, you must go down with me to the President's study. I have complained to him about your not taking off your hat, and he told me to come and tell you that he wanted to see you immediately, and he said I must return with you. I guess you have got to take it now. Come quick.' ' Certainly,' said Hedge; 'I will go with you immediately.' And putting on his hat they walked out of the room
together. The moment they emerged from the building D stopped, and turning to him, said,
' Come, Hedge, off with your hat, sir. I am going to have no more of this thing, I can tell you.' ' Very well, sir,' said Hedge, and immediately uncovering said, ' There, sir, my hat is off, and now,'
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29
any scholar, " if not adultus, to correction," that is, to a whipping ; and this, according to a later law, was to be " in the hall, openly." Among the restraints laid by the Overseers' orders of 1650 is one upon taking tobacco, "unless per- mitted by the President, with the consent of parents and guardians, and on good reason first given by a physician " ; and another upon being present at " courts of justice, elections, fairs, or at military exercise, in the time or hours of the Col- lege exercise." Fines were laid for absence or tardiness, absence from town without leave, neglect of study, playing cards, frequenting taverns, and many other offences, which, if often committed, must have reduced the good people at home to sad straits. Money was very scarce, as appears from the manner in which College bills were paid, as by butter, cheese, fruit, vegetables, grain, oxen, cows, sheep, boots, shoes, and any other merchandise which the student or his father could command. It is not unusual to find two entries under a student's name, such as two bushels and a half of Indian corn to his credit, and then a charge against him " by want of measure of the Indian." The want of pocket- money must also have had its effect. So must the want of occasions for spending money. Visits home were infrequent, even when the home was near; when it was distant, they were difficult and sometimes dangerous. One of the Class of 1 65 1, who became a Tutor, and while such went to New Haven, where his father lived, was upon his journey " from Tuesday afternoon to Dedham, unto Wednes- day the next week at night." " Near Pequit [New London] we were lost, and past through a craggy, dangerous way; yet God kept us and all belonged to us, and brought us safe notwithstanding the rumors of the Indian plots." All these
bringing his doubled fist in close proximity to D -'s face, — 'now take off yours.' D , surprised
at the new turn affairs had taken, hesitated a moment, but on Hedge's repeating, with a tone, a look, and an expletive that evidently meant business, — 'Take it off, sir, instantly, or I will knock you down,' — quietly took it off, and the two walked along uncovered. Meeting a Senior between
Harvard and Massachusetts, D was disposed and made a movement to put his hat on; but the
stern, determined voice came, ' Keep it off, sir, or I will knock you down.' So the Senior smiled,
and D ■ and Hedge passed on to the President's study. Immediately on entering, the President
said, ' How is this, Hedge ; D says you do not take off your hat when you see him, or meet
him in the College Yard ? ' Hedge answered, ' I don't like the custom that prevails here. There is no law ordering or enforcing it, I believe. In the College Yard or out of it, any where, I am per- fectly ready to take off my hat to any gentleman who shows me the same courtesy.' At this point
D broke in with an account of what had just occurred. 'Ah, ha,' says the President,
' Hedge took off his hat the moment you asked him to do so, did he not ? ' ' Yes, sir.' ' What did he do then ? ' ' He told me to take off my hat, or he would knock me down.' ' Well, what did you do?' 'Why, sir, I didn't want to have a fight, or be knocked down, so I took off my hat'
' Very well, D , I think that is a good rule for you and others. If you don't want to be knocked
down, take off your own hat to those whom you expect or desire should render a like courtesy to you.' And so the custom was broken up."
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
things concentrated the undergraduate upon his College resources ; whether he used them well or ill, they were all he had for the time.
When he graduated, his first impulse was not to break away, but to stay where he was, and continue the life to which he had become habituated. If he pro- posed, as most of the early graduates did, to enter the ministry, the simplest way to complete his preparation was to go on with his studies. A Bachelor in resi- dence was called a Sir, and the class of Sirs was often as numerous as any in, the three years' course. There were no Professors. The President was the prin- cipal teacher; and as soon as there were any Sirs to choose from, he selected some of these "to read to the Junior pupils." Thus, in 1643, Sir Bulkley and Sir Downing, graduates of the first class the year before, were appointed " for the present help of the President." The respect which the younger classes were accus- tomed to pay to the elder secured a much greater degree of deference to these Tutors than would be felt for recent graduates nowadays. It is to be hoped that they had the respect of their pupils, for they had little besides, — " 4 / per annum to each of them for their pains." One of the two was among the most liberal benefactors of the College. In 1645, as Bulkley was preparing to follow Downing to England, he conveys an acre of land, covering the site of Gore Hall, to Henry Dunster, to whom the giver is " most closely bound by very many and great benefits " ; and on Dunster's leaving the presidency, to the College, " as a slight tribute from a warmly attached (maxime benevolo) alumnus." This is a glimpse into the inner and happier life of the place. Downing and Bulkley were by no means the only graduates who soon returned to their native country. Out of twenty, twelve went back, and eleven of the twelve remained in England. It was not surprising that the best-educated young men of Massachusetts should be the least contented with it. Not their will, but their fathers', had brought them over, and when left to themselves, they swung back to the greater attractions of the mother country. A Tutorship at the Colonial College was four pounds a year ; a Fellow- ship at one of the English universities was ten times as much ; and one of the Class of 1650 appears to have obtained an Oxford Fellowship of sixty pounds. Nor was money the chief advantage. All opportunities, save those of hard, self- denying exertion, were superior on the other side, and exertion itself might be as hard and as self-denying there as here, in those years of civil war. Such was the drift of our alumni towards England, that the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England recommended the General Court of Massachusetts to take some course with parents, so that their sons, " when furnished with learning, remove not into other countries, but improve their parts and abilities in the service of the Colonies." Most of the alumni who cleaved to their Alma Mater appear to have been highly appreciated. " Such was the love of all the scholars to him," — Samuel Mather, of the Class of 1643, and successor to Bulkley and Downing, — " that not only when
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31
he read his last Philosophy Lecture in the College Hall, they heard him with tears, because of its being his last, but also when he went away from the College, they jDut on the tokens of mourning in their very garments for it." Mitchel of 1646, and a Tutor for three or four years after, married a young widow in 1650, and thought so well of the Commons, with which he had long been familiar, as to order from it " a supper on his wedding-night " ; while " the Epithalamiums," as they are termed, " which the students then celebrated that marriage withal, were expressive of the satisfaction which it gave unto all the good people of the vicinity."
But all did not go merry as a marriage-bell with the College or its officers. The President labored heavily under the want of means, both for himself and for the institution. He had done all he could. He gave a hundred acres of land in Billerica, adjoining a farm of the same extent which was given by the town of Cam- bridge. He obtained • subscriptions, which enabled him to build a President's house, wherein he hid his troubles, as far as he could, from others' eyes. But it was in vain. The College buildings were already decaying for want of repairs. His income, small as it was nominally, was smaller actually, paid in town rates, which he was obliged to collect for himself. He kept up nobly ; and, when the old resources failed, he tried to create new. ones by appealing to the Commissioners of the United Colonies to make the College a New England institution. This they were beginning to do, and fresh hopes were rising in Dunster's breast, when he fell to doubting, and then to condemning, infant baptism. His ideas, as Mitchel of the wedding supper thought he saw clearly, " were from the Evil One." The story of his compulsory resignation is sad enough ; but it is too familiar to be repeated. His successor, Charles Chauncy, was not supposed to be altogether exempt from doctrinal errors. He certainly was not from official and personal embarrassments. Two petitions from him to the General Court — the first in 1655, a year after his entrance upon office; the second eight years later, in 1663 — rehearse his " many grievances and temptations " ; and the second urges the fact " that there are no colleges in our English universities, wherein the petitioner hath continued long, but that the Presidents thereof, beside their yearly stipend, are allowed their diet, with other necessary provisions according to their wants." To which the committee on the petition report, as their reply, that "the country have done honorably towards the recompense and encouragement of the petitioner, .... and that his parity with English colleges is not pertinent." So the struggle continues, and with less spirit as the years succeed, until, in 1669, the inhabitants of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, then under Massachusetts jurisdiction, address the General Court concerning " the loud groans of the sinking College," " the reliev- ing of which we account a good work for the house of our God, and needful for the perpetuating of knowledge, both religious and civil, among us and our pos- terity after us."
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There was no occasion for despair. Its members might suffer, but the insti- tution itself was sure to be brought safely through its trials. The records of the half-century following its foundation — from 1636 to 1686 — show grants from the General Court to the amount of ^ 550 sterling, and £ 2,870 currency, not in- cluding the income from the ferry between Boston and Charlestown, which was paid into the College treasury from 1640. During the same period, individual subscriptions amounted to ^5,091 sterling, and ^4,640 currency. Besides all this, seventeen hundred and twenty acres of land, mostly out of Cambridge, were conveyed, partly by the town of Cambridge, but chiefly by individuals. Among the offerings were many not usually associated with academic endowments, — "a great silver salt," " a silver beer bowl," " one fruit dish, one silver sugar spoon and one silver tipt jug," " a silver tankard," " a pewter flagon," " corn and meat," " thirty ewe sheep with their lambs," " horses," and " lumber." The office of treasurer was evidently no sinecure.
About midway in this first half-century stands the foundation of the Indian College by the English Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England. The building — large enough to hold twenty students, and costing not far from four hundred pounds sterling — stood nearly on the site of Grays. Very little is known about the Indian undergraduates. One of them, from Martha's Vineyard, whose Christian name was Joel, — " our young prophet Joel," as he was called, — perished by Indian hands on Nantucket, where he was wrecked on his return to College from a visit to his kindred. Only one Indian, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, took his degree, and he died the very next year. The Indian College became a printing-house, where the Bible, translated by John Eliot, was printed in the Indian tongue, — perhaps the greatest work of any done in connection with Harvard Col- lege. Many years later, in the beginning of the following century, we light upon the name of an Indian student, Larnel. He was dismissed for some offence in his Junior year, but taken back upon public confession, which the President men- tions as of " a peculiar grace," which " ratified wonderfully that which I had con- ceived of him." He died soon after, before completing his course ; and though but twenty years old, he is described by the President as " an acute grammarian, an extraordinary Latin poet, and a good Greek one."
The best friends of the College were less intent upon enlarging it than upon improving it. First of what may be styled the early reforms was the three weeks' visitation, ordered by the Overseers in 1650. " Between the loth of June and the Commencement, from nine o'clock to eleven in the forenoon, and from one to three in the afternoon of the second and third day of the week, all scholars of two years' standing shall sit in the hall, to be examined by all comers in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues, and in Rhetoric, Logic, and Physics ; and they that expect to proceed Bachelors that year [therefore of three years' standing] to be
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
33
examined of their sufficiency according to the laws of the College ; and such that expect to proceed Masters of Arts to exhibit their synopsis of acts required by the laws of the College." Failure in these requirements delayed promotion or graduation till the following year. In 1654, the course hitherto covering three years was extended to a fourth, whereupon " no fewer than seventeen of the schol- ars," as we are told by the son of one of them, " withdrew from the College without any degree at all." This seems to have been the prototype of College rebellions, — not the only rebellions in which the rebels punish themselves. In 1666, the Overseers ordered that the Fellows who received salaries from the Treasury should reside within the College, " and be present with the scholars at meal-times in the hall." These were the Fellows of the College, or the House, as they were termed, in contradistinction to Fellows of the Corporation, who were not held to resi- dence. The Fellows of the House were the Tutors of their time, and to this title their older name of Fellows gradually gave way. Their being required to reside in the College goes to show that they had not always resided there, or that some of them were now disposed to reside elsewhere. In 1674, President Hoar appears to have suggested some reforms which led to the withdrawal of every student but three, encouraged, as is well known, by the General Court. Leonard Hoar, of the Class of 1650, was the first alumnus called to the Presidency, in which he succeeded Chauncy in 1672. Ten or eleven years before, he wrote from England to his nephew Flint, a Freshman, giving him as sound advice as ever graduate gave to undergraduate. " You are not to content yourself," he says, " with doing
that only which you are tasked to When the classes study only logic or
nature, you may spend some one or two spare hours in languages, rhetoric, his- tory, or mathematics. And when they recite only the text of an author, read you some other of the same subject, or some commentation upon it, at the same
time As you must read much, so you must be free and much in all kinds
of discourse of what you read, that your tongue may be apt to a good expression of what you do understand. And further, of most things you must write too,
whereby you may render yourself exact It is practice, and only your own
practice, that will be able to perfect you. My charge of your choice of com- pany I need not inculcate ; nor, I hope, that for your constant use of the Latin tongue in all your converse together, and that in the purest phrase of Terence and Erasmus." Latin was supposed to be the only spoken tongue of the Col- lege. " I shall add," says the uncle, " but one thing more, but that the crown and perfection of all the rest, which only can make all your endeavors success- ful and your end blessed. And that is, something of the daily practice of piety and the study of the true and highest wisdom." We have another letter from Hoar, written soon after he became President, to Robert Boyle, the English phi- losopher. "It hath pleased even all to assign the College for my Sparta. I de-
34 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
sire I may adorn it, and thereby encourage the country in its utmost throws for its resuscitation from its ruins." He goes on to mention some of its wants : " A large well-sheltered garden and orchard, for students addicted to planting ; an ergasterium, for mechanic fancies ; and a laboratory chemical, for those philosophers that by their senses would culture their understandings, .... for readings or notions only are but husky provender." No wonder that the General Court of 1674 set itself against such an innovator.
CHAPTER II.
Increase Mather the first President of American Birth. — His Absence from Cambridge. — His Implication in the Persecution of Witches at Salem. — Robert Calef. — His Book
BURNED IN THE COLLEGE YarD BY OrDER OF THE PRESIDENT. TUTORS BrATTLE AND LevERETT.
— Leverett elected President, 1707. — An Account of his Inauguration. — Growth of THE College. — The College Faculty organized, 1725. — Proceedings of Committees appointed by the Overseers. — Commencements. — Corporal Punishment suspended by the Corporation, 1755- — Burning of Harvard Hall, 1764. — Resolve of the General Court
TO REBUILD IT. PRIZES FOR COMPOSITIONS IN HONOR OF GeORGE III. VOTE OF THE SENIOR
Class to wear Home-made Suits at Commencements. — Rebellion of the Students. — The Marti-Mercurian Band. — The General Court occupy the College Chapel. — James Otis.
— Spirits of the Students at the Prospect of War. — President Langdon's Prayer before the Revolutionary Troops. — The Students assemble at Concord instead of Cambridge.
The first President of American birth was Increase Mather, who graduated in 1656, and became Acting President in 1685. He was then one of the most conspicuous men in Boston, having been for twenty years minister of the Second Church, and identified with the poHtical as well as ecclesiastical movements of the town. So distinguished a head, even if he were not held to the close per- formance of his functions, would do more for the revival of the institution than any ordinary President. It was not so much by teaching or governing the students, as by impressing the community, that the present wants of the College were to be met ; and who could thus meet them better than the great divine whom the people of Boston had made their adviser when they were threatened with the loss of the Massachusetts Charter, and to whom not only Boston, but the country round, would listen, when he preached, " with an awe," as we are told, " like what would be produced on the fall of thunderbolts " ? Such was the reasoning which led to the anomaly of a non-resident President. Of the sixteen years during which Mather held the office, four were passed in England, whither he went as the agent of Massachusetts to recover her Charter, and the remaining twelve in Boston, with the exception of a week at one time, and three months at
36 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
another, reluctantly spent in Cambridge. The effect was natural. Instead of pros- pering, the College suffered. Instead of being contented with the great man whom they had called to their aid, the College government and the Colonial gov- ernment repeatedly attempted to transfer him from Boston to Cambridge, and, fail- ing in that, to procure his resignation of the Presidency. But he held his ground. He would not leave his flock, he said, for " forty or fifty children." Nor would he give up the children, whose studies he liked to direct, and to whom he was wont to preach a weekly sermon. The Treasurer's books are reported to contain a variety of charges on account of the President's journeys between Boston and Cambridge. " Paid for shoeing Mr. Mather's horse, mending saddle and new saddle cloth ; .... for keeping the President's horse ; .... for keeping from 20 Sept. 1694 till he died 12 April, 1696; .... to purchase a horse with, for the better capacitating the President to make his visits." Did the students have their joke about Caligula and the horse which he made consul ? One of the Presi- dent's chief concerns was a new charter for the College. What with the College and the Colony, he seems to have had charter on the brain ; but the College escaped the blessings he designed for it, and made its way toward the future under the charter that had satisfied it in 1650, and satisfies it still. One of the Mather Acts of Incorporation went into operation for a short time in 1692. It declared him President (until then Acting President), and gave the College author- ity to confer degrees, in virtue of which, as we are informed, " this University, as now it was, thought it their duty to present unto their President a diploma for a doctorate, .... being the first and sole instance of such a thing done in the whole English America." Mr. Sibley, from whose very valuable volume of biographies this statement is borrowed, — and it is by no means the only one from that source in this sketch, — adds that seventy-nine years passed before another similar degree was conferred. A ceremony never repeated was performed a few years subsequently. The President had been implicated in the recent persecution of some poor women as witches at Salem. So had others of the Academic and Colonial magnates, like the Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Justice Stoughton, of the Class of 1650, whose Hall, the first named after him, was completed at his charge in 1699. The next year a Boston merchant, Robert Calef, published in London a book on the Wonders of the Invisible World, in which the witchcraft persecutors were handled without gloves. As soon as " the wicked book " arrived in Massachusetts, it was burned in the College yard, by order of the President, — the first and the last presidential bonfire in our history. While the President was more intent upon witches, charters, and other matters than upon the routine of recitations or lectures, the instruction of the students was in good hands. Two Tutors of the Class of 1680, Brattle and Leverett, were appointed in 1686, — the former serving for ten years, when he was succeeded by Pemberton, of 1691 ; the
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latter for some time longer. To these men the College owed the continuance of its usefulness.
After several years of public life, in which Leverett rose to high distinctions, he was elected President in 1 707. He was probably better fitted for the office, both as a scholar and as an administrator, than any of his predecessors ; and for this reason, as for others, we are glad to have an account of his inauguration from an eye-witness, Chief Justice Sewall, of the Class of 1671. "Went to Cambridge," says his diary, January 14, 1708, "in Mr. Briggs' coach." He then enumerates other vehicles and parties, among them " Mr. Pemberton carried Mr. Brown in his sleigh over the ice." " The day was very pleasant In the Library the Gov- ernor [Dudley, of the Class of 1665] formed a meeting of the Overseers, according to
the Charter of 1650, and reduced the number [of the Corporation] to seven
The Governor prepared a Latin speech, then took the President by the hand, led him down into the Hall. The books of the College records, charter, seal, and key were laid upon the table. The Governor sat with his back against a noble fire. President sat on the other side of the table, over against him. Mr. Nehemiah Hobart [Senior of the Corporation] was called, and made an excellent prayer ; then Joseph Sewall [of the Senior Class] made a Latin oration. Then the Gov- ornor read his speech, and (as he told me) moved the books in token of delivery. The President made a short Latin speech, importing the difficulties discouraging, and yet that he did accept. Governor spoke further, assuring him of the assistance of the Overseers. Then Mr. Edward Holyoke [of the Class of 1705, afterwards President] made a Latin oration, standing where Joseph [Sewall] did, at a desk on the table next the entry, facing the Governor. Mr. Danforth [probably of the Class of 1677] prayed. Mr. Paul Dudley [of the Class of 1690] read part of the 13 2d Psalm, in Tate and Brady version, Windsor tune. Closed with the Hymn to the Trinity. Had a very good dinner on three or four tables. Mr. Wadsworth [of the Class of 1690, afterwards President] craved a blessing. Mr. Angier [of the Class of 1673] returned thanks. Got home very well. Laus Deo." Another of these high ceremonies is described by President Leverett, under date of October 15, 1 716. "The Governor [Shute] set out from Boston to visit his government of New Hampshire, passing through Cambridge. He was pleased to visit the Col- lege, and was received by the President and Fellows at the gate, and by them conducted into the Hall, where he was saluted by Sir Foxcroft [171 4] with a Latin oration, to his Excellency's good acceptance, and with the just applause of the learned auditory ; he went into the Library, and after a short view and large commendation of the place, and founders and patrons of it, with assurance of his favors to the House, and blessings upon it, he proceeded on his journey, the President accompanying his Excellency to New Hampshire." Evidently the con- nection between the College and the Province was as close as ever.
38 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
The seal upon the table at which the Governor and the President sat was an object of much greater reverence in those days than it is in these. At the very first meeting of the College governors under the first charter, December 27, 1643, it was "ordered that there shall be a Colledge scale in forme following," the form being a shield bearing three open books, inscribed " Veritas." This proving too simple, apparently, a second seal was adopted, with a shield of changed shape and changed inscription, the motto, " In Christi gloriam," being placed, not upon the books, but above and beside the shield, outside of which we read, "Coll: Harvard: Cantab: Nov: Angl : 1650: Sigill." With this the College contented itself for almost half a century, and then, in the days of Mather, the Corporation leave a proposal about procuring the College arms to the Pres- ident, who seems to have decided upon the seal, in use at Leverett's inauguration and ever since, with the motto, " Christo et Ecclesise," and the circumscription, " Academise : Harvardina : in : Nov : Ang : Sigillum," the whole being brought into accord with the great designs then visible upon the academic horizon.*
In 1720, Massachusetts Hall was built at the public expense. Opposite stood the old Harvard Hall, built, in 1682, with money raised from various towns and individuals; Sir George Downing, of the Class of 1642, being one of them, and other Englishmen contributing. On the third side of the quadrangle was the old Stoughton already mentioned, and on the fourth was the gate, at which gov- ernors were received, and through which academic processions passed out and in on Commencement Days. As with the aspect, so with the work of the College ; there was now a higher degree of completeness. In 1721, the first Professorship was founded. It was the foundation, not of the General Court, nor yet of Mas- sachusetts men, but of an Englishman, Thomas Hollis, who wrote to one of the Corporation : " After forty years' diligent application to mercantile business, my God whom I serve has mercifully succeeded my endeavors, and with my increase inclined my heart to a proportional distribution." The Professorship was of Di- vinity, and the choice of this department, as the first to be constituted, throws light upon the character of the College as well as upon that of its benefactor. During the century approaching towards its close, nearly one half of the alumni became ministers ; and though there were repeated lamentations over the prepara- tion they made while undergraduates, though preaching often failed, and practice oftener, according to contemporary witnesses, yet the deepest lines upon the insti- tution were theological, and these it pleased Hollis to deepen. He had other purposes, however, which ripened, in 1726, with the foundation of a Professorship of Mathematics; and in 1727, with the gift of an apparatus for experimental phi- losophy. The College Faculty was organized in 1725, and at about the same time visiting committees were appointed by the Overseers, perhaps, however, with as
* These seals, respectively, head the three chapters of this sketch. — Ed.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
39
40
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
moderate effect as in later times. A committee in 1723 reports that "although there is a considerable number of virtuous and studious youth in the College, yet there has been a practice of several immoralities, particularly stealing, lying, swear- ing, idleness, picking of locks, and too frequent use of strong drink, .... that the scholars are many of them too long absent from the College, .... that the scholars do generally spend too much of the Saturday evenings in one another's chambers ; and that the Freshmen, as well as others, are seen in great numbers going into town [Cambridge] on Sabbath mornings to provide breakfasts." The committee of 1732 recommend new provisions against absence and negligence, not only on the part of the students, but also on that of Bachelors, Masters, and Tutors, not forgetting the steward, for whose warning it is proposed " that com- mons be of better quality, have more variety, clean tablecloths of convenient length and breadth twice a week, and that plates be allowed." The course of study was now more extensive than of old, and that nothing might be left undone by the Faculty, the students were daily visited in their rooms by the Tutors ; and when other measures were ineffectual, fines, admonitions, degradations, and expulsions were put in requisition. Disorder ran highest at the Commencements. In 1722, the Commencers, so called, were prohibited from providing plum cake, meats, pies, or liquors, and their rooms were visited by the Corporation in order to enforce the prohibition. In 1727, the government threatened any who "go about to evade it [the rub of 1722] by plain cake" with the loss of their degree. To keep off the crowds which were wont to throng Cambridge at Commencement, the Lieu- tenant-Governor of Massachusetts was requested to order the Sheriff of Middlesex to prevent the setting up of booths and tents ; and as this could not be depended upon, the day was no longer to be fixed, but to be determined from time to time, and then kept as private as possible. But the enormities of plum cake and plain cake, booths and tents, paled before the crying evil which President Wadsworth enters in his diary at the Commencement of 1731 : " Three of the Tutors were absent, two of them purposely, a thing never known before ; a third, though he stayed at College and went to the meeting-house, yet did not appear to act as Fellows used to do, in keeping good order in the Hall at dinner-time, nor in walking in the procession as usual." As if to make up for the shortcomings of Commence- ment, which long continued. Exhibitions were introduced; the first in April, 1756, when six students " pronounced, in the respective characters assigned them, a dia- logue in the English tongue, translated from Castalio." The Overseers, who were present, voted that they were well pleased, and desired the students to proceed as they had begun, that they might not only render themselves ornaments to the College and an honor to their country, but also excite an emulation in others to excel in oratorical attainments. In 1766, the Exhibitions were made semi-annual. They took place in the chapel built in 1744 by Mrs. Holden and her daughters.
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 41
of London. But of all the signs of progress, none are more cheering than the relaxation of the ancient regime. Unmanly punishments beget unmanly acts, and doing away with the one is doing away with the other. In 1755, the Corporation suspended corporal punishment for a year, and it was never restored. In 1761, the number of fines was abated, and a more rational penal code was drawn up, including warnings, private admonitions, the making up of recitations, and, in case of special disorder, confinement to the room. An attempt was made to relieve Freshmen from errand-running, but this did not succeed even to the very moderate degree of forbidding their being sent after the ringing of the Commons bell in the evening.
The greatest disaster which ever befell the College occurred in January, 1764. Small-pox being epidemic in Boston, the General Court removed their sessions to Harvard Hall, and the fire kept up for their benefit in the Library was supposed to have penetrated to a beam beneath the hearth. In the middle of a very tempestuous night, according to a narrative written the following day, and a severe cold storm of snow attended by high wind, the fire broke out, and as it was vacation, and but two or three persons were left in that part of Massachu- setts most distant from Harvard, the flames when discovered were beyond control. Massachusetts, Stoughton, and the new Hollis were all in great danger; but the town engine came, " the gentlemen of the General Court, among them his Excel- lency the Governor," were " very active," and the fire was confined to Harvard. But that was gone ; its library, the books of John Harvard and the long line of benefactors succeeding him, was gone ; the apparatus of Hollis and other donors was gone ; the portraits and the curiosities were gone ; and the loss must have seemed, as indeed in some respects it was, irreparable. But so far as a new building or new collections could replace the old, they soon came. The Governor (Bernard) told the General Court that, as this event happened while the building was in their occupation, they seemed to be bound to make it good ; and they resolved unanimously to rebuild it at the expense of the Province, and further- more voted appropriations for the benefit of students who had suffered by the fire, and for the purchase of " a water-engine " for the College. Subscriptions to a much greater amount soon poured in. The Corporation and the Overseers, the clergy and the magistrates, towns, societies, and benefactors, both in America and in Great Britain, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Trustees of the British Museum, the king's printer at Edinburgh, united in their contribu- tions of money, books, apparatus, and furniture ; one Englishman sending " two curious Egyptian mummies for the Museum."
It was the last time that the mother-country had an opportunity of lavishing its bounty upon the College as one of its own colonial institutions. The skies were thick with the signs of the coming separation. A little while before, when
42 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
George III. succeeded to the throne, the undergraduates read on the wall of their chapel an invitation to compete for six guinea prizes, to be given for Latin and English compositions in prose and verse, in honor of the youthful king. Under the title of Pictas ct Grahilatio thirty-one pieces were printed, but they were not the composition of undergraduates. The Governor (Bernard), who suggested the work, wrote several ; the President (Holyoke) wrote one, perhaps more ; the mas- ter of the Boston Latin School, John Lovell, a graduate of 1728, wrote two, and possibly others ; while the remainder appear to have been composed by vari- ous alumni. No such ambitious effort had been made in the name of the College; and had it been followed up by years of unbroken loyalty, the royal favor might have been propitiated to some substantial purpose. But it was not long before the Senior Class voted to take their degrees " in the manufactures of the coun- try," and the Massachusetts Gazette published the vote as reflecting the highest honor on the College; and when the day arrived, the Seniors appeared in home- made suits, symbols of the independence towards which the Colonies were drifting fast. That same year, 1768, witnessed the most serious resistance hitherto offered by the students to the College government. Rebellion was in the air; and while the fathers were resisting Parliament, the sons resisted the Faculty. When it was announced that excuses for absence from College exercises would not be received unless offered beforehand, the students met under a tree, which they called the Tree of Liberty, and declared the rule unconstitutional. A so-called riot followed; and on the expulsion of several rioters, the Senior Class asked the President to transfer them to Yale College, that they might graduate there, and the three other classes requested to be discharged. This rebellion, like others before and after it, ended in submission ; and the Seniors, consoled by their home-made suits, graduated where they were. The next year a military company was formed among the undergraduates, called, from its motto [Tarn Marti quani Mercurio\ the Marti-Mercurian Band, but, unlike the ancient deities, wearing blue coats faced with white, nankeen breeches, white stockings, top-boots, and cocked hats. Popular spirit among the students was fanned to flame by the sessions of the General Court, which, complaining of the British troops and cannon then in Bos- ton, was transferred by the Governor's orders to Cambridge. There it met in the College Chapel, and, before proceeding to business, listened to one of the most impassioned of James Otis's harangues, in the course of which he turned to the students gathered in great numbers as spectators, told them that their turn to act or to suffer might soon come, and with some stirring allusions to the patriotism of the classic ages which they were now studying and must hereafter imitate, bade them remember that their first and highest duty was to their coun- try : Duke et decorum est pro patria mori. Not an eye, we are told, but was wet ; not a breast but throbbed with patriotic emotion. Otis was of the Class of 1743,
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and therefore spoke to the students with all the impressiveness of a brother as well as an orator. This was in 1769. In 1770 the General Court was again summoned to the College, instead of to Boston, by Lieutenant-Governor Hutchin- son. We have a contemporary report of the meeting at nine in the morning; of the arrival of his Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, escorted by the troop of Guards from his seat at Milton, at ten; of his taking the chair, and receiving the Speaker elected by the House of Representatives ; of the procession, preceded by the first company of the regiment of militia, to the meeting-house, where a ser- mon was preached by the Rev. Samuel Cooke, A.M. (of the Class of 1735); and of the return of the procession to Harvard Hall, where an entertainment was provided, let us hope to the temporary reconciliation of the Governor and the General Court. Amid these scenes the still air of delightful studies must have been much disturbed. As a Boston minister writes to England concerning " the young gentlemen," " they have caught the spirit of the times. Their declamations and forensic disputes breathe the spirit of liberty. This has always been encour- aged, but they have sometimes been wrought up to such a pitch of enthusiasm that it has been difficult for their Tutors to keep them within due bounds; but their Tutors are fearful of giving too great a check to a disposition which may hereafter fill the country with patriots, and choose to leave it to age and expe- rience to check their ardor." All, however, were not patriots, or disposed to bear themselves as such, for there were some who brought tea — " India tea " — to Commons, and drank it, without regard to the public feeling that had recently been expressed in the memorable Tea-Party of Boston. The prevailing disposition is shown in the Triennial, where the graduates of 1773 appear in alphabetical order; and this implies that the old distinctions of rank among the undergraduates were abolished. Other changes of this changing period were attended with grave consequences. May i, 1775, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety ordered the students to be removed, in order to provide barracks for the gathering militia; and on June 15 the Massachusetts Provincial Congress at Watertown voted that the library and apparatus should be transported to Andover. In the evening of the i6th, twelve hundred men, under William Prescott of Pep- perell, formed on Cambridge Common; and thither came President Langdon of the College to pray for the Divine blessing on the march to Bunker Hill. It was not till September that the students were gathered at Concord, where they remained until the following June, and then returned to Cambridge. They were driven out again in the autumn of 1777, to make room for the troops surren- dered by Burgoyne ; but the College buildings were saved from this occupation, and the students came back in February, 1778. The library and apparatus were restored to their rightful places in the following May. No further disturbance of the academic community occurred during the Revolutionary War.
CHAPTER III.
Extract from the Address of Harrison Gray Otis to his Class. — Professorships founded. — Growth of the College. — Standard of Admission raised. — Annual Examinations cause Discontent among the Students. — Class Day. — College Societies. — Address of the Students in 1798 to the President of the United States. — Social Relations of the Students. — The Engine Society. — The Harvard Washington Corps. — The Med. Fac. — The Navy Club. ■ — College Periodicals. — Expansion of the College during President Kirkland's Administration. — The Second Centennial celebrated, September 8, 1836. — The Elective System established during President Quincy's Administration. — The Ob- servatory. — The Scientific School. — Extract from the Poem delivered at the Com- memoration of July 21, 1865.
When peace came, in 1783, the first class of the victorious nation received their degrees from President Willard ; and their first scholar, Harrison Gray Otis, spoke of the future as it then opened before him and his contemporaries. It would be natural to presume, he said half a century later, " that an event adapted to kindle enthusiasm in an orator of the gravest character and age would stim- ulate the fervid imagination of eighteen to paint in somewhat gorgeous colors the prospects unfolded to our country by this achievement of its liberties, and its probable effect upon the destinies of other nations. I remember that I did so, and indulged the impulse of a sanguine temperament in building what doubtless seemed to others, and perhaps to myself, castles in the air. But had it been in my imagination to conceive, and in my power to describe, what we now know to be reality, I should have been considered as ballooning in the regions of bombast, and appeared ridiculously aiming to be sublime."
The present was full of hope. Four new Professorships were founded in the latter third of the century, — four in thirty-three years, when there had been but two in all the hundred and thirty going before. In 1782, the establishment of the Medical School began that expansion of the College into the University which has interested and occupied its members ever since. Stoughton Hall, taken down
^ -^
m
m
>
^ s
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
45
in 1780, was replaced, but not till 1805, by another Stoughton, for which the General Court made grant of a lottery; and the lottery, multiplied into lotteries,
Harvard College Lottery.
THIS TICKET Tvill entitle tte bearer to such PrilZtl','as may be drawn against its number ; agreeably to an act of the General Court? of Massachusetts, passed the 14th day of March, 1806. <
yielded more than three fourths the cost of the building. Another lottery was immediately granted, and with the proceeds of this the other fourth of the Stoughton bills was paid, and Holworthy erected in 1812. More important building was that of an intellectual character. The course of studies was laid out anew in 1787, the standard of admission was raised in 1803, and in the interval a system of annual examinations was gradually elaborated. Against these exami- nations the students, or many of them, set their faces. " To animate them in the pursuit of literary merit and fame, and to excite in their breasts a noble spirit of emulation," such, according to the laws of 1 790, was the object of their rulers. For their own part, they preferred other means, perhaps other ends. The Seniors and Juniors of 1791 petitioned to be exempted from examination, and, on being refused, some of them emptied a package of tartar emetic into the kitchen boilers on the morning of the day appointed for them to be examined. Coffee was made with the water from the boilers, and soon after it was served, officers and students brought their breakfast to a sudden close. Trapier was rusticated, Sullivan suspended to Groton for nine months, and Ely suspended to Amherst for five months for assisting the other two. Discipline was not of a high char- acter in those days. Some lines, attributed to John Quincy Adams, of the Class of 1787, tell how
" The Government of College met, And Willard ruled the stern debate."
The cases under consideration were those of two Juniors who had given wine- parties, to the great disturbance of the Faculty.
Note. — A lottery for the benefit of the College was established as early as 1745, and another in 1794, in which the College was the holder of the lucky ticket. No. 18,547, drawing a prize of ten thousand dollars. The ticket represented on this page is a fac-simile of those used in the lottery of 181 1, which was authorized to raise funds for the erection of Holworthy Hall. — Ed.
46 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
" Quotli Joe, the crime is great, I own, Send for the Juniors one by one. By this almighty wig I swear, Which with such majesty I wear, Which in its orbit vast contains My dignity, my power and brains, That Wier and Prescott both shall see That College boys must not be free. He spake, and gave the awful nod, Like Homer's Dodonean god. The College from its centre shook, And every pipe and wineglass broke."
Class Day dates back to these, perhaps to still earlier times. The earliest mention of an oration and poem occurs in 1771, when they are spoken of as not delivered, because the Class was divided and several had left College ; doubtless in consequence of the examination troubles of that year. In 1792 a poem was followed by an oration in Latin, and Latin was the language of the orators for many subsequent years. In 1 793 the social element waxed strong. " We then [after the literary exercises] formed," writes one of the class, " and waited on the government to the President's, where we were very respectably treated with wine, etc. We then marched in procession to Jackson's [the orator] room, where we drank punch. At one we went to Mr. Moore's tavern, and partook of an elegant entertainment, which cost *V^ a piece. Marching then to Cutler's [the poet] room, we shook hands and parted with expressing the sincerest tokens of friendship." Almost half a century passed without any material change in the observance of Class Day, until, in 1838, dancing beneath the trees in front of Hollis succeeded the afternoon revelries.
Before the close of the eighteenth century. College societies became very nu- merous. The Speaking Club, now the Institute of 1770, and the Phi Beta Kappa, were the chief literary societies; the Porcellian was social; the Adelphi religious; and the Hasty Pudding a mixture of the three, for debates were mingled with its puddings, and the meetings, held on Saturday evenings, were closed with a hymn to the tune of St. Martin's. One of the Class of 1797, speaking of Channing, who graduated in 1798, as he was in College, says that his connection with these societies must have had nearly equal influence with the College studies. " The arrangement of the exercises," continues the writer, " was then so wisely ordered, that the morning of every day after the breakfast-hour was almost wholly left, to the two upper classes especially, for uninterrupted study. Having thus secured the best hours of the day for close and vigorous application, .... and having the evenings also at their command, whether for study or the enjoyment of its most interesting results at their literary meetings.
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47
they had ample time for all their prescribed and voluntary pursuits." One of the strongest intellectual interests at that time was the study of Shakespeare. He was read, committed to memory, recited, and commented on with something akin to passion. Politics continued as engrossing as they had long been, and now and then came an outburst of unwonted excitement. In 1798 the students held a meeting, and appointed a committee to prepare an " address to his Excel- lency, John Adams, President of the United States." " We do not pretend to great political sagacity ; we wish only to convince mankind that we inherit the intrepid spirit of our ancestors, and disdain submission to the will of a rapacious, lawless, and imperious nation," that is, France, against whom the President had recently recommended Congress to put the country in a state of defence. " We cannot but admire and venerate the unsullied integrity, the decisive prudence and dignified firmness, which have uniformly characterized your administration. Im- pressed with these sentiments, we now solemnly offer the unwasted ardor and unimpaired energies of our youth to the service of our country." This address, signed by one hundred and seventy students, nearly the whole number, received a written reply, " in a very commendatory style," from the President, and was as much applauded by his supporters as it was condemned by his opponents. Its writer was Channing, and he was so wound up, politically, as to refuse the first part at the following Commencement, because he was forbidden to introduce poli- tics. The government yielded, and allowed him to express himself as he desired upon the Present Age, that is, upon the French Revolution. He used his privi- lege with moderation ; and as he drew towards the close of his oration he checked himself, and, with a glance toward the Faculty, he exclaimed, " But that I am forbid, I could a tale unfold which would harrow up your souls." Judge Story, of the same class, gives us additional glimpses into the College of his time. " The different classes," says he, " were almost strangers to each other ; and cold reserve generally prevailed between them. The system of fagging was dying out, and I believe that my own class was the first that was not compelled to perform this drudgery in the most humble services at the command of the Senior class. The students had no connection whatsoever with the inhabitants of Cambridge by private social visits. There was none between the families of the President
and Professors and the students West Boston Bridge had been completed
but a short period before ; the road was then new, and not well settled, the means of communication from Cambridge were almost altogether by walking, and the inducements to visit in private circles far less attractive than at present. Social intercourse with the young, and especially with students, was not much cultivated ; and invitations to social parties in Boston rarely extended to College
circles The intercourse between us and foreign countries was infrequent ;
and I might almost say that we had no means of access to any literature and
48 HISTORICAL SKETCH.
science except the English. Even in respect to this, we had Httle more than a semi-annual importation of the most common works ; and a few copies supplied and satisfied the market. The English periodicals were then few in number, and I do not remember any one read by the students, except the Monthly Magazine."
There was one mode of intercourse between the students and the outer world, known long before this time, but perhaps more frequent at a much later period. This was school-keeping, which occupied most of the winter with those who un- dertook it, the seven weeks of vacation, and as much or more than as much besides, for which a student could easily obtain leave of absence. School-keeping then was like a scholarship now, less remunerative perhaps, certainly much less easy, but full of experience that had much to do with the making of men as well as scholars. While it lasted, indeed, it was one of the most powerful influences of college life; and more than one student who had no need of it pecuniarily, availed himself of it for the intellectual and moral good it was capable of doing him. Henry Ware, of the Class of 1812, kept school at Beverly in his Junior year. He describes his long journey from Cambridge by stage, chaise, and on foot. " There awaited my arrival two of the school committee, who gave me much sage advice, and administered many admirable admonitions and instructions and
directions It was thought best that I should be examined, in order to satisfy
the district I keep seven hours a day, from half past eight to twelve, and
from one to half past five. I shall soon keep eight hours, as the committee say
it is usual I have sixty-five children, men and women together. There are
four boys older and larger than myself, and, from what I can hear, there are yet to be more of the same genus. Girls there are many, as much as fifteen, seven- teen, or eighteen years of age ; but it luckily happens that they are disposed to
be peaceable and orderly When one of these young ladies the other day
came to me with her pen, I gallantly rose from my chair and made my very best bow ; at which the boys laughed. However, I have learned here to think a little better of girls than I used to ; for after they have been out, the boys never come till they are called, but the girls always return of their own accord before
their time is out I feel myself more like a man, in company and in school,
than I expected. I really believe there is some magic in the mighty word «V."
It was mentioned that the destruction of Harvard Hall called forth the gift of an engine. A company to work this was formed from the students ; and as there were no more fires among the halls, the firemen exercised themselves abroad, particularly in Boston, where a dinner or a supper almost always followed a fire. At one time the Engine Society was organized, apparently as a burlesque, and among the poems prepared for it was the most famous of all undergraduate flights, the Rebelliad or Rebelliard, in which the Sophomore rising of 18 19 is told with flowing humor. The Engine Society lasted only three years longer.
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 49
being disbanded in consequence of its having flooded tlie room of the College Regent. Its members consoled themselves, probably, in the Harvard Washington Corps, organized at the close of 181 1, with arms loaned by the State, and a uni- form of blue coat, virhite vest, trousers and gaiters, a black hat for the privates, a chapeau for the officers. This uniform was afterwards modified, the coat being black, and the chapeau laid aside. A flag, with the College and State arms, was given by the women of Cambridge ; and as their fair spokeswoman made the pres- entation, the professor to whom she was engaged to be married recited an im- promptu : —
" The standard 's victory's leading star,
'T is danger to forsake it ; How altered are the scenes of war !
They 're vanquished now who take it."
The chief parades were on the three Exhibition Days, in October, May, and July; and, though occasional marches were made to Boston and other places, the effect was always greatest upon academic ground. There are various traditions to account for the disbanding of the Corps. Some tell of service to Bacchus, rather than to Mars or Mercurj'^ ; others of combats between rival captains and their supporters ; one, at least, of a terrible moment when the troops joined the insurgents of 1834, and hurled the State arms from the windows of the armory in University Hall. That same year brought to an end the Medical Faculty, commonly called Med. Fac, which began in 18 18 with a mock lecture in Hollis 13, and continued, for sixteen years, with mock lectures, mock experiments, mock initiations, and mock degrees. Five mock Triennials were printed, in which the names of Alexander I., Andrew Jackson, the Siamese Twins, and the Sea-Serpent (" Magnus Serpens Maris, suppositus, aut porpoises aut horse-mack- erel ") are singularly mixed. The Russian Emperor, supposing his degree to come from the University, sent a case of instruments in return, much to the satisfac- tion of the genuine Medical Faculty, which secured the gift. Another of these merry-making associations was the Navy Club, originating at the close of the last century, and culminating with the Class of 181 5. Their marquee, "the good ship Harvard," was erected not far from Divinity Hall. Its floor was divided into a quarter and a main deck, under the command of an admiral, and hither the Club, forming in procession, at the boatswain's whistle, before Holworthy, were wont to repair during several weeks for their peculiar naval manoeuvres. Other Navy Clubs went on harbor excursions ; others still on voyages as distant as the shores of Cape Cod ; and when they returned they generally made all Cambridge aware of it. An annual procession on shore was also among the rules of the Navy Club, and was frequently diversified with banners, costumes, and emblems. The true sailor was he who had had no part at the Exhibitions ; and he appeared
5° HISTORICAL SKETCH.
in sailor-rig. Marines and horse-marines were those who had had one part only; and they, or some of them, carried guns. The digs, who had been honored with two parts, wore Oxford caps, and carried small spades ; the second and third scholars of the class, larger spades; while the first scholar bore a shovel two feet square : such, at least, was his burden for one year.
A more sober record is that of the periodicals issued by our undergraduates. The Harvard Magazine for January, 1858, gives a full account of them to that time. The Class of 181 1 are entitled to the honor of pioneers. At the close of their Junior year, in July, 1810, they, or their members who associated them- selves for the purpose, published the first number of the Harvard Lyceum. The principal contributors were Edward Everett, Samuel Oilman (author of " Fair Harvard "), and Nathaniel L. Frothingham, known as a good writer both in prose and verse to the close of his life. " A deficiency in the subscription list " brought this enterprise to a close in March, 181 1; and the editors, in their concluding address, advise future classes " that they enjoy all those exquisite pleasures which literary seclusion affords, but that they do not strive to communicate them to oth- ers." The advice was followed until 1827, when the spirits of the undergraduates got the better of it, and brought out The Harvard Register, of which C. C. Felton, afterwards President, George S. Hillard, Charles C. Emerson, and others were the principal writers. Oliver Wendell Holmes was the ornament of The Collegian in 1830. Harvardiana, which lasted from 1834 to 1838, had James Russell Lowell for one of its editors. Sixteen years' silence again followed, to be broken by the Harvard Magazine and its successors, of which there is no need to speak here.
President Kirkland's administration, from 18 10 to 1828, opened with the depres- sion caused by the war with Great Britain, but continued with a greater degree of expansiveness than had marked any previous years. In fact, it was under his genial influence that the old barriers at last gave way, and officers and students, the College and the community, found themselves in wholly new relations towards one another. This was his great work, and one essential to all the work that followed his, so that the place he holds in our history is very high. It was during the same smiling period that the College actually budded, and began its growth as a University. The Divinity School in 1815, the Law School in 181 7, with the Medical School already in existence, offered better opportunities for pro- fessional training than had been brought together in any part of the country. The culture of the College itself was very much improved, particularly under the Greek professorship of Edward Everett, and the Modern Language professorship of George Ticknor. To the latter eminent scholar is due the earliest advocacy of the elective system here ; and though it was too early to be at once successful, it prepared for the success of subsequent movements. Many new professorships were founded or first filled ; large additions to the library and the apparatus were
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
51
made ; and the donations of the seventy years amounted to nearly four hundred thousand dollars, — a very much larger sum, proportionally, then than now. One of the graduates of this period writes with an emotion which we readily share : " The previous history of the College offers no parallel in brilliancy and useful- ness to the presidency of Dr. Kirkland ; and the ambition of any future president may well be satisfied in attaining an equal elevation of renown, an equal in- fluence with the community, a like affectionate respect from his contemporaries, and as strong and universal a love for his memory in those who come after him." There lay the secret, and there lies still the glory of Kirkland's success. He loved his work, he loved his students ; they were not merely students, but his students, his sons, and as he loved them, so they loved him. For this the Col- lege had been waiting almost two centuries.
The second Centennial was celebrated September 8, 1836, a few weeks in advance of the exact date, but not an hour in advance of the great tide of affec- tionate enthusiasm which rose with the completion of the second century. Never
before, never since, was such a celebration. It showed the strength of the foundations on which the College rested ; and as it lighted up the past with a glow of veneration and gratitude, so it threw into the future a hope and a courage which have not once failed in the thirty-eight years suc- ceeding, and of which it is rather historic than pro- phetic to say that they never will fail. The five presidents following Kirkland, photographed in one living group when the last of the five was inaugurated in 1 860, and now all gone but one, — Serus in coelum redeat ! — carried forward, each a degree further, the develop- ment of the University. The chief hindrance to their work was, with most of them, one of their own raising, namely, the shortness of their terms of office. President Quincy, who had served seven years when the Centennial took place, served nine years more, holding the reins long enough and firmly enough to make a decided advance, not only in the material interests of the institution, but still more in its immaterial, particularly in relation to the elective system, which was then for the first time effectually established; vi'hile a new department, in sympathy with the
52
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
educational tendencies of the period, was established in the Observatory. Another of kindred purpose — the Scientific School — was founded under President Everett. In speaking of the presidents especially, let us not forget their fellow- laborers. The king's name stands for the people, but it is they, not he alone, who make the great movements of his reign. Among the members of the governing bodies, Fellows, Overseers, and Professors, during the last half-century, were many to whom the University owes as much at least as to any man. Nay, there have been those outside the academic pale, those who never ruled or taught or even studied within our walls, by whose wise counsels and liberal endowments the progress of these recent years has been largely secured. The work is great enough for many workers. Much as has been done, much is to be done, — done with the common sympathies and the common exertions of boards and faculties, graduates and undergraduates, — done by those who are the University, and who perfect it in perfecting themselves. No nobler approach to this has been, none nobler can be, made than that of the students who served in the army or navy of the United States during the War of the Rebellion. Their roll is in the Triennial of 1 869 ; the lives of some of them are in the Memorial Biographies of 1 866 ; the spirit of them was concentrated in the Commemoration of July 21, 1865; and, as the poet said that day, —
" In every nobler mood
We feel the orient of their spirit glow,
Part of our life's unalterable good,
Of all our saintlier aspiration ;
They come transfigured back,
Secure from change in their high-hearted ways,
Beautiful evermore, and with the rays
Of morn on their white shields of Expectation."
Harvard, Stoughton, and Massachusetts Halls in 1755
MASSACHUSETTS HALL.
The Hall built by the Province of Massachusetts. — Various Grants to the College. — Former Uses of the Hall. — Present Uses. — Danger from the Fire which consumed Harvard Hall. — Occupancy by Revolutionary Troops. — Estimate of Damages. — Asso- ciations connected with the Building. — Repairs in Dr. Kirkland's Time. — A Portion
OF THE LOWER FLOOR FORMERLY DEVOTED TO SOCIETY UsES. — ALTERATIONS IN 1870.
The name of the oldest of the buildings now standing in the College yard commemorates the bounty of the Province of Massachusetts to the institution to which, from its beginning, she owed more than she could give to it. During the first three quarters of a century from the foundation of the College the Legisla- ture of the Province had shown its good-will, and "its care to promote good literature, without which religion will not be upheld," by annual grants, at first of ;^ioo, and later of ^150, as well as by a grant of the profits of the ferry over Charles River, and by occasional donations of land, all of which proved valueless.
During President Leverett's administration, 1708-24, the annual grants were insufficient to provide for his proper support ; and in spite of reiterated and pathetic appeals to the General Court, he was left to struggle with poverty, while zealously performing efficient service, and doing much to maintain the credit of the College, which, owing to its narrow means, was hardly able to answer to the needs of the community.*
* The grants for President Leverett's "salary never exceeded ;^20o, and probably did not average the sum of ;^ 180 a year." Quincy's Hist of Harv. Univ., II. 227.
In 1715 the College stock amounted to ;^ 3,767, and its revenue from rents and annuities to ;^ii4, including ;^72, the income from the ferry. lb., p. 235.
54
MASSACHUSETTS HALL.
Leverett was a man of ability and energy, and though he could not obtain from the authorities of the Province a suitable livelihood for himself, he did not fail to press the claims of the College upon the attention of the General Court. The Earl of Bellamont, when governor of Massachusetts in 1699, had declared, " It is a very great advantage you have above other provinces, that your youth are not put to travel for learning, but have the Muses at their doors " ; but it was becoming plain that the Muses would not stay there, unless greater hospitality were shown them.
Although the classes were small, averaging but twelve students each, during the first ten years of President Leverett's administration, the accommodations for them were insufficient; and in November, 171 7, the Corporation addressed a memorial to the General Court, stating that " a considerable number of students were obliged to take lodgings in the town of Cambridge for want of accommo- dations in the College, and praying the assistance of the General Court for erect- ing a suitable building." The prayer of the Corporation was warmly seconded by the governor. Colonel Shute, who made two special recommendations on the subject in messages to the Legislature; and in May, 171 8, the General Court ordered a building three stories high, fifty feet in length and forty in breadth, to be erected at the expense of the Province.* The work was at once taken in hand, but the dimensions of the proposed hall did not satisfy the College authorities, and, in November of the same year, a fresh memo- rial was addressed to the Legislature, praying that the building might be enlarged from fifty to one hundred feet in length. The General Court favored the petition, the increase in size was ordered, and in 1720 the new building was completed at a cost of about three thousand five hundred pounds in the currency of the Province. The liberality of the Legislature in thus providing for the needs of the College was the more commendable, because the affairs of the Province were in these years greatly embarrassed. Taxes were heavy, and the people were suffering all the evils of a depreciated and fluctuating cur- rency, owing to the emission of paper-money without adequate funds for its redemption.t
The name of Massachusetts Hall was appropriately given to the new edifice. It contained thirty-two rooms, each apparently intended for occupancy by two
* In Harvard College Papers, Vol. I. p. g, is a plan inscribed by the Rev. Thomas Prince, " Plan of the New College." It has no date, but it appears to be the original plan of Massachusetts Hall.
t Governor Hutchinson, in speaking of these times, says, " The influence a bad currency has upon the morals of the people is greater than is generally imagined." If Massachusetts has in later years learned to resist the temptations of a fictitious currency, it is in part due to the sound discipline and training of thought which many of her foremost sons have received in the College.
©
MASSACHUSETTS HALL. 55
students, for each was provided with two (so-called) studies, or closets on cither side of the chimney. It was at once occupied, and for one hundred and fifty years it continued to be the home of successive generations of students. Its use is now changed ; but, rich in accumulated memories, it still renders good service, while its modest proportions are not less attractive than the more ambitious forms of some of its younger neighbors.
The rent derived from the rooms was for a long period one of the main sources of College revenue. The rate of rent varied with the value of the fluc- tuating currency, and a curious instance of the depreciation of the paper-money at the close of the Revolution is afforded by two votes of the Corporation in 1781. At a meeting in May of that year it was voted "that each study in HoUis, and the second and third stories in Massachusetts, shall be charged at ;^40 per quarter, and the rest of the studies at ;£ 52. 10." In the following August the rates were fixed at twenty and sixteen shillings per quarter, but they were to be paid in solid coin.
In 1764 Massachusetts ran great danger of destruction from the disastrous fire which consumed the old Harvard Hall. The fire broke out in the middle of the night of January 24-25. "The other Colleges, Stoughton Hall and Massachu- setts, were in the utmost hazard. The wind driving the flaming cinders directly upon their roofs, they blazed out several times in different places, nor could they have been saved by all the help the town could afford had it not been for the assistance of the gentlemen of the General Court (then in session at Cambridge), among whom his Excellency the Governor was very active; who, notwithstand- ing the extreme rigor of the season, exerted themselves in supplying the town engine with water which they were obliged to fetch at last from a distance, two of the College pumps being then rendered useless."*
Far better could the College and the Commonwealth have spared Massachu- setts or the new-built Hollis Hall than the old Harvard, within whose walls were stored her chief treasures, — her books, her instruments, and her collections. Some of the losses of that calamitous fire can never be made good.
During the Revolution, Massachusetts, like the other buildings in the yard, had her experience of war. After the battle of Lexington, when the troops were col- lecting at Cambridge, the students were ordered to quit the hall, and it was given up to the occupancy of the soldiers. But the soldiers were of the same stock as the scholars, and the humanizing associations of the place were not lost upon them. The rooms in Massachusetts served as barracks till March, 1776, when the troops were withdrawn from Cambridge. A committee was soon afterward appointed by the General Court to estimate the damages which remained to
* Massachusets Gazette, Thursday, February 2, 1764.
56 MASSACHUSETTS HALL.
be made good after the first repairs, previous to the return of the scholars, and reported as follows in regard to Massachusetts : — *
To 29 Brass Knob-locks for Chamber doors @ 9/ |
£12 |
3 |
0 |
I Knob latch for do. |
3 |
||
60 Box locks for studies @ 4/ |
12 |
0 |
0 |
I large Stock lock for a cellar door |
12 |
||
62 Rolls of Paper @ 5/6 |
17 |
I |
0 |
60 yards of Paint @ 2/ |
6 |
0 |
0 |
Other damages |
I |
5 |
0 |
£49 4 o
Since the Revolution, Massachusetts has had its share of the usual experiences of a college lodging-hall. Its rooms have been witness to hard study, to ex- uberant mirth. All of us elder living graduates have many pleasant associations with the old chambers, which, though little suited to modern standards of com- fort and elegance, had a charm of their own from their old-fashioned quaintness, and from the memories that belonged to them. The list of youths who had rooms in Massachusetts and who became distinguished in after years is a long one, but the dearest college associations are not always with men famous in after life. The writer's own most cherished remembrance connected with Massachu- setts is of the cheerful and studious chamber of a modest, gentle, upright class- mate, who never became widely known, but who was much loved, and whose name is inscribed on one of the tablets of honor in Memorial Hall.
In Dr. Kirkland's time the building was thoroughly repaired and renovated, and it was then that a portion of the lower floor was devoted to the uses of Col- lege societies and recitation-rooms. Here for years the Institute had its regular meetings for debates, which should train the future orators and statesmen of which the country stood in need. Here the Natural History Society kept its collections and held its meetings, encouraged by the sympathy and counsel of Wyman and of Gray. And here class meetings were held for the election of ofiicers or the transaction of other affairs, — the scene at times of tumultuous confusion and of vehement party spirit, in which traits of character often dis- played themselves that might have served as sure prognostics from which to fore- cast the future fortunes of the youthful disputants.
In 1870 Massachusetts underwent a transformation. The whole interior ar- rangements were changed. No " studies " for the undergradutes now remain. The old chambers have given place to public uses. With a flooring between the former second and third stories, the whole of the upper story is an examination-
* The report is to be found in Harvard College Papers, Vol. II. p. 44.
MASSACHUSETTS HALL. 57
hall; and the lower story, diminished only by a narrow entrance-way and a very small recitation-room, serves the double purpose of a reading-room and an exami- nation-hall.
May the old building long continue to stand, sacred from its age and its mem- ories, connecting by its visible sign the latest generations of the sons of Harvard with those of the early small days of the College. May it suggest liberality to the Commonwealth that has always owed more than it has given to the Univer- sity. It is our oldest monument. It is "the good old Angel Inn" of our Col- lege yard.
HOLDEN CHAPEL.
Visit of Benjamin Colman to England in 1695. — Gift of Madam Holden and her Daugh- ters TO THE College. — Erection of Holden Chapel, 1744. — Conjectured occupants in Early Times. — Scenes at Prayers. — Uses to which the Chapel has been put during the past Fifty Years.
In 1695 Benjamin Colman (H. U. 1692), then an unordained preacher, and subsequently the first pastor of the Brattle Street Church in Boston, embarked for England, as his biographer says, to " make improvement by what he could see and learn there." There being war between England and France, the vessel in which he sailed was taken by a French privateer, and carried into a French port; and Mr. Colman arrived in London, after several weeks of detention and cruel treatment, in a state of utter destitution. He was warmly received by the dis- senting clergy and laity of the metropolis; and Mr. Parkhurst, an eminent book- seller in Cheapside, invited him to lodge gratuitously at his house for half a year, during which Mrs. Parkhurst was " a kind and loving mother to him." Her son was the Honorable Samuel Holden, a member of Parliament, Governor of the Bank of England, and regarded as at the head of the English Dissenters. Through Dr. Colman, with whom he maintained a constant correspondence after his return to America, Mr. Holden became deeply interested in the cause of learning and religion in New England, and from 1730 till his death in 1740 disbursed through his friend's agency little less than five thousand pounds in various charities on this side of the Atlantic, — a sum even exceeded by the benefactions of his wife and daughters after his decease.
For the first century and more of its existence the College had no chapel, and
Q
HOLDEN CHAPEL. 59
religious exercises were performed in the Commons Hall or the Library. In 1 74 1 Madam H olden and her daughters offered to supply this deficiency, and the sum of four hundred pounds sterling was bestowed for that purpose. The build- ing, named for its donors, was ready for occupancy in 1744. Externally it pre- sei-ves its original aspect, except that a porch fronting on the Common, through which was the entrance to the Chapel, has been removed, and a door has been cut in what was the rear of the Chapel. The edifice is of brick, plain, substan- tial, and of singularly beautiful proportions, with three round-arched windows on each side, and with wooden pediments, that looking toward the Common being adorned with the arms of the H olden family.
There may be found in an old number of the " Harvard Magazine " a spirited sketch of the session of the Provincial Legislature of Massachusetts, as convened in Holden Chapel on the 30th of May, 1770. The sketch is no less veracious than life-like ; but the site lies open to serious doubt. The Legislature assembled on that day " in Harvard College," but no account that we can find states directly in what building. The newspaper narrative says that the Legislature met " in Harvard College," went to the meeting-house to hear the election-sermon, and " returned to Harvard Hall," where entertainment was provided for them. To re- turn is to go to the place whence one started ; and if the word is literally used in • this narrative, the Legislature must first have gone from Harvard Hall, in order to return to it. Moreover, as there were two houses of the Legislature, that body was much more likely to have sat in Harvard Hall, where there were sev- eral apartments, than in Holden Chapel, which was then a single apartment.
But if the old chapel was not the theatre of civic display, it must have wit- nessed not a few scenes that would seem strange to our present associations with a religiously consecrated edifice. Whether flagellation had been inflicted for the last time before the erection of Holden it is impossible to say; but, so long as it remained a part of College discipline, it was one of the edifying exercises con- nected with evening prayers. Public admonitions, too, were actually public then (whence their name), and were given by the President in the hearing of the students assembled at prayers ; nor were they always tamely submitted to, but there are several cases on record in which the President encountered an angry, and even profane rejoinder, and was forced into a wordy altercation with the offending youth. There was, also, in the last century, a much wider latitude than now exists as to the notices fit to be given at prayers. Thus, on one occasion, after the Faculty had sat in solemn deliberation ovej a keg of rancid butter, listened to the report of a tasting committee, and determined that the butter should thenceforth not appear in propria forma, but should be used only in the making of sauce, it was voted that the President should announce this decree at prayers on the following morning.
(5o HOLDEN CHAPEL.
How long Holden was used as a chapel the writer of this sketch is not able to ascertain. The present Harvard Hall was completed in 1766, and either im- mediately on its completion, or a very short time afterward, an apartment in that building was occupied for religious uses. Holden subsequently passed into the hands of the Medical department of the University, which at first shared its occu- pancy with the College carpenter, and, at a later period, with the Professor of Chemistry.
Fifty years ago Holden was divided, as now, into two stories, and each story into two apartments. On the lower floor were the chemical laboratory and lec- ture-room, the former about half as large as the latter, and fronting on the Col- lege yard. In the second story, above the laboratory, was an anatomical museum, containing a set of very delicate wax preparations, adjoining which was a lecture- room, then occupied but for a short period each year, for the delivery of a course of lectures on Anatomy to the Senior Class by Dr. Warren. This lecture-room was the handsomest and brightest room within the College precincts. Lighted by sky- lights, and with its simple furniture nearly white and undefaced by autographs, it presented the broadest contrast to the rooms below, which were dark, dank, almost slimy from a moisture which no sun-rays ever seemed to reach, still less to dry.
Since the erection of Boylston Hall, the two stories of Holden have been made each into one spacious recitation-room. They retain much of their former charac- ter, — the lower room so damp that many years have not sufficed to dry the last coat of bad varnish put upon it; the upper, presenting a cheerful aspect by day, and being a favorite room for evening use. It has lately been fitted up for the occupancy of the Everett Athenaeum, and it is doubted whether a College society could be more pleasantly accommodated, unless in an apartment prepared for its sole use and under its undivided control.
MOLLIS HALL.
Thomas Hollis. — His Benefactions to Harvard College. — Liberality of the Hollis Family.
Character of the third Thomas Hollis. — Thomas Brand Hollis, the seventh and
last Benefactor bearing the Name of Hollis. — The Number of Students reduced by the "Old French War," 1756-63. — The Corporation urge the Need of a new Build- ing, 1 76 1. — The General Court vote ;^ 2,000 for another Hall. — A further Sum of ;^ 500 voted. — Site selected. — The Building completed, December, 1763. — January 13, 1764, the Building named Hollis Hall. — Rent from the Cellars and Rooms applied to different Uses. — Description of Hollis Hall. — Used for Barracks. — Account of Damages done to Hollis Hall during its Military Occupation. — Room No. 8. — Rebel- lion Tree. — Class-Day Tree. — The Marti-Mercurian Band. — Harvard Washington Corps. — The Engine Company. — The Medical Faculty. — Distinguished Occupants of Rooms in Hollis Hall. — The College Wood-Yard. — The College Sloop, the Harvard.
Hollis Hall derives its name from a family well deserving remembrance among the friends of Harvard College.
Thomas Hollis, son of a London merchant, born in 1659, educated a Baptist, and through life adhering to that belief, founded two Professorships in Harvard College, one of Divinity, and another of Natural Philosophy, and established a fund for the aid of indigent scholars. " The immediate occasion of his own benefactions seems to have been furnished by the Rev. Dr. Colman, of Boston. While this gentleman 'was pursuing the recovery of a legacy of ;^ 160 sterling, for two poor orphans in the years 171 7 and 1718, his letters fell into the hands of Mr. Hollis, whose heart was devising liberal things,' and the consequence was that from that time the main course of his bounty was directed towards New England, and particularly to Harvard College." * His first gift was made March 2,
* Pierce's History, p. 97.
62 HOLLIS HALL.
1 719, when he consigned an invoice of hardware to a merchant in Boston for the benefit of the College. His endowments amounted to nearly five thousand pounds, New England currency. His gifts of books and instruments also amounted to a considerable sum.
These benefactions were bestowed on an institution whose first President, Dunster, had been dismissed from his office, indicted, and publicly admonished, for an honest but ill-timed protest against the practice of infant baptism.
The test of qualification for the Divinity Professorship, proposed by Hollis, was such as to prevent the exclusion of any avowed believer on account of his particular form of faith. The candidate was required only to subscribe to " his belief that the Old and New Testaments are the only perfect rule of faith and manners."
The following unconscious sketch of a beautiful character appears in a letter from Mr. Hollis to Dr. Colman, dated August i, 1720: " I love them that show by their works that they love Jesus Christ. While I bear with others who are sincere, in their more confined charity, I would that they would bear with me in my more enlarged. We search after truth. We see but in part. Happy the man who reduces his notions into a constant train of practice. Charity is the grace which now adorns, and prepares for glory. May it always abide in your breast and mine, and grow more and more."
One of his letters contains what seems a premonition of the events which took place half a century later. In July, 1724, he wrote to Dr. Colman: "You have enemies in London and at court, who greatly aggravate your faults, and would rejoice in the ruin of your civil and religious liberty, and who say that some of
your actions are high treason Boston is represented as in actual rebellion,
and some speak of sending over regular troops to keep you in subjection."
Mr. Quincy says, in his History of the College, from which w^e draw our facts : " Scarce a ship sailed from London [for New England] during the last ten years of his life, without bearing some token of his affection and liberality." Mr. Hollis died in 1731.
John and Nathaniel Hollis, his brothers, Timothy, his nephew, Thomas, his nephew and heir, and Thomas, the third of the name, son of the preceding Thomas, continued in various degrees the liberality of their relative to the College.
The third Thomas Hollis was born in London, in 1720. At the age of four- teen he was sent to Holland to acquire the Dutch and French languages, and after fifteen months' residence there, returned to England. After his father's death, in 1735, he was placed under the tuition of Professor Ward, a name not yet crowded out of its " narrow cell " in general biography. In 1 740 he entered at Lincoln's Inn, and studied law, apparently with a view to political life, on
HOLLIS HALL.
63
which, however, he never entered. In 1748 he travelled with his friend, Mr. Brand, on the Continent, which he visited again in 1750, and finally settled at his estate of Corsecombe, in Dorsetshire, where he died January i, 1774. He was a man of study and reflection. In a letter of the 5th of October, 1783, to Thomas Brand Hollis, Dr. Franklin mentions having met him " at the Royal Society and the Society of Arts," and expresses a high opinion of his character.
He was something of an antiquarian; he loved the past while he modestly worked for the future with other men's thoughts and words, and in all relations he betrayed his " strong benevolence of soul." He was abstemious in his habits, never drinking wine or beer, and simple in his amusements. " In London he visited only the opera and oratorio ; and in the country, when he had read enough in the evening, he loved to play upon the flute." He transferred his his- torical associations to his fields, giving them such names as Magna Charta, Lu- ther, Wycliffe, and Shaftsbury. He was a great admirer of Milton. When a fire occurred in his house in London, his first act was to rescue the portrait of Mil- ton as a boy. As a final trait of character, he was, by his own desire, buried in one of his fields ten feet deep, and the ground was ploughed over and sown with grain.
Mr. Hollis does not seem to have published any writing of his own ; he preferred to propagate his opinions by circulating the works of others. Thus he published, or helped to publish, editions of the works of Milton, Sidney, and Locke, and others of the like tendency. He printed and distributed the writings of Jonathan Mayhew ; the " Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved," by James Otis ; and John Adams's " Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law." He cor- responded with Mayhew, and used such influence as he might have with the min- istry, in favor of colonial rights. It is not surprising that he was considered in England as encouraging colonial aspirations to independence.
He had a strong desire to enter Parliament. .He said, " I would almost give my right hand to be chosen into Parliament, but cannot give a single crown for it by way of bribe." He therefore contented himself with modest indirect efforts at proselytism, corresponded with Mayhew, pleaded the cause of the Colonies at home, and collected books for Harvard College. His benefactions to the College began in 1758, after reading some publication of Mayhew which particularly pleased him ; and he continued them to the end of his life.
He had the fancy of designating the character of his own books and of those which he gave away by gilt devices stamped on the covers. " The owl indicates wisdom ; the caduceus of Mercury, eloquence ; the wand of ^sculapius, medical lore." He frequently inserted in writing, on the blank leaves and margins, sentiments which he wished to circulate, or remarks illustrative of the author. The handsome bindings and quaint devices of his books in the College Library
64 HOLLIS HALL.
pleasantly recall his memory at this day. His gifts, including a bequest of five hundred pounds, amounted to nearly two thousand pounds sterling.
Such was the third Thomas Hollis, — in general benevolence of character, and in his special regard for Harvard College, a reproduction of the first. He be- queathed the bulk of his fortune to his friend, Thomas Brand, who thereupon added the name of Hollis to his own.
Thomas Brand Hollis was born in 1719. He resided at "the Hyde," near Ingatstone, in Essex. He made frequent donations of books to Harvard College, and left it a bequest in his will of one hundred pounds sterling, " to be laid out in Latin and Greek classics." He was, like his predecessor, an antiquarian, a lover of art, and perhaps we may say a hero-worshipper. From a few notes fur- nished to the " Defence of the American Constitution," by his friend John Adams, we may infer that he was something of a political theorist. His ideal in history was Marcus Aurelius, whose likness, Mr. Adams informs us, "he had in busts, and many other shapes." He was also a particular admirer of the Emperor Julian. We are pleased to learn from the journal of Mr. Adams that among the antique figures which abounded in his house appeared also " the bust of the late Thomas Hollis, Esq. [the third of the name], in beautiful white marble." He denied the claim of chronology to separate men whose virtues were independent of time and place. Mr. Hollis died in 1804, the last of seven of that name whose benefactions to the College extended over a period of eighty years.
The "Old French War" (1756 to 1763) had reduced the number of Harvard scholars. The demand for men was heavy, and the rate of taxation correspond- ingly severe, amounting in Boston to two thirds of one's income, beside poll-tax and excise. The virtual conquest of Canada, in 1760, gave the country a near prospect of release from its heaviest burdens.
The Corporation of the College, in 1761, urged on the Overseers the need of a new building, stating that " more than ninety students were obliged to board in private families, and that they were less orderly and well regulated than those within the walls." A petition was accordingly presented to the General Court, which, with a liberality due probably to the new era of hope, immediately voted two thousand pounds for a new college, to be of the dimensions of Massachusetts Hall. Committees were appointed, in which appear on the part of the Council the names of Danforth, Brattle, Bowdoin, Hubbard, and Russell ; and on the part of the House, of Tyler, Phillips, James Otis, Gushing, and Boardman. On the same day the General Court passed another vote, authorizing " a further sum of five hundred pounds sterling to be paid to Royall Tyler, Esquire, towards pur- chasing nails, glass, and other materials, in England, for the building of the new College in Cambridge, which materials the said Royall Tyler had generously offered to procure for the Province free from any advance of profit." On the
MOLLIS HALL.
65
30th of June the Committee met the Corporation on the College grounds, and determined the site of the building. The father of Judge Dawes, well known and respected in Boston some sixty years since, was the master builder. In December, 1763, the new building was completed, and the Committee delivered the keys to the General Court, with a statement of the extraordinary expense, which went beyond the estimate and appropriation more than five hundred and thirty pounds. Provision was immediately made for this excess, and votes passed declaring the building " to be well completed and finished in the best manner," and expressing thanks to the Committee for their assiduous and faithful services, and gratitude for those of John Phillips, deceased. On the 13th of January, 1764, both branches met in the College Chapel, and, the name having been fixed, " the President opened the assembly, by mentioning the occasion of the present meet- ing, and requested the Governor to give a name to the new house. Then the Governor said, ' I name it Hollis Hall,' after which they listened to a gratulatory oration in English, 'pronounced with suitable and proper action, by Taylor, a Junior Sophister, and then dined with the Corporation in the College Hall.' " In March, 1765, the General Court voted that the cellars and rooms of the new building should be let at a rate to produce one hundred pounds' annual rent, of which sum ten pounds should be reserved to keep it in repair, and the residue be applied to the support of Tutors and the purchase of books for the Library.
Hollis Hall is built of brick, is one hundred and three feet long, forty-three broad, and thirty-two high, and contained originally thirty-two rooms, with two small studies in each and two small closets.
On both fronts the line of the roof is broken by a pediment somewhat orna- mental, in the centre of which is a common window, with a circular window on each side of it. The spaces between the stories are relieved at intervals by narrow belts of brick. The underpinning of granite, which appears but little above ground, is continued with brick, and its projection of a few inches beyond the main wall is covered at the junction with a moulding of the same material. A very respectable portal in the centre of each front harmonizes with the inter- nal arrangements by denying admittance. On the moulding above mentioned, at the northwest corner, appears the date, 1763. Upon view of the whole build- ing, one concludes that good taste has probably bestowed all the ornament upon it warranted by the amount of the legislative grant.
The cellars were formerly divided into bins in which the students kept their fuel, liquors, and other stores. At the southwest corner of the ground-floor a door once opened into a shed or passage-way leading into the building on the eastern end of Harvard Hall, which was used for commons. This door has been removed, and a window takes its place.
In 1768 we are sure that Hollis Hall had its full quota of patriotic students.
66 HOLLIS HALL.
who appeared on Commencement Day clad in homespun manufactures. It was struck by lightning in this year, with small damage to building or inhabitants. On the 19th of April, 1775, one might have seen from its northerly windows, as it was actually seen from the Holmes House near at hand, the smoke of the long- drawn-out fight. Its rooms and entries doubtless resounded with horrid rumors begotten of uncertainty and alarm. In the afternoon some pale student saw from a westerly window the bodies of the Cambridge dead thrown hastily over the fence into the graveyard, to wait for burial till the result of the conflict reassured their townsmen.
" Immediately after the battle of Lexington the students were ordered to quit the College ; some of the buildings were turned into barracks." Hollis Hall was one of these. Cartridges displaced the classics, and logic was superseded by the great syllogism, "Load! Aim! Fire!" On the 17th of June these new tenants of Hollis Hall may be presumed to have contributed their full share to the smoke which the Cambridge people watched rising from Bunker Hill.
The following document, kindly furnished by Mr. Sibley, shows the effect of military occupation on Hollis Hall : —
"Account of Damages done to the Colledges by the Army after April 19'!" 1775, which remained to be made Good, after the first repairs were made, previous to the return of the Scholars to Cambridge ; as per Estimate of us the Subscribers a Committee appointed for that purpose by the General Court.
Damages to Hollis Hall . . . Vis'. To 31 brass Knob locks @ 9// . . . . . ■ ;^ 13 ,, 19
To 63 Study locks ® aI P ■ • • • ■ • • 12 „ 12
To 94 Rolls of paper @ 5/6/ 25 „ 17
To 2 Window blinders 1 „ —
To 4 Window Shutters & 1 Window Casing . . . . 2 „ 10
To 81 Yards of Paint @ 2// 8 „ 2
To Sundry other Damages 2 „ —
Abraham Watson Samuel Thatcher Cambridge, April 6'h 1777. Abraham Fuller."
The account was allowed by the Legislature in April, 1778.
Between 1789 and 1793 No. 8 Hollis was occupied by Mr. Charles Angier. He conceived the grand idea of a perpetual entertainment and a standing invitation. The legend says, " His table was always supplied with wine, brandy, and crackers, of which his friends were at liberty to partake at any time." This scheme is second only to the Everlasting Club of the Spectator. We take upon us, in the absence of historical evidence, to vouch for the constancy of Mr. Angler's friends. No better goal of pilgrimage for a graduate of convivial turn can be imagined. The shrine is gone, but the flavor of a transcendent hospitality will always pervade No. 8.
Hollis Hall came into existence with the first symptoms of the pre-Revolution-
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HOLLIS HALL. 67
ary troubles. Probably some of its bricks were laid with rhetorical emphasis, accompanying a patriotic argument or protest. It was not inaptly, therefore, that an elm-tree, planted in 1792 near the southerly entry on the eastern front, be- came the nucleus of College revolt. It has been known for half a century as the " Rebellion Tree." Hollis has heard the florid eloquence and seen the defiant processions ; it has witnessed the rising flame and the melancholy extinction. The round eyes in the triangle at the top have borne an expression of wonder, as they beheld blows aimed at fancied oppressors, to take effect only on friends.
Another tall elm, outspreading, fraternal, shading the western front, of jocund aspect, has long been the centre around which the graduating students dance on Class Day. We saw the Class of 18 19 there perform its gyrations. Top-boots, shorts, and trousers collided amicably on that occasion. We saw also the Class of 1832 in its turn drawn into the annual maelstrom, and perform its revolu- tions. On that occasion the class " membra sub {ulmo) strati^'' in conformity to the Overseers' vote of 1 760, drank punch " in a sober manner " from buckets, and a voice, still sonorous, sang " The Tea-Tax."
A military company, the Marti-Mercurian Band, was formed in College about the year 1769. It died out in 1787, but was revived, under the auspices of Governor Gerry, in 181 1, as the Harvard Washington Corps, its standard still bearing the motto, " Tam Marti quam Mercurio." It was finally disbanded by the College authorities in 1834. The blue coat, skirts turned up with white, the cocked hat and top-boots, of 1769, gave place, in 181 1, to "common black hat, white gaiters," etc. The chapeau and sabre of the officers of 1820 were afterward and finally exchanged for the shako and straight sword. Its armory was at one time in the attic of Hollis Hall. The members were taken from the Senior and Junior classes, and a certain height was necessary for admission. The squad and company drills, for the training of the reorganized corps of each year, were frequent and quite exacting. Fifty years ago the rub-a-dub of the College Com- pany in the September evenings was considered by children as natural to Cam- bridge Common as the chirp of the crickets. As time elapsed, the company declined, recruits were admitted from all the classes and without regard to stature. The martial gaiter disappeared from the equipment.
In our time the company was paraded on the Common, in front of Hollis Hall, whence the officers issued in state to take command ; and was dismissed on the same spot, or in front of University Chapel, where the armory then was. The corps in former time made various expeditions, carrying its banners as far as Medford on the north and Boston and Charlestown on the east. In conse- quence of a visit to Charlestown, under the command of Captain Manning, which incurred the disapproval of the government, it was thenceforth restricted to Cambridge limits. It appears from Hall (Coll. W. and C.) that, in 181 5, on the
68 HOLLIS HALL.
arrival of the news of peace, " the H. W. Corps paraded and fired a salute. Mr. Porter treated the company."
Immediately after the burning of Harvard Hall, in 1764, the College purchased a "water engine." In 1820 there existed an "Engine Company" among the students. It was enterprising, always eager for action, and was said to do good service at fires in Boston and elsewhere. It indulged in the irregularity of occa- sionally leaving the machine in the highway on its return, to be brought home " by whom it might concern." It had its regular parade days, on which the members appeared in fancy dresses, among which ancient and venerable costumes were conspicuous. The rendezvous was at Hollis pump, where the engine was filled. At a remote period, returning one afternoon from school, where the female sceptre was used, like Agamemnon's, to correct as well as to awe, we beheld the show which included the following performance. When the firemen were mustered and the engine filled, a powerful stream, " with the whole force of the Company," was directed into the open window of Hollis No. 7, supposed to be then occupied by a College officer. The victim, or a friend, soon closed the window.
We are inclined to believe that this was the suicidal performance which led to the suppression of the Company, as recorded by Hall. We never saw the association again in the field. It was, during its existence, a great centre of Col- lege fun. It had a literature of its own, consisting of Engine Poems and Orations. Its nectar was " black strap," rum sweetened with molasses ; history hopes, but cannot aver, qualified with water. On the above occasion, if our memory is cor- rect, the captain bore a sword, long, straight, two-edged, fit to smite equally remiss- ness or revolt. The name of " Sam Alden," the ever-ready and always-inspired " Engine Poet," ought to be inseparably attached to these memories of the Company.
The Medical Faculty in Harvard College originated in Hollis 13, in the year 1 81 8. " Four students, James F. Deering, Charles Butterfield, David P. Hall, and Joseph Palmer, members of the Class of 1820, being together in that room one evening after commons, it was proposed that Deering should deliver a mock lec- ture, which he did, with great applause. He in his turn proposed an initiation of members into their society by solemn rites and ceremonies."* This proposal resulted in the creation of the Medical Faculty, usually abbreviated to Med. Facs. " Frequent meetings were called by the President to carry out the object of the institution. They were always held in some student's room in the afternoon. The room was made as dark as possible, and brilliantly lighted. The Faculty sat around a long table in some singular and antique costumes, almost all in large wigs and breeches with knee-buckles."
Some twelve years later the meetings were held in the evening. There were but two of these sessions, and they were devoted to the initiation of such
* Hall's College Words and Customs.
HOLLIS HALL. 69
members of the Junior or Senior Class as were invited. The notes of invitation were in more or less barbarous Latin, and any little weakness or eccentricity of the candidate was particularly alluded to. The demeanor of the Faculty was profoundly grave, and their speech sonorous and authoritative. The President wore the academic square cap, perhaps of abnormal size. The table at which he presided was covered with specimens of anatomy, collected by the Faculty themselves, or under their inspection. The candidate was examined with refer- ence to these. He was occasionally required to repeat his alphabet, to prove that his preliminary education had not been neglected. If suspected of being a " fish," that is, of specially courting the favor of the College Faculty, he was or- dered to swim, that being an art collaterally related to medical science in its tendency to preserve life. For want of water, he was required to show his skill proximately on the floor. The Faculty, foreseeing the possibility of resistance to its decrees, and remembering how the Church had summoned the civil power to its aid, had called in the military arm. Two tall " gendarmes," armed with musket and bayonet, guarded the door and compelled specific performance of its decrees.
One medical question, propounded by the original Faculty, has been imparted to us by one of their College contemporaries, and deserves record : " In the case of a patient with a very bad leg, — sphacelated, oedematous, and gangrened, — how would you avoid taking his leg off his body ? " A variety of suggestions were offered by the respondent. " No ! " said the examiner (Keating) sternly, " by taking his body off his leg." This answer, if not strictly scientific, meets the question conclusively.
The medical gatherings degenerated, on the part of the neophytes, into noisy masquerades, and were suppressed by authority in 1834. Justice, however, de- mands the acknowldgement that the Faculty proper — the Examining Board — retained its dignified character to the last. Its awful gravity, its decisive com- mand, its firm announcement of truths, however eccentric to the popular ear, its lofty exposure of errors, however specious, committed by ignorance, — all these re- mained to the last. So far as historical evidence appears, no member of the Faculty ever smiled while sitting in his official character.
The anatomical collection was dispersed. It was megalotheric in character, large specimens being deemed best to impress the uninstructed mind. The Catalogue of the Faculty is now rare. The copy before us is of the year 1827. We find in it the Professorships Obstericologice, Bugologice, Craniologise, Vitse et Mortis, Intelligentlse Generalis, and others. The list of honorary members is quite miscellaneous. Moses Stuart, the learned Hebraist, who, as stated in the Catalogue, refused degrees offered him by Harvard, Yale, and Brown, stands here complacently as " M. D. Med. Fac. honorarius." " Day et Martin Angli, qui per quinquaginta annos toto Christiano Orbi, et prsecipue Univ. Haw. optimum Real
^o
MOLLIS HALL.
Japa7i Atranienttmi ab 'XCVII Alta Holbornia' Subministrarunt. M. D. et M. U. D. Med. Fac. honorarius." Such is the shine given to the great Atramen- tarians. The Emperor Alexander, for alleged generosity to the Faculty, and " Andreas Jackson " as " Major-General in bello ultimo Americano, et Nov. Orleans Heros, foi'tissimus . . . . et 'Old Hickory'" have a place among the honorary members. Eccentricities and absurdities have an equal chance with dignities for the honorary M. D., or, as it is sometimes put, D. M. We find a person once known indifferently as Orator, Pop, or Pickle, Emmons thus registered : " Guliel- mus Emmons, prsenominatus Pickleius, qui orator elequentissimus nostrse aetatis, poma, nuces, panem-zingiberis, suas orationes, ' Egg-popque ' vendit. D. M., Med. Fac. honorarius."
It may be worth while to give the list of Engine Orators and Poets found in this Catalogue. They are as follows, omitting the other titles and dignities : —
i8
Jacobus Ferdinandus Deering, Enginae Societatis
Augustus Pierce, " "
Samuel Alden, " "
Oliver Hunter Blood, " "
GuuELMUs Bradlee Dorr, " "
Johannes Bovnton Hill, " "
Theodorus Keating, " "
Edvardus Kent, " "
Georgius Tyng, " "
Nathaniel Wood, " "
Orator.
Orator.
Orator Poetaque.
Orator.
Poeta.
Poeta.
Orator Poetaque.
Orator.
Poeta.
Orator.
Probably College fun never ran higher than at this period, when the Enginae Societas appears to have closed its career.
The Med. Fac. Catalogue parodies the Harvard Triennial, in its summing up at the end, as follows. We quote but a part : —
Numerus integer (suppositus) 9865
E vivis cesserunt stelligeri (cognitum est) 25
Supersunt adhuc 9840
Quorum nomina ignota 9482
Supersunt 368
Ecclesiarum pastorura alumnorum numerus integer (suppositus) . . . 1762
E vivis cesserunt stelligeri (cognitum est) ....... o
Supersunt adhuc 1762
This is a proper point at which to record a few names connected with Hollis Hall, as evidence that the amusements and frivolities of College life are no bar to the growth of character and energetic purpose.
MOLLIS HALL. 7 1
Edward Everett, HoUis 20, Sophomore year; Mollis 24, Junior year. W. H. Pres- cott, Hollis 6, Sophomore year; Hollis 11, Junior year. J. G. Palfrey, Hollis 22, Sophomore year. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hollis 5, Sophomore year; Hollis 15, Junior year; Hollis 9, Senior year. Charles Francis Adams, Hollis 15, Freshman year. B. R. Curtis, Hollis 2, Freshman year. Wendell Phillips, Hollis 18, Fresh- man year ; Hollis 16, Sophomore year; Hollis 11, Junior year. Charles Sumner, Hollis 17, Freshman year. H. D. Thoreau, Hollis 20, Freshman year; Hollis 32, Sophomore year; Hollis 31, Junior year; Hollis 23, Senior year.
It remains to give a brief account of certain institutions, in full vigor fifty years since, but now already become obscure antiquities.
The College Wood-Yard was situated in the rear of the land now covered by the Unitarian Church, — perhaps occupied a part of it. Mr. Royal Stimson, the Superintendent some forty years since, occupied the old house, gable-end to the street, whose front line coincided nearly with that of the present church. The wood brought from the College Wharf was here sawed and split, and the official cart was, during a good part of the year, in constant transit to and from the College yard. This wood was brought from parts unknown, but somewhere "down east," by the College sloop, the Harvard. This ancient craft consti- tuted the navigation of Old Cambridge. Inquiry has revealed only the date (1827) of her discontinuance as carrier for the College. Her origin is unknown, and her history lost, beyond a few facts recorded only in memory. As remembered, she had great breadth of beam, an old-fashioned quarter-deck, no topmast, and on no occasion showed a strip of bunting. She had perhaps as much as anything the appearance of being behind the age. Any assertions, however, such as that she was accustomed to load with the wood that grew during the intervals of her trips, or that her master avoided showing his colors on account of French priva- teers which he apprehended might be still sailing out of Louisburg, are entirely unwarranted. She was clearly not a fast vessel, but regular, easy-going, roomy, and of great capacity in a calm.
The logs which her sober crew piled on the wharf put to shame the wood of these degenerate days. The small boys of that day took note of her arrival and departure ; otherwise, she caused no visible excitement. Occasionally a little boy, or possibly one of larger growth, who undertook to climb the mast, was lashed to the shrouds ; perhaps ransom was demanded, but tradition reports none as paid. An impression of repose is attached to the memory of the venerable sloop. Silently she came into her berth, on the west side of the wharf, and subsided with the ebbing tide into the mud, and as silently, in due time, rose with the flowing tide and departed. There was a very little yo-heav-o-ing when she hauled out into the stream and hoisted her sails, and the calm that succeeded seemed only the more profound.
First Harvard Hall.
HARVARD HALL.
The first Harvard Hall the Centre of College Life. — Uses of the Building. — Two Scenes
TAKEN FROM DIFFERENT PERIODS OF ITS HiSTORY. FiRST HARVARD HaLL BURNED. — LoSSES.
— The Present Harvard Hall built by the State. — Cost. — Distribution of the Rooms.
— College Clock. — Mr. McKean's Leap from Harvard to Hollis Hall. — Letter from Honorable Horace Binney. — Damages to the Hall by Revolutionary Troops. — Present Aspect.
During a century and a third, from the time that the first Harvard Hall was finished until University Hall was opened, all the life of the College circulated around Harvard Hall. This was the social centre where Professors met their pupils, where the scholars met each other. This was the heart of the com- munity, pouring out its intellectual life, and receiving it again. Here the stu- dents came to the chapel for their religious exercises, their exhibitions, their lectures. Here was the library, where they met in search of the books they needed. Here was the dining-hall to which they came to breakfast and to dine ; and here were the kitchen and buttery, which they visited with their pitchers and tin pails to receive from the butler milk, chocolate, or hot water for their evening repast. I have heard my grandfather, Dr. Freeman, say, that when he was first sent by his Senior to bring hot water from the kitchen for tea, and was charged to be sure that it was boiling, and the cook told him that it was, his inexperience in culinary affairs led him to ask, " Has it boiled long enough ? " which caused him to be laughed at by the officials who were serving him. This was in 1773, two years before the College was dispersed by the Revolution.
HARVARD HALL.
12,
Perhaps the best picture of the busy life of which Harvard Hall was so long the centre can be gained by attempting to depict two scenes, taken from different periods of its history.
Instead of the present beautiful College yard, with its numerous and stately buildino-s and graceful elms, let us imagine it as it was on Commencement Day about 1725.
There were then three buildings in the College yard. First, there was Harvard; next, Massachusetts, which now seems so venerable, but which was then in the freshness of its youth, being only five years old. These two buildings stood then as they remain now ; but about where University Hall now is, was the original Stoughton Hall, a large building, then twenty-five years old. The students, in their breeches and flowing calico gowns and pointed shoes, are talking together in busy groups. There is a young rogue with mischievous eyes who is a " Com- mencer" to-day; his name Mather Byles, probably known then as afterward for a joker of jokes, such as they were. " Well, Mather," says his companion, " what do you mean to do about having plum-cake in your room to-day ? " and Mather Byles answers that, in spite of Corporation and Overseers, he will have cake, " yea ! and mince-pies also, and baked meats as well ; and if it be found out, he will pay his fine of twenty shillings, and much good may it do them ! " For the Corporation and Overseers had passed a law a few years before, forbidding any such luxurious repasts to the " Commencers," under fearful penalties. But sump- tuary laws are always hard to enforce; and so the ingenuous youth continued to provide plum-cake and distilled liquors as before.*
And who is this young gentleman, who is now only a Sophomore, but looks as if he considered himself equal to the best? He is one who is to play a conspicuous part hereafter, though on the wrong side. Simple as the boy looks, he is to be
* Plum-cake seems to have the Mie-noir of the Corporation in those days ; not because it was indigestible, but because it was disreputable. June 22, 1693, is this record: "The Corporation hav- ing been informed that the custom taken up in the College, not used in any other Universities, for the commencers to have plumb-cake, is dishonorable to the College, not grateful to wise men, and chargeable to the parents of the commencers, do therefore put an end to that custom, and do here- by order that no commencer, or other scholar, shall have any such cakes in their studies or cham- bers ; and that if any scholar shall offend therein, the cakes shall be taken from him, and he shall moreover pay to the College twenty shillings for each such offence."
The meals in commons were simple enough. Judge Wingate, of the Class of 1759, says: "As to the commons, there were in the morning none, while I was in College. At dinner we had, of rather ordinary quality, a sufficiency of meat of some kind, either baked or boiled ; and, at supper, we had either a pint of milk, and half a biscuit, or a meat pie, or some other kind."
During the Revolution, in 1777, salt had become so scarce that the ancient New England Satur- day dinner of salt fish was abolished by vote of the Corporation, and the steward was permitted to furnish fresh fish instead.
74 HARVARD HALL.
Representative in the General Court from Boston, Speaker, Judge of Probate, Councilor, Chief Justice, and at last Governor of the Province of Massachusetts. Yes ! young gentleman ! this may seem fine ; but your troubles are to come then. You will be denounced by James Otis for taking a pension from the crown ; you will have a visit from Sam. Adams, and others with him, which will not please you. Your house will be sacked, your furniture burned in the street, your valu- able papers destroyed ! You will have Dr. Franklin's keen eye following your course, and detecting your duplicity ; and, after the Boston tea-party, you will have to go to England and live there on your pension ; forever regretting your native land, and casting lingering looks towards your favorite home on Milton Hill. For the name of this bright-looking Sophomore is — Thomas Hutchinson.
And there, by the side of Thomas, is a classmate of his, by name Jonathan, who is to have a somewhat similar career. He is also to be Judge and Governor, in a neighboring Province, but will take his country's side, and not the King's. Washington's great arm will lean on him for support. From him shall the future Union receive its humorous title of " Brother Jonathan," — for this is Jonathan Trumbull, future friend of Washington, father of the painter, and of another governor.
And' here is a Freshman, little Belcher, who now, like other Freshmen, has to run errands for all College, though himself son of a governor of Massachusetts, and to be Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, and its Lieutenant-Governor hereafter.
But now these future governors and judges are only excited over the question of plum-cake at Commencement, and the smaller politics of College. Meantime, what tumult out there on the Common ! For Commencement at Cambridge was then a great holiday, and long lines of tents and booths were built on the Com- mon, and great was the drinking, rioting, gambling, and dissipations of all sorts which there prevailed. Dinners and dancing went on in the Colleges, not merely on Commencement Day, but on the following days.
Let us come down nearly forty years later, and take a look at Harvard Hall under other circumstances, and very sad ones.
It is a winter night. There is a New England northeast snow-storm, with the wind blowing a gale. A red light begins to color the sky, and the cry of " Fire ! " is heard. Harvard Hall was on fire. Being vacation, the students were absent, and no one in the buildings, except one or two persons in that part of Massachusetts Hall which was farthest from the fire. When first discovered it had gone too far to be stopped. The Hall had been used the day before by the General Court, which borrowed the College for its use, on account of the small-pox in Boston. Hollis Hall, a new building, caught fire several times, though on the windward side ; but was saved by the efforts of Governor Bernard and members of the Legisla- ture. Harvard Hall, with all its contents, was totally destroyed. The greatest loss
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HARVARD HALL. 75
was that of the library, the best then in America, and of the philosophical appa- ratus. The library was richest, as was natural, in theological works. Then went up in flame all the Greek and Latin Fathers, and all the choice Hebrew books bequeathed to the College by Dr. Lightfoot, with his Talmuds and Targums, his Rabbins and Polyglots. He was the greatest Semitic scholar of his age, and his collection of Oriental works was probably unrivalled. " By constant reading of the Rabbins," says Gibbon, " he had become almost a Rabbin himself" No doubt many a country minister in New England was in the habit of studying these books of Lightfoot, before they turned to smoke on that sad January night. For in those days there were giants in the land. The ardor of the Renaissance for the knowledge of antiquity had not wholly died out in New England. They might not know as much of Hebrew and Greek philology as modern scholars, but they were often better read in the literature itself. They had " more matter with less form." In the noble rage of their hunger they devoured whole folios where our professors skim an octavo. In many an obscure town in Massachu- setts there were men settled over a parish on a hundred pounds lawful a year, who were able to hurl at each other in debate mighty fragments of Hebrew or Syriac learning, which ten men of these degenerate days could scarcely lift from the ground. So the loss of Lightfoot's library and that of Dr. Theophilus Gale, and the books given by Bishop Berkeley, must have sent gloom into numerous humble parsonages throughout New England.
The philosophical apparatus, which also perished, was more extensive than we might suspect. There were several telescopes, one of twenty-four feet focal dis- tance ; an orrery, microscopes, instruments for dialing ; quadrants, compass, and dipping-needle ; and machines and instruments for illustrating the laws of me- chanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics and optics. There were also globes, maps, ana- tomical preparations, and a fount of Greek types.
The first Harvard Hall was built by the contributions of the towns of New England. Having been destroyed while in the use of the State, the State rebuilt it; and the present Harvard Hall was erected at the expense of the Common- wealth.
The new building was finished in June, 1766, at a cost of ^23,000. New books and apparatus were liberally given by friends in America and England.
For many years the rooms in Harvard were distributed as follows : In the basement was the kitchen, to which a buttery was attached at the east end of the building. On the first floor, the room toward the west was the chapel, that on the east the dining-room. Over the chapel was the library; over the dining- hall was the room for the philosophical apparatus and lectures. When University Hall was finished, in 181 5, the chapel, dining-hall, and kitchen were removed to that building. After this the library occupied both of the large rooms in the
76
HARVARD HALL.
second story ; * the eastern room below was used for a mineralogical cabinet, and the opposite room, on the west, became a hall for philosophical instruments and lectures. Here, during several years, Professor Farrar gave his interesting courses
Second Harvard Hall.
of lectures on Natural Philosophy. Half-way down stairs was a small room. In 1841 the library was moved to Gore Hall. In 1842 the two lower rooms were thrown into one, and used for Commencement dinner. On the walls hung the historical portraits which are now in Memorial Hall. When these pictures were being removed from Gore Hall to Harvard, an aged gentleman came in, and looked at the portrait of Governor Gore, and asked Mr. Sibley if he knew who painted it. Mr. Sibley replied, " It was painted by Trumbull." " Yes," said the other, " I did it," — for it was Trumbull himself.
The clock which governed the College was formerly on Harvard Hall ; but when the new church was erected, an arrangement was made by which the church clock was to be under the control of the University, and that clock still regu- lates the College hours.
The first bell, hanging in the cupola of Harvard, was said to have been brought from an Italian convent. The present bell has a rather cracked voice, and has been the object of attack by many generations of students, who have un- justly held it responsible for the summons to early prayers, in the cold winter mornings. Many stories are current of the attempts made to blow it up with gunpowder, or to freeze it up with water ; and a tradition runs to the effect
* At present the western room on this floor is used as a laboratory in Physics, which is repre- sented in the accompanying heliotype, while the eastern room serves for recitation purposes.
HARVARD HALL. ']']
that Professor McKean, when a student, being in danger of being caught in such an attempt, ran down the roof of Harvard, and jumped across to that of Hollis. The following interesting letter from the oldest living graduate of the Uni- versity, Hon. Horace Binney, of Philadelphia, was kindly sent in answer to one inquiring about his knowledge of this supposed feat of McKean. It is not often that one can read a letter like this from one who graduated seventy -seven years before it was written.
Philadelphia, 7th December, '74.
Dear Sir, — I recollect McKean very well. He was in the Senior class when I was in the
Freshman, 1793-4; and I also recollect the report or tradition that one of the students had
passed or leapt from the roof of Harvard to that of Hollis. McKean was a distinguished scholar
in his class, and of a resolute spirit. But the leap could not have occurred while I was in the
University; for when I first knew of it, it was not spoken of as very recent, nor was any name of
the actor connected with it. I believe the tradition, but it must have occurred, if at all, in some
year before I entered. McKean, from my impression of him, was as likely to have done the thing
as any of his class ; but I have had a shiver more than once, on looking at the opposite corners
of the two structures, at their height, and thinking of the narrow foothold at their points
Very respectfully yours,
HORACE BINNEY. James Freeman Clarke.
Diligent inquiry among the antiquarians of Cambridge gives nothing more definite than this. In the College days of Mr. Binney the story was plainly just the same vague legend that it is now. Can it then be a myth, based on the suggestion of some bold Sophomore, that, if pursued, he could and would leap from Harvard to Hollis.? Is the leap of McKean to follow the bow of William Tell and the hatchet of George Washington to the land of myths ? It is sad to find the deeds of heroes melting into mist under the relentless criticism of his- toric research, and I will pursue the painful subject no further.
Days have changed since the Freshman class, on entering College, were col- lected in Harvard Hall to hear " the customs " read to them.
According to these "customs" the Freshman was regarded as an inferior ani- mal. He was not to wear his hat in the College yard unless it rained; he was not to speak to a Senior with his hat on ; he was to go on errands for any of the upper classes, except in study-hours, and was to make no unnecessary delay in doing the errand ; he must not tell any one for whom he was going ; if any one knocked at his door he must open it at once, without asking who was there ; and he must pay for all the bats and balls used in College. Happy are the Freshmen of the present time — "sua si bona norint" — if they only know the tyranny they have escaped. It is a fact that as late as 1772 the Cor- poration refused to repeal these " customs " when requested so to do by the Overseers. Even the truths which were in the air, of the equality of all man-
78 HARVARD HALL.
kind, could not satisfy them that it was safe to abolish this time-honored usage of making Freshmen the servants of the other classes. And these customs finally dropped away of themselves, without being repealed.
During the Revolution, Harvard Hall was occupied by the American army ; and after the Colleges were restored to the use of the students, they were found to have been somewhat injured. A bill was rendered for these damages to the amount of ^342, including one thousand pounds' weight of lead cut from the roof and carried away, fences burned, and both Holden Chapel and Stoughton Hall being so damaged as to be unfit for use. But the war left worse traces than these, as all wars do, even the most necessary. It disturbed the regular course of study, and drew the whole attention of the community to political affairs. The Muses, silent in war, gradually resumed their influence, and Harvard Hall became once more the centre of an active College life. Since then, by the steady increase of the University, it has lost its relative importance. Its clock has been replaced by that on the church, its library has migrated to Gore Hall, its Commencement exercises and dinner* have established themselves in the new Memorial building ; and of all its past glories scarcely anything but its shrill-sounding bell remains.
* The following is from the diary of Rev. Frederic A. Whitney : —
1842. " Wedtiesday, 2i,th August. A hot and dusty day. Commencement at Harvard University. The Governor and suite were escorted to Cambridge as usual by the ' Lancers.' Exercises in the church much better than usual. Our first Commencement dinner in Harvard Hall. By the removal of the books to the new Library, Gore Hall, last summer, a portion of Harvard Hall was left un- occupied. Accordingly a spacious dining-hall had been made this summer on the lower floor, em- bracing the whole length and width of the building, and was opened yesterday for the first time at the dinner of the Alumni. Here we dined to-day ; and here to-day we sang our wonted Psalm in the tune of St. Martin's. A brick close porch has been erected on the front side, to give an entrance to both floors. The piazza has been taken away from the front of University Hall, and the large commons halls in the same converted into lecture-rooms. Commons will now be served in the basement of University Hall
" In the evening President Quincy held his accustomed levee, which was fully attended."
^
®
!2Q
First Stoughton Il.i:i,
STOUGHTON HALL.
William Stoughton. — The first Stoughton Hall. — Tablets on its Front. — Stoughton's Will. — Printing-Office. — First Stoughton taken down 1780. — The General Court authorize a Lottery in 1794 to raise Money for a new Building. — Second Stoughton Hall. — Rooms 3, 17, and 25. — Stoughton first called New Hall. — Distinguished Occu- pants of Rooms in Stoughton.
In the year 1692, under the charter of William and Mary, William Stoughton was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Massachusetts. The son of one of the early emigrants to the Province, he had graduated at Harvard College in 1650; had been a preacher for twenty years, though never taking charge of a parish ; had entered political life, and had been a magistrate of the Colony and its agent in England. Soon after his accession to the Lieutenant- Governorship, he was appointed Chief Justice in the Special Commission estab- lished for the " Witchcraft Trials," and Mr. Quincy says that on none does the responsibility for their tragic termination rest more heavily than on him. Sharing this delusion with many other educated men of the time in England and Amer- ica, he shared also what was more honorable to them, their interest in Harvard College, of which Increase Mather was then the President. In 1698 he an- nounced his purpose of erecting a new building for the accommodation of its students. This, the first Stoughton Hall, was commenced the next year, and completed in 1 700. Its cost, as stated in the " Donation Book " of the Univer- sity, was one thousand pounds, Massachusetts currency. It was placed at a right angle with Harvard Hall, at its southeastern corner, and, as will be seen from our engraving, was a brick building of three stories, with an attic lighted by dormer-
8o STOUGHTON HALL.
windows.* It had but sixteen chambers. Two tablets were inserted in the front. One bore tlie arms of the founder ; the other the Latin inscription, " Deo Opt. Max. Bonisque Literis Gulielmus Stoughton Armiger Provinciae Massachuset. Novanglorum V. Gubernator Collegii Harvardini Olim Alumnus semper Patronus Fecit A. D. 1699."!
By the will of Stoughton, who died in 1701, a part of the income of the Hall was, with the rent of twenty-seven acres of land in the town of Dorchester, to be appropriated for the benefit of a scholar of that town, or of Milton ; or " in want of such, to any well deserving that shall be most needy."
" In May, 1775, the Provincial Congress, having taken possession of the Col- lege, assigned a chamber in Stoughton to Samuel and Ebenezer Hall, who printed there the New England Chronicle and Essex Gazette, until the removal of the army from Cambridge. ' From this press,' says a contemporary, ' issued streams of intelligence, and those patriotic songs and tracts which so pre-eminently animated the defenders of American liberty.' " t
Stoughton Hall received and sheltered, during the occupation of the College by the Revolutionary troops, two hundred and forty men.
On a certain occasion Stoughton had been charged with " having more of the willow than the oak in his constitution." There was certainly a defect of stability in the constitution of his Hall. The Records declare that it proved "an unsub- stantial piece of masonry." After many repairs, it was taken down in 1 780. In 1794 (Hollis Hall having been built in the mean time) the General Court of Massachusetts authorized a lottery to raise money for a new college building, finding it " inconvenient at present to make a grant from the public treasury therefor." Commenced in 1804, this edifice was completed the next year, and the name of Stoughton was given to it in 1806. This is the building which now stands next north of Hollis Hall, of which it is nearly a fac-simile. It cost about $23,700; $18,400 being derived from the lottery, and the rest from the general fund of the College. There were originally, as we are told, two flights of stairs in each entry, one from each door. This arrangement must have materially increased the labors of the Proctors, who were in this year for the first time ap- pointed to reside in the buildings to keep order therein. In each room, also, there was originally a small closet partitioned off from the corner near the door, and taking in a half of one of the windows. These, which were called " studies," have all been removed. One flight of stairs in each entry was long ago taken away to make room for the bedrooms in the upper stories.
* A view of the Hall is introduced in the background of Copley's portrait of Stoughton, now in the dining-hall. There may also be seen a representation of the building in a tapestry in the rooms of the Historical Society, in Boston.
t Harvard Magazine, X. 92.
t S. A. Drake, Historic Fields and Mansions.
STOUGHTON HALL. gl
A graduate of 1815 informs us that, in his time, room 3 was used as a read- ing-room. We learn from him also that it was the custom for an annual auction to be held in Stoughton by the students, at which their disused text-books were sold for the benefit of poor scholars.
Room 17* is at present occupied by the Natural History Society. In the upper story of the north entry the " Hasty Pudding Club " has its rooms.
On the panels of the two closet doors in 25 are four oil-paintings of an owl, a frog, a gull, and a turtle, very cleverly executed by W. S. Haseltine, of 1854. The story runs that the College carpenter, threatening the artist-student with a fine for the damage done to the room, was about to destroy the pictures, when the President, hearing of the affair, came up and saved them.
In the year 1805, the year of the completion of Stoughton Hall, was printed the first College Catalogue! which gave the rooms occupied by the students. It is upon a single broad sheet, — a fashion which continued till the year 181 9. Upon this Catalogue, the building just finished is called New Hall, and referred to by the letter " N." Among its first occupants we find the names of Alexander H. Everett, afterward Minister to Spain (in room 25), and of Judge Preble of Maine, Minister to the Hague (in room 15). In following years we find Edward Everett in his Senior year in room 23 ; Josiah Quincy, as Freshman, in 3 ; the twin brothers Peabody, as Juniors, in 14 ; Caleb Cushing, as Sophomore, in 26 ; W. H. Furness, as Junior, in 10, as Senior, in 28 ; Horatio Greenough, as Freshman, in 2 ; C. C. Felton, as Sophomore and Junior, in 31 ; G. S. Hillard, as Junior, in 16; Charles Sumner, as Sophomore and Junior, in 12; G. T. Bigelow, as Sopho- more and Junior, in 27 ; O. W. Holmes, as Senior, in 31 ; C. T. Brooks, as Junior, in 12 ; E. R. Hoar, as Junior, in 25 ; E. E. Hale, as Freshman, in 22.
* It will be remembered that this is the room which was blown up on the night of December 15, 1870. The basement was entered and a box very finely made, containing powder, was placed underneath the floor; running from the box to a window was a fuse, the length of which gave ample time for the escape of those igniting it. It is to be hoped that the perpetrators underrated the explosive force of the powder, and did not intend so much harm. The explosion materially damaged the entire northern end of the building and completely destroyed the furniture of some of the rooms. — Ed.
t The first Catalogue was printed in 1804, without the rooms. Before this time the students' names had been put up in the Butter}'.
HOLWORTHY HALL.
Bequest of Matthew Holworthy. — A Lottery authorized. — Opening of the Building. — Ex- tract FROM President Kirkland's Address. — Description of the Hall.
Matthew Holworthy, a charitable English merchant of Hackney in Mid- dlesex, was knighted in 1665 and died in 1678. By his will he left to the " College or University in or of Cambridge in New England " one thousand pounds sterling " for promoting of learning and promulgation of the Gospel in those parts." This bequest, the largest pecuniary gift received by the Col- lege in the seventeenth century, was not forgotten, though it waited very long for a solid and permanent recognition. Early in the present century the Col- lege, having need of additional rooms for its students, and being unable to defray from its own funds the cost of a new building, was empowered by the General Court of Massachusetts to raise by means of a lottery (a form of specu- lation in better repute in those days than now) a sum of money to be applied to the erection of a hall. The main fruit of the enterprise was Holworthy Hall.
On the 1 8th of August, 181 2, the building, though not quite finished, was formally opened by President Kirkland, with an apt and graceful speech. He referred to the " elegant simplicity and pleasing appearance " of the " com- modious and ornamental edifice," which was " added to our establishment." He praised Sir Matthew as " one of the spirits who are interested in human nature and human happiness wherever found " ; and hoped that Holworthy College might contain " successive bands of youths," who should be " examples of the happy influence of goodly discipline," who should " form friendships with each other cemented by virtue, and make acquisitions in science and literature con- secrated by piety, and applied under the guidance of the best principles, and
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HOLWORTHY HALL.
83
go forth into the world the excellency of our strength, and the joy of our glory." The workmen were remembered in an acknowledgment of their zeal and faithfulness, and in a vote to give them a dinner.
Holworthy is the latest built of the four older dwelling-halls in the College enclosure. The following account of it is extracted from a description given in print by Mr. Baldwin, one of the gentlemen who superintended its erection : —
"This hall is one hundred and thirty-eight feet long, thirty-four feet wide, having four stories of the same height respectively as those in Stoughton, to the eastward of which it is placed ; so as to form a right angle with the line of that and Mollis Hall. Its front is south, and it was placed in this situation so as to form the north side of a quadrangle, which, when completed, will be nearly equilateral, having Hollis and Stoughton for its west side. It is divided into three parts, separated by two partition walls, which extend from the cellar to the roof. On the south side, which is the front, are three doors with entries, and staircases from the lower to the upper rooms. The front is divided into twenty-four apartments, being six on each floor, sixteen by seventeen feet. On the back side are forty-eight smaller rooms, eleven by thirteen feet, with a, window in each opening to the north. Two of these rooms belong to each of the front ones, and communicate with it. This gives to two students a warm sitting-room with a southern aspect in winter, and to each in summer a separate smaller room, with a pleasant prospect of the country, and a circulation of fresh air from
the north and northwest The distribution of the apartments in this hall is highly approved.
It admits a free circulation of air, is extremely favorable to comfort, retirement, and cleanliness, and
gives each student the advantage of his separate bed or study in an apartment by himself
The building occupies an area a few feet larger than Stoughton or Hollis."
The building retains its old appearance, with little alteration except an increase in the height of the upper story. The pleasant prospect of the country is some- what modified, but the circulation of fresh air from the north and northwest continues.
The new hall at once assumed, and long maintained, a sort of primacy in the College Yard. Its superior accommodations made it very attractive, and for half a century or more it was reserved chiefly for members of the Senior class. This distinction it has now lost or is losing.
Note. — Heliotypes of Nos. i Little's Block and 12 Holworthy Hall are inserted as representations of students' rooms.
It was for the purpose of seeing some college room that the Prince of Wales in i860, and the Duke Alexis in 1871, during their reception by the College authorities, visited No. 12 Holworthy. The walls of this room are adorned by pictures of these royal visitors presented by themselves ; and these pictures may be seen in the accompanying heliotype, the Prince's at the left and the Duke's at the right of the book-case. — Ed.
UNIVERSITY HALL.
Preface. — Initiatory Measures toward erecting University Hall. — A Grant from the State.
— Laying of the Corner-Stone. — Description of the Building. — Criticisms. — The Chapel. — Entertainments given to the Students by Professors. — A Concert by the Students. — Daily Life at University Hall. — The Organ. — The Harvard Union. — The Euphr.\dian Society. — The Mock Trial. — Exhibition Day. — Class Day. — Commencement.
— Reception of distinguished Visitors. — Former Professors. — Melancholy Changes. — Conclusion.
"The ruin speaks that sometime it was a worthy building."
It is to be hoped that this sketch may call forth a store of traditions and chronicles, which, for want of an index, are not now accessible, and so amplify this meagre account into a fuller history. Besides the tantalizing want of material, there are two peculiar embarrassments in writing about University Hall.
First, that while the other College halls, associated with the pleasures of the hearth and of fellowship, are regarded with affection by all the Alumni ; Univer- sity Hall, the Forum and Inquisition of the College, is fondly remembered by some as the scene of their youthful triumphs, its walls still ring with the echoes of the stimma cum laude of the Faculty and the plaudits of their classmates; while by others, who figured neither as orators nor poets nor musicians, it is looked back upon in many cases as a place of past tribulations and defeats, and this respectable fraction of the Alumni do not care to refresh their memories concerning it.
The second embarrassment encountered by the writer is the separate treat- ment of all the interesting events, occasional and periodical, in the life of the Hall, so that scenes in the various Rebellions, Class Days, Exhibitions, Com- mencement feasts, can hardly be alluded to, much less dilated upon, without trenching upon the domains of fellow-laborers, who, more happy in their themes.
UNIVERSITY HALL. 85
can expatiate freely without fear of trespass and with hope of general sympathy. The present endeavor should therefore be regarded as a mutilated fragment of the history of University Hall.
"The early period of the administration of President Kirkland," writes President Quincy, in his History of Harvard University, "was pre-eminently distinguished for bold, original, and, in many respects, successful endeavors to elevate the standard of education in the University, and to extend the means of instruction and multiply accommodations in every department.
" To give space for the accommodation of the increasing library, philosophical apparatus, and min- eralogical cabinet, it became desirable in 1812 to remove the Commons Hall and kitchen from Harvard Hall."
It appears by the records, that at a meeting of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, on the 8th of November, 181 2, "it was voted that a committee be appointed to devise the form and site of a building in the College Grounds to include a Commons Hall ; and that in fixing upon the site, the committee have reference to other buildings which may in future be erected, and that they make an estimate of the expense of such building." The committee chosen were Hon. Christopher Gore, John Lowell, and Loammi Baldwin, Esqrs.
December 28. "The Building Committee, through Mr. Gore, reported plans and designs by Mr. Charles Bulfinch, Architect, and recommended the external walls of the building to be of granite from the County of Middlesex."
At a subsequent meeting, October 4, 181 3, "it was voted to add the portico"; and still later, " to leave out the two flights of stairs on the east side, correspond- ing to those on the west, on account of the expense."
There is a tradition that Professor Wigglesworth, whose house lay east of Wadsworth House, used to water his cow at a spring on the site of University Hall, where so many scholars have since drunk deep of the Castalian and other springs. President Quincy states that —
" A Committee was appointed by the Corporation to endeavor to obtain by subscription an amount sufficient to erect for these objects a building, which should also contain a chapel. Although the sub- scription failed or was never attempted, the Corporation persevered, and in July, 1813, laid with great solemnity the corner-stone of University Hall, which they finished in 1815, at an expense of g 65,000.
"The heavy pressure of this expenditure upon the unappropriated funds of the College was hap- pily relieved in part by the grant made in 1814, of the proceeds of the tax on banks for ten years; the only direct grant of money made by the State to the College, since the year 1786."
" A procession was formed on the occasion [of laying the corner-stone], consisting of the Corpo- ration, the Immediate Government, and the Students of the College ; and moved from the front of Harvard Hall to the new building.
"An address by the Rev. President explained the reasons for erecting the building, the necessity of a more commodious chapel for the religious exercises and other occasions of the society, of more convenient rooms for the public tables, and of providing for the greater security and better arrange- ment of the Library and Philosophical Apparatus. A silver plate was then deposited under the corner-stone, with the following inscription engraven upon it : —
85 UNIVERSITY HALL.
FUNDAMENTA IIUJUS ^DIFICII, CHRISTO ET ECCLESI^ DICATI, IMPENSIS
ACADEMICIS ERECT!, DIE JULII PRIMO, ANNO DOMINI 1813,
FELICITEK I'OSITA AUSPICIIS EXCICLLENTISSIMI CALEB STRONG, ARMIGERI,
LL.U., REIPUIILIC/E MASSACHUSETTKNSIS GUBERNATORIS, IDEOQUE INSPECTORUM
PKINCIPIS, ATQUE REVERENDI JOHANNIS THORNTON KIRKLAND,
S. T. D., LL. D., UNIVERSITATIS NOSTRA PR^SIDIS.
" Prayer was then olTered up by the President."
University Hall was the first stone building erected in the College grounds. It was built of Chelmsford granite, the basement rusticated, the rest of the wall smoothly dressed. A portico with granite pillars along the centre of the west front, reached by two flights of stone steps, gave access to the first floor, upon which were four parallel halls running east and west, the two central separated from the halls in the wings by wide corridors. These corridors and halls were paved with coarse red hexagonal tiles, the partition walls were solid and of brick. Staircases of granite, miraculously sustained, led up to the corridors on the second floor, from which opened doors into the chapel, occupying the second and third sto- ries of the central portion of the building, and into rooms in the wings, of which those in the north wing were both used for recitation-rooms, those in the south wing devoted to the Corporation. The corridors on the third story opened upon the galleries of the chapel in the centre, and upon two recitation-rooms in each wing.
As with all Mr. Bulfinch's public buildings, the plan was simple and appropri- ate, and the elevation well proportioned. The eastern and western facades were divided and decorated with Ionic pilasters supporting a full entablature and balus- trade, the western relieved by the portico along its centre, the eastern partly concealed by a high wall enclosing out-buildings around the kitchen yard.
Mr. Cogswell, College tutor, afterwards Librarian of the Astor Library in New York, stigmatized the Hall as the white spectre of $ 80,000, and a critic in the North American Review denounces its exterior as follows : —
" But what shall we say of the stone edifice, which insults us with its long piazza, and its wooden Ionic pilasters, and the entablature which extends part way across the front ? The proportions of this wonderful building are about one hundred feet by forty or fifty ; at the ends it is three stories high, with basement rooms ; the sides are partly two stories and pardy three stories high, the great expanse of wall being somewhat relieved by the pilasters and entablature.
" The chef d'ceiivre of the whole building, however, is the piazza or portico, which runs along part of the western side or front. It is approached by a lofty flight of stone steps, guarded by an iron balustrade ; jiine columns, from twelve to fifteen feet high, each of a single block of granite, and surmounted by a Tuscan capital of soapstone, are ranged along the front of the piazza, and sup- port a flat roof eight inches thick, and so light and insignificant that it seems as if a breath of wind would blow it away. We doubt whether the world contains any other architectural abortion to be compared to this."
As to Mr. Cogswell's sobriquet of " the white spectre of % 80,000," it is consoling to know that the Hall cost only ^65,000, that its spectral appearance has van-
UNIVERSITY HALL. 87
ished with age and the environment of trees, and that the committee who desired to distinguish this edifice, containing the chapel, the commons halls, the Cor- poration and recitation rooms, from the other College buildings, having the alternative of the funereal perishable Connecticut freestone or the durable cold Chelmsford granite which time mellows, chose wisely, as might have been ex- pected of a committee comprising an experienced engineer and two gentlemen of demonstrated rural and architectural taste.
In reply to the " What sJmll we say?" of the North American critic, we should say that he was more nice than wise; that the Hall, instead of being one hundred feet by forty or fifty, is really one hundred and forty feet long by fifty wide and forty high, and is well proportioned, the apertures well varied and distributed; that the portico was a most fitting appendage, needed for shelter and for passage from one end of the building to the other, and that it relieved the western facade; that the meagre treatment of the wings and of the exterior gen- erally, forced upon the architect by the unforeseen lack of means, does not jus- tify the sarcastic wonderful of the critic ; and that one in search of abortions need go no farther than Mount Auburn, or, indeed, than the College yard; that Uni- versity Hall, free from pretension, is a modest achievement, and no abortion.
But if the outside was bare, the chapel, as originally arranged, was one of Mr. Bulfinch's masterpieces.
The pulpit stood in the middle of the east side ; the organ, the gift of Mrs. Craigie, on the west side, opposite the pulpit ; and the ample intervening space was reserved for the chairs of the College government and of distinguished guests on public occasions. On each side of this space were ranged the Seniors and Juniors facing east, and behind them upon raised seats sat students of the professional schools, resident graduates, and the choir. The Sophomores' and Freshmen's seats were at the sides of the pulpit facing north and south. There were deep galleries at the ends, in which were pews for members of the Faculty and their families. The pilasters and cornices of the chapel were of the Ionic order, according to Palladio, the walls wainscoted as high as the bases of the pilasters, and the gal- leries were supported by columns and richly panelled.
The floors were sanded, — a questionable arrangement, as many a chilly or ab- stracted student has thus got into a scrape while he little dreamed of it.
The new Hall suggested new schemes. Some of the professors hazarded even- ing levees for the students in the Corporation-rooms. An Alumnus of 18 15, who attended one of these socials in the winter of 1814-15, given by Dr. Popkin, says that there was a repast and pleasant conversation and that he enjoyed himself I conceive that, while the students fully appreciated the heroism and generosity of the dear old man emerging from his retirement and feasting them from his scanty stores, neither they nor the Professor derived much pleasure from the effort.
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Not tliat students arc blind to tlie talents and learning and attractive qual- ities which must over characterize a body of men so selected and so occupied as the College h'aculty. As graduates they would seek their society; but to be re- ceived socially as shidcnts by the professors as professors, is inconsistent, embar- rassing, and compromises the independence of both parties. One may pronounce a hospital well aired, sunny, clean, and yet shrink from being a social guest, espe- cially if the supper is to be given in the operating-room ; and something of the same shudder must have crept over the students as they essayed festivity in the rooms of University Hall. It would be like attending a party in the Chamber of the Council of Ten. It must have been a Borgia feast at best. While Vin- cent Crummies, Esq., is enacting the cruel uncle, and Crummies, Jr., one of the persecuted nephews, it will not do for Vincent to indulge his paternal yearnings, until the play is ended. And so, at the hour of parting, respectful farewells and fervent good wishes may be naturally and wholesomely exchanged ; but while teacher and learner, master and pupil, are together, the blessing of Jaques, " God be with you, let 's meet as little as we can," is the natural utterance of the mas- ter ; and Orlando's " I do desire we may be better strangers," the amen of the pupil. So our fathers felt, for the socials lasted but one season.
It seems that the musical members of the classes gave a concert, for an ac- count of which I am indebted to the Diary of the Rev. Richard M. Hodges, of the Class of 1815, who gave me also the account of the socials: —
II May, 1815. "This evening there was a concert, composed of the several musical societies of College, both vocal and instrumental. Performances in Senate Chamber, University Hall. The President, Tutors, and many distinguished characters of Boston, Cambridge, etc., attended. The students did not attend this evening, but were present at the rehearsal. An original song by Whitwell, and hymn by Palfrey for the occasion."
There was but one concert given, as Mr. Hodges says, whether because of the quality of the music or the fastidiousness of the audience, is a question.
Although these novel enterprises failed of success. University Hall, with its hospitable portico, ample corridors, easy stairs, its many chambers, seemly chapel, lofty, spacious commons halls, vast kitchens, laundries, larders, and storehouses, all separated by solid floors and walls impermeable to sounds and smells, proved well fitted for its daily uses, as also for the occasional convening of the College government, the becoming reception of distinguished guests, and the accommo- dation of the large assemblages which gathered at this seat of learning on her great festivals. It was symmetrically and philosophically arranged to supply the daily cravings of body, mind, and soul.
Theoretically, the student, refreshed by sleep, braced by his bath and early walk, his good resolves strengthened by the morning services, his mind stirred by a chapter of classic wit or wisdom, descended from the recitation-room to
UNIVERSITY HALL. 89
enjoy a steaming, appetizing breakfast. And so through the day he oscillated between his room and University Hall, finding in this focus of the College phys- ical, mental, and spiritual refreshment.
Practically, there were short-comings incidental to all human administration, and not to be laid to the door or any other part of the Hall. I have a few scattered items of an earlier date, but I speak mostly of the working of the machine when I was in College forty years ago, in the reign of President Ouincy. In those days, with the exception of the hale old President, who came to prayers, his gray hair curling and his face radiant with his morning bath, looking like a male Aurora or "a sea Cybele, fresh from Ocean," — with this notable exception, there were few " shining morning faces " at matins. Pale, heavy-eyed youths, with un- kempt heads, buried in the fur collars of their long camlet cloaks, — perhaps to keep out the cold, possibly to hide the deficiencies of toilet, — came shuffling into the chapel, looking as if they had lain dreaming till the ominous tolling of the bell began.
At the prse-prandial recitation, the flesh occasionally overcame the spirit, and the student sunk to slumber ; and I remember such a one, who was making good his sleep socially sacrificed, suddenly called up to read a passage in Horace. Blundering along, he was brought to a stand by the phrase popina uncta. " Poppy oil," whispered his faithless Mentor, and " poppy oil " repeated the confiding pupil. Maecenas, for so we always called Tutor McKean, loved a joke as well as his father of saltatory fame, and this new reading was too much for him ; he fairly cried over the astonished and now awakened scholar, and we politely joined in. It must have been in a similar state of somnolence that a student made that
strange reply to Dr. Walker's question, " P , what does Paley say about
duelling ? " P gazed hopelessly around ; the question was repeated, and at
last he stammered forth, " He — he — he says it 's a very gentlemanly practice, very prevalent in South Carolina." As to the appearance of these fasters, I will not say they were hypocrites, but their faces were certainly disfigured and they were of a sad countenance.
The creature comforts set before the commoners were not always thankfully received ; sometimes they failed to go round, and the cry for more arose, or groans and improper exclamations greeted the reproduction of an unsavory dish. From the Diary of the late Rev. George Whitney, of the Class of 1824, I ex- tract the following unfavorable comments on the quality and quantity of com- mons : —
16 November, 1820. "We have lately had very bad commons, but more especially this day. I hope they will soon be better. Several have gone out to board."
28 November. "At noon commons we had a great plenty of 'roast goose.' Probably every one in the hall (which amounted to eight or ten) might have been bought for a dollar. Indeed, I never
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saw such tough, raw-boned, shockinR, ill-looking animals ever placed upon a table. I hope something better will come on to-morrow."
And SO this sanguine, good-hearted young student keeps on hoping against hope.
29 November. " Commons still remain very bad indeed. At supper the bread was mere dough ; that is, it was not half baked. I have not eaten in commons for a week past one dollar's worth of anything whatever."
1S21, 26 June. "In commons, Mr. Cooley gave a turtle-soup to the four classes, to-day, having invited the chief of those who boarded out. But whether it was turtle-soup or not, I am unable to say, as I never ate any. At least, no one appeared to like it, and, as for myself, I never dined so poorly in my life."
29 yiine. "This morning I went to Mrs. Dana's to board, where we live (that is to say, those who board there) in a far superior style to commons. Mr. Cooley has put up an advertisement on the Universit)'-board, stating that he has now employed cooks superior to any in the United States. This, however, is only to keep the students in commons."
It is evident from this last extract that the dissatisfied and hungry students were deserting commons, and that Cooley was striking out boldly for custom.
Contractor succeeded contractor, reforms were promised from time to time, but by 1830 the number of students boarding in commons had so dwindled, that the Sophomores were placed in the south hall with the Seniors, the Freshmen merged with the Juniors in the north hall, and the two inner halls were used for lecture-rooms. Across the west end of each hall, upon a dais, sat members of the Law and Divinity Schools, with a sprinkling of tutors and proctors. At that period, the fare was meagre but generally wholesome ; the cheer superior to the fare. Still there were some who averred that the frequent hashes, hot rolls, or tough pastry gave them the dyspepsia, and that the prse-prandial recitations pro- moted this complaint. These sufferers probably experienced some alleviation from the reform in the service introduced by the energetic President Quincy. Instead of pewter he provided silver spoons stamped with the College arms, and plates and dishes adorned with views of the College, instead of common crockery, there- by improving the manner if not the matter of meals, and solacing the philosopher for the bad taste of the viands by the good taste of the dish.
The monastic custom of having a brother read aloud from some good book while the others eat in silence never obtained, to my knowledge, in Harvard; but in the olden time, grace was said before meals by the presiding officer. There is a tradition that on one occasion, when the repast was offensive from its " ancient and fishlike smell," and the presiding tutor gave thanks " for this fresh instance of bounty," the grace was not well responded to ; perhaps this was the last grace. In my day there was neither grace nor book nor silence, but lively and very edifying conversation.
There was an extensive piggery at first in the rear of University Hall (after- ward removed to the eastward of the Delta), the clamorous occupants of which,
UNIVERSITY HALL. 9 1
when duly fattened by the College, received their coitp de grace in the kitchen-yard. One day on entering a recitation-room I overtook a professor, whose habitual gaze is to more distant and aerial regions, perched upon the high window-seat, watching a huge porker in his death-struggle, — a sight as tolerable to the average New-Englander as a bull-fight to the average Spaniard. Somehow or other I felt more sympathy thenceforth for that learned man.
On the 28th of May, 1842, at a meeting of the Corporation, it was voted, that —
"After the present academic year terminates, tlie Corporation will take no responsibility on the subject of providing commons for the students."
Upon the recommendation of the committee on the subject, the two inner rooms in the basement were fitted up to be rented on certain conditions to the contractor of commons for the accommodation of his boarders, the two basement wings being retained as kitchens; and this boarding-house system lasted till 1849.
In 1832 the north inner hall on the first floor was improved by Dr. Barber, an English elocutionist, who taught us how to sound and explode our vowels, consonants, and diphthongs ; and it was not his fault if the students did not all become decent declaimers. His famous cage, or sphere, in which the speaker was placed to regulate his gestures upon the great circles, was no longer in use ; when last seen it was hanging from a barbers pole projected from the branches of a neighboring elm. It was whispered that this cage had to be taken apart, as no door was large enough to pass it through, and then again joined together; that the barbers' poles in Cambridge were out of reach, and that morning dawned upon two youths in a tree, working with an industry worthy of a better cause.
Dr. Palfrey (some of whose reminiscences I have already incorporated) informs me that, although the Hall was not, according to President Quincy, completed till 1815, the chapel was opened in 1814. "It was my chance," he writes, "to deliver the first English oration there, at an exhibition in the autumn of 18 14, and the first class poem in the following summer " ; a rare combination of prizes, significant of his future varied and honorable career. The Doctor goes on to state that, " At the Sunday services the floor of the chapel was occupied by the undergraduates, galleries by the officers and their families," and that "previously to the occupation of University Hall in 18 14, there had never been a separate Sunday worship for the College, which had till then attended at the First Church in Cambridge."
In my day Dr. Ware officiated at morning and evening prayers, but as late as 1816 the President officiated in the morning, and the members of the Faculty by turns in the evening.
I have spoken of the organ as a gift from Mrs. Craigie. Such is the tradi- tion, but from the Corporation records I have only gleaned that it was built in
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iMiolaiul, and from tlic Diary of the Rev. George Whitney I learn that it was set up in 1821.
1S21 16 April. "This afternoon the famous organ which has been so long in contemplation was placed in the chapel, where it makes a very stately appearance."
21 April. "This afternoon Professor Farrar with some ladies went up to the chapel to hear Cooper of our class play on the organ."
22 April. "I attended chapel. In the morning heard Dr. Kirkland from the 19th verse, 5th chap- ter of Ephesians. ' Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and makin-^ melody in your hearts to the Lord.' He gave us a very fine sermon on instrumental music, probably as it was the first Sunday the organ has been played. It sounds excellently; Cooper of our class played to-day."
There was then no other organ in Cambridge, and there were very few in Boston.
While I was in College, the rooms in University Hall were at the service of the students in the daytime or evening for meetings of societies. The " Harvard Union," a debating society composed of Seniors and Juniors and of the Law and Divinity students, used to meet in one of the large commons halls, the lower classes being admitted as hearers; and many men since eminent in pulpits and courts were wont to air their eloquence there. The Euphradian Society there met at the opening of the academic year, to listen to prose or poetry declaimed by ingenuous Freshmen, eager to be enrolled members of a College society. I recollect, on two occasions, a lecture there by one Dr. Knight, vi?ho, poor man, was pronounced hopelessly insane, because he pleaded the importance and feasi- bility of a railroad across the Rocky Mountains. Thus does the vs^orld continue to stone its prophets.
One of the most remarkable performances witnessed by me was a mock trial, held one Saturday morning in the north inner commons hall. It was the last of a series of stupendous jokes practised upon a queer, conceited, village oracle, who, having in his country home made the acquaintance of a Harvard student keeping school there, afterwards volunteered him a visit. As this unbidden and unwelcome guest lingered after the usual hospitalities of the College had been exhausted, extraordinary efforts were made for his especial entertainment and dis- play. He attended meetings of learned societies and took part in abstruse debates, by invitation ; he delivered lecture after lecture in the true Fourth-of-July style, which were boisterously applauded ; he was regaled with marvellous tales ; he was introduced to distinguished personages who chanced to be sojourning in Cambridge at that epoch, and among others to Dr. Metternich, nephew of the great Austrian statesman. This distinguished foreigner, clad in a costume which might have been Hungarian, but which looked for all the world like a frock-coat with an extemporized fur collar, a pair of flannel drawers stuffed into his boots, a fancy smoking-cap on his head, and the national meerschaum in his hand, received his guest with courtly grace, engaged in conversation as well as his lim-
m
^ &
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93
ited acquaintance with our language permitted, pressed upon his acceptance sev- eral rare books, such as Tytler's History and the Grasca Majora, from his small but select library, and from his cabinet bestowed upon him an image of the Apostle Paul, found in the twelfth century under Charlemagne's chapel upon Mount Athos, a bottle which had been thrown by Mirabeau at the head of Robespierre, and other priceless curiosities. Unfortunately an imprudent remark upon the habit of duelling so inflamed the hospitable but sensitive foreigner, that, in spite of explanations and attempts at pacification, he insisted upon in- stant satisfaction from the horrified rustic, or a grovelling, abject apology such as he had received from the Due de Broglie, a short time previously, which in- volved excessive personal humiliation. At last the raging doctor consented to the substitution of the College host as principal, the rural guest to act as his second. The duel came off in a grove to the east of the Delta, his host fell writhing to the ground, and the rustic was urged by Dr. Metternich's second to lose no time in fleeing to and through Boston. He fled, his green plaid cloak streaming behind him, his arms well filled with the books and curiosities given him. That night he was discovered in the pit of the National Theatre, arrested by two constables armed with a formidable warrant, and brought back to Harvard, where he learned that the College government had exclusive jurisdiction of all crimes committed within its precincts.
On the morrow, fortunately Saturday, the captive was formally arraigned as aiding and abetting in the duel, and placed at the bar to be tried upon his plea of not guilty. The judge was selected for his judicial cast of features and portly figure, made more impressive by his Lord Chancellor wig and black silk gown. The stoutest man in the class, armed with the " intonitans bolus " of Med. Fac. celebrity, acted as sheriff ; good men and true were sworn as jurors ; the prosecuting attorney and counsel for the defence, men who have since sat and pleaded in more permanently established courts, argued shrewdly ; a cloud of witnesses of every character, veracious and otherwise, were there to throw all possible light on the case. The attendant surgeon testified to the wounds and death of one of the parties, the material facts were very sufficiently made out, and the jury brought in a verdict of guilty, accompanied by a strong and affect- ing recommendation to mercy. The trembling culprit prepared himself at once for the awful sentence of the law, which was in mercy postponed till the ensuing Monday. Just as he reached the College yard, however, he was rescued from the nervous grasp of the sheriff, and, after a vigorous foot-race, crammed into a chaise and driven at a perilous gallop down the Charlestown Road.
The chief actor in this series of entertainments was summoned to the Presi- dent, when it was ascertained that although up to the end of the duel he had rather humbugged his visitor, there the offence had ended, and that in order to
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secure the ends of justice, the prisoner had conspired with his host to hoax the students, while they believed they were hoaxing the rustic.
This chronicle should be perused only by Alumni. To many sober-minded people, who have never experienced the contagion of numbers closely brought together, engaged in the same pursuits, especially those whose youth has been spent in labor or studies dearly paid for by heroic self-denial, these College tricks and jokes will seem trivial and inconsistent with the dignity of an institution of learning, with the high character claimed for its Alumni. Still more would these good folks be shocked if they learned that not a few of the perpetrators of all these foolish or wicked frolics became clergymen, and — what is worse — were fond of recounting their exploits to their latest day. That a joke can be carried too far, till it degenerates into an outrage against persons or property, is true, and it is also true that such outrages have been committed by thoughtless students ; but such excesses are rare and are condemned when committed.
A good illustration of the mystery of College fun was furnished me by a ven- erable gentleman who graduated threescore years since. Two of his classmates, both sons of wealthy parents, had ingeniously abstracted a ham from the College larder, and, having been detected, were punished; upon which transaction my friend's father thus commented : " Edward ! why did those boys steal a ham ? If
Mr. or Mr. had known that their sons wanted a ham, they would have
bought them a ham."
The red-letter days of University Hall were Class Day, Commencement, and Exhibition Day.
Down to 1839, there were three Exhibitions, the spring, the summer, and the fall. The governor attended two of the three, but not officially. The next most august dignitary, the President in his Oxford cap and gown, the Corporation, the Overseers and the Faculty, marched in procession from the Corporation- rooms into the chapel, — already well filled with relatives of the speakers, ladies from Boston, Cambridge, and the neighborhood, youths looking forward to College as a happy liberation from school-thraldom, a sprinkling of clergy and scholars, and here and there a few professional loafers. The officials took their seats in the space in front of the pulpit, the President in the great Dunster chair, prepared to listen to the dialogues, dissertations, conferences, and orations, in Greek, Latin, and English, declaimed by members of the Senior and Junior classes selected for their scholarship. " Expectatur oratio in lingua vernacula a Kittredge," thundered the President ; and the youthful orator, in a toga hired of Ma'am Dana, ascended the rostrum. Mothers wept and sisters and cousins blushed with delight at the applause which greeted the speaker as he bowed to the President, or paused after a burst of eloquence. Grave professors laughed immoderately and sympathetic auditors felt or counterfeited glee, at jokes in
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95
Greek and Latin which would have sounded tame in the vernacular. The Picri- ans in the north gallery filled up the intervals with their music.
The students, not then clad in garbs of many shapes and colors, but in the prescribed uniform, which consisted, forty years ago, of a square-collared, single-breasted black dress-coat, with three crow's-feet in braid upon the sleeve for the Senior, two for the Junior, one for the superb Sophomore, and none for the immature Freshman, came and went in numbers proportioned to the popularity of the speaker, or strolled up and down the portico and through the College grounds ; the members of the clubs displayed their medals and ribbons ; the Harvard Washington Corps sported cockades in their hats ; the Porcellians held high revel ; the orators of the day gave " spreads " (or " blows," as they were then called) to their friends, including as many of the fair sex, in proportion to the number of students, as now grace Class Day with their presence.
After dinner the roll of Dan. Simpson's drum, and the squeaking of Sol. Smith's fife, summoned the " Tarn Marti, quam Mercurial' Harvard Washington Corps. From the armory in the northeast attic of University Hall each sergeant marched his squad to the parade-ground on the green, to the westward of the College yard, not then encumbered with fences. The company formed by the orderly sergeant, the officers marched to their posts, and a dress-parade followed. The uniform was simple and effective. The rank and file wore black hats with cockades, white trousers, their black coats relieved by white waist and cross belts. The officers were distinguished by gilt buttons, a star on each collar, epaulets, a bell-shaped beaver shako surmounted by a black fountain plume, and trimmed with gold lace and cord, a crimson sash under the white sword-belt, and spotless white jean trousers and gaiters. They were selected for their prow- ess and symmetry, — such men as now compose the University crew ; and their array as they issued from the west door of Hollis and marched in stately order to their posts, to the music of the Brigade Band, was very imposing. It was a pretty spectacle, the parade of from one to two hundred young fellows, manoeu- vring in the College yard, or marching through the streets of Old Cambridge, saluting the President and professors as they passed their houses ; and the mar- tial exercise worked off the mercurial element in the best possible mode, and rounded out the holiday.
When this glittering pageant was dissolved. Exhibition Day lost half its eclat and its chief attraction for unscholastic visitors, not included among the guests of the exhibitors, — especially for the Sub-Freshmen, who formed a considerable frac- tion. The Seniors and Juniors still attended to cheer their forensic brethren ; but the younger classes, no longer taking any part in the programme, dispersed.
Another cause of the decline of Exhibition Day was the conversion of Class Day from an exclusive and too protractedly convivial leave-taking of the gradu-
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ating class to the present charming succession of intellectual and social delights, — an ideal midsummer merrymaking with a due mingling of expressive class cere- monies. Down to 1838, the friends of the class and the public departed after the oration and poem had been spoken in the chapel, and the afternoon was spent by the Seniors in drinking punch and dancing around the Liberty Tree; but on that year the Class Comniittce were notified by the President, that " if there was any drinking or dancing, the members of the Committee would all lose their de- grees." The class was already in an excited state, owing to the dismissal of some of their favorite members late in the Senior year. In this dilemma, one of the Class Committee suggested that they should invite ladies, and some of the class agreed to provide spreads, and for their further entertainment they asked leave of the Faculty to have a band, which was granted. While promenading about the grounds with their lady guests, listening to the music, a friendly pro- fessor suggested dancing on the green and was informed that dancing was pro- hibited. Seeing the absurdity of this restriction, the professor hastened to head- quarters and returned with President Quincy, who, with characteristic good-nature and obliviousness, chid the students for their want of gallantry; and thus began the first dance on the green.
This radical change expanded Class Day into a great festival ; the outgoing Seniors issued invitations to all their friends to teas and luncheons, the College provided the band, and the attendance so increased that by 1856 the class ex- ercises, which had been hitherto held in the chapel, were transferred to the First Congregational Meeting-House for better accommodation.
Thus, gradually, Exhibition Days were thrown into the shade. For some years they were kept up with more or less spirit ; the College dignitaries, the scholars and the clergy, the friends of the orators and their classmates, rallied, but little by little they declined.
In 1855, Professor Sidney Willard notes " that the literary excellence was greater than in his time, 1 794 - 8, but the same public interest in the perform- ance, the same indulgent and generous judgments concerning them on the part of parents and friends."
In 1857, ^ve find a writer in a Harvard periodical speaking of "a group of Sub- Freshmen in jackets, and the chapel filling with the fair sex."
In i860, "complaint of the tediousness of four long hours in the Chapel."
In 1863, "the Exhibition Day in October passed off with its usual monotony and dulness. The attendance of the officers of instruction and government in the College, though generally quite small, on this occasion was a beggarly ac- count of empty boxes. There were present the usual number of the fair sex, and there was the usual transient attendance of students. It would be a curious and perhaps profitable investigation to try to determine whether a part at an
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Exhibition is an honor or a punishment. If the whole proceeding were not a bore, and even if it were, would not the Government of the College be repre- sented in stronger force, if they really meant to honor those who perform ? "
22 October 1867. Mr. Sibley attended College Exhibition. " Speakers for the first time delivered their parts on the stage without their black silk gowns, as has hitherto been customary on Class Days, Commencement, and Exhibition Days."
Evidently the end was near at hand; the College Government cared nothing about it, the students thought it a bore, and the audience was fluctuating and much dwindled. This was the last Exhibition held in University Hall; the west lecture-room in the second story of Harvard Hall was large enough for the few who attended, and there, on the
26 October, 1869, " College Exhibition instead of being two and one half to three hours, the exer- cises were finished in a little more than an hour. This was the last College Exhibition."
There were general as well as special causes of this decrease of interest, not only in Exhibition, in Commencement, and Phi Beta Kappa days, but also in school exhibitions, church dedications and ordinations, Thursday lectures. Ar- tillery-election sermons, Fourth-of-July orations. With the introduction of rail- roads, people migrated to the distant country and sea-shore and could not con- veniently attend summer celebrations ; and when at home in the winter months, the great multiplicity of entertainments absorbed the spare time, and diverted many from these old-time festivals and solemnities of a circumscribed and staid community.
If the Exhibition Days were the peculiar property of University Hall, it took its share in the great annual Festival of the College, one of the few legal holi- days of this working-day community. Upon the south steps of the Hall, the Corporation and Overseers welcomed His Excellency the Governor, who came escorted by a troop of horse, preceded by trumpeters, and accompanied by his Staff and the Executive Council. Thence, after the convening of the two Boards of Government, the procession marched to the meeting-house, escorted by the graduating class ; and, the literary exercises over and the diplomas given out, the four great halls were thrown into one by opening the wide doors and great round windows, and therein the tables were spread for the officials, the guests, and the Alumni.
As a rule, great public dinners are tedious at the time and sickening in the retrospect ; the want of interest and the absence of fellowship drives men to gluttony and guzzling and to false after-dinner speeches, which are
" Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
A Commencement dinner certainly precludes the possibility of excess, but it is
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full of interest and of fellowship ; indeed, it is pathetic, not only because, materi- ally, it is one of those occasions
" That keep the word of promise to our ear, And break it to our hope,"
but because of its peculiar and suggestive composition. The young and old, with a range of threescore years : these who look forward to life as if it were lasting, those who look back upon it as upon a " watch in the night " ; these " whom time paces withal," and those " whom he gallops withal " ; these who have won against heavy odds, those, the favorites at the start, who never reached the goal ; these who believe that things seen are eternal, those who look to another world for the rewards not here bestowed ; rich and poor, titled and untitled, famous and obscure, weak and strong, side by side, upon a level here, and here alone ; chil- dren of one well-beloved mother, their daily cares and masks and titles cast aside, coming back to their common home to meet the ever-thinning ranks, to mark the ever-growing gaps, to be called by names seldom or never heard elsewhere, to be humbled or cheered by the old relations, refreshed by the old memories which come thronging back upon the return to this scene of their early days.
All are not equally happy ; there are classes in which there is little cohesion, and which never come together ; and there are classes which meet each year ; some have been decimated by rebellion ; some, like soft-wooded trees, go early to decay, while others are full of vitality. And so small a fraction of Alumni come to Commencement, that one may not find his most cherished classmates ; but in the family group he feels at home, and is warmed in the general glow. Latin and Greek, conic sections, logic and metaphysics, are all needed to educe and train and store the mind ; and the boy who wastes the " shining hours " of his College life will repent it bitterly ; but, after all, the great privilege is to be bar- racked with your fellows, far from the partial influences of home, subjected to their keen criticisms, quickened by their company in study and in play, fortified by friendships, matured by all the experiences of four years when years are long. This is a boon denied to those who have not been wise or fortunate enough to run a college career.
A larger proportion of the Alumni came to Commencement formerly than now ; so many, at times, that tables were laid in the portico. Wine was supplied by the College, until President Everett, at his inauguration dinner, April 30, 1846, excluded "all stimulating drinks, even to wine, taking a very strong stand against it."
"Quite a storm at the meeting of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, August 27th, 1846, because wine was not provided, though a decided majority were in favor of discontinuing it." "At Commencement, 26th August, 1846, all ardent spirits and wine excluded."
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Mr. Sibley, from whose Diary I gather these facts, adds slyly, that "con- noisseurs did not consider the College wine quite equal to champagne, if I remem- ber the remarks often made at the table."
The exclusion of wine has continued to this day; and as this exclusion drove off one member at least from the Phi Beta Kappa dinner, it probably drove away many Alumni from the Commencement feasts. But this asceticism did not diminish the company in University Hall, it was an innovation of a later date. The hymn was sung as now, led off by the Rev. Dr. Pierce, who, as student, tutor, overseer, genealogist, historiographer, and precentor, was completely identified with the College for sixty years. On the day of his graduation, 1 793, he was re- quested by President Willard to set the tune, and he continued so to do until 1849, with the exception of 1808, when Dr. Alden of that class led off. In 1849 Mr. John Langdon Sibley, of the Class of 1825, upon whom the mantle of Dr. Pierce fell naturally, took up the tuning-fork and has held it ever since. After the hymn there were songs, the wine perhaps stimulating the company to make melody.
Dr. Pierce informed Mr. Sibley that when he graduated, in 1793, it was the custom for the graduating class to wait upon the Commencement table ; how long this custom continued I cannot ascertain.
The Rev. Frederic A. Whitney, of the Class of 1833, in his Diary, describes the last Commencement and last Phi Beta dinner in University Hall.
" Wednesday^ 2<,th August, 1841. A comfortable day; excellent dinner in University Hall. We sang the usual psalm to St. Martin's, led by Rev. Dr. Pierce, of Brookline, and then songs and glees as usual in the halls. Of these, the principal singing was from the Class of 1832, chiefly distinguished for musical talent."
" The procession was formed, for the first time, at Gore Hall, the new Library. The books have been moved, during the present summer, from the old Library in Harvard Hall."
There were a few extraordinary events in the history of University Hall; cele- brations, and visits of distinguished guests, which should be commemorated here. The Rev. Richard M. Hodges, to whom I am already much indebted, takes from his Diary this notice of the celebration of the peace of 181 5: —
"When it was announced on the 13th of February, 1815, that a treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States had been signed, there was immediately a demonstration of joy by the Harvard Washington Corps, a students' military company. At evening prayers, a ' Te Deum ' was sung and appropriate lessons from the Scriptures were read. In the evening, the Colleges oc- cupied by students were brilliantly illuminated.
" 2id February. Peace celebrated in Cambridge. The procession moved from University Hall at II o'clock, under escort of Cambridge Light Infantry, to Dr. Holmes's meeting-house, where an address was delivered by the President and a poem read by Henry Ware, Jr. Devotional exercises by Drs. Holmes and Ware, and Rev. T. B. Gannett. An extraordinary public dinner on the occa-
lOO UNIVERSITY HALL.
sion. Original songs. Two Latin Odes, one by Kliot, Senior [William H. Eliot, 1815], and one by Gardiner, Junior [W. H. Gardiner, 1816]. In the evening the College public buildings were ele- gantly illuminated. Flags were flying all day. College exercises were suspended three days, begin- ning the 22d."
In July, 181 7, President Monroe, making the tour of the States, paid Harvard College a visit, thus recounted in the books of the Corporation : —
"yuly 7, 1817. The President of the United States having signified his intention of visiting the University on this day, it became the desire of the Corporation that he should be received with the distinction which such an occasion required and the limited time which the numerous demands on his attention would permit.
" About ten o'clock, a. m., he proceeded from Boston to Cambridge, attended by a numerous pro- cession of carriages. He was received by the Corporation at the entrance of University Hall and conducted to the drawing-room, where all the professors, tutors, lecturers, and instructors were severally introduced by the President of the University, and a procession was formed to the Chapel, where the students, graduates, and undergraduates had assembled at the tolling of the bell and taken their accustomed places. No persons excepting the students were admitted to the lower floor until after the procession had entered. But the galleries had been open at an early hour for the admission of ladies introduced by the members of the government and by the students, and were completely filled.
"The company being seated, the Reverend President addressed the distinguished visitor in a highly impressive manner.
" The reply of President Monroe to the above address was energetic, eloquent, and satisfactory ; at the close of which he said he should embrace another opportunity to return a more full and formal answer in writing.
"The degree of Doctor of Laws was then conferred on the President of the United States; and the Reverend President of the University, in his exordium, expressed his satisfaction in bestowing upon him this first and highest mark of collegiate honor.
"An oration in Latin by Caleb Cushing of the Senior class succeeded, which was much admired for its classic purity.
"The President and attendants then passed through two ranks of students from the Chapel to Harvard Hall, where he examined the library, philosophy room, chemical apparatus, etc., and then witnessed some evolutions of the Harvard Washington Corps, who afterwards escorted him to President Kirkland's house, where a collation was prepared, of which he partook, and at one o'clock he returned to Boston. The company present in the Chapel exceeded six hundred."
On this occasion President Monroe was so much struck with the appearance of the Harvard Washington Corps that he offered the commander (afterward Lieutenant-Colonel James W. Sever) an appointment for West Point, which cir- cumstances compelled him to decline.
There is a tradition (and here I beg to state that I only repeat and do not vouch for traditions), that at a Faculty meeting held upon the eve of President Monroe's visit, some of the members were discussing the suspension of Sever. The name roused the occupied President. " What is that .? what is that } Sever,
UNIVERSITY HALL. lOI
turn away Sever ? No ! no ! we can't get along without Sever " ; and the gallant commander of the Harvard Washington Corps was rescued, and testified his grat- itude half a century later by founding the Sever scholarship, in memory of John Thornton Kirkland. There is another anecdote which illustrates so well the genial wisdom of this most paternal President and beloved man, who exemplified the wise precept laid down by President Quincy for his successor,
"Be to their faults a little blind, Be to their virtues very kind,"
that 1 take the liberty to insert it.
At a dinner, he and Dr. B were smoking, when B flung his cigar
into the fire, exclaiming, "It is a bad habit; I will smoke no more." " It is a bad habit," echoed the President; " I will smoke no more," and flung away his weed. Some little time after they met at a dinner again, the cigars came round and the President was quietly enjoying his, when, upon the cigars being passed to Dr.
B , he answered sharply, " No ! I don't smoke ; when / make a resolution, I keep
it." " Well ! I don't know. Brother B ," said the President, — "I don't know
about this pursuit of virtue under difficulties ; what one gains by self-denial one is apt to lose by self-conceit."
In 1 821 the West Point Cadets, under command of Major (afterwards Major- General) Worth, made a camp tour to Boston, and were invited to pay a visit to the College and dine in University Hall. The Rev. George Whitney has preserved this record of their visit in his Diary : —
1821, Sunday, ^t/i August "Heard this evening that the West Point Cadets spent the day at Framingham, where they had religious services with their chaplain. They will enter Boston on Tuesday.
"Monday, kth. Pitched their tents in Roxbury, opposite General Dearborn's house.
" Tuesday, ith. Entered Boston, a cavalcade escorting them, and encamped on the Common.
" Wednesday, %th. Several of the Cadets were over from Boston to-day.
" Thursday, i)ih. I was in Boston and witnessed on the Common the exercises of the Cadets, wonderfully correct. In the evening our class met, and chose Cooper and Izard marshals for to- morrow.
" Friday, lotk. Our class met this morning at 10 a. m., at the recitation-room of Mr. George Otis, Tutor, and arranged ourselves for the procession. The escort, composed of the three classes now in College [the custom being for the Seniors to leave College some weeks before Commencement], met the Cadets at the President's house, and escorted them with the Government around the Square by Professor Stearns's to University Hall. After going through some military exercises here, they were conducted by the professors and tutors to see the library, philosophy chamber, etc., in Harvard Hall, also Holden Chapel. At two o'clock, they, together with the Government and stu- dents, partook of a very handsome dinner in the College dining-rooms in University Hall. The dinner was provided by Mr. Cooley. After the cloth was removed some very appropriate toasts
I02 UNIVERSITY HALL.
were drunk, in wliich the Government joined, in such a manner as rendered it very pleasant to the students. A toast given by a Cadet in our hall was received with loud applause. It was given by him to their section of the party in particular and was as follows: 'The Government and students of Harvard University ; may their hospitality and attention to us remain forever engraven on our memories.'
" At 4 o'clock the Cadets proceeded to the Common, where they again evinced their skill by performing many very handsome evolutions, and going through the rifle exercise. They left Cam- bridge about S o'clock and proceeded to Boston, where, to-morrow forenoon, two standards are to be presented them by the town. On Tuesday morning next they will march out to Quincy over Ne- ponset bridge and breakfast with the venerable President John Adams, and, returning, will dine with Mr. Smith on Milton Hill.
" In the evening, the Harvard Washington Corps paraded."
In 1S24, Lafayette revisited the United States, to the great excitement and delight of all; and while in Boston attended Commencement, as appears by the following record, and dined in University Hall: —
" 1824, August 25. At a meeting of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, on Wednes- day, August 25, 1824, it being Commencement Day.
"By reason of the ceremonial for the reception of General Lafayette, the exercises of the day were delayed beyond the ordinary time. On his arrival, escorted by a volunteer troop of horse, accompanied by His Excellency the Governor, His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, the Honorable Council, the Mayor and Municipality of Boston, the sheriffs of Suffolk and Middlesex, the Reverend and Honorable Board of Overseers, strangers of distinction and a large number of the most respect- able citizens, he was received at the portico of University Hall by the Corporation, the students being assembled in their classes on the College ground in front. He received a cordial welcome to this country and to this University in a short and appropriate address by the President of the Uni- versity, who welcomed him as ' the patron, the champion, and the benefactor of America ' ; to which he returned an affectionate and well-adapted answer. After introducing him to the officers of the Institution and those citizens who had attended for that purpose, the procession was formed to the meeting-house, where, after the usual exercises and performances, the degrees were conferred and the company returned to University Hall to dinner.
" As the procession moved to the meeting-house, one of the marshals opened an umbrella over the head of the General to protect him from the August sun ; but the old man declined, saying, ' Thank you, young gentleman, but I love the sun in all its warmth and all its brightness.' "
In 1833, President Jackson, on a journey through New England, visited the College and received due honors, as per records : —
" yune 26, 1833. The President of the University having received, about 7 o'clock this morning, information from the Secretary of the President of the United States that it was the intention of the President to visit the University at 10 o'clock a. m. this day, notices were immediately sent to the Corporation, to His Excellency the Governor, His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, and to all the members of the Board of Overseers resident in Boston and the vicinity, and to all the students and members of the Law and Divinity Schools, and inhabitants of the town of Cambridge, whose interest in or connection with the College made such notice proper or expedient.
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"The President of the United States proceeded to Cambridge at the hour appointed, accompanied by the Governor and the Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth, the great body of Overseers, and by a numerous procession of carriages. The immediate suite of the President also attended, consisting of Mr. Donelson, his private Secretary, Mr. Van Buren, Vice-President of the United States, Governor Cass, Secretary of War, Mr. Woodbury, Secretary of the Navy, and others.
" He was received on the steps of the south door of University Hall, as he descended from his carriage, by the President and Fellows of the University, and conducted to the Corporation-room, •where he was introduced severally to the professors, tutors, lecturers and instructors, by the Presi- dent of the University.
"At a quarter before 10 o'clock the students had been collected by tolling the bell in the Chapel of the University, and were concentrated in close order upon the front seats so as to leave as much space in the rear as possible for strangers and visitors ; the galleries having been opened at 9 o'clock for ladies, they were filled by them, and tlie students in their seats, with the members of the Divinity and Law Schools immediately behind them, ready for the reception of the Pres- ident.
"Accordingly after the ceremony of introduction had terminated, the President of the United States entered the Chapel with the President of the University, and followed by the Governor and Lieu- tenant-Governor of the Commonwealth, the suite of the President, the Corporation, Faculty, and immediate instructors, overseers, and strangers ; no person having been as yet admitted on the floor of the Chapel, except the members of the schools and the undergraduates. On the entry of the President into the Chapel, all the students and members of the schools rose and continued stand- ing until he was seated. During the entrance of the President, and until he and all the distinguished visitors present were seated, a voluntary continued playing on the organ.
"The Chapel being completely filled, and the galleries with ladies, and silence attained, the Presi- dent of the University addressed the distinguished visitor. ....
"To this the President of the United States made a short and appropriate reply, reciprocating the kind wishes of the President of the University, expressing his gratification at its flourishing state, and his admiration of the system of public education established in New England.
" An oration in Latin, by Francis Bowen of the Senior class, then succeeded.
"After which the President of the University, seated in the chair which has been for more than a century appropriated as the seat from which degrees are given, gave an explanatory exposi- tion in Latin, of the grounds on which the distinguished individual present had entitled himself to the gratitude of the community, expressing the honor conferred on the University by his presence; declaring the universal custom of universities on similar occasions, and his happiness that in the present instance this distinction was about to be conferred on one, on so many accounts worthy of it. He then in the usual form conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws. An appropriate and solemn ode, composed to the tune of Old Hundred, in singing which the whole assembly joined, finished the ceremonies within the Chapel.
" A procession was then formed by the members of the two schools and the undergraduates, through which the President of the United States and suite and attending State officers and officers of the University passed, after it had opened into two ranks, to the library, philosophy, chemical and miner- alogical rooms, which having examined, he was again received by the same procession of students and escorted to the house of the President of the University, where he was introduced to the lady of the President and his family, and to a great collection of ladies of the town of Cambridge, who had assembled on the occasion. Having partaken of suitable refreshments, the President of the United States and suite took leave, after expressing a grateful sense of the kindness with which he had been received, and his ardent wishes for the prosperity of the Institution."
I04
UNIVERSITY HALL.
The Rev. I'"rcclcric A. VVliitney says, in his Diary, —
"The rattling of the grape-shot at New Orleans was, I fancy, a more interesting sound to the sturdy old general than the well-turned Latin periods of my classmate Bowen [now Professor], which he .seemed to regard with blank amazement."
A sketch of University Hall is incomplete without some mention of the learned professors who have sat there year after year to drill their pupils, haply to inoc- ulate them with a love of learning and a correct method of study.
But I can only treat of those who composed the Faculty during my sojourn, and there is the risk of wounding the susceptibilities of their relatives. One only of all that body of rather remarkable men is living, and he a three years' graduate when I entered. Why we should have given him the affectionate diminutive of " Benny " I cannot say, unless as a mark of endearment, because he could fling the iron bar upon the Delta farther than any undergraduate, or perhaps because he always thought the bonfire or disturbance was outside the College grounds and not inside, and conducted himself accordingly. His softly lisped sufficient brought the blunderer down from the blackboard with a con- sciousness of failure as overwhelming as the severest reprimand. There was a delightful abstraction about this absorbed mathematician which endeared him to the students, who hate and torment a teacher always on the watch for offences, and which confirmed the belief in his peculiar genius.
In the same entry sat the Grecian, Dr. Popkin, or " Old Pop," as he was always called, a dear old man with a traditional romance investing him with inter- est and accounting for his odd, shy ways ; an old man, full of humor and benevo- lence, stalwart and hale, seeming always to remember that his father had served as an officer in the Revolution. He would sit balancing his pencil up and down upon the table, nursing his leg and chirruping every now and then, sometimes making a quaint remark on the recitation. His biographer relates that, passing along the street with a friend, he heard some one at a window exclaim, " There goes Old Pop." "What right has he to call me Old Pop.? He never was in College."
One day at recitation he asked a favorite pupil, " Who was the next in order of the Greek archons ? " " Joe Sniggers," was the softly spoken answer. " Who ? " shouted the Doctor. " Joe Sniggers," repeated the scholar softly. " What did you say?" shouted louder the Doctor, throwing up his spectacles and leaning forward. " Joe Sniggers," again whispered the tormentor. " Can't hear, s'pose you 're right, you may sit."
While I was in College he retired to the North Cambridge Road, by the side of Dr. Hedge, Emeritus Professor of Logic, and the students named it " Resigna- tion Row."
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On the same floor in the upper northeast chamber sat Dr. Beck, a short, ath- letic, fiery-looking man, with close-cut black hair, brilliant eyes, and a clean-shaven face, terrible in anger, but charming when at some sudden stupidity it relaxed into a smile, showing the whitest of teeth. His graceful, compact, soldierly figure, set off by scrupulously cut and brushed garments, was in striking contrast to the scholastic aspect of some members of the Faculty. He was not a man to be trifled with, but a master of his art, an admirable teacher of Latin, and one of the most delightfully courteous gentlemen, with a flavor of Old World grace.
So bare was Cambridgeport of trees and houses in those days and so bare was the west side of Mount Vernon, or " Nigger Hill," as it was called, in Boston, that, sitting in Dr. Beck's room, I could see the western window of a house on Mount Vernon Street, just above what is now Louisburg Square.
Of all the professors, the most tormenting and the most amusing was " Old Channing," an appellation not opprobious in the mouth of collegians, who call every teacher old, without exception. His course was interesting, — Lowth's Eng- lish Grammar, which we all sadly needed, Whately's Logic and Rhetoric, themes and declamations. Throwing himself back in his chair, closing his eyes as if to exclude the outer world and concentrate his mind, he would request, in his coaxing treble tones, " Smith ! won't you be so good as to read that passage," selecting your most florid effort, which you had to read aloud before a dozen grinning classmates enjoying your mortification. Light would at once break into the Professor's brain. " O, I see, I see, to be sure ; I did not quite un- derstand ; perhaps it would be as well to express the thought thus," etc. It was good drill, and we all owed him a great debt for his masterly criticisms and comments upon the text-books as well as upon our compositions and declamations. Once, an unfortunate student of infirm memory declaimed a pas- sage from Shakespeare, and, as he sat down, the Professor observed, " M ,
what little of that was Shakespeare's was pretty good."
In the southeast chamber sat old Dr. Ware, the senior clergyman, and the expounder of Paley and Butler. He was the Senior Professor of the College, and had been one of the champions of Unitarianism when that sect was first established here. He was known only as " Old Sykes," so called from one of his favorite authors constantly quoted in his sermons, and he had gone by that name from a remote period. A learned, earnest, and most guileless and benev- olent man, profoundly interested in the subjects expounded by him, he never dreamed of the apathy or weariness of his hearers. They tell a story of his producing his watch by way of illustrating Paley's Evidences, and presenting it
to one of the most irreverent wags. "J , do you see any marks of design
in this watch ? " J , taking the massive old-fashioned chronometer, and turn-
I06 UNIVERSITY HALL.
iiig it over, then, as if uncertain, again inspecting it, replied, " Well ! no, sir, I cannot say I do."
One day our section before recitation made a mutual vow that, whatever question was put, we would all insert, " the labors, dangers, and sufferings voluntarily undergone," etc., — a phrase in the headings of all the chapters in Paley's Evidences.
The vow was kept. Unfortunately I was the last in the section, and the accumulated absurdity of the replies, and the good old Doctor's utter uncon- sciousness of the plot, so overcame me at last, that, by the time I was called up, I was in a fit of hysterics. I struggled in vain ; I could only stifle, but not utter a word, and stood there shaking with laughter.
Of course I had to remain and apologize, for explanation was out of the ques- tion ; it would have involved the rest in my outbreak. I had to suffer vicariously.
The jokes were not always with us. The Doctor, not easily provoked and thinking no evil, did sometimes give a sly hint. One day a windy student, in reciting, got loose and bestowed upon the Doctor a good deal of original matter, to which he listened patiently, and then, quietly remarking, " The author thinks differently," proceeded to expound the ideas of the author, to the utter confusion of the youth and to the delight of his comrades.
Another professor, whose lecture-room was in Harvard Hall, was Mr. Farrar, — why " Jack Farrar," would be difficult to explain ; certainly not from disrespect, for he was not only respected, but regarded with affection. He was Professor of Natural Philosophy ; his lectures were always interesting, and he himself quite absorbed in his subject, with just that abstractedness which befits a scholastic, and secures a pleasant relation with his pupils. His face was finely cut, his figure and bearing harmonious, perhaps elegant, — altogether a most attractive man, in or out of the lecture-room.
Then there was Dr. Follen, our German Professor ; one who, like Dr. Beck, had come here to breathe a freer air, — the most placid, benignant, simple-hearted, single-minded man. He never gave a miss, he never saw a bonfire, he exacted the prescribed task which he knew how to make interesting, he secured the obe- dience and attachment of every student. There would not be a rebellion in a century, if every member of the Faculty could be endowed with the tact, justice, rectitude, and benevolence which characterized Dr. Follen.
There were some instructors and tutors of eminent quality. Dr. BachI, our Ital- ian teacher, had all the spirit and grace and fascination which Italians only and always possess. Metastaslo, Tasso, and Dante were no tasks, read by the light of his lucid explanations. With his crisply curling hair, his flashing eyes, his beautiful smile, his graceful figure, he looked like one of Titian's or Bronzino's portraits, and his voice — O, how unlike ours ! — was music. He had a perfervidum
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ingenmm, as I discovered when a little misunderstanding occurred between him and an attached but resolute student. I really felt alarmed at such a power of anger and such sensitiveness to the shadow of an insult ; but it passed away and never recurred.
Who that ever saw that foreign phenomenon in Old Cambridge, that French- man of the ancien regime, with his powdered hair and cue, his pudding-like white cravat, his shirt frill, — who can forget " Old Sales," his explosions of laughter, his " By George ! " his stories, his gayety, his politeness .? What wonder if he did win an American wife by the gallantries and blandishments so profoundly under- stood by Frenchmen, so totally unpractised by us !
A gaunt, sallow, melancholic-looking man, with very prominent chin and dark eyes deep-set, was Tutor McKean, with the nicest sense of humor playing over his face, and sometimes almost convulsing him. One night a student had con- structed a monster locust drum, by substituting a parchment for the tin bottom of a huge coffee-pot, and was making night hideous by swinging the instrument round at the end of a cord fastened upon a broomstick, when Maecenas caught him, and finding him dumb, dragged him into the moonlight for identification.
" What is this, B ? "" asked Mscenas.
" A coffee-pot, sir," demurely replied B .
The tutor gave way, the humorist laughed over the invention of the young technologist, and his gentle reproof lost none of its force because he discharged his duty as a human being, and not as an amateur inquisitor. No one could come under Henry McKean without recognizing his sensibility alike to pleasure and to pain, his appreciation of pathos and humor.
The famous Class of 1829, that collection of all the talents annually commem- orated, contributed two teachers, one already mentioned ; the other I never have met without a sense of grateful recognition for the quiet, sensible, clear exposi- tion given by him of Dugald Stewart's philosophy, and Story's Commentaries on the Constitution. There was something in the name of Joel Giles which fitted his broad, solid figure, and honest, steadfast, friendly countenance so exactly, that a sobriquet was impracticable.
Hard-worked, poorly paid, much-tormented martyrs, watched by sharp eyes which never grow dim, hemmed in by light-armed archers with their quivers always full, bound to the stake and pierced with a thousand arrows, a company of St. Sebastians, how much more tried than your brethren of the bar, the pulpit, the scalpel, or the exchange! They all have only their clients, or their parish- ioners, or their patients, or their customers to please, linked to them by lighter and longer chains; they go from strength to strength, and earn their rewards with more varied drudgery ; their weaknesses and oddities pass comparatively unheeded ; many of them emerge from their toil while you are still plodding the
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weary round, and gratify longings you share but cannot indulge. One prize remains to you and you alone, — the contact with youth and freshness, which, to a man born to the position and endowed with the combination of rare quali- ties to command the love and not compromise the respect of his clear-eyed, light- hearted, mischievous, but manly and kindly young critics and pupils, is of itself a great compensation for all you lose of the so-called prizes of life ; it keeps you young when your comrades have grown old, it keeps you green when they have dried up with work at the desk's dead wood.
" Delenda est Carthago."
Up to 1833, University Hall was suffered to stand as the architect had planned it; but in July of that year, the chapel, recommended by its just proportions, admirable arrangement and tasteful architecture, and associated with classic tri- umphs and memorable visits of national heroes, was, by a vote of the Corpora- tion, twisted out of shape and hideously transformed.
In 1842, commons were discontinued in the halls on the first floor, and the Commencement dinner was given in Harvard Hall; the convenient portico was wrenched off the western front, to admit more light to the rooms in the base- ment; and in 1849 these lower rooms were metamorphosed into recitation- rooms, the out-buildings which walled in the large yard, storehouses, wood-sheds, and other minor offices, torn away, and the grove of pines which embowered them cut down.
Later still, in 1867, the mangled chapel, disused for daily worship since 1858, was divided horizontally, and cut up into lecture-rooms above and below.
And so the poor old Hall, once the sanctuary, the refectory, the forum of the College, the scene of all her festivals, the porch of her hospitality, was left bare without and desolate within, a sort of Harvard Niobe.
What ghosts might be seen and heard within its walls'! The prayers of the venerable preacher, the swelling music of the choir, the sonorous " expectatur oratio" of the august President, the eloquent appeals of the speaker, the ringing applause of his classmates, the fluting of the Pierians, the tramp of the martial band as they marched forth to glory, the clamor of the commons hall, the ten- der words of the class orator, the smooth cadences of the poet, the strange Babel of languages murmuring through the chambers, the French accents of the welcome Lafayette, the harsh, brief words of " Old Hickory," the quavering strains of St. Martin's, and the cheers and choruses of the Commencement feasters, the images of all those grave officials, illustrious guests. Commencement pilgrims, ladies young and old, generations of sojourners, — all the life of the College for half a century there concentrated and now vanished, could be conjured up, — but not by me.
N
Q© ^
K2
OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT, DEAN, AND SECRETARY.
Faculty Meetings formerly held in the Old President's House. — Rooms in University Hall
TAKEN for the PRESIDENT AND REGENT. — CHANGE IN THEM. — ThE SECRETARY'S OFFICE. —
Pictures. — Office Furniture.
In the southern end of University Hall there are three modest rooms which would not attract the attention of the casual observer, but become of immediate interest to the student from the time his preliminary examination is over until his last deduction is scored and his last mark recorded. Faculty meetings were held in the rooms occupied by Presidents Kirkland, Ouincy, and Everett as a study, in the Old President's House, previous to the Presidency of Mr. Sparks, who preferred to live in his own house at the corner of Quincy and Kirkland Streets. His study was too small for the use of the Faculty, and besides was at an inconvenient distance ; moreover, he wished to have office hours, and reserve a portion of the day from interruptions for his private study, and he therefore took the second-story rooms in the southern end of University Hall for their present purpose. For his own use he chose the room facing on the yard, and the other was occupied by Professor C. C. Felton as Regent, — an office which was then created (1849). Mr. Felton remained Regent until 1857, with the exception of the academic year 1853-4, when he was absent in Europe, during which time his place was filled by Professor Joseph Lovering, who finally succeeded him and held the office until 1870, when its duties were merged in those of the Dean, — a new creation. Professor E. W. Gurney was the first Dean, and still (1875) holds the position. The rooms known during President Sparks's administration as the President's and Regent's were of equal size, and corresponded to the present condition of the rooms similarly situated at the northern end of the building. Until the winter vacation after the inauguration of President Eliot, in 1869, these rooms remained unchanged. Then they were reversed, the President taking the room in the southeast end, and the Dean the one facing the yard. Up to this time the Secretary had been in a state of
no
OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT, DEAN, AND SECRETARY.
perpetual vibration between the Steward's office, the Regent's office, and the Library. By the division of the Dean's room and the absorption of a small ante- room cutting off the window in the end of the hall, where students who had been summoned by the President or Dean* used to gather, a habitation was made for this official, and his triangular perigrinations were ended.
By reference to the accompanying illustration, the position of these three offices can be seen at a glance. The room in the foreground is that of the Secretary. The visitor passes through the folding-doors into the Dean's office, or turns to the left to call upon the President.
The Corporation formerly held some of their meetings here, and the rooms were called the Corporation Rooms. Dinners were served in them to the examin- ing committees. The Faculty regularly assemble here weekly, oftener if the affairs of the College demand it. The Academic Council, instituted in 1862, also meet in these rooms.
It was the intention of President Sparks to place the pictures of the former Presidents in these apartments. A crayon of President Ouincy was given for carrying out this design ; this, together with engravings of Presidents Everett and Kirkland, constitute all the single pictures of the Presidents. A group of five living Presidents, Ouincy, Everett, Sparks, Walker, and Felton, photographed in 1 86 1, hangs on the southern wall. Including those in the group there had been but twenty Presidents of the College; it seems remarkable that one fourth of the entire number should be living at one time.
Copley's engravings from his pictures were kept here. On the north wall of the President's office hang two large oil-paintings of the College yard and build- ings. Upon the back of the one showing more especially the yard is the following inscription, "A. Fisher Pinx't. 1821. A view of the interior of the College yard Taken from the President's House " ; and on the other, " Alvan Fisher Pinx't. 182 1. A view of the Colleges in Cambridge Taken from a situ- ation between the Charlestown and Craigie Bridge roads."
While painting one of them, the artist sat on the top of the Old President's
* The duties of this officer are defined by the following statute, enacted in 1870 : — " The Dean of the College Faculty is appointed by the Corporation, with the consent of the Overseers, from among the members of the Faculty. It is his duty to preside at the meetings of the Faculty, in the absence of the President ; to administer the discipline of the College ; to take charge of all petitions from undergraduates to the Faculty ; to keep the records of admission and matriculation ; to furnish such lists of students as may be required by the Faculty or the several teachers ; to prepare all scales of scholarship, and preserve the records of conduct and attendance ; to submit each year to the Faculty lists of persons to be recommended for scholarships and beneficiary aid, and likewise a list of those who appear, from the returns made to his office, to have complied with all the regular conditions for the degree of Bachelor of Arts ; and, in general, to superintend the clerical and administrative business of the College."
OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT, DEAN, AND SECRETARY. m
House, and President Kirkland on one occasion accompanied him, and conversed for some time about the picture. Copies of these paintings were executed in india-ink by Fisher, from which engravings were made, and from these the helio- types on the nineteenth page of Volume Second were obtained.
An old clock, formerly standing in the lower hall of the Old President's House, was placed by President Quincy in the entry leading to the study in the same building ; it was afterward moved by President Sparks to the rooms in Univer- sity, and now fills the northeast corner of the President's office. A smaller clock, given about 1830 by Willard, the famous clock-maker of Roxbury, to President Quincy for the College, was kept in the President's library, and subsequently placed in the Secretary's office, where it now is.
The long desk at the right of the Secretary's office used to be a sideboard in the Old President's House, and President Sparks converted it from its convivial usefulness into a receptacle for blanks, Faculty documents, old examination- papers, and other stimulating food.
At General Sumner's death a carved oaken sideboard came by bequest into the possession of the College, and now forms part of the President's office fur- niture. It was once the property of the Apostle Eliot, whose initials, J. E., with the date 1681, are cut upon the front.
It is in these unpretending rooms that the discipline of the University is administered, official consultations held, plans of study marked out, and, in fine, the daily and yearly routine laid down and recorded.
GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY.
Bequest of John Harvard. — Gifts till the End of the Seventeenth Century. — Solomon Stoddard chosen Library Keeper. — Regulations. — Stools and Chairs for the Li- brary. — Benefactions of Thomas Hollis and Family. — Citations from Letters of Thomas Hollis. — First Library Catalogue. — Donations. — Description and Uses made OF Harvard Hall, in which the Books were kept. — Occupied by the General Court. — Burnt. — Rebuilt by the Province. — Amounts paid to Occupants of Rooms for Losses BY the Fire. — Donors and Donations. — The Books sent into the Country Towns while the British occupy Boston. — Bequests of Samuel Shapleigh, Thomas Brand Hollis, and Thomas Palmer. — Gifts of Israel Thorndike, Samuel Atkins Eliot, and others. — Gore Hall erected with Christopher Gore's Bequest. — Corner-Stone laid ; the In- scription. — Account of the Building. — Books moved into it. — Twenty Thousand Dol- lars subscribed for Books. — Gift of William Gray. — Gifts and Bequests by James Brown, John Farrar, George Hayward, Clarke Gayton Pickman, Stephen Salisbury, Charles Sumner, Charles Minot, Henry Ware Wales, Frederick Athearn Lane, and others. — Number of Volumes. — Need of a new Building for a Library.
Gore Hall contains the College Library, the first books of which were given when the College was founded.
A Catalogue of three hundred and twenty volumes, bequeathed by John Harvard, who died 14th September, 1638, is entered on the College Records in the handwriting of President Dunster. " The Hon'^ Magistrates & Rev"*. Elders gave . . . out of their own libraryes to the vallue of Two hundred pound." President Dunster records the titles of twenty volumes given by Richard Belling- ham, of thirty-seven by the Reverend Peter Bulkley of Concord, and of forty " choice books " valued at twenty pounds, by Governor Winthrop. William Hib- bins, the Reverend Thomas Welde, and the Reverend Hugh Peters " procured from diverse Gentellmen & Merchants in England . . . books to the vallue of an hundred & fifty pounds."
All these gifts were placed in "the building called," loth December, 1654, "the old CoUedge, conteyning a Hall, Kitchen, Buttery, Cellar, Turrett & 5 Studyes & therin 7 Chambers for students in them, a Pantry & small corne Chamber.
GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY.
"3
A Library & Books therin, vallued at 400''." President Chauncy subsequently records the titles of twenty-nine books, "vallued at Sixty pounds," a gift "Equitis D"' Kenelm Dighby an° D"' 1655." "Some Mathematicall Books" were given by "M^ Thomas Graves," Biblia Polyglotta by " M"' Ralfe ffreik," " Books to the vallue of ten pounds " by " M' John ffreiks," and "many books " by "S' Richard Daniell, Knight." A part of the library of the Reverend Ezekiel Rogers, of Rowley, was bequeathed in 1660, and in 1675 the entire collection of the learned Orientalist, John Lightfoot. October 27, 1675, I find a charge for "a case of Bookes from London a gift of mr. Rich^ Baxter." About the year 1675 or 1676, President Chauncy made on the College Records " A copy of m' Dunsters note given to M' Scotow. Thes p'sents witnesse that wheras Joshuah Scottow of Bosto march' hath of his owne free accord procured for the library of Harvard Colledge Henry Stephan his Thesaurus in foure volumes in folio, and bestowed the same theron : it is on this condicon, and w* this pomise following, that if euer the said Joshuah during his life shall haue occasion to use the said booke or any parcell therof, he shall haue free liberty therof, and accesse therto : and if God shall blesse the said Joshuah w"' any child or childre that shalbee students of the Greeke tongue, the" the said bookes aboue specifyed shalbee unto them deliuered, in case that they will not otherwise be satisfyed w* out it. In Witnesse wherof this p'sent writing is signed by me Henry Dunster p'sident of the Colledge abouesaid made at Boston, this twenty eight of the eight moneth 1649. Henrie Dunster. " The donor's privilege of borrowing was made use of, for the rec- ords say : " Recev'' of M' Uryan Oakes, pVt y^ above Expressed Thesaurus in foure volumes acc''ding to Condition aboue : upon the demand of my Sonn Thomas Scottow I say received ; pr me Josh : Scottow this 30"" of August." By the addition of the bequest of the library of Theophilus Gale, D. D., in 1678, the number of the volumes was more than doubled. In 1681 Edward Jackson gave Brough ton's Chronology. In 1682 Sir John Maynard gave eight chests of books, valued at four hundred pounds.
These, with a few other volumes, constituted the entire College Library at the close of the seventeenth century. Though few persons would now accept the col- lection as a gift on condition of providing shelf-room for it, many of the volumes, being " choice books " of the time, did good service, and have an interest as show- ing the subjects of inquiry in those days.
March 27, 1667, "M' Solomon Stoddard was chosen Library keeper." "For the rectifying of y= Library & Rules for the Library Keeper," sixteen "orders were made." " No p''son not resident in the Colledge, except an Overseer," and " no Schollar in the Colledge, under a Senio'," could borrow a book, and " no one under master of Art (unless it be a fellow) . . . without the allowance of the President." August 31, 1676, "Dan^ Gookin, one of the Fellowes," was paid fifty
114 GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY.
shillings for "removing the library to the new Colledge [Harvard Hall] & placeing them." November i, 1677, Harvard College appears indebted to Mr. Ammi Corlitt for "washing & Sweeping the library in new Colledge, 55." August 23, 1679, there was "paid to Jn° Palfry 36J. . . for i doz. Stooles made for y' Colledge Library." April 8, 1695, it was voted "that six leather Chairs be forthwith provided for y= use of y^ Library, & six more before y' Commencement, in case y" Treasury will allow of it." January 22, 1697-8 there was "paid m' Tho Fitch for 6 Russia chairs had of him last Commencment for y^ Colledg Library ^4 10 s."
But little more was done to improve or enlarge the Library till Thomas Hollis, of London, in 1719, began a series of benefactions to the College, the importance of which can hardly be overestimated, either as to their pecuniary value at the time, their catholic spirit, or their consequences. Besides founding ten scholar- ships, two professorships, contributing an astronomical and philosophical apparatus, and procuring Hebrew and Greek types and other donations, he gave special attention to the Library. It has been stated that his gifts " must, in the whole, have reached nearly ^6000." From 1720, the date of his earliest benefactions to the Library, till near the time of his death, he sent books and made appeals in its behalf to authors, publishers, and corporate bodies. Among the persons moved by his influence and example were six of his family, whose gifts were continued from time to time till near the end of the eighteenth century. A large portion of the edition of the College Library Catalogue of 1723, with its Supplement, the printing of which was urged by him and the historian Daniel Neal, was carefully distributed by his own hands. In his correspondence with Benjamin Colman, H. U. 1692, a member of the Corporation, he speaks of the College Library as " our " Library, and enters into details as to means, making purchases, selecting books, and taking care of them.
March 28, 1724. Mr. Jeremy Dummer "tells me your College Catalogue of your library came very oportunely, there is one gives ^60. star — wch he will lay out in valluable books, he had begun to draw out the books by his head, but not examind the Catalogue, because he had noted down some, wch I told him you have alreddy, and it is to prevent duplicates, I prayd him to consult M' J Hunt who has read it, and valines a good publick Library, He said he would do so. I wish he dont forget it "
May 8, 1724. "My Deare Freind & Companion M' I Watts sends now a little parsel of books for our College library, I think all that are published and bound of his printing, pray be so good as to receive and forward them to the College and accept them as kindly, as they were reddily given upon my asking. . . . Our good Freind my Neibor Harris . . . has promisd me reddily on ask- ing, he would present the library with what books he has publisht, that are
m
GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY. 1 15
bound, . . . and he bidds me to hope, I shall succeed with M' Evans, for his works also. — but these are small presents, to what I am laboring for, if I may be so happy to succeed in what I am projecting. Mr. Newman seems to have the same at heart, and has some hopes of success, he tells me."
Auo-ust I, 1724. "I forward to you about ^100 — Star in books for your library at College — there is roome to lay out £ 500 Star more for to furnish it well for a publick library now if you have moneys to spare, why should not yee see to lay it out in such books as you are sensible are wanting."
January 6, 1724-5, he asks for a Supplement to the Catalogue, "for my ease to know what you most want, and avoid duplicates, | if some of your N E Marchants had the good of your College at heart you might have a great number of books sent unto you in a little time, but one in my Neiborhood has discouraged one I expected a present from, telling him how Rich and able & flourishing you are to Buy Books your selves, if you want them and some think that M' Sam Mathers book of his fathers life has some passages in it, tending to discourage others, wch I am sorry for."
January 1 5. " As to your motion about Exchanging Bales french dictionary for an English one, I a little admire at, we have few, next to none of our valluable Students at London, who sincerely indevour after knowlege, but they easily attaine to read French as well as Latin — and that because so many very vallu- able books in History & Philosophy are written in French, it is very easy for one verst in Lattin to read French — and that sett of books are — esteemd very valluable. However upon your notice, I may discorage any more French books, by my hand ; tho I should think such ought to be estemed in a publick Library. M' Hunt tells me Bayles Dictionary in y° french is worth two of them in English — and yet they are in such demand now, that tney ask 11. or 12. ginees for them — he has been much displeased with me or the Bookseller, several times for sending Montfaucons Antiquities in English, he would have had the french been sent you — but according to your remark upon Baile — I perceive you like what you have best, as it is English."
February 1 5, he sends " some books & Letters from M' Guise. Minister at Harford — I have expectation of another parsel of books, to send by this or next shipping, and if there happen to be some books not quite Orthodox, in search after truth with an honest design dont be afraid of them a publick library ought to be furnished if they can with Con. as well as Pro — that students may read, try, Judg — see for themselves and beleive upon Argument and Just reason- ings of the Scripturs — thus saith Aristotle, thus saith Calvin — will not now pass for proof in our London disputations."
April 28, 1725, he speaks of an acquaintance who had bought about twenty- five volumes of the publications of the Royal Academy of Paris, in French, for
Il6 CORK HALL AND rilE COLLEGE LIBRARY.
a present to the I.ibrar)'. " I tolcl my frcind how little you esteemd Bayles Dic- tionary because in French -he rcplycd-he would waite — and not send them till he heard from you, that you estemed such performances & Desired them, pray Sir consult my Professor and send me both your opinions, so soon as you can, because if you dont like these, he will send some other books, but not so costly."
June 7. " Your library is reckond here to be ill managed, by the account I have of some lliat know it, you want seats to sett and read, and chains to your valluablc books like our Bodleian library, or Sion College in London, you know their methods, whch are approved, but do not imitate them, you let your books be taken at pleasure home to Mens houses, and many are lost, your (boyish) Students, take them to their chambers, and teare out pictures & Maps to adorne the Walls, such things are not good; if you want roome for modern books, it is easy to remove the less usefull into a more remote place, but not to sell any, they are devoted."
June 21. "When your library keeper shall send me a printed Supplement to your first Catalogue of your library, perhaps it might be of use if you drew out a Cataloo-ue of what books, you yet want, and would be most acceptable unto you — if any new benefactions should offer to my cognisance."
January 27, 1726-7. "I am this day applied unto at the N E coffehouse by M' OUiver in a letter he shewed me from M' Prince of the South Church in Boston (I think it is called) to help furnish a library for their private use — usino- this as a motive, we did not know what hands the great library at Har- vard Colleo-e might fall into, but this private one would be secure to posterity — I was diso-usted at the Suggestion and refusd to read on, and bid him write M' Prince word. I disliked his motion and would not be concernd."
In addition to the rich gifts from Hollis and his relatives, donations were made by the divines Joseph Hussey, Daniel Neal, Dr. Avery, Richard Mead, Bishop Berkeley, by the Society for Propagating the Gospel, by William Dummer, by William James of Jamaica, who gave medical books to the value of twenty-five pounds, and by many others.
As the Library was greatly enlarged and improved by these donations, the Cataloo-ue of 1723 furnishes an inadequate idea of its value and extent in 1764, a century and a quarter after the College was founded.
The edifice in which the books were kept was exposed to greater danger by being used, like the first Harvard Hall, for other than library purposes. The middle room on the lower floor, extending through the building, was the hall where the students dined in commons, six at a table, each carrying his own knife and fork, which he wiped on the tablecloth. The northeast corner was a kitchen, and the southeast was the buttery, where the butler sold bread, butter, eggs, etc., to collegians. The room over the buttery was occupied by a tutor. The
GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY. II7
Library and a few ordinary articles for a museum were kept in the room over the hall. In the west chamber, the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy kept his apparatus and delivered lectures ; and in the dining-hall lec- tures were delivered by the Hollis Professor of Divinity. The other rooms in the building, including the cockloft, were occupied by students. The hall and library were used for meetings on public occasions.
In consequence of the prevalence of small-pox in Boston, the General Court adjourned i6th January, 1764, to Cambridge. The Governor and Council took possession of the Library, and the Representatives of the hall below. In the middle of the night preceding 25th January, it being vacation and the students absent, " except two or three in the part of Massachusetts most distant from Harvard," a fire, conjectured to have begun in a beam under the hearth of the Library, broke out, while a cold snow-storm and high wind were raging, and made such progress before it was discovered as to defy all efforts to subdue it. " Harvard College suffered the most ruinous loss it ever met with." The build- ing contained the treasures and apparatus accumulated during a century and a quarter. The Records of the Library, and all of its five thousand volumes, except a few which were in the hands of members of the Legislature, were burnt. Among the books saved was one of those given by John Harvard, — John Downame's " Christian warfare against the Deuill World and Flesh," — a sug- gestive title for the initial volume of our present collection.
Measures were taken immediately to repair the loss. January 26, a day and night only intervening after the calamity, Governor Bernard sent a message to the House of Representatives, and they voted unanimously that " Harvard Hall be rebuilt at the charge of the Province." The Governor subscribed liberally, and gave more than three hundred volumes. Of the present Harvard Hall, erected on the old site, and a model of strength and beauty before it underwent any alterations, it is said he furnished the plan, and would not allow the builder to make the least deviation from it.
" A Committee of Correspondence for obtaining benefactions from Great Britain, or other places, in order to restore the Library and Apparatus, and a Committee for procuring subscriptions for the same objects, were speedily appointed." To make up losses sustained by occupants of rooms, the Legislature ordered about ;if 188 y s. S^d. to be paid to Belcher Hancock, Tutor; ;^ 57 12 s. to Timothy Langdon; ^15 6 s. 8d. to Samuel Farrar; ^^13 4^. 6d. to Joseph Farrar ; ^ 14 10 5. 2d. to Isaac Morrill; and ^16 35. 10 d. to Increase Sumner.
To procure books, the General Assembly of New Hampshire, on the recom- mendation of Governor Benning Wentworth, gave ^ 300, John Hancock gave more than ^ 550, and the Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England and Parts Adjacent, of which Jasper Mauduit, a long-tried friend of the College, was
1,8 GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY.
Secretary, gave £ 300. Clergymen and scholars with limited means, feeling that the loss to Christianity and learning demanded personal sacrifices, sent from their small private collections volumes which, from the autographs and notes in them, appear to have been cherished gifts of ancestors and friends. A number of dona- tions were made by English authors and publishers. Thomas Hollis, the grand- nephew of the early benefactor of that name, sent boxes after boxes of the best books which he could select, bound sumptuously and substantially, containing curious and valuable bibliographical, biographical, and other notes in the donor's handwriting. Many of the volumes are now so scarce that they are eagerly sought for as rarities, he always taking " immense Pains in examining into y' merits before he sent 'em."
The names of the benefactors and the sums given to repair the loss, made with much care, are preserved in the College archives. The result was highly gratifying. Though treasures which could not be replaced had been destroyed, a new library, greatly exceeding the other in value, was collected. When Boston was occupied by British troops, it was sent in separate parcels to clergymen and others in the country towns for safe keeping. In June, 1781, the number of volumes was 10,059, of which at least 2,156 were from the last Thomas Hollis.
Besides five hundred pounds sterling, left for a permanent fund by Hollis, who died ist January, 1774, Samuel Shapleigh, a graduate in 1789, Librarian from 1793 till his death in 1800, bequeathed a farm and property to the value of three thousand dollars, directing that the income should " be sacredly appropriated to the purchase of such modern publications as the Corporation, Professors, and Tutors shall judge most proper to improve the students in polite literature; the books to be deposited in the Library of the University, and to consist of poetry and prose, but neither in Greek nor Latin."
Thomas Brand Hollis, inheriting the greater part of the estates of his uncle, Thomas Hollis, dying in 1804, bequeathed one hundred pounds to be laid out in Greek and Latin classics.
To these are to be added Israel Thorndike's gift of several thousand maps and about thirty-five hundred volumes relating to America, constituting the Ebeling Library, secured to the College through Joseph Green Cogswell, H. U. 1806; and supplementing it, the Warden collection, given by Samuel Atkins Eliot, H. U. 181 7. Thomas Palmer, H. U. 1761, also bequeathed to the College his choice library of about twelve hundred volumes. These, with other donations not mentioned, and a few additions by purchase, made a library of about forty- one thousand volumes, for the history of which, thus briefly noticed, there are ample materials.
There was no room for more books in Harvard Hall, and this valuable col- lection, much of which, if lost, could not be replaced, was in danger from fire
I 1 T E K I
A L ]L
GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY. II9
within, as well as from its proximity to other buildings. After various unsuc- cessful appeals to the public and to the State Legislature for aid, the Corpora- tion, with the approbation of the heirs of Christopher Gore, H. U. 1776, the greatest of the benefactors of the College, determined with his bequest, amount- ino- to about seventy thousand dollars, to erect a building for a library that should bear his name. The structure was begun in 1837, and the corner-stone was laid 25th April, 1838. In a cavity, formed upwards in the bottom of the stone which constitutes the plinth of the buttress upon the northeast corner of the building, was deposited a silver plate, contained in a leaden box, the whole imbedded in resin, bearing the following inscription: —
HUJUS ^DIFICII, PECUNIA, QUAM
CHRISTOPHORUS GORE, LL. D.,
UNIVERSITATI HARVARDIANjE MUNIFICE LEGAVERAT,
EXTRUCTI,
FUNDAMENTUM JACTUM EST
A. D. VII. KAL. MAI. ANNI MDCCCXXXVIII. ;
EDVARDO EVERETT, LL. D.,
REIPUBLICjE massachusettensis gubernatore, curatorum preside ;
JOSIA QUINCY, LL. D.,
UNIVERSITATIS PRjESIDE ;
JOSEPHO STORY, LL. D., LEMUELE SHAW, LL. D.,
CAROLO GREELY LORING, A. M., JACOBO WALKER, S. T. D.,
JOANNE AMORY LOWELL, A. M., THOMAS WREN WARD, JEraru Pr^fecto,
SOCIIS.
THADD^O GULIELMO HARRIS RICARDO BOND
ARCHITECTO.
The edifice, built of Quincy granite, in the Gothic style of the fourteenth cen- tury, and with modifications, after the design of King's College Chapel at Cam- bridge, England, is in the form of a Latin cross, the length of the body being 140 feet, and of the transepts 81 J feet. The principal fronts are south and north, with octagonal towers originally 83 feet high. In the interior is a space 112 feet long, with a row of ten columns on each side, rising 35 feet to the ceiling, which is formed of groined vaults, ornamented by ribs rising from the columns and inter- secting each other in various points. The alcoves are formed by partitions ex- tending from the floor to the ceiling between the pillars and the walls, there being a gallery floor supported entirely by bars of wrought-iron, passing from
I20 GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY.
one partition to another across tlie alcoves at the height of 12} feet from the floor. In every part of the structure wood is rejected where its place could be supplied without great increase of cost in the construction, or inconvenience of some kind in the use, by stone, brick, or iron. No timber is used in the main floor, which is formed by brick vaults, filled to a level upon the spandrels, and covered by boards. The roof contains no wood whatever, except the boards or laths to which the slates are fastened. The place of rafters is supplied, through- out, by trusses made of light bars of wrought-iron, which are supported by the walls and by iron purlins ranged through the building upon the tops of the Gothic columns which rise through the ceiling for this purpose, the thrust of these trusses being prevented by iron rods, which take the place of the tie-beams of wooden roofs.
Into this edifice, designed specially for a library instead of being also a store- house for college apparatus and other objects of value and interest, the books were moved in the summer vacation of 1841. To increase the collection, and especially to supply the great want of recent publications, twenty thousand dollars were soon raised by subscription. This was followed by twenty-five thousand dollars for the same purpose, given by William Gray, a graduate of 1829, — the largest gift which the Library had ever received from an individual, and specially opportune.
Besides numerous smaller donations, there have been gifts or bequests of five thousand dollars from James Brown, John Farrar, H. U. 1803, George Hayward, H. U. 1809, Stephen Salisbury, H. U. 181 7, and Frederick Athearn Lane, H. U. 1849, respectively, in addition to the rich libraries of Clarke Gay ton Pickman, H. U. 181 1, Charles Sumner, H. U. 1830, and Henry Ware Wales, H. U. 1838. To these benefactions are to be added the amount of sixty thousand dollars in seven per cent bonds from Charles Minot, H. U. 1828, and the large pecuniary bequest of Charles Sumner.
To the forty-one thousand volumes, of which the Library consisted at the time of removal, about one hundred and nine thousand have been added, making the total number in Gore Hall at this time (1874) nearly one hundred and fifty thousand, besides as many, or more, pamphlets ; filling to repletion the building which was thought to be of " sufficient capacity to contain the probable accumu- lation of books during the present century," — the College having in addition probably sixty thousand or more volumes belonging to other departments and kept in other buildings.
This "probable accumulation," so far exceeding the expectations of the most sanguine friends of the Library, and the magnanimous spirit in which benefac- tors have not only given their treasures, but provided for an increase, make an appeal for the safe keeping of the trusts, which ought not to go unheeded. Not- withstanding the pains taken in the construction of Gore Hall, every year's
GORE HALL AND THE COLLEGE LIBRARY. I21
experience during a third of a century strengthens my conviction of its unsuit- ableness for a library. It is not perfectly secure against fire, is at no time of the year entirely free from dampness, and is so ill planned as to require all the work of the Library to be done under great disadvantages. There is not a private room in it, not even one for the Librarian. The immediate want is a convenient fire-proof edifice with hollow walls, so built as to admit of indefinite enlargement. Such a structure is needed to store the literary treasures already intrusted to the guardianship of the College, and which, if lost, could never be replaced, and to provide for the hundreds of thousands of volumes which must accumulate in the course of a century. The building should be so well fitted for its purpose as to induce persons to prefer it to any other place as the depository for collections on which they have spent years of labor, and about the preservation of which they feel much anxiety.
APPLETON CHAPEL.
The Need of its Erection. — The Donor. — The Original Structure and its early History. Ixs Renovation and present Condition. — The Associations connected with it.
Appleton Chapel is the second building which has been erected in the Col- lege yard, designed solely for public worship. For twenty-two years, from 1744 to 1 766, religious services were held in Holden Chapel ; but, as for more than a century before the erection of Holden there had been no house set apart ex- clusively for this object, so nearly a century passed before another edifice, conse- crated to this purpose alone, was provided. The need of such a structure, suited for devotional exercises, was great. Since these exercises depend for their im- pressiveness very much on their surroundings and on the power of association, no hall which is continually used for many different purposes can ever awaken the same emotions of reverence as a church. Harvard Hall, where the students met for prayers after Holden Chapel was devoted to other uses, was also occu- pied by the library, the philosophical apparatus, and the culinary department. University Hall, which was next taken for divine service, contained, besides the chapel, lecture and recitation rooms, dining-rooms, kitchen, and store-rooms ; and it was impossible for those who had remembrances of failure or frolic in those places to enter the building with the same feelings which they would have in an ordinary house of worship. Rushing up the flights of stone steps, over the brick floor, through the narrow doors, into the uncarpeted room, the noise of the hurrying feet of the belated ones, as they pushed and jostled one another, was not very favorable to the spirit of devotion. The number of undergraduates, moreover, which was steadily increasing, filled the little chapel to overflowing ; and, since it could not be enlarged, a new one was absolutely necessary.
The present building was erected in the year 1858, at a cost of nearly sixty- eight thousand dollars. It was named in honor of Samuel Appleton, of Boston, who died July 11, 1853, and bequeathed two hundred thousand dollars for scien- tific, literary, and charitable purposes. Of this amount, his executors, in Novem- ber, 1854, gave fifty thousand dollars to the College for the erection of a chapel. The ground was broken in July, 1856; the corner-stone was laid May 2, 1857;
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123
and the building was dedicated October 17, 1858, President Walker offering the dedicatory prayer, and Professor Huntington preaching the sermon.
The original design and plans for the edifice were furnished by a German architect. The material is a light sandstone, brought from Pictou, in Nova Scotia. The building, which stands on a line running very nearly east and west, is situated so as to form a right angle with Gore Hall and Holden Chapel. Thayer Hall did not then exist, and the appearance of the Chapel was very pleasing and picturesque, especially to one approaching it from the main gate. It has three doors in front, one on each side, and one in the rear for the minis- ter. The tower supports a vane, and over the principal entrance is a cross. Within, at the east end of the building, there is a deep recess, and, at first, two pulpits were placed, one on each side of the arch which spans it, facing the audi- ence. Afterwards, the pulpit on the north side was taken away, and a lower one or reading-desk was substituted, which was used by Dr. Huntington at morning prayers and on Sunday afternoons, while the other was used on Sunday mornings. At a subsequent period, in order to enable the audience to hear more distinctly, the pulpit which had been taken away was replaced in the centre of the recess, with a sounding-board above, leaving the other pulpit and reading-desk unchanged. Originally there were seats only on the floor of the building, which was capable of containing about seven hundred persons.
The early history of the Chapel is one of prolonged disaster, and scarcely anything seems wanting to the series of calamities which from the very beginning have befallen it. The building-plans were inadequate, and some of the work was poorly done. The framework of the roof separated and became insecure, and after every winter's storm the snow collected in such large quantities that it became necessary that it should be carried out in casks, since otherwise it would have melted, and ruined the ceiling. Meantime, there was no way for entering this part of the edifice, so that a passage had to be cut through the wall of the tower. The organ also, which was described as " a large and fine instrument, such as seemed to be required by the place and the increased attention of the students to sacred music," was of unsatisfactory workmanship, and, being in a recess over the porch, it was seriously affected by the moisture and by the vary- ing temperature of the building. It was repaired repeatedly, and nine years after it had been purchased, five thousand dollars were expended upon it; but the repairs were unsuccessful, and, through some defect of construction, it was con- stantly getting out of order. In addition to these annoyances, it was found that, notwithstanding various expedients which had been tried to improve the acoustic properties of the building, it was with great difficulty that the preacher could be distinctly heard; and it was estimated that fifteen thousand dollars would be re- quired to put the house in a thoroughly satisfactory condition.
A new era, however, in the history of the Chapel opened under the adminis-
124
APPLETON CHAPEL.
tration of President Eliot. Whilst the exterior had been made storm-proof, the interior was entirely reconstructed. Studs and furring were placed against the walls, on which laths and plastering were set, whereby the resonance of the build- ing, which had occasioned so much vexation to the hearers, was almost entirely counteracted. Galleries were put in, which enlarged the number of sittings to nine hundred. New windows, of richly stained glass, bearing the motto " Christo et Ecclesiae " below, and " Veritas " above, were substituted for the former plain ones, and added much to the elegance of the place. A handsome screen was erected behind the pulpit, and the walls and ceiling were decorated in colors. The organ likewise was rebuilt, and it is now one of the most powerful of its size. The pulpit which was used last still stands in its former position, but the others, with the railing in front, have been removed ; and the sounding-board has been taken down, as it was no longer needed, the speaker's voice being easily heard in every part. Connected with the pulpit is a signal-wire, extending to the door, which, pulled when the bell has ceased to ring, indicates to the officiating minis- ter that the exercises should begin. In front of the pulpit is the communion- table, and at the side of it is the baptismal font, of carved stone, and bearing on the top, as an inscription, the last half of Matthew xxviii. 19, in Greek capital letters.
These improvements, which were completed February 22, 1873, were brought about by the liberality of the children of the late Nathan Appleton, of Boston. No building belonging to the University has undergone a greater transformation than this, and from being the least satisfactory, it has become one of the most attractive and commodious of all. It truly fulfils its purpose, speaking at once to the eye and to the spirit, the outward form being in perfect harmony with the idea which it embodies, and appealing to the aesthetic as well as the religious sentiment. Certainly, in this instance, the glory of the latter house is far greater than that of the former.
Appleton Chapel is used for daily prayers and for Sunday services, and it has been opened also on week-days for weddings and funerals. Here the obsequies of General C. R. Lowell, President Felton, Professor Agassiz, and Professor Jeffries Wyman were performed. There is a church connected with the University, which was organized November i, 18 14, and the Lord's Supper is statedly observed. Baptism likewise has been administered from time to time. In the winter of 1873-4 evening services were introduced, conducted by eminent preachers of various denominations, and, being open to the public, they were frequently attended by large congregations. During the last two years also the public performances of Class Day, Commencement, and the Phi Beta Kappa have been held in this place, it being found that nearly as many persons could be accommodated in it as in the meeting-house of the First Parish. When Memorial Hall shall have been completed, these exercises will probably take place there, and the Chapel vi'ill then have, as is to be desired, only strictly religious associations connected with it.
BOYLSTON HALL.
Gift and Bequest of Ward Nicholas Boylston. — Terms of the Bequest. — Extract from President Walker's Annual Report, 1855-56. — Description of the Hall. — Apparatus of Laboratories and Cabinets.
In 1856 there was in the hands of the College Treasurer an accumulating fund, amounting to twenty-three thousand dollars, for building an Anatomical Museum and Chemical Laboratory. This fund, which had been accumulating during a long series of years, originated in gifts of Ward Nicholas Boylston during his lifetime, and was at a later period increased by a bequest of one thousand dol- lars, which accrued to the College after his death, in 1828. This bequest was made in the following terms : —
" I also give to said President and Fellows one thousand dollars, to be added to the accumulating fund for building an Anatomical Museum and Library Room, together with a Lecture Room and Chemical Laboratory; said fund is to accumulate until it amounts to thirty-five thousand dollars, when said edifice is to be built of stone properly secured from fire both from within and from without."
In his Annual Report for 1855-56, President Walker, after stating the facts connected with the origin of the fund just referred to, adds : " At present, accord- ing to the Treasurer's statement, this fund amounts to a little less than twenty- three thousand dollars, but as subscriptions have been obtained which will raise it to forty thousand dollars, it is proposed to go on with the building without further delay. This step is the more necessary and urgent, because the space now occupied by the Chemical Department in University Hall is needed for addi- tional recitation-rooms, and because the laboratory which has been temporarily fitted up in that building is neither convenient nor safe."
The building was begun in the spring of 1857, and was first occupied at the opening of the term in September, 1858. It is built of Rockport granite, and in order to obtain security against fire, all the partition walls were made of brick, and plastered without furring, dampness being avoided by vaultings. The first
J 26 BOYLSTON HALL.
cost of llic building, iacluding the furniture, was fifty thousand dollars. The orio-inal building, however, had only two stories, and the present Mansard roof was added in 1871, at an additional cost of twelve thousand dollars.
Boylston Hall is one hundred and seventeen feet long by seventy wide. The basement, which is twelve feet in height, contains store-rooms, furnaces, boilers, batteries, and various appliances for rough chemical work. The second story, fifteen feet high, has a laboratory for Quantitative Analysis, — with balance-room and assistant's room adjoining, — a large lecture-room, a recitation-room, besides three smaller rooms, — at present occupied by the Curator of the Peabody Museum. The second story, which is twenty-two feet high, and in most of the rooms is divided by galleries, contains an anatomical cabinet, a museum of mineralogy, a cabinet of chemical apparatus, a large chemical lecture-room, and the private laboratory of the Erving Professor. In the third story there is a large chemical laboratory for Qualitative Analysis, a lecture-room, an assistant's room, a store-room, and, in addition, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, which temporarily occupies one third of the story. In the attic there is a room for organic analysis, also a photographic laboratory, and an additional assistant's room.
The laboratories and cabinets of Boylston Hall are well furnished with the apparatus required in the study both of chemistry and of mineralogy. In the laboratory for Quantitative Analysis there are forty desks, and in that for Quali- tative Analysis one hundred. From the store-room the students borrow all the apparatus required in their work, and they pay only for the destruction or de- terioration while in their keeping. The chemical cabinet is supplied both with a very complete apparatus for illustrating chemical phenomena, and also with a large collection of chemical preparations and commercial products. The mineral cabinet is elegant as well as extensive. The nucleus of this collection was a cabinet of minerals purchased in Vienna and presented to the College by the late Theodore Lyman ; and the collection has recently been very greatly increased and improved by the addition of the cabinet of the late Von Liebener of Innsbruck, Tyrol, purchased with funds raised by subscription. Besides the general collection, there is a hand-collection for the use of students, and large sets of crystal models both in glass and in wood. There is also an extensive lithological collection, which, however, for want of room, cannot be displayed.
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PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY.
The Foundation of the Museum by a Gift of the late George Peabody. — The Conditions of THE Gift. — The Professorship provided for by the Gift still unfilled. — The Groups into which the Portion of the Collection arranged for Exhibition has been divided.
This Museum was founded by the late George Peabody, the Letter of Gift and the Instrument of Trust both bearing date October 8, 1866. He gave, in all, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, under the following conditions, namely, that sixty thousand dollars be set aside as a separate fund until, with the accrued interest, it amounts to one hundred thousand dollars, " when it may be employed in the erection of a suitable fire-proof museum building " ; forty-five thousand dol- lars shall form a fund " the income of which shall be applied to forming and preserving collections of antiquities and objects relating to the earlier races of the American continent," or " such as shall be requisite for the investigation and illus- tration of Archaeology and Ethnology in general, in main and special reference, however, to the aboriginal American races " ; the income of a further sum of forty- five thousand dollars shall be applied to the establishment and maintenance of a Professorship of American Archaeology and Ethnology in Harvard University. " Until this professorship is filled, or during the time it may be vacant, the in- come of the fund appropriated to it shall be devoted to the care and increase of the collections."
The Trustees have not thought it desirable to fill the Professorship as yet, and consequently the income of the Professor fund has been used agreeably to the directions contained in the last paragraph. The object of the Trustees hav- ing been to bring together collections as rapidly as possible, these now form a very valuable series, pertaining to the Ethnology and Archaeology of both the Old World and the New. That portion which is arranged for exhibition is contained in the room over the Anatomical Museum, in Boylston Hall, and has been divided into the following groups : —
1. Implements and personal ornaments made of stone, shell, bone, wood, and
128 PEABODY MUSEUM.
copper, all at present or formerly used by the North American Indians. The collection made in Alaska by Captain Edward G. Fast is very valuable, and com- prises a great variety of tools, ornaments, weapons, dresses, masks, carvings in wood, bone, etc.
2. Objects from Mexico, consisting chiefly of the interesting collection of tcrra-cottas presented by the Hon. Caleb Cushing, and casts of various Mexican sculptures presented by the Smithsonian Institution.
3. Objects from Central and South America, including a valuable series of terra-cotlas from the former, obtained by Dr. Berendt, and of pottery and imple- ments from Brazil by Professor C. F. Hartt.
4. An extensive collection of stone implements from Denmark, chiefly of chipped flint, and representing nearly every variety of form wrought by the pre- historic inhabitants of that country.
5. Implements from the unpolished stone period in France, derived from the gravels of the Somme ; also implements of the polished stone periods, and a great variety of objects made of bone, and antler of the deer, skilfully ornamented with engravings ; also fragments of the floors of the caves and rock-shelter dwell- ings of Dordogne. They are chiefly from the Mortillet and Christy collections.
6. Pottery, implements of stone, bone, and wood, fragments of textile fabrics, fruits, grains, etc., from the lake-dwellings of Switzerland. They were mostly obtained by the late Dr. Clement at the stations of Concise and St. Aubin, on Lake Neufchatel. To these have been added the collections made by Professor Agassiz and presented to the Peabody Museum by the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
7. Fragments of pottery and stone implements from the lake-dwellings of Northern Italy.
8. The Nicolucci collection of stone implements from Middle and Southern Italy, presented by Colonel Theodore Lyman.
9. A collection of Etruscan vases, presented by Signor Augusto Castellani of Rome.
10. Paddles, spears, bows and arrows, and other weapons from different parts of the world.
11. A collection of nearly four hundred human crania from various sources, but chiefly from Peru, the mounds of the West and South, the Hawaian Islands, and Italy, those from the last being a part of the Nicolucci collection.
12. Aboriginal American pottery, both ancient and modern, from the mounds of the West, Peru, and from the existing tribes.
Besides the above, there are considerable collections from various parts of the worid, which are at present kept in storage, for want of sufficient room to exhibit them.
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GRAYS HALL.
Location. — Description of the Building. — The Tablets. — Reasons for erecting the Build- ing. — The Name.
Grays Hall stands at the southern end of the quadrangle of brick buildings, directly opposite Holworthy Hall at the northern end. It has a frontage of one hundred and twenty-eight feet and eight inches, and consists of a central pavilion and two wings. There is no internal communication between the three portions of the building. The central portion has a frontage of forty-two feet and eight inches, and is fifty feet deep. It is four stories high, with a Mansard roof form- ing a fifth story. In the centre between the second and third story windows, there is a stone tablet representing the College seal ; and in the fourth story there are two tablets, one on each side of the central window: the one on the left giving the date of the founding of the College, 1636; the one on the right, the date of the erection of the Hall, 1863. The wings have each a frontage of forty-three feet, and a depth of forty-five feet and eight inches. They are one story lower than the central portion, and have Mansard roofs. The whole building contains fifty-two suites of rooms, twenty in the central portion and sixteen in each of the wings. Each suite consists of a study and an alcove bedroom. The studies in the central portion are fifteen feet by eighteen feet eight inches ; those in the wings, sixteen feet by sixteen feet six inches. The bedrooms are all eight feet square. There are fireplaces in all the large rooms, and ventilating flues in every room throughout the building. The material is brick with granite trimmings.
When Grays Hall was built, the number of rooms in the College buildings for the accommodation of students was less than half what it now is ; the amount charged for rent was the same for all the rooms ; and an assignment of rooms was made every year, according to a principle which gave to those students who had been the longest time in College, or who had been occupying the poorest rooms, the first choice. There were not rooms enough to supply the demand,
I30
GRAYS HALL.
and Grays Hall was erected by the Corporation as an investment of College funds. A higher rent was charged for the rooms, and students were under no obligation to change their rooms every year. The name of " Grays " was given to the Hall, to commemorate the munificence of three of the more recent (two of them still living) benefactors of the College, Francis Galley Gray, John Chipman Gray, and William Gray; the last of whom, besides other gifts, had contributed, for five years, the sum of five thousand dollars a year for the purchase of books for the Library, while the first is known by the magnificent collection of engrav- ings that bears his name, and the second furnished for a series of years funds for valuable prizes in the mathematical department.
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THAYER HALL.
Erected in 1869-70. — Location. — Description of the Hall. — Mr. Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, the Donor of the Building. — Inscription on the Tablet. — Nathaniel Thayer, D. D. — Mr. John Eliot Thayer.
Thayer Hall was built in the years 1869 and 1870, and was first occupied by students in the fall of the latter year. It stands nearly on a line with University Hall and directly in front of the Chapel. The selection of this site gave rise at first to considerable unfavorable comment. This arose from igno- rance of the plans which had been formed, before the erection" of the Chapel, for the completion of the quadrangle, whenever an increase in the number of students should make an additional number of dormitories necessary. The build- ing is divided into three entirely distinct portions by two brick walls, extending from the basement to the roof. The central portion, which rises one story higher than the other two, is entered from the side facing the College yard. The en- trances to the other portions are at the ends of the building. The general form of the building is that of a parallelogram, two hundred and thirteen feet long and forty-six feet wide, but the width is not the same at all points. It contains sixty-eight suites of rooms, with accommodations for one hundred and sixteen stu- dents. The material of the building is brick, with freestone trimmings ; and its cost was about one hundred thousand dollars.
Thayer Hall was a gift to the College from Nathaniel Thayer of Boston. In making his gift in this form, Mr. Thayer was influenced by three considerations: a pressing need of increased accommodations for students would be, in part, sup- plied ; a large addition to the annual income of the College would be secured, so long as the building was new enough to need few repairs; and an additional monument would be erected to the memory of two persons, one of whom had been a distinguished graduate of the College, and the other a prominent benefac- tor. A tablet in the interior of the building, upon the right hand of the entrance to the central portion, has the following inscription : —
1-2 THAYER HALL.
THIS HALL IS ERECTED BY NATHANIEL THAYER
IN MEMORY OF HIS FATHER
NATHANIEL THAYER D. D.
AND OF HIS BROTHER
JOHN ELIOT THAYER 1870
Rev. Dr. Thayer was a graduate of Harvard College in the Class of 1789, and held the position of tutor during the College year 1792-3. In the summer of the latter year he accepted a call to preach at Lancaster, Mass., where he remained as a pastor, greatly esteemed by his congregation, and universally respected as a man of unusual tact and sagacity, until his death in 1840.
John Eliot Thayer was the founder of the scholarships which bear his name. He had never been a student in College nor been connected in any way with the management of College affairs, but, upon his death, he bequeathed to three trustees the sum of fifty thousand dollars, the income of which was to be paid to the ten most meritorious scholars needing such aid. Previously to this bequest the number of scholarships which had been founded in the College was only six, and the aggregate income from them all was less than one thousand dollars ; but Mr. Thayer's example has been since followed by other liberal givers, until the number of scholarships now amounts to ninety-two.
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MATTHEWS HALL.
Gift of Nathan Matthews. — First occupied, 1872-3. — Description of the Building. — Site. . — Conditions of Mr. Matthews's Gift. — The Indian College.
In November, 1870, Mr. Nathan Matthews, of Boston, expressed to the Cor- poration his wish to build, under certain conditions, a College Hall of the value of at least one hundred thousand dollars. The conditions were readily accepted by the Corporation, and work was begun on the building in the spring of 1870. It was first occupied by students at the beginning of the academic year 1872-3. It is about one hundred and seventy-five feet long by fifty feet wide, and is five stories high, the fifth story being in the gables and roof It is built in Gothic style, of Nova Scotia stone and face brick. A solid wall through the centre divides the building into two distinct portions, between which there is no com- munication on the inside. There are sixty suites of rooms, each consisting of a study about fourteen feet by seventeen, and two bedrooms, each about eleven by six and a half feet. There are closets to all the bedrooms, and double doors, with vestibule, to all the suites. There are also, to nearly all the suites, vesti- bule closets. The interior finish of the entries and of the rooms in the three lower stories is of chestnut. The view given shows the east front, and exhibits to advantage the masonry of the terrace and the bay-windows, which form the distinctive features of the building. Upon the west front, facing the street, there are similar windows and a corresponding terrace. The total cost of the Hall was not far from one hundred and twenty thousand dollars.
In conformity with the general plan of completing a quadrangle of buildings in the College yard, a site for Matthews Hall was chosen in the gap between Massachusetts and Dane Halls. This gap was originally not long enough to re- ceive so large a building, and it was found necessary to move Dane Hall seventy feet towards the south, and to make certain changes in the Old President's house, now known as Wadsworth House, in order to enlarge and improve the site and furnish room for such a building as Mr. Matthews wished to erect.
134
MATTHEWS HALL.
The conditions imposed by Mr. Matthews, when making his liberal gift to the College, were that one half of the net income from the Hall should be used to provide scholarships for students who enter College with the intention of becoming ministers in the Protestant Episcopal Church, while the other half should be applied to the general uses of the College, or to some special object to be afterwards determined. In accordance with these conditions twelve Matthews Scholarships, with an annual income of three hundred dollars each, have been established. The gross receipts per year for rent of rooms in this Hall, when all are occupied, exceeds twelve thousand dollars.
Matthews Hall is not the first College building which has stood upon this site. As long ago as 1666 the Society for Propagating the Gospel erected here a dormitory of brick for the accommodation of the Indian students. The graduation of one of that race the previous year had given rise to the hope that success would crown the efforts made to elevate them in the scale of civilization ; but the hope was delusive, and the Indian College, no longer needed for its original purpose, was afterward used for the College printing-press. It is probable that the second edition of the Indian Bible, in 1685, was printed in this building. When the excavations were made for the foundations of Matthews Hall, a line of ancient wall is said to have been unearthed,* which may have once formed a part of the Indian College ; but of this there can be no certainty, on account of the absence of records to establish beyond a doubt the exact situation of the old building.
* Thomas Coffin Amory in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for July, 1871.
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WELD HALL.
Stephen Minot Weld. — His Interest in Harvard College. — Weld Hall erected to his Memory by his Brother, William F. Weld. — Description of the Hall. — Inscriptions on THE Tablets.
The Honorable Stephen Minot Weld, of the Class of 1826, in whose memory Weld Hall was built, was born September 29, 1808, and died December 13, 1867. For a number of years he was an active and successful teacher. His sagacity in the management of affairs, his practical good sense, his admirable tact, and above all his genial and sympathetic nature, endeared him to a large circle of friends, and inspired implicit confidence in his character. He held many important pub- lic trusts, and no name was more conspicuous in the community than his. His interest in the College was deep and untiring. As an overseer, he took a hearty part in all measures for the good of the College ; to his exertions the acquisition of the Circle of the Harvard College Observatory was mainly due ; he was also one of the first to conceive the idea of erecting a Memorial Hall, and pushed the project with earnestness and success. Among the benefactors of the College, he was one of the most liberal.
Weld Hall is a hall of chambers, begun March i, 1871 ; and completed Septem- ber 4, 1872. It was built by Mr. William F. Weld, of Boston, elder brother of Stephen M. Weld. Its extreme dimensions are one hundred and forty-three feet by fifty-one feet in plan, and it contains fifty-four studies, averaging sixteen feet by seventeen feet each ; of these, twenty-two studies are connected with single bedrooms, seven feet by thirteen feet, and the rest communicate each with a large double bedroom or two single bedrooms. Each study is provided with an open fireplace, all the rooms have large closets, and each suite is provided with an outer and an inner door and an intermediate vestibule, on which also opens a closet containing bins for fuel.
The building has two central staircase halls, fifteen feet by thirty-one feet, lighted and ventilated each by a lantern or louvre which rises above the roof
136 WELD HALL.
The main entrance, wliicli is on the west front, is by two wide arches opening on a large porch or loggia, twenty-one feet by twenty-five feet, paved with mar- ble tiles. This porch has a heavily panelled ceiling in wood, brick walls, and in the panels opposite the entrance arches are inserted stone tablets bearing the following inscriptions : —
[On the Left-hand Tablet.) STEPHANO . MINOT . WELD VIRO . DE . VNIVERSITATE . OPTIME • MERITO FRATRI . FRATER
[On the Right-hand Tablet.]
MORTVVS . EST . A • CIO • ID • CCC • XXVII
J.X . ANNOS . NATVS
AEDIFCATVM . A . CIO . 10 • CCC • XXXI
The porch communicates with the two staircase halls by doors opening in its right and left walls. The staircase halls have also rear exits. A large double lift for coal, etc., is provided in a closet opening from each staircase hall on every stoiy ; this closet also contains a large public sink.
All the studies, excepting the sixteen in the central part of the building, and all the double bedrooms, are provided with windows looking in two directions, and no rooms receive an exclusively north light.
The building is built of brick with belts of light sandstone, with two gabled projections on the west and two opposite on the east side, each projection being provided with an oriel-window. The sky-line is further broken by the two stair- case towers and by clustered chimney shafts. The decorative features of the ex- terior are Elizabethan in character.
iwi !H House, CAMBBmsn. Th'- mmbridse is Harvn'fl -
THE OLD PRESIDENT'S HOUSE.
The House built in 1726. — Interesting Facts connected with its early History. — List of THE Presidents who have resided in the House. — Evidence showing that Washington MADE his Headquarters there for a short Time. — The Changes made in the House since its original Construction. — The Uses to which the House has been put.
This venerable building, now called " The Wadsworth House," fronting on what was formerly known as Braintree Street, now Harvard Street, just opposite the newly built " Holyoke House," was erected in 1726. President Wadsworth was inaugurated on Commencement Day, July 7, 1725. The General Court, six months afterwards, passed an order making his salary four hundred pounds for one year ; and further to provide for the future wants of the President of the College, they resolved, that one thousand pounds should be paid to the Corpo- ration by them, to be used for building a handsome wooden dwelling-house, barn, and outhouses, on some part of the College lands, " for the reception and accommodation of the Reverend the President of Harvard College for the time being." * The sum voted was inadequate for the purpose, and the Corporation, in an address to the General Court, January 18, 1726, express a willingness to employ the funds for the object named as well as they are able, " unless the General Court should see meet to entertain a new thought, and build it by a committee of their own choosing." This suggestion the General Court did not see fit to entertain, and the College itself entered upon the work. The site se- lected was upon the line which divided two lots of land, of an acre and one eighth each, owned by the College many years before, known as the Eaton and * See the Journals of the House for December 31, 1725, and January i, 1726.
138 THE OLD PRESIDENT'S HOUSE.
the Goffc lots, on a plan to be seen on the twentieth page of Volume Second. The width of both lots on the street was considerably less than two hundred feet, and embraced all the land the College then owned on that street, if we ex- cept one piece of about an acre, called the "Fellows Orchard," with a frontage of perhaps one hundred and twenty feet, on the rear part of which Gore Hall was afterwards built. The house was "raised" in the following May. In Presi- dent Wadsworth's MS. " Book relating to College Affairs," in the College Library, is this entry in his own hand : " The President's house to dwell in was raised May 24, 1726. No life was lost, nor person hurt in raising it; thanks be to God for his preserving goodness. In y° Evening, those who raised y" House, had a Supper in y° Hall; after wch we sang y' first stave or staff in y' 127 Psalm."
But the pecuniary embarrassments under which the College had to struggle were not ended. " The sum granted by the General Court, as had been antici- pated, proved insufficient, and, being expended, the Corporation had no other resource than to apply to them again for relief Accordingly, in August, 1726, they addressed a memorial to the Legislature, acknowledging thankfully their bounty in granting a thousand pounds, which, although they had expended with ' the utmost care and frugality,' the President's house was not yet finished ; and, after proffering an exhibition of their accounts to whomsoever the General Court should appoint, they ' humbly entreat the Court to enable them to obey their former order, viz., to build and finish a handsome house for the President ' ; and they terminate their urgent request for an additional grant with the following graphic account of the difficulties in which President Wadsworth and his family were involved : ' He can nowhere hire a convenient house for himself, and his family is divided, some dwelling in one house and some in another. His house- hold goods are disposed of in several houses and barns. These difficult circum- stances render the speedy finishing a house for his reception very necessary, which have obliged us to take the first opportunity to lay this representation before the Honorable Court, which we do in all humility.'"*
This appeal to the General Court was without effect, and in October the Over- seers recommended to the Corporation to proceed to finish the house before winter for the reception of the President. This advice was acted on, the Cor- poration using its credit with the workmen. But winter was approaching, and President Wadsworth's family were subjected to so many inconveniences for want of a suitable residence, that they took possession of the house when not half finished within. In his diary, before referred to, he says: "27 Oct., 1726. This night some of our family lodged at y' New House built for y^ President. Nov. 4, at night was y" first time y' my wife & I lodg'd there. The House was not half finished within." The house was completed in the following January, and an
* Quincy's Hist, of Harvard University, I. 381.
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THE OLD PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 139
account of the debt incurred by the Corporation was presented in a memorial to the General Court, asking for relief None was granted, and the amount was paid out of the College treasury. The building cost eighteen hundred pounds, of which the General Court paid one thousand pounds, and " have enjoyed the credit ever since," says Mr. Quincy, " of building a house for the President of the College."
This house continued to be the residence of the Presidents of the College down to and including the Presidency of Mr. Everett, who continued to reside in it for some time after he had ceased to be President, in 1849. President Wadsworth died in 1737, and the following is a list of succeeding Presidents who have occupied the " President's House," with the date of their acccssus : Edward Holyoke, 1737; Samuel Locke, 1770; Samuel Langdon, 1774; Joseph Willard, 1781 ; Samuel Webber, 1806; John Thornton Kirkland, 18 10; Josiah Quincy, 1829; Edward Everett, 1846. On the accession of Mr. Sparks, in 1849, he, hav- ing a large and convenient house of his own in Cambridge, in which he was residing, chose to remain in it; and no President of the College has since re- sided in the old official residence.
After the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, and during the whole period of the siege of Boston, Cambridge was made the headquarters of the American army ; it was a large camp. The College buildings were surrendered to the troops. The library was removed to a safer place of deposit ; the students and the teach- ers were dispersed. President Langdon remained for a time in Cambridge, preached occasionally to the soldiers, and was once chosen chaplain pro tempore.
In anticipation of General Washington's arrival, to take command of the army here, the Provincial Congress, sitting at Watertown, on June 26th, " Resolved, that the President's house in Cambridge, excepting one room reserved by the Presi- dent for his own use, be taken, cleared, prepared, and furnished for the reception of General Washington and General Lee, and that a committee be chosen imme- diately to carry the same into execution." On the ist of July the Congress " Ordered, that the committee for the procuring and furnishing a house for Gen- erals Washington and Lee be directed to purchase what things are necessary that they cannot hire." On the following day, Sunday, " a little after 1 2 o'clock at noon," Washington and Lee arrived, and took possession of the quarters as- signed to them.
The opinion has hitherto prevailed for many years that Washington's only headquarters in Cambridge were at the Vassall House, now the residence of Mr. Longfellow; but we shall see that this house was not assigned to him, nor occu- pied by him, till some time after his arrival here.
There seems to have been some delay in properly furnishing the house first assigned to Washington. The materials probably could not easily be procured, and it may not have been known of whom, and of how many, his military family
140
THE OLD PRESIDENT'S HOUSE.
would consist. On the 5th of July the Congress " Ordered, that the committee api)ointcd to jjrocure necessary furniture for the house provided for General Washington, complete the business by purchase or by borrowing." On the same day a committee was appointed by the Congress " to confer with General Washino-ton on the subject of furnishing his table, and know what he expects relative thereto, and that they sit forthwith."
On the 6th of July, four days after Washington's arrival, it was by the Con- gress " Ordered, that the Committee of Safety [the real Executive of the Congress] be a committee to desire General Washington to let them know if there is any house at Cambridge that would be more agreeable to him and General Lee than that in which they now are ; and in that case the said committee are directed to procure such house, and put it in proper order for their reception."* On turn- ing to the records of the Committee of Safety, we find, under the date of July 8th, the following : " Whereas it is necessary that the house of Mr. John Vassall, or- dered by Congress for the residence of his Excellency General Washington, should be immediately put in such condition as may make it convenient for that purpose, therefore. Resolved, that Mr. Timothy Austin be and he is hereby empowered and authorized to put said house in proper order for the purposes above mentioned; and that he procure such assistance and furniture as may be necessary to put said house in proper condition for the reception of his Excellency and his attendants."
This house of John Vassall is the one subsequently known as the " Craigie House" and "Washington's Headquarters." Sabine tells us that "early in 1775" Vassall " was driven from his seat by mobs and took up his residence in Boston." Congress had, some time previously, appropriated the house to the use of the Committee of Safety, and as early as the 26th of May that body had directed it
* On the 7th it was " ordered that the committee appointed to procure a steward for General Washington be directed to procure him two or three women, for coolcs." It was also ordered, at the same time, " that the committee appointed to inquire how General Washington's table should be furnished be a committee to bring in a resolve for the purpose of complying with the requisition of General Washington relative thereto," etc. It was also ordered that certain persons named " be a committee to wait upon General Lee, to know of him what provision he expects should be made by this Congress for the furnishing of his table." On the 8th, a committee previously appointed re- ported an order, which was accepted, directing " a committee to make inquiry forthwith for some ingenious, active, and faithful man to be recommended to General Washington as a steward ; like- wise, to procure and recommend to him some capable woman, suitable to act in the place of a housekeeper, and one or more good female servants." Mrs. Washington was now at Mt. Vernon. She joined her husband in Cambridge on the nth of December following, and remained till the next spring. Ebenezer Austin was appointed Washington's steward soon after the passage of the order above given, and served as long as Washington remained in Cambridge. On the gth of July the Congress "resolved that Deacon Cheever be a committee to bring in a resolve, empowering the committee of supplies to furnish General Washington with such articles of household furniture as he had wrote to said committee for."
THE OLD PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 141
to be cleared immediately of " the souldiers now lodged there." Although this house, as well as others in Cambridge belonging to refugees, had been taken possession of for the use of the government, it was not formally confiscated till some years later. We find no date to determine precisely when Washington took possession of his new quarters. It was probably during the month of July. It would require some days to put the house in order for him. In Washington's own account-book, under date of July 15, is a charge for having himself paid a sum of money for cleaning the house assigned for his quarters, it having been occupied, he says, by the Marblehead regiment. In Thatcher's " Military Journal " — which is not a diary, but a record of events, sometimes under a particular month, and sometimes under the day of the month — we find under the date of " July," when the record is supposed to have been made, an account of the battle of Bunker Hill, and of the arrival of Washington in Cambridge, which latter event he did not witness personally. Thatcher entered upon his duties as assist- ant surgeon in the hospital there on the 15th of July, and in his record of that month he says that Washington had " established his headquarters in a con- venient house about half a mile from Harvard College, and in the vicinity of our hospital " (the latter is supposed to be the house now owned and occupied by the venerable Samuel Batchelder). This is followed by an entry under the date of July 20 ; and if we may suppose the entries to have been originally made as in the printed volume, it would show that Washington, at this time, was already settled in his new quarters. However that may be, there still seems to have been delay in furnishing Washington's new quarters, or perhaps new exigencies called for new supplies. As late as the 2 2d of July, the House of Represent- atives (the Provincial Congress having been dissolved on the 1 9th) " Resolved, that the Committee of Safety be desired to complete the furnishing General Washington's house, and in particular provide him four or five more beds."
In this venerable mansion — the President's House — were undoubtedly penned the first despatches of the Commander-in-Chief to Congress, to Richard Henry Lee, and to General Schuyler, of date July 10.
After the siege of Boston was raised, in March, 1776, the camp at Cambridge was broken up, and on the 21st of June the students had reassembled within the walls of the College, after an absence of fourteen months.
There have been some additions made to the President's House since its origi- nal construction. The enlargement of the dining and drawing rooms, by the addition of the wings on each side the building, was made under the direction of Mr. Treasurer Storer, whose office embraced the long period from 1777 to 1807. " The room in the rear of the drawing-room, on the right hand as you enter, was the President's study, until the presidency of Webber, when the end of the house was added, with a kitchen and chamber and dressing-room very
142 THE OLD PRESIDENTS HOUSE.
commodiously arranged, I was told, under the direction of Mrs. Webber."* The brick building, which stood on the left hand of the mansion as the spectator faces it, and communicated with it, " was built at the same time for the Presi- dent's study and Freshman's room beneath it, and for the preservation of the College manuscripts."! Mrs. Dana, the daughter of President Webber, now liv- ing in Cambridge, informs the writer that the brick building was erected during her father's administration, and under his supervision, but that he died before it was ready for occupation. In 1871, it was moved back, turned round at right angles, and joined to the extreme rear part of the house. The steward's office has for several years been kept in it ; and the College has there its printing-press. After Mr. Everett left the Presidential mansion, it was leased for some years as a students' boarding-house, and at the present time it is used partly as a dormitory for students, some of its rooms being let to professors and teach- ers. A new President's House was built in Ouincy Street during President Felton's administration, and the old mansion is now known as the " Wadsworth House." No house in Cambridge, and but few houses in this country, have received within their walls so many distinguished men and women as has the old President's House, t When we think of the eminent men whose official residence it has been for so many years, and who have made it the centre of literary and social attraction to illustrious guests ; when we remember that it is, with the ex- ception of " Massachusetts," the oldest of the College buildings, — we are led to express the hope that the venerable mansion will not be allowed to perish, and be numbered with the things that were.
* Miss Quincy to the writer. See Proceedings Mass. Hist. Society for September, 1872. t Ibid.
t The following note from Miss E. S. Quincy, daughter of the late President Quincy, will find an appropriate place here : —
" In October, 1830, Dr. Holbrook, of Milton, visited President and Mrs. Quincy, and gave an ac- count of his residence at Cambridge during the siege of Boston, in 1775, when he was attached to the medical staff of the American army. ' The President's House was given to the commissary of the army,' said Dr. Holbrook, ' and I was quartered at the house of Mr. Phips, in this neighborhood. The Colleges were much injured by the garrison. The apartments of Harvard Hall, except the one used as the Library, were filled with barrels of salt beef, brought by the country people for the army.
"'During the siege a shell, thrown by the British from Copp's Hill, struck the Square near the President's House : the fuse was yet burning, and a soldier went and stamped it out at the peril of his life. General Washington rode round the camp every day, and I have often seen him here in the President's house.'
" Dr. Holbrook was an eminent physician, and was past eighty years of age when he gave this ac- count His usefiU and honorable life soon after ended. The incident he related of the shell thrown by the British from Copp's Hill, and which must have passed very near the President's House, proved that it was not an eligible residence for the Commander-in-Chief.
"ELIZA SUSAN QUINCY. "S Park Stkeet, Boston, May 14, 1874."
^
THE DANA HOUSE.
Erected in 1823. — Alterations. — Estate purchased by the College. — Efforts to establish AN Astronomical Observatory. — Directors. — Meridian Line located. — Apparatus re- moved to the New Observatory. — Occupants since 1844.
The house on the southwestern corner of Harvard and Quincy Streets, now occupied by Rev. Dr. A. P. Peabody, was built by the family of Richard H. Dana, Esq., in 1823, and was occupied by them from that time until 1832. The external appearance and the internal arrangements of the house remain essentially the same as when it was first built, the only changes being the addition of a cupola, and of a small wing on the western side, both designed for uses hereafter to be mentioned. At the time when the house was built, the College grounds extended eastward scarcely beyond the line on which Gore Hall now stands. A few years afterwards Quincy Street was laid out, and Dr. Beck, Professor Chan- ning, and Mr. Buckingham erected dwelling-houses on the eastern side of it. In 1835 the Corporation of the College purchased the estate belonging to the Dana family, and also the land belonging to the heirs of Abraham Bigelow, at the western corner of Quincy Street and Broadway, including the triangle on which the Gymnasium now stands, and thus extended the College grounds to Quincy Street. It is to be regretted that the growth and future wants of the College could not have been foreseen at a still earlier period. A less expenditure of money than that which extended the College line to Quincy Street in 1835, would have carried it to Trowbridge Street in 1820. But at this period the College was supposed to need money more than land.
Earnest but unsuccessful movements towards the establishment of an Astro- nomical Observatory were made at first in 1816 by Professor Farrar and Dr. Bowditch, and again in 1823 by John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State of the United States. They preferred for this purpose a position in the immediate neighborhood of the College grounds, and negotiations were begun for the pur- chase of two and one half acres of the Dana estate, which, in different branches of the family, had extended to the top of Dana Hill. In the division of the property, the land between the old College line and Trowbridge Street (with the
144 THE DANA HOUSE.
exception of the parsonage a little west of Dr. Peabody's present residence and the lot at the corner of Quincy Street and Broadway, already mentioned) fell to the share of Rev. Edmund Dana, uncle of Richard H. Dana, Esq., the venerable poet and author, still living in a green old age. It was on that part of the di- vided estate which was in closest proximity to the College that it was proposed to place the Observatory, in order to make it of convenient access to professors and students. Nothing, however, was accomplished in this direction until the autumn of 1839, when the house at the corner of Quincy and Harvard Streets was appropriated by the College to this object, the cupola with a revolving dome was placed upon the roof for the accommodation of a reflecting telescope, and a long range of low buildings was erected on the western side of the house to ac- commodate the transit instrument and a complete set of Lloyd's apparatus for obsei-ving the elements of terrestrial magnetism. This rudimentary Observatory was placed under the charge of Professor Joseph Lovering and William C. Bond, Esq., and they occupied the old house as a residence. The Observatory was furnished, partly by instruments belonging to the College, partly by others which were the private property of Mr. Bond, with the addition of new ones purchased by sub- scription. Some valuable work in Astronomy, Meteorology, and the Physics of the Globe was done at this primitive observatory, in co-operation either with the South Sea Expedition of the United States Government, or with the other magnetic observatories, which, at the instigation of Gauss and Humboldt, had suddenly sprung up all over the earth.
The meridian line of the transit instrument intersected the top of Blue Hill in Milton, where a substantial tower of solid masonry was built, on the top of which was placed the meridian mark, at a distance of eleven miles in an air-line from the transit-room. After this meridian line had been established, an old barn was moved to the southern side of Main Street, and placed, either by accident or design, exactly south of the transit instrument, so as to obstruct the view of the meridian mark. It was necessary to purchase the right of way for the light to come through this barn, and a tunnel was cut out in the roof In the autumn of 1844 the new Observatory was finished, and Mr. Bond took possession of the house connected with it as the residence of its director. Most of the additions which had been made to the house in Quincy Street were removed to the grounds of the new Observatory, and the house itself was rented. Professor Felton occu- pied the house for a few years, beginning probably with 1844, and ending cer- tainly in the summer of 1849, when the new house, at the corner of Quincy Street and Broadway, which the Corporation of the College built for him, was completed. Between the autumns of 1855 and i860 Rev. F. D. Huntington occupied the house which is the subject of this notice: since i860 Rev. A. P. Peabody has lived in it. At various intervals, not covered by this narrative, the house was rented to persons in no way connected with the College.
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THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE.
Gift of the Hon. Peter C. Brooks, in 1846. — Accumulation of the Fund. — The President's House erected in 1861. — First occupied by President Felton. — President Eliot gives UP the House for Use as a Hospital. — Location. — Magnetic Observatory. — Arrange- ment of Rooms. — Surroundings.
In April, 1846, a few months after the accession of President Everett, the Hon. Peter C. Brooks gave to the President and Fellows of Harvard College the sum of ten thousand dollars, " in aid of the erection of a dwelling-house for the President of the University, and his successors." This fund was accumu- lating until August, i860, when it amounted to $20,060.83. Meanwhile, in April of that year, just after the accession of President Felton, the treasurer had been authorized to contract for building a President's house, to cost, including "fix- tures, and fencing and grading of the grounds, and architect's commissions, not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars." The plans were drawn and the work super- vised by Edward C. Cabot, architect, and the whole finished in July, 1861, at a cost of $16,452.90. President Felton occupied it until his lamented death in February of the succeeding year. President Hill lived there during the six years of his administration; and in July, 1867, the porch was erected over the front door, by vote of the Corporation. President Eliot has occupied it since his accession, except for the brief period during which he generously gave it up for use as a hospital for students suffering under infectious disease. During his occupancy the house has been further improved by an additional skylight.
The site of this building is on Quincy Street, which it faces, next to the corner house on Harvard Street. Professor William C. Bond occupied this corner house on his first coming to Cambridge, in 1840; and during the magnetic cru- sade of the following three years, a magnetic observatory stood nearly on the site of the new President's house, the magnetic observations being principally taken by a volunteer corps of undergraduates.
The house stands well back from the street, and has open space on all sides, the lawn sloping, on the west, down to Gore Hall. Within the front door is a
146 'I'ME PRESIDENT'S HOUSE.
vestibule, five feet by ten, which opens by a small door into a little office on the left, and by a large door into the entry, ten feet by twelve. From this entry you may go to the left into the same office, or to the right into a sitting-room thirteen feet by fifteen ; or, keeping your back to the front door, you may enter the drawing-room to the left, eighteen feet by twenty-eight; or, passing under an archway, on the right, enter the dining-room, sixteen feet by twenty-two; or, turn to the right beyond the sitting-room, and find the front stairs, and by the side of them a passage to a convenient kitchen, fifteen by twenty, pantiy ten by ten, and other rooms and back entry.
The drawing-room has a large bay-window on the south toward Harvard Street, and a French window opening westward upon the College yard. It also connects by a wide door with the dining-room. Upon the second story are five chambers in the main building, and two in the wing over the kitchen and pantry, where there are also a convenient bath-room and a cedar closet, for storing wool- lens and furs. In the attic of the main house are four chambers. All the rooms in this and in the second story are well furnished with closets, and are warmed by heated air, the principal ones having also open fireplaces. The furnace is in the cellar, which is thoroughly drained, and underlaid thickly with broken stone, and a concrete floor. Over this, under the wing, a floor is laid, with every convenience given for a laundry.
The cellar walls are well laid of stone ; the walls of the first story are hollow walls of brick, standing on a granite underpinning ; over the front door the brick is carried up to the gable, and the College seal, cut in brown freestone, inserted. The second story is formed by a French roof, the lower pitch being sufficiently steep to give the chambers upright walls, and the upper pitch steep enough to make the attic rooms very convenient. The brick walls are very plain, but of fine, smooth, hard brick, and are surmounted by a somewhat orna- mental fascia and eaves in wood. The roof is covered with plain slates. Seen from Quincy Street, as one approaches from Broadway, the effect of the archi- tecture is pleasing, or would be so for a private dwelling; but as it is seen from the College yard and from Harvard Street, there is an unpleasant effect pro- duced by the steepness of the first pitch of the roof, and by the break of the material, and of the lines in the end toward Gore Hall. As a place of residence, its charms consist in the sunny aspect of the office and drawing-room (and the corresponding chambers), and in the beauty of its situation, looking out, on all sides, upon trees, shrubbery, and grass, near enough to be seen, without being near enough to give dampness to the air.
JOSIAH QUINCY.
JosiAH OuiNCY, the sixteenth President of Harvard University, was born in Boston, on the 4th of February, 1772. He was the son of Josiah Ouincy, Jr., an active patriot of the pre-Revolutionary period, who died on his return from a visit to England, undertaken partly for health and partly for political pur- poses, when his son was barely three years old. At six years of age the future President was sent to Phillips Academy at Andover, whence he proceeded to Cambridge in 1786, graduating at the head of his class in 1790. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1793, and was elected Representative of the Suffolk District to Congress in 1804. He took his seat in 1805, and remained in Congress for eight years. He was active and prominent in resistance to the policy of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison, and may be said to have been the leader of the Federalist opposition to their administrations for the chief part of his member- ship. The interval of sixteen years, from his withdrawal from Congress, in 181 3, until his inauguration as President in 1829, was filled up with public sei-vice in various capacities. He was State Senator, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Judge of the Municipal Court of the town of Boston, — a jury court for criminal trials, — and Mayor of Boston for six years of great activity and of many useful reforms.
In the winter of 1829 he was nominated unanimously by the Corporation, and confirmed by a large majority of the Overseers, as President of the University. For various reasons, fully appreciated at the time, it was thought desirable that a man of business should be placed at the head of academical affairs. His judicious administration of discipline, and his wise direction of the methods of instruction, showed that, however, his fitness for his place was not limited by his experience in the business of the world. He introduced a freedom of personal intercourse with the undergraduates such as had not been attempted before, and endeavored to act upon their conduct through their sense of honor and of the value of character. He thus greatly endeared himself to the better sort of the young men, and the relations of reverent affection then established with many of
148 JOSIAH QUINCY.
tlicni remained long after they had gone forth into the world. But, though con- siderate and indulgent within proper limits, he was strict and stern when the interests of the institution demanded a just severity. He established the prin- ciple, in the face of much obloquy, within and without the walls of the Univer- sity, that the academic status of one who had committed a crime against the State as well as against the College, by acts of violence or outrage, should not shield him from the prosecution and punishment which would be meted out to a like offender in civil life.
President Ouincy's success in dealing with the students was largely owing to his practical application of the maxim that " prevention is better than cure." For instance, the commons had always been a not unreasonable ground of complaint to the students, and the occasion of some of the most serious academic disturb- ances. These complaints he removed by causing the fare to be improved, and by providing a service of porcelain and plate that made the table respectable. The determination of their academic rank and the distribution of College hon- ors formed another source of dissatisfaction to the undergraduates. These dis- tinctions were bestowed upon a general estimate of the merits of the candidates for honors, which gave rise at times to suspicions of partiality and personal favoritism on the part of the authorities. President Ouincy sought to remedy this dissatisfaction by a system which should make academic rank a matter of mathematical certainty. By this plan the merit of every academic exercise was valued according to a numerical scale, the sum of the whole, after certain deduc- tions for minor delinquencies, such as absence from lectures or from chapel, de- ciding the rank of each student. It will be remembered that the students on an average forty years ago were much younger than those of the present day, and it may well be that this system was adapted to conditions which have passed or are passing away. President Ouincy promoted the adoption of a system of elective studies as extensive as the means of instruction would allow, and, indeed, the voluntary experiment was tried more fully in his time than ever before or since, until the very recent changes under the present eminent head of the Col- lege. To this fact his third successor. Dr. Walker, bears emphatic testimony, declaring that he did more in the direction of this reform " than the College had been able to retain," twenty years after his death.
The three permanent monuments of President Ouincy's administration of the University are the Law School, Gore Hall, and the Observatory. The Law School, indeed, had a name to live when he took charge of the affairs of the College, and but little more than a name. The first event after his accession to the presidency was the reorganization of the Law School, under the charge of Mr. Justice Joseph Story, of the Supreme Court of the United States, and of John Hooker Ashmun, shortly afterward succeeded by Simon Greenleaf, under
JOSIAH QUINCY. 1 49
whose auspices it grew into proportions worthy of its great office, — the formation of sound lawyers, learned judges, and able statesmen. In 1829, and for years afterwards. President Ouincy was justly anxious for the safety of the library, at that time the most valuable in the country, which was exposed to great danger of fire, in Harvard Hall. He wrote a pamphlet to draw attention to the subject, and petitioned the General Court to make an appropriation for a new and fire- proof building. This application failing of effect, he induced the Corporation to apply the munificent legacy of Governor Gore, left to the College without con- ditions, to this object. The library thus secured, he procured subscriptions to the amount of more than twenty-one thousand dollars for the purchase of books, while the fire-proof character of Gore Hall has induced liberal donations by indi- viduals, so that the building which was thought sufficient for the needs of the rest of the century has been long calling for enlargement. The importance of an astronomical observatory at Cambridge had engaged the attention of Presi- dent Ouincy before he even thought any official connection with the College possible, and he had endeavored without success to obtain the means for erecting one. During his presidency he kept the plan constantly in view, and under his superintendence the Observatory grew from very small beginnings to nearly its present proportions. It was by his personal exertions that the subscriptions ne- cessary for the purchase of the Equatorial Telescope, then the second in the world, were obtained. After his resignation it was through his suggestion that his young relative, Edward Bromfield Phillips, left to the Observatory the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ; and he himself contributed ten thousand dollars as a fund for its publications. His experience in business enabled President Ouincy to purchase on very favorable terms the site of the Observatory and several other parcels of land of great importance to the College, the value of which has very greatly increased since his time.
After holding the presidency for more than sixteen years, Mr. Ouincy resigned it in 1845, ^"^d took his leave of the office at the Commencement of that year. It is not too much to say that he left the College in the most flourishing con- dition, both as to prosperity and usefulness, that it had ever been in from its foundation. Two years after his death, July, 1866, President Walker bore this testimony to his administration, at the meeting of the Alumni : " Sixteen years of more devoted, unremitting, unwearied work in the service of a public institu- tion were never spent by mortal man. And when we call to mind the state of things at the time of his appointment, it seems to me that he will be forever remembered as The Great Organizer of the University." Though the growth of the University has been great during the thirty years since his retirement, perhaps it would have been neither so rapid nor so substantial had it not been for the careful preparation of the ground by President Quincy. It need hardly
I^O JOSIAH QUINCY.
be said that he retained his profound interest in the College as long as he lived, serving it in whatever his hand found to do ; and the interest of the graduates in him was undiminished to the last. Whenever he appeared at Cambridge on public days, he was always received with the most cordial enthusiasm, the audi- ence usually rising and greeting him with cheer upon cheer, while every allusion to him was received with rounds of applause. His last public appearance there was at the Meeting of the Alumni in 1863, less than a year before his death, in his ninety-second year, when he spoke in a manner needing no allowance for his great age.
President Quincy was in his seventy-fourth year when he resigned his office and retired to private life. It was the first absolute leisure he had had for more than forty years, and it was leisure well and profitably spent. His specific for happiness during his active life had always been work, and he used it still to guard against the tedium and to ward off the worst infirmities of old age. He laid out solid tasks, and performed them conscientiously. During his presidency he had written his elaborate History of Harvard College, in two volumes, and published an edition of the Graham's History of the United States, with a Memoir of the author. After his retirement he wrote the Municipal History of Boston, the History of the Boston Athenaeum, a Memoir of his uncle by marriage, Major Samuel Shaw of the Revolution, and the Life of John Quincy Adams, besides various pamphlets on matters of temporary interest ; and his recreation in the intervals of his labors was chiefly reading the ancient classics, of which he was a studious admirer. In the public affairs of his later years he took an intense and an active interest. From the first of his public life he had watched and re- sisted the predominance of the slave power in the government of the nation. This jealousy had been the controlling motive of his whole congressional life, and the continued encroachments of slavery down to the Civil War had not suf- fered his zeal to grow cold. In 1856, when the nation seemed aroused to its dangers and intent on putting an end to them, he lent the aid both of voice and pen to the Republican movement. His Address to the Free States, written in his eighty-fifth year, and printed and largely circulated at his own expense, it was affirmed, greatly contributed to the Republican majority in New England. When the Rebellion broke out, he never doubted for a moment the success of the na- tion and the destruction of slavery. He lived to see the day of Emancipation, and survived that illustrious era more than a twelvemonth. Retaining his mental faculties to the last, and surrounded by all that should accompany old age, he died at Quincy on the ist of July, 1864, in his ninety-third year.
EDWARD EVERETT.
Edward Everett was bom in Dorchester, Massachusetts, the nth of April, 1794. He was a younger brother of Alexander H. Everett, who was Minister to Spain during the administration of President John Ouincy Adams, and who died at Canton in June, 1847, as Commissioner of the United States to China. The two brothers descended from one of the earliest settlers of Massachusetts, who established himself more than two centuries ago at Dedham, in Norfolk County, where the family yet remains. Rev. Oliver Everett, the father of Alex- ander and Edward Everett, was in his youth apprenticed to a carpenter in Dedham. Finding his occupation not to agree with his health, he began to prepare himself for college, after he had attained his majority, and entered at Cambridge in 1775, at the age of twenty-three. In 1782 he was settled as the minister of the New South Church in Boston. He was succeeded in this church by President Kirkland. After retiring from the ministry, Mr. Oliver Everett settled himself on a very small farm in Dorchester. In 1799 he was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Norfolk County, which office he filled to general acceptance till his death, in 1802. He left eight children, of whom Edward Everett was the fourth.
Mr. Everett received the greater part of his schooling at the public schools of Dorchester and of Boston, to which place the family removed after his father's death. He also attended in Boston a private school kept by Hon. Ezekiel Webster (brother of Daniel Webster), and passed the two last terms of the year preceding his entrance into College at the Academy at Exeter, New Hamp- shire, of which Dr. Benjamin Abbot was the distinguished principal. Frequent allusions are made by Mr. Everett to the circumstances of his early education in his published speeches ; and an affectionate tribute of gratitude to Dr. Abbot will be found in his remarks at the festival at Exeter, an occasion of the jubilee of the beloved and revered preceptor held at the Academy by his pupils in 1838.*
* Everett's Orations and Speeches, Vol. II. p. 281.
152 EDWARD EVERETT.
Mr. Everett entered Harvard College in 1807, when he was a few months past the age of thirteen. He was the youngest member of his class, and gradu- ated with the first honors. His own sketch of his College life has been pub- lished lately.
On leaving College at the age of seventeen, the professional views of Mr. Everett were at first somewhat undecided. His preference was for the law; but he changed his views, under the advice and influence of Mr. Buckminster, then the minister of Brattle Street Church in Boston, of which his mother, Mrs. Everett, was a mem- ber. President Kirkland united with Mr. Buckminister in urging his thoughts to the study of divinity. He pursued this study for two years at Cambridge, and during a part of that time filled the office of Latin tutor. In the year 181 3, and before he was twenty years of age, he succeeded his friend Mr. Buckminster in the Brattle Street Church. His labors in this arduous position were far beyond his years and strength, and greatly impaired his health. In addition to the per- formance of official duties, he wrote and published a work of considerable com- pass, entitled a " Defence of Christianity," in answer to a work of the late Mr. English, in which the arguments of Collins and other deistical writers were re- viewed. Mr. Everett's treatise, though below the advanced standard of critical learning at the present day, was regarded at the time as an eminently successful effort, and is quoted with respect as the work of an able writer, by the learned Bishop of Lincoln (Dr. Kaye), in his Account of the Writings and Opinions of Justin Martyr.*
In the year 18 14, a foundation for a professorship of Greek Literature was created at Cambridge by an anonymous benefactor, since known to have been Samuel Eliot, Esq., a much respected and liberal merchant of Boston, the grand- father of the present President of the University. Mr. Everett was invited to ac- cept the office as first professor on this foundation. This proposal was rendered more tempting by permission to visit Europe, with a view to recruit his impaired health. He was inducted into his professorship before he had attained the age of twenty-one years.
In the spring of 181 5, and before commencing his duties at Cambridge, Mr. Everett embarked at Boston for Liverpool, in one of the first ships that sailed after the peace, intending immediately to repair to the Continent. On the arrival of the vessel at Liverpool, news was received of the escape of Napoleon from Elba. Mr. Everett was detained in London till after the battle of Waterloo, and was the near witness of the excitements produced by it. From London he went by the way of Holland to the University of Gottingen, which was at that time the most famous in Germany. He remained there more than two years to ac- quire the German language, to ascertain the state of philological learning and
* Christian Examiner, Vol. VII. p. 237.
EDWARD EVERETT.
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the mode of instruction in the German universities, and to study those branches of ancient literature appropriate to his professorship. While he remained at Got- tingen, his vacations were employed in travelling to Prussia, Saxony, and Holland; which furnished him the opportunity of becoming acquainted with many of the men of letters in those countries.
Having completed his residence at Gottingen, he passed the winter of 1817-18 in Paris, devoted to the studies subsidiary to his professorship, and especially to the acquisition of the Romaic, as a preparation for a tour in mod- ern Greece. At this time he formed the intimate acquaintance of Koray, whose writings contributed so materially to the regeneration of Greece. It was, no doubt, from his intercourse with this eminent Greek patriot that Mr. Everett derived a portion of that interest afterwards manifested by him in the fortunes of Greece and the progress of her revolution. In the spring of 18 18 he went to London, passed a few weeks at Cambridge and Oxford, and made the usual tour through Wales, the Lake country, and Scotland. While in England he made the acquaintance and acquired the friendship of some of the most eminent men of the day ; among others he met with Scott, Byron, Jeffrey, Campbell, Gifford, Lord Holland, Sir James Mackintosh, Sir Samuel Romilly, Sir Humphry Davy, and other persons of distinction in the political and literary world.
In the autumn of 1818, in company with Mr. Theodore Lyman, he began an extensive tour. After spending the winter in Italy, they crossed, in the spring of 1819, to Albania, and visited Ali Pacha, then famous, at Yanina, fortified with letters of introduction from Lord Byron. This was the beginning of a long tour through Greece, from which they returned through Wallachia, Hungary, and Austria.
He arrived in America in 1819, and immediately entered on his duties as Pro- fessor of Greek Literature. It will be observed that these did not involve the teaching of Greek, for there was another professorship of the Greek language, filled at that time by Professor Popkin. Mr. Everett's arrival at Cambridge may almost be said to mark an era in the College, so great was the enthusiasm which his lectures on Greek literature aroused. The printed syllabus of them, still ex- tant, shows that the range of study to which he invited his pupils was indeed broad, and that the young men were already at work in making the College something very different from what he found it in 181 1. While he was Professor he delivered a complete course of lectures on the History of Greek Literature, con- taining an account of the life and works of every Greek classic author from the earliest period, beside several shorter courses, among them two on Antiquities and Ancient Art. The latter were repeated before large popular audiences in Boston. Chemical and botanical lectures had been delivered some years earlier by Professors Peck, Bigelow, and Gorham, but the courses of Mr. Everett are believed to have been the first, of a purely literary character, delivered to large
154
EDWARD EVERETT.
audiences in Boston. He also prepared at this period a translation of Butt- mann's smaller Greek Grammar, and a class-book on the basis of Jacob's Greek Reader, which furnishes the text to some of the Readers still in use.
Very soon after Mr. Everett's return he assumed the charge of the North American Review. He made it a quarterly, gave to it a distinctly national char- acter, and it thenceforth bore an important position in forming opinions at home and in reprimanding careless writers abroad. It was the first critical journal in the country which earned for itself any such position.
In 1824, Mr. Everett delivered the annual oration at Cambridge before the Phi Beta Kappa Society. The occasion was signalized by the attendance of Lafay- ette, whose acquaintance Mr. Everett had made a few years before at Paris. The entire discourse was very favorably received ; but the peroration, being an apostrophe to Lafayette, touched a chord of sympathy in an immense audience already highly excited by the unusual circumstances of the occasion. This was the first of a series of orations and addresses delivered by Mr. Everett on public occasions of almost every kind during nearly half of a century.
Up to 1824, Mr. Everett had taken no active interest in politics. In this year, Mr. Fuller, who had represented the Middlesex District in Congress for eight years, declined a re-election. It was a time of great political harmony, the ancient political distinctions having almost wholly sunk into oblivion. The young men of the district (whose fathers had belonged to both the former political parties) were desirous of selecting a candidate who could be supported on higher grounds than mere party preference. Mr. Everett's articles in the North American Review, above alluded to, had evinced his acquaintance with the great interests of the country ; the oration delivered in the presence of Lafayette had brought him prominently before the public, just at the time when a nomination was to be made. Under these circumstances, and without having been himself personally consulted on the subject, his name was brought forward at a volunteer conven- tion of the young men of the district. The nomination was received with great favor by the people of the district, and he was elected by a handsome majority over the regular candidate. The tradition is that his political supporters sup- posed that he could still maintain his place in the College, — and perhaps he supposed so himself But the authorities of the College did not think so, — and he resigned his professorship.
It is not the part of this little sketch to dwell on his life as a politician or a statesman. After serving in Congress for ten years, he announced his intention of withdrawing in the summer of 1834. In the winter of 1835 he was nominated as Governor of Massachusetts, and was chosen the next autumn. He was re-elected for four successive years, and, after a brilliant administration, was defeated by a majority of one, in an election entangled by temporary and
EDWARD EVERETT.
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local dissensions regarding liquor laws and the militia. In this administration he was able to bring to the public system of education the same life and spirit which he and his friends had brought into the College. The establish- ment of the Board of Education and the State Normal Schools was his work. Aided by the late Edmund Dwight, who gave himself cordially to this im- provement of the public schools, he called Horace Mann from the County Bar of Norfolk County, and offered to him the new post of Secretary of Education, which he afterwards made so important. Mr. Everett urged the Legislature to use the " Surplus Revenue " for paying its subscription to the Western Railroad, and to divide the remainder, supposed then to be more than $ 700,000, between the colleges, the schools, and an observatory. Instead of which the Legisla- ture divided it among the towns, many of which divided it among the voters ! Had his plan obtained favor, Massachusetts should now have a revenue of $ 150,000 annually from these investments.
While he was Governor in 1836, the second centennial of the College was celebrated with great consent. He presided on that occasion.
After leaving office Mr. Everett took his family to Europe, and lived in Italy for nearly four years. On the election of General Harrison, he was named Minister to England, and there remained till 1845. He returned to Boston just as President Ouincy retired from the oversight of the College ; and by almost general consent he was urged to become his successor.
Indeed, he once said that he was urged to accept this post by all the friends of the College, excepting three of his nearest personal friends. Every one who loved the College, wished to have him undertake the duties at the helm, except those who loved him too well to see him sacrifice health and strength in the work. He was President but three years. At the end of that time he found that this coping with the business of a dozen boards, this oversight of every detail of management, from the spots on the carpet in a pew of the Chapel to the reception of a king's son on an occasion of ceremony, was more than his flesh and blood could stand, and he withdrew. No such combination of detail falls upon a President now. But the President then was expected to care personally for every trifle in administration, as if he were the head of a family boarding-school to whom five or six fathers had sent their boys.
In three years of such an administration he led the way in those changes which have made the College really a University. The name University had been given to it sixty-six years before, in the State Constitution, where it is called " The University at Cambridge." He assumed that name, and during his dynasty, while Harvard College was called Harvard College, the University was called " the University at Cambridge." The midway name, " Harvard Uni- versity," has no authority but that of usage and custom.
156 EDWARD EVERETT.
The Observatory was established on its present site in his administration, and the appointment of the younger Bond gave to it a staff capable of continued observations. The Scientific School was established, endowed munificently by Mr. Lawrence, and put in working order. By Mr. Everett's solicitation Profes- sor Agassiz was induced to take his important place in College education, and the essential beginning was made which led to the establishment of the Museum, for which, before the Legislature, he afterwards pleaded most successfully.
For the close of his presidency did not close his relations with the College. One or two of his speeches before the Legislative Committees in behalf of the College, which will be found in his addresses, were made after he resigned the presidency. In 1862 he was elected Overseer, and he filled that post for two years. Indeed, from the beginning to the end of his crowded life, he had always taken the deepest interest in the fortunes of the institution.
Of his whole life indeed it has been said : " If you had asked him, the last day he lived, what was the essential or central wish of his life, and what work he had most wished to succeed in, he would not have named states- manship, oratory, or learning. He would have named ' the education of the people.' To this work he gave himself before he left College, when he un- dertook the duty of a district-school teacher, teaching pupils half of whom were older than himself He held to it to the last hour of his life, when the only public office which he retained was his charge as a trustee of the Public Library, an institution which in its very birth he cherished, and for which he worked and studied that it might become what it is, — the fit completion of our system of education. He meant that it should fulfil and complete the true catholic purpose of a Christian city, and give to the beggar the same oppor- tunity for mental culture as has any prince of the land. From that begin- ning to this end, the idea of education has been central and essential in his literary works, in his public addresses ; and you find it as well in his states- manship and in his discharge of executive duties. In his orations he is never satisfied until he has instructed the audience in the facts involved, and this in no general way, but in a curious — almost recondite — review of minute in- cidents connected with them. This habit sprang from his determination not to let those concourses of people separate till they had learned something, and had been imbued with the passion, or the determination, to learn much more."
Mr. Everett was candidate for Vice-President on the Whig ticket, with John Bell, in i860. After the election of Lincoln, he devoted himself incessantly to the national cause, and lived to see its triumph. He died in Boston suddenly on the morning of January 15, 1865, from the result of his over-exertion in an ad- dress delivered at a public meeting held for the relief of the destitute people of Savannah, after Sherman's triumphal entry there.
JARED SPARKS.
Jared Sparks was born at WilHngton, Connecticut, on the loth of May, 1789. He early displayed, under very unfavorable circumstances, a love of knowledge and an eager desire to obtain a good education. After learning all that the vil- lage school could teach, he was obliged to work for his own support at the trade of a carpenter. While thus engaged, and endeavoring to continue his studies, he was recommended by some kind friends to go to Phillips Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, and there fit himself for college. Accordingly, at the age of twenty, he entered Exeter, where, by means of the beneficiary fund for poor stu- dents, he was enabled to complete his preliminary studies. Among his com- panions at Exeter were Governor Dix of New York, and Dr. J. G. Palfrey.
Mr. Sparks entered Harvard College in 181 1, and graduated in 181 5. During his College course his exertions for his own support were unremitting, necessi- tating his absence from Cambridge at different periods. After graduation he com- menced the study of divinity, under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Ware. In 1 81 7 he was appointed Tutor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard, in which office he remained for two years. He also contributed largely to the North American Review, which had been recently established in Boston.
In 1819, having finished his theological studies, Mr. Sparks was ordained as minister of the Unitarian Church in Baltimore. He remained there four years, devoting himself to his pastoral duties and to literary labors of various kinds. But his health was -impaired by overwork, and in 1823 he was reluctantly obliged to leave his parish and to give up the profession. He returned to Boston, where he purchased the North American Review, of which he remained the sole pro- prietor and editor for seven years. At this time he began to collect materials for his great work, the editing of Washington's Addresses and Correspondence, to which he devoted years of the most earnest and unwearying labor, undertaking a transatlantic voyage and residence for the sake of acquiring information which could not be had in this country. The work was published in twelve volumes, between 1834 and 1837, and was received with the admiration for its fidelity and
158 JARED SPARKS.
thoroughness which it has ever since enjoyed. This was the first of that series of publications in which Mr. Sparks threw a light on the period of the American Revolution which it had never before received. By his efforts the fame of Washington was established on a firmer and wider basis.
This publication was accompanied and followed in rapid succession by other works illustrative of the same period. " The Diplomatic Correspondence of the Revolution," in twelve volumes, carefully arranged and edited by him, and " The Life of Gouverneur Morris," in three volumes, were issued before the completion of the Washington ; and a Library of American Biography, begun by him at this time, filled twenty-five volumes, including nearly sixty lives of men remarkable in the history of this country.
Having discovered an amount of valuable unpublished material relating to Dr. Franklin, Mr. Sparks determined to perform the same service for him which he had rendered to Washington, and in 1840 published an edition of his complete works, with notes and corrections, in ten large volumes, which at once superseded all previous editions, and has remained without a rival till the present day. In these great labors the unfailing accuracy and clear judgment of Mr. Sparks were as conspicuous as his patient industry. The loving service which he rendered to the heroes of American history will be remembered while their names continue to be honored as they deserve.
In 1839, Mr. Sparks was appointed McLean Professor of History in Harvard College. This office he held for ten years. He had previously married, in 1832, Miss Frances Allen, who died in 1835. In 1839 he married Miss Mary Crown- inshield Silsbee of Salem, who survives him. On the retirement of Mr. Everett, in 1849, Mr. Sparks was chosen by the Corporation as his successor in the Presi- dency of the College. During the short time in which he was at the head of affairs, his generous kindness and encouraging counsels were freely bestowed on all young men who, like him, were struggling for an education, and, like him, were in need of a friend. Respected and beloved by all who came in contact with him, Mr. Sparks filled the office of President for three years. At the end of that time, in consequence of failing health, he offered his I'esignation, which was reluctantly accepted. He continued to reside in Cambridge, and to devote his time to his favorite historical pursuits, until his death.
In the spring of 1866, Mr. Sparks was attacked by pneumonia, and after a week's illness he passed peacefully away, on the 14th of March, in his seventy- seventh year. On all who knew him the beauty of his character made the same impression ; all were alike struck with its sweet serenity and unswerving upright- ness. The excellences of his private life were also shown in his writings. Un- disturbed by petty controversies or jealousies, simple and serene, they reflect the mind of their author.
JAMES WALKER.
James Walker, the nineteenth President of Harvard College, was born in Burlington (at that time a part of Woburn), Mass., on the i6th of August, 1794. He fitted for college at Groton Academy, which was then under the charge of Mr. Caleb Butler. This preparation extended (with several interruptions) from the autumn of 1807 to that of 1810. He entered Harvard College in 1810, and graduated in 1814. Though he held no prominent rank in his Freshman year, on account of his imperfect and irregular course of preparatory studies, at the close of his Senior year the second English Oration was assigned to him.
He spent the first year after his graduation at Phillips Exeter Academy as an assistant teacher. He then returned to Cambridge, and began his theological studies as a resident graduate on the 15th of October, 181 5. His class is entered in the Triennial Catalogue as the first in the Divinity School, graduat- ing from it in 181 7. But the school can hardly be said to have been organized at that time. At a meeting of the Boston Ministerial Association, held at the house of Dr. William E. Channing, on the 5th of May, 181 7, Mr. Walker received the usual approbation or license to preach, and he preached, for the first time, on the Sunday following (May 11), in his native town, for the Rev. Mr. Sewall.
He was ordained as minister over the Harvard Church in Charlestown, Mass., on the 15th of April, 181 8. The history of this society may be thought to have begun with his ministry, as his only predecessor, Rev. Thomas Prentiss, died in about six months after his ordination. Dr. Walker preached his farewell sermon to his society on the 14th of July, 1839, after a devoted and eminently success- ful ministry of twenty-one years ; during which the society had grown from ninety-five families to about two hundred and twenty-five. The cause of his retirement from this pulpit, which was acquiesced in though deeply regretted by the church and congregation, was his appointment to the Alford Professorship of Natural Theology, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity in Harvard College. His services to the College had begun, however, long before, as an Overseer and
l6o JAMES WALKER.
a member of one of the examining committees. He held the office of Overseer from 1825 to 1836. He was chosen into the Corporation in 1834, and continued in it until i860, on his resignation of the Presidency. He entered upon the duties of his Professorship in the autumn of 1839, and discharged them with signal ability till February, 1853, when he was made President of the University. He resigned this office in January, i860, in the sixty-sixth year of his age, to the great regret of all the friends of the College, and sought that retirement from active life which he had so justly earned by his long and honorable ser- vice. But his wisdom and his counsel were still claimed by the College; and, on the first opportunity, in 1864, he was again chosen into the Board of Overseers, where, happily, he remained to the last day of his life. One of the most elabo- rate and valuable reports ever made to the Overseers was prepared by a com- mittee of which Ex-President Walker was a most active member, namely, that in 1869 on the "Condition, Needs, and Prospects of the University."
This prolonged official connection with the College, extending over half a cen- tury, and always in places of the highest responsibility, while it testifies to the great confidence reposed in his abilities and his judgment, manifests in no less degree the early and ever-growing interest which he himself felt in the Univer- sity. Next to his profession of a Christian teacher, which he first chose and never relinquished, the cause of education, in all its grades, from the school to the College, and spiritual as well as secular, was always near his heart. Even when he had the cares of a large and growing parish, he took a warm and active interest in the common schools of Charlestown no less than in the Divinity School at Cambridge and in the College. He regarded the common schools as the nurseries of the Church and the College ; and of those young pupils who came under his influence no one ever aspired to a higher education, and failed for lack of encouragement and stimulus from him.
As a Professor and teacher, he was equally respected and loved. His perfect equanimity and cheerfulness of temper, his sympathy with the young, the liveli- ness of his wit, and the commanding grasp which his favorite studies and the strength of his intellect gave him of the difficult subjects embraced in his teachings, secured for him an easy ascendency over the minds and hearts of his pupils. If to these qualities and acquisitions are added his prudence, his firmness, his pro- found knowledge of human nature, his wise conservatism which was yet not afraid of timely changes, and his careful attention to the details of business, he will be seen to have possessed all that was necessary to crown his administration of the College as President with success and dignity.
But his throne was the pulpit. Wise and prudent as a counsellor, learned as a divine, clear and profound as a philosopher, he was an unsurpassed master of pulpit eloquence. That influence was not withdrawn when he left his parish for
JAMES WALKER. i6i
the University. While he was Professor and President, and afterwards, as long as his health permitted, he preached frequently in the College Chapel and in other pulpits ; and to the last with the same practical wisdom and inspiring look and utterance. Even the least impressible among the students yielded to the charm of his eloquence, and many, long after their graduation, felt and confessed the efficacy of his preaching. A single volume of sermons to the students was printed in 1861 ; and it is hoped that others may yet be given to the public.
From January i, 1831, to March i, 1839, Dr. Walker was either sole or joint editor of the Christian Examiner, and was a frequent contributor to its pages. While he was Professor he edited an edition of Reid's Essay on the Intellectual Powers: abridged, with Notes and Illustrations from Sir William Hamilton. He also edited a new edition of Dugald Stewart's Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man. During the same period he delivered four courses of Lowell lectures in Boston on Natural Religion and the Philosophy of Religion. His address at his inauguration as President, and another which he delivered in 1856 before the American Institute of Instruction, have been published. During the nearly fifteen years which have passed since his retirement from the Presidency, he has responded frequently to public calls which have been made upon him. His Memoir of Daniel Appleton White, his Memoir of Josiah Quincy, the Address before the Alumni of the College, and his sermon on the War of Secession, have been printed and extensively circulated. What has been published, however, expresses but partially the mental activity of his later years, and the ever-fresh vigor of his intellect. He has continued to read and write on the great questions in theology, philosophy, and science which have always interested him, and has remained familiar with the latest thought of others upon these subjects ; but most of what he has written has never been given to the public. When, on the 1 6th of August, 1874, he reached his eightieth birthday, with increasing bodily infirmities, but in the full posession of his clear and strong intellect and his sym- pathetic heart, the event was happily commemorated in prose and verse, and those of his old parishioners who are still living united with other friends and younger pupils in presenting to him a simple but permanent memorial of the love and veneration which they felt, in common with the larger public, for the Christian graces of his character, and of their gratitude for the good which his life and labors had done to them and to the cause of education, morality, and religion.
The hope, confidently felt at that time, that years of happiness and usefulness still remained to him, has been disappointed. After a brief illness, he passed peacefully from the world on the 23d of December, 1874.
CORNELIUS CONWAY FELTON.
Cornelius Conway Felton, the twentieth President of Harvard College, was born in West Newbury, Mass., November 6, 1807. His early education was gained in spite of obstacles which would have discouraged a less enthusiastic scholar ; and although he had the advantage of good instruction in the classics only one year and nine months before he entered college, his slender opportunities were most conscientiously improved. When he entered Harvard College in 1823, — according to the testimony of an intimate friend and classmate, — "his acqui- sitions, especially in the Greek and Latin classics, were far beyond the require- ments of that institution, and, under the circumstances, quite astonishing." He graduated in 1827, with high rank in his class. After teaching school two years in Genesee, New York, he was appointed Latin Tutor in Harvard College in 1829, and Greek Tutor in 1830. From 1832 to 1834 he was College Professor of Greek, and from 1834 to i860 Eliot Professor of Greek Literature. He was made Presi- dent of the University in 1862, and held this office until his death, February 26, 1862.
President Felton's contributions to literature were many and various. He pub- lished editions of the Iliad, the Clouds and Birds of Aristophanes, the Panegyri- cus of Isocrates, and the Agamemnon of ^schylus ; besides editing a Greek Reader, with selections in prose and verse, and a volume of selections from modern Greek writers. He translated several essays and larger works from the German and French ; and contributed numerous articles to encyclopeedias, reviews, and newspapers, as well as to the published memoirs of the many learned societies with which he was connected. He edited an American edition of Dr. Smith's History of Greece, and added to it a continuation covering the period from the Roman Conquest of Greece to the latest times. He left unfinished the com- mentary to a most excellent volume of selections from the Greek Historians. Since his death, the Lowell Institute has published two large volumes containing his four courses of lectures on the Greek Language and Poetry, the Life of Greece, the Constitutions and Orators of Greece, and Modern Greece, which were delivered in 1852, 1853, 1854, and 1859 before large popular audiences in Boston.
CORNELIUS CONWAY FELTON. 1 63
In April, 1853, he left home for a year's journey in Europe, in the course of which he spent five months in Greece, where he made a most careful study of the topography, the remains of ancient art, the historic scenes, and — what to his mind was always highly important — the modern population of Greece, with their strange relic of the Greek language. The Greeks of to-day have never found a more able or a more enthusiastic defender than Mr. Felton against the various attacks and prejudices to which they have been subject. His ready pen and no less ready wit were always at their service ; and his eloquent advocacy of their cause was well appreciated at Athens, where he was familiarly known as the " American Professor." A volume of Familiar Letters from Europe, contain- ing the impressions made on his mind by this journey, was published after his death. He revisited Greece, as well as the rest of Europe, in 1856, when his impaired health compelled him to take a vacation.
This is no place to do justice to so varied and wide a literary career as that of President Felton. His extensive and thorough acquaintance with Greek litera- ture, which was strengthened and illumined by an unusually wide knowledge of modern literature, was the inspiration of his whole life; and no one who was in- timately acquainted with him could fail to catch some of his enthusiasm. While he could not bear to use his beloved classic authors as a means of forcing un- willing youth to necessary discipline, he was an overflowing well of learning and scholarship to all who sought him with a true desire to learn. No modern scholar was ever more thoroughly imbued with the spirit of classic antiquity, and none ever better understood the lessons which the present generation may learn at the various schools of Athens. The great poets, historians, orators, and phi- losophers of Athens spoke to him not merely of questions which affected the ages in which they lived, but of the deeper matters which interest us in this distant time and in our own experiment of democratic government. His favorite authors were Homer, ^schylus, Aristophanes, and Demosthenes. His early love of Homer made him an impatient and hardly an impartial critic of modern Homeric theories, which he always believed could be exploded by a thorough study of the Iliad and Odyssey ; and it was difficult in his presence to entertain even the most conservative doubts of the existence of one great poet who wrote both the Iliad and the Odyssey substantially as we now have them. He was a careful student and a great admirer of Demosthenes, whose eloquence he often compared with that of Webster. His own genial humor made him keenly alive to the wit of Aristophanes, to whose comedies he devoted much of his closest study. He was indeed a scholar of the most genial type, with unbounded en- thusiasm and true love for the great masterpieces of antiquity to which his best strength was devoted. The services of such a scholar to the cause of letters in this country cannot be too highly estimated.
THOMAS HILL.
Thomas Hill, the twenty-first President, was confirmed October 6, 1862; and resigned September 30, 1868. Born at New Brunswick, N. J., June 7, 1818, of English parents, who had been in this country for thirty years, he was appren- ticed to the " Fredonian" newspaper in that city in 1830, and remained connected with it until 1833. After a year at school, he was apprenticed to an apothecary of his native place, with whom he remained until 1838, when he left to prepare for college. He entered Harvard in 1839, graduated in 1843, with rank of second scholar, and took the diploma of the Divinity School in 1845. Ordained at Waltham the day before Christmas of that year, he retained his pastorate fourteen years, and then was called to succeed Horace Mann at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Greene County, Ohio. When the breaking out of the Civil War crippled that institution and forced it to suspend. Dr. Hill accepted the Presidency of Harvard University, which he retained until failing health compelled him to resign. After two years of rest he represented the town of Waltham in the Legislature of Massachusetts for the year 1871, and spent the next winter on the United States Coast Survey steamer Hassler, in its voyage around South America. Find- ing his health restored by the voyage, he accepted a call from the First Parish in Portland, Maine, and was installed over that church. May 18, 1873.
Dr. Hill's literary labors have been mostly of a fugitive character, contributions in prose and verse to various periodicals, and papers printed in the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science ; with occasional Ad- dresses and Sermons, a few volumes of mathematical text-books, one of collected Sermons, and a little tract on Natural Theology.
During his pastorate at Waltham he interested himself greatly in the public schools of the town, and endeavored to bring the course of instruction into con- formity with the natural order of studies and the natural affiliation of sciences. His views upon this subject first found expression in a scheme of the natural order of studies, drawn up by him in January, 1843, published in an address de- livered before the Harvard Natural History Society, more fully in a * B K
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THOMAS HILL. jg-
address, and afterward in various papers in Barnard's Journal of Education and the Ohio Common School Journal.
Dr. Hill was also the inventor of an instrument now in possession of the Observatory, designed to represent the moon's motions as affected by parallax, and thus to project oscillations and eclipses.
Dr. Hill has especially distinguished himself as a mathematician, and at the same time has been recognized as one of the foremost investigators and adepts in various departments of natural science. He is also an accomplished classical scholar, and has made himself conversant with the Hebrew and cognate Oriental languages. His present position, in a parish containing a singularly large pro- portion of professional men and families of superior culture, is eminently con- genial to his tastes and his mental habits, and no preacher of his time is exerting a more substantial and healthy influence in the cause of an enlightened and conservative Christian faith, and in those great social interests which are in- separably connected with the cause of religion and the work of the Christian minister.
CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT.
Charles William Eliot was born at Boston, March 20, 1834. He was the only son of Samuel Atkins Eliot, Treasurer of Harvard College from 1842 to 1853. The boy was always hearing about the College from his earliest years, partly on account of his father's connection therewith, and partly because many of the officers of the College were friends of the family. He was prepared for college at the Bos- ton Public Latin School, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1853.
He was appointed tutor in mathematics in 1854 by the advice of President Walker; but while he taught elementary mathematics, he devoted his spare time to the study of chemistry in the laboratory of Professor J. P. Cooke, under whose guidance he had already studied chemistry and mineralogy during several years. In 1857 he delivered a course of lectures on chemistry at the Medical School in Boston, under circumstances which gave him some insight into the resources, policy, and management of the School. In 1858 he was promoted to be Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Chemistry for five years, the grade of assistant professor being then first created. In 1861 Mr. Eliot was relieved of duty in the mathematical department, and was placed in charge of the chemical department of the Lawrence Scientific School, where he had an opportunity during the two fol- lowing years of becoming well acquainted with that department of the University. At the expiration of his term as assistant professor in 1863, he went to Europe, where he spent two years in studying chemistry, and in making himself acquainted with the organization of public instruction in France, Germany, and England.
While at Vienna, in the summer of 1865, Mr. Eliot received and accepted an ap- pointment as Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a new school of industrial science which was then being organized at Boston under the charge of Professor William B. Rogers. He held this professor- ship for four years; but in 1867-68 he was again in Europe for a period of four- teen months, the greater part of which was spent in France.
In the spring of 1869 he was chosen President of Harvard University.
Mr. Eliot's printed works are two manuals of chemistry and certain memoirs on chemical subjects, all of which were prepared with Professor F. H. Storer, a few essays on educational topics, and his annual reports as President of the University.
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JOHN LANGDON SIBLEY.
John Langdon Sibley, the son of Dr. Jonathan and Persis (Morse) Sibley, was born at Union, Maine, December 29, 1804. In the summer of 1819 he entered PhilHps Exeter Academy, and was at the commencement of the fall term placed on the Charity Foundation, whose catalogue is pre-eminently a roll of honor, con- taining a large proportion of the New England names that have acquired high distinction in literature, professional life, and public service. In 1821 he became a member of Harvard College, and was made President's Freshman, occupying officially the room now used as the Bursar's office, over which was the Presi- dent's study. At an early period in his College life he commenced his services in the College Library, with which he has been longer connected and is more closely identified than any other man in the past or present. In his vacations he was employed to write in the Library, and to render such occasional assistance as the Librarian might require. He aided also in his own subsistence by correct- ing proof and by other not unlike occupations ; and, being both industrious and economical, he passed through College without debt, mainly by his own resour- ces, while his outside labors did not prevent him from maintaining a high rank in his class. On graduating, in 1825, he entered the Divinity School, and was at the same time appointed Assistant Librarian, on a salary of $ 150, the Librari- an's salary being then but $ 300.
In May, 1829, Mr. Sibley was ordained as pastor of the First Church in Stow, Mass., where he remained four years; with what success and reputation may be inferred from his having received, in 1837, an urgent invitation to resume his parochial charge. He, however, had formed so strong an attachment to Cam- bridge, that he ill brooked any other home. For several years after his return he was employed in various kinds of literary labor, and for a part of the time was editor and proprietor of the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge. In 1841, when the Library was removed from Harvard to Gore Hall, he was again appointed Assistant Librarian under the administration of Dr. T. W. Harris, whom he succeeded in 1856.
l6g JOHN LANGDON SIBLEY.
Mr. Sibley had always retained a grateful remembrance of the generous pro- vision in aid of the necessitous students at Exeter, and had felt the obligation of doing for others what had been done for him. No sooner was he able to ren- der such assistance, than it was whispered in College circles that this and that student, in his time of need, had received loans or gifts of money from Mr. Sibley, with an injunction of secrecy which was regarded in the light of an imperfect obligation. In i860 he commenced a series of gifts to Phillips Exeter Academy, — now represented by a small fund, the income of which is used in buying text- books for indigent and desei-ving pupils, and a fund, at first $ 5,000, doubled by a second gift, and now amounting to not far from ^18,000, which — it is pro- vided — shall accumulate for a series of years, its income to be ultimately em- ployed for the support of worthy and needy students. The source of this fund was, by Mr. Sibley's express request, concealed from the knowledge of all but the Trustees till 1872, when, on the opening of the new Academy building, the President of the Board obtained the donor's reluctant permission to make him known. None who were present on that occasion will ever forget the touching expression of gratitude and loyalty to the institution elicited from Mr. Sibley by this disclosure. His speech was the speech and the great event of the day.
Mr. Sibley's services to the College Library have been invaluable. A very large portion of the books, money, and permanent funds that have been bestowed upon it have been secured through his efforts or influence; while, as a diligent and faithful custodian of its property and interests, he has been all that could be desired.
In addition to his regular official duties, he has edited all the Triennial Cata- logues since 1840, and was the editor of the Annual Catalogue from 1850 to 1870 (inclusive). For the last twenty-six years he has officiated as chorister in the singing of the 78th Psalm, at the Commencement dinner.
Mr. Sibley received, in 1856, the honorary degree of A. M. from Bowdoin Col- lege. He has for nearly thirty years been among the most active and serviceable members of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
For many years he led, not indeed a solitary or unsocial, but a celibate life, occupying a room at Divinity Hall for thirty-three years, and the same room for twenty. In 1866 he was most happily married to Miss Charlotte Augusta Lang- don, daughter of Samuel and Catherine Amelia (Langdon) Cook.
The following is a list of Mr. Sibley's published works : —
A History of the Town of Union, in the County of Lincoln, Maine, to the Middle of the Nineteenth Century ; with a Family Register of the Settlers before the Year 1800, and of their Descendants. i2mo. Boston, 1851. pp. ix, 540.
Notices of Account-Books of Treasurers of Harvard College, from 1669 to 1752. Printed in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, November, 1862, pp. 337-356.
JOHN LANGDON SIBLEY. 169
Notices of the Triennial and Annual Catalogues of Harvard University ; with a Reprint of the Catalogues of 1674, 1682, and 1700. 8vo. Boston, 1865. pp. 67. Being extra copies from the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 13 October, 1864.
Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Volume I. 1642-58. With an Appendix, containing an Ab- stract of the Steward's Accounts, and Notices of Non-Graduates from 1649-50 to 1659. Royal 8vo. Cambridge, 1873. pp. xvi, 618.
This last work is the fruit of an incredible amount of patient and judicious labor, and, while of special value as a record of the College, is second in im- portance to no contribution to the early history of New England.
ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY.
Andrew Peabody, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Middleton, Mass. He was classically educated, and was for many years a teacher in Beverly. He married Mary Rantoul of Salem.
Andrew Preston Peabody, their son, was born in Beverly, Mass., March 19, 181 1. He was fitted for college under the private tuition of Mr. (afterwards Rev.) Bernard Whitman. At the age of twelve he passed the required examination for admission to Harvard College. He continued, however, for a year longer under private instruction, and during that time went over the studies of the Freshman and Sophomore years. The year following he entered as a Junior, and gradu- ated in 1826, at the age of fifteen; the class with which he graduated having entered College the same year in which he began his preparatory studies. It may be remarked that, with two exceptions, he was the youngest graduate that ever left Harvard College. One of these exceptions was Paul Dudley, who graduated in 1690, at the age of fourteen. The other. Cotton Mather, who graduated in 1678, is an exception only because the College Commencement occurred a month or two earlier in the season in his day than in that of Peabody ; otherwise he would have been a few days the older.
In spite of the rapidity with which his studies had been pursued, young Pea- body took honorable rank in his class. After graduation he passed three years in teaching, the time being divided between Middleton, Mass., Meadville, Penn., and Portsmouth, N. H. He entered the Divinity School of Harvard University in 1829, and graduated in 1832; for a considerable portion of the time while a Divinity student he was also Proctor in the College and Instructor in Hebrew; and for one year after graduation from the School he was Tutor in Mathematics. In 1833 he returned to Portsmouth to be settled as minister of the South Parish, which position he held twenty-seven years. He married, in 1836, Catharine Whipple, daughter of Edmund Roberts of Portsmouth, who died in 1869. In i860 he renewed his connection with Harvard College, being appointed Preacher to the University and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, which position he
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still fills. He was Acting President of the University during the year 1862, and again during the academic year 1 868 - 9. He was one of the editors of the Christian Register for two years. He was editor of the North American Review from 1854 to 1863.
He has received from Harvard College the degrees of A. M. and D. D., and from Rochester University that of LL. D. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of the American Oriental Society, and of the American Anti- quarian Society.
He published a Sunday School Hymn Book in 1840; Lectures on Christian Doctrine, in 1844; Christian Consolations, in 1846; Writings of James Kennard, with Memoir, in 1847; Sermons of Rev. Jason Whitman, with Memoir, in 1849; Memorial of J. W. Foster, in 1852; Extracts from the Writings of Charles A. Cheever, M. D., with Memoir, in 1854; Conversation, in 1856; Life of William Plumer (left unfinished by William Plumer, junior, of whom also it contains a notice), in 1857; Sermons connected with the Reopening of the Church of the South Parish in Portsmouth, in 1859; Christianity the Religion of Nature, in 1864; Sermons for Children, in 1866; Reminiscences of European Travel, in 1868; a Manual of Moral Philosophy, in 1873; and Christianity and Science, in 1874.
He has also published from one to two hundred sermons, addresses, etc., in pamphlet form, besides many articles in reviews and magazines.
BENJAMIN PEIRCE.
Benjamin Peirce, son of Benjamin and Lydia Ropes (Nichols) Peirce, was born at Salem, April 4, 1809. Benjamin Peirce, senior, the first scholar in the class of 1801, was the son of one of the principal merchants of Salem (a place of lead- ing commercial importance half a century ago), and was himself a merchant in that city for many years. "Through his whole life he was uniformly distinguished for that first of all the social virtues, — integrity." He took an active interest in public affairs, and was for a considerable time a member of the General Court. A devoted love of letters and a deep attachment to the place of his instruction always distinguished him; and in 1826, having had reverses in business, he gladly availed himself of the opportunity of indulging his cherished tastes, presented in his appointment as Librarian to the University. He discharged the duties of that office with ability and zeal, and issued, during the years 1830-31, a Catalogue of the Library in four octavo volumes, a very important publication in its day. He died died in July, 1831, leaving, in manuscript, a History of Harvard University down to the period of the Revolution, which appeared in 1833, under the editorship of the author's intimate friend, the distinguished John Pickering.
The subject of this notice was prepared for college, which he entered in 1825, at private schools, — first under the instruction of Mr. Walsh, at Salem, and after- wards at Rev. Mr. Putnam's academy, at North Andover. In College he devoted himself chiefly to mathematics, carrying his study far beyond the then narrow limits of the College course. Thus, he attended the lectures of Francis Grund in the higher mathematics, and he was a frequent visitor to Dr. Bowditch, from whom he received most valuable instruction in geometry and analysis, as well as important direction 'in the development of his scientific powers. After his gradua- tion, in 1829, he took the position of mathematical teacher at the Round Hill School, at Northampton, then under the charge of Joseph G. Cogswell and George Bancroft. In 1831 he returned to Cambridge, having been appointed Tutor in Mathematics in Harvard College, where he was at once intrusted with the full charge of that department. In 1833 he was appointed University Professor of
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BENJAMIN PEIRCE. 173
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy ; and on the 23d of July of the same year he was married to Sarah Hunt Mills, daughter of Hon. Elijah Hunt Mills, of North- ampton, United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1820 to 1827. In 1842, on the establishment of the Perkins Professorship of Mathematics and Astronomy, Professor Peirce was appointed to that chair, which he still occupies. From the time of his first coming to Cambridge as a tutor Mr. Peirce exerted himself to improve, modernize, and extend the teaching of mathematics in the College ; to give it a form which should promote the development of real mathematical power and the serious pursuit of mathematics as a living science ; and to secure the necessary condition of the attainment of these objects and of the advancement of higher learning in all its branches, in the establishment and extension of the elective system, of which he has always been one of the warmest advocates.
On the foundation of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac by the United States government, in 1850, Professor Peirce was made the director of the theoretical department of that work, with the title of Consulting Astronomer, a charge which he continued to hold till 1867. The office of the Almanac was, during the greater part of that period, at Cambridge, first under the superintendency of Lieutenant (now Admiral) Davis, and afterwards under that of Professor Winlock. From 1852 to 1867 he had the direction of the longitude determinations of the United States Coast Survey. He was also frequently consulted concerning the whole scientific conduct of that great work, and he was appointed its Superintend- ent, on the death of Professor Bache, in the spring of 1867. The Survey made important progress under his administration. In March, 1874, he resigned the office of Superintendent, and was appointed Consulting Geometer to the Survey.
Professor Peirce has published a "Treatise on Sound" (1836), a "Course of Pure Mathematics," in five volumes (1835 - 46), " Tables of the Moon " (1853), " An- alytic Mechanics" (1855), "Linear Associative Algebra " (lithographed, 1870), and many contributions to scientific periodicals and to the publications of learned societies. Among these may be specified his memoirs on the discovery of Nep- tune, the investigations of the orbit and mass of that planet by Professor Peirce and Mr. S. C. Walker, several papers on the constitution of Saturn's rings, and those on the constitution of comets and on the criterion for the rejection of doubtful observations.
In 1847 the University of North Carolina conferred on Professor Peirce the degree of LL. D. ; and he received the same distinction from Harvard University in 1867. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Imperial University of St. Wladimir, at Kiev. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (of which he was President for 1853, the fifth year of its existence), the Royal Societies of London, Edinburgh, and Gottingen, and the Royal Astro- nomical Society.
FRANCIS BOWEN.
Francis Bowen, born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, September 8, 1811, received his early education at the Mayhew Grammar School, in Boston. For a few years he was junior clerk in a publishing office in Boston; in January, 1829, he became a pupil in Phillips Exeter Academy, and in August, 1830 he entered the Sopho- more class in Harvard College. In the winter of 1829-30, he taught school at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire ; and in the three following winters, successively, at Lexington, Northboro, and Concord, Massachusetts. Graduating at Harvard with the first honors of his class in 1833, he became instructor in mathematics in Phil- lips Exeter Academy, and continued to act in that capacity till August, 1835. He then returned to Harvard, where he was first made Tutor in Greek, and, a year afterwards, was appointed Instructor of the Senior Class in Mental Philosophy and Political Economy. This office he held for three years, being much occupied also with literary pursuits. In 1837 he contributed to Sparks 's " Library of Ameri- can Biography " a Life of Sir William Phipps ; and he afterwards furnished for the same work Lives of James Otis, Baron Steuben, and Benjamin Lincoln. He was also a frequent contributor to the literary periodicals of that day.
In August, 1839, he resigned his office in the College and went to Europe, where he spent a year in study and travel. On his return he established his residence in Cambridge, and devoted himself for the next twelve years to litera- ture as a profession. In 1842 appeared his edition of Virgil, with English Notes and a considerable amount of illustrative and critical matter. At that period com- paratively few American editions of the classics had appeared ; and this work, though never revised or purged of numerous errors and defects, has been kept in the market by successive issues from the same stereotype plates, and is still in considerable use. In the same year he published a volume of " Critical Essays on Speculative Philosophy," devoted chiefly to the systems of Kant, Fichte, and Cousin, and to the evidences of Christianity as affected by the developments of metaphysical doctrines.
In 1843 Mr. Bowen became the owner and editor of the "North American
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FRANCIS BOWEN.
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Review," and continued to conduct this work for the next eleven years. He also edited and published, for six years, " The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge." In 1849 he published, in an octavo volume, two courses of " Lowell Lectures on the Application of Metaphysical and Ethical Science to the Evidences of Religion." Six years afterwards, this work, revised and enlarged, ap- peared in a second edition, and continued in use for a considerable time as a text-book at Harvard.
In 1850 Mr. Bowen was appointed by the Corporation to the McLean Profes- sorship of History in the College, but held this office only six months. In 1853 he was nominated and confirmed as Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, and still continues to act under this appointment. Besides those already mentioned, he has published the following works : —
Behr's Translation of Weber's Outlines of Universal History, revised and cor- rected, with the addition of a History of the United States. 1853.
Dugald Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind, revised and abridged, with Critical and Explanatory Notes. 1854.
Documents of the Constitution of England and America, from Magna Charta to the Federal Constitution of 1789, compiled and edited, with Notes. 1854.
The Principles of Political Economy applied to the Condition and Institutions of the American People. 1856.
The Metaphysics of Sir William Hamilton, collected, arranged, and abridged, for the Use of Colleges and Private Students. 1862.
De Tocqueville's Democracy in America, edited with Notes, the Translation revised and in great part rewritten, and the Additions made to the recent Paris editions now first translated. 1862.
A Treatise on Logic, or the Laws of Pure Thought, comprising both the Aristotelic and Hamiltonian Analyses of Logical Forms, and some Chapters of Applied Logic. 1864.
American Political Economy, including Strictures on the Management of the Currency and the Conduct of the Finances since 1861. New York, 1870.
JOSEPH LOVERING.
Joseph Lovering was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on December 25, 1 81 3. He was the son of Robert Lovering, surveyor of ice, wood, and lumber. He attended the ordinary grammar schools of his native town until he was four- teen years of age, and went through Colburn's Algebra by himself at these schools, his teachers having no knowledge whatever of that subject. On leaving school, he was encouraged by his pastor. Rev. Dr. James Walker (afterwards Professor and President of Harvard College), to fit himself for College, reciting to him daily and receiving from him in many ways the most valuable aid. He entered the Sophomore class of Harvard College in 1830, and graduated with his class in 1833. At the Commencement he delivered the Latin Salutatory Oration, which, at that time, was invariably assigned to the fourth scholar in the scale of rank. This Commencement was made interesting by the fact that it was the last one held in the old church which stood near the spot now occupied by the Law School. Two years later, when his class were entitled to receive the Master's degree, he delivered the Valedictory Oration in Latin, according to the custom of that day.
During the first year after his graduation he kept a small private school in Charlestown. In the autumn of 1834 he entered the Divinity School in Cam- bridge, and remained there for two years. During a part of the academical year 1834-5, he assisted in the instruction of the College classes in Mathematics. In 1835-6 he was Proctor and Instructor in Mathematics, and, during a part of the year, conducted the morning and evening services in the College Chapel; all those who usually officiated at the devotional exercises of the College being either sick or absent from Cambridge. In 1836-7 he was Tutor in Mathematics and Lecturer in Natural Philosophy. In 1838 he was made Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, a position which he still holds. In 1853-4 he acted as Regent during Professor Felton's absence in Europe, and in 1857 he succeeded him in that office, and held it until 1870. In consideration of his long and uninterrupted services to the College, he was offered a year's leave of absence in 1868-9, which he passed in Europe.
JOSEPH LOVERING. I--
Although his best time and thoughts were given to his College duties, he found some leisure for other work. At different times he delivered eight courses of lectures, on Astronomy or Physics, before the Lowell Institute in Boston, five of which were repeated to a different audience on the days following their first delivery, according to the original practice of that institution. He was Permanent Secretary of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for nine- teen years (between 1854 and 1873), and edited fifteen volumes of its Proceedings. In 1842 he edited a new edition of Farrar's " Electricity and Magnetism," at the request of the author. In 1873 he published a thick quarto volume on the Aurora Borealis in the Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Other memoirs, on Terrestrial Magnetism, on the Aurora, and on the Determina- tion of Transatlantic Longitudes, have been published by him in the same series. Besides these more important works, he has contributed a large number of scien- tific articles and reviews to the Proceedings of the American Academy, to the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, to the American Journal of Science, to the Journal of the Franklin Institute, to the American Almanac, to the North American Review, the Christian Examiner, Old and New, and the Popular Science Monthly.
He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was its Permanent Secretary for nineteen years, and its President in 1873. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston, was its Corresponding Secretary for many years, and is now its Vice-President. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Since 1867 he has been connected with the United States Coast Survey, and has had charge of the com- putations for determining differences of longitude, in the United States and across the Atlantic Ocean, by means of the land and cable lines of telegraph.
EVANGELINUS APOSTOLIDES SOPHOCLES.
EvANGELiNus AposTOLiDES SoPHOcLES was bom at Tzangarada, ten miles southeast of Mount Pelion, Greece, in 1807; he resided for several years in the convent of Mount Sinai, chiefly in the Cairo branch ; emigrated to America under the patronage of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- sions; and in 1829, after studying at the Academy at Monson, Massachusetts, en- tered Amherst College, but did not remain to take a degree ; subsequently taught in schools at Amherst, Hartford, and New Haven. In 1842 he was appointed Greek Tutor at Harvard College, and held that position till 1845, when he re- signed it in consequence of sickness, but was reappointed in 1847; in 1849 he visited Greece, and on his return, in 1850, immediately began collecting material for his Greek Dictionary, the Glossary being merely a precursor to that work; in 1859 he was made Adjunct Greek Professor, and in i860 he received the Professorship of Ancient, Byzantine, and Modern Greek, which he now holds. In i860 he again visited Greece.
His published writings are as follows : —
838, A Greek Grammar for the Use of Learners. Third edition, 1847.
839, First Lessons in Greek.
841, Greek Exercises, followed by an English and Greek Vocabulary with Key.
Second edition, 1842; third edition, 1848.
842, Romaic Grammar, second edition. Boston, 1857.
843, Greek Lessons for Beginners. Hartford.
844, Catalogue of Greek Verbs for the Use of Colleges.
848, History of the Greek Alphabet, with Remarks on Greek Orthography and Pronunciation. Cambridge: second edition, 1854.
860, A Glossary of Later and Byzantine Greek. Boston.
870, Greek Dictionary of the Roman and Byzantine Periods. Published by sub- scription. A continuation of the Lexicon, comprising the Period from 1 1 00 A. D. to the Present Day, is in course of preparation, and would be pub- lished in a short time if there were sufficient pecuniary encouragement. He has written many articles for the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
JEFFRIES WYMAN.
Jeffries Wyman, the third son of Dr. Rufus Wyman, physician to the McLean Asylum for the Insane during the first seventeen years of its existence, was born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, August ii, 1814. He was prepared to enter Col- lege at Phillips Exeter Academy, of which Dr. Benjamin Abbot was at the time principal, and was graduated at Harvard University in the Class of 1833.
In 1837 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the Medical Depart- ment of the University, and soon afterward was appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy, under Dr. John C. Warren, then Hersey Professor.
In 1 84 1 he delivered a course of twelve lectures on Comparative Anatomy before the Lowell Institute, and soon afterward went to Paris, where he studied Human Anatomy at the School of Medicine, and Comparative Anatomy and Natural History at the Garden of Plants, attending the lectures of Flourens Magendie and Longet on Physiology, and of De Blainville, Valensciennes, Dumeril, Isidore St. Hilaire, and Milne-Edwards on Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. After leaving Paris, he passed several weeks in studying the unrivalled Hunterian collections at the Royal College of Surgeons in London.
Dr. Wyman was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the Medi- cal Department of Hampden and Sidney College, at Richmond, Virginia, in 1843, but resigned this office on being chosen Hersey Professor of Anatomy in Harvard College, in 1847, in which office he succeeded the late Dr. John C. Warren. He has given annually courses of lectures to the undergraduates on Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, and on Embryology, and instruction in these departments to special pupils in his laboratory.
To aid in teaching, in connection with the lectures and special instruction, the Museum of Comparative Anatomy in Boylston Hall was begun, and has been chiefly made by him. This collection, one of the earliest of its kind in this country, is intended to show some of the more important modifications of the organs of animals, in connection with the physiological processes of which they are the seat, as well as the conditions of the embryological development and the succes-
JEFFRIES WYMAN. jgj
sive phases through which the embryo, both animal and human, passes. Some of the more important materials of the collection were obtained during voyages to Surinam, and to the La Plata and the Uruguay Rivers.
The late George Peabody, of London, having founded the Museum of Ameri- can Archceology and Ethnology in connection with Harvard College, Professor Wyman was, by the terms of the foundation, made one of the original Trustees, and immediately after the collections were begun, was, by the Trustees, appointed Curator. In helping to carry out the plans of this Museum, he has made several arch^ological explorations, especially at Damariscotta, Mount Desert, and Casco Bay, in Maine, and at Ipswich, Concord, and Cotuit Port, in Massachusetts. During several successive winters he has made similar exploring excursions, on account of health, to the St. John's River, in East Florida, where the many ancient fresh-water shell-heaps of that region have been examined. The results of these excursions form a part of the collections of the Museum.
Professor Wyman is a member of the following societies : — Linnsean Society of London, Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- delphia, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Historical Society, etc.
His published writings consist of memoirs and essays contributed to scientific societies and journals, among which the following may be mentioned : —
On the Osteology of the Gorilla, and the Determination of its Specific Characters.
Twelve lectures on Comparative Anatomy before the Lowell Institute.
On Unusual Modes of Gestation among Fishes.
On the Embryology of the Skate.
On the Cells of the Hive-bee.
On Symmetry and Homology in Limbs.
Observations on Crania.
On the Nervous System of the Bull-frog.
On the Shell-heaps of Maine and Massachusetts.
On the Fresh-water Shell-heaps of the St. John's River, East Florida.
Experiments on the Effects of Heated Water on Living Organisms.
Dr. Wyman died at Bethlehem, N. H., on the 4th of September, 1874; and his remains were interred at Mount Auburn Cemetery four days afterwards, the funeral services being held in the College Chapel.
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
James Russell Lowell was born at Cambridge, 22d February, 1819; was fitted for college at the schools of Mr. W. Wells (H. U. 1796) and Mr. D. G. Ingra- ham (H. U. 1809), and graduated in 1838. He read law in the Dane Law School, and with the late C. G. Loring, Esq. In 1841 he published a volume of poems called "A Year's Life." Another volume of poems followed in 1844, and a volume of prose, "Conversations on Some of the Old Poets," in 1845. I" 1848 appeared a third volume of poems, the first series of " Biglow Papers," and " The Vision of Sir Launfal." In July, 1851, he went abroad, returning in December of the following year. In the winter of 1854-55, he read a course of lectures on English poetry before the Lowell Institute. In 1855 he was appointed to the Chair of Belles-Lettres and Modern Languages, and again visited Europe, re- maining abroad thirteen months. In 1854 he published "Fireside Travels"; in 1845, a second series of "Biglow Papers"; in 1869, "The Cathedral," and " Under the Willows and other Poems"; in 1870, "Among my Books," and in 1872, "My Study Windows," — two collections of essays. The two years from July, 1872, to July, 1874, he spent in Europe, where, in 1875 he received the honorary degree of D. C. L. at Oxford, and that of LL. D. at Cambridge.
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FRANCIS JAMES CHILD.
Francis James Child was born in Boston, on the ist of February, 1825. He received his earlier education in the public schools, first a grammar school, then the English High School, and finally the Latin School. He entered tlarvard Col- lege in 1842, and was appointed Tutor in Mathematics in 1846. In 1848 he re- signed this place to be Tutor in History and in Elocution. The condition of his health the following year made it advisable for him to discontinue work, and he went to Europe for a few months' trip. Meeting, in Berlin, his classmate (now Professor), Lane, who had already passed three years at the German universities, he could not resist a desire to study, though only for a short time, under some of the great German teachers, and accordingly entered himself at Gottingen, where, for one Semester, he heard the lectures of Ritter, Schneidewinn, Hoeck, and C. F. Her- mann. A part of the same year was spent in travel in South Germany and Italy. He returned to Cambridge in August, 1851, to succeed Channing in the Boylston Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory. His ilistructions, for a considerable time, were somewhat strictly limited by the customs of the department, though he in- troduced at an early date the study of Anglo-Saxon and other of the Teutonic languages, principally with voluntary classes. Of late his work has been extended so as to include English Literature and the Philology of the English Language. Whatever Professor Child has printed relates to these subjects.
GEORGE MARTIN LANE.
George Martin Lane was born in Charlestovvn, was educated in the schools of Cambridge, and entered Harvard College in 1842. Upon his graduation, four years later, he was appointed to fill the place of Dr. Beck, University Professor of Latin, during Dr. Beck's temporary absence in Europe. After holding this position for one year, he resigned, in order that he might pursue a course of study in Germany. After four years' study at Gottingen, Bonn, and Berlin, he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; and upon his return to this coun- try immediately after, was appointed Academic (afterwards Pope) Professor of the Latin Language, which office he holds at the present time. He has pub- lished several works on the Latin language, and is a frequent contributor to various literary publications.
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JOSIAH PARSONS COOKE, JR.
JosiAH Parsons Cooke, Jr., was born in Boston, October 12, 1827. He was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School, and graduated with the Class of
1848. After passing a year in Europe, he became a tutor of the College in
1849, and was appointed Erving Professor in December, 1850. He has published the following books and scientific papers : —
BOOKS. Chemical Problems and Reactions. Boston, 1857. Elements of Chemical Physics. Boston, i860.
Religion and Chemistry; or. Proofs of God's Plan in the Atmosphere and its Elements. New York, 1864.
Principles of Chemical Philosophy. Boston and London, 1870. The New Chemistry. New York and London, 1874.
SCIENTIFIC PAPERS.
The Relation between the Atomic Weights of the Chemical Elements. Me- moirs of the American Academy, Vol. V. 1854.
On Two New Crystalline Compounds of Zinc and Antimony. Memoirs of the American Academy, Vol. V. 1854.
Crystalline Form not necessarily an Indication of Definite Chemical Compo- sition. Philosophical Magazine. London, i860.
On the Dimorphism of Arsenic, Antimony, and Zinc. American Journal of Science, Vol. XXXI. 1861.
On Octahedral Galena. American Journal of Science, Vol. XXXV. 1863.
On Childveite from Hebron, Maine. American Journal of Science, Vol. XXXVI. 1863.
Crystallographic Examination of the Acid Tartrates of Cassia and Rubidia. American Journal of Science, Vol. XXXVIII. 1864.
lS6 JOSIAH PARSONS COOKE, JR.
On the Heat of Friction. Proceedings of the American Academy, Vol. VI. 1865.
On the Projection of the Spectra of the Metals. American Journal of Science, Vol. XL. 1865.
On the Construction of a Spectroscope with a number of prisms by which the angle of minimum deviation for any ray may be accurately measured, etc. Ameri- can Journal of Science, Vol. XL. 1865.
On the Aqueous Lines of the Solar Spectrum. Proceedings of the American Academy, Vol. VIL 1866.
On Danalite, a new mineral species from the granite of Rockport, Massachu- setts. American Journal of Science, Vol. XLIL 1866.
On Cryophyllite, a new mineral species of the Mica Family, with some associated minerals in the granite of Rockport, Massachusetts. American Journal of Science, Vol. XLin. 1867.
On certain Lecture Experiments, and on a new form of Eudiometer. Ameri- can Journal of Science, Vol. XLV. 1867.
A Method of Determining the Amounts of Protoxyd of Iron in Silicates not soluble in the ordinary mineral acids. American Journal of Science, Vol. XLV. 1867.
Crystallographic Determination of some American Chlorites. American Journal of Science, Vol. XLV. 1867.
On Atomic Ratios. American Journal of Science, Vol. XLVII. 1869.
Memoir of Thomas Graham. Proceedings of the American Academy, Vol. VIII. 1870.
Absolute System of Electrical Measurements. Journal of the Franklin Insti- tute. 1871.
A new Theory of Electrical Action which identifies Electricity with the Ether of Space. Several Papers, Journal of Franklin Institute, and Chemical Philosophy ; third edition. 1872.
The Vermiculites : their Crystallographic and Chemical Relations to the Micas. Proceedings of the American Academy, Vol. VIII. 1873.
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CHARLES FRANKLIN DUNBAR.
Charles Franklin Dunbar, son of Asaph and Nancy (Ford) Dunbar, was born in Abington, Massachusetts, July 28, 1830. His first teacher was Rev. Joseph Pettee, then and still minister of the Swedenborgian society in Abington. He entered Phillips Exeter Academy in 1844, and Harvard College in 1847, graduating in 1851. After graduation Mr. Dunbar engaged in mercantile busi- ness in New Orleans and subsequently in New York, and in 1853 became part- ner in a commission house in. Boston.
Finding himself threatened with pulmonary disease, he withdrew from business in 1855 and established himself upon a farm in Lexington, Massachusetts. His health being improved by life in the open air which the management of his farm enforced, he began to read law, and in the spring of 1857 removed to Waltham for greater convenience in that undertaking. He studied for a time in the Dane Law School, and later in the office of Messrs. Hoar and Gray in Boston, and was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession in 1858.
But with tastes which perhaps were neither mercantile nor legal, he had for some years given much attention in his leisure hours to political questions, and since the year 1856 had been a frequent and at times a regular writer for the editorial columns of the Boston Daily Advertiser. Finding his attention more and more engrossed by this pursuit, he availed himself of an opportunity which was presented in December, 1859, and became an associate editor and part pro- prietor of that journal with Mr. Charles Hale. Upon the appointment of Mr. Hale as Consul-General for Egypt, in 1864, Mr. Dunbar became the sole respon- sible editor, and continued in that position until the summer of 1869, when, finding his health seriously impaired, he sold his interest in the Advertiser and sailed for Europe with his family.
After two years of rest and travel Mr. Dunbar returned home, and in Septem- ber, 1 87 1, entered upon his duties as Professor of Political Economy, to which place he had been appointed a few months before.
WILLIAM WATSON GOODWIN.
William Watson Goodwin was born in Concord, Mass., May 9, 1831. His father, Hersey Bradford Goodwin (graduated at Harvard College in 1826), was a Unitarian clergyman, and from 1830 until his death, in July, 1836, was the col- league of the venerable Dr. Ripley, at Concord. ,His mother, Lucretia Ann Watson, died in November, 1831. Both his parents were born and brought up in Plymouth, Mass., and among his ancestors are several of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. He lived in Plymouth after his mother's death until he entered Col- lege, with the exception of the two years immediately preceding his father's death, which he passed in Concord. In August, 1847, he entered the Freshman class at Harvard College, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1851. After two years spent in teaching private pupils in Cambridge and Boston, he went to Germany in 1853 to continue his studies, with the intention of fitting himself to be a classical teacher. He entered the University of Gottingen in October, 1853; removed to Bonn in April, 1854, and to Berlin in October, 1854; and returned to Gottingen in April, 1855. He received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Gottingen in June, 1855, after presenting a dissertation " De Po- tentiae Maritimae Epochis apud Eusebium," and passing an examination in Classic Philology and Ancient History. The dissertation was printed in Gottingen in 1855. The following winter he spent in Italy, chiefly at Rome, where he lived three months in a house on the Roman Forum. In March, 1856, he visited Greece, and in the following June returned to the United States. Immediately after his return he was appointed Tutor in Greek and Latin in Harvard College, with the duty of teaching the Sophomore class in both languages ; the whole classical instruction of the three higher classes having previously devolved upon the Eliot Professor of Greek Literature and the University Professor of Latin. The increasing size of the College classes made it necessary to divide the duties of the new office at the end of the first year, and Mr. Goodwin remained Tutor in Greek to the Sophomore class until i860. In April, i860, he was elected by the President and Fellows to the Eliot Professorship of Greek Literature, made
WILLIAM WATSON GOODWIN. 189
vacant by the recent appointment of Professor Felton to the Presidency of the University. The election was confirmed by the Overseers in June ; and he en- tered on the duties of the office, which he still holds, in August.
In April, i860, he published a "Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb"; of which a second edition appeared in 1865, enlarged, and in great part rewritten. In October, 1870, he published "An Elementary Greek Grammar." In November, 1870, a translation of Plutarch's " Morals," in five volumes, was published by Messrs. Little, Brown, & Co., of Boston, on which he had spent much time and labor as editor during several years : this was a revision of the translation " By Several Hands," made at the end of the seventeenth century, which exhibited every variety of scholarship and skill on the part of the original translators. In partnership with Rev. J. H. Allen, of Cambridge, he edited a Greek Reader, con- sisting of selections from prose writers, which was published in September, 1871. He has been a Resident Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since January, 1859, and has contributed several articles to its published Pro- ceedings. He has also been a member of the American Oriental Society since 1857, and of the American Philological Association since 1870. He was chosen President of the latter body in 1871, for the ensuing year; but was prevented from attending the meeting in July, 1872, by necessary absence in Europe. He has contributed several articles to the Transactions and the Proceedings of the Philological Association, and has occasionally written for the North American Review and other periodicals.
i
FERDINAND BOCHER.
Ferdinand Bocher was born on the 29th of August, 1832, during a temporary residence of his parents in New York. The next year they returned to France, where he passed his childhood alternately at Vire and in the neighborhood of Caen in Normandy. Later he accompanied his father on several voyages to America. His education was not regular.
After teaching French for three years in St. Louis, he became Instructor in French at the Washington University of that city in 1857, a position which he gave up in order to go to Europe in 1859. On his return, in 1861, he was appointed Instructor in French in Harvard College, a place which he held until his appointment, in 1865, as Professor of Modern Languages in the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology, Boston. In 1869 he delivered a course of Harvard University Lectures on Moliere and French Comedy, and the next year on Early French and Provencal Literature. In 1871 he was appointed to the jDro- fessorship which he at present fills, that of Modern Languages.
The more important of his publications are, —
In 1865, Otto's French Grammar, translated and revised, with Additions; several editions of which have been issued.
In 1 87 1, A Progressive French Reader.
A College series of French Plays, published during the last ten years.
He has been a frequent contributor to various literary publications.
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EPHRAIM WHITMAN GURNEY.
Ephraim Whitman Gurney was born in Boston, on the i8th February, 1829. He attended the public grammar and high schools of the city, entered a count- ing-room, and remained in business for three years. Having then decided to go to College, he pursued the requisite studies, partly under the supervision of a private teacher and partly by himself, and entered the Freshman class in Harvrard College in 1848.
After his graduation in 1852 he took private pupils, and taught Latin and Greek in a private school in Boston until 1857, when he received an appoint- ment as Tutor in Latin in the College. He held this position, giving instruc- tion to the Sophomore class, until 1863, when he was appointed Assistant Professor of Latin. In 1867 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Philosophy, and taught that subject for one year ; but a vacancy having then occurred in the historical department, he was appointed, in 1868, Assistant Professor of History. In 1869 he was made University Professor of History; and in 1870, Dean of the College Faculty.
JAMES MILLS PEIRCE.
James Mills Peirce, eldest son of Professor Benjamin Peirce, was born at Cam- bridge, May I, 1834. He was prepared for college at the Hopkins Classical School (E. B. Whitman, principal), and was graduated in 1853. He was a Tutor in Mathematics in this University from 1854 to 1858, and was a proctor (occasion- ally serving as a tutor) from 1858 to 1861. During the year 1853-4, he was a member of the Dane Law School; and for the three years 1856-9, he was a member of the Divinity School. He was made Assistant Professor of Mathematics in 1861, and in 1869 was appointed to the office which he now holds, of University Professor of Mathematics.
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HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born at Portland, Maine, on the 27th of February, 1807. He received his early education at the academy of that town; entered Bowdoin College in 1821, and graduated in the class of 1825.
In the spring of 1826 he went to Europe, and passed three years and a half in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. On his return in the autumn of 1829 he became Professor of Modern Languages in Bowdoin College, and remained there till 1835, when he was appointed Professor of French, Spanish, and Belles- Lettres at Hai-vard.
Before entering upon the duties of this professorship he again visited Europe, passing the summer of 1835 in Denmark and Sweden, and the following winter and summer in Germany, Tyrol, and Switzerland.
Returning in the autumn of 1836, he entered upon his professorship at Har- vard. Since that time he has resided in Cambridge, though he resigned the professorship in 1854. He revisited Europe in 1842, and again in 1868.
The following is a list of his writings, with the dates of first publication : — 1833, Coplas de Manrique. 1835, Outre-Mer, a Pilgrimage beyond the Sea. 1839, Hyperion, a Romance.
" Voices of the Night.
1842, Ballads and other Poems.
1843, Poems on Slavery.
" The Spanish Student.
1845, The Poets and Poetry of Europe.
" The Belfry of Bruges and other Poems.
1847, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie.
1849, Kavanagh, a Tale.
" The Seaside and the Fireside.
185 1, The Golden Legend.
1855, The Song of Hiawatha.
194
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.
1858, The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Birds of Passage. 1863, Tales of a Wayside Inn. Part First; and Birds of Passage. 1866, Flower de Luce. 1868, The New England Tragedies. " The Divine Comedy of Dante.
1872, Three Books of Song: containing Tales of a Wayside Inn, Part Second;
Judas Maccabasus; and a Handful of Translations. " The Divine Tragedy.
1873, Christus, a Mystery: containing The Divine Tragedy, The Golden Legend,
and The New England Tragedies, with Introitus and Interludes. " Aftermath : containing Tales of a Wayside Inn, Part Third ; and Birds of Passage.
1874, The Hanging of the Crane.
THE DIVINITY SCHOOL.
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THE DIVINITY SCHOOL.
Early Mode of Theological Instruction in the College. — Origin of the School. — First Foundations for Professorships. — The Society for the Promotion of Theological Edu- cation IN Harvard University. — Past Professors. — Divinity Hall erected 1825-6. — Ceremonies accompanying the Laying of the Corner-Stone and Dedication of the Build- ing. — Description of the Building. — The Association of Alumni formed. — The Ques- tion OF the Transfer of the Trust of the School from the Corporation to the Society FOR promoting Theological Education. — The Library. — The Present Staff of Profes- sors. — New Foundations. — Occasional Lecturers. — Beneficiary Funds. — Degree of Bachelor of Divinity. — Aims of Governors and Professors.
One of the principal objects for which Harvard College was founded was to provide a learned clergy for the churches, as is shown by the mottoes upon two of its seals, " In gloriam Christi," and " Christo et Ecclesi^." From early times its graduates, with those of other colleges, resided in Cambridge to complete their education for the ministry, and, instructed by the College Professors and assisted by funds held in trust for the purpose by the Corporation, constituted a kind of Theological Department. In the time of Edward Wigglesworth, the second Hollis Professor of that name, the " system adopted," says Ouincy, " in- cluded two exercises, denominated lectures ; the first a dissertation read by the Professor on some topic of positive or controversial Divinity, the second a cate- chetical exercise on the preceding, accompanied with instructions." The resident graduates and the members of the Senior and Junior classes were required to attend both. " The second became irksome to students not intending to qualify themselves for the clerical profession; and in 1784 only those were required to
igS THE DIVINITY SCHOOL.
attend who purposed to make Divinity a particular study ; the second exercise was made an examination on the theological portion of Doddridge's Lectures." This was the first step in separating the course of study of those who intended to make theology a profession from that of students whose views were directed to other pursuits.
In 1805, Rev. Henry Ware was elected to the Hollis Professorship of Divinity. In the first years of his official life it may be presumed that he only delivered the prescribed lectures in the College. But in 181 1 he began a course of exer- cises with the resident students in Divinity, and was assisted by President Kirkland, who gave some lectures on Dogmatic Theology; by Professor Willard, in Hebrew; by Mr. Andrews Norton, after his appointment as Dexter Lecturer in 1 81 3, in Sacred Literature; and by Professor Frisbie, in Ethics, after his appointment as Alford Professor of Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity in 181 7. These instructors, who all had duties to perform in the College, voluntarily undertook to direct the studies of theological students, among whom we find, between 181 1 and 1818, many names distinguished afterward in the clerical and other walks of life, — Joseph Allen, Eidward Everett, Samuel Atkins Eliot, Samuel Oilman, Henry Ware, Francis William Pitt Greenwood, Alvan Lamson, James Walker, Convers Francis, Jared Sparks, John G. Palfrey, and John Pierpont.
Probably the impulse to this movement came in part from a bequest to the College by the Hon. Samuel Dexter of Mendon, who deserves commemoration for his early, liberal, and sagacious provision for a kind of theological study which was just beginning to receive some attention proportioned to its importance, — the elucidation and correct translation of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- ments, " particularly of such portions as relate to the advent, character, and offices of the Messiah." Retiring early from public life, he devoted himself to meditation and study. Theology was his favorite pursuit. " Resting," says his biographer, " his own hope of a future existence on the Divine origin of the Christian .religion, and believing that many of the difficulties which lead to deism and infidelity would vanish, were the passages objected to critically explained, he established his lecture- ship for that most useful branch of learning, a critical knowledge of the Holy Scriptures." By the consent of all, the first lecturer on this foundation was Joseph Stevens Buckminster, appointed in 181 1, who died too early for the interests of sacred learning, and was succeeded by the Rev. William Ellery Channing in 181 2; on whose resignation Mr. Norton was elected in 181 3.
In February, 181 3, Samuel Parkman, a rich merchant of Boston, gave to the College a township of land in the District of Maine, estimated at ^20,000 dollars in value, for the support of a Professor of Theology. The gift brought no imme- diate help to the department, but it tended to show the direction of public opinion. The want of aid for theological education being deeply felt, in 181 5 the Corpora-
THE DIVINITY SCHOOL.
199
tion addressed a circular to the " liberal and pious," proposing to raise funds to assist students in theology of limited means to reside at Cambridge; and, as the best method of attaining the object, to form a society consisting of subscribers to a fund " for the education of candidates for the ministry in Cambridge University." The long list of subscribers embraces names most honored at that time, and repre- sents a weight of character perhaps never exceeded by that of any equal number of men and women joining in a common enterprise. At the head of the life- subscribers stands the name of the venerable Ex-President John Adams. The con- tributions amounted to more than ^27,000. A society was formed which adopted a written constitution, of which it was a fundamental article, and ever afterwards recog- nized as a fundamental article in the constitution of the Theological School, "that encouragement (shall) be given to the serious, impartial, and unbiassed investigation of Christian Truth ; and that no assent to the peculiarities of any denomination of Christians (shall) be required either of the students, or professors, or instructors." The fund raised was paid into the College treasury to be appropriated, by a joint Board consisting of the Corporation and five Trustees elected by the society, to the education of candidates for the ministry. This Board had, however, only the power of making this appropriation, but no authority over the instructors or pupils, who continued to be subject to the Corporation and Overseers. The impelling and guiding power of this noble movement was John Thornton Kirkland. To him first, and then to the Fellows associated with him and to other solicitors and donors of this fund, belongs the honor of founding the Theological School as a distinct de- partment in Harvard University. The first annual visitation, at which dissertations were read, is believed to have taken place December 17, 181 7. Of the students who read at that time, Andrew Bigelow alone survives.
The inauguration of Mr. Norton as Dexter Professor of Sacred Literature was the occasion of a more formal organization of this department; with him being associated, now by the authority of the College government, the Hollis, Hancock, and Alford Professors. With President Kirkland they constituted a Faculty, held regular meetings, and the journal of proceedings begins with a record made October, 18 19, by Sidney Willard, secretary. At this meeting the exercises for the year were arranged, and among them lectures on the Septuagint to be given by (Edward) Everett, Eliot Professor of Greek. Mr. Willard himself had entered on the office of Hancock Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages in 1807. He continued to teach Hebrew in the School and in the College, until he resigned his office in 1831. He had respectable learn- ing for his time, was a felicitous writer, and gave the valuable services of his pen occasionally to the then rising Liberal Christianity and to general literature. He was a genial man, beloved by all, and called, after the resignation of his professorship, to the highest honor and trust his native city had to bestow.
200 THE DIVINITY SCHOOL.
" The delightful exercises," as Dr. Gannett calls them,* " of the Alford Pro- fessor were soon closed by death." The other two members of this first Theo- logical Faculty deserve more particular notice as those on whom the efficiency and reputation of the Theological Department depended. Henry Ware, D. D., called from the First Parish of Hingham, where he had been a devoted and very successful minister, to the HolHs Professorship, served the Divinity School until 1840, about a quarter of a century, and the College for thirty-five years. At his resignation the Corporation elected him Professor of Theology Emeritus.
Dr. Ware was a man of mark. His sound judgment, his fairness in all statements, his freedom from dogmatism, won the confidence of his pupils in theology. No man ever loved truth with a more single affection, or more dis- dained to maintain it by ingenuity or sophism. As firm a believer as any man of his generation in Divine revelation, he could yet sympathize with the difficulties of a mind newly roused to inquiry upon its great themes, and could hopefully anticipate the benefit which might flow from its struggles. When his pupil, Samuel J. May, sought his counsel, and hesitatingly told the doubts with which his mind was beset in its new path of inquiry, the Professor's play- ful words, putting his visitor at ease, and showing his own tranquil earnestness, were, " Mr. May, I congratulate you on having found a doubt." As a teacher and disciplinarian, it might be thought that he did not exact enough of his pupils in theology. This error, if error it were, found some excuse in the fact that they had nearly all passed through the discipline of College, and had reached an age when they should be qualified to judge of the most profit- able use of their time. But in spite of their deficiency, they never left the conversation (which was the form the exercise was apt too exclusively to take where there should have been a more elaborate response to his written ques- tions) without carrying with them some memorable expression of his wisdom. In all relations the faithful and self-governed spirit of this man was conspic- uous. He bore his full part in the internal administration of the Academic Department. He delivered elaborate lectures in the College Chapel. He admi- rably instructed College classes in Butler and Paley. He officiated for a large portion of the time at daily prayers. Twice, after the decease or resignation of a President, it fell to him to preside over the College. In this position his wisdom never failed, and he was the very embodiment of impartial justice. He entered on his office in a time of ecclesiastical commotion. His election had been opposed on account of his non-Calvinistic opinions ; during his professor- ship the Corporation was charged with perversion of trust in the case of the Hollis Fund (which yielded a very small part of his support), a charge of which
* See his Address at the semicentennial celebration of tlie Divinity School in 1867.
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the Professor must needs feel the full weight. Dr. Ware left it to others to an- swer this and kindred charges, and steadily devoted himself to the duties he had assumed. By temperament he was averse to controversy. Fifteen years after his inauguration, persuaded by friends, he replied to Dr. Wood's " Letters to Unita- rians," and afterwards published a rejoinder to the examination by that divine of his own " Letters to Trinitarians and Calvinists." Besides these works. Dr. Ware gave to the press a few years before his death portions of his lectures in two volumes, in the form of an " Inquiry concerning Religion."
But it was another Professor, exclusively devoted to the School, on whom devolved chiefly at this time the task of raising its character and usefulness. Andrews Norton graduated from Harvard College in 1804, and afterwards resided mostly in Cambridge. The grandson of Rev. John Norton of Hingham, he was of Puritan blood and inherited elements of Puritan character. He was touched with the spirit of the time in which he came to manhood, and took a deep interest in the theological and metaphysical questions then discussed. In 181 2 he under- took to conduct the General Repository ; and in this periodical, which was con- tinued but two years, he published some of his most celebrated papers, indicating his logical power, his accurate and increasing learning, and his sturdy determina- tion to promote rational reform in theology. All signs marked him as the fittest scholar to carry out thoroughly the objects named in Samuel Dexter's legacy. From his inauguration in 18 19 to his resignation in 1830, in spite of bodily weakness and suffering, he was the strength of the School. He brought to it the needed inspiration. He fired the souls of most students with zeal for reform in theology and with love of ci^itical inquiry. He urged at times the most un- compromising opposition to error, and seemed to some animated with the spirit of an iconoclast ; yet he was impatient with other critics scarcely bolder than himself, who could not cast their minds in what he thought the right mould, and sometimes spoke of honest scholars, like De Wette and Schleirmacher, with a severity which those who most revere his memory cannot but regret. To do this for the cause of religion is a justification more common than valid. But Mr. Norton was one of the most religious of men. He believed with no mental reservation in Divine Providence and in prayer, and has breathed forth his faith in immortal hymns. About to embark for Europe, he rose one Sunday evening after the usual preaching in the Divinity Chapel, spoke of his contemplated absence, and said, " I wish to pray with you." No one who heard it has lost the impres- sion of that prayer. We have heard Channing pray. We have heard Henry Ware and Charles FoUen pray in the College Chapel. And we were brought not only into communion with God, but into depths of communion with men which nothing else ever opened. And we know that the prayer of our revered teacher, on the occasion referred to, was to all of us a fresh revelation of his inner life.
202 'I'HE DIVINITY SCHOOL.
Mr. Norton believed in a supernatural revelation by Jesus Christ, with a conviction probably surpassing that of most men. Though a Humanitarian, he believed in the miraculous conception of Jesus. Bold critic as he was, he was very far from resolving all miracle into myth. And he so stamped the reality of the gospel history, with its wonderful events, on the minds of his classes, that in very few who listened to him has the scepticism of the age removed or even weakened the impression. Indeed, the power to impress others with the reality and the moral grandeur of the historical life of Jesus Christ was the glory of Andrews Norton as a teacher. He felt a profound sympathy with the subject of his teachings, and in the simplest way so brought out the spiritual power of that Divine life that his classes were often deeply moved. His great work on the Genuineness of the Gospels, and his unfinished Translation of and Notes on the same, the former a masterpiece of moral reasoning, the latter showing great crit- ical acumen and spiritual insight, scarcely equal the greatest impressions he made in the class-room, but they are elaborate and costly offerings of his mind and life to the Saviour he loved and the Father he adored. Besides these works, which were published after his resignation, he gave to the press a volume on the Inter- nal Evidences of the Genuineness of the Gospels, and another volume, one of his most elaborate works, entitled " A Statement of Reasons for not believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians concerning the Nature of God and the Person of Christ," which was a revision and enlargement of his review of " Stuart's Letters to Channing."
Another teacher, Charles Follen, J. U. D., was added to this Faculty, and will be vividly remembered by those few students who were so fortunate as to come under his instruction in ethics in the brief period of his employment in this department. Having been a teacher of the German language in College, he was in 1828 appointed an instructor for the Divinity School in Ecclesiastical History and in Ethics, but remained only two years on account of new arrangements in the department which it was necessary to make at the end of that time. An ardent lover of liberty, a political exile from Germany, he won the highest respect in his adopted country by his extensive learning and acute mind, united with firmness of principle, strong Christian faith, the most gentle manners, and the purest character. His departure from the institution was a great loss, whether regarded in his ability to excite and guide an interest in ethical study, or in his unconscious influence on the spirit and aims of those around him. He perished on the steamboat Lexington, destroyed by fire in 1840. Dr. Channing in public eulogy paid a tribute of friendship and genius to his memory. His Life and Works have been published in five volumes.
Not long after the establishment of the Divinity School as an organic part of the University, it became apparent that its arrangements were deficient ; and it
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was thought necessary that there should be a more efficient organization of its government, and that Directors should be constituted who should give more constant attention to the wants of the seminary than could be given by the Cor- poration. We have also the authority of President Sparks* for saying tliat the opinion was even then becoming extensively prevalent and earnest, " that the interests of the School and of the College rendered a separation of them desir- able, so far as practicable." Accordingly, by mutual consent, a new organization of the Society for promoting Theological Education in Harvard University was proposed, "vesting the immediate management and control of the School in a Board of Directors chosen by the Society; subject, however, to certain visitatorial powers of the Corporation, which also, as they supposed, retained the right of appointing Professors, subject to confirmation by the Overseers." The Corpora- tion, together with five Trustees appointed by the Society, were to constitute a joint Board for the appropriation of the funds of the School. The fundamental article of the Constitution already mentioned was studiously retained in this and all changes. The Corporation had by formal vote accepted the new Constitution of the Society, and an Act of Incorporation was obtained in 1826. But some difference of opinion arose between members of the two bodies, and, at the criti- cal moment, the Corporation, advised thereto by a committee consisting of John T. Kirkland, Charles Jackson, and Francis C. Gray, withheld their assent to the Act, and it never became a law; although, practically, the Directors bore a chief part in the management of the School, and exerted themselves in its behalf At this time they drew attention to its pressing needs, and its friends contributed nearly $ 20,000 for the purchase of land and the erection of a building, and for the aid of students. As the Society was not incorporated, no sale of land was made to it by the Corporation.
The principal fruit of this generous contribution was the erection of Divinity Hall.
Under the auspices of the above-named Society, chiefly through the exertions of the late Stephen Higginson, Jr., then steward of the College, who was inde- fatigable in forwarding the object, this edifice was erected during the years 1825 and 1826.
On Wednesday, July 26, 1825, with appropriate ceremonies, the corner-stone of the building was laid. The accompanying exercises consisted of a prayer by Professor Henry Ware, an address by Hon. Benjamin Pickman of Salem, presi- dent of the Board of Directors of the Institution, the singing of an original hymn composed for the occasion, and a benediction by the President of the Uni- versity. Beneath the corner-stone was deposited a plate bearing the inscription: —
* See A Memorial of the Corporation addressed to the Overseers of Harvard College.
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Auspice Deo.
Huj. JEv. Fund. In Usum Schol. Tiieol. Cant, posuerunt Die
SEXTO jULii A. D. MDCCCXXV.
Ciiraions, Benj. Pickman. Car. Lowell.
Dan. a. White. Hen. Ware, Jr.
Jos. TUCKERMAN. JAC. WaLKER.
Steph. Higginson, Jr. Sam. A. Eliot.
Pro/essorilitts,
Hen. Ware, Sid. Willard, Andrews Norton.
Univ. Harv. PrcES. JOH. T. Kirkland.
The completed edifice was dedicated on the 28th of August, 1826. Dr. W. E. Channing preached on the occasion one of the most eloquent of his sermons from the text, "His word was with power" (Luke iv. 32). It was preached to a large audience in the church of the First Parish, which then stood on the north side of Harvard Square, facing the head of what is now Dunster Street. After the services in the church the assembled company proceeded to the Hall, where other appropriate exercises completed the ceremony of dedication.
At the close of the following September, with the beginning of the new aca- demic year, the building was occupied by the members of the Divinity School.
Divinity Hall is situated about an eighth of a mile in a northeasterly direction from the College yard ; it faces the west, and stands at right angles with the Zoological Museum, its nearest neighbor of the University buildings. It contains, beside thirty-seven chambers for the accommodation of students (each chamber being furnished with a small bedroom), a chapel, a library, a large lecture-room, and a reading-room.
In 1829 the attention and generosity of friends were aroused afresh by the obvious need of more full provision for the preparation of candidates for the ministry. It being expected that Rev. Henry Ware, Jr., of Boston, would be appointed to the new chair, a subscription of more than $ 1 3,000 was easily filled for a Professorship of Pulpit Eloquence and the Pastoral Care, and he was chosen. By request of the Directors of the School, he had leave of absence to visit Europe for the benefit of his health, and on his return, in the autumn of 1830, entered on his duties. "The man was made for the place, as the place was made for the man." His inaugural address, delivered in the Divinity Chapel, was captivating in its ideal of the Preacher and the Pastor, and thrilling in its solemnity. No professor has ever exerted a greater influence directly tending to imbue his pupils with the spirit of the sacred profession. He was naturally a minister. It never appears to have occurred to him to be anything else. He
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took an interest, indeed, in every good cause, and, it is said, had some trials in his professorial life on account of his interest in the question of slavery, his friends "fearing at one time that he would be too engrossed with it." In a Convention Sermon he declared his belief at a time when it required moral cour- age to make the declaration, that ministers ought to bear clear testimony against intemperance, war, and human bondage, and in more than one hesitating young preacher he awakened courage for public duty. But his zeal for the gospel itself, and for fitting its ministers for their work, never flagged in all his years of affliction, infirmity, and over-work. His spiritual influence was felt not only in the School but in the College, where he had duties of preaching, instruction, and daily devotion. " For twelve years," says Dr. Gannett, " he gave to this School a force of purpose, a consecration of heart, and an amount of labor, that no testimony of ours can exaggerate. When I think of his life, it seems to me more a romance than a reality. It was so full of goodness, such an example of faith, such a pattern of industry, so self-contained and well proportioned, yet so direct an impulse of help to others, such an instance of what a man may be and what he may do under hindrances suited to rob him of efficiency, that I am tempted to ask if it is the actual or the mythical which his name reiDresents." His health at last gave way entirely, and he resigned his position in 1842, leaving his pupils bereaved and the churches in sorrow for one whose place could not be filled. He died in 1843. His works have been published in five volumes.
Mr. Norton's resignation of his office of Dexter Professor in March, 1830, gave occasion for a new organization of the Theological Department in the Septem- ber following, by which the President of the University, the Professors of Divin- ity, of Biblical Literature, and of Puljoit Eloquence and the Pastoral Care, were constituted the Faculty, and were clothed "with power to make regulations and enforce laws ; and one of the Professors was to be appointed Dean." The con- nection between the Society for promoting Theological Education in Harvard University, and the Corporation, in the government of the School, was dissolved by mutual consent ; and the funds and estates of the Society were transferred to the President and Fellows, upon the trust that they should be employed to ac- complish the purpose of the donors. The association obtained an Act of Incor- poration under the title of " The Society for promoting Theological Education." Under this constitution it has received considerable funds in trust to be used in assisting meritorious students in theology. It has never relaxed its zeal for the welfare of the institution it did so much to build up, and has exerted itself repeatedly to carry it through difficulties.
No sooner were the new statutes of 1830 adopted, than Rev. John Gorham Palfrey was elected to the Professorship of Biblical Literature, and appointed
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Dean of the Faculty. The time has not come — may it be long deferred — for speaking in detail of his services in this institution for nine years. But we may recognize "the obligation" — to use the words of Dr. Gannett — "under which not only liis pupils, but the churches which bear this School upon their sympathies, were placed by the watchful care and thorough instruction which marked his term of office." His pupils love to speak of the confidence he inspired. A more rigid discipline did not alienate their affection. The practice was discontinued of leaving the School at all stages of the course to enter the pulpit, we presume through Dr. Palfrey's influence. Besides the great labor imposed by his profes- sorship, he preached in the College pulpit, where his appearance was always welcome. The fruits of his industry and great learning are to be seen in two volumes of Lowell Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity, four volumes of Lec- tures on the Old Testament, and a work on the Relation between Judaism and Christianity.
In 1839 was formed an Association of the Alumni of the Divinity School, for the purpose of " strengthening the bonds of spiritual brotherhood, enlivening mu- tual interest in the great cause of Liberal Christianity, and especially of increasing the number of preachers." Rev. James Walker, D. D., was chosen the first president. The first Annual Address delivered before it by Mr. Norton, on " The Latest Form of Infidelity," condemned certain forms of philosophical and theo- logical speculation which had appeared among us, and which the orator regarded as destructive of religion. A memorable correspondence ensued, in which an " Alumnus," Rev. George Ripley of Boston, vigorously attacked the statements of the Address. Rev. Ralph Waldo Emerson had in the preceding year given his celebrated discourse to the graduating class of the School, which was noticed by Professor Henry Ware, Jr., in a sermon preached in the College Chapel, on the Personality of God, which also gave rise to a correspondence between these scholars very honorable to both for its entire frankness and perfect courtesy.
In 1840 the Rev. Francis Parkman, D. D., made a donation of ^5,000 to be added to that of his father, from which the treasury had realized only about the same sum, to carry into effect his father's intention to found a Chair of Theol- ogy, and accompanied it with the one condition, that it should be immediately used to support a professorship named for the first donor. It was accepted gladly, and applied to render secure the Professorship of Pulpit Eloquence and the Pastoral Care, which henceforth bore the name of Parkman. In the same year the Hancock and Dexter foundations were consolidated into one for a single chair. The provision thus made being still insufficient, and the suspension of the School being in prospect, Dr. Ware, Sen., and Dr. Palfrey having resigned, and the Corporation intending not to fill at present the HoUis Chair, the Society for promoting Theological Education came to the rescue, and with the Berry
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Street Conference again appealed to the churches, which responded in the sum of $ 10,000 to be applied to the Dexter Professorship.
The attention of all persons interested was turned towards George Rapall Noyes, D. D., as the scholar most competent to fill the chair thus provided for. In May 20, 1 840, he was elected with the title of " Hancock Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages, and Dexter Lecturer on Biblical Literature." His " Amended Version of the Book of Job," executed while resident at the Uni- versity, had at once placed him in the front rank of scholars. After his settle- ment as a minister, his critical labors were continued in accordance with a plan previously formed, and produced a translation and partial exposition of the other poetical books of the Old Testament. Dr. Noyes had won a unique reputation as a critic and interpreter, when he was called to succeed Dr. Palfrey, the accomplished teacher of Sacred Literature. It was his eminence as a translator of Hebrew which had won his fame while pastor in a country parish. But the additional duty of expounding the New Testament was laid upon him at Cam- bridge, and he sedulously prepared himself to be as competent, instructive, and stimulating in this branch of interpretation as in the other. In addition he held exercises in Systematic Theology. He preached a fourth of the year in the College Chapel. His pupils craved more exposition of the New Testament than he could give. Says one of them, in an appropriate notice of him after his death:* "During this long period" of service, "perhaps the most interesting thing to witness has been his steady growth in the respect and attachment of the young men under his charge." He had great authority in the lecture -room. His opinions were carefully formed, and delivered with precision, and often accom- panied with a shrewd practical wisdom long remembered by his pupils. He con- tinued in office until his death, in 1868, — a period of twenty-eight years. In the two last years, under great infirmity, he executed a Translation of the New Tes- tament, which has received general praise, and increased the obligations under which he had already placed all students of the Bible.
With Dr. Noyes was long associated Convers Francis, D. D., appointed after the resignation of Dr. Henry Ware, Jr., to the Parkman Professorship. The con- troversy excited by what was called " Transcendentalism " caused the succession to Professor Ware to be regarded with solicitude. The election of Dr. Francis probably gave as general satisfaction as any would have done. He had much sympathy undoubtedly with the liberal scholars, Ripley, Furness, and others. He had, how- ever, been one of the most successful ministers in his parish, and one of the most acceptable preachers, and had the confidence of the churches. His unfeigned distrust of his qualifications for the position was overcome, and he brought to it a richly stored mind, a genial and sympathetic spirit, a painstaking industry, a
* See Christian Examiner for July, 1868.
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perfect conscientiousness. Dr. Hedge, who knew him long and intimately, charac- terizes him as " the most accomplished of scholars and the most faithful of teach- ers." Without any interval for special preparation, he was compelled to assume at once a multitude of duties, and his papers show the variety and extent of the work he undertook. Ecclesiastical History, Natural Theology, Ethics, and preach- ing half the time in the College Chapel, were added to instruction given in the Composition of Sermons and in the Pastor's Work. He sought in every way to be helpful to the students in the religious life, and to enlist their interest in every question of moral reform. His frame was strong; but his mind was distracted by too many duties to enjoy his work as he deserved. His method — which is said to have been to present others' opinions on all sides of a subject rather than his own — was criticised in the School and out of it, and this made him some- times unhappy. But this method, certainly unsatisfactory, scarcely deserved re- proach in a School designed to be unscctarian. It was conscientiously adhered to. He sought to keep the mind and heart of his pupils open to all the friends and truths of God ; and he undoubtedly promoted a breadth of thought and sym- pathy among the ministers trained under him quite as valuable as the qualities which win favor with narrow minds. "We express,"* said the Orator before the Alumni soon after his death, " all of a Christian scholar's allegiance in speaking tenderly and gratefully here the honored name of Convers Francis. No more hospitable soul has lived among us."
The year 1852 and those immediately following are memorable for an agitation which came near divorcing the School from the University. The incentive to it was the alleged embarrassment arising out of the connection of the College with the State, and the part which the State, divided into jealous religious sects, was called to take in the management of the schools of the University. A committee of the Overseers in 1845 had reported adversely to a separation. But now the President and Fellows addressed a memorial to the Overseers, setting forth the inherent evil of the connection, and their desire to surrender this part of their trust into other hands. A committee of the Overseers, appointed to consider this memorial and to confer with the Corporation, recommended the adoption of suita- ble measures to obtain a judicial decision directing the school funds to be trans- ferred to other trustees. After various delays, in 1859 the President and Fellows presented a petition to the Supreme Court to be relieved of the trusts in question. The Court doubting its jurisdiction, an enabling Act was passed by the Legislature. It had been supposed that the Society for promoting Theological Education was ready to accept the trusts. But, happily, this Society, at the critical moment, while claiming to be the trustees to whom the trusts should be assigned if sur- rendered by the Corporation, presented a remonstrance against this surrender so
* See Discourse before the Alumni of the Theological School, July, 1863, by Samuel Osgood, D. D.
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strong as to bring the agitation to a stand. In their able answer, they assert that the School and its trusts have materially contributed to the dignit)', usefulness, and advancement of Harvard College, and that " it would be false to all our tradi- tions, if in a College named for a Puritan minister, fostered by a Puritan clergy, and bearing on its corporate seal the motto, ' Christo et Ecclesise,' religion should be the only subject deliberately excluded." The Corporation withdrew their peti- tion the more readily, as Mr. Felton, then recently chosen President, was strongly opposed to it
The year 1856 was marked by a very welcome addition to the resources of the School in the purchase of the Hbrary of the late Dr. Luecke of Gottingen. Placed in a separate room, it is called the Loring Librar}% in honor of the donor of the purchase-money. Colonel Benjamin Loring of Boston. The most consid- erable appropriation which had ever been made for it was one of $ 2,000 made by the Directors in 1825, which was really its foundation. The Loring Library added 4,000 volumes. Dr. Convers Francis directed in his will that such vol- umes among his books as might be thought valuable for the School should be selected for it; and about 2,000 so selected were deposited in a separate room and called the Francis Librar}\ Thus the Theological Librar)- has grown from a small beginning to about 16,000 volumes, mostly of carefully selected works; further contributions, however, are desirable to furnish it adequately with the works of theological scholars of former times and vrith the best works which are published in our own day ; and one of the most urgent needs of this department is a fire- proof building for the safe keeping of this invaluable and increasing collection.
In 1857 the Society for promoting Theological Education again came to the help of the School and its overworked instructors. They proffered to the Corpo- ration an annual sum for sLx years for the support of two non-resident Profes- sors, one in Ecclesiastical History and one in Dogmatic Theologj-. Frederic Henry Hedge, D. D., was appointed to the former chair, which he now fills, and George Edward Ellis, D. D., to the latter. WTien the time of this appointment was about to expire, the Corporation appropriated a portion of the income of the Bussey bequest to the remuneration of the continued sen-ices of Professor Hedge, while the subjects of the careful instruction of Professor Ellis were as- signed to a newly appointed resident Professor. Oliver Stearns, D. D., was elected to fill the vacancy made by the death of Dr. Francis in 1863, with the title of Parkman Professor of Pulpit Eloquence and the Pastoral Care, and Lecturer on Christian Theolog}'. The title was changed in 1869 to that of Parkman Pro- fessor of Theology, in accordance with the terms of Samuel Parkman's donation. The incumbent now gives lectures on Systematic Theology and Ethics, and is Dean of the Facult}\
In 1867, James Freeman Clarke, D. D., was appointed a non-resident Professor
2IO THE DIVINITY SCHOOL.
of Natural Religion and Christian Doctrine, and continued in office four years, visiting the School twice a week the first year, afterwards but once a week. In the winter of 1869, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Dr. Noyes, Rev. Edward James Young was elected Hancock Professor of Hebrew and other Ori- ental Languages, and Dexter Lecturer on Biblical Literature, and still holds the office, teaching the Hebrew language in College and in the Divinity School, and in the latter giving lectures on the Old Testament.
No benefactor of the School has given it so large an amount as was left by the bequest of Benjamin Bussey, Esq., of Roxbury, whose will was approved in 1842. As the income became available, it was found sufficient to warrant the estab- lishment of two professorships, which bear his name, besides assisting in the support of other instructors. In the autumn of 1869, Rev. Charles Carroll Everett was elected Bussey Professor of Theology. Dr. Everett gives lectures on the Science of Thought, the Philosophy of Religion, the Ethnic Religions, and on Preaching and the Pastoral Care. In 1872, Ezra Abbot, LL. D., was elected Bussey Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation, and now gives lectures in the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, and in the exegesis of its writings.
Occasionally ministers of the neighborhood have been appointed to deliver brief courses of lectures on special subjects. In 1869, Rev. Samuel H. Winkley delivered a course on the "Ministry"; in 1871, Rev. Rufus Ellis gave a course on the " Moral Evidences of Christianity," John H. Morrison, D. D., a course on the Epistles of Paul, and Samuel Kirkland Lothrop, D. D., delivered lectures on the " History and Principles of Congregationalism."
Formerly, giving a certificate of having pursued the prescribed course of study was the only form of graduating. Long after degrees were conferred in other departments, students left the Theological Seminary with as thorough compara- tive scholarship as was acquired in any professional school, and yet received no degree, though their names were entered on the Triennial Catalogue. Provision was at last made to remedy this injustice, and at the Commencement of 1870 the degree of Bachelor of Theology was conferred for the first time in regular course. Further to promote good scholarship, annual written examinations were introduced at this period, which must be satisfactorily passed to enable a student to be advanced to regular standing in the class of the next year. The course of study is for three years. It has been proposed to add to it a fourth year ; but at pres- ent it is deemed sufficient to provide a fourth year's study for those who desire it.
But while the University as such is only concerned to provide instruction in theology as a science, those who have charge of the institution have constantly in view the preparation of candidates for the Christian ministry, the avowed object of the founders. They have therefore provided for careful and copious teaching and practice in the composition and delivery of sermons, and constant instruction
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by the Professor of Elocution. They have instituted weekly exercises for prac- tice in extempore speaking, in which all who intend to be preachers are expected to bear their part.
In 1869 was established the Divinity Boarding Club. Contributions towards this object and towards defraying the cost of board for indigent students were made, to the amount of $ 2,000, by friendly churches moved by the persuasion of Dr. Ezra S. Gannett.
From time to time liberal men and women have given or bequeathed money, the income of which should be devoted to the support of meritorious students in this department. The list begins with Edward Hopkins, afterwards colonial gov- ernor of Connecticut, whose bequest, made in 1652, was withheld by his heirs, and was not available for many years, but, with a small addition in land, early granted by the General Court, has become sufficient to sustain liberally six scholarships. The largest benefactor of this class was John D. Williams, Esq., of Boston, whose legacy, intrusted to the Society for promoting Theological Education, yields an income of $ 2,800. Other benefactors have given funds, some of which have been formed into nine scholarships varying in value. All these funds are applied with reference to the combined considerations of need, of effort and success in study, and of character.
The history of the Divinity School, which we have traced, extends over a little more than fifty years. It shows the aims of its founders and friends, and the principles they intended to incorporate into it. It shows the trials which it has encountered and the manner in which they have been overcome, and all that has been done to make it an adequate instrument of theological education. Connected with it are names which cannot be forgotten in the history of the progress of the- ological study in this country. Considered in view of what it has done to promote biblical learning and sound Christian doctrine, it has been worth many times its cost. It has, undoubtedly, by its principle of requiring from Professors and stu- dents no subscription to any creed, hitherto represented but a small constituency. This principle has been more honorable to it than popular. We trust that in the period already begun its encouragement of free investigation, its effort to preserve an unsectarian character, its disposition to emphasize the Christian life, and its zeal to make Christianity a power of moral reformation in society, will prove more at- tractive, and, with its noble endowments, its five Professors, of whom four devote to it all their labor, its free access to all the lectures of the University, and its means of aid for every student of competent talents and good character, will draw to it more patrons and students in the second half-century just opened than they have done in the half-century just closed. And its governors and Professors are united in the aim of making it in scholarship and character worthy of the Christian cause for which it stands, and of the University of which it is an organic part.
FREDERIC HENRY HEDGE.
Frederic Henry Hedge, son of Levi Hedge, was born at Cambridge on the 1 2th of December, 1805. His father was for many years connected with the College, first as Tutor, then as College Professor of Logic and Metaphysics, then as Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity. Frederic Henry, the second son, at the age of twelve, was put to school in Ger- many, at Ilfeld and Schulpforte, where he remained five years. On his return he entered Harvard at an advanced stage of the College course, and took his Bachelor's degree in 1825. His Exhibition and Commencement honors were poems ; he was also chosen poet of his class.
Immediately after graduating he passed into the Divinity School, studied Theology for the customary term of three years, took the Master's degree in 1828, and soon afterward was settled in the ministry, first in West Cambridge, then in Bangor, Me., then in Providence, R. L, and finally in Brookline.
In 1853 he received from Harvard the honorary degree of D. D. In 1857 he was made Professor of Ecclesiastical History, still residing in Brookline ; and in 1872, resigning his pastoral charge in that town, he accepted the Professorship of the German Language, which he now holds, and took up his residence in Cambridge. He is a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
His principal works are the Prose Writers of Germany, Reason in Religion, and the Primeval World of Hebrew Tradition.
C^,^^^^^ J^- ^^^\
(^X-^^-^-t.^
OLIVER STEARNS.
Oliver Stearns was born June 3, 1807, ^t Lunenburg, Worcester County, Mass. His father was Thomas Stearns, a farmer, a native of Lunenburg. His mother was Priscilla Gushing, of Hingham. He was a nephew of Asahel Stearns, who was from 1817 to 1829 Royall Professor of Law at Harvard University. His preparation for College was made chiefly at the district school of his native town, under masters who came from Cambridge in the winter vacation to take charge of it. This scanty opportunity for instruction was pieced out by a few weeks of study, now and then, with the minister or other educated resident of the town, and an occasional attendance for a single quarter at the Academy of New Ipswich. During the summer he worked upon the farm. He entered Harvard College in 1822, and graduated in 1826. He met the expenses of College life, in part, by teaching school during the winter vacations. He was monitor during the Junior year. He had an Oration at the exhibition of the Senior class and at Com- mencement. He was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club, of the Institute of 1870, and of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
The year after graduation was spent as usher in a private school conducted by Mr. Charles Green, in Jamaica Plain, then a part of Roxbury. In 1827 he entered the Divinity School of Harvard University, being moved to this step principally by impressions received while listening to the sermon preached by Dr. Channing at the laying of the corner-stone of Divinity Hall. At the time of entering the Divinity School he became Tutor of Mathematics in Hai-vard College, which office he held two years. He graduated at the school in 1830. November 9, 1 831, he was ordained minister of the Second Congregational Society of Northampton. This charge he resigned on account of ill health, April i, 1839. April I, 1840, he was installed over the Third Congregational Society in Hingham. His connection with the society as its minister had, however, prac- tically commenced nine months previously, and it continued more than seventeen years. In 1856 he became President of the Theological School of Meadville, Penn. Here he remained till 1863, when he became connected with the Divinity
214
OLIVER STEARNS.
School of Harvard University as Parkman Professor of Pulpit Eloquence and Pastoral Care, and Lecturer on Christian Theology ; the Professorship having been made vacant by the death of Convers Francis, D. D. As Lecturer on Christian Theology he succeeded George E. Ellis, D. D. In 1870 the title of his Professor- ship was changed to that of Parkman Professor of Theology, and he now gives instruction in Systematic Theology and Ethics. He has received the degrees of A. M. and D. D. from Harvard College.
In 1832 he married Mary Blood, of Sterling; and in 1872, Mrs. Augusta Hannah Bayley, of Boston.
He has occasionally pubHshed articles in reviews and other periodicals, and ser- mons and addresses in pamphlet form.
(S,.^ o^5^^r?A)
EZRA ABBOT.
Ezra Abbot was born in Jackson, Maine, April 28, 1819, the son of Ezra Abbot, a farmer. After receiving some excellent private instruction from his uncle, Rev. Abiel Abbot, of Peterboro', New Hampshire, he was fitted for college in 1835-36 at Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, then under the charge of Dr. Benjamin Abbot; graduated at Bowdoin College in 1840; spent five years in teaching, — first in Foxcroft Academy, then in Washington Academy, East Machias, Maine; in 1847 removed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he has since resided, finding employment for the most of the time in the Libraries of Harvard College and the Boston Atheneeum, and pursuing private studies, chiefly philological and theological. In 1856 appointed Assistant Librarian of Harvard College, with the exclusive charge of the cataloguing and classification of the books, which ofiice he resigned in 1872 to accept the Bussey Professor- ship of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation in the Cambridge Divinity School. Elected in 1852 a member of the American Oriental Society, of which he has been since 1853 the Recording Secretary; in 1861 a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; in 1871 appointed University Lecturer on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. In 1861 he received from Har- vard College the honorary degree of A.M.; in 1869 that of LL. D. from Yale College ; and in 1872, from Harvard College, the degree of S. T. D., though never a clergyman. Published, in 1853, as a first experiment in bibliography, a " Classed Catalogue of the Library of the Cambridge High School," in which he had been for about a year a teacher; in i860, contributions to the "New Dis- cussion of the Trinity"; in 1864, " Literature of the Doctrine of a Future Life," as an Appendix to the Rev. W. R. Alger's "Critical History" of the doctrine, but issued separately in 1871. Edited, with notes or appendixes, Norton's " Trans- lation of the Gospels, with Notes," 1855, and his "Statement of Reasons for not believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians, etc., 3d edition," 1856; Lamson's "Church of the First Three Centuries, 2d edition," 1865 ; and Orme's " Memoir of the Con- troversy on I John v. 7," 1866. Revised and enlarged the " Pronouncing Tables of
2i6 EZRA ABBOT.
Greek and Latin Proper Names," and of " Scripture Proper Names," for Worcester's large "Dictionary of the English Language," i860; assisted Dr. Hackett in the American edition of Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible," 1867-70; Dr. Noyes in his "Translation of the New Testament," 1869; and Professor C. F. Hudson in his "Critical Greek and English Concordance of the New Testament," 1870, 3d edition, 1874, editing the two last-mentioned posthumous works. He has also contributed a few articles to the " Bibliotheca Sacra," " Christian Examiner," and " North American Review."
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EDWARD JAMES YOUNG.
Edward James Young was born in Boston, April i, 1829. His father was Alexander Young, D. D., who was for nearly thirty years pastor of the church on Church Green, Boston, and for sixteen years was a member, and for several years secretary, of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College. His mother was Caroline James, daughter of Eleazar James, Esq., of Barre, Mass., who was Tutor of' Greek and Latin in the College from 1 78 1 to 1 789.
He attended Chauncy Hall School, which was then under the charge of Mr. Gideon F. Thayer, and also the Public Latin School, of which Mr. Epes S. Dixwell was principal, where he took the Valedictory at graduation. He entered Harvard College in 1844, under President Quincy, and was graduated at nineteen, in 1848, under President Everett. He had a part at the exhibition in his Sopho- more year, and an English Oration at the Senior exhibition and at Commence- ment. He obtained a first prize from the Boylston prizes for elocution. He was a member of the Institute of 1770, of the Harvard Natural History Society, and of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and he belonged to the boat club Undine. The year after graduation he was usher in the Mathematical Department of the Brimmer School, Boston ; and the year following was usher in the Public Latin School, during which time also he prepared private pupils for advanced standing in College. Having thus earned the means for defraying his expenses, in 1850 he entered the Divinity School of Harvard University, but after two years left the School, in order to pursue his theological studies in Germany. Here he spent four years, being one year at the University of Goettingen, where he heard the lectures of Ewald, Liicke, and Gieseler, and three years at the University of Halle, where he studied under Roediger, Hupfeld, Tholuck, Erdmann, and others. While in Goettingen he secured for the Cambridge Divinity School the valuable library of Dr. Liicke. He returned to America in 1856.
He was ordained pastor of Channing Church, in Newton, Mass., June 18, 1857, and occupied this position twelve years. On leaving Newton, he received a testimonal, signed by all the prominent citizens, in recognition of his services
2l8 EDWARD JAMES YOUNG.
in behalf of the public schools and library of the town. He married July 14, 1859, Mary Clapjj Blake, daughter of Mr. James Blake, of Boston, by whom he has had five children. In 1868 he was appointed Professor in the Boston School for the Ministry. In 1869 he accepted the position of Hancock Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages, and Dexter Lecturer on Biblical Litera- ture, in Harvard University. To the duties proper to this Professorship he at first added, as his predecessor. Dr. Noyes, had done, instruction to the Divinity students in the criticism of the New Testament. The necessity for this was, however, removed in 1872 by the foundation of the Bussey Professorship of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation.
He has received the degree of A. M. from Harvard College. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the American Oriental Society. In 1866 he published "Christian Lessons and a Christian Life," containing a Memoir of Samuel Abbot Smith. He has also published various addresses, sermons, and articles in reviews and magazines.
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CHARLES CARROLL EVERETT.
The subject of this sketch was the son of Ebenezer and Joanna B. (Prince) Everett. Ebenezer Everett was a native of Dorchester, Mass., and a graduate of Harvard College, of the class of 1806. He established himself as a lawyer in Maine, while it was still a part of Massachusetts. Miss Prince, at the time of her marriage, resided in Beverly, Mass. She had there, in connection with a friend, in 1 8 10, commenced a Sunday school, — the first ever held in New England.
Charles Carroll Everett was born at Brunswick, Me., June 19, 1829. He was fitted for college under the private tuition of Professor D. R. Goodwin, D. D., then of Bowdoin College, now of the Episcopal Theological School of Philadelphia. He entered Bowdoin College in 1846, and graduated in 1850. After graduation some time was spent in foreign travel and study. In Berlin he attended the lectures of Gabler, Hotho, and Michelet. From 1853 to 1857 he taught the Modern Languages at Bowdoin College, first as Tutor, and afterwards as Professor. At the end of that period he began the study of theology. This was pursued one year in private, in company with a friend at Eastport, Me. ; and one year at the Theological School of Harvard University. He graduated from the school in 1859, and was settled the same year as minister of the Independent Congregational Society of Bangor, Me. Here he remained till the autumn of 1869, when he was called to the newly founded Bussey Professorship of Theology at Harvard Uni- versity, which position he still holds.
In 1869 he married Sarah Octavia, daughter of Luther Dwinel of Bangor.
He has received from Bowdoin College the degrees of A. M. and D. D., and from Harvard that of D. D. He is a member of the American Oriental Society, the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of the Science of Thought, published in 1869; of various sermons and addresses published in pamphlet form, and articles in reviews and magazines.
THE LAW SCHOOL.
^ •^
Dane Hall as Erected in 1832.
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL.
Legacy of Isaac Royall in 1779. — Erection of Dane Hall in 1832. — Foundation of Profes- sorships. — John H. Ashmun's Life and Character. — Professorship of Simon Greenleaf ; HIS published Works. — Judge Story; his Connection with the School and his Works on Law. — Appointment of William Kent, and afterwards of Joel Parker, to the Royall Professorship. — Appointment of Theophilus Parsons to the Dane Professorship in 1848.
— University Professorships: Frederick H. Allen and Emory Washburn. — Appointment of Nathaniel Holmes to the Royall Professorship. — Present Professors. — Lecturers AT THE School. — Gifts of Nathan Dane and Benjamin Bussey. — Account of the Law Library. — Dedication of Dane Hall; its Enlargement and Removal to its Present Site.
— Degrees. — Number of Students.
Although the Law Department of the University is comparatively of recent origin, it was the first school of law in this country connected with an institution for collegiate or general education. One of earlier date, conducted at first by Judge Reeves, and afterwards by Judge Gould, existed at Litchfield, Connecticut ; but it was a private enterprise, and depended for its success upon the distinguished learning and ability of its instructors. The school at Litchfield was founded in 1784, and was continued until 1827. In fact, there was also a Professorship of Law established in the University of Pennsylvania as early as 1792, and a course of lectures was afterwards published by its incumbent, but for many years afterwards nothing further was heard of this professorship. The nucleus of the Law Department in this University was a legacy left by Hon. Isaac Royall
224 HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL.
to the College in 1779. A professorship bearing his name was first established in 181 5, and its first incumbent was the Hon. Isaac Parker, Chief Justice of Massachu- setts, who was appointed in 1816. His duty consisted in giving a course of Lec- tures annually to one or more classes in the College, to which the members of the Law School, when established, were admitted. The Royall Professor had no further connection with the School than this, so long as Chief Justice Parker held the place. He resigned it in 1827, and in 1829 a new arrangement in respect to the office was made, whereby it became united with the Law School, which had been established in May, 181 7. The Hon. Asahel Stearns was elected at that time Uni- versity Professor of Law. Mr. Stearns held this office till April, 1829, when he resigned it. Professor Stearns was a learned lawyer, a faithful instructor, and a courteous gentleman. He published a volume of lectures upon the subject of Real Actions, which evinced great learning and a judicious and skilful arrangement of his topics, and was for many years, and until the whole subject was essentially modi- fied by statute, accepted as an authority by the profession and the courts. Whatever success the School had at the beginning, it owed to the modest merit of its first professor.
During the administration of Professor Stearns, the locality of the School, so far as Its library and lecture-room were concerned, was in the lower story of what was called College House, No. i, which was opposite the present site of Dane Hall. And this continued till the erection of this Hall, which was first occupied in October, 1832.
In 1829 there was a reorganization of the School. The Hon. Nathan Dane pro- posed to found a Professorship of Law, which was accepted by the Corporation, and, in accordance with the expressed wishes of the founder, the Hon. Judge Story, of the Supreme Court of the United States, was appointed to the place. At the same time John H. Ashmun, Esq., was appointed Royall Professor of Law, and was asso- ciated with Judge Story in the conduct and instruction of the School ; both were inaugurated in August, 1829. Although then but twenty-nine years of age, Mr. Ashmun was already profoundly learned in the law, and had attained a distinguished reputation in his profession. He had a mind of great grasp as well as quickness and acuteness and a happy faculty of communicating instruction to others. As a teacher and a man of a frank and ingenuous spirit he commanded the respect and won the esteem of his pupils. His constitution was never rugged, and though his intellectual powers remained unimpaired to the last, disease termi- nated his life in April, 1833. He left no memorial of his learning or diligence in the form of published works. Previous to his appointment to this Law School he had been associated with the Hon. Mr. Mills and the Hon. Judge Howe in a private School of Law in Northampton, where he resided before his removal to Cambridge. His associate professor, Judge Story, pronounced a beautiful and appreciative eulogy upon his life and character on the occasion of his death, which was published.
i
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL. 225
Upon the death of Mr. Ashmun, the vacancy in the office was filled by the appointment of Simon Greenleaf, Esq., of Portland, whose inaugural address, deliv- ered in August, 1834, was published. It was the last occasion on which a pro- fessor of the School was formally inducted into office by a public address. Professor Greenleaf held the place of Royall Professor until 1846, when he was made Dane Professor, which place he held until the close of the collegiate year 1848, when he resigned it on account of impaired and failing health, caused by overwork. The Corporation, in accepting his resignation, bore unqualified testi- mony to the value of his services to the University with which he had been, for so many years, connected with great credit to himself and advantage to the Law School, and paid him the just mark of commendation by electing him " Emeritus Professor of Law" in the School. The relations between Professor Greenleaf and the School, and the estimate in which he was held by its members, were evinced by a communication addressed to him by a committee of their number upon his retiring from office, wherein they say, " With a grateful appreciation of your per- sonal kindness, we are sensible of the faithfulness, ability, and eloquence which have marked your public labors. Nor shall we remember with less satisfaction that the clearest and most comprehensive views of jurisprudence have been blended with those more important moral principles, entering into the character of the upright lawyer, so happily illustrated and adorned by your own life." A portrait of Professor Greenleaf adorns the Lecture-Room in Dane Hall, placed there by the students of the School.
He left permanent and honorable memorials of his learning and diligence in his published works. When appointed to the School, he had been for several years Reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Maine, in which office he evinced distinguished ability. These Reports, with a digest prepared by him, fill nine volumes. His great work, and that by which he became generally known in the legal world, was his "Treatise upon Evidence," which was first published in 1842, and still holds a prominent rank with the Court and Bar as an acknowledged authority. A twelfth edition, in three volumes, published in 1866, serves to indicate the high character and success it has attained. In 1846 he published " An Examination of the Testimony of the Evangelists," etc., with an account of the Trial of Jesus. He also published a work of great labor and research, en- titled " Cases overruled and doubted." Besides these, he published several dis- courses and shorter treatises upon various subjects; and in 1849 gave to the profession an edition of Cruise's Digest, with ample and valuable notes, — it being at that time the text-book of the School upon the subject of Real Property.
The transfer of Mr. Greenleaf from the Royall to the Dane professorship was occasioned by the death of Judge Story, and the precedence which that profes- sorship gave to its incumbent. This was changed in 1846, so that the Senior
2 26 HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL.
Professor of Law has been subsequently considered as the head of this depart- ment in the University. It may be added, that among the addresses of Professor Greenleaf was one commemorative of the life and character of Judge Story, delivered at the request of the Law School, upon the occasion of his death. To the connection of Judge Story with the School it is impossible to do ade- quate justice in the brief notice to which we are necessarily limited. He came to the office of Dane Professor with a more than national fame as a jurist, earned as a judge of the highest court in the United States. He brought to it the learning, the love of labor, and the Indefatigable zeal for which he had been distinguished as a judge, added to a decided love for the duties it required, and a lively interest in its fame and success. With an inexhaustible stock of general and particular knowledge of the various departments of jurisprudence, a marvel- lous fluency of language, and a happy power of explanation and illustration, and, withal, an instinctive courtesy which he never compromised, he never tired as a lecturer, or failed to command attention in his teachings of the law. At the time of his death, in September, 1845, he was making arrangements to resign his place upon the Bench and devote his whole time to the interests of the School. This was prevented by his sudden demise, at the age of sixty-six, after having held his judicial office for more than thirty-three years, and that of Professor of Law sixteen. To give a list of the published works of Judge Story, including his miscellaneous addresses, orations, and reviews, his judicial opinions, his anno- tations of treatises prepared by other law-writers, and the twelve volumes of original treatises produced by him during his connection with the School, would serve better than anything we could say to illustrate the miracles of labor, as well as the breadth of learning, which marked his career in both these capacities. We, however, shall only mention the published treatises which he prepared while at the head of the Law School, without enumerating the successive editions of each which have been called for by the profession. On Bailments, i volume ; on the Constitution of the United States, 3 volumes; on the Conflict of Laws, I volume ; on Equity Jurisprudence, 2 volumes ; on the Law of Agency, i vol- ume ; on Equity Pleadings, i volume ; on Partnership, i volume ; on Bills of Exchange, i volume ; and on Promissory Notes, i volume.
More than eleven hundred students enjoyed the advantages of Judge Story's instruction during his connection with the School, and the number in attendance at his death had reached to about one hundred and sixty-five.
Upon the transfer of Professor Greenleaf to the Dane Professorship, the Hon. William Kent of New York, a distinguished son of Chancellor Kent, was ap- pointed to the Royall Professorship. He had been one of the Circuit Judges of New York, and sustained a high reputation for learning and ability. He held the office for a single year, and then resigned it and returned to New York. His
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL. 227
connection, therefore, with the School was too brief to have made any decided impression upon its character. He was succeeded by the Hon. Joel Parker, then the distinguished Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, who held the ofiice of Royall Professor until January, 1868. Happily the proprieties which preclude extended comments upon the living, relieve us from attempting to do justice to Judge Parker or his contemporaries and successors in their con- nection with the School. His published works, next to the numerous and able opinions rendered by him as a judge, and contained in the volumes of New Hampshire Reports, consist chiefly of addresses and treatises upon leo-al and constitutional questions, and essays of a literary, legal, and political character, which, if collected, would form two good-sized volumes. And to these we may add the reported revision of the General Statutes of Massachusetts which he executed with great acceptance in connection with the Hon. W. A. Richardson, under a com- mission from the Executive of that State.
Upon the resignation by Professor Greenleaf of the Dane Professorship, as above stated, the Hon. Theophilus Parsons was appointed his successor. This was in 1848. He belonged in Boston, and was a son of Chief Justice Parsons, so distinguished in the judicial annals of the State. In notices of his appoint- ment, at the time, he is spoken of as an accomplished lawyer and eminent as a scholar, a writer, and a critic. He held the office until 1869, when he resigned, and retired from public life.
His printed works during these years give evidence of unremitted labor, as well as of accurate learning, sound analysis, and disciplined skill as an author, which have secured for them a wide circulation, and the force of acknowledo-ed authorities. These were, in addition to various miscellaneous addresses, lectures, and essays more or less extensive, a Biography of Chief Justice Parsons, and a popular treatise on the Laws of Business, a treatise upon Contracts, of which there is a sixth edition in 3 volumes; one on Maritime Law, 2 volumes; one on Partnership, i volume ; one on Bills and Notes, 2 volumes ; one on Mercantile Law, I volume; one on Shipping and Admiralty, 2 volumes; and one on Marine Insurance, 2 volumes.
In 1849 the Hon. Frederic H. Allen of Boston was appointed University Pro- fessor of Law in the School, and held the ofiice for a single year, when he resigned the place. No one was appointed to a similar ofiice till 1855, when the Hon. Emory Washburn of Worcester was chosen University Professor. He held this office till 1862, when a professorship upon the foundation provided by Mr. Benjamin Bussey was established, bearing the name of the founder, and Mr. Wash- burn was made its first incumbent. He still holds the ofiice. He has published, besides sundry addresses, lectures, and miscellaneous works, two considerable trea- tises on law, — one of them upon the law of Real Property, the third edition of
228 HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL.
which consists of three volumes, and the otlier upon Easements and Servi- tudes, in one volume, which has also passed to a third edition. Besides these he published a volume of Lectures upon the Study and Practice of the Law, in 187 1.
Upon the resignation of Judge Parker, the Hon. Nathaniel Holmes of St. Louis, then recently one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri, was appointed Royall Professor, and held the office till his resignation at the end of the collegi- ate year, 1872. Aside from his opinions as a Judge, contained in the Missouri Reports, we are not aware of any published work of Professor Holmes upon the subject of law.
The vacancy in the Dane Professorship, occasioned by the resignation of Pro- fessor Parsons, was filled in 1870 by the appointment of Christopher C. Lang- dell, Esq., then of New York, who is still the incumbent, and Dean of the Law Faculty. He has published a volume of cases upon the Law of Contracts, and another upon the Law of Sales, with a volume of Select Cases upon Discovery. In 1873 Mr. James B. Ames of Boston was appointed Assistant Professor of Law in the School, and still holds the office. James B. Thayer, Esq., of Boston was appointed Royall Professor in 1873, and entered upon the duties of his office at the beginning of the academic year 1874-75.
Besides the gentlemen above named, lecturers upon various subjects of law have been employed for longer or shorter periods, among whom may be men- tioned Charles Sumner, James C. Alvord, Henry Wheaton, Franklin Dexter, Luther S. Gushing, Edward G. Loring, Edward Everett, Richard H. Dana, Jr., Benjamin R. Curtis, Benjamin F. Thomas, Charles S. Bradley, Nicholas St. John Green, John Lathrop, John C. Gray, Edmund H. Bennett, and Oliver W. Holmes, Jr.
The foundations for professorships in the School have been already mentioned, and we recur to them to present them in a connected order. The donation of Isaac Royall was made in 1779, but the benefit of it was not realized till many years after; its amount was about eight thousand dollars. In 1829 Nathan Dana of Beverly, a name illustrious in the history of our country, devoted the proceeds of an Abridgment of the Law, — a work of immense labor and of acknowledged merit, — amounting to ten thousand dollars, to the founding of a professorship which, as we have said, took and still retains his name. In this act he evinced his loyalty to a profession of which he was long a pride and an ornament. His career and achievements as a statesman are too well known to need a word of comment or eulogy.
In 1835 Mr. Benjamin Bussey of Roxbury, a wealthy merchant, made, by will, a princely benefaction to the University, a share of which was to come to the Law School. The income of this accruing to the Bussey Professorship Fund in
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL. 229
1870-71 was $1,022.62, and to the general purposes of the School, the same year, it was $8,430.81. The Bussey Professorship was established in 1862, as above stated.
The library, which may be regarded as an essential requisite to the success and efficiency of any Law School, has, of course, been an object of special interest to the friends of this institution. We have estimates of the number of volumes contained in it, from time to time, varying considerably, as they include, or other- wise, the large number of text-books which have heretofore been provided for the use of the students. Among the sources of this library was a greater part of the valuable collection of law-books of the late Governor Gore, which, in fact, formed the nucleus of the present magnificent body of law literature which it contains. Another valuable addition was made by the purchase of the large and extensive library of Judge Story. The donation of the Hon. Samuel Livermore of New Orleans, by his last will and testament, in 1833, deserves more than a passing notice. It embraced more than three hundred rare and costly volumes upon the Civil and Foreign Law, appraised at the time at $6,000, and consti- tuted the most complete collection of the kind in the country. Many valuable works of the same character have been added to the collection since, offering the student a rich store of civil and continental law, and thus supplying a want which is every year becoming more sensibly felt by the profession. Including text-books, the whole number of volumes in the library is 14,803; exclusive of text-books, 11,613. It contains the reports of the various American courts and the leading and accredited law treatises and periodicals published in the coun- try. And the same is substantially true of the English reports, treatises, and periodicals, together with the Irish reports complete, and a large proportion of the Scotch decisions.
In 1870 Mr. William A. Everett was appointed librarian. Upon his resignation, the following year, he was followed by Mr. Abraham W. Stevens. Mr. John H. Arnold now holds the office. It is difficult to estimate the cost or value of this library, but it cannot be less than from seventy to seventy-five thousand dollars. Additions are constantly being made to it with a view to supplying all the reason- able requirements of the student or of any one who may desire to pursue a thorough research upon any subject connected with constitutional or municipal law. It may be added that while the library is intended for the common use of the students of the School, it is also freely opened to all who desire to avail them- selves of its resources in prosecuting legal inquiries.
As we have said, the locality of the School from 18 17 to 1832 was in the College House, No. i. As the number of students and the library increased these accommodations became straitened, and preparations were made in 1831 to erect a new building for the purposes of the School. For this purpose Mr. Dane
230 HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL.
advanced $5,000, which was subsequently added to the fund for a professorship, and loaned the University #2,000 more. The building was at once begun, and was completed and occupied in October, 1832. It was situated about seventy feet to the north of the present locality of Dane Hall. It was of two stories in height, with a pediment end towards the street, forming a lofty portico supported by four Ionic columns. It was of brick, and substantially the same with the part of the present building which is now in front of the library and lecture- room, which were added in 1845, at an expense of $12,700. This addition became necessary to accommodate the still growing numbers of the students and of the volumes of the library. At the dedication of Dane Hall as at first con- structed President Ouincy delivered an able and interesting address upon the subject of Legal Education, which was published, and is still read with profit as well as pleasure, both by the lawyer and the man of letters.
The re-dedication of the hall in 1845, upon taking possession of the added por- tion, was an occasion of great interest, and drew together many of the most distinguished jurists in the country. Mr. Choate made one of his happiest and most brilliant efforts in a finished and eloquent address on " The Profession of the Law as an Element of Conservatism in the State." This was followed by a dinner in the new library, at which Judge Story presided in a manner to draw out a rare display of eloquent thought as well as cordial good feeling from the assembled guests, and to mark it as one of those occasions of convivial unbend- ing when judges, statesmen, and scholars find themselves drawn to each other by kindred tastes and culture and a feeling of generous sympathy. We shall be understood when we name among the guests Judges Davis, Putnam, and Pit- man of Rhode Island, Jeremiah Mason, President Quincy, Professor Greenleaf, and Charles S. Daveis of Portland.
It only remains to describe in very brief terms the building known as Dane Hall, of which a heliotype representation accompanies this sketch. Upon its removal from its former position to make way for the erection of Matthews Hall in 1 87 1, the portico, with its columns, was taken down, and an enclosed brick porch substituted. The original building, a woodcut of which heads this ac- count, was forty feet in front by fifty feet in depth, with a passage-way extend- ing from front to rear, having two rooms on each side, and a like passage with the same number of rooms in the second story. Three of these are occupied by the professors, one by the librarian, one as a reading-room, another as a sitting-room and study, and one of the remaining rooms is designed for clubs and lectures. The addition made in 1845 consists of a library in the lower story, and a lecture-room in the story above it, each sixty feet by forty. Its length being transverse to the original building. One half of the library-room Is fitted with alcoves for books. Shelves are fitted also against the walls outside of the
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL AND DANE HALL. 231
alcoves, leaving a space between these which is arranged with tables and occu- pied for purposes of study and writing by the students. The rooms are all high, light, and airy. The library and lecture-room are ornamented by busts and por- traits of men who have been connected with the School, or have been distin- guished jurists in Massachusetts or other of the States. Among these we may mention Mr. Dane, Chief Justice Marshall, Mr. Webster, Judge Story, Professor Greenleaf, Chancellor Kent, Jeremiah Mason, and Chief Justice Shaw.
Degrees are awarded to such of the students as have complied with the requirements of the corporation of the University. At first, whoever were mem- bers of the School for the period of eighteen months became entitled to the degree of LL. B. In 1870 this period of residence was extended to two years, to be followed by an examination of each candidate in the various subjects taught in the School during the time of his being a member. And these are still the requisites for a degree.
The numbers composing the School have varied materially at different periods, often independently of the condition of the School in the matter of teaching or instruction. In 1833 the number had risen to fifty-three. In 1837 it was but forty-six. In 1845 it had grown to one hundred and sixty-five. In 1849 it was one hundred. In January, i860, just before the war, the number was one hun- dred and seventy-six. In 1862, after it had begun, and had practically excluded students from the South, it was reduced to sixty-nine, while in 1866 this num- ber rose again to one hundred and seventy-seven. In 1869 it stood at one hun- dred and twenty, in 1870 at one hundred and fifty-four, in 1871 at one hundred and thirty-four, in 1872 at one hundred and thirteen, and in 1873 at one hundred and thirty-eight. The entire number from the beginning is believed to be at least five thousand. The School is national in its character, so far as a large majority of the States being ordinarily represented by the students who have resorted to it can render it so, taken in connection with the fact that no code or system of local law is embraced in its course of instruction.
EMORY WASHBURN.
Emory Washburn was born in Leicester, Mass., February 14, 1800. He was fitted for college at the Leicester Academy, entered Williams College, and grad- uated in 1817. In 18 19 he entered the Harvard Law School and remained a member one year. From 182 1 to 1828 practised law in Leicester, when he re- moved to Worcester, where he continued in the practice of law until appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1844, which office he held till 1848. In 1854 he received the degree of LL. D. from Harvard University, and, the same year, a like distinction from Williams College.
In 1826 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of Massa- chusetts, and filled the office for two successive years ; he was again elected a member of the House in 1838; and was a member of the Massachusetts Senate for two years, 1841-3. In 1853 he was elected Governor of Massachusetts, and held the office for one year.
In 1856 Governor Washburn was appointed University Professor in Harvard Law School, and still fills that position.
In i860 Professor Washburn published the first edition of his work on the American Law of Real Property, in two volumes ; a work widely known and prized as an authority on that subject: a second edition was pubhshed in 1864, and the third, and last, of three volumes, in 1868. He also published a work on the American Law of Easements and Servitudes in 1863, which has passed to a third edition. In addition to the works above mentioned. Professor Wash- burn has published the following: — ■
Sketches of the Judicial History of Massachusetts, 1630- 1755. 1840. — The Part taken by the Inhabitants of Leicester in the Events of the Revolution. 1849. — Address at the Social Festival of the Bar of Worcester County, February 7, 1856. — Address at the Celebration of the Two-hundredth Anniversary of the Incorpora- tion of Bridgewater, Mass., June 3, 1856. — Historical Sketches of the Town of Leicester, Mass. i860. — Lectures on the Study and Practice of the Law. 1871.
Professor Washburn has also been a frequent contributor to the American Law Review, Albany Law Journal, and other leading law periodicals.
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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS LANGDELL.
Christopher Columbus Langdell was born in New Boston, Hillsborough County, N. H., on the twenty-second day of May, 1826. In April, 1845, he entered Phillips Exeter Academy, and began to prepare for college. At the end of the academical year 1846-7 he had finished the preparatory course, and was sup- posed to be qualified to enter the Freshman Class at Harvard, but he remained at Exeter an additional year, and became a member of what was then known as the advanced class. In September, 1848, after passing the usual examinations, he was admitted into the Sophomore Class at Harvard College, being the Class of 1851. In November, 1849, that is, in his Junior year, he left College tem- porarily (as he then supposed) for the purpose of teaching; but he afterwards decided not to return, and hence did not graduate with his class. In May, 1850, he entered the ofiSce of Messrs. Stickney and Tuck, in Exeter, N. H., and began the study of law. He remained there until November, 1851, when he entered the Harvard Law School. At the annual Commencement in 1853 he received the degree of LL. B. in course, and, at the following Commencement, the honorary degree of A. M. In December, 1854, he left the Law School, hav- ing been a member of it for three years and upwards, and took up his residence in New York City. Soon afterwards he there entered upon the practice of his profession, and continued it until his appointment as Dane Professor of Law in the winter of 1869-70, when he returned to Cambridge. He entered upon his duties in the Law School at the beginning of the second term of the academic year 1869-70. At the annual Commencement in 1870 he received the degree of A. B. as a member of the Class of 185 1. At a Faculty meeting held at the beginning of the academic year 1870-71, he was elected Dean of the Law Fac- ulty, which position he now holds.
JAMES BRADLEY THAYER.
James Bradley Thayer was born in Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, January 15, 1831, and was the second son of Abijah Wyman and Susan (Brad- ley) Thayer. His father's family moved to Philadelphia in 1835. In 1840 they returned to Amherst, Massachusetts, and in 1841 moved again from Amherst to the neighboring town of Northampton. He attended the public schools at Northampton until the summer of 1845. After that time his studies were much interrupted; they were carried on mainly without the help of a teacher, until he entered Harvard College in 1848 as a member of the Freshman class. His brother, William Sydney Thayer, was then in the Junior class.
Mr. Thayer was graduated in 1852 as the ninth scholar. He delivered one of the two orations of his class before the Hasty Pudding Club, and was also the class orator.
After leaving college he taught a private school at Milton, Massachusetts, for two years, and was engaged at the same time in reading law. He had pre- viously taught at the Academy in that town during two of the College vacations.
In 1854 Mr. Thayer entered the Law School at Cambridge, where he re- mained two years, and received the degree of LL. B., — supporting himself while there, in part by the earnings of the previous two years, and in part by teaching private pupils. In 1856 he received the first prize of his class at the Law School for an essay on the " Law of Eminent Domain." This essay was printed in the " Law Reporter " for September and October of that year. Having continued his studies in a law office in Boston for some months, he was admitted to the bar of Suffolk County in December, 1856. In March, 1857, he began business in Boston in partnership with the Hon. William J. Hubbard, and maintained a connection with Mr. Hubbard until the death of the latter in the fall of the year 1864. In November of that year, by appointment of Governor Andrew, he suc- ceeded Mr. Hubbard as one of the Masters in Chancery for Suffolk County, and held that office until his resignation of it in 1874. In March, 1865, he became a partner with the Hon. Peleg W. Chandler and George O. Shattuck, Esq., in
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JAMES BRADLEY THAYER. 235
the law firm of Chandler, Shattuck, and Thayer. In February, 1870, Mr. Shattuck retired from this firm, which was continued, by the accession of John E. Hud- son, Esq., under the name of Chandler, Thayer, and Hudson. In December, 1873, Mr. Thayer was chosen Royall Professor of Law in the Law School at Cambridge; and in October, 1874, entered upon the active duties of that office.
Mr. Thayer resided in Cambridge from 1854 to 1861. On the 24th of April, 1 86 1, he married Miss Sophia Bradford Ripley of Concord, Massachusetts, and immediately removed to Milton, where he resided until September, 1874. He then returned to Cambridge to undertake the duties of the office which he now holds. He has four children.
Mr. Thayer has been a frequent contributor to the columns of the Boston Daily Advertiser, and, in former years, to those of the New York Evening Post. He has also been a writer in Bouvier's Law Dictionary, and in the American Law Review, the North American Review, and other periodicals. He was in- trusted with the editing of the twelfth edition of Kent's Commentaries, and had, throughout, the sole responsibility for that work. His happy selection of an associate, however, resulted in reducing his own labors mainly to those of simple revision, and the work appeared without the addition of his name.
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THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
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The First *' Massachusetts Medical College.' [Erected iu 1816.]
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
Foundation of the School at Cambridge in 1783. — Three Professorships established. — Dr. John Warren, Dr. Aaron Dexter, and Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse the first Professors. — Transfer of the Lectures to Boston in 1810. — The Building in Mason Street erected in 1816. — In 1821, the Massachusetts Generai; Hospital opened for Patients, and made accessible to the Medical Students. — Dr. James Jackson resigns in 1836, and is succeeded by Dr. John Ware. — Dr. John C. Warren resigns in 1847. — The same Year Dr. J. B. S. Jackson and Dr. O. W. Holmes Appointed to Professorships. — Resig- nation of Drs. Hayward, Channing, and Bigelow, and Appointment of Dr. H. J. Bigelow, Dr. D. H. Storer, Dr. E. H. Clark, as their Successors. — Dr. George Parkman gives a Piece of Land on North Grove Street as a Site for a new Building. — The present Inadequacy of the Building erected on this Site. — Methods of teaching in the various Departments. — The Number of Students during the Years from 1788 to 1867. — Changes in the Mode of Instruction made in 1871. — Description of the present Building. — The Warren Anatomical Museum and Library. — Aims of the Medical Department.
The first step towards the foundation of a school for medical instruction in this section of the country proceeded from the " Boston Medical Society," an association formed in the year 1780, principally under the lead of Drs. Samuel Danforth, Isaac Rand, Thomas Kast, and John Warren. In the year after the formation of this Society, the following resolve was passed at the meeting of November 3d : —
" Voted, That Dr. John Warren be desired to demonstrate a course of Ana- tomical Lectures the ensuing winter."
240 THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
Dr. John Warren was the younger brother, the pupil, and afterwards the assistant, of Dr. Joseph Warren, the first distinguished victim of the Revolutionary struggle. Joseph Warren was the pupil of James Lloyd, who had studied his profession in England, and followed the lectures and the visits of Cheselden, of Sharpe, of William Hunter, and other famous surgeons and physicians of the period while England was still " home " to the Colonies. Inheriting through his teacher the best professional knowledge of that day, and rich in the experiences of campaigning life which he had learned as hospital surgeon during the war. Dr. John Warren was well fitted to be the pioneer in the task of public medical instruction, heretofore unknown in New England.
The course which he delivered was so successful, that President Willard and some of the Corporation of the College who had attended his lectures were led to think of organizing a Medical School in connection with the University, and Dr. Warren was requested to draw up a plan for the proposed institution. In accordance with this request, he drew up the outlines of a plan which, after various revisions and corrections, was presented to the Corporation at their meet- ing held on the 19th of September, 1782. Twenty-two articles were adopted and afterwards confirmed by the Overseers.
These articles provided for the establishment of three professorships, namely, " a Professorship of Anatomy and Surgery ; a Professorship of the Theory and Practice of Physic ; and a Professorship of Chemistry and Materia Medica." Each professor was to be " a Master of Arts, or graduated Bachelor, or Doctor of Physic ; of the Christian Religion, and of strict morals." It was required " that the professors demonstrate the anatomy of the human body with physio- logical observations, and explain and perform a complete system of surgical operations. That they teach their pupils the theory and practice of physic, by directing and superintending, as much as may be, their private studies, lecturing on the diseases of the human body, and taking with them such as are qualified to visit their patients ; making proper observations on the nature of the diseases, the peculiar circumstances attending them, and the method of cure. And whenever the professors be desired by any other gentlemen of the Faculty to visit their patients in difficult and uncommon cases, they shall use their en- deavors to introduce with them their pupils who are properly qualified. That they deliver lectures on Materia Medica, and explain the theory of Chemistrjr, and apply its principles in a course of actual experiments."
The School first went into operation in 1783, the lectures being delivered in Cambridge before a small number of medical students, and those members of the Senior Class in College who had obtained the consent of their parents. The first professors were Dr. John Warren, who lectured on Anatomy and Surgery; Dr. Aaron Dexter, on Chemistry and Materia Medica; and Dr. Benjamin Water-
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL. 241
house, on the Theory and Practice of Medicine. Two courses of lectures, or, in special cases, one only, and three years of study, were required before a student could become a candidate for the Medical Degree. In default of a previous col- lege education, a knowledge of the Latin language and an acquaintance with Natural Philosophy were to be shown by an examination.
The degree of Bachelor of Medicine was first conferred in 1785, and seven years later, according to the custom of the time, that of Doctor of Medicine. The first name on the catalogue of graduates is that of John Fleet, in 1788, the only one of that year.
The practical teaching of Anatomy was attended with great difficulty at this time, and a single anatomical subject was made to do duty during the whole course of lectures. The opportunities for clinical instruction must have been confined very much to the individual students whom the professor could take with him to see his private patients. Modern Chemistry was just shaping itself in the hands of Lavoisier, whose great treatise on the science was not published until the year i 789.
The only communication of Cambridge with Boston, previously to the build- ing of the bridge in 1 786, was by means of the ferries or round through Roxbury. That a school for medical teaching could maintain itself at all under such cir- cumstances shows clearly that there was some master-spirit to whose energy and capacity it owed its continuance. It is evident enough that John Warren was the one man who gave it its success. A leading practitioner in the neighboring city, celebrated for his surgical skill, — "a much better surgeon than myself," said his more widely known son. Dr. John C. Warren, — fervid, eloquent, inde- fatigable, to him the Medical School of Harvard University owes its being, and its triumph over all the difficulties which beset its early career.
Aaron Dexter, the first Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica, has left little record of himself beyond that of an eminently respectable character and some reminiscences of those "actual experiments" which it was his prescribed duty to perform before his class, still lingering in the memory of the few who live that have listened to him.
Benjamin Waterhouse — whose teaching under Monro Secundus, whose remem- brance of the lectures of John Hunter, whose Latin thesis, " De Sympathia Partum Corporis Humani," whose medical degree bearing the words Lugduni Batavorum, carry us to the days of Cullen, the recent remembrances of Albinus, and within reach of old men's recollections of the great Boerhaave — seemed to belong to the eighteenth century, though he lived far into the nineteenth. Remembering the botanical garden at Leyden, still fragrant with the memory of the venerable Clusius, and flourishing to-day as it was in his time, almost three centuries ago, he was instrumental in establishing the botanical garden at Cambridge, where,
242 THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
during the past thirty years, a great master of the science has been studying and teaching. He also procured the first collection of minerals, which was the foundation of the present cabinet. His memory is more generally connected with the introduction of the practice of vaccination into tJTis country near the beginning of this century.
Only one graduate from the Medical School appears in the lists of the Harvard Triennial Catalogue for each of the first four years ; but of those graduates one was Nathan Smith, an admirable and very widely known jaractitioner, teacher, and writer, whose name, Dr. Elisha Bartlett says, and with justice, " stands worthily by the side of those of Huxham, Pringle, and Blaine."
In the year 1806, Dr. John Collins Warren was appointed Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, and in 1809, Dr. John Gorham was appointed Adjunct Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica.
Up to this time the lectures had continued to be delivered in Cambridge. But in 1809, Dr. John C. Warren had opened a room for the pursuit of Practical Anatomy at No. 49 Marlborough Street, in Boston, where demonstrations were given, which were attended by some students of medicine and a number of the younger physicians of the town. This prepared the way for the transfer of the lectures to Boston, an arrangement for which was effected, with the condition that certain courses should be annually given at Cambridge, in the spring months, to one or more of the College classes. Lecture-rooms were arranged accordingly at the building in Marlborough Street, and the first course in Boston was opened in the autumn of the year 1810. In the same year Dr. James Jackson was ap- pointed Lecturer on Clinical Medicine, the patients at the almshouse being visited by the students in company with their teacher, who, on the resignation of Dr. Waterhouse in 181 2, was chosen Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine.
The year 181 3 was signalized by a remarkable change in the condition of the School. Until that year the classes remained very small, the graduates for the twenty-two years during which any are recorded on the Triennial Catalogue averaging between two and three only, annually. In 1813 the number of graduates rose to thirteen, and never fell below twelve but twice after this date.
A building specially constructed for the needs of medical instruction was now required, and Drs. James Jackson and John Collins Warren succeeded in inter- esting influential members of the community in this object, and a grant was obtained from the Commonwealth for the erection of a suitable edifice. In 1816, the building erected in Mason Street was opened for lectures, under the name of the " Massachusetts Medical College." The Faculty then consisted of Drs. Jackson. Warren, Gorham, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, Professor of Materia Medica, and Dr. Walter Channing, Professor of Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence, the two
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL. 243
last-named gentlemen having been appointed Professors in 18 15. In this same year, 1815, Dr. John Warren died, and his son, John Collins Warren, succeeded him in the Chair of Anatomy and Surgery. The only other changes in the Faculty within the following twenty years were the appointment of Dr. John White Webster, in 1827, as the successor of Dr. Gorham, and of Dr. John Ware as Adjunct Professor of Theory and Practice in 1832.
In 1 82 1, the Massachusetts General Hospital in Allen Street, in the estab- lishment of which the leading Professors of the Medical School had taken an active part, was opened for patients, and a new field for clinical instruction was offered to the teachers of Surgery and Medicine, which proved of the greatest advan- tage to the cause of medical education. Dr. Jackson was appointed Physician, and Dr. Warren, Surgeon, to the institution ; and many subsequent teachers in the Medical School have succeeded to their places, and filled others which have been created in the Hospital, since this excellent establishment has been in operation.
In 1835, Dr. George Hay ward was chosen Professor of Surgery and Clinical Surgery, dividing with Dr. Warren the growing duties of instruction in that important branch.
In 1836, Dr. James Jackson, for twenty-four years Professor of Theory and Practice in the School, resigned his office. His teaching was universally recog- nized as of the highest character, not merely for the practical knowledge it im- parted, but for the searching and thoroughly honest way in which he studied his cases, and the fairness with which he stated his results, not attempting to display his own skill or sagacity, but to present nature as truthfully and simply as language would let him. While he studied his patients with all the inquisitive- ness which belongs to science, he cared for every individual among them as one who thought only of them and their welfare. Those who enjoyed the privilege of his teaching would bear testimony that no man more entirely forgot himself in his duties ; that he taught them to rely on no oracular authority, but to look the facts before them in the face ; that he educated them for knowledge beyond his own ; and that while they recognized in him a master of his art, they left him with minds fully open to new convictions from fresh sources of truth. Dr. John C. Warren says of him : " His abilities, industry, and agreeable manners helped to establish him wherever the impulse of his friends could carry him ; and for a number of years, until he declined practice, he had as much as he could do, and became the head and leader of the profession in that department. This station he continued to maintain after he had partially retired from professional business; and was well entitled to it, not only by the extent of his experience and the constant cultivation of medicine as a science, but by his remarkably good judg- ment and steady pursuit of general professional improvement. He originated many and was engaged in all the schemes of amelioration and advancement in
244 THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
the medical art, and in many otlier departments of science ; and distinguished himself always by an enlargement of his views in regard to the new arrange- ments which the state of the profession was continually requiring. His frankness of character, as well as his clearness of judgment, acquired the confidence of his professional brethren to an almost unexampled extent."
In 1836, Dr. John Ware, who had filled the place of Adjunct Professor of Theory and Practice for the last four years, was appointed to the chair left vacant by Dr. Jackson's resignation. Dr. Ware had many of the same admirable traits which distinguished Dr. Jackson, — nice observation, great fairness of mind and calmness of judgment, and the same strict fidelity and entire devotion to the cause of his patients. Both these good physicians and wise teachers went through their wards, not simply as curious experimentalists, or as skilful diagnosticians, but as men to whom the patient's welfare was the first object, and the student's instruc- tion in useful knowledge second only to this. Dr. Ware's essays on Croup and Delirium Tremens have given him a reputation which will long outlive the recollections of those who listened to his grave and weighty teachings.
In 1847, Dr. John Collins Warren resigned the Chair of Anatomy and Surgery which he had held for thirty-two years, having been Assistant Professor for nine years previously to his election to that office. As a surgeon, he stood at the head of the profession in New England, to say the least. Few men ever de- voted themselves more laboriously and earnestly to their work, and few have succeeded more entirely in holding the highest position unquestioned for a long series of years. His most remarkable endowments were a resolute will and a self- possession which kept him cool and calm in the most trying moments of a diffi- cult operation. Without extraordinary pretensions to learning, he was fond of books, and without going deeply into science, he had a taste for it which in his later years he cultivated to some extent. In addition to the business which his renown as a surgeon crowded upon him, he was also engaged more or less in medical practice. As a teacher, he was diligent, and could hardly be uninteresting on subjects like Anatomy and Surgery, though he had no claim to the eloquence and magnetic enthusiasm said to have characterized his father. His great gift to the College of the collection, which, with the additions it has since received, constitutes the Warren Museum, and of the fund which is destined for its maintenance, will keep his memory in remembrance as one of the conspicuous benefactors of the University.
In 1847, a new Professorship, that of Pathological Anatomy, was established, and, by the liberality of Dr. George C. Shattuck, Senior, provided with a special endowment. Dr. John Barnard Swett Jackson was chosen Professor, and still retains that office.
In the same year, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes was chosen Professor of Anatomy
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
245
and Physiology. Since 1864, the latter branch has been made a subject of special lectures and practical instruction, under the direction of teachers appointed for that purpose.
In 1849, Dr. George Hayward, who had filled the office of Professor of Surgery and Clinical Surgery very acceptably since 1835, resigned his office, and Dr. Henry J. Bigelow was appointed his successor. Drs. Jackson, Holmes, and Bigelow still occupy the chairs to which they were elected.
In 1854, Dr. Walter Channing, appointed in 181 5, resigned the office he had so long held, and was succeeded by Dr. David Humphreys Storer, wJio resigned in 1868, and was followed by Dr. Charles Edward Buckingham, the present in- cumbent of the Chair of Obstetrics and IMedical Jurisprudence.
In 1855, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, after forty years of service, resigned the Professorship of Materia Medica, and Dr. Edward Hammond Clarke was chosen to succeed him.
Of the gentlemen last mentioned who are still living, but no longer connected with the Faculty, it is needless to speak where they are known and honored as in this community. We may well remember the counsel of a wise man, — not a wiser one than might be found among the teachers just referred to: —
TvBeiBr], /i7)T ap fxe /j,a\ avvee, fn^rjTe tl veiKCf EiBocn yap rot javTa fjLST Apjeioi? ayopeveK,
The building in Mason Street, after being occupied during forty years, was no longer sufficient for the growing needs of the School. Dr. George Park- man having offered a piece of land in North Grove Street as a site for a Medical College, it was determined to accept his offer and erect a new edifice. The estate in Mason Street was sold to the Natural History Society, and the new structure, known, as was the former one, under the name of the Massachusetts Medical College, was ready for occupation in the autumn of 1846. The grant of the State, perpetuated in the name of the building belonging to the Harvard Medical School, though not sufficient to pay for its erection, was an evidence of the interest of the Legislature in medical education, which the enlightened statutes of later years relating to the furtherance of anatomical studies have shown to be a permanent feeling among the lawgivers of the Commonwealth.
The locality was not all that could be desired ; still the new building offered much ampler accommodations than the old, and has answered its purpose for one generation. Every effort has been made to adapt it to the increasing demands of education. The chemical laboratory arrangements have been extended so as to occupy a large part of the basement, and at this time furnish working room for one hundred and thirty-eight students, each of whom has his own place and his own apparatus for practical work in analysis and other chemical processes. The attic story has been fitted up for physiological and microscopic laboratories.
246 THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
Whatever could be done to make the building worthy of the University of which the Medical School is an integral part, has been done. But it cannot be denied that a new edifice, planned with reference to the new methods of teach- ing, of a dignity of aspect and position worthy of the University, above all, secured by its construction and its locality from the imminent danger of destruc- tion by fire, is a need which every year makes more and more felt. Many of the most valuable preparations belonging to the Museum are kept stored under the safer protection of the building of the Society of Natural History. A collec- tion like that of the Warren Anatomical Museum, if destroyed, can never be replaced; and there seems at present to be no more urgent need in our inflam- mable cities than that the accumulations of the past, which the present and the future can never duplicate, should be placed beyond the reach of the destroying agent, which, from the days of the Alexandrian Library to those of the Lawrence collection of armor and the Pantechnicon, has so frequently undone in a few hours all that it had taken generations to build up. It is a little more than a hundred years since the good people of Cambridge woke up " in the middle of a very tempestuous night, a severe cold storm of snow, attended with high winds," to find Harvard Hall in flames. They spread among the books and into the Apparatus Chamber, and " in a very short time this venerable monument of the piety of our ancestors was turned into a heap of ruins." The Medical College should have an edifice, not only ample enough for its present need, and capable of enlargement for its future necessities, but also as indestructible by fire as modern skill can make it. Until public or private munificence has provided such a building, the training of those who are to care for the life and health of the community cannot be said to have been provided for with the same liberality and wise forethought as we may see in many other branches of education bearing far less directly on human well-being.
Since the year 1864, as has been already mentioned, a separate course of lec- tures has been delivered annually, embracing a part or the whole of the subject of Physiology. Dr. Brown-Sequard, Dr. Lombard, Dr. Lusk, and the present Assistant Professor of Physiology, Dr. Henry Pickering Bowditcli, have been the Lecturers in that department. It is proper to mention here the new and great facilities offered to the student for the pursuit of knowledge in the several ranges of Physiology, Chemistry, and Microscopy.
The Physiological Laboratory owes its existence to a bequest by the late George Woodbury Swett, a graduate of Harvard College in 1865, and of the Harvard Medical School in 1868, who, dying in a foreign land, where he was ardently and successfully pursuing his studies, left a large legacy as a lasting token of his remembrance of his Alma Mater, and his interest in the future of science. A very valuable collection of apparatus was presented to the University,
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
247
by Dr. Josiah Stickney Lombard, who lectured on Physiology with "reat accept- ance for some years. The present Assistant Professor has added largely to the apparatus of instruction, and the student has the means of experimenting for himself and becoming acquainted through his own direct observation with the laws of life which have been for the most part, and are still often, tauo-ht by word of mouth and diagrams. Not a few original investigations have been car- ried on under these new auspices, and it is evident that the inaugural dissertations of our students are in the way of becoming contributions to knowledge, instead of trivial compilations from text-books and journals.
The practical teaching of Chemistry has undergone a similar expansion, for which, as already mentioned, new provision has been made. The laboratory is a students' workshop, where each pupil must find out for himself what is contained in the substance he is given to analyze, and where, in place of names and pre- arranged experiments by his teacher, he deals with things and tries for himself and sees with his own eyes how they behave with reference to each other. The ap- paratus for teaching this branch has been greatly enriched by the very generous gift of Dr. John Bacon, who, retiring from office after many years of most faithful and useful service, presented a large number of costly instruments, in addition to the expen- sive fixtures which he had arranged for his own use and left for that of his successors.
The study of Histology has assumed such dimensions in these latter years, that its literature has a library of its own, and its implements require a laboratory devoted to this one subject, with numerous appliances, to carry on its researches. A special apartment, well lighted, and spacious enough to accommodate a con- siderable number of practical workers, has been arranged, as before stated, in the attic, and a collection of microscopes has been presented to the School by Dr. Ellis, for the use of students unable to provide their own instruments.
By these various additions to the apparatus for teaching, the School has been prepared to enter upon that new career, the success of which must, as its advo- cates believe, herald a complete revolution in the province of American medical instruction. Some account of this will be given in the following pages.
The number of students attending the lectures had remained very small, as already mentioned, until the year 181 3. Dividing the whole period since the foundation of the School into decades, the number of graduates, which may be taken to represent about one third of the number of the classes, was as follows : —
From 1788 to 1797, inclusive, 20. Average, 2.0
" 1798 to 1807, " 23. " 2.3
" 1808 to 1817, " 79. " 7-9
" 1818 to 1827, " 163. " 16.3
" 1828 to 1337, " 217. " 21.7
" 1838 to 1847, " 298. " 29.8
" 1848 to 1857, " 343- " 34-3
" 1858 to 1867, " 563- " 56-3
248 THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
From 1868 to 1871, inclusive, the number was 294; giving an average of 73.5 against the previous maximum of 56.3 of the last decade.
It was in the midst of this period of prosperity of the School that a great change was ventured upon, which risked, for the time at least, its financial pros- pects, and involved for its instructors no small amount of additional labor.
Medical teaching in this School, as in most others of this country, has remained far behind that in other departments of knowledge, and that of the great Euro- pean schools. The student has been expected to attend two "courses of lectures," taking tickets for all the branches, and being of course expected to attend daily five, six, or more lectures on as many different subjects, inasmuch as he had paid for them as being all of equal importance to him. In addition to this, he was expected to devote a considerable portion of his time to practical anatomy, if not to other special work in the laboratories of different branches. It was a great feast of many courses to which the student was invited, but they were all set on at once, which was not the best arrangement either for mental appetite or digestion. Still, such was the almost universal practice throughout this country, and to venture upon a radical change, which should lift medical education to the same level as training in other callings, was a hazardous innovation, which caused some of the instructors, who had seen the School struggle up by slow degrees to its existing state of prosperity, grave apprehensions lest it should prove a failure. It was questioned whether the necessarily increased cost of instruction and higher standard of acquirements demanded for the degree, which was an essential feature of the proposed change, would not deter large numbers of young men from attempting to take their degrees from the Harvard Medical School. It was in the face of these grave questionings and certain risks that the step was taken which promises to begin a new epoch in American medical education.
Already a movement had been made which much facilitated the final change. Until the year 1859, the winter course of four months was the only instruction furnished by the College. Two seasons spent in attending these, the rest of the three years required being covered by a physician's certificate that the candidate had studied with him, which might mean a good deal, and too often meant very little, filled the measure of study expected of the young man about to enter upon practice. In 1859, the Professors of the College established a Summer School, which carried on the instruction of the Winter, supplementing it in various ways, and taking the place very advantageously of the frequently, if not generally, imperfect teaching the student had previously received from the phy- sician with whom his name was entered. Other teachers besides the Professors were invited to take a part in the work, and thus a much more complete course of instruction than the College had ever before offered was provided for the young men who studied in Boston.
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
249
The changes made in 1871 may be briefly stated thus: The whole academic year is now devoted to medical instruction. It is divided into two terms, the first begin- ning in September and ending in February ; the second, after a recess of a week, extending from February to the last part of June. Each of these terms is more than the equivalent of the former winter term. The most essential chano-e of all is that the instruction is made progressive, the students being divided into three classes, taking up the different branches in their natural succession, and passing through the entire range of their medical studies in due order, in place of having the whole load of knowledge upset at once upon them. Practical instruc- tions in the various laboratories have been either substituted for, or added to, the didactic lectures, and attendance upon them is expected of the student as much as on the lectures.
In the place of the somewhat hasty oral examinations for the degree which have prevailed in this College, as in others, written examinations, lasting three hours for each branch, are substituted. The student may be examined at the end of each year in the branches of that year, and if he fail to pass, try again at the next or any subsequent examination ; but he must pass a satisfactory ex- amination in every one of the principal departments of study in order to obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine. This degree, bearing the seal of Harvard University, has therefore, necessarily, a significance and value which it could not have under the old system.
The anticipated reduction in the number of students was not accompanied with the great diminution of receipts which might have been expected, as will be seen by the following table extracted from President Eliot's Report for 1872-73: —
Year. |
No. of Students. |
Receipts from Students. |
Income from Professorship Funds. |
Paid for Salaries. |
General Expenses. |
Diiference between current Receipts and Expenses. |
1870-71 1871-72 1872-73 |
301 203 170 |
$27,717.67 24,104.59 22,283.84 |
$2,779.00 3,404.62 2,952.78 |
$ 19,476.82 20,019.56 18,783.32 |
$10,039.31 8,877.44 7,820.50 |
$ 980.54 surplus 1,387.79 deficit 1,367.20 " |
The prospect for the present year is of a large increase of receipts, rendering it probable, in fact, that they will exceed those of the most prosperous year under the old arrangement.
The Massachusetts Medical College, the building belonging to the Medical School of Harvard University, situated in North Grove Street, Boston, does not require a very extended description. It is lofty, well lighted, and, as contrasted with the immediately contiguous edifices, of an almost imposing architectural aspect. The ground-floor is devoted to the working laboratory for students and the janitor's apartments. A separate wooden building, in connection with the principal one, is devoted to Practical Anatomy. On the floor above are the Medi-
250 THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
cal and Chemical Lecture-Rooms and the Library. A formidable flight of thirty- two steps leads to the second floor, where are the Museum Hall, the Anatomical theatre, the Professors' and the Demonstrators' rooms. Above these, in the attics, are the Physiological and Microscopical laboratories. Beneath the seats of the Anatomical theatre is a spacious but obscure and irregular crypt, chiefly occupied by the Professor of Anatomy.
The Warren Anatomical Museum occupies a hall extending through the whole depth of the building. The main collection was presented by the late Dr. John Collins Warren, and was accompanied with the gift of six thousand dollars for its preservation and increase. Many valuable donations have since added to its value, of which the following are deserving of special mention. The late Dr. George Hayward presented, in the year 1847, a series of Thibert's models, one hundred and sixty-seven in number, illustrating surgical disease. In 1849, the late Dr. John Ware presented a set of ninety models by the same artist. Within the present year Dr. Edward Wigglesworth has presented a very fine collection of wax models, representing a great variety of the common and specific forms of cutaneous disease.
It is well known to all who have watched the growth and improvement of the collection, the care with which the specimens have been preserved and displayed, the order which has been introduced into their arrangement, the labor which has been expended upon individual preparations, the constant additions which have been made without any formal presentation, that the time and energies of one man have been devoted to the Museum with a zeal, constancy, and capacity which alone could have produced the results they now witness. To Dr. J. B. S. Jackson the Museum owes more than to all others, except its founder. As Cu- rator he was expected to watch over its interests; but his disinterested services have far surpassed all that could be expected of the most careful guardian. The Catalogue of the collection prepared by him and published in 1870, in a volume of seven hundred and fifty closely printed octavo pages, enumerating and often describing the history connected with no less than three thousand six hundred and eighty-six specimens, is a fitting companion for that other Catalogue of a Museum, chiefly of his own creation, which has been spoken of by a distinguished teacher in a great school of another city as the most important contribution to the department of Pathological Anatomy which, at the time of its publication, had been made in this country. Many valuable preparations and specimens other than those already mentioned have been contributed by the Professors, the Demonstrators, and the students.
The Library of the Medical College contains between two and three thousand volumes, including many of the great and costly illustrated works on Anatomy and Pathology. It has been largely built up by gifts from the Professors and
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL. 251
appropriations from their fees ; and serviceable as it is, is in need of larger ap- propriations and ampler contributions, which it would be more likely to receive if lodged in a fire-proof building.
During the first seventy years following the foundation of the School, only fourteen Professors held ofiice in this branch of the University. At the jDresent time twenty teachers are on the list of the ninety-first Annual Announcement, for 1874-75. The great hospitals, the infirmaries, the Dispensary, are all made useful as schools for clinical teaching. The laws of the Commonwealth sanction and favor the practical study of Anatomy, by which alone, as it is well under- stood in every enlightened community, the practice of surgery and medicine can be placed on a sound basis. Many special branches of the healing art are taught by men who are masters in these several specialties.
The aim of the Medical Department is henceforth not the largest classes, but the most thoroughly taught students. This School has attempted, in the face of great difficulties, and standing nearly or quite alone in this country, to bring order out of the chaos of instruction into which the young student had found himself plunged at the outset of his education. Good wishes for the success of what was at once recognized as a forward movement in medical education have been expressed very generally, sometimes in the language of hearty congratulation, now and then in the minor key of a bland approval and a sympathizing prediction of failure. The success of the new plan, now assured, may well induce a contemplative mood in many of those who are personally interested in medical education. If it means anything, it means nothing less than revolution. If graduated, progressive medical education is organic, following not merely the precepts found true in all other branches of knowledge, but the first great law of evolution and growth, then the old method is inorganic, and cannot stand much longer in the face of this new order of things. The adoption of a thorough, carefully arranged course of studies, practical to a large extent, beginning with the underlying parts of knowledge on which the others must be built, building upon these in true natural sequence, making sure by rigid and protracted examination that each branch is mastered before the overlying one is begun, must sooner or later take the place of the imperfect methods so long tolerated rather than approved, as the temporary ex- pedients of an imperfect civilization. If Harvard University has not been one year too soon, it is time for other schools to follow her lead, and the Profession throughout the country will not be slow in reminding them of the new obliga- tions which belong to a new era.
The view of the Medical School which accompanies this article is taken from within the grounds of the Massachusetts General Hospital, so as to include the large operating theatre of the Hospital, which is also used as the clinical lecture-room of the school. This building occupies the centre of the picture. It is the rear of the Medical College which is seen beyond it at the left.
JOHN BARNARD SWETT JACKSON.
Dr. Jackson, the Senior Professor of the Medical Faculty, was born in Boston in 1806. He graduated at Harvard College in 1825, and at the Medical School in 1829. His medical studies were continued in London and Paris during the greater part of the subsequent three years.
On his return he commenced practice, but gave much of his time to the forma- tion and care of the Anatomical Museum of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement.
In 1842 the leading physicians of Boston made a formal request to Dr. Jackson to demonstrate the collection of this Society, — a compliment which he has always regarded as one of the most valued ever received by him. He was connected with the Massachusetts General Hospital as Pathologist, Assistant Physician, and Physician for a period of nearly twenty-nine years. In 1847 his present title was conferred upon him. Dr. Jackson has given up the greater part of his life to the pursuit of Morbid Anatomy, and the results of his labors have appeared from time to time, mainly in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.
In 1870 he published a Descriptive Catalogue of the Warren Anatomical Museum belonging to the Medical School, which has been very much enlarged and improved under his constant attention. Dr. Jackson is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of numerous medical societies.
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OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
Dr. Holmes was born August 29, 1809, at Cambridge. His father was Rev. Abiel Holmes. His residence, until fifteen years of age, was at Cambridge ; from the age of fifteen to sixteen at Andover, Mass., as a member of Phillips Academy, of which John Adams was the principal. Before going to Andover he was five years in attendance at a private school at Cambridgeport, where, during a part of the time, Margaret Fuller and Richard H. Dana, Jr., were his schoolmates. Still earlier he was for a while pupil of William Biglow, " Gulielmus Magnus- humilis," as he signed himself at the head of certain Latin verses to be found in the contemporary account of the second Centennial celebration of the founding of Harvard College, — a man somewhat noted for his humor.
Dr. Holmes entered Harvard College in 1825. While there he delivered a poem before the Hasty Pudding Club, one at Exhibition, one at Commencement, and the Class poem.
After graduating (1829) he studied law one year in the Dane Law School of Harvard University. After this he studied medicine in Boston from the autumn of 1830 to the spring of 1833. In April, 1833, he went to Europe, where he remained until October, 1835, engaged in the study of medicine, most of the time in Paris.
His medical instructors in Boston were Drs. James Jackson, Channing, Ware, Lewis, and Otis ; and he attended the lectures of the Medical School of Harvard University. In Paris he followed various courses at the Ecole de Medecine, and the different hospitals, especially at La Pitie with M. Louis.
He took the degree of M. D. at Harvard in 1836. In 1839 he was elected Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the Medical School of Dartmouth Col- lege, and held the office two years, at the end of which he resigned and devoted himself to medical practice in Boston.
In 1848 he was chosen Parkman Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the Medical School of Harvard University, which chair he has occupied to this time, except that Physiology has been recently taught in a separate course.
254 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of the Mas- sachusetts Historical Society, of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and various other associations.
His principal writings are, —
Boylston Prize Dissertations.
Poems, — various editions.
Homoeopathy and its Kindred Delusions.
Various Medical Essays and Addresses, some of which are collected in a vol- ume entitled " Currents and Counter-Currents."
Another volume of Essays, etc., published under the title " Soundings from the Atlantic."
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table.
The Professor at the Breakfast-Table.
Elsie Venner (the Professor's Story).
The Guardian Angel.
The Poet at the Breakfast-Table.
Some of his earliest printed verses were published in a College magazine edited by Mr. John O. Sargent, of the class of 1830, and others, called " The Collegian." Since the publication of the Atlantic Monthly a large part of all that he has written in prose and verse has made its first appearance in its pages.
He has not practised medicine of late years, but has devoted himself to the duties of his Professorship and to literary and scientific studies.
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GEORGE CHEYNE SHATTUCK.
Dr. Shattuck was born in Boston in 1813. His father was Dr. George C. Shattuck, also of Boston. He was educated at the Latin School, and at Round Hill School, Northampton. He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Harvard University in 1831, and of Doctor of Medicine in 1835. He spent the two following years in the study of medicine in Paris, and the next year in Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. In 1839 he translated from the manuscript and published the work of Louis on Yellow Fever. In 1850 he was appointed visiting Physician to the Massachusetts General Hospital, a position which he still holds. In 1851 he accepted the Professorship of the Institutes of Medicine at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. In 1855 he was appointed Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Medical Department of Harvard University, which chair he resigned in 1858 to accept that of the Theory and Practice of Medicine. He was President of the Massachusetts Medical Society from 1872 to 1874.
4
HENRY JACOB BIGELOW.
Henry Jacob Bigelow, born in Boston, March ii, 1818, only son of Dr. Jacob Bigelow, of Boston, was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School, under Mr. Leverett. Entering Harvard College, he graduated in the Class of 1837. He studied medicine in the Harvard Medical School and with Dr. Jacob Bigelow for three years, at the expiration of which time he went abroad for his health. Re- turning home to graduate in medicine in 1 841, he again went to Europe for study, remaining abroad three years, chiefly in Paris, but also visiting the East.
In 1845, on the resignation of Dr. Reynolds, he was appointed teacher of Surgery in the Tremont Street Medical School, a post he continued to hold until this School was merged in that of Harvard University.
In 1846, a few months before the ether discovery, he was appointed Surgeon to the Massachusetts General Hospital, an office which he still holds ; with which, ■
and the Professorship of Surgery in Harvard University, his professional life has been largely identified. In 1849, the nearly simultaneous resignation, by Dr. John C. Warren and Dr. George Hayward, of the Surgical Professorships then held by them in Harvard University, created a vacancy, to which, after a union of the teaching in the various departments of Surgery and Clinical Surgery under a single professorship. Dr. Bigelow was appointed. Of this ofiice he performed the duties without an assistant until 1866, when Dr. R. M. Hodges was appointed Adjunct Professor.
Among the papers and publications of Dr. Bigelow may be mentioned, A Treatise upon Orthopedic Surgery; on the Mechanism of Dislocation and Frac- ture of the Hip. He has contributed numerous surgical papers to medical jour- nals, and is the author of several medical addresses, etc.
Dr. Bigelow made the original announcement, November, 1846, of the discovery of Modern Anaesthesia, in a paper entitled Insensibility during Surgical Operations produced by Inhalation.
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GEORGE DERBY.
Dr. Derby was born at Salem, Mass., February 13, 1819. His father was John Derby, an East India merchant. He went to school in Salem, and gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1838. He received his degree in medicine H. U. 1844, and since then has lived in Boston. During the War of the Rebellion he served in the army four years ; first as Surgeon of the 23d Massachusetts In- fantry ; later as Surgeon and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel United States Volun- teers ; Medical Inspector Department of Virginia and North Carolina ; Surgeon- in-Chief of Divisions, etc. He was formerly Surgeon to the Boston City Hospital.
Since 1866 Dr. Derby has been editor of the State Registration Reports. He has been a member and Secretary of the State Board of Health since its crea- tion, and the valuable scientific contributions it has made to the cause of public health, as well as the practical measures it has enforced, are largely due to his industry and sound judgment.
In 1872 the chair of Hygiene was established in the Medical Department, and he was appointed to the Professorship. He is a member of the American Acad- emy of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Derby published a volume on Anthracite and Health, in 1868, and has written many papers for the five volumes of Reports of the State Board of Health.
Since the above was written, the University and the community have sustained a serious bereavement in Dr. Derby's sudden death.
JOHN EUGENE TYLER.
Dr. Tyler was born in Boston, December 9, 1819. His father, a Harvard graduate (1786), was educated as a physician, but afterwards became engaged in mercantile pursuits.
Dr. Tyler resided in Westborough, Mass., during the earlier part of his life, receiving his preliminary education in that town, and later at Phillips Academy. While studying medicine he taught school for some time in Newport, R. I. As Superintendent of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, his special devo- tion to the care of this unfortunate class began, since which time he has with- drawn from general practice. He afterwards was appointed Superintendent of the McLean Asylum, a position held by him till within a few years. During his connection with these institutions he published an extensive series of annual reports. Dr. Tyler was made Professor of Mental Diseases in 1871, previously to which time he was connected with the Medical School as University Lecturer on the same subjects. He has been a State Commissioner in New Hampshire and Massachusetts for the establishment of reformatory institutions, is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of various medical and other soci- eties.
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CHARLES EDWARD BUCKINGHAM.
Dr. Buckingham was born in Boston in the year 1821, his father being Joseph T. Buckingham, well known as the printer and subsequently the editor of the Boston Courier. Early in life he resided in Cambridge, pursuing his studies at the Boston Latin School, and at the Cambridge Classical School. In 1840 he graduated at Harvard College, and at once began the study of medicine. Dr. Morrill Wyman of Cambridge being his instructor. During the subsequent four years his medical studies were continued at Cambridge and in Boston, his medical degree being taken in 1844.
Since then Dr. Buckingham has been actively engaged in practice in the latter city, and has been a frequent contributor to medical as well as to other periodi- cals. He was among the first of the Surgeons appointed to the City Hospital, and subsequently became Adjunct Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medi- cine in the Harvard Medical School. Since 1868 he has held his present position in the Medical Faculty, Professor of Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence.
FRANCIS MINOT.
Dr. Minot was born in Boston, April 12, 1821. His father was William Minot, of Boston. He graduated at Harvard College in 1841, and three years afterwards received the degree of M. D. from the Medical Department of the University. After three additional years of study in Paris, he returned to Boston, where he has since been actively engaged in the practice of medicine. He is one of the Physicians to the Massachusetts General Hospital, and was formerly editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. In 1871 he was appointed Assistant Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine.
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CALVIN ELLIS.
Dr. Ellis, son of Luther Ellis, was born in Boston, August 15, 1826. He attended school in Boston, and graduated at Harvard College in 1846. He studied medicine at the Tremont Medical School, and received the degree of M. D. from Harvard University in 1849. The two subsequent years were spent at the medi- cal schools of Paris and Vienna, and since then he has been engaged in the practice of medicine in Boston.
Dr. Ellis is one of the Physicians of the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been Instructor in Pathological Anatomy, Adjunct Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Clinical Medicine, and since 1867 Professor of Clinical Medicine in Harvard University. He was formerly editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of various medical societies.
HENRY WILLARD WILLIAMS.
Dr. Williams, son of Willard Williams, was born in Boston, December ii, 1821. He lived in Boston until he was thirteen years old, when he removed to Salem. Compelled by illness to give up preparation for College, he entered a counting- room in Boston at the age of sixteen, and continued in business pursuits until 1844, when he began the study of Medicine in Harvard University. Before receiv- ing his degree of M. D., in 1 849, he spent nearly three years at the medical schools and hospitals of Europe. He has since then practised medicine in Boston, giving his attention to diseases of the eye.
Since 1864 he has been Ophthalmic Surgeon to the Boston City Hospital. In 1868 he received from Harvard University the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 1871 was appointed Professor of Ophthalmology. He has been President of the American Ophthalmological Society, is a member of the American Acad- emy of Arts and Sciences, and of various medical and other societies.
Dr. Williams has published a Practical Guide to the Study of Diseases of the Eye, Recent Advances in Ophthalmic Science, and several other contributions to ophthalmology.
DAVID WILLIAMS CHEEVER.
Dr. Cheever was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, November 30, 1831. He is a son of the late Dr. Charles A. Cheever, of that place, and lived there until he entered Harvard College, at which he graduated in 1852. After gradua- tion he spent eighteen months in Europe. He began the study of medicine in 1854, and received the degree of M. D. H. U. in 1858. He was appointed Dem- onstrator of Anatomy in i860. In 1866 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Anatomy, and is now Adjunct Professor of Clinical Surgery in the Medical Department.
He was for five years Physician and Surgeon to the Boston Dispensary, and for the last ten years has been Surgeon to the Boston City Hospital. During 1868 he was editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.
Dr. Cheever has published several papers on Surgery, and was the author of the first Surgical Report of the Boston City Hospital.
JAMES CLARKE WHITE.
Dr. White, son of James P. White, was born in Belfast, Maine, in 1833. He graduated at Harvard College in 1853, and at once became a student of medicine at the Tremont Medical School. He graduated in the Medical Department of Harvard University in 1856, and then went to Europe for the purpose of con- .tinuing his medical studies. After a year thus spent, mainly at Vienna, he re- turned to Boston and became engaged in the practice of medicine. In 1858 he was appointed Instructor in Chemistry at the Medical School, in 1864 University Lecturer on Skin Diseases, in 1866 Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, and in 1871 he was appointed to his present position.
In 1867 Dr. White became a Physician to the Massachusetts General Hospital, he having been for some years previous Chemist to this institution. In 1870 he resigned his former position, and became Physician to the Department of Skin Diseases. Dr. White was editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of various medi- cal societies, and has published numerous medical contributions.
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ROBERT THAXTER EDES.
Dr. Edes was born in Eastport, Me., in 1838. His father is the Rev. Richard G. Edes. His early Hfe was spent in Eastport, and Bolton, Mass., until he entered Harvard College in 1854. After graduating he entered the Harvard Medical School, receiving his medical degree in 1861. He at once entered the United States Navy as Surgeon, and was in the service till 1864. Before entering civil practice he made a trip to Europe for the purpose of continuing his medical studies there, remaining in Vienna during the greater portion of this interval. On his return he engaged in practice at Hingham, Mass., but soon after removed to Boston. In 1870 he was made Assistant Professor of Materia Medica. Dr. Edes has been an occasional contributor to various medical periodicals, and is one of the visiting Physicians to the City Hospital.
HENRY PICKERING BOWDITCH.
Dr. Bowditch, son of J. Ingersoll Bowditch, was born in 1840. Until he entered College he lived in Boston or the immediate vicinity. He graduated at Harvard College in 1861, and entered the army as Second Lieutenant of the ist Massa- chusetts Cavalry. He eventually became Major in the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, leaving the army in 1865.
He then commenced the study of medicine at Cambridge with Professor Jeffries Wyman, and continued his studies at the Harvard Medical School, at which he graduated in 1868. The subsequent three years were passed in France and Ger- many, where he devoted himself to the study of Physiology.
In 187 1 his present appointment was received, and since this time Dr. Bowditch has been engaged in the duties of his Professorship. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of various medical societies, and has contributed articles to journals in this country and in Germany.
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REGINALD HEBER FITZ.
Reginald Heber Fitz, M. D., Assistant Professor of Pathological Anatomy, was born at Chelsea, Mass., on May 5, 1843. His father was Albert Fitz, who was a consul of the national government. Dr. Fitz lived in Chelsea until 1853, and afterwards in Brookline. He fitted for college at Chauncy Hall School in Boston, and entered Harvard College in i860, graduating in 1864. He began his medical studies immediately, under the instruction of Professor Jeffries Wy- man and the Medical School of the University. He was Medical House Officer at the Boston City Hospital in 1867-8, and graduated in medicine in 1868. The two following years were spent in Europe, mostly in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and London, in the study largely of pathological anatomy. On his return he settled in Boston as a physician. In 1870 he was appointed Instructor in Patho- logical Anatomy in the Medical Department, and Microscopist and Curator of the Pathological Cabinet of the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1873 he was made Assistant Professor of Pathological Anatomy. He is one of the phy- sicians to the Boston Dispensary. He has published occasional articles in the journals of medicine.
EDWARD STICKNEY WOOD.
Dr. Wood was born at Cambridge, April 28, 1846. His father is Mr. Alfred Wood, of that city. He has always lived in Cambridge, graduating from Harvard College in 1867, and from the Medical Department in 1871. After receiving his degree in medicine, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Medical School, and soon after became Chemist to the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1872 he studied Physiological Chemistry in the laboratories of Berlin and Vienna ; and his whole time is ■ at present given to the instruction in his department.
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THE DENTAL SCHOOL
THE DENTAL SCHOOL.
Extract from an Address of Dr. Nathan C. Keep. — Vote of the Massachusetts Dental Society regarding a Chair of Dentistry in the Medical School. — Committee appointed. — Its Report, March 5, 1866. — A Committee appointed to confer with the College. — Report of the Committee, April i, 1867. — Committee of Conference from the Medical School. — The Corporation petitioned for a Dental School. — Vote of the Corporation thereon. — Professors appointed. — First Meeting of the Dental Faculty. — Opening of THE School, November, 1868. — The Degree. — Location of the School. — Summer Session established. — Changes in the Examinations. — Course of Study extended.
At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Dental Society, held May 18, 1865, an address was delivered by its President, Dr. N. C. Keep, in which he used the following words : —
" I should hope that the degree of M. D. would be the lawful and merited appendage to the names of those young men who enter our specialty. If this, however, is not yet attainable, it may not be out of place to inquire whether Harvard University might not appoint professors of dentistry, and confer upon proper candidates the degree of ' Doctor of Dental Surgery.' "
On November 6, of the same year, at a regular meeting of this Society, it was voted, —
"That a committee of three be appointed to take under advisement the subject of the establish- ment of a Chair of Dentistry in the Harvard Medical College in accordance with the recommenda- tion of the President in his annual address."
The committee appointed were Drs. Keep, Wetherbee, and Chandler.
On March 5, 1866, Dr. Keep from this committee reported, recommending the appointment of a committee to confer with the officers of that College. The re- port was accepted, and it was voted, " That a committee of three be appointed in accordance with the report." This committee were Drs. Keep, Rolfe, and L. D. Shepard.
At the annual meeting on May 24, 1866, it was voted to amend the vote of November 6, so as to make it read " Professorships of Dentistry," instead of " a Chair of Dentistry." On April i, 1867, Dr. Keep reported, —
272
THE DENTAL SCHOOL.
"That the committee had attended to its duties; had had several meetings with the committee of the Medical Faculty, consisting of Drs. Bowditch, Bigelow, and Ellis ; that a plan had been agreed upon which was satisfactory to each committee, and had already been unanimously adopted by the Medical P'aculty.
In the Medical Faculty the matter was brought up at a meeting held June 2, 1866, by the reading of a letter from Dr. Keep, asking for a committee of conference. Such a committee was appointed, consisting of Drs. Bowditch, Bige- low, and Clarke. Several preliminary reports were made at as many meetings, and on March 22, 1867, the subject was referred to them with full powers to bring the matter before the Corporation. On March 29, 1867, as the result of a report from Dr. Bowditch, it was unanimously resolved, —
" That the Dean be directed to petition the Corporation of Harvard College to establish a Dental School according to the terms proposed in the second report of the committee of the Massachusetts Dental Society."
At a meeting of the Corporation, March 30, 1867, it was voted, —
" That the recommendation of the Medical Faculty for the establishment of a Dental School be referred to the committee on the Medical School " ; and at the next meeting, April 13, 1867, this committee recommended " the establishment of a Dental College, in accordance with the plan pro- posed by the Medical Faculty." This report was laid upon the table. On June 29, 1867, the report was recommitted " with instructions to report more in detail."
At a meeting held July 17, 1867, this committee submitted a report recom- mending the adoption of the following votes : —
"Voted, To establish a Dental School in the University.
"Voted, To establish a Professorship of Dental Pathology and Therapeutics in this School. The professor shall be a graduate of a medical school, with a medical degree, and his duties shall be to investigate and teach the fundamental laws of Anatomy, Physiology, and Medicine, with their special application to the teeth and their diseases, and to dental operations and treatment. He shall hold office during the pleasure of the Corporation acting with the consent of the Overseers, and be sub- ject to such orders and statutes as shall from time to time be made by the President and Fellows, with the consent of the Board of Overseers. His salary and compensation shall, until otherwise or- dered, be derived wholly from the fees paid by the students, which fees shall be the same as in the Medical School.
"Voted, To establish a Professorship of Operative Dentistry in the Dental School, the professor to have received a medical degree, and to have graduated from a medical school ; his duties shall be to make himself acquainted with the best methods known at any time of performing dental opera- tions of every kind, and to teach the same in lectures, and as far as practicable by clinical instruc- tion. His tenure of office and his compensation to be determined as those of the Professor of Dental Pathology and Therapeutics.
" Voted, To establish a Professorship of Mechanical Dentistry in the Dental School ; the professor to have received a medical degree. His duties shall be to acquaint himself with the best-known mechanical appliances and manufactures which are subsidiary to the art of dentistry, and to teach the modes of manufacturing and applying them. His tenure of office and compensation to be deter- mined as those of the Professor of Dental Pathology and Therapeutics.
THE DENTAL SCHOOL. 273
"Voted, That the Faculty of the Dental School consist, until otherwise ordered, of the President of the University, the Professor of Dental Pathology and Therapeutics, the Professor of Operative Dentistry, the Professor of Mechanical Dentistry, the Parkman Professor of Anatomy and Physiology> the Professor of Surgery, and the Professor of Chemistry in the Medical School.
"Voted, That an appropriate degree be conferred upon each candidate of adult age, of good char- acter, who has pursued professional studies three years under competent instructors, and attended two full courses of lectures in a dental school, or medical college giving dental instruction, of which courses the second shall have been in this School ; provided such candidate maintain a thesis, and convince the Professors of Operative and Mechanical Dentistry of his ability to perform skilfully the operations of his art."
The report was accepted, and the votes recommended were adopted.
On November 30, 1867, Dr. Daniel Harwood was chosen Professor of Dental Pathology and Therapeutics ; and Dr. Nathan C. Keep, Professor of Mechanical Dentistry.
On March 19, 1868, pursuant to a call from President Thomas Hill, was held the first meeting of the Dental Faculty in the Library of the Medical College.
Present : President Thomas Hill, D. D., Professors Oliver W. Holmes, M. D., Henry J. Bigelow, M. D., John Bacon, M. D., Daniel Harwood, M. D., Nathan
C. Keep, M. D. No record was made of any business transacted, except the appointment of Dr. Keep to be Dean of the Faculty.
At the third Faculty meeting, Dr. Harwood, whose views had been all along at variance with those of the other professors, inasmuch as he desired the establishment of a single Chair of Dentistry in the Medical School instead of a full-fledged Dental School, sent in his resignation, which was accepted by the Corporation, June 5, 1868. The Faculty presented the name of Thomas Barnes Hitchcock to the Corporation to fill Dr. Harwood's place, and that of Dr. George T. Moffatt for the Chair of Operative Dentistry ; and on June 5, 1868, these elections were made by the Corporation. On the same day, Luther
D. Shepard was chosen Adjunct Professor of Operative Dentistry.
On July 15, 1868, the Corporation amended their vote of July 17, 1867, in regard to the requisitions for the degree of the Dental School by inserting therein the following words : " But five years passed in the practice of dentis- try may be considered a substitute for the first course of lectures." The School opened in November, 1868, with a full corps of teachers and sixteen students.
At a meeting of the Corporation held Februaiy 27, 1869, on the recommen- dation of the Dental Faculty, it was voted that the degree conferred upon graduates of the School be " D. M. D., Dentaris Medicinas Doctor"; and on March 6, 1869, was held the first examination for this degree. Six students were passed at this examination.
On October 26, 1869, Thomas H. Chandler, A.M., was appointed Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Dentistry. On July 8, 1870, Nathaniel W. Hawes was appointed Assistant Professor of Operative Dentistry.
2 74 THE DENTAL SCHOOL.
In September, 1870, the house No. 50 Allen Street was bought for the School, and subsequently altered for its uses ; and the School thus obtained for the first time a permanent habitation. A representation having been made to the Corporation that, under the votes of July 17, 1867, establishing the professor- ships, no graduate of the School could ever be one of its professors, unless he was also a graduate of a medical school, it was voted by them, October 16, 1 87 1, to rescind so much of the votes as required the Professors of Operative and Mechanical Dentistry to be doctors of medicine.
On November 13, 1871, Dr. Keep resigned his professorship, on account of ill health, and his adjunct, Thomas H. Chandler, was appointed to fill his place. Experience had shown that the clause in the statute concerning the dental degree, allowing " five years in the practice of dentistry to be considered a substi- tute for the first course of lectures," acted injuriously as an inducement for taking but one course of lectures at the School ; and that it was impossible to distinguish between reputable and useful practice and the opposite ; therefore, on the recommendation of the Dental Faculty, the clause permitting this substitu- tion was stricken out by vote of the Corporation on December 18, 1871.
It being thought advisable to give such students as wished it an opportu- nity to spend their whole period of tuition under the instruction of the School, instead of forcing them into private offices over which the ofiicers of the School had no control, and of which they often had no knowledge, it was determined in February, 1872, to establish a summer session, to continue four months after the close of the winter session, attendance at which was to be considered equivalent to private pupilage during the same period. At the examination for degrees, of February 10, 1872, important changes for the better were made, the examination being written instead of oral, and each candidate being required to pass satisfactorily in all the subjects, instead of in a majority of them as here- tofore.
At a meeting of the Dental Faculty, held February 24, 1875, an entire change in the curriculum of the School, to take full effect in 1876, was recommended to the Corporation. The new scheme was adopted by the Corporation, March I, 1875. Instead of a single course of instruction, covering four months, and repeated every year, two terms of eight and a half months, of which the first term is identical with the first year of the Medical School, are to be provided. This great change is made in order to give dentists a higher education, — an object which the School has steadily pursued, although it has moved only so fast as seemed warranted by the expectations of the profession and the public. It is hoped that even this advance will prove to be but one step in a series, and that the near future will see still further progress in the same direction.
THOMAS HENDERSON CHANDLER.
Thomas Henderson Chandler was born in Boston, July 4, 1824. After pass- ing through the grammar and high schools, he entered the Latin School in 1841, under Mr. Dixwell. Entered Harvard College in 1844, and was graduated with the Class of 1848. Being unable to continue study, through weakness of eyes, he applied for and was appointed to the position of usher in the Endi- cott Grammar School in September of that year. In July, 1850, he resigned, and entered the office of Davis and Sanger, lawyers, in Boston; and in Septem- ber, 1 85 1, entered the Harvard Law School. In January, 1853, having taken the degree of LL. B., his eyes again giving out, he accepted an ushership at the Public Latin School of Boston, under Master Gardner, where he taught three years. In December, 1855, he bought the private school, called the Park Latin School, kept for many years by David B. Tower, under Park Street Church, in Boston; and in September, 1858, sold out again, and began the study of den- tistry. In 1869 he was appointed Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Dentistry in the Harvard Dental School, and Professor in 1872, upon the resignation of Dr. N. C. Keep, at which time he also received from the corporation the honorary degree of D. M. D.
On the death of Dr. T. B. Hitchcock, in 1874, he was appointed dean of the School. He was President of the Massachusetts Dental Society from 1869 to 1872. His literary work has been papers in the dental journals, addresses before dental societies, and the translation, in 1873, of Leber and Rottenstein's Treatise on Dental Caries.
GEORGE TUFTON MOFFATT.
George Tufton Moffatt was born in Roxbury, August 7, 1836. Was edu- cated in the public schools of his native town until thirteen years of age, when, removing to the western part of the State, he completed his school education at Williston Seminary in Easthampton, and at the high school in Holyoke. A natural mechanical and manipulative skill seeming to point to the pursuit of some of the useful arts as a profession, he finally chose the pursuit of dentistry, and commenced his studies under the tuition of Dr. Joshua Tucker of Boston, in 1857. He also entered the Harvard Medical School, and pursued the study of medicine under the private instruction of Dr. Winslow Lewis. Graduated from the Medical School in the Class of i860, and entered immediately upon the prac- tice of his profession, still retaining his association with Dr. Tucker, — an asso- ciation which has remained unbroken to the present time.
Upon the establishment of the Harvard Dental School, in 1868, Dr. Moffatt was appointed to the chair of Operative Dentistry ; Dr. Nathan C. Keep occu- pying the chair of Mechanical Dentistry, and Dr. Thomas Barnes Hitchcock that of Dental Pathology and Therapeutics.
Dr. Moffatt has been President of the Massachusetts Dental Society, is a Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society, is an officer of the American Acad- emy of Dental Science, a member of the Boston Society of Natural History, a member of the American Association, corresponding member of the Odonto- logical Society of New York, etc.
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THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
Foundation of the School in 1847, by a Gift of Mr. Abbott Lawrence. — Description of Law- rence Hall. — Organization of the School under Professors Horsford and Agassiz. — The School established on a new financial Basis in 1849. — Lieutenant Eustis of West Point organizes the Engineering Department. — Zoological Hall erected. — Professor Agassiz's Collections purchased. — The Observatory made a distinct Department of the University in 1854. — Contributions for the Scientific School. — Professor C. W. Eliot has Charge of the Chemical Department. — Mr. Edward Pearce takes Charge of the Engineering Department during the Absence of Professor Eustis. — Professorship founded BY Hon. Samuel Hooper in 1864. — Gift of Mr. James Lawrence. — Plan of Consolidation with the Institute of Technology. — Lawrence Hall remodelled in 1871. — Change in the Organization of the School.
A QUARTER of a cctitury has passed since the first great step was taken in organ- izing that new system which, though still in a measure undeveloped and tentative, has, by general consent, received the name of the " new education." Mr. Abbott Lawrence, of Boston, appreciating the " necessity of education bearing on the great industries of the country, made to Harvard College what in those days was called a princely gift. Thus was founded the Lawrence Scientific School at Cambridge ; and thus did industrial studies get their first foothold in a great University." Mr. Lawrence's letter to the Corporation is dated June 7, 1847. In this letter, after stating his own views as to the existing need of education in practical science,
28o THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
and sketching a plan of organization for the new School which he proposes to found, he offers for the acceptance of the President and Fellows of Harvard Col- lege the sum of fifty thousand dollars. Hon. Samuel A. Eliot, the Treasurer of the College, in his report for that year, says : " It has met with that universal appro- bation which its magnitude, its generosity, its appropriateness to the wants of the country, its wise forecast and expansion of views, deserve. It is supposed to be the largest amount ever given at one time, during the lifetime of the donor, to any public institution in this country ; and it would be difficult to imagine in what way fifty thousand dollars could probably be made productive of greater good than in the cultivation of a kind of knowledge, the want of which is beginning to be strongly felt in this country, and the possession of which will develop our resources, both intellectual and physical, with a rapidity, a certainty, and an ad- vantage which will, perhaps, surprise the most sanguine. The knowledge acquired will be found to be applicable, not only in the ways and on the subjects which are now known to be open to its use, but in a multitude of directions and on a variety of subjects in relation to which its importance cannot at present be ap- preciated, nor even foreseen."
Hon. Edward Everett, the President of the University, in his report for the same year, speaking of the plan of organization of the new School, says : " It was the object of the government of the University, in this way, to meet a want more and more felt in the community, — that of a place ol systematic instruction in those branches of science which are more immediately connected with the great industrial interests of the country : such as Chemistry in its various appli- cations to the arts of life ; Engineering in its several departments ; Zoology and Geology, with the other kindred branches of Natural History."
No time was lost in organization, but the School was opened at the next aca- demic term, although only two of its departments were represented. Professor Horsford, then Rumford Professor in the College, was placed in charge of the Chemical Department, and Professor Agassiz was appointed to the chair of Zoology and Geology. During the academic year 1 847 - 48, the instructions of the Rumford Professor were given in a temporary laboratory fitted up for the use of his special students in University Hall. Professor Agassiz gave courses of geological and zoological lectures, and stored his collections in cellars and out- buildings, as he could find room for them. In his report for that year. President Everett remarks : " The School is, of course, in its infancy. Till the completion of the buildings required for its accommodation, the appointment of a Professor of Engineering, and the commencement of the scientific collections required for the illustration of its various departments, it cannot be seen in the full operation of its various branches. In the mean time, however, a beginning has been made in a satisfactory manner."
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. 28 1
About the middle of the first term of the academic year 1848-49, the labora- tory in Lawrence Hall was completed, and opened to the occupation of the class. This entire building was devoted to the Chemical -Department. It was considered, at the time, a model building for its purpose. The front, or south end, was com- posed of two stories, of eighteen feet each, the lecture-room below, the laboratory above. The north end of the building was composed of four stories, of eight and a half feet each, each story divided into a number of small rooms. The dwelling- house which was united with it on the east was the Professor's residence, and his study and private laboratory were in the main building. Lawrence Hall, as it now stands, is really only one wing of the structure which Mr. Lawrence pro- posed to erect. The full project contained a central building running east and west, and another west wing, the counterpart of the present building.
In September, 1849, Lieutenant Eustis, of the United States Corps of Engi- neers, then First Assistant Professor of Engineering at the West Point Military Academy, was invited to come to Cambridge and organize the Department of Engineering. He found the several departments of the School involved in one general bill of expenses which would inevitably swamp the whole institution in a very short time, and the invitation was respectfully declined. It is due to the memory of Mr. Lawrence, as showing the interest which he took in the School, to state here that, although he was then just on the point of departure for Europe as Minister of the United States, he was so anxious to see this post filled, that he offered to guarantee to Lieutenant Eustis $ 2,500 a year, for five years, in the full belief that the success of the institution would provide for the salary after that time. When it is recollected that the salary of a professor in the College, at that time, was only $ 1,800, this was a very generous proposition. The financial union of the departments, however, was regarded as fatal to their existence, and this proposition also was declined. But, as the result of a confer- ence between all the parties interested, Mr. Lawrence, just before his departure for Europe, addressed a letter to the Corporation, dated September 20, 1849, in which he proposes to withdraw a previous letter of July 19, 1847, in which he had enumerated certain conditions of his donation, and to establish the School upon a new financial basis. In this letter, he says : " Under these circumstances, I feel no reluctance to acknowledge that some of my expectations have proved erroneous, and that, from the experience of the last two years of efforts and ex- periment, a better plan may be devised than that which was arranged at the time." He then proposes to set aside twenty-five thousand dollars of the unex- pended balance of his original donation, as a fund for the Professorship of Engi- neering, in order to place this on an equal footing with the Rumford Professor- ship. He offers to the Corporation $ 1,500 a year, for five years, as the salary of Professor Agassiz, and he separates the departments entirely, in all financial
282 THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIEIC SCHOOL.
matters, making each responsible only for its own current expenses. He adds: " I make this provision, fully aware that little or nothing will remain for the pur- pose I formerly entertained of erecting a building of considerable size, to contain the models of the Engineer and the collections of the Geologist, .... but I must express the hope that the government of the College will find, or will be supplied with, the means to furnish shelter, at least, to collections of such value, by hiring or erecting some building which may answer the purpose for a time. With respect to a fund, the income of which should be reserved for de- fraying the expenses attendant upon making scientific collections, it is not pos- sible for me at present, in the hurry of my engagements, on the eve of my departure for several years, to make adequate provision."
The appointment was again offered to Lieutenant Eustis, and in November, 1849, he resigned his commission in the Corps of Engineers, and came to Cam- bridge to organize his department. It would amuse those who only know our scientific schools as they now are, if they could go back to those days and see how very indefinite were the views even of their founders. To the inquiry. What is meant by a Department of Engineering, what instruction does it comprise, and how shall it be given ? no definite answer could be obtained. Finally, in despair, a direct appeal was made to an ex-president of the College, as one who was sup- posed to be thoroughly conversant with this whole movement from its first con- ception, and this was his reply : " Well, my idea would be, that you should come to Cambridge and put up a sign as a surveyor, and receive young men into your office." What would be thought to-day of such a standard for the instruction to be given in even the lowest of our engineering schools ?
The next problem to be solved was. Where shall the necessary exercises of the Engineering Department be held.'' Lawrence Hall was entirely devoted to the Chemical Department, and then, as now, there were no spare rooms to be devoted to new department's. In this emergency the College erected, on the grounds west of Lawrence Hall, a wooden building, which was then nameless, but which, since its removal to its present situation near the Museum of Comparative Zoology, has received the name of Zoological Hall. It will, perhaps, be recollected by some, that a large white church, belonging to the Baptist denomination, and which now stands on North Avenue, a short distance below Porter's Station, formerly occupied the southwest corner of what is now the Scientific School en- closure. The wooden building referred to was erected in a respectfully retired position, between this church and Lawrence Hall. This building possesses more than ordinary interest. For, not only the Engineering Department here got its first foothold in connection with the University, but here was the real nucleus of the present Museum of Comparative Zoology. The lower story of this structure was devoted to the Engineering Department, the upper to the Department of
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. 283
Zoology and Geology ; and here, for the first time, Professor Agassiz had a place for his collections. In his report for the year 1849-50, President Sparks says: " A building has been erected for the accommodation of the Engineering Depart- ment, with rooms suitable for the exercises of the Professor with the students. In the same building are apartments for Professor Agassiz's valuable collections illustrative of Natural History and Geology, consisting of many thousand speci- mens obtained in Europe and this country. These specimens are now in the process of being classified and arranged in appropriate cases." It is true that the President goes on to state the necessity of a working laboratory, and of a library for the special use of the students in the Scientific School. But it may be in- structive to those who only know the University as it is, even with its present wants, to compare 7iow with theti, and see from what small beginnings things have grown to their present stature. The zoological collections were displayed in one room, occupying the upper story of this wooden building ; and a little room, about ten feet square, served as a working-room. On the lower floor, devoted to the Engineering Department, a piece was cut off on the north end, and its walls graced with blackboards, as a recitation-room. A drawing-room, one recitation- room, and a case of surveying instruments, constituted all the appliances of the Engineering Department. It may be said that, as all the instruction was to be given by the Professor in person, one recitation-room was enough, with an addi- tional room where those not immediately attending a lecture or recitation might be engaged in drawing. This might be true for the first term; but as years pro- ceeded, and the subdivisions of classes multiplied, it was found to be as inadequate as the one room was for the accumulating fishes overhead.
The financial condition of the School was on a par with these accommodations. One half of the original donation had been spent on Lawrence Hall for the Chemical Department, the other half was set aside as a fund for the Professor- ship of Engineering. The salary of the Professor of Zoology was temporarily provided for by Mr. Lawrence, but nothing remained for carrying on the School. In fact, the Professor of Zoology depended upon private aid in making his col- lections, and the Professor of Engineering imported from Europe, at his own ex- pense, models of stereotomy, which were kept for many years in his private house and transported to the School as they were needed. All the books purchased at this time were also kept in his private house, for want of a room in which to place them. The School was thus left entirely dependent upon fees for its sup- port, beyond a partial provision for the salary of the several professors.
The Engineering Department was organized in March, 1850. Nine students appeared on the first day, and before the end of the term the number had risen to eighteen. President Sparks, in his report for 1850-51, states: "The success of the Scientific School, since the new arrangement, has thus far fully answered
284 THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
the expectations of its friends. The number of special students in all the branches, in the course of the year, has been seventy-four. In the Chemical Department the present number is twenty-three ; in the Engineering Department, thirty-six.
The classification and arrangement of the specimens illustrative of Geology,
Zoology, and other parts of Natural History, have been completed. The collec- tion is composed of thirty-five thousand specimens from Europe, and a large number procured from various parts of America. This extensive and valuable cabinet is the property of Professor Agassiz, but it is open to the inspection and practical use of all students in the Scientific School who are devoted to the studies which it is designed to illustrate."
The great event of the year 1852-53 was the purchase of Professor Agassiz 's collections, a subscription to the amount of $ 10,000 having been raised for this purpose among the friends of the College.
The following extract from President Walker's report for 1853-54 gives an account of the next change : " The number of students attending the Scientific School continues to increase, especially in the Engineering Department. Last year the whole number was seventy ; now it is eighty. The rapid and constant accumulation of the Geological and Zoological collections by Professor Agassiz has made it necessary to give up to his use exclusively the building which was erected a few years ago for him and Professor Eustis, and to provide temporary accommodations for Professor Eustis elsewhere. Since the purchase of these col- lections by some of the friends of the College, mentioned in the last report, addi- tions have been made by Professor Agassiz, at an expense of several thousand dollars, which belong of course to him. Meanwhile, the Corporation have no funds at their disposal, either at present or prospectively, for the support of this noble institution, so necessary to science, and so honorable to the country."
The Engineering Department was transferred to Lawrence Hall. The large lecture-room was transformed into a drawing-room, accommodating over forty tables. The furnaces were removed from the adjoining laboratory on the same floor, and a partition built across it, converting it into two recitation-rooms. This was a change for the better, and, although only a very partial remedy for existing evils, it was a change which had become absolutely necessary. There were then two terms in each year, and students were admitted at the commence- ment of each term. They were divided into classes in Descriptive Geometry, Analytical Geometry, Surveying, Field-work, Drawing, Differential and Integral Calculus, Mechanics, and Constructive Engineering. The student who entered at the second term did not come in as an advanced student, but the whole of this course of study was repeated every term with the several classes. Here were eight classes to be looked after and provided for in these narrow quarters. The College furnished no assistance in the instruction ; therefore the best pupils of
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. 285
advanced classes were appointed as instructors for the lower classes. Without such assistance the work could not have been carried on ; and the institution may point with some pride to the record, that nearly fifty per cent of those who have thus served as assistants here have since their graduation filled the post of Pro- fessor or President in other colleges.
In addition to his original endowment of fifty thousand dollars, Mr. Lawrence had up to this time contributed one thousand five hundred dollars yearly for the salary of Professor Agassiz ; and at his death, which took place August 18, 1855, he bequeathed to the College fifty thousand dollars more, in trust, for the same general objects. The income of this new fund was entirely devoted to the De- partment of Geology and Zoology. President Walker, referring to Mr. Lawrence's death, says : " He lived to see that his clear and practical judgment, as regards the wants of the community and the best means of satisfying them, would not be disappointed. With one of the best appointed Laboratories in the world, with large and continually increasing Geological, Anatomical, and Mineralogical Museums and Cabinets, with all the necessary facilities for the study of Civil Engineerino-, Botany, Physics, and the higher Mathematics, and with eminent teachers devoted severally to their special pursuits, the institution cannot fail to be a great public blessing, and an imperishable monument to the name it bears." This extract clearly shows that all the scientific collections of the College were looked upon as forming a part of the appliances for teaching in the Scientific School. The Professors who had charge of the scientific courses for the undergraduates of the College were members of the Faculty of the Scientific School ; but up to this time, and even for many years later, their connection with the School was rather nominal than real. The teachers were ready, but the students did not present themselves. All students were " special students," both in fact and in name, and, with very few exceptions, they were found in the three Departments of Geology and Zoology, Chemistry, and Engineering. The triennial catalogue shows that, up to the year 1872, the degree of S. B. had been conferred upon one hundred and eighty-three persons. These were distributed as follows : one in Compara- tive Anatomy ; two in Mathematics ; five in Botany ; eleven in Geology and Zoology ; fifty-five in Chemistry ; one hundred and nine in Engineering. As the departments with the largest numbers are the very ones in which the smallest percentage would graduate, no further proof need be adduced of the truth of the above statements. In the Engineering Department alone the whole number of students during this period was four hundred and sixty-one, showing that less than twenty-four per cent have reached the standard required for a degree.
In his report for the year 1855-56, President Walker says: "In fulfilment of the purpose of its founder, and of the just expectations of the community, the Lawrence Scientific School continues to afford thorough practical instruction.
286 THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
under the best facilities and advantages, in Cliemistry and Engineering. At the last Commencement the number of students admitted to the degree of Bachelor in Science, after having passed with credit a severe public examination, was greater than on any former occasion. The geological and zoological collections of Professor Agassiz are constantly accumulating ; but as there is no proper or safe place for their reception, the need is more and more felt of a spacious Museum of Natural History, such as would be an honor to the country, reflect distinction on the University, and essentially promote the cause of science throughout the world. During the past year the Observatory has been separated from the Lawrence Scientific School, and constituted into a distinct Department of the University; this change being understood to be acceptable to all the parties interested, and also in accordance with the declared wishes of Mr. Law- rence himself."
During the next two years nothing occurred materially affecting the interests of this School. In December, 1858, Mr. William Gray, as executor of the will of his uncle, Francis C. Gray, gave fifty thousand dollars for establishing at Cambridge a Museum of Comparative Zoology. This led to other contributions for the same purpose, and on the 31st December, 1859, President Walker re- ports : " The great event of the year affecting the condition and prospects of the Lawrence Scientific School is the establishment at Cambridge of a Museum of Comparative Zoology. About seventy-two thousand dollars were raised by sub- scription for this object; to which the State, by an act passed April 2, 1859, has added a grant of one hundred thousand dollars, payable, under certain con- ditions, from the avails of the sales of lands belonging to the Commonwealth in the Back Bay. Out of the funds contributed by subscription a building has already been erected to receive the collections ; and the fitting up and arrange- ment of the whole are in such a state of forwardness as to authorize the hope that the Museum will be opened for purposes of instruction the next term, and for public exhibition at the commencement of the next academic year."
The property of the Museum now passed into the hands of a Board of Trus- tees, but the free use of the collection for the purposes of instruction was re- served to the College. As soon as the collections could be moved into the new buildino-, Zoological Hall also, unwilling to be left behind as a worthless relic of the past, followed in the footsteps of its former occupants. It took up a retired position in one corner of the Museum grounds, was converted into a dormitory, and has continued, from that time, to give shelter, not to the collections them- selves, but to those who spend their time in arranging and classifying them. It is not an imposing structure, and can hardly be called handsome; and yet, to the multitudes who pass down Divinity Avenue to visit Agassiz's Museum, it would have an interest peculiarly its own, could they realize that during a period of ten years it contained all his collections.
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. 287
The next important event in the history of the School is thus announced in President Felton's report, dated December, 1861 : "At the close of the last aca- demic year, a change was made, by which Professor Horsford, who, since the foundation of the Lawrence Scientific School, had had charge of the Chemical Department in it, was placed again on the footing of his predecessors in the Rumford Professorship. He will, hereafter, deliver lectures on the Application of Science to the Arts of Life, to undergraduates and others, as was done by former Rumford Professors. Professor Charles W. Eliot has been charged with the Chemical Department in the Scientific School. The Scientific Faculty have at present under consideration a plan for the improvement of the School as a place of scientific and practical education. They hope to be able to carry it into effect the next year, and that it will add largely to the utility of the School; but the details are not yet sufficiently matured to be distinctly stated in this re- port. Some other measures have been adopted, in the hope of producing a more united action of the special departments."
Two rooms on the lower floor of Lawrence Hall, at the north end of the building, which had up to this time been used by Professor Horsford as his study and private laboratory, were now given up to the Engineering Department. The private laboratory was converted into a lecture-room, and the study into a recitation-room. This was a very welcome addition to the facilities for carrying on the work of the Department. The plans for improvement, referred to in the President's report, may be briefly summarized as follows : First, a general two years' course of study was proposed, which every candidate for a degree was required to pursue, before entering any special department ; and, secondly, various schemes for a preparatory department were offered. These schemes were con- sidered and reconsidered, in committees and by the whole Faculty ; the new regu- lations were printed, amended, reprinted, and continued to occupy the time and attention of the Faculty, during the next two years, without decisive action. During the year 1862-63, while Professor Eustis was temporarily absent on military service, his Department being under the charge of his assistant, Mr. Edward Pearce, and the general supervision of Assistant-Professor Eliot, a partial trial was made of combining certain courses of study for the Departments of Chemistry and Engineering. This would seem to have been a move in the right direction ; for every one must admit that the Engineer needs to know something of Chemistry, and that the Chemist should have some knowledge of Mathematics. Nevertheless, the combination did not outlast that single year of experiment.
The term of ofifice of Assistant-Professor Eliot expired upon the ist of March, 1863, but at the request of the Corporation he continued his duties to the close of the second term. President Hill says, in his report for 1862-63: "Mean- while, the Rumford Professorship had become vacant by the resignation of Pro-
28S THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
fessor Horsford, and been filled by the election of Dr. Wolcott Gibbs ; and the Corporation was forced, through want of funds for the Chemical Department, to consign it again to the care of the Rumford Professor, and thus lose the ser- vices of Assistant-Professor Eliot, whose administrative talent had been, in various departments, so valuable to the University." Professor Eustis was still absent on military duty, and the Engineering Department remained in charge of Mr. Edward Pearce. The subject of reorganization and of a union of the departments was again referred to a committee; and as early as October, 1863, in a full meeting of the Faculty, it was voted : " That it is not desirable that students should be permitted to attend, during the same term, the two Departments of Engineering and Chemistry ; and further, that the rules now existing are sufiicient, when properly interpreted, to cover the whole course of study in the Scientific School." Thus, after two years of discussion and one of partial experiment, the School delib- erately returned to the same methods of instruction which were adopted at its foundation.
With the beginning of the academic year 1864-65, Professor Eustis resumed the charge of the Engineering Department. The dwelling-house adjoining Law- rence Hall was this year given up to the use of the School, — the Engineering Department occupying the lower story, and the Chemical Department the upper story and basement. By this change each department gained an addition of three good rooms. The parlors on the first floor were converted, one into a model- room, the other into a recitation-room. The rooms over these became the private laboratories of the Rumford Professor and his assistants. The former dining-room became the library, and the room over it was fitted up for the storage of chem- icals and for other special purposes. Thus, fifteen years after its organization, the Engineering Department found itself for the first time supplied with rooms wherein to store its books and models.
In President Hill's report for 1864-65, we read: "Hon. Samuel Hooper has made the munificent gift of fifty thousand dollars to found a Professorship of Geology, named the Sturgis- Hooper Professorship. This Professorship is in- tended to be the nucleus of a School of Mining and Practical Geology, which, at least for the present, shall be in close connection with the Lawrence Scientific
School The like princely gift of fifty thousand dollars was made in January,
1865, by Mr. James Lawrence, in aid of the Chemical and Engineering Depart- ments in the Scientific School. Not content with this munificence, Mr. Lawrence added the sum of three thousand dollars, to increase the equipment of the Chem- ical Laboratory, and to purchase models for the Engineering Department. By these gifts he has completed the work begun by his honored father, and put these two departments in an efficient pecuniary condition, — departments which, in addition to their former usefulness, must furnish the necessary basis for the School
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. 289
of Mining." It will be noticed that this fund for the first time provides any means for the support of these two departments. Beyond a partial provision, by funds in trust, for the payment of the salaries of the Professors, these two depart- ments had, up to this time, been entirely self-sustaining. Each was required to pay from the fees of instruction all its own current expenses, and a part of the salary of its Professor, limited at this time to three thousand dollars. Any sur- plus was carried to the credit of its own special fund. This gift of Mr. Law- rence was a great boon to both departments. Instruction in French and German was at once provided for; and for several years the greater part of the income of this fund for the Engineering Department was spent in providing its library with much-needed books of reference. In his report for 1866-67, President Hill remarks : " The Lawrence Scientific School has continued successfully the instruction of its own pupils, and also given the preliminary instruction in En- gineering, Chemistry, and Mineralogy, which occupy the first and second years of the students in the School of Mining and Practical Geology. The Mineral- ogy has been taught by Professor Cooke, at Boylston Hall, to a class of success- ful and enthusiastic students ; the Engineering and Chemistry have been pursued at the Scientific School, under Professors Eustis and Gibbs, whose departments have been constantly improving for the last two years, by their judicious use of the munificence of Hon. James Lawrence." And again, in his report for 1867-68, he adds: "The Scientific School has, through the munificence of Mr. James Lawrence, been within a few years put in much better condition, and is now capable of giving to its students a higher education in Mathematics, Engineering, Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology than can be obtained elsewhere ; yet it needs additional endowments, and with the requisite funds might be made much more efficient. It has not, for example, sufficient funds to enable it to make in- vestigations in Organic Chemistry; and neither the Engineering Department nor the Rumford Professorship has any means whatever for laboratory work in Mechanical Technology."
It would be difficult to overestimate the value of this gift to the School ; and it came just when it was most wanted, and gave new vitality to the two departments which then really constituted the School. The establishment of numerous scientific and technical schools, of various grades, throughout the country, made the government of this School more than ever resolved to main- tain the high standard which they had set before themselves at its organization ; and they had arrived at a point when, without external pecuniary aid, this stand- ard could not be maintained. Even with the aid thus given, instead of being able to extend the engineering course to four years, as had been for a long time desired, it was found difficult to provide the necessary instruction for the numer- ous classes involved in a three years' course. From the first organization of the School, this Department had been trammelled by the want of a fund for the em-
290 THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
ployment of permanent assistant instructors. Up to this time it had been depend- ent upon the services of its advanced pupils. With the help of Mr. James Lawrence's fund, it was able to emplo)'- its recent graduates ; but the compensation it could offer was so small, that they were soon drawn away to other institutions by more lucrative offers. Dr. Peabody, Acting President of the College, in speak- ing of the Lawrence Scientific School, says, in his report for 1 868 - 69 : " It is believed that the advantages which it offers cannot easily be surpassed, if equalled, by those afforded at any similar institution ; and the severe examinations, by which alone a degree can be obtained, or a student be permitted to rise from a lower to a higher class, give assurance that its graduates are fully qualified for the several departments of scientific service upon which they enter. That this is the case is indicated by the very large number of its graduates that have been chosen to pro- fessorships in colleges and scientific institutions."
The years 1869-70, 1870-71, were uneventful in the history of the School. In June, 1870, the President and Fellows of Harvard University invited the gov- ernment of the Institute of Technology to co-operate with them in a plan for consolidating all the schools of applied science in this vicinity at the Institute in Boston. A committee of conference was appointed, but the negotiation did' not succeed.
The year 1871-72 includes the record of a great change in the whole method of the School, and an equally great one in Lawrence Hall. The plan of con- solidation with the Institute of Technology had failed. President Eliot had been a Professor of Chemistry in the Institute, and knew as well as any one could know what the Institute could contribute, and what Harvard could contribute, towards any plan of consolidation ; but all negotiations ended in failure. The next steps taken had in view the consolidation of all the scientific teaching in the Univer- sity. The Bussey Institution had just been organized, Boylston Hall had just been remodelled, and this seemed to be a fitting time for uniting and concentrating all the means which the University possessed for the teaching of science. Instead of employing, as heretofore, separate instructors in French and German for scientific students, they were to join the undergraduate classes in the modern languages. Instead of maintaining two thoroughly appointed chemical laboratories, all the in- struction in chemistry was to be consolidated in Boylston Hall, which now offered two complete laboratories, — one for qualitative, the other for quantitative analysis. A new physical laboratory had been created in Harvard Hall, and all students of science, in all the departments, were to reap its benefits. The Rumford Pro- fessorship was not only restored to the College, but also directed more especially to what were considered its legitimate objects, — Light and Heat, and the higher teaching of Physics.
To make these changes possible, it was necessary to entirely remodel Lawrence Hall. This was done in the summer vacation of 1871. It will be borne in mind
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. 291
that Lawrence Hall constituted only one wing of the building originally planned, and that it was designed for the Chemical Department only ; also, that the build- ing adjoining it, on the east, had been designed solely as a private residence. Both buildings were unsuited to the purposes to which they were now to be de- voted. The changes which were made could not be made clear to the reader without illustrative diagrams, and we can only indicate the main features. The dwelling-house was given up to the Rumford Professor, and all the doors lead- ing from it to Lawrence Hall were permanently closed. The lower floor con- tains a private chemical laboratory, and a room for apparatus illustrating the laws of light and heat. The second story contains the lecture-room. All the interior work of Lawrence Hall, except the lower floor, was removed, leaving only the four walls. The door on the south front, with its quasi porch, and the back door on the west front, were closed. A porch was built connecting it with the dwell- ing-house, with doors at each end for entrance to these buildings. By utilizing the hitherto lost space under the roof, three good stories were obtained through- out. The first floor contains the entrance-hall and stairway, one lecture-room of very large dimensions occupying the whole width of the building, a small room adjoining this, and two recitation-rooms. The second and third stories are at present devoted to the Engineering Department. The second story has six rooms, — an admirably arranged library, a model-room, three recitation-rooms, and the Dean's office. The third floor has four rooms, namely, drawing-rooms occupying the whole width of the building, — one at the north end for free-hand, and one at the south end for mechanical drawing, and two rooms devoted to the classes in surveying and field-work, and to the storage of surveying instruments. The rooms are well arranged and convenient, of ample size, and well ventilated, and so far as mere space and material accommodation go, the departments now pro- vided for in this building have nothing to ask for. It is the first time in the history of the School that even this could be said with truth.
Thus far we have spoken only of the alterations made in the buildings ; but these alterations were made necessary by the fundamental change now introduced into the organization of the Scientific School. Up to this time each department had educated its own special pupils in its own special way. The School had sent forth geologists, zoologists, botanists, mathematicians, comparative anatomists, chemists, and engineers ; and that it sent forth graduates well qualified is suffi- ciently proved by the simple fact that the new scientific and technical schools all over the country were constantly sending here for professors in these several branches. The demand was ever in advance of the supply, for it would be folly to assert that every graduate was qualified to fill such a position. Something more than knowledge of a subject is needed to qualify one as a teacher. The experiment under the new organization is yet a new one, and time only will show what fruits it may bring forth.
292 THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
The real motives for this great change in the plan of the School are com- pletely set forth in President Eliot's report for the academic year 1870-71, and the whole case would be much more comprehensively set before the reader if we could quote his entire remarks upon the Scientific School. The following ex- tracts, however, from his report may serve the purpose of this sketch : " Plans for the reorganization of the Lawrence Scientific School were actively discussed in the Faculty of the School, and in the Corporation, during the spring of 1871. The objects in view were to lengthen the term of residence in the Department of Engineering, and enlarge the course of instruction on that subject; to consoli- date the two chemical laboratories then supported at Cambridge ; to make the teaching of Physics, both elementary and advanced, an important part of the in- struction offered by the School ; and to utilize in a systematic way the unrivalled facilities of the University for teaching Natural History. These objects have been effected by the plan which went into operation at the opening of the year 1871-72. A very thorough four years' course of study is now provided for young men who wish to be well trained for the profession of Civil and Topo- graphical Engineering The course now comprehends not only the Mathe- matics, Mechanics, Field-Work, and Drawing which an engineer requires, but also as much of Chemistry, Physics, Natural History, French, and German as he needs to know. For Practical Astronomy and Geodesy the Observatory supplies the in- struments and the instructors.
" The consolidation of the two chemical laboratories had two motives. The first
motive was economy The undergraduates who resorted to the laboratory in
Boylston Hall did not work as many hours a week in the laboratory as the chem- ical students did in the Scientific School laboratory, but they studied in the main the same subjects, namely, General Chemistry, Qualitative Analysis, and Quantitative Analysis. It had become necessary to enlarge considerably the laboratory in Boylston Hall, and to appoint an Assistant Professor of Chemistry, in the interest of the College students ; and it was plain that after this enlargement, and this addition to the teaching force had been made, it would be possible to give in Boylston Hall all the chemical instruction which the Scientific School had pro- vided, without adding materially to the cost of maintaining the establishment in charge of the Erving Professor, thus saving to the Scientific School about three thousand dollars a year in current expenses, and enabling the Rumford Professor to teach in the Department of Physics, instead of directing a laboratory of Chem- istry. The saving of money was thus very considerable, and was the first motive of the consolidation ; but the accompanying change in the work of the Rumford Professor strongly recommended the consolidation to the Corporation, and was the
second motive for the consolidation The Corporation felt that it was much
more legitimate to use Rumford's gift to teach Light and Heat, and their applica-
THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL.
293
tions, than to teach pure Chemistry, particularly when it was very desirable in the interests alike of the Scientific School and of the University at large to have
the great subject of Physics more fully taught The desired enlargement of
the instruction in Physics offered by the Scientific School was obtained in part by the transfer of the Rumford Professor to that Department, and in part by the creation of a physical laboratory in Harvard Hall, under the charge of Assistant- Professors Trowbridge and Hill, and open alike to students of the College and of the Scientific School.
" Physical Geography, Mineralogy, Geology, and Paleontology make part of the regular course of study in Civil and Topographical Engineering. Special students in Botany have all possible facilities at the Botanic Garden and Herbarium. The Museum of Comparative Zoology is at the service of special students in Zoology and Geology. The Mineral Cabinet in Boylston Hall, already very rich, is con- stantly growing and improving. The student of Mineralogy has free access to full suites of specimens, selected expressly to facilitate the acquisition of an intimate and practical knowledge of the subject. There is no institution in the world which offers richer and more varied opportunities for the study of natural history than the Lawrence Scientific School."
Under the new organization the School offers: i. A four years' course in Civil and Topographical Engineering. 2. A three years' course in Practical and Theo- retical Chemistry. 3. A one year's course in the elements of Natural History, Chemistry, and Physics, intended especially for teachers or persons who mean to become teachers. 4. A three years' course in Mathematics, Physics, and As- tronomy. 5. Thorough instruction for advanced students in Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Geology, Botany, and Mathematics.
The School is now in the third year of experiment under this new system, and time enough has not yet elapsed to show how far the expectations of its founders will be realized. Formerly no examination for admission was required, except in the Engineering Department ; but experience has shown that young men of eighteen or nineteen years of age, who have had no systematic training before coming here, are not qualified to follow to advantage the prescribed courses of instruction in the School. With a view to remedy this evil, the Faculty decided to require an examination for admission comparable with that for admission to College.
The coalition of this School with the other departments of the University is becoming closer day by day. Its students can now obtain rooms in the College buildings ; its courses of study are thrown open as electives, and are already taken up by Juniors and Seniors ; and some of the undergraduate courses are made preparatory to a subsequent degree in science. The degree of Doctor m Science has been established, and was conferred for the first time on Commence- ment Day, 1873.
HENRY LAWRENCE EUSTIS.
Henry Lawrence Eustis was born at Fort Independence, Boston Harbor, Feb- ruary I, 1819. He was the son of Brigadier-General Abram Eustis, United States Army, and of Rebecca, daughter of Dr. John Sprague, of Dedham, Mass. He lost his mother before he was two years old. His father being ordered to St. Augustine, Florida, he went thither with the family, but was soon after placed under the charge of his grandmother, in Cambridge, Mass. Here he remained until he was six years old, attending first a private school, and afterwards the town school, which then stood on Garden Street, between Appian Way and Mason Street. In 1825, being then six years old, he rejoined his father, who was in command of Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Virginia ; and this was the only year, within his own recollection, that he ever spent at home. There being no schools at this military post, a private teacher was engaged, and this year was spent in learning to read, write, and speak French.
At seven years of age he was sent to the Academy at Lancaster, Mass. At this place, and at the Academy at Stow, Mass., he passed the next five years. His teachers during this period were Messrs. Kingsbury, Caldwell, and Warland. At twelve years of age he was placed at a boarding-school called the Highland School, on the Hudson River, directly opposite West Point. The head of the school was Mr. John Watson.
He entered Harvard College in 1834, being then fifteen years of age. He received a detur of books and the usual Junior and Senior parts, a mathematical part, and an Oration at Commencement. He was a member of the Institute, I.O.H., Pierian Sodality, French Club, Chemical Society, Hasty Pudding Club, and ^. B. K.
Graduating in 1838, at the age of nineteen, he entered the same year as a cadet at the West Point Military Academy. Here, while still a cadet, he was employed as Assistant Instructor for the lower classes. Graduating in 1842, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Engineers, and ordered to Washington as Assistant to the Chief Engineer. In the summer of 1843 he was ordered to
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HENRY LAWRENCE EUSTIS.
295
Boston Harbor as Assistant to Colonel Thayer. From 1843-5 ^^ served as Assistant Engineer in the construction of the sea wall at Lovell's Island and at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. From 1 845 - 7 he was the Superintending En- gineer of Fort Adams, and Goat Island Pier, Dike, and Lighthouse, Newport Harbor, R. I. From August, 1847, to November, 1849, he was Principal Assist- ant Professor of Engineering at the Military Academy at West Point.
He resigned November 30, 1849, and was appointed Lawrence Professor of Engineering in Harvard University. Here he organized the Department of En- gineering in the Lawrence Scientific School, with which he is still connected. In 1 86 1 he spent eight months in travelling in Europe for the benefit of his health, returning in time to resume his duties at the commencement of the year 1861-2. The War of the Rebellion had broken out during his absence in Europe, and on his return he offered his services to the governor of the State, and was commissioned as Colonel loth Massachusetts Volunteers, August 15, 1862. His military history is given in the following quotation from Cullum's Register of the Graduates of the Military Academy.
" Military History. — Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1862-4; in the Maryland Campaign (Army of the Potomac, Colonel loth INJassa- chusetts Volunteers, August 15, 1862), September - November, 1862, being en- gaged in the skirmish at Williamsport, September 20, 1862; guarding Upper Potomac Fords, September - November, 1862, and march to Falmouth, Va., No- vember, 1862; in the Rappahannock Campaign (Army of the Potomac), December, 1862 -June, 1863, being engaged in operations about and battle of Fredericks- burg, December 11- 15, 1862; storming of Marye Heights, May 3, 1863; battle of Salem, May 3, 4, 1863, and passage of the Rappahannock, June 10-13, 1863; in the Pennsylvania Campaign (Army of the Potomac), June, July, 1863, being engaged, after a forced march of thirty-five miles, in the battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 3, 1863, and pursuit of the enemy to Warrenton, Va., July, 1863; in operations in (Brigadier-General United States Volunteers, September 12, 1863) Central Virginia, November, 1863, to March, 1864, being engaged in the combat of Rappahannock Station, November 7, 1863; Mine Run operations, November 26 -December 3, 1863; march towards Charlottesville and back, February 27 to March 2, 1864; and in the Richmond Campaign (Army of the Potomac), being engaged in the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 6, 1864; battles around Spott- sylvania, May 9-21, 1864; and battles of Cold Harbor, June 3-5, 1864. Re- signed June 27, 1864."
He resumed his duties in the Scientific School with the beginning of the academic year 1864-5. He spent the summer vacation of 1871 in a second visit to Europe. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
JOSIAH DWIGHT WHITNEY.
JosiAH DwiGHT Whitney was born at Northampton, November 23, 18 19, and graduated at Yale in 1839. Immediately after leaving college he entered the chemical laboratory of Dr. Robert Hare, in Philadelphia, as an assistant, where he remained for six months. He was then appointed Assistant Geologist on the Survey of New Hampshire, with which work he was connected until May, 1842, when he sailed for Europe, for the purpose of continuing his scientific edu- cation. Five years were spent in travelling over the Continent, and in chemical, geological, and mineralogical studies at the Ecole des Mines in Paris, and at the Universities of Giessen and Berlin. At Berlin he was the private pupil of H. Rose for about a year. Returning to America in the spring of 1847, he imme- diately engaged in the geological exploration of the Lake Superior region, and, in connection with J. W. Foster, was, in 1849, appointed United States Geologist for the Lake Superior Land District. Their joint report, in two volumes, with an atlas of maps, was published in 1850-52. After this Professor Whitney de- voted two years to travelling through the different States east of the Mississippi, for the purpose of collecting information with regard to the development of our mining and mineral interests. The results there obtained were published in 1854, in the form of a royal octavo volume, entitled " The Metallic Wealth of the United States, described and compared with that of other Countries." In this work very full statistics of the production of the metals in the different countries of the world were given. In 1855 Mr. Whitney was appointed State Chemist and Pro- fessor in the State University of Iowa, and was associated with Professor James Hall in the geological survey of that State. The results of this work were pub- lished in two royal octavo volumes in 1858. From 1858 to i860 Professor Whitney was engaged on a geological survey of the lead region of the Upper Mississippi, in connection with the official surveys of Wisconsin and Illinois. His reports were published by the legislatures of those States, and are accompanied by very complete geological and mining maps of the regions explored. While thus em- ployed in Wisconsin, Professor Whitney was appointed State Geologist of Call-
JOSIAH DWIGHT WHITNEY. 297
fornia, which position he held till the spring of 1874, engaged in conducting a topographical, geological, and natural-history survey of that State and of the territory adjacent to it. The results of this work were intended to be embraced in a series of ten or eleven royal octavo volumes, of which four are published, and the remainder partly printed or in preparation, but the work was suspended by the last Legislature. There have been also several miscellaneous volumes and pamphlets published in connection with this survey, as well as elaborate and important maps. In 1865, Professor Whitney was appointed Sturgis-Hooper Professor of Geology in Harvard University, and he expects shortly to enter on the active discharge of the duties of this position. At present he is travelling in Europe, and he contemplates extending his journey to India, and perhaps Aus- tralia and South America. He has published numerous scientific articles in various reviews and magazines, and has made a specialty of collecting a library of geological and geographical books and maps.
WOLCOTT GIBBS.
WoLcoTT GiBBS was born in the city of New York, February 21, 1822. He is the second son of the late Colonel George Gibbs of Newport, R. I., one of the earliest American mineralogists. He was educated at the Grammar School of Columbia College in New York, and entered college at the age of fifteen, graduating in 1841. He then passed some months in the laboratory of Pro- fessor Robert Hare in Philadelphia, and, returning to New York, commenced the study of medicine in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1845, ^^'^ shortly afterward went to Germany and matriculated in the University of Berlin, where he pursued the study of Chemistry, at first in the laboratory of Professor Rammelsberg and afterwards in that of H. Rose. He remained in Berlin about a year and a half, travelling extensively during the vacations, and then went to Giessen and entered the lab- oratory of Liebig, where he remained five months. In the spring of 1848 he went to Paris and attended lectures at the College de France, chiefly those of Regnault, and in the fall of the same year returned to America and gave his first course of lectures at Delaware College, Newark. In the fall of 1849 he was elected Professor of Chemistry and Physics in the Free Academy, now the College of the City of New York. In i860 he was appointed a member of the United States Sanitary Commission, serving upon the Executive Committee as long as the work of the Commission lasted. In 1863 he was elected Rumford Professor in Harvard University, the position which he now occupies. He was appointed a Commissioner of the United States at the Paris Exhibition of 1866, but declined the appointment. In 1873 he was appointed Commissioner at the Vienna Exhibition, and spent some weeks in that city in the discharge of his duties. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the American Geographical Society, and is Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences, and Fellow of the Chemical Society of London. In 1873 he received the degree of LL. D. from Columbia College, New York. His published writings are as follows : —
^Ojl^Vm,
WOLCOTT GIBBS. 299
1. On a new form of magneto-electric machine, and an account of a carbon
battery. American Journal, etc., XXXIX.
2. Chemisch-mineralogische Untersuchungen. Pogg. Ann. LXXI.
3. Influence of temperature on the absorption of light. Proceedings of Am.
Association, etc., 1850.
4. Contributions to Analytical Chemistry. Am. Jour. XIV.
5. Note on the kakodyl of valerianic acid. Am. Jour. XV.
6. Note on a new electro-chronographic method. Proceedings of Am. Associa-
tion, 1854.
7. Report on the recent progress of organic chemistry. Proceedings of Am. As-
sociation, 1855.
8. Researches on the Ammonia-Cobalt bases (with F. A. Genth). Am. Jour.
XXIII., XXIV.
9. Review of the operations and results of the United States Coast Survey. Am.
Jour. XXV.
10. On the constitution of organic compounds. Am. Jour. XXV.
11. On the theory of the polyacid bases. Proceedings of Am. Association, 1856.
12. Preliminary notice of new bases containing metals associated with ammonia.
Proceedings of Am. Association, 1856.
13. Remarks on the atomic weights of the elements. Am. Jour. XXXI.
14. Researches on the platinum metals. Am. Jour. XXXI., XXXIV., XXXVII.
15. On the relations of hyposulphite of soda to certain metallic oxyds. Am.
Jour. XXXVII.
16. On the determination of nitrogen by weight. Am. Jour. XXXVII.
17. On the separation of cerium from didymium and lanthanum. Am. Jour.
XXXVII.
18. On the separation and estimation of cerium. Am. Jour. XXXVII.
19. On the quantitative separation of cerium from yttrium, etc. Am. Jour.
XXXVII.
20. On the employment of fluohydrate of fluoride of potassium in analysis. Am.
Jour. XXXVII.
21. On the separation of chromium from aluminum, etc. Am. Jour. XXXIX.
22. On the employment of acetate of sodium for the separation of iron, etc. Am.
Jour. XXXIX.
23. On the separation of manganese from cobalt, nickel, and zinc. Am. Jour.
XXXIX.
24. On the separation of cobalt from nickel. Am. Jour. XXXIX.
25. On the electrolytic precipitation of copper and nickel as a method of analysis.
Am. Jour. XXXIX. '
26. On a new general method of volumetric analysis. Am. Jour. XLIV.
300 WOLCOTT GIBBS.
27. On the precipitation of copper by hypophosphorous acid. Am. Jour. XLIV.
28. On the precipitation of copper and nickel by alkaline carbonates. Am. Jour.
XLIV.
29. On the employment of sand and glass filters in quantitative analysis. Am.
Jour. XLIV.
30. On the estimation of manganese as pyrophosphate. Am. Jour. XLIV.
31. On the construction of a normal map of the solar spectrum. Am. Jour.
XLIII.
32. On certain points in the theory of atomicities. Am. Jour. XLIII.
33. On the molecular structure of uric acid and its derivatives. Am. Jour. XLIII.
34. On the measurement of wave-lengths by the method of comparison. Am.
Jour. XLV.
35. On the wave-lengths of the spectral lines of the elements. Am. Jour. XLVII.
36. On the action of the alkaline nitrites on uric acid and its derivatives. Am.
Jour. XLVIIL
37. On a simple method of avoiding observations of temperature and pressure in
gas analyses. Am. Jour. XLIX.
38. On the application of Sprengel's mercurial pump in analysis. Am. Jour.
XLIX.
39. On the measurement of wave-lengths by means of indices of refraction. Am.
Jour. L.
40. On liquids of high dispersive power. Am. Jour. L.
41. On an advantageous form of apparatus for the study of the absorption of
light in colored liquids. Am. Jour. L.
42. On tests for the perfection and parallelism of plane surfaces of glass. Am.
Jour. L.
43. On the quantitative estimation of chromium, etc. Am. Jour., 3d Series, V.
44. On the estimation of magnesium as pyrophosphate. Am. Jour., 3d Series, V.
45. On some forms of laboratory apparatus. Am. Jour., 3d Series, V.
46. On the hexatomic compounds of cobalt. Am. Jour., 3d Series, V.
And numerous scattered notes and criticisms in the American Journal of Arts and Sciences.
THE OBSERVATORY.
N
THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY.
Efforts to establish an Astronomical Observatory in 1839. — William Cranch Bond appointed Astronomical Observer for the College. — The Dana House used as an Observatory. — Nature of the Work done there. — Site of the present Observatory. — Measures taken for securing a Telescope and Building suitable for it. — The Tablets. — List of Con- tributors.— Removal of the Instruments from the old to the new Observatory, 1844. — Gift of Instruments. — Bequest of Edward Bromfield Phillips. — Phillips Professor- ship founded, 1849. — Observatory completed, 1851. — W. C. Bond succeeded at his Death, 1859, by his Son, G. P. Bond. — Observations previous to 1866. — The Observatory in
CHARGE of T. H. SaFFORD. JOSEPH WiNLOCK APPOINTED DIRECTOR, 1 866. NECESSITY OF
better Instrumental Equipment met by the Liberality of the Friends of the Observa- tory.— The Meridian Circle, Equatorial Telescope, and other Instruments. — Work
DONE AT the ObSERVATORY. EXPEDITIONS. CORRECT TiME TRANSMITTED FROM THE OBSERVA- TORY TO VARIOUS Points in New England. — Dimensions of the two large Instruments.
Although the project of establishing an astronomical observatory connected with Harvard College had originated early in this century, the first effective steps towards its execution were taken in 1839, during the Presidency of Mr. Ouincy, to whom their successful result was mainly due. Mr. William Cranch Bond had already undertaken a series of observations designed for subsequent comparison with those made by the United States Exploring Expedition ; he was now ap- pointed Astronomical Observer for the College, and the Dana House (standing on the corner of Harvard and Quincy Streets, and now occupied by Professor Peabody) was fitted up for the continuance of his observations. President Quincy justly anticipated that this "would have an important influence in clear- ing the way for the establishment of an efficient observatory ; . . . . and, by drawing the attention of the citizens of Boston and its vicinity to the great in- adequacy of the means possessed by the University for efficient astronomical observations, create a desire and a disposition to supply them."*
The work carried on at the Dana House was of necessity confined, in great part, to magnetic and meteorological observations, since no provision could be
* Walker's Memoir of Josiah Quincy, pp. 57, 58.
304
THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY.
made for mounting any but portable astronomical instruments. With a view to erecting a better building whenever sufficient funds could be obtained for the purpose, the site of the present Observatory was soon afterwards bought by the College. Twelve acres of land were included in the original purchase, but, from considerations of economy, only about six acres were retained for the Observa- tory. This land formed part of the rising ground called Summer House Hill, on the Craigie estate.
The celebrated comet of 1843, by awakening an unusual interest in astronomy, did much to hasten the establishment of the projected Observatory. At a small meeting held in the office of Mr. J. Ingersoll Bowditch, measures were taken which led to the subscription of a considerable sum for the purpose of obtaining a large telescope, equatorially mounted, and a building suitable for its reception. This subscription was commemorated by two tablets placed in the large dome of the Observatory. The inscriptions on these tablets are as follows : —
[Tablet on South Wall.]
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE OBSERVATORY AND TELESCOPE AT CAMBRIDGE IN 1843.
Societies and Incorporated Companies. — American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Merchants', American, National, Washington, Neptune, Equitable, and Tremont Insurance Companies, Massachusetts Humane Society, Revere Copper Company.
INDIVIDUALS.
Peter C. Brooks, William Rotch, Jr.,
David Sears, James Arnold,
Joseph Peabody, John Parker,
Thomas H. Perkins, N. W. Neal,
John P. Cushing, William Pratt,
William Appleton, John Welles,
George C. Shattuck, Ezra Weston & Sons,
Robert G. Shaw, Thomas W. Ward,
Samuel Appleton, Francis Parkman,
Jonathan Phillips, Martin Brimmer,
Amos Lawrence, Thomas Lee,
Abbott Lawrence, Francis C. Gray,
Nathan Appleton, Horace Gray,
Israel Munson, Henry Oxnard,
Theodore Lyman, William Lawrence,
Nathaniel West, Nathaniel I. Bowditch,
Dudley L. Pickman, George W. Lyman,
George Rowland, Charles Lyman,
Gideon Rowland, George F. Parkman,
John A. Parker, Thomas B. Wales,
THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY.
305
John Q. Adams, John L. Gardner, George Hallett, William Sturgis, Nathaniel Silsbee, John C. Gray, Ozias Goodwin, John Codman, D. D., Daniel P. Parker, William J. Walker, Samuel Fales, Edmund Dwight, Josiah Quincy, William Shimmin, Henry Plympton, Frederic Tudor, Henry Codman, Samuel C. Gray, William Amory, J. Ingersoll Bowditch, Thomas B. Curtis, John D. Bates & Co.,
Joseph Grinnell, John J. Dixwell, Samuel Rodman, Dwight Boydcn, Charles H. Mills, Samuel Austin, Jr., Francis Bassett, James S. Amory, Samuel T. Armstrong, Jonas Chickering, John Ware, John M. Forbes, George H. Kuhn, Joseph Whitney, Andrew E. Belknap, Richard D. Harris, Thomas Wetmore, Charles G. Coffin, Jared Coffin, John W. Barrett, George B. Upton.
[Tablet on North Wall.]
THIS TOWER
WAS THE GIFT
OF
HON. DAVID SEARS.
The instruments which had been in use at the Dana House were removed to the new Observatory in September, 1844. The various parts of the equatorial telescope, which had been ordered of Messrs. Merz and Mahler of Munich, were received in 1846 and 1847; and before the end of June, 1847, the instrument was mounted and ready for use. The transit circle, made by Messrs. Troughton and Simms, of London, was received in 1848. Two comet-seekers, presented respectively by Mr. Bowditch and by President Quincy, had previously been re- ceived and very successfully used at the Observatory, which was now suitably equipped with instruments for carrying on regular astronomical work. But no permanent fund as yet existed for the payment of its current expenses, or even of the Director's salary. This want was relieved by a bequest of one hundred thousand dollars from Mr. Edward Bromfield Phillips, who directed in his will that the interest of this sum should be annually applied to the payment of salaries at the Observatory, and to the purchase for it of books and instruments.
3o6 THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSEUVATORY.
The Phillips Fund was received by the College in 1849, and may be said to have insured the success of the Observatory, which has been enabled, however, greatly to extend its usefulness by the aid of many subsequent donations and bequests from various friends of science. A Phillips Professorship of Astronomy, to be held by the Director of the Observatory, was established on the receipt of the legacy of Mr. Phillips.
In 1 85 1 the Observatory building was completed by the addition of a west wing, provided by private liberality. An equatorial telescope of five feet in focal length, which had previously stood under a temporary shelter, was now mounted under a small dome in this west wing of the Observatory. About the same time the Observatory was provided with a chronograph of the kind contrived by Pro- fessor Bond, who had been among the first successfully to apply electric signals to the registration of astronomical observations.
Professor W. C. Bond, the first Director of the Observatory, was succeeded at his death, in 1859, by his son. Professor G. P. Bond, who directed the Observa- tory until his own death, early in 1865. The results of the principal observations made during the period ending in 1865 form Volumes I. to VII. inclusive, of the Annals of the Observatory of Harvard College. They consist of an extensive series of zone observations with the equatorial ; elaborate monographs on the planet Saturn, the comet of 1858, and the nebula in Orion; and drawings of solar spots. Besides these purely astronomical researches, much work has been carried on at the Observatory from the time of its foundation, for the purpose of determin- ing terrestrial longitudes in co-operation with the United States Coast Survey.
For about a year after the death of Professor G. P. Bond, the Observatory was in charge of Mr. T. H. Safford, now Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Observatory at Chicago. Early in 1866 Professor Joseph Winlock was made Director of the .Observatory of Harvard College, and entered upon the duties of that office in February of the same year. By this time the increase of the instru- mental equipment of the Observatory had become a pressing necessity. The recent advances in optical science made it desirable to obtain the means of study- ing the character and relative amounts of light emitted by the various celestial objects. It was equally needful that the transit circle of the Observatory should be replaced by a better instrument of the same kind. Its plan was now obsolete ; and its circle had been damaged on the way from England, so that it had never been used for determining declinations. The instrument used in the zone obser- vations of Professors W. C. and G. P. Bond had therefore been the large equa- torial, which had thus been unavoidably diverted from its proper work. Even if observations made with the transit circle could have been successfully reduced, their reduction would have been laborious, and would consequently have required the services of many more computers than could be paid.
mil" inn ^rff
SOUTH ELEVATION
SECTION LOOKING NORTH.
JE.Bnf fords WO \tisK'? Si-BosIoti.
n
PLAN OF DOM ES
SECOND FLOOR
FIRST FLOOR
THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY. 307
The liberality of the friends of the Observatory was again successfully appealed to, and Professor Winlock was soon enabled to order the construction of a meridian circle upon a plan of his own, which made the instrument in many respects superior to any one previously constructed for like purposes. During the four years which elapsed before it was received, the equatorial was employed in observa- tions of double stars, nebulcE, comets, asteroids, diameters of planets, and satellites, about two hundred and fifty new double stars being discovered. A spectroscope was obtained early in 1868, and at once employed upon the stars and nebulae.
The meridian circle was received and mounted in the summer of 1870. It has since been in constant use in observing the stars of catalogues prepared at the Observatory, and also those of the first nine magnitudes contained in the zone from 50° to 55° north declination. These zone observations form part of a series jointly undertaken by many of the principal observatories in the northern hemi- sphere, under the general direction of the Astronomische Gesellschaft of Ger- many. The object of this work is the determination of the places of all stars of the first nine magnitudes north of the equator.
An equatorial telescope of five and a half inches' aperture, with driving clock, and also apparatus for photographing the sun on the method invented by Professor Winlock, and for spectroscopic observations of the solar spots and protuberances, have likewise been added to the equipment of the Observatory, and have been successfully employed. Much of the meridian and equatorial work has been re- duced and prepared for publication ; but the publication of the work done previous to the appointment of Professor Winlock has hitherto been all that could be undertaken. Of the seven volumes of Annals already mentioned. Volumes V., VI., and VII., with the second part of Volume II., have been published since the death of Professor G. P. Bond. Two more volumes, containing the results of observa- tions made under Professor Winlock's direction, are now in course of publication.
An extensive series of photometric observations has also been made, and a set of Astronomical Engravings has been prepared for publication, the greater part of which has already appeared and been delivered to subscribers.
The determination of longitudes in co-operation with the Coast Survey has re- cently, as in former times, occupied much time at the Observatory. Professor Winlock has twice taken charge of parties formed for the observations of total eclipses, the apparatus for the observations being mainly furnished by the Ob- servatory. The first of these eclipses was observed at Shelbyville and other stations in Kentucky, in August, 1869; the second in December, 1870, at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. By means of recent arrangements, the time shown by one of the clocks of the Observatory is constantly transmitted by telegraph, at intervals of two seconds, to numerous points in Boston and throughout New Eng- land. The annexed plans and elevations exhibit the general arrangement of the Observatory and its instruments.
3o8
THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY.
The dimensions of the two large instruments are tis follows : — East Equatorial. — Effective aperture, 14.95 i"-! focal length, 22 ft. 6 in. West Meridian Circle. — Aperture, 81 inches ; focal length, 9 ft. 4 in. Its collimators have the same focal length and 8 inches' aperture. They rest on brick piers, marked upon the plan, north and south of the principal instrument.
EQUATORIAL, .
^
JOSEPH WINLOCK.
Joseph Winlock, son of Fielding and Nancy (Peyton) Winlock, was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, February 6, 1826. Fielding Winlock was the son of General Joseph Winlock, who entered the American army at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, at the close of which he held the rank of Captain. He also served in the War of 181 2, with the rank of Brigadier-General; was a mem- ber of the Convention which drew up the first Constitution of the State of Ken- tucky, and was subsequently, for many years, a member of the State Senate. He died at the age of seventy-four. Fielding Winlock received the education of a lawyer, studying first in the office of Felix Grundy, and afterwards with Heniy Clay. During the preparations for the War of 181 2 he was for a time Clerk of the Committee on Military Affairs of the State Senate, performing also most of the duties of Adjutant-General relating to the detailing of troops and issuing commissions. He then became Secretary of State under Governor Scott, leaving this post to serve in the army, first as Aid to his father, and then on General Shelby's staff in the campaign which ended with the defeat of Proctor and Te- cumseh. After the war he held at different times various places of honor and trust, living to the age of eighty-five.
The subject of this notice graduated in 1845 at Shelby College, Kentucky, and was immediately appointed Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in that in- stitution. He held this office till 1852, when he removed to Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, and took part in the computations of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, at that time under the superintendence of Admiral C. H. Davis. In 1857 he was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the United States Navy, and for several months afterwards was Assistant in the United States Naval Observatory at Washington. He was then made Superintendent of the American Ephemeris, and returned to Cambridge. In 1859 he took charge of the Mathematical Department of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, holding this position until the removal of the Academy to Newport, on the outbreak of war in 1861, when he was again appointed Superintendent of the American Ephemeris.
3IO JOSEPH WINLOCK.
He continued to perform the duties of this office until his appointment in 1866 to his present post of Phillips Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Observatory of Harvard College. He has also been appointed Professor of Geodesy in the Mining School of Harvard College and in the Lawrence Scientific School.
Professor Winlock is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of the National Academy of Sciences, and of the Astronomische Gesell- schaft. He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College in 1868. His published works consist chiefly of a set of Tables of Mercury, of other publications from the office of the American Ephemeris, and of brief papers in astronomical journals and in the proceedings of the American Academy.
THE BOTANIC GARDEN.
m
<
Q
m
THE BOTANIC GARDEN.
Foundation of the Garden. — William Dandridge Peck chosen Professor. — Gift of Mr. Craigie. — Lack of Funds. — Mr. Thomas Nuttall's Residence at the Garden. — Dr. Asa Gray appointed to the Fisher Professorship in 1842. — Present Conservatory built in 1857. — Herbarium Building erected in 1864. — Income for the Support of the Garden. — Completion of the present Establishment in 1871.
The Botanic Garden, along with the Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History to which it was attached, was founded in the year 1805. It appears from the records of the Corporation that, on the first day of March of that year, " a plan for a professorship of Botany and Entomology in the University by a number of subscribers to a fund for that purpose, was communicated and read " ; the proposed statutes and regulations were discussed at subsequent meetings of the Corporation, and on the 28th of March these statutes were adopted and en- tered upon the records. William Dandridge Peck was chosen Professor on this foundation, and on the 14th of May was formally inducted into office, when he delivered an inaugural oration in English. " Afterward," as the record states, " they sat down to a decent dinner in the Hall."
Dr. Peck must have laid out the Botanic Garden that same year, or soon after. The next year he went to Europe, to visit the principal gardens, etc., return- ing, it is to be inferred, in 1808, for in that year a committee of the Corporation made some regulations for his lectures. The Conservatory built by Dr. Peck about this time — a " lean-to " structure with stone foundation and brick wall — served the whole purpose of the establishment until the year 1858, and its foun- dations and most of the wall form a part of the present structure. There appears to have been a house for the gardener on the premises. The Professor's house was finished in 18 10. The land for the garden, about seven and a half acres, is said to have been given by Mr. Craigie. The funds for its formation and sup- port were raised by subscription, and by a grant from the State of certain wild lands in Maine, being a portion of the grant made to the Trustees of the Society for Promoting Agriculture. These Trustees were made the Visitors of the estab-
314 THE BOTANIC GARDEN.
lishment, and for many years they took the principal cliarge of it. What the original funds amounted to cannot now be ascertained. That they were soon found to be insufficient appears from an application which the Visitors made to the Corporation in 1810 for a loan of five thousand dollars on interest; from their endeavors (apparently fruitless) to obtain further aid from the State ; and from a report made by them in the autumn of 1822, after the death of Professor Peck, announcing that they could no longer pay the salary of a professor. During the latter half of his incumbency, Professor Peck was unable to lecture or give in- struction, owing to a partial paralysis. The chair of the Massachusetts Professor- ship, vacated by his death, was never filled again. The residence was rented ; and Mr. Thomas Nuttall, a distinguished English botanist, who had been for several years in the country, was placed in charge of the Garden, and of such in- struction in Natural History as was then given. This continued until the winter of 1833-34, when Mr. Nuttall suddenly resigned his curatorship, and made an exploring tour across the continent to Oregon, California, and the Sandwich Islands. The Garden remained in the entire charge of William Carter, the gardener almost from the beginning. In 1835-36 his dwelling-house was re- built and enlarged. This worthy man brought with him from Yorkshire a ten- dency to aspirate his vowels, and he accordingly alarmed the late Mr. Worcester, editor of the Dictionary, by informing him that he was going to make the house into a hell. The L-shaped house still stands, not in its original position, on Linnean Street, but on Raymond Street, to which it was removed when the former lane was widened and made a thoroughfare. Mr. Carter resigned the place he had long and worthily filled in 1847, ^'^d died six or seven years afterwards.
After Mr. Nuttall's departure, some botanical instruction was annually given by Dr. Harris, the University Librarian, or by Dr. A. A. Gould of Boston, until the year 1842-43, when Dr. Asa Gray was appointed Fisher Professor of Natu- ral History, upon an endowment made by a legac}'' of the late Dr. Fisher of Beverly.
In the year 1848, a study was added to the Professor's house, which contained his herbarium, and was used more or less for botanical instruction. In 1857, the present Conservatory was built, at a cost of nearly four thousand dollars ; half of which was defrayed by a gift from the trustees of the Dowse estate, the remain- der by private donations, supplemented by a grant from the Corporation of the University.
In 1862, the invested funds of the Garden, having become reduced to below twelve thousand dollars, were temporarily replenished by a subscription raised by the late Dr. Hayward, a member of the Corporation, yielding fifteen hundred dol- lars a year for three years.
In 1864, the Herbarium building was erected, at a cost (including some later
THE BOTANIC GARDEN. 315
additions to the interior) of fifteen thousand dollars. This was the gift of Na- thaniel Thayer, since a member of the Corporation. The Herbarium and the Botanical Library of the Professor, which it was built to receive, were at that time presented by him to the University, and a fund of over ten thousand dollars, raised by subscription, was collected for the support of the establishment.
In 1866-67, the Professor collected by subscription seventeen thousand dol- lars, the gentleman who built the Herbarium contributing five thousand dollars of it, to replenish the funds of the Garden. From that time to the present the income for the support of the Garden, from all sources, has amounted to about four thousand dollars, one third of which is the annual gift of an anonymous donor.
Finally, in 1871, the present establishment was completed by the construction and fitting up of a lecture-room, laboratory, and an extension of the Conservatory, thus connecting the Herbarium on one side with the Conservatory on the other into a continuous range, and affording the means of giving the whole botanical instruction throughout the year at the Botanic Garden in connection with the materials and collections which illustrate it. This important addition was at an expense of about sixteen thousand dollars, which was defrayed by another anony- mous donor.
The Botanic Garden was in charge of Professor Gray from 1842 -1873, since which time it has been under the superintendence of C. S. Sargent, A. M., Curator of the Arnold Arboretum.
ASA GRAY.
Asa Gray was born November i8, 1810, in Paris, Oneida County, New York. He pursued his preparatory studies in the CHnton Grammar School and in Fair- field Academy. Without entering College, he commenced the study of Medicine with Dr. J. F. Trowbridge, Bridgewater, New York, and received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District, New York, in 1831.
In 1834, he was appointed botanist to the United States Exploring Expedition, and, soon afterward. Professor of Botany in the University of Michigan. He did not, however, enter upon the duties of either of these positions, but devoted him- self to the study of North American plants. His earliest contributions bear date 1834-35. In 1836, he published the "Elements of Botany," the forerunner of the "Botanical Text-Book"; in 1838, in conjunction with Dr. Torrey, the first part of the " Flora of North America." In the spring of 1 842 he was elected Fisher Professor of Natural History. At that time the Botanic Garden was, through deficiency of means, struggling to live. A single greenhouse contained all the tender exotics. There was no Herbarium connected with the University, and the list of botanical works in the Library was very meagre. At the present date (1874) the following results may be spoken of as among those which Dr. Gray has secured during his occupancy of the chair.
A fund for the maintenance of the Botanic Garden has been obtained, the grounds have been conveniently ordered for their purpose, six greenhouses have taken the place of one, and all have been stocked with illustrative plants. In 1862, Professor Gray offered to the University his Herbarium, numbering at that time more than two hundred thousand specimens, and his librar}'^ of two thousand two hundred botanical works, on condition that a fire-proof building should be erected for their reception. This condition was accepted, and through the liberality of Nathaniel Thayer, Esq., a suitable structure was completed in 1864. In 1 87 1, in order that students might more conveniently avail themselves of these advantages, a botanical lecture-room and laboratory, the gift of another
ASA GRAY. 317
gentleman, were erected on the grounds of the garden, and the botanical instruc- tion is wholly given there. The Herbarium, now largely increased, and the library of three thousand five hundred works, the largest in America, are easily accessible to students of botany.
Professor Gray has visited Europe three times, for purposes of botanical study, in the autumn of 1838, in 1850-51, and in 1868. His first visit was chiefly devoted to the examination of European Herbaria containing American plants, the second to the investigation of the plants brought back by the United States Exploring Expedition, the third to the renewed study of the North American Flora. To the elaboration of the " Flora of North America" has been given his latest as well as earliest study. In order that he might the more unreservedly devote himself to this work, he was at his own request in 1873 relieved from the burden of Col- lege instruction and the direction of the garden. In his tribute to the memory of his associate of forty years, — the late Dr. Torrey, — he speaks of the completion of this work as "the most pressing want of the science."
The more important publications by Professor Gray, besides that just alluded to, are : — Plantas LindheimerianEe ; Plantce Fendlerianse Novi-Mexicanas ; Plantse Wrightianse Texano-Neo-Mexicanse ; Plantse Thurberianae ; Genera Florae Americee Boreali-Orientalis Illustrata ; Botany of the United States Exploring Expedition ; Memoirs of the Botany of Japan ; Botany of the Northern United States, now in its fifth edition. In the Royal Society's catalogue of scientific papers a list of his contributions, up to the date 1863, contains seventy-three, without refer- ence to the numerous critical notices furnished by him as associate editor of the American Journal of Science and Arts, during the last thirty-eight years. The educational series published by him comprises the following works : — How Plants Grow; Manual of Botany; Structural and Systematic Botany (Botanical Text- Book) ; First Lessons in Botany ; Field and Garden Book of Botany ; How Plants Behave.
In 1863, Dr. Gray was elected President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a position which he held until his resignation in 1873. In 1872, he was President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of most of the scientific societies of the United States, and a corresponding and honorary member of many such abroad; of which the earliest are: Botanical Society of Ratisbon ; Academia Naturae Curiosorum, Breslau ; and the more important, the Linnaean Society, London ; Royal Society, London ; Royal Academy of Sciences, of Berlin, Stockholm, Upsala, and Munich ; Imperial Acad- emy of Sciences of St. Petersburg.
Soon after accepting his Professorship, Dr. Gray received the honorary degree of A. M. from Harvard University, and in i860 the degree of LL. D. from Hamilton College, New York.
THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION.
i
m
i^
THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION.
Benjamin Bussey's Will. — Foundation of the Institution. — Buildings and Professorships. — Gift of James Arnold of New Bedford. — The Arboretum. — Course of Study pursued in the School, and its objects.
The Bussey Institution, at Jamaica Plain, is a School of Agriculture and Horticulture, established as a department of Harvard University under the trusts created by the will of Benjamin Bussey of Roxbury, bearing date July, 1835. By a provision of the will, the College did not come into immediate possession either of the land or money thus granted; but in May, 1861, the trustees of the will transferred to the President and Fellows an amount of property estimated at $413,000. Half of the Income of this property was immediately applied in accord- ance with Mr. Bussey's directions, — one quarter to the uses of the Divinity School, and one quarter to the uses of the Law School at Cambridge. The remaining half was left to accumulate for a building fund. The land at Jamaica Plain — about three hundred and sixty acres — meanwhile remained in the possession of a relative of Mr. Bussey, to whom a life interest had been given; but in 1870 an arrangement was made by which seven acres of the estate were relinquished to the College, and the organization of the School was begun. In 1871 a com- modious building was erected on the spot designated by Mr. Bussey, and in 1 87 1 and 1872 greenhouses and sheds were built, the grounds and avenues pre- pared, and a water-supply constructed. The main building is of Roxbury pudding- stone, 112x73 feet, of the Victoria Gothic architecture, and contains a lecture-room, library, office, laboratory with storerooms and glass-house attached, and recitation and collection rooms. The cost of putting up and furnishing these buildings was about $62,000. Professorships of Horticulture, Agricultural Chemistry, and Applied Zoology were established, and Instructors of Farming and Entomology were appointed, during the academic year 1870-71. A Librarian and Curator of Collections was appointed in 1873. The building was partially ready for occu- pation December, 1871, and since then scientific researches in agricultural chem- istry have been constantly carried on in the laboratory. Lectures on applied
322 THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION.
zoology, chemistry, horticulture, and entomology have been given ; and a set of field experiments have been conducted by the Professor of Agricultural Chem- istry.
In the spring of 1872 the President and Fellows received a gift of $ 100,000 from the trustees under the will of James Arnold of New Bedford, for the pur- pose of establishing in the Bussey Institution a Professorship of Tree Culture, and creating on the Bussey estate an arboretum which shall ultimately contain all trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants which can grow there in the open air, At least two thirds of the income is to be accumulated until the fund amounts to $ 1 50,000, and the Bussey estate passes completely into the hands of the Pres- ident and Fellows. A particular portion of the estate, containing about one hun- dred and thirty-seven acres, has been specified as the site of the arboretum, which will doubtless be laid out as an open park, with walks and roadways. This can hardly fail to become a delightful resort, as the natural beauties of the Bussey estate are very great. A director of the Arnold Arboretum was appointed in 1872. Many trees have already been propagated at the Bussey Institution and at the Botanic Garden for the arboretum.
The Bussey Institution has received aid from the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, in the form of yearly grants of money, to be used for the field experiments and for the horticultural department.
The regular course of study at the School is meant to fill three years. During the second and third years agricultural chemistry, useful and ornamental gardening, agriculture, and applied zoology are taught at Jamaica Plain. Instruction is given by lectures and recitations, and by practical exercises in the laboratory and green- house, and by the inspection of field-work. In order to give the student a sound basis for a thorough knowledge of these arts, instruction in physical geography, meteorology, the elements of geology, chemistry, physics, botany, zoology, ento- mology, levelling, and road-building is given the first year at the Lawrence Scientific School, Cambridge. Since the opening of the School, thirty students have attended one or more of the courses of instruction at Jamaica Plain.
The single object of the School is to promote and diffuse a thorough knowl- edge of agriculture and horticulture. It is intended especially for young men who mean to become practical farmers, gardeners, florists, or landscape gardeners ; young men who will naturally be called upon to manage large estates, — such as the sons of large farmers and of city men who own country-places ; young men of character, good judgment, and native force, who have neither taste nor aptitude for literary studies, but, being fond of country life and observant of nat- ural objects, would make, when thoroughly trained, good stewards or overseers of gentlemen's estates ; teachers, or young men preparing to be teachers, who expect to give instruction in any of the subjects taught in this School ; and persons who
THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION.
323
wish to familiarize themselves with some special branch of agriculture, horticul- ture, or applied zoology.
Although it is very desirable that the opportunities and facilities provided by the Bussey Institution should be recognized and utilized by the public, and that students should resort thither for instruction in the arts and sciences which sub- serve agriculture and horticulture, yet it is to be noted that the funds provided by Mr. Bussey will enable the College to maintain the Institution as a scientific station, like the Observatory, or the Museum of Comparative Zoology, until • the time shall come when there shall be a demand for its privileges as a school.
DANIEL DENISON SLADE.
Daniel Denison Slade, M. D., the son of J. T. Slade, merchant, was born in Boston, May lo, 1823. He attended prmiary schools in that city until 1833, when he was placed under the care of Hon. Stephen Weld, of Jamaica Plain. Thence he was removed to the family school of Rev. Ezra Ripley, of Waltham. In 1835, he was sent to Northboro', where he lived two years in the charge of Rev. Joseph Allen. Returning to the city, he became a pupil of the Latin School, where he was fitted for college, entering Harvard in 1840, and passing the examina- tion without conditions. While at this school he received a prize for the best Latin poem. Graduating in 1844, having been a member of various College so- cieties, and the President of the Harvard Natural History Society, he' spent a few months on a farm near Greenfield, but returned to Cambridge in the early winter of 1844, entering his name as resident graduate. Here he was occupied in literary pursuits, and in copying original letters relating to the American Revo- lution for Rev. Jared Sparks, which gained him the acquaintance and friendship of that eminent historian. In 1845 he entered the Harvard Medical School, received a degree in 1848, and the appointment of House Surgeon in the Massachusetts General Hospital. In the autumn of 1849 he went to Europe for the study of his profession. Returning in 1852, he commenced practice in his native city, continuing to reside there until 1863, when he removed to Chestnut Hill, gradu- ally relinquishing his profession for literary and horticultural pursuits, — which last were always peculiarly adapted to his tastes. During his medical career he contributed various articles to medical journals, and was the successful competitor for four medical prizes, namely, the Boylston of 1857, the Massachusetts Medical for 1859, the Fiske Fund for 1850 and 1852, two of which have been published under the titles, " Diphtheria, its Nature and Treatment," Blanchard and Lee, New York ; " To what Affections of the Lungs does Bronchitis give Origin ? " Boston. He was appointed during the war one of the inspectors of hospitals, under the Sanitary Commission. He has contributed various papers to agricul- tural and horticultural journals. In 1870 he was appointed Professor of Applied Zoology in Harvard University.
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FRANCIS HUMPHREYS STOKER.
Francis Humphreys Storer was born in Boston, March 27, 1832, He studied at private schools, and for a short time at the Latin School in Boston, but on account of feeble health passed several years on farms in different parts of New England, and made several voyages to Russia and to the coast of Labrador, be- fore entering the Chemical Department of the Lawrence Scientific School, Cam- bridge, at eighteen. In 1851 he became Assistant to Professor J. P. Cooke, and remained two years in his laboratories at Cambridge and at the Medical School in Boston, where he also instructed a private class in Chemical Analysis, until in 1853 he received his appointment as Chemist to the United States North Pacific Exploring Expedition, under Commander Ringgold. With this expedition he visited Madeira, the Cape de Verde Islands, Cape of Good Hope, Australia, and China.
In 1855 Mr. Storer went to Europe, and studied in the laboratory of Bunsen at Heidelberg, at Freiberg, at the Agricultural School at Tharandt, where he worked as a private pupil in the laboratory of Stoeckhardt, and at Paris. On his return to America, in 1857, he was appointed Chemist to the Boston Gas- Light Company, and held that office until his removal from the city in 1871. For a time he had also a private laboratory in Boston as Analytical and Con- sulting Chemist, but gave up this occupation in order to devote himself to scien- tific researches in the laboratories of Professor Cooke and Assistant-Professor Eliot at Cambridge. In 1859 he published an extended memoir on the Alloys of Copper and Zinc, in i860 an essay on the History of the Manufacture of Parafifine Oils, in 1861 a memoir on the Impurities of Commercial Zinc, in con- junction with Professor Eliot, and in 1862 his Dictionar}' of the Solubilities of Chemical Substances.
On the opening of the School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1865, Mr. Storer was appointed Professor of Chemistiy in that institution, where, in connection with Professor Eliot, he devoted himself to teaching Chem- istry in its applications to the arts, and as a means of mental training in general
326 FRANCIS HUMPHREYS STORER.
education, and to the task of organizing and perfecting a system of instructing students in large classes by the experimental method.
The Manuals of Inorganic Chemistry and of Qualitative Analysis, by Professors Eliot and Storer, and the Cyclopaedia of Quantitative Analysis, by Professor Storer, were written at this time. In 1867 Professor Storer spent several months abroad for the purpose of studying the chemical departments of the Paris Exhibition of that year, and the processes actually employed in the chemical manufactories of Europe. At this time he visited a large number of chemical works in England, Scotland, France, and Germany. In 1871 he was appointed Professor of Agricul- tural Chemistry in Harvard University, from which institution he had previously received the honorary degree of A. M. He has published numerous articles on chemical subjects in the Memoirs of the American Academy, in Silliman's Jour- nal of Science, in the Repertoire de Chimie Appliquee, of which he was for some years the American editor, in the Chemical News, and of late in the Bulletin of the Bussey Institution.
MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
50
The Proposed Museum.
THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
Gift of Abbott Lawrence. — Agassiz accepts a Professorship in the Lawrence Scientific School. — His Collections. — Samuel A. Eliot raises Money to arrange and preserve THEM. — Bequest of Francis C. Gray for establishing a Museum of Comparative Zoology. — Action of William Gray. — Vote of the President and Fellows. — State Aid. — Sub- scription List. — Plan of the Building. — Laying of the Corner-Stone. — Occupation of the Museum. — The Museum as an Educational Institution. — The Emperor of Brazil causes a Collection of Fishes to be made for the Museum. — The Thayer Expedition. — Professor Agassiz's Reports. — The Hassler Expedition. — Plan of Arrangement. — Gift of John Anderson. — School of Natural History at Penikese. — Death of Professor Agassiz. — The Agassiz Memorial. — Report of the Committee of Trustees for 1873. — Gift of Quincy A. Shaw. — A Nucleus for a Natural History Library at the Museum.
In the year 1847 the late Hon. Abbott Lawrence gave fifty thousand dollars to Harvard University, for the purpose of establishing the Lawrence Scientific School. At that time Mr. Lawrence asked Professor Agassiz if he would accept a professorship in the School, as this would be an additional inducement for him to make the endowment. Professor Agassiz did accept, and was appointed Law- rence Professor of Zoology and Geology in the Scientific School of Harvard University. On entering upon his duties, he found that there were no collections in the University with which to illustrate lectures upon Geology and Zoology, and that no provision had been made to obtain such by purchase or otherwise.
330 THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
He was therefore obliged to make them at his own expense, which he did until they had outgrown his individual resources.
In 1S52, when he had all these precious collections stored, partly in his own house, partly in the cellar of Harvard Hall, and partly in a shanty on the Brighton Road, the late Mr. Samuel A. Eliot, who was then Treasurer of Harvard University, raised by private subscription the sum of twelve thousand dollars to put up and arrange these specimens and to provide for their main- tenance. Professor Agassiz then presented the whole to the Scientific School ; but he still continued to apply all that he could spare of his time and his earn- ings to their increase, until, in 1858, they had outgrown the wants of the College and the scientific students, and a movement was made to build up and organize the Museum, as it now is, as an independent institution. To carry out his views for the establishment of a School devoted to teaching Natural History, would require a sum far beyond the means at his disposal ; but the indomitable perseverance of the Teacher was not to be discouraged. With a sure conviction that the good-will of the thinking portion of New England was with him, he kept steadily on, losing no opportunit}^ to impress upon his hearers, at the public lectures which he frequently delivered, the advantage of the study of the Woi'ld, as connected with the pursuits of every-day life. In 1858 Mr. Francis C. Gray, of Boston, died, leaving a bequest of fifty thousand dollars for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a Museum of Comparative Zoology, at the same time leaving it optional with his nephew, Mr. William Gray, whether the Museum should be connected with Harvard University, or with some other institution of the same kind. On the 20th of December, 1858, Mr. William Gray informed the President and Fellows of the University that he presented them with fifty thousand dollars, as bequeathed by Mr. Francis C. Gray, for the estab- lishment of a Museum of Comparative Zoology ; at the same time making other valuable donations for the benefit of the University. The President and Fellows, in accepting these gifts, voted : —
" That the Corporation are duly sensible that the final determination as to these noble charities was left to William Gray, Esq., in his capacity as executor and residuary legatee of his uncle's estate ; and they request their President to write a letter of acknowledgment to that gentleman, thanking him for a liberality of conduct and a generous regard for the interests of the University which will forever associate his own and his uncle's name in these wise and munificent endow- ments."
In 1859 the matter of State aid to the Museum of Comparative Zoology was brought to the notice of the Legislature through the message of Governor Banks, and the Committee on Education took into consideration the proposition to ap- propriate money for the erection of a suitable building at Cambridge for the use of that institution. In February of that year this committee invited Professor
THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 33 1
Agassiz to address them on the subject. This invitation was acccjsted, and in the course of his remarks he said : —
" It is unnecessary for me to state to you that the great object I have in view in appearing before you is tlie preservation of these collections of zoological specimens which I have been for a long time engaged in making. But I have merely laid the foundation of a great museum by my labors of the past six or eight years, and these choice specimens are now in a building which is totally
unsafe The specimens are preserved in alcohol, and this alcohol is constantly running over,
rendering it unsafe to have fire in the building by day or night. My great object is to have a museum founded here which will equal the great museums of the Old World. We have a continent before us for exploration which has as yet been only skimmed on the surface I have re- cently received a letter from the Director of the Museum at Vienna, stating that he had sent me several hundred specimens of fishes from the Euphrates, the Nile, and elsewhere, for which he
wished a single specimen of a fish of which I had duplicates My earnest desire has always
been, and is now, to put our universities on a footing with those of Europe, or even ahead of them ; so that there would be the same disposition among European students to come to America for the completion of their education that there always has been among our students to avail themselves of the advantages of European universities and schools. And I think the time has now come when this object can be gained. This is evident every way, and is seen in the disposition of the Pro- fessors of Harvard College to acquire and encourage high scientific culture There are all the
elements for successful research in Harvard College. Of course I am not careless of my reputation for scientific attainments. I should be very foolish if I were, and I have chosen Harvard College as the field of my labor, because I know it is the place of all others to obtain scientific dominance
and supremacy I have for several years past been consulting with an architect in regard to
the proper plan on which a museum should be built. It is desirable that it should be fire-proof, though a moderate expense would not allow of its being entirely so. The building should be on a large area, Cind I should hardly wish to have it erected unless with the idea of indefinite extension. My idea in regard to the collections is to furnish you with what money will not buy you when I am gone, with specimens which will be invaluable, because they cannot be procured elsewhere. I receive no compensation whatever for the salaries of my assistants, but pay them out of my own pocket. Several years since, twenty thousand dollars which I had spent was refunded to me by citizens of Boston, and I have spent twelve thousand dollars since. There is not an assistant in my department whom I do not now pay out of my own pocket, and I expect to incur personally the expense of labelling and preparing the specimens when they are put in the new building, should one be erected."
The Committee made a favorable report, and on the 2d of April, 1859, the Legislature of Massachusetts voted that aid should be granted to the Museum of Comparative Zoology to the extent of not more than one hundred thousand dollars, payable from sales of lands belonging to the Commonwealth in the Back Bay. And the sum of ^71,125 was also raised by private subscription among the citizens of Boston, " for the purpose of erecting a fire-proof building in Cam- bridge suitable to receive, to protect, and to exhibit advantageously and freely to all comers, the collection of objects in Natural Science, brought together by Pro- fessor Louis Agassiz, with such additions as may hereafter be made to it."
332 THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST.
The name of N. Thayer headed this list with a subscription of $ 5,000. Following, for $ 2,000, were the names of Nathan Appleton, Jonathan Phillips, John P. Cushing, John M. Forbes, Theodore Lyman, William Sturgis, Mrs. Abbott Lawrence, Samuel Hooper, Abbott Lawrence ; for $ 1,000, Jacob Bigelow, Thomas G. Gary, Samuel G. Ward, James M. Barnard, William Appleton, J. C. Gray, Miss Mary Pratt, A. Hemenway, A. A. Lawrence, P. C. Brooks, Jr., G. H. Shaw, W. F. Weld, Miss Brimmer, George Ticknor, Gardner Brewer, James Lawrence, M. Brimmer, David Sears, W. P. Mason, Miss Sarah P. Pratt, H. B. Rogers, Josiah Bradlee, Moses Williams, Stephen Salisbury, Charles Sanders, Mrs. M. F. Sayles ; for $ 500, Franklin Haven, Ozias Goodwin, W. T. Andrews, P. C. Brooks, B. G. Boardman, Josiah Quincy, Mrs. Elijah Loring, F. Skinner, J. L. Gardner, S. A. Appleton, Miss Sarah Greene, Miss Mary Wigglesworth, W. S. Bullard, Paschal P. Pope, Joseph Whitney, George B. Sargent, Thomas B. Wales, Jeffrey Richardson, Miss Abby M. Loring, E. A. & W. Winchester, George F. Parkman, Mrs. G. H. Shaw, C. M. Warner, N. Y., Miss Ann Wigglesworth ; for $ 300, Henry Grew, B. D. Greene, " N. N.," by James Lawrence, Edward Wigglesworth, Mrs. R. G. Shaw ; for $ 250, J. C. Howe ; for $ 200, Edward Everett, James Davis, Jr., J. W. Trull, James Parker, Henry Timmins, J. H. Wolcott, William Amory, H. P. Sturgis, George O. Hovey, George R. Russell, A. A. Reed; for $ 150, R. C. Winthrop, Dana, Farrar, & Hyde, J. L. Gorham, D. G. & W. B. Bacon ; for $ 100, Henry Lee, Jr., G. T. Bigelow, Mrs. Evans, H. F. Durant, Ezra Lincoln, Charles G. Loring, George Callender, J. A. Davis, John Stearns, Jr., T. W. Pierce, Larkin, Stackpole, & Co., Mrs. Abby L. Wales, N. L. Frothingham, Fishers & Chapin, D. W. Williams, J. T. Heard, J. H. Beale, G. R. Minot, Thomas Wigglesworth, J. J. May, George B. Blake, J. B. Bradlee, Francis Bacon, J. W. Edmands, Alpheus Hardy, John Simmons, Richard Fletcher, W. W. Tucker, W. H. Swift, Mrs. Minot, G. H. Kuhn, Newell A. Thompson, Charles Amory, Robert Waterson, James Guild, Mrs. Perkins, Miss Mary Ann Wales, H. Woodman, Henry Lee, N. Hooper, J. T. Heard, Daniel Denny, Jonatlian French, Freeman Allen, S. C. Thwing, Dr. C. H. Lodge, R. S. Fay, Jr., Henry Cabot, Israel Lombard ; for $ 50, H. Parker, Thomas Shimmin, C. F. Shimmin, John Ware, N. Crocker, J. A. Blanchard, W. H. Milton, A. T. Hall, Prescott & Chapin, " N. N.," Moses Grant, G. H. Peters, Samuel May ; for $ 25, Edward King, N. Y.
In June, 1859, articles of agreement were made and executed between the Trustees of the Museum of Comparative Zoology and the President and Fellows of Harvard College, and a piece of land of about five acres in extent was deeded by the College to the Museum for the purpose of erecting a fire-proof building to contain exhibition-rooms, lecture-room, working-rooms, etc. Professor Agassiz had, for a long time, discussed the plan and the requirements of a museum with Mr. Henry Greenough, of Cambridge, and now, when the opportunity offered for carrying out these views, Mr. Greenough and Mr. George Snell, the architect, of Boston, volunteered their services, to make the plans of such a museum as Pro- fessor Agassiz had contemplated for many years. This museum, when completed, was to consist of a main building 364 feet in length by 64 feet in width, with wings 205 feet in length and 64 feet in width ; but as the present object was to meet the immediate requirements of the museum as it then was, it was decided that the first portion built should be only two fifths of the north wing, which would give ample room for the collections of Professor Agassiz, and for the
THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 333
necessary working-rooms, lecture-room, etc., required for the assistants and stu- dents connected with the institution. The laying of the corner-stone of the Museum of Comparative Zoology took place with appropriate ceremonies on the 17th of June, 1859. Governor Banks opened the proceedings by briefly stating the nature of the occasion, and introduced Professor Agassiz, who made a short address, expressing the pleasure with which he participated in the ceremony of the day.
" I am glad," he said, " before my departure for Europe to see ground actually broken in the estab- lishment of another purely American institution of science, one which by its successful operation cannot fail to release America from foreign dependence and from that criticism and control which the learned men of Europe have heretofore assumed to exercise. It is gratifying to observe what has already been accomplished ; a collection has been gathered which is sufficient to teach American students all that they can learn of Comparative Zoology, until they are prepared to undertake their own original investigations, and the means have been provided to erect a safe and convenient build- ing to preserve this collection. Moreover, it is part of our design to expend as little as possible of our means in brick and mortar. After completing the building to be this day begun, we shall still have a part of our funds applicable to the enlargement of the collection. At present we shall be content with half of one of the wings of the great building ; but extensive as is the plan, I can- not doubt that the whole will ultimately be completed. I feel sure that means will be provided as fast as they can be usefully applied ; and if I should not survive to witness the completion of the whole design, I know that I leave behind me among my pupils those who will be amply able to aid in carrying forward the work to a successful end. It has been suggested that all this gratifying success has been due to my efforts ; but I have done nothing except to point out what was needed and what might be accomplished. It is to the liberality of the citizens of Boston and to the generosity of the Legislature, acting according to the wise suggestions of the governor, that we owe an institution which cannot fail to prove an honor and an advantage to the State."
In December, 1859, the building was sufficiently advanced to allow Professor Agassiz, on his return from Europe, to move the greater part of his collections from the insecure places where they were stored, into the fire-proof Museum which he had so long Avished for. In May, i860, the building was completed, and was found to be so well fitted for the purposes intended, that Professor Agassiz declared that, after his recent examination of the principal museums in Europe, he would not alter it, in any respect, if he could do so by a wish. The annual reports of the Director of the Museum for the years 1861 and 1862 con- tain little beside accounts of the additions to the collections. When the war between the Northern and Southern States broke out, the Museum was a sufferer, for several of the assistants upon whom Professor Agassiz relied for valuable ser- vices joined the Northern army. The funds also of the Museum were running low, but it was no time to ask for further supplies, when all the resources of the country, both public and private, were required to put down the Rebellion. Still, Professor Agassiz in his report for the year 1863 was able to record with grati-
334 THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
tudc " the liberality of the Legislature in granting ten thousand dollars for the publication of an ' Illustrated Catalogue of the Museum,' which will enable us to lay the results of our investigations before the scientific world in an appropriate form, and thus extend the usefulness of our institution beyond the limits of those who have immediate access to its overcrowded rooms."
He also says in his Report, speaking of the continued increase and development of the Museum : —
" Had my task from the beginning been restricted to the putting up of a museum that should answer the wants of the University within the limits of our present means, I might be blamed for extending its sphere of action ; but I understood the object of this organization to be the founding of a great museum, and I am happy to be able to say that the general frame of such a museum is not only fairly laid out, but is already so far advanced in some of its most important features as to challenge competition."
The Museum continued to advance steadily, although the increase of its col- lections and the development of the system of instruction, which is one of the most valuable features of the institution, caused the want of an adequate income to be every day more sensibly felt. Among the many friends of science, both of high and low degree, no one had shown more interest in the progress of the Museum than Don Pedro II., the present Emperor of Brazil. His Majesty had caused to be made for the Museum a large collection of the fresh-water fishes of the vicinity of Rio Janeiro, most interesting in themselves, and especially so to Professor Agassiz, as part of them were among the first objects which at- tracted his attention in the earliest years of his scientific pursuits, when, as a very young man, he had been selected by the naturalist Martins to describe the fishes brought back by Martins and Spix from their celebrated journey to Brazil, undertaken in 1817-20, when Don Pedro I. was Emperor.
For a long time Professor Agassiz had wished to visit Brazil on a scientific ex- pedition ; but to do this effectually he needed a corps of trained assistants, and large means both for the expenses of travelling and for preserving the collections made on the way, and he saw no possibility of providing for such an undertaking. Early in 1865, Mr. Allan McLane, President of the Pacific Mail Steamship Com- pany, offered a free passage to Professor and Mrs. Agassiz on board the steam- ship Colorado, which was to touch at Rio Janeiro on the way out to California. Here was just the opportunity Professor Agassiz wished for ; the excursion would be a delightful one, but, single-handed" and without sufficient means, he could make but little use of the opportunities which were before him. While he was pondering over his difiiculties he met Mr. Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, who had always been a most generous friend of the Museum, and he immediately intro- duced the subject, asking Professor Agassiz what he should require to make the
THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 335
proposed journey according to his wishes. On learning the Professor's views on the subject, he said : " Take six assistants with you, and I will be responsible for all their expenses." A full account of this most interesting trip was published after the return of the Expedition to the United States, under the title of " A Journey to Brazil," by Professor and Mrs. Louis Agassiz.
In the summer of 1866, Professor Agassiz returned to the United States, bring- ing with him collections in Natural History from Brazil, which added immensely to the wealth of the Museum. For a long time he was constantly occupied in arranging these numerous specimens. He found, however, that the building was altogether too small, even for the proper storing of his lately acquired treasures. By far the most important part of the collections were packed away in barrels and boxes, rendering the use of specimens for study very laborious, owing to the loss of time in finding what was wanted. And as the whole available space, not only in the cellar and the working-rooms, but also in the exhibition-rooms, was occupied with unassorted collections, it was impossible to give to the public the advantages for observation which were among the earliest intentions of the Museum. In fact, the whole Museum was becoming a large store-house, rather than a well-arranged scientific collection. In reference to these difficulties. Pro- fessor Agassiz, in his Annual Report for the year 1867, said: —
" The general usefulness of the Museum is crippled by the limited room allotted to the public exhi- bition of the specimens. In order to heighten the scientific importance of the Museum, I have from the beginning resisted the temptation of making it attractive to the many by putting up showy specimens, and devoted all the means of the institution to increasing its purely scientific resources. But while this has greatly enlarged the intrinsic value of the collections, it may, in a measure, have perilled the popularity of the Museum ; and it is time that something should be done to gratify the curiosity of the public, who have thus far generously approved the expenses incurred, and the appro- priations made by the Legislature to help our establishment. This, however, cannot be done without considerable expense, as our building is totally inadequate to the proper exhibition of the collections stored in it at this moment. Until the northern wing is fully completed it will be impossible to begin a general systematic arrangement of all our scientific possessions. It is not asking too much that these collections should now be exhibited to the public, and I can truly say that were all our treas- ures fairly laid out, so that the whole could be seen at a glance by intelligent visitors, our citizens when visiting similar institutions abroad could with pride point out what Massachusetts has done for science, and confidently affirm that their Museum fears no comparisons."
In 1868 the Legislature voted twenty-five thousand a year for three years to the Museum, on condition that a similar sum should each year be raised by subscription among private individuals, who were willing to assist in the cause of science. Professor Agassiz, in his Report, says : —
" This year has been a memorable one in the history of our institution. When I prepared my Report for the year 1867, it was under the depressing conviction that unless a large sum could be
336 THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
promptly obtained, the labor of years would be made of no avail, and the value of the materials collected in the Museum so impaired for want of the means essential to their preservation, that they would become in a great degree useless. By the intelligent liberality of the Legislature, who took this matter into earnest and thoughtful consideration, and the generous co-operation of individ- uals, this danger is averted. I have never felt so hopeful of the future of the institution which has so long been my care as now.
" At the last meeting of the Board of Trustees, a vote was passed devoting the $ 7S,ooo granted to the Museum by the Legislature of 1868 to the extension of the present building. While I rejoice in the prospect of this new building, as affording the means for a complete exhibition of the speci- mens now stored in our cellars and attics, and encumbering every room of the present edifice, I yet can hardly look forward to the time when we shall be in possession of it, without shrinking from the grandeur of our undertaking. The past history of our science rises before me with its lessons. Thinking men, in every part of the world, have been stimulated to grapple with the infinite variety of problems connected with the countless animals scattered without apparent order throughout sea and land. They have been led to discover the affinities of various degrees and different kinds, which bind together this host of living beings. The past has yielded up its secrets, and has shown them that the animals now peopling the earth are but the successors of countless populations which have preceded them, and whose remains are buried in the crust of our globe. Further study has revealed relations between the animals of past time and those now living, and between the law of succession in the former and the laws of growth and distribution in the latter, so intimate and comprehensive, that this labyrinth of organic life assumes the character of a connected history, which opens before us with greater clearness in proportion as our knowledge increases. But when the mu- seums of the Old World were founded, these relations were not even suspected. The collections of Natural History, gathered at immense expense in the great centres of human civilization, were accu- mulated mainly as an evidence of man's knowledge and skill in exhibiting to the best advantage not only the animals, but products and curiosities of all sorts, froni various parts of the world. While we admire and emulate the industry and perseverance of the men who collected these materials, and did in the best way the work which it was possible to do in their time for science, we have no longer the right to build museums after this fashion. The originality and vigor of one generation become the subservience and indolence of the next, if we do but repeat the work of our predecessors. They pre- pared the ground for us by accumulating the materials for extensive comparison and research. They presented the problem; we ought to be ready with the solution. If I mistake not, the great object of our museums should be to exhibit the whole animal kingdom as a manifestation of the Supreme In- tellect. Scientific investigation in our day should be inspired by a purpose as animating to the gen- eral sympathy as was the religious zeal which built the Cathedral of Cologne or the Basilica of St. Peter's. The time is past when men expressed their deepest convictions by these wonderful and beautiful religious edifices ; but it is my hope to see, with the progress of intellectual culture, a structure arise among us which may be a temple of the revelations written in the material universe. If this be so, our buildings for such an object can never be too comprehensive, for they are to em- brace the infinite work of Infinite Wisdom. They can never be too costly, so far as cost secures permanence and solidity, for they are to contain the most instructive documents of Omnipotence."
In his Report for the year 1 869, Professor Agassiz says : —
" It is now ten years since, in 1859, the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge was organized. We have closed our first decade, and it seems, therefore, appropriate to review the work thus far accomplished, and to see where it has brought us. Beginning with very small
THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 337
means and scientific materials, tlie basis for which was chiefly the Gray fund and my private col- lection of specimens, hardly known at all abroad and attracting but little notice in those days at home, the Cambridge Museum occupies now a very honorable place among the prominent scientific institutions of the world. It is in no spirit of egotism that I, as Director of this establishment, speak thus of its present standing. But it is no more than fair that the Legislature of Massachu- setts and the individuals who have so generously sustained this undertaking should know that their liberality has not been misapplied. Familiar as I am with the history of museums, it is an astonish- ment and a gratification to me to find that, in this short time, we have attained a position which brings us into the most intimate relations with the first museums of Europe ; we have a system of exchanges with like establishments over the whole world ; while the activity of original research in our institution, and its well-sustained publications, the possibility of which we owe to the liberality of the Legislature, make it one of the acknowledged centres of scientific progress. Nor is this all. Men of high scientific standing in Europe are tempted to come and join us on the' moderate salaries we are able to give, for the pleasure of working up collections in some respects more complete and
more interesting to the student than any now existing When our building was first put up,
ten years ago, it was thought sufficient, and I myself then deemed it large enough, for the needs of the establishment. But so great has been the increase of our collections since that time that, at this moment, the Museum overflows from garret to cellar ; there is hardly room to move between the boxes, barrels, and temporary shelves put up for the accommodation of specimens, and with the utmost economy of space it is almost impossible for our daily increasing number of workers to pro- ceed with their labors. Indeed, many most important and interesting features of the Museum must be ignored till we have more room, — as, for instance, the large and perfectly unique collection of palms and tree-ferns, with flowers and fruits preserved in alcohol, one of the most valuable results
of the Thayer Expedition The same is true of many other collections of equal interest in
our Museum, — as, for example, that of the fishes from the Amazons and other parts of Brazil. But a very small portion of the rich harvest from the Thayer Expedition has as yet been seen by the public."
It was at the close of 1869, and soon after writing these words, that Professor Agassiz was seized with a cerebral attack of great gravity. He was worn down by- excessive labor, which even his powerful frame could not endure. During a por- tion of 1870 he was forbidden to work, but recovered enough vitality, towards midsummer, to direct the plans for an addition to the building, by which its capacity was more than doubled. It was ready for occupation in 1871, and the Director was busy in the arrangement of the halls, when he was once more called to the field of exploration. The Coast Survey had fitted out a small steamer — the Hassler — to examine the sea-bottom along the American coasts, and the direction of the expedition was offered to Professor Agassiz. He was gone nearly a year, during which time he sailed through the Antilles, passed down the east coast of South America, doubled Cape Horn, came up the Pacific coast as far as San Francisco, and at last returned by the Pacific Railroad. The collections which were poured into the Museum from this expedition had no parallel save in those of the great Thayer Expedition. After the Hassler Expedition, he says : —
"It gives me the greatest pleasure to state that my absence, though extended to nearly a year, has not in the slightest degree interfered with the progress of the Museum.
338 THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
" The scientific officers of the Museum have sliown the utmost zeal and fidelity, carrying on the work of the separate laboratories so efficiently that I can truly say the results of the year have far exceeded my most sanguine expectations. There is one inference to be drawn from this statement which is of great importance, though few perhaps can value it as highly as I do myself. I have heard it said repeatedly that the organization of the Museum was too comprehensive, that it covered a wider range than was useful in the present state of science among us, and that since it must col- lapse whenever I should be taken away, it was unwise to support it on so large a scale. The past year has proved beyond question that the Museum is now so organized (vitalized as it were with the spirit of thought and connected work) that my presence or absence is of little importance.
"Now that the newly erected addition to the building is available, it may be interesting to you to learn what disposition is made of the whole for purposes of work, instruction, and exhibition.
" True to the aim I have constantly kept in view, and in conformity with the spirit of the institu- tion, the space allowed for work is proportionally much larger than in any other museum ; the object of this arrangement being to facilitate the rapid growth of our collections.
" The lecture-room is, as before, open to all who choose to attend the general instruction given within the walls of the institution. Lectures on different subjects of Natural History are delivered during the whole year, and have been attended by students of the University, teachers of the public and private schools of the vicinity, and ladies and gentlemen of every class of the community. This kind of instruction has always been given free of any charge. Next to the lecture-room is the students' laboratory.
" The private laboratories are eight in number, each devoted to a specialty of the wide range of topics embraced in the organization of the Museum. It would lead me too far were I to describe these laboratories in detail, but I shall in my next report submit a full account of them and the objects for which they were instituted. I would only state now that the books relating to the differ- ent specialties are kept in the laboratories, — an arrangement which greatly facilitates the work of all.
"The exhibition-rooms have been more than doubled, owing to the addition of one story to our building; unfortunately they cannot yet be thrown open to the public, our means being insufficient for the present to provide the necessary wall-cases and other appliances to protect the specimens from injury by ignorant or careless visitors."
During all of 1872 the arrangement of the Museum and the determination of the Hassler collections were pushed with unusual energy. It was now that Pro- fessor Agassiz was, for the first time, able to undertake a presentation of the animal kingdom over which he had long pondered. It was one quite different from the plan usually adopted in European museums, where animals are placed in simple series, according to their received affinities, and divided into certain o-reat groups or branches. The new conception was to exhibit animal creation, not from a single point of view, but from several points, so that its intricate re- lations might severally be illustrated. To this end there was to be, first, a Synthetic room, wherein should be placed a representative of each of the natural families among Vertebrata, Mollusca, Crustacea, and Radiata, as well fossil as livino-. Every representative would, when practicable, be shown by specimens of the male, female, and young, and by preparations of the embryo. Having, by examination of this room, impressed on his mind a general idea of the animal kino-dom, the student would be prepared to pass to faunae rooms, where the
THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 339
groupings of animals now living in the different marine and terrestrial provinces would be exhibited ; and thence to other rooms, where the fossil faunae would, in like manner, be placed in their proper groups. Finally, there would be a series of rooms in which animals were arranged systematically or according to their natural affinities. To do all this is to found, not one, but several museums; and the labor is long and hard, even with the help of numerous assistants.
The fame of Agassiz as a teacher, and of the Museum he was creating, had attracted the attention of Mr. John Anderson, of New York, who was led to in- quire in what way he could supplement the Cambridge establishment and further the study of Natural History. His gift took the form of the Island of Penikese, with an endowment of $ 50,000 to found a summer School of Natural History, in connection with the Museum of Comparative Zoology. It was started, with about fifty pupils, in July, 1873, and Professor Agassiz had the great pleasure of presiding over the first school of this sort in the world. But this unusual labor, added to that which he lately had been through, was too severe a strain. He was attacked by a recurrence of his former malady, and died on December 14, 1873.
At a meeting of persons interested in science and education, held in February, 1874, it was determined to raise a sum of money, under the name of the Agassiz Memorial, to be devoted to the completion and maintenance of the Museum. Under this resolution, about $ 1 1 2,000 have already been subscribed, and the Legislature has voted the sum of $ 50,000, conditional on raising $ 250,000 be- sides. The following address was issued on the occasion: —
" It would not be grateful for the country, nor would it be for the country's interest, that Agassiz should pass away without a fitting memorial. Such a memorial can be made out of the great Museum which he began and partially built, and for the completion of which he has left full direc- tions. Completed, it would be a perpetual fountain of knowledge, and a monument quick with his spirit. " Museum," a word that commonly suggests little more than a collection of curious objects, is scarcely an appropriate name for the memorial that Agassiz ought to have. The Museum he labored for is a presentation of the animal kingdom, — fossil and living, — arranged so as to picture the creative thought. The study of such a subject is the highest to which the human mind can aspire.
" At the end of the nineteenth century, no nation, least of all the American, may dare to lag in science; for science is only another word for knowledge, and knowledge is the source of power, and of whatever contributes to power. All knowledge springs from one root ; and the sap matured in the root flows through every twig of the tree : what is elaborated in the leaf in its turn nourishes the roots. Few distinctions are so groundless as the popular one between 'practical' and 'scientific'
" Every workman must have his tools ; the tools of a zoologist are collections of natural objects systematically arranged. Such an arrangement means the exhibition of the animal creation in its natural order. This is one of the prime difficulties of science, which taxes the powers of the greatest genius. So difficult is it, indeed, that no two leaders of zoology have ever exactly agreed in their views ; and it is only by comparing these views that the student can judge for himself. Of what incalculable value would collections be, if such had been arranged by Linnseus in Sweden, by Oken in Germany, by Cuvier in France ! But such museums do not exist. Even the great collections of Cuvier are mingled with those of his opponents, like a book culled from the works of many authors.
340 THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
In this country we may have such a museum if we choose. The celebrated System of Nature of Linnajus can be stiidied only in books. We may and should have Agassiz's System of Nature illus- trated by the specimens which his own hands have set in order. It is for our people to say whether they will neglect this magnificent opportunity to secure a means of education which money cannot buy, and the future may not give.
" The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge is an independent establishment, governed by a Faculty of its own. It was founded fifteen years ago by Agassiz, and has grown to its present large proportions under his hand. In connection with it is the newly established School of Experi- mental Zoology on the Island of Penikese, endowed by Mr. Anderson of New York. The system of instruction has the widest character, and includes elementary teaching, as well as the highest investigations. The exhibition-rooms are free to the public. Large sums have already been expended in bringing this national Museum to its present condition. Its collections, in several branches, are superior to those of the British Museum or the Garden of Plants. To make such an establishment useful, it must have a large building, and a considerable annual income for the payment of profes- sors and assistants. To perfect the grand plan conceived by Agassiz will require at least three hundred thousand dollars, of which about one third would be used in enlarging the building, and two thirds would be funded.
" It is to be hoped that the people of America, for whom Agassiz unselfishly labored, and among whom he spent the best portion of his life, will not hesitate to carry on the work he began. His example and his teachings have benefited every section of the country. The Museum he planned and founded will, if suitably endowed, become an ever-increasing source of scientific and practical usefulness to the nation and the world. We cannot doubt, therefore, that this appeal will be an- swered by the public in the same generous spirit in which Agassiz devoted his genius to the further- ance of science and to the advancement of education among us."
In the Report of the Committee of the Trustees, for the year 1873, it was said : —
"Early in 1873 it became apparent that the Museum could no longer be carried on with the means at the disposal of the Curator ; repeated assistance from the State and from private sources kept the institution up to a standard of activity far beyond its own regular resources. As the time drew near when retrenchment seemed inevitable, Professor Agassiz made an appeal to the Legislature for support, and with the generosity which has always characterized their action towards an institution in which the State of Massachusetts has so great an interest, the Legislature appropriated $ 25,000, on condition that a similar sum should be contributed by the friends of the institution towards its support. This sum was at once subscribed by friends of the Museum, and the appropriation of the State secured. Soon after this a further sum of $ 100,000 was presented to the Museum by Mr. Quincy A. Shaw. These sums gave Professor Agassiz the means to reorganize the Museum on a very extensive scale. Additional assistants were employed, collections were purchased in every direc- tion, and a large outlay made to place in safety the valuable alcoholic collections stored in the cellar of the Museum building. True to his policy of always using his present means as a lever for further improvement, nothing was laid up for the future, and by the ist of April next the Museum will have to depend entirely upon the invested funds for its resources. This will entail a very ma- terial reduction in the working force and running expenses, as the regular income of the Museum is somewhat less than $ 15,000 annually, only half the sum needed to carry on the present scale of operations.
" In accordance with the wishes of Professor Agassiz, a part of his library (three thousand volumes) has been presented to the Museum Library. The remaining seven hundred volumes retained by Mr. A. Agassiz have, together with his own library of about twenty-five hundred volumes, been deposited in
THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
341
the Museum building. Tliese important additions, with the books presented, from time to time, by Professor Agassiz, will form, with the existing library, an important nucleus for an excellent natural- history library, which will number about twelve thousand volumes.
" It will hereafter be the main object of the committee of the Museum appointed by the Trustees to see that the views of Professor Agassiz, so fully incorporated in the directions he was accustomed to give to his assistants, should be fully carried out, and they hope that his successors will faithfully complete the plans laid out with so much care and forethought by the founder of the Museum. Thus only can they hope to show to the public, who have thus far so generously aided him, what his aims were, and to erect to him a monument which will not only be a valuable historic record of the interpretation of nature by one of its most enthusiastic worshippers, but a monument of a lifelong and disinterested devotion to the best interests of science and of general education."
The greater part of the Museum as it now exists is occupied by working and store rooms, and only four rooms with their galleries, and the large central hall, are devoted to exhibition. The Synthetic Hall is now in course of arrange- ment, and the other rooms will be opened as fast as the laborious task of their preparation will allow.
I
JEAN LOUIS RODOLPHE AGASSIZ.
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was born May 28, 1807, at Metiers, in the canton of Friburg, in Switzerland, where his father was clergyman. After having re- ceived his primary education at home, he was sent to the gymnasium or public school at Bienne, in his eleventh year. He was also for a short time at school in Orbe, a small town to which his father had removed in the mean time. He aftei-wards spent two years at the Academy of Lausanne, an institution inter- mediate between the higher classes of the common schools and the University. Having made choice of the medical profession as a branch of study, he went to the University of Zurich in 1824, where he remained two years, paying much attention to Natural History under the teachings of Schinz. From Zurich he re- moved to Heidelberg, chiefly engaged in the study of Anatomy under Tiedemann, Zoology under Leuckart, and Botany under Bischoff. In 1827, in accordance with the laudable German custom of changing from one school to another during the university course, so as to profit from the impulse given by new teachers, new methods, and new ideas, he removed to Munich, to which place the small Uni- versity of Landshut had just been removed and reorganized on a large scale. His most prominent teachers here were Oken for Zoology, Martius for Botany, Schelling for Philosophy, Fuchs for Mineralogy, Dollinger for Anatomy. With the last, the founder of the science of Embryology, he formed a great intimacy. He lived in the same house, and from the almost daily intercourse with him he became thoroughly impressed with the importance of that branch of study in connection with systematic Zoology and the history of the succession of organized beings in the geological development of the earth. Of all the teachers of Agassiz, none left so permanent a mark on his mind as Dollinger and Cuvier. While still a student in Munich, he was selected by Martius, lately returned from a scientific expedition to Brazil with Spix, to work up the ichthyological collections left undescribed by the death of the latter. This, his first great work, introduced him to the notice of the contemporary naturalists, and gave him the facility of entering into larger enterprises. While still a student he supported, out of his
JEAN LOUIS RODOLPHE AGASSIZ. 343
scanty means, a skilful draughtsman to help him in collecting materials for a work on the fresh-water fishes of Europe, and on the fossil fishes. After having taken the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Erlangen, and of Doctor of Medicine at Munich, on which occasion he defended the thesis of the superiority of woman over man, he went to Vienna to study the fishes of the Danube, and to add to his collection of materials for his work on fossil fishes. On a subsequent visit to Paris, rendered possible through the liberality of a friend of his father, he submitted these materials to Cuvier, who relinquished his projected work on the same subject, and offered to Agassiz the use of all the notes and collections he had accumulated. It was during this stay in Paris that Agassiz became ac- quainted with Humboldt, from whom he received much encouragement and help in his researches. In 1833, after the death of Cuvier, he received the appoint- ment of Professor at Neuchatel, in Switzerland, where he remained until 1846. During this time he finished the publication of his great work on fossil fishes, published at the same time the results of his researches on Echinoderms, on some forms of fossil shells, etc., and began a large work on fresh-water fishes, which was never finished, principally on account of the heavy cost of the plates. From 1836 to 1845 he spent his summers in studying the glaciers of the Alps, his re- sults being published in two works, " Etudes sur les Glaciers " and " Systeme Glaciaire." His theories regarding the former extension of the glaciers received much opposition from geologists at the time, but have since been supported by so many additional facts, that they are almost universally adopted at the present time.
In 1846 begins the second period of Professor Agassiz's life. In that year he came to the United States, partly in consequence of an invitation to lecture at the Lowell Institute in Boston, partly on a scientific mission intrusted to him by the King of Prussia on Humboldt's recommendation. His plan was to travel for two years, and then return to Switzerland. But the richness of the materials offering themselves to his study, the encouragement and help extended to him from all sides, finally the offer made by Professor Bache, Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, to give him the privilege of availing himself for his researches of the vessels of the Survey on all parts of the coast, decided him to remain. In 1847 Abbott Lawrence founded the Scientific School in Cambridge bearing his name, and the Professorship of Zoology and Geology was accepted by Professor Agassiz, who entered into its duties in the spring of 1848, and con- tinued to hold it to the time of its death. He held, in addition, during the years 1851 and 1852, a Professorship of Comparative Anatomy at the Medical College of Charleston, S. C, but relinquished it on account of ill health. During his vacations he visited Lake Superior, the Florida Reefs, and various parts of the Southern and Western States. In 1865 he was enabled, by the liberality of
344 ' JEAN LOUIS RODOLPHE AGASSIZ.
Mr. N. Thayer, of Boston, to make an extended journey to Brazil, and in 1871 he made a voyage from Boston to San Francisco, by the Straits of Magellan, in the Coast Survey steamer Hassler. His principal work published in America is the " Contributions to the Natural History of the United States," for which the subscription list contained 2,500 names. Four volumes of it were published.
A lasting monument Professor Agassiz erected to his fame in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, which is described in another part of this volume. Almost from the day of his arrival in Boston, finding how scanty the collections of Natu- ral History were at that time, he began to collect at his own expense, and on a large scale. At first a room in the attic of the Tremont Temple contained the barrels and boxes that held his specimens, but in a few months the space be- came insufficient, and the neighbors began to complain of the unsavory smells issuing from collections, the best care of which could not keep pace with the rapidity of accumulation. They were then removed for a time to a shed on the water's edge in East Boston, and thence to Cambridge, partly in the Professor's own house, partly in the cellar of Harvard Hall, and partly in an old bath-house on the marsh adjoining the Brighton Road. They were subsequently placed in a wooden building on the grounds of the Scientific School, afterwards removed to Divinity School Avenue (the present Zoological Hall).
In 1852 the collections were bought by private subscription, and in 1858 Mr. F. C. Gray, of Boston, left by his will fifty thousand dollars for the foundation of a Museum of Comparative Zoology. This fund was enlarged by a grant of the Legislature of Massachusetts and by private subscription, and the corner-stone of the Museum was in consequence laid in 1859. By the end of that year the collections could be partly removed into the new building. Professor Agassiz's efforts were from that time bent chiefly to the increase and arrangement of the Museum. His design was to render visible at a glance the relations of animals to each other by grouping them in systematical, synthetical, faunal, embryological, and geological series. It is probable that the vastness of the plan and his anxiety to see it realized contributed to shorten his days. In the last year of his life the establishment of the Anderson School of Natural History at Penikese Island, endowed by Mr. Anderson, of New York, made a heavy demand on his strength, but he nevertheless remained at his post at the Museum until his final short illness, which resulted in his death on the 14th of December, 1873.
, ^/^
HERRMANN AUGUST HAGEN.
Herrmann August Hagen was born May 30, 18 17, at Konigsberg, in Prussia. His parents were Carl Heinrich Hagen, Professor of Political Economy, Technology, and Agriculture at the University of Konigsberg, and Anna Dorothea Linck. His first instruction was received at the gymnasium " Collegium Friedericianum," whence he was transferred, in 1830, to the " Kneiphofische Gymnasium." He graduated in 1836, studied Medicine at the University of Konigsberg, and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1840. After the death of his grandfather, Carl Gottfried Hagen, Professor of Natural History in Konigsberg, the latter's ento- mological collection and library came into the possession of the grandson. Under his father's direction he studied Entomology in his leisure time, collecting chiefly Odonata, because by chance the first specimen he caught proved to be an unde- scribed insect of that order. While he became gradually more interested in this particular study, he had the benefit of some instruction from two eminent and still active naturalists, Theodor von Siebold and Carl Ernst von Baer, who called his attention to the necessity of the study of Medicine for the naturalist, the knowledge of pathology being indispensable to a comprehension of any normally constituted organism. He attended also for several years the lectures of Professor Rathke, the celebrated embryologist, and accompanied him in 1839 in his scien- tific journey through Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, studying chiefly the anat- omy and habits of marine animals. In 1840 he published at Konigsberg, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, a little work entitled " Syno- nymia Libellulinarum Europseorum."
From 1840-41 he studied at the University of Berlin, and passed, according to the law of Prussia, the necessary examinations as physician and surgeon. He then travelled through the greater part of Europe. In Vienna he attended clini- cal and medical lectures for six months, and in Paris for nearly a year. The study of Natural History was in the mean time always pursued, so far as time and circumstances allowed, and his acquaintance with Baron de Selys-Long- champs, of Liege, made in Paris, 1842, gave rise to a series of entomological
346 HERRMANN AUGUST HAGEN.
publications containing their combined studies on the family of the Odonata. He was favored at this time with the counsel and encouragement of the prominent entomologists, Klug, Erichson, KoUar, Von Siebold, and many others, whose per- sonal acquaintance he made during his travels. He returned to Konigsberg in 1843, and settled there as a practising physician.
For three years he was first assistant at the surgical hospital, performing the greater part of the operations. In 1851 he was married to Johanna Maria Elise Gerhards.
His duties as a physician limiting his studies in Natural History to leisure hours, he confined himself to Entomology (with especial reference to the Neuroptera), Entomological Biology, and the study of the microscope. The fear of wasting time in investigating subjects which had already been elucidated, in- duced him to catalogue carefully all accessible entomological publications. This compilation, begun for his own use, was afterwards published as " Bibliotheca Entomologica," in two volumes, Leipzig, 1862. Alone, or jointly with Baron de Selys-Longchamps, he has published, in various scientific periodicals, a large number of notes, papers, and monographs, all of which, up to 1861, are mentioned in his " Bibliotheca." His first publication was made in 1834, on " Prussian Odonata." It was his wish to prepare monographs on all families belonging to the Linnsean Neuroptera, but circumstances did not permit the full execution of this plan. In 1849, 1857, and 1 86 1 he made extended scientific journeys through Germany, Belgium, Holland, and England, for the sake of comparing collections and libraries.
From 1863-67 his official duties as Vice-President of the City Council and member of the School Board of the city of Konigsberg left him no leisure. A large number of reports on a great variety of subjects relating to these duties demanded much careful study. Some of them, as, for instance, one on " Life Insurance," are exceedingly elaborate treatises. In 1863 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Konigsberg. He is corre- sponding or honorary member of a large number of learned societies. In 1867 Professor Agassiz invited him to come to Cambridge as assistant in Entomology, and in 1870 he was appointed Professor of Entomology in Harvard University.
i
NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER.
Nathaniel Southgate Shaler was born in Campbell County, Kentucky, Febru- ary 20, 1 841 ; the second son of N. B. Shaler, M. D., a graduate of the College in 1827. In 1859 he entered the Lawrence Scientific School, becoming the private pupil of Louis Agassiz, and received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1862. The two subsequent years he spent in the State of Kentucky, where he saw some service as an officer of artillery and of staff In 1864 he was appointed assistant in Paleontology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and in 1868 Professor of Paleontology in the University. In 1865 he took charge of the regular in- struction in Zoology and Geology given in the Lawrence Scientific School. This work remained in his hands until 1872, the continued indisposition of the Law- rence Professor making it impossible for him to resume his teaching. In 1866 he visited Europe, and spent two years in travel and study on the Continent. Again in 1872 he visited England, and spent a year in the study of the geology of Great Britain. In 1873 he was appointed Director of the Kentucky Geological Survey, which position he still holds, giving a part of each year to the field work of that survey.
He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Secretaiy of his section. He is a member and curator of the Boston Society of Natural History. He is a member of the American Academy, and of several other academies and societies.
He has published but little : some reports on the geology of Kentucky, now in press, or recently published; half a dozen reports to the United States Coast Survey, concerning special points in the coast geology; and about thirty papers on various subjects published in the Proceedings and Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History, the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, American Naturalist, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, etc., — constitute his only published scientific work. He has also printed a number of papers on various subjects more or less closely connected with science in the Atlantic Monthly and the North American Review.
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