History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 42

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 42

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"Sint Mæcenates, non deerunt, Flacce, Marones ;

Vergiliumque tibi vel tua rura dabunt."

Only the first and third of these proposals were car- ried out.

In December, 1773, President Locke resigned, and after the usual attempt to induce unwilling persons to succeed him, the Rev. Samuel Langdon, of Ports- mouth, was elected at a meeting "holden at Colonel Hancock's house," on July 18, 1774. From the out- set he was greatly harassed, owing to the political disturbances, which interfered with the resources of the College. In 1772 the Legislature had tried to make up the deficiencies by granting a lottery for the benefit of the College, but this was so uncertain a means that the Corporation were obliged themselves to take the tickets which remained unsold. The pres- ence of the Legislature had interfered with the usual work; now came the time when soldiers were quar- tered in the Halls. In April, 1775, the Massachusetts Militia was concentrated at Cambridge, and the Col- lege Government removed the library and apparatus to Andover. The Corporation were forced to meet at Fowle's Tavern, in Watertown, where they voted that, a public Commencement being impracticable, degrees should be conferred by a general diploma. A little later they ordered the removal of the College to Concord, where, it had been ascertained, one hundred and twenty-five students could be boarded. Ţhe

exile lasted till June, 1776. Before that time the British troops had evacuated Boston (March 17th); and the Corporation and Overseers expressed their gratitude to General Washington "for his eminent services in the cause of his country and to this society," and they conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. In a memorial to the Legislature, the injury done to the College by the occupation of the soldiers, and by the loss of rents, including the income of the Charles- town ferry, was set forth. Indemnification for dam- ages was finally made; among the items we find lead taken from the roof of Harvard Hall,-presuma- bly for bullets,-brass knobs, and tacks.

The College was now fully committed to the patri- otic cause. The Overseers examined the governors and instructors as to their political principles, and the few students who cherished Tory hopes took care to conceal them. Nevertheless, when General Heath, in the autumn of 1777, requested the use of the Col-

lege buildings for quartering the troops surrendered by Burgoyne, the Corporation objected. But the students were dismissed from December, 1777, till the following February, after which there were no further interruptions in the College course while the Revo- lution lasted, although there was no public Com- mencement.

Internal affairs during this period of national ex- citement require but little mention. The Overseers clashed with the Corporation in the appointment of a steward, and, after considerable dispute, the former came to the conclusion that they had no jurisdiction in this appointment. More important was the resig- nation of President Langdon, in the summer of 1780. The students met and passed resolutions charging him with "impiety, heterodoxy, unfitness for the office of preacher of the Christian religion, and still more for that of President." A committee of twelve students then waited upon him with these resolutions. He seems to have been taken without warning and without having had previous intimations that he was unpopular. But he determined at once to resign. After morning prayers, two days later, he gave notice of his determination, adding that, as he "would be thrown destitute on the world," "resolutions of a favorable character might be of service to him." The students passed these as readily as they had passed the first. So far as can be learned, the under- graduates were, in this proceeding, only the instru- ments of Langdon's enemies, who did not dare, or care, to attack him openly. The most that was hinted against him was that he had not filled his position with so much vigor as his predecessors be- fore the war; but, considering the difficulties he had met and his subsequent career in the New Hampshire Convention, this charge lacks verisimilitude.

Apart from his being the President of the College at the Revolutionary crisis, Langdon will be remem- bered as the President during whose term the Con- stitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was framed (1780). That Constitution confirmed to the President and Fellows of Harvard College the enjoy- ment of "all the powers, authorities, rights, privi- leges, immunities and franchises which they now have, or are entitled to have, hold, use, exercise and enjoy ;" and it contained the following article : "WHEREAS, by an Act of the General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, passed in the year 1642, the Governor and Deputy-Governor for the time being, and all the magistrates of that jurisdic- tion, were, with the President and a number of the clergy in the said Act described, constituted the Overseers of Harvard College; and it being neces- sary, in this new Constitution of Government, to ascertain who shall be deemed successors to the said Governor, Deputy-Governor and magistrates,-It is declared that the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Senate of this Commonwealth are and shall be deemed their successors, who, with the Pres-

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

ident of Harvard College for the time being, together with the ministers of the Congregational churches in the towns of Cambridge, Watertown, Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury and Dorchester, mentioned in the said Act, shall be, and hereby are, vested with all the powers and authority belonging or in any way apper- taining to the Overseers of Harvard College. Pro- vided, that nothing herein shall be construed to pre- vent the Legislature of this Commonwealth from making such alterations in the government of the said University as shall be conducive to its advan- tage and the interests of the republic of letters, in as full a manner as might have been done by the Legis- lature of the late Province of Massachusetts Bay."

The Constitution speaks indifferently of the "Col- lege " and "the University," this being perhaps the first instance when the latter term was officially used. It declares, further, that no person holding the office of President, professor or instructor of Harvard Col- lege shall, at the same time, have a seat in the Senate or House of Representatives. Thus we see that, while the State kept its ex officio control over the government of the College, it prohibited officers of the College from taking part in the government of the State.

Despite the troubles and interruptions incident to the war, the College was fairly-well attended. The classes at graduation~ averaged 34 members, that of 1776 being the largest (43), and that of 1779 being the smallest (26). But the revenues suffered greatly, not only from stoppage of payment in some cases, but from the depreciation of currency. In 1778 ex- change on France stood at 300 per cent .; in March, 1779, at 400 per cent., and the next year one ream of paper cost £150, and a quill cost $1.50 in provincial money. In November, 1780, the price of the Corpo- ration dinner was $52.61 per person; but by that time the currency was almost worthless.1

At this turning-point in the history of Harvard- for the College, after the Revolution, soon ceased to look to the Commonwealth for regular grants of mo- ney-we may fitly pass in review the dealing of the Legislature with the College. Our general verdict must be that, after the first vote of the General Court, in 1636, to appropriate £400 to a school at Newtown, the Colony never gave Harvard the financial support which it deserved. The grants were irregular,-often made only after repeated entreaties, and seldom paid promptly. The Legislature erected, besides the orig- inal Hall, Massachusetts, Hollis and new Harvard Halls, and contributed £1000 out of £1800 towards Wadsworth House. It allowed the College the in- come of the Charlestown Ferry, which, in 1639, amounted to £50, but which in some years was less than the expenses. President Dunster's annual stipend pro- bably did not exceed £100, paid in rates ; Chauncy re- ceived the same; Hoar had £150 per annum; Oakes

had £100 from the Colonial Treasury, and £50 in "coun- try pay," corn, wheat, etc. ; the grant to Mather was at first £100, then only £50; Vice-President Wil- lard received from £50 t) £60; Leverett's salary was fixed at £150, subsequently increased by £30, £40, and once by £50; but the average was about £180; Wadsworth was assigned a grant of £400, £360 of which to be paid by the General Court, and £40 to be derived from the rents of Massachusetts Hall; the grants to Holyoke averaged £250, plus the aforesaid rents. About the middle of the 18th century the Leg- islature began to eke out the salaries of the profes- sors by grants; the Professor of Divinity received £100, of Mathematics, £80, and of Hebrew, £20- Quincy estimates that the total amount granted an- nually during Holyoke's term never exceeded £450, and often fell far short of that figure. Many of the lands granted to the College from time to time, al- though they aggregated several thousand acres, were never secured, owing to some flaw in the claim, or were in remote places where they produced but little.

The revenues of the College, apart from the above- mentioned subsidies, increased very slowly. In 1654, the income applicable to general purposes was only £27, of which £15 was set aside for scholarships. The receipts from all sources from 1654 to 1668, were £2,- 618. In 1682 the property of Harvard was valued at £2141; in 1693 the income was £318. Under the prudent management of Thomas Brattle, who was Treasurer for twenty years (till 1713), the estate of the College was increased in value to £2952; in 1746 this had risen to £11,150, producing yearly, at six per cent., £669. Owing to the depreciation of the currency the entire stock of the College in 1770 was estimated at only £12,923, of which £6,188 was specifically appro- priated; the income in that year amounted to £1513, the expenses to £1251. In 1776 the resources were valued at £16,444. Thus we see that even during the period when Harvard had every reason to look to the State for generous nurture and encouragement, the support from private benefactors exceeded many times that bestowed by the State with a niggardly and begrudging hand. This fact, so discreditable to the Legislature, furnishes, nevertheless, the best proof that the institution had taken deep roots in the re- spect of the community ; and that, in spite of politi- cal and theological controversies, which sometimes interrupted and sometimes dried up the stream of offi- cial bounty, there were always high-minded men and women who recognized the preciousness of the higher learning, and who gave liberally to help its dissemi- nation. The University, like the circle of authors or painters, which depends upon the favor of a prince or a parliament, may flourish for a time; to be perma- nent, however, it must have uo patron but the public, which has no party or personal interests to serve, and only desires the untrammeled propagation of the best knowledge aud the highest culture.

In December, 1781, the Rev. Joseph Willard was

I See Eliot's " Ilistory of Harvard College, " pp. 87, 88.

CAMBRIDGE.

elected to succeed President Langdon. He was em- barrassed from the outset by the financial status of the College. In 1773 John Hancock had been chosen Treasurer. At that time he was the most popular and influential man in Massachusetts. Having in- herited, from his uncle, a few years before, the largest fortune that had been amassed up to that time in New England, he had given to the College about £550 for books, and the "elegant carpets " and wall-paper be- fore referred to. He was, moreover, the leader of the patriotic party, generally popular, except with the Royalists, and very ambitious. No doubt the Corpora- tion believed that they would do well in entrusting the funds of the College to a man at once so rich and so conspicuous ; but they soon learned that brilliancy in politics is not always accompanied by punctuality and wisdom in money matters. More than a year elapsed, but Hancock made no settlement of his ac- counts, and the Corporation would gladly have asked him to resign had they not been afraid of incensing him. President Langdon sent him a letter urging a statement ; then a second letter, yet no answer came. To a third request, Hancock replied that he was "busily engaged," but would "soon appoint a day to attend to business." The Corporation met, but the Treasurer did not appear. Then they sent a formal communication to him, stating their " unhappiness at being disappointed as to the promised settlement ; they knew his patriotic exertions in his country's cause, and were willing to allow much for this plea of delay; but it was their duty to be solicitous for the seminary ; they were accountable to the Overseers and the world." They requested further that the pa- pers of the College might be left with them during his absence; "otherwise all will be in confusion." Hancock was soon to go to Philadelphia to attend the Congress. A messenger was accordingly despatched to Concord, where he was, to ask him to deliver "the moneys, bonds and other papers belonging to the Col- lege treasury." By this messenger the following an- swer was returned: "Mr. Hancock presents his com- pliments to the Rev. President and the other gentle- men who were present yesterday at the meeting, and acquaints them that he has at heart the interest of the College as much as any one, and will pursue it. He is much surprised and astonished at the contents of the President's letter, as well as at the doings of the gentlemen present, which he very seriously re- sents; and however great the gentlemen may think the burden upon his mind may be, Mr. Hancock is not disposed to look upon it in that light, nor shall the College suffer any detriment in his absence, as he has already determined those matters ; but if the gen- tlemen choose to make a public choice of a gentleman to the displacing him, they will please to act their pleasure. Mr. Hancock writes in great hurry; being much engaged, but shall write very particularly, or be at Cambridge in person as soon as the Congress rises. He leaves all liis matters in the hands of a

gentleman of approved integrity, during his absence, which he is not disposed to alter, and peradventure his absence may not be longer than a voyage to Ma- chias." The Corporation evidently got small comfort from this reply. Another year passed; still they did not dare to remove the obstinate Treasurer, who persistently neglected his duties. They took meas- ures to collect their rents and the earnings of the Ferry, but went no further.

In 1776, Haucock being then in Philadelphia, the President wrote him a very humble letter setting forth the embarrassed condition of the College ; he re- mained silent. To a second entreaty he replied that he had just sent a messenger "in a light wagon, with orders to bring all his books and papers across the country to Philadelphia from Boston," in order that he might arrange them. So the personal property of Harvard was transferred to the Quaker City, where it remained till the following year, when the Corpora- tion, having received no account, and being alarmed for the safety of the securities, despatched Tutor Hall to bring them back. But Hancock, although he let them go, would neither settle nor resign. Another communication, covering twenty-eight quarto pages, did not move him, if, indeed, he ever. read it. At last, after much hesitation, with the concurrence of the Overseers, they elected (July 14, 1777), Ebenezer Storer, to supersede in the Treasurership, "the Honora- ble John Hancock, whose employment in the Ameri- can Congress unavoidably prevents his attending to the business of that office."

Hancock regarded this action as a personal insult, and never forgave it, but during the remainder of his life he continued to wreak his resentment on the Col- lege, by the same spiteful and embarrassing methods. The Corporation made more than one effort to con- eiliate him, requesting, for example, that he would permit his portrait to be painted at their expense "and placed in the philosophy chamber, by that of his honorable uncle." In 1779 it was voted to put in suit the bond which he had filed on his appoint- ment as Treasurer, but this vote was reconsidered. The following year he was elected Governor of Massa- chusetts, a position he filled continuously till 1785, and the Corporation sang another tune in a compli- mentary address in which they expressed " their hap- piness that a gentleman is placed at the head of the General Court and of the Overseers, who has given such substantial evidence of his love of letters and affection to the College, by the generous and repeated benefactions with which he hath endowed it." Blan- dishments, however, were as futile as threats : Hancock knew his power, and gratified his vindictive spirit hy using it. In 1783 the Overseers determined to force an issue ; but at their very next meeting Hancock presided, and they quailed before him. Then, as if to tantalize them further, he promised to bring in a statement; but when the time came he post- poned it. Finally, on February 10, 1785, Treasurer

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACIIUSETTS.

Storer was able to report that Governor Hancock had made a final settlement of his accounts, by which it appeared that he still owed the College £1054. This balance he delayed to pay; nor could the College, whether by entreaty or threatening to resort to law, get it from him. He died in October, 1793, and two years later his heirs made a payment of nine years' interest. The principal was paid six or seven years afterwards, but without compound interest, " whereby the College loses upwards of $526." The motives of this disgraceful conduct seem not hard to explain. Hancock was doubtless flattered by his election to the Treasurership ; but he had no experience as a finan- cier, and was soon drawn into the more exciting politi- cal life in which he shone, but which caused him to neglect his duties as Treasurer. When his neglect became apparent, through the respectful intimations of the Corporation, his vanity was piqued, and thence- forth, feeling secure of his public position, he deter- mined to punish them by systematic harassing and delays. That he needed the College funds, or di- verted them temporarily to his own use, was never charged, for his private fortune was so great (£70,000) that he could have settled his account in full at any time that he had chosen. But to ambitious men of a certain calibre, all the glory and honor they derive from success in work for which they are fitted do not atone for the pangs their pride suffers when they have been found negligent or incompetent in work undertaken by them without proper qualifica- tion.

While this unseemly and annoying conflict was in progress, the College was engaged iu a financial struggle with the Legislature. Harvard had loyally converted its funds into currency early in the Revo- lution, but before the War closed the currency had depreciated so far that it required seventy-five dollars in paper to purchase one dollar in gold. In 1777 the fees for tuition were increased in order to make good the diminishing salaries of the instructors; and in 1780 the Legislature was petitioned to supply by grants the constantly growing deficit. Then fol- lowed a memorial asking the General Court to pledge itself to pay to the President a permanent and ade- quate salary; but the Court refused, preferring to keep that officer dependent upon it, for irregular and uneven grants. It appropriated £300 for the first year of President Willard's term. The Corporation then endeavored to equalize the salaries of professors, by assessments on the students; and the rents of Massachusetts Hall were doubled (to £120) for the benefit of the President. The Legislature continuing stingy, another petition was presented, which brought from it (July, 1783) grants of £156 for the President, and of about £100 each for the Professors of Divinity, Mathematics and Oriental Languages, but these grants were no longer " gratuitous," but " ou account of ser- vices done, and to be done, he (the grantce) to be ac- countable for the same," an intimation which the

beneficiaries regarded as ominous.1 The position of the President and Professors became precarious, so that the Corporation authorized the Treasurer to lend them money at interest, until the Legislature should fulfil its pledges. But this the Legislature never did ; its last subsidy to the President and Pro- fessors was on May 31, 1786, when it appropriated £480 for the former, and upwards of £240 to each of the latter. These sums enabled them to settle their indebtedness to the Treasurer, but left no provision for the future. The next year the Treasurer reported that during the past decade the College had suffered a clear loss of £13,702 6s. 2d. But the Court gave no relief, and in February, 1791, voted that it was inex- pedient to make any grants to College officers. A. final effort was made in the following January to bring the Court to terms; it was shown that more than £3000 had been loaned to the President and Professors, and it was prayed that the College be re- imbursed ; this last appeal, however, was treated like its predecessors, and thenceforth the Corporation as- sumed the responsibility of providing in full the officers' salaries. The notes due for advances were canceled. Happily, through the skillful management of Storer, the Treasurer, and of James Bowdoin and John Lowell, the financial resources of the College had gradually been augmented. The investments, made in uncertain times, proved lucrative, and in 1793 the Treasurer's report stated that the personal estate amounted to $182,000, of which about $82,000 were appropriated for special purposes. That was the first year in which the English system of reckoning was dropped, and the American adopted. We have now arrived at a period, therefore, when the College had to depend upon itself, but when the State, while refusing monetary support, still arrogated the right of supervisional control. But, as this was the first step toward the ultimate emancipation of Harvard from all political control, we see now that the gain far exceeded the sacrifices which it temporarily de- manded.

The administration of Willard coincided with other changes which proved beneficial to the development of the College. The standard of scholarship was raised ; the Medical School was founded on very humble beginnings; four professorships (E. Hersey, Alford, A. Hersey and Erving) were added to the foundations ; the system of discipline was remodeled. The graduating classes between 1781 and 1804, inclu- sive, averaged forty, that of 1804 having sixty-one members, the largest number up to that time. In Oc- tober, 1790, the College was honored by a visit from President Washington, who, in reply to au address from the Corporation, complimented the prosperous condition of the " literary republic," and hoped that

1 At this time the College lost the revenue from the Charlestown Ferry, by the building of the Charles River Bridge (1785). The Legisla- ture required the grantees of the bridge to pay the College an annuity until 1826.

CAMBRIDGE.

"the muses might long enjoy a tranquil residence within the walls of this University."

President Willard died in September, 1804, and nearly two years elapsed before his successor, the Rev. Samuel Webber, Hollis Professor of Mathemat- ics, was elected. In the interim the office had been offered to Fisher Ames, the first layman, so far as I have learned, who was elected to the Presidency of Harvard,1-but he declined. Mr. Webber came into office just at the outbreak of a new religious contro- versy, the echoes of which were heard far down the present century. It is the inherent nature of sects to become diversified ; some members clinging rigidly to the letter of their creed and to tradition, while others move on to larger interpretations. Midway between these factions oscillate the moderates, who hold some of the views of each but do not approve of the extremes of either. Presbyterianism in New Eng- land was, at the beginning of the nineteenth cen- tury, on the verge of a new disintegration ; the mem- bers of the advanced party, carrying freedom of in- quiry to its logical conclusion, were beginning to be known as Unitarians, whom the conservatives looked upon with abhorrence as no better than skeptics or atbeists. The line of demarcation was clearly defined in the controversy over the election of a successor to the chair of Divinity, which was left vacant by the death of Dr. Tappan in 1804. The corporation elected the Rev. Henry Ware, of Hingham, whose views were then deemed radical. He was stoutly resisted. The orthodox declared that " soundness and orthodoxy " were the requisites demanded by Hollis of the candi- dates to this professorship; that "soundness and or- thodoxy" were to be found among Calvinists only ; and that the candidate should submit to an exami- nation of faith. Dr. Ware's supporters replied that such an examination " was a barbarous relic of in- quisitorial power, alien alike from the genius of our government and the spirit of our people; that the College bad been dedicated to Christ and not to Calvin -to Christianity and not to sectarianism ; that Hollis, though agreeing with Calvinists in some points, was notoriously not a Calvinist ; and that, by his statutes, he prescribed the Scriptures of the Old and New Tes- tament as the rule of his Professor's faith, and not the Assembly's Catechism." At last Dr. Ware's election was concurred in by the Overseers (May, 1805), but it caused so great annoyance to the orthodox, that Dr. Pearson, Hancock Professor of Hebrew, resigned (March, 1806), giving as his reason that "events dur- ing the past year having so deeply affected his mind, beclouded the prospect, spread such a gloom over the University, and compelled him to take such a view of its internal state and external relations, of its radical and constitutional maladies, as to exclude the hope of rendering any essential service to the interests of

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 42

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034