BOOK II. with the king's picture and arms. He gave intimations, that he would still add. Three years after, he sent the va1718. lue of an hundred pounds more. Mr. Dummer, at the same time, sent seventy six volumes of books, twenty of which were folios. The whole were estimated at 30 pounds sterling. Governour Saltonstall and Jahaleel Benton, Esq. of Newport, each of them made to the college a present of fifty pounds sterling. By these and several other large donations, the school experienced a happy alteration. The college which had been erected the last October, was now so far finished as to be fit for the reception and accommodation of all the students. It was an hundred and seventy feet in length, and twenty two feet in breadth. It was three stories high, and made a very handsome appearance. It contained nearly fifty studies in large chambers. It was furnished with a convenient hall, library and kitchen. The cost of it was about a thousand pounds sterling. Commencement at New-Haven, Sept. 12, 1718. The college named in honor to On the 12th of September, there was a splendid commencement at New-Haven. Exclusive of the trustees, there were present, the honourable Gurdon Saltonstall, Esq. Governor of Connecticut, the honourable William Taylor, Esq. as representing Governor Yale, the honourable Nathan Gould, Esq. deputy Governor, several of the Assistants and Judges of the circuit, a large body of the clergy, and numerous spectators. THE trustees impressed with a sense of Governor Yale's great generosity, called the collegiate school YALE COLLEGE, and entered a memorial of it upon record in the words following: "GENEROSISSIMA, honoratissimi Domini ELIHU Gov. Yale. YALE Armigeri, donatione, vigilantes scholæ academicæ, in splendido Novi Portus Connecticutensis oppido constitutæ, Curatores, ædificium collegiale inceptum erectumque perficere capaces redditi, honorem tali tantoque Mæcenati patronoque debitum animo gratissimo meditantes, memoriamque tanti beneficii in hanc præcipue coloniam collati, in omne ævum modo optimo perducere studiosi: Nos Curatores, negotii tanti in commune præsertim hujus provinciæ populi bonum momenti cura honorati, omothumadon consentimus, statuimus, et ordinamus, nostras ædes academicas patroni munificentissimi, nomine appellari, atque YALENSE COLLEGIUM nominari: ut hæc provincia diuternum viri adeo generosi, qui, tanta benevolentia tantaque nobilitate, in commodum illorum maseimum propriamque incolarum et in præsenti et futuris sæculis utilitatem consuluit, monumentum retineat et conservet." It may be rendered in English in the following manner, viz. splendid town of New-Haven, in Connecticut, being ena- Book II. bled by the most generous donation of the Honorable ELIHU YALE, Esq. to finish the college house already 1718. begun and erected, gratefully considering the honor due to such and so great a Benefactor and Patron, and being desirous, in the best manner, to perpetuate to all ages, the memory of so great a benefit, conferred chiefly on this colony: We the trustees having the honor of being intrusted with an affair of so great importance to the common good of the people, especially of this province, do with one consent agree, determine and ordain that our College House shall be called by the name of its munificent Patron, and shall be named YALE COLLEGE: That this Province may keep and preserve a lasting monument of such a generous Gentleman, who by so great benevolence and generosity, has provided for their greatest good, and the peculiar advantage of the inhabitants, both in the present and future ages. com mence On the morning of the commencement, this testimonial Transac of generosity and gratitude was published with solemn tions at pomp, in the college hall, both in Latin and English. The procession then moved to the meeting house, and attended ment. the public exercises of the day. In addition to the usual exercises at the commencement, the Rev. John Davenport, one of the trustees, delivered a florid oration in celebration of the generosity of Governor Yale, and its happy influence on their infant school. The honorable Gov. Saltonstall, was pleased to crown the public exercises with an elegant Latin Oration, in which he expatiated upon the happy state of the college, as fixed at New-Haven, and endowed with so many noble benefactions. He particularly celebrated the generosity of Governor Yale, with peculiar respect and honor. At this commencement eight young gentlemen received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and a number were admitted to the degree of Masters. Weathers. On the same day on which the commencement was hol- Comden with so much celebrity at New-Haven, a dissatisfied menceparty held a kind of commencement at Weathersfield, in ment at the presence of a large number of spectators. Five scho- field. lars, who were originally of the same class with those who now received their degrees at New-Haven, performed public exercises. Mr. Woodbridge moderated, and he with Mr. Buckingham, and other ministers present, signed certificates, expressing their opinion, that they were worthy of the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Mr. Woodbridge, in a formal manner, gave them these certificates in the meet Book II. ing house; and this was commonly taken and represented as giving their degrees. 1718. benefac tors. SOON after the commencement, the trustees sent a comLetters of plaisant letter of thanks to Governor Yale, expressing the thanks to deep sense which they had of his generosity, and certifying him of all the transactions at the commencement. They also sent a letter of thanks to their great friend and benefactor, Jeremiah Dummer, Esq. for his late donation of books; they also forwarded another to General Nicholson, for his donation of books in Mr. Dummer's collection. Remarks on the transac THE Conduct of the two trustees, Woodbridge and Buckingham, in holding a commencement and giving degrees at Weathersfield, could be considered in no other point of light, Weathers than that of a great misdemeanour, and highly reprehen tions at field. Oct. 9, 1718. Resolu sible. It was a direct violation of the acts of the trustees and the resolutions of the General Assembly, totally inconsistent with their duty as trustees, and calculated in its whole tendency, to keep up division and disorder in the college and in the colony. The scholars, by withdrawing themselves from the government and instruction of the college, had little claim to its honors. This transaction, indeed was such, in the whole view of it, as at once strikingly to exhibit the weakness and fallibility of wise and good men, and how greatly they may fall in an hour of temptation. But whatever was the criminality of this transaction, or whatever opinions the trustees or legislature might form concerning it, such were the divisions in the colony, such the heat and agitation of men's spirits, that it was judged expedient to let it pass without public reprehension, and to adopt the most condescending and conciliatory measures. Mr. Woodbridge and Mr. Buckingham, were men of important characters, and their influence in the colony was very considerable. IT was the desire of the legislature and trustees, as far as possible to conciliate their friendship towards the college, and towards themselves, and to quiet the minds of their party. WHEN the General Assembly came together, in October, they therefore passed the following resolutions, to compose the difficulties which had arisen on account of the establishment of the college at New-Haven, and to effect a sembly. good agreement among the trustees, and in the colony in general. tions of the As 1. "That the annual salary allowed out of the public treasury to the collegiate school, for the year past, shall be distributed to the tutors at New-Haven, Weathers field and Saybrook, in proportion to the scholars under Book II. their tuition." 2. "That the scholars who performed their exercises at 1718. Weathersfield, shall have their degrees at New-Haven, without further examination; and that all scholars entered at the school in Weathersfield, shall be admitted to the same standing in the school at New-Haven.". 3. "That there shall be 500 pounds allowed for the building of a State House at Hartford, which money shall be procured by the sale of land belonging to this colony, and shall be put into the hands of such committee as the Assembly shall appoint for that use and it is ordered, that the scholars at Weathersfield, shall come down to New-Haven." 4. "That 50 pounds be procured by the sale of such lands as above said, and given to the town of Saybrook, for the use of the school in said town." 5. "That the Governor and council, at the desire of the trustees of said college, shall give such orders as they shall think proper, for the removing of the books, belonging to the said college, left at Saybrook, to the library provided for the placing of them at New-Haven." 6. "That the several particulars above mentioned, that relate to the said college, be recommended by the Governor and Council, to the trustees of the said school, for their observation and that said college be carried on, promoted and encouraged at New-Haven, and all due care taken for its flourishing."* tees. THE trustees came fully into the measures recommend- Vote of ed by the General Assembly. They ordered, "that if the trus any of those five scholars should produce to the rector, a testimony under the hands of any two of the trustees, of their having been approved as qualified for a degree, the rector, upon easy and reasonable terms, should give them a Diploma in the usual form, and that their names should be inserted in the class as they were at first placed." This was finally accomplished, and the consequences were happy. UPON the previous desire of the trustees, the Governor The books and Council met at Saybrook, in December following, and removed granted a warrant to the sheriff, authorising him to deliver from Saythe books to the trustees: But notwithstanding the pacific New-Habrook, to measures which the legislature had adopted, there was op- ven. position to the removal of them. The sheriff when he came to the house where they had been kept, found it filled and surrounded with men, determined to resist him. He, with * Records of Connecticut, vol. v. Oct. 1718. President Clap's History of Yale College, p. 27, 28+ BOOK II. his attendants, nevertheless forcibly entered the house, and delivered the books according to his orders, and they were 1718. conveyed to New-Haven: but such was the resistance and confusion attending the transaction, that about two hundred and fifty of the most valuable books and several important papers, were conveyed away by persons unknown, and no discovery could ever be made of them. sides. The oppoAFTER this unhappy struggle, the heat of men's spirits sition sub- began to subside, and a general harmony was gradually introduced among the trustees, and in the colony. Mr. Woodbridge and Mr. Buckingham, became entirely friendly to the college at New-Haven, and exerted themselves to promote its interests. The trustees, some time after, as a testimony of their esteem of Mr. Woodbridge, appointed him rector pro tempore, and in 1723, he moderated and gave the degrees. The repu numbers of THE college, thus fixed at New-Haven, enriched with tation and benefactions, and accommodated with a large and beautithe college ful house, began to flourish, and was much more to be noincrease. ticed in the learned world, than it had been in its former obscure and scattered condition. The number of students increased to about forty. These were under the tuition and government of two tutors; and as the college was now in the vicinity of Milford, was more frequently visited, and more under the eye of Mr. Andrew, than it had ever before been. It however, yet laboured under many inconveniences. In that state of disorder which had been in the colony, and especially among the students of the college, they had very much lost a spirit of subordination, and contracted such disorderly and vicious habits, as could not, at once, be wholly suppressed. The college greatly needed a resident rector, by whose wisdom and experience, and a more uniform and energetic government, those irregularities might be eradicated, and better morals, and a greater degree of order and studiousness be introduced. March, 1719. Mr. Cut Rector. THE trustees wishing to remove all inconveniences and to put the college under the best advantages, convened the Jer chosen next year in March, and made choice of the Rev. Timothy Cutler of Stratford, to be the resident rector until their next meeting. He came almost directly to New-Haven, and entered on the instruction and government of the college. When the trustees met at the next commencement, they September voted, "That Mr. Cutler's service hitherto, in the place of a Rector, was to their good satisfaction, and therefore they desired him to continue in it." 1720. WHILE the trustees were attempting to put the college upon the best establishment, the legislature had enacted for |