: The New England Magazine Volume 1 No. 1 January 1886 Bay State Monthly Volume 4 No. 1 January 1886 by Various - New England Periodicals The Bay State Monthly

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denomination to which he was attached. He was the prime mover in the enterprise of establishing the college, and in 1767 he went back to England and secured the first funds for its endowment. With him were associated the Rev. Samuel Jones, to whom in 1791 was offered the presidency; Oliver Hart and Francis Pelot, of South Carolina; John Hart, of Hopewell, the signer of the Declaration of Independence; John Stites, the mayor of Elizabethtown; Hezekiah Smith, Samuel Stillman, John Gano, and others connected with the two associations named, of kindred zeal and spirit. The final success of the movement, however, may justly be ascribed to the life-long labors of him who was appointed the first President, James Manning, D.D., of New Jersey. His "Life, Times, and Correspondence," making a large duodecimo volume of five hundred and twenty-three pages, was published by the late Gould & Lincoln, of Boston, in 1864.

In the summer of 1763, Mr. Manning, to whom the enterprise had been entrusted, visited Newport for the purpose of arranging for the establishment of the college in Rhode Island. He was accompanied by his friend and fellow townsman, the Rev. John Sutton. They at once called on Col. John Gardner, a man venerable in years and prominent in society, being Deputy Governor of the Colony, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. To him, Manning unfolded his plans. He heard them with attention, and appointed a meeting of the leading Baptists in town at his own house the day following. At this meeting Hon. Josias Lyndon and Col. Job Bennet were appointed a committee to petition the General Assembly for an act of incorporation. After unexpected difficulties and delays, in consequence of the determined opposition of those who were unfriendly to the movement, a charter was finally granted, in February, 1764, for a "College or University in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England in America."

But though Rhode Island had been selected for its home by the original projectors of the institution, and a liberal and ample charter had thus been secured, the college itself was still in embryo. Without funds, without students, and with no present prospect of support, a beginning must be made where the president could be the pastor of a church, and thus obtain an adequate compensation for his services. Warren, then as now, a delightful and flourishing inland town, situated ten miles from Providence, seemed to meet the requisite requirements; and thither, accordingly, Manning removed with his family in the spring of 1764. He at once commenced a Latin school, as the first step preparatory to the work of college instruction. Before the close of the year a church was organized, over which he was duly installed as pastor. The following year, at the second annual meeting of the corporation, held in Newport, Wednesday, September 3, he was formally elected, in the language of the records, "President of the College, Professor of Languages and other branches of learning, with full power to act in these capacities at Warren or elsewhere." On that same day, as appears from an original paper, now on file in the archives of the library, the president matriculated his first student, William Rogers, a lad of fourteen, the son of Captain William Rogers of Newport. Not only was this lad the first student, but he was also the first freshman class. Indeed, for a period of nine months and seventeen days, as appears from the paper already referred to, he constituted the entire body of students. From such feeble beginnings has the university sprung.

The first commencement of the college was held in the meeting-house at Warren on the seventh day of September, 1769, at which seven students took their Bachelor's degree. They were all of them young men of promise. Some of them afterwards filled conspicuous places in the struggle for national independence, while others became leaders in the church, and distinguished educators of youth. Probably no class that has gone forth from the college or university in her palmiest days of prosperity has exerted so widely extended and so beneficial an influence, the times and circumstances taken into account, as this first class that graduated at Warren. The occasion drew together a large concourse of people from all parts of the Colony, inaugurating, says Arnold, the earliest State holiday in the history of Rhode Island. A contemporary account preserves the interesting facts that both the President and the candidates for degrees were dressed in clothing of American manufacture, and that the audience, composed of many of the first ladies and gentlemen of the Colony, "behaved with great decorum."

Up to this date, "the Seminary," says Morgan Edwards, "was, for the most part, friendless and moneyless, and therefore forlorn, insomuch that a college edifice was hardly thought of." But the interest manifested in the exercises of Commencement, and the frequent remittances from England, "led some to hope, and many to fear, that the Institution would come to something and stand. Then a building and the place of it were talked of, which well-nigh ruined all. Warren was at first agreed on as a proper situation, where a small wing was to be erected, in the spring of 1770, and about eight hundred pounds, lawful money, was raised towards erecting it. But soon afterwards, some who were unwilling it should be there, and some who were unwilling it should be anywhere, did so far agree as to lay aside the said location, and propose that the county which should raise the most money should have the college." Subscriptions were immediately set on foot in four counties, but the claimants for the honor were finally reduced to two, viz., Providence and Newport. The question was finally settled, at a special meeting of the Corporation held in Warren, February 7, 1770. "The people of Newport had raised," says Manning, in his account of this meeting, "four thousand pounds, lawful money, taking in their unconditional subscription. But Providence presented four thousand, two hundred and eighty pounds, lawful money, and advantages superior to Newport in other respects." The dispute, he adds, lasted from ten o'clock Wednesday morning until the same hour Thursday night, and was decided, in the presence of a large congregation, in favor of Providence, by a vote of twenty-one to fourteen.

On Saturday, December 7, 1776, Sir Peter Parker, the British commander, with seventy sail of men-of-war, anchored in Newport harbor, landed a body of troops, and took possession of the place. Providence was at once thrown into confusion and alarm. Forces, hastily collected, were massed throughout the town, martial law was proclaimed, college studies were interrupted, and the students were dismissed to their respective homes. The seat of the Muses now became the habitation of Mars. From December 7, 1776, until May 27, 1782, the college edifice was occupied for barracks, and afterwards for a hospital, by the American and French forces.

In the spring of 1786, President Manning, whose graceful deportment, thorough scholarship, and wise Christian character had commended him to all his fellow-citizens, was unanimously appointed by the General Assembly of Rhode Island to represent the state in the Congress of the Confederation. This was during a crisis of depression and alarm, when the whole political fabric was threatened with destruction. He, however, returned to his college duties at the close of the year, being unwilling to remain longer away from the scenes of his chosen labors. With the momentous questions of the day he was thoroughly familiar, and he afterwards, by his voice and by his pen, contributed very materially to the adoption of the Federal Constitution by the State, in 1790. He died very suddenly in the summer of 1791, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. His death was regarded as a public calamity, and his funeral was largely attended, not only by the friends of the college, of which he may be regarded in one sense as the founder, but by a vast concourse of people from all parts of the town and the State in which he lived.

Dr. Manning was succeeded in the presidency by the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Maxcy, who during the previous year had held the temporary appointment of Professor of Divinity. The career of this remarkable man indicates a high order of genius. At the early age of fifteen he had entered the Institution as a pupil, graduating in 1787 with the highest honors of his class. Immediately upon graduating he was appointed tutor, which position he held four years. During his brilliant career of ten years, in which he was the executive head of the college, men were educated and sent out into all the professions, who, for learning, skill, and success in life, will not suffer in comparison with the graduates of any period since.

Dr. Maxcy resigned the presidency in 1802, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Asa Messer, a graduate under Manning, in the class of 1790. He held the office until 1826, a period of twenty-four years. Under his wise and skilful management the college prospered; its finances were improved; its means of instruction were extended; and the number of students was greatly augmented. It was in the beginning of his administration that the college received the name of Brown University, in honor of its most distinguished benefactor, Hon. Nicholas Brown. This truly benevolent man was graduated under Manning in 1786, being then but seventeen years of age. He commenced his benefactions in 1792, by presenting to the Corporation the sum of five hundred dollars, to be expended in the purchase of law books for the library. In 1804 he presented the sum of five thousand dollars, as a foundation for a professorship of oratory and belles-lettres; on which occasion, in consideration of this donation, and of others that had been received from him and his kindred, the Institution, in accordance with a provision in its charter, received its present name. Mr. Brown died in September 1841, at the age of seventy-two. The entire sum of his recorded benefactions and bequests, giving the valuation which was put upon them at the time they were made, amounts to one hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

Dr. Messer was succeeded in the Presidency by the Rev. Dr. Francis Wayland, who was unanimously elected to this office on the thirteenth of December, 1826. His administration extended over a period of twenty-eight and a half years, during which the University acquired a great reputation for thorough analytical instruction. His treatises on "Moral Science," and "Intellectual Philosophy," were used as text-books in other colleges, while "The Moral Dignity of the Missionary Enterprise" gave him a world-wide celebrity as a preacher. He resigned in 1855, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Barnas Sears, who continued in office twelve years, when he resigned, having been appointed agent of the Board of Trustees of the Peabody Educational Fund. During his administration, which extended through the financial crisis of 1857, and the long years of civil war, the University prospered, the facilities for instruction were increased, a system of scholarships was established, and large additions were made to the college funds. Dr. Sears was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Alexis Caswell, a graduate of the University, and for more than thirty-five years an honored and successful professor in the Institution. He was thus thoroughly conversant with its history, and familiar with its special needs. The Rev. Dr. E. G. Robinson, the present active and efficient president, entered upon his duties in the fall of 1872. He, too, is a graduate of the Institution over which he now presides, being a member of the class of 1838.

The buildings of the University are ten in number. Of these the oldest is "University Hall," which has already been described. This venerable structure, so rich in historical associations, and so dear to all the graduates, has recently been thoroughly renovated and modernized, its external appearance remaining the same, at an expense of nearly fifty thousand dollars. The "Grammar School Building," now rented to private parties, and occupied as at first for a preparatory or classical school, was erected in 1810, the cost having been defrayed by subscription. "Hope College" was erected in 1822, at the expense of Hon. Nicholas Brown, who named it after his only surviving sister, Hope Ives, wife of the late Thomas Poynton Ives. "Manning Hall" was erected in 1834, also at the expense of Mr. Brown, who named it after his revered instructor, the first President of the College. "Rhode Island Hall," and the "President's Mansion," were erected in 1840, at the expense mostly of citizens of Providence; Mr. Brown, with his wonted liberality, contributing ten thousand dollars. The "Chemical Laboratory" was erected in 1862, through the exertions of Professor N. P. Hill, late United States Senator from Colorado. The new "Library Building," which has been pronounced by competent judges to be one of the finest of its kind in the country, was erected in 1878, at a cost, exclusive of the lot on which it stands, of ninety-six thousand dollars. Both the building and the grounds were a bequest of the late John Carter Brown, a son of the distinguished benefactor. The new dormitory, "Slater Hall," was erected in 1879, by Hon. Horatio N. Slater, a member of the Board of Fellows, and a liberal benefactor of the University. "Sayles Memorial Hall," which was dedicated, with appropriate ceremonies, in June, 1881, is a beautiful structure of granite and freestone, erected at the expense of Hon. William F. Sayles, a member of the Board of Trustees, in memory of his son, who died in the early part of his collegiate course. It is used for daily recitations, while its spacious hall, adorned with portraits of distinguished graduates and benefactors, serves for Commencement dinners and special academic occasions.

The "Bailey Herbarium," the "Herbarium Olneyanum," and the "Bennett Herbarium," contain altogether seventy-one thousand eight hundred specimens, arranged in good order for consultation, and constituting an important addition to the means of instruction in Botany. The Museum of Natural History and Anthropology, in Rhode Island Hall, contains upwards of fifty thousand specimens, implements, coins, medals, etc., classified and arranged by Professor J. W. P. Jenks. The Library, which dates back from the year 1767, when the Rev. Morgan Edwards collected books for it in England, numbers sixty-three thousand choice and well bound volumes, and a large number of unbound pamphlets. Among the recent additions is the valuable and unique "Harris Collection of American Poetry," bequeathed by Hon. Henry B. Anthony, a graduate of the University, and for twenty-five years a member of the United States Senate. The books of the Library are arranged in alcoves according to subjects, and free access is allowed to the shelves. The funds of the University, according to the report of the Treasurer for April, 1885, amount to 2,943. There are sixty-six scholarships for the aid of indigent students, and also premium, prize, and aid funds, amounting to ,000. The Library Funds amount to ,500.

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